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Jack Topalian: From Business to Euphoria, Unscripted
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Hollywood has been casting this man as the villain for 12 years. The mob boss. The criminal. The dangerous one.
His family fled the Armenian Genocide. His uncle fought the Nazis. And this country looked at him and decided he was the threat.
Jack Topalian plays Nasim/Naz in HBO's Euphoria — a role that became one of the most talked-about Armenian moments in television history, almost entirely by accident. The Armenian coffee cups, the cigarette, the unscripted Armenian dialogue with his on-screen bodyguard — none of it was in the script. He asked for it scene by scene, and the show's creator said yes.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Jack Topalian for a conversation about Hollywood, identity, masculinity, fame, fear and what it actually costs to keep being cast as the villain.
ABOUT JACK TOPALIAN
Jack Topalian is an actor known for his roles in Argo, Shock and Awe, True Detective, Ray Donovan, Emily the Criminal, Clipped, Duster and HBO's Euphoria, where he plays Naz. Born in Soviet Armenia, he came to the United States at age ten and spent over four decades in business before pivoting to acting.
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms and across the global Armenian diaspora.
TIMESTAMPS
00:30 How the Euphoria role happened
04:00 The unscripted Armenian coffee scene
09:00 Has he ever been the villain in his own story
12:00 The biggest lie successful people tell
16:00 Why he pivoted to acting after 40 years in business
21:00 Being Armenian in America at age 10
27:00 The night he drove home drunk
31:00 Method acting and what it does to the mind
36:00 The critic question
38:00 Masculinity in Hollywood today
42:00 Why Armenians keep playing the villain
48:00 What he actually sacrificed
51:00 The accidental audition through his children
55:00 If social media disappeared tomorrow
#Euphoria #JackTopalian #Hollywood #ArmenianAmerican #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #Acting #Masculinity #ArmenianCommunity #Identity
Support the show
Subscribe to the Youtube Channel
Follow me on Instagram
View all episodes
By Emma SargsyanLet us know what you think!
Hollywood has been casting this man as the villain for 12 years. The mob boss. The criminal. The dangerous one.
His family fled the Armenian Genocide. His uncle fought the Nazis. And this country looked at him and decided he was the threat.
Jack Topalian plays Nasim/Naz in HBO's Euphoria — a role that became one of the most talked-about Armenian moments in television history, almost entirely by accident. The Armenian coffee cups, the cigarette, the unscripted Armenian dialogue with his on-screen bodyguard — none of it was in the script. He asked for it scene by scene, and the show's creator said yes.
In this episode of INSIGHT, Emma Sargsyan sits down with Jack Topalian for a conversation about Hollywood, identity, masculinity, fame, fear and what it actually costs to keep being cast as the villain.
ABOUT JACK TOPALIAN
Jack Topalian is an actor known for his roles in Argo, Shock and Awe, True Detective, Ray Donovan, Emily the Criminal, Clipped, Duster and HBO's Euphoria, where he plays Naz. Born in Soviet Armenia, he came to the United States at age ten and spent over four decades in business before pivoting to acting.
ABOUT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is the first Armenian-English language power and culture podcast in the United States, hosted by Emma Sargsyan. Distributed across all major podcast platforms and across the global Armenian diaspora.
TIMESTAMPS
00:30 How the Euphoria role happened
04:00 The unscripted Armenian coffee scene
09:00 Has he ever been the villain in his own story
12:00 The biggest lie successful people tell
16:00 Why he pivoted to acting after 40 years in business
21:00 Being Armenian in America at age 10
27:00 The night he drove home drunk
31:00 Method acting and what it does to the mind
36:00 The critic question
38:00 Masculinity in Hollywood today
42:00 Why Armenians keep playing the villain
48:00 What he actually sacrificed
51:00 The accidental audition through his children
55:00 If social media disappeared tomorrow
#Euphoria #JackTopalian #Hollywood #ArmenianAmerican #INSIGHT #EmmaInsight #Acting #Masculinity #ArmenianCommunity #Identity
Support the show
Subscribe to the Youtube Channel
Follow me on Instagram