The cast of American Hostage is doing incredible work. The MGM+ series stars Giovanni Ribisi as manic, desperate hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis, who’s got an axe to grind with real estate executive Dick Hall (played by Kristoffer Polaha). And when radio personality Fred Heckman gets involved, that has effects on Dick’s wife Barbara (portrayed by Mireille Enos). All of the actors are immediately on their ‘A’ game.

TVBrittanyF.com spoke with Giovanni, Kristoffer and Mireille to learn how they formed their characters. The actors discussed the nail-biting premiere that required Kristoffer and Giovanni to be physically tied together. Plus, how did Mireille feel about being in a crime drama where she wasn’t the detective? Learn more about the American Hostage cast’s on-set process in our interview.

Brittany Frederick: Giovanni, this isn’t the first time you’ve portrayed a real-life antagonist. You also played mobster Joe Colombo in The Offer. Did you learn anything on that series that you brought to the role of Tony Kiritsis?

Giovanni Ribisi: If I learned anything on both projects. It was the rigors of a television schedule, which can be pretty intense and really focused, but also really positive. You’re getting a lot done, and you’re able to explore in more detail all the nuances of a story. And so I think it was just the preparation for all that. You’re going into battle. We’re doing 14 or 15-hour days in Winnipeg in the middle of the winter. It was a lot.

Speaking of a lot, Kristoffer, your performance is so physically constrained because Dick has that shotgun wired to the back of his neck, which keeps him also connected to Tony. How did you approach that unique challenge, and how much did it impact your take on the character?

Kristoffer Polaha: One of the biggest cheats was the the props department approached me, and they said we have plastic handcuffs or we have these metal ones. I said, I need the metal ones, please. And they said, we have a plastic chain or a metal chain. I said, can you get me a metal chain? They had a plastic lock and I said [I wanted] a metal lock.

Giovanni had a choice between a foam gun and a real gun, and he used the real gun. I trusted Giovanni with the apparatus. And I said, I’m comfortable with you guys putting this thing around my neck. If he drops the gun, I can hold the weight of it; I’ll be fine. And so it was all real.

And then your body doesn’t know when Giovanni Ribisi running on 100 percent octane is screaming at you. The hair on your arm stands up and you react. Your body doesn’t know it’s acting So, for me, the job was ike that game that acting students play where you pass an invisible ball, and you have to keep the ball in the air. My job was just to make sure I was ready to hit the ball when he tossed it my way. It was an exercise in listening and staying present.

Another fun element of American Hostage is Mireille, you’re a familiar face in the genre but Barbara is the exact opposite role we’d expect you to play. How interesting was it to have a new way into this story, instead of being the one solving the crime?

Mireille Enos: It was so wonderful. I am grateful for every story I’ve gotten to tell, and these extraordinarily brilliant women and capable women, [who were] tough and all these things. But it was so lovely to play a regular lady, who is just trying to provide a lovely life for these people that she loves. That feels more like most of our lives. I have a family at home. When I’m not at work solving crimes [laughs] I’m just mom, and it was refreshing to bring it closer to home.

Aside from the overarching plot, there are so many great small moments in American Hostage. What stood out to you for your characters?

Ribisi: I don’t think it ended up in the show, but at one point Kristoffer and I convinced Nina—who was directing the episode—to get to start wrestling. I think it was really deep into the schedule, so we kind of had all this pent-up stuff. For some reason we both at the beginning of the take went [growls] and then we started wrestling, and it was real. It was a lot. But that’s one of my favorites.

Polaha: In Episode 2, there’s a moment we jump into Dick Hall’s head, and it’s on a date with his wife Ibby, played by Kat Cunning. There’s a moment when they look up at me, and it was this incredible moment [that] says everything about why she falls in love with Dick and why their relationship worked. It was a beautiful moment, so I think people should look out for that moment.

Enos: There’s two first dates in the series, actually. There’s Ibby and Dick’s first date, and then there’s not romantic, but there is a [scene] where Barbara and Ibby sit at the same table and have a conversation, and it’s a beautiful parallel moment.

Other than your own performances, is there anything you love about American Hostage purely as fans? Scenes you’re not in, or co-stars you were impressed by?

Enos: There’s no way I can sit between these two men and not talk about them as a unit. Their performances are so incredible, and the way that they feed off of one another is so incredible, and the humanity that Giovanni brings to this person. There’s this thing that is said, that in order to play someone you have to love them, and I don’t know if Giovanni feels like he loves Tony, but he allowed me to love him and to see the humanity in him. It’s just a gift to watch these guys work.

Polaha: I’ve had a front row seat at Jon Hamm’s [work] from Mad Men, watching him go from a working actor to a star, and his performance in this, I think, is very vulnerable. He plays the stalwart; I always say he’s got the profile of a founding father. We’re used to seeing him as Don Draper and as these men with a really firm backbone. But there’s also something very vulnerable and and almost small [about Fred]. And he was so gracious in all of the process. There’s something really wonderful about Jon Hamm’s performance that’s surprising to me.

Ribisi: What’s great also about this is the music. They have this jazz musician named Mulatu… and really great original jazz from the ’70s.

Enos: Even just the opening sequence—I can’t hear it without wanting to move, and I think it informs the way the audience is supposed to approach this piece. There’s so many impulses and energies going through it.

Polaha: And they talked about that during filming, right?

Ribisi: Yeah, they had that from the beginning. Eileen [Myers] and Sharon [Hoffman], who were running the show with Shawn Ryan, the writers. [had] a really special talent.

Polaha: o much credit goes to so many people, like [director, executive producer and co-star] Adam Arkin. He created a culture on set that when we arrived to Winnipeg, there was this environment and a culture already established.

Ribisi: He would show up at the airport to greet you, which is sort of old school, and bring you to your apartment.

Enos: He came to my apartment at 10 p.m. and carried my luggage.

Polaha: And his wife Michelle—mom and dad, thank you. It was a really beautiful experience. We’ve all had a lot of really cool experiences in this industry, but I think this will always hold a special place in all of our hearts for the community that was created and the connections that were created. It’s a special show, and I think that leaks through the screen. I think people watching it will feel that.

American Hostage airs Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on MGM+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of MGM+.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.