Lamorne Morris: The cool thing about Nick Cage is that he will match your silly

Known for his razorsharp comic timing Lamorne Morris proved with his Emmywinning turn in Fargo that he is far more than just a funnyman In a candid chat with midday the actor not only had us in splits but also revealed the intense research behind his character Robbie Robertson in Prime Videorsquos SpiderNoir his easy chemistry with Nicolas Cage and why he is still waiting on a signed poster from Robert Downey JrExcerpts from the interviewLR Lamorne Morris and Nicolas CageThis being your first superhero project was there a moment on set when it finally hit you that you were part of the Marvel multiverseI snuck a peek at Nick Cagersquos suit when I was getting fitted for wardrobe They were trying to hide it from me but couldnrsquot I just remember peeking around the corner and going lsquoOh wow thatrsquos coolrsquo And then it hits you Yoursquore in it This is the thing that you wanted as a kid Just being a part of the SpiderNoir universe I got to say it took me back to a time when I was a kid So that was probably the moment for me when I realised lsquoOh boy this is itrsquoIn the comics Robbie Robertson has a traumatic history Does the series also explore his connection with the criminal underworldI think thatrsquos one of those things where yoursquoll have to watch But I can tell you Robbie is not doing this just because it is work It comes from somewhere The more you dive into the series you might get a better glimpse at what makes him tickLamorne Morris as Robbie Robertson in lsquoSpiderNoirrsquoAfter getting the script did you go through the comics for researchI did I knew a little bit about Robbie from the late Bill Nunn in the original SpiderMan trilogy 20022007 directed by Sam Raimi where he played Robbie Robertson He was always so mysterious and you always wondered whatrsquos going on with the guy because he wasnrsquot in it a ton Upon doing further research you realise that hersquos a huge part of the evolution of SpiderMan of the newspaper Daily Bugle of the times theyrsquore in and of the way things were reported I also came across a guy named Ted Poston who lived a very similar life to RobbieBorn in the early 1900s he was a reporter for the New York Post and one of the first Black reporters in a mainstream White publication He would uncover dark crimes in New York City and break stories that were happening in Harlem and elsewhere Now I donrsquot know if that was part of Robbiersquos inception but I pulled a lot from his upbringing and from how Ted Poston went about his business He had a very lsquoby any means necessaryrsquo attitude And thatrsquos the same with RobbieHow did Nicolas Cage and you work together to create that camaraderie between a reporter and a private investigatorI was nervous before I met him I didnrsquot know what to expect So I was careful about how I approached it because I can be a bit silly And the cool thing about Nick is that he will match your silly I didnrsquot know that Hersquos the most prepared and giving actor that Irsquove ever worked with So when he gets there he already knows what hersquos going to do But then you improvise something and you see how quick he is He can immediately respond with something off the cuff nonscripted because hersquos following you And thatrsquos the sign of a great actor whorsquos truly listening He gave me the licence to be freeWaiting on RDJDuring his Emmy win Lamorne Morris expressed a desire for Robert Downey Jr to sign a poster for him The actor says his wish is yet to be fulfilled ldquoI hope he reads about it and finally brings me that signed poster Robert Irsquoll come to your house and get it Just text me your addressrdquolsquoFargorsquo changed the gameLamorne Morris recently became the first actor in lsquoFargorsquo history to win an Emmy for a performance Speaking about how the award changed his career he said ldquoI used to get mostly comedy scripts but now I get a mixture of both mdash some darker films and some that demand you carry bothrdquo