Parker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
20poundsofcrazy) wrote2008-09-20 03:50 pm
20poundsofcrazy) wrote2008-09-20 03:50 pm
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[archive] from iFMagazine
BETH RIESGRAF INTERVIEW
Parker started off as a loner – an expert thief who didn’t have time (or perhaps the ability) to have any personal attachments to anyone. Now with the group of thieves she’s teamed up with in order to take down the bad guys … to help the good guys, Parker has found her own little dysfunctional family in the process.
“Parker definitely is more comfortable being part of this group,” says Riesgraf. “She’s accepted she’s not a lone wolf anymore and if she has to be at any moment, she can do that. There’s a bonding that’s happened this year, and she’s learned a lot from Sophie [Gina Bellman] and her relationship with all of the team. You get the idea that she’s still being pushed. She doesn’t feel completely comfortable socially and in some of the cons, she’s having to play roles she never would have been asked to play before. But you see her going through the growing pains of that.”
In tonight’s episode “Three Days of the Hunter Job” (airing on TNT at 9:00 p.m.), the team decides to take down a heartless tabloid reporter who uses her trashy TV show to climb up the pop culture ladder while taking innocent people down in the process.
Riesgraf spoke with iF in this exclusive interview about the second season of LEVERAGE, working in Portland and the thrill of the Leverage team meeting a team exactly like them in the mideason finale “The Two Live Crew Job” (which airs in two weeks).
iF MAGAZINE: How different was it shifting gears from shooting in Los Angeles during the first season to Portland in the second?
BETH RIESGRAF: We shot the pilot in Chicago, so we had the chance to bond instantly. Then we went back to Los Angeles, so it was nice to be back home and being close to everything familiar. At the same time, being here in Portland, adds to the feeling of us being on our own, being a group of lone wolves that have come together, because you get that feeling when you’re on location -- you’re in your own little group. We definitely have great chemistry and it’s really nice being here now.
iF: It’s really nice to see a group of actors get along so well together.
RIESGRAF: We all have so much affinity for each other that it would be a real bummer if we didn’t get along. We like being in each other’s faces. You can feel that and see that on the screen too. Our chemistry as a group is amazing. And being here has removed us enough that we don’t feel completely off the grid, but at the same time, it’s nice we can be in our little bubble here and do our thing and stay in the groove.
iF: How do you feel about the evolution of the show this year?
RIESGRAF: We had a great show on our hands last season and have an even better show on our hands this season. We’ve all found our stride. When I read the scripts, I start laughing, especially when I read things about Hardison getting hit or punched. I know Aldis [Hodge] is going to freestyle with it and go off on it. I love reading these scripts because it’s so visual. It all plays out in my mind, especially with the writers knowing our voices. It’s funny, because I was talking with [co-creator] John [Rogers] the other day he said “a lot of these bits, we throw it on paper and keep it simple because we know everyone is going to bring this other element to scene that we didn’t think of as a group or individually.” And he was talking how fun it is on his end and on the writer's end to have that. So for us, it’s the same. They give us a piece and we know they give us the freedom to do what our characters do and have a good time with each other. They definitely have all our voices.
iF: How do you feel the Leverage team has grown this season?
RIESGRAF: We left the team at the end of the first season not knowing “how are they going to get back together” and “do they want to get back together?” It’s kind of like brothers and sisters. We have our spats and our little tiffs, but ultimately we’re all secretly happy to belong to something that means something to us. And for some of us, having that, is really special -- whether we recognize it or not at this point.
iF: How would you best describe Parker?
RIESGRAF: Parker is a master of misdirection and so that’s what she’s been good at her whole life. When she gets in the spotlight, or she gets in one of these moments, she’s not really thinking about it. When she realizes there’s attention on her, she starts to panic a little. She’s honest and has that quality kids have. Children are honest. They just speak the truth. It’s interesting, when she has to filter what she’s thinking and feeling, she starts to get hung up. She thinks very analytically when she’s on the job. It’s all very procedural. If she needs to know how to pick someone’s pocket or learn how to steal something from somebody, it’s fine. When stuff starts get personal, it’s when her stuff kicks in and filter starts to wobble.
iF: In a way, Parker has had considerable growth during the two seasons.
RIESGRAF: It’s not necessarily written plot-wise. It’s not that each episode Parker is going through life-changing events, but she’s going through a lot of social growth. This is all really new to her and she’s always been able to travel with a duffel bag – no regrets, no remorse. I think if she had to do that now, it would catch her a little off guard. She’s learning how to be a part of something, with other people that mean something to her and that’s very new and very frightening. For the first time, she’s got a purpose that’s greater than she’s ever had before, and that’s why she loves being with these guys. It’s a chance for her to belong to something where she’s accepted and respected in a mutual brotherhood of robbers. They never have to talk about it – it’s all unspoken.
iF: What is your favorite episode so far this year?
RIESGRAF: I loved “The Tap Out Job.” I loved [actor] Brian Goodman, I thought Christian [Kane] knocked it out of the park. It was an amazing script and it was really cool to see a vulnerable side to Eliot and I think Christian did a great job.
iF: The midseason finale, “The Two Live Crew Job,” the team comes face to face with equally matched opponents. Yours is the show’s technical consultant Apollo Robbins, who taught you how to do a lot of the pick-pocketing tricks in Season 1, and now he’s playing your shadow, so to speak.
RIESGRAF: It’s so fun working opposite of Apollo. I’ve worked with him so much off camera, so it’s exciting to work with him on camera. He has really, really good ideas. He thinks like Parker, character-wise – so it’s so fun. He’s incredibly talented and brings a lot to the table, especially with the way he handles the small things. He’s also really patient with me, which is great.
iF: Did he teach you any new tricks?
RIESGRAF: He has incredible ideas. When we’re doing a scene, something as small as the way he picks up a lock pick or something like that – he has these flourishes that he does. He has a lot of tricks he has in his bag and I love being around him, because I’m learning constantly from him.
iF: I love that moment in the Season 2 premiere where Hardison mentions he was looking for Parker after the team split and she just sort of brushes it off. Are there any more moments like that during the rest of the first half of the season?
RIESGRAF: There really isn’t. I love our scenes together and love it when we get paired up together. There is a hint of that in the first episode, but you’ll have to watch the rest of the season to see what happens after that.
Parker started off as a loner – an expert thief who didn’t have time (or perhaps the ability) to have any personal attachments to anyone. Now with the group of thieves she’s teamed up with in order to take down the bad guys … to help the good guys, Parker has found her own little dysfunctional family in the process.
“Parker definitely is more comfortable being part of this group,” says Riesgraf. “She’s accepted she’s not a lone wolf anymore and if she has to be at any moment, she can do that. There’s a bonding that’s happened this year, and she’s learned a lot from Sophie [Gina Bellman] and her relationship with all of the team. You get the idea that she’s still being pushed. She doesn’t feel completely comfortable socially and in some of the cons, she’s having to play roles she never would have been asked to play before. But you see her going through the growing pains of that.”
In tonight’s episode “Three Days of the Hunter Job” (airing on TNT at 9:00 p.m.), the team decides to take down a heartless tabloid reporter who uses her trashy TV show to climb up the pop culture ladder while taking innocent people down in the process.
Riesgraf spoke with iF in this exclusive interview about the second season of LEVERAGE, working in Portland and the thrill of the Leverage team meeting a team exactly like them in the mideason finale “The Two Live Crew Job” (which airs in two weeks).
iF MAGAZINE: How different was it shifting gears from shooting in Los Angeles during the first season to Portland in the second?
BETH RIESGRAF: We shot the pilot in Chicago, so we had the chance to bond instantly. Then we went back to Los Angeles, so it was nice to be back home and being close to everything familiar. At the same time, being here in Portland, adds to the feeling of us being on our own, being a group of lone wolves that have come together, because you get that feeling when you’re on location -- you’re in your own little group. We definitely have great chemistry and it’s really nice being here now.
iF: It’s really nice to see a group of actors get along so well together.
RIESGRAF: We all have so much affinity for each other that it would be a real bummer if we didn’t get along. We like being in each other’s faces. You can feel that and see that on the screen too. Our chemistry as a group is amazing. And being here has removed us enough that we don’t feel completely off the grid, but at the same time, it’s nice we can be in our little bubble here and do our thing and stay in the groove.
iF: How do you feel about the evolution of the show this year?
RIESGRAF: We had a great show on our hands last season and have an even better show on our hands this season. We’ve all found our stride. When I read the scripts, I start laughing, especially when I read things about Hardison getting hit or punched. I know Aldis [Hodge] is going to freestyle with it and go off on it. I love reading these scripts because it’s so visual. It all plays out in my mind, especially with the writers knowing our voices. It’s funny, because I was talking with [co-creator] John [Rogers] the other day he said “a lot of these bits, we throw it on paper and keep it simple because we know everyone is going to bring this other element to scene that we didn’t think of as a group or individually.” And he was talking how fun it is on his end and on the writer's end to have that. So for us, it’s the same. They give us a piece and we know they give us the freedom to do what our characters do and have a good time with each other. They definitely have all our voices.
iF: How do you feel the Leverage team has grown this season?
RIESGRAF: We left the team at the end of the first season not knowing “how are they going to get back together” and “do they want to get back together?” It’s kind of like brothers and sisters. We have our spats and our little tiffs, but ultimately we’re all secretly happy to belong to something that means something to us. And for some of us, having that, is really special -- whether we recognize it or not at this point.
iF: How would you best describe Parker?
RIESGRAF: Parker is a master of misdirection and so that’s what she’s been good at her whole life. When she gets in the spotlight, or she gets in one of these moments, she’s not really thinking about it. When she realizes there’s attention on her, she starts to panic a little. She’s honest and has that quality kids have. Children are honest. They just speak the truth. It’s interesting, when she has to filter what she’s thinking and feeling, she starts to get hung up. She thinks very analytically when she’s on the job. It’s all very procedural. If she needs to know how to pick someone’s pocket or learn how to steal something from somebody, it’s fine. When stuff starts get personal, it’s when her stuff kicks in and filter starts to wobble.
iF: In a way, Parker has had considerable growth during the two seasons.
RIESGRAF: It’s not necessarily written plot-wise. It’s not that each episode Parker is going through life-changing events, but she’s going through a lot of social growth. This is all really new to her and she’s always been able to travel with a duffel bag – no regrets, no remorse. I think if she had to do that now, it would catch her a little off guard. She’s learning how to be a part of something, with other people that mean something to her and that’s very new and very frightening. For the first time, she’s got a purpose that’s greater than she’s ever had before, and that’s why she loves being with these guys. It’s a chance for her to belong to something where she’s accepted and respected in a mutual brotherhood of robbers. They never have to talk about it – it’s all unspoken.
iF: What is your favorite episode so far this year?
RIESGRAF: I loved “The Tap Out Job.” I loved [actor] Brian Goodman, I thought Christian [Kane] knocked it out of the park. It was an amazing script and it was really cool to see a vulnerable side to Eliot and I think Christian did a great job.
iF: The midseason finale, “The Two Live Crew Job,” the team comes face to face with equally matched opponents. Yours is the show’s technical consultant Apollo Robbins, who taught you how to do a lot of the pick-pocketing tricks in Season 1, and now he’s playing your shadow, so to speak.
RIESGRAF: It’s so fun working opposite of Apollo. I’ve worked with him so much off camera, so it’s exciting to work with him on camera. He has really, really good ideas. He thinks like Parker, character-wise – so it’s so fun. He’s incredibly talented and brings a lot to the table, especially with the way he handles the small things. He’s also really patient with me, which is great.
iF: Did he teach you any new tricks?
RIESGRAF: He has incredible ideas. When we’re doing a scene, something as small as the way he picks up a lock pick or something like that – he has these flourishes that he does. He has a lot of tricks he has in his bag and I love being around him, because I’m learning constantly from him.
iF: I love that moment in the Season 2 premiere where Hardison mentions he was looking for Parker after the team split and she just sort of brushes it off. Are there any more moments like that during the rest of the first half of the season?
RIESGRAF: There really isn’t. I love our scenes together and love it when we get paired up together. There is a hint of that in the first episode, but you’ll have to watch the rest of the season to see what happens after that.