Character Study
Tracing the evolution of our favorite TV characters from script to screen.
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The Origin
WhenBillionsbegan, Wags did not exist.
He roils inside, but you dont see any evidence of it.
The character was completely different, Costabile echoes.
Upper East Side WASP, very patrician, very quiet, theTom Hagenman behind the man.
We realized we needed a fiery id.
We also realized we were underutilizing Dave and all his abilities, Koppelman continues.
And we knew Costy had the colors to play this guy.
We took him to barbecue lunch and we were like, We want to try a thing with you.
Such a dramatic change could be easily masked, they thought, since they were so early in production.
We can do this, like, before anybody really knows what happened, Levien recalls.
According to Meyer, Costabiles innate talent made editing Wags easy.
He always gives a multi-layered performance, she says.
He can swing from hilarious to serious and then to vulnerable all in one scene.
When Costy turned around in the scene, he wasnt the kid I knew he was this character.
I remember vividly on the first day back, I was like,Hows this going to work?
What are we going to do?
A scene in which Axe fires rogue trader Victor Mateo (Louis Cancelmi) offered the inspiration Costabile needed.
And as he stepped forward,Istepped forward.
I got excited by that idea.
I was like,Oh, you want to fight?
They were like, Thats it, thats it, thats it, Costabile says.
To Levien, that exhibitionistic quality was another piece of the Wags puzzle.
Perhaps the single most recognizable symbol of that process was Costabiles own contribution: Wagss signature mustache.
We originally said to him, Maybe you shave your head, Koppelman recalls.
And he was like, I will if you want, but let me show you another idea.
I really pushed Brian and David to have the twisty mustache, Costabile says.
I was like, This should be who this person is.
He knows what hes doing.
The guy whos either pretending to be the devil or is the devil?
What the fuck is going on?It seemed like such a fun chess move.
Those extra accessories became integral to Wagss look and vibe.
Davids response was Wags is a maximalist.
And that told me everything I needed to know about Wags.
The Existentialist
With the look and psyche both firmly established, Costabile embraced Wagss intense energy.
Frequently the shows most quotable character, he embodiesBillions Scorsesean approach to the double-edged glamour of criminality.
But as Meyer noted of Costabiles performance, there are layers to almost everything Wags does.
That Fire walk with me moment?
He pulls himself up before hitting rock bottom or, worse for him, rehab.
For all his own vulgarity, he bristles when confronted with what he considers barbarity.
Says Costabile: The real answer for him is, Im not a fucking animal, right?
He recognizes and respects passion and artistry and art and beauty.
The money is actually in service of something much bigger.
Like, there is beauty in the world, and there are many forms of love.
You see it in everything he is: the way he moves, the clothes he wears.
He wants to engage with that part of the world.
The scene in the graveyard is a real direct path to what were talking about here, Koppelman adds.
Koppelman continues: You could think of him as somebody whos highly aware of his mortality.
Wags lives for those moments of extremis; his dimmers are only fully on in those most heightened moments.
Maybe thats the heart of it: Its not a moral question as much as its an existential one.
Wags decides the way he is as a father hasnt been a great success, Koppelman says.
It ties into the way he processes the drinking too much thing, or the partying too hard thing.
Thats his whole being, all right.
Koppelman, however, sees traces of the real man within the fictional character.
Knowing [Costabile], he has a great appetite for mischief.
If thats not a Wags move, I dont know what is.
