
With networks constantly releasing their own hit series such as Netflix’s “House of Cards” and HBO's “Girls,” DirecTV has decided to try its shot at an original show.
“Rogue” is a show about an undercover detective (Grace), whose involvement and actions are the possible cause for her son’s death. She seeks to find the truth while also finding trouble along the way.
Before she knows it, Grace has built a hole too deep by involving herself with one of the most criminal and powerful families in her city. Her relationships soon become a matter of life or death, with her alliances being the possible cause of her loss.
The State Press caught up with "Rogue" actors, Joshua Sasse (Frankenstein’s Army, The Big I Am) and Leah Gibson (Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Watchmen). After a press-heavy past couple of weeks, the actors were kind enough to answer some of TV magic’s most sought-after questions.
The State Press: How are you guys liking Arizona?
Leah Gibson: Love it!
SP: What about the screenplay drew you to your roles?
Joshua Sasse: The originality of it. … Nothing has been done in a modern context, and it’s breaking a lot of boundaries, and I think that is something, as an actor, you always want to be able to do — create something original.
LG: I was for it when I read the first pilot episode, before my first audition … to me, it seemed like it was a “cop” show in a sense, after reading the first script. The writing was very interesting, very different, very high stakes, and there is a lot that is not said between the characters that you know there is more to. So it was just a very character-loving script to read.
SP: Is there any way you relate to the characters you play?
JS: Yeah, sure! I mean, there is an element in everyone in a sense. … You get angry, you get sad, you get happy. Not all of us go around carrying guns. For sure, you try to bring some of yourself into the play. The casting directors, when they cast the show, they spend a lot of time looking for these people, you kind of look for some of their traits.
LG: (interjects) We must in a sense! To me, the character of Cathy is very much defined by her relationship to her husband. She sort of personified to me when I met Josh and workshopped the material with him and her heart is with her family. Given the nature of the family business is not the everyday ordinary, her intent is always with honoring the family and honoring their young child, and it comes from a tender place. I’ve drawn things like, my relationship to my boyfriend and his young daughter; you just take those things that are very human into it.
SP: What was it like filming in Vancouver?
JS: Lovely. It’s such a beautiful place. It really served the purpose for our show. … Vancouver gave us scope to do so many things. You’ve got mountains. You’ve got beaches, forests; you’ve got everything.
LG: Yeah, I was happy because I grew up in B.C., so I’ve been living out of Vancouver six or seven years working for film and TV. I was one of the few Vancouver locals that were on the show.
SP: How was it working with Larysa Kondracki (director)?
JS: She was brilliant! And she came back for a few episodes, because we all enjoyed working with her so much. She was fantastic. Larysa is great, because she applies a very no bullsh-t approach to it …She just says, “Just go out there and do the scene and that’s fine.” She relaxes you as an actor. She just really brings out the natural content.
LG: Amazing! She was a show favorite. She is just very easy to feel comfortable and relaxed around. She would call, you know, before rehearsing a scene, before we would bring the crew in, she would ask everybody to leave so that we had private time, like 10 minutes just to talk about the dynamic of the scene and how we were going to create that in the space. It was great to have that time with her.
SP: In those 10 minutes, what did you do to get into character?
JS: We were already in character when we got on set. We would sit down, and we had the silence to talk through the scene first, just read it, and we all sort of move though the space as we feel it is natural. She’ll say, “Well, it’s nice if we go here and here, with the light and the camera angles.” We just have a collaboration to go about it, and we’ll shoot one take and see how we can do it differently.
SP: So if you guys don’t like a certain take or a certain line, are you able to offer input? Will they be open to that?
JS: Absolutely. Larysa was great like that and she could pinpoint what it was we wanted to do or add a line. … Sometimes she would be like, “Oh, don’t worry we could edit it out!” or sometimes she would be like, “This is right, and you’re wrong.” Or sometimes she would say, “Oh great, you think you can do it better? Great let’s try again!”
LG: She was really open and she was very open-minded. … She was also very sensitive to how we wanted to go about it.
SP: So she was really organic. So you guys could improvise?
LG: I never really improvised with the lines. You want to honor the script; especially since the writing was so superb there isn’t much local improvisation.
JS: Larysa really wanted us to be real. There were some scenes that we just carry on talking in character. Especially the gang scenes that we did, later in the season, we would just keep on running and we would just keep on filming. Very liberating.
SP: Have you heard anything about a second season?
JS: Maybe. Dot dot dot.
LG: Maybe. (laughs)
SP: What’s next for you guys?
JS: I’ve got the premiere for my new film coming out in the Tribeca Film Festival in New York: “Frankenstein’s Army,” which is something new for me, and then I’m also the managing director for a music festival in Europe, Meadows and Mountains, which is coming up this summer.
LG: I just finished filming a movie a few months ago in Canada called “Crook.”… That will be coming out in a couple of months. Right now it’s just a very “Rogue” time. We are on the road for this press tour with everyone.
Reach reporter at rlopez20@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @RosieLopez14.