Q&A Interview with Shaun Parkes of “The River” (for the DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”) (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

The horror/drama series known as “The River” is coming out on DVD via “The River – The Complete First Season” on May 22nd.

“The River” was created by horror filmmaker/writer Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity” films, “Chernobyl Diaries”, “Area 51″),veteran TV writer Michael R. Perry (“Millennium”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “The Guardian”) and veteran TV writer Michael Green (“Smallville”, “Heroes”, “Everwood”, “Green Lantern”). The series also features Steven Spielberg as the executive producer.

With the upcoming DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”, J!-ENT will be featuring media Q&A’s with the several cast members of “The River”. We kicked things off with actor Bruce Greenwood, actress Elois Mumford and Joe Anderson, this time, we feature Shaun Parkes, who plays the role of Andreus Jude “A.J.” Poulaine.

Shaun Parkes is known for his roles in various films such as “The Mummy Returns”, “Notes on a Scandal” and TV series such as “Identity”, “Moses Jones” and “Harley Street”.  In “The River”, Parkes character of A.J. Poulaine is a cameraman who can rub people the wrong way with his sarcastic humor, but also his unwillingness to help people when they are in need.  He’s getting paid to film and he feels he doesn’t need to be involved whenever the others are in trouble.  And sure enough, people don’t take kindly to him when he behaves that way.

But like everyone on the crew in search of Dr. Emmet Cole, he also experiences the paranormal and begins to wonder if he should get the heck out of there.

Through this media Q&A we learn of how actor Shaun Parkes feels about working on “The River” and his thoughts on being part of paranormal thriller:

How would you describe your character in The River?

Shaun Parkes: AJ is a cameraman. He’s been brought to the Amazon solely to do that: to film people. He’s a top dude, but he’s not there to help or save other people, he just films whatever happens. He is like a news cameraman in a war-torn country where you see footage taken with a shaky camera. He’s one of those guys who’s been there and done everything. He’s not that scared, either. He knows it’s all about the shot. That’s who AJ is.

 

There are a lot of tense action scenes in The River. Was shooting the show as physically arduous as it looks on screen?

Yes, it was. For the most part, I have to do everything with a camera on my arm, which was very different to anything I’d ever done before. It was a real camera on my arm and it was filming everything, so I became an actor and a cameraman for The River. I had people coming up to me going: “Did you get that shot?” It takes on a whole different intensity for me.

 

The River is a paranormal thriller. How would you describe the supernatural element to the show?

Shaun Parkes:  There’s a lot of Amazonian folklore mentioned in the show. There’s a lot of mysticism and mystery. There are things out there that these characters don’t know anything about – and this group of people are confronting it and filming it at the same time. The producers didn’t want to create a show that was dependent on the look of monsters, so there’s a real psychological feel to the story. This isn’t Cloverfield or Super 8. The River is about a group of people reacting to what’s around them.

 

If you lived in AJ’s shoes and you saw all of these strange events happening around you in the Amazon – how far would you personally go before deciding the job wasn’t worth it?

I think I would have left right away! No, I’m joking. To be honest, I think I’d be interested for a while, but then I would have left. I can take quite a lot because I’m aware that there are things out there that I have seen and heard about that I couldn’t explain – but I find things like that incredibly interesting. I’ve also been in absolute panic when I was caught up in a riot, so I know what it feels like to be scared. I stood there and watched everyone else lose their mind, so I know that I’m the type of person who doesn’t like to panic too much. However, I don’t think I could stick around and carry on filming while a friend is being attacked or dying, which is what happens on The River.

 

Did anything scare you on the set of the show?

Shaun Parkes:  I will admit that a few things came very close to scaring me, but it wasn’t anything that was physically on set. It was the idea of the history of the location. We filmed in a haunted, old children’s asylum, which was located next to a cemetery and that was definitely creepy. There were lots of stories of abuse and how the nurses maybe killed a guy who was mistreating the kids. We were working with a local crew who refused to come into the asylum because of the stories from the past. There were people asking you: “Are you going in?” And I’d reply: “Yeah.” But then you watch your local colleagues standing next to you saying: “I refuse to go anywhere near that building.” That’s when it got scary. People really believed the stories. It was very creepy indeed.

 

How does a British actor end up on television in the USA?

Shaun Parkes:  I left drama school in London in 1994 and I worked in the UK for many years, doing various films, television and theater. And then a couple of years ago I decided to come to Los Angeles to give it a go. I love American TV and it all worked out well for me. I couldn’t be happier.

 

What do you like about American TV?

Shaun Parkes:  I love so much American television. I think one of the best TV shows ever made was The Wire. It absolutely blew my mind. And then you’ve got shows like Dexter and Weeds, too. I could go on mentioning loads more shows, but I’ll stop there. Obviously, The River is also one of my favorites. This whole project has been amazing to be involved with.

 

Is it rare for a British actor to find success in Hollywood?

Shaun Parkes:  To be honest, I know quite a few Londoners who have come over to the USA and are doing very well with various parts in TV shows and movies. We’ve all grown up together in the business over in London. Matthew Rhys, who was in Brothers And Sisters, and Andrew Lincoln, who appears in The Walking Dead, are both really good friends of mine. We were all in the same year at drama college, so we’ve known each other for half our lives. And then there’s Marianne Jean-Baptiste, too.

 

Was their success an inspiration for you?

Shaun Parkes:  Their success helped my brain realize that it can be done over here. If not an inspiration exactly, seeing these people come here and do something that they love to do within three or four years… Why wouldn’t I want a piece of that?

 

Have you moved to LA permanently now?

Shaun Parkes: No, I haven’t done that yet because it’s difficult to know what’s going to happen with my career. I’ve got a place in London that I call home, so I haven’t fully made the move to the States. We shot The River in Hawaii and I spent a lot of time traveling from London to Hawaii for the film shoot – but it wasn’t too much fuss. I’ll probably continue to travel like that for a while longer.

 

Is there a television production infrastructure in Hawaii that’s similar to shooting in London or in LA?

Shaun Parkes:  Lost was shot in Hawaii and that didn’t finish filming too long ago. We used the sound stages they used and we also used the same crew, too. It is fortunate for us to have the same people working The River who worked on Lost as they really know what they’re doing and they bring an element of professionalism that is very impressive.

 

Was there any discussion about where you should adopt an American accent for The River?

Shaun Parkes: I went in for three or four different auditions for two different roles – and I had to do two different accents for each of the roles. Essentially, they opted for the English accent because they wanted an element of realism and naturalism. They wanted the actors to be able to do things off the cuff. Sometimes with an accent, if it’s not your natural accent, it can be difficult to riff and improvise. However, they cast a British documentary crew with the British actor Paul Blackthorne (who plays AJ’s boss Clark Quietly) and a British cameraman, so it all makes sense.

 

Does your character get along with his boss?

Shaun Parkes: I guess it’s a fairly typical boss/worker relationship. Getting documentary footage is not similar to work in a creative film industry where you need to like the people around you; it’s an industry where you get the best people for the job. And in those situations, there can be problems with ego and there can be problems if you make desperate moves and you make desperate choices. At the end of the day, I don’t think AJ and Clark particularly love each other. I just think they respect each other for the jobs that they do – and that’s it. It certainly adds a fun dimension to their relationship.

 

“The River – The Complete First Season” will be released on DVD on May 22nd.

Images courtesy of ABC Studios.

(Note: The Q&A’s were conducted before the recent announcement that ABC had canceled the series.)

Q&A Interview with Joe Anderson of “The River” (for the DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”) (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

The horror/drama series known as “The River” is coming out on DVD via “The River – The Complete First Season” on May 22nd.

“The River” was created by horror filmmaker/writer Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity” films, “Chernobyl Diaries”, “Area 51″),veteran TV writer Michael R. Perry (“Millennium”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “The Guardian”) and veteran TV writer Michael Green (“Smallville”, “Heroes”, “Everwood”, “Green Lantern”). The series also features Steven Spielberg as the executive producer.

With the upcoming DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”, J!-ENT will be featuring media Q&A’s with the several cast members of “The River”. We kicked things off with actor Bruce Greenwood and Elois Mumford, this time we feature Joe Anderson, who plays Lincoln Cole, the estranged son of Dr. Emmet Cole.

Joe Anderson has appeared in several films such as “Across The Universe”, “The Grey”, “The Crazies” and “Control”.  While he appeared in TV series such as “Midsomer Murders” and “Afterlife”, “The River” is Joe Anderson’s first major starring role, playing the main protagonist Lincoln Cole.

In “The River”, Lincoln Cole is a graduate student who’s plans are put on hold when his mother Tess tells him that a beacon for his father has gone off and that he may be alive.

For Lincoln, he has gotten use to the fact that his father is dead and because their relationship wasn’t that strong during his teenage to young adult years (as Dr. Emmet Cole chose his work over his family), he is reluctant in searching for his father but as a request from his mother, he decides to accompany her.

But Lincoln’s sanity is tested once he arrives to the Amazon jungle and starts to experience various supernatural situations that put him, his mother and the accompanying group in danger.  Will Lincoln be able to find his father?

Through this media Q&A we learn of how actor Joe Anderson feels about working on “The River” and his thoughts on being part of a horror drama series.

What attracted you to the role of Lincoln Cole in The River?

JOE ANDERSON: As an actor, I look closely at the character and arc of any prospective role. What is the dynamic and how many layers does this character have? Will I be stuck doing the same thing in a year’s time as I was in the second episode? When I read the script of The River, I knew there was no way that was going to happen. That really appealed to me. I thought the father/son relationship was really interesting and there were many places where the writers could go with this story. I was hooked from the very start.

 

How would you describe the relationship between Lincoln and his father?

JOE ANDERSON: It’s an estranged relationship. I like to equate what it must be like to grow up with a successful father to the thought of being the son of Mozart. If that was the case, you really wouldn’t want to play the piano in front of him. It’s a similar situation for Lincoln. Emmet Cole is a world-famous wildlife television personality. He’s about as successful as you can get. For Lincoln, going to medical school and leaving the life of the Amazon seems to be more of a surefire deal for him. If he does that, he wouldn’t end up making the same mistakes his father has. However, he’s tempted back to the Amazon when his father goes missing – and the story of The River continues from there.

 

When you read the script of the pilot episode, what did you think Lincoln’s arc was going to be?

JOE ANDERSON: The obvious choice would be for Lincoln to fill his father’s shoes and become a young Indiana Jones-type figure on the same crusade that his father was on. But if you take into account the issues that happened before the pilot episode and the fact that they have an estranged relationship, then that wouldn’t be an easy journey at all. I didn’t think the writers wanted Lincoln to step into those shoes. I thought it was more likely for his arc to be about forgiveness and understanding. He’s growing up and realizing that there’s more to life than books. He is studying for a good job, but there’s magic out there and I think that’s something that he wasn’t necessarily aware of – and that’s what he’ll be discovering.

 

When you first signed up for the role, did the producers go into detail about how Lincoln would develop as the show progresses?

JOE ANDERSON: I was left completely in the dark, but that’s what I loved about the project. Usually, when you read script after script, you can see a format developing. But with this premise, after a while you realize that your imagination is working overtime because there are so many possibilities. The writers don’t want to tell us more because they want to keep us in the moment. And it means you’re not worrying while shooting episode two about something that might happen in episode eight. You just live in the moment and I think that’s exactly what they wanted us to do.

 

What’s your standout memory from shooting the pilot episode in Puerto Rico?

JOE ANDERSON: There’s a scene in the pilot episode where we’re moving the boat and Leslie Hope [who plays Lincoln’s mother, Tess Cole] is trying to floor the engines to get the boat off a mud bank. Well, that was all for real; there was no faking involved. They basically put the boat on a mud bank and then realized they couldn’t get it off. When Leslie was revving the engines, there was mud, wood, stones and everything flying out of the back of that boat – and it wasn’t moving. There were other memorable moments as well, like the time we had to swim under the boat and shoot upside down in the water. We got a lot of nastiness in our ears when that happened.

 

Was the film shoot challenging?

It was definitely challenging at times. Later on, you’d find yourself playing a scene and you’d go deaf all of a sudden. You literally couldn’t hear anything because of what you got in your ears earlier. You learn to adapt very quickly when you’re working on a show like this.

 

How do you think the cast would handle a survival situation similar to the one your characters experience in The River?

JOE ANDERSON: I think we’d be okay because there’s a fair balance of ages on the boat. There’s a nice balance in terms of life experience, too. I think it all helps.

 

Did you have to learn about boating for the role?

JOE ANDERSON: No, not really. Obviously you don’t want to be saying starboard when it’s port, but it’s a flat-bottom boat for navigating shallow river channels and it’s not incredibly complex. It’s not like sailing a ship where you have to hoist sails or climb the masts. There’s none of that. On our vessel, you press forward and the boat goes forward. It’s really quite simple.

 

Did you have the opportunity to improvise any of the dialogue in The River?

JOE ANDERSON: The script is great, but sometimes we discover there are gaps in the dialogue that need to be filled once movement is added or other things are going on. That’s what makes the show so much fun for me as an actor. I look forward to the moments when we get to improvise or add a little something.

 

There are some hauntingly chilling moments in The River. Are you a fan of the horror genre?

JOE ANDERSON: I’ve always been a big horror movie fan, but I don’t want to see somebody sticking a screwdriver into someone’s head or anything gruesome like that. If they’re talking about doing it, then that might be quite interesting, but I prefer a different type of horror to the mainstream shocks and gore. I prefer psychological horrors like Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. It’s not scary but Allan Parker’s Midnight Express is another movie in my top three horror films. It involves people in horrific situations but at the same time is based in reality, which I love.

 

It sees like all of the characters in The River have hidden depths and secrets. Is Lincoln the same?

JOE ANDERSON: Definitely. I can’t say what, obviously, but there’s definitely more to Lincoln than you first see. Where you think there is one layer, there are actually eight – but you’ll have to watch to find out.

 

“The River – The Complete First Season” will be released on DVD on May 22nd.

Images courtesy of ABC Studios.

(Note: The Q&A’s were conducted before the recent announcement that ABC had canceled the series.)

Q&A Interview with Eloise Mumford of “The River” (for the DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”) (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

The horror/drama series known as “The River” is coming out on DVD via “The River – The Complete First Season”.

“The River” was created by horror filmmaker/writer Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity” films, “Chernobyl Diaries”, “Area 51″),veteran TV writer Michael R. Perry (“Millennium”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “The Guardian”) and veteran TV writer Michael Green (“Smallville”, “Heroes”, “Everwood”, “Green Lantern”).  The series also features Steven Spielberg as the executive producer.

With the upcoming DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”, J!-ENT will be featuring media Q&A’s with the several cast members of “The River”.  We kicked things off with actor Bruce Greenwood, who plays the character role of the famous explorer Dr. Emmet Cole.  For our second Q&A, we feature Eloise Mumford, who plays Lena Landry on “The River”.

Eloise  appeared in several TV series such as “Lone Star” and “Crash”.  In “The River”, Eloise plays the mysterious character Lena Landry, who grew up with Dr. Emmet Cole’s son Lincoln (played by Joe Anderson).

Lena’s father is also missing and she accompanies Tess and Lincoln Cole along with the production crew to the Amazon jungle in hopes of finding her father.  But there may be more to Lena than the others may know about her.

What secrets is she keeping from Lincoln and the group about the missing Dr. Emmet Cole?

Through this media Q&A we learn of how Eloise got the role for “The River” and her thoughts on being part of a horror/paranormal drama series.

What attracted you to the role of Lena Landry in The River?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I stumbled across The River by accident. I was auditioning for something else when I overheard two actors talking quite loudly about their favorite pilots. I’d heard about most of the shows they were discussing, but then they mentioned The River, which I hadn’t read yet. The one thing I remember about what they said was the fact that the producers were looking for actors who could act as realistically as possible. That was the whole focus of the show, that it is meant to seem real and it was like a documentary-style program. I thought to myself: ‘Huh, that’s interesting.’ As soon as I got out of the audition, I emailed my manager and I asked him: “Hey, what’s the deal with The River?”

 

What happened next?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I went and auditioned for The River the next morning. After I did some scenes, the producers said to me: “Okay, great. Do you mind if we now interview you as the character?” I was ecstatic because I love that kind of thing. The show’s creator, Oren Peli, then interviewed me for 15 minutes as Lena Landry.

 

Did you think you aced the audition?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  When I left the room, I really wasn’t sure if I could pull off the role. Lena is a helicopter pilot and she’s very different to me – but I knew I’d love to be on a show where you’re given such freedom as an actor. By that night, I was booked to appear in the pilot. It was a crazy 36 hours of emotions, but I was thrilled to be part of such an exciting and fresh new show.

 

The show is about the search for Dr. Emmet Cole, but it’s also about survival in the Amazon. Are you much of an outdoors girl in real life?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I am, luckily, which is why it was extra fun to shoot out in the open. It was also fun to get to do something where I could be tough and strong. As a young actress, it’s unusual to find a role where you get to be intelligent and have your own secrets and storyline, without it being about makeup and looks.

 

Talking of secrets, your character seems to know more than she is letting on…

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I’m not sure how much I can give away, but the audience soon figures out that Dr. Cole has been communicating with Lena. However, nobody is quite sure why or to what degree. I know I’m allowed to say that the show will explore how much Lena knows because she definitely knows more than everyone else in the group – but she doesn’t let on anything for a while. There is something really untruthful going on and Lena is being really secretive about her information.

 

What research did you undertake for the role of Lena?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  Lena is a helicopter pilot, so I read a lot about helicopters before we shot the pilot. I even watched the movie Blue Thunder, which is all about helicopters. As the show progressed, I found myself reading more and more about the Amazon, especially when it comes to the folklore and mystery of the region. It’s quite fascinating how much of the magic from the show isn’t made up. People actually believe in the magic of the Amazon and the folklore down there.

 

How much did your helicopter research help you tackle the role?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I’ll let you into a secret… When you see me in the helicopter in the first episode of The River, that is the first time I had been in a helicopter in my life. But I learned pretty fast how to get out of it like a natural.

 

Did you enjoy shooting that scene?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  It was pretty funny because I had never been shown how to get out of a helicopter properly. As soon as I walked on to the set, I was told: “Okay, we’re rolling.” And I asked: “Wait! Aren’t we going to practice me getting out of the helicopter?” The chopper was going already and they replied: “No, Eloise… ACTION!” I just had to get on with it and guess what to do – but it was fine. I am actually quite good at it now.

 

How much have you learned about the Amazon and boating?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  I’ve had a blast filming the show, but we learned a lot along the way. I remember the first time we practiced in the little motorboats on the show. We zoomed around underneath these huge canopies – and now we’re all experts at it. That’s what is sometimes so thrilling about being an actor; you get to experience these things that otherwise you’d never get the chance to do.

 

There are lots of plot twists and secrets to this series. How much did they keep you in the dark about the big mysteries as the filming went on?

ELOISE MUMFORD:  As actors, we’re always somewhat in the dark because that’s the nature of TV shows. The producers need to be able to change things, so you don’t ever know too much about what’s going on in the future. You kind of ride the wave a little bit, which is also really liberating because you can just be in the moment and react to exactly what’s going on around you.

 

The River creator Oren Peli is famous for creating the horror movie franchise, Paranormal Activity. Did you watch any of his previous projects to research your role in The River?

ELOISE MUMFORD: When I landed this part, I rented one of Oren’s movies – but then I carried it around with me for a month because I get creeped out by horrors if I watch them alone. I kept trying to watch it in my hotel room, but I couldn’t do it. In the end, I watched the trailer instead – but even that creeped me out. When it came to shooting the pilot episode, I decided it was more important for me to get a good night’s sleep and to do well on the shoot than to watch Oren’s movies.

 

If you’re easily scared, were you frightened by the prospect of working on a paranormal show like The River?

ELOISE MUMFORD: When I heard about some of the plotlines for the first season of the show, I was definitely scared because I knew there were going to be a lot of creepy events happening. There was one scene in particular that I was extremely nervous about filming because it was incredibly intense, but I knew I’d be fine. It’s never as tense when you’re an actor and you know what is going on because you see all of the set-up. It’s not so much creepy as fun to be a part of.

 

Can you tell what scenes are going to be creepy to shoot when you read a script?

ELOISE MUMFORD: Usually, I can spot the creepy scenes – but most of the time it’s not creepy at all because we shot a lot of scenes in the middle of a soundstage surrounded by the crew. However, it’s very different when we’re out on location. During the first season, we shot a scene where we’re in the river in the dark. Joe Anderson [who plays Lincoln Cole] and I were actually in the water at 4 o’clock in the morning. There were bugs all over the place, fish swimming up against us in the water and some really strange sounds in the distance. That was genuinely creepy.

 

Has working on The River made you want to explore more roles in the horror genre?

ELOISE MUMFORD: I think what makes The River different from traditional horrors is that it’s far more about the suspense and the thrill of it. I don’t have a huge interest in being in straight-up horror films, but this is great because it’s very different. It’s been a thrill to shoot the show and I think it’s going to be a thrill to watch it. It’s suspenseful, chilling and a really fun ride.

 

“The River – The Complete First Season” will be released on DVD on May 22nd.

Images courtesy of ABC Studios.

(Note: The Q&A’s were conducted before the recent announcement that ABC had canceled the series.)

Q&A Interview with Bruce Greenwood of “The River” (for the DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”) (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

The horror/drama series known as “The River” is coming out on DVD via “The River – The Complete First Season”.

“The River” was created by horror filmmaker/writer Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity” films, “Chernobyl Diaries”, “Area 51″),veteran TV writer Michael R. Perry (“Millennium”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, “The Guardian”) and veteran TV writer Michael Green (“Smallville”, “Heroes”, “Everwood”, “Green Lantern”).  The series also features Steven Spielberg as the executive producer.

With the upcoming DVD release of “The River – The Complete First Season”, J!-ENT will be featuring Q&A with the several cast members of “The River”.

We kick things off with actor Bruce Greenwood, who plays the character role of the famous explorer Dr. Emmet Cole.

Bruce Greenwood has appeared in many films including “Star Trek”, “i, Robot”, “Deja Vu” and “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”.  His voice can also be heard as Batman/Bruce Wayne on the animated series “Young Justice” and the video “Batman: Under the Red Hood” and the video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3″ as the Overlord.

In “The River”, Greenwood plays the role of the famous explorer Dr. Emmet Cole, who has gone missing on an expedition.   His disappearance has been a mystery but after six months since his disappearance, an emergency beacon has gone off.   This prompts his wife, son and a television crew to go to the Amazon jungle to find out what had happened to him and find out if he’s dead or alive.

Through this media Q&A we learn of how Bruce Greenwood got the role and the research he done in playing the role of Dr. Cole plus his feeling of filming the series in Hawaii.

Why did you decide to sign up for the role of Dr. Emmet Cole in The River?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  I signed up for The River because the character of Dr. Emmet Cole was very different from anything I’ve played before. I play a lot of guys in suits, but this character was something new. It’s nice to play a man who is not a ‘cat in a suit’ with a hidden agenda.

 

Did you base your portrayal of Dr. Emmet Cole on any wildlife experts or conservationists in particular?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  No, not really. I watched a lot of nature shows as a kid, so I had an idea in my mind about who I wanted Cole to be. However, my portrayal of this character isn’t based on anyone in particular.

 

Did you research the animals and environments that your character is familiar with?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  With this show, you never know what you’re going to get handed on any given episode. Cole goes from knowing a great deal about the animals, the flora and fauna of the area to discovering more about the legends of the region, which is something he isn’t too familiar with.

 

Dr. Emmet Cole clearly has a passion for animals, but are you naturally good with them?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  I am good with animals. In fact, I really like animals. I can calm them and they calm me. Do I have any pets? It’s a constant source of anguish for me, but I travel so much that I don’t have any animals at home. It’s a shame because I’d love to have pets. I just can’t right now.

 

The show’s pilot was filmed in Puerto Rico, but the rest of the series was shot in Hawaii. What were the major differences between the two locations?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  Practically speaking, Puerto Rico is much further away in terms of time zones and mileage when you’re trying to run a show from Hollywood. In Puerto Rico, there was food that I’ve never had before, which was really interesting, but it made sense to shoot from Hawaii on a whole lot of levels, especially when a lot of your team hails from the West Coast.

 

Did you move to Hawaii when the show was filmed there?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  I got to Hawaii in August 2011. I took off my shoes and socks, and I didn’t wear them again until November. It was awesome. My wife and I were looking at each other saying: “Wow, Hawaii!” And now we’re home again, my wife is now saying: “We could go back there for a while you know.”

 

The characters searching for Cole in the show find lots of old videos of him along the way. What was it like to film those short and often chilling pieces?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  It was a completely new experience for me, especially as I had to hold the camera for many of the shots. We used all kinds of cameras, from big ones to little video cams, and sometimes it’s even strapped to our arms. All of the actors on The River get to shoot a little with the handheld cameras, which is really fun. It’s intense to try and balance what you have to do emotionally with what you have to do practically and logistically with the camera, though.

 

How does that affect your performance?

BRUCE GREENWOOD:  There’s a little more juggling involved than you’re used to. However, once you get the rhythm down, you can operate the camera and you can have part of your brain go: ‘I want to frame this is in a wonky way.’ You want to frame everything so it doesn’t feel perfect, but you also don’t want to be shooting right up your nose.

 

The River has a very international, diverse cast with actors from Germany, Mexico, Canada and Britain. Does that make it a different filming experience?

BRUCE GREENWOOD: Yes, because everybody comes with a little bit of his or her culture to the set. It’s a really great mix and they’re all wonderful people too. We’ve had a blast shooting the show.

 

How often do you get to work with the rest of the cast, especially as your character is lost and everyone his hunting for him?

BRUCE GREENWOOD: I’m not sure how much I want to give away by answering this question. For the first few episodes, I was definitely alone – but as I worked on the flashback scenes, I had the experience of working with the cast. Ultimately, we ended up working quite a bit together – but you’re going to have to watch the show if you want to know exactly what happens.

 

What tempted you to consider a TV series when you usually work on movies?

BRUCE GREENWOOD: If I’m told it’s a TV script, I usually say: “I’m busy. I’m busy. I’m canoeing.” But I talked to series creator Michael R. Perry and he talked to me thematically. The big themes that we’re trying to explore ultimately through the course of this series are things that I find really interesting. There are really large, classical themes like life and death, and what it means to be here. Is there a collective unconscious? There’s also a big father-son component to the arc of my character and Joe Anderson’s character – and those hold a special interest for me. Overall, it reached out to a lot of the things that I find really interesting. And then you get to work and you realize you’re making a scary show and it’s very different. It’s been a wonderful experience.

 

“The River – The Complete First Season” will be released on DVD on May 22nd.

Images courtesy of ABC Studios.

(Note: The Q&A’s were conducted before the recent announcement that ABC had canceled the series.)

Q&A with “Pretty Little Liars” actress Janel Parrish (J!-ENT Interviews and articles)

For nearly two seasons on ABC Family’s hit drama series “Pretty Little Liars”, the audience and fans following the show have wondered “who is the mysterious individual known as “A”?  What is this person’s motive?”.

Since the first episode, “A” has been cyber-bulling Aria (played by Lucy Hale), Spencer (played by Troian Bellisario), Hanna (played by Ashley Benson), and Emily (played by Shay Mitchell), four teenagers who carry a mysterious secret about the death of their friend Allison (played by Sasha Pieterse)

Many characters have fit the mold of “A” but it wasn’t until the season two finale when we find out that “A” is Mona Vanderwall (played by actress Janel Parrish, “Bratz” films, “Heroes”, “Triple Dog”), a student who was bullied by Allison.

Needless to say, the season final ended with the explosive reveal but to continue this character even longer, it was also announced that actress Janel Parrish will be back for season three of “Pretty Little Liars”.

Recently, ABC Family held a media Q&A with actress Janel Parrish to discuss her role as A/Mona but also the fan feedback of the season finale.

The following is the media Q&A transcript with Janel:

Moderator   I’m a little worried, but I hope I’m safe from you now that you’re … “A.”

J. Parrish   I promise I’m safe in my apartment and I don’t have my hoodie on right now, so you’re safe.

 

Moderator  Was it a hard transitioning from the bubbly Mona that fans are used to, to the dark twisted Mona that we saw last night in the episode?

J. Parrish     Yes.  That was definitely the most challenging part and also the most fun part was transitioning from this bubbly character that I’ve played for two years to this dark, psychopath character that I’ve never in my life played before.  That’s what made it so appealing was that it was a challenge.  It was fun and I had to just kind of let go of this character that I’ve built for two years and create a new one and just go there.  That’s what was really, really fun.

 

Moderator    You’re doing Spring Awakening in L.A.  Does this mean there will be less Mona in Season 3?

J. Parrish     Definitely not.  I’ve just been made a series regular for Season 3, so it’s very exciting.  You will see more Mona.  I am doing Spring Awakening in my hiatus because we do not start filming Pretty Little Liars until Season 3 starts April 2, so I’ve had time in my break to do a musical, which has been amazing because musicals are actually my first love.

 

Moderator   You’ve  probably had plenty of suspicions that you were “A” just because of the books to begin with, so take us through when you first actually found out that you were going to be making this crazy, kind of awesome transition.

J. Parrish   Well, like you said, I had an idea during the pilot because I read the books, and since I was “A in the books.  I’d asked the producers if I was “A” and they were being very coy and saying that I could be “A” but things could change since we’re not following the books exactly.  I’d always kind of put it in the back of my mind that I could be “A” and I found out officially the week that we were filming the finale.  We got the scripts a week before we started filming it.  I read it and I was super excited.  It was surreal and it was really hard not to tell anyone that I was “A.”

 

Moderator    Has Marlene given you any sort of details about what you’re going to be doing in Season 3 yet that you can share?

J. Parrish   I do know that Season 3 the premiere will take place six months after Maya’s body was found, so it’s the second anniversary of Alison’s death.  Mona will have been in the Radley Sanatorium for the last six months.  She’ll get a mysterious visitor.  You’ll find out more about that and there will just be more answers and connecting the dots.

 

Moderator    The episode kept us jumping from suspect to suspect, but before you found out for sure, was there a moment in the scripts that you became absolutely convinced that you were “A”?  Was a there a moment you always look back on and, “I just have to be ‘A’?”

J. Parrish     I started to suspect that it was me once I started getting texts from “A.”  That does happen in the books and I know that Mona was sending them to herself, so I had a feeling that that’s where they were headed with it.  Like I said, they never confirmed that I was “A” until I got the script, so I was trying not to get my hopes up too high.

 

Moderator  Mona mostly had scenes with Hanna, but these past few episodes you were getting more in with the other girls and Caleb, of course, but as “A” now it just opens up this entire new world for Mona and you both.  Is there anyone in the cast that you haven’t had too many scenes with yet that you’d like to see Mona interact with the upcoming season?

J. Parrish    Interestingly enough, Marlene has said that people will start having scenes with each other that you didn’t even know knew each other, so I’m excited.  I think a lot of people in Rosewood are connected that the viewers don’t know about yet, so we’re going to start to see all of that come to light in Season 3.  I do think I’m going to have some scenes with people I’ve never had scenes with before, which is always fun to work with new people.

 

Moderator    How is the revelation that Mona is “A” going to affect her friendship with Hanna?

J. Parrish   It’s safe to say their friendship is ruined.  I kind of hope to see a showdown.  I think that would be awesome.  If Mona and Hanna meet face-to-face, I think it would be a very interesting interaction so I’m hoping Marlene gives that to me.  It would be fun.

 

Moderator    We learned at the very end of the finale that there might be a “Team A,” so what are we going to learn about “Team A” and Mona’s mysterious visitor in Season 3?

J. Parrish   You will definitely learn about that in Season 3.  I don’t know exactly when.  I know that they’ve started writing the episodes.  I have not seen anything yet.  I’m super excited to see where it’s going, but yes, Season 3 is going to start to get crazy.

 

Moderator   Throughout the series there have been some hints that you were “A.”  Can you tell us what any of those were?

J. Parrish    Definitely.  I think once you look back now that you know who’s “A” you’d definitely find some sly little hints in there.  Definitely the scenes where I’m helping Emily hack into the vice principal’s system to find out that he was bribed definitely shows that Mona had some technical skills that people didn’t know about.  It also shows that she has a little bit of a devious side.

There is a scene where Mona finds out that Jenna is dating Noel and I saw in the script they wanted me to have a moment where I just looked very angry.  I remember it said something like, “Mona is …, and not just in a ‘you stole my boyfriend kind of … off way,’” and that was kind of telling to me that they wanted me to show a different side.  I think, yes, if you go back and watch some of the episodes you’d find some hints.

 

Moderator    Mona has always been pretty harsh with Lucas and last night we saw Lucas maybe has a dark side coming out in him with his meeting Jenna.  Is there any relationship there that we didn’t know about, that we should be expecting next season?

J. Parrish      Yes.  It will be very interesting.  I’m not even entirely certain the answer to that question, but I know that the writers do everything for a reason.  If they show you a glimmer of something it’s for a reason.  Nothing is an accident.

 

Moderator  How are you going to be playing this role differently now that you know that she’s such a sinister character?

J. Parrish    Well, I think that kind of depends on what the writers give me because I’m not sure where they’re going to take this.  I kind of need to get the script and see how I prepare, but I know when I did get the script for the finale it was totally different.  My whole mindset of how to play the character was completely changed.

It’s really just, like I said earlier, letting go of everything that I’ve created for this character for two years.  Everything that I’ve built upon for this character doesn’t really matter anymore.  Unless there are flashbacks of me as that Mona, I’m now creating a new character.  It’s really exciting and I’m excited to see where it goes.

 

Moderator   As more of a person and less of an actor, do you feel different toward her now that you know that she’s kind of a bully?

J. Parrish  Yes, kind of.  I think that there is a lot more going on that hasn’t been told yet.  I think we’re going to find more about her motives.  I don’t think we know the whole story yet, so I’m excited to find out more about it.

 

Moderator   Congratulations, you’re a series regular for Series 3 and I’m assuming that means that you’re not going to be stuck in that Radley Sanatorium the whole time.  Where do you want to see Mona go?  Do you want to just see her completely unhinged in Series 3 or seeking redemption?  How would you like that to play out?

J. Parrish    I’d love to see her seek redemption.  I’d love it if she could just break out and go crazy and wreak some havoc on Rosewood, but I can honestly tell you I have no idea where it’s going to go.  That would be my choice.

 

Moderator   We found Maya’s body at the end of the episode.  Do you know if “A” was involved in that murder in any way?  Was she texting Emily all along like with Melissa and Ian

J. Parrish  I think all of those things will definitely be revealed in Season 3, but like I said, nothing is unconnected in Rosewood.  It’s a creepy little town.  There are creepy little people in it, so I wouldn’t be surprised if everything is connected in some way.  I just don’t’ know to what extent yet.

 

Moderator   You talk about how Pretty Little Liars is so good at having subtle little details in each episode like the blonde in the red dress from the finale last night.  Can you talk about how it affects the storyline as whole?

J. Parrish  I think it definitely keeps people guessing and suspecting everyone in the show, which is fun.  It keeps people tuning in to find out what’s happening and I think once the pieces are put together it’s that much more fulfilling because people say, “Oh, I remember when in this episode this happened and that happened.  Now it makes sense,” and then it’s rewarding when you have the answers.

 

Moderator  Mona is one of the most complex characters on the show because her screen time is more limited.  How do you feel that parameter helped her keep up the facade of being “A”?

J. Parrish   I think it was very effective because the fact that I wasn’t always everywhere, I wasn’t readily in the public eye, people can’t say, “Oh, it must be Mona.  She’s always around.”  They’re very smart with the way that they had my character kind of pop in and out every now and then and make an appearance and leave and then kind of start to build upon my character at the end showing me working my way into the group of girls before the big reveal.  I think the writers have been really, really smart with that.

 

Moderator    How hard was it to keep it a secret that you were “A” once you found out?

J. Parrish    It was so hard.  I had such an amazing time filming the finale and I just wanted to be able to tell everyone about it.  Torrey and I got to do stunts.  It was amazing.  I got to be creepy in a mental hospital and I just wanted to tell everyone, but it was really rewarding that I didn’t tell everyone because last night when people got to see it they were very, very excited.

 

Moderator   If Pretty Little Liars were to have a crossover with another show, which show would you like “A” to wreak havoc on?

J. Parrish    Revenge.  I love that show so much.

 

Moderator Are you surprised that the TV show followed the book so closely and do you think that people who are watching it are surprised that it was Mona in the end?

J. Parrish  I am not surprised that we did follow the books in that way.  I like the way they did it because it is such a big part of the books that Mona is “A” that I think fans probably would have been upset if they would have changed that, but I think that the way they revealed it went a little different than the books.  Obviously, I didn’t die like I did in the books.  I survived and they’re taking it in another direction.  I think it’s actually great because the book fans get what they have been hoping for and been wanting and expecting, but they get a little bit more of a twist to keep them excited.

 

Moderator    Since we were just talking about fan feedback, how has the fan feedback been since you were revealed?  Have you been on Twitter and seeing what people are saying?

J. Parrish   Yes.  I’ve been on Twitter.  It’s crazy.  A lot of it has been great.  People are very excited that I’m “A” and they want to see where it goes.  A lot of them said that they knew.  A lot of them were shocked.

Some of them I guess feel a little disappointed because I guess they were under the impression that it would be different from the books, but really we’ve never said that “A” would be different from the books.  We said that the reveal would be different and it kind of was.  It didn’t happen exactly the way it went in the books.  They will have nothing to worry about because there will be a lot more surprises coming their way.

 

Moderator   Now that you know for sure that Mona was “A,” are there any scenes looking back you wish you’d have played differently or that maybe you would play differently now that you know the truth?

J. Parrish    Interestingly enough, I did go to Marlene King at one point and she gave me a scene.  I went up to her and I said, “Is there a certain way you want me to play this because you haven’t really told me 100% that I am “A” yet?  I don’t know if you want me to play these scenes differently or if you want me to keep doing what I’m doing.  What do you need from me to make your big plan work?”  She just said, “Keep doing what you’re doing.  We’re giving you these scenes for a reason.  Do your thing.  We love all your instincts and everything will make sense in the end.”  It was kind of nice because I feel like I never really had to worry about it.  I just did the material the way they gave it to me and let them kind of guide me.

 

Moderator  When you read the part of the script a week before shooting where Mona falls off of the cliff you said you were very excited to find out that you were going to be “A,” but was your excitement ever dampened?  That brief moment where you see she falls off a cliff did you think, “Oh, well they just killed me off?”

J. Parrish     Absolutely.  Definitely, especially because in the books that’s what happens is I pull the car over, Spence and I get into a fight, and she pushes me and I fall off a cliff and I die.  When I read that my heart definitely stopped for a second and I thought, “Oh, great, this is my last episode of Pretty Little Liars,” until I found out that they saved my life and kept me in the show.  I’m just so grateful to still be a part of it.

 

Moderator  Have you ever seen Twin Peaks?

J. Parrish    I love Twin Peaks and yes, absolutely I see the correlation.  I definitely think that Pretty Little Liars is like a modern slightly less creepy version of Twin Peaks and it’s great.  It’s a small town.  The queen bee dies.  Everyone’s a suspect.  Everyone has a secret, so I actually love that.

 

Moderator How did the rest of the cast react when you guys all found that out?

J. Parrish    Differently.  Some of them were very shocked.  Some of them had suspicions from the beginning.  Overall, everyone was just extremely excited.  It was the most intense episode we’ve ever had and everyone felt the excitement, even in the table read room.  It was very exciting.

 

Moderator  At the end we see Mona talking to the girl in the red coat.  Does that mean that we can expect more than one “A,” especially since you talked about “Team A?”  Is the black swan involved somehow?

J. Parrish   Yes.  You’re definitely going to see connections between everyone and I think Season 3 will focus more upon that.

 

Moderator   How did you get involved with doing musicals and acting?

J. Parrish   I started out when I was six I did the touring company of Les Miserables and went to Broadway with that.  That was my first love immediately and then back home in Hawaii I did musical theater until I moved here when I was 14 and then started getting into TV and film.  It’s really exciting to go back to musical theater after all this time.

 

Moderator   Do you have a favorite moment from filming, whether it be behind the scenes or something you were doing that they might be interested in knowing?

J. Parrish   My favorite scene is definitely when Spencer and I grapple because we had just so much fun doing those stunts together.  We definitely had a couple giggles before the cameras got on us so it was super fun and then falling off the hill that was fun.  They put pads down and I was kind of scared every time, but it was super fun.

 

Moderator   In a way, PLL is about mean girl politics gone to the extremes.  Have you had any personal experiences with mean girls?

J. Parrish    Oh, definitely.  I live in Los Angeles and I’m in the entertainment business.  I think every girl, especially like high schoolers, can really relate to the show because you have to deal with people bullying you and making you feel bad about yourself every day.  You just have to have confidence in yourself and be strong.  I think young girls can definitely relate to the show.

 

Moderator   I saw on Twitter that Pretty Little Liars was trending eight times all over the world so that was great to see.  How did Mona know about Aria and Ezra?  I don’t think we quite find out how she got all the information.

J. Parrish     Yes.  I think a lot of those questions will definitely be answered in Season 3.  I don’t even know 100% how Mona gets everything.  She definitely mentioned an “A Team” so that’s a possibility and you know she also had Alison’s diary.  That’s how she knew about a lot of past things, but as far as a lot of the present things they did mention that Hanna’s phone was set to record every time it would turn on so obviously she can hear what’s going on.  As far as everything else, she may have help and we find more about that in Season 3.

 

Moderator    If you could choose the character that you would like to see Mona just lose her mind on next season who would you choose to take the biggest revenge on?

J. Parrish   Oh, man, probably Hanna just because I feel like she’s the easiest target and she’s the most vulnerable right now.  I would love to see a cat fight.

 

Moderator   What do you think the chances are that we might see a Pretty Little Liars musical episode?

J. Parrish    That would be fantastic.  Man, I would love that.

 

Moderator   You should talk to Marlene and make that happen.

J. Parrish   I would love that, yes, because a lot of us do sing so that would be fantastic.

 

Moderator   Marlene King tweeted today that Mona did all the things that “A” did, except for two things.  I was wondering had she told you this before.

J. Parrish    No.  I actually read that today too and was kind of surprised because I don’t really know what she means yet.

 

Moderator   Which things do you kind of hope you didn’t do?  If you had to sort of guess what were the two worst things that “A” did that you were cringing at and hoping, “I hope Mona didn’t do this?”  Like the creepy massage, poor Emily got that creepy massage and there are some really disturbing things that “A” did.

J. Parrish    I don’t think I did the creepy massage because I was with Ken at the horse stable so that’s probably one of them.  Maybe setting the fire on Jenna.  I would like to think someone else other than her doing that, but I’m not sure.

 

Moderator   Do you have any favorite “A” moments and did any of those change now that you know it was Mona?

J. Parrish   Favorite “A” moments?  It’s hard.  I’m trying to remember all of them, so creepy.  I love when “A” sends an exterminator to their house and says that there is some type of infestation in Hanna’s basement because Caleb’s living there.  I love that.  “A” has done some creepy stuff.

 

Moderator   It’s awesome that you are “A,” but if you had to pick one other person for it to have been instead, who were you kind of hoping if it wasn’t you?

J. Parrish    My first suspect before I knew it was me was probably Jenna.  She would make a creepy “A.”

 

Moderator      There have been rumors floating around that there possibly could be a PLL movie.  Do you have any information concerning that?

J. Parrish     I heard whispers about that too but I don’t know for sure.  If there is, I would love to be in it.

 

Moderator  Do you have to get into different mindsets when playing Mona and “A?”

J. Parrish    Absolutely.  It was funny Marlene one of the first things she said to me when I was getting ready to do my first scene as “A” was, “Make sure you don’t do your sing song talk voice that you do for Mona.”  I had to make sure that I completely changed my vocal inflection, which is hard for me because I kind of sing song everything anyway.

It was different getting into a different mindset and I actually go to play three different characters in the finale – the dorky Mona, popular Mona, and crazy Mona.  Kind of like an actor’s dream.  It was really fun.  It was like a workshop for me.

 

Moderator     The cashmere sweater clue just before Spencer figured out it was you, how fun was that to set up in the show?

J. Parrish      It was really, really fun because all the clues just came to a head at that one point.  We had a blast filming that.

 

Moderator  What has been the most challenging thing for you filming the show so far, other than keeping “A” a secret?

J. Parrish    The most challenging thing probably just playing such a complex character with different levels.  I didn’t want to make her just the stereotypical bubble gum mean girl.  I wanted to give her more layers and give her a reason for why she was the way that she was.

 

Moderator    If Mona or “A” was ever to get a love interest, who of the current guys would you like to see her with?

J. Parrish   Since I’ve been asked this before, I’m going to use the same answer.  The new guy Duncan is really cute.

 

Moderator   If Mona were to get with another girl on the show, who would you want her to get with?

J. Parrish   Come on, Emily.  She’s hot.

 

Moderator    Your transformation last night happened when you put on that hoodie.  Is that how you’re going to prepare going forward to just transform yourself into this Voldemort-type character by putting on the hoodie?

J. Parrish    That would be cool.  If they have it there for me every time it would be a good preparation choice definitely.  No, but it was really cool the first time I put the hoodie on and I looked at myself in the mirror and it was like this is going to be really creepy and weird.

 

“Pretty Little Liars” airs on ABC Family Mondays 8/7c

Q&A with Sean Berdy of ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth” (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

Actor Sean Berdy has come along way since starring in the movie “The Sandlot 2″ (2005).

Having appeared on films such as “The Bondage”, “The Legend of the Mountain Men” and “The Deaf Family”, Berdy was cast to play Emmett Bledsoe, the deaf best friend of one of the main characters of the series, Daphne Vasquez,  on the hit ABC Family drama series “Switched at Birth”.

“Switched at Birth” is a drama series which revolves around two teenagers and their family.

Bay Kennish (played by Vanessa Marano) is a feisty teenager who loves art and comes from a wealthy family.  While, Daphne Vasquez (played by Katie Leclerc) was raised in a not-so-rich family and raised by a single mother.  Daphne lost her hearing when she was a young girl.

One day, Bay was curious of why she doesn’t look anything like her mother and father and asks if they can take a blood test.  The parents agree to it and it was revealed that the hospital accidentally switched the babies at birth between the Kennish and Vasquez family.

Now, s both families try to initiate a relationship with each other, both families try to get to know their birth daughters and eventually the Vasquez family move into the rear house owned by the Kennish family.    As for the two teens, both Bay and Daphne try to develop a relationship as friends.

And while it looks as everything is going smooth and cool between the two, Daphne unknowingly has a relationship with Bay’s ex-boyfriend. Meanwhile, Bay starts to take a liking towards Daphne’s best friend Emmett (which Daphne is unaware of).

But as Bay convinces Daphne to break off her relationship with her ex (because it’s not right), Daphne realizes that she is interested in her best friend Emmett, but finds out that Bay is now in a relationship with him.  Needless to say, tensions start to rise because of this and it sets up the storyline for seasons two of “Switched at Birth”.

Recently, ABC Family held a media Q&A session with actor Sean Berdy as the young actor talked about playing a deaf character on “Switched and Birth” and his passion for music. Here is a transcript from the Q&A session.

Moderator  How has being on Switched at Birth changed you? Now you’re pretty well known.

S. Berdy Well, being on Switched at Birth is a great honor because the show portrays authentic deaf characters, not the characters that we in the Deaf community have often seen in television. I’m born into the Deaf community, but raised in the hearing community as well; and, I think this show is unique in showing authentic deaf characters and authentic deaf perspectives from deaf characters. So, I think that is amazing and an honor to be a part of. The two girls on the show, Vanessa and Katie, they’re wonderful, aren’t they? I love them.

 

Moderator  Have you felt like you’ve changed at all, though, from your newfound fame?

S. Berdy  No, I don’t feel that I’ve changed. I do feel that being successful in portraying a deaf character as realistically as a deaf person lives today is something that I’ve always wanted to do; and, I’m thrilled to be able to do it. But, it hasn’t changed me. I wouldn’t be well known if it wasn’t for the fans. But, certainly they wouldn’t love me if I changed and I’m always going to be Sean Berdy and love to perform and give that to the audience; and, that will never change.

 

Moderator  What do you think it is about Switched at Birth that really resonates with fans?

S. Berdy  Well, Switched at Birth has so many different audiences that it attracts. First of all, there are so many great story lines. The plot lines are wonderful, what a diverse cast, what a great cast. There’s diversity within the plot lines and within the characters within the plot line. You have so many contrasts.

You have the rich family, the poor family, you have the Anglo perspective, the Latina perspective, you have the hearing, you have the deaf. You have different cultures being portrayed sometimes in the same scene, two and three different cultures being portrayed in one scene; and, no other show portrays characters in a mix like that. I can see that Switched at Birth is attracting audiences because of the diversity and the American Sign Language as well. American Sign Language is such a beautiful language and people want more of that.

 

Moderator  What was it about your character that made you want to play it in the first place?

S. Berdy  A lot of people ask me that question, and you know I love to talk about this character. Wow! The character that I play, Emmett, he’s the deaf James Dean. I mean the writers came up with this character that, you know, blows peoples’ minds. You would never think of a deaf James Dean. I mean everybody knows the iconic version of James Dean.

But, to see a deaf version of that and how often to be allowed to portray a character like that; it’s a different character in that he represents, you know, the true Deaf perspective. Yet, he’s so in touch with the hearing world. He has a sarcastic point of view, surely; but, the sweet side of him balances it out. I mean he’s very serious, unlike me.

Individually, I’m a very funny guy, outgoing and kind of goofy, you know, twittering all the time; and, Iwould tell you he’s the opposite. He’s ice cold and cool, and how wonderful to portray a character like that. What a magical character he is for the audience out there.

 

Moderator  What do you find is your biggest challenge in bringing this character to life on screen?

S. Berdy  There are many types of challenges in life, of course. But, one challenge towards approaching this character is speaking, the idea of should Emmett speak or not. I, Sean Berdy, speak pretty well, not perfectly; but, I grew up using my voice.

Now, when it comes to the TV screen and having Emmett speak, I have to rehearse to make sure his lines are understandable and so forth. That’s a challenge because I’m not a perfect speaker by any means. But, to make sure Emmett’s voice is understood on the television show is something that I’ve worked very hard at, you know. We worked very closely in terms of the writers and the producers to make sure that Emmett speaks for a reason and that it’s still authentic and that he’s true to his character and that the audience would see that.

 

Moderator  What is the biggest difference is between you, Sean Berdy, and your character, Emmett.

S. Berdy  As I mentioned a little bit, Emmett Bledsoe is a very, very deep thinker and he thinks that he knows everything about the world; how the deaf world works, how the hearing world works toward the deaf people. He’s very passionate in terms of his art, his passion for photography and so forth. He is maybe not so in touch with everybody else and their feelings, but he’s very introspective. He’s the James Dean of the Deaf community.

That’s very different than Sean Berdy. Sean Berdy is dancing in front of the mirror at age two for his parents, making his parents crazy running around the house singing and dancing and jumping around and joking. I’m a comedienne in real life. I’m always goofing around; I’m outgoing and I talk with everybody, especially through Twitter these days. But, Emmett? Wow! He’s very limited in the people he chooses to share himself with.

 

Moderator  If it were up to you, what sort of adventure would you want Emmett to have this season or even next season?

S. Berdy  I would love to see a big concert, have Guitar Face play a huge concert and become a hot band; and, there’s Emmett Bledsoe playing drums, the deaf drummer for this big rock band. That would be wonderful. I’m going to have to talk with the writers and try and tell them to take Guitar Face on the road. We’ll see about that one.

I have to tell you, I’ve been practicing drums a lot. I grew up playing drums a bit when I was a kid, and then I stopped. When I came on to this show, they asked me to play drums. I said okay, I’m back. I rehearsed for the one episode, the first episode we did where I just played a song. I rehearsed every day for a week.

When we came out to shoot it, I realized after I saw it, when it was edited down it was down to just a few seconds of TV time. But, I’ll tell you what—I never put more work into 30 seconds of screen time than I did working on the drums. But, I’ve been playing the drums and I’m ready for Guitar Face to rock the crowd. So, I would love to see us in a big arena somewhere. That would be cool.

 

Moderator  How young you were when you started playing the drums; and, are there any other musical instruments you play?

S. Berdy   Sure, you know I love to talk about the drums and music. I started playing drums when I was probably six and played a lot until I was about ten or eleven years old. So, I guess five or six years where I played. I had a drum set at home and I would just bang on it. I’d even go on the Internet and study basic beats and so forth. During my teenage years, I stopped playing, but when I got on the show, they asked me to play and I was ready for it.

People ask me how do you play. Do you just feel the vibrations? You know, deaf people have a variety of ways that they can feel the rhythm. Obviously, I feel the beat, but I use my hearing aids; hearing aids that I’ve worn since the day I was born, truthfully. I grew up using hearing aids and I had speech therapy and so forth, and that helped me to develop a passion for music and helped me to develop my drumming talents. To be honest, without my hearing aids, I wouldn’t be able to play the drums. But, I don’t play any other music instruments.

I do love to interpret songs in American Sign Language. You know I just did a version of Hero by Enrique Iglesias that I put out on YouTube and it’s had thousands of hits already. I think that people are just transfixed when they see a song rendered in American Sign Language. I’m going to perform that song, actually, at Downtown Disney’s event, SIGNin’ in the Street March 17 and 18. I hope everyone can come out and see the event and you’ll get to see Sean Berdy signing live.

 

Moderator  What was one of your favorite episodes so far of the show?

S. Berdy  I would say for an episode, I would probably say the tenth episode when Emmett spoke, “I just want you” to Bay. That was such a big moment, and such a breakthrough moment for Emmett, a heartfelt moment. The audience loved it and that’s why I love that episode. I mean, who doesn’t love that romantic scene, right?

 

Moderator  Well, you just brought up your event at Disneyland. I was actually wondering if you could talk a little bit more about what you and the rest of the Switched at Birth cast will be doing when you’re down there.

S. Berdy  The event, SIGNin’ in the Street, is in Downtown Disney, March 17 and 18. That’s a Saturday and a Sunday; a huge event that includes many, many different performers, deaf and hearing. Kickoff event is March 17 at 1:00 p.m. Fans can come out and see the cast, Switched at Birth, for a Q&A, autograph signings, very cool interactions with the fans. Also, guest star Marlee Matlin will be there. She obviously plays my mother, Melody on the show.

They’re also screening two episodes, episodes 21 and 22, as I call them. They’ll be at the theater there. Go out and see that; and, you can get a sneak preview of 22, actually, and there’s a lot of drama that in so-called final episode.

They’re also giving out things at their tent. I’ll be performing Hero in American Sign Language both nights, which I’m thrilled about. You know performing live in front of an audience like that is wonderful. You can find out more information online, I’m sure. Google Downtown Disney; SIGNin’ in the Street is the name of the event; and, I’m looking forward to seeing all you people out there.

 

Moderator  How did you settle on Hero as the song that you’ll be performing?

S. Berdy  Why did I decide to perform that live, or why did I decide to make the video that I put up on YouTube?

 

Moderator   Why did you decide to use that song specifically for the video and the live performance?

S. Berdy   Oh, okay. I’ll tell you why. A lot of people have asked me that same question and why did I pick that same song. I mean, first of all that song is world famous and extremely popular because I think the lyrics are so concise and so powerful and so direct.

I thought why don’t I just add American Sign Language to this beautiful message and make it as concise and as heartfelt in my language. So, I worked very carefully on translating the song, as simple as it is, as beautiful as it is to find an authentic translation. That song worked for me at that time. I may have new songs that I translate in the future. Who knows?

 

Moderator   It seems like Emmett right now has two reasons to be mad at Bay. Obviously, she’s been communicating with Ty and also now that we’ve learned more that he wants to try to testify in the custody case; so, without Bay as the kind of “turn to” Emmett has leaning on her for support, where does Emmett turn now, now that he’s going through so much and he might need a little bit of friendship?

S. Berdy   Emmett has always been very strong-willed. He is often, especially at the beginning of the series, you could see he just thought about himself. He was hurt that she couldn’t have Daphne after all those years of her pining away for her. He’s very introspective and self-sufficient; and, I think truthfully he’s going to rely on himself to get through the fallout from his parents’ divorce and what’s happening with him and Bay.

Who knows if that’s going to be enough to get him through this time? This is a tough time; but, I don’t think he’s going to go anywhere for support that he doesn’t think he can handle already. But, Emmett’s going through a tough time right now, that’s true.

 

Moderator   How do you feel about the way the Deaf community is portrayed on Switched at Birth?

S. Berdy   Well, again, I was born in both worlds, the hearing world and the deaf world, and raised in both worlds; and, I’ve seen so many, and I know so many people that are in both communities. I’ve never seen an authentic portrayal about how deaf and hearing people get along in TV in my life until this show. When I came out here to audition, I read the script – the pilot script – and I knew right away it was well written; and, that’s because they, the producers, Lizzie have worked with ASL consultants. They had talked with deaf people before creating this show.

The Deaf community is rallying behind this show. This show is for them. They see authentic deaf people in the show being portrayed as they live and breathe, and that is a thrill for the Deaf community. They feel very fortunate to have this show and I feel extremely honored to be a part of this show for that reason.

 

Moderator  Is this the first time on television you have used your speaking voice; and, how did that make you feel?

S. Berdy  Speaking voice, well, let me think back on things I’ve done. Actually, this is the first time I’ve used my voice on television. How did I feel about it? It wasn’t hard. It felt nice to be doing something that was different. For me, I’m always signing. That’s my native language. For me to speak on TV was a thrill. It was like another actor being able to use a different language on TV. That’s a different part of Emmett and it was great to show that side of Emmett. That was awesome! I was cool with it, really.

 

Moderator  You do a comedy routine – How did you get into that and what are some of your favorite topics in comedy?

S. Berdy  Interesting question. I started out as a comedian. When I was in diapers, I’ve always been fooling around the house joking with my parents. It’s just a part of who I am. It’s a part of the Deaf community—humor is a big part of how deaf people get through the day.

When I’m working on sad/Switched at Birth/Emmett, there’s no comedy there. So, you know to balance it out when I get home, I work on the Sean Berdy Show; and, that’s something truthfully that right now is mostly geared towards the Deaf community. But, I am going to work on making the show accessible to hearing audiences or making it more accessible.

I love just goofing off around the house and making my family and my girlfriend laugh. I don’t know if you follow me on Twitter, but I’m always uploading funny pictures and making comments; and, that’s really who I am. That’s where I come from.

 

Moderator  On the show, there’s a movie, Deafenstein, that Emmett and Daphne are a big fan of. I was just wondering if there were any Deaf movies that you really love that you can share.

S. Berdy   Deaf movies? Well, I guess there are several movies. At Downtown Disney, they’re showing The Hammer, at SIGNin’ in the Street. It’s directed and produced by hearing people, but it’s about a deaf person. There’s a deaf entertainers’ documentary called See What I’m Saying that’s also being shown at that event. There are many deaf movies out there, but these are two that are out right now.

 

Moderator  You have inspired a lot of people to want to learn sign language. What advice would you give someone who wants to learn ASL and how would they get started?

S. Berdy  I would love to give a little bit of advice because I have so many friends who are professors at universities and colleges all across the country who teach ASL classes. I’d strongly encourage anyone to look up their local university or college and see what ASL classes they provide. Usually, you start with ASL I and work your way up to ASL IV. Anytime you can interact with deaf people or the Deaf community, I would strongly encourage doing that.

I have seen an up swell of students in the ASL classes around the country and in my professor and educator friends out there are telling me it’s partially because of the show. So, that’s a thrill.

 

Moderator  Yes, it’s awesome. I myself I want to start taking classes.

S. Berdy  Great. Then, take my advice and go to the local school. It’s not that expensive, really. You pay a few bucks, you have a few classes and it’s fun. They workshop every day and you work with the other students and working with the different signs and how they’re created; different hand shapes and what they mean. They call them classifiers. It’d be great to learn all of that.

 

Moderator  I saw the video on line where you perform The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson, and it was amazing.

S. Berdy  Oh, yes. I was very disappointed the way that YouTube blocked that video because of copyright licensing reasons I guess. I guess I’m going to have to figure out how to get that back on because that was fun, you know; live stage performance of that song in 2010, I believe.

 

Moderator  It was amazing, yes.

S. Berdy  Outside the Indianapolis Museum of Art, yes we did that.

 

Moderator Other than Michael Jackson, what other artists or musicians are you a big fan of?

S. Berdy I’m not a huge fan of any musicians, but I am a huge fan of Michael Jackson, obviously. I do love pop music. I turn up the radio in my car as loud as it goes and really, I’m just a fan of pop music in general.

 

Moderator You and Bay are in a relationship on the show. What would it take for a relationship between a deaf person and a hearing person to work out?

S. Berdy  Well, a hearing and deaf relationship always starts out with a communication barrier and that’s often difficult to overcome. But, Bay’s learning sign language. She’s a great signer. Emmett reads lips very well and works with her. So, it takes a common language to communicate with, and that’s usually what deaf and hearing couples are faced with. Once they develop that common language like Bay and Emmett have, they can have a serious relationship.

Now, we’re going to see whether the wonderful relationship between Bay and Emmett, whether that wonderful relationship they’ve built up is going to be destroyed because of what Emmett’s going through with his parents and the divorce, and all the drama that’s coming up in the next two episodes. Quite frankly, we’re going to have to watch and see if their love can stand this.

 

Moderator What type of girl would you be attracted to, either hearing or deaf?

S. Berdy Well, I’m attracted to my girlfriend right now. I love her very much and she is deaf.

 

Moderator Is there a particular project that you would like to do either on TV or a movie?

S. Berdy Yes, I am looking forward to being involved in television and film in the future, absolutely. To play a deaf character on television and film is something that I will always want to do. Right now, I’m committed to doing that on Switched at Birth; and, all my time is devoted to working on Switched at Birth.

I am on hiatus right now, and I am working on personal projects, music videos and such that I like to do. We’re also a big part of the SIGNin’ in the Street event at Disneyland March 17 and 18. But, I’ve been just looking forward to being blessed with more opportunities to play deaf characters on TV and film. I love doing that now for Switched at Birth.

 

Moderator Is there a particular actor or actress that you would like to see either on the show or maybe work with them on a project?

S. Berdy  Oh, of course! Jim Carrey. I mean, he’s my big idol. I love him to death actually. He’s just the best. One of my favorite movies is Ace Ventura When Nature Calls. That’s so funny, and being a comedienne myself, I love him. I would love to act with him someday. That’s my biggest dream, truthfully. Hopefully, that’ll happen someday.

 

Moderator  Why was it so important for you to be able to join Twitter and communicate with your fans.

S. Berdy  I love communicating with my fans because they’re the ones who support our show. They’re the ones who’ve given us the ratings and keep us on the air. So, why would I not want to communicate with them?

I love talking with the fans, hanging out with them online because the fans are the most important people to our show and to lots of performers. They support that they’ve given us is outstanding. And, I like to just give them some funny tweets back. We have fun on line.

 

Moderator What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

S. Berdy  I would just to say thanks for watching the show; absolutely keep watching. I love you all. Keep watching; there’re a lot of dramatic moments coming up in the next few episodes. It’s going to be exciting. I can tell you that.

 

Moderator  Can you tell us a little bit about the audition process for the role of Emmett?

S. Berdy   I love sharing this story. Actually, I had an agent and everything. I’d been in the business and had done a couple of things. But, it just so happened my dad found it, an open posting on Facebook for Emmett Bledsoe.

He sent it to me and I was like, wow, you found this on Facebook? He goes, yeah, yeah, yeah! Call them; check it out. I said, after taking a look at it, I videotaped myself and sent it in. I believe I was out of town and not close enough to walk in. But, I e-mailed something in, a little video. Just a couple of hours later, they called me, said they were interested and they flew me out. It all happened rather quickly. I did change a few appointments to jump on a plane, fly out here, meet the writers and the producer; the creator, Lizzie Weiss; executive producer, Paul Stupin. Came into a room, introduced myself and met everyone.

They’re great people; lovely. We hit it off right away. I had the interpreter there working with us. They asked me a bunch of questions about where I came from, how I was raised and everything. They asked me what do you think about the script.

By that time, I had read the pilot and I said it’s extremely well written; I wish you all the best of luck. I gave them all my love and support and we all walked off with good feelings. About three weeks later, they contacted me; said they were interested in me for the role, and I’ve been out here ever since.

 

Moderator Are there any other projects you have coming up that you could share with us?

S. Berdy Well, I have mentioned the SIGNin’ in the Street event that Switched at Birth is such a big part of at Downtown Disney. We are on hiatus right now, and I’m trying to just take care of my business. I’ve been so busy for the last year with this show. But, I can share one cool thing.

The upcoming episode on March 13th, I believe, it shows a deaf movie that’s featured within the episode of Switched at Birth. You have to watch how the kids made their own movie; and, the episode revolves around all the adventures they have making the movie. You’ve got to watch that episode; and all the rest of the episodes coming up before the break.

 

Moderator Is there an actor or actress that inspired you, a deaf actress I should say, that inspired you to get into acting?

S. Berdy It’s funny that I never really had any deaf inspiration. I’ve always admired Marlee Matlin, and what a great woman, what a great heart, what a wonderful actress. I’ve always looked up to her. As a person, she is inspiring. But, as a kid performing, I looked up over to performers who inspired me like Jim Carrey, oddly enough. His is one of the big inspirations in my young life, and he still is.

 

“Switched at Birth” airs on ABC Family, Tuesdays 8/7C

Images courtesy of ABC Family

Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror on TLC (J!-ENT What’s On TV? Review by Dennis A. Amith)

Shocking never-seen-before footage from the Great Tohoku Earthquake!  We have seen video footage of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan back on March 11, 2011 but what was the story behind those who had the camera videotaping the disaster?  And was there more to the footage that was shown on the news and YouTube? There definitely was and you can see more on TLC’s “Japan Tsunami: Tales of the Terror”.

Images courtesy of Discovery Communications, Inc.

Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror

Premieres March 8 at 9pm ET on TLC

Archive by British Pathe

Contributor Archives by Kei Sato, Yukio Abe, Akira Kato, Kenji Saito, Yu Muroga, Yasuo Kishi, Masao Sato, Shinsuke Itoh, Takayuki Saijo, Mitsuyuki Sasaki, Mitsukuni Kumagai, Yuichi Owada, Yoshinori Sato, Steve Mendoza and Kenichi Murakami

Voices by Meg Kubota, Akiko Sato, Matt Mcooey, Sedao Ueda, Shintaro Taketani, Takasuna Mijkai

Camera by Paul Williams

Sound by Steve Shiro Yasui

Assitant Producer & Translator: Hiroko Nakamura

UK Translator: Sara Noorbakhsh

Executive Producer: Chris Shaw

Written, Produced and Directed by Peter Nicholson

Japan’s Tsunami: Tales of Terror captures the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in March 2011, using amateur footage filmed by those caught up in the disaster.

Featuring rare insider footage, the program gives accounts from eyewitnesses, amateur photographers and video enthusiasts, whose initial desire to record the tsunami was quickly overtaken by the cataclysmic events that unfolded in front of them.

But they kept on filming, many while only narrowly escaping with their lives.

The eyewitness film captures some apocalyptic images of the wave’s destructive power: Takayuki Saijo only just made it up a hill in time to see the town of Kamaishi destroyed beneath him; Kenichi Murakami had to run for his life, climbing a high-school fire escape while filming the carnage below; and Yu Muroga narrowly escaped death as his car (with its on-board camera) was swept away in the torrential current and then sank.

Beyond the immediate horror of the tsunami, the film, made seven months after the event, also grapples with the aftermath: the loss, uncertainty and long-term trauma faced by individuals and towns struggling to come to terms with whether they can or should rebuild their shattered communities.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the coast of Japan and was one of the top 5 most powerful earthquakes ever recorded.

The earthquake triggered a powerful tsunami with waves reaching as high as 135 ft. and triggered a level 7 nuclear meltdown. The Japanese National Police Agency confirmed the deaths of 15,850 people and 3,287 remain missing.

While news crews were able to capture aerial footage, the news footage that people have watched were from normal people who were at the areas that were devastated and for millions of people all over the world, this footage was broadcast on the news and many have seen it on YouTube.

But only edited versions of the footage made it on to the news and YouTube.

With the anniversary of the Great Tohoku Earthquake on March 11th, TLC will be airing “Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror” at 9pm/ET and visits the five towns that were hit by earthquake which triggered a devastating tsunami.

In each city, the special program features interviews with each of the individuals who captured the devastation in their town but also the footage shows additional footage that many news shows had edited out.  In the additional footage, we see people who are running from the tsunami waves that crashed into the town and enveloped it within seconds.

As many people ran to get to safety, some didn’t think it was so bad that they casually walked.  Only the people who were in the hills knew how bad it was and how it was tearing down homes and crashing vehicles and boats together.  And the camera continued to shoot as the tsunami reaches towards them.

While the footage of the program does not show the individuals struggling for their life or dying, this is footage that many people had not seen before.  Especially the point of where people are hit by the initial tsunami waves.

The first town hit by the tsunami was Kamaishi.  Akira Kato, a cable TV cameraman had his camera on and he evacuated with others above a hill and he recorded the city being engulfed by the tsunami and the reactions to the people while it was happening.

The second town hit by the tsunami was Ofunato, business owner Kenji Saito filmed with his iPhone as he had employees evacuate out of their office to higher elevation.  Kenji’s footage shown the footage of homes and people being swept away.  His footage catches the cries of people who cursed the levees that didn’t protect the village.  Other footage showed people who watched their own homes being swept up.

The third city hit was the low lying coastal plain, Minamisanriku.  This footage features missionary Kei Sato capturing the footage of the tsunami devastation in the town.  He also captured Kuniko Suzuki and others older women trying to escape their homes and make it to high elevation, but the waves hit the town too quickly for them to escape.  But for Kuniko, she was fortunate to survive the tsunami as the footage would show how she actually survived.  Mitsuyki Sasaki, a teacher and amateur photographer was there to photograph the devastation as it happened.  Also, featuring footage captured by volunteer firefighter Yuichi Owada who tried to rescue as many people as possible by trying to direct them to leave to higher elevation via loudspeaker and checking the levee for the water level and the panic and chaos that took place when the tsunami hit.

The fourth city hit was Kesennuma, the heart of the region’s fishing industry. While Kenichi Murakami, a retired director of a fish processing plant talked about how he barely managed to escape from the tsunami, Yasuo Kishi, a retired tuna fisherman didn’t think the tsunami waves would be that bad.  So, he was videotaping right next to the water, despite his family having gone to higher elevation to escape the tsunami.  While Yasuo managed to survive by climbing up a tree, his footage captures the waves hitting the town and he being right in the area as it happened.

The final city hit by the tsunami was Tagajo.  Train conductor Shinsuke Itoh was at higher elevation filming the reaction to the tsunami coming towards his city.  Meanwhile, Yu Muroga, a medical salesman had his camera on his car and he was among the many who were trapped in traffic while the tsunami hit the city.  Yu Muroga’s footage features him videotaping while his car was floating on water.  His footage also captures the people who were swept by the tsunami and were trying to survive by grabbing on to debris, while others were stuck on top of their vehicles.

Shocking never-seen-before footage!  For those who want to see how a tsunami can envelop and destroy a town within seconds, “Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror” is a TLC program that shows how deadly a tsunami can be and how some people miscalculated the destruction of a tsunami.

As mentioned, the footage shows much more than what was shown on the news and on YouTube.  The footage shows people who were planning to ride out the tsunami by staying in their homes, others who felt they didn’t have to outrun the tsunami and walked casually until the tsunami came within seconds and hit them.

This is footage that I have never seen before, as the videos themselves, I have seen bits and pieces that were shown on YouTube, Japanese, US and international news footage but never have I seen people running for their lives and then getting hit within seconds.

Watching the footage, it appeared people miscalculated how much time they had.  I believe that so many thought the levees that were to protect them from tsunami’s would be high enough and that would afford them to leave when they felt fit. You can hear the frustration of the people in higher elevation screaming for the people to run for their lives.  People wondering why they weren’t running but walking.

And obviously there was footage where people felt there was no sign that the tsunami would hit them, but as one man said from a devastate city, it was an ominous silence that felt eery.  You couldn’t hear anything around the city and within seconds, the tsunami hit.  And when it hit, the water was powerful and it knocked down buildings and vehicles.

And for some of these individuals who were right there when the tsunami hit, a few of them were very fortunate to survive as they were able to escape in a vehicle within seconds going to higher elevation, while one man got lucky in the fact that he was able to climb up a tree.

But possibly the most surprising is Yu Muroga’s footage.  Yu confesses that he was naive about earthquakes and a tsunami coming after.  He lived in inland Japan and was traveling to a city which was hit by a tsunami.  As he saw the city enveloped by water and he saw people around him clinging to debris, people being swept away and people on top of the cars, he didn’t panic.  He figured if he was going to die, he was going to die.  Otherwise, if he lives, hopefully wherever his car ends up, he can escape.  And surprisingly, his footage was a shock to people because he was one of the few people who was caught in traffic and lived through a tsunami and second, he was the few who was able to record the entire ordeal.

“Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror” was actually quite surprising.  Having reported on the tsunami disaster and watching Japanese television as it happened, while viewing countless videos posted on YouTube, I’ve always seen the same footage over and over and figured that most people (where the camera was focused) escaped to high ground.  But now seeing the extra footage, this was not the case.

There were people running for their lives and it was caught on camera, there were people casually walking and that was caught on camera and of course, people who were caught in the traffic jam, these were caught on camera.  This was the first time I have seen this footage and I found it quite heartbreaking to see how people miscalculated the tsunami, but most importantly seeing how quick it hit the area where those people were at.

If anything, I’m glad that TLC didn’t show what happened to those individuals after they were hit by the tsunami waves.  We see enough to see the waves reach them, but the video footage is edited, so we don’t see anyone struggling or dying in the water.

There was one haunting image from Yu Muroga’s footage of a person who left her car to outrun the tsunami but was caught in the water and you can see her trying to grab on to debris.  We see a few seconds of her grabbing on to something and then we hear Yu talk about that woman being swept away.

Overall, “Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror” may be too painful for some to watch, while those who are curious about tsunami disasters will probably be surprised by the additional never-before-seen footage of people running for their lives and being hit by the initial tsunami waves and then being caught in many feet of water.

It’s not an easy thing to watch but at the same time, “Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror” does end in the positive note that the people of Japan know they must overcome this tragedy and rebuild.  But most importantly, knowing how this tsunami disaster destroyed their city and took so many lives, perhaps they can be better prepared if a tsunami ever happens in that region again.

Japan Tsunami: Tales of Terror premieres March 8 at 9pm ET on TLC

Q&A with Adrian Pasdar of ABC Family’s “The Lying Game” (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

As part of J!-ENT’s coverage of “The Lying Game”, the latest Q&A is with actor Adrian Pasdar.

Best known for his role as Nathan Petrelli on “Heroes”, Pasdar is also known for his roles in series such as “Profit”, “Touched by an Angel”, “Judging Amy” and “Desperate Housewives”.

Pasdar has been busy with appearances on shows such as “Castle”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and also supplying the voices for animated series featuring Marvel superheroes such as Tony Stark/Iron Man on “Iron Man”, Hawkeye in “The Super Hero Squad Show”, Captain America in “Black Panther” and now, Adrian is getting a lot of attention for his bad guy role as Alec Rybak in ABC Family’s “The Lying Game”.

In the series, Alec Rybak is a corrupted District Attorney.  He is also the father of Madeline and Thayer Rybak.

He is a close ally to Dr. Ted Mercer (played by Andy Buckley) and the adoptive father of Sutton, and biological father of Laurel.  He is now in a relationship with Annie “Rebecca” Sewell (played by Charisma Carpenter) but many mysterious surround Alec, especially of how he has certain knowledge of the mysteries that are happening in the series.

To help promote the second season, Adrian Pasdar recently took part in a media Q&A to discuss his role on “The Lying Game”. Here is the transcript from the media Q&A interview with the actor:

Moderator    The wedding proposal seemed to happen so quickly.  Is Alec suspicious of Rebecca’s motives, or has he completely fallen in love with her?

A. Pasdar      I think it’s an excellent question.  The way these things are written, we service an ongoing flat line.  But before all that happens, I had … with Chuck Pratt and the writers.  One of the things we can always be assured of is that whenever I think a fellow like Alec makes a move, it seems to be without motive.  Nothing altruistic about his intentions.  I think there is something behind his accepting it so quickly that we will come to find out in the follow-up to the finale.

 

Moderator    Alec may possibly be responsible for the death of Derek, the attack on Sutton and then Eduardo’s car accident.  Is Alec as evil as we have been led to believe, or could he be trying to cover up for someone?

A. Pasdar    I think it’s always a little more interesting when it’s not just good or bad; when there is liquidity to the morality.  I think Walt Disney said it best, when he said a show is only as good as the bad guy is bad.  This is a different show so it makes it work perfectly for us.  When it suits the show, he’s reprehensible in his behavior at times.  But I think ultimately we’re going to find out that it’s not all as bad as you think.  There is a great deal of protecting going on.  Although, for who, I can’t say.  I’m not at liberty.

 

Moderator   Could you tell us about some of your most interesting fan interactions?

A. Pasdar    I don’t know if I can say some of the most interesting ones, but some of the most print-worthy ones.  People, generally when I run into them, they know I’m not a bad guy.  They generally know I’m playing one on TV, but they always seem to keep a good distance between myself and them.  Even when we’re coming in for a picture.  They’re always looking over their left shoulder, if they’re hugging me, making sure I’m not going to strangle them or something.

I think there is a good deal of believability in the nastiness of Alec.  But there is also a vulnerability that we haven’t gotten into yet, but I can assure it’s there.  My relationship with the fans on this one, and other roles, has always been positive.  It’s great.  I haven’t had really weird altercations or anything.

 

Moderator    When you were in high school, what series were you a big fan of?

A. Pasdar    Rockford Files.   Gosh, when I was in high school, Rockford Files—that was probably the The Six Million Dollar Man, and then by extension, The Bionic Woman—Jamie Summers.  Those were the shows that were big.  There were only a couple channels back then, so it’s easy to recall.

 

Moderator         Alec seems to be at the center of almost all of the show’s juiciest moments and juicy stories.  Is it challenging playing a character that’s really involved at the center and core of the show like that?

A. Pasdar       No.  Challenging?  I mean, yes, it’s challenging in the extent that you have to be consistent with your intention, and with your work, and stay on top of your game.  For shows like this they pay you really to wait between setups.  The acting I do for free.  This stuff—the juicier the better.  I just happened to watch two shows.  I’ve never seen the show before because every time I’m working late Monday nights or I’m at the hotel and they don’t have the ABC Family Channel where we film.

I just saw the show for the first time last night, two of them in a row, the last two episodes.  I got to say, man, the cast I’m working with are remarkable.  To be at the center of anything that the writers write, I feel an immense comfort because the talent of these actors really supersedes a lot of the stuff that is on TV.  It’s really—I feel very fortunate to be amongst this caliber of people.

To be in the center of it, I know I’m going to be able to have a really good round robin with whoever I’m working with.  I’m charged about it.

 

Moderator   Speaking of the cast, Charisma Carpenter’s character, Rebecca, showed us a new side of Alec this season.  You two have really great onscreen chemistry.  What has it been like working with her, and how do you think that’s changed your character on the show?

A. Pasdar     It’s a tough question to come up against a character like Alec.  Charisma, she’s got a lot of moxie.  She got stones, as my father would say.  It’s fun to work with her because she can—I tend to be somewhat unpredictable and she can roll with it.  She makes me better, which I think probably is the best thing that I can say about anybody.  I feel confident that when we get done with our scene, it’s going to be better than it was before we started it.  We lifted off the page and she’s wonderful to work with.

 

Moderator     In your career you played a lot of villain-type characters from Nathan Petrelli in Heroes to now Alec Rybak in The Lying Game.  Do you feel like you’re being typecast into these roles now, or are you actively seeking them out to play?

A. Pasdar     Oh, no, sir.  I’m looking for them.  The real fun in theater, film, or television, I think is playing the bad guy.  There is just a lot of weight put on trying to be that super good looking heartthrob, leading man.  I just don’t find it very rewarding.  I think the reward for me—I’m not saying that those roles aren’t rewarding, but for me, the reward best comes when you can challenge somebody’s concept of what’s right and what’s wrong because it shifts for everybody, depending on what they need.  To be the guy that can service that part, that’s exciting for me.  I’m interested in that.  I have actively sought them out, to answer your question.

 

Moderator     Would you ever seek out a hero type role?

A. Pasdar       I think in the end of every show I’ve done, there has been an element of redemption.  Nathan Petrelli, I think was a perfect example of somebody who could be misconstrued as a bad guy.  Then in the end you reveal that he’s doing it to protect some people and ultimately the world.  He sacrifices himself.  At the very end of that show, that series, if you remember, that’s what happens.  Yes.  I like the idea of sending a good, positive message, especially to my children.  But the sole value of entertainment, it’s fun to be the bad guy.

 

Moderator    Alec has a great ability to avert questions on the show.  He’s able to get out of having to answer for any of his actions.  Would you consider him to be a chameleon?

A. Pasdar  Yes, good question.  Chameleon?  A guy like him stands out in an arena.  I don’t think he thinks of himself—or when I’m playing him, I don’t think of not so much blending in as so much—I guess more blending out is what he tries to do.  To remove himself from a situation that could be compromising by not placing himself in it to begin with, having other people do the work for him, is probably one of the things he does best.

 

Moderator  He seems to be the reason that a lot of lies are exposed, or a lot of lies are told.  How do you think that he gets himself involved in everyone else’s business, why do you think he does that?

A. Pasdar      Why, as opposed to how?  At the root of what we’re dealing with, a story that is much bigger in its enormity that’ll be revealed as to how Alec and everyone else fit into Mayberry, in their little world.  Without—obviously I can’t say too much, but I think it’ll be surprising to some.  Some may see it coming, although nobody has yet.  In all the questions and all the press I’ve done, and all the fan responses, and the blog time I’ve spent, nobody gets quite what they’re after yet, the writers.

I can’t finally comment on your question ultimately because it hasn’t been portrayed.  It hasn’t been played out.  But, he does find himself—I think there is a certain joy in the activity of being a part of other people’s lives to the extent which maybe they don’t want, but need.  I think he sees himself as a medicine man for his tribe.  Sometimes the medicine is a tough pill to swallow, but it does the job.

Moderator       You do the suave, sinister role so well.  Do you have inspiration, because you really don’t seem like that’s how you are in real life?  Do you have any particular actors that are inspirations that help you tap into that?

A. Pasdar      It’s funny, as you go on in this business, you end up slowly carving away at the totem poles that informed you earlier about how behavior is disseminated, and how it’s interpreted and digested.  There are a lot of great actors and more importantly, I think, a lot of great individuals at the center of a lot of political storms, whether it’s environmental, or ecological, or financial, that you can draw from to create a character like Alec Rybak.

Because you find these guys on Wall Street and on Main Street.  You find these guys in every town.  It’s just a degree—if you dress them up in overalls or you put them in a suit and tie.  Very often they can be the same guy.  It’s not to make a blank anonymous statement about who these character people are I draw from, but they’re out there.  They’re not hard to find.  They’re sitting in the restaurant, or on the bus, or in the bar, or on the boat with you.

Wherever you are, you’ll find somebody with that sensibility.  The other thing is, the great part is, I get to play it out in a scripted format.  I know what the result is going to be with my action before I do it, which gives me the power to play it as strongly as I do.  In real life, it’s a little more tricky.

Moderator     Do you have anything lined up for the hiatus?  Or are you just kicking back with the kids?

A. Pasdar   Yes, I’ve got my family lined up.  This has been a tough job on them because I’ve had to commute so much.  Then there were two movies that I did in the interim.  I did a pilot for HBO and a movie in New York as well that the folks from The Lying Game were very wonderful to accommodate.  It’s a feature film that shot in 3D called Run with William Moseley, the boy from Narnia.

It’s about Parkour, which is a whole, brand new concept to American audiences.  We saw a taste of it in the beginning of Casino Royale.  David Bell and those guys from France came across and did all this stuff for the beginning of that movie.  If you’ll remember what Daniel Craig was doing, all the jumping and stuff like that.  That is what Parkour is, the very beginning of it.

I’m going to take some time off because the three projects I’ve been juggling for the last four months—my family now looks at me going, Dad, we need you.  We want you home, buddy.  We love you.  I’m like, I’m exactly the same.  I’m going to take some time and just be at home until we go back in May.

 

Moderator    It seems so far Alec has really been able to orchestrate lots of shady dealings without consequence because of his position of power.  But it seems like things are starting to finally catch up with him.  Is he going to have to face the music soon?

A. Pasdar     I think the music that Alec listens to is the string section that nobody else can hear.  I really think he’s got so many dogs in the hunt right now that we don’t realize.  What’s really cool is that they’ve laid out a lot of clues.  One of the best clues that I’ve seen that nobody’s commented on—like I said earlier in one of the questions, I haven’t watched a lot of the shows because I haven’t been able to.  I’ve been working or otherwise engaged.  But, one of the best clues that nobody has said anything about was two episodes ago when—do you remember—the car broke down by the side of the road?

 

Moderator  Yes.

A. Pasdar     Okay.  Thayer asked Emma to hand him the lug wrench, and she says, I wouldn’t even know what that is.  It’s the thing right there.  The tire iron.  You remember that scene?  Anyways, it’s kind of interesting.  There are so many clues laid out in this show so beautifully that just go by quiet and unnoticed about who may be involved in what.  I’m just saying.  That picture of me swinging a tire iron, like I said.  What I love about the show is the way that they’ve laid out the clues.  To be a part of it, that’s about as fun as it gets.

 

Moderator    As far as his engagement to Rebecca goes, does he really love her?  Or is this another calculated move in his game?

A. Pasdar     I think for a guy in his position it may be a combination of both.  Somebody who’s relied so heavily on Machiavellian tendencies to remove him, or to extricate himself or his loved ones from situations, to actually be confronted with somebody who he admires, not only for their ability to make him feel loved, but to make him feel challenged by their own ability to be duplicitous.  I think they’re a really healthy combination.  I don’t think it’s one or the other.  I think it’s both.  I think he really admires/loves her/needs her.  Slash.

 

Moderator     Can you tell us a little bit about Alec’s first marriage, and maybe where Thayer and Mads’ mother is?

A. Pasdar   I can.  We haven’t really decided exactly, but I can tell you one of the avenues that we’ve considered.  Because you know these things are retooled, and retooled over and over again, until they’re finally unloaded.  I think one of the great things is that—her name was Christina, let’s say.  She may have been a dancer and wanted to pursue a life in the theater.

She may or may not have—how much can I tell you?  She may or may not have betrayed Alec’s trust in some fashion.  Yet, when confronted with her actions, he still realized that she was the only one that was ever going to have his heart.  He was prepared to forgive her.  She was not prepared to ask for that forgiveness.  Maybe she went away.  Perhaps, I’m just speculating—I’m spit balling here—but maybe she was the one that got away and Alec vowed that nobody would ever get close again.  Nobody would ever have his heart.

She actually left, and left him with his children, who he obviously loves.  That’s been part of the motivation for why he’s been so protective of Mads and Thayer from the beginning of the show.  He’s afraid she’s going to try and come back and reclaim—I wouldn’t say afraid.  He’s just protecting them from who he knows she really is.  That’s kind of the back-story.

 

Moderator    Will Alec and Rebecca in the finale actually go through with the wedding?  Or will someone try and stop it?

A. Pasdar    I can’t say. Gosh!

 

Moderator    Just thought I’d try.

A. Pasdar       All I can say is, yes, to everything.

 

Moderator      Okay.

A. Pasdar      I’m sure they’ll try and go through with it.  I’m sure somebody is going to try and stop it.  I’m sure that it’s not going to go off as planned. It’s not going to end like a normal wedding, let’s say.

 

Moderator   When you’re acting, especially with a role like this, are you drawing upon any personal experiences to try to get the feelings, or people you know, or you just go with the lines?  How do you go about it?

A. Pasdar    It’s not science.  It’s just you’re up there; you got the words in your head.  You’re looking at the people that are standing opposite.  You’re both wearing makeup and you’re dressed in other people’s clothes.  Once you get all those three things sorted out, the best you can do is reinterpret what you thought you understood in your head sometimes.  Acting is such a beautiful lying game in its own.  I love the title of the show for many reasons.

But acting with a—I’m wrapped up in right now, has never been more rewarding.  This is just great.  It’s not based on people in my personal life.  But, of course, it is at the same time.  How could I extricate anybody?  Ultimately, I’m just trying to create something like Nabokov might have for one of his novels.  I’m just trying to make something real and interesting and to have something that means something.  If it’s lost, it’d be a detriment to that character.

Something has to be at stake, especially in TV.  Less so in movies, but every scene in TV, something has to be at stake for an actor.  Otherwise, it’s boring.  I do believe at the end of the day, if you’re boring, you get punished.  I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but it’s how I feel about it.

 

Moderator  You’re married to one of the Dixie Chicks, Natalie Maines, correct?

A. Pasdar   Yes, sir.

 

Moderator     Is there any chance that they might be having a musical performance with the Dixie Chicks in future episodes?

A. Pasdar   I don’t think that’s likely.  But what is interesting is that when we first started the show, before it aired, Charles Pratt, the Executive Producer and developer of the show, asked me if Natalie would be interested in writing a theme song for the show.  I was on a highway out here in Los Angeles and we were headed to the airport or something and I said it to her.  She said, yes, well, yes I would.  When does it have to be in?  He said by the end of the day, or something like that.

We missed that opportunity.  Not her so much, she doesn’t need it.  But I think the show would have—I love what the theme song is, don’t get me wrong—her tongue is a gun and all that.  That’s great.  But Natalie, they did offer her the opportunity to come up with the theme song for the show, and I thought that would have been fun.  But, no, she’s highly musical so there is no real telling where she’s going to turn up.  But I don’t think that the Dixie Chicks are going to be doing a performance in the show.

 

Moderator  Who would you like to see as a guest performer, or a guest star?

A. Pasdar  Musically?

 

Moderator    Either a guest star or musically.

A. Pasdar     I’d like to see Tom Waits.  You go ahead and write that script.  Who would I like to see?  Gosh.  Man, the casting directors, they’ve done such a great job.  I’m just thrilled with whoever they bring down the pike because the actors I’ve had a chance to work with—Tyler, Chris, these guys are just unbelievable.  Every single one of them.  Whoever the casting people bring to us I’m happy with.

 

Moderator    Alec’s approach to parenting is different than Dr. Mercer.  Then there’s Dan, Ethan’s older brother, who’s pretty much a father figure as well.  They have different ways of approaching being a dad.  Who do you think is doing the best job?

A. Pasdar    That’s subjective, but I know who’s doing the hardest job.  I can’t tell you the answer to that.  But, I also know who’s doing the worst job and who’s just getting by.  But, I can’t tell you who those people are.  You have to infer from what I’m about to say.  I think that there is a good deal of paternal involvement in the lives of these young folks.

The path that the individual fathers have chosen early on, I think was decided by mistakes that they made, not successes, which is interesting in this show.  These men are dealing with results from actions that they made as boys.  I think it’ll come out probably by the middle to the end of the second season.  You’ll see who’s a champ and who’s a chump.

 

Moderator   That’s actually very interesting.  Do you actually ever draw on your experience as a father when you’re playing this role?

A. Pasdar   I want to give you an interesting answer.  I just don’t have one at the tip of my tongue.  It’s hard to—my personal and professional lives are so separate that I’m sure I do.  I just don’t have an example to give you.  I’m trying to give you some good stuff to type up and put in your thing, but it’s such a—working on a show like this with writers like this, there is a solid consistency to my day-to-day on The Lying Game.

But, in real life there is an even better, bigger, consistency that I deal with, which is the love of my family and my children, and the life I live with my friends.  I just utterly can’t cross-pollinate there.  I’m sure I do.  But when asked if I do, I’ll probably say no.

 

Moderator    Do you already know the secret history behind what was done to Rebecca by Alec and Ted?

A. Pasdar      Yes.

 

Moderator   Is there any way that you can give a clue?

A. Pasdar      That wouldn’t serve anybody, really, for me to say what I think that—yes, I can give you a clue.  I have to make it really good though.  One you’ll never get.  Then it’s not really a clue, is it?  Let’s see.  I would watch the show, as a viewer, with an eye toward the seemingly irreverent details that very often are thrown in an off-hand manner by actors, as they’re instructed to do and as it’s written.

The clues in The Lying Game are buried, but they’re not buried deep.  They’re buried at the end of scenes.  Very often somebody off-camera will say something, or an actor in a nonchalant way will deliver a line that seems inconsequential.  It seems meaningless.  It just seems like a wrap-up to a conversation.  But it’s there and the writers have very diligently put these clues in every single episode.

It’s amazing actually, because like I said to one of the earlier interviewers, I just watched a couple of the episodes last night for the first time and I was stunned at how much information was actually revealed that nobody probably picked up on because it’s so—the foliage around it is so green that you don’t see the bare stem of truth that’s growing behind it.  It’s kind of amazing. It’s Shakespearian in a way.

Actually, it’s beyond Shakespearian because Shakespeare always put that stuff out there blatantly, and then let you back-off and gasp at the fact that no way he could have told the truth in that moment.  This series has such a collective team of writers that they’ve really let it go.  The secret is already out there.  It’s been told three times.  I can’t tell you which episode, but the truth has come out three times in the last ten episodes about who is responsible for what.  That’s all I can say.

 

Moderator    What is it about Alec that you admire?

A. Pasdar    He’s loyal.  That’s it.  If you’ve got him as a friend, you have him as a friend.

 

Moderator    I think we’ve seen a lot of that with Ted.

A. Pasdar   Yes.  There is a lot more that you haven’t—a lot more that you actually have seen, but haven’t digested, I think.  I wish I could say more, I really do.  I’d love to be able to sit and talk with you about what’s happening.  But at the same time I’m trying—I’ve got these velvet handcuffs on.  Yes, there is a lot of loyalty going on.

 

Moderator      Do you have a background in comedy?

A. Pasdar   No.  I might have a foreground in it.

 

Moderator     You think you might do some comedy sometime in the future?

A. Pasdar   Oh, man.  I’d love to.  I tell you what, we crack up on this show like it’s nobody’s business.  The funniest thing on this show is the outtakes, because there are moments of me being super serious with all this, and then all of a sudden I’ll just do a spit take.  It’s not because I’m trying to do something funny, it’s just because the weight of the ridiculousness that we’re dealing with—basically a soap opera.  It’s funny, but we have really good actors, super high-end people.  The funniness that you’re talking about is something I’ve learned from just—oh should I say it—decades of doing what I do.

 

Moderator      There are many fans that see you as a villainous heartthrob from Heroes, and now in Alec in The Lying Game.  Who happens to be your celebrity crush at the moment?

A. Pasdar    My celebrity crush would be my wife, darling.

 

Moderator     What kind of acting role would you love to try that would be opposite of what you’re used to?

A. Pasdar   I just did it for a pilot for HBO.  Doug Ellin, the creator of Entourage, he had a new pilot that was working for HBO that was called 40.  It was myself, and Michael Imperioli, and Michael Rapaport.  A great show—way out of what I would think most people would think is my kind of role.  It was a lot of fun.  We had a good time. 

I learned that you got to trust your comfort zone.  At a certain point you got to go with the trust that you know, and the things that you know are funny, that are serious and dramatic.  I’m a grown man.  I’m a big boy.  At this point in my life, I know what works for me.  What puts the beef on the table, as it were.  Playing something outside of your comfort zone is fun.  I’m not saying play it safe.  Comfort zones can be interesting.  Most people never go outside of them.

I guess that’s why it’s interesting to actors.  I think some of the best performances that actors have given are perceived as steps outside of a comfort zone, but really it’s as close to that person as you can get.  That’s when they win an Academy Award, or something like that.  Comfort zone—it’s an interesting topic, but I don’t have a clear vision of what it is.

 

Moderator   Has Season 2 been officially picked up?

A. Pasdar     Officially, no, they haven’t said anything to us.  But it would be—they haven’t said anything to us at all.  But I can’t imagine it not coming back.  Can you?  It’s a good show.

 

Moderator     Has there been any mention of when you would return to start filming again?

A. Pasdar      We’ve talked about the end of May, beginning of June.  Right when it starts to hit its hottest months in Texas, we’ll go back.  We were there last year—this is brutal.  I think we had 79 or 89 days over a hundred degrees in a row. We were all saying as we wrapped the last episode, we were all saying, why don’t we just keep working until it gets hot and then take those three months off?  But the infinite wisdom of the powers that be, they know far better than us about why.  I don’t know.  To answer you, we have not been officially picked up.

 

Moderator     Can you describe the finale in just three words?

A. Pasdar    Buckle up.

 

Season 2 of the Lying Game airs on ABC Family, Mondays 9/8c

Images courtesy of 2012 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Q&A with Randy Wayne of ABC Family’s “The Lying Game” (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

As part of J!-ENT’s coverage of “The Lying Game”, the latest Q&A is with actor Randy Wayne.

Randy has appeared in films such as “Frat Party” and “Grizzly Park”, but his breakthrough role was in the 2009 film “To Save a Life”.  Having starred on the ABC Family TV series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”, Wayne now stars in a new ABC Family drama series, “The Lying Game” as Justin Miller.

Justin is the new student at Arroyo High School and now he is dating the coolest girl in school, Laurel Mercer and won the Homecoming King crown.  And he may be the popular student in school, but he appears to have a mysterious past.

To help promote the second season, Randy Wayne recently took part in a media Q&A to discuss his role on “The Lying Game”. Here is the transcript from the media Q&A interview with actor Randy Wayne:

 

Moderator  When you first learned that you had landed the role in The Lying Game, did you have that moment of intimidation because of the success of Pretty Little Liars, which was also inspired by the books of Sara Shepard?

R. Wayne    I was not too intimidated by the success of Pretty Little Liars.  I thought it would only be helpful.  And I knew that I wasn’t the lead of the show, so that pressure was not on my back, on my shoulders.  But I had worked with Alexandra in the past and I knew that she was a very talented actress, so I knew that she could handle the pressure and I would just go along with it.

 

Moderator   Now that everything is out in the open about Justin’s real motive for tracking down Ted, does that open a door for Justin and Laurel to pick up their romance again?

R. Wayne     Yes, it definitely does.  I think that Laurel gets a sense that Justin is actually 100% being honest with her.  And not only does she get a sense, but she really wanted to believe him and she wants to trust him, so it’s a big moment for their relationship.  I guess the big question now is, I don’t think Ted’s going to accept them being together now after what his motives are.  You don’t want a kid around that wanted to come and get revenge on you, dating your daughter, even though it’s out in the open now.  So I think that’s the big controversy now is how is he going to deal with the kid dating his daughter that wanted to get revenge on him.

 

Moderator      What’s next for Justin?  Is he going to continue to dig into Ted’s past, or is Justin ready to let the past stay in the past?

R. Wayne     Love conquers all, and in this situation I think he just wants to forget about it and just focus all of his attention on Laurel.  As far as I know, Justin just wants to focus on her to make it work.

 

Moderator     Originally you guest starred in an episode of Hot in Cleveland, you played a blind character.  How did you prepare for that role and what was it like working with Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Joe Jonas?

R. Wayne     You know what’s funny, I actually had to leave the set of The Lying Game and fly straight to LA and get to the set, I left the airport and went straight to the set of Hot in Cleveland, and I missed a day and a half of rehearsal because of The Lying Game, so I was a little bit behind and I was scrambling and there wasn’t too much time to prepare.  And it was cool because when it comes to playing a blind guy they just said look off, don’t look too much at her face, and when you’re doing a scene just focus on where to go.  They said he’s used to being blind so play it normal, just don’t look at her.  And working with Joe Jonas and Jennifer Love-Hewitt was cool, because Jennifer Love-Hewitt actually is extremely funny and a naturally gifted comedic actress, and Joe Jonas, for all the fame he’s had, he’s a really down-to-earth guy.

 

Moderator   Betty White’s also in that show.  Is she as funny off-screen as she is on-screen?

R. Wayne     Oh my God, she is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met in my life.  If you have a joke she pays attention and she’ll laugh at it and then she’ll always come back with her own jokes.  She’s definitely up there in age, but you would never know it by just talking to her.  She’s brilliant.

 

Moderator    Now that Justin and Laurel are kind of back together, Allie actually revealed in a different interview that things are going to be rocky between the two of them for a while.  Where do you see their relationship headed for the rest of the season?

R. Wayne    Well, there are several ways to go, things with their relationship now.  Ted obviously is not going to want them to date and they want to date, so they have to start hiding their relationship.  And that’s going to be a whole new thing, where Justin doesn’t want to do that anymore.  He wants to be honest, but now he has to still hide a relationship and still, in a way, lie about it.  And that means that Laurel’s being brought into the lies, which she hasn’t really been involved in yet.  And also she’s in the band, and so being in the band causes a big distraction from Justin and I’m sure Justin will start getting a little jealous of the attention that the band’s getting over him.

 

Moderator   Trust is a big issue for every character on this show.  Who do you feel has the most to lose for the rest of the season?

R. Wayne      I guess it’s really a toss-up between Justin and Emma, because if Justin doesn’t have Laurel he doesn’t have anything.  He moved to Arizona for a certain reason and then that reason’s over, and now he’s only there for one more and that’s Laurel, so if he doesn’t have her I don’t see what his reasoning would be to be there anymore.  Then obviously Emma, because without Ethan or without a family she has nothing to go back to, just like Justin, so they’d both be on their own.

 

Moderator     It seems like almost anything could happen on this show, so if it were up to you what would you like to see happen to Justin in the next few months?

R. Wayne      That’s a good question.  And I hate to answer it this way, but if you want me to be honest I will, I think that Justin’s always played the nice guy, whether his intentions were not, so he’s always come off as a nice guy except for maybe a couple of scenes.  And actually the scenes where he was a bad guy I enjoyed doing so I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind playing a bad guy on the show, I wouldn’t mind Justin, if they did break up, Laurel and Justin, then he’s in this town and he’s going to cause some controversy, and I think I’d like to see that happen.

 

Moderator      What is it like being surrounded by so many beautiful and talented women at work every day?

R. Wayne     Well, it’s amazing.  It’s not tough.  The thing about the girls on the show is that yes, they’re all really beautiful, but they’re also really cool, so there’s no egos on set.  And it just makes it so easy.  You know that they’re beautiful, but it’s not intimidating at all and it’s just fun.  It’s like living the high life.

 

Moderator  How do the fans react to you when they see you?  When they run into you on the street do they come up and start talking to you and treat you like you’re Justin, or are they finding it easy to separate Randy from Justin?

R. Wayne    That’s a really good question.  It’s so funny, because on Twitter people would be like, “I love Justin, or IamRandyWayne,” (@IamRandyWayne is Randy’s Twitter handle) yada yada, they’d go on about that, but then when the episodes came up where he was being rude to Laurel and making her cry, people turned and they were like, “I hate IAmRandyWayne.  I want to slap you …, why are you so mean,” just not separating the character from the actor.  People I don’t think would come up to you in general because of your character , but in person it’s nice and respectful and there’s separation, there’s a curiosity about what’s going to happen next, but online and in the Twitter world there definitely is not much separation sometimes.

 

Moderator    Yes, is it a little concerning to you?  When you go out in public are you a little, oh, I wonder if I should really go out incognito?

R. Wayne    No, I’m not worried about that.  I actually appreciate when people get frustrated with the character because that’s the point.  If they’re not frustrated then I’m not doing my job.  The beauty of acting is making people like you and then dislike you and then like you again, because you can write something a certain way, but if you don’t bring that to the character then it’s not going to work.  To see people change their mind about you and your character, it’s entertaining and I love to hear it.  I actually like when people approach me in public.  I’m not so famous where it’s annoying.  So it’s actually kind of fun.

 

Moderator     I watched Alexandra Chando in As the World Turns and I really enjoyed watching her.  I was just wondering what she was like to work with and how is she off set?

R. Wayne     She’s brilliant to work with because she takes her work very seriously.  She’s not the kind that actually comes to set and goofs around when she does a scene.  She has no problem piping up and asking the writer and director and the producer and saying how can we make this work.  She’s very, very professional and very talented, of course.  Then off set once she’s separated from the two she’s just a fun young girl and just loves life.  She’s always high on life.  It’s great.

 

Moderator  If you could have anybody on the show as a guest star who would you pick?

R. Wayne   In the fantasy world, let’s see, we could have Paul Giamatti play my dad; that would be interesting.  But in the realistic world, I don’t know, I think it would be fun to have someone like, I forget her name, the girl from Glee, the pretty blonde girl.

 

Moderator    Have you read any of The Lying Game books?  And if so, who do you think is behind the Lying Game?

R. Wayne      I haven’t read the books.  But I was also told it wasn’t really that important to read the books because it’s so different from the show.

 

Moderator   I know that you’re a big Tebow fan, but who is your Super Bowl prediction?

R. Wayne   Yes, I’m a big fan.  I know that Brady’s hot right now, but I’m going to have to say the Giants 28-23.  I think they look unstoppable right now.

 

Moderator    You’re originally from Oklahoma, correct?

R. Wayne    That’s right.  I’m actually here right now.

 

Moderator      Is your accent something you have to be conscious about all the time to get the Southern accent out of your character?

R. Wayne     You know I’ve actually played a lot of Southern roles and it makes it really easy for me.  But when I moved to LA I realized that I had an accent, I didn’t know that before, and yes, I had to focus on basically just enunciating and articulating instead of mumbling so much.  But I’ve been home for about three weeks now, so the accent is definitely creeping back up on me.  When I go back to LA in a week … I’m going to have to work on it again.

 

Moderator    You recently had a brief encounter with Helen Slater’s character and she was telling you to leave the party, so I’m feeling like she has the most to lose because she seems the most clueless out of everyone on the show.  Would you like to work more with her

R. Wayne    I would love to work with Helen a lot more.  She’s a very, very talented actress and she comes from such a genuine heartfelt place when she acts that it would be interesting to see, let’s say it didn’t work out between Justin and Laurel, there’s already friction between Ted and Kristin, so if Justin went back to his original plan, Kristin’s the first place to start.  I would love it.  I would love to work with her.  I’d love to make her character question her relationship a lot more, and to be the instigator would be fantastic.

 

Moderator   It’s only January and you already have this great guest appearance on Hot in Cleveland.  What other projects have you been working on?  Where else are we going to see you in 2012?

R. Wayne   Actually, it’s surreal a little bit, so Monday was The Lying Game, Wednesday was Hot in Cleveland, and I also did a movie that was on SyFy last night, and then I did movie called To Save a Life, it’s a teen drama, and it premieres Sunday on the GMC channel. Also coming up I have a movie called Honey 2 by Universal.  It’s the dance sequel to the original Honey with Jessica Alba.  That comes out on DVD February 26^th, I think, 28^th, or something like that.  So Honey 2 and then I also have a film that’s coming out called HARDflip.  It’s a skateboarding family drama.

 

Moderator       You recently had some type of knee surgery.  Can you tell us about that and how you’re doing after the surgery?

R. Wayne     I was in Thailand over Christmas, and actually on Christmas I rented a motor bike with my girlfriend and it was my first time to drive one and I thought I could handle it, and about 45 minutes into my drive I bumped the curb and it threw me off.  She was fine, but I broke my leg and tore my ACL and my meniscus, and so I had surgery two days ago and now I’m on the rehab train.  It’s not fun.

 

Season 2 of the Lying Game airs on ABC Family, Mondays 9/8c

Images courtesy of 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Q&A with Alice Greczyn of ABC Family’s “The Lying Game” (J!-ENT Interviews and Articles)

As part of J!-ENT’s coverage of “The Lying Game”, the latest Q&A is with actress Alice Greczyn.

Alice has starred on several TV shows such as “Quintuplets”, “Windfall”, “Privileged”, “Lincoln Heights” and also starred in a three-episode arc on the ABC Family TV series “Make It or Break It”.  Alice also stars in the hit ABC Family drama series “The Lying Game” as Madeline “Mads” Rybak.

Alice plays “Mads”, a cool and very intelligent high school student and one of the best friends of Sutton Mercer.

In “The Lying Game”, two twins (Sutton Mercer and Emma Becker, both played by actress Alexandra Chando) were separated at birth.  Emma Becker grew up in foster care, while Sutton Mercer grew up with a loving, wealthy family.

The two have come face-to-face and realize that both are sisters.  Emma agrees to impersonate her sister while Sutton goes to Los Angeles to find her real biological parents.  But for some reason, when Sutton is supposed to return back home, Emma feels that something may have happened.

Mads does not know that her best friend Sutton is actually now Emma.

So far in the series, Mads had to deal with her brother Thayer  (played by Christian Alexander) moving to Los Angeles with their mom, leaving Mads behind with her father (who may or may not be abusive towards her).  Recently, she started to notice a few things about her father and that he may be tied into something mysterious.

To help promote the second season, Alice Greczyn recently took part in a media Q&A to discuss her role on “The Lying Game”.  Here is the transcript from the media Q&A interview with actress Alice Greczyn:

Moderator    You have a Twitter called @alicefood, and on there you tweet a lot about food.

Alice    I certainly do.

 

Moderator    What is the most exotic dish that you have ever sampled?

Alice  The most exotic dish I’ve ever sampled, probably—it happened when I was a toddler, and I can’t really remember—but according to my parents we were in South Korea, and they fed me dog.  That would be the most exotic.  The most exotic food I’ve ever eaten of my own accord was probably barbecued alligator in Louisiana, which was actually really good.

 

Moderator   Do you ever see in the future of you doing a complete TV show about food?

Alice  You know, people have asked me that.  People have asked me if I would even do my own web series about food.  I’m not very comfortable being myself in front of camera, but I love to write about food.  I used to do restaurant reviews as a side hobby in L.A., and I love writing about it.  I love food journalism, especially travel and food together.  I am working on a cookbook, so I think my passion for food will manifest itself more in writing than in front of the camera.  But who’s to say, you know?  I am open to the possibility.

 

Moderator     How do you think things are going to change for Mads and other characters now that she knows the big secret?

Alice   The biggest thing that changes for Mads is that being let in on the secret opens up a door for her to find out a lot more about her dad and his possible involvement in all the mysteries on the show.  For the rest of the season, Mads is pretty much just uncovering more and more about him, and it brings a lot of tension between Mads and Thayer, and Emma’s sort of in the middle of it.

Mads kind of acts as an ally to Emma because she’s really upset with Sutton, and now that she knows Emma’s not actually Sutton, she and Emma can be friends.  But at the same time, Emma’s also the one telling Mads thing she doesn’t want to hear about her dad, so there’s still some tension there, and that plays out through the rest of the season…

 

Moderator   Is ballet a part of your life too?

Alice   No, but I am so flattered that they even asked.  That means I’m doing something right if it’s not extremely obvious.  No, I’m not a dancer.  I was a competitive figure skater when I was a kid.  I think I did, maybe, six months of ballet at some point in there in my childhood, but when I moved to Austin for the show, that was one of the first things I did.  The first two, three weeks were filled with intensive days with a choreographer that the show hired to help work with me, since they weren’t going to use a dance double, and it was pretty brutal.

I’m naturally thin, and people tell me I have a ballerina’s build, but I’m not naturally—my muscles were not trained to hold themselves in the way that they must for ballet.  To even just hold your arm right is very difficult and painful.  I have so much respect for dancers now after, kind of, putting myself in their shoes for a little bit.

 

Moderator    What are the similarities between you and your character on the show?

Alice   There aren’t many.  I’m from a big family; I have four younger siblings.  My parents are still happily married together.  I grew up moving around a lot, and my family was certainly not affluent.  So on face value, there’s not much I have in common with my character, like the whole—I was going to say we could get into the whole nature versus nurture argument, but that’s a different conversation.

Basically, your environment brings you up when you’re a child, kind of shapes who you are.  I think Mads and I had very different upbringings, and so we don’t really have a lot in common.  Even if we were the same age and I met Mads, I don’t even know if we’d necessarily be friends.  I think we tend to socialize in the circles that we’re raised in to an extent, and I don’t have that much in common with her.  But that’s what makes her so fun to play.

I’ve enjoyed putting myself in the shoes of this rich girl who has a father that is the villain of the show.  And for the first time (I think) in my career, I’m playing a character that has a sibling, which is really cool.  I really enjoy having scenes with Christian, who plays Thayer.  It’s a fun dynamic to play with.

I think the only thing, maybe, me and Mads have in common is that we both are very loyal and very keen observers, I guess.  Mads, from day one, has always been suspicious of Sutton’s new behavior, and now she knows that it’s Emma.  So all the dots are starting to connect, and everything’s starting to make sense.

 

Moderator   What do you admire most about Mads?

Alice   I admire her sense of confidence and discipline.  I think anyone who dances ballet has to be a very self-disciplined person, very motivated, and very hardworking.  She’s also a good student, and I think she prides herself on being a good friend.  She’s very there for her friends.

Char is not really in the show so much anymore, but I think with Char you really got to see what a loyal friend Mads was to her, and very caring.  I think there’s very few people Mads lets in, but the ones that she does let in, she cares very deeply about.  So that’s why it’s very wounding to her when, all of a sudden, Sutton is—she’s gotten used to Emma’s version of Sutton, who’s been really sweet and really kind, and I think that’s really meant a lot to Mads—and all of a sudden, real Sutton comes back, and before she knows it’s real Sutton, she’s so thrown because they’re two completely different people, and being inconsistent she’s obviously aggravated her.  But now that she knows that there’s two of them, she and Emma can work on their own relationship, and Mads will have to deal with Sutton totally separately.

 

Moderator     When you first read the role of Mads, what was it about this character that made you want to play her?

Alice    When I first read it, the role was a lot different than it is now.  When I first read it, she was sort of the edgy, punky one in the group, and she wanted to be a writer.  She had a possibly abusive relationship with her dad.  Her brother was gone and she seemed much more like a loner and much more of the darker one of the three girls—of Mads, Char, and Sutton.

Obviously, that storyline has changed a lot.  Once a pilot gets picked up, the network gives their notes on what they want to see happen, and so I guess, to be honest, a lot of things that initially drew me to her are no longer very apparent to a viewer.  I know they’re there, but the storyline, dialog, and writing doesn’t shed so much light on it.  But I’ve also found other things that keep me still drawn to her.  I love that she was a dancer.  I love playing someone that had a passion and a talent outside of just being an average high-school kid.  I like that about her.  And like I said before, I like that she had a brother that she really cared about.  I loved playing with that sibling dynamic.

I like working on a show that always keeps me in suspense.  It’s really fun for me to see what the next episodes are as I get the scripts coming in.  So that’s fun, you know?  It’s a drama/suspense show, and I think as far as TV goes, that’s probably the main genre I’m interested in.

 

Moderator    Do have a favorite memory or moment from either on the show or behind the scenes that you could share with our fans?

Alice  Well let’s see, last summer when we shot the first 10 episodes, that was a really special time because we were all new to Austin.  We were exploring all over the place and getting to know each other.  On Fourth of July, we rented a boat on Lake Travis and went tubing, and that was a blast.  We all really do have a lot of fun together.

Let’s see, I think we might be going off-roading this weekend as sort of a little last hurrah for ourselves.  Texas has a lot to do and a lot to explore, and so we all have fun doing that.  And of course, I’ve made everybody explore every possible restaurant that they can.  If anyone’s going to go eat with me, there’s lots of eating to be done.  They’re all used to me taking pictures of their food before I allow them to eat it so I can either tweet about it or just have it for my own personal collection to inspire me in my cooking.

As far as the show goes, I really had fun shooting—I remember I had a lot of shooting the homecoming episode.  That was really fun.  I think that was episode 105 or 106.  But really just—I mean, it’s hard because I feel like I know each of the cast members so well individually, but I work with very few of them.  I have very little scenes with Allie, and Allie and I are very good friends off-screen, but we hardly ever get to work together.  If we’re in a scene together, we never have dialog.

I have a lot of dialog with Christian and Alex.  And Alex, (poor thing) she’s the one who works more than any of us, so I rarely see her outside of work.  I see Christian quite a bit outside of work and Tyler, who plays Dan, he and I hang out.  I mean, a lot of the guest stars that come through—like Randy—I’ve known Randy for a while, Misha—who’s playing Ryan right now—he and I hang out.  And then one of my best friends from L.A., Andy Fischer-Price—he plays one of the guys in Laurel’s band and has no on-screen dialog—but when he’s around, he and I hang out too.

So I don’t know.  I wish the fans could—or I should say I wish the writers—could give a little a lot more scenes where all of us are together.  I’d love to be able to have more dialogue with Allie.  Blair and I were laughing the other day; I think we said two lines to each other in the entire season, and we hang out a lot outside of work too, so it’s like—how do you know that if you’re just watching the show?  But it is fun.  We are all very close.

 

Moderator You recently did a guest-starring appearance on Make It or Break It, where you performed as an anorexic character. Can you tell us about that experience and how it may have affected you personally?

Alice   I certainly did not realize what I was walking into when I did that role. Obviously, eating disorders are a very hot topic, and that’s one of the things that fans asked me the most about on Twitter or Facebook. It seems everyone wants to know if I have an eating disorder, and playing an anorexic character on Make It or Break It probably didn’t help much.

To set the record straight, I certainly do not have an eating disorder. I think as anyone can gather, I love food, and it is not just a front to cover up the fact that I don’t eat any. I do like that. I think that arc on Make It or Break It—I was in there for three episodes—it was interesting to play that character because she did have an eating disorder and was in total denial about it and had been in and out of rehab for anorexics and bulimics and knew how to work the system and play along so that she could get out, and then she’d go right back to being anorexic again.

I’ve never played a character like that before, so that was really interesting for me personally and the aftermath of that was what affected me personally. I had girls tweeting me saying that they—one girl, she taped a picture of me on her water bottle when she went jogging to inspire her to stay thin, and that made me feel really sad.

On one hand, I think it’s great that people are talking about it. I always try to encourage everyone to be happy and healthy and fully accepting of who they are, but it’s a very sensitive subject to talk about because it’s very easy for someone like me who’s naturally thin to be like, “Oh, well just eat in moderation, blah, blah, blah.” But a lot of people don’t look like me naturally, and so they must assume that there’s something very wrong with me mentally and physically, and that’s been difficult for me to deal with personally.

There are times that I feel very angered by a lot of the responses and questions, and I think a lot of people project a lot of hateful jealousy in their comments. I’ve definitely gotten some nasty ones, and I’ve gotten some very troublesome ones (some disturbing ones) of girls who were trying, like, “Oh, I need to make sure my ribs show like hers do, then I’ll know I’m skinny enough.” It’s not about ribs showing or not. If they show, and you’re a naturally healthy person, you just have really prominent bone structure or you’re just naturally healthy. Just be healthy.

That has been a very troubling topic to me. I could go on at length about it. It’s a very big deal, and I recognize that. I don’t take it lightly. I don’t take viewers’ comments lightly. It definitely does affect me, and there’s not much I can really say except to just encourage loving of yourself, and there are bigger things to worry about than whether or not your ribs are showing.

 

Moderator How did you get into acting?

Alice   I never anticipated being an actor. When I was a kid, I competed in figure skating, and I thought I might go that route, and then by the time I was high-school aged—I got my GED when I was 16, and I was in college for nursing school—and I really wanted to be a nurse and travel the world and do that. But then I fell into acting through modeling—because I’ve done quite a bit of modeling as well—and a talent manager from L.A. was like, “Oh, you should be an actress. Come to L.A. for pilot season.” So I did. I did not plan to stay. I did not plan for anything really to happen, but I started booking work. So long story short, I just thought, “I guess I’ll just see where this goes and see what else I book,” and it’s been a very fruitful career.

I’ve been very fortunate not to have to have a second job since I started, which was nine years ago. I’ve made my living from acting, and a little bit of modeling too every now and then for fun. Yeah, I think I’m pretty committed to it now. The longer I’m in it, the harder it would be to imagine doing something else as my primary career, even though I have a lot of other different interests.

 

Moderator When you found out you booked the role of Mads, how did you research to play her? What preparation went into that, and is it different from the ways you’ve researched your other roles?

Alice   It is different. One thing I always do for all of my characters is I—I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the Myers-Briggs temperament test, but I’m kind of obsessed with psychology, and I love taking personality quizzes. The Myers-Briggs test, I take as each one of my characters, and it kind of tells me, in a nutshell, what type of personality they are, [what] they’re like in life and family and work and love, and I kind of start from there.

So when we were filming the pilot, I kind of felt like, “Oh, I think Mads is an ISTP artisan. I know that’s a very clinical-sounding word, but basically I thought she was more of an introvert and a lot more observant. She’s a dancer, and so she’s very technical and very artistic and very disciplined. That kind of filled me in a little bit about her.

In the beginning of the season, I had a crush on Eduardo (my dance teacher) who I probably grew up having a crush on, and as we all know that ended disastrously. So I think Mads is at a very fragile time in life right now where she’s still learning about herself, as many teenagers are, and I think these events are happening to her right now in this season—losing Eduardo, having suspicions about her dad, not being able to trust her best friend—I think all of these are very much going to shape the woman she is going to become. I think Mads is an internal processor and thinks about things very deeply, and things affect her very deeply even if she doesn’t necessarily let it show.

 

Moderator Yes, it does. It tells us you put a lot of thought into it.

Alice   I do. I do. And of course, it changes too, because sometimes I think like, “Oh Mads wouldn’t handle a situation like this,” then I read the next script and it’s like, “What? Now she’s emotional?” I’m like, “Oh, wait a minute, now she’s strong?” It’s a little confusing sometimes because the writers—we have a lot of different writers—and I think episode to episode, Mads evolves, which people do.

But sometimes it’s a little bit frustrating and I find inconsistencies with character, but fortunately we have a great team of writers who are very collaborative, and we can talk it out and work on it, and find a happy medium where the network is pleased or the director is pleased, the producers, and me as the actor. And I really value that about this particular TV show. It’s very rare to have that in TV.

 

Moderator   How is it that food became your passion?  You can seem very passionate about it from a lot of different aspects.

Alice   I am.  I was raised in a family where food was very central to our lives.  I have a mother who’s a great cook, and she was always trying new recipes from all different worldly cuisines.  We’d have Moroccan food one night, and then the next night she’d try a Vietnamese soup, and then the next night it would be a casserole.

My mother’s half-Asian, and she grew up with a lot of Asian food, and so therefore I grew up with a lot of Asian food, mainly Korean dishes.  We love bulgogi, and there’s a Korean potsticker, and that was a family favorite.  So I think from a very young age, even though I grew up mainly in the Midwest, I was exposed to a lot of different types of ethnic cuisine, and that sort of set the bar for my palate as an adult.  And then now as an adult, I try to take it even further.

I love traveling.  I think travel is probably how I found my own individual love for food separate from my family because when—you don’t know what you’re missing until you find it, you know?  You don’t know what you don’t know about.  I didn’t know that I didn’t know about schnitzel or … until I was in Austria, or blood pudding in Ireland, and I think food symbolizes culture to me because food is the centerpiece of any social gathering.  It would be very weird to have a social gathering where there’s not food, and so I think food is just a symbol.

Yes, I love food in and of itself.  I love flavor.  I love texture.  I love fragrance.  I love playing with all of those.  I think it’s a beautiful science.  It’s a perfect example of art and science merging in one, and it’s something that you can share.  So I think what it symbolizes to me is the facilitation of social gathering, and then in that, I find it to be—I love observing people.  I love learning new things, and I think food is a great way to do that.  It shares someone’s history.  If you ask anyone what’s on their family’s Thanksgiving menu, you learn a lot about their culture and where their family comes from, whether they’re Swedish or Turkish or anything.  So I think that that’s why I love it.  I love what it symbolizes, and I also just love it for its own sake.

 

Moderator    Do you have a favorite dish that you like to cook for yourself or friends, or anybody?

Alice    For friends, I love cooking—I guess my go-to recipe if I know I’m going to host people over for dinner, and it’s sort of like a last-minute thing, and I don’t have time to browse over new recipes, I love making a butternut squash ravioli with a sage and brown-butter sauce.  I use the recipe from Todd English—that’s a chef and owner of Olives restaurant, which has the dish.  My favorite Olives restaurant is in Vegas at the Bellagio.  That dish, when I eat it, it was—stars were in my eyes. He was a generous chef enough to share the recipe online.  Anyone can find it.

It sounds really overwhelming, but it’s actually fairly simple to make, and it’s always a hit with vegetarians and carnivores alike.  That’s a pretty easy recipe.  Then I love baking.  Baking is my favorite thing to do.  I love making pies, cobblers, cookies, cakes, anything.  I’ll try anything.  I subscribe to a lot of food magazines, and so those always give me new inspirations and—so yeah.  It’s fun.

I love hosting.  I rarely cook just for myself.  I always have to have a group to cook for to really motivate me.  If I’m just by myself, and I’m home at night, I usually order takeout Thai or Indian food or I’ll just have cereal or Ramen Noodles.  I’m shameless about it.  I love Ramen, loaded with chemicals, but I love that parmesan chicken Ramen.  I love it.

 

Moderator   Perhaps maybe you should think about opening your own restaurant later.

Alice      Oh, I have plans one day.  One of my big dreams is to have my own bakery/tea house.  I’m equally obsessed with tea as much as I am with food.  There’s not enough tea houses, and the ones that there are, they’re usually, like, stuffy and English-themed and just not that great, or they’re too Zen Buddha-themed.  I’d like to have an international variety of tea and a beautiful setting, and I’d also like to have baked goods.  So that’s one of the things on my list of things to do.  I figure, maybe, when I’m in my 50s.  I got to save something for me to do later on in life, can’t do it all now.

 

Moderator    You were talking about Mads’ suspicion of her father.  Do you think she will ever figure out that Alec had anything to do with Eduardo’s accident, and how will she react?

Alice    I’m not sure.  I think, maybe, she probably already has, but you would not see that on the show.  I think the way the disaster with Eduardo ended, she did find out that her dad did pay Eduardo to leave town.  Emma, as Sutton, confirmed that.  I’m not sure.  I imagine it must have been a story line issue where they couldn’t devote that much time to Mads’ story line because there were so many other things going on with the other characters on the show as well.

I think we just have to assume that Mads does know her dad paid Eduardo to leave town.  I don’t think she thinks he deliberately ran him over with a car, but I think Mad chose to move on, deal with it.  Eduardo’s gone.  I think she has a  very steely resolve, and I think family’s important to Mads, and she just wanted—there was a scene with Thayer at the end of the first 10 episodes where she was like, “Look, you know, let’s just be a family.  Let’s just get along.  That’s all Dad wants.  That’s all I want.  Let’s just stop thinking these bad things about Dad.”

I think Mads, she’s very aware her dad’s not a very savory character, but I think she has just sort of accepted it and would rather focus on more positive things and just not deal.  I think it’s very difficult as a teenager, especially one who’s so close to leaving the house—I know for myself, you just kind of go into just dealing mode, and if you try to challenge and it doesn’t get you anywhere good, you just stop, and you just deal with it internally.  So I imagine that’s probably, to an extent, what Mads is doing with the suspicions about her father and his character.

 

Season 2 of the Lying Game airs on ABC Family, Mondays 9/8c

Images courtesy of 2011 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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