Étoile’s Luke Kirby And Gideon Glick Discuss Their Roles in The Palladino’s Ambitious Ballet Series: “This Is Significant. It’s Crucial at the Moment.”

Just after bidding farewell to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in 2023, Luke Kirby and Gideon Glick greeted Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino’s new ambitious dance dramedy, Étoile.

Initially auditioning for the role of the late comedian Lenny Bruce in Maisel, Kirby had expected to appear solely in the pilot episode. However, Sherman-Palladino noticed a special quality in him that resulted in a 16-episode run, an Emmy award for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series, and eventually, the lead role of Jack McMillan in their next series.

Having Kirby, a former director of the Metropolitan Ballet Theater, on board made him a natural fit for the role of Étoile‘s eccentric choreographer Tobias Bell, with Glick, known for his appearances as magician Alfie Zielinski in nine episodes of Maisel, taking on the part.

With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou de Laâge, David Alvarez, Yanic Truesdale, David Haig, and many more talented actors, dancers, and creatives on board, Kirby and Glick re-immersed themselves in the another singular, challenging, invigorating on-screen world from the Palladinos. Only this time, they shined the spotlight on ballet instead of stand-up comedy, got far more screen time, and had to speed through more of the creators’ signature dense dialogue.

“The most challenging thing with the Palladinos is that they give you a lot of really good writing, and the expectation is that you arrive really, really ready. So that’s a challenge.” Kirby told Decider over Zoom ahead of Étoile‘s premiere. ” And from that comes a great satisfaction.”

“The text is the most rewarding and challenging part of working in the Palladino world,” Glick, who is also a writer on Étoile, echoed. “But most of my scenes are with dancers, and depending on if I mess up my line, they have to start dancing from the beginning again. So most of the stress was about messing them up, because they can’t go that many times. Their bodies will break. So I was really nervous.”

In honor of Season 1’s highly-anticipated Prime Video release, the Étoile stars spoke with Decider about their characters, their co-stars, the show’s exciting celebrity cameos, major finale moments, and more.

I loved your work on Maisel. So excited to see you again in the Paladino-verse. As returning Palladino stars, what do you find most fulfilling and challenging about these Étoile roles?

LUKE KIRBY: The most challenging thing with the Palladinos is that they give you a lot of really good writing, and the expectation is that you arrive really, really ready. So that’s a challenge, but you can figure that out if you have time. And from that comes a great satisfaction. 

GIDEON GLICK: To riff off of that, the text is the most rewarding and challenging part of working in the Palladino world, but I will say most of my scenes are with dancers, and depending on if I mess up my line, they have to start dancing from the beginning again. And most of the stress was about messing them up, because they can’t go that many times. Their bodies will break. And so I was really nervous. 

Luke, Jack has incredible chemistry with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou de Laâge’s characters. Were you quick to develop that close relationship as actors? 

KIRBY: Yeah. Lou and Charlotte are just formidable actors and really cool people. We all like to work hard, so developing those relationships as actors happens. It felt like it happened fairly seamlessly. We show up and we do our work. But boy, they are really exceptional. I don’t know why they even would talk to me when I think about it. [Laughs]

Gideon, I’m obsessed with Tobias, he’s such a challenging character to nail and it looks like you do it effortlessly. Did working as a writer on the series inform that acting and understanding of the character to degrees you hadn’t experienced before? 

GLICK: Oh, for sure. I felt like I was living in the world for a year before we started. So I felt really, really lucky that I got to dive in, sort of big picture, and understand what the ballet world was like, and then fine-tune it towards Tobias. I felt I had already been inside of it for a really long time. 

It’s always so thrilling to see the return of so many familiar faces in Dan and Amy’s shows, but my favorite guest star will always be the great Kelly Bishop. Luke, what was it like having her play Jack’s mother? I know she has such a deep personal history with ballet, so I imagine she was thrilled to be in this show.

KIRBY: Yeah. Having Kelly around was uplifting, for sure. She doesn’t play the most uplifting mother in the history of Kelly. [Laughs] But Kelly is really warm. And, yes. Her shared history with this art helps solidify what we’re doing. She’s just amazing. We shot — were you there?

GLICK: Are you talking about the party scene? 

KIRBY: Yeah. She’s the only person I’ve seen riff on a set of a Sherman-Paladino show. And boy, she riffed, man. It was 15 minutes of her, and we all just were mesmerized. She’s a legend. Her beauty and her talent. She’s amazing. 

[Read what Amy Sherman-Palladino and Yanic Truesdale had to say about Bishop here.]

Speaking of guest stars, there are so many jaw-dropping appearances in these eight episodes, but Gideon, you share scenes with two of my favorites. The first is obviously David Byrne, no big deal. Were you interacting with him at all of was that a pre-recorded bit? 

GLICK: No, when it was David’s footage, I was just off camera, marveling at the fact. I used to listen to Talking Heads every day. I did not tell him that. But he’s cool. He’s just like what you think he is. 

KIRBY: I said hi to him at the Brooklyn Library, and it was one of the more exciting moments of my day and life. 

GLICK: He also did some Zoom from his room, and we recreated his actual room from that Zoom. So he was weirded out. He’s like, “This is my apartment inside the basement of the Brooklyn library.” [Laughs]

KIRBY: Yeah, we shot it in the Brooklyn Library, but they made it look just like his actual apartment. It’s just a very freaky thing to do to a person. But, you know, fun! [Laughs]

Of course I have to ask about sharing that hilarious scene with your pal, Jonathan Groff. What can you tell me about that Spring Awakening reunion?

GLICK: With Jonathan, I’ve known Groff forever, but we’ve never really gotten to actually act together. Because in Spring Awakening, we weren’t really — we didn’t truly have scenes together. We were just in group scenes together. And I think at the end [of our Étoile scene] we felt like we finally were intimate together in a way. We understood what it was like to maybe date each other. [Laughs] It was odd.

KIRBY: The power of acting! [Laughs]

One of the greatest Tobias scenes is, of course, when he goes rogue and starts re-choreographing his dance live on stage, and that massive scene ends with a long-awaited Tobias and Gabin kiss. You have such a wonderful dynamic with Ivan du Pontavice.

GLICK: Ivan is such an extraordinary actor. He is so alive. So working with him is always a thrill. And I will say, it’s nice when you have chemistry immediately and you can see it translate through the work. I think we’re sort of an odd couple. So it’s fun riffing with him. And that scene in particular was just amazing. It was really the end of the shoot for us. So it felt like a big culmination. It was thrilling on multiple levels. 

The show has such a compelling love triangle, because I genuinely love Jack and Genevieve. But I was secretly rooting for him and Cheyenne to explore the palpable connection they have. Luke, when you read that finale script and saw that big scene at the end, had you been rooting for them as well? And how much do you know about their backstory five years ago? 

KIRBY: They touch upon it in the first episode. There’s sort of this sad, reflective moment where Cheyenne is learning about how New York has changed since her last time being here. And to me, just those few lines spoke volumes to their shared history. I think they’re both worthy relationships. They’re friendships. Everyone in this story is drawn to one art form and is driven by trying to keep its vitality present. I don’t know where it’s going. I have ideas for sure, but nobody’s gonna listen to me. [Laughs]

GLICK: We’re not.

Straight from the writer.

KIRBY: Yeah, see? See how that happened? I had ideas. Nobody wants to know. I’ll tell you when he leaves. [Laughs]

Coming off the Hollywood strikes and living in a world where art and expression are under fire in some regards, what does it mean to be a part of a show that is such a love letter to the arts? 

KIRBY: It feels good. This is important, important stuff. I think it’s vital now. And to us, it’s like water. So hopefully we did OK in getting it out there. 

Before we wrap in honor of Étoile, is there a star in your own life who you’d like to shout out? 

GLICK: So my dog, he’s the greatest thing in the world.

KIRBY: Well, I have a dog, too.

GLICK: Yeah, but this is my answer, so please don’t step on me.

KIRBY: It’s just that you looked at me for validation, and I thought, “Oh, that’s a good answer.”

GLICK: I did. But I would say that our dog, we worship the temple of our dog at home. And every day I love him more.

KIRBY: The way we look after our dog is really — [Laughs] You should see our dog dance, that’s the thing.

GLICK: Can your dog dance?

KIRBY: Well, he’s a poodle.

GLICK: Are we weird? 

KIRBY: Hi, Homer. [Waves, Laughs, Repeats]

GLICK: Hi, Trueman. [Waves, Laughs, Repeats]

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Étoile is now streaming on Prime Video.