Get documents about "Covert Affairs - Piper Perabo Q&A Session Transcript
Document Sample
Final Transcript
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES : Piper Perabo Q&A Session
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
SPEAKERS
Piper Perabo – Annie Walker, Covert Affairs
PRESENTATION
Moderator Our first question comes from the line of Lisa Steinberg from Starry
Constellation Magazine.
L. Steinberg How important are social networking and online sites for the show
promotion?
P. Perabo Well, that may be a better question for the studio. Chris Gorham is
Twittering from set and while we’re working and we also have pages on
Facebook and our Web page. Doug Liman, our executive producer, has
been up and visiting so he writes about coming to the set and the action
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 2
sequences that he’s been doing with us. So we’re pretty active on the
Internet.
L. Steinberg There’s early buzz on the show that’s a little good, a little bad. But is
there going to be a link to viewership based on that buzz?
P. Perabo I don’t know. I hope so, but I don’t know. This is my first television
show. I’ve never done press at the same time as we’re shooting, and in a
way I think it’s really exciting because hopefully fans of the show can
give us input and tell us how they’re feeling about the story and it can
affect how we continue.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Joshua Maloni from Niagara
Frontier.
J. Maloni Obviously, you’ve been doing a lot of interviews lately and it seems that
everyone’s favorite question to ask you is about Alias. I’m sure you’re
kind of tired of talking about Alias at this point. I’m just wondering,
personally I see a lot of differences between the two shows and I’m
wondering, being lumped together with that show so frequently do you
think that that’s something that’s going to help or hinder the show?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 3
P. Perabo When I first got working on the show and I was speaking to actor friends
of mine about what the show was about and how I was going to create the
character, people said, ―You should watch Alias.‖ I had never watched the
show, don’t ask me how I missed it, so I got the pilot and I watched the
pilot and I thought it was genius. I didn’t really want to watch anymore
because I don’t want to in any way imitate what Jennifer was doing and I
want to make sure that Annie is her own woman and dealing with her own
world. But I thought that what I saw of the work on that pilot was really
exciting and the fight sequences were really dynamic and she was just a
really powerful, smart, intuitive woman who can make decisions on the
fly, she’s brave, and she’s still a real person. I think those parallels can be
drawn to Annie.
I think in our show, though, you see a lot more of the real life of a spy,
what kind of car you drive and what it’s like when you get home at night
after you’ve just been chasing an assassin all day. So in that way I think
we are really different. I think that if people come and watch our show
because they like Alias, then that’s great, but I think they’re going to get to
see a much bigger world than they saw and so hopefully they’ll keep
watching.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 4
J. Maloni You said that this is your first foray into series television. If it was a
movie I’m sure there would be a premiere, but with this being a television
show what sort of exciting plans do you have for the premiere night?
P. Perabo The premiere night, I’m going to be shooting actually. We’re trying to
work out this—I don’t know if I’m telling you secrets that I shouldn’t be
telling you. That’s another thing I don’t know about television, I don’t
know how to keep a secret. But there’s a really intense action chase that
we’re going to be shooting on Tuesday night in Canada, so I won’t be
watching it. But I have two brothers, and they are having a party for the
premiere where everyone has to come as spies in trench coats and
sunglasses. So, they’re representing the premiere party aspect for me.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Rosa Cordero from
AccidentalSexiness.com.
R. Cordero My question, I actually posed it to the people on Twitter and the person
who responded was your lovely co-star, Chris Gorham. He suggested that
I ask you to tell us about your day at the CIA and how you took notes.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 5
P. Perabo Oh, that’s interesting. Yes, Doug Liman, our executive producer, was in
the middle of editing Fair Game when I got cast in the pilot, which is the
story of Valerie Plame Wilson, so I knew he had contacts down at
Langley. And I asked him if he could get me an introduction so that I
could go there and see what it’s really like and talk to real people who do
this for a living. So he did, and this sort of shows my naiveté, but I
brought a notebook with me so I could take notes. I had a lot of questions
that I wanted to ask.
When I got there they told me, of course, you can’t bring a notebook into
the CIA. … number one is … take notes in the secret agency. I said, ―Oh,
okay when we get inside could I have some paper and a pen?‖ And the
agent who was taking me around said, ―Sure, but you have to leave it
inside when you leave.‖ Of course you can’t take notes out of the CIA
either. I said, ―Well, how am I supposed to keep all this information?‖ He
said, ―You have to be like a spy and remember it.‖ It was interesting that
before I even got inside you can feel how tight and secret the whole world
is. It was an amazing day. It started there and it was incredible.
R. Cordero For my follow up question I want to know if you ever got your bedroom
closet all fixed up, because they had those ugly slippers in there.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 6
P. Perabo Oh my gosh, that’s so funny, because there’s a scene that’s coming up
where someone ransacks my room, and I had a long meeting with
wardrobe and set dec to make sure that all Annie’s fancy shoes and
pinstripe suits and all that, I said, bloggers came in and looked at Annie’s
closet and there’s a pair of ugly slippers and there was an exercise ball and
a tablecloth in there. It didn’t make any sense. Set dec had just done
something colorful in the … so we took it all out and now it’s very Sex in
the City, her closet.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Sheldon Wiebe from
EclipseMagazine.com.
S. Wiebe What I’m wondering is how did the role of Annie Walker come to you?
Doug Liman, when we were talking with him, he mentioned that he likes
to tailor characters to the actors who play them, so I was wondering how
Annie was tailored for you and what part you played in that process.
P. Perabo The way that the role came to me was I was doing a Broadway play, I was
doing Neil Labute’s new play, Reasons to be Pretty, and we were almost
done with our run and I was reading movie scripts and I wasn’t finding
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 7
anything that was really speaking to me and my agent suggested that I
read this. And I hadn’t thought about doing television, but when I read it,
it kind of changed everything for me. She’s such a powerful character,
she’s so smart, the action is so intense, and I really thought it would be fun
to do.
Then I met Doug and I went to the CIA and I started creating the
character, and I met the creators, Matt Corman and Chris Ord, and we did
a lot of talking about how – because the pilot is Annie’s first day at the
CIA. And so as the show continues Annie’s really a rookie, and so what
she excels at and what she isn’t very good at, I think is in some ways
tailored to me. I really like driving. I really like action. I really like
stunts. And those are things that I haven’t gotten to do in the past and so
when I told them that all of a sudden that stuff started getting more and
more intense and more creative. And Doug has been very active in
ramping up the action sequences for each episode we do, so I think in a lot
of ways the action was even kicked up a higher notch because I was so
excited to do it.
S. Wiebe What’s it like on the set? You’ve got a pretty high powered cast.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 8
P. Perabo It’s going really well on the set. Sendhil Ramamurthy joined us for the
season, and Sendhil, Chris Gorham and I really get on like a house on fire,
which is good because a lot of times when we leave the CIA those are the
people I’m leaving the CIA with to go abroad. It’s really long days
because the action sequences, if you’ve ever been on a set where they’re
shooting action, it takes a long time. It goes in really long pieces so that
you can get the angles you want and that everything is safe, and so I’m
really lucky that I really love the people that I work with, and it’s not bad
doing a 17 hour day with these guys.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Patty Grippo with Pazsaz.com.
P. Grippo You mentioned that you were at the CIA, I’m assuming Langley. What
sort of special training did you get while you were there or did you have to
undergo to play this character?
P. Perabo The fight training that I went through to play this character wasn’t at
Langley. They go to the farm to do their fight training and I wasn’t able to
go there. The fight training that I did was with our head of stunts, and
they hired different martial arts and hand-to-hand combat teachers.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 9
So, first, the creators and Doug sat down about what kind of style of
fighting Annie would have. Doug is a real fan of close hand-to-hand
combat that you shoot on a steadicam, the way that Jason Bourne fights,
but you have to tailor that to a woman because obviously when I’m
fighting a man, if we’re going to keep it real, which is what we’re going
for, Annie Walker isn’t a super hero, then you have to find styles of
fighting that could give her an advantage and make it plausible that she
can win or at least hold out in some of these fights. So we ended up with
Krav Maga, which is Israeli army style of street fighting, and Wing Chun,
which is a martial arts that was developed for women. So we were
working for weeks and weeks on that and training on that, I was training
on that before we started the pilot.
When I went to Langley a lot of it was really I couldn’t train there and
they can’t really show me the technology they have. So a lot of that day
was about asking the agents about their personal lives, because that they
can sort of share, they’re not telling me their real names anyway. So, does
your boyfriend know what you do, and what kind of car do you drive, and
how much do you make; those kinds of questions are really important
when you’re creating a character, and they were really forthcoming with
that kind of information.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 10
P. Grippo We’ve heard mention of a lot of different guest stars that you’re going to
have this season and I was wondering, is there anyone in particular that
you’ve especially enjoyed working with?
P. Perabo Eriq La Salle did an episode … and I really liked working with him. I
watched ER a lot, especially when I was in college studying acting was
when ER, I’m sure you remember, they did that episode once that was live
and they did it live on the East Coast and live on the West Coast. As a
theater student we all sat down as actors together and watched it together,
the East Coast one and the West Coast one, and it was so cool and it was
so brave and it was so exciting. So I wanted to really pick his brain about
that and about how you shoot for such a dynamic emotional one-hour
drama, and he was so patient and generous and also just a really good
actor.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Alix Sternberg with the
TVChick.com.
A. Sternberg I wondered if you could talk a little bit more about the time you spent with
Valerie Plame and what insights she gave you that you took to Annie.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 11
P. Perabo Valerie Plame was our consultant on the pilot, which was incredible to
have her insight, because since she’s no longer in the CIA and because of
the way she left it, she is more willing to share things than someone who’s
from the agency can’t really talk about it. Also, just being on the ground,
she can walk through the set of the CIA. We were shooting a scene that
had extras, there’s an induction ceremony situation, and there were extras
that came in to the CIA and in their wardrobe they had purses, but that’s
impossible because you can’t carry anything in or out of the CIA, so
having Valerie around to continually say well, these are the kinds of ID
cards. And another thing was the CIA is a giant office, like any other
office, and so there are reams and reams of paper. They’re can’t be
regular trash in the CIA because obviously that paper is carrying all kinds
of top secret documents, and it’s not just shredded at the CIA, it’s all burn
bagged. So then all the trash cans were taken out and all the burn bags
were brought in so everyone has burn bags under their desk. It was just
again and again her attention to detail that was really, really helpful.
A. Sternberg Yes, I remember those burn bags on set.
P. Perabo … right?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 12
A. Sternberg In the pilot we saw a lot of different sides to Annie, the vulnerable side,
the tough side, and is there a lot about her that we don’t even know yet?
P. Perabo There’s a lot about her that you don’t even know yet. Annie’s whole
family life and also what happened in her relationship is still to unfold.
And actually going back to talking about Valerie for a second, Valerie was
also really generous with me about emotionally the toll that it takes
keeping all those secrets from your family and your friends. And I think
that her personal story that she told me was also very helpful in kind of
folding into Annie’s secret and how that plays out in her relationship with
her sister and her family. So as Annie weaves the lie that she has to tell so
many people, the secrets start overlapping and overlapping, and it just gets
very complicated.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Stefan Blitz with
ForcesGeek.com.
S. Blitz My first question to you is what film or TV characters were an influence
for you, or did you influence you as a reference point for Annie?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 13
P. Perabo There were two. One is the original La Femme Nikita that Luc Besson
did. I thought that film was a great balance of the pressure of the job and
the real emotional pull that it takes. Also, I loved how he handled action
with a woman and I just think that movie is so beautiful and she’s so
strong, and it just was a big influence on me for Annie.
Then Lee Miller, who was an artist and a war photographer, she was a
beautiful journalist who put herself in the middle of these battles in order
to take photographs. So I had read a lot about her and how she maintained
her integrity and still was a beautiful woman amid the battlefield, and I
thought that was really inspiring thinking about Annie.
S. Blitz Can you talk a little bit about working with Christopher Nolan in The
Prestige, and if he called would you want to play Cat Woman?
P. Perabo If Christopher Nolan called I would play anything he wanted me to play.
It was amazing working with him. I had been such a fan of all his films
and I didn’t know how he worked until I got on the set with him the first
day and how closely he works with Wally Pfister, his DP, and how fluid
and alive his sets are. Also having Christian Bale, who has worked
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 14
obviously multiple times with Nolan and Hugh Jackman, it was kind of a
dream experience. I would do anything to work with Nolan again.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Kiko Martinez from Extra
Chicago.
K. Martinez I read that you consider yourself more of a tomboy than anything. What
puts you in that category and have you ever considered yourself the girl-
next-door type?
P. Perabo I don’t know if anybody considers themselves the girl-next-door, because
you’re the girl. Do you know what I mean? I grew up in a neighborhood
of all boys, so I was the only girl in the neighborhood so I guess that’s
makes me the girl-next-door. But running around with a bunch of boys on
the coast in New Jersey it just makes for a certain … lifestyle, your BMX
bike and the beach and everything’s in your backpack, and you’re
sunburned. I guess however you grow up creates in a way who you are,
and living in a shore town with a bunch of boys makes you a tomboy.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 15
K. Martinez I’m wondering, why do you think we’re seeing more and more film stars
making a transition to TV? This isn’t really something that we would
have seen 15, 20 years ago.
P. Perabo Yes, that’s an interesting question. I’ve been thinking about that a lot too.
One of the things is I think there’s a lot of great writing happening in
television, not that there hasn’t been great writing in television before, but
there seems to be a burst of new writers, young writers writing for
television and writing really dynamic, complex characters, so that will
always draw actors is good writing. I also think there seems to be a surge
of dramas helmed by women, which wasn’t the case before, so that draws
great actresses to the screen. Damages is one of my favorite shows, and to
watch Glenn Close and Rose Byrne do those scenes, it’s great writing. I
think maybe that’s what got them there in the first place. I don’t know,
but I would assume so. Then when you add that talent to it, it just makes
for great television. So I think creating these powerful female characters
is changing television.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Lena Lamoray from
LenaLamoray.com.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 16
L. Lamoray What is it like to be the original character in the premiere of a show, as
opposed to appearing in an established show?
P. Perabo Certainly it’s a lot more work on the show because of the action
component and whether it’s fights or car chases or explosions, and also
Annie Walker is a language expert, so right now we’re up to nine different
languages that Annie can speak. So between lessons and stunt
choreography and training, I’m there all the time setting the tone and
creating the character. I think creating a new character always takes a lot,
because you want to make sure that you’re making someone who’s full
and dynamic. You don’t want to give everything away at the top. You
need to have a layered performance filled with history.
So it’s a lot of work but it’s also really fun because new things come up in
each episode, we’ll come to a crossroads of a decision about what would
Annie do, and then there’s this big conversation with the creators and the
writers and the actors about well, what has she done in the past and where
do we want her to go and what would she base her decision on? And so it
makes for a really dynamic and artistic set.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 17
L. Lamoray I know it’s really early, but what would you say are Annie’s strong points
and shortcomings?
P. Perabo Definitely language is a strong point for Annie. Then she has things that
can be both a strong point and a shortcoming. Annie’s a little bit of an
adrenaline junkie, and so that can help sometimes but it also can take her
off track. She’s also quite a flirt, and so although that can get her in the
door at some of these embassy parties, I think she can be a little distracted
by all the beautiful men and she’s not always paying attention to the
mission at hand, depending on how handsome the guy in the tuxedo is.
Hopefully that won’t get her into too much trouble. I have that problem as
well, so I can really sympathize.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Jessica Rae from Small Screen
Scoop.
J. Rae Annie is very stylish, which I love and respect. I think it’s great. You
mentioned your closet as being very Sex and the City. So I’m wondering,
are you interested in fashion and what do you think of Annie’s clothing so
far?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 18
P. Perabo I am interested in fashion. I really like it. I live in New York City and I
think the women here are dressed so beautifully. I think the glamour of
fictional characters and of the spy world have always interested me. I’ve
never played a character who wore suits before, so that’s really an
interesting thing diving into that whole line of fashion. But it’s really fun
because there’s a certain fantasy element. Obviously on a government
salary you can’t have this many Louis Vuitton shoes, but it is really fun to
pick the ones that go best with your pinstripe suit in the morning.
J. Rae To reference Annie’s softer side, they mentioned a perfume that she
wears, the Grapefruit perfume. Do you ever wear the actual perfume to
get more in character or anything?
P. Perabo I think Jo Malone makes the Grapefruit perfume, don’t they?
J. Ray Yes, that’s the one that they say that she wears.
P. Perabo Yes, Jo Malone, Grapefruit, right. God, I forgot about that. …. I never
wear perfume on set because I never know if it’s going to bother the other
actor. I’ve seen it happen on other … where some actors will come in
doused in perfume and you can see the leading man’s eyes start watering,
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 19
so I’ve always been nervous about it since I’ve seen that. But I should do
that to Chris Gorham one day when we have a racier moment. That’s a
good idea. There should definitely be a bottle of it in Annie’s room. I’m
going to make sure there is one.
J. Rae Yes, get some kind of candle or something, Grapefruit, to trigger your
Annie senses. I don’t know.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Jay Jacobs from
PopEntertainment.com.
J. Jacobs Have you ever had a really disastrous fix up like that and what happened?
P. Perabo Oh my gosh, yes. I have had some disastrous fix ups. Oh my God. Once
I was set up, it was actually here in New York, a friend of mine set me up
on a date with someone and we met at a movie theater. It was a first date
and it was a French movie at one of the art house cinemas downtown and
he fell asleep. About five minutes into the movie my date fell all the way
asleep. Not just a little bit asleep, can’t keep your eyes open asleep, but
like snoring so that other people in the movie theater had to say ―Be
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 20
quiet.‖ It was so humiliating and disheartening. Yes, I’m not really into
fix ups anymore ….
J. Jacobs Also, I read that you’re an action movie fan. I was wondering, I know this
is probably your first really action based thing, but how crazy was it acting
through that whole sniper scene in the pilot, which was so intense? Was
that hard to do?
P. Perabo It was really hard and it was really crazy. They buried … in the wall so
that when you built the set there are little, for cameras when you’re doing
marks they have all these rolls of tape and they’ll use the tape where all
the … are , so that in the rehearsal you know what parts of the wall are
going to blow up. But when we shoot everybody else on the crew puts on
face shields and packing blankets over their bodies, and they take away all
the marks where the explosions are going to happen, and the only person
who’s not protected is me. Then they say, ―Go,‖ and the room explodes.
So it took a little getting used to.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Jenny Rarden from
TVIsMyPacifier.com.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 21
J. Rarden Annie is a member of the CIA and she can’t tell her friends and family. In
that respect you kind of have two roles on the show, the CIA operative and
a regular person who has to keep that other side of her secret. Is it fun to
play two different personalities on the same show?
P. Perabo It is. The actress who plays my sister who doesn’t know what I do for a
living is Anne Dudek, who is on so many television shows I can’t keep
track. But she’s a really great actress and she’s very aware of the kind of
balance that I’m trying to strike between my relationship at home with her
and then my relationship with work. She and I have worked a lot on that
and what our family is like and who our parents were and how we deal
with each other, and as the season goes on we spend more and more time
together. You get a glimpse of her in the pilot, but you see a lot more of
her as the season goes on. She and I have worked a lot on that, about what
it’s like at home for the Walker sisters.
J. Rarden This is your first starring role in a TV show. Were you nervous when you
started, and did either Chris or Peter or anyone else really give you any
advice since they’ve starred on shows before?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 22
P. Perabo Yes, both of them did, actually. Both of them are so talented and
successful and confident with their work on television and they understand
the speed of it. You shoot television much faster than you shoot a film,
and so you have to have a certain fluid quality to the scenes and be able to
change them really fast and be really confident about your choices,
because there’s not always time to try it ten different ways. I think our
director took a real cue from that in how confidently they approached a
scene and they really know how they want to do it. I’m really lucky to
have both of them on the show.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Nancy Harrington from Pop
Culture Passionistas. Please go ahead.
N. Harrington Hi, Piper. I’m here with my sister Amy, we’re writing partners. You’ve
touched a little bit on how physical your role is and we’re wondering, do
you have a stunt double or do you do all the stunts yourself?
P. Perabo No, I have a stunt double. I have different doubles because not everybody
can do all the … do it this way and as the season continues Annie is
getting wilder and wilder and the stunts are just getting more and more
intense. I think each director is trying to top the last one, so we keep
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 23
having to find some girls who can do things that I … do. So there are
definitely multiple pinstripe suits for certain days on set.
N. Harrington We were also just wondering if you’d heard of the Canadian … band
named after you and what you think of them.
P. Perabo I have heard that there’s a band, but I haven’t heard their music. Is it
good?
N. Harrington Yes.
P. Perabo Do they have a MySpace page or something? I should listen to them.
N. Harrington They do. If you took Piper Perabo MySpace then you’ll find them and not
you.
P. Perabo Oh, cool. All right, I’ll have a listen.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Allison Rupino from Pop
Culture Madness.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 24
A. Rupino Actually, I just wanted to first start off by saying as a fellow Jersey girl
I’m very excited that someone from New Jersey has made it so big in the
TV and music business.
P. Perabo Where are you from in New Jersey?
A. Rupino I’m from … County, so it’s like north Jersey, but … Beechwood area near
....
P. Perabo Oh, cool.
A. Rupino Yes, I saw that online and I was excited to speak to you about that. My
question is, on the show I know it just started and you’re probably getting
into the swing of things, but how much creative freedom do you have in
regards to … adlibbing or maybe if you see a scene, there’s a direction
that you give your input into, like maybe if you see how you might want to
change it.
P. Perabo I actually have input, although it’s not necessarily always on the day.
Because of the action we get our scripts fairly early, and so there is a lot of
time to have a dialogue with the writers and the directors while they’re in
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 25
prep about ideas that come up in scenes and maybe is it possible if we do
it this way. We even have a chance as actors to rehearse our scenes on our
own before the day, so there is a big dialogue going on about it, but it’s
not just me changing it on the day because we have our scripts so much in
advance that it’s a dialogue that goes on with the creators and the stunt
coordinators and the director and everybody.
A. Rupino The second part of my question kind of goes back to what you were
describing like the stunts and the arm-to-arm combat that you mentioned
before. My family, we’re a big fan of the movie The Cave –
P. Perabo Oh my gosh, cool.
A. Rupino Yes, we loved your part of Charlie. Does that at all help you with the
stunts you have to do today or … swinging on the …?
P. Perabo The Cave is one of those things that I did that has come in useful, is doing
these falls. Before that movie I had never done really big stunt falls before
and so I learned how to do it for Charlie. It’s come up already in the
show, I go jumping into an elevator shaft, I don’t know how many
episodes back, but I think we’re … in an elevator shaft from pretty high,
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 26
and knowing how to do that gives you a lot more confidence …. If you’ve
never done a big fall by running and jumping into an elevator shaft, it
takes a lot of guts.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Blair Marnell from Crave
Online.
B. Marnell Hi. I was wondering, in the series beyond the first couple of seasons how
will your character adjust to essentially being a much more experienced
agent at that point, since a lot of the show seems to be based on your
inexperience right now?
P. Perabo That’s a really interesting question and that’s come up with me and the
creators already. It’s funny that you noticed that. Because one of the
things that I really like about Annie is how inexperienced she is, and
obviously the longer we stay with her, the more she’ll gain.
What’s fun about being an inexperienced CIA agent is that you don’t
follow protocol because you don’t know it. So that comes up again and
again with Annie, is that it’s not that she’s particularly flouting authority,
she just hasn’t had the training to know how she’s supposed to do it. So
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 27
she has to come up with her own ideas. I hope that Annie will be
successful enough that eventually she’ll be allowed to give it a little bit
looser range, because the creativity that the writing department continually
comes up with as to how Annie solves a problem is really fun to watch her
do. So hopefully even with her experience she’ll just get better at creative
solutions, but not necessarily become an expert. Do you know what I
mean?
Moderator Now we’ll go to the line of Monica Ellis from Series.NU.
M. Ellis How do you feel about it being on the USA Network where most shows
do become a big hit? Is there any pressure for you with that?
P. Perabo It’s a combination. Because they’ve had so many successful shows, they
have a great idea about how to create successful shows, because it’s their
original programming that’s so successful. So I put a lot of faith in
network notes and ideas they have about character and also about how
we’re bringing the show out, like doing calls like this and talking to you
guys. They have such a great track record with introducing new shows
that it makes me really excited, that the show that I think is really good
and going really well is going to get out there.
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 28
M. Ellis Did you actually do the skydiving scene in the pilot?
P. Perabo No. I wish I had. I wish that the first reporter that asked me, I wish I had
told them yes and I’ve just been lying all the time. But once I told one of
you ―no,‖ then I know that I can’t tell another one of you ―yes,‖ because
it’s like you guys all know each other. It’s not me. It’s just my ponytail
…. The network would never have let me jump out of a plane, especially
when we’re only on episode one.
Moderator Now we’ll go to the line of Mark Bower from Spoiler TV. Please go
ahead.
M. Bower I have a strange question. You work with Chris Gorham on the show
who’s playing a blind character. Is it harder as an actress to work against
somebody who is normally sighted but has to not make any eye motions
and make eye contact with you?
P. Perabo No, it’s not hard because Chris Gorham is such a good actor and he’s so
emotionally available, that it’s really not hard at all, because the character
of Auggie is really Annie’s foundation in the CIA, I trust him and I have
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 29
my most intimate discussions with him. No, it’s actually not difficult at
all.
M. Bower Do you find yourself tempted to try to make him break character because
you know he can see what you’re doing?
P. Perabo I started saying to him that if we are so lucky to get to another season I
think that the reveal should be that he’s not blind and we should do a
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon moment where I throw something at
him and he catches it. But I don’t think anybody’s listening to me.
Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Amanda Earnest from
Crushable.com.
A. Earnest I wanted to talk to you about the love affair that Annie has that’s kind of
becoming the central secret of her character. What was it like playing
that? Did you draw on any inspiration for that?
P. Perabo The love affair?
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 30
A. Earnest Yes, the guy and the island and you know who’s becoming the character
as part of her back story.
P. Perabo Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Southeast Asia so I have yet to fall in
love with a man running down a beach. So I’m living a little bit through
Annie’s fantasy life at this point. Also seeing Ian Dailey run down the
beach, I haven’t seen anything quite that good in my ….
A. Earnest What about your own love life? There were some pictures a couple of
months ago of you and Chris Pine. Is there anything going on there?
P. Perabo I don’t really ever discuss my personal life. I like to just keep it for
myself. I don’t think I’ll comment on that.
A. Earnest Well, you know I have to ask.
P. Perabo I totally understand. I did an interview once where an interviewer said to
me, so tell me who you’re dating. And I was like ―Yes, I never say
anything about that.‖ And she said, ―Okay, well just telling me you’re
dating somebody mega famous like Prince William, because I … go back
NEW MEDIA STRATEGIES
Host: Chrissy Fehskens
July 8, 2010/3:30 p.m. EDT
Page 31
to my editor.‖ And I was like, ―I promise you, I’m not dating Prince
William.‖
C. Fehskens Ladies and gentlemen, that’s unfortunately all the time we have for
today’s session. I want to again thank, Piper, of course for taking the time
to be with us and remind everybody to tune into the series premiere, which
will be next Tuesday at 10/9 Central on USA Network. Thanks again,
everyone, and enjoy the rest of your day.
P. Perabo Thank you, everyone. Bye.
Related docs
Other docs by daet
Lost Girl - Q&A Transcript with Anna Silk, Zoie Palmer and Kris Holden-Ried
Views: 1164 | Downloads: 83
