Episode Report Card Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Bride of Kiefer speaks
By Gustave | Season 1 | Episode 25 | Aired on 05.30.2002
But little did you know that there really wasn't a script.
Well, actually, there was a script. I mean, there were a lot of plot details that hadn't been worked out yet -- like who was the mole and stuff like that -- but the relationship between Kiefer and my character was pretty well drawn out. If there were revisions to be made to our scenes there were pretty subtle. They had a pretty clear idea of who we were, what our marriage had been through and what my relationship was like with my daughter Kim.
Did you know about Dr. Phil? Oh, sorry, that's what we call him on the forums.
Ha! That's what we call him too. Or Dr. Parslow. No, I didn't know about that. But I knew that we had been separated, that there was a possibility of an affair -- that we both had affairs -- and that we were really trying to make it work. We were back together because we loved each other and not because we had to be back together. That's the foundation that we based our performances on -- that we belonged together. The family belonged together. And that's what appealed to me about the show. Not just the pilot, but what developed in the later episodes. We were drawn back together because we loved each other, but we were allowed to show the strain of our relationship.
And you really see that in the pilot, when you're in the kitchen doing work while Kiefer and Kim are playing chess.
Exactly. And a lot of credit for that belongs -- not just to the writers but also Stephen Hopkins. I know Karina and Penny also talked to you about this, but not only did he do the pilot, but he directed every other show. He really knows how to work with actors. He has a film background, but he knows how to adapt that for a television sensibility.
Your character goes through a big change…or maybe you just show a different side to yourself when it turns out that Alan York isn't really Alan York. You become very strong and resourceful. Did you see that coming?
You're not the first person to say that to me. I didn't see that as a shift in my character as much as a shift in the plot. Up until that point, all I know is that this guy I've hanging out with is not a bad guy, my daughter's missing, and my husband and I are having problems. I'm allowed to be vulnerable up until that point because I have faith that my husband will help…or at least that we're in this together. Once I realize that this guy isn't Alan York, that my daughter's disappearance is connected to all of this and, most importantly, that I'm alone with this guy in his car, it's perfectly understandable that my character's behavior would shift. What also makes it credible is that I don't take out a laser gun and shoot him; I hit him in the head with a rock. I manage to strap him down, but it's not something that I'm prepared to do or that I've had a lot of experience with.