2009

James Roday parle de la 3ème et 4ème saison, sa réaction sur le couple Shules et l'arrivée de Abigail, de son rôle de scénariste, de son côté venteur comme Shawn pour draguer une fille, de l'épisode où Shawn se fait tirer dessus, des fans et de lui en tant que fan.

by: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What was the trick for the third season and how do you keep that momentum going into the fourth season?

A) Well, for me anyway I kind of felt like Season 3 was sort of a tale of two seasons really. I kind of felt like we heated up down the stretch on the backend there especially. That makes it a little easier to keep up the momentum because I kind of felt like we were riding a high going into the hiatus and with the last batch of episodes that we had shot and everybody was feeling confident and good and didn't want to stop. I think because of that it’s yielded some pretty strong stuff at the beginning of Season 4. So I do think we've kept up our momentum and I think the end of Season 3 had a lot to do with that.

Q) What was your reaction to Shawn walking away from Juliette and how often will we see Rachel Leigh Cook this year?

A) The actress, Maggie Lawson, did such a wonderful job playing that scene that I watch it sort of as a fan of the show and feel for her and feel for Shawn. It’s a marathon, that relationship. I think everybody kind of gets that that there’s going to be a lot of going in circles and missed timing and hurdles that have to be cleared in order for something to ever actually happen. Next season, Rachel Leigh Cook’s character is one of those sort of curveballs. We'll be seeing her sporadically over the course of the entire season.

Q) You write a number of the episodes. How do you come up with the concepts for them?

A) I usually just pick a genre of movie that I feel like saluting and then go off and come up with something that I can sort of pay homage to. That’s the great thing about our show is we've sort of created a landscape for "Psych" where we’re kind of allowed to go off and give shout-outs to movies that we love, genres that we love. If you look back at my episodes specifically that’s pretty much what I do. I just sort of decide that I want to go do a slasher or decide that it want to go do, you know, a werewolf episode and "Psych" is one of those very unique shows on TV where somehow all of those things can work.

Q) Shawn comes up with some creative nicknames for Dulé’s character. How does that idea come about? Are we going to be seeing some other names this season?

A) Part of the permanent fabric of the show I believe. It started off as just an improvisation all the way back in the first episode after the pilot, I believe. It just really caught on with everybody in the writer’s room and on set. Everyone’s in on the joke now so, yeah, there'll be plenty of names.

Q) How important is the mystery element of the show to the two of you?

A) I think there’s a couple different camps on that one. I think we would probably fall into the camp of no, never sacrifice a good joke to make the mystery better. Then, there are people sort of at our network and one of our executive producers in particular who would probably disagree and say that you can always spare comedy on this show and that we need to have good cases and the track. We got a kind of an eye-opening experience this weekend at Comic-Con and so we got to come face to face with some of our fans. I feel like the majority of them are tuning in to watch us act like fools not solve a mystery.

Q) Is the acting always directly from the script or is there some room for you guys to adlib a little bit?

A) We’re pretty lucky in that we have a pretty long leash on our show. There’s a lot of room to sort of play around and maneuver. Sometimes that’s how we find our best stuff and sometimes that’s how we find our worst stuff.

Q) "The Mentalist" is such a big hit and it’s just pretty much a variation of what you guys have already been doing. How do you feel about that show kind of being such a big hit and it being close to what you guys are doing?

A) I think it’s flattering. We make jokes about it because it’s silly and that’s what we do and we make jokes about everything. The truth of the matter is we've been around long enough to sort of become somebody else’s derivative and that’s a good thing.

Q) On the show, you pretend to be a psychic. Have you ever had to do that before like pretend to be a doctor to pick up on a girl?

A) I said during I think back in college I think I might have told a girl that I was a professional tennis player once. Then, of course, she had never heard of me so I had to dig deeper. I'd say, "I'm just sort of on the playing satellites. I'm kind of working my way up. I'm not ranked in the top 100 or anything." Then, you just sort of find yourself going, "Wow, I can't believe I'm doing this right now." Now, I’m making up an entire life. If I recall correctly, it did work out. It did work out, but it was a lot of work - a lot of work for a brief dalliance.

Q) Could you tell us a little bit about working on the fourth season opener and maybe anything that sticks out for you filming wise from that?

A) We finally get to shoot Vancouver for Vancouver so we didn't have to Greek every sign and make sure that you couldn't see it. And I got to see Dulé on skis.

Q) Looking at Season 4, how (in your eyes) have your characters perhaps further grown and developed this coming season? Were there any acting challenges you found have gone along with that?

A) I think Shawn and Gus both they’re both works in progress. I mean, they’re both sort of overgrown kids. But, yeah, I think Shawn is trying to be in a relationship and that’s new. You know, the idea of maturing, but not really maturing is kind of a tight wire act. We do our best to sort of continue to peel back layers of these guys. We have one episode coming up that actually gets pretty serious. My character gets shot and that was kind of interesting. I was separated from the rest of the cast for the first time the way the episode - just the way the story is told we’re sort of broken into three groups. It was interesting because we each got to sort of work with people that we don't necessarily usually work with and we were all kind of separated for most of the episode. That was challenging and different. And any time you can - hey you’re in Season 4 of a show and can still come up with something that is completely different that’s saying something.

Q) Do you have a theme for this year's season?

A) Well to sort of go back to my answer to the very first question, I kind of feel like it took us a while to start delivering that. I feel like we sort of had to find our footing. We were going for a whole bunch of stuff we'd never done before. I feel like once we caught our groove it was - I feel like it was sort of the second half. And so this season is mostly about the challenge of maintaining what we achieved down the stretch last season when it all started to sort of work on all cylinders. So no big impressive mantras this year just an optimistic promise that we can keep delivering more of the same.

Q) Is there anybody you guys want to work with but haven't been able to get on the show yet?

A) I've decided my answer to that question is going to be David Bowie until we get him on. So I feel like I'll be saying David Bowie for a while.

Q) Did the two of you instantly click in terms when you first started the show and has the chemistry gotten better over the years or find-tuned it?

A) I think we’re always fine-tuning it. I mean, we got very lucky in that we found that it came pretty easily and so like peanut butter and chocolate it’s just like oh wow these two things taste really good together. Then, the longer we get to spend with one another obviously the more nuanced we get; we pick up on each other’s sort of rhythms and we start adding things that are funny to us outside of the job. The other one helps sell it and, yeah, I mean, I feel like it’s just going to keep better and better the longer that we have, sure.

Q) What surprises could fans expect this season?

A) We do have one sort of pretty big guest star surprise up our sleeves. That you'll have to wait a little bit for because I don't think it'll come around until the winter in the second half. But it’s pretty big.

Q) Do you go online and do chats with your fans?

A) I did an interview not too long ago where instead of the interviewer asking questions he basically just compiled like 20 questions from fans which I thought was a really interesting approach to an interview. And it was great. I had a blast answering their questions, you know, each one individually because, you know, there was like a name and where they were from. And I thought that was awesome.

Q) Who were some of your early comedic influences as you were growing up?

A) I would say Chevy Chase and Val Kilmer in Top Secret! and Real Genius.

Q) Do you still get star struck?

A) I get star struck anytime I meet, you know, performers that I grew up watching and appreciating. It’s still incredibly surreal to me that I was a kid in San Antonio watching movies and then now I'm working with some of the people that were in those movies. I don't think it'll ever stop being surreal on some level. I also get tongue-tied and freaked out when I meet athletes too. It’s just, you know, we’re so lucky to be able to do what we do. And then on top of that, you know, you find yourself in situations where you’re meeting people that you sort of looked up to, that you were inspired by. It’s special and, yes, I will always be star struck and it'll always be a little bit weird but it’s also fantastic.

© Starry Constellation Magazine

By Rachel Thomas

Aside from watching and keeping up with great TV series, one of the biggest perks of my job is having the chance to interview some of television's brightest stars. Although the majority of these actors have been terrific (and almost always down to earth), there are only a select few who have completely captured my attention because of many admiral traits including intelligence, humor and charm.

The incredibly talented Psych star James Roday happens to be one of those select few who managed to keep me thoroughly entertained during our interview (I laughed... a lot!) as we discussed his role on the hit USA Network series, making People Magazine's '100 Most Beautiful' list, and what the future holds for this multi-faceted actor....

Q: Why did you decide to pursue acting?

James: "It was about the time that I discovered that my predominantly Mexican heritage was going to keep me from sprouting much taller than 5'9 and all my athletic dreams came to a bitter, glass shattering end. I was about 12 or 13, so I committed to it pretty early on."

Q: What was the worst non-acting job you ever had?

James: "I was in the food service industry for a while, I know shocking, and I waited tables at a restaurant in New York City where my shift ran from 11:30pm to 6:30am. It was basically my job to serve alcohol to people who were already inebriated. The challenge was just as much about getting paid as it was getting the food and delivering the food. I did that for about three years to get myself through school, and since have been fortunate enough to make my living as an actor. I've never set foot back in said place."

Q: You made People's '100 Most Beautiful' list, did you feel funny about it, or did you embrace the experience?

James: "I thought it was kind of silly. My friends got a big kick out of it. It was sort of flattering. I did this photo shoot in the middle of the Hollywood Hills, poolside, wearing a tie and no shoes, and two girls in bikini's on either side of me -- yeah, it's a little silly. In all its surrealism, you realize OK, wow, somebody, somewhere has taken enough interest to do this and that feels good."

Q: You helped write the screenplay for Skinwalkers, how did you come up with the idea for the movie?

James: "My best friend and I had that idea and took it to another writer who took us under his wing. We were both huge genre fans and were sort of operating under this mantra that werewolves had gotten a raw deal in the last few decades and we were going to do them right. We were going to do for werewolves what people had done for vampires and get back to the nuts and bolts of the mythology. And, as you know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. We thought were doing something kind of special and it ended up being everything we said we weren't going to do. You learn lessons usually the hard way in our business."

Q: Tell us about your role as Shawn Spencer on Psych.

James: "Shawn is essentially a slacker, who accidentally finds himself in a situation where he can make a living and live out a childhood dream solving really serious crimes, usually murders. He works with the police department under the guise of being a psychic, when in truth, he has no psychic abilities whatsoever. What he does have is a keen sense of observation. He sees things most people don't and he's quick on his feet. His best friend from birth is along for the ride and it's these two 30-year-old men acting like 12-year-old's and getting paid to do it."

Q: What similarities do you share with Shawn?

James: "We have a similar sense of humor, but Shawn didn't really get much of a say in that. The comedy on the show has sort of been my wheelhouse and it's kind of a custom fit. In terms if lifestyle, we couldn't be more different, and that is one of the things that drew me to the opportunity to play this character. This is a guy who is not particularly focused, has the attention span of a housefly, never has a plan and improvises his way through everything -- that is not how you become successful in the real world. People like that have always fascinated me, not only because they have the capacity to live life with that philosophy, they seem genuinely happy doing so. God knows I'm as far from that as it goes."

Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

James: "I know I've been given some wonderful opportunities on Psych in addition to acting, I feel I would be remiss if I didn't take advantage of those opportunities. I hope in 5 years, in addition to working as an actor, I will also be a working writer, working director, otherwise I screwed up somewhere."

Q: What projects do you have in the works?

James: "I have a movie I've been trying to make for sometime now that has become the bane of my existence, but is also my baby. I'm not giving up on it yet and it looks like it's coming together again for the fall after we wrap Psych, so I'll keep my fingers crossed."

Q: Anything to say to the fans?

James: "We have the greatest fans in the world. I know every show probably thinks that, but I honestly believe that our fan base it so dedicated, the cult-flavored dedication that we experience when we're approached by our fans on the street or in the airport is so unbelievably gratifying. We just have the coolest fans. I want them to know that we know it and that we'll never sleep and that we'll continue to churn out the best stuff and that they deserve it."

© TV Dramas

By Mike Ryan

James Roday -- who plays Shawn Spencer on "Psych" -- joins us to discuss the upcoming fourth season (premiering August 7 on USA). Every so often we put a request on Twitter for reader questions for upcoming interviews, no one has come close to the amount of responses that James received. So, considering the circumstances, we asked James if he would like to answer a plethora of questions directly from his fans... a request he eagerly accepted where we, among other things, finally get down to what those pineapples are about.

Mike: Hey James.

James Roday: Hey, Mike, what's up, dude!

Mike: It's season four of "Psych" already? That seems crazy to me. Is it weird to you at all?

James Roday: Dude, it's crazy to you? It's ridiculous to me. I've never been on a show that lasted longer than ten minutes before. This is totally crazy!

Mike: I find that when you talk to people about "Psych," it really is almost the definition of a cult favorite. It's either someone's favorite show or they've never heard of it. Does that make sense?

James Roday: It does, I don't think there's a whole lot of in-between. Our fans are like rabid beasts that rub themselves with the nectar that is "Psych." And other people, I think, don't have any idea that it exists.

Mike: You mentioned the rabid fan base: My God, tell me about it. Every so often we put a request for questions on Twitter. Nothing has been close to the response that I received after I mentioned that I was talking to you.

James Roday: (Laughs)

Mike: It was insane the amount of questions I received. I thought we may do something a little different this time and just use their questions. Is that cool?

James Roday: Yeah, dude! Throw them at me, man!

Mike: First one (From Elyse in Maryland), how much control do you have over your character's development?

James Roday: I'm incredibly lucky in that my role on the show has evolved as we've progressed and grown as a show. And I do get a lot of input on storylines, places we're going, things we want to explore and the worlds we want to go into. Obviously there is a very strong trinity of executive producers on our show but they're great about collaborating with us and listening to us. They don't always say "yes" but we definitely get heard and I think it's a really unique dynamic that we've created on the show.

Mike: (From Bryna in Chicago) If you could choose anyone to guest star on "Psych," who would that be and why?

James Roday: That's a good question. (Long pause) I'm torn. Up until 1996 I would choose Val Kilmer. Just because, I don't know, he was "Val Kilmer" back then.

Mike: We're about the same age, oh, I get what you're saying.

James Roday: Now, I would probably say it's Sam Rockwell. For me it would be, selfishly, the opportunity to work with one of my favorite actors. What better way to challenge yourself to cast someone you look up to as a foil or someone you have to compete with?

Mike: (Sam from Essex, England) Do you think your character, Shawn, is becoming more accepting of his father as he taught him his "gift"?

James Roday: No. I think there will be a polarizing factor in their relationship as long as this series goes. I think they'll start to understand one another more and I think they're making an effort to find common ground. But, I don't think it's ever going to be okay with Shawn that Henry made some of the child rearing choices that he made. I think that's a fairly black and white area.

Mike: How much of you do we see in Shawn Spencer? (From Rich in New Jersey)

James Roday: We couldn't be more different in terms of life philosophy, that's for sure. I also think that's why I enjoy playing the character so much. I've been so tunnel visioned and focused and driven by the time I was in my early teens. I grew up in Texas, it was a big wall to climb; you can't take one second off. No traveling, no vacation. This character is the exact opposite. He lives life by the second; he improvises his way through everything and never has a plan. In real life, I hate people like that. Not because they can do it, but because they also seem happy ... That being said, that brand of comedy has always been in my wheelhouse.

Mike: This is putting you on the spot but I'm going to ask it anyway (From Mindel from Virginia): Michael Ausiello from Entertainment Weekly put you on his dream Emmy ballot list. What did you think of that and do you think there's a shot at a real Emmy nomination?

James Roday: I'm incredibly flattered... God bless Ausiello, he's always been so kind to our show. He started back when he was at TV Guide and he's embraced "Psych" from the beginning... so, thank you to him. As far as there being a real shot: I don't know. We're a basic cable show on Friday nights at ten o'clock. The academy's not known for mixing things up very often.

Mike: Case in point: "The Wire."

James Roday: How did that show never get anything?

Mike: It's maddening at times what they overlook.

James Roday: All I can say is that if anything like that ever happens I would be enormously proud to carry the torch for our show because it's a bunch of great writers and a bunch of great actors.

Mike: Are you still continuing with other projects like Red Dog Theater Group? (Mindel, again, from Virginia)

James Roday: Red Dog is actually going to produce a show this fall, yeah ... This season we're going to do something a little more contemporary -- it's still an original piece -- in L.A. and it will go up sometime before the holidays. Red Dog still has a Pulse and I enjoy it and it keeps me close to my roots.

Mike: And this one (from Kristen in Chicago) kind of goes along with the last question. Do you have a dream role that you would like to bring to life in theatre?

James Roday: Wow (pauses) if it's already been something written it's always been Cassius from "Ceasar," I just don't think I'm there yet. I don't think I'm quite old enough and I don't think I'm ready. In terms of classical theatre, he's always been my guy. If it's original it would have to be really dark and twisted and really different than what people think of when they think of me.

Mike: (From Deepti in Hyderabad, India) How many episodes will Rachael Leigh Cook be in?

James Roday: It's a little open ended, but I can tell you there will be at least three; with the possibility of more.

Mike: (From Brooke in Chicago) Will Cybill Shepherd be back as your mom?

James Roday: I have to figure she will pop in at some point. Nothing has been shot. She's "Cybill"... we don't want to want to waste her. We don't want to bring her up unless we have something good for her to do.

Mike: How many episodes are you writing and directing this season? (Bryna in Chicago)

James Roday: It looks like I'll be co-writing three and directing one.

Mike: (From Sara in Nebraska) Now that you have been writing and directing shows, do you see yourself acting more in the future or would you rather write or direct?

James Roday: I've always wanted to do it all, man. And "Psych" is, sort of, the golden ticket. It has sped up that, sort of, diversifying process. Acting is certainly my first love but writing and directing has been on the "to do" list for a long time. I'll use the experience I've had on "Psych" to push as hard as I can and to as much more of it as I can.

Mike: How will the Shawn/Lassie relationship continue to develop this upcoming season? (Sara, again, in Nebraska)

James Roday: You know what? I think the fun of Shawn and Lassie is that regardless of how well they work together for one episode... with a single look or a single comment you can always slam them five steps back again. The fun for us is that we don't ever have to worry about falling in love and forgetting we can't stand one another.

Mike: What do you think you would be doing right now if you weren't on "Psych'? (Liz from Philadelphia)

James Roday: Probably doing a play; I'd be living in New York and doing theatre.

Mike: Are you currently writing any movie scripts? (Byrna in Chicago)

James Roday: Yes! I've got an independent I've been trying to get off the ground now for about three years called "Gravy." It's sort of further along than it has been in awhile. Then I have a little something else peculating that may or may not be a re-boot of an old favorite from our favorite decade, the 1980's. But, I don't want to jinx it so I'll leave it at that.

Mike: You can't tell us? I heard 1980's and got really excited and then you left me hanging...

James Roday: (Laughs) It's a genre piece and as soon as I can say more I certainly will because I think people will be pleased that it could possibly be happening.

Mike: (Jenna from Georgia) Is there any significance with the necklace?

James Roday: There really is no significance except that I have a personal necklace that I wore that they didn't want me wearing on the show because they had no doubles for it ... It wasn't even that I was insisting on wearing a necklace; they just knew they wouldn't get a double for the one that I had. We added beads this year; sporting some new neck ware for season four! (Laughs) People are just going to be rocked!

Mike: Last question and this was the most popular (Ryan from Virginia was first), what's up with all the pineapples?

James Roday: It was an improv in the pilot and the truth is, it almost didn't make the cut. It would have been what was ever sitting on top of Gus's (Dulé Hill) refrigerator.

Mike: So it could have been a pumpkin?

James Roday: If it had been a pumpkin, I would have grabbed the pumpkin and said, "Dude, should we slice up this pumpkin for the road?" and it would be a pumpkin that defined our show. It just so happened to be a pineapple and that's how random it was

Mike: The episode where you had pineapples on your shirt, that would have been a little odd with pumpkins...

James Roday: (Laughs) Kind of a little cooler, yeah. And we've committed to making it much more difficult this season to find the pineapples.

Mike: It's nice you have the pineapples. You know when a show gets in trouble and fans send stuff in to the network to save the show? Like when people sent in nuts to save "Jericho." Could you imagine when loads of pineapples show up on the executives' desks at USA?

James Roday: You've just given everyone exactly what to do if we ever get in trouble.

© Starpulse