Richard Kind On ‘Red Oaks’ Character, Doing Karaoke [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Richard Kind plays Sam Myers on Amazon Studios’ Red Oaks. Kind recently sat down with Craig Roberts and Alexandra Socha to talk with uInterview about playing Sam, his favorite moments on set, and why Sam’s “melancholia” reminds him of what his Dad went through in the Eighties.

RICHARD KIND ON RED OAKS [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Red Oaks follows the life of NYU student and tennis player David Myers, as he works at a prestigious country club, Red Oaks. Grappling with a rocky rise to adulthood in the 1980s, David’s parents, Sam and Judy, further shake up his world when they announce their divorce. Kind revealed that Sam’s life isn’t any more exciting as a consequence of the change, but instead only sadder. “I’m the adult who is newly divorced, adrift in the world,” he said. “It’s not an exciting life… and yet on the flip side, it’s sort of funny and just how I go across the world is all new to me [Sam] and there were a lot of people my parents’ age who did the same thing in the Eighties.”

Red Oaks is a comedy, and Kind revealed that Sam Myer’s undercurrent of sadness lends itself to some pretty fun—and funny—moments, like a karaoke cover of “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Kind, a theater actor by trade, was used to the idea of singing on stage but revealed that he didn’t know the song choice would be so fitting for Sam’s current mental state. “‘Rhinestone Cowboy’ is the most depressing song in the world,” he joked. “I was shocked at how well, how appropriate a song that was for my mood at the time, when I thought it was just a haphazard choice of a song. But yea, I did love it.” Kind also suggested that the comedy has shifted, from goofier, more situational moments, to deeper emotional crises. “Where the first season was more frivolous, filled with stories and situations that these people were in, all of sudden you find out emotionally how they deal with life.”

While Kind did suggest that his own parents’ divorce offered some personal connection to his character, he told uInterview that he primarily sticks to the script as the ultimate source. “I use the script as the template, as what’s going on, and only that,” he insisted. “There are intersections in my life, but I am not saying I am doing my dad, necessarily.”

His favorite moment this season? Ironically, one he wasn’t involved with: the episode in Paris. “I hated that the first episode was so good because I was not in Paris and not on the show,” he joked. “So I hold a grudge.”

Season two of Red Oaks premiered on Nov. 11 on Amazon. Season one is also available to stream.