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Spoilers forAtlantas Teddy Perkins ahead.
Haywood also revealed that Glover went full method, remaining frighteningly in character on set.
How did you get this part?It still blows my mind.
I actually worked on season one, I had one line as a bartender.
I got an email from my agent asking me if I was available to do this role.
Believe it or not, a week later, they told me to come in for a fitting.
The next day, we were shooting the scene.
It was a very difficult role.
It was an amazing experience.
How it even came about still astonishes me to this day.
I think the idea was they were trying to keep certain aspects of the episode on hush.
Initially, I had no idea that Teddy Perkins was actually played by Donald Glover.
Im like, Okay, who is this Teddy guy and why is his opinion so important?
Because I had never heard of the guy before.
They called him Teddy on set?!Yes!
They were calling him Teddy, he acted as Teddy.
There was no Donald on set whatsoever.
I kid you not.
Our engagement on season one compared to our engagement on this episode was drastically different.
He was really Teddy Perkins on set.
Did the way he normally interacts with Lakeith change?It was night and day.
The first time I filmed onAtlanta, [Donald] was in the room chatting with us.
Just normal conversations between normal people.
But this time, he was consistently walking around as Teddy, not Donald.
He had security and everything!
Lakeith and Donald have some interaction, though, it was just minimal.
It was nothing like season one.
I imagine it mustve creeped out the whole cast and crew to have him lurking around like that.
So hes sitting on the couch and Im like, Uh, Teddy, how you doing?
That conversation was quite weird.
Again, I didnt know the guy.
I was introduced to him the night before at the fitting, but I didnt know it was Donald.
And obviously, he didnt want you to know.
He even spoke with that chilling, high-pitched voice?Yes!
There was not an inkling of Donald Glover on that set.
It was a number of takes.
I would say we spent half the day on that one scene.
It was a very early call time.
We actually shot that scene before the scene in the basement.
That other scene probably took an hour because we were pushing for time.
But we spent the entire day doing different shots of that murder-suicide.
Between all three characters, it was hundreds, probably.
We spent a total of two or three days at this mansion in a suburb of Atlanta.
I also really had to learn how to use that wheelchair, which I was struggling with.
You said Benny is supposed to be older.
Were you told anything specific about who his character is?I had no idea who Benny was whatsoever.
Once I got the sides, I even did some research and couldnt find anything.
And its the first role where I didnt say anything [laughs].
The lines I had, I wrote down on a chalkboard.
But my approach to the character wouldve been totally different had I known the depth of the episode.
What would you have done differently?My process from a character development perspective wouldve been different.
The backstory is most important, especially with a role like this where there is nothing to be said.
The good thing is, [Hiro] was amazing.
So [Hiro] gave direction based on that.
Again, I didnt know it was going to be commercial-free.
I didnt know it was going to be about Benny.
Or he is a figment of Bennys imagination?
I didnt know what was going on as I watched it.
I thought they were brothers, like I was told.
There was no doubt in my mind that this story came from somewhere deep.
Im wowed by Donalds creativity.
Obviously, he knows what the people want.
And I was a little skeptical of how people would respond to it.
If thats Benny and thats his dad, I wouldnt have thought that Benny is actually the dad.
And maybe thats because they sent me a T-shirt with a picture of the younger Benny on it.
Have you spoken with Donald for clarification?Not yet.
What was the makeup and costuming process like for this role?
It even looks like your lips were bleached or powdered.They were.
That was the worst makeup and costuming Ive ever experienced.
I was so hot.
Then I had a wig on.
So I had plastic sticking to my face because I was sweating.
The makeup team was so wonderful.
Any skin that showed, they wanted it to look similar to Teddys tone to symbolize that were brothers.
The tires were moving in rotation but the chair wasnt moving.
When youre on set, you just keep going until the director says cut.
But I committed to Benny!
This interview has been edited and condensed.
