Tom Pelphrey Discusses Personal Connection to ‘Task’ Character Robbie

Task star Tom Pelphrey has opened up on the personal connection he feels with his character, Robbie. The hit HBO crime drama from Mare of Easttown creator and writer Brad Inglesby has been enjoying a strong reception since debuting on September 7. The cast of HBO’s Task is led by Mark Ruffalo, with Pelphrey in a supporting role.

Task follows Ruffalo’s FBI agent as he is tasked with putting an end to a string of violent robberies carried out by Pelphrey’s family man. The show has received positive attention for its dark, gritty storytelling, as well as character development. And Pelphrey has spoken highly of the character of Robbie, revealing how he connects to the man.

During ScreenRant’s interview with Pelphrey for Task, the actor revealed how he felt a deeply personal character connection with Robbie, and how this helped to inform his performance. He reminisced about swimming with his dog in a quarry, and how the pleasure of this helped him channel this into Robbie’s love of swimming. Check out his comments below:

Liam Crowley: Something that always fascinates me too about these characters who go down these wrong paths are those moments where they have happiness, where you can see that there is a way for them to tap into a happy side of themselves, and something that always happened with Robbie where he was happy is when he’s going swimming the scenes I saw of him jumping into the lake there a flashback as well. What does swimming mean to Robbie from your perspective, if anything at all?

Tom Pelphrey: I mean, look, the way I’m going to answer this was there was, personally, I did a play in Vermont once years ago, years ago, and I had my dog with me, Sasha, and there was a quarry in town and it became my favorite thing to do, and I’d go with my dog and we would go and we would climb up the stairs and jump off the rock together. She would follow me, she would jump off with me and then she’d swim with me

There was one day, I’m going to cry because I don’t have this dog anymore, but there was one day we were doing this in between shows. I had a matinee and I had a night show. We went to the quarry like we always did, and we’re jumping in together and swimming. An older gentleman came up to me who I didn’t know and said, ‘Young man, it has been such a pleasure watching you with your dog today,’ and I’ll never forget it obviously had a strong impact on me, and there’s something about it that’s so free and so wild, jumping into a quarry. It’s not a pool. You can’t see the bottom. It’s a little mysterious. It feels a little risky, but it feels so primal and grounded and fun. I mean that memory I have with my dog is kind of heaven in a way, and the fact that that’s kind of Robbie’s special place always made perfect sense to me.

What This Means For Pelphrey’s Performance In Task

Actors drawing on real life experiences to inform their portrayals is a common technique, but it can, of course, be difficult depending on the type of character being portrayed. Pelphrey’s comments suggest he was able to take this wonderful memory and apply it to a small but significant aspect of Robbie’s character and personality.

In many ways, Task is an Ozark replacement show for Pelphrey, and the fact that he can find some way of connecting and resonating with his character allows for a much more complete performance. This could be one of the factors that has made Pelphrey’s performance as Robbie so captivating, and helped to elevate the entire series in the process.

Our Take On Pelphrey’s Task Performance

Task is a brilliantly crafted crime drama, and one that leans heavily on its cast’s powerhouse performances. The show is supposed to function as a miniseries, much like Mare of Easttown, but there is a chance that Task could return for a follow-up season if the show winds up being a long-term success moving forward.

If Inglesby feels there are more stories to tell with these characters, and there is interest from Ruffalo and Pelphrey, there is no reason why Task season 2 cannot become a reality. Of course, this will depend on how the show ends, and whether there are plot points that may need to be revisited in another season.