Paul Giamatti on Bidding Billions Goodbye: ‘I Wish I Could Do It Again’ (Exclusive)

If Paul Giamatti knew then what he knows now.

Talking to PEOPLE about his Critics Choice-nominated Showtime drama Billionswhich aired its last series in October, the actor says he wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

“I wish I could do it again,” admits Giamatti, 56.

In fact, this has been true of most of his film projects since his Emmy-winning title role in the 2008 miniseries. John Adams to his fantastic Oscar-nominated performance in 2005 The Cinderella Man.

“Everything I’ve done, I wish I could go back and do it again,” the four-time Emmy nominee says with a laugh.

Damian Lewis returns to ‘Billions’ for Season 7: ‘Bobby is back!’

But Giamatti feels his inner perfectionist, especially now after Billionswhich, as the actor points out, is different from any venture in his long career.

“It’s the longest I’ve ever done, one character that long,” he says of playing prosecutor Chuck Rhoades in the hit legal drama. “I ended up feeling very comfortable and I said, ‘Oh, I think I understand this guy now.’ So, in a way, yes, I wish I could go back and start over.”

(L-R:): Ben Shenkman, Paul Giamatti and Allan Havey in “Billions.”

Christopher T. Saunders/SHOWTIME

Created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Ross Sorkin, Billions it started in 2016 and spanned seven seasons. Loosely inspired by real-life federal financial crime prosecutions, the drama follows Rhoades’ attempts to bring hedge fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) to justice.

The show’s main cast included Maggie Siff, Condola Rashad, David Costabile, Asia Kate Dillon and Kelly AuCoin, with Corey Stoll joining in later seasons.

This February, Showtime announced four different ones Billions work was done on separations: Billions: Miami, billions: London, trillions and Millions.

So how exactly would Giamatti approach his character if he could start the series over? “I would be a little more relaxed about that,” says the actor.

The cast of the 7th season of “Billions”.

Mark Seliger/SHOWTIME

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Acting in long-running TV roles, he continues: “It’s probably a rare thing that I don’t get cornered… I kind of closed myself off into some things that then [the writers] locked me into, like, ‘Well, it works.'”

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As for what he’s taking away from the experience, Giamatti’s goal is clear: “I want to do something that long again.”

“If I do that,” he adds, “I’ll be a lot more relaxed and free about how we start so I don’t get frozen in something.”

Giamatti has no such projects in the works yet – but with that Billions spin-off, his wish to revisit Chuck Rhoades might come true after all. His new movie The Holdoversdirected by Alexander Payne and written by David Hemingson, is now in theaters.

For more on Paul Giamatti, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.

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