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This week I have been involved with some interesting interviews, like the interview with Wolfgang Puck; and you will see more this coming week. But now it´s time to check out one with an extremely talented actor, House and Men of a Certain Age alum Andre Braugher for this year´s show Last Resort, in which he plays Captain Marcus Chaplin.
The show, about a submarine crew, where, with nowhere left to turn, a nuclear missile sub Captain and his XO will go on the run and bring their crew to an exotic island. Show has been ordered for five more scripts to see where the showrunners are going forward before committing to a full season pickup or a renewal order.
Interview with Andre Braugher from ABC´s Last Resort
Seriesandtv: You’re well known for your ability to have long monologues with lots of layers and tones in your character. How do you train that specialty?
Andre Braugher: A monologue? I was classically trained so, you know, it follows I think hard on the heels of my Shakespeare training. So I think that was the anticipation of it.
You know, that’s – Shakespeare monologues and TV don’t go well together because, you know, it’s hard to sustain that kind of monologue on a television. So the stakes are very high and the subject matter is very compelling. You know, there is really no place for monologues so most of the monologues that we get in Last Resort are really about, you know, real things that are real compelling.
So once again, you know, talking Brannan off the con with his grenade, that’s where those long speeches come in handy. You know, defending our actions to the world, that’s where those speeches come in handy. But generally, you know, television is a back and forth medium so, you know, so they aren’t as prevalent as they – they aren’t a common feature of television period. But that’s where my training comes from.
Q: What’s your advice to actors? (Lance Carter from DailyActor asking)
Andre Braugher: It’s the same as I have for football players which is, you know, be prepared, you know, so that when the coach gives you the ball you don’t fumble it, you know. And that seems simple, you know what I mean, but it’s the hardest thing in the world is to stay prepared in anticipation of the opportunity. But that’s what I would say. You know, get trained and stay prepared and opportunity which is not every day is going to come your way and good things will follow on.
Q: What are some of your current favorites TV Shows? (Did not catch who asked that one)
Andre Braugher: You know, I don’t watch a lot of TV I have to say. You know, the schedule that we keep down here is ambitious working 12 to 14 hours a day. So I don’t watch a lot of TV while I’m working. I usually go back in iTunes or Hulu some of the previous seasons of shows that I do like. But once again it’s a Breaking Bad thing for me, that’s one of my favorite shows. Bryan Cranston is the only guy on television whose role I want. And then I’m looking forward to watching the first season of Homeland.
Q: How soon are we going to get back story about your character and how he came to be but more importantly why the U.S. government made the call they did to have you all on the sub fire at Pakistan?
Andre Braugher: That I can’t tell you, that’s really a question for the creators. You know, it’s really a question for the creators. In terms of back story, in terms of, you know, unraveling the conspiracy in Washington, DC, you know, I don’t think you ever want to fully unravel it because then you have nowhere left to go, you know what I mean? Once they show you the puppet master the game is over. So I personally, and this is not speaking for the creators, I’m hoping we take a good long time to get to the heart of this conspiracy and that it takes as many twists and turns necessary to get to the heart. Because once we do get to the heart of this conspiracy it’s game over.
Q: You addressed this a little bit in the previous question but are we supposed – because I get confused watching this show. Are we supposed to know who the bad guys are? Or, I mean, because some of the government people I think are pulled in just because it’s the government doing it but do we really know who the bad guys are?
Andre Braugher: Right now I don’t think we do. I mean, I suspect that not even the Secretary of Defense as much as this plays into his (unintelligible) ambitions, I suspect even the Secretary of Defense does not fully wrap his head around, that even he is somehow being played by someone. Perhaps it’s the president, perhaps it’s some other part of our administration, perhaps it’s the puppet masters, I don’t know. But right now it doesn’t look to me like anyone has the complete story. (Callie) doesn’t have it, (Hopper) doesn’t have it, the Secretary of Defense doesn’t have it, we don’t have it. So right now it’s still sort of looking into the heart of what’s going on, you know. To find out number one what happened in Pakistan. You know, there’s a lot of different things happening. We picked up the Seals, we got the bad order, we questioned the bad order, and then we were attacked. And so the question is it the prototype, is it the bad order, is it the picking up the Seals? I’m not sure. But there is something – something came together in the pilot that made them want to destroy us. And so we’re trying to get to the heart of that.
Q: Have you and the other cast members heard from military people about the characters you’re playing and more importantly the premise and how provocative it is?
Andre Braugher: Well it’s provocative as well as being farfetched. And, you know, we’re – they comment on that as well. I think, you know, in all the comments that I’ve heard is that what they really like is the fact that we are getting inside the head of Navy men and women and exploring the issues that are important to them.
The premise is ambitious to say the least and our job every week really is to fill in that ambitious premise with some very down to earth, honest, raw, detailed kind of acting and storytelling, you know. And it’s one thing to have an ambitious premise, but it’s another thing to drift off into a kind of fantasy land behind that premise. And I think what we’re dedicated to is making sure that it’s honest and it’s raw, it’s down to earth, and it’s compelling. And so far that has worked and that’s our great goal. That and delivering, you know, the action every week, you know, and basically giving, you know, the television, the broadcast television audience a movie every week. And that’s a tall order but so far we’ve succeeded and we’re really looking forward to seeing how far we can go with this thing.
What did you think about this interview with Andre Braugher from Last Resort? Follow me on Twitter for more Last Resort scoop.
Andre Braugher is an amazing actor. He takes things to a whole new level, and he’s part of the reason I watch Last Resort. A friend I work with at DISH first turned me on to his acting, and now I’m hooked. I have the entire season of Last Resort set to record on my Hopper, which has plenty of memory to save everything, just so I can re-watch his performances. This was a great interview, too. It’s interesting to know his talent for monologues comes from Shakespearian training. I’m going to have to watch a few of his other shows and see if I can pick out his Shakespearian influences in those as well.
Nice interview with Andre Braugher.He is a good actor and I’ve seen some of his movies and I admire his acting talents.Thanks for sharing.