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Chance season 2: Ethan Suplee talks the evolution of D

By Brittany Frederick

CHANCE -- "'The Collected Works of William Shakespeare" - Episode 205-- With the warehouse no longer safe, D needs a place to crash. Winter turns to his coping mechanism while Chance and Hynes face a major setback in their case against him. Carl has money trouble. D. (Ethan Suplee), shown. (Photo by: Ali Goldstein/Hulu)
CHANCE -- "'The Collected Works of William Shakespeare" - Episode 205-- With the warehouse no longer safe, D needs a place to crash. Winter turns to his coping mechanism while Chance and Hynes face a major setback in their case against him. Carl has money trouble. D. (Ethan Suplee), shown. (Photo by: Ali Goldstein/Hulu) /
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Chance star Ethan Suplee spoke to FanSided about the evolution of his character D as Chance season 2 pushes him into new and different dark places.

In Hulu‘s original series Chance, Ethan Suplee is a force to be reckoned with. As Darius Pringle, simply referred to as D, his character is the muscle and the confidant for Dr. Eldon Chance (Hugh Laurie) as he navigates the dark side of the human condition.

With new episodes of Chance season 2 streaming Wednesdays, FanSided caught up with Ethan to talk about how the second season is filling in the details of his enigmatic character and how he has gotten to know D a little bit better.

FanSided: Especially as there’s so much unknown with D, what has it been like to have Chance season 2 to revisit his character?

Ethan Suplee (ES): It was really cool. I felt lie the whole first season was almost like a very long in-depth pilot, instead of what the actual show was. There was a lot of stuff that I looked forward to, that I discussed with the writers, about the second season that the first season was really setting up.

FanSided: So were you aware of more of his background than the audience is? Because he does keep a lot very close to the vest.

ES: I read the book [by Kem Nunn] prior to the beginning of the first season, so I understood what was going to happen in the first season. And then in the second season, there was a lot of stuff that we did that they had talked to me about prior to even the first season. There was a whole storyline in the second season that I was aware of.

FanSided: How does that kind of approach affect how you play the character? Because you know all these things, but this is a character who doesn’t show a lot and doesn’t even speak that much. Is it harder to play a character like D?

ES: Definitely. The character is very still, which gives me a little bit of anxiety. Because that could just be another excuse to not work hard, if you don’t have to do anything. But it actually became work to be still, which was interesting.

FanSided: How does Chance season 2 compare to the first season, in terms of what we can expect from him?

ES: In the first season, it’s established that I’m a tough guy, but then for the majority of the show any reference to it is me talking about being a tough guy. In the second season, there is definitely more of me actually getting to do some of the stuff I talk about, which I found to be a lot of fun.

FanSided: And you get to continue working with an impressive cast led by Hugh Laurie.

ES: I was always entertained working with Hugh. He’s very funny and smart and had incredible ideas. And as we’d end one take of a very heavy scene, he would always make it light with a quip. Clarke [Peters, who plays Carl] is also an incredibly talented actor. And Brian Goodman [who plays Det. Hynes] I got to do a lot of scenes with; that was a lot of fun. It was a great experience.

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FanSided: Chance is also the first time that you’ve been a series regular on a TV drama. We’re used to you doing comedy, and more film than TV. Has that been a change of pace for you?

ES: Totally. TV and movies are so different. I feel that when you’re on TV, people generally feel like they’ve been inside their house and they feel like they know you, so there’s less of a barrier there. When they see you in a movie, that’s something they generally traveled outside their house to experience, so they’re more detached from it. And I have been approached differently, certainly, because of this.

FanSided: Is there another role you wish more people would’ve seen? Give us one more Ethan Suplee role that would surprise audiences.

ES: The thing I really enjoyed doing and oddly did a lot of research for was The Fountain, which I don’t think a lot of people saw. It’s a really big-budget art film but [Darren Aronofsky] continues to make such radical movies. I thought The Fountain was so awesome, and I got to play neither dark nor comedic, just this straight up dude who worked as a lab technician, which was somewhat unusual for me.

FanSided: Is there a piece of advice that Ethan Suplee would give D in the rest of Chance season 2?

ES: I more often than not find myself wishing I could take the advice that he’s giving out. I am so impressed by this guy, because I’m constantly questioning myself and wondering if I’m doing the right thing and if the information I’ve decided to go with is accurate. This guy knows exactly what he’s doing, doesn’t ever doubt himself. [He] makes a decision and goes with it, so if anything, I’m trying to learn from him.

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New episodes of Chance stream Wednesdays on Hulu. For more interviews and the latest on fall TV, be sure to follow the Television category at FanSided here.