For fans of “The Mentalist,” Sunday night may be a rather sad day in that it is the first Sunday since the ACM Awards to not feature a new episode. Before that, it was March when we had to go without new episodes.
So while we transition into the off-season, how about some parting words for a man that is almost indirectly responsible for Jane and Lisbon being together? Without the arrival of Agent Pike on the scene, it is hard to know whether or not Simon Baker’s character would have ever risen to the surface and become the man he needed to be in order to win her over. It is a strange situation in a way seeing Pike disappear into the void, given that he was not a bad guy or a bad person for Lisbon by any means. The only thing that he was really a victim of above all else was just being with her at the wrong time when there was another guy that she cared about.
It is unlikely that we will see Pike again in season 7, but Pedro Pascal reacted to his time on the show while doing a Reddit AMA (one that was geared mostly towards his role as Prince Oberyn Martell on “Game of Thrones”):
“I had an amazing time with Robin Tunney, she is a new friend, and it was a really friendly set. And it was nice because I was sort of, I just signed a new lease on a new apartment in Los Angeles and I was able to drive myself to work everyday, which was cool. And Simon is a really great guy, the two of them have a really special chemistry and it was great to see that in person.”
After many weeks of seeing Pedro on two different Sunday-night shows, this Memorial Day Weekend may be especially empty. Luckily, we know that he will return for the new episode next week, and you can watch a preview for that over at the link here.
SRC: cartermatt.com/
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interview. Show all posts
May 11, 2014
'Mentalist' Stars, EP Promise Satisfying 'Closure,' View Season 7 as 'Encore'
Showrunner Bruno Heller, along with stars Simon Baker and Robin Tunney, talk to THR about the final two episodes and address the season-ending dilemma facing Lisbon and Jane.
Will Lisbon and Jane finally take the plunge?
Renewed at the 11th hour by CBS, veteran procedural The Mentalist marches toward its May 18 finale with a season-ending question still unanswered: Will Lisbon make the move to Washington, D.C. and end her partnership with Jane? After the Red John wrap-up earlier in the season, exploring the personal dynamics between Jane and Lisbon was the logical next step.
"The pleasures of the show rests in the by-play between Robin [Tunney] and Simon [Baker]. Getting rid of Red John allowed us to focus on that human aspect of the show," executive producer Bruno Heller tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Red John, as it turns out, was a convenience for Jane because it meant he didn't have to confront the rest of his life and what he's doing."
Now that the Red John chapter is over (for the most part), there was no longer a physical obstacle in the way of Jane addressing the Lisbon situation -- just mental ones. "After [Red John] goes, for both Lisbon and Jane, there is a palpable sense of 'What now? Do I really want to continue doing the same thing?' " Heller says. "It left the two of them without an excuse to decide where that relationship was going. They had always been able to keep it separate. Those questions start bubbling up and the rest of the season was the resolution of those questions."
The show's primary focus had always been "the hunt for Red John, the idea of Jane seeking revenge," Baker tells THR, but when that went away and his partnership with Lisbon temporarily ceased, it was time for Jane to figure things out. "You look around and the person standing next to you for five-and-half-years is nowhere to be seen, there's an emptiness and a hollowness," Baker says. Last week's episode was the most recent indicator of the pair's tense (and complicated) relationship, wherein Jane tentatively lets Lisbon go at her doorstep. "it was an obvious progression to get to the idea of longing and missing that person who, when the dust settles, has always been there and [now] she's not there," Baker says.
It's been choppy waters for Jane to get to a place where he can comfortably jump into a romantic affair. "It is not something you can automatically pick up when you're as broken as Jane is," Baker admits. "Just as you get comfortable with any patterns in life, it's going to twist you to change or grow or stretch."
Being one-half of The Mentalist's main couple has been an "interesting" journey to say the least, Tunney tells THR. Though the show has always been billed as a crime procedural, interest in Jane and Lisbon's endgame has been present from the start. Tunney recalls fielding numerous questions over the years about Lisbon and Jane's romantic future, admitting that she'd always answer the same way: a simple "I don't know." "It's always more interesting when the writers and the actors don't know because I don't think you always know in life and also, it becomes less obvious," Tunney explains.
From her perspective, being in such close proximity to Jane during the Red John saga was a factor in turning the tide for Lisbon. "Lisbon did stand by Jane and was really there for him in the hunt for Red John. They're both lonely people and they had this thing in common. Once that was gone, Lisbon really missed him," Tunney says. "She realized that it wasn't just about catching the bad guy: 'I love being around this person and what does this mean?' The last [few] episodes, [Lisbon's wondering,] 'Is he going to declare himself? Is he going to put himself out there? What are we going to do now?' It's going to come to a head."
There is one thing Tunney was OK with in regards to Jane and Lisbon's prolonged courtship: the timing. "It would've been really inappropriate during all the Red John stuff," she says with a laugh. Baker echoed her sentiment: "There also wasn't any room in the show to do it properly."
"The transition to the FBI has been able to give us room structurally in the story to explore the potential for a relationship between Jane and Lisbon," Baker adds. "The threat of [Lisbon] parting in a way has been able to give it its due and be able to play it out properly, as opposed to just a sprinkle here and there."
As The Mentalist readies for the final two hours of season six, the gang promises that a finite resolution will be on tap. "People can expect closure," Tunney says of the remaining episodes. Adds Heller: "We wanted to make sure that the last episode was as fun and humorous and as light-hearted as a crime procedural can be and I think we delivered that." (For the record, Baker jokingly compared the final run to Grease.)
Will fans be satisfied? "I would say yes," Heller says. "This is a popular show. It's meant for the people. We have tried to make a finale to the season that will please and engage and fill our core audience." Adds Baker: "It will by and large give the audience closure, but I suspect it will leave them craving more."
There are already "plans and a blueprint" for the new season, Heller says, adding that the show's seventh year "is like an encore." "The purpose of an encore is to get people leaving the theater happy and giving them what they want and hitting your marks as strong as possible, so that will be the intention," he promises.
The Mentalist airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on CBS.
Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
SRC: www.hollywoodreporter.com/
Will Lisbon and Jane finally take the plunge?
Renewed at the 11th hour by CBS, veteran procedural The Mentalist marches toward its May 18 finale with a season-ending question still unanswered: Will Lisbon make the move to Washington, D.C. and end her partnership with Jane? After the Red John wrap-up earlier in the season, exploring the personal dynamics between Jane and Lisbon was the logical next step.
"The pleasures of the show rests in the by-play between Robin [Tunney] and Simon [Baker]. Getting rid of Red John allowed us to focus on that human aspect of the show," executive producer Bruno Heller tells The Hollywood Reporter. "Red John, as it turns out, was a convenience for Jane because it meant he didn't have to confront the rest of his life and what he's doing."
Now that the Red John chapter is over (for the most part), there was no longer a physical obstacle in the way of Jane addressing the Lisbon situation -- just mental ones. "After [Red John] goes, for both Lisbon and Jane, there is a palpable sense of 'What now? Do I really want to continue doing the same thing?' " Heller says. "It left the two of them without an excuse to decide where that relationship was going. They had always been able to keep it separate. Those questions start bubbling up and the rest of the season was the resolution of those questions."
The show's primary focus had always been "the hunt for Red John, the idea of Jane seeking revenge," Baker tells THR, but when that went away and his partnership with Lisbon temporarily ceased, it was time for Jane to figure things out. "You look around and the person standing next to you for five-and-half-years is nowhere to be seen, there's an emptiness and a hollowness," Baker says. Last week's episode was the most recent indicator of the pair's tense (and complicated) relationship, wherein Jane tentatively lets Lisbon go at her doorstep. "it was an obvious progression to get to the idea of longing and missing that person who, when the dust settles, has always been there and [now] she's not there," Baker says.
It's been choppy waters for Jane to get to a place where he can comfortably jump into a romantic affair. "It is not something you can automatically pick up when you're as broken as Jane is," Baker admits. "Just as you get comfortable with any patterns in life, it's going to twist you to change or grow or stretch."
Being one-half of The Mentalist's main couple has been an "interesting" journey to say the least, Tunney tells THR. Though the show has always been billed as a crime procedural, interest in Jane and Lisbon's endgame has been present from the start. Tunney recalls fielding numerous questions over the years about Lisbon and Jane's romantic future, admitting that she'd always answer the same way: a simple "I don't know." "It's always more interesting when the writers and the actors don't know because I don't think you always know in life and also, it becomes less obvious," Tunney explains.
From her perspective, being in such close proximity to Jane during the Red John saga was a factor in turning the tide for Lisbon. "Lisbon did stand by Jane and was really there for him in the hunt for Red John. They're both lonely people and they had this thing in common. Once that was gone, Lisbon really missed him," Tunney says. "She realized that it wasn't just about catching the bad guy: 'I love being around this person and what does this mean?' The last [few] episodes, [Lisbon's wondering,] 'Is he going to declare himself? Is he going to put himself out there? What are we going to do now?' It's going to come to a head."
There is one thing Tunney was OK with in regards to Jane and Lisbon's prolonged courtship: the timing. "It would've been really inappropriate during all the Red John stuff," she says with a laugh. Baker echoed her sentiment: "There also wasn't any room in the show to do it properly."
"The transition to the FBI has been able to give us room structurally in the story to explore the potential for a relationship between Jane and Lisbon," Baker adds. "The threat of [Lisbon] parting in a way has been able to give it its due and be able to play it out properly, as opposed to just a sprinkle here and there."
As The Mentalist readies for the final two hours of season six, the gang promises that a finite resolution will be on tap. "People can expect closure," Tunney says of the remaining episodes. Adds Heller: "We wanted to make sure that the last episode was as fun and humorous and as light-hearted as a crime procedural can be and I think we delivered that." (For the record, Baker jokingly compared the final run to Grease.)
Will fans be satisfied? "I would say yes," Heller says. "This is a popular show. It's meant for the people. We have tried to make a finale to the season that will please and engage and fill our core audience." Adds Baker: "It will by and large give the audience closure, but I suspect it will leave them craving more."
There are already "plans and a blueprint" for the new season, Heller says, adding that the show's seventh year "is like an encore." "The purpose of an encore is to get people leaving the theater happy and giving them what they want and hitting your marks as strong as possible, so that will be the intention," he promises.
The Mentalist airs Sundays at 10 p.m. on CBS.
Email: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
SRC: www.hollywoodreporter.com/
May 10, 2014
The Mentalist Creator and Stars Discuss the Jane/ Lisbon Dilemma, Boast of a Love-or-Hate Finale
Three may be a crowd on The Mentalist (Sunday, 10/9c), but four was company when the CBS series’ creator, Bruno Heller, along with leads Simon Baker and Robin Tunney, spoke with TVLine to survey the season-ending arc centered on Lisbon’s D.C. debate and how it’s stirring something in Jane. Read on for their thoughts about navigating that sticky wicket and how the May 18 (series?) finale will split the audience 50-50.
TVLINE | Bruno, I understand that it was always the show’s intent to get to this place with Jane and Lisbon at the end of this season, even dating back to last summer?
BRUNO HELLER | We were certainly thinking about it. When the show started, for me there was not a thought of that at all. But one of the things about TV over the years is the characters develop their own dynamic and direction as truth is revealed, and it seemed to us – and [the actors] can contradict me if they like – that love blossoms. There is a genuine feeling there between the two characters that had to be honored, one that was just natural and organic.
TVLINE | Simon, were you interested to explore this side of….
SIMON BAKER | [Interrupts] From the moment I met Robin Tunney. [Tunney and Heller laugh] I looked at her and I said, “You will be mine.” No, you know, it’s one of those things where…. It’s the whole Moonlighting theory that comes into play with long-form TV. It goes on, and sometimes on and on, and do you give the audience what they want, or do you keep the flirtation and tease going? Is that really what they want, is that what they like — to want something? Because as soon as you seal any sort of a deal with anything, it’s like, “Well, that’s that, and from there where do we go?” There are plenty of places always to go, but it’s a risk and a challenge.
TVLINE | But on a character level, were you and Robin interested to ask the question, “What do these two people really mean to each other after all these years?”
BAKER | Yes — and that became really evident, I thought, after we closed the Red John story and we did the episode that took place two years later. It was about laying the foundation for the rest of the season, in the sense of it was an episode about longing and missing each other, missing that relationship as it stood.
ROBIN TUNNEY | I also think the show has always been something more than just a straight procedural. And once the Red John storyline cleared up, it was like, “OK, these people are left with each other. So how do you create stakes?” There was a history, but there was this idea of “What’s next?” How do they feel about each other? It created sort of an arc where there was a lot at stake, people’s hearts and all that stuff, without, “Oh, we can throw another serial killer into the mix.” It was something that was fitting to the show and it created drama.
TVLINE | Robin, in the closing scene of last week’s episode, what is going on in Teresa’s mind as she stands at the doorstep, wiping tears off her face?
TUNNEY | I think she’s just dying for [Jane] to declare himself — and she’s really worried that he won’t. This opportunity with somebody else [Agent Marcus Pike, played by Pedro Pascal] has come up and it’s like, “OK, am I crazy? Should I do this? Am I missing out on something because I’m hanging out waiting for somebody else?” That’s something that’s really scary to her. This guy comes along who’s crazy about her and it’s like, “Am I going to pass up on something that’s real, to hang out and see what happens?” She’s just dying for Jane to declare himself. She’s not sure what else she can do, like, “So, this other guy has asked me to move with him….”
TVLINE | What is it that’s keeping Jane from being more forthright with Lisbon? Is he perhaps not confident in his ability to make her happy, or…?
HELLER | Simon can probably answer that better than me, but for me, if you spent so much of your life self-protectively concealing your feelings, for very good reasons, and feel that it was your love that essentially killed other people in your life, that connection to you has been a bad thing, there are all kinds of fears deep down that would stop you from speaking honestly. Men in general have difficulty declaring their emotions, and in this case [Jane and Lisbon] had a long and close, brother-sister relationship, so to suddenly declare a different kind of love is extremely difficult.
BAKER | Everything seems to be good, and then suddenly the girl that I like to stand next to has these “demands” upon my character to give more of himself…. That’s a part of it. It’s also that Jane is a broken toy. He looks like he’s gotten to be OK, but really, he’s not functioning completely. I guess Lisbon’s wondering and hoping whether or not he ever will function again, and he’s looking at her, thinking, “She’s going to walk away, and I can’t fix myself. I’ve forgotten how to give of myself and surrender.” So it’s a challenge. You could interpret it a lot of different ways, but I knew what I was playing. I didn’t necessarily choose to articulate it, because I think the nature of someone not being able to surrender to someone else or give themselves up is incredibly private. And I think it has to feel like it’s authentically private for it to be legitimate.
TVLINE | Robin, has this last run of episodes been entertaining for you, to be “the prettiest girl at the dance” with two not-unattractive men fighting over you?
TUNNEY | Uh, yeah – after wearing sensible clothes and shoes for five years, it’s been pretty nice.
HELLER | That’s Robin’s real life anyway, men fighting for her….
TUNNEY | [Laughs] It’s interesting, the storyline between Jane and Lisbon. From the very beginning, I remember the TCA [press tour] and PaleyFest [panel during] the first season, it was like, “Will they or wont they?” And my answer – “I have no idea” — was an honest one. And then throughout the years… [Simon and I] could have grown angry at each other or hated each other, but I grew so fond of him as a human being that the idea of where that was going was so easy to play, because I really enjoyed going to work with him. I feel like it’s a progression of how people bond. That’s the great thing about television, is you have the chance to experience things in real time, over six years.
TVLINE | Bruno, are you willing to rule out Pike as the mastermind behind the season-ending kidnapping mystery? That there won’t be that easy out?
HELLER | I’m willing to rule that out, yes. Pike is not the bad guy.
TUNNEY | It all seemed too good to be true!
HELLER | Sometimes I think I’m way too dumb for this audience, to come up with clever solutions like that. [Laughs] Life is not that complicated or dark – though I wish I had come up with that before.
TVLINE | How satisfying will the finale be if it turns out to be the series’ very final episode?
HELLER | You go first, Baker.
BAKER | [Thinks] On a scale of 1 to 10….
HELLER | Oh, I’ll go first then – “11.” Listen, this last one was written and designed to be a suitable big, happy romantic send-off for the series if that what happens — but it also opens a new chapter if that is not the case. I think we hit the mark well enough. I’m very happy with it. Baker is a perfectionist, so he’s not going to be happy until I’ve created a cross between Gone With the Wind and Psycho or something.
BAKER | Oh, Jesus. Can we readdress those references?
HELLER | OK, maybe not those two. But one of the reasons the show has gone as long as it has is precisely because these two, especially Simon, are never satisfied. They’re always pushing for more and better, more interesting and fresh and original. We may not have always succeeded, but that is the bar we’ve been trying to get over. I think we’ve done our best and it’s up to the audience to decide how well it’s done.
BAKER | We’re in the popularist business with The Mentalist. It’s not Breaking Bad, it’s a show that has had a very consistent audience for six years, and it’s all about pulling our audience in directions where we challenge them a bit. You can’t always give everyone what they want, and sometimes people want to be protected from what they want. I think the best result could be to divide the audience 50-50.
TUNNEY | I think it’s going to make a lot of people really happy, and I think it’s going to make some people angry — and that’s the most you can hope for. Because everybody’s emotionally invested in the show in a different way. And that’s good, because they’re genuine reactions. I don’t think anyone will feel in the middle of the road about it.
SRC: tvline.com/
TVLINE | Bruno, I understand that it was always the show’s intent to get to this place with Jane and Lisbon at the end of this season, even dating back to last summer?
BRUNO HELLER | We were certainly thinking about it. When the show started, for me there was not a thought of that at all. But one of the things about TV over the years is the characters develop their own dynamic and direction as truth is revealed, and it seemed to us – and [the actors] can contradict me if they like – that love blossoms. There is a genuine feeling there between the two characters that had to be honored, one that was just natural and organic.
TVLINE | Simon, were you interested to explore this side of….
SIMON BAKER | [Interrupts] From the moment I met Robin Tunney. [Tunney and Heller laugh] I looked at her and I said, “You will be mine.” No, you know, it’s one of those things where…. It’s the whole Moonlighting theory that comes into play with long-form TV. It goes on, and sometimes on and on, and do you give the audience what they want, or do you keep the flirtation and tease going? Is that really what they want, is that what they like — to want something? Because as soon as you seal any sort of a deal with anything, it’s like, “Well, that’s that, and from there where do we go?” There are plenty of places always to go, but it’s a risk and a challenge.
TVLINE | But on a character level, were you and Robin interested to ask the question, “What do these two people really mean to each other after all these years?”
BAKER | Yes — and that became really evident, I thought, after we closed the Red John story and we did the episode that took place two years later. It was about laying the foundation for the rest of the season, in the sense of it was an episode about longing and missing each other, missing that relationship as it stood.
ROBIN TUNNEY | I also think the show has always been something more than just a straight procedural. And once the Red John storyline cleared up, it was like, “OK, these people are left with each other. So how do you create stakes?” There was a history, but there was this idea of “What’s next?” How do they feel about each other? It created sort of an arc where there was a lot at stake, people’s hearts and all that stuff, without, “Oh, we can throw another serial killer into the mix.” It was something that was fitting to the show and it created drama.
TVLINE | Robin, in the closing scene of last week’s episode, what is going on in Teresa’s mind as she stands at the doorstep, wiping tears off her face?TUNNEY | I think she’s just dying for [Jane] to declare himself — and she’s really worried that he won’t. This opportunity with somebody else [Agent Marcus Pike, played by Pedro Pascal] has come up and it’s like, “OK, am I crazy? Should I do this? Am I missing out on something because I’m hanging out waiting for somebody else?” That’s something that’s really scary to her. This guy comes along who’s crazy about her and it’s like, “Am I going to pass up on something that’s real, to hang out and see what happens?” She’s just dying for Jane to declare himself. She’s not sure what else she can do, like, “So, this other guy has asked me to move with him….”
TVLINE | What is it that’s keeping Jane from being more forthright with Lisbon? Is he perhaps not confident in his ability to make her happy, or…?
HELLER | Simon can probably answer that better than me, but for me, if you spent so much of your life self-protectively concealing your feelings, for very good reasons, and feel that it was your love that essentially killed other people in your life, that connection to you has been a bad thing, there are all kinds of fears deep down that would stop you from speaking honestly. Men in general have difficulty declaring their emotions, and in this case [Jane and Lisbon] had a long and close, brother-sister relationship, so to suddenly declare a different kind of love is extremely difficult.
BAKER | Everything seems to be good, and then suddenly the girl that I like to stand next to has these “demands” upon my character to give more of himself…. That’s a part of it. It’s also that Jane is a broken toy. He looks like he’s gotten to be OK, but really, he’s not functioning completely. I guess Lisbon’s wondering and hoping whether or not he ever will function again, and he’s looking at her, thinking, “She’s going to walk away, and I can’t fix myself. I’ve forgotten how to give of myself and surrender.” So it’s a challenge. You could interpret it a lot of different ways, but I knew what I was playing. I didn’t necessarily choose to articulate it, because I think the nature of someone not being able to surrender to someone else or give themselves up is incredibly private. And I think it has to feel like it’s authentically private for it to be legitimate.
TVLINE | Robin, has this last run of episodes been entertaining for you, to be “the prettiest girl at the dance” with two not-unattractive men fighting over you?TUNNEY | Uh, yeah – after wearing sensible clothes and shoes for five years, it’s been pretty nice.
HELLER | That’s Robin’s real life anyway, men fighting for her….
TUNNEY | [Laughs] It’s interesting, the storyline between Jane and Lisbon. From the very beginning, I remember the TCA [press tour] and PaleyFest [panel during] the first season, it was like, “Will they or wont they?” And my answer – “I have no idea” — was an honest one. And then throughout the years… [Simon and I] could have grown angry at each other or hated each other, but I grew so fond of him as a human being that the idea of where that was going was so easy to play, because I really enjoyed going to work with him. I feel like it’s a progression of how people bond. That’s the great thing about television, is you have the chance to experience things in real time, over six years.
TVLINE | Bruno, are you willing to rule out Pike as the mastermind behind the season-ending kidnapping mystery? That there won’t be that easy out?
HELLER | I’m willing to rule that out, yes. Pike is not the bad guy.
TUNNEY | It all seemed too good to be true!
HELLER | Sometimes I think I’m way too dumb for this audience, to come up with clever solutions like that. [Laughs] Life is not that complicated or dark – though I wish I had come up with that before.
TVLINE | How satisfying will the finale be if it turns out to be the series’ very final episode?
HELLER | You go first, Baker.
BAKER | [Thinks] On a scale of 1 to 10….
HELLER | Oh, I’ll go first then – “11.” Listen, this last one was written and designed to be a suitable big, happy romantic send-off for the series if that what happens — but it also opens a new chapter if that is not the case. I think we hit the mark well enough. I’m very happy with it. Baker is a perfectionist, so he’s not going to be happy until I’ve created a cross between Gone With the Wind and Psycho or something.
BAKER | Oh, Jesus. Can we readdress those references?
HELLER | OK, maybe not those two. But one of the reasons the show has gone as long as it has is precisely because these two, especially Simon, are never satisfied. They’re always pushing for more and better, more interesting and fresh and original. We may not have always succeeded, but that is the bar we’ve been trying to get over. I think we’ve done our best and it’s up to the audience to decide how well it’s done.
BAKER | We’re in the popularist business with The Mentalist. It’s not Breaking Bad, it’s a show that has had a very consistent audience for six years, and it’s all about pulling our audience in directions where we challenge them a bit. You can’t always give everyone what they want, and sometimes people want to be protected from what they want. I think the best result could be to divide the audience 50-50.
TUNNEY | I think it’s going to make a lot of people really happy, and I think it’s going to make some people angry — and that’s the most you can hope for. Because everybody’s emotionally invested in the show in a different way. And that’s good, because they’re genuine reactions. I don’t think anyone will feel in the middle of the road about it.
SRC: tvline.com/
Apr 24, 2014
Robin Tunney Teases 'The Mentalist' Love Triangle: Fans Will Be 'Really Happy' or 'Very Upset' (interview)
"Game of Thrones" heartthrob Pedro Pascal (who plays the Red Viper, Oberyn Martell, on the HBO series) is generating new interest for "The Mentalist" as FBI Special Agent Marcus Pike, quieting fears that the CBS drama wouldn't be able to survive without its seasons-long Red John arc. In fact, last week's episode actually did a little better in the 18-49 demographic than the climactic episode where the killer was revealed.
Pascal, who has already appeared in one episode out of his (as of now) five-episode stint, is throwing a wrench into the smooth-running engine that is the chemistry between Simon Baker's Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney. The pair's flirting has grown more serious since the dark shadow of Red John has left the show, but fans hoping that they would get together after almost six full seasons may be in for a disappointment.
We talked with Tunney about the direction Lisbon's relationships are headed, what it's like to be screamed at by people in Nicaragua, and the impossible standard of Sandra Bullock's rear end.
You get to do some magic with Jane in Sunday's episode?
There's a little bit of magic in this episode. Basically, with his kind of magic, I'm usually not let in on this stuff. I'm his assistant. Only, I don't get to wear a cute costume. It's OK, actually — I don't think I want to wear tights and a leotard at my age.
You generally don't get to play with Jane when he's doing that sort of thing. Is it a sign of growing intimacy, maybe?
They are growing closer together. We'll have to see what happens with this. I don't know; we're either going to make a lot of people really happy or a lot of people very upset, I'm not sure.
In this episode?
The season in general. Having to wait for him; Lisbon finally gets some action!
She's been waiting almost six full seasons for that!
Basically. Actually, there's a part of me that's always been quite relieved that I didn't have to kiss a man I didn't know or roll around in bed and make pillow talk. Because, as an actor, it's really hard to do. Actors in general are insecure people — that's why we act. It brings out the worst in your insecurity. Like, is the person really feeling this? Do they hate me? Was that OK? It's too much! It's really stressful.
But I do like the idea of the character at least addressing that she did have a life and wasn't a virgin. Actually, I had a one-night stand in [Season] 3 with a billionaire [Walter Mashburn played by Currie Graham, in the episode "Red Hot"], which is really odd. It's like, all of a sudden, Lisbon is a gold digger. One-night stand, in and out.
But yeah, it's been exciting. [Pike's] a really nice guy. In this episode, there's a really big movement in the relationship and she's forced to make a decision. But at the same time, I think I still have feelings for Jane. I think it's difficult because another guy is acting on it. A girl can only wait so long. At a certain point, you just got to see what's out there. And I gotta say, Pedro Pascal is a handsome Latin lover.
How has it been working with Pedro?
He's a great guy. I've really enjoyed it. He's obviously very used to being sexy because he's had to be sexy on "Game of Thrones." As an actor, it's hard for people to come in. It's the sixth year, and Simon and I are so close. On the level of the reality of the characters, too; Simon and I finish each other's sentences. We know each other so well and all of sudden, there's this person who's new. But he's a lovely guy and I really enjoy him. So, it's interesting. I have to be careful — I can't be too nice to him in front of Simon or he'll get jealous.
Well, Bruno [Heller, the show's creator] has said that even if Jane and Lisbon end up together, she still needs to have other relationships just to have some perspective.
It seems sort of adult. To be totally frank, I felt quite sorry for Lisbon when Jane was away and where the writers took that. I was alone and pining for him. And demoted to a job in a small town. I felt sad that the character had been punished for being so loyal to him. So I'm glad they've given her some other options.
Did you push for that?
That's how Bruno saw it. I obviously wanted her to have a bit more dignified of an ending. But it wasn't an ending, so I guess that's OK. And she did wait long enough. You know what I mean? So it shows that and the idea that I'm moving on now, it makes it legitimate. Because, let's be honest with each other: The audience allegiance is with Patrick Jane. They want him to get what he wants; they've known him for six years. I think if I'd immediately moved off and been with another guy, they would have felt like it was a betrayal to Jane in a way. But I think waiting that long and earning it, it's OK. They don't have to hate Lisbon for hurting Jane, for abandoning him. I don't know, it's tricky territory.
SRC: tv.yahoo.com/
Pascal, who has already appeared in one episode out of his (as of now) five-episode stint, is throwing a wrench into the smooth-running engine that is the chemistry between Simon Baker's Patrick Jane and Teresa Lisbon, played by Robin Tunney. The pair's flirting has grown more serious since the dark shadow of Red John has left the show, but fans hoping that they would get together after almost six full seasons may be in for a disappointment.
We talked with Tunney about the direction Lisbon's relationships are headed, what it's like to be screamed at by people in Nicaragua, and the impossible standard of Sandra Bullock's rear end.
You get to do some magic with Jane in Sunday's episode?
There's a little bit of magic in this episode. Basically, with his kind of magic, I'm usually not let in on this stuff. I'm his assistant. Only, I don't get to wear a cute costume. It's OK, actually — I don't think I want to wear tights and a leotard at my age.
You generally don't get to play with Jane when he's doing that sort of thing. Is it a sign of growing intimacy, maybe?
They are growing closer together. We'll have to see what happens with this. I don't know; we're either going to make a lot of people really happy or a lot of people very upset, I'm not sure.
In this episode?
The season in general. Having to wait for him; Lisbon finally gets some action!
She's been waiting almost six full seasons for that!
Basically. Actually, there's a part of me that's always been quite relieved that I didn't have to kiss a man I didn't know or roll around in bed and make pillow talk. Because, as an actor, it's really hard to do. Actors in general are insecure people — that's why we act. It brings out the worst in your insecurity. Like, is the person really feeling this? Do they hate me? Was that OK? It's too much! It's really stressful.
But I do like the idea of the character at least addressing that she did have a life and wasn't a virgin. Actually, I had a one-night stand in [Season] 3 with a billionaire [Walter Mashburn played by Currie Graham, in the episode "Red Hot"], which is really odd. It's like, all of a sudden, Lisbon is a gold digger. One-night stand, in and out.
But yeah, it's been exciting. [Pike's] a really nice guy. In this episode, there's a really big movement in the relationship and she's forced to make a decision. But at the same time, I think I still have feelings for Jane. I think it's difficult because another guy is acting on it. A girl can only wait so long. At a certain point, you just got to see what's out there. And I gotta say, Pedro Pascal is a handsome Latin lover.
How has it been working with Pedro?
He's a great guy. I've really enjoyed it. He's obviously very used to being sexy because he's had to be sexy on "Game of Thrones." As an actor, it's hard for people to come in. It's the sixth year, and Simon and I are so close. On the level of the reality of the characters, too; Simon and I finish each other's sentences. We know each other so well and all of sudden, there's this person who's new. But he's a lovely guy and I really enjoy him. So, it's interesting. I have to be careful — I can't be too nice to him in front of Simon or he'll get jealous.
Well, Bruno [Heller, the show's creator] has said that even if Jane and Lisbon end up together, she still needs to have other relationships just to have some perspective.
It seems sort of adult. To be totally frank, I felt quite sorry for Lisbon when Jane was away and where the writers took that. I was alone and pining for him. And demoted to a job in a small town. I felt sad that the character had been punished for being so loyal to him. So I'm glad they've given her some other options.
Did you push for that?
That's how Bruno saw it. I obviously wanted her to have a bit more dignified of an ending. But it wasn't an ending, so I guess that's OK. And she did wait long enough. You know what I mean? So it shows that and the idea that I'm moving on now, it makes it legitimate. Because, let's be honest with each other: The audience allegiance is with Patrick Jane. They want him to get what he wants; they've known him for six years. I think if I'd immediately moved off and been with another guy, they would have felt like it was a betrayal to Jane in a way. But I think waiting that long and earning it, it's OK. They don't have to hate Lisbon for hurting Jane, for abandoning him. I don't know, it's tricky territory.
SRC: tv.yahoo.com/
Apr 3, 2014
Is 'Mentalist' Coming to a Close? (Simon Baker On Ellen Show, video)
Star Simon Baker talked to Ellen about the fate of the mega-hit television series.
SRC: ellentv.com/
SRC: ellentv.com/
Mar 22, 2014
The Mentalist's Owain Yeoman Hails Rigsby's 'Action-Packed' Send-Off — Next Stop: Gotham? (Interview)
On CBS’ The Mentalist (Sunday, 10/9c), someone is hunting and killing CBI members, present and past — the latest target being Grace, who was abducted at the close of last week’s episode. That harrowing development paves the way this Sunday for an “action-packed” swan song for two original cast members: Owain Yeoman, who plays former CBI agent/Grace’s husband Wayne Risgby, and Amanda Righetti herself.
TVLine spoke with Yeoman about bidding the show adieu after nearly six seasons, having Rigsby go out with a bang, the “pairing” he’ll miss most and whether there’s a place for him in series creator Bruno Heller’s buzzy new project, Gotham.
TVLINE | Where does this Sunday’s episode pick up in relation to last week’s, where Wayne had just called Grace and then we saw someone come up behind her?
It’s sort of an immediate follow-up, and it escalates from there. It was great fun for me because it was an action-packed episode and in many respects very unlike our show, which has become a bit synonymous with being a little sleepier, a little slower. But from the minute this one starts, it doesn’t really let up.
TVLINE | Yeah. In some of the photos Rigsby looks like he’s getting pretty aggressive with people, slamming Heibach (played by Lost’s William Mapother) up against a wall and stuff.
It’s a very different Rigsby than the one we’ve known in the past. I sat down with the writers and we were trying to work out how best to say goodbye to a beloved character and give it a proper finale, and I think where we’ve ended up in this episode is a real fitting tribute.
TVLINE | Does Heibach now top the list of suspects?
In many respects, yes. But the beauty of this storyline is that every single one of those people has a beef with the CBI. Now that of course Red John is out of the picture, there’s that feeling that everyone’s taken a big collective sort of sigh of relief. But it’s important for the life of the show to make sure that there’s a feeling of a new antagonist there, so we’re going to learn throughout this episode what this antagonist’s motivation is in attacking these CBI characters. I can’t give away exactly who it is, but the person who does end up being the main antagonist in the episode is brilliantly played. The whole thing felt like a little bit of a mini feature for me — it was very location heavy, very action heavy and there’s a lot of twists and turns. The CBI, and particularly Rigsby and Cho, are together taking matters into their own hands, saying that if someone attacks us personally this is a personal call to arms for us.
TVLINE | You mentioned this antagonist’s motivation. Is it an understandable one?
I think Bruno [Heller] very carefully made sure that all of those people have a genuine motivation. Long-term fans have an involved knowledge of the characters going way back into the history of the show and they will definitely understand why this character has a bit of beef. So yeah, it’s very interesting and I think it puts us all in a very extreme situation. It was very funny to shoot these huge “winter” landscapes location in 80-degree heat while we were spraying everything down with fake snow. That was a little bit befuddling for the mind. But for me, the action really doesn’t stop. There’s a series of car chase sequences, and at one point, I’m actually holding someone out a car, to an almost Mission Impossible effect. It was great fun to shoot.
TVLINE | Since this is your and Amanda’s last episode — and without spoiling the outcome — does it end in a way that viewers will be like, “Well, yeah, I guess it does make sense that they’re leaving the show now”?
I hope so. I mean, I think it’s been an important development for the show to try to move things forward. After six years on the air, the formula of a show can become comfortable, so the need to introduce new blood and a new angle is very important. Hopefully people who have followed the show from day one will understand, while they might not love the idea of two beloved characters leaving. Certainly, within the mythology of the episode, they’ll understand why it is that those characters are not going to be around. I think it gives closure for sure.
TVLINE | Of course, the news of your departure leaked back in August. But when did you know how you were going to be written out? Were you given any kind of a timetable?
It was always [meant to happen] on or around the episode that we ended up leaving. Bruno has had a very clear mythology of the show from day one — funnily enough, in one of the first ever interviews, he said, “I see this show running for six years,” and here we are six years later with a lot of these things being tied up. Clearly, the man’s a genius, the true mentalist. But it was discussed with us, and we went back and forth on a couple of scenarios. It’s very hard, I think, to make sure that you honor the life of that character and do it in such a way that makes people feel like that character has been fairly treated in his or her departure. But feel like the characters had run their course. They had the love story realized with the marriage earlier in the season, and all the really worthwhile, creative stories have been told from Rigsby and Van Pelt’s point of view.
TVLINE | What will you miss most about being on the show? Any on-set antics? Any cast member’s eccentricities?
I’ve had a long-standing, fun “bromance” as it were with Tim [Kang]’s character, Cho — we affectionately called them “Chigsby,” and that will definitely be the thing that I miss the most. Tim and I share a very similar sense of humor and he always makes me laugh. When I speak to people about that, I forget that they just don’t know how funny Tim is. They say to me, “Does he ever smile?” I’ll definitely miss him and just being part of that big family unit. After six years, you end up seeing more of them than you do your own family, so it was a sad day to say goodbye but I felt like we’d really, really closed the chapter in a very appropriate way.
TVLINE | You mentioned your regard for Bruno Heller. If there was an opportunity, who would you like to play on his new Fox series, Gotham? Maybe the Riddler?
I’d had a conversation with him! I said, “I’m just going to let you know, Bruno, that I do look particularly good in a Batman costume.” He said, “That’s great, but unfortunately [on Gotham] Bruce Wayne is 11. So as much range as you have, I don’t know if you can play an 11-year-old.” But if Gotham’s on for another 20 years, it should be just about right for me to step in as Batman! I wish him the best of luck with that — I think they have a really interesting and a really unique take on that whole mythology.
SRC: tvline.com/
TVLine spoke with Yeoman about bidding the show adieu after nearly six seasons, having Rigsby go out with a bang, the “pairing” he’ll miss most and whether there’s a place for him in series creator Bruno Heller’s buzzy new project, Gotham.
TVLINE | Where does this Sunday’s episode pick up in relation to last week’s, where Wayne had just called Grace and then we saw someone come up behind her?
It’s sort of an immediate follow-up, and it escalates from there. It was great fun for me because it was an action-packed episode and in many respects very unlike our show, which has become a bit synonymous with being a little sleepier, a little slower. But from the minute this one starts, it doesn’t really let up.
TVLINE | Yeah. In some of the photos Rigsby looks like he’s getting pretty aggressive with people, slamming Heibach (played by Lost’s William Mapother) up against a wall and stuff.
It’s a very different Rigsby than the one we’ve known in the past. I sat down with the writers and we were trying to work out how best to say goodbye to a beloved character and give it a proper finale, and I think where we’ve ended up in this episode is a real fitting tribute.
TVLINE | Does Heibach now top the list of suspects?
In many respects, yes. But the beauty of this storyline is that every single one of those people has a beef with the CBI. Now that of course Red John is out of the picture, there’s that feeling that everyone’s taken a big collective sort of sigh of relief. But it’s important for the life of the show to make sure that there’s a feeling of a new antagonist there, so we’re going to learn throughout this episode what this antagonist’s motivation is in attacking these CBI characters. I can’t give away exactly who it is, but the person who does end up being the main antagonist in the episode is brilliantly played. The whole thing felt like a little bit of a mini feature for me — it was very location heavy, very action heavy and there’s a lot of twists and turns. The CBI, and particularly Rigsby and Cho, are together taking matters into their own hands, saying that if someone attacks us personally this is a personal call to arms for us.
TVLINE | You mentioned this antagonist’s motivation. Is it an understandable one?
I think Bruno [Heller] very carefully made sure that all of those people have a genuine motivation. Long-term fans have an involved knowledge of the characters going way back into the history of the show and they will definitely understand why this character has a bit of beef. So yeah, it’s very interesting and I think it puts us all in a very extreme situation. It was very funny to shoot these huge “winter” landscapes location in 80-degree heat while we were spraying everything down with fake snow. That was a little bit befuddling for the mind. But for me, the action really doesn’t stop. There’s a series of car chase sequences, and at one point, I’m actually holding someone out a car, to an almost Mission Impossible effect. It was great fun to shoot.
TVLINE | Since this is your and Amanda’s last episode — and without spoiling the outcome — does it end in a way that viewers will be like, “Well, yeah, I guess it does make sense that they’re leaving the show now”?
I hope so. I mean, I think it’s been an important development for the show to try to move things forward. After six years on the air, the formula of a show can become comfortable, so the need to introduce new blood and a new angle is very important. Hopefully people who have followed the show from day one will understand, while they might not love the idea of two beloved characters leaving. Certainly, within the mythology of the episode, they’ll understand why it is that those characters are not going to be around. I think it gives closure for sure.
TVLINE | Of course, the news of your departure leaked back in August. But when did you know how you were going to be written out? Were you given any kind of a timetable?
It was always [meant to happen] on or around the episode that we ended up leaving. Bruno has had a very clear mythology of the show from day one — funnily enough, in one of the first ever interviews, he said, “I see this show running for six years,” and here we are six years later with a lot of these things being tied up. Clearly, the man’s a genius, the true mentalist. But it was discussed with us, and we went back and forth on a couple of scenarios. It’s very hard, I think, to make sure that you honor the life of that character and do it in such a way that makes people feel like that character has been fairly treated in his or her departure. But feel like the characters had run their course. They had the love story realized with the marriage earlier in the season, and all the really worthwhile, creative stories have been told from Rigsby and Van Pelt’s point of view.
TVLINE | What will you miss most about being on the show? Any on-set antics? Any cast member’s eccentricities?
I’ve had a long-standing, fun “bromance” as it were with Tim [Kang]’s character, Cho — we affectionately called them “Chigsby,” and that will definitely be the thing that I miss the most. Tim and I share a very similar sense of humor and he always makes me laugh. When I speak to people about that, I forget that they just don’t know how funny Tim is. They say to me, “Does he ever smile?” I’ll definitely miss him and just being part of that big family unit. After six years, you end up seeing more of them than you do your own family, so it was a sad day to say goodbye but I felt like we’d really, really closed the chapter in a very appropriate way.
TVLINE | You mentioned your regard for Bruno Heller. If there was an opportunity, who would you like to play on his new Fox series, Gotham? Maybe the Riddler?
I’d had a conversation with him! I said, “I’m just going to let you know, Bruno, that I do look particularly good in a Batman costume.” He said, “That’s great, but unfortunately [on Gotham] Bruce Wayne is 11. So as much range as you have, I don’t know if you can play an 11-year-old.” But if Gotham’s on for another 20 years, it should be just about right for me to step in as Batman! I wish him the best of luck with that — I think they have a really interesting and a really unique take on that whole mythology.
SRC: tvline.com/
Dec 8, 2013
Robin Tunney on the Red John reveal: 'It's time'
Zap2it: What do you think of the show finally revealing the identity of Patrick Jane's nemesis, Red John?
Robin Tunney: I feel like, it's time. There's only so many circles you can go in with it, and I feel like we owe it to our audience. They've been so loyal, that you can only lead them down that road for so long. It's almost like you have to close that door so another can open -- and I think it will.
Zap2it: Will solving the murder of Red John cause fans to lose interest?
Robin Tunney: I don't think people watch the show because they want to know who Red John is. They watch the show because they enjoy watching Patrick Jane solve crimes in the way that he does. When the show's at its finest, it does have a sense of humor about it.
It's not a gory, violent crime show, and the crimes are cerebral, obtuse, weird. I actually think that's what's different about it.
Zap2it: What's it going to be like for you someday, post-"Mentalist"?
Robin Tunney: I think I'm going to feel like, "What am I going to do?" All of my time is completely commandeered. I am never bored. I have not been bored in six years. You're memorizing lines; you're working; you're working out; you're getting your eyebrows done; you're getting your hair dyed; you've got to do situps to fit in your crime-fighting outfits.
It's full-on. But the idea of that stopping -- I think I'm going to feel panicked, because I always have this weird attachment.
SRC: blog.zap2it.com/
Robin Tunney: I feel like, it's time. There's only so many circles you can go in with it, and I feel like we owe it to our audience. They've been so loyal, that you can only lead them down that road for so long. It's almost like you have to close that door so another can open -- and I think it will.
Zap2it: Will solving the murder of Red John cause fans to lose interest?
Robin Tunney: I don't think people watch the show because they want to know who Red John is. They watch the show because they enjoy watching Patrick Jane solve crimes in the way that he does. When the show's at its finest, it does have a sense of humor about it.
It's not a gory, violent crime show, and the crimes are cerebral, obtuse, weird. I actually think that's what's different about it.
Zap2it: What's it going to be like for you someday, post-"Mentalist"?
Robin Tunney: I think I'm going to feel like, "What am I going to do?" All of my time is completely commandeered. I am never bored. I have not been bored in six years. You're memorizing lines; you're working; you're working out; you're getting your eyebrows done; you're getting your hair dyed; you've got to do situps to fit in your crime-fighting outfits.
It's full-on. But the idea of that stopping -- I think I'm going to feel panicked, because I always have this weird attachment.
SRC: blog.zap2it.com/
Dec 5, 2013
Robin Tunney's interview
She's previously appeared in Prison Break and even the pilot episode of House. But 41-year-old Robin Tunney is best known as Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon in the hit US police procedural series The Mentalist. This week marks a momentous episode in the long-running show, when Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) finally comes face-to-face with his nemesis, serial killer Red John, the man who murdered his wife and child. For Robin, it marks a turning point in the drama...
How did you feel when you realised the Red John case was finally going to be solved?
I've had such an amazing time making this show, so the fact that there's going to be some closure to that was really exciting. The idea that we're going to take these long story arcs to an end is so thrilling. People have been coming up to me in the grocery store saying, 'Get on with it. Who the hell is Red John?' Bruno [Heller, the creator] is a super-talented writer and he's really eloquently carried it on. But I think there's only so much you can do.
Did you guess who Red John was?
No – which shows you what kind of detective I am! I didn't guess, I really didn't. I don't think there's any way that I could have.
Before the shortlist of suspects, there were a lot of fans speculating that it was actually Jane. But Bruno denied that, didn't he?
Yes, and that would have been disappointing. The idea that the audience has fallen in love with and been charmed by this man and felt for him, and then turn him into a serial killer seems quite mean. I think that would be cheating and not good television.
There was also speculation it could be Lisbon!
My least favourite reaction to that gossip was that people were saying, 'Oh, come on, Red John would never be a woman!' I was like, 'OK, let's not make it sexist.' [Laughs] Women can be serial killers too, goddammit!
So what happens after the big reveal?
The show evolves into something that's different. It's not completely reinventing the wheel – it doesn't become like Twin Peaks or something. But that's pretty fun because for the past six years, I've known I was going to work on The Mentalist. So now I'm expecting to have this unknown quotient to my life. We'll continue shooting this series until April [2014], so we'll probably find out if we've got another series in May.
Do you think you've changed the way that you've played Lisbon since you first started? And do you think she's changed?
I think it's quite a slow change. When people go to the cinema, they expect the characters to really go somewhere in that 90 minutes. There's a proper character arc in a good film. But on TV, the characters evolve slowly. I don't think people want them to change within an episode. They wouldn't find it plausible, so it's been a slow change over the years. We've done some 100 or so episodes, and I think Lisbon's relationship with Jane has changed, as has my own relationship to Simon. I'm so much more comfortable with him and we work very closely. Those things kind of seep through. Plus, I think Lisbon has lightened up a bit over time. What Bruno created originally was a story of a guy who was free-spirited, with absolutely no respect for authority and who does nothing by the book. He's paired with this woman who really believes in the system and does everything by the book. And I think we've seen her beliefs go towards his. He's deeply affected who she is. If you have a boyfriend, their interests become your interests, and they really influence you. And it's like a close co-worker, too, and I think that's what Patrick's done to her. It's like couples who start looking alike and dressing alike.
That I'd like to see...
Yeah, I'd start wearing vests [waistcoats]!
A lot of people would still like to see them as a couple, and fandoms have already 'shipped' them as a couple called Jisbon...
I know. That's so crazy. I have had a lot of people asking about that. I feel like Lisbon definitely loves Jane. I don't think there's any question about that. But whether it's a romantic love or platonic love, I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if she's brave enough to act upon it. When somebody becomes your lifeline to the world and pretty much your only friend, I think the idea of acting on that is pretty terrifying!
It could ruin everything if it went wrong...
Exactly. I think the stakes get higher every year as far as how embarrassing that would be, or how lonely would she be if it went wrong. Those are very real things and I think everybody is insecure and she certainly is. [West Wing creator] Aaron Sorkin's formula for workplace dramas where you have characters who are really good at their jobs, but really bad at life certainly describes Lisbon.
When you first started filming the show, could you ever have envisaged that it would still be going strong, six seasons on?
I always thought that Simon's a really good actor and he has that thing where women fall in love with him and they're like, 'Oh, he's so adorable!' My parents came to visit and all they wanted to know was what Simon was doing. I was in the pilot for House playing a guest patient, and I did Prison Break for a year, so I only really had experience on successful shows, so I've been really lucky. I'm always surprised to hear how popular it is. We were in Monte Carlo last summer and it's apparently the most-watched show in the world. That's really shocking to me. Apparently there's a Russian version being made. I can't wait to see that!
Did you appreciate how far afield your fans are around the world?
We have such a loyal following. There are fans in places where I had no idea they'd be even vaguely interested in American shows. I was in an airport and there was a family from Pakistan, and they were so excited to see me. I had no idea the show was popular in places like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. They're not really into Americans or American culture, but they like The Mentalist.
The popularity of it has spawned a new phrase in the Urban Dictionary, as there's an entry about your character's shoes – they're known as Lisbon Loafers...
What? I didn't know that. That's so funny! [Laughs] Lisbon Loafers. You have on those unsexy Lisbon Loafers. Oh, but I do have a story. One night I'd gone to see a movie and I was in the car park, which is scary if you're a woman alone at night. I was over by my car and a man popped up behind me and said, 'Excuse me!' And I screamed. I screamed like I was being attacked. He wanted to know where Simon got his shoes on the show. I was like, 'Seriously, you cannot come up behind somebody like that! And to find out where Simon's shoes are from? They're really not that great.'
And congratulations on your engagement to interior designer Nicky Marmet. With your filming commitments, will it be difficult to plan your wedding and honeymoon?
It's really crazy because one minute I'll be saying that I want a big wedding with all our friends there to share our day. But the idea of having it and doing it is just so hard. When you have a full-time schedule, I think we're going to have to hire somebody to do it.
Channel 5, Tuesday
Elaine Penn
SRC: tvchoicemagazine.co.uk/
How did you feel when you realised the Red John case was finally going to be solved?
I've had such an amazing time making this show, so the fact that there's going to be some closure to that was really exciting. The idea that we're going to take these long story arcs to an end is so thrilling. People have been coming up to me in the grocery store saying, 'Get on with it. Who the hell is Red John?' Bruno [Heller, the creator] is a super-talented writer and he's really eloquently carried it on. But I think there's only so much you can do.
Did you guess who Red John was?
No – which shows you what kind of detective I am! I didn't guess, I really didn't. I don't think there's any way that I could have.
Before the shortlist of suspects, there were a lot of fans speculating that it was actually Jane. But Bruno denied that, didn't he?
Yes, and that would have been disappointing. The idea that the audience has fallen in love with and been charmed by this man and felt for him, and then turn him into a serial killer seems quite mean. I think that would be cheating and not good television.
There was also speculation it could be Lisbon!
My least favourite reaction to that gossip was that people were saying, 'Oh, come on, Red John would never be a woman!' I was like, 'OK, let's not make it sexist.' [Laughs] Women can be serial killers too, goddammit!
So what happens after the big reveal?
The show evolves into something that's different. It's not completely reinventing the wheel – it doesn't become like Twin Peaks or something. But that's pretty fun because for the past six years, I've known I was going to work on The Mentalist. So now I'm expecting to have this unknown quotient to my life. We'll continue shooting this series until April [2014], so we'll probably find out if we've got another series in May.
Do you think you've changed the way that you've played Lisbon since you first started? And do you think she's changed?
I think it's quite a slow change. When people go to the cinema, they expect the characters to really go somewhere in that 90 minutes. There's a proper character arc in a good film. But on TV, the characters evolve slowly. I don't think people want them to change within an episode. They wouldn't find it plausible, so it's been a slow change over the years. We've done some 100 or so episodes, and I think Lisbon's relationship with Jane has changed, as has my own relationship to Simon. I'm so much more comfortable with him and we work very closely. Those things kind of seep through. Plus, I think Lisbon has lightened up a bit over time. What Bruno created originally was a story of a guy who was free-spirited, with absolutely no respect for authority and who does nothing by the book. He's paired with this woman who really believes in the system and does everything by the book. And I think we've seen her beliefs go towards his. He's deeply affected who she is. If you have a boyfriend, their interests become your interests, and they really influence you. And it's like a close co-worker, too, and I think that's what Patrick's done to her. It's like couples who start looking alike and dressing alike.
That I'd like to see...
Yeah, I'd start wearing vests [waistcoats]!
A lot of people would still like to see them as a couple, and fandoms have already 'shipped' them as a couple called Jisbon...
I know. That's so crazy. I have had a lot of people asking about that. I feel like Lisbon definitely loves Jane. I don't think there's any question about that. But whether it's a romantic love or platonic love, I'm not sure. I'm also not sure if she's brave enough to act upon it. When somebody becomes your lifeline to the world and pretty much your only friend, I think the idea of acting on that is pretty terrifying!
It could ruin everything if it went wrong...
Exactly. I think the stakes get higher every year as far as how embarrassing that would be, or how lonely would she be if it went wrong. Those are very real things and I think everybody is insecure and she certainly is. [West Wing creator] Aaron Sorkin's formula for workplace dramas where you have characters who are really good at their jobs, but really bad at life certainly describes Lisbon.
When you first started filming the show, could you ever have envisaged that it would still be going strong, six seasons on?
I always thought that Simon's a really good actor and he has that thing where women fall in love with him and they're like, 'Oh, he's so adorable!' My parents came to visit and all they wanted to know was what Simon was doing. I was in the pilot for House playing a guest patient, and I did Prison Break for a year, so I only really had experience on successful shows, so I've been really lucky. I'm always surprised to hear how popular it is. We were in Monte Carlo last summer and it's apparently the most-watched show in the world. That's really shocking to me. Apparently there's a Russian version being made. I can't wait to see that!
Did you appreciate how far afield your fans are around the world?
We have such a loyal following. There are fans in places where I had no idea they'd be even vaguely interested in American shows. I was in an airport and there was a family from Pakistan, and they were so excited to see me. I had no idea the show was popular in places like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. They're not really into Americans or American culture, but they like The Mentalist.
The popularity of it has spawned a new phrase in the Urban Dictionary, as there's an entry about your character's shoes – they're known as Lisbon Loafers...
What? I didn't know that. That's so funny! [Laughs] Lisbon Loafers. You have on those unsexy Lisbon Loafers. Oh, but I do have a story. One night I'd gone to see a movie and I was in the car park, which is scary if you're a woman alone at night. I was over by my car and a man popped up behind me and said, 'Excuse me!' And I screamed. I screamed like I was being attacked. He wanted to know where Simon got his shoes on the show. I was like, 'Seriously, you cannot come up behind somebody like that! And to find out where Simon's shoes are from? They're really not that great.'
And congratulations on your engagement to interior designer Nicky Marmet. With your filming commitments, will it be difficult to plan your wedding and honeymoon?
It's really crazy because one minute I'll be saying that I want a big wedding with all our friends there to share our day. But the idea of having it and doing it is just so hard. When you have a full-time schedule, I think we're going to have to hire somebody to do it.
Channel 5, Tuesday
Elaine Penn
SRC: tvchoicemagazine.co.uk/
Nov 30, 2013
Mentalist exit 'sad' for Righetti (interview, video)
The Mentalist's Amanda Righetti has revealed her departure from the show is "bittersweet".
The actress, who plays special agent Grace Van Pelt, will leave the crime drama with co-star and screen spouse Owain Yeoman (Wayne Rigsby) after the current sixth season.
"I'm still filming. I'm getting ready for it. I'm anticipating life without The Mentalist, which is a mixed bag," she admitted.
"It's a little bittersweet. It was a long run, an unexpected long run, but a welcome one and the show's been great to me. There's a part of me that is sad to see it coming to a close."
The 30-year-old said she would miss her co-stars including Simon Baker, Robin Tunney and Tim Kang the most.
" You become like a family after six years," she said. " It's a long shoot - we shoot nine and a half months out of the year - and the days are long so you better be doing it with people that you like otherwise it can be really miserable."
Amanda, an original member of the cast since The Mentalist started in 2008, admitted that the show's writers have kept the cast in the dark over their exit storylines.
"They tell us but then it changes so you can't really trust what the writers tell you. Even the stuff they give us are very small and ambiguous," she said.
"They lie to us, absolutely! They'll say (one thing) and then they will change their minds and say, 'I think we're going to go a different direction this episode'."
SRC: independent.ie/
The actress, who plays special agent Grace Van Pelt, will leave the crime drama with co-star and screen spouse Owain Yeoman (Wayne Rigsby) after the current sixth season.
"I'm still filming. I'm getting ready for it. I'm anticipating life without The Mentalist, which is a mixed bag," she admitted.
"It's a little bittersweet. It was a long run, an unexpected long run, but a welcome one and the show's been great to me. There's a part of me that is sad to see it coming to a close."
The 30-year-old said she would miss her co-stars including Simon Baker, Robin Tunney and Tim Kang the most.
" You become like a family after six years," she said. " It's a long shoot - we shoot nine and a half months out of the year - and the days are long so you better be doing it with people that you like otherwise it can be really miserable."
Amanda, an original member of the cast since The Mentalist started in 2008, admitted that the show's writers have kept the cast in the dark over their exit storylines.
"They tell us but then it changes so you can't really trust what the writers tell you. Even the stuff they give us are very small and ambiguous," she said.
"They lie to us, absolutely! They'll say (one thing) and then they will change their minds and say, 'I think we're going to go a different direction this episode'."
SRC: independent.ie/
Nov 27, 2013
Simon Baker: All those times we heard the voice of Red John? That was me.
All those times we heard the voice of Red John? That was me.
TV Guide Magazine: Seriously?
Baker: Yes! In the Season 2 finale, when Jane was captured and Red John did that "Tyger, Tyger" thing with the mask on? That was me. I played both characters in that scene.
TV Guide Magazine: Wow. That's especially trippy considering there was a major theory going around that Jane was Red John. So in a way that turned out to be true!
Baker: That was the reason I did that. There was a point where Bruno was saying, "We don't know who we're going to cast to play [the masked Red John]." I said, "Don't cast anyone! I'll do it." Bruno was, like, "I love it! I love it!" So I put on a mask and did that funny, wispy little voice. And for seasons after, whenever Red John spoke, I had to go record the voice.
More here
TV Guide Magazine: Seriously?
Baker: Yes! In the Season 2 finale, when Jane was captured and Red John did that "Tyger, Tyger" thing with the mask on? That was me. I played both characters in that scene.
TV Guide Magazine: Wow. That's especially trippy considering there was a major theory going around that Jane was Red John. So in a way that turned out to be true!
Baker: That was the reason I did that. There was a point where Bruno was saying, "We don't know who we're going to cast to play [the masked Red John]." I said, "Don't cast anyone! I'll do it." Bruno was, like, "I love it! I love it!" So I put on a mask and did that funny, wispy little voice. And for seasons after, whenever Red John spoke, I had to go record the voice.
More here
Nov 26, 2013
Simon Baker Breaks Down the End of Red John and The Mentalist's Future
[Warning: The following story contains major spoilers from Sunday's episode of The Mentalist. Read at your own risk.]
Be careful what you wish for. The Mentalist's Patrick Jane finally got his revenge on the man who slaughtered his wife and daughter - the sardonic, William Blake spouting serial killer Red John. But now what? TV Guide Magazine had a chat with Simon Baker, who plays the crime-busting Jane, about where the show and his character will go from here. Will Red John's death really help Jane deal with his grief? Can he move on with his life and maybe even find love again?
Be careful what you wish for. The Mentalist's Patrick Jane finally got his revenge on the man who slaughtered his wife and daughter - the sardonic, William Blake spouting serial killer Red John. But now what? TV Guide Magazine had a chat with Simon Baker, who plays the crime-busting Jane, about where the show and his character will go from here. Will Red John's death really help Jane deal with his grief? Can he move on with his life and maybe even find love again?
TV Guide Magazine: This feels like the end of an era! Was the audience ready for closure on the Red John saga? Baker: The end of Red John is a moment the fans wanted to see, but for many different reasons. Some just want it to be over. They're, like, "Enough, already!" Some really want to see Patrick heal and get on with things. And some just like it a lot more when The Mentalist does crime-of-the-week. What's great is that we're able to make this choice for the right reasons - not out of desperation or some last-ditch effort to avoid cancellation. A lot of times you get that call from the network saying, "We're pulling the pin," and then it's a scramble to wrap things up. Here we can give the audience that has been with us for so long some real gratification and then move the show in a cool new direction. We're not letting go of that part of the franchise where Jane solves crimes. We'll just be doing it differently.
TV Guide Magazine: So no qualms about this? After all, the hunt for Red John has been the main focus of the series. It's what put the fire in Patrick's belly. Baker: You feel an incredible intensity when, in one fell swoop, you're killing the arch nemesis of your series and, in a way, the series itself. In order to reboot this show, we have to kill off its most important element - Patrick Jane's very reason for being - and that's risky. The adrenalin was strange. After we shot Red John's death, we all took a collective moment, had a glass of champagne and marked it, because the event was so huge.
TV Guide Magazine: His death came in such a low-key way - no spectacle, no sirens, no hovering helicopters, no CBI team. Just Jane and Red John. Talk about that choice.Baker: It just had to be the two of them. It was almost like a love scene, as perverse as that sounds. The end of Red John was originally planned to take place at night on the street with people watching, but I pushed to do it in a quiet, beautiful place where they could be alone. There is no human act more intimate - not even sex - than killing another human being with your bare hands and watching him die. It is really subversive for a network series. The risk is huge.
TV Guide Magazine: Before the script came in, did you think Jane had the stomach for this? Baker: I don't think even he thought he had the stomach for it but there was just so much momentum built up that he had to go through with it and choke the guy to death. It was a hard thing for Jane to do but there was also some weird sort of release in it. I didn't know how that scene was going to go until I actually shot it. It was really full on.
TV Guide Magazine: Did Red John have a death wish? Did he realize he just couldn't beat Jane? |Baker: No, I don't think so. It was more like delusions of grandeur. It was not enough for Red John to kill Jane's family. He desperately wanted a relationship with Jane - to the point where he exposed himself and put himself in jeopardy.
TV Guide Magazine: What does this gruesome triumph do for Jane? Often when we get what we want, we find out it's not what we wanted at all.Baker: "Protect me from what I want!" My wife has that saying on a little plaque in our kitchen. That's the catchphrase I took to [series creator] Bruno Heller and said, "This is what we have to do as the show moves forward. We have to deal with the comedown, the disappointment, the loss of focus." It's that meandering feeling you get after you've achieved the very thing that's driven you for years. Okay, you got what you wanted. What now?
TV Guide Magazine: You directed the next episode, where the show leaps ahead two years. What can you tell us about it?Baker: It's almost like a pilot for a new show. When we come back after Red John's death, Jane is somewhere in paradise. A large portion of the episode is in Spanish. Cho is now with the FBI. Rigsby and Van Pelt have their own little detective business. And Lisbon is in Washington state working as a chief of police in a podunk kind of town. The episode opens with her talking to grade-school kids about what the police do. I had so much fun with the episode. It was such a reprieve from all the tension this season.TV Guide Magazine: Any chance of a Jane-Lisbon romance? A lot of fans are dying to see that happen!Baker: You will see that he really misses Lisbon and is a sad, floundering shadow of a man. He's afraid and just going around and around in circles. He's completely lost his mojo and he's asking himself, "Is this what you want to be? Is this the way you see the rest of your life?" He's offered a chance to go back to work for the F.B.I. and declines because he's trying to move on from that life. The episode has an interesting kind of noir-ish feel to it. Jane had been filled with this deep desire for revenge, which is generated out of self-loathing, right? Take that revenge out of the equation and he's just this guy who is empty. But the episode is also really romantic in a way, because you see how much Jane longs for companionship. You want to know something I've never talked about?
TV Guide Magazine: Hell, yeah!Baker: All those times we heard the voice of Red John? That was me.
TV Guide Magazine: Seriously?Baker: Yes! In the Season 2 finale, when Jane was captured and Red John did that "Tyger, Tyger" thing with the mask on? That was me. I played both characters in that scene.
TV Guide Magazine: Wow. That's especially trippy considering there was a major theory going around that Jane was Red John. So in a way that turned out to be true!Baker: That was the reason I did that. There was a point where Bruno was saying, "We don't know who we're going to cast to play [the masked Red John]." I said, "Don't cast anyone! I'll do it." Bruno was, like, "I love it! I love it!" So I put on a mask and did that funny, wispy little voice. And for seasons after, whenever Red John spoke, I had to go record the voice.
TV Guide Magazine: Love it! So you're feeling good about the future?Baker: I am! We're going to have some fun putting Jane into an entirely different work environment. He'll not only find his spark again - he'll have a whole lot of new people to rub the wrong way! I think we have a lot more miles to go. But you know what? We've had great times. I've invested so much of myself in this show and developed relationships with people I've genuinely come to love. It's been really, really fantastic - so much so that, if the thing finished tomorrow, I would walk away happy. I would walk away proud.
After 'Red John,' then what? Simon Baker, creator Bruno Heller tease Jane's future
The final shot of Sunday's (Nov. 24) episode of "The Mentalist" featured Patrick Jane running. But is he running away or toward something?
Maybe both, say series creator Bruno Heller and star Simon Baker, who plays Jane. After years of searching for Red John, the serial killer who murdered his family, Jane finally discovered his identity -- Napa Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley) -- and made good on his promise to kill Red John.
So what comes next? Read on as Baker and Heller discuss the fallout for Jane and the CBI.
How will killing Red John affect Jane psychologically?Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart's desire, has found the sort of evil grail he's been chasing all these years. Now it's very much a question of what does that do to him as a person, can he begin a new life and what kind of life does he want for himself? How will he define himself now that part of his life is over?
Baker: The character made the decision to kill Red John from the first time we ever saw him. In his head, that was going to happen. What we didn't know is how he would react and whether he would go through with it, and in what fashion. To me that was just jumping off a cliff. ... [The death scene] is interesting because he's got Red John within his grasp, literally -- he doesn't take a moment to hesitate. ... When he's on top of him, the idea of just shutting him up in that time is less about network television always wanting to explain everything, and Jane just wanting to get on with the job. ...
Going forward from there [it's about] when you achieve your objective, then what happens? ... My favorite part of that is the transition out of it. That's done, now what do I have to live for, and where do I go from here? Was it that gratifying for Jane? There's all of those questions -- we sort of deal with that in a lot of ways in the next episode.
Will there be any legal consequences for Jane?Heller: You can't go around killing people willy-nilly without some kind of ramification. Very much so.
Will Jane continue to work in law enforcement?Baker: I don't think, not immediately.
Heller: I can tell you he's going to be placed in a position where his personal desires on that level are not to the point. He's done something highly illegal -- what he does in the future isn't necessarily going to be entirely up to himself.
Even though Red John is dead, his disciples and the Blake Association are still out there. Will we hear from them again?Heller: I never say never, but I would say I think the audience and the story demands that we step away from that trope for a while. The trouble with these sorts of stories where you're playing tricks on the audience, with who-is-it mysteries, is you can get way too mysterious. There are people who said all the way along that Patrick Jane is Red John. When you've got that kind of elaborate thinking out there, it's dangerous to come back to that story unless you're coming back full force, because then maybe will start thinking, "Oh, maybe Red John's not dead." Red John is dead.
SRC: blog.zap2it.com/
Maybe both, say series creator Bruno Heller and star Simon Baker, who plays Jane. After years of searching for Red John, the serial killer who murdered his family, Jane finally discovered his identity -- Napa Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley) -- and made good on his promise to kill Red John.
So what comes next? Read on as Baker and Heller discuss the fallout for Jane and the CBI.
How will killing Red John affect Jane psychologically?Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart's desire, has found the sort of evil grail he's been chasing all these years. Now it's very much a question of what does that do to him as a person, can he begin a new life and what kind of life does he want for himself? How will he define himself now that part of his life is over?
Baker: The character made the decision to kill Red John from the first time we ever saw him. In his head, that was going to happen. What we didn't know is how he would react and whether he would go through with it, and in what fashion. To me that was just jumping off a cliff. ... [The death scene] is interesting because he's got Red John within his grasp, literally -- he doesn't take a moment to hesitate. ... When he's on top of him, the idea of just shutting him up in that time is less about network television always wanting to explain everything, and Jane just wanting to get on with the job. ...
Going forward from there [it's about] when you achieve your objective, then what happens? ... My favorite part of that is the transition out of it. That's done, now what do I have to live for, and where do I go from here? Was it that gratifying for Jane? There's all of those questions -- we sort of deal with that in a lot of ways in the next episode.
Will there be any legal consequences for Jane?Heller: You can't go around killing people willy-nilly without some kind of ramification. Very much so.
Will Jane continue to work in law enforcement?Baker: I don't think, not immediately.
Heller: I can tell you he's going to be placed in a position where his personal desires on that level are not to the point. He's done something highly illegal -- what he does in the future isn't necessarily going to be entirely up to himself.
Even though Red John is dead, his disciples and the Blake Association are still out there. Will we hear from them again?Heller: I never say never, but I would say I think the audience and the story demands that we step away from that trope for a while. The trouble with these sorts of stories where you're playing tricks on the audience, with who-is-it mysteries, is you can get way too mysterious. There are people who said all the way along that Patrick Jane is Red John. When you've got that kind of elaborate thinking out there, it's dangerous to come back to that story unless you're coming back full force, because then maybe will start thinking, "Oh, maybe Red John's not dead." Red John is dead.
SRC: blog.zap2it.com/
Nov 24, 2013
The Mentalist's Red John Speaks (Xander Berkeley's interview)
So did you figure it out or were you shocked you-know-whatless? After five seasons and change, The Mentalist has finally revealed the identity of serial killer Red John — it's Thomas McAllister, the quirky Napa County sheriff played by Xander Berkeley! "Xander is a wonderfully subtle actor who can go deep — deep enough to be our Red John," says series creator/exec producer Bruno Heller, who says he selected McAllister to be his Big Bad "about a year ago, after carefully weighing all other options. McAllister made the most sense. He had the perfect cover job as the sheriff of Napa, where he was the master of his domain. No one ever questioned his whereabouts. He didn't have to answer to anyone. He needed that freedom and the quiet loneliness of the countryside to do his thing as Red John." But let's hear from the badass himself!
TV Guide Magazine spoke with Berkeley (Nikita, 24) about his new place in TV infamy and Red John's startling death.
TV Guide Magazine: How'd it feel when you got the news you'd been picked to be Red John?
Berkeley: Fantastic! I was stunned and flattered. Earning this little place in pop-culture history was the last thing I ever expected. Truth be told, I thought I was a red herring. I thought, surely, there was someone more deserving of the title.
TV Guide Magazine: Yet McAllister was the perfect choice since he goes almost all the way back to the beginning of the series, right?
Berkeley: I did the very first episode after the pilot. I remember it all looked like such a lark back then. Though this was a show with this tortured mentalist and this dreadful killer, the series seemed to have a really special sense of humor and so I played McAllister as a cornpone guy who had a bit of a swagger — the kind of guy who wished he was a sheriff in the Old West. I thought it was just a quick, little tongue-in-cheek job, never imagining I would linger for years!
TV Guide Magazine: Considering Red John's grand, operatic crimes, it's so interesting that his life ended not with a bang but with a whimper.
Berkeley: Yes! It's such an incredible choice to end it with Red John and Patrick Jane alone, eye-to-eye. It was so personal, so right, that Patrick would strangle him. The perfect way to go out. So simple, really. Of course, prior to that we had that endlessly complicated chase scene which we actually shot in numerous neighborhoods all over the place. We were in Hollywood, Pomona, Pasadena, Whittier. [Laughs] I was chased all over Southern California! Red John wouldn't f—king die! He even went through some poor, unsuspecting family's plate-glass window and kept going. It went on for so long that, after a while, I was thinking, "Is the bullet still in him?"
TV Guide Magazine: When and how did you find out McAllister was Red John?
Berkeley: I sort of figured it out early this season through osmosis, and then I called up Bruno Heller and set a meeting to discuss it with him. I really felt a lot of responsibility to give him what he needed. He was very sweet and very flattering, telling me that McAllister had always been one of his favorite characters. He thought the sheriff persona was the perfect mislead — for a sociopath to adopt that kind of career just seemed so extra creepy. But, still, why me? [Laughs] I never saw it coming!
TV Guide Magazine: Well, you do have that vibe!
Berkeley: [Laughs] Yeah, I guess there is a certain quality X that suspects are required to have. It's funny, because on the audition circuit I'm always running into the guys who played the other Red John suspects. In fact, I'm old friends with Michael Gaston, who played Bertram, and Kevin Corrigan, who played Kirkland. The three of us did a movie together in Pennsylvania. We know how to make the audience just slightly uncomfortable without overdoing it, and how to deliver a line that can be read two ways, so the audience can project whatever they want onto us. That's the dance we actors love to do. But you never know where a character is headed. My wife, Sarah Clarke, was Nina Myers on 24. In her mind, she was playing a nice, devoted member of CTU and was just gobsmacked to find out she was not only playing a traitor but that she'd be shooting Jack Bauer's pregnant wife in the stomach! It was crazy!
TV Guide Magazine: Were the other potential Red Johns jealous when you won the prize?
Berkeley: One day on the set Malcolm McDowell [Bret Stiles] said to me, "Mate, you're Red John! Do you know what that means? Do you realize how much money you're going to make on this?" I'm, like, "Huh? What do you mean?" He said, "At the conventions! Don't tell me you don't go to the conventions! Listen to me, mate. Get that girl over there with the camera and tell her to take loads of photos with you and that guy over there" — he points to Simon Baker — "and you go to those conventions with stacks of those photos and people will line up with their money and they will pay you to sign them! It's true! You go, 'Next! Thank you very much! Next! Thank you very much!' It's huge!"
TV Guide Magazine: You've played a lot of baddies. Safe to assume Red John ranks right up at the top?
Berkeley: Absolutely, but as good as it's been for me, I am hesitant to keep going there. There's the typecasting thing — in Hollywood they see you do something and they want to see you do it again and again. But also I have two little girls now. I don't want them to think their dad is such a creep. I didn't ever want to play someone who'd done the horrible things Red John has. I just don't want to put that crazy-psycho stuff out there. [Laughs] I'm trying to go through a bit of redemption! Of course, I played an arch-villain [Percy Rose] on Nikita for two seasons but found a way to justify that guy's behavior — his Machiavellian ends justified his means. I didn't feel I was tapping into any really deep, dark place with that. But Red John? That's a different matter. He's so sick. But the good thing about being him so late in the game is that I didn't actually have to shoot any of the grotesque things he did to his victims. Nobody has any images of me doing that. There is no footage. It's all in your imagination. And he's dead, he's done, he got what he had coming. So it's all good.
TV Guide Magazine: Of course, this isn't the first time you've died in spectacular fashion!
Berkeley: [Laughs] No it isn't! I have 200 credits on my resume and I have probably died in half of them! I've fallen from 30-story buildings three times, including once as a transvestite psycho-killer in a tutu and a red wig. I've died in a few plane crashes, in The Rookie with Clint Eastwood, and in Air Force One. I also crashed on 24 — that is, after I inhaled airborne plutonium. In Candyman, I was ripped open with a hook by Virginia Madsen in the ultimate revenge on a cheating husband. Some very traumatic deaths! [Laughs] And I never learn! In Terminator 2, I had the line, "Tell that f--king nut to shut up!" and — bam! — I got shish-kebobbed through the head. Never say that on film if you want to live to see the next scene! [Laughs] But I can't complain. I've got the kind of career where I can get away with making pad puns like, "Dying...it's a living!"
SRC: tvguide.com/
TV Guide Magazine spoke with Berkeley (Nikita, 24) about his new place in TV infamy and Red John's startling death.
TV Guide Magazine: How'd it feel when you got the news you'd been picked to be Red John?
Berkeley: Fantastic! I was stunned and flattered. Earning this little place in pop-culture history was the last thing I ever expected. Truth be told, I thought I was a red herring. I thought, surely, there was someone more deserving of the title.
TV Guide Magazine: Yet McAllister was the perfect choice since he goes almost all the way back to the beginning of the series, right?
Berkeley: I did the very first episode after the pilot. I remember it all looked like such a lark back then. Though this was a show with this tortured mentalist and this dreadful killer, the series seemed to have a really special sense of humor and so I played McAllister as a cornpone guy who had a bit of a swagger — the kind of guy who wished he was a sheriff in the Old West. I thought it was just a quick, little tongue-in-cheek job, never imagining I would linger for years!
TV Guide Magazine: Considering Red John's grand, operatic crimes, it's so interesting that his life ended not with a bang but with a whimper.
Berkeley: Yes! It's such an incredible choice to end it with Red John and Patrick Jane alone, eye-to-eye. It was so personal, so right, that Patrick would strangle him. The perfect way to go out. So simple, really. Of course, prior to that we had that endlessly complicated chase scene which we actually shot in numerous neighborhoods all over the place. We were in Hollywood, Pomona, Pasadena, Whittier. [Laughs] I was chased all over Southern California! Red John wouldn't f—king die! He even went through some poor, unsuspecting family's plate-glass window and kept going. It went on for so long that, after a while, I was thinking, "Is the bullet still in him?"
TV Guide Magazine: When and how did you find out McAllister was Red John?
Berkeley: I sort of figured it out early this season through osmosis, and then I called up Bruno Heller and set a meeting to discuss it with him. I really felt a lot of responsibility to give him what he needed. He was very sweet and very flattering, telling me that McAllister had always been one of his favorite characters. He thought the sheriff persona was the perfect mislead — for a sociopath to adopt that kind of career just seemed so extra creepy. But, still, why me? [Laughs] I never saw it coming!
TV Guide Magazine: Well, you do have that vibe!
Berkeley: [Laughs] Yeah, I guess there is a certain quality X that suspects are required to have. It's funny, because on the audition circuit I'm always running into the guys who played the other Red John suspects. In fact, I'm old friends with Michael Gaston, who played Bertram, and Kevin Corrigan, who played Kirkland. The three of us did a movie together in Pennsylvania. We know how to make the audience just slightly uncomfortable without overdoing it, and how to deliver a line that can be read two ways, so the audience can project whatever they want onto us. That's the dance we actors love to do. But you never know where a character is headed. My wife, Sarah Clarke, was Nina Myers on 24. In her mind, she was playing a nice, devoted member of CTU and was just gobsmacked to find out she was not only playing a traitor but that she'd be shooting Jack Bauer's pregnant wife in the stomach! It was crazy!
TV Guide Magazine: Were the other potential Red Johns jealous when you won the prize?
Berkeley: One day on the set Malcolm McDowell [Bret Stiles] said to me, "Mate, you're Red John! Do you know what that means? Do you realize how much money you're going to make on this?" I'm, like, "Huh? What do you mean?" He said, "At the conventions! Don't tell me you don't go to the conventions! Listen to me, mate. Get that girl over there with the camera and tell her to take loads of photos with you and that guy over there" — he points to Simon Baker — "and you go to those conventions with stacks of those photos and people will line up with their money and they will pay you to sign them! It's true! You go, 'Next! Thank you very much! Next! Thank you very much!' It's huge!"
TV Guide Magazine: You've played a lot of baddies. Safe to assume Red John ranks right up at the top?
Berkeley: Absolutely, but as good as it's been for me, I am hesitant to keep going there. There's the typecasting thing — in Hollywood they see you do something and they want to see you do it again and again. But also I have two little girls now. I don't want them to think their dad is such a creep. I didn't ever want to play someone who'd done the horrible things Red John has. I just don't want to put that crazy-psycho stuff out there. [Laughs] I'm trying to go through a bit of redemption! Of course, I played an arch-villain [Percy Rose] on Nikita for two seasons but found a way to justify that guy's behavior — his Machiavellian ends justified his means. I didn't feel I was tapping into any really deep, dark place with that. But Red John? That's a different matter. He's so sick. But the good thing about being him so late in the game is that I didn't actually have to shoot any of the grotesque things he did to his victims. Nobody has any images of me doing that. There is no footage. It's all in your imagination. And he's dead, he's done, he got what he had coming. So it's all good.
TV Guide Magazine: Of course, this isn't the first time you've died in spectacular fashion!
Berkeley: [Laughs] No it isn't! I have 200 credits on my resume and I have probably died in half of them! I've fallen from 30-story buildings three times, including once as a transvestite psycho-killer in a tutu and a red wig. I've died in a few plane crashes, in The Rookie with Clint Eastwood, and in Air Force One. I also crashed on 24 — that is, after I inhaled airborne plutonium. In Candyman, I was ripped open with a hook by Virginia Madsen in the ultimate revenge on a cheating husband. Some very traumatic deaths! [Laughs] And I never learn! In Terminator 2, I had the line, "Tell that f--king nut to shut up!" and — bam! — I got shish-kebobbed through the head. Never say that on film if you want to live to see the next scene! [Laughs] But I can't complain. I've got the kind of career where I can get away with making pad puns like, "Dying...it's a living!"
SRC: tvguide.com/
'Mentalist' Boss, Simon Baker on the Red John Reveal, Jane's Future and New Conflicts
"When you achieve your objective, then what happens?," Baker says of the aftermath. "Now what do I have to live for and where do I go from here? Was it that gratifying for Jane? There's all of those questions. We deal with that in a lot of ways in the next episode afterwards."
The Mentalist's Red John case is now closed.
After putting the Red John spotlight on California Bureau of Investigation Director Gale Bertram (Michael Gaston), he turned out not to be the madman Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) had been searching for the past several years. Who was Red John? Sheriff Tom McAllister (Xander Berkeley), who had been one of the three who presumably died in the blast during "Fire and Brimstone."
It was a cat and mouse game after the reveal -- in the same cathedral Jane was seen in at the end of "The Great Red Dragon" -- but Jane and McAllister would meet again, this time at a local park. With McAllister pinned down to the ground after being weakened by a gunshot wound in the abdomen, he pleaded with Jane to spare his life. But for Jane, his sole mission in life was to end Red John for good. And so he put his hand on McAllister's neck and suffocated him until he was dead.
It was important to "give a real emotional, pleasing end to that story," creator/showrunner Bruno Heller told reporters, admitting that the ultimate Red John identity slowly "emerged" over the last few seasons. "For me it was about giving Patrick Jane exactly what he's wanted for all these years. He wanted revenge and he got it. I think that's what the audience wanted so that's what we gave them."
"I did feel a sense of pressure because we've been working towards this for so many years and it was something that had pushed the character from the very beginning [since] 2008. Somehow I had to live up to that in that one moment -- the one moment in the life of the character where he's stepping out into the unknown," Baker acknowledged. "The way we did it was important because I felt like to pull the trigger is just pulling a trigger but to actually wrestle with someone is far more kismet."
With the Red John mystery behind them (and the show making a big two-year time jump next week), Heller and Baker discussed the repercussions of Jane's actions, where this leaves the rest of the former CBI members and the new conflicts that will arise in the post-Red John era.
On Jane's future now that he's gotten what's he's wanted
Bruno Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart's desires and found the grail -- this evil grail he's been chasing all these years. It's very much a question of what does that do him as a person. Can he begin a new life? What kind of life does he want for himself and how will he define himself now that part of his life is over.
Simon Baker: When you achieve your objective, then what happens? A lot of the time you focus all your energy on trying to achieve your objective but you don't consider how it leaves you standing afterwards. My favorite part of that is the transition out of it. Now what do I have to live for and where do I go from here? Was it that gratifying for Jane? There's all of those questions. We deal with that in a lot of ways in the next episode afterwards.
On Jane killing Red John
Baker: The character has made a decision that he was going to kill Red John from the first time we ever saw him. He made that decision and then he said that was going to happen. What we didn't know was how he was going to react and whether or not he could go through with it and in what fashion. To me that was just jumping off a cliff, really, and jumping off a cliff so it's like -- he's got what he wants and what he's wanted for so long. The idea of what drama is sets out to achieve an objective but doesn't quite achieve it and they'd have to change tactics and approach. This is interesting because he's got Red John within his grasp, he doesn't take a moment to hesitate and I think there was a line in there where he said "I'm not hesitating, I'm just going to stay in the moment" in the church. When he's on top of him, it's the idea of shutting him up. Jane just wants to get on with the job and from that moment on, you gotta try to be there and be alive in the moment.
On how Jane is affected by Red John's death
Baker: When Red John dies a part of Jane dies in that moment as well. It takes a while for him to get back on his feet and if you look at it, he doesn't have a wife and kid, he doesn't have any relationships other than the people he's been at work with at the CBI and his perverse obsession/relationship with Red John. He doesn't have a lot other than the CBI people.
On the option of Jane not killing Red John
Heller: Certainly I never considered any other ending. I always hated those heist movies where they didn't get away with the heist or revenge movies where they didn't reap their revenge. It would've been almost dishonest not to take that as the conclusion of that particular chapter.
On Jane's potential legal ramifications
Heller: Yes [there will be legal ramifications for killing Red John]. You can't go around killing people willy nilly without some ramifications. Very much so.
On the likelihood of Jane's return to law enforcement
Baker: Not immediately.
Heller: He's going to be placed in a position where his personal desires on that level are not point. He's done something highly illegal. What he does in the future won't be entirely up to him. ... His life as he knows it is over, but it's the beginning of a new life.
Baker: Once the dust settles you start to see who's important to who and how each person sees themselves and who they care about.
On Jane and Lisbon's bond
Baker: I think absolutely. I think even stronger.
Heller: Now Jane and Lisbon have a chance to take a breath and think about each other in a way they haven't before.
On how the Red John wrap-up affects Lisbon and the others
Heller: For the other characters, it's a little like children of divorce. They've been involved with somebody else's mission and now that mission is gone. They were in a world they didn't choose and now they're in a world that's changing around them -- again, not of their own volition. What this is going to be for these characters growing up and leaving home; Jane has big questions about what he's going to do with himself and Lisbon, Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby also have to make those choices.
On whether Red John's disciplines will take action
Heller: Never say never but I would say the audience and the story demands that we step away from that trope for a while. The trouble with these stories where you're playing tricks on the audience with "Who is it?" mysteries is that you can get way too get way too mysterious and there were a lot of people who said all the way along that Patrick Jane was Red John. When you've got that kind of elaborate thinking out there, it's dangerous to come back to stories unless you're coming back to that story with full force because people will start thinking "Red John is not dead!" Red John is dead.
On if Red John will still be part of the fabric of the show's future episodes
Heller: We won't be going back. One of the things you discover when one of these figures of great evil are unmasked ... once the curtain is drawn back from these evil Wizard of Oz characters they tend to not be very interesting companions.
On whether The Mentalist will go back to cases of the week
Heller: What this fresh version of the show is about is what happens afterwards. In a very real sense, Jane is a happier person. A weight has been taken off his shoulders and to that degree, a weight has been taken off the show. Jane has more freedom and more a sense of possibility and liberty. ... We'll return to crime-solving.
On worries about The Mentalist losing steam without Red John
Heller: [I'm] not really concerned. If it can't, then that's what happens. it felt to all of us that that chapter of the story was done. Frankly I think the great asset and value of the show is in Baker's head and what he does. Red John never even appears in as a character physically in the last episode. It was a feeling in the show and a sort of objective but in terms of moment by moment pleasures of the show, those are delivered by Simon Baker and his people, not by Red John. Frankly I don't know but I don't mind, but I think it's going to be a great show after Red John. Then it's up to the audience to decide if they like it or not.
SRC: hollywoodreporter.com/
The Mentalist's Red John case is now closed.
After putting the Red John spotlight on California Bureau of Investigation Director Gale Bertram (Michael Gaston), he turned out not to be the madman Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) had been searching for the past several years. Who was Red John? Sheriff Tom McAllister (Xander Berkeley), who had been one of the three who presumably died in the blast during "Fire and Brimstone."
It was a cat and mouse game after the reveal -- in the same cathedral Jane was seen in at the end of "The Great Red Dragon" -- but Jane and McAllister would meet again, this time at a local park. With McAllister pinned down to the ground after being weakened by a gunshot wound in the abdomen, he pleaded with Jane to spare his life. But for Jane, his sole mission in life was to end Red John for good. And so he put his hand on McAllister's neck and suffocated him until he was dead.
It was important to "give a real emotional, pleasing end to that story," creator/showrunner Bruno Heller told reporters, admitting that the ultimate Red John identity slowly "emerged" over the last few seasons. "For me it was about giving Patrick Jane exactly what he's wanted for all these years. He wanted revenge and he got it. I think that's what the audience wanted so that's what we gave them."
"I did feel a sense of pressure because we've been working towards this for so many years and it was something that had pushed the character from the very beginning [since] 2008. Somehow I had to live up to that in that one moment -- the one moment in the life of the character where he's stepping out into the unknown," Baker acknowledged. "The way we did it was important because I felt like to pull the trigger is just pulling a trigger but to actually wrestle with someone is far more kismet."
With the Red John mystery behind them (and the show making a big two-year time jump next week), Heller and Baker discussed the repercussions of Jane's actions, where this leaves the rest of the former CBI members and the new conflicts that will arise in the post-Red John era.
On Jane's future now that he's gotten what's he's wanted
Bruno Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart's desires and found the grail -- this evil grail he's been chasing all these years. It's very much a question of what does that do him as a person. Can he begin a new life? What kind of life does he want for himself and how will he define himself now that part of his life is over.
Simon Baker: When you achieve your objective, then what happens? A lot of the time you focus all your energy on trying to achieve your objective but you don't consider how it leaves you standing afterwards. My favorite part of that is the transition out of it. Now what do I have to live for and where do I go from here? Was it that gratifying for Jane? There's all of those questions. We deal with that in a lot of ways in the next episode afterwards.
On Jane killing Red John
Baker: The character has made a decision that he was going to kill Red John from the first time we ever saw him. He made that decision and then he said that was going to happen. What we didn't know was how he was going to react and whether or not he could go through with it and in what fashion. To me that was just jumping off a cliff, really, and jumping off a cliff so it's like -- he's got what he wants and what he's wanted for so long. The idea of what drama is sets out to achieve an objective but doesn't quite achieve it and they'd have to change tactics and approach. This is interesting because he's got Red John within his grasp, he doesn't take a moment to hesitate and I think there was a line in there where he said "I'm not hesitating, I'm just going to stay in the moment" in the church. When he's on top of him, it's the idea of shutting him up. Jane just wants to get on with the job and from that moment on, you gotta try to be there and be alive in the moment.
On how Jane is affected by Red John's death
Baker: When Red John dies a part of Jane dies in that moment as well. It takes a while for him to get back on his feet and if you look at it, he doesn't have a wife and kid, he doesn't have any relationships other than the people he's been at work with at the CBI and his perverse obsession/relationship with Red John. He doesn't have a lot other than the CBI people.
On the option of Jane not killing Red John
Heller: Certainly I never considered any other ending. I always hated those heist movies where they didn't get away with the heist or revenge movies where they didn't reap their revenge. It would've been almost dishonest not to take that as the conclusion of that particular chapter.
On Jane's potential legal ramifications
Heller: Yes [there will be legal ramifications for killing Red John]. You can't go around killing people willy nilly without some ramifications. Very much so.
On the likelihood of Jane's return to law enforcement
Baker: Not immediately.
Heller: He's going to be placed in a position where his personal desires on that level are not point. He's done something highly illegal. What he does in the future won't be entirely up to him. ... His life as he knows it is over, but it's the beginning of a new life.
Baker: Once the dust settles you start to see who's important to who and how each person sees themselves and who they care about.
On Jane and Lisbon's bond
Baker: I think absolutely. I think even stronger.
Heller: Now Jane and Lisbon have a chance to take a breath and think about each other in a way they haven't before.
On how the Red John wrap-up affects Lisbon and the others
Heller: For the other characters, it's a little like children of divorce. They've been involved with somebody else's mission and now that mission is gone. They were in a world they didn't choose and now they're in a world that's changing around them -- again, not of their own volition. What this is going to be for these characters growing up and leaving home; Jane has big questions about what he's going to do with himself and Lisbon, Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby also have to make those choices.
On whether Red John's disciplines will take action
Heller: Never say never but I would say the audience and the story demands that we step away from that trope for a while. The trouble with these stories where you're playing tricks on the audience with "Who is it?" mysteries is that you can get way too get way too mysterious and there were a lot of people who said all the way along that Patrick Jane was Red John. When you've got that kind of elaborate thinking out there, it's dangerous to come back to stories unless you're coming back to that story with full force because people will start thinking "Red John is not dead!" Red John is dead.
On if Red John will still be part of the fabric of the show's future episodes
Heller: We won't be going back. One of the things you discover when one of these figures of great evil are unmasked ... once the curtain is drawn back from these evil Wizard of Oz characters they tend to not be very interesting companions.
On whether The Mentalist will go back to cases of the week
Heller: What this fresh version of the show is about is what happens afterwards. In a very real sense, Jane is a happier person. A weight has been taken off his shoulders and to that degree, a weight has been taken off the show. Jane has more freedom and more a sense of possibility and liberty. ... We'll return to crime-solving.
On worries about The Mentalist losing steam without Red John
Heller: [I'm] not really concerned. If it can't, then that's what happens. it felt to all of us that that chapter of the story was done. Frankly I think the great asset and value of the show is in Baker's head and what he does. Red John never even appears in as a character physically in the last episode. It was a feeling in the show and a sort of objective but in terms of moment by moment pleasures of the show, those are delivered by Simon Baker and his people, not by Red John. Frankly I don't know but I don't mind, but I think it's going to be a great show after Red John. Then it's up to the audience to decide if they like it or not.
SRC: hollywoodreporter.com/
Creator, star answer 20 burning questions (Interview)
MAJOR-MAJOR SPOILERS: You have questions, yes? CBS’ The Mentalist team has answers — 20 answers for 20 burning questions following Sunday’s huge “Red John” episode. Reporters were given a sneak peak of the hour, then interviewed creator Bruno Heller and star Simon Baker during a nearly hour-long conference call.
As you now presumably know, tonight Patrick Jane (Baker) discovered Red John was a not-dead-after-all Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley), then shot him and throttled him to death. Below the team talk about the big moment and what’s to come (transcript edited for length and coherence; questions paraphrased):
When did Heller decide Red John’s identity?
Bruno Heller: I’m not sure. It kind of just emerged over the last couple years. There was always three or four possibilities. And it just happened, really. It seemed like the natural correct choice.
Was now the best time to solve the Red John case?
Simon Baker: There’s a lot of different ways they could have gone. I always thought there was legs in the Red John story, as a show that wasn’t procedural. You could have milked that whole Red John thing out, but it would have been in the style of 24 where you’re picking up exactly where you left off [each week]. It would have been really interesting to explore that. But we’re on CBS and they love a procedural TV show and they know how to market those. So we did this little dance of doing a crime-of-the-week and then bouncing back to this Red John story … That was a difficult dance to balance those two things. I guess it got to a point where some people were like, “We love the Red John episodes, and we love the stand-alone episodes as well, is there a way to deal with one completely and move forward from there?” To be honest with you, those decisions are not for me to make. I’m always for going for it, pushing it a bit more. These last five months working on the show has been really exciting for me. I’ve had this sort of enthusiasm I had in the first season because it’s new and fresh from week to week and it’s going somewhere. Sometimes the frustration for me as an actor is we’re not going anywhere, we’re not moving forward, and this is definitely going somewhere and it gives me something to do.
Was Baker satisfied with Red John’s identity?
Baker: I was eventually satisfied with the way I killed him — how about that? I always felt the scariest [thing was] it could be the guy you see every day on the way to work who’s watering his lawn two blocks away, the everyday guy … so when we found out who it was, that fulfilled that category… Ultimately with anything like this there’s a level of disappointment because like anything when there’s mystery you paint a picture in your head of what it’s going to be, particular when it’s a mystery that holds you underwater so long, the mystery of who it is is mythical.
Heller: Ideally you want it to be Sean Connery with horns and a tail in a cave, but that guy doesn’t exist.
Why did Jane kill Red John? And what was most important to you in creating this episode?
Heller: It was about giving Patrick Jane exactly what he has hunted for all these years. I don’t think it was a moment for cleverness or moral ambivalence. He wanted revenge and he got it. And I think that’s what the audience wanted and that’s what we gave him. … I always hated heist movies where they don’t get away with the heist, or revenge movies where they don’t actually wreck their revenge. That always seemed like a cheat. The show started with [Jane] having a very good reason to catch and kill this guy and it would have been almost dishonest not to have that as the conclusion to this chapter.
Baker: You can look at any plot and analyze it and pull it apart until the cows come home, but I did feel a sense of pressure since we’ve been working toward this for so many years … I thought it’s gotta live up to that in that one moment. It’s also the one moment in the life of the character where he’s stepping out into the unknown and he’s been talking about it and made a commitment to do that. Also the way we do it was important. I felt like to pull the trigger [of a gun], it’s just puling the trigger and the gun does the killing. To grapple with somebody and kill them with your hands is far more intimate–
Heller: — and real and honest and visceral … with all that pressure and all that story that’s gone by and all the baggage, he did a really beautiful intimate killing there. It’s hard but good to watch.
Baker: Whatever happens in the course of the series, there’s reasons and things you sign on, and there’s very important elements to the character that you make a connection with immediately. A lot of those things were laid to rest in this episode. If felt incredibly personal to me. I’ve always been very invested in what my character does and how he reacts to his personal story — which is the Red John story. Not so much what’s thrown at him, but how he reacts and how he deals with it. What can best serve the story that feels [realistic] as opposed to the character behaving a certain way to drive the plot forward. The challenge and most difficult part of working on this show is playing a tragic character that has a very raw and unprotected emotional side to him but has this sort of whimsical tap-dancery thing going on with a sense of humor as bravado — to dance between the two tones of the show has always been very challenging. I get very protective of the personal stuff with that character — so things like the tea cup and obviously how we kill him, Bruno knows that I’m going to be waiting outside his door to weigh in on all that stuff.
But is Red John really dead?
Heller: Red John is dead. It’s passed that point.
How long was The Blake Association part of the show’s master plan?
Heller: The Blake Association was there from quite early on, though hidden. Frankly, it gives you a logical, coherent reason for Red John’s immense power that is not down to him being supernatural being. That notion of a villainous Freemasonry inside law enforcement seemed like a realistic idea because it’s happened in other places and a deeply creepy idea.
Red John said he was psychic. Is that to be believed?
Heller: I would leave that thread dangling … Jane feels very strongly, as I do, that psychics don’t exist. But you can’t tell that to the many millions of people who go to psychics every week and get genuine comfort and solace and understanding from what those psychics say. So that’s very deliberately a way of not being doctrinaire about that issue and leaving it to the audience. All answers to that question are correct and it depends on your point of view.
Can Baker mentally stitch together the whole Jane story now?
Baker: I don’t think I could put the pieces together in my mind. Far too many pieces. But there’s definitely there’s kind of key scenes in the journey of the character that he was going to exact revenge and it was going to be personal showtime and then possible an existential crisis afterward.
At what point did Xander Berkeley (McAllister) learn he was Red John and how did he react?
Heller: At the very last moment and he was thrilled.
Wouldn’t it might have been better for Red John to be captured so his other victims’ families could get some closure too?
Baker: I like it. I like that idea. We’re going to steal that.
Heller: There you go. That’s where me and Baker disagree. I was like, “No, kill the guy.”
Baker: Not the only thing we disagree on.
Heller: Not the first, won’t be the last.
Baker: I think if you really looked at it, if there’s any kind of sense of regret ever about that thing, that would totally be it.
Heller: That’s the difference between me and Baker. I thought the only regret would be not to take longer killing him … it’s a good question, tough to play if that were [to happen]. My sense [it] either destroys you with guilt or you get a certain amount of strength from it. And I think Jane gets a certain amount of strength. This is not the first time he’s killed somebody. And like primitive men used to think, when you kill somebody, you take a certain amount of strength with them.
How will murdering Red John change Jane?
Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart’s desire. He’s found the sort of evil Grail he’s been chasing all these years, but what does that do to him as a person? Can he begin a new life? And what kind of life does he want for himself, and how will he define himself, now that that part of his life is over? … this fresh version of the show is about is what happens afterwards. In a very real sense, he’s a happier person, a weight has been taken off his shoulders. In that way, a weight has been taken off the show. So it’s going to be the same show, to some degree, but a show with less darkness at the edges, and more freedom to roam. Jane has more freedom and a sense of possibility and liberty.
Might Jane finally have a love life?
Heller: Might.
Will Jane and Lisbon (Robin Tunney) get closer now?
Baker: Yeah, I think, absolutely.
Heller: They’ve been so engrossed in this massive task they haven’t really looked around at the people around them and think about who those people are what they really mean to them. Now Jane and Lisbon have a chance to take a breath and think about each other in a way that they haven’t before.
Is Jane going to face legal ramifications for killing Red John?
Heller: Yes, he is. You can’t go around killing people willy-nilly without some kind of ramifications. Very much so.
Will Jane continue to want to work in law enforcement?
Heller: Not immediately. I can tell you he’s going to be placed in a position where his personal desires are not the point. What he does in the future is not going to be entirely up to himself.
Will the show return to being a weekly crime procedural?
Heller: Yes, we’ll be returning to crime solving. Not necessarily the same kind of crime solving.
Will The Mentalist succeed without Red John?
Heller: Not really concerned … It felt to all of us like that chapter of the story was done. I think, frankly, the great asset of value of the show is in Baker’s head and what he does. Red John never even appears as a character until this last episode. He was a feeling in the show and an objective, but in terms of moment-by-moment pleasures of the show, those are delivered by Simon Baker and [the rest of the cast], not by Red John. I think it’s going to be a great show after Red John. Then it’s up to the audience to decide if they like it or not.
What does this mean for the other characters?
Heller: I hadn’t really thought of it in those terms. It’s a little like the children of divorce. What’s next? They’ve been enthralled in somebody else’s mission and now that mission is gone. They were in a world they didn’t choose and now that world is changing around them again.
Will we get more information about Red John?
Heller: We won’t be going back. … Once the curtain is drawn back from these evil Wizard of Oz characters they tend not to be very interesting dinner companions. They tend to be ego-maniacal one-track minds … There is a great deal of [backstory], if anyone waned to ask those questions, I’d be happy to answer. There’s a lot of questions about motivations and what [Red John] was doing and when and how… It makes for great Internet fodder, but it’s not very entertaining for a weekly TV audience.
Baker: When Red John dies there’s a part of Jane that dies in that moment as well. It’s kind of what he’s been about since we met him. It takes a little time to get back on his feet again. He doesn’t have a wife and kid, he doesn’t have a relationship with anyone other than those he worked with at the CBI and this perverse relationship/obsession with Red John, which is now over … In the very next episode there was a line that referenced Red John and I was pretty adamant about losing it. Because we’ve said “Red John” about 4 million times and 3 million in the last 7 episodes … It’s nice to have to have a good clean cut and not have Jane speak of him … Even if he speaks [of killing him], he doesn’t mention “Red” or “John” in same sentence.
Does this mean episode titles will no longer have variations on “red” in them?
Heller: Oh yes … very happy about that.
SRC: insidetv.ew.com/
As you now presumably know, tonight Patrick Jane (Baker) discovered Red John was a not-dead-after-all Sheriff Thomas McAllister (Xander Berkeley), then shot him and throttled him to death. Below the team talk about the big moment and what’s to come (transcript edited for length and coherence; questions paraphrased):
When did Heller decide Red John’s identity?
Bruno Heller: I’m not sure. It kind of just emerged over the last couple years. There was always three or four possibilities. And it just happened, really. It seemed like the natural correct choice.
Was now the best time to solve the Red John case?
Simon Baker: There’s a lot of different ways they could have gone. I always thought there was legs in the Red John story, as a show that wasn’t procedural. You could have milked that whole Red John thing out, but it would have been in the style of 24 where you’re picking up exactly where you left off [each week]. It would have been really interesting to explore that. But we’re on CBS and they love a procedural TV show and they know how to market those. So we did this little dance of doing a crime-of-the-week and then bouncing back to this Red John story … That was a difficult dance to balance those two things. I guess it got to a point where some people were like, “We love the Red John episodes, and we love the stand-alone episodes as well, is there a way to deal with one completely and move forward from there?” To be honest with you, those decisions are not for me to make. I’m always for going for it, pushing it a bit more. These last five months working on the show has been really exciting for me. I’ve had this sort of enthusiasm I had in the first season because it’s new and fresh from week to week and it’s going somewhere. Sometimes the frustration for me as an actor is we’re not going anywhere, we’re not moving forward, and this is definitely going somewhere and it gives me something to do.
Was Baker satisfied with Red John’s identity?
Baker: I was eventually satisfied with the way I killed him — how about that? I always felt the scariest [thing was] it could be the guy you see every day on the way to work who’s watering his lawn two blocks away, the everyday guy … so when we found out who it was, that fulfilled that category… Ultimately with anything like this there’s a level of disappointment because like anything when there’s mystery you paint a picture in your head of what it’s going to be, particular when it’s a mystery that holds you underwater so long, the mystery of who it is is mythical.
Heller: Ideally you want it to be Sean Connery with horns and a tail in a cave, but that guy doesn’t exist.
Why did Jane kill Red John? And what was most important to you in creating this episode?
Heller: It was about giving Patrick Jane exactly what he has hunted for all these years. I don’t think it was a moment for cleverness or moral ambivalence. He wanted revenge and he got it. And I think that’s what the audience wanted and that’s what we gave him. … I always hated heist movies where they don’t get away with the heist, or revenge movies where they don’t actually wreck their revenge. That always seemed like a cheat. The show started with [Jane] having a very good reason to catch and kill this guy and it would have been almost dishonest not to have that as the conclusion to this chapter.
Baker: You can look at any plot and analyze it and pull it apart until the cows come home, but I did feel a sense of pressure since we’ve been working toward this for so many years … I thought it’s gotta live up to that in that one moment. It’s also the one moment in the life of the character where he’s stepping out into the unknown and he’s been talking about it and made a commitment to do that. Also the way we do it was important. I felt like to pull the trigger [of a gun], it’s just puling the trigger and the gun does the killing. To grapple with somebody and kill them with your hands is far more intimate–
Heller: — and real and honest and visceral … with all that pressure and all that story that’s gone by and all the baggage, he did a really beautiful intimate killing there. It’s hard but good to watch.
Baker: Whatever happens in the course of the series, there’s reasons and things you sign on, and there’s very important elements to the character that you make a connection with immediately. A lot of those things were laid to rest in this episode. If felt incredibly personal to me. I’ve always been very invested in what my character does and how he reacts to his personal story — which is the Red John story. Not so much what’s thrown at him, but how he reacts and how he deals with it. What can best serve the story that feels [realistic] as opposed to the character behaving a certain way to drive the plot forward. The challenge and most difficult part of working on this show is playing a tragic character that has a very raw and unprotected emotional side to him but has this sort of whimsical tap-dancery thing going on with a sense of humor as bravado — to dance between the two tones of the show has always been very challenging. I get very protective of the personal stuff with that character — so things like the tea cup and obviously how we kill him, Bruno knows that I’m going to be waiting outside his door to weigh in on all that stuff.
But is Red John really dead?
Heller: Red John is dead. It’s passed that point.
How long was The Blake Association part of the show’s master plan?
Heller: The Blake Association was there from quite early on, though hidden. Frankly, it gives you a logical, coherent reason for Red John’s immense power that is not down to him being supernatural being. That notion of a villainous Freemasonry inside law enforcement seemed like a realistic idea because it’s happened in other places and a deeply creepy idea.
Red John said he was psychic. Is that to be believed?
Heller: I would leave that thread dangling … Jane feels very strongly, as I do, that psychics don’t exist. But you can’t tell that to the many millions of people who go to psychics every week and get genuine comfort and solace and understanding from what those psychics say. So that’s very deliberately a way of not being doctrinaire about that issue and leaving it to the audience. All answers to that question are correct and it depends on your point of view.
Can Baker mentally stitch together the whole Jane story now?
Baker: I don’t think I could put the pieces together in my mind. Far too many pieces. But there’s definitely there’s kind of key scenes in the journey of the character that he was going to exact revenge and it was going to be personal showtime and then possible an existential crisis afterward.
At what point did Xander Berkeley (McAllister) learn he was Red John and how did he react?
Heller: At the very last moment and he was thrilled.
Wouldn’t it might have been better for Red John to be captured so his other victims’ families could get some closure too?
Baker: I like it. I like that idea. We’re going to steal that.
Heller: There you go. That’s where me and Baker disagree. I was like, “No, kill the guy.”
Baker: Not the only thing we disagree on.
Heller: Not the first, won’t be the last.
Baker: I think if you really looked at it, if there’s any kind of sense of regret ever about that thing, that would totally be it.
Heller: That’s the difference between me and Baker. I thought the only regret would be not to take longer killing him … it’s a good question, tough to play if that were [to happen]. My sense [it] either destroys you with guilt or you get a certain amount of strength from it. And I think Jane gets a certain amount of strength. This is not the first time he’s killed somebody. And like primitive men used to think, when you kill somebody, you take a certain amount of strength with them.
How will murdering Red John change Jane?
Heller: Jane is this tragic figure who has gotten his heart’s desire. He’s found the sort of evil Grail he’s been chasing all these years, but what does that do to him as a person? Can he begin a new life? And what kind of life does he want for himself, and how will he define himself, now that that part of his life is over? … this fresh version of the show is about is what happens afterwards. In a very real sense, he’s a happier person, a weight has been taken off his shoulders. In that way, a weight has been taken off the show. So it’s going to be the same show, to some degree, but a show with less darkness at the edges, and more freedom to roam. Jane has more freedom and a sense of possibility and liberty.
Might Jane finally have a love life?
Heller: Might.
Will Jane and Lisbon (Robin Tunney) get closer now?
Baker: Yeah, I think, absolutely.
Heller: They’ve been so engrossed in this massive task they haven’t really looked around at the people around them and think about who those people are what they really mean to them. Now Jane and Lisbon have a chance to take a breath and think about each other in a way that they haven’t before.
Is Jane going to face legal ramifications for killing Red John?
Heller: Yes, he is. You can’t go around killing people willy-nilly without some kind of ramifications. Very much so.
Will Jane continue to want to work in law enforcement?
Heller: Not immediately. I can tell you he’s going to be placed in a position where his personal desires are not the point. What he does in the future is not going to be entirely up to himself.
Will the show return to being a weekly crime procedural?
Heller: Yes, we’ll be returning to crime solving. Not necessarily the same kind of crime solving.
Will The Mentalist succeed without Red John?
Heller: Not really concerned … It felt to all of us like that chapter of the story was done. I think, frankly, the great asset of value of the show is in Baker’s head and what he does. Red John never even appears as a character until this last episode. He was a feeling in the show and an objective, but in terms of moment-by-moment pleasures of the show, those are delivered by Simon Baker and [the rest of the cast], not by Red John. I think it’s going to be a great show after Red John. Then it’s up to the audience to decide if they like it or not.
What does this mean for the other characters?
Heller: I hadn’t really thought of it in those terms. It’s a little like the children of divorce. What’s next? They’ve been enthralled in somebody else’s mission and now that mission is gone. They were in a world they didn’t choose and now that world is changing around them again.
Will we get more information about Red John?
Heller: We won’t be going back. … Once the curtain is drawn back from these evil Wizard of Oz characters they tend not to be very interesting dinner companions. They tend to be ego-maniacal one-track minds … There is a great deal of [backstory], if anyone waned to ask those questions, I’d be happy to answer. There’s a lot of questions about motivations and what [Red John] was doing and when and how… It makes for great Internet fodder, but it’s not very entertaining for a weekly TV audience.
Baker: When Red John dies there’s a part of Jane that dies in that moment as well. It’s kind of what he’s been about since we met him. It takes a little time to get back on his feet again. He doesn’t have a wife and kid, he doesn’t have a relationship with anyone other than those he worked with at the CBI and this perverse relationship/obsession with Red John, which is now over … In the very next episode there was a line that referenced Red John and I was pretty adamant about losing it. Because we’ve said “Red John” about 4 million times and 3 million in the last 7 episodes … It’s nice to have to have a good clean cut and not have Jane speak of him … Even if he speaks [of killing him], he doesn’t mention “Red” or “John” in same sentence.
Does this mean episode titles will no longer have variations on “red” in them?
Heller: Oh yes … very happy about that.
SRC: insidetv.ew.com/
Nov 23, 2013
Interview with Robin Tunney and Simon Baker about The Mentalist 6x08
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