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“I would like to do more of this, not less of this," Michael “Killer Mike” Render says of his first major acting role, in FX's The Lowdown. It's hard not to catch the bug, he points out, “when you look around a set and Miss [Jean] Tripplehorn is there, Keith David is there, Ethan Hawke is there. Laura Linney just pops up on your FaceTime. It’s a dream.” As a rapper, Render probably needs no introduction—his work with Outkast in the early 2000s led to a string of acclaimed solo releases (most recently 2023's Michael, which won three Grammy Awards), not to mention four albums as one-half of Run the Jewels (with rapper and producer El-P.) He’s also well known for his political activism, both on the local level (community-building in Atlanta, Georgia, his home town) and on the national stage, where he's been a vocal supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders. He's not exactly new to acting—he played himself on Ozark and has voiced characters on Adult Swim shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force—but as Cyrus on FX's The Lowdown, he's stepping up his thespian game. In the neo-noir series, created by Sterlin Harjo of Reservation Dogs fame, Ethan Hawke stars as Lee Raybon, a rough-and-tumble journalist who gets in too deep when he writes an exposé about the powerful Washberg family in their town of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Render’s Cyrus runs a local crime newspaper that publishes Lee’s work; he’s a vital part of the Tulsa community, while never sacrificing style with his patterned shirts and matching eye patches. It's clear that the 50-year-old Render, it’s clear he feels a sense of joy and awe at what he gets to do on The Lowdown, and who he gets to work with. He fans out about working alongside Hawke and Keith David on the show, and answers with a prayer-hands gesture when asked if he’d be down for a second season. “I’d like to be like Ice-T,” he says, “on for 20 seasons. One of my rap heroes who showed me that you can do everything.” GQ: How did you end up landing the role of Cyrus on The Lowdown? Killer Mike: Ethan [Hawke] and I had done Bill Maher together, and he had also brought me in for a bit role on The Good Lord Bird. I was interested in getting on screen more, as I've done a couple of things. Sterlin [Harjo] was a fan of Killer Mike, on and off the mic, and Ethan also is an encourager and a friend. And they gave me a call and said, Would you be interested? I had one conversation with Sterlin, and they gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. I truly enjoyed growing my discipline, being on screen as an actor from a writer and director like Sterlin, and from a fucking master thespian like Ethan. You've acted before, but this is a much bigger role. How was the process different? It felt different because, unlike Ozark, I wasn't playing myself. It felt different in that it was for real. And I don't mean like the other things weren't—I mean I'm across from Ethan Hawke. This was written by one of the greatest writers—Sterlin. I understood the seriousness of what I was doing in a different capacity. I trained harder. It was like Rocky II. When you learn your ABCs, it’s just repetition, brutal repetition, and adding a rhythm to it. When you're learning your lines, you're really learning the rhythm of the conversation, because you need to know the other characters' lines, the key words, and the points. You have to be so memorized in the lines that you're not thinking about them while you're doing them. They just become a part of you. [You want] to become the character, you would say ‘Cyrus wouldn't say it like this.’ I understand the detachment now from yourself and the attachment to the character, down to the car Cyrus drives. Cyrus is the guy who matches his shirts with his eye patch. I know that guy, you know what I mean? Cyrus isn't going to drive a Mercury. Cyrus is going to drive an ‘87 Monte Carlo. Cyrus’s matching shirts and eye patches are so fun. I look forward to it. Every time I'm just like, ‘What shirt am I wearing? What eye patch am I gonna be wearing?’ And what's crazy is, people expect to see the eye patch out. Like, I'm gonna wear this polo shirt later [he points to a patterned yellow polo on a chair]. I'm gonna have on that polo shirt, and someone is gonna ask, ‘Why don't you wear your eye patch?’ Ethan Hawke is one of our best actors. How was it working with him? Ethan really is an amazing encourager. There's something about when you know you're being taught by a master. And what's amazing is, like any good instructor, he teaches in a way that you don't even know you're learning until you've learned. I'm here to acquire information on how to do it, and then you're doing it before you know it. On and off camera, he’s just a genuinely good human being. He reminds me very much of his character in that. He's hopelessly hopeful. I know you did the majority of your scenes with Ethan, but it’s such a stacked cast. Did you get a chance to interact with the other actors? Hell, yeah, I was fucking fanning out with Keith David there. I was fanning the fuck out every single day. I was taking pictures that you couldn't post because you don't know who's gonna be on the show. Cyrus gets some of the best lines in the series. Like ‘There’s nothing worse than a white man who cares.’ The writers, man—the writers are amazing. You can feel when something feels authentic. And the fucking white man who cares is an authentic line. I mean, how many times have I thought that about Senator Sanders when I was trying to get him elected president? I fucking love this guy, but goddamn, why do you gotta care so much? I have to give credit to the writers. You guys shot on location in Oklahoma, where the show is set. How was your time in Tulsa? Being in North Tulsa was absolutely amazing because, for me, as a Black person, I always heard stories about Greenwood, the Black population in Tulsa. So it was good to be on the street meeting people, and for them to be so welcoming. Tulsa has a small-town vibe, but it's a city. You can get a great steak there, and you can get some great soul food by way of Kevin Johnson's restaurant Fixins. People say hello, stop, and ask to help. When we were shooting in North Tulsa, people were just patient and calm and watched the shoot. Then, after the shoot, they came over. There's a certain kindness that's felt in Tulsa that I really appreciate. The show feels so current, especially in its focus on white supremacy and political rot. What I like is the fact that a person who's not white wrote some of the white supremacist stuff because it allows us to see supposed white supremacists, in a way that a lot of non white people see [them]—that they're just poor white people. Poor and hopeless. And they're hopelessly hilarious in this show. These are not the white supremacists I'm afraid of. These are the white supremacists getting fooled by the current administration. The white supremacists I'm afraid of are the quiet ones, who are secretly plotting to send this country into civil war. And that's what I like about the writing on the show. It is simple and effective in communicating what's going on, yet it has these subtle complexities, where if you're in the know, you know what you're watching, and you're like, ‘Oh, shit, this is the truth of it.’ In terms of the current political administration, when are working-class and poor people not being pitted against one another in this country? I think that it provides information for the current generation, but I've been around long enough. I've taken enough trips around the sun to understand that this is just how politics work in this country. We must, like Kwame Ture said, stay in a constant state of organizing. And that doesn't mean just black people organizing. That means working-class people organizing as well. It's really important to be politically outspoken right now, and that's something you've always been doing. Why is that important for you to do that? It’s what I saw my grandparents doing. My grandmother was an activist and an organizer. That's what she did. My grandfather was a good neighbor. He would help the ten people who lived next to him, to his left and his right. If we caught 50 fish, he would give away 25 to elderly people in the community to make sure that they were eating. My grandmother was actively a part of political organizations, whether it was the Southern Environmental Law Center, the NAACP, and others. I'm just a hybrid of those two. What I ultimately want to do is what my grandparents told me you do. You just do the right things. There are times when I understand my voice helps to magnify particular people, particular plights, and particular thoughts and wants of the people. I use my voice to do that because that's what my grandmother taught me. You organize with people for the greater good of everyone. And on a very small local level, I help organizations like PAWKids, Georgia YouthBuild, Next Level Boys Academy, because, like my grandfather, you help your neighbors. After all, it has a direct effect on you. Ultimately, you have Bettie and Willie to thank for that. Those two people just taught me that no matter who you are, how famous you are, this is what you are supposed to do. Watching The Lowdown and how it’s so committed to telling the story of this Tulsa community, reminded me of how much you are committed to Atlanta. Cyrus reminds me of a strip club owner, I know, right? Girls dance naked in his club, guys who used to be football stars bodyguard at his club. But he's a vital member of our community. His father, his father could have been seen as someone who was his father. Like this, his dad was joking, right? His dad is a liquor importer and numbers runner. But his dad makes sure he donates money to civil rights causes and organizations. His father was noted throughout the community as someone who would help. This man is a legitimate businessman who owns one of the best strip clubs in the world. He gives a damn about our community, past what dollar he's turning into the community because he's of the community. And so Cyrus was a very familiar character because I know men like this. We should celebrate the Cyruses of the world. It's very good to be representing them in a way that's fair and honest and doesn't make them look foolish, you know? They don’t have Cyrus up there in some fucking weak ass sneakers. He takes a bad thing, that he doesn't have an eye, and he makes it cool by making an eye patch to match his shirts. These are the Black guys I know. There's something about them that keeps them connected and tethered to the regular folks. I'm a fan of the Cyruses of the world, and I appreciate them greatly. As a fan of your solo music and Run the Jewels—are we getting new music from you anytime soon? I just left Los Angeles with DJ Paul and No I.D., and I'm in Atlanta with Mike Will Made It. I'm actively working on music. So you guys are about to get something from me. Now, if El-P calls me tomorrow and says, ‘Hey, man, I just did 15 beats. I feel like this could be Run the Jewels 5,” then I'm gonna be on a plane headed to Amsterdam, right? If El doesn't call, then I'm going to keep working—so when El does call, I'll be done working, and then I can get on the plane and go.
