Adrian Pasdar is back on the small screen with new show The Lying Game, which is based on the novels by Sara Shepard.
I caught up with the actor to talk about this new series and character as well as juggling work with family life.
- You are about to star in new TV series The Lying Game so can you tell me a little bit about the show?
It’s a show that centres on the relationship between a more mature crowd lets say who have made some decisions in the past that may or may not come back to bit them in the ass and the younger crowd who are in the midst of making decisions that, when they are older, may or may not come back to bite them in the ass.
So it’s interesting to see the relationship between the older and the younger and lessons learned and lessons that are passed on as well as the lessons that don’t get learned. I think that the dynamic between the people of the town that it is set in is quite interesting and it’s fun to play - it’s fairly dramatic I think.
- You take on the role of Alec Rybak in the show so what was it about this character and the scripts that initially drew you to the project?
The idea of having to deal with what I just talked about, having to deal with the resonance of the decisions that you make as a young person, is something that I hadn’t really wrestled with before on a TV show and that really was a draw.
How do you deal with the stuff that you set up in your younger days that now comes back to haunt you? How do you react? What kind of hero are you in the face of who you are? And that was pretty much what drew me.
- The show is based on a series of novel by Sara Shepard so how familiar with the books beforehand and how useful have they been in the development of your character?
Never heard of them before I got involved - they are not really the night time reading that I would go for. It was an interesting part that was presented to me and through the development of the story I became highly involved with the producers and the writers in terms of the direction that we would be going.
So I have been very fortunate to have been included in that process and it’s been great as I know what’s happening, I know where I am going and I know where I have been which are the three key things that make it interesting for me.
- So can you tell me a little bit about Alec and how we see him develop throughout the series?
Well of course they won’t let me tell you anything but I can spinball and make it seem like I am telling you something. A few decisions that he made as a young man may or may not have been the smartest thing that he did but he recognised early that he would have some tracks to cover.
I think that he went to great lengths to prepare for the road ahead that he would be forced to reckon with - he would cushion it as well as he could.
So over the course of the series you see some ugly truths that rear themselves and some not so ugly truths that rear themselves and he ends up having to protect what looks like himself through his behaviour but he is actually protecting some other people.
So that ends up being what the show is about for him - I can’t give much more away than that and I know that I am being vague. He is about more altruistic in his intentions than it seems he isn’t just a selfish, slimy shark - he does have a couple of other people in mind when he sacrifices himself. So he is a martyr… in a way.
- The Lying Game also stars Alexandra Chando, Andy Buckley and Blair Redford, to name just a few, so what was the feeling like on the set between the cast? Was it a fun shoot?
I am leaving today, I am in New York at the moment, go back and join them as they have just started filming the second to last episode of the first season and I can’t wait to get back there.
Alexandra Chando is a brilliant actress and an even more brilliant human being - I have a great relationship with all the cast. Andy Buckley is hysterical, he is on the American interpretation of The Office, and he is just great and everyone else is just great.
They have managed to get really great people consistently across the line there really is no weak link in this cast - so it was a good bunch of people to be around.
- How have you found working with ABC?
It was great man. What is good is there is a certain magic working with Disney. I use to work at Disney World when I was younger so it’s nice to work on this side on that coin - I was driving trams into the Magic Kingdom. It’s fun and a great great project to work on.
- Throughout your career we have seen you work in both movies and TV so do you have a favourite medium and how to the two compare and differ?
That’s a great question. The thing about film is the pace is slower; it’s a little bit closer to real life which is what we are trying to capture. With TV you are shooting ten or twelve pages a day - with film it’s two or three pages a day.
You spend more time working on so much more time on human behaviour in film. But again it’s like apples and oranges but then someone said to me the other day ‘haven’t you ever had an apple tart with marmalade on top?’
You can combine the both but they are completely separate and I think the main thing that drives them is pace. People sit down to watch movies they don’t get up with TV they get up; go to the loo or go and get something out of the fridge or whatever.
So the pacing is different I wouldn’t say it was languid but it’s more resonate and consistent with the human condition watching or making movies. TV is a little more paced up for entertainment value. Both of them are rewarding but both of them are quite different.
- Back in 1999 you made your directorial debut Cement, but you haven’t directed anything since, so how much does working behind the camera still interest you?
Oh it’s great but in the interim I have had a family and school tuition so I have to try and be able to pay for it all and working as an actor I have made more money doing that. It’s not so much about the money but it’s about the bills (laughs).
I am so eager and ready to get back behind the camera because I think that is where the most rewarding experiences have been for me.
- You have touched on my next question as well as an actor you are also a parent so how difficult do you find that balance between work and home commitments?
You would have to ask my wife because she is the real hero as she is home with the kids right now - she is a much better man than I am let’s say that. She is strong and she has provided me with the opportunity to step away from the house and go on location to make these films and I love her for it.
It’s a tough balance and I couldn’t do it without her - if she was to even begin to complain about it I would have to be home.
- You have had huge success in both TV and film over the years so how have your work choices changed as you have got older and more experienced?
Again it’s about pace I think. When I was younger it was about location and I have made movies everywhere from Shanghai to Morocco and it was just about going.
But now it’s about coming home and as I get older I realise that it’s fun to be able go places and do things but now it’s even more fun to be able to have a deadline and come back to my children and my wife.
- You are obviously very well know for your role in Heroes so how would you sum up that experience when you look back on it now having had a couple of years away from it?
I made great friends through the course of that show and I think that we are all very proud of season one.
It was fun and that first season was just magical and we had a great time, it was a great experience and I wouldn’t trade the world for it.
- Finally what’s next for you and what other projects do you have in the pipeline?
I am going to be working on The Lying Game for the foreseeable future so I have not really been able to plan anything else. My projects are my family and The Lying Game - I am going to keep those two things together and separate.
The Lying Game is on Mondays at 10pm on 5*
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Heroes