Jake Cannavale felt “honored” to take on the role of Chris in American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez.
“When you’re acting as a member of any community that you’re not a part of, you don’t want to f— it up. You want to do it with respect, and you want to do it with grace,” Cannavale, 29, told Us Weekly exclusively about the FX series. “It wasn’t an intimidation thing, which is why I don’t want to use the word pressure. It was definitely more of a very much appreciated invitation to work my ass off.”
Cannavale plays Chris, a physical therapist who works for Aaron Hernandez’s (Josh Andrés Rivera) agent, Brian Murphy (Thomas Sadoski). Their secret romantic relationship becomes an integral part of Aaron’s story line as the athlete continues to battle with his sexuality.
Because Chris is a fictional character and not based on anyone from Aaron’s real life, Cannavale “absolutely” felt like he had some freedom to craft the part.
“Yes, there was no guy named Chris, but his role and the part that he plays … he’s the one that offers a glimpse into the vulnerability and the softness and the yearning that come with what Aaron’s repressing,” the actor explained, noting that he felt a “responsibility” to get that right.
“What was definitely very helpful off the bat is that both of us are straight dudes who have never played gay [characters] before on camera,” Cannavale said about himself and Rivera, 29. “I think both of us [wanted] to push ourselves and also make it look sincere.”
In American Sports Story episode 6, titled “Herald Street,” Aaron and Chris go on a romantic vacation, but there’s a major shift in their relationship. During one night out, Chris has the realization their time together doesn’t mean the same thing to Aaron as it does to him.
For Cannavale, the difficulty came with “emotionally deciding” how much to expose Chris’ feelings.
“In my own life, I have a problem with coming on too strong,” the actor admitted. “So, learning how to slowly leak myself out in a healthy way was definitely the toughest.”
Despite all the emotionally charged moments, Cannavale and Rivera found some levity while shooting their sex scene. In the show, the clean-cut Chris asks Aaron about his tattoos. This was “mad funny” for Cannavale, who has a ton of tattoos in real life.
“We cracked up a couple times,” he recalled. “I remember that day. … I spent four hours getting my tattoos covered to look naked and [Rivera] got his tattoos put on — because Josh has no tattoos. It was hilarious. We were cracking up, busting balls over that.”
Cannavale admitted that he’s not one to watch his own work, but overall, he’s “very happy with how everything’s unfolding” for American Sports Story.
“I couldn’t be happier with it,” he told Us about being such an important part of the series. “I just love that there’s no weak link on this show, and everybody’s just holding their own and doing great. I like that Chris and Aaron’s story line is underneath everything. I think that’s really symbolic for the emotional relationship that it carries.”
American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez airs on FX Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Hulu.
