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/
Showing posts with label tunney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tunney. Show all posts
May 11, 2014
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/
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 27, 2013
Nov 23, 2013
Interview with Robin Tunney and Simon Baker about The Mentalist 6x08
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