Most are familiar with the Watergate scandal: several burglars were arrested at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters on June 17, 1972; President Richard Nixon’s administration attempted to cover up its involvement in the break-in; and the political crime ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation.
But who were the masterminds behind the Watergate scandal? Their perspectives are revealed in the upcoming HBO limited series, “White House Plumbers.”
“There’s so many different versions, and the one thing that happens in all these versions is the same scene right at the beginning; you see the guys breaking in with flashlights, and then you hear there was an arrest at the Watergate Hotel, or something like that. And that’s it — you never hear about those guys or see them again,” director David Mandel told PvNew at the New York premiere of “White House Plumbers” on Monday night. “This is the story about those guys that we never get to hear about.”
The five-part series revolves around Nixon’s political saboteurs E. Howard Hunt (Woody Harrelson) and G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux) and their involvement in one of America’s most infamous political scandals.
“I watched everything I could get my hands on, as far as like, footage and recordings of him. And fortunately for me, he was a guy who was not afraid of stepping in front of cameras or getting close to microphones at a radio show for years,” Theroux said of Liddy. “He was just a fabulous study because he’s almost like a cartoon character in real life. So, if anything in the playing of him, it was always trying to tone it down, make him believable, because he was sort of a natural performer.”
On working with “White House Plumbers” co-star Harrelson, Theroux said, “It was fabulous because we shot it at the beginning, like, roughly in order. So we really did have that oil and water chemistry at the beginning, and then they sort-of fall in love in certain respects and become great friends. And then of course, I won’t spoil anything, but where that friendship ends up going.”
In addition to Theroux and Harrelson, the cast includes Lena Headey, Judy Greer, Domhnall Gleeson, Toby Huss, Ike Barinholtz, Kathleen Turner, Kim Coates, Yul Vazquez, Alexis Valdés, Nelson Ascencio, Tony Plana, Zoe Levin, Liam James, Kiernan Shipka, Tre Ryder, David Krumholtz, F. Murray Abraham, Rich Sommer and John Carroll Lynch.
“It was fascinating to connect to my Cuban roots and to my people’s participation in this crazy situation that happened 50 years ago,” said Plana, who plays Watergate perpetrator Eugenio “Muscolito” Martinez. “That was really a part of me growing up as a college kid — watching history unfold and a presidency brought down by these little people.”
Mandel also told PvNew that they “got to shoot at the real Watergate Hotel.” “We built really close or almost exact replicas of places,” he added. “The DNC that they break into, we were working from a floor plan of the real DNC.”
Alex Gregory, who co-created the series with Peter Huyck, insists there’s more to the Watergate story than most people think.
“That’s what we want everyone to come away with,” Gregory explained. “Everyone thinks they know Watergate, and then hopefully you watch this series and realize there’s so much people don’t really know.”
“White House Plumbers” premieres May 1 on HBO.
