The Gloriously Bizarre Genius of Benny Safdie

Benny Safdie is having an unparalleled 2023, co-starring in both the year’s best film (Oppenheimer) and television show (The Curse), the latter of which he created with Nathan Fielder, and which stands as the most daring, original, and mind-boggling series in recent small-screen history. It’s a triumphant twofer for the 37-year-old multihyphenate and, when coupled with his exceptional supporting work in April’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., it establishes the writer/director/actor as one of Hollywood’s ascendant talents, as adept in front of the camera as he proved himself to be behind it with 2017’s Good Time and 2019’s Uncut Gems.

That Safdie has been cast in varied roles by Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza), Claire Denis (Stars at Noon) and Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) speaks to his acting ability, but it’s The Curse (weekly on Showtime/Paramount+) that affords him his greatest opportunity to show his dramatic stuff. As Dougie, the producer of an eco-home-renovation HGTV program hosted by Fielder and Emma Stone’s married couple Asher and Whitney, Safdie comes across as an off-putting creep. Nonetheless, there’s more to Dougie than meets the eye, and the actor gradually reveals layers of dysfunction and despondency that, in a manner similar to Fielder and Stone’s weirdo protagonists, mark him as a deeply flawed, authentically inauthentic individual.

Safdie’s turn in The Curse is like the show itself: hilariously awkward, consistently cringe-worthy, and totally unpredictable. Better yet, it only gets more surprising as the series proceeds towards its jaw-dropping conclusion. Coming on the heels of his two great cinematic performances, his portrayal of Dougie is a one-of-a-kind, and so too, for that matter, is Safdie, who over the past decade has carved out a uniquely versatile and eclectic career. As a result, we were thrilled to speak with him about all things Oppenheimer and The Curse—save, that is, for the season finale he can’t wait for people to see, but won’t dare spoil.

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