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| | Intervista carina a Tamala, in cui parla dell'esperienza al Comic Con, della terza stagione di Castle, di come si è preparata per il suo ruolo e di cosa le piace guardare in TV: Tamala Jones hates morgues. You'd think that fear would be problematic for her, because she plays sassy medical examiner Lanie Parish on Castle, but she does her homework by watching Dr. G: Medical Examiner instead! I learned this and a lot more about the charming actress—formerly of The Tracy Morgan Show, For Your Love, and Veronica's Closet—when I interviewed her last week. We talked about working with Nathan Fillion, flirting with dead bodies, and a potential romance between Lanie and Det. Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas).
TV.com: Tell me about your Comic-Con experience!
It was really exciting! I had no idea how many people were really into Castle until I got there and saw the room was filled with, I think it was 3,000 people there? And there were people standing up! It was a good feeling—and I learned that Nathan is the king of Comic-Con. To me, it was a humbling experience to see all those people there that wanted to get a chance to meet any of us and that were totally in love with Nathan, from all of his sci-fi and video games. He’s just a great person.
Rumors have been flying about a possible relationship between Lanie and Esposito. Can you speak to that?
I can’t say too much, or they’ll kill me. I’ll be laying on the slab and somebody will be examining me! But there’s definitely some romance there and it’s going to happen. After the "Punked" episode, a lot of people on Twitter were like, “Okay, where is the Lanie and Esposito episode?” I had to tell them, “Be patient, it's coming.” I heard some of the developments from [writer] Terri Miller. The way they set up, you’re not going to see it all in one episode, which I think is really smart of them to do. It kind of expands as we go along.
Beckett (Stana Katic) and Lanie don't really hang out too much outside of work. Is that going to change this season?
Stana and I were talking about that on set a few days ago! We really want to do something like that, to show that we’re fun... But the writers and the producers are very careful about how much they let out and the time that they let it out in. They feel if you tell too much then you kind of kill the suspense, you know? Even though it’s just girlfriends hanging out, it has to be positioned properly. It’s like, if you go out on a first date, you don’t want to get to third base with a guy, because then there’s nothing to [laugh] lead up to! You’ve killed it already. That’s kind of how they work with Castle—they give you a little leg and they take it back.
What do you think that Beckett and Lanie do when they get together?
I think they’re like regular girlfriends. Lanie’s probably got nail appointments and she’s trying to get Beckett to get those nails done. And Beckett probably would just sit there and watch Lanie get her nails done while they talk about their personal lives. Or they could be out having a drink at a bar and some guy tries to pick up Beckett and Lanie’s, like, “Girl, open up! Get those digits.” Something like that.
Beckett seems to listen to Lanie’s advice, but never actually takes it. Why is that?
I think that [Beckett] does, but it’s always too late. Beckett’s mother was murdered by a serial killer. That's why she joined the police force and became the top homicide detective that she is. And Lanie was there through that entire process... As part of Lanie’s backstory, that is an important bonding thing—there’s something with Lanie that you have yet to see. When people are friends there’s a common bond—that’s not to say that Lanie’s parents were killed by a serial killer, but something to that degree.
How would you describe Lanie’s relationship with Castle?
I think Lanie has always been a big fan of Castle’s. The fact that he’s working side-by-side—she gets a kick out of it. She loves to hear his explanations. She’s very intrigued and humored by it. I think she looks at Castle like he’s really a cool guy, like he's family, in a sense.
Will Lanie ever interact with Alexis (Molly Quinn) or Martha (Susan Sullivan)?
Oh, my god, that would be awesome! I’ll have to tell Andrew [Marlowe, the creator of Castle] about that... I adore Molly. She’s like my little sister. I would love to do something with her character... and Susan's character. That little diva! I think Lanie and Martha would definitely have a good time.
Are there any lines that you've gotten to improvise that you're particularly proud of?
Well, my favorite one that I was able to improvise was when Lanie’s in the morgue and Beckett comes in and asks Beckett, "Okay, you read [Castle's] book. He writes a scene about you and that’s it, you don’t have any feeling for him?" So when [Beckett] walks out, the written line was, “Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean everybody else can’t see it.” And [Beckett] goes, “Shut up!” That was [Stana's] ad lib. I turned to the dead body and I said, “You may not be able to see it, but I do!” That was an ad-lib and I was surprised that they used it. But it was great!
Is Lanie based on anyone?
Well, before we started shooting, Andrew insisted that I watched Dr. G: Medical Examiner. One of the things Andrew loved about Dr. G was the way that she spoke about her patients. It wasn’t very doctor-y at all. It was as if she had some sort of relationship with them. That was her job, to hear the dead and explain why they were dead. So I think Dr. G had a lot of influence on the Lanie character, and I love that. Because if you look at other medical examiners on different shows, they’re just Point A, Point B, and we’ve ended on C and moving on. With Lanie, they allow her to be conventional in her words but very unconventional in her delivery. It seems like Lanie is that old nosy lady that sits on the stoop in New York watching everybody, and then she says, “Girl, let me tell you what happened. They sliced the body open, put two bullet holes in there and now she’s dead.” With an attitude. I love that about Lanie.
Did you talk to any real medical examiners as you were preparing for the role?
I did not. They actually wanted to set up a walk-through inside a real morgue, where we talk to some real medical examiners and I passed. [laugh] I don’t really do well with dead people. I get dizzy in there! I mean, I can take it for five minutes, like if you’re going to pay your respects, but I can’t handle being in there too long. It’s not that I get freaked out, it’s just that I go into deep thought and start thinking about what were they feeling before this happened. I'm just a weirdo in that sense. I decided to watch The First 48, Forensic Files, and Dr. G to do my studying.
Do you ever mess around with the extras that play dead and lay on the slab?
I just have fun with them in between takes, joking around. I might tell them, “You’re a sexy little dead person!” [laugh] Just very flirty and fun to keep it light, so we don’t go into a dark place.
Have you ever been grossed out by the props or makeup?
Oh, yes. We have great prosthetic makeup artists. The only thing that’s missing most of the time is the smell that goes along with the looks... In the morgue scenes, it [looks] like I’ve already done the autopsy, and you’ll see the stitching as if I’ve cut them open, took everything out I needed and basically stapled them together. I find myself running my fingers across the prosthetic skin and it feels so real! And makeup has really come a long way from back in the day. The blood looks like real blood, even though it’s corn syrup.
What was your favorite episode to shoot so far?
I really love the Halloween episode that we did last season. That was one of my favorites because we were able to actually see that people take werewolves and vampires very seriously. You can get the vampire fangs permanently attached to your teeth! And they’ll have masks made so they can have that look. Some of them use it 24/7, and some people just bring it out on Halloween. The vampire and werewolf situation has taken off in a whole new direction.
What can we expect for the Halloween episode this season?
Well, Andrew is very adamant about not doing holiday episodes all the time. But we have the Triple X Killer on the 25th. Lee Tergesen from Oz and Michael Mosley from Scrubs will be guest starring in this episode. It’s the serial killer episode—he has done three murders, and he’s back [from] four years ago.
What are you going to be for Halloween?
Ah, I don’t know! I was thinking about that. I don’t want to be anything scary. I love history, so I thought about being Marie Antoinette, the chocolate version. [laugh] I’m still debating.
Castle makes a lot of references to Scooby-Doo. Are there any favorites that stand out?
[laugh] Well, we do that on the set a lot too. Our favorite is “Ruh-roh!” when something’s not going well. It’s Nathan’s fault, though, because when he gets started, it’s hard to not play. Then you have to get serious and get the work done. That’s the biggest challenge, to stop laughing at and with Nathan.
How has Twitter helped you promote the show?
Twitter is the best thing ever invented. They should have come up with it sooner. I want to meet the Twitter guy and tell him that. No, I’m kidding. But it is really an amazing thing for actors, because we get to have a relationship with our fans. I think Twitter is the reason why we’re one of ABC’s [top] shows. We tweeted all the way from the beginning and our fan base grew. They understood the importance of writing to ABC and expressing how much they love Castle and we were able to thank them personally on Twitter. I talk to them almost every day. And it’s a great outlet, because they’ll tell you the truth. They tell you what they want to see, what they like, what they didn’t like. I love that because you’re getting it from the people that matter.
What are your favorite shows?
I love True Blood. I get so mad when they have to take that hiatus, because I want more! And my newest favorite is Boardwalk Empire. I like Steve Buscemi—anything he touches. And Martin Scorsese, of course. Mad Men is also great. But I have to DVR all these things, because I’m always studying Forensic Files and The First 48, and Dr. G!
FonteMi piacerebbe molto che interagissero Martha e Lanie: sicuramente troverebbero un buon modo per far "svegliare" i nostri cari Castle e Beckett! | | | |
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