PTR Senior Staff Writer
Every once in a while, a girl just needs to make a little time for herself.
Take a breath.
Have a moment.
Put saving the world on hold.
Stop fighting the aliens.
Meet up with the the dark lords of the underworld at a later date.
Darling of all-things alien and sci-fi, Kari Matchett, needed just that when she signed on for the Hallmark channel original movie, The National Tree.
"I’ve done a lot of aliens and sci-fi stuff," she says with a laugh, "and I just felt like I was in the mood for doing something sweet and light - something that didn’t hurt anybody, didn’t have any violence in it, didn't have any heaviness to it."
That would be standard Hallmark fare, which we here at PTR do actually appreciate given family dramatic programming has become a dying art, and light, bright and airy sitcoms have all but vanished from the television landscape.
So it was refreshing to catch up with
"It was a story that I thought would have a nice energy to be in for a while - and it was," says Kari.
Why wouldn't we want to hear what she has to say about the ever complex goings-on of Detective Grace Hanadarko? I actually need to send her a thank you note (or two) given her insights into the character have gotten me through some of my more critical phases in following the show.
Dreamworks and TNT both said to me, “Hey, what do you think about a wedding show?” And my first reaction was, “A wedding show?!? I don’t know if I understand how to make that.” But once I started looking at the stories that could be told, I got more inspired than ever. And, I realized there could be an Extreme Makeover vibe to the show - where you find people who are really deserving. You know, people have done stuff for others their entire life – beit on the job, like they’re a cop, a firefighter, a lifeguard, charity workers or they’re in the military. But when it comes down to falling in love and getting married, they’ve spent so much time doing for others they can’t even afford a beautiful wedding. It seems ironic that the people who give the most get the least. So, I wanted to make this show along those themes. The first act is always about what’s the story of this couple, and why are they so deserving. Once you’ve bought into Why Them, now we’re going to get their families involved. Those families roll up their sleeves and participate - and not just in the sense that they come, drink wine and eat food at the wedding. They’re actually going to do the work. So when [the couple is] there celebrating – [the family] built that. So, I love it. It’s an uplifting show. It’s in the raise you up category. I don’t want to be making shows that have anything to do with tearing people down.
Yeah, well, it was very hard because the show’s not been on the air. You can use my name, which gives credibility, but it wasn’t easy. It took a lot of months to find the couples. There’s a number of factors. First, who are these people and why are they deserving? Are their families going to participate in building the environment? Because without that, you don’t have that whole middle act. And then, lastly, when do they want to get married and does that fit into the shooting schedule? There’s a lot to think about. Remember, all these people … they’re really interested in their love, their life and their marriage. We’re an extra. So, to make it all work together wasn’t easy, but it was really valuable. I think, if we’re fortunate enough that this show gets celebrated and we get a second season, it’ll be a lot easier because of being on television and the notoriety that comes with it. More people would know about it and be nominating people they knew … like, hey, I have a friend who has done so much for others – is so deserving – they deserve a great wedding. I think that’s what you’re going to start getting.
You’ve done so much, what is it that still inspires you about this genre of television – where is it you pull your inspirations from?
They also appreciate the show's fresh look at courtroom drama from both sides of the aisle. That is, from the public defender's (PDs) point of view as well as the district attorney (DAs) - which, let's face it, is predominantly how we've all grown up understanding the television version of the legal system. There are the cops and the DAs, and there are the bad guys repped by the PDs.
Says Teddy: "I grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. I went to an all boys school for 10 years. My parents were members of a country club. So, growing up in that environment, I soaked up things along the way that I think made it easier for me to want to play a character like this. I remember getting the audition, and I thought, 'Oh, I know this guy – I went to school with these guys.' Even though [Rich's backstory wasn't exactly the same as] my upbringing, there were elements to it that I was around, and [the role] innately felt right. I read twice with [creator and executive producer] Steven Bochco and his wife Dayna, and Jesse Bochco. It was a family affair. I remember walking in and feeling instantly at ease. I’m one of four kids - my dad’s got three siblings, my mom’s got four siblings - and I just sort of felt that family energy – for lack of a better term. It sort of went from there. Steven gave me the nod, and very luckily, here we are a couple years later."
"In fact," he continues, "I was priming for a Wall Street existence. I went to the University of Virginia, and I got into this really select two-year undergraduate business program - sort of that Type A businessman route. But, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after college, and [somewhere inside] I knew I didn’t want to go work for a big company. I was just restless. I thought I wanted something by the water, something very quiet. So, I lived in Hawaii for about six months after graduation - worked on a snorkeling boat on the Big Island, lived in Kona. But, it just wasn’t working for me. So, I moved back East, and I went to New York City to visit some friends and thought ‘THIS is where I have to be!’ It was the total opposite of Hawaii, but the pace, the excitement and the energy of New York City really matched what was going on in my head. It was apparent that’s where I needed to be. So, I moved.
"For me, it starts with the writing," says Teddy. "It’s the story. It’s the world that’s created by these scripts - the little world I can occupy within the story. I know it when I’m reading it; I just get excited. I start to itch to do it. It captivates and grabs me in a way, and it’s something that when I put it down, I keep thinking about. But, it would be disingenuous to say that the people involved have nothing to do with it. It matters hugely who’s directing it, who’s interested, who’s putting together, what they’ve done in the past. I think, for me, I’d like to continue to be in league with great writers, great directors, great actors. If the story is there, then it’ll attract all the right elements."
"For me personally, it’s [just] hair," says Mark. "I mean, it’ll grow back. If we decide to have it longer, that’s fine. If we decide to keep it short, that’s fine. It’s sort of an experiment, and a work in progress kind of thing. And it was one of those things where I put so little effort into my hair that what you saw last year was the way [both the character of] Jerry and myself would actually do our hair. We just don’t. And over the negative and positive press of the hair, I kept going, 'Really? This is such a big talking point? This is what people are getting from our show?' So, from that point of view, and with the [new] haircut, we’re not distracting the audience [anymore]. We don’t want to take away from the stories and characters, and what’s really important on the show. We’ll see how this works and go from there."
On what he feels is the most important thing people should know from the first season if they are just beginning to tune into the show this season: "The show is unlike the other legal dramas that we’ve seen in the past. We’re not a how show, we’re a why [show] - why did this person do [the crime]. The truth about most crimes is they’re really driven by really basic things: poverty, jealousy, desperation. You sort of stick a label on people for their crime. But what this show does so effectively is tell the story behind the case, allowing the audience to see the clients the way their lawyers do. When that happens, guilty or innocent becomes much more muddy and less clear. That’s basically our show in a nutshell - it’s allowing you to see the gray in the criminal justice system. And it makes it unlike other legal dramas."
On getting into the persona of Brenda - putting on the "Brenda suit" - and the benefits of playing a character for an extended period of time: "I'm always putting on a Brenda suit. I think we continue to have vast differences between the two of us. But, I can tell you that playing a character for this long, it just gets deeper and more multi-layered for me. And as an actor, I really enjoy that. It's been an inspiring process - one that I never would have thought would happen. If you had told me I was going to play the same character for five years, and I was still going to find her fascinating, still find new things about her, I'd have told you were probably crazy. It was such a leap of faith [to take on this role]. I think it always is whenever you take on a creative project, but I think this one especially because it was such a long commitment. But it's been a great journey. It's been one of the most - if not the most - creatively fulfilling jobs I’ve ever had. I love the fact that I get to play someone who’s so multifaceted and also that [the show] can flip from being an intense drama to sort of a slap-sticky type comedy. The audience goes with us, and I love we continue to grow our audience every year. That's something that is incredibly fulfilling for me - especially since I have to be away from my family for that time, and it is such a huge commitment. So, it's all been really great."
On whether Brenda and Fritz's working together will give more insight into their relationship: "I do – I definitely think that their working together gives you more insight into their relationship. There is actually a whole episode where Fritz kind of brilliantly manipulates Brenda – what he knows to be true about Brenda, which is her tenacity and her inability to let go of a case even when she’s asked to let go of it."
"I grew up in New York City," says Mark, as we joined him on a recent conference call to discuss the premiere season. "[I went] first [to] a public school, then a private school. When I got to the private school in Manhattan, I learned of what we called 'The Promised Land,' which are the Hamptons. I’ve always had an affinity for the Hamptons. I think it is one of the most romantic, beautiful, pristine [and] exclusive places on earth - in a private and kind of meditative way. So, when I heard about a show which was about a doctor set in the Hamptons, I jumped at it."
Being on the call with Mark, it's hard not to find his enthusiasm for character and show contagious. But more than that, it's a closer look at the business of concierge medicine - doctors for hire.
On how Royal Pains fits into the USA Network lineup and what sets it apart from other shows: "I’ve been on my share of network dramas and comedies, and the problem sometimes in a network is they have a single-minded focus on making the show true to whatever genre it is. So, if you’re on a drama, it better be procedural, it better fulfill all the demands of a procedural show, and you better keep those episodes independent so that if I’m watching the show in seven years as its syndicated on some other cable network, I don’t have to know what happened before or after the episode, and everything is meant to support the procedure. If you’re on, say, a comedy, everything has to be funny and wacky and zany. But somehow, USA has found the perfect marriage of procedural drama and comedy. They have it in Psych, they have it in Burn Notice, they have it in Monk, they have it in In Plain Sight; every show manages to somehow blend comedy and drama and tell a story that might be slightly serialized. So, you do have to tune in every week to see [where certain] relationship[s] are at. But at the same time, if you tune in [to our show], you’ll watch a medical drama - a medical story told from beginning to middle to end - [that] will satisfy all the demands of a procedure while giving you all this character, all this story, all this nuance and comedy along the way."
Call it one heck of a carpool schlep.
Cue soft warm angel glow light.
For real.
But let it be said right now that her acting skills are nowhere near rusty. She still fires on all those magical Roma-esque cylinders in the film, and when I ask whether the protective mother in Laura is what she could identify with the most in the character, she agrees.
“The dance studio,” says Roma “became a metaphor for the heart – that it brought out the best in people, where everybody felt safe. In that feeling safe – in that loving space – everybody grew and became connected. So, if I felt moved by the script, it was in that which connects us, and the little dance studio became sort of the glue. And so, then, the fight to save the studio was really as much about saving that which joins us together as opposed to the metaphor of something new coming in and breaking us apart. So, [the film really is about] community, connection, oneness – and that love is the glue. I think the whole dancing thing, too, gives it a great energy. I learned how to line dance. I had never tried that before, and it was great fun. I think you could speak to anybody who participated, and it was hard not to laugh while doing it. I’m very proud and pleased to be part of the movie.
“I think that the reminder of spirit – and spirit presence in our lives – was central [to the show],” says Roma. “And it ties back into what we were discussing earlier, which is that feeling of connectedness. I think the show touched that in people. I think it reminded people that God is ever present, and we always have a choice to make. And, it reminded us to reach for the higher road. There was always that beautiful moment in each episode where as the angel, I would be right there at the crossroads. Usually, the drama was set up each week that the person being helped was at some crises or other and had a choice to make. And, I think one of the healthiest aspects of the show was that I didn’t make the choice for them – I just showed them the better option. The choice was always up to the individual, in such as it is, too, in our own lives. We had so many letters from teachers, and parents and people in positions of influence where they would usually stop the episode at that point and ask for feedback from their classrooms – you know, what should the person do, what will the person do. Our writers were always so good at pulling from very pertinent, current situations in people’s lives of all the things that we all deal with all the time within family and death, adolescence, addiction and so on. And so there’s always a very relatable – and timeless – kind of quality to it.
Ironic, then, that a few weeks later, when I had the opportunity to speak with her husband, Mark Burnett, he confirmed for me this very fact as we joked Roma’s commencement speech for the Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management seemed like one of those beautiful closing monologues from a Touched By an Angel episode – to which he had to follow with his own speech.
So, as a mother of two, what did she identify with the most in Robbie - a woman who didn't have any children? Ironically enough, it was actually the mothering quality in Robbie that the Safe Harbor boys seemed to be able to bring out of her.
"All of it was [filmed] pretty much made outside," says Nancy. "So, we were definitely dealing with the elements - with the light, or just trying to get a shot in of a walk on the beach before the sun goes down. It ended up almost being renegade filmmaking. That said, surprisingly given the budget, the scenes that really worked in a very professional way were the storm scenes - I was really impressed with that. We were lucky, too, in that Treat Williams [who portrays husband Doug Smith] is a nautical guy – spent his life sailing, knew things about boats and sailing and the sea – and he was able to bring a lot to it."
"I just love performing," Nancy continues. "I love to do theater. I love film. I love even performing at my kids’ school fundraiser. I love all of it. And, I think I mostly look for projects that look like they're going to be interesting and fun, and hopefully [be] the best quality thing I can find. But also, it’s about what’s happening in a moment. I’ve done jobs that I’ve thought, 'Ugh. Wow. I don’t know why I’m doing this. What am I doing here?' But a director once said to me: you never know what the opportunity is going to bring. You just never know what the opportunity is that’s within a project. And that is almost a metaphor for this film, too, in that you just never know what opportunity lurks with what you choose to do."
On the challenges of the role: "It’s challenging for the same reason that it’s fun in that it requires comedic and emotional ability. Now, my emotions are not [as] frequently [on display] as are Mary’s. Her character is in emotional turmoil much of the time. But at least a couple times a season - and certainly more times this season than last - Marshall is in some kind of emotional turmoil. And, any time that you’re asked, as an actor, to exhibit some state that is out of control or should appear out of control, it’s a little more challenging. I [also] think comedy is an exacting science. You don’t want to blow the humor if it’s there. If you do it wrong, it’s either funny or it’s not, so the fact [the character] has comedy and emotion is what makes it rich, and it’s also what makes it challenging. You don’t want to disappoint. When you’ve got such great material, it’s important to rise [up] and get it right."
On whether Marshall has developed a Zen-like approach to life: "Yes. I think so. It’s difficult to talk about Zen, isn’t it? Because it just leaves the room as soon as you start talking about it. But I think that he certainly attempts to be in the moment and to let things go. I think it was Isaiah Berlin who wrote a famous essay comparing Dostoevsky with Tolstoy. It was about the fox and the hedgehog. He said that there are two types of people - foxes and hedgehogs. The fox is someone who has myriad interests. He doesn’t believe in any one shaping idea. He simply embraces various and sundry ideas. The hedgehog is someone who sees the universe through one controlling idea. And he said that Tolstoy was a fox who wanted to be a hedgehog, who believed in the principle of being a hedgehog. That is to say he believed in having one controlling idea, but really he was [fundamentally] a fox. I think Marshall is the opposite. I think he’s secretly a hedgehog, but he believes in the principle of being a fox. He embraces the notion of having a wide variety of interests and ideas, but he ultimately filters everything through the one, which is, I think, he believes in love and the transformative power of love. I [also] think Marshall is more flexible, more committed to optimism and to a kind of faith. You see in several episodes that Marshall seems to believe in a moral universe. And so when Mary - who is ever the cynic, which I think is really a kind of armor that she adopts to protect herself - has some kind of crisis, I think that the apostle of faith and wisdom and optimism is going to be useful to her. It’s one of the aspects that I really love about the character - that he’s a believer."
"Well, it does seem it just fits you really well," I say.
On whether the dynamic of Mary Shannon's "family issues" will get better or worse this season, and how she will cope with change: "In the beginning of the season, my mother hits a new low in her drinking, which is extraordinary to watch. You think it’s going to be funny and it’s not at all funny. And then, she decides to try to stop drinking and she goes to rehab. [But] Mary Shannon’s never known her mother without alcohol involved, so it changes the entire family dynamic. And my sister goes back to school and decides to try to turn over a new leaf. [But for Mary], change does not come easily - because she figures things out and likes the way they work, even if it’s bad. Even in the unhealthy family dynamic, at least she was used to it. She had been living in it since she was a little girl and she knew it. Now, her mom is all AA slogans, and her sister is sort of in a healthy relationship, which is just confusing. Everyone’s just a little bit different. Even Rafael, halfway through the season, makes a big change in his own life - a career change - and it completely freaks Mary out. It’s his own life, but she has to redefine her relationship with him. So I think it’s a bumpy season for her. And then the mystery of Mary’s father is still floating and looming, and you get some more clues as to what happened to him.