Mark Duplass on Needing to be Needed in The Morning Show

We were joined by Mark Duplass to chat about his role as the tragicomic Charlie “Chip” Black in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show.  Mark spoke to the core of Chip as being something that lives inside us all: He presents as an articulate, intelligent adult but at his core, is an “emotional child” trying to get what he wants.  Constantly tripped up by his obsessive love for Alex Levy (played by Jennifer Aniston), Chip spends most of his time anticipating Alex’s every move, as Duplass described, in order to stay “needed” by her. 

He and Aniston brought their real-life rapport to their on-screen dynamic, which in turn made Chip’s firing (spoiler alert!) all the more devastating, and allowed Mark to tap into a deep well of anger for Chip’s explosive on-camera rant, a heightened emotional space he needed to sustain for approximately ten takes. Spontaneity was also a part of Mark’s preparation, though some subtle Chip-isms were methodically planned early on, such as his constant food stains from eating on the go. Additionally, Duplass brought his professional experience as an independent filmmaker to the role of Chip, imagining the stress of producing “cranked up a notch” under the circumstances of taping a live show.

Watch the full conversation below.

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