Emmy-nominated 'Dope Thief' actor Brian Tyree Henry is ready for his close-up

Don’t look now but Emmy-nominated “Dope Thief” actor Brian Tyree Henry is flirting the exclusive EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) territory.

Unknown to many, the soft-spoken and humble Henry of the new TV series “Dope Thief,” the crime drama written and created by Peter Craig, has been in the business for quite a while.

Doing stage, TV and film projects, this Yale University-educated 43-year-old thespian from Fayettevile, North Carolina, has been acting onstage since 2007 (“Romeo and Juliet”). He got a Tony nom for his role in Broadway’s 2018 “Lobby Hero,” an Oscar nod for his role in Jennifer Lawrence’s “Causeway” in 2023 and now his third Emmy nomination and his first one as Best Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for “Dope Thief.”

In 2017, he got an Emmy nomination as a guest actor in a drama series for “This is Us” and an Emmy nomination as part of an ensemble in a comedy series for “Atlanta” as well.

This is a big year for Henry, who was raised by a former military father who died during the filming of “Dope Thief” and an educator-mother who passed away in early 2016, since he is nominated as a lead actor.

 

 

 

 

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For the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be held on September 14 at the Peacock Theater in LA, Henry will be competing against Colin Farrell (“The Penguin”), Jake Gyllenhaal (“Presumed Innocent”), Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”), and Cooper Koch (“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”).

In “Dope Thief,” Henry portrays Ray Driscoll, a recovering addict and former drug dealer, who together with his Philadelphia friend Manny Carvalho (portrayed by Wagner Moura), pose as DEA agents to rob drug dealers. They, however, face the consequences of their actions when they steal from an organized narcotics operation under surveillance by the actual DEA.

So, what made him say yes to this project, we asked Henry.

“Quite a few things,” he replied when we interviewed him at the London West Hollywood hotel. “Honestly, because I had been in the world of television for a while and knew I needed a massive break, so I really knew whatever was going to bring me about a TV had to a give me an opportunity to be front and center. It gave me an opportunity to feel like I had agency. Also, they gave me an executive producer title to me, which was an easy sell, but it really was the story, and it really was the writing.

“And when I saw that Peter was the one attached to it. I've been a fan of his for so long, and I was like, cool, he's doing a show with a Black person and that's great. So, you gotta jump at this. But it was truly the writing, the story.

“I remember reading the very first episode right away and I looked at my manager, I was like, is there a second episode? Like, that's the only way. And she gave me the second and I just devoured it, and it was really exciting. I had not seen characters like Ray or Manny. I had not been able to play anyone like that. And the challenge scared me in a huge way, which is how I know that I needed to do it. But it really was the universe that Peter built that really drew me in.”

PETER CRAIG. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Based on the 2009 novel by Dennis Tafoya, creator-writer Peter Craig explained to us why it was made into a TV series.

“It was actually Apple TV+,” he revealed. “I just read the book that they had. I said, okay, I can do something about this as an inciting incident. I really loved how the book just immediately got you started and had a lot of momentum. And I liked the characters, even though we wound up changing them somewhat. But I just knew that I could build something into it, and I thought having a few extra seasons to work with a few extra characters was going to be a great experience. And it was.”

Craig disclosed that Henry was on top of his list to portray the lead character.

“I couldn't believe how fast he responded. He called from the set of something else,” he said.

“I was actually, like going to Coachella,” confessed Henry.

“And I heard that you had read it, and I was really excited. That was our first conversation, and that was the beginning of the project. I don't think we were greenlit,” Craig said.

“No. Not yet. But we already had great chemistry, and I trusted him completely. I couldn't have had a better partner in this, truly,” admitted Henry.

So how did Henry prepare for the role, we asked.

“You don't really prepare for anything when you are doing a Peter Craig original. You kind of just have to know your lines really well, be present at all times and just like, strap in. You have to really just show up and then you add on top Ridley Scott directed the very first episode of that. And you just have to be very present. And luckily, we had such an amazing ensemble on this show, so it gave us so much breath and room to play, feel safe, experiment in all the ways that we needed to.”

As for working with Ridley Scott, Henry gushed, “I mean, like, take it off the list, right? Like, he is one of the most masterful directors of our time. And to see him come and do a show like this was exhilarating because it needed that grit. It needed that to start off, like to be the first episode that we give the world. It needed that kind of feeling and that aura that it really brings. It was great.”

And now for the first time, Henry is also executive producing.

“Yeah, not the last either, because like, they created a monster, I loved it,” he confessed. “It was one of the best things because I felt like I'd been doing that most of my career on most of my projects anyway. I contribute to what I feel like my characters bring into the environment that they're a part of, but this was the first time I was credited.

“So it's really cool to have that experience, and I hope to continue that on because I want people to see that or feel that when they see my name attached to something like that, what it's going to bring and what they're in for.”

There’s obviously no stopping Henry and what he can do. — LA, GMA Integrated News