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For many, Andrew Rannells is recognised as the quick-witted, sassy and iconic Elijah Krantz in Lena Dunham’s Girls.
But his many stage and screen performances highlight his ability to stretch genres and tone with ease and prowess, and his latest role is no exception.
In his new HBO film titled Miss You, Love You, Rannells stars as Jamie Simms alongside Allison Janney as grieving widow Diane Patterson.
Following the death of her husband Henry, her son is unable to visit her, and so he sends his personal assistant instead. Enter: Jamie.
What follows is a beautiful exploration of grief, ageing and family relationships, as the two strangers navigate the lead-up to Henry’s funeral.
Jamie reveals details of his own losses to Diane, sharing that he cared for and lost his own parents to cancer – and parental loss is something that Andrew could relate to.
While it was ‘a different situation’, Andrew admits that ‘the losing of a parent at any age changes your whole equilibrium’.
He told Metro: ‘My father died when I was 22, and he died rather suddenly.’
Reflecting now as a 47-year-old, Andrew said: ‘The relationship that I had with my father when he died – it felt sort of new.
‘We weren’t particularly close when I was a kid. As I was becoming an adult, we figured out a new way to talk to each other and how we could meet each other as adults.
It was a unique relationship to explore with Allison Janney
‘It was the first time that I really felt close to him, and then he died. And it took me a long time to process that.’
The reality of grief not being linear is something Andrew brought with him to the role. With writer and director Jim Rash, he explored the idea that although Jamie’s parents died a while ago, bonding with Diane is perhaps the first time he’s really opening up about it.
‘That’s where I think that they find themselves a lot in that film. It’s like they don’t really know each other, but they’re sharing things that they wouldn’t have told their partner or their son. So it was a unique relationship to get to explore with her.’