26-06-2025
Paul Giamatti, Stephen Graham, Cooper Koch, and the best of our Emmy Limited Series/Movie Actor interviews
Over the past two months of Emmy campaigning, Gold Derby has spoken with several contenders in all categories. Now with voting underway ahead of the July 15 unveiling of the nominees, we have compiled seven interviews for stars vying for Best Limited/Movie Actor, including: Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), Taye Diggs (Terry McMillan Presents Forever), Jacob Elordi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), Paul Giamatti (Black Mirror), Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Brian Tyree Henry (Dope Thief), and Cooper Koch (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story).
Read on for highlights from each interviews and links to watch our full video Q&As.
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For the Netflix series, Chavez plays Lyle Menendez — a figure whose life has been well-documented in books, interviews, and court footage.
'I read every book that I could get my hands on. I watched every single documentary,' he says. While courtroom footage offered valuable insights into Lyle's behavior during the brothers' dramatic trial, Chavez notes that it required some interpretation for the scenes outside of court. 'The way that people behave when they're on trial for their lives is very different than they behave when they're just out in the world. I had to sift through a lot of primary and secondary research so that I could make solid educated guesses about who he was outside of the courtroom.'
Watch our complete interview with Nicholas Alexander Chavez.
Diggs plays Johnnie, a military veteran who falls head over heels for a local policewoman named Carlie (Meagan Good), on the Lifetime TV movie.
He calls this film "one of the most emotional and tumultuous stories" he's been a part of. Johnnie grapples with Carlie's illness, recovery, and shocking death during a convenience store robbery. "I like to have fun," he says. "I enjoyed doing this film, but I'm not a sadist or a masochist. I don't like to inflict pain and I don't like to feel it. As freeing as it was, I did not enjoy the emotional scenes because I was able to draw on my own emotional experiences. Whenever you have to bring up stuff that isn't pleasant, it's never fun, but it was useful. I'm grateful for that. I was able to pull from my life experience."
Watch our complete interview with Taye Diggs.
For the Prime Video series, Elordi takes on the harrowing role as World War II prisoner of war Lt. Col. Dorrigo Evans.
He says, "We had a six-week prisoner bootcamp basically. We were watched over by nutritionists and trainers. There's something that happens when you are hungry. All the extra things that you have in your day-to-day life that you worry about, they all sort of start to strip away. All you can think about are the men that are in front of you and if they're going to be okay and where your next meal is coming from. Something happens in the weight loss process that brings on the immediacy of the camps. All those boys, 20 something young men put their lives on hold for months and shredded their weight for it. I'm incredibly proud of all of them."
Watch our complete video interview with Jacob Elordi.
Emmy-winning actor Giamatti stars as a lonely man who confronts a past love by literally stepping into old photographs to recall his late girlfriend's face on the Netflix anthology series.
He says, "A lot of it's in the writing already. I could see it in the writing and so there's a way in which it's almost like it's a temperature chart. It was really clear where he goes up or down, and he gets upset or doesn't. That was a tricky line. I'm sure there's people who walk away from this thinking the guy is a real jerk. I didn't think he was a jerk. The levels of him being maybe unpleasant at times, that was tricky. But if it's well-written, that's helping you a lot. And the directors were really terrific and were really good at helping modulate it sometimes."
Watch our complete video interview with Paul Giamatti.
For the gripping Netflix drama, Graham plays the father of a teenage boy accused of the murder of a classmate. The project has brought to the forefront tough yet much-needed conversations about online bullying, toxic masculinity, and incel culture.
The co-creator, co-writer, and leading actor says, 'It was made with love, it was made with truth, honesty, respect, all of those things,' says Graham. 'It was made with a lot of care and compassion. But for it to have the impact and for it to resonate the way it has it's overwhelming.'
Watch our complete video interview with Stephen Graham.
For the Apple TV+ series, Henry plays Ray Driscoll, a con artist who, along with his lifelong friend Manny Carvalho (Wagner Moura), robs from drug dealers by posing as DEA agents.
He calls the project a "love story between these two friends who are more than friends. I don't even think the word 'friend' is appropriate. They've been through so much together. It's very easy to see series where it's a Black and Brown man paired together — violence, drugs, all the yahooey — but you never really get to the core of who they are. But these two men are afraid and vulnerable, and there is grief, there is regret."
Watch our complete video interview with Brian Tyree Henry.
This season of the Netflix series centers on the 1989 parricides of José (Javier Bardem) and Kitty Menendez (Chloë Sevigny) by their sons, Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Erik (Koch).
He says, "Our first scene that we shot as a family was in the first episode where Kitty rips the toupee off Lyle's head. It was such a great scene to start with because it really encapsulated the family dynamics. It was always loud. Dad is arguing, Lyle isn't agreeing, Kitty is smoking or drinking — not paying attention — and Erik is so quiet and just listening. It was a good starting point to create what the family was like."
Watch our complete video interview with Cooper Koch.
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