Post by karen on Nov 23, 2011 0:37:58 GMT -5
Here are my recollections and impressions of the chat with Kevin on Wednesday, October 12, the first of the charity “Thank You” chats [as though Kevin making the whole process so much fun wasn’t thanks enough.] My thanks to the awesome Leanne and COForever for facilitating the call. Probably have a bit out of order but will try to at least get most of it down.
I was trying to pretend I wasn’t nervous but I really, really was, sitting there in my work back conference room on a “personal” call, hoping no emergencies would arise and realizing too late I had drunk too much coffee (well I was for sure going to make it through the call, even if I had to call for adult diaper protection – hey, if Cristina isn’t too proud . . .) Then, hilariously, Kevin got the time wrong and had to rush back home from his workout. Then – there he was! Bright blue t-shirt matching his bright blue eyes. On a video call, his boyishness really comes through.
His rib is pretty well healed and that day was the first real workout he had gotten. Unfortunately, shortly after injuring it, he had a bit of a cold, so everytime he sneezed he felt he was being stabbed in the chest. I mentioned I had read the interview where he had broken a rib on Dog Soldiers. He said that was years ago, but it was the same rib so maybe it was already weakened.
We discussed the recent Save the Children fundraiser and thoughts on his next project for charity. First of all, he’s really proud of everyone raising so much money. You can tell it means a lot to him. As for his next effort, he’s looking for good ideas. He has thought about climbing a mountain, and it seems to hold a lot of interest for him – problem is, which mountain? The only concern about an ultimate life challenge such as Everest is the length of time and the real danger involved – as a family man, he can’t just be going off risking his life or taking inordinate amounts of time away from home. So whatever he does, he will take his family into consideration. At the same time, he wants to do something, if possible, that everyone else isn’t doing.
I think later in the conversation when talking about ToughMudder he mentioned that some of the other Greys cast members had, pre-race, been tossing around idea of doing a cast team at some point – however, he laughingly said some had second thoughts when they heard about the electric shocks. Kevin said the electric shocks were unfortunately at the end where everyone was watching so going around them was not an option They were not fun.
I wanted to know when we were going to see him on the big screen in a starring role – what was it that fans needed to do to get him up there? [I'm personally ready to petition Eastwood & Scorsese] He said the issue while on Grey’s is that big movies usually shoot for a lot longer than the Grey’s hiatus would permit. He mentioned he is working on a couple of draft scripts/projects with Bruno Heller, but they would be television projects if ever realized.
I brought up a role I’d like to see him in: Hank Stamper from Sometimes a Great Notion. He hadn’t read the book, but he wrote the suggestion down (!) [so fans, my impression is if you have something you think would be a great role for him, he’s receptive to hearing it.] Leanne, I think, brought up Outlander – he said he asked his agent to look into it, but there is no news to report on that front .
Nicole had the thoughtful and inspired idea of asking him about his ukulele. Want to see Kevin get excited? Ask him about his ukulele (or probably music in general). He jumped up to go retrieve it from the other room (seriously, his enthusiasm was very cute.) He sat back down, uke in hand, and proceeded to play a little and demonstrate the various types of sounds it can produce and talk about the reasons he’s enjoying it so much. I thought he should give some regular YT lessons [what do you think fans: “Ukulele Lessons with Kevin”? : ) ]
After what I thought was an appropriate amount of time, and because I care a lot about his and Sandra’s artistic integrity, as well as my own enjoyment and appreciation of their character arcs, I brought up the abortion storyline. I was frank because I thought this of all times was the opportunity to speak frankly about it. However, I tried to limit it to the handling of the SL [instead of plunging into the abyss of why I personally HATE that the show creators chose to tell that particular story for Cristina and Owen at all – plus, I know there are varying degrees of unhappiness with story period, but my perception is most CO fans had objections to at least the manner/time devoted to handling the SL.] I basically said that I thought it was handled very, very badly; that some of us had stopped watching or were on the verge of stopping watching and that I hated that because I LOVE Cristina and Owen and want to be able to watch. At some point I mentioned that as a woman, as someone who has had friends who have had abortions, as a CO fan, while I appreciated the effort he and Sandra put into it, I was offended by the show’s trivial handling – on all counts.
Kevin, of course, will never say anything bad about the writers [sometimes I think he has too much class for his own good and could take a page out of Heigl’s calling a spade a spade book, but that’s just me] His answer was to the effect that such a serious storyline could take the whole 42 minutes of the show, which was of course impossible. I responded that we didn’t expect that, but I thought there was certainly some compromise between 1 minute on stairwell with a Cristina joke and the whole 42 mins. He also diplomatically mentioned the word “historic” in relation to the show’s choice to tell that story re a happily married couple [no, I did not snark that the 70’s sitcom Maude beat GA to the punch 30 years prior or that doing a “historic” SL for the sake of “historic” is the hallmark of atrocious writing or that if they couldn’t devote the necessary time to a serious story, they shouldn’t try to tell it – really, if you knew me you would be proud of my restraint ;D]. He understood it was a controversial issue – at which point I interrupted him, because I personally thought it important that he and the show understand that I had a problem as a pro-choice supporter – I have had friends who have had abortions, so it wasn’t the principle of making a difficult choice, but the complete lack of seriousness of the choice or feeling or time with which the writers treated it.
He did say he thought it would be dealt with at some point. [Can I say how relieved I was that he freely answered my questions and didn’t make me feel I’d brought the session down or made him uncomfortable – he’s WAY too well-adjusted, grounded and good spirited ;D ]
During this discussion, on the topic of the lack of time devoted to C/O’s serious SL [and my comparison that they devote more time to discussion of pudding cups], he mentioned that the writers tell them Cristina and Owen don’t need long speeches to convey a real emotion/connection (he jokingly said sometimes characters get these speeches like “I love you but I hate you but I really love you but I hate you but I love you” [ that may have been the snarkiest thing I’ve ever heard him say – I loved it]
COForever [who I thought had another session because she turned off her Skype photo and only very intermittently participated, serving mainly as a link for the awesome Nicole)]– asked the very great, and delicately worded question: Why was there such a change from the S5 CO soulmate lovestory? Kevin talked about how In S5 Cristina really needed something in her life.
The conversation went into the lack of CO communication [as contrasting with the deep S5 connection/understanding] this season. I thought it had been resolved in Season 6. Kevin brought up fact that in real life, in marriage, people can keep coming back to same issues.
On to newer topics, he was interested in knowing what we think of Owen as chief. He’s enjoying it. Gives Owen an opportunity to interact with broader range of characters – mentioned upcoming scenes with Patrick. He enjoys aspect of Owen getting rid of office.
So now to perhaps my biggest fangirly thrill of the session. Again, this may be slightly out of order in discussion, but re topic of CO screentime, I said that I, and fans, would love it if Owen and Cristina could just have 5 minutes together – if the writers don’t want to write that (see above re CO don’t need long speeches), just have Kevin and Sandra ad lib for five minutes. He seemed amused and said that he and Sandra have talked about wanting to do a whole Cristina/Owen live episode (along the lines of the ER live epi for those of you who remember). [Let me emphasize: he did NOT say it would ever or could ever be done – just implied that it was one of those “wish list” things] I just about jumped out of my chair – in fact, I did one of those Laura Linney “Love Actually” behind the door moves when the hunky guy is about to come up to her apartment. I think I begged.
On the topic of he and Sandra working together again: he said they have talked about doing a play together, maybe some Chekov or . CO was in favor of the drama and angst, while I suggested some comedy too -- he laughed maybe one serious play on a double bill with a farce.
I knew time was running short, so I started to tick off more things I wanted [was I going to take advantage of my once in a lifetime opportunity? Yes I was]: I, and I thought CO fans, would be over the moon if he and Sandra would do a joint interview sometime [all of us respect Sandra’s reluctance generally to do interviews.] He said he would mention it to her. (: )! )
I also brought up that it was great to see one of his Journeyman guest stars Jessica Chastain starring in one of the best movies of the year. He said he remembers thinking she was special and mentioning it to someone (writer/producer?) on set at time. He remembered that at end of shoot on that episode she told him she had gotten a call from Terrence Malick. He agreed that show had a lot of great actors on it, now doing terrific work elsewhere, among them John Noble (Fringe).
At some point in responding to a question, he mentioned in a really sweet way how he was touched and gratified by response from fans – he had worked for so many years kind of out in the wilderness, often not knowing if anyone was out there seeing or appreciating anything he had done.
So, in sum, Kevin was everything you could want from an actor you admire: down-to-earth, joyful, enthusiastic, intelligent, and gorgeously boyish and extra blue-eyed in his blue t-shirt. And more generous with his time than this fan would ever have expected (I would have donated anyway – shhhhh . . .)
I was trying to pretend I wasn’t nervous but I really, really was, sitting there in my work back conference room on a “personal” call, hoping no emergencies would arise and realizing too late I had drunk too much coffee (well I was for sure going to make it through the call, even if I had to call for adult diaper protection – hey, if Cristina isn’t too proud . . .) Then, hilariously, Kevin got the time wrong and had to rush back home from his workout. Then – there he was! Bright blue t-shirt matching his bright blue eyes. On a video call, his boyishness really comes through.
His rib is pretty well healed and that day was the first real workout he had gotten. Unfortunately, shortly after injuring it, he had a bit of a cold, so everytime he sneezed he felt he was being stabbed in the chest. I mentioned I had read the interview where he had broken a rib on Dog Soldiers. He said that was years ago, but it was the same rib so maybe it was already weakened.
We discussed the recent Save the Children fundraiser and thoughts on his next project for charity. First of all, he’s really proud of everyone raising so much money. You can tell it means a lot to him. As for his next effort, he’s looking for good ideas. He has thought about climbing a mountain, and it seems to hold a lot of interest for him – problem is, which mountain? The only concern about an ultimate life challenge such as Everest is the length of time and the real danger involved – as a family man, he can’t just be going off risking his life or taking inordinate amounts of time away from home. So whatever he does, he will take his family into consideration. At the same time, he wants to do something, if possible, that everyone else isn’t doing.
I think later in the conversation when talking about ToughMudder he mentioned that some of the other Greys cast members had, pre-race, been tossing around idea of doing a cast team at some point – however, he laughingly said some had second thoughts when they heard about the electric shocks. Kevin said the electric shocks were unfortunately at the end where everyone was watching so going around them was not an option They were not fun.
I wanted to know when we were going to see him on the big screen in a starring role – what was it that fans needed to do to get him up there? [I'm personally ready to petition Eastwood & Scorsese] He said the issue while on Grey’s is that big movies usually shoot for a lot longer than the Grey’s hiatus would permit. He mentioned he is working on a couple of draft scripts/projects with Bruno Heller, but they would be television projects if ever realized.
I brought up a role I’d like to see him in: Hank Stamper from Sometimes a Great Notion. He hadn’t read the book, but he wrote the suggestion down (!) [so fans, my impression is if you have something you think would be a great role for him, he’s receptive to hearing it.] Leanne, I think, brought up Outlander – he said he asked his agent to look into it, but there is no news to report on that front .
Nicole had the thoughtful and inspired idea of asking him about his ukulele. Want to see Kevin get excited? Ask him about his ukulele (or probably music in general). He jumped up to go retrieve it from the other room (seriously, his enthusiasm was very cute.) He sat back down, uke in hand, and proceeded to play a little and demonstrate the various types of sounds it can produce and talk about the reasons he’s enjoying it so much. I thought he should give some regular YT lessons [what do you think fans: “Ukulele Lessons with Kevin”? : ) ]
After what I thought was an appropriate amount of time, and because I care a lot about his and Sandra’s artistic integrity, as well as my own enjoyment and appreciation of their character arcs, I brought up the abortion storyline. I was frank because I thought this of all times was the opportunity to speak frankly about it. However, I tried to limit it to the handling of the SL [instead of plunging into the abyss of why I personally HATE that the show creators chose to tell that particular story for Cristina and Owen at all – plus, I know there are varying degrees of unhappiness with story period, but my perception is most CO fans had objections to at least the manner/time devoted to handling the SL.] I basically said that I thought it was handled very, very badly; that some of us had stopped watching or were on the verge of stopping watching and that I hated that because I LOVE Cristina and Owen and want to be able to watch. At some point I mentioned that as a woman, as someone who has had friends who have had abortions, as a CO fan, while I appreciated the effort he and Sandra put into it, I was offended by the show’s trivial handling – on all counts.
Kevin, of course, will never say anything bad about the writers [sometimes I think he has too much class for his own good and could take a page out of Heigl’s calling a spade a spade book, but that’s just me] His answer was to the effect that such a serious storyline could take the whole 42 minutes of the show, which was of course impossible. I responded that we didn’t expect that, but I thought there was certainly some compromise between 1 minute on stairwell with a Cristina joke and the whole 42 mins. He also diplomatically mentioned the word “historic” in relation to the show’s choice to tell that story re a happily married couple [no, I did not snark that the 70’s sitcom Maude beat GA to the punch 30 years prior or that doing a “historic” SL for the sake of “historic” is the hallmark of atrocious writing or that if they couldn’t devote the necessary time to a serious story, they shouldn’t try to tell it – really, if you knew me you would be proud of my restraint ;D]. He understood it was a controversial issue – at which point I interrupted him, because I personally thought it important that he and the show understand that I had a problem as a pro-choice supporter – I have had friends who have had abortions, so it wasn’t the principle of making a difficult choice, but the complete lack of seriousness of the choice or feeling or time with which the writers treated it.
He did say he thought it would be dealt with at some point. [Can I say how relieved I was that he freely answered my questions and didn’t make me feel I’d brought the session down or made him uncomfortable – he’s WAY too well-adjusted, grounded and good spirited ;D ]
During this discussion, on the topic of the lack of time devoted to C/O’s serious SL [and my comparison that they devote more time to discussion of pudding cups], he mentioned that the writers tell them Cristina and Owen don’t need long speeches to convey a real emotion/connection (he jokingly said sometimes characters get these speeches like “I love you but I hate you but I really love you but I hate you but I love you” [ that may have been the snarkiest thing I’ve ever heard him say – I loved it]
COForever [who I thought had another session because she turned off her Skype photo and only very intermittently participated, serving mainly as a link for the awesome Nicole)]– asked the very great, and delicately worded question: Why was there such a change from the S5 CO soulmate lovestory? Kevin talked about how In S5 Cristina really needed something in her life.
The conversation went into the lack of CO communication [as contrasting with the deep S5 connection/understanding] this season. I thought it had been resolved in Season 6. Kevin brought up fact that in real life, in marriage, people can keep coming back to same issues.
On to newer topics, he was interested in knowing what we think of Owen as chief. He’s enjoying it. Gives Owen an opportunity to interact with broader range of characters – mentioned upcoming scenes with Patrick. He enjoys aspect of Owen getting rid of office.
So now to perhaps my biggest fangirly thrill of the session. Again, this may be slightly out of order in discussion, but re topic of CO screentime, I said that I, and fans, would love it if Owen and Cristina could just have 5 minutes together – if the writers don’t want to write that (see above re CO don’t need long speeches), just have Kevin and Sandra ad lib for five minutes. He seemed amused and said that he and Sandra have talked about wanting to do a whole Cristina/Owen live episode (along the lines of the ER live epi for those of you who remember). [Let me emphasize: he did NOT say it would ever or could ever be done – just implied that it was one of those “wish list” things] I just about jumped out of my chair – in fact, I did one of those Laura Linney “Love Actually” behind the door moves when the hunky guy is about to come up to her apartment. I think I begged.
On the topic of he and Sandra working together again: he said they have talked about doing a play together, maybe some Chekov or . CO was in favor of the drama and angst, while I suggested some comedy too -- he laughed maybe one serious play on a double bill with a farce.
I knew time was running short, so I started to tick off more things I wanted [was I going to take advantage of my once in a lifetime opportunity? Yes I was]: I, and I thought CO fans, would be over the moon if he and Sandra would do a joint interview sometime [all of us respect Sandra’s reluctance generally to do interviews.] He said he would mention it to her. (: )! )
I also brought up that it was great to see one of his Journeyman guest stars Jessica Chastain starring in one of the best movies of the year. He said he remembers thinking she was special and mentioning it to someone (writer/producer?) on set at time. He remembered that at end of shoot on that episode she told him she had gotten a call from Terrence Malick. He agreed that show had a lot of great actors on it, now doing terrific work elsewhere, among them John Noble (Fringe).
At some point in responding to a question, he mentioned in a really sweet way how he was touched and gratified by response from fans – he had worked for so many years kind of out in the wilderness, often not knowing if anyone was out there seeing or appreciating anything he had done.
So, in sum, Kevin was everything you could want from an actor you admire: down-to-earth, joyful, enthusiastic, intelligent, and gorgeously boyish and extra blue-eyed in his blue t-shirt. And more generous with his time than this fan would ever have expected (I would have donated anyway – shhhhh . . .)