On last week’s “Full Circle,” Stanley Murphy (Julian McMahon) tried to talk his client Jace Cooper (David Boreanaz) into meeting the sister of a boy who became a victim of one of Jace’s scandalous comedy rants.
This week, you’ll see Jace meet Chan’Dra Stevens (Keke Palmer). The premise of “Full Circle” is that it features a different conversation every week, with some baton passing between characters. Actors like Boreanaz can pop in for a few shows but keep their day jobs. We got to speak with Boreanaz, and we have more in common than just watching his shows.
CraveOnline: We share an alma mater, Ithaca College. I got there in 1995 a few years after you.
David Boreanaz: Nice! That’s so cool. I love that. They just started a new freshman orientation [in August].
Was it really attractive to get to play a totally abrasive character?
Yeah, he was very abrasive, but yet also had a sense of trying to get his point across in a very strange way. He came across at times, most of the times, very aggressive, put things down. It’s a very touchy subject matter to address in a lot of areas with his character that he puts out there. It was great to be able to jump into something that was so complex and conflicting. I had a good time with him.
Certainly the comedian we meet in the previous episode is trying to be funny, but he can’t pull that with Chan’Dra.
Doesn’t work. He tries, but he just keeps getting everything thrown back in his face for face value. She’s so correct that it’s hard for him to try to escape that. At least with Stan he can escape certain areas and try to steer the conversation to try to control the situation for his benefit because he’s a very narcissistic, egotistical conflicting person. He uses his fame and fortune to demise and he really brings that down a really bad path.
Is the speed of the dialogue on the page in the script?
The speed is also something that you have to be cautious about because you could easily speed through it to get through it, but with Neil [Labute]’s writing he challenges you to speak correctly within his dynamics of how he writes and not rearranging that. That’s a really strong challenge I think for all the actors is being able to identify, being about to say what is written there and use it in a way that is correct from his perspective. He wrote these characters. You want to honor what is on the page and not switch things around. You can’t do that.
So once you got that rhythm down, the speed is something I felt with the give and take with Stan. He was extremely back and forth with me but he allowed me to shoot back at certain times and there was a give and take persona going on. I think that we created that speed. We were able to shift in and out of it pretty quickly.
We committed to the rehearsals, we committed to the studying aspect of it and then we just said, “Screw it. Let’s have a good time with these characters, see where they take us” because you have to really allow yourself to open that door for that ride. We both did it and we just had great moments, a lot of fun.
Neil is great, kept reminding us. You’ve got to honor the piece and be respectful, and it’s a great piece that we have here, material. In the rehearsal process he’d tear your heart out about not getting a specific line right or messing up a cue. You had to keep bashing it over and over in your head in order to get to the playing field because you don’t want to show up. You don’t just say Neil’s words. You have to understand him. He’s a tough, tough guy to get into, his head and how he thinks and his characters.
You’ve had two series to do long arcs of characters. How different was it to do it in one or two episodes?
That was fun. Knowing that there was a beautiful light, playing inside of the tunnel and allowing yourself to not get stuck up in it. You’re driving but you’re also enjoying it. Then you see that light, like wow, we really came and did this. Exhausting as it is, as hard as it was, there is a sense of euphoria from it. It’s like doing a play, you perform on stage, you come out and you do your performance and it’s over. It’s a great experience because you really, in a piece like this, don’t have much time to take cuts and breaks. It was fast.
You’ve played cops and vampires. Did you imagine what being a standup comic would be like?
No, I didn’t. I had a chance on “Bones” to do a comedy piece where he got on stage which was kind of fun and extremely terrifying. I just think that that’s like a death walk. To have material and go out and do that thing, and I know some comedians. I have such high respect for them, but like I said previously, I think I just kind of kept within the material. I didn’t really look outside to look at a comedian and see how they perform. It was really about his life. It wasn’t really about Jace performing on stage.
Can you believe you’re on season nine of “Bones?”
Nope. Just keep knocking on wood.
