TV Talk: From ‘Barry’ to ‘Superman’ to ‘Twisted Metal,’ CMU grad jumps genres

Anthony Carrigan, a 2006 graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, is having quite a summer.

In addition to a co-starring role in box office hit “Superman” as Metamorpho, this week Carrigan introduces a classic video game character in the second season of Peacock’s “Twisted Metal,” based on the ‘90s demolition derby game.

Now streaming its first three episodes (of 12), “Twisted Metal” continues the story of driver John Doe (Anthony Mackie, “Captain America: Brave New World”) and Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) as they race through an American wasteland. (Two new episodes will release weekly on Thursdays through Aug. 28.)

Carrigan recalled playing a “Twisted Metal” video game in middle school, going to a friend’s house to game on a PlayStation 2.

“It was such a fun game, and when I saw this come across my desk, I just lit up,” Carrigan said in a Zoom interview late last month. “I’m ultimately just trying to fulfill my teenage fantasies of being a part of these things that I loved so much, ‘Twisted Metal’ being an example of that.”

Carrigan, who was nominated for three Emmys for his role as NoHo Hank on HBO’s “Barry,” called Calypso a “fan favorite” from the video games who was referenced in the first season of the Peacock series but not seen until season two.

Calypso is the mysterious, charismatic host and creator of a demolition derby that John and Quiet participate in. The contest’s eventual winner gets one wish made real, courtesy of Calypso.

“I did my due research to look back and see whatever I could mine out of that,” Carrigan said of the video games. “But you also have to bring the character to life and make them a living, breathing being. I don’t say human being because he’s maybe not just that.”

Carrigan recalled “animal projects” he did in CMU drama classes, where actors “become” an animal and then create a character based on that animal.

“It’s a way to get out of your head and into your instincts,” he said. “I love that kind of stuff. …. It’s a way to become less cerebral and more in touch with the creative. … I owe a lot to Carnegie Mellon.”

Carrigan said he had a raven in mind for Calypso.

“I certainly think his laugh was born out of that for sure,” he added.

Carrigan said he’s gotten back to Pittsburgh some and he’d like to return to CMU to “do a little master class” with students if his schedule allows.

Carrigan’s upcoming comedic crime drama “Adulthood,” premiering in September at the Toronto International Film Festival, stars fellow CMU grad Josh Gad, who Carrigan remembers was a senior when Carrigan was a freshman.

To get into his “Superman” role as Metamorpho, a character from DC Comics, Carrigan spent five hours before filming each day in a makeup chair to play the shapeshifter. He previously went through hours of makeup for his role as time-traveling robot Dennis Caleb McCoy in “Bill & Ted Face the Music.”

“I don’t mind if it’s in service of a great project and franchise,” Carrigan said. “Even putting on a wig — as I am happily hairless now — for Calypso, I am so down. If it works, blast that wind machine and let’s take it away.”

(Diagnosed at age 3 with the auto-immune disease alopecia areata, which causes baldness, Carrigan was completely bald by age 30.)

Carrigan said having two significant roles in one summer was not something he expected.

“I’m having the best summer, and none of this was planned,” he said. “For ‘Superman’ to come out and then ‘Twisted Metal’ right on its heels, I couldn’t be happier it’s all coinciding. They’re such different characters. It’s nice to have that range (on display) so closely next to each other. It’s a wonderful moment, and I’m just really grateful to be working, too. It’s a weird time in the industry, so I count my lucky stars that I’m gainfully employed.”

Mister Rogers stamp redux?

Remember those “Mister Rogers” U.S. Postal Service stamps released in 2018? They could make a comeback.

Last week, USPS announced a “Stamp Encore Contest,” giving the public a chance to vote to bring back a stamp for re-printing in 2026.

The Mister Rogers stamp is among 25 of the most popular and best-selling stamps up for consideration alongside Bugs Bunny (1997), Peanuts (2001), Star Wars: Droids (2021), Total Eclipse of the Sun (2017), Star Trek (2016) and Transcontinental Railroad (2019).

Cast a ballot at stampsforever.com/vote.

Kept/canceled/spun off

HBO renewed period drama “The Gilded Age” for a fourth season.

Apple TV+ renewed golf comedy “Stick” for a second season.

Peacock renewed daytime soap “Days of Our Lives” for its 62nd and 63rd seasons.

Netflix renewed drama “Untamed” for a second season.

Amazon’s Prime Video renewed “The Legend of Vox Machina” for a fifth and final season.

AMC renewed “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” for a fourth and final season ahead of the show’s third season debut on Sept. 7.

The “E! News” nightly broadcast, a staple of the cable channel since 1991, will air its final episode Sept. 25.

USA canceled “Resident Alien” ahead of its fourth season finale Aug. 8.

Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” will get a spin-off, “President Curtis.”

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Channel surfing

Pittsburgh comic Learnmore Jonasi, who competed on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in 2024, posted to Instagram last week that he’s leaving Pittsburgh for Hollywood, writing, “Part of me wants to stay forever, sipping coffee on Walnut Street or chasing sunsets at Mt. Washington. But life calls for bold steps, and my dream is pulling me toward new horizons in Hollywood.” … Comcast Xfinity launched StreamStore, a one-stop shop for purchasing, managing and accessing more than 450 streaming apps and channels for TV (say “StreamStore” into Xfinity voice remote) and internet customers (http://www.xfinity.com/StreamStore).