An Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated actor known for serious stuff, Michael Shannon certainly has a sly sense of humor.
He stars Nov. 6 in Netflix’s four-episode “Death by Lightning” mini-series, a recounting of the bizarre events that saw Shannon’s James A. Garfield unexpectedly become president of the United States in 1881, only to be assassinated the same year by a former admirer, mentally ill Charles Guiteau (“Succession” Emmy winner Matthew Macfadyen).
“I couldn’t believe someone wanted me to play a president,” Shannon, 51, laughed at a press conference with Macfadyen. “I didn’t see that coming.
“When I told people I was playing Garfield, they were, ‘Why are you playing the cat? Haven’t they already done that?’ And I was like, ‘No, I’m not playing Garfield the cat. I’m playing Garfield the president. Then they were ‘Who?’
“I now think,” Shannon explained, “President Garfield is one of my favorite people, based on all the research I did about him. The thing is, not many people know much about him.
“But if you want to know, there are plenty of ways to learn. Amazing literature you can read. Considering how short his term was, he has quite a moving legacy that you can still see to this day.”
“You’re right!” Macfadyen announced. “He’s like my favorite person that I didn’t know anything about. And now I’m glad I do.”
Noted Shannon, “His nickname was ‘The Greatest President America Never Had.’
As to what audiences might take from this political event of 150-odd years ago?
“I just think he was a man on a mission, in pursuit of what he believed in,” Shannon said.
“He actually was just trying to improve the lives of American citizens, which is kind of the job of the president. If you are listening,” he added with a laugh. “So, yeah, he was very focused and genuinely humble about what he was doing.
“He realized he could fail terribly and was probably quite nervous about what he wanted to do in the grand scheme of things.”
Garfield, unlike today’s billionaire politicos, grew up in poverty, only gradually rising to prominence.
“He held public office,” Macfadyen noted. “A public servant for years and years. And a soldier.”
His death resulted only indirectly from Guiteau’s single bullet on July 2, 1881. Doctors didn’t believe in germs. An infection created by unsanitary conditions proved fatal to Garfield who finally died Sept. 19.
Netflix streams all four episodes of “Death by Lightning” on Nov. 6
