‘NOS4A2’: Paul Schneider Breaks Down The Hourglass Man’s Final Hour

Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) might be the main bad guy on AMC’s NOS4A2, but there’s plenty of room in the world of the show for other, awful people. Take, for example, Jonathan “The Hourglass Man” Beckett (Paul Schneider), who has been teased the past few episodes but came to the forefront in tonight’s appropriately named “The Hourglass”.

In the hour, Maggie (Jahkara Smith) decides to take matters into her own hands after her friend Vic McQueen’s (Ashleigh Cummings) disastrous run in with the dastardly duo of Manx and Beckett last episode. After tracking him down to his hotel, she proceeds to taunt, tease and play with her prey, ultimately discovering his magical hourglass that allows him to control people, as well as a key to avoiding the seizures that plague her whenever she uses her own magical Scrabble tiles.

By episode’s end, not only has Beckett discovered he won’t live forever — like Manx — he’s lying on the floor of his hotel room, stabbed in the belly, his hourglass smashed. Schneider, the award-winning actor best known for his roles in Bright Star, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,  and two seasons playing the much-maligned Mark Brendanawicz on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, wouldn’t rule out The Hourglass Man returning in some form — “You’ve seen enough TV to know that if someone catches something in the belly or in the shoulder, it doesn’t seem like they’re gone-gone,” he told Decider — but still, for the moment consider this an exit interview, as Schneider discusses creating Beckett, working opposite Smith, and how the clothes made the man.

Decider: Leading up to this episode, how much did you know about the character? How did you start to create him, given that we had relatively spotty scenes with The Hourglass Man before this episode?

Paul Schneider: Well, a lot of it I was kind of just catching up with the rules of the world — what can and can’t happen in this supernatural world. Also, what does it mean to be a Strong Creative and how are these gifts, how exactly do they manifest? And how do they pick Jonathan Beckett? A lot of it was kind of figuring out how I feel about that. A lot of it was just putting on nice clothes and remembering my lines.

Given he’s staying in nice hotel rooms, he’s putting on nice clothes, how much of that led into creating the voice, creating the physicality of the character?

I mean, a lot. Obviously I try, no matter the production, I try to play different people as much as I can. When you’re wearing clothes that [you] would never wear, [you] act weirder than you may act usually. I think that’s true for everybody. I just thought he was kind of a fun guy with a fragile ego. I like the fact that he was superficial and concerned with his appearance. I thought of him as a guy who doesn’t like to work very hard. I feel like, for that kind of guy, his ability to remote control people is really great. Then, when he does have to touch people, he picks and chooses who he touches.

In terms of controlling people — maybe this was not purposeful, maybe it was — but it certainly seems in your performance that you’re almost leaning in a little bit. He’s moving forward, you’re kind of leading with your face and your head in terms of the performance. Is that reading into it too much? Or is that something that you were trying to aim for?

If I was a liar, I would be like, “Yeah, you got it. I really meant to do that.” And I didn’t. But I know what you’re talking about, because I’ve seen a few photos and I’m kind of — I have terrible posture, but — I’m kind of standing in a way that I wouldn’t in normal life. I like when those un-self-conscious moments kind of conjure in the midst of the story and a film crew and on set. Is that part of him? Yes, absolutely it is. If I do it, then it’s part of him. But how much of it is on purpose? I don’t know. Part of my brain, I would say that it is on purpose. It doesn’t have to be consciously purposeful. I feel like I get on set, and with as much time as you can, you’re trying things. But when you pop on a series that’s already sort of a moving train, you have to go with your gut right off the bat. Because there’s not a lot of time to adapt or change and find out what works, you just have to accept that what you do is you. What you do is Jonathan, and that’s working because you say it is.

Let’s talk about Jahkara J. Smith, because most of this episode in particular is spent opposite her. It’s almost a two-person play situation, particularly once you get to the hotel room. What was it like working with her? What was it like bouncing off her character?

It was interesting. It was great to work with people I’ve not worked with before, and getting to know how other people operate. In a strange way, he kind of wants what he wants. He’s not listening so much to her. The words don’t really matter. He’s looking past her in an asshole-ish way. But I did like the fact that the scenes at the bar were long. Part of you is always in there hoping that you don’t screw up, and hoping that you don’t suck and you forget your lines, and all this other business. I’ve been doing this for I don’t know how many years, and I still get on set and hope you don’t suck. But I like a film, I like a TV show that has [a] long scene where actors can act for longer periods of time. Those are really fun. Obviously when you’re working with good people, it makes it better.

You touched on this a little bit, and this might be something that’s more down to the writing than the performance… Hourglass Man, the way that he’s presented is very toxic masculinity embodied: from the swilling whiskey, to the way that he moves… The thing that I thought was interesting though is that once he propositions Maggie and she shuts him down, there’s not a lot of sexual menace going on there. There’s definitely physical menace, certainly he attacks her toward the end of the episode. But there’s a balance there that feels more responsible in today’s TV atmosphere. I’m curious to get your take on that, whether that was anything you discussed on set? And if it’s anything that you tried to modulate in different ways in the scene?

I mean, no. It’s really not. I resisted the idea that I would seduce her. I feel like people are most seductive when they’re not trying to seduce anyone. If you put people in the right costume and you put them at a bar at night, you’re in a seductive context. So you don’t have to do too much. It’s a man, it’s a woman, it’s a TV show. You kind of know there’s an undercurrent of sex. There’s a hotel upstairs. It’s all there. You don’t have to act sexy. But I certainly don’t think that Jonathan is there to have sex with her and get what he wants. Weirdly, I kind of felt that he was asexual in a way. I feel like he’s more of a masturbater than a copulator. He’s just too interested in himself to bother with anyone else on a sexual level. In terms of what he wants, he’ll eat through whatever he needs to eat through to get it.

There’s also a nice modulation that you do, going from this very serpentine calm as you’re very focused, as you said, past Maggie the entire time; to going into extreme rage once he finds out that he won’t live forever. How did you find that through-line for the character?

Well, I don’t know. I wish I could say that there was a lot of thought that went into it. I studied editing in film school, so as an actor I feel like I’m just there to give the editor flavors. There may have been some takes where I didn’t get as angry. I’m kind of giving people flavors within a certain — colors, within a certain palate, that I think is acceptable for this character. Maybe this wasn’t that character, maybe there’s other characters in my career that I’ve given conscious thought to. But this guy, I was doing what I was doing and it seemed to work. I’m always trying to think in terms of — working with the camera department, that’s good. Each shot, I’m giving them different colors for each shot so they could go and whip that together in the editing room. If they need an angry, they’ve got an angry if they need him. Seductive, they’ve got a seductive. If they need him cool and icy, they’ve got him cool and icy. I’m just trying to give people flexibility. That’s what I always wanted when I was an editor. That’s how I figured out how to do these things.

He’s obviously not in a great place by the end of the episode: stabbed, his hourglass is smashed. But is he dead and gone? Is he 100% done with, at this point?

You’ve seen enough TV to know that if someone catches something in the belly or in the shoulder, it doesn’t seem like they’re gone-gone. But also, in this world, all sorts of things can happen. People can come back from being burned alive. Even if I was dead-dead, if they wanted me back, I���m sure that in the world of Joe Hill and Jami O’Brien, they could figure something out.

Before I let you go, most important question I can ask you: in a match-up, you have full power, between Charlie Manx and Hourglass Man, who do you think wins in the fight?

I think Charlie Manx wins. If Jonathan Beckett was as strong, he wouldn’t be as obsessed with Charlie Manx as I think he is. I think he’s obsessed with Charlie Manx’s power. I would say that he’s not. I don’t think really powerful people, someone who’s honestly powerful, they’re not obsessed with peers.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

NOS4A2 airs Sundays at 10/9c on AMC.

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