The TVSA Interview: Luke Macfarlane
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tashi Tagg
Brothers & Sisters is back on M-Net this Thursday (13 August at 20h30) for more Walker fadventures (family adventures) after Season 2 ended with Kevin and Scotty getting married.
Actors Luke Macfarlane (who plays hotty Scotty) and Dave Annable (Lustin'-for-Rebecca Justin) visited Cape Town recently - to hang out, check it out and chat about the show.
I caught up with each of them to get the goss on the new season and find out more about them.
They stayed at the schmancy One & Only hotel - where they zap your car from you to park it even when you don't want them too (mine needed a clean) .
Here's what Luke had to say .... (to tune into Dave, please click HERE.)
"I'd like to thank my family"
Luke: I think everyone imagines their family as the Walker family and also, there haven’t been a lot of family drama’s on TV in a long time. Everyone can kinda see their family in different ways, in all the individual moments.
Tashi: Do you see your family?
Luke: Oh yes absolutely, my mother’s like Sally Field very much.
Tashi: I hear you have a twin sister?
Luke: I do.
Tashi: And you have an older sister?
Luke: I do.
Tashi: So who’s side does your twin sister take when there’s a Brothers & Sisters fiasco going on?
Luke: Mmmmm ... my twin sister’s most like Sarah - Rachel Griffith’s character - and my older sister’s most like Kitty (Calista Flockhart). Most of the time we’re on our own side, we’re always warring but my twin sister - she’s my twin so she always has my back.
Tashi: Do you look exactly the same?
Luke: We look nothing alike, my entire family looks like a group of strangers - it’s very strange.
"I need more lines - NOW."
Tashi: Could you tell us more about how the show’s written? Do the writers use their own experiences for the storylines?
Luke: A lot of it has - one of the writers who writes my storyline also writes the storylines for Calista Flockhart. He’s in the process of trying to have a baby and much of his experience with his partner became the exact experience you’ll see Kitty go through in the new season.
Tashi: And the actors? Do you contribute too?
Luke: It’s different - every actor is different that way. I tend to be hands off, I trust that ... you know, so much of my experience on the show has just been about waiting to see what comes to me.
I started off the show not as a series regular and more and more and more came so I’m just gonna sit back and wait to see what comes to me.
I’m not go gonna knock on the door and say “What are you doing with me?” - there are so many actors on the show that I don’t want to be a squeaky wheel.
Tashi: Yes are there are actors going “Argh!” ‘cos you’re getting a bigger role now? *booyakasha sound effect!*
Luke: You didn’t hear it from me. *booyakasha again!* There are so many people on our show, you kinda got to fight for your place.
Tashi: How does it work? If you’re an actor who wants to do more - what do they base the decision on? Your performances? Your role? How do you go about getting increasing your role?
Luke: I think you actually knock on the door of the producer - literally and figuratively. You talk one-on-one. Also there’s the sense that good work begets good work too.
"Mayday! they're gay"
Tashi: Current affairs also influences the storylines a lot?
Luke: Yes, with Kevin and Scotty very much as they’ve gone through the marriage thing, we’ve been through Proposition 8 in California recently. Also Justin going off to war - as many current events that we can bring in, that makes the show as alive as possible.
Tashi: Their marriage is obviously a commentary on all the controversy surrounding gay marriage in the US and also the senator and his attitudes.
Luke: Yeah, it’s a very interesting thing in California - we recently found out that the courts are going to uphold the marriages that did happen so that was nice to know that Kevin and Scotty are still going to be married.
Just after we got married the vote came through and people were wondering “What’s gonna happen with all the people who got married before?” and we’ve just heard that they’re all still married.
Tashi: South Africa’s right up there with Amsterdam when it comes to such things.
Luke: Yes, I just learned that yesterday.
Tashi: I’ve never been certain about how it works in the US - I was reading about it and there’s only about four states where it’s legal.
Luke: Yes, there’s also the difference between state law and federal law ... there’s still a long way to go in the US.
"Do my pecs look big in this?"
Luke: I’m patient like Scotty, I guess I’m a good listener - he’s changed a lot though and so have I. It’s a very difficult question to ask an actor because you’re never quite sure. One thing I can say though is that I can’t cook.
Tashi: Snap. When you’re on set and the camera’s are about to roll - what goes through your head? Your lines? Your relationship?
Luke: All of that. That’s what makes acting difficult - you’ve got to think about it all, get to the right marker at the right time, say the right line, turn your head at the right time and you’ve got to feel, you have to have the experience and then you’ve got to think “Gosh - do I look good? Is my hair nice?” *laughs*
BFs (Best faves)
Tashi: Out of the two seasons so far - what’s your all-time fave scene that you’ve played?
Luke: I think it’s definitely the marriage proposal when Kevin asks Scotty to marry him. It was my favourite moment to shoot, my favourite moment to watch - I thought it was a really true and honest moment.
Tashi: And your most difficult?
Luke: My first day on set. It’s always hard because you haven’t quite figured out the character yet so you’re always kind of moving around a little bit.
You’re not quite sure if you’re in the right clothes or hairdo - you’ll see that Scotty looks a lot different and acts a lot different in the early episodes ‘cos I wasn’t even quite sure of him yet.
Tashi: I suppose there was also the thing that you weren’t sure of everyone - like you were joining a family who knew each other.
Luke: Oh very much so it’s like the first day of Grade school when you’re a kid - you want to be popular and cool and pick up with the right people.
Tashi: It's similar to the show too - Scotty coming into the big family and so on.
Luke: Yes except Scotty’s so self-assured - which is something, I’m not as self-assured as him - it’s something I admire about him very much.
Season 3 Sneak Peak
Tashi: Season 3 - what’s in store for Kevotty?
Luke: Well definitely one of the questions that comes up is finances - in most relationships this is the big deal - the thing they say is that one of the main things couples fight about is money.
Kevin’s always been the main breadwinner and Scotty starts to make a little bit more money than Kevin so that challenges him a little bit.
Tashi: It’s good that you’re dealing with money because so many shows don’t. It’s like Prison Break - I once read a story about Prison Break asking where do they get all the money to keep running?? It's so true.
Luke: Money’s boring but it’s an important part of a relationship.
Tashi: Except for Kevin, who’s your fave Walker sibling?
Luke: Scotty gets along with Sarah very very well. She’s wild, she’s got a great sense of humour, also I think Kevin gets along with her well too and you’re always attracted to the sibling your spouse gets along with most.
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