It’s been a busy (and buzzy) year on television for veteran actor Brian d’Arcy James.
First up was his role on the watercooler Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” as Andy Baker, the father of high schooler Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), whose suicide — and its aftermath — are at the show’s epicenter. Both James and Kate Walsh — who plays Andy’s wife and Hannah’s mother, Olivia — will return in the series’ second season.
He also has a pivotal role on Tuesday’s episode of “Manhunt: Unabomber,” Discovery’s series about Harvard-educated Ted Kaczynski (Paul Bettany), the terrorist dubbed the “Unabomber” after his mail bombs killed three and injured 23 others from 1978 to 1995.
In “Manhunt,” James plays Harvard professor Henry Murray, whom we meet via flashbacks. It’s 1958, and Kaczynski, just 16 at the time, enrolls at the university and falls under Murray’s spell as the unwitting subject of mind-control experiments — part of a CIA operation called “MKUltra” that’s linked to brainwashing Soviet spies. Scary stuff.
“This episode has a lot to do with informing us about Ted Kaczynski,” says James, 49. “It’s quite real in terms of unveiling how he became who he was. This was definitely one of the contributing factors — some might argue it was the defining [factor].”
Murray’s secret experiments on Kaczynski, which lasted three years, come across as really creepy — though James disagrees (somewhat) with that assessment. “This is a highly regarded professor at Harvard, and you have to remember this is the Cold War, coming out of World War II, when the government is trying to do everything it can to win this new war that’s not raging on a battlefield,” he says.
“Murray is doing his patriotic duty in finding ways the country can increase its ability to win the Cold War. The line he crosses in my mind … is that it’s immoral to do such things without someone’s consent.”
Next up for James, who also co-starred as one of the Boston Globe journalists in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight,” are roles in two movies. “Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House” is about FBI associate director Mark Felt (Liam Neeson), aka Watergate informant “Deep Throat.” “Molly’s Game” stars Jessica Chastain as a real-life woman who ran a high-stakes Hollywood poker game. “It’s her story in terms of the game she ran and all the characters that came in and out — and I’m one of those characters.”
Meanwhile, he’s currently shooting Season 2 of “13 Reasons Why,” and says he appreciates showrunner Brian Yorkey’s “uncanny ability” to create adolescent characters without being condescending or patronizing.
“Ultimately I think [the series] is a good thing in terms of awareness of teen suicide,” James says. “I have a 15-year-old-daughter [Grace] and I’m grateful for that experience, which allowed me to broach these subjects with her … and gave me a springboard to say, ‘This is what’s going on. Do you have anything relatable?’ These are terrible things that occur — bullying, rape — and they’re sometimes hard to discuss.”
“Manhunt: Unabomber” 10 p.m. Tuesday on Discovery