Exclusive: Patrick Walker on playing forgotten hero Frank Wills in Gaslit
Currently playing on Starz is Gaslit, starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in a modern take on Watergate that focuses on the untold stories and forgotten characters of the scandal – from Nixon’s bumbling and opportunistic subordinates to the deranged zealots aiding and abetting their crimes to the tragic whistleblowers who would eventually bring the whole rotten enterprise crashing down.
The story will center on Martha Mitchell, played by Julia Roberts. A big personality with an even bigger mouth. Martha is a celebrity Arkansan socialite and wife to Nixon’s loyal Attorney General, John Mitchell, played by Sean Penn. Despite her party affiliation, she’s the first person to publicly sound the alarm on Nixon’s involvement in Watergate, causing both the Presidency and her personal life to unravel. As Attorney General, John Mitchell is Nixon’s most trusted advisor and best friend. Temperamental, foul-mouthed and ruthless – yet hopelessly in love with his famously outspoken wife – he’ll be forced to choose between Martha and the President.
Playing Wills is Patrick Walker. According to wikipedia, Wills was “the security guard best known for his role in foiling the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Democratic National Committee inside the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Then 24, Wills called the police after discovering that locks at the complex had been tampered with. Five men were arrested inside the Democratic headquarters, which they had planned to bug. The arrests triggered the Watergate scandal and eventually the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.”
In Episode 106, “Tuffy,” Frank Wills, the security guard who lost his job at the Watergate over the break-in, struggles with his newfound fame. Martha returns to her Arkansas hometown as John Dean testifies in the Senate and Mo deals with something unexpected.
Walker was recently seen opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the Apple TV+ series The Last Days Of Ptolemy Grey as Roger Dawes. Other TV credits include 9-1-1, Power, The Resident, The Quad, Scream: The TV series, and NCIS: New Orleans.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales spoke with Walker about playing Wills and the research he did to embody the character.
