With the third season of “Cougar Town” airing on ABC and with the recent release of “Cougar Town – The Complete Second Series” on DVD, J!-ENT will be featuring Q&A media interviews with a few cast members from the series.
For this latest interview, we feature actor Brian Van Holt. Known for his film roles in “Black Hawk Down”, “Windtalkers”, “House of Wax”, “S.W.A.T.”, for television Holt has appeared in series such as “Threshold”, “John from Cincinatti” and now the comedy series “Cougar Town”.
In the series, Van Holt plays the role of Bobby Cobb, a professional golfer who abandoned his dreams, is divorced with Jules Cobb (played by Courteney Cox) and have a teenage son named Travis (played by Dan Byrd).
Life for Van Holt has been tough as he is being supported by his wife, lives on a boat and tries to make money teaching clients how to play golf. In season two, we start to see Bobby become more mature with his own personal decisions away form Jules.
To promote the new season and also the recently released second season DVD, Brian Van Holt reflects on the second season of “Cougar Town”.
What would you like to see happen to your character, Bobby Cobb, in Season Two of Cougar Town?
BRIAN: I’ve had a lot of fun working on Season Two because we’ve been exploring my character’s attempts at returning to his former career as a professional golfer. He’s not going to make it, but hopefully there will be some comedy and humor in that journey. He’s also getting back to dating in Season Two. I’ve been looking forward to that for a long time!
Do you think there’s any chance that Bobby could end up with his ex-wife, Jules [played by Courteney Cox]?
BRIAN: No, I don’t think that will happen. Well, we might explore it a bit – but I truly don’t think that will work on the show. They might flirt a little bit and I think Bobby will always have a feeling and a connection with Jules, but that’s largely due to their son. I don’t want to give away too many storylines for the show, but it’s going to be interesting to see Bobby explore dating. Hopefully he’ll grow up a little bit and evolve because he needs to start to have a life of his own as opposed to depending on Jules all the time. All of the characters in the show depend on Jules for a number of reasons, but what Bobby would like to do is probably attempt to evolve and better himself. However, he’ll always find some way to screw it up, which is what I love about him.
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Do you know anyone as immature as Bobby in real life?
BRIAN: In my past, I’ve had friends like that. However, I have changed – and my friends have changed so much since then. You know what? Bobby was written quite differently in the pilot; he wasn’t a likable guy back then. Well, not as likable as this Bobby is. Even though he is constantly messing up, there’s something endearing about him that’s likable. I think that’s really important for this character.
Do you think Bobby is a good role model to his son, Travis?
BRIAN: Absolutely. Personally, I think Bobby would like to be a better father and a better role model to his son, but I doubt that will come to fruition. However, it looks like Travis will experience more of Bobby’s world in Season Two, which could be good for his character. It looks like Travis might be growing up a little on the show.
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Talking of growing up… The characters on Cougar Town often act more like teenagers instead of people in their 30s and 40s. Why is that?
BRIAN: Because they’re having fun! People enjoy watching us making fools of ourselves and acting childlike because they wish they could act that way too. I wish I was more like Bobby. I wish my friends and I behaved in some of the ways we do on the show.
Do you have a background in comedy?
BRIAN: I didn’t really do that much comedy before Cougar Town. I was terrified when I started work on the show. I was a little intimidated because we have a lot of very experienced and talented comedians on the set – and then there’s me.
Do you get to improvise on the set?
We are given a lot of freedom, but if we’re ever stuck we also have a lot of help. The writers are amazing and they’re always full of ideas, although we are allowed to add things or change our lines if we think we’ve got something funnier.
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Do you think a show like Cougar Town would have been possible to air on television 20 years ago?
BRIAN: We had things like Harold And Maude back then, so why not? Well, except for the fact that they wouldn’t know what “cougar†referred to back then.
 
What do you think of the show’s title?
BRIAN: I know that some people are turned off by the title of our show and there’s been some talk of changing it – but that’s because our show is very different to the show we created at the start of Season One. Cougar Town is not a show about women dating younger men. It’s a comedy about a group of friends in their mid 30s to 40s. It’s about the fun experiences they have together.
Which show do you prefer: the dating show about cougars in Season One or the show about friendship in Season Two?
BRIAN: I like the show the way it is now. It’s not so much about dating, but more about our friendships. I’m happy the show is focused more on our relationships and our little dysfunctional functioning family. It makes it more relatable.
What reaction do you get on the street when people realize you’re from Cougar Town?
BRIAN: A lot of guys come up to me and say, “We weren’t interested in your show. We didn’t want to watch it because we thought it was about cougars.†Then they say, “But actually we really love the show, and we love the storylines. We’re definitely into it much more than we thought we would be.â€
Have you received any fan mail from cougars since you started work on the show?
BRIAN: I’ve not had one single letter from a cougar. Not one. I can’t believe it. I have a lot of male followers and I get the random quirky characters that are attracted to Bobby, but not one cougar. Not one!
Why is that?
BRIAN: You tell me. If only I knew! It’s a complete shame, but maybe that will change with Season Two? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see – but I’ll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best…
“Cougar Town – The Complete Second Season” is now available on DVD
Images courtesy of ABC