Note: The following contains spoilers for “Barry” Season 4, Episode 4.
“Barry” viewers witnessed one of the most emotional moments of the HBO series on Sunday’s episode, as the relationship between Noah Hank (Anthony Carrigan) and Cristobal (Michael Irby) came to a tragic end. And while Hank’s decision to allow Cristobal’s murder may come as a shock to some, Carrigan spoke to TheWrap about where her character was headed during that crucial moment.
In the fourth episode of the final season, Hank is approached again by the Chechis after trying to start his own criminal empire with Cristóbal. Under threat from the Chechis, Hank disbands the joint gang he and Cristobal had put together, much to Cristobal’s sadness. Later that night, upset with Hank’s decision, Cristóbal tries to break up with him. While Hank warns Cristobal that he can’t Leave him, hinting that he will be killed by the Chechis because he knows too much, Cristóbal calls his bluff. Cristobal is then killed by the Chechis, and we see Hank have an emotional breakdown inside the house and then literally swallow to harden his emotions. Cristobal is dead.
“It’s a long scene and it’s very difficult, and really heartbreaking,” Carrigan told TheWrap of filming the sequence. “So clearly there’s an intensity and an emotion that’s hard to drum up, but at the same time, when you understand what’s happening, and you understand all the circumstances of it, I think it’s a certain way makes sense.”
Carrigan said she hoped viewers would understand the position Hank was put in, but also the trajectory of his character over the course of the season.
“I hope audience members understand that all of these things were tracking. Cristóbal’s idea was that everyone should get along in this crime world, and everyone should just have this peaceful, happy family. And Then here the Chechens come and say, ‘No, we’re going to kill you all. That doesn’t work. We’ll take care of it.’ So Hank was left with a really tough decision. Do I continue with this kind of weak way of doing things, or do I toughen up and choose him and Cristobal over this dream that is so important to both of them? Was it near? I think ultimately going tough was the wrong choice, so it’s really sad in a certain way. But I think it’s a very beautiful and very compelling story.
The fight between Hank and Cristobal and Cristobal’s subsequent death make for a long, complex sequence that requires a range of emotions from both actors. Carrigan says the scene opened up even more when she started talking it over with showrunner and director Bill Hader.
“We rehearsed it quite a bit, and to be honest, it started shaping up in a really interesting way that was surprising to us. Sometimes things are written that way and the writing is really beautiful, but Then you say it out loud and you say, ‘Well, what is it really? It is a fight between two lovers. Where is love and where is misunderstanding? And how are they missing each other?’ I think they both needed to have a very strong point of view that they were coming at it, so once we saw it from there, it became a really simple but interesting scene.
In fact, Hader told TheWrap that as originally written, the camera was supposed to stay on Cristobal as we saw him killed. But when Carrigan walked Hader through the emotions Hank must have been feeling after Cristóbal walked out the door, Hader rewrote the scene to show Hank’s point of view.
Hader, who directed all of the episodes in season 4, admitted that there was some pushback in the writers’ room over the decision to have Cristóbal die, but felt it was necessary for Hank’s development to be more like a real crime boss. Tries to work and suffers the consequences. ,
“Hank did it all. He thought he could figure it out and he couldn’t and then he tried to get it back and he couldn’t. And he’s going to have to live with that decision and it’s going to haunt him forever.” Is going to do.