‘Running Point’ Star Drew Tarver Talks Building Sibling-Like Chemistry With Kate Hudson: ‘We Immediately Found a Rapport’

In Netflix’s “Running Point,” Kate Hudson’s Isla Gordon finds her biggest critics in her two brothers — played by Drew Tarver and Scott MacArthur — in a dynamic Tarver said the on-screen siblings found with ease.

“We immediately found a rapport as siblings,” Tarver told TheWrap, pointing to the first time he, Hudson and MacArthur hung out after work and grabbed drinks, He said that outing led into the sibling dynamic on the show as Tarver began “playing mediator pretty quickly.”

“Scotty was telling a story, and Kate was like, ‘Scotty, this story is too long’ — she was just immediately older-sistering him,” Tarver recalled. “I was in between the two of them, [saying] ‘yeah, it was a slightly long story … but Kate, let him get this out.'”

In “Running Point,” Tarver plays Sandy Gordon, the fourth Gordon sibling and the chief financial officer of the Waves who, despite more often than not being the smartest person in the room, wasn’t blessed with the same natural athleticism as his siblings. “He’s hopelessly bad at sports, which, you know, I wasn’t good at them, so I was like, ‘Oh, I can relate to this character,'” Tarver joked.

While his siblings have all had certain worrying indiscretions — from Cam’s drug addiction to Isla’s party girl past — Sandy hopes to rise to the top by avoiding the same downfalls as his siblings, which Tarver noted Sandy doesn’t feel he’s afforded to make as the youngest sibling. That’s why when Cam selects Isla as the new president of the Waves during his stint in rehab, Sandy works with Ness to campaign against her.

“Because he put in so much hard work, and [thought], ‘I’m going to do it this way, the right way, the business way, I’m not going to make any mistakes … I think I deserve the team,'” Tarver said, noting the layers of family dysfunction and infighting within the decision. “I think [their campaign] is overall for the betterment of the family, not necessarily against Isla.”

As he tries to keep a steady grip on the future of the Waves and be taken seriously, however, Tarver explains that “throughout the season, him trying to control the team and his business … got away from him, and it became comedic,” which Tarver relished.

“Running Point” isn’t the only series where Tarver plays a disgruntled sibling living in another’s shadow. He starred as Cary Dubek in Max’s “The Other Two” alongside Heléne Yorke and Molly Shannon. Tarver applauded the writing of both “The Other Two” and “Running Point,” saying it gave him a rich storyline and plenty of comedy to work with.

“It makes my job so easy when there’s such funny, great, emotionally present stuff on the page, and I felt like Ike [Barinholtz], Dave [Stassen] and Mindy [Kaling] did such a good job of writing good, funny, hard, punchy jokes, while having an emotional arc that you could carry through the entire season,” Tarver said.

After working with Barinholtz and Stassen on “History of the World: Part II,” Tarver said it was a “dream” to re-team with them and Kaling for “Running Point,” which he noted required little improvisation with such strong writing, but was still encouraged on set. “It’s really fun to be present with other actors … I feel like everybody’s right there ready for any direction that anybody’s going in.”

The emotional core of “Running Point” was also carried by Hudson, Tarver said. “The way she’s doing the comedy is leading from an emotional place … [She’s] really coming from the character in ways that makes it so funny and land so hard.”

While the actor admitted entering a set with a stacked cast can be “intimidating” or “scary,” he applauded Hudson at putting everyone at ease. “She really set an amazing tone,” Tarver said. “We [were] hanging out for people’s scenes after hours and we’re doing jokes offset and bringing that energy into the scene.”

“Running Point” is now streaming on Netflix.

The post ‘Running Point’ Star Drew Tarver Talks Building Sibling-Like Chemistry With Kate Hudson: ‘We Immediately Found a Rapport’ appeared first on TheWrap.