|
| |
|
William S. Paley TV Fest: How I Met Your Mother (Part 2)
Continuation of yesterday’s interview with the cast and creators of 'How I Met Your Mother'! |
 Moderator Joseph Adalian noted that Segal was a veteran of two critically acclaimed shows that suffered from low ratings, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. Asked if he was again afraid he'd be, "Stuck in a great show that nobody watched," Segal said, "I was very lucky to get hooked up with a real genius like [Freaks and Geeks/Undeclared creator] Judd Apatow right from the start. So I would read comedies and think that they wouldn't live up to the things I'd worked on before. And I read this and I loved it. I felt like Marshall was written for me in a way." Segal then noted that he had to initially turn down Mother because of a commitment he had to another show. "I was really disappointed, because something in my gut told me this was what I was supposed to do," he recalled. "And so the three of us [Bays, Thomas, Segal] had a little private conversation, which I haven't said till this moment… It was, 'Well look, we know that you're testing for the show tomorrow. And if that test doesn't go so well… we'll be here waiting for you!' And so, funny enough… the test didn't go well!"
"I literally went in the next day, and I read with the lovely Alyson Hannigan," continued Segal. "And I think we really hit it off in the room. We got messed up during one of the scenes." "Aw, he's being nice. I messed up," interjected Hannigan. Smiling, Segal waved off Hannigan, saying "Ahhh, whatever! But as soon as it got off script, it was just as funny that we were kind of riffing off each other. And I knew it was going great and that we could act together for a long time. And that afternoon I got the call that I got the show and I was thrilled. And I had a hunch that this one was gonna be more received then the others, because it wasn't nearly as sad! The others were so sad. This one was hopeful!"
Asked if she feels pressure playing someone who Ted thinks of as the perfect woman, Smulders said,
"I just try to play her as truthfully as possible and working with Josh makes that very easy. For my [network and studio] tests, I went in with Josh for both of them and I got to throw a drink in his face for both! But yeah, it is a pretty big thing to say you're going to be the ideal woman and this perfect woman for this man, but you've gotta kind of rationalize it in your own brain." The pilot showed how Ted meets Robin and instantly falls for her, only to end with the surprising revelation (from the older Ted who narrates the show) that Robin is not the woman he will end up marrying and have children with. Thomas explained that this caused a lot of surprisingly strong reactions. "We went to the TCA's where they interview all the new shows and all the questions were really intense. 'Why is she not the mom?!' People screaming at us! It was designed from the get go for her not to be the mom. We have a whole plan." Added Bays, "It's torturous and frustrating that they're not together, and from the very beginning I think that's what we loved about the idea. That one of the central relationships on the show you really want to go this direction but it never will. Our frustration that Cobie and Josh can't play a married couple is very real. It's the same frustration these two characters have. They'll never be together."
Neil Patrick Harris & Jason Segal --->
The entire panel clearly got along great with each other, and they all agreed it helped the show tremendously. Bays praised Fryman for helping create a family atmosphere on set, to which she responded,
"It's everything. It's so important, because you know, this is how we're spending our lives. It's a job, but we're there long hours every day, and people work better when they're happy and when they're in comfortable surroundings and they feel supported by everyone. And you know what? We have a great time!" Bays brought up Fryman being the sole director for the show, saying, "It makes such a difference, because it sets and maintains the tone. So you don't have a new director coming in that's crazy wacky comedy and then another one that wants to be real serious." Harris then joked that, "We bonded so fast in the pilot that Alyson kept saying there's no way this show is gonna go. We all got along too well!"
This is the first high profile roles for Smulders and Radnor, and they were asked if they are finding more strangers recognizing them and approaching them now. "It hasn't really affected me that much yet," responded Smulders. "I don't really wear a lot of makeup and I don't dress up and I'm literally like sweatpants girl. So I don't think I look the same as I do every Monday night at 8:30. When people do come up, they have nothing but great things to say and are just fans of the show." Radnor agreed, saying, "My experience is it seems to be about the show. People want to talk about the show. There's a lot of, 'Who's the mother?!' And people think that I know! And I don't know what they want me to say. Is it, 'It's an accountant from New Jersey that I meet season five?' Or is it like, 'It's Keira Knightley! It's gonna be Keira Knightley!' There's a whole obsession with the end."
 Bays and Thomas were asked if they were considering adding any other regulars to the cast, causing Hannigan to jokingly whisper, "Alexis Denisof," the name of her husband. A fellow alum of Buffy and Angel, Denisof recently filmed a couple of guest appearances on How I Met Your Mother. Bays said they like building a strong supporting cast and could see Denisof returning. Hannigan joked that at first it seemed like all of Segal's previous costars were appearing and not hers and that she was telling the producers,
"Oh, so you're big Buffy fans, but you've got like every Freak and Geek!" Thomas replied, "We finally caved; not that we're caving because we love Buffy so much. But we had her husband on, and that shut her up! And we've got Amy Acker from Angel coming up." "We're stealing all the Joss Whedon cast," added Bays. "There was a moment when we were shooting the finale when it was Amy, Alexis and Alyson and Nicholas Brendon just showed up to hang out. It was like everyone from every Joss Whedon show."
Asked about his designation from the press as the show's scene stealer, Harris replied,
"Barney as you saw in the pilot was just insane from line one all the way through. There's not much redeeming about him. They have to write specific moments where he has some redeeming values. So it's fun to be that guy." Harris had high praise for the show's writing, adding, "If I may speak about the structure of the show, I think that's what separates it. They have such a knack, the whole writing stuff, of creating a situation and not just seeing what happens next and where they go next in a linear way." Before the Q&A, the pilot and the episode "The Pineapple Incident" were screened, the latter of which especially goes back and forth through time, as Ted tries to remember what happened one drunken evening. Noted Harris, "'The Pineapple Incident' is a great example of starting and going six scenes in, then backing up and replaying scenes. And then seeing it from a different character's point of view. And I love that. I think that's what makes it unique."
Fryman also felt the show distinguishes itself because, "We don't have to laugh all the time. The show that they've created allows us to take those moments and really get to know who these people are. There's so much heart. It's a very emotional show, and wait till you see what's coming up!" Segal agreed, also noting that, "One of the things that's great is we're free to play jokes at the level they should be played at, without having this obligation to make sure the person in the back row of the audience heard the joke and it gets a loud laugh. You can do a subtle joke or a big joke; we have a whole range. It's nice." Thomas said they always intended the series to have different beats then just broad comedy. "CBS has been really supportive of the emotional stuff. They always say keep it grounded. We really try to write our first drafts without jokes to be honest. We just say, 'What's the moment? What's going to be said here?' and then do a joke pass after. We kind of consider it a 'sit-dram,' All the shows we watch are hour dramas and that's just kind of how we write. And then we hope we find some jokes along the way."
The funniest part of the evening came from an innocuous moment: Asked why they chose to reveal Robin and Ted won't end up together at the very beginning of the series, Bays explained,
"We knew we didn't want to do 'Will They Or Won't They?' We were already worried about the Friends comparisons, and thank god that's gone away. I think that the rhythm of the show is different from that. We didn't want to do Friends; we didn't want to do Ross and Rachel and 'Will they or won't they' for ten years. We wanted to do an interesting friendship where they're kind of in love but for some reason it's just not in the stars for them." As Bays was speaking, Smulders and Radnor, who were sitting next to each other, jokingly leaned in as if about to passionately kiss. When Radnor smiled and turned away at the last moment, Smulders exclaimed, "He always pulls out before I do!" At which point first the audience, and then the entire panel burst into hysterics over the unintentionally dirty comment, with more then one of the cast having to wipe their eyes, nearly crying in laughter. It was capped off with Harris taking a sip of water in order to do a spit take.
Later, after everyone finally settled down, Thomas assured the audience that they did have a plan for who the mysterious mother will be, saying,
 "We know what the last five minutes of the series will be. I think we know where it's going." Bays said it was always important for them that Ted struggle to find the right girl. "We just thought it would be so cheap in a show about how hard it is finding the love of your life if we went, 'I went down to the bar, and there she was!'" One fan noted that they loved an episode featuring Robin and Barney playing laser tag together and asked if those two characters might end up romantically paired. Bays replied, "There's definitely a chance. I think part of what we loved about that scene was they are kind of kindred spirits on the show. They're the two characters that aren't about settling down and getting married and so was fun to see them goof around. Who knows?"
Thanks again to TLupus for the link!
| | [by Róisín (ign.com) ] [0 comments]
|
| |
| AD | 
|
| |
