Exclusive Interview: Dylan Arnold Chats ‘Lady in the Lake,’ Finding His Way Into the Character, and Having the Freedom to Fail

Dylan Arnold has enthralled audiences with his dynamic presence and impressive range in standout roles across Mudbound, Oppenheimer, You, and Halloween. These performances have cemented his status as one of the industry’s most exciting young storyteller. Now, Dylan brings his extraordinary talents to Apple TV+’s highly anticipated limited series, Lady in the Lake. His transformative performance in this series is nothing short of Emmy Award-worthy, further solidifying his reputation as a versatile and compelling artist.

When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, Lady in the Lake emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.

Pop Culturalist had the privilege of speaking with Dylan about Lady in the Lake. He shared insights into how he immersed himself in his character, both mentally and physically, his collaboration with Natalie Portman, and the supportive environment created by director Alma Har’el, where everyone had the freedom to explore and fail.

PC: I imagine as an actor, you dream of projects and roles like this. How did Lady in the Lake originally come across your desk? What was it about the script and character that caught your eye?
Dylan: I got the audition initially, and the things that jumped out were who was directing and who was starring—Alma and Natalie. Those are two people that I’ve definitely wanted to work with. That was very exciting.

Then the character, to me, had a lot of depth. There was a lot under the surface, and much was unsaid, leaving a lot to be explored. It’s always really exciting to have a character where not everything is on the page. There’s a lot to figure out, and understanding why they do certain things is thrilling. Having a character where you can really dive in and discover where their motivation comes from is always exciting to me.

PC: The series centers around these two women and their search for the marvelous. Do you remember the moment in your own life when you realized storytelling was your gift as an artist?
Dylan: Ever since I was a kid, I loved acting. I would take community theater classes, and if I wasn’t at the theater, I’d be running around my backyard with my neighbor pretending we were in Lord of the Rings. There was always this element where I felt alive when I was imagining and telling a story, even if it wasn’t in front of people. It felt like it was always going to be part of my life. It just felt right when I was doing it.

PC: You were meant to do this. In addition to the incredible work you’ve done in film and television, you’ve also gotten into producing, and I know you have a strong affinity for writing as well. How have your experiences behind the camera influenced the way you approach your work on screen and interpret characters and scripts like this?
Dylan: When it comes to writing, which I haven’t done professionally but more so for my own enjoyment, it forces you to look at a story in a different way. As an actor, it’s easy to get stuck in the mindset of how you can fit into a specific character. How can you be the right fit for this person? But at the end of the day, when you’re on the other side of it, it’s very clear that it’s not about that.

When I’m writing, I have a very specific idea of who this person is in my mind. I’m realizing that it doesn’t matter who comes in; they’ll probably blow you away. But you have these preconceived ideas about how you see the character. When I produced a short film and saw some of the auditions, it became very clear that these actors were all wonderful, but this person felt like the character. Translating that to the acting side, it gave me a sense of ease and relaxation. It really isn’t about me. There’s so much beyond my control.

PC: There are so many factors that go into it. You deliver such a groundbreaking performance in this limited series that’s equal parts haunting and heartbreaking. There are so many creative decisions you made with the character’s speech and physicality in embodying his past trauma. As an actor, how did you find your way into Stephan [Zawadzkie]? What was the character work that you did for this?
Dylan: This character in particular was a lot more involved than most of the other characters that I’ve done. That’s definitely credit to Alma, who is a wonderful person. I hope to work with her again. She really set me up for success. She introduced me to some wonderful coaches—a movement coach, speech coach, and a dream coach. All these wonderful people helped me uncover the character.

For me and Alma, the physicality was very important. It was about approaching the character from a more physical perspective and understanding how those physical constraints might affect him mentally. For me, I was always trying to find something I was battling with physically or emotionally in a scene, and it brought me into my body. The physicality was really important, and fortunately, I was able to work with a lot of wonderful people to find who Stephan was.

PC: That came across in your performance. Again, without giving spoilers, how does that preparation differ between scenes where your character has these outward expressions of emotions and other times when you’re doing so much storytelling through your eyes and without dialogue, but audiences can feel the gears in your character’s head spinning?
Dylan: It’s about allowing the tension within the character to build in those moments when you’re not speaking, but figuring out areas where he may want to but can’t, so that in the moments where there is that burst of emotion, you allow yourself to release the things you’re holding in.

The way we shot this, at least my stuff, was all over the place. I had to treat it like a giant movie. We didn’t shoot my scenes in chronological order, so there was a lot to keep in mind with the character in terms of where I was coming from and where I was going, to ensure there are those levels. But the moments that I always love are the ones where you don’t have to say a lot, and it’s up to you to convey it through your eyes. That’s always really exciting to do. It’s a good challenge.

PC: There are so many moments throughout this series where you’re telling a story through your eyes. It’s really captivating to watch. You can tell the care and attention to detail that the entire team brought to this project from the production design to the costumes. How helpful are all of those elements in helping you bring out your performance and that authenticity? How different is it from shooting on a soundstage?
Dylan: I feel like along the way during the process, there are always these moments that reveal themselves to me. Getting on location in Baltimore was a big one because this is where these people are from. You get to feel that environment. It takes place in 1966, so you have the picture cars and the wardrobe. When you’re able to film on location, it just breathes life into it.

I haven’t had a lot of experience filming on a green screen, fortunately. I’ve heard it’s very challenging to do because you don’t have much to work with. For any project, once you start collaborating with people, it always breathes life into it. There’s always something that somebody else, whether it’s in wardrobe, makeup, or hair choices, adds. You look in the mirror, and you see more of yourself as the character.

PC: You’ve talked in the past about how you find creative fulfillment in the team that you’re working with. How did you build that trust with Natalie, given where your characters are? What did you learn about your own craft working with everybody?
Dylan: To me, I point to Alma. She was an incredible leader throughout this whole process. She was so comforting, encouraging, and supportive. It starts with her. But then, of course, Natalie has been doing this forever. She’s such a generous actor and wonderful presence that you feel safe with her.

When I got on set, I immediately felt like I was safe to explore and try things. Alma gave me permission to fail and mess up. She said, “We’re going to try out stuff.” That’s my dream whenever I get on set—to feel like I have the freedom to fail. It loosens you up in a way that allows you to discover some really wonderful things.

PC: Speaking of that search for the marvelous, I can’t say enough great things about your performance. It’s really transformative in the places that you went for it. When you look back at this experience, was there a scene you were nervous about filming? Which one are you most proud of?
Dylan: Without giving spoilers, it’s probably that first scene I did with Natalie. There’s a little snippet of it in the trailer where we’re sitting at a table. That was the first scene I filmed. It was a five or seven-page scene, which is a lot of dialogue and very important for the storytelling.

But that was the moment when Alma came up to me on the first day and said, “Hey, we’re only doing this scene today. This is all we have to do. So we’re going to take our time with it. We’re going to try stuff.” That was such a breath of fresh air, especially on a TV show, where you don’t often have that luxury. She led me through breathing exercises, and we got to try different things in that scene. That exploration was invigorating and set the tone for the rest of the production.

To keep up with Dylan, follow him on Instagram. Lady in the Lake premieres on July 19th on Apple TV+.

Photo Credit: Mack Breeden // Apple TV+ (Still)