Patrick J. Adams, best known for the TV show Suits, has a new series on Disney+, and he said his role on The Right Stuff is a childhood dream come true.
The Right Stuff is an eight-episode drama about a group of real-life astronauts known as the Mercury Seven. Adams plays John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, who became a national hero.
In an interview with TV Guide, the actor said that he is a huge fan of the book the show is based on. He also watched the 1983 film from director Philip Kaufman.
“I just became obsessed with space, I think like any little kid can,” Adams shared, adding that he was in his teens when he first read Tom Wolfe’s book.
But Adams said that he felt the movie didn’t tell the whole story of the Mercury Seven. That’s why the actor was thrilled to get the opportunity to do the TV series.
The pressure to get it right
However, Adams revealed that he felt a lot of pressure to get his role right. Playing an icon and a hero has been a dream come true, but he knew that he had to do Glenn’s character justice.
“There was the initial excitement and then there’s pure terror,” Adams said. To work on his role, Adams said he had to keep trying to figure out Glenn’s motivation in life and his relationship with everyone who worked in the Mercury program.
“I think that he is like a religious man who had maybe the strongest faith of the bunch,” the actor said of his assessment of the statesman. “There was some like pull — some bigger calling that can get wrapped up in ego and trying to force your way to the top of the heap.”
Developing the series
National Geographic announced the development of the series in 2017 with Warner Horizon Television and Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way Productions. The producers tapped Game of Thrones director David Nutter to direct the pilot episode with Mark Lafferty and Lizzie Mickery as showrunners.
Adams was cast as Glenn in before the summer of 2019, followed by Jake McDorman (Alan Shepard) and Colin O’Donoghue (Gordon Cooper) a month later. Eric Ladin, Josh Cooke, Patrick Fischler, Eloise Mumford, Nora Zehetner, and Shannon Lucio were added to the cast alongside Danny Strong and Mamie Gummer.
Originally set for airing on National Geographic, Disney+ acquired the show in May 2020 to fill up slots that were impacted by the COVID-19 production shutdown.
The Right Stuff season 1 will drop on Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, on Disney+.
Image courtesy of Disney+/YouTube