It’s uncommon to meet an actor bold enough to call Ari Emanuel, the executive chairman of WME Group and one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a “prick” on the record. But it’s also uncommon to interview an actor as unfiltered as Steve Way. Let’s change the world.” I joke that I’ll pass along his exact words to all the big companies.
Except he won’t hire me.” That’s when Way mutters the p-word — under his breath for plausible deniability, but certainly still with the intention of being heard, smirking at the sound of my laughter. This is one of the last things he says to me before we wrap up our interview. A light blue Labubu that he’s clipped to his motorized wheelchair gives a wink as he rolls away.
It’s impossible to fault Way, 35, for his ire. That’s partially because it’s well delivered — he’s got 15 years of stand-up comedy under his belt — but mostly because he works in an industry that seems determined to shut out people like him. Best known for his recurring role in Ramy Youssef’s self-titled dramedy series, and now giving an impeccable supporting performance in Hulu’s “Furious,” Way has no agent or manager.
And it’s frustrating, because I used to,” Way says. With his first agent, he got “nothing. Just nothing.” He signed with someone new, who later jumped to another agency and didn’t bring Way with him.
Way spent years wondering whether he’d be able to book a project without the support of Youssef, a close friend since childhood. Then, with “Furious,” he received something actors spend their whole careers dreaming of: a role written expressly for him. He’d been on a stand-up tour as Youssef’s opener, and needed to relax after all the travel.
And it got to me, and I was like, ‘I’m unemployed. If anyone wants to put me in their stuff, [I’ll join] gladly,’” Way recalls. Meriwether took his stoned comments to heart.
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