What’s the good news from Thomas Sadoski?

The Newsroom, nominated Best Original Drama Series by Golden Globe, is on its third and final season, airing Monday nights at 9 o’clock on HBO (Sky and Destiny Cables Channel 54).

The new season finds Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels) and Mackenzie McHale (the show’s executive producer played by Emily Mortimer) and the staff of News Night facing two explosive situations: The possibility of a hostile takeover of the network looming on the horizon, and leaked classified government documents that unleash a legal fire storm that threatens to topple more than one professional career.

Created by show runner Aaron Sorkin (Oscar winner for The Social Network, executive producer and creator of the multiple Emmy winner The West Wing), the series follows the News Night team at the cable network ACN on their quixotic mission to do the news well in the face of a fickle audience, corporate mandates and tangled personal relationships. 

Going beyond the headlines, the six-part season turns its attention inward, focusing on a series of internal events at ACN that rock the very foundation of the network, and tackles such topics as privacy issues, the influence of social media on traditional news gathering and corporate takeover. The men and women of News Night are faced with personal and professional dilemmas that will forever determine their futures.

Set against the backdrop of the Boston Marathon bombing, The Newsroom kicked off with a highly charged look at the core issue of maintaining journalistic integrity in the era of 24-hour news cycles, while crowd-sourcing and “citizen journalism” result in the dissemination of misinformation.

Funfare recently did an exclusive phone interview with Thomas Sadoski who plays Don Keeper, the former executive producer of News Night until he took over the show that follows it and the love interest of financial analyst Sloan Sabbith (played by Olivia Munn). Don often butts heads with McAvoy because they’re a lot alike. He’d love to be on the same quixotic journey as his colleagues but he’s also a realist who understands the business and knows that he’s always one ratings point away from being out of a job. Thomas is also a popular stage actor having won an Obie Award in 2011 as Distinguished Performance by an Actor in Other Desert Cities.

The Newsroom fans are surely sad that the series is ending.

“We feel the same way. We feel sad but at the same time, I think that we are happy that we have done our work. The show is running its course and it’s ending on a great note. We are satisfied with the way that we play our characters. But we just have to move on to other things.”

What have you learned about the media from the series? Did it help you understand the media better?

“You know, I have a great respect for journalists. I think now, in regards to where and how I go about getting my news, I don’t trust just one source. The show has made me understand both sides, the newsmakers and those who report the news.”

Any unpleasant encounter with a paparazzi? How did you handle it?

“I haven’t had too many problems with the paparazzi because my job is not something that would interest the paparazzi.”

You’re being very modest, Thomas.

“Really? Hahahaha! I mean it. I don’t think I am the type who would make the paparazzi run after me.”

How has it been working on The Newsroom so far?

“Wow, I don’t even know where to start relating the wonderful experiences my co-stars and I are having on the set. There are just too many! Every day is a joy on the set. You know, we’re always laughing all the time. On the last day of shooting in New York, all of us were present. We were in the middle of the street celebrating with bottles of champagne. Our producers were there and so were the crew. We had a lot of fun!”

On a lighter note, what can you tell us about Don and Sloan’s relationship?

(Laughs and laughs) “I think that it is a very highly-functioning relationship that started with friendship and mutual respect. It’s gonna be a lot of fun to watch how it’s going to work out toward the end of the season. Are they going public with their relationship? I myself am curious, hahahaha!”

Some people are careless about the use of social media and celebrities like you are so vulnerable. How do you shield your private life from the intrusion of social media?

“Social media can be a useful tool for disseminating information but I think you have to be suspicious of the way some people are using it. However, I’m not the type of person who believes that anything that I’m doing at any moment of my day is interesting to the public. Frankly, I don’t think people are interested in what I’m doing away from work.”

Has your work in theater or in TV ever put you in a situation where you have to compromise your political conviction?

“Uhm, I don’t always agree with the politics or the morality of what I have to do. As an actor, in any number of cases, I am sometimes asked to create a character with whom I may not agree. But it’s not my job to judge the character, all I must do is play the character as honestly as I can to the best of my ability and allow the audience to make up their mind. I firmly believe that my responsibility as an artist is to hold up a mirror to humanity and it’s not always pretty what we see. I can’t shy away from that responsibility.”