“But it’s the same person. They have the same soul within them.”
To play an alternative version of the character, Jimmi spent hours in the makeup chair applying prosthetics and used padding to make himself appear heavier.
“I’ve been an absolute fan of practical effects my entire life. It’s my pleasure to sit through a life-casting,” he shared.
“And the three or four-hour process of getting the look just right… the result is as good if not better than any adjustment of appearance that I’ve seen. I looked real to myself.”
Jimmi admitted: “There are some videos of me dancing as that character in the mirror to really feel that body.”
After shooting scenes as this alternative version of Jimmi, he revealed he sometimes tried to go home without shedding his outer layer of prosthetics as he was so deep into his role.
“By the end of the day, I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna go home!’” he recalled.
“And they’re like, ‘No you have an hour of de-rigging to do’. And I go, ‘Oh right! That’s not how I look. Let’s get me back to my boring old self’.”
Explaining more about his multiple and subtly different roles, Jimmi said: “The first one is probably the closest to me, maybe a bit more confident, because he’s had a lot of success and is really driven. That takes a certain amount of confidence.
“And the second version really wanted it and didn’t get it. So he’s a little broken. He’s allowed his situation to affect his body and his confidence.
“Then Ryan 3 was broken the earliest. He was even broken by the drive to get there.
“It was a little difficult but it was beautiful to imagine the same soul, slightly adjusted, as opposed to different characters.”
Jimmi also called his co-star Joel “such a talented actor” and a “big-hearted man”.
“Any kind of improvisations I tossed in, Joel, every single time, was right there to catch it. And I hope I was the same for him.”
Dark Matter continues Wednesdays on Apple TV+.
