Tony Shalhoub Shares The Inspiration Behind Abe’s Emmy-Worthy ‘Maisel’ Scene: “It Was Just A Perfect Storm”

Some of television’s greatest prestige comedies don’t just make us laugh, they make us weep. It’s a remarkable duality that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel nails in its penultimate episode, “The Princess and the Plea,” when Tony Shalhoub delivers one of the most moving performances of his career.

Throughout Amy Sherman-Palladino’s Prime Video comedy, Shalhoub’s character Abe — the Weissman family patriarch — displays unflinchingly rigid views on academics, finances, societal expectations, and the way his family’s future should unfold. When Joel cheats on Midge at the top of the series, Abe tells her to go back to him. He not-so-secretly disapproves of his daughter’s stand-up career throughout the show’s five-season run. Whether he’s insulting his wife Rose for trying to analyze a play or suggesting the real Gordon Ford couldn’t possibly have hired Midge, he rarely wastes an opportunity to talk down to the women in his life. And while obsessing over the intellectual potential of Weissman first-born men, he fails to consider the dreams, desires, or talents of his daughter and granddaughter. After Ethan flunks his aptitude test and Esther performs a flawless piano solo (plus five seasons of Midge and Rose trying to get through to him), the stubborn, critical-to-a-fault Abe Weissman has an epiphany in an emotional scene that truly “hit home” for Shalhoub.

“I have not seen that episode yet. But I definitely —  it was kind of a game-changer scene for me in the sense that I had a personal connection to it, too,” the Emmy-winning actor told Decider in a Zoom interview. “Obviously I’ve been working on Abe’s trajectory and this relationship, and it’s evolved over the seasons. But that scene really hit home, because I have two daughters that are around Rachel’s age.”

Near the end of Season 5, Episode 8, Abe meets his pals Gabe (Chris Eigeman), Arthur (Kenneth Tigar), and Henry (Patrick Breen) for dinner. As the men discuss Hamptons property values, movies, and television, Abe silently broods and sips his wine, contemplating a weighty introspective revelation. “I’m — it’s just the whole goddamn world. You know?” he says when pressed about his silence. “I’m getting maudlin. I’ve just turned 64, and at a time when I should be comfortable — settled in body and mind — I’m not. At all. I suddenly find myself at a crossroads and everything feels upside down…My fear though, is that the world is as it always was, and I just didn’t see it. That a lot of us didn’t see it. Us men. Our collective blindness has caused a lot of harm. We control so much. Meddle so much. And to what end?” His admission cracks the floodgates, inspiring a crucial discussion and vulnerability at the table — but more importantly, within himself.

“My daughter was dumped by her husband out of nowhere that was her saber tooth. Instead of collapsing from the weight, she emerged stronger. A new person, so I thought. But now I think perhaps that was who she was all along. I never really took her seriously. My son, Noah, I took seriously. I would take them to Columbia with me every week so he could dream of what he could be. I don’t remember if I ever did that. I don’t think it ever occurred to me,” Abe continues. “And as unfathomable as this career choice of hers is, she’s doing it on her own with no help from me or her mother. Where did this come from? This strength. This fearlessness that — that I never had. That my poor son never had. What could she have been if I had helped her? And not ignored her; ignored who she really is. My daughter is a remarkable person. And I don’t think I’ve ever said that to her.”

When asked what Shalhoub tapped into to access the Emmy-worthy performance, he spoke of his own daughters. “I’ve experienced that moment of seeing them as, you know, not my children, but as separate autonomous beings that have gone beyond what I ever could have imagined. And also exhibiting and demonstrating qualities that I had nothing to do with instilling in them,” he said. “It was a relatable scene for me, and they wrote it so beautifully. And I have these three actors that were just so good in the scene, and Patrick Breen — who I’ve worked with a number of times — so it was just a perfect storm. And also just easy, because just focusing on Rachel and having had this experience of working with Rachel for over the past five years, six years. It’s easy. It’s easy to be that moved and that invested.”

Throughout the powerful scene, which exceeds six minutes, Shalhoub’s physicality, facial expressions, and sincere tone add masterful layers to the performance. On top of delivering several mouthfuls of dialogue over the backdrop of a bustling restaurant, and swishing — but never spilling — a full glass of red wine, Shalhoub abandons Abe’s protective pride; reveals that Midge owns his apartment; reevaluates his role as a husband and father; and fully leans into long-overdue character development.

To fans like myself who find themselves bawling at the sheer sight of Shalhoub in Maisel‘s final two episodes, the actor jokes, “I’m gonna get some cosmetic surgery, so don’t worry about it,” before earnestly apologizing: “I am so sorry I put you through that.”

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is currently streaming on Prime Video. The series finale premieres Friday, May 26.