“I Think You Could Really Milk This for Multiple Seasons”: ‘Bookie’s Sebastian Maniscalco Wants To Dig Even Deeper Into the World of Gambling

From creators Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay, Season 2 of the Max original comedy series Bookie continues to follow veteran bookie Danny (Sebastian Maniscalco) and his best friend Ray (Omar J. Dorsey) around Los Angeles, as they try to save their business from the potential legalization of sports gambling in California. Collecting debts is tricky business, especially when you don’t want to actually hurt anyone to get your money, but unstable clients, and family and co-workers with their own demands, don’t help matters.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Maniscalco talked about peeling back the layers of his character’s personal and professional life, the amount of stress that Danny is under, that the unexpected is what he likes most about the show, the undeniable chemistry between Danny and Ray, the challenge of finding the comedy without a live stand-up audience giving you immediate feedback, the most memorable improvised moments this season, and what he’d still like to explore in a possible Season 3.

Sebastian Maniscalco Is Peeling Back the Layers of His ‘Bookie’ Character, Personally and Professionally

Collider: What did you enjoy most about the first season of this, with what you learned about the world, the characters, how they move within it, and how they interact with each other? Do you feel like you had a real sense of this character from the very beginning, or was there a moment when you were interacting with everyone and everything that it all really clicked?

SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO: I think I had a good grasp of who he was going in. But then, as I started to get familiar with the people around me, whether it be Omar [Dorsey], or Vanessa [Ferlito], who plays my sister, or Andrea [Anders], who plays my wife, I started to see how Danny would act with each different person and established those relationships in Season 1. And then, Season 2 blossomed, as far as the character was concerned, peeling back the onion, not only with his personal life, but with his professional life. He finds himself in financial distress, and we see how he handles that with Ray. Also, his wife brings in her mother to live with us. The amount of stress that this guy is under is pretty remarkable. The way he handles it, he tends to come out smelling like roses, but it takes a while to get there.

One of the most unexpected relationships this season is the one between Danny and his mother-in-law. You think you’ll hate the two of them together, but they’re fun to watch. What did you enjoy about that dynamic and getting to play that with Dale Dickey?

MANISCALCO: That’s a character where, from the get-go, out of the box, it looks like they’re gonna be very adversarial. But as the season goes on, they form a relationship that may be a little bit unexpected. I really enjoyed discovering that relationship and having a heartfelt moment outside in the backyard with her. She played that really well. The unexpected are the things that I like most about the show. A lot of times, it hits you with a curveball that you didn’t see coming and keeps people on their toes.

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Charlie Sheen is also back as himself!

Did you ever think you’d find yourself on a TV series where you were saying “fuck” to an infant that you’re holding in a scene?

MANISCALCO: These guys are the underbelly of society, so some of the things that they do are a little bit uncharacteristic for a normal person going to a 9-to-5 job. These guys are going to Costa Rica. They’re going to East L.A. to deal with a guy by the name of Condor. Their lifestyles are very untraditional, and sometimes with untraditional, you say “fuck” around an infant. It makes the show funny.

Because so much of this series is really about the chemistry between Danny and Ray, was that very apparent from the beginning? You and Omar are so great together, but there are so many layers to it that there’s just no way to predict how that’s going to play out.

MANISCALCO: I think that happened in the auditioning process, when Ray came in to read. We had three guys read for Ray, and [Omar J. Dorsey] was the first guy that came in. Me and him read the scene, and I felt right away like I went to college with Omar. So, that happened from day one. I just felt a comfortableness around him that definitely translated into the TV show. We hung out outside of work. He came to my show in Las Vegas to watch me do stand-up, and then I invited him to my 50th birthday party at the house. Hanging out with him on a social level definitely brought more of a comfortableness to it when we started shooting scenes. He’s just an easy guy to like.

It feels like the biggest difference between stand-up comedy on stage and comedy on screen is that one comes from a personal place while the other comes from character. Have the two felt very different for you? Are there challenges specific to finding a comedy groove with a character when you’re doing a movie or TV series?

MANISCALCO: With this character, a lot of what makes me funny on stage is gonna make me funny on this show. I’m not Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, playing a guy that’s so detached from the kind of person I am. Anytime there’s a physical comedy bit where I can utilize my physical comedy as well, I really dive into those scenes. It’s different in the sense that, with stand-up, you’re getting an immediate reaction from the audience if what you’re doing is funny. With TV, you’re like, “Is this funny? I hope so. I think it is.” But (co-creators) Chuck [Lorre] and Nick [Bakay] have done a really great job of laughing in the background. You can hear them laugh, and if you hear that, you have a validation that what you’re doing is good. As a comedian, at the end of these scenes, I’m looking for a standing ovation, but instead, I get, “Moving on!” Being a comedian, I look around at the crew to see if I’m getting a chuckle or two out of them. Generally speaking, they’re pretty good at keeping a straight face, which is not good for my confidence.

You have a fair amount of scenes inside of a car in this series. What’s it like to do those scenes? Does it feel more personal between the characters when they’re in such a confined space? Is it ever hard not to be able to physically move around more with some of that?

MANISCALCO: I actually enjoy the car scenes because I’m sitting down and not moving. I remember, I had to come out of a gas station and I was talking on a cell phone and walking at the same time. I had so much trouble talking and walking that I kept doing the scene over and over and over again. I started to feel bad because I was keeping the crew, but for whatever reason, it was too much for my mind to do. So, I relish those car scenes because you’re sitting there and the only thing you’re doing is that you’re in the scene and there’s no real external things around you other than the screen moving past you. I love those scenes.

Omar Dorsey as Ray and Sebastian Maniscalco as Danny on a cropped poster for Bookie in front of palm trees in LA

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Omar J. Dorsey also talks about what he learned from his experience doing seven seasons of ‘Queen Sugar.’

One of the funniest moments this season was Ray in the car, still driving with his eyes swollen shut.

MANISCALCO: And there’s not even an offer from me to drive the car. It’s just accepted that, “Okay, it’s your car. You’re beaten up, but you’re still gonna drive it.”

I also really loved the moment where the two of them sing “For the Love of Money.” Have you been saving that for just the right moment?

MANISCALCO: That was one of those things that we improvised. We were told to sing the song, but the way we did it, it was just the right moment for the right scene.

Do you do much improvisation in this show? The moment when you guys are sitting in the hospital together, when Ray has been beaten up and his eye is swollen shut, and you lean over and ask him to let you know when he can see you, was just perfection.

MANISCALCO: That was improvised. I remember that. I improvised that line. That just happened. I didn’t plan on that. Those are the best moments, when stuff like that just happens within the scene, and you’re so in the scene that something like that comes out of your mouth. But for the most part, it’s all written. There’s not a lot of improv. It’s pretty much on the page.

‘Bookie’s Sebastian Maniscalo Believes the Possible Storylines Are Abundant for Future Seasons

Now that you’ve done two seasons of this show, are you hoping for Season 3? Do you feel like this is a character that has a lot of life in him and is someone that you’d like to keep exploring?

MANISCALCO: Yeah. This world of gambling brings you to so many different scenarios that I think you could really milk this for multiple seasons. I would love to do a Season 3. We don’t know yet if this is gonna go for a Season 3, but I think the storylines are abundant, with where it could take these characters. With gambling, there’s a housewife that’s doing that, there’s a college student that’s doing it, there could be an old grandfather that has a gambling problem. There are a lot of different walks of life that are participating in gambling, and I think it’d be really fun to explore that in a third season.

We even get to see a different partnership this season and see how two other guys that do this compare to Danny and Ray.

MANISCALCO: I’d like to see more of the guys from Boston. They were really, really good. I had a great time with them. If it does continue on in Season 3, hopefully they will come back as rivals, or who knows where that relationship goes.

Poster artwork of Sebastian Maniscalco as Danny and Omar J. Dorsey as Ray for Bookie

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He also talks about the projects he never got off the ground, the previous shows he’d love to do another season of, and reuniting with Charlie Sheen.

Rob Corddry is a series regular this season. We see more of him, and we see him interacting with everybody. He really becomes the bane of everyone’s existence. What did you love about what he brings to the show, what he adds to the season, and how he fits in with everything?

MANISCALCO: There’s that scene when he’s getting massaged, and he gets up from the massage and casually tells the masseuse to leave, just his nonverbals, he’s got a lot of comedy in his facial expressions. He doesn’t even have to say anything. Just by looking at his face, you can get a chuckle or two. I’m happy that he was a lot more utilized in Season 2. Hopefully, if there’s a Season 3, I’d love to see him come back. He’s one of those guys that just knows comedy timing.