'High Fidelity' Star David H. Holmes Wants His Work to Speak for Itself
Let me tell you about David H. Holmes. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, his face just might. Holmes is one of the stars in Hulu’s new show, High Fidelity, alongside Zoë Kravitz, who plays the lead role of Rob, a record store owner, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who plays Cherise. Holmes plays Simon, who is Rob’s coworker, best friend, and ex-boyfriend all wrapped into one. With a relationship like that, one can imagine the interesting situations bound to unfold.
The show, a gender-flipped adaptation of the 2000 movie of the same name based on Nick Hornby’s novel, follows the life of Rob as she revisits her top five heartbreaks. On its Valentine's Day release and beyond, the show's complex premise seems sure to bring newfound interest to all the stars' performances, including that of Holmes, who despite being private about his life (you won't find him on Instagram or any social platform) has steadily built an impressive acting resume with roles on the likes of Mindhunter and Law and Order: SVU. In honor of the show’s release on Valentine's Day, Holmes talks to L’Officiel USA about making High Fidelity, working odd jobs, and why he stays off social media.
Let’s talk about High Fidelity—what was your favorite part about making the show?
When you've been at it for 17 years working odd jobs, bar jobs, doing little things, when you finally get like a big role where you're on set all the time, making a living, doing it, I mean...that's kind of incredible. Every actor will know that feeling. That was a pretty damn good part of it.
What was it like working with that incredible group of people—Zoë Kravitz, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and Jake Lacy?
Oh my God. Well, working with Zoë and Da'Vine, it was incredible. They're very easy to work with, incredibly friendly. I just felt like they were just friends from the outset; nothing felt forced, nothing felt like, 'Oh, we have to be friendly because in the script it says we're friendly.' Everything just flowed really naturally. I didn't have any scenes with Jake, but we got along really well, just in the off-time. Like we all still hang out here and there. They're very nice people.
In the show, your character is very music-obsessed/knowledgeable. Is that at all the same in real life?
Not to the extent of the character. He knows things about, you know, Brazilian pop music from the '60s and who produced what record and at what time. I don't know any of that necessarily. The music that I like, I really like. I appreciate things I really like and I certainly need music all the time, but I'm not as knowledgeable as the character at all.
What are some of your favorite songs or artists?
Good question. I can't really break it down to songs, but I can do albums. Sandinista by The Clash is one of my favorite albums, The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave. It's hard to put a Dylan album on it cause I like so many of them, but, Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks. It's really hard after that. Desires is one of my favorite albums by him. The self-titled Minor Threat album is probably one of the best punk rock albums out there. How Could Hell Be Any Worse by Bad Religion. It's tough because there's just so many, but basically [I mostly stick to] blues, country, punk rock, and soul.
If you could work with any actor/actress/director on a project, who would it be?
I'm really excited about the work that [Robert] Eggers is doing right now with The Lighthouse, and everything he's done. I love the Safdie brothers as far as the new people coming up. Obviously, I've been a huge fan of guys like Paul Thomas Anderson, Lars von Trier, and David Fincher over the years. As far as directors, I would love to work with those guys.
You don’t have any social media presence. Why is that?
I just never liked it. I never gravitated to it. It never seemed like something that would interest me. And the little that I have seen it or been on it or understood of it kind of confirms that each time. Less is more as far as I'm concerned. When you have a platform to kind of put out every single one of your thoughts, ideas, and feelings, it's fine and it's beautiful, and the people that enjoy that and need that, it works very well for them. But, as far as I'm concerned, I really enjoy anonymity and I enjoy being in full control of my public persona, which means I don't have to put anything out. I'm already in a profession where if I'm doing it right, I'll be in front of a lot of people, and I prefer to keep that there. My private life is best kept private and in that case, the more you know about me, then the more you're kind of analyzing that, watching a movie or a TV show or whatever it may be. But if you don't know anything about me, then you can just kind of let the role or whatever you're watching speak for itself. I think that's where I want to live.
What are some of your hobbies?
I love camping. I love doing outdoor things. I try and camp as much as possible. I'm a big boxing fan; I used to actually train and I should probably get back into that a little bit just to get back in shape. I like reading, going to concerts, loud music, and things like that.
Since the show comes out on Friday, I have to ask, do you have any interesting Valentine's Day plans?
No, not really. You know, what I'm going to be doing is sitting down and watching all of High Fidelity. That's what everybody should be doing on Valentine's Day, my God.
If there's one thing that you would want people to know about you, what would it be?
I don't want people to know anything about me. I can't really imagine what I would want people to know about me that's not already kind of out there for their delectation to already see. I'm a nice guy. How about that?
What are you most excited about for the future?
Oh, God. More work. I was a bartender before this show, and so I would like to keep working in my chosen profession, whether it be season two of this show or whatever project comes along that I'm really interested in. I just want to keep working.
