‘Smoke’s Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine Was “Terrified” To Play “The Loneliest Man On The Planet”: “It’s Really Hard To Fathom What He’s Gone Through”

Dennis Lehane’s fiery Apple TV+ drama, Smoke, takes viewers on a search for two very different serial arsonists.

The first, a former fire fighter known as “the D&C arsonist” (divide and conquer), lights blazes in multiple locations at once, forcing first responders to scatter while he flees. Meanwhile, the “milk jug arsonist” typically chooses happy targets. He observes people enjoying their lives, fills milk jugs with accelerant, then sets fire to their homes as a deadly form of revenge for his traumatic past and a lifetime of rejection.

“Dennis described him as the loneliest man on the planet,” Smoke star Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine told Decider of his complex character Freddy Fasano, aka the milk jug firebug.

Throughout Smoke‘s first season, we see a down-on-his-luck Freddy struggling to find his place and purpose in the world, pursuing a promotion at work, allowing himself to have hope that a better life could exist, and going rogue when those dreams are dashed. Mwine admitted he was “terrified” to tackle the role, as “the character lives on the extreme, and it’s really hard to fathom what he’s gone through.” So in order to portray the dejected fast food fry cook’s palpable pain as authentically as possible, the 58-year-old actor underwent an intense, elaborate physical transformation that involved prosthetics, wigs, and a 40-pound weight-loss journey.

“They put on prosthetic teeth and prosthetic makeup. We had an incredible team that transformed me in ways I could never have imagined,” Mwine told Decider over Zoom. “It was my idea to shave my eyebrows. That was the only thing I threw in — and to lose as much weight as possible. So it was really starting from the outside. Once we were able to transform the outside, that became the window into exploring the extremes that Freddy lives in.”

As arson investigators Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) and Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) race to track Freddy down, more about his character and tragic backstory are revealed. The search, along with Mwine’s haunting performance, reach new heights in Episode 6, “Manhood,” premiering Friday, July 25 on Apple TV+.

In honor of the major episode, read on to hear how Smoke‘s Mwine approached the challenging role, worked with “phenomenal” co-stars, filmed with real fire, and more.

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When we first meet Freddy, there’s a supreme sadness and solitude to him that gutted me, in large part because of your physicality: the voice, the stares, the overall look, all these subtle sounds you make. What kinds of conversations did you have with Dennis Lehane when crafting the character?

I was terrified, because I did not know how to pull this off. The character lives on the extreme, and it’s really hard to fathom what he’s gone through. I wondered how to portray this, and one of the things that they wanted to do is put me through hours of hair and makeup. I was initially resistant. I was like, ‘Man, I’ve seen bad wigs. I don’t know if I can. Is there a way to do it without a wig?’ They put on prosthetic teeth and prosthetic makeup. So we had an incredible team. The heads of hair and makeup transformed me in ways that I could never have imagined. It was my idea to shave my eyebrows. That was the only thing I threw in — and to lose as much weight as possible. So it was really starting from the outside. Once we were able to transform the outside, that became the window into exploring the extremes that Freddy lives in.

Despite these horrible things Freddy is doing, I found myself empathizing with him in ways I was not expecting. Obviously to a less extreme degree, I think people will relate to a lot of his struggles. I’m sure those scenes in the hair salon when Brenda is washing his hair and they’re talking about invisibility will resonate with so many people.

One of the things that Dennis mentioned to me, which I think speaks to those scenes, is the sense of loneliness that Freddy lives in. Dennis described him as the loneliest man on the planet. And there’s periods of time where we all feel isolated or unable to connect with folks. So maybe that’s something that will resonate. But it was really about tapping into loneliness and what you do in those loneliest moments. Sometimes in attempts to reach out, you sabotage things. And that’s what Freddy inevitably ends up doing.

What does the process of playing the loneliest man in the world look like on set? Are you someone who’s able to easily step out of that dark head space, or did you try to fully immerse yourself in the character?

I could never fully immerse myself in that world, because I can never fully comprehend how despairing of a life that he’s lived. My window in was really a creative process; an imagination process. I didn’t have any personal experience or friends’ experience to draw from. So I didn’t feel like, when they said cut, that I was still in this funk. It was “cut,” and my imagination switched off for a second and I was able to do whatever. And then when it was time to roll, I just went back to playing, but playing in a dark space.

The fact that Smoke uses so much real fire during filming adds a real level of authenticity to the series. What was your experience with that burn stage was like? And at a time when there’s a lot of reliance on CGI and intense AI debates, did you find those efforts refreshing as an actor?

Refreshing, yeah. Scalding. [Laughs] I have one scene where I light something on fire and they gave me specific instructions to stand on the X mark when I throw this torch that lights this bonfire. And I wanted to push it, so I just took a little step closer and felt this singe on my forehead and held the ground, because I knew this was gonna be an incredible shot — the camera was on the other side of the flame shooting at me. And then when they said cut, I was like, “Oh, gosh!” It wasn’t anything bad. I just really felt the heat.

The eyebrows were really gone!

[Laughs] Yeah, exactly.

Freddy’s storyline keeps you largely isolated from the rest of the core cast, led by Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett. What can you share about your experience acting opposite the great Adina Porter as Brenda and Dakota Daulby as Lee.

I’ve been a huge, huge fan of Adina for ages, and I’ve known her for decades. This was the first time I got to work with her and interact with her, be on set with her, and just see her process. We didn’t really get to chit chat, because the stuff that we’re doing is so dark. Like you were asking about earlier, about switching on and off, it wasn’t that kind of scene. We didn’t have the thing where we could have simple offstage banter and chit chat and then dive into the scene. We just kept our separate spaces and then came and gave it our all. And Dakota’s an incredible spirit, and soul, and actor, and it was a joy to work with him as well. I couldn’t have asked for better scene partners.

You do get to share a couple scenes with Taron towards the end of this season — that major scene with Freddy and Brenda, and another huge one that we can’t spoil. But this was such a chilling role for him. What were the takeaways from those scenes?

Taron is phenomenal. He’s like this incredible gymnast who does all these acrobatics right in front of your eye. And as a scene partner, sometimes you can just get sucked in and just start watching his incredible performance. So for me, the challenge was not to get sucked into the vortex of his incredible performance, but to try to stand my ground and deliver, go head-to-head with Taron. So I hope I did that.

Absolutely. Before we wrap, Dennis Lehane said what ultimately drove him to make Smoke was getting to take a deeper look at the human psyche. What did you learn or what do you hope viewers take away about the human condition from this series?

I think it’s a thrilling exploration about what happens when you can’t get what you want. And you see it slip away, and you try to do something to get it, and what you try to do only makes it further slip away. You try again, and then it burns you, and then you try again, and you just keep self-sabotaging and getting in a vicious cycle. What I think this will be for folks is a thrilling ride between love, loss, and revenge.

New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.