Peter Scolari Talks About new Career with Girls

By Reuben Levine | Sep 16, 2016

Peter Scolari, post Emmy win, on the difficulties of Tad

Hannah’s parents were originally not a huge part of Girls’ genetic makeup. That recently changed with the revelation that Hannah’s father, Tad, played excellently by Peter Scolari, came out as gay. The lives of Hannah’s parents were a mess, much like her own, and they both started getting more screen time. That allowed Scolari to really spread his wings as Tad, a man who has been trying to start over.

Here’s a clip of Hannah’s parents back in season one:

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Peter Scolari recently won an Emmy for his performance, and for good reason. Tad has always been a sympathetic character and has only gotten more fun to watch since he started hanging out with Elijah. In a new interview with Variety, Scolari talks about the “new career” that Girls has afforded him, and the difficulties of bringing Tad to life.

First off, Scolari comes off as being both excited and grateful to be a part of Girls:

"“In many ways it’s a new career — not as a situation-comedy actor, but as a single-camera actor in what turned out to be a young, hip, dangerous show. And there was a place for me there. Incredible.”"

Tad has become big part of the show in the past couple of seasons, practically filling the role of another member of the group. Coming out as gay, it turns out, took a bit of a toll on Scolari, who had trouble separating himself from Tad’s emotional state:

"“I walked into all kinds of sensitivity. I’d never been the kind of actor who came home from work carrying the feelings of the character…I realized it was Tad. This guy had carried tremendous angst and grief for the life he’d never led.”"

Next: HBO and Cinemax coming to Playstation Vue.

Peter Scolari absolutely deserved the Emmy for his work in Girls, but that’s not to say the show doesn’t remain snubbed. His great performance is only one of many. Girls is currently filming its final season and then Lena Dunham is expected to turn to a her new show, Max. Hopefully Scolari and the rest of the cast will continue to be recognized for their performances, even if the show can be hit or miss.