It’s the same reaction every time Murray Bartlett checks into a hotel.
“ ‘Sorry, sir, but we do not have the Pineapple Suite,’ ” says the Australian actor who played luxury resort manager Armond so perfectly in the first season of “The White Lotus” that he earned an Emmy Award for it.
“I never ask for anything special! I do not ask for any particular suite,” the soft-spoken 55-year-old says with a laugh. “Can you even imagine? At this age, I like my privacy and try not to draw attention to myself.”
That might soon get tougher because Bartlett has a major role on Apple TV’s 10-episode series “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” which premieres Wednesday. The plot revolves around a newly divorced mom (“Orphan Black’s” Tatiana Maslany) who gets caught up in a dangerous web of blackmail, murder and youth soccer. Bartlett plays … well, he can’t really get into it because the story has so many delicious twists and turns.
The title is something he can address. What did he think when he received a script called “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed”? “I thought the first thing that went through your mind,” he says. “The title does speak to the nature of the show. It guarantees a lot, and it doesn’t disappoint. It keeps you guessing. It keeps the punches rolling.”
Bartlett, a no-drama type in real life, resides on Cape Cod, where he relishes a quiet life in nature.
His good life tips:
Watch yourself
Part of the plot of “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed” has to do with the dangers of the internet. Bartlett is especially careful with what he finds online. “In this day and age, people fake everything on the net,” he says. “People are just scamming money, and it’s very disheartening. I also understand that people are lonely and want to connect. These things we have at our fingertips can be great, but information can be bent and distorted. The shadowy side of the internet is scary.”
Rough start
Bartlett grew up in Perth, Australia, where a strange accident put his future into motion. “My brother and I were roughhousing and he hit me in my teeth with a hammer. My teeth got knocked out. Baby teeth. … My mum is so wonderful and compassionate, so she sent me to a speech therapist who taught me dramatic monologues, so I could speak correctly. It was like acting lessons and I was hooked. … Later, I was that kid who dressed in plastic bags and rubber gloves walking around in my fantasy world. … Acting was just in the cards,” says Bartlett, who graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia.
Just don’t quit
Bartlett got his start as an actor in Australia and then relocated to the U.S. in 2000. He worked in spurts, including stints on “Sex and the City” and “Farscape.” He even had turns on the soap opera “Guiding Light” and on the HBO drama “Looking.” Did he ever think of quitting during the lean times? “Every four or five years, I’d have an existential crisis, go to a beach or into the woods and say, ‘What am I doing? Maybe I should do something else?’ ” he shares. “But then I would say, ‘Acting is what I absolutely love.’ Even if something is a struggle, you have to collect the good moments and keep pushing forward.”
Don’t listen
“During my lean times, a few friends I love would take me to brunch and say, ‘Murray, this is the age you are now. You need to quit acting and do something that makes you more money.’ It was tough love, but I never listened.”
Worth the wait
“My 20-something self would say, ‘No, I wish I would have been more successful younger.’ But the truth is success found me at the exact right time. I don’t know if I would have been ready for it when I was in my 20s,” he says. “I was still figuring out a lot of things about me.” And now, in his mid-50s? “I appreciate every single thing that comes my way,” Bartlett says. “I don’t take anything for granted. And I’m loving every second of it. I refuse to let the joy pass me by. To have choices in life and the ability to work with amazing people feels just epic.”
Words matter
That brings him to a certain HBO hit. The reason he signed on to “The White Lotus” was simple. “It was working with Mike White and that wonderful cast, plus it was just so beautifully written,” he says. “The funny thing is that some of those situations are very familiar to those who work in the hotel industry. I hear all the time, ‘You really captured us.’ ”
Finding balance
“I didn’t mind hitting my 50s,” Bartlett says. “I’m in good health, so getting older to me has been a wonderful thing, partly because of the work things that have come my way. … With age, I’ve also felt like my sense of perspective has become so much healthier. I feel clear. My life is more in balance.”
‘Make it happen’
“Fifty felt like a big number in the best possible way. I had a picture of what my life would be after 50, and I knew I would not live in a city anymore,” Bartlett says. “We literally live in the woods. I want to be in nature now as much as possible because I am older. It’s peaceful. And my other dream is to spend as much time with loved ones as possible.
“You need to make it happen, whatever your dream is. Age gives you the wisdom and perspective to know that it really is now or never.”
