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James Roday and Dulé Hill Interview

June 25, 2012August 5, 2009 by SciFiChick

SciFiChick.com was able to participate in a conference call Q&A session with James Roday and Dulé Hill, stars of USA’s Psych. Here’s the transcript from that call.
And don’t forget to tune in to USA on Friday night, August 7th, for the season premier of Psych!

The show is known a lot for its fast-paced banter between your characters Shawn and Gus. How much say do you guys get in what goes on in the dialog, particularly between the humorous segments and something like the nicknames that Shawn makes up for Gus?

J. Roday: Unlike, I think, the majority of shows on television right now we actually have a frighteningly high amount of say in what we do with the dialog. A lot of times it comes in great and all we have to do is say it, but any time we sort of recognize an opportunity to throw something in or add something or if we have a better name for Gus than the one that came in we just pull the trigger.

We’re pretty good at monitoring ourselves so that we only do it if we’re making it better, and it’s very rare that we find out later that the people down in LA were disappointed because we changed something. They’re usually pretty pleased.

D. Hill: Yes. And the names that we come up with most of the time it has to do with somebody that we know, somebody in the cast knows or somebody that one of the writers knows or a producer, something like that. I would say pretty much eight times to of ten there is some relation to the crazy name that Gus is being called.

What detectives, in real life or in fiction, have been an influence for the characters?

J. Roday: You know what, I go to this movie called Without a Clue that not a lot of people saw. It was Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley, and the idea behind the movie was that Watson was the brains of the operation and Holmes was just this very theatrical sort of charlatan that diverted people’s attention and got all the ladies. It’s a very, very funny movie that not a lot of people have seen.

But I love the fact that it was sort of rooted in the idea that these two guys absolutely, positively were dependent on one another to solve a crime, because Holmes was sort of the face of the franchise but Watson was the guy that sort of kept their feet on the ground and did a lot of the thinking. That’s not exactly what the dynamic is on Psych, but the sort of ying yang element of it of there’s no way that either of these guys could work on their own and there’s no way that they could accomplish what they were doing without the other one is definitely sort of a big element of what we do on Psych.

So that’s my answer. I feel decent about it. I’m passing it off to Dulé.

ABC’s Defying Gravity: Exclusive Interview with Eyal Podell

June 25, 2012August 1, 2009 by SciFiChick

SciFiChick.com was able to talk at length during an exclusive interview with Eyal Podell about his role on the new show Defying Gravity. The two-hour premier airs on ABC this Sunday night, August 2nd at 9/8c.

What can you tell us about your character Dr. Evram Mintz?

I’m the onboard medical officer and psychiatrist. So if anyone has any medical needs that might arise as we rocket through the solar system, I get to take care of them. And more importantly the psychiatrist that will come into play a lot more when you consider the fact that four men and four women are stuck in a tin can hurtling through space. And any of the discoveries that we may make or encounter, may shake our world view or what we think of our presence in the universe. That, or just loneliness or isolation and potential insanity, all of that. I’m the guy that’s going to be making sure everyone’s of sound mind and body.

On ABC.com, the synopsis mentions that there will be hook-ups on the show. Does your character have a love interest?

My love interest is in mission control.
And I want to mention that the synopsis from ABC is a little misleading. And I only want to mention this because I know that you have sci-fi readers that may be turned-off by this whole “Grey’s Anatomy in Space” and the clips of zero-g sex. Sure there will be romance, sex scenes, zero-g or earth based, but that’s only one component of the show.

The show isn’t going to be about having sex in space every week. Of course, when it comes to sex, a lot of people get their sex education on tv and we are always mindful of this when filming sex scenes to make them as realistic as possible. That doesn’t mean we show everything explicitly. There is probably much more to sex than what we can show. For instance, sex toys such as a fifi bag and other kinds are not part of the show. Also, the plot involves two timelines that affect the sex element of the show. But let me be a little clearer — the present day being the year 2052, when we’ve launched and our mission is underway. Eight of us are on a space ship and four others are back at mission control. And the other the other half takes place in the year 2047, and that starts with all of us meeting up and the astronaut training and selection program begins. So if there are any hook-ups and relationship drama, it generally takes place in the flash-backs.

The nice thing about how the show is structured is that the complexities and the back stories obviously make for more tension on the ship, since we’ve had past experiences with each other. But once we’re up there, we’re under a very strict mission and we’re going to be as professional as we can. And we don’t want to jeopardize the mission in any way.

I’d say the show is a lot more Lost than it is Grey’s Anatomy. Not nearly as much on-call room sex as you’d imagine. But there is always the possibility of it, and the lingering tension. What would X-Files have been without the tension between Mulder and Scully. Know what I mean?

Speaking of the clips, there seems to be a big mystery behind the mission. Can speak to any of that?

Paulo Costanzo Interview

June 25, 2012July 9, 2009 by SciFiChick

Paulo Costanzo plays the role of Evan Lawson on USA Network’s hit original series Royal Pains, which airs Thursdays at 10:00/9:00 central.
Tonight’s episode is titled, “No Man is an Island.” Be sure to tune in!

Keep reading for Costanzo’s conference call transcript with various media outlets…

What was it about the show Royal Pains that made you originally want to be a part of it?

Well, you know, as an actor in L.A. between projects it’s very competitive right now. So you pretty much, if there’s a role that you like, usually there’s at least 80 other actors who are petitioning for the same role. So I was in audition mode and this is one of the things that came across my desk because I have a giant desk as an actor, full of thousands of scripts. It’s just a room that is a desk that I can also dance on top of if I want. Across that desk came this script and I thought the character was kind of easy for me. It just kind of fit instantly. A lot of roles you read and you’re like okay, I know I have to start the character work and try to get to this place where I can play this guy. This one is just I already had it, kind of, inside me. So yes, I just went in with that in mind. That was a horrible answer to that question.

You have great on-screen chemistry with Mark. Is it something that happened instantly between you guys or did you do something to develop such a great rapport?

Well when I went in for the first audition, I got the callback pretty much the same day. The callback was for a chemistry read, which means that they bring you in to read with other actors who have already been cast to see how you get along with them. So I went in for this chemistry read, and at that time I was reading for the best friend, not the brother. There was no brother in the script. It was just Hank’s best friend, Evan, with some other last name. So I went in and I walked in the door, and I looked at him and he looked at me and I said, “Wait a minute. You look exactly…” and he finished my sentence by saying, “Like me!” And we both went, “What the hell?” And in my head I was like, I lost this role. There’s no way I can play this man’s best friend. I look exactly like him, just younger.

So at that point I said, “It looks like…” At that point I threw caution to the wind. It was just, like, I honestly feel like our Jew-fros, like if they got too close in proximity, they would just magnetize together and be almost impossible to separate, like Velcro. And he went, “Yes, I agree.” And I said, “Let’s try it.” And we got close and we somehow strangely mimed this head mashing, which made the room laugh, which I thought was really funny. And I was like ah, and that’s how we began our relationship.

They showed off some of your amazing dancing skills on the show. Is it something that was choreographed or did you improv?

That was written as a very short thing. Evan dances around the kitchen preparing for the thing passionately. And I came to Don Scardino, who directs a lot of 30 Rocks. I believe he’s the producer of 30 Rock. And I said, “I’m going to go this week and get a choreographer, so I actually have a couple ballet moves I can throw in there.” And he goes, “Aw, don’t worry about it. No, I’ve got this great girl.” And God strike me down I can’t remember her name right now, but she choreographed everything for 30 Rock and everything for Saturday Night Live over the last ten years. So she’s like a pro. And she showed up, and we worked for about an hour, and between the three of us we came up with that strange dance, which still makes me feel slightly uncomfortable to watch, but people seem to like.