Bobby Cannavale on what Scorsese taught him about doing coke for HBO’s ‘Vinyl’

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This article was published 11/02/2016 (3871 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Portraying a tormented record exec who dives into an outlandish drug binge for HBO’s “Vinyl” was new territory for Bobby Cannavale.

Luckily he had director Martin Scorsese on hand to guide him, get some insight into his relapsing character Richie Finestra, and offer a few blunt tips on how to tackle depicting his character snorting coke.

“I said, ‘You know, I never really did blow,'” says Cannavale as he recounts hashing out the scene with the “The Wolf of Wall Street” director.

“I said, ‘How hard do you think he goes in?’ And he said, ‘Oh, I think he goes all the way back in. It’s like riding a bike,'” Cannavale says, adopting Scorsese’s matter-of-fact, rapid-fire staccato for his account.

“You know when you’re talking to somebody when they know something. Little things like that were really helpful to me.”

And in a nostalgia-steeped show like “Vinyl,” the devil is in the details.

Created by Scorsese, Mick Jagger, Terence Winter and Rich Cohen, the sprawling saga examines the seedy rock ‘n’ roll business in 1973 New York at the dawn of punk, disco and hip-hop.

It’s chock-full of real-world references — from the rampant payola of the era to the musical heroes of the time like Led Zeppelin and the New York Dolls — and showrunner Winter says much of that was inspired by anecdotes from music and record exec consultants tasked with “keeping this honest.”

That includes Scorsese’s longtime friendship with Robbie Robertson of the Band, a notorious bromance that began when he shot their classic rock doc “The Last Waltz” in the drug-addled late ’70s.

Co-star Max Casella, who plays A&R boss Julie Silver, notes rabid old-rock fans would tear the show apart if anything seemed out of place.

“Everyone has their own personal connection to Led Zeppelin, to David Bowie,” he says. “If you don’t get it right people would get very irate.”

Those looking for other big names of the era can expect to see a depiction of Bowie and a member of the Beatles in future episodes, says Winter. But there was no room for the Rolling Stones in the first 10 shows.

“It just feels a little incestuous considering Mick is one of the creators and exec producers of the show,” Winter says of deciding against including the band.

“To actually depict the Rolling Stones early on I think would be a little strange for me. That’s not to say in subsequent years we might not do that.”

However, Jagger’s son James is on the show, as the lead singer of a raw New York City rock band. Meanwhile, Ray Romano plays against type as Richie’s greasy head of promotions; Juno Temple plays an ambitious A&R assistant eager to make her mark; Andrew Dice Clay turns up as a deranged radio exec and Olivia Wilde is Richie’s housebound wife Devon.

To prepare for his demanding role, Cannavale read histories of music of the era and spent months hanging out with Scorsese, talking about music, dissecting films, going to concerts, getting pizza and just getting “on the same page.”

Jagger, too, welcomed him into his circle.

“It was really interesting to watch people be around him,” Cannavale says of the rock legend.

“It’s interesting to watch people approach him in a restaurant, it’s interesting to watch the band be with him, it’s interesting to watch people in the business … how they approach him and how they treat him.

“I’ve said it before, being with Mick Jagger is like being with the sun — it’s so bright and people don’t know how to deal and it’s hysterical to watch.”

After a diverse film and TV career spanning network sitcoms such as “Will & Grace” and cable dramas including “Nurse Jackie” and “Boardwalk Empire,” Cannavale says this is unquestionably the biggest, most challenging role he’s ever taken on.

“I’ve had interesting sort of supporting roles that I’ve managed to sort of slip in a bunch of different dimensions, but in this I really do get a chance to do everything. And that was clear from the moment I read it and I saw the narration. I was just in,” he says.

“I’ve been working for a long time and I sort of feel like I’ve built my way up to being able to handle a role like this and it just feels right. It feels like the perfect time for me to do a role like this.”

“Vinyl” premieres with a two-hour episode Sunday on HBO Canada.