The Harry Potter alum Domhnall Gleeson made his way to the small screen this year with FX’s psychological thriller miniseries The Patient, starring alongside comic icon Steve Carell.
The limited series narrates the tale of a psychotherapist Alan Strauss (Steve Carell), who is mourning the death of his wife. Gleeson's character Sam Fortner is a serial killer who holds Alan captive in an attempt to curb his homicidal drive.
Gleeson recalled that he agreed to star in The Patient when his agent told him that Steve Carell was the lead.
'The fact that I would get to spend quality time with an actor I think is the best and absolutely adore had me like Oh my God! I would definitely do this,' he shared.
Despite Gleeson’s interest in joining the show’s cast, Joseph Weisberg and Joel Fields, the showrunners had to determine the actor’s on-screen chemistry with Carell. Gleeson’s chemistry with The Office veteran was exceptional.
Weisberg said, “Putting the two together was like putting Matthew and Keri from The Americans together. They had the serial killer-therapist spark. Soon after, we cast Gleeson.”
Gleeson loved the part from the start, so long as the story wasn’t idealizing the antagonist. Apart from being lured by the chance to work with Carell, Gleeson also loved the way the writers approached his character.
'There was a certain aspect as to how the writers presented the serial killer in this series because things could have taken a toll,' Gleeson explained.
When he went through the script, the actor was relieved at how they approached the anti-hero.
“I loved the fact that the script didn’t begin with Sam but with Dr Strauss. The writers were interested in the bits that are important rather than romanticizing a serial killer or making him cool or attractive.”
Aside from Carell and Gleeson, The Patient casts Linda Emond as Candace Fortner; Sam's mother, Andrew Leeds as Ezra Strauss; Alan's estranged son, Renata Friedman as Shoshana Cohen; Alan's daughter, Laura Niemi as Beth Strauss; Alan's deceased wife and Luke Patrick Dodge as Menachem Strauss; Alan's grandson.
The other stars featured in the limited series are Alex Rich, David Alan Grier, Amy Handelman, Jake Broder, Diane Kelber and Alan Blumenfeld.
The Patient is a 10-episode miniseries that dropped its first two episodes on August 30 2022, on FX, with its last two awaiting debut.
Here’s the episode release schedule:
• Episode 1 “Intake”- August 30 2022
• Episode 2 “Alan Learns to Meditate”- August 30 2022
• Episode 3 “Issues”- September 6 2022
• Episode 4 “Company”- September 13 2022
• Episode 5 “Pastitsio”- September 20 2022
• Episode 6 “Charlie”- September 27 2022
• Episode 7 “Kaddish”- October 4 2022
• Episode 8 “Ezra”- October 11 2022
• Episode 9 “Auschwitz”- October 18 2022
• Episode 10 “The Cantor’s Husband” October 25 2022
The Patient has been warmly received by the audience, scoring an exceptional 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.3/10 on IMDb and 90% on Google Ratings.
According to critics’ consensus, “While The Patient might test viewers’ patience by overextending its killer content, the arguably career-best work by Domnhall Gleeson and Steve Carell makes this therapy session worth eavesdropping on.”
Many viewers applaud Carell and Gleeson’s incredible performances. However, others claim that the gloominess of the series strips Carell of his awesome talent as a comedy legend.
Nonetheless, things are not looking bad for the series and the Irish actor either, who booked himself a new gig. Although he has kept mum about the details of his upcoming show, he hinted that it is 'plenty heavy but a little lighter than The Patient.'
The show's episodes are available on FX on their launch dates and the next day on Hulu.
So far, you can watch eight episodes as they have already premiered. The ninth episode will drop next Tuesday, October 18 and the series finale on the last Tuesday of the month October 25.