Summary

• Lincoln's assassination is explored in Apple TV+'s Manhunt through the lens of his friend, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, in a country-wide search.
• Actor Hamish Linklater brings a fresh take on Lincoln, focusing on his personal life, friendships, and historical significance in the show.
• The show provides an edge-of-your-seat thriller exploring little-known aspects of Lincoln's story, shedding light on history and the man himself.

One of America's most iconic former Presidents is being brought to life with a new lens in Manhunt. The Apple TV+ show marks the latest exploration of Abraham Lincoln's life, but more tragically, his death as the primary focus is on his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, as he investigates the 16th President's assassination and conducts a country-wide search for the perpetrator responsible, John Wilkes Booth. The show also utilizes flashbacks to explore Lincoln and Stanton's friendship and joint efforts to enact Reconstruction and institute a better quality of life for freed slaves.

Hamish Linklater joins an extensive roster of actors to bring Lincoln to life on screen, which ranges from more dramatic affair like Daniel Day-Lewis in the Steven Spielberg-helmed biopic Lincoln and Billy Campbell in the 2013 TV movie Killing Lincoln, to more tongue-in-cheek approaches like Benjamin Walker in the 2012 adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Linklater, well-known for his roles in Legion and Midnight Mass, among many other titles, brings his own unique approach to the iconic figure while also staying true to his past.

Ahead of the show's premiere, Screen Rant participated in a roundtable interview with Hamish Linklater to discuss Manhunt, the responsibility he felt in bringing Lincoln to life on screen, his emotional connection to the character and what he hopes audiences take away from the project.

Linklater Looked At Prior Lincoln Portrayals "More As A Fan Than As A Thief"

Screen Rant: Hamish, it's great to get to chat with you. I've been a big admirer of your work for many years, and Manhunt is a great addition to your filmography. The story of Abe Lincoln is one that's been told many times throughout the years, and by many different people, ranging from Benjamin Walker in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter to Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln. Did you look at all of these prior portrayals in order to find a unique take for yourself?

Hamish Linklater: I looked at a lot, but probably more as a fan than as a thief. If you want to steal from the best, you want to start with Daniel Day Lewis, probably, but I don't know, man. He's like Fort Knox. I don't know how you even get in there. The man comes from another planet, or a heavenly cloud, or something like that. So, I really appreciate all the — god, just unbelievable actors who have played the part. But he's such a great man, he contains multitudes. So, what we were doing was really trying to focus on the guy who was a husband, and he was a father, and he was a friend. That was really the focus of this aspect of Lincoln, I think that we were going for.

Karen Butler, UPI: One of the things that struck me about the series was that it really talks about the difference between infamy and fame, because somebody did great deeds. How do you think that's relevant in 2024?

Hamish Linklater: Gosh, what a great question. It seems like it can be a pretty thin to invisible line between notoriety and just being notorious. Yeah, I don't know. I love the Booth family. I had read this biography of Edwin Booth — like a good theater nerd would — it's out of print, it's called Prince of Players. That was how I found out about the Booth family. It was a long time ago. But it's just such a wild thing that [someone like] the brother of Leonardo DiCaprio killed the President. I mean, the most famous actor in the world at the time, his brother. They're just a fascinating family.

Jamie Stalcup, World Screen / TV Drama: How did you prepare for taking on the role of someone who was such a pivotal part of history? I know you said you were focused on bringing out the aspects of Lincoln as a father and as a husband, but did you consult any sources to find out more about those features of his personality?

Hamish Linklater: Yeah, I certainly read a lot of those big authoritative books, but I think when I was on set, I'd be reading that George Saunders, Lincoln in the Bardo book, which is so heartbreaking. It's just unbelievable. It's about him and his son, and I think he just carried that with him every day. God, he carried so much mortality inside him during that presidency, so I think that was part of the job. And then the other big part of the job was done for me, which is these beautiful makeup artists. Vincent Van Dyke made my face, and these wonderful artists put it on for like three and a half hours every day, and put up with my jokes, and me trying to sing like Lincoln would, and getting into him as well as I possibly could.

Linklater Gets "Terribly Emotional" Reflecting On Lincoln & Stanton's Friendship

So, one of the aspects I love about Lincoln in the show is yours and Tobias' characters' friendship. It feels very authentic, even as we jump around different timelines. What was it like developing that rapport with him both during rehearsals in between shooting?

Hamish Linklater: You know, Monica did such a beautiful job, I think, calibrating their relationship and showing times when Stanton had to be steel, while Lincoln was unsure, and moments when Lincoln was like, "This is what we're doing." [Chokes up] I get terribly emotional talking about this. And then Stanton would follow. But showing that friendship and how it developed — I mean, they began as rival lawyers, and then became the closest friends. It was necessary for motivating what would follow, which is the actual blood and body of the series, this sort of locomotive chase to catch the killer, and expose who sent those three assassins out that night. And then to defend the Union, and get Reconstruction started. It is because, in large measure, of this brotherhood and this love between these two men.

Karen Butler, UPI: What was it like filming the assassination scene? Did you feel the weight of that?

Hamish Linklater: Well, it was really fun, because I had never heard Our American Cousin before. It's creaky, and the big laugh line — "You sockdologizing old man-trap", that brings the house down and covers John Wilkes' approach, and everyone's laughing — it's shot so beautifully by Carl, because you just see that it's just this beautiful date night that they finally get to have together. He's finally laughing for the first time in five years, and then he's killed. It's just so cruel, but it is also so lovely that he did get those laughs. And then, I do have to say, Anthony Boyle is just an animal. He's just the epitome of a true actor, and he would vault out of that balcony over and over. And they'd be like, "Wait till we put the pads down. The stunt guy's gonna do it." And he would just jump. He's just fantastic.

Jamie Stalcup, World Screen / TV Drama: What are you hoping that viewers take away from seeing your portrayal of Lincoln and from the series as a whole?

Hamish Linklater: Well, what I hope they take from the series is what a good watch it is, what a good edge of your seat thriller it is, and what a shocking bit of history it is. It's a story we think we know, but we are — at least, I had no idea that this was actually an attempt to reverse the results of the Civil War, and it almost happened, mind-boggling. [Chuckles] And then in terms of the portrayal, he's so special to me. He's so special to all of us. Ideally, I only hope that people will want to lean in more to that President and the message that he bore that's really, I think, so special.

So I kind of wanted to touch on your mention of the date night aspect of it and how you wanted to tap into his being a husband. Much like with Tobias, I love the rapport and dynamic that you have with Lili throughout this show. What was it like finding that chemistry and that relationship of Abe and Mary Todd together?

Hamish Linklater: Well, Lili and I did a movie together, I think probably 20 years ago, called Live from Baghdad, and we were sort of embedded journalists in Baghdad before Gulf War 1 in the Middle East. That's basically the sort of actor work we needed to do to build the relationship of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. We had a history, we have a friendship, and she's just the most wonderful human. So, it was really lucky that we had — I think she would think that as well — that history to bring to the characters, because certainly we wanted to. And Monica Beletsky's credo was, "This is a real marriage in a time of national crisis. But these are people who love each other." And that's the story we wanted to tell.

Karen Butler, UPI: You mentioned a little bit about the makeup, but I was wondering about the clothes and the sets and everything, how they helped you do your work, just immersing yourself in that world?

Hamish Linklater: Oh, everything was so incredibly authentic. From the discomfort of the boots, to the texture of the wallpaper. There was no sort of distraction. The only distraction was how thorough the reality was that you were stepping into every day on set, and then that goes away, thank goodness, and you're like, "Oh, I don't need to use any substitutions or sense memory or imagination at all. It's all here." So, they're just such phenomenal artists, in every aspect and inch of the production.

Jamie Stalcup, World Screen / TV Drama: This is obviously over 150 years ago, the cadence and diction of the way people spoke was ever so slightly different. Did that factor into how you delivered your lines? And was that something you needed to learn or work at?

Hamish Linklater: Yeah, I had a beautiful voice and diction coach, Luis Kalyani, who I think he had previously done to FDRs, he was just great. He found this wonderful tape of a guy from Kentucky that I would just listen to over and over again, and lean into. Because I think we figured — you know, it's a little bit of guesswork, you go off what the contemporaneous writing is about how he talked. But it does seem like, especially behind closed doors, he would lean into some of those Kentucky folksy roots. So, that's what we went for. And then the rest of it's just in the writing. And Monica's writing, she builds in the cadence, and you lean into that and try not to throw in extra commas or take out too many commas.

So, you are clearly very emotionally invested in this story and these characters. What we see of him in the show, Lincoln goes through as many highs as he does lows, and I'm curious if there was any one scene in particular which you found the most rewarding or the most challenging to help bring to life?

Hamish Linklater: Yeah, the first scene in the series when they get the telegraph that Lee has surrendered was really surprisingly emotional, just because all those wonderful background artists in Savannah who had come there, and they're all in their whiskers, it's a hot day on a hot set, beautifully rendered. But you could just feel everyone holding their breath, you could hear the needles dropping, and the exultation that this great national nightmare had come to a close. Or, so they thought, and so we thought, but that moment was just a moment of no acting required, because the whole room was just leaning in with all these wonderful citizen artists, carrying all this history. It was crazy!

About Manhunt

Based on the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning nonfiction book from author James L. Swanson, “Manhunt” is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best known but least understood crimes in history, the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

Check out our other Manhunt interview with creator/showrunner Monica Beletsky.

Manhunt begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday, March 15.