'He's a tough guy': Actor Paul Giamatti says 'hardass' John

Durham helped inspire Billions character

by Carlin Becker

May 04, 2020 09:54 PM

"Actor Paul Giamatti gave U.S. Attorney John Durham some credit for informing his character on Showtime's Billions.

The Hollywood star plays fictional U.S. Attorney-turned-New York Attorney General Chuck Rhoades, who is loosely based on former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, on the show, but Bharara isn't the only inspiration for the role. Speaking with GQ last week, Giamatti revealed that Durham influenced the portrayal of his character too.

"There was a guy that was interesting to me early on, and his name is John Durham," he said. "And he’s actually the guy who William Barr tagged to do the investigation of the Russia investigation. He used to be the federal attorney for the state of Connecticut, and he’s a pretty intense guy."

"He’s one of the guys who brought down Whitey Bulger, but he also took down the FBI guys who were colluding with Whitey Bulger," he continued. "I thought there were a lot of things about him that were interesting. The way he looks, too, is interesting. If you look him up, you can see.""

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