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Voters dont want William Safire, an aide told Paul Giamattis Chuck Rhoades a few weeks ago onBillions.
They want an attorney general who talks like hes actually from New York.
For us, the key toBillions appeal is that the characters donottalk like they are actually from New York.
Because the characters onBillionsdo not talk like they are from anywhere other thanBillions.
How to summarize the way everyone speaks in this universe?
The short version is thatBillionsis a financial drama about people who think theyre in a Quentin Tarantino movie.
When they are irate,Billionscharacters ask underlings, Why are you two in sync like incestuous ice dancers?
They do not give up; theycapitulate.
They do not keep doing what theyre doing; theystay the courseorforge on.
They dont have a specialty, or even a forte; they have ametier.
As Koppelman puts it, This is the voice weve been aiming at for our whole career.
Its the voice, in other words, of someone who is emphatically not a sucker.
Billionshas a writing staff, but much of the actual dialogue comes from Koppelman and Levien.
We want them to swing for the fences, says Koppelman.
We listen really closely, says Koppelman.
A lot of what might seem heightened actually comes from the world were writing about.
These characters are people who self-mythologize.
Theyre aware that the narrative they use to describe their situations is part of how theyre going to succeed.
One of the things weve learned is these billionaire hedge fund guys are never wrong, Levien adds.
They dont allow themselves to be perceived as being wrong.
That impenetrable armor of always being right is what gets them all this money.
These people are smarter than we are, says Koppelman.
They are incredibly well-read.
Theyve seen all the important movies.
They can talk about paintings.
They have an incredible felicity of interests and knowledge.
Accordingly, each episode ofBillionsfunctions as a whirlwind tour of the pop-culture canon.
An attorney gives a client a lengthy exegesis on Al GreensTheBelle Albumto dissuade him from seeking a concealed-carry permit.
And thats just the music.
How should an actor play this dialogue?
So much of the underbelly of the show is about appetite, Costabile says.
You want to consume the words, eat the words, really experience the words on every level.
If you are using your whole body to communicate, then youre making a scene fromBillions.
Working with a new director on season three, Costabile created a culinary shorthand.
I get such great language that I really want to make a meal of it, he says.
I eventually said to them, Do you want that without sauce?
Do you want the sauce on the side?
They said, Can you do one without the sauce?
Perhaps the most important rule for talking like youre onBillions?
Not one word of that television show is improvised, Costabile says.
I asked the writers the other day, Can we put inanadverb?
and they were like, No, no.
Dont add that adverb.
Like the great locomotive Snowpiercer, aBillionsscript is a closed ecosystem: perfectly contained, and perfectly balanced.
So, those are a few helpful tips for talking like youre onBillions.
