Christopher Abbott brings an old-school vibe to his ‘Catch-22’ hero

Reporting from New York â€”  If Christopher Abbott looks like he’s acting, then he’s not doing it right. At least, according to Abbott.

“Peter Falk is someone I could watch for hours on end, because watching him is electric,� says the Brooklyn-based star of Hulu’s new adaptation of “Catch-22.� “A certain kind of filmmaking that was being done in the ’70s with John Cassavetes and Falk and Gena Rowlands — it doesn’t feel like acting. I’m drawn to that. As an audience, it’s scary to watch because of how real it feels, and that’s always the goal.�

As John “Yo Yo� Yossarian, the focal point of “Catch-22,� Abbott does have to do a certain amount of acting; the camera almost never leaves him alone. But there’s an intensity to his performance that also feels like part of his personality: Abbott is a lover of old-school-style acting that starts on the stage and rarely stays in one place.

“I’m not a fan of doing something for a long time,� he says, explaining why he left his role on HBO’s “Girls� as Allison Williams’ faltering boyfriend Charlie after two seasons (he came back briefly in the penultimate season). “Once I do it, I want to be done. I made a check in the box in terms of that with ‘Girls,’ and I was finished.�

“Catch-22,� meanwhile, gave him another box to tick by walking a satirical line between absurd comedy and hard-to-watch war drama. “Reading that script felt like a play,� he says. “I was intrigued right off the bat. But it’s not completely antiwar; it’s more anti-bureaucracy. Yossarian is asking a completely legitimate question: If you’re going to put your life at risk, you deserve to know why.�

It’s a big question that makes Yossarian relatable across the generations. “Maybe not everyone can relate to his specific scenario — but everyone can relate to the question of existence,� he says. “Period.�

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