Lewis Pullman Teases ‘Heavier’ Roles After ‘Top Gun’ and ‘Press Play’

Lewis Pullman isn’t stopping any time soon. The actor — who can currently be seen in the blockbuster smashTop Gun: Maverick as Lt. Robert “Bob” Floyd and Amazon Prime Video’s Outer Range — stars in the new time traveling romance Play.

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Laura is the center of sci-fi.Clara Rugaard), who realizes she can travel back in time to save her partner Harrison (Pullman), from a deadly accident by listening to the mixtape they created together.

“I think upon the first read it really kind of felt like it was gonna be a challenge to track where these characters were emotionally at within each scene,” Pullman, 29, exclusively told Us WeeklyThe script. “And as the story went along, I think that the arc is like a weird roller-coaster and I think that trying to play somebody who’s trying to grapple with an idea as fantastical as time travel and to try and really play somebody who’s grappling with believing that it’s possible seemed like a fun challenge to me.”

Lewis Pullman Teases Doing Heavier Roles

Lewis Pullman
TOLGA AKMEN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The actor was eager to work alongside his talented costar. “I had watchedI Am MotherClara was in that. She did an exceptional job playing a character with such a clear idea of their existence. Then, she was presented with this life-changing piece of information. It was fascinating to watch her process that information and how she relates to it. She’s a master at that,” he explained. “And so I was like, ‘She’s gonna be even better in this.’ And so I really wanted to kind of learn from her and see how she did that. And I was certain she would be able to steer it in the right direction. And so I was really intrigued by that.”

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“I thought [director] Greg Björkman had some really incredible ideas had a really personal relationship to this story,” he continued. “I also really like the producers, Jonathan Schwartz and Logan Lerman. They seemed very excited about this. It was a pleasure working with them. They had a great attitude and contagious excitement about them.”

Lewis Pullman Teases Doing Heavier Roles Press Play 2 Clara Rugaard

Clara Rugaard, Lewis Pullman
The Avenue

Just like Harrison, music also plays a vital role in Pullman’s life. As a child, his father, actor, was a musician. Bill Pullman, played a lot of country and folk while his mother, Tamara Hurwitz, was “big into funk, Al Green and Earth, Wind and Fire.”

Lewis Pullman Teases Doing Heavier Roles Press Play 3 Clara Rugaard

Clara Rugaard, Lewis Pullman
The Avenue

“So I got those things intertwined. It is all wonderful. I play drums, so it was cool to be able to be a part of a movie that was so musically injected with such musicality,” he explained to Use. “And I think music is like the real lifetime travel device. I listen to a lot of songs. I will drive it to the ground if I find something I love. It’s horrible. I need to get better at it, but there’s something kinda cool about overexposure to a song. It’s so good. You’re in a certain place in a certain time, you listen to it a billion times until finally you’re like, ‘I’m not even hearing this song anymore.’ It’s kind of like you become numb to it. Then you put it on the shelf. And then a year later when it’s been long enough, like, ‘Oh, wait, it’s been a minute since I’ve heard that.’ And then it just rockets you right back to wherever you were when you were listening to it. I love that experience.”

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The Catch-22 star’s schedule is not slowing down. Following the success of Top Gun: Maverick’s success, he can next be seen as Ben Mears in the remake of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. For Pullman, the way he chooses his next project is “totally based on the script” and not necessarily a specific genre.

“And the character,” he noted. “It could be different depending on where I am right now, I could read a script now and feel like I can find a way in and really offer something maybe. The script could be read again a year later and I might feel that someone could do it better. It’s kind of like a collision of variables. But yeah, I’ve been doing some heavier stuff. I want to do dark comedy. I still like dark shadowy areas of creative exploration.”

Lewis Pullman Teases Doing Heavier Roles Press Play Clara Rugaard
The Avenue

He added, with a laugh: “But I do think I need a little levity in my life.”

PlayAlso stars Danny Glover, Christina Chang, Matt Walsh, Lyrica Okano Kekoa Kekumano. It’s in theaters and On Digital.

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