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Tag: blunt-talk

  • ‘Blunt Talk’ Creator Reveals Season 2 Guest Stars

    It’s time for Walter Blunt to make some rain in the world.

    The good-hearted but oft-misguided TV newsman played to razor-sharp perfection by Blunt Talk” tilting his share of windmills as he attempted to put his debauched life back together and make a difference to society, and, in Season 2, series creator Jonathan Ames promises Walter will be taking on an even bigger, season-long challenge: the California drought.

    As the first season of Starz’s frequently hilarious and surprisingly poignant series — concocted by novelist and TV auteur Ames (“Bored to Death”) and executive produced by Family Guy”) — arrives on home video Aug. 30, Ames joined Moviefone to reveal the intriguing surprises of the show’s freshman evolution and to offer a glimpse at the upcoming follow-up season, which returns on Oct. 24, along with an assortment of top-tier guest stars.

    “We’ve got a really wacky, fun second season,” says Ames. “I think the first season was a good achievement, and the second season just kind of really goes even further.”

    Moviefone: What were the fun discoveries along the way, from point A to the finale, as you put this show together?

    Jonathan Ames: Well, I think the Walter/Harry relationship, and the chemistry between Patrick Stewart and Adrian Scarborough was just delightful from the get-go. So that was wonderful, and it was like … so that was just magic from the start.

    And then also, just the family feeling of the whole cast. How not only was there chemistry between Walter and Harry, but that as time went on, the “Blunt Talk” family, the fictional one and the real one, felt so similar. That Jim, Celia, Martin, Shelly, Rosalie, Bob Gardner, and the actors themselves, all of them playing these characters, it was like our world mirrored the world in the show.

    So it was great how everyone just sort of came together. The fake work environment and the real work environment — there was a kind of beautiful similarity.

    You have an ability to effectively juggle tones and go from some really uproarious, hilarious moments to some very poignant scenes. Can you tell me about your experience getting there and being able to have that fluidity of tone in “Blunt Talk”?

    Certainly. With Rosalie and her husband’s storyline we got in that first season, it went somewhere just very beautiful. I think, perhaps, if we’re able to go from comedy to what might seem like poignancy is that the comedy never comes from mocking the characters, but sort of loving them and loving their flaws.

    So that when more real things are said, or things happen, we’re with them, because we haven’t been laughing at them. We’re sort of laughing with them, I guess, and crying with them. So I think by trying to approach all the characters with humanity and forgiveness, that we’re then maybe able to go to sadder places.

    What was the big surprise you discovered while working with your literal and figurative anchorman, Patrick Stewart?

    I don’t know if it was a surprise, but just how incredibly present he was, day after day, scene after scene. How much consideration he put into each moment. It was really like watching a great athlete, or a master artist.

    Then also, there would be things that I would write that were funny, but then the comedy that he would bring from his own playfulness, or improvisation, or emphasis. So I think it was just, it was like watching something perfect out of nature, like watching a panther — I don’t know, I’m using a lot of metaphors!

    What we can we expect in Season 2? You had a lot of themes and topics that you explored in Season 1, and I’m curious how many of those are going to carry over, and then what are some of the newer themes that you want to explore?

    Well, I think, in Season 1, what we did is we really learned the world: we found out who everybody was, and I think we established that Walter is a little bit of a Don Quixote, that he wants to do right by the world and by people.

    And in the second season, we tell a more serialized story. Basically he’s sort of working on one big news story having to do with the drought in Los Angeles. We kind of pay homage to “Chinatown,” which famously was about water and the use of water in LA. It continues to be a pressing issue.

    So I think very much we continue the theme of, in terms of news topics, the more serious topic we tend to look at is what’s going on with our world and the environment. Because we can’t be current events, because when we shoot and when we air, there’s a lag. So again, we’re looking at the environment.

    Then, in terms of the issues between characters, I think we really delve into everyone’s love lives and romantic lives this season. So that we found out who everybody was in Season 1, and now Season 2, we just explore everyone’s romantic and sexual lives this season, as well as giving them one mission, one big news story that they’re primarily working on.

    In Season 1, you definitely tread some new ground in exploring the fluidity of sexuality among many of the characters and their pairings. Does that continue enthusiastically in Season 2?

    Yeah, I guess, no pun intended, there’s a lot of fluidity to the sexuality on “Blunt Talk.” And no real judgment, maybe working on the Jungian principal of, in some ways, we’re all perhaps capable of bisexuality. But also, not even wanting to label anything that way.

    But the men are men, and the women are women, but then sometimes everything gets all shuffled around, and I think it more has to do with them falling in love, as well as whatever physical needs they might have. There’s a lot of playing around with that this season.

    One of the other things that I really enjoy about this series is how you’ve expanded the universe. The cast of characters is getting almost Springfield-level in your deepening bench of recurring folks. Are we seeing a lot of them come back, and are we seeing new faces added to that group?

    We see a lot of returning characters. Obviously our core cast, they’re all back. Then we have Erik Griffin, who was Walter’s sponsee, who Walter met at a sex and love addiction meeting — we have him back. Brett Gelman, who’s the neighbor, who is a pornographer, but also turns out to be a lawyer, he comes back. The therapist that Walter saw at the end of the season, played by Fred Melamed, he returns. Jason Schwartzman returns. Moby returns. Golden Brooks returns. Yeah, a lot of those characters come back.

    Then we’ve added a bunch of stars, too … visiting stars. We have The Office.” Oh, and Trace Lysette who played Gisele [in Season 1]. Yeah, so we brought back so many of the people from last season, and added a bunch of those new names I mentioned. So we have an incredible number of guest stars this year.

    You had some fun with Brent Spiner, without getting too meta. Will he or any of Patrick’s other “Star Trek” costars join this season?

    Brent Spiner is back, and yeah, so we get to see him again, which is great — I’d like to find more for him to do!

    I found, by the end of this season, that my feeling about Walter had changed pretty dramatically, and I found him a very genial, endearing guy. I just really enjoyed him, despite all of his problems. How tricky is it to keep him going, and keep him that guy, but also put him in these very comical situations that play off of his ego, his reputation, and his bad decision-making?

    Where he begins in Season 1, he’s hit bottom. And as he says in Episode 2, “I’ve been given a second chance. I need and want to be a better father for the American people, and my own children.” And we see him do that over the course of the season.

    He’s bounced back from this bottom, that nadir that we see in the opening of Season 1, and he sort of becomes the man that he always was, or maybe meant to be. Someone that tries to do the right thing, and even if he has flaws. In Season 2, it very much continues in that vein. We explore his romantic past a little bit. And really, Walter’s biggest flaw, but it’s a good flaw to have, is that he loves all the people around him, no matter how loony they are. He doesn’t give up on anybody.

    So I think the show is less about Walter being a bad boy, because he’s not. He’s a man who enjoys his drinks, and he enjoys his romance, but he’s also committed to getting out important news and wants to make a difference. He’s someone we should root for. Again, it’s an overused parallel, but he’s very much a Don Quixote. He’s a knight — even if at times if he’s a deluded knight.

    How has writing the show and overseeing the show challenged you and evolved your writing?

    I mean, writing for television can just be very stressful because there’s so much — the time, and all sorts of logistical factors. You want to make things fresh, especially when you have all these great actors. You want to give everybody something really good to do, and give everybody their moment. So that’s always a fun challenge.

    It’s like, “Okay, as I’m going to have this platform, I want it to be unique, and beautiful, and interesting.” So you just always have to challenge yourself. With people like Patrick Stewart, you can’t give him banal scenes, or banal things to say. You want to give him good things. But still, it’s a lot of writing over these two seasons, written with the help of an excellent writing staff: 600 pages of scripts! … It’s all a challenge, but it’s a good challenge.

    No matter how much time that you’re given to tell Walter’s story, do you know the end, roughly? Do you have the end vision in mind for his tale?

    I don’t know the overall big picture, if we got five seasons or three seasons. But I tend to know the big picture each season before I enter into it, before I start planning everything. I usually have in mind where I want him to begin and where I’d like him to end. So I just kind of go season by season. That’s the nature of the TV life: you might not get another season.

  • ‘Blunt Talk’ Creator Talks ‘Remarkable’ Patrick Stewart and Making Cable News Funny

    Premiere Of STARZ "Blunt Talk" - Arrivals
    After turning the journalistic, fiction, memoir and graphic novel worlds on their heads with his distinctively quirkily charming, self-analytical writing style, author Bored to Death,” earning praise for unique characterizations and attention to comedic details.

    Now the wordsmith is returning to TV with “Blunt Talk,” a brand-new, decidedly non-memoir-ish series executive produced by Seth MacFarlane and set in the world of cable news punditry, starring Patrick Stewart as a barely-held-together news personality grappling with his many personal demons while aspiring, usually misguidedly, to do good in the world. To be blunt, Blunt’s a trainwreck, and that’s exactly where Ames like to start with a leading man.

    Moviefone: Where was the point of inspiration that made you want to spend this much time in this world?

    Jonathan Ames: I got an email from my agent that Seth MacFarlane was looking for an idea for comedy for Patrick Stewart. And this was very intriguing: a chance to work with Seth MacFarlane and a chance to work with Patrick Stewart. And the night before my phone call with Seth, I happened to be channel surfing, and I saw Piers Morgan on CNN. And I was kind of struck. I hadn’t maybe looked at a news show for a while. I don’t know why. I was kind of struck by like the electric blue pop of his set. I thought, “Wow, you know, Patrick Stewart would look really cool in front of such a background. Patrick Stewart could play a cable news host, and we could live behind the scenes.” I’d always loved the show “Larry Sanders.” And so for me, it wasn’t so much about the news, but an environment where characters could gather, and we could study this central character, this Walter Blunt.

    As far as creating Walter and figuring out who he was, keeping it of the world, but also funny, what did you want to say with him?

    Well, through this character, I wanted to create a hero. Maybe a deluded hero, maybe a Don Quixote, but someone who would like to do good in the world, to take his position and try to help humanity in some way, because I like to create characters that you root for and I want the viewer to enjoy rooting for these characters, to love them and I guess maybe one of the original definitions of the word catharsis, to experience catharsis. Are they going to make it? Am I going to make it? And then creating a world around him of people who have issues and problems, but they try to help each other with these issues and problems.

    So again, wanting to create something where human beings feel less alone, and that there are characters out there like this. And then ultimately, always having the goal to entertain, to create an entertainment. I see myself as a clown, so the rationalization for my existence is to maybe, in my own way, contribute by making a few people -– who have access to premium cable -– laugh a little. And so, then there’s just the joy in making something. So I’m in the arts to entertain.

    I’m sure you were confident that Patrick Stewart could do just about anything, but he’s just brilliant in this role. When did you realize there was a real special alchemy between actor and character here?

    I think the very first time we heard him reading the script. We rehearsed, and also, his immediate chemistry with Adrian Scarborough’s Harry. I just think from the get go, he just was this man. And it seemed special from the very first shot, from the very first rehearsal.

    What did you get to learn about Patrick, himself?

    I think it was really wonderful. I mean, all the actors we worked with are talented, gifted, and hard working. But just the commitment that Patrick brought to every scene, this training, this attention, that perfectionism. So I think that was really remarkable to watch day after day, how much he brought to this continuously, and brought to his fellow actors as a listener, a responder. So it was like launching a great athlete or a great dancer, and just very impressive, day after day.

    As you dug into the news talk format, what were things that you found there that you wanted to explore or tweak?

    Yeah, that’s a good question. I guess I was more into these characters than the world of the news. And in later episodes, we begin to address serious topics like the death penalty, genital mutilation. We come back to the environment. The impact of the Internet on journalism. PTSD. Shifting human sexuality. So I enjoy having this bully pulpit myself in a comedy, to be able to actually look at some important topics. And it’s kind of like the iron fist in the velvet glove: it’s a comedy, but we were bringing up these issues. So I think my observations of the news world -– I don’t think I was so fascinated by anything so much that, but I was more intrigued by [the film] “Network,” and the idea of news as entertainment and the idea of an eccentric newscaster. So I think it was more about those things rather than being intrigued by what goes on actually at Larry King or these kind of shows.

    Are you still intrigued by like a cocktail conversation with Piers Morgan, and see what he might have to say?

    Oh, sure. I would love to meet him. I would love to see what he thinks of the show. And I’d love to get him on the show.

    What do you love about the TV format?

    Well, having come from the world of books, I really like the opportunity to make some really fun images. To make moving pictures. Whether it be having cars that are beautiful colors, to having a silly sword fight scene like out of Peter Sellers. To doing a beautiful shot of the Venice Canals. Splitting the screen in two and having two Walter Blunts. Later episode, we pay homage to Laurel and Hardy on the staircase with the piano. So we shot out in the desert, and I really liked getting these beautiful desert shots. So I really like coming up with these visuals and trying to pull them off.

    You have such a deep bench in your ensemble. Tell me about assembling your cast. Was it difficult or easy to get that talent all in one place?

    Well, I don’t know about easy, but Jacki Weaver was interested in being in it. And so I met with her, and we talked. And I guess I sold her on the idea of doing it, so that was like a first big coup. And then I saw [Timm] Sharp audition, and I thought he was fantastic. I met Dolly [Wells] in New York, but then had her come audition. I just was drawn to these actors who are also interesting human beings, and I think they bring that to the characters. Patrick Stewart had worked with Adrian Scarborough and had worked with him, so it all sort of came together. I do all the casting for the show with my fellow producers, but ultimately, I make the choices. And I kind of used this Lillian Gish principle, which I had heard that she said, “Movies are about faces and music.” And so I always try to look for interesting faces in the smaller parts or the larger parts. And then interesting faces could translate as interesting human beings. Who isn’t interesting? Everyone’s interesting, but a combination of interesting face, acting, being able to be vulnerable -– these are, I guess, some of the qualities that I look for. And yeah, we just pulled together this beautiful ensemble.

    Seth has characterized his role as just making the introduction and letting you guys run with it. What has been interesting about being in business with him?

    Well, he made all this possible by introducing me to Patrick Stewart. I should have done something on the panel about, [singing] “Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match…” So he very much played matchmaker between Patrick and I. And then, yeah, he’s just kind of been like, “Hey. This is great. Keep going, keep going.” And then he’s been very busy with his own stuff.

    So I think he’s a fascinating fellow. He’s one of the most successful people in the industry, but he’s really just a humble, sweet guy who wants to make interesting work. And so I’m just very lucky to get to associate with him and find him personally, kind of fascinating. In some ways, he’s a little bit like a Gatsby figure. He catapulted to such levels of success at a fairly young age, but he wants to keep experimenting and trying new things. And also, he’s got a variety of talents. He sings. He dances. Voices, drawing, I mean, he really is a Renaissance man.

    And that relationship with Seth and Patrick is so interesting because he’s such a fan of “Star Trek.” And to see that they’ve become friends, that’s got to be kind of fun to see that happening in front of your eyes?

    Yeah, well, I mean, they’ve been working together long before I came on the picture. They’ve just been working on “Family Guy” for years. And I think that did come out of Seth being such a Trekkie. But yeah, Seth just adores Patrick, and vice versa.
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  • Timm Sharp and Dolly Wells on What Sets ‘Blunt Talk’ Apart

    2015 Summer TCA Tour - Day 4Blunt Talk,” but he’s also been surrounded by an ensemble of characters who despite their media elite jobs are finding life equally full potential pitfalls.

    Enlightened,” she of the current “Doll & Em”) sat down with Moviefone to offer a tease at the behind-the-scenes dysfunction ahead, even as they admitted their own not-so-successful ability to recognize the real-life news references their characters spout.

    Moviefone: There’s so much talent involved in this project that I can see why signing on would be an easy yes. But creatively, what was the thing that made you say “I’m going to have fun with this character?”

    Timm Sharp: Jonathan let me know very early on that my character was going to have a slew of really complex issues. And I thought that would be so fun to play somebody who had all these issues. You’ve seen the first four episodes, right? So you only know of two so far. There’s more.

    Dolly Wells: It’s like a treasure hunt. “Hey, I found some of Timm’s problems!”

    Sharp: A scavenger hunt.

    Wells: I was quite jealous of all his issues. I want some more issues. No. I’ve got issues. Remember that bit where they were asking me to say “iss ues” [leaving out “h” sound in an overly British pronunciation]. But I was trying, but I had issues with saying “iss ues.”

    Sharp: There was one where the director was like -– it was an American director -– and he was like, “This doesn’t sound right. Can you try doing it, just saying ‘iss-ues?” And you’re like, “Um…”

    Wells: And also, not that I’m 15, but you have to be well over 60. It’s a generational thing. My mother, you say, “sex-ual” and “iss-ues,” but I don’t. I couldn’t say it.

    Sharp: She was saying it through the door.

    Wells: I was saying, “We all have iss-ues.”

    Sharp: And then I said, “Why are you saying issues like that?” Maybe that will be on the DVD. Oh, yeah, it is on the blooper reel.

    Wells: Anyway, my answer to that would be, because I haven’t lived in America for very long and this is my first American show, I feel like she’s actually a very evolved woman in that you can show all her problems and confusions about everything. But you can also have her sleep with a bunch of people or try to find boyfriends on Tinder, but without there being any judgment, like “Oh my God, that’s quite weird.” But as I say that, I’m seeming quite old because I’m thinking, she does loads of shows probably in England, but America, women are like that. But that’s why I found her attractive. She was very intelligent, very successful. I mean, she’s a senior producer there, on this great show. That’s a very good job to have. She’s only one underneath Rosalie [Jacki Weaver]. So she’s doing a really important job, and she’s necessary. And she’s only been doing it for six months. She’s moved from England for a year. She used to work at the BBC.

    Sharp: I think you play it very well. You play that without the heaviness on the acting. That’s just something about you, and you move on.

    Anybody would jump at the chance to work with Patrick Stewart. This is Patrick Stewart comedically unleashed in a way we’ve never seen him before and he’s doing brilliantly, so tell me about seeing that happen in front of your face and not just either stop and watch him go -– or kind of lose your mind inside?

    Sharp: That was all part of it. The first two weeks, I saw more breasts than I think I’ve ever seen in my life.

    Wells: But also, you feel so lucky. I remember the first day or one of the first days when it was in the porn studio, and Patrick’s in that yellow windbreaker or whatever you call it here. Wind-slicker or something you call it here. And I thought, “My God, even if I didn’t have a single speaking line, the fact that I’m standing this close to such a fantastic actor, that not only have I heard he’s a fantastic actor, but now I’m really seeing up close what a phenomenal actor he is.”

    Sharp: He’s incredible.

    Wells: He’s really brilliant. And I mean, each take, there’s something different. And he’s so inclusive and you’re such a part of it all. And he’s got a little -– not little — huge, twinkly eyes. All the sort of fun and chaos that’s happening, I think he was enjoying as much. He was saying, “I haven’t in my whole career done as many ridiculous things as I’ve done in the last three months.” And he’d giggle. But you felt like you were all part of it together. It was exciting watching everybody. It was exciting for me watching Timm, watching Mary, watching Kara, watching Adrian. Because you see everyone’s work a little bit. But it’s like, wow. Honestly, you feel proud of yourself, like I’m allowed to be a part of it. You feel like you’re gate crashing a party.

    Sharp: Yeah, we’re part of something that’s never… I think there’s nothing like this show on TV. It’s weird in all the great ways, and yeah, I’m honored to be a part of it. And it’s fun watching all the Jonathan’s neuroses come out through us.

    Wells: I know. It’s an honor to show them.

    The world of news network is so rich for stories. Were you a news junkie before or just watched it casually as most of us do?

    Wells: I feel very ashamed to say this, but I’m getting better. But I find it’s almost like someone starting to learn Danish later in life or something. I just have always found the news so frightening that I’m not up to date. It made my friends laugh. I mean, of course, I know what’s going on sort of, but I’m not someone that’s very -– I read the newspapers, and I feel really sad.

    Sharp: What’s funny about that is I’m the exact same way. I loosely follow what’s going on in the world, and we are both playing the senior producer and head writers of this show [laughs]. And we don’t know what the hell is going on.

    Wells: Like when we were doing that walking along. Do you remember?

    Sharp: Oh, yeah.

    Wells: And it felt like I was just going “Uh, uh, uh…I didn’t know the countries I was speaking about. I mean, it’s all sort of laughing and going, “I know nothing about the world.” I don’t mean that.

    Sharp: Yeah, “Timm Sharp and Dolly Wells are idiots.”

    Wells: “Proud to know nothing about current affairs.”

    Tell me about the intersection of the two talents, Seth MacFarlane and Jonathan Ames, that make this show uniquely pop?

    Sharp: I think Seth MacFarlane is smart, very smart force. And he basically just introduced Patrick and Jonathan and let those two do their thing. Creatively, Seth wasn’t as involved as Jonathan and the writing staff.

    Wells: But it’s almost like his work was done before that. First of all, he’s an incredible comedic talent. I mean, I can’t believe, like I can’t believe he’s sticking around. He’s really hilarious. But I think and also, there’s a humility. I think that’s just as creative and exciting. And she’s thinking, OK. Patrick Stewart, hilarious, brilliant. I’ve watched him on “Extras.” Wasn’t Patrick’s voice on “Family Guy?”

    Sharp: There’s an interview -– I can’t remember who he was quoting -– but Seth was like “Somebody great said to me, ‘The key to success is to just put all your favorite people together and let them do their thing. And you can reap the rewards,’ or whatever. Seth’s amazing. And he loved the show.

    Wells: He knew to put those together -– to me, that’s a creative decision. Or it’s even like people that non stop give the best parties or whatever: “Who knows: if I have that person and that person, something exciting is going to happen.” It’s like a creative party.

    Sharp: Seth is an incredible party host for us.
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  • Jacki Weaver Learned Some Interesting New Sex Slang Filming ‘Blunt Talk’

    Premiere Of STARZ "Blunt Talk" - Arrivals Blunt Talk,” created by “Bored to Death’s” Jonathan Ames and executive produced by “Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane.

    An education in contemporary sex slang was just one of the reasons Weaver was compelled to take on the role of the supportive producer propping up a fraying-at-the-seams news anchor (Patrick Stewart), as the actress explained in a chat with Moviefone.

    Moviefone: Obviously, things have been going well in the feature film side of your career, but I can see why you couldn’t resist this series. What got its hooks into you about it?

    Jacki Weaver: Well, Jonathan Ames, who I adore, I’ve read several of his books, and I loved “Bored to Death.” He took me to lunch at the Sunset Tower Hotel and begged me to be in his new show, on his knees, and plied me with expensive food and drink and explained to me what it was going to be about. And of course, I couldn’t resist. And it’s been a joy. I’ve only seen four episodes, but we’ve had such fun making all ten of them. And I can’t wait to start all over again and do the next series.

    Give me a little bit of a fuller picture of Rosalie Winter.

    Well, Rosalie is the same height as I am [laughs]. She’s an Emmy award-winning, current affairs producer with many years of experience. She’s been in a relationship, a professional relationship with Walter Blunt for at least 20 years. Way back, we have indications that it was an intimate relationship, so they’ve been lovers. He’s still very dependent on her emotionally and professionally. She’s a very tough boss lady, but she’s also tender-hearted.

    She has a husband she absolutely adores played by the wonderful Ed Begley, Jr. And without giving too much away, she also has some extramarital adventures, so she’s a very complex woman, yeah, as are all the characters, thanks to Jonathan Ames. Nobody’s sort of very clear cut. Like real human beings, we’re all quite complex with flaws and foibles and some shocking things. Not that I’m shockable. With Seth MacFarlane behind the show, it’s bound to have some shocking things in it.

    I imagine anybody would be excited to work with Patrick Stewart, but we really get to see what he’s capable of comedically. Tell me about being an acting partner with this side of Patrick?

    Well, Patrick’s enormously brave, and he’s very hard-working. He comes on that set knowing that script, back to front, and he’s adventurous. I mean, he’ll try anything. And at the same time, he’s sweet and gentle and very non-arrogant and very self-deprecating and a joy to work with, a real team player. All of that stage experience. Mind you, there are some stage actors that aren’t good at teamwork [laughs], but yeah, he’s highly disciplined, very humble, very sweet -– and fun. He’s a lot of fun.

    What do you love about the news world that the show is set in? Is it new and fresh for you, or do you keep a sharp eye on it?

    Well, it’s not [new], actually. I know that world very, very well because my ex husband was, for many years, a sort of cross between -– in Australia -– Larry King and Dan Rather. He had his own top-rated current affairs program with his name on it. Not like “Blunt Talk,” but his name on it. So for all that time, I was very familiar with the way that world works. And back in the 70s, while I didn’t give up acting, I did have a job as an interviewer on a current affairs program, and I used to interview big stars who came from America like Sammy Davis, Jr., Burl Ives, Burt Lancaster. So it’s a world that I’m very familiar with. I know exactly what goes on in those TV studios [laughs]. I’m not familiar with the American programs, behind the scenes, but they probably don’t differ that much.

    When you were in it, what did you love about it and what drove you crazy about it?

    Well, what drove me crazy about it was I wasn’t acting. I’m fascinated by people, and I love finding out stuff from people, but I’m really, vocationally, a pretender. I need to become other people to get any fulfillment in life. That sounds men-tal! And I know I’ve been like that since the day I was born. And I’ve always loved getting into someone else’s head and pretending to be other people. It’s just the way I am.

    So that was always your path, your life?

    I think it was a foregone conclusion in my whole family from the moment I could talk. I think going back to being three years old and putting on different accents, French accents, Italian accents and American accents and pretending to be a different character, all together from myself, I think it was always accepted in the family. And by me, that that’s what I’ll be when I grow up, or before I grow up.

    What is it about Jonathan’s writing that you admire?

    He’s very original, but I love that he [writes about] people with problems on the fringe. He’s pretty much obsessed with transgender people. I mean we’re all fascinated by them, but I love how people who are outsiders or on the fringe or who have special problems, Jonathan can look at them with such compassion and kindness and tell their story in a really good way.

    What’s been the other not-obvious joys of the job that you didn’t expect?

    I found out what “motorboating” is. I didn’t know that! Well, all the young people knew what it was. I mean, I’m not saying my generation never knew it, but we just didn’t have a name for it! [Laughs]

    Are you fine with saying, “Excuse me, what does this word here mean?”

    Well, it wasn’t even in the script. It was in the call sheet. It said, “So-and-so motorboat.” I was like, “What is this thing?” And they shrieked with laughter.

    Well, I’m glad your education is getting complete.

    Yeah, God bless America!
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  • ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Cast: Where Are They Now?

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    Blunt Talk,” he gets to play an ambitious, reckless cable news host, and he gets to show off the comedic chops that he seldom displays in an acting career most famous for sci-fi heroics and Shakespearean speeches.

    Stewart, of course, has been the highest-profile member of the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” cast, ever since the beloved syndicated series went off the air in 1994 and the crew’s run of big-screen features ended in 2002. But what became of those who served on the starship Enterprise alongside Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard? Synthesize a cup of tea (“Earl Grey. Hot.”) and read on to find out. Ready? Engage.