From creator Matthew Carnahan (House of Lies), the National Geographic series Valley of the Boom follows the rise and fall of three different companies – Netscape, TheGlobe.com and Pixelon – whose founders were trying to change the world using the technology of the internet. With an unconventional hybrid of scripted storytelling and documentary interviews with the individuals whose stories are dramatized in the show, the six-episode series illustrates how a con man, college dreamers and professional businessmen were all able to make their mark on the industry until it all came crashing down.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Bradley Whitford talked about the appeal of playing former President and CEO of Netscape Communications Corporation James Barksdale (who is also featured through interviews), whether he met the real guy, how much he knew about Netscape prior to this project, how much of a role technology plays in his own life, and the fun of getting to do some of the crazy things that take place in Valley of the Boom. He also talked about whether he’d be game to be a part of a revival of The West Wing and why it’s dangerous to even consider doing it, as well as his desire to take more responsibility for the stories he’s a part of telling.
Collider: Thank you so much for chatting with me. I’ve been a fan of your work since Adventures in Babysitting.
BRADLEY WHITFORD: Good, god! That was in the ‘80s, right? Jesus!
Yes, it was. And Valley of the Boom is clearly a very different, but interesting project, especially with this mix of documentary and narrative storytelling.
WHITFORD: Yeah. When I read the script, I was incredibly excited about it. You have no idea, when a director is trying to do something this cutting edge and joyous, if it’s gonna work, at all, and it turned out to really be a lot of fun. It’s a way of telling a story that resonates with the story that it’s telling. There was a wild mish-mash of forces coming together. It was the Wild West with high stakes. You were either gonna be Bill Gates, or you were gonna be taking a shower in a parking lot.
It seems like whether you were a teenager, or a con man, or a professional business person, nobody really knew what to do, but anyone could find success.
WHITFORD: Yes. Listen, it reminds me very, very much of show business. It’s a lot of people who are trying to act like they know what would be the right thing to do, but the truth is that you have no idea. You’re constantly trying to apply logic to these things, but there’s an element of alchemy to it.
You’re not only playing people who are still alive, but they’re also actively involved in the project. What is that like?
WHITFORD: There are decisions that you’ve gotta make when you’re playing a real human being, which I’ve done before, but I’ve never had to play a human being, where that human being would be speaking right before me. It’s an added problem. Anytime you play a real person, you don’t want to just do an imitation. It was interesting to play with that. The great thing about the internet is that it gives you access, and it gave me access to [James] Barksdale. I could not watch all of the YouTube videos on him. You can really live with him. The YouTube videos would be playing in the car, just so I could hear the way he talked.
Did you ever talk to him directly?
WHITFORD: No, I didn’t. I logistically was in a situation where I was shooting something else, so I didn’t have time, but I would love to meet him. I did have all of those hours, living with him on the internet. He’s a great guy. He is a profoundly ethical, generous guy who really cared about his employees. And he is one of the great deadpan faces, of all time, with a really great sense of humor. He was fun.
Was this something that you knew anything about, prior to doing this, or do you feel like you’ve become an expert in this subject now?
WHITFORD: I was aware of the name Netscape. Basically, computers bewildered me until Apple came along and made it all really easy. The idea of coding is beyond my cosmic eggshell. I was aware of it. I knew somebody who had gotten very rich through an IPO, and then lost it all and ended up selling used cars. I knew it was going on. This is the origin story of the digital soup that we’re all swimming in now. It’s changed everything. It’s reached into my kids’ brains and changed the way the neurons fire. It’s really interesting to see where it came from, and it’s interesting to see the idealism that was there, that we’re realizing now was either disingenuous or unfounded. It was this euphoric, wonderful place, where you were gonna be able to talk to your high school classmates, and you can do that, but the Klan can talk to each other, too. The Russians can affect voter turn-out in Milwaukee. It’s not a utopia. That’s a little frustrating to me because I think that these big tech people get an ethical pass when, at the end day, all they really care about is making money.
How much of a role does technology play in your own life? How much would you say is there because you want it to be, and how much of it is there because it’s this necessary evil that just makes things easier and more accessible?
WHITFORD: If you talk to my kids, they will tell you what a hypocrite I am because I will yell at them when the TV is on, and I’ve got a cellphone in my hand. I don’t smoke anymore, but I remember in college, if you felt awkward at a party, you would light a cigarette ‘cause it would be a way to hide. Twitter has been a way to deal with politics in these roiling days, and I absolutely get addicted to it. I have a friend, who’s one of the most amazing guys. He was a speech writer in the White House and he’s a script writer now, and he was saying to me the other day that, if he was growing up now, he could spend five hours a day, just looking at Ramones videos on YouTube. We can amuse ourselves to death. Right now, we’re in the phase where we’re at the mercy of technology. We have no immune system for this disease that has been created, and we’re at the mercy of it. I think the task will be to assert a little humanity on the technology, so that we’re not just at the mercy of it.
There are definitely some crazy things that go on in the series, from dance numbers, to rap battles, to talking directly to the camera, to fantasy assassination sequences. Could you have ever had imagined that you’d have a fantasy death scene, in a series about the internet and the creation of web browsers?
WHITFORD: No. It’s so funny, I started off being an actor who did a bunch of Shakespeare stuff, and this reminded that talking to the audience feels radical. Shakespeare was doing it. The Greeks were doing it. At the beginning of Romeo and Juliet, he comes out and goes, “Okay, here’s the story. Here’s what’s gonna happen. We’ve got these two people. They’re in love. Their families hate each other. Let’s see what happens.” There is something honest about that, and Lamorne [Morris] gets to give that information, all the way through. So, I was excited about it. And no, I never thought I would be assassinated in a fantasy death scene. My son is 19, and when I showed him the trailer, he was fascinated by the idea that this stuff didn’t exist. They don’t know the origin story, and it’s definitely a fun way to tell it.
Aaron Sorkin has definitely made it known that he’d be interested in a revival of The West Wing. Is that something you’d be game to do, if he found a way to include you in it that made sense? And have you tried pitching any ideas to him, like some of your co-stars have?
WHITFORD: I think a number of us have, at different times, pitched a similar idea. Aaron is a smart guy. He’s wisely cautious and hesitant to go back to what was such a wonderful experience. This current presidency actually makes it more difficult to do our show, for a lot of reasons, but I walk around constantly knowing that, while it was certainly time for us to end The West Wing, the show could have continued creatively, just because there is an infinite arena of possibilities. The good news is that all of us love each other. It feels like a family. As the years go by, we have even more appreciation for our good fortune to be part of a creative and cultural experience like that. I would do yard work for him. I would do anything. But, it’s dangerous. You don’t want to mess it up.
It seems like one of those things where you could easily get nervous about being able to reclaim that same magic again, but at the same time, if you were to give a serious go of it, you could have faith in Aaron Sorkin that he wouldn’t let it happen, if it weren’t the same level of quality.
WHITFORD: Yeah. And there are all sorts of different ways to do it now. You can do an ongoing series, you can do a limited series, you can do a movie. There are a lot of different ways that you could do it.
You have a couple of writer credits on The West Wing, and you have a director credit for an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Are either of those things something that you’d like to try again?
WHITFORD: Yeah, absolutely. I have some scripts that I’m working on – a couple of different ones. I think that, probably more than directing, is what is interesting to me. An actor is basically a pawn, and you begin to want to take more responsibility for the story, so I’m definitely working on that.
Valley of the Boom airs on Sunday nights on National Geographic.