The underbelly of the crime world is something many works of literature and pop culture jump headfirst into, and ‘Dope Thief‘, Apple TV+’s new 8-episode series is no different in that regard.
What this limited series does do differently, however, is showcase more than just the illegal nature of its storyline. Instead, it really focuses on its characters and lets the latter fuel the plot.
‘Dope Thief’ follows Ray Driscoll (Brian Tyree Henry) and Manny Carvalho (Wagner Moura), best friends who start the series off running their own game: The duo poses as DEA agents raiding different low-level drug dealers and operations on the streets of Philadelphia, gathering any drugs and money they can along the way.
The Ridley Scott produced (and directed for a few episodes) story is based on a 2009 Dennis Tafoya novel of the same name. The series was created by Peter Craig (‘The Town’) and features an all-star cast both in front and behind the camera.
“I was intrigued, but it was not an immediate yes for me,” says Moura. “The reason why—they called me on a Friday to be shooting on Monday…I wasn’t sure if I could do that because I always took preparation really seriously. [But] I was exactly in a moment in my life that I needed to shake it up. I needed to do something different, and I needed to expose myself to a crazy situation. And then Brian called me and there was something else…something that I can’t explain. A spiritual thing that made me go, oh, that’s it. I heard his voice and I go, okay, I’m doing this.”
Moura is no stranger to a drug-heavy plot, having played Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar in Netflix’s hit series ‘Narcos.’ But ‘Dope Thief’ exercises a different set of creative muscles for the actor entirely.
“You have a Latino and a Black dude engulfed in a drug trade story, but when you get closer to the characters, you see that they’re completely the opposite of the stereotype of the Hollywood, macho, tough drug trade thing,” Moura says. “What they really want is to escape, to get out. They don’t want to be there. They’re not good at that. They don’t like that they were just put in that system. They were just thrown that situation as many others like us. This is probably the most vulnerable and emotional character that I have ever played in my life.”
You see early on in the show the bond that Ray and Manny have, and as the story goes on, flashbacks unfold more of the personal fuel each man has. And it all revolves around different aspects of love in their life, and different aspects of family. For Manny, he has his girlfriend Sherry (Liz Caribel), while Ray has his “surrogate” mother, Theresa (Kate Mulgrew), a girlfriend of his father, Bart (Ving Rhames).
“Most of the time, when our young Black men and Brown men are put in prison at a young age, that is the age they want them to stay mentally,” explains Henry. “That’s where the system keeps them and that’s how the system continues to treat them. And so for me, I needed vindication for both of them. I needed to feel like the Rays and Manny’s of Philly could see themselves reflected, could see a cautionary tale in a way at the same time, but also see that their relationships with each other are valid and are reflected back.”
Henry continued: “Peter [Craig] has one of the most phenomenal brains. There are so many elements of recidivism, of generational trauma, of addiction, of grief that we aren’t really shown as people of color when it comes to systems of recovery. And when it comes to systems of sobriety, we are not really reflected in it. What does that system look like for ’em? We just wanted to shine a light on a lot of ideas that aren’t really reflected in television.”
In the show, Ray and Manny take their act to the Amish countryside to a vulnerable rural operation, which proves to cause more harm then good. Quickly into the series, the best friends make two massive enemies: Philly’s own “Whitey Bulger” level kingpin, and an actual DEA agent (played by Marin Ireland) who’s injured and loses a loved one in the fake sting.
But ultimately through it all, Ray and Manny drive the heart of the story, even with all of the outside noise and characters. It’s not just an action-led series, and it’s not a plot that relies on its setting to make it noticeable — though Philly is a great character in the show all on its own. Instead ‘Dope Thief’ tells a clear story of two men who desperately want to escape a cycle that they never agreed to be part of in the first place.
“It’s a very tragic character. It’s a man that’s constantly trying to get out of a situation, but he can’t because in order to do that, he has to break up with the person that he loves most in his life— who is Ray. So it’s like a Greek tragedy, and the character is walking into a tragedy…but there’s nothing that can stop that [from happening],” says Moura.
Henry agrees with Moura’s point.
“What’s crazy is that we discovered that this is still a coming-of-age story. Even though these are grown men by the eyes of society, we are grown men, grown men who should know better, men who should have it together. We are still coming of age and we’re still trying to figure out who we are,” Henry finishes.
“Truly playing Ray was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but it was the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done because I got to lay a lot of burdens down. I never read a character like this, he is really close to who I am and what I’m going through. I got to grow as a man. It was truly Brian’s coming of age as well, stepping into being a lead, being an executive producer. It was also me stepping into my own as well. And so it didn’t give us really a lot of places to hide, even though most of the show we’re trying to hide from shit.”
‘Dope Thief‘ premieres globally on Friday, March 14 on Apple TV+
