Paul Reiser On Red Oaks’ Character’s Downward Spiral [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Paul Reiser plays country club owner Doug Getty in the Amazon Studios comedy, Red Oaks. Reiser recently sat down with uInterview to talk about the direction his character is heading this season.

PAUL REISER ON ‘RED OAKS’ [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Red Oaks takes place in the 1980s, and follows the journey of young tennis player and NYU student David Myers (Craig Roberts) as he works during the summer at the exclusive Red Oaks Country Club. While many of the characters, including David’s newly divorced mother Judy (Jennifer Grey), undergo moments of identity crisis and self-discovery, Reiser revealed that Getty is not in the same boat. “I’m sort of going the opposite direction of anybody on the show. Everybody is trying to find themselves and I’m the guy who—of anybody—is very content with his life,” he said. “I’ve got life by the reins.” This quickly changes for Getty, whose life starts to spiral downwards. “And then it [Getty’s life] starts to fall apart, and what I thought I have, I didn’t have,” he said. ” And there’s a lot of introspection and doubt and worry.” Reiser said that unlike Grey’s lesbian love scene, Getty doesn’t get the same treatment. “The guy’s facing tremendous legal problems, give him a little ‘schtimmie’ but no,” he joked.

Reiser alluded to the tension between his Robert’s and his character, and how that relationship has made for some of his favorite moments on set. “He is now involved with my daughter on the show,” he revealed. “So the beginning is this brutal attempt on my part to squash it… I start reeling him and it’s very manipulative and calculative.” Reiser also commented on the different working environment Amazon creates for the cast, and likened it to the ease and fun of shooting an indie movie. “You don’t feel the same pressure, it’s not the hecticness of TV, where, in my background, when you are doing the longer seasons, you were shooting while writing them, and it was a whole set of challenges,” he said. “Say what you will about network, NBC doesn’t bring stuff to your house.”

Red Oaks will be available to stream on Amazon Prime on Nov. 11