John D’Aquino On Sugar Season Two And The Craft of Acting

In season two of Apple TV+’s neo-noir mystery series Sugar, John D’Aquino joined the cast as the mysterious Senator Tyson Pavich, a powerful political figure whose family becomes increasingly entangled with the world of private investigator John Sugar (Colin Farrell). D’Aquino found himself particularly drawn to the series’ noir sensibility — and to the unusual acting philosophy Farrell brought to the role.

“I had binged the first season,” D’Aquino says. “I was sitting in a bed with Covid, so I binged it pretty quickly and loved it.” A veteran actor and teacher, D’Aquino’s career began in 1985 with the short-lived Western series Wildside, and continued with a lead role in the 1988 horror cult classic Pumpkinhead. D’Aquino’s prolific career on television includes appearances on SeaQuest DSV, Quantum Leap, JAG, Seinfeld, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Cory in the House, S.W.A.T. and now, Sugar. 

The series follows John Sugar, a private investigator in Los Angeles. The first season led up to the revelation that Sugar was revealed to be an alien living undercover on Earth. A self-described “film noir junkie,” D’Aquino was immediately captivated by Farrell’s performance as Sugar, particularly the character’s constant state of discovery. “Everything is new to him and unfolding,” D’Aquino says. “And that’s the best type of acting, of course, right? It has to unfold in that moment as it’s being revealed.”

That approach became the subject of a memorable conversation between the two actors. D’Aquino wanted to hear directly from Farrell about how he approached Sugar’s seemingly endless discoveries. “He goes, ‘I don’t wanna know,’” D’Aquino recalls. “I knew what he was talking about.” Farrell didn’t want to know what was going to happen next, preferring to play the character authentically in the moment. “I loved it,” D’Aquino says. “I loved how passionate he was about that.” While an actor needs to understand the character, the scene and everything leading into a moment, D’Aquino explains, there is a danger in anticipating what comes next. “You can never get ahead of yourself, or that’s called anticipation,” D’Aquino says. “With someone like Colin Farrell, they’re the producer of the show. They’re in on every story meeting. What is it that he doesn’t know about that script? He knows everything — yet, to give him even more credit, he forgets it at the moment.” 

In the first season, the crimes of serial killer Ryan Pavich (Cameron Cowperthwaite) became central to Sugar’s investigation. In Season two, Sugar’s suspicions about Ryan’s powerful father, Senator Tyson Pavich, deepen as he begins investigating a possible connection to the larger conspiracy surrounding Sugar and the other extraterrestrials living on Earth. D’Aquino was initially given a broad description of the elder Pavich: “They helped me at the beginning, set up the character, like an Elon Musk-ish type of character,” D’Aquino explains. Because Sugar is told largely through Sugar’s perspective, D’Aquino also understood that much of Pavich’s presence would be observed from a distance. “We just have to make it seem real in the moment,” D’Aquino says. Initially, D’Aquino expected the season to lead up to a big confrontation. “To be very honest, I thought there was going to be more of a collision, if you will, between my character and Sugar,” D’Aquino says. In the end, the character (ostensibly positioned as a powerful adversary) went in a different direction than anyone expected, as Sugar ultimately learns that Pavich isn’t the person he’s looking for at all. “The writing room is very fluid, and they have so many responsibilities and roles and characters that they have to balance,” D’Aquino says. “So I was surprised as to where it ended up.” 

D’Aquino’s enthusiasm for acting extends beyond any individual role, and after decades in the profession, he remains fascinated by the craft.  For young actors especially, D’Aquino believes the work is an opportunity “to look in the mirror and really get a sense of who they are,” while learning to distinguish between telling the truth and lying within a performance. At John D’Aquino’s Actors Workshops in Burbank, he teaches his students to always look for questions, a technique ingrained in him from studying the performances of Robert De Niro. “I looked at him and [Al] Pacino together. I love Pacino. Pacino is amazing,” D’Aquino says. “But I started to prefer De Niro.” What fascinated him was De Niro’s ability to build a performance through the actors around him. “Everything was being calibrated,” D’Aquino says. “And then I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to study with him. What is he doing that none of the other actors are doing?’” The answer, D’Aquino discovered, was simple but profound: “He’s constantly interrogating them, every one of them.” The technique brings added life to each scene, as the acting stays in the moment, discovering something new in each moment and learning along with the audience.

After nearly four decades as a working actor, D’Aquino has built a career based on learning how to listen, observe, and discover — and still approaches the work with the same sense of curiosity that first drew him to the craft.

Read more interviews conducted by Patrick Gibbs:
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