On a success streak

the 'middle' man

Thomas Middleditch was explaining recently why he should not be judged solely on the basis of his performance as Richard Hendricks, the brilliant but socially inept hero of the tech-industry satire Silicon Valley.

“Richard’s just one facet of stumbly, bumbly physical comedy that I’ve been doing for 15, 20 years,” Middleditch said by telephone, speaking from a Starbucks in New York City. The character is “just one element” of what he sarcastically described as “the Middleditch brand.”

Just then, his voice was drowned out by the sounds of several exuberant children rushing into the cafe. “Times have changed,” he said with mock exasperation, once the noise had abated. “They give kids caffeine. I don’t understand it.”

Awkwardly funny moments just seem to follow Middleditch, 35, a wide-eyed actor from the small Canadian city of Nelson, British Columbia, wherever he goes. There are plenty more on Silicon Valley, whose fourth season finds Richard at odds with his collaborators Bachman (T J Miller), Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani), Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Jared (Zach Woods), while seeking common ground with his rival Gavin Belson (Matt Ross).

Middleditch discussed identifying with Richard, his evolution as an actor and his new plane. These are edited excerpts from the conversation:

 Richard Hendricks’s defining attribute may be his gracelessness. Do you share any of that with him?

Hey, man, I’m smooth. I’m cool as a cucumber, baby.

 He wouldn’t even know to make that joke.

It’s not as if I’ve never been awkward myself. I’m a big gamer, so I’ve had access to that type of personality. I used to go to these LAN parties, that was before high-speed internet. The only way you could get lag-free gaming was to haul these huge computers to people’s houses. There was always some guy who was potentially on the spectrum, who knew everything about troubleshooting all the network issues and was crucial to the whole thing.

 Do you think Richard has grown over the four seasons of the show?

He’s got a pretty strong moral compass. That’s the thing that gets challenged in the fourth season. And if I have it my way — which I don’t, really — that’ll be the thing that we deal with a lot in Season 5. How 'Breaking Bad' is Richard going to get? Near the end of the season that’s coming up, a few things come into play, where he might have to do the unthinkable.

 Did you ever expect that playing him would also land you a Verizon endorsement deal?

Ten, 15 years ago, if you were on a successful TV show or in a movie, and you did a commercial, everyone would go, 'Oh, his career’s over.' But now, it’s the opposite. Studios look at it and go, this major corporation put a ton of money behind this person — he must be marketable. You get your sellout money and a nod from studios.

 You’re also a longtime member of the Improvised Shakespeare Company. Does that mean you’re well-versed in the works of the Bard?

Short answer, no. I was always the bad student. When we started doing this group, the director got this Shakespeare professor to give us reading homework, and then we’d come back to this class and have a private analysis. I was reading the CliffsNotes. And then just sitting in class, falling asleep, being like, 'Uh-huh, uh-huh.' You watch the show, and you’re like, 'These guys know what they’re doing — this guy’s an idiot.'

 When did you get turned onto acting?

In eighth grade, when I was just the school weirdo, my drama teacher put me in a play, and we came up with a few comedy bits. And that very first reaction, for an audience of supportive middle schoolers, I put my head out and pretended I got scared by the audience, and ducked back in. They all went: 'Yeah! That’s great!' I remember that very specific moment of hiding behind that curtain, being like, whoa, what is this?

 What do you do in your free time?

For a while, I was getting involved in current events, and it bummed me out too much. I still play video games. I got my pilot’s license last year, because I finally had the means to do it.

 What kind of craft do you fly? Am I using the right lingo?

What’s my bird? I got one of the more fuel-efficient, general-aviation airplanes out there. It’s called the Diamond DA40. It only widens the gap between the Hollywood elite and the common man, really, talking about what plane I’ve got.

 Can you text and fly?

You can. Honestly, when everything is on autopilot, there’s nothing else to do. My writing partner and I took our script and got work done while we were flying.