Offerman Breaks Down Death by Lightning Slap Scene — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Nick Offerman picked the Betty Gilpin slap scene from "Death by Lightning" as his favorite Emmy submission moment, but admitted "I don't love what I'm doing in this scene," crediting Gilpin's Crete Garfield and Bradley Whitford as the scene's true standouts
- Betty Gilpin delivers the scene's pivotal line — "If there is even a shred of real nobility in you, I think now is the time to let it shine" — after slapping Vice President Chester Arthur to jolt him into action following Garfield's assassination attempt
- Offerman and Gilpin filmed 12 takes of the full-contact slap, with Offerman describing the mechanics of staying loose-jawed to absorb the hit "like a percussion instrument" with no bruising or damage
- Chester A. Arthur's arc spans the series from "groveling hog" seeking meaning in the gutters of New York to a president who "pulls his soul back by its own bootstraps" — what Offerman calls "by far the greatest arc in the show"
- The four-hour Netflix limited series was written and executive produced by Mike Makowsky, with David Benioff among the producers; Offerman described the show's tone as a "'Deadwood'-ification" of history
- Offerman has known co-star Michael Shannon since 1995, when they did a play together in Chicago; he called Matthew Macfadyen "one of the greatest acting schools" he's ever attended.
Why it matters: Offerman's pick for his Emmy submission — the scene that drove him to nominate Gilpin over himself — is a rare public embrace of supporting-player craft. By dissecting the slap mechanics and crediting co-stars' arcs, he reinforces why Supporting Actor voters recognized him: a turn measured entirely by what it enables in others.
Ask SkimNews
