Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Truth Be Told’s Michael Beach

Michael Beach has built an illustrious career that spans over three decades. He’s brought dynamic, complex, and captivating characters to life with his unparalleled versatility, establishing his place as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors.

This year, he’s starring opposite Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan, Ron Cephas Jones, Elizabeth Perkins, and Mekhi Phifer in Apple TV+’s Truth Be Told, the perfect series for any true crime fan. Pop Culturalist caught up with Michael to chat about the project and what keeps him motivated.

Truth Be Told

PC: You’re starring in Truth Be Told. Tell us about the series, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Michael: The series is about a crime podcaster played by Octavia Spencer. She is dealing with an old crime when there’s new light and evidence brought out. The person who is in prison may in fact not be guilty of the crime that they’ve been convicted of. Octavia Spencer’s character is Poppy Parnell. I play her husband, Ingram Rhoades. She was involved in the case almost twenty years ago involving a young man now played by Aaron Paul. He’s accused of murder, and she’s involved in the story. She wrote about it, and she’s one of the reasons why he was found guilty. Now she has reason to believe that he may in fact not be guilty. She goes down this rabbit hole trying to prove that. The deeper she goes, the more and more complicated our lives become. It affects quite a few families, ours being one of them.

Ingram is a partner in a very high-end law firm. He was raised in a wealthy family. Poppy’s family was not. So they’re opposite. One is from money, and one is not. Regardless of the fact that their families don’t get along, they have a strong relationship. He really loves her and cares about her. He’s protective of her. They have a very strong relationship—until this case comes back. It starts creeping into their lives. This one becomes personal and dangerous, unlike other stories she’s covered in the past.

The script is absolutely fantastic. Another thing that attracted me to this piece was being involved in Apple TV+’s first crop of material. You have one of the biggest companies in the world jumping into the entertainment business. How will that change things? How will that affect what we do? That was exciting. Plus the cast! I’ve never worked with Octavia, but I have great respect for her work and how she was brought up. She’s not someone who’s been at the top of the food chain for her entire career. In fact, for most of her career, she was just a working actress going from job to job. She was persistent, persistent, and persistent. That’s what I love about her and her career. Octavia is a fighter. She deserves all the things that are coming her way right now. To me, she backed up this idea of a working actress that came into stardom through hard work. She backed that up. Working with her, I could see that.

Then the rest of the cast started rounding out. Mekhi Phifer is an old friend of mine. I love him to death. It was great to get back on camera with him. I’ve never worked with Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan, Ron Cephas Jones, so it was like, “Wow!” As this cast started to grow, I knew I was in the right place.

PC: With the series out now, what are you most excited for your fans to see?
Michael: Octavia and I got to have some impactful, powerful moments together. I love it when I get to go toe-to-toe with someone as talented as she is. It makes me feel like I have to up my game. That’s why I’m here. I’m here to work with some of the best, and hopefully, it’ll make me better.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Michael: It was actually an accident. I was a high school athlete who got severely hurt. I didn’t know what to do after that. My plan was to go to college to play sports. This was back in the mid-’70s. I started giving announcements in the morning assemblies because I went to a prep school. People kept asking if I would do one for them because they were too shy to get up in front of the entire school and give announcements. I was like, “Sure, whatever.” I kept doing them. Based on that, someone suggested that I audition for this play. I was like, “Nah, that’s ridiculous. I’m not an actor.” They kept asking me. I finally auditioned, and I loved it. From that point on, I was hooked. I loved the audition process. I loved breaking down why people do certain things, what they’ve been through, what that means for them, and how it affects them. I loved all of that.

PC: You’ve built an illustrious career across film and television. Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Michael: I’m not sure. There are so many influences as you go from job to job. You meet different actors, directors, and writers. The most important thing is to connect with quality material because if you want to stay around for a long time, you do that with quality work. No matter how good I may be as an actor, if I’m working with bad material, there’s only so much you can do. When you align yourself with quality material and good writing, then you put yourself in a much better position to continue to attract that type of material. Otherwise, you can easily fall into another camp. I feel fortunate because it’s not just me. I’m happy that I’ve been able to associate myself with quality people so that I can be a part of that. I bring a small aspect of what I can do with others who bring high-quality stuff. I feel fortunate with that.

PC: When you look back at your career. is there a particular moment that stands out?
Michael: There isn’t. I feel like I’m a journeyman actor. I’m not a movie star. I have a lot of people that recognize me, and that feels good. But more so I feel happy that I am proud of most of the things that I’ve done. And I say most because there are some things that I’m not. [laughs] I’m constantly driven by finding good material to work on. It’s hard to say that this thing sticks out or that thing sticks out because they stick out for different reasons. The things that really matter to me and the things that are really impactful to me are the things that audiences wouldn’t know, like my connection to someone that I met on the job. I have a lot of lifelong friends because of that. They’ve really affected my personal life and my relationships. Those are the things that mean more to me than how well a film did or that people stop me at the airport. It’s not the thing that keeps me going.

To keep up with Michael, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Catch Truth Be Told on Apple TV+.

Photo Credit: JSquared Photography