(AllHipHop News) For the sixth episode of Atlanta Robbin’ Season, writer Donald Glover and director Hiro Murai turned the award-winning dramedy into a psychological thriller à la Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Glover also took on the role of the disturbing, Michael Jackson-esque character named Teddy Perkins.
Vulture spoke to Derrick Haywood, the actor that played Teddy’s “brother” Benny. He revealed that Glover embraced the method approach for what many fans viewed as a convincing, yet unsettling performance.
“They were calling him Teddy, he acted as Teddy. There was no Donald on set whatsoever. I kid you not,” said Haywood. “Our engagement on season one compared to our engagement on this episode was drastically different. He was really Teddy Perkins on set.”
This episode centered around Darius (Lakeith Stanfield) attempting to pick up a piano from Perkins’ house. Unexpected circumstances lead to Darius being drawn into a very frightening situation.
“The first time I filmed on Atlanta, [Donald] was in the room chatting with us. Just normal conversations between normal people. But this time, he was consistently walking around as ‘Teddy,’ not Donald. He had security and everything!” Haywood recalled. He added, “Lakeith and Donald have some interaction, though, it was just minimal. It was nothing like season one.”