Interview: From Penguin to Playwright, Robin Lord Taylor Talks About Portraying Tennessee Williams Off-Broadway

Robin Lord Taylor has been acting for 20 years. He gained fame as The Penguin on the hit TV series Gotham and as a co-creator and co-star of the live talk show Creation Nation with his friend Billy Eichner.

Now, Taylor is starring off-Broadway in Gregg Ostrin’s Kowalski, in which Tennessee Williams meets Marlon Brando just before the aspiring actor shoots to fame as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.

TheaterMania spoke with Taylor about the challenges of the role, his experience portraying an openly gay man, and his connection with co-star Brandon Flynn, who plays Brando.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

How did you get this high-profile role?

Even though you go through feast and famine as an actor—I hadn’t worked for two years before this show—one of the great things about this business is you meet so many special people along the way. When this play came to Colin Hanlon, our director, he somehow knew I was the one he wanted and offered me the part—through a text. We had met many years ago when I did Creation Nation at Ars Nova and remained friends. This play has been a lifeline for me, and I am eternally grateful. Every day, I wonder if I would have gotten the role if I had to audition. It’s proof you never know where a relationship will lead to.

How much did you know about Tennessee Williams before you got this part?

I knew little dribs and drabs, to be honest. Being a gay man in theater, I knew he was one of our first gay celebrities, sort of the American Oscar Wilde. Growing up, I lived close to Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa, and I did summer theater there. I remember Tennessee’s photo was on the wall. And in I did write my AP English paper in high school about two Williams plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Since getting the role, I’ve found John Lahr’s biography of Tennessee, Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh, to be incredibly helpful.

What’s been the hardest part of capturing Williams onstage?

I kept finding myself in this trap. Tennessee was plagued by insecurity and depression throughout his life and all of that came to the forefront in rehearsal. It’s so easy for me as a person to go into that darkness. I was afraid we were losing the comedy in the show. As Tennessee, there are moments in the play when I go nuclear, but I knew if I did that all the time, those moments wouldn’t land with gravitas. If you scare the audience, they don’t know when to laugh because they are always worried about Tennessee. Luckily, the minute we had an audience, they realized, as I did, that the play has both dramatic and comedic elements.

Tell me how it feels to be an out gay man playing an out gay man?

Having been in this industry since I graduated Northwestern University in 2000, I am well aware how many actors don’t feel safe out of the closet. I remember being told to “butch it up” so often at the beginning of my career. Like a lot of people, I was out in real life but I stayed in the closet for my career. Ultimately, I internalized the message and presented more masculine energy. I dropped my voice and talked like a stoner/skater for like 20 years. I am still learning to unblock my fear; I am still worried no one is going to work with me because I’m gay. Those things stay with you for decades, if not forever.

So, has it been a particular struggle to portray the “gay” aspects of Tennessee?

It’s been hard finding his flamboyance and embracing his femininity. On the flip side, I read that early on, he decided not to be ashamed to be a homosexual, and I love that so much. Knowing that he never went back into the closet has helped me to find my path forward in this role and dismantle my own stumbling blocks.

Finally, let’s talk about your relationship with Brandon Flynn, who plays Marlon Brando.

We have mutual friends, and we followed each other on social media, but we didn’t know each other. We had lunch before our first read-through, and it was great. But the play is basically a two-hander, and I was worried how well he could act. And I’m sure that went both ways. But he can act, and we have great chemistry and trust in each other. I was so fortunate to have had that same experience with Cory Michael Smith on Gotham, which I discovered when we had our first scene together. Chemistry like that means you don’t have to work so hard, and it’s easier when you have to do so in the toughest moments. But honestly, if you can walk away from any sort of show and feel like you have made friends for life, that’s the most special thing. At “Kowalski,” we’re like a pack of care bears in the back.