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John Lithgow just won rave reviews for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the Netflix series "The Crown." He's starring as a dotty professor who may or may not have murdered his wife in the upcoming NBC sitcom "Trial & Error."
And he's playing Doug, a cutthroat real-estate developer who squares off with an immigrant holistic healer (Salma Hayek) in the film "Beatriz at Dinner," which premieres Monday at the Sundance Film Festival.
"You know, I've aged to 71," Lithgow told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Turns out things just get more interesting. All three of these roles are completely different, one from another. And I'm promoting them all within the same 10, 12 days.
"My head is spinning. I've never been through anything quite like this."
He's clearly enthusiastic about "Beatriz at Dinner," which was written by Mike White ("School of Rock," "Chuck & Buck"), directed by Miguel Arteta ("Star Maps," "Chuck & Buck" and "The Good Girl," which all debuted at Sundance) and also stars Connie Britton, Jay Duplass and Chloe Sevigny. And about working in independent film.
"The basics are still the same," Lithgow said. "Things are just a little bit more scrappy on an indie film. Everybody's in it purely for the love of. I would say they're more similar than different."
Lithgow went from production on "The Crown," in which his character tried to save the British Empire and help young Queen Elizabeth II, to "Beatriz," in which he plays a self-made, self-satisfied billionaire. And then he went to work on "Trial & Error," a truly hilarious comedy in which his character is truly odd. (It premieres March 7 on NBC/Ch. 5.)
The half-hour comedy is a faux documentary about a murder case. As it begins, Lithgow's character — Larry Henderson — has been arrested for the murder of his wife. She went through a plate-glass window, but was it an accident or was she pushed?
In the 911 tape, we hear Larry reporting the death — and trying to put the 911 operator on hold so he can talk to the cable company on the other line.
"He has no sense of priority or proportion," Lithgow said. "The tiniest things have absolutely as much importance to him as the crime of murder. The cable guy and the death of his wife are equal emergencies.
"I loved the challenge of playing a part who, at any given moment, could completely plausibly have committed or not committed this crime."
Lithgow was in England shooting "The Crown" when the part was offered to him.
"And he said, 'What exactly did you see in me that makes you think I could do this?' " said executive producer Jeff Astrof. "And we were like, 'Anything you've ever done.' "
Lithgow signed on, knowing this character was completely unlike Churchill and Doug.
"My aspiration always is that every job I do is as different as possible from the job I just did. And you just can't get more different than this."
And Larry was different from one scene to the next.
"There were moments when you were so wonderful and jovial and loving," said co-star Sherri Shepherd, "and then you would break out into these monologues that scared the hell out of me. It was wonderful watching the highs and lows of Larry Henderson."
"The only really difficult acting is bad writing," he said, adding that these were all "beautifully written parts."
Twitter @ScottDPierce Lithgow at Sundance
"Beatriz at Dinner" premieres Monday, Jan. 23, at 9:30 p.m. at the Eccles Center Theatre in Park City. It also screens Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 8:30 a.m. at The MARC in Park City; Friday, Jan. 27, at 9:30 p.m. at the Rose Wagner in Salt Lake City; and Saturday, Jan. 28, at 11:30 p.m. at Prospector Square in Park City.
The 2017 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 19-29 in Park City and at venues in Salt Lake City and the Sundance resort in Provo Canyon. Ticket and schedule information at sundance.org .