Interviews

During a recent set visit on the set of Psych, various other media outlets and I were able to interview C. Thomas Howell, who happened to be filming that day as well.

Can you tell us about your character in this episode?

Howell: I play Federal Agent Driggs, who is put on the case to search for [an] international mystery woman. And I’ve been tracking her down and following her to Santa Barbara. You’re thinking as I’m going through things that maybe I’ve got something to do with the shenanigans here. Because I’m sort of a hard a**, and it looks like I might be the one driving the problems.

Is there a bit of a friendship then between your charater and Lassiter, since both are so tough, or is there tension?

Howell: Well, I’ll tell you a little secret between me and Lassiter. The original pilot that was shot, the screen test came down between me and Tim to play Lassiter. So there’s definitely some hate between the two of us. And on day one over at the studio, take one, day one, I accidentally stepped on one of Tim’s lines and cut him off. And he said, “Howell, give it up. You didn’t get the role, for god’s sakes. Okay, get it over it.” So when they asked me to come up, I couldn’t wait to come up and do evil things to Tim when he wasn’t looking.

You’ve been acting forever. Was there ever…

Howell: Pretty much. Methuselah Howell.

Was there ever a time in which you contemplated another career, or was it just always this?

Howell: You know, all of my family are stunt people – my father was one of the top five stunt men in the business for years, and years, and years. He’s semi-retired now. My sister, my mother, my cousins, my uncles – all stunt people. So at Thanksgiving when we’re sitting at a table like this it’s all stunt people.

And somebody inevitably is like, “Would the sissy pass the potatoes?” That’s what it’s like in my house. So if there was a career change, I probably would have done stunts. So I would have been in the same business. There was never an inkling of going off to college to become, a doctor or something. I always knew I would be in the business. I just thought I would be doing stunts. And when I was a young man I did stunts with my father all the time.

And when I was 12 I got the role on ET because I could do stunts on the bike. I was one of the only kids that could actually do the stunts on the bike, so that’s why they went with me. I was sort of the stunt kid, the other kids were the acting kids. And, that sort of lead to the audition process for The Outsiders, and I was cast in that. So I went from Spielberg to Coppola, and then some agents started scratching their head going, “Maybe you shouldn’t do stunts.” And the rest is history.

Is there a specific genre that you prefer working in?

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Tim Omundson was up next in our round of interviews with the cast of Psych. Tim plays tough-as-nails Detective Carlton Lassiter. And the real Tim couldn’t be farther than his character on screen. He’s quick, incredibly funny, and easy-going. He arrived with his dog Lucy, who immediately began running around the office getting attention from all of us. And as soon as Tim sat down at the boardroom table he began…

Tim: I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve called you all here. There’s been some—well, it’s a downward economic turn, and I’m afraid we’ll have to let you all go. Kidding. I can’t fire any of you.

We hear that you’re the first person on set to break character. Who makes it hard to keep a straight face?

Tim: First of all, that’s a f-ing lie. There’s no children in the room, right?

No, just reporters. Lots of reporters.

Tim: I wish it were true. It is absolutely true. What was the second part of the question?

Who makes it the hardest to keep a straight face?

Tim: James, normally. I mean, Dulé knocks me out, but I just find him so funny, and we have the same twisted sense of humor, which you wouldn’t necessarily get from last year. But me, he just cracks me up. I just find him hilarious. Dulé, not so much. [I’m kidding]

No, you see it’s tough, because Lassiter has no sense of humor and never cracks a smile, really. And so there’s no leeway for Lassiter to at all enjoy what Shawn does, but on the inside – that’s why I always say I’m the best actor on the show, because I’m constantly covering wanting to giggle like a girl.

There are a few moments where Lassiter, or Lassiter’s sense of humor likes to come out. It tends to be tensely inappropriate times, and he’s always pleased as punch with himself. We did something in Scary Sherry, that never made it to air, that just delighted James to no end, where Lassiter says some quip and then is so pleased, he just gets this big Cheshire Cat grin. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it, and that’s something that James always liked, so I’ll throw this one in.

How does the sense of humor on this set compare to others that you’ve worked on?

Tim: Oh, it’s as unique as the individuals that you’re in the room with. We just kind of got lightning in a bottle on this show where it’s like you have this group of actors, all of whom, especially me, are really funny. And I always say we have very different senses of humor. We find different things funny, but I think we come from the same foundation of funny, if that makes any sense. And we all appreciate the same kinds of humor.

I think Maggie would like a little less crass humor. There are a lot of boys on this set. We try and keep it in line and not let it get too blue, but every now and then, we’ll forget Maggie’s there. You’re talking…she’ll just walk up and go, “A lot of boys on this set. A lot of boys,” and then walk away. James will do something that could never possibly make it to air, and she’ll [Maggie] just go, “That’s my boyfriend.”

So yeah, it’s certainly the funniest set I’ve ever been on. But then, when I did Judging Amy, which was not a show full of yucks unless you like child abuse, it got to the point where Tyne Daly and I worked so closely, got to know each other so well. And after 70 episodes and the subject matter being so deadly serious, we just tried to figure out how to make each other laugh. Like, those two characters of Sean Potter and Maxine really grew to sort of – I know we’re not here to talk about all my career, but our relationship as people really grew. It was all like this… And Deadwood, not so funny.

We’ve seen Lassiter frustrated with his social life. I’d love to see Lassiter dating.

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Maggie Lawson was the first person we were able to interview during the recent set visit of Psych. Maggie plays Juliet O’Hara, a detective for the Santa Barbara Police Department. Her character has gone through some recent changes – most notably her hair color change this season. Maggie sat down to talk to us about the current season and her character. She is incredibly funny and sweet, which certainly came across in the interview.

How would you like to see Juliet and Shawn’s relationship develop?

Maggie: Good question. I think we’ve done a good job, over the last few seasons, of, like, really playing out how a relationship like this might go. So many complications are going to come into play when and if these characters get together. So I think that we’ve exhausted a lot of that now. So I think that some very serious things have been said, and it’s like a little ticking bomb that I feel like it’s going to happen, somehow, in a big way. It’s either going to be great, or it’s going to be a crazy fall-out. I mean, Shawn has a huge secret and, you know, if he’s going to have honest relationships, how does all that work? And so, I would like to see for both of them to be honest about their feelings with each other, however that’s going to play out.

Part of the fun of the show is all the guest stars. Are there some that you have bonded with more than others, or that you were really excited to work with?

Maggie: I hope this is because people enjoy being here, but I feel like just about every guest star or guest cast that we have come on – we end up having a real experience with them, almost like a movie shoot with them or something. We play games.

Nestor Carbonell, this season, he’s been on. So we’ve had a good time with him. And we had Freddy Prinze Jr., who’s a friend of Dulé’s, so we had fun with him. To say, some over others is kind of hard because what if they read these? You can turn the tape recorders off. Then we’ll talk! We love them all the same!

Will we see Juliet go undercover again?

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