Picture Credit: Sony Pictures Television
Created by James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti, the comedy series Everyone is Doing Great landed on Netflix back in May with the release of its second season. We recently caught up with star Sean Carrigan, who plays Michael Niccoli.
Over 5 years after its debut season, comedy-drama Everyone is Doing Great returned for its second season in May. The series centers around Seth (Stephen Colletti) and Jeremy (James Lafferty), two actors who struggle to keep up the momentum of their careers following the conclusion of their popular vampire show, Eternal, years earlier.
Also involved as a series regular is Sean Carrigan, who plays Michael Niccoli, another struggling actor and a hopeless romantic. Carrigan plays Michael in both seasons. As we wait for the show to (hopefully!) score a renewal, we caught up with Carrigan to discuss his journey on Everyone is Doing Great so far, and his hopes for Season 3.
Let’s start at the beginning, as it were. How did your role in Everyone is Doing Great come about? And what about it excited you most?
This show is a labor of love, and it starts with the Nelms brothers [executive producers Ian and Eshom Nelms]. They’re the ones that really brought everybody together originally.
In 2012, we did a movie called Lost On Purpose and they directed that, and that’s kind of where I met James Lafferty the first time. It created a relationship of working together. To the Nelms credit, they like to use the same community of actors. They created a community of people to work together; same cinematographers, directors, producers and actors.
So I had done Lost on Purpose with them, then we did a movie called Strangely in Love and then I had a small part in Small Town Crime. They did that movie as well and then they were the producers, with Stephen [Colletti] and James [Lafferty]. They suggested me for the part of Michael Niccoli [in Everyone is Doing Great]. We got to do season one and it was just such a collaborative, amazing experience. All the stories are real stories — real actor stories and it’s an inside look at what it is to be an actor when you’re trying to get a job. The scene where in season one where he makes love to the pillow and then he also runs into a guy that he knows and they’re both dressed the same, that’s stuff that happens. Those are real stories that have happened to actors. When they asked me to be a part of it, I was like, yeah, of course.
You play Michael: In your own words, how would you describe him and what would you say are his definitive traits?
I think he’s an easygoing guy. He’s really dedicated to the craft of acting, but he also wants to meet somebody, and he starts having a crush on Andrea. He doesn’t want to show that too much — but he reveals it in episode eight in season one. He wants to be there for her as she’s going through this divorce, but he’s going the friend route. He’s like hoping that it becomes something more.
It does get a little bit feisty in season two as well, doesn’t it?
Yeah. Just a little bit.
How much of Michael is on the page, and how much of his character do you get to build through improvisation or collaboration with James and Stephen?
This show is one of the funnest shows I’ve ever had the opportunity to work on. The scenes are bullet-pointed. They want you to hit certain notes in the script, but it’s also very loose and improvisational, and they want you to bring your own flavour to it. And that’s why it was probably the funnest show I’ve ever worked on.
It’s so free flowing and it’s collaborative amongst all the actors and you don’t really know what the exact lines are going to be when you’re interacting with your co-stars. And so, it’s just kind of exciting and it’s kind of freeing. You don’t get really stuck to the page. There’s quite a bit of improvisation in all the scenes and I just tried to play it the way I saw him, you know, he’s just a good guy who’s not really trying to get over on anybody. And then he has a crush on her [Andrea].
You’ve mentioned improvisation. How do you adapt to that style of working? Do you change the way you prepare for these improv scenes?
I just try to imagine what this guy’s been through, what he’s going through, what’s happening. And you know, Stephen and James were also so awesome in providing like, Hey, this is what’s happening and see if you can like work that in, and this is what he’s going through. They were really good at like telling you the basic things to hit the notes, the certain things to move the script forward.
And then they gave you the freedom to just do whatever. And it’s pretty awesome. It legitimately is the funnest show I’ve ever worked on. It’s also sad when you’re having that much fun shooting something, it’s kind of like the end of summer camp; when you have a great time doing something, and then all of a sudden it ends, and you don’t want it to be over.
Since this project was created by peers who are also starring in it, how did that change the energy on set compared to more traditional projects?
Normally, when you’re on a show, you’ve got the creators sitting there watching you and judging you. So you usually feel that pressure. I didn’t really feel that pressure on this show because it is so collaborative and they’re also acting in it; you don’t really feel that pressure. I go back to the cast and the crew and everybody down the line, we have a great cinematographer named Johnny Derango. He’s also directed a couple of episodes; Michelle Lang, too, directed some of the episodes.
The Nelms brothers both came in and directed some episodes and Stephen and James also directed. There’s not really a lot of egos or anybody micromanaging. It’s more of a collaborative effort and you feel that. And I think that’s why it’s so fun and so free-flowing.
This show is a comedy, but it also feels raw and a good depiction of what actors go through. Would you say it’s at all accurate?
I mean, we’re all independent contractors. It’s all about what that next job is. That’s kind of what actors go through. You do a good job on, on a project and you’re hoping that it’s good enough to get you some more work on something else, on another project. Being an actor is being an independent contractor, you know, you just try to keep putting good work out there so that it gets you the next job. And you don’t know when that next job is coming.
And that’s what happens with these guys on this show. It shows you that’s what actors go through.
The community around Everyone Is Doing Great is so passionate, and people are constantly buzzing about what’s next for these characters. Where would you like to see Michael’s journey go if the story wrestle continue?
We’d love to do another season. The fans seem to like it. We want to make sure that when fans watch it, they give it the double thumbs up on Netflix because that helps a lot. Just keep watching it and spreading the word.
I’d like to see Michael get a shot. He’s a good guy and he really cares about her [Andrea]. I think there’s, there’s something with Michael: he also has a temper and we haven’t really seen that. We’ve seen like glimpses of it, like in season one where he gets teased about looking like Jason Statham. Then in season two, when Jeremy’s walking by him and, and he like thinks he’s coming at him and throws him down. You know, does a judo move. So, we’ll see. I think there’s something more to that that. There’s something simmering and brewing inside him, some anger issues, some unresolved anger issues that he’s tampered down, maybe.
What’s next for you?
We’re hoping on a season three for Everyone is Doing Great. I’ve got another movie coming out. It’s called Demonetise. It’s a horror comedy. It’s playing in a lot of film festivals right now, and it’s been winning a lot of awards. It’s about these ghost hunters who had big careers, they had a ghost hunting show and then the show ends — which is ironic because that’s kind of like Everyone is Doing Great.
Everyone is Doing Great Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
