Nat Wolff and Brittany O’Grady Talk The Consultant and Music That Got Them Into Character

When a new consultant is hired to improve the business of an app-based gaming company, the employees experience new demands and challenges that put everything into question — including their lives — in Prime Video’s The Consultant. Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet spoke with Nat Wolff and Brittany O’Grady about the show and the music that helped them get into character.

The series is based on a book by Bentley Little and is led by Christoph Waltz with Wolff and O’Grady playing characters dealing with his chaotic and manipulative energy. “I was not familiar with the book. I didn't really know that it was based off of or loosely based off of the book until we got into the process. I was just really excited to jump into a new story and be able to work with the actors who are a part of this,” shared O’Grady. “[To have] Nat be my partner in crime and Christoph be a leader and a mentor.”

The wild premise really appealed to Wolff. “I read the first script and I was like, okay, these characters are really interesting. The tone is really interesting and it's really mysterious and then that twist that happens at the end of the pilot,” he said. “I screamed in my apartment. I was like, oh my God, I have to be part of the show.”

Wolff loved the strong writing of the scripts. “This is the kind of show where there's a rhythm to the dialogue. I weirdly think that a lot of times I'll do things and I'll just kind of know the lines, but there wasn't lines that you could guild or like throw an extra word in. The lines told you what the scene was because that's what great writing does,” he shared. “It was like a play. It was like we all did a play, so really finding those scenes in a real way. Also the last episode, episode 8, was really exhausting in a great way, in a fun way.”

When it comes to exploring her character, O’Grady found it a great challenge. “I really felt the stakes for Elaine and the stress. She felt responsible for so many people's experiences and what was going on in CompWare. She was so invested and almost like detached. Like she had to be detached to be able to get through the craziness of what the job was and get what she wants out of it so that was consistently something that I worked on each script,” she said. “Also trying to balance that sense of vulnerability in there without it really being so obvious was something that was a main focus or a challenge in a way.”

Both actors also have strong musical backgrounds, but didn’t get a chance to jam together on set. “I got to see a really great video of Brittany playing the saxophone and I don't know if everybody knows that, but Brittany plays a mean sax solo especially maybe with a drink or two in her,” shared Wolff about his co-star. “I'm waiting to hear her play again.”

That background was a central resource to help Wolff get into the material in The Consultant. “Music is a real way in for me emotionally and into a character. I had a playlist where it really was a theme where rhythmically the music was kind of like the tone of the show,” he said, revealing his show playlist. “‘True Blue’ by Rod Stewart was one that was played on repeat. ‘So Good at Being in Trouble’ [by] Unknown Mortal Orchestra. As it got more intense… ‘You Can Have It All’ [by] Yo La Tengo. A lot of bops. ‘Vicious’ [by] Lou Reed. Oh, ‘Jennifer’s Body’ [by] Hole. Labi Siffre’s ‘Bless the Telephone.’ I used to listen to that every single day.”

This is the first show that Wolff has starred in since he made his acting debut 16 years ago in Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band. “I just feel so grateful that that's where I started. This is the first time I've done a television show since then and it's probably the most family feeling I've had since I actually worked with my family as a child,” Wolff shared. “And my brother and I are still making music together so we just put out a song like a week ago.”

The Consultant is streaming on Prime Video.