Murray Bartlett on ‘Murder at the Patel Motel’: ‘It is a double-edged sword’

Murray Bartlett, who won our hearts as Armond in The White Lotus, and as Frank in The Last of Us, plays Gareth in Maulik Pancholy’s comedy podcast, Murder at the Patel Motel. He also appears as the disgraced puppeteer, Brian, in Season Two of Nine Perfect Strangers.

“They’re similar, in a way,” says Murray over a video call from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA. “Both have a mystery at the centre of it. The difference with Nine Perfect Strangers is we got to be in amazing locations in Germany and Austria, with a wonderful cast of people that I got to work with in person.”

Past traumas

Both characters, the 54-year-old actor said, are dealing with trauma from the past that holds them back. “They both have to be backed into a corner before they reveal themselves. It is not easy for them to face or talk about it or be vulnerable around.”

The absence of visuals is both liberating and challenging, according to Murray. “It feels uncomplicated to have one sense to hone in and focus on. There are fewer distractions. It gives you a strong focal point. It’s an interesting process where you’ve only got the audio so you become ultra aware of how you can play with that in interesting ways to tell the story.”

With a look

There are some scenes, Murray says, which you wish you could just do with a look. “You have to find a way to do it with sound. It’s a double-edged sword, it is a challenge, but it also makes you creative. There’s something thrilling about that.”

Voicing a character in an audio-only format calls for a similar approach to his work in television or film, Murray says. “There are certain subtleties that you can do visually without saying things that you can’t use in audio. You have to make sure you’re getting the character and the story across effectively through audio.”

Rich world

The world of audio is so rich these days with podcasts and audiobooks, Murray says. “It’s an exciting genre to step into. We are now used to listening to content in the way that we used to listen to radio plays. I was familiar with the genre and how you can bring subtlety into audio in a way that you might when working on film and television visually. Murder at the Patel Motel is comedy, so you can be a little broader, and play with sound in a comedic way.”

Having known Maulik for a long time, Murray immediately said yes to playing Gareth, Maulik’s character, Milan’s, partner. “I love the idea of this small town in Montana where there’s this Indian American family, and the kind of world that surrounds them. Maulik told me about this network of Indian American families who run motels around the Midwest of America, which I was unaware of.”

Grounded in reality

Comedy is challenging as it should be grounded in reality, Murray comments. “You don’t want it to be totally untethered. This show has a definite reality to it, and there are some poignant moments. As an actor, you want to have fun with the comedy, while making sure that these feel like actual characters, with moments of reflection, poignancy and connection.”

Murray says the cast did different takes and versions of certain scenes. “When they were editing, they had some choices to get that balance of comedy, drama and mystery right.” 

Occasional improvisations

While the cast mostly stuck to the script, Murray says there was improvisation too. “With audio work, you don’t work with the other actors. I was lucky, because Maulik was leading this project and was in all the recording sessions. We were reading the scenes together in real time. He encouraged improvisation when it felt right. We did the scenes as scripted, but then would do takes where we play around.”

There are scenes where it made sense to improvise, Murray says. “With 10 episodes, the recording sessions were long, and once you start to settle into the character, you get a sense of what else you might be able to offer as the character. Maulik was collaborative and encouraged us to stay with the script to make sure that we were telling the story properly, but also to inhabit our characters and play with it.”

Close to home

The podcast touches on themes of identity, family and returning home, all of which resonated with Murray. “No matter where a story is culturally, environmentally, or geographically, there are universal things about family that we can all relate to — complex, unsettling, challenging, and funny things.” Murray was intrigued with the “wonderful specifics” about Indian American families that he got to learn through the podcast.

“A lot of us, particularly in the arts, who grew up in small towns, have the same experience that Milan has. We tend to be the black sheep of the family. I went halfway around the world to pursue the work that I love.”

Highlights the contrast

When you return home, Murray says, there are all these wonderful, difficult and comic things that happen. “The dynamics highlight the contrast you feel between the person you’ve become and the 17-year-old you were when you may have left,” Murray says laughing.

Hoping that listeners to Murder at the Patel Motel laugh a lot, Murray says, “There are some beautiful things about being disconnected from family and the complexity of trying to reconnect. A lot of the characters have secrets or parts of themselves that they’re not in touch with, or hiding. And through the course of the show, secrets come out and the characters have to look at and face who they are.”

If Gareth had a secret hobby, Murray says he would probably fancy himself a popstar. “I would imagine when nobody’s home, he would get out the karaoke machine and sing in the mirror,” he says laughing

Murray’s favourite scene in the podcast was when his finger gets partially cut off by an axe. “It was fun to be able to scream and let loose,” he says, laughing uproariously.

Murder at the Patel Motel is available on Audible