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Mary McDonnell: Woman in Charge

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2.02- raydor 1 lrIn a new interview with Celebrity Extra, Mary McDonnell talks about the excitement of the second season of Major Crimes, what the story is revealing to her about her character, and her feelings about the actors relationship to social media.

Celebrity Extra: First of all, a lot of new shows don’t even make it to a second season, so you all must be excited that you have indeed been renewed — and not just for the normal order of 13 episodes, but for a super-size season of 19 episodes.

Mary McDonnell: Yes, we’re really, really happy. We are about to finish shooting episode number five, so we already have a strong sense of at least the beginning of the season, and we’re pretty excited. It’s fantastic. And it’s new and it’s interesting and it’s complicated. It reveals more of all the characters and new characters. And it’s just really great. We’re very excited to premiere.

CE: I am not only excited to see how this new season picks up, I’m also eager to see what new cast member Tom Berenger will bring to the show. Are you excited to work with him?

MM: We’ve worked together before, so we know each other, and we knew that it would be awesome to work together again. He’s been on the set for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been absolutely great!

CE: He plays your character’s estranged husband, who we learn has a gambling problem. Are you glad to be able to explore more of Raydor’s personal side?

MM: It really is exciting, because any time you can start to fill in the gaps, start to have a larger container through which to view any character, it’s always refreshing and exciting and reassuring. The more I find out about the moment-to-moment experience of some of her past, the more I understand her present. And then you can start to share some of what you learned; it’s a wonderful, wonderful process to go forward and backward and forward. It’s really gratifying as a performer.

CE: What do we get to learn about her past?

MM: Well, we learn about her and how she deals with having him back in her life; whether or not it’s estranged. We learn a lot about her at work through the relationships there. We get to have a much more revealing picture of a woman. I don’t want to say too much about this because I certainly don’t want to give too much away. But let’s just say, there’s a lot to be learned, and it’s complex, and it’s been a tremendous amount of fun to shoot.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Major Crimes and Drama- Q & A with GW Bailey, Mary McDonnell and Tony Denison

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Cast Flynn Raydor ProvenzaThis past weekend our friends at RizzlesUnlimited attended TNT’s Armchair Detective Weekend, and took the opportunity to talk to GW Bailey, Tony Denison and Mary McDonnell about what we can expect in season 2- and found out that they don’t always agree on what might happen next on Major Crimes.

Q: How will the Captain’s need for control of her environment and the people around her degrade or change as she continues to work with the detectives and the outside influences of her personal life start to come in more and more? What should we expect to see as far as her need for control?

Mary McDonnell: I’m not sure exactly which direction it will go in, but I would say that the balance between growing by letting go and holding on too strong, that sort of tightrope is part of what’s at the core of her. But what’s been already obvious to me in the season we’re playing now is that [the detectives’] influence on her has already been positive in that, to be really working directly with the detectives on a crime rather than working with other detectives on detecting whether or not they did well on a crime, is really gratifying for her. It’s opening her up emotionally in a different way than being in Internal Affairs allowed her to. … If you’re friends with [the detectives], you’re not doing your job. So, so far, it feels to me like it’s having a positive effect, but there will be some trouble, I’m sure.

G.W. Bailey: In paradise.

Mary McDonnell: Because it’s a drama.

G.W. Bailey: And it’s TNT.

Everyone: And we know drama! (laughter)

Q: Will the fact the entire department is more-or-less raising Rusty eventually cause strife, or will it continue to be a unifying factor for them?

Tony Denison: I don’t know. Right now, it’s starting…

Mary McDonnell: Both.

Tony Denison: Yeah, both. It’s kind of both right now. You know, who knows which way James is going to go with this? But I’m sure, just as it’s going really great now, no matter what direction it takes or if it decides to split the baby the whole way down, it’ll be great either way, and the kid, Graham who plays Rusty, is wonderful. He’s wonderful, a nice kid, and really good actor to work with.

Q: We’ve noticed that your character, Tony, has started to become the Captain’s number 2 as the series has progressed. He’s sort of the go-to guy for that as opposed to Provenza, who has seniority on that. Why is that? Why are you the go-to guy as opposed to your partner?

Tony Denison: Because he’s super grumpy. (chuckles)

Q: Besides that! Is this something we’re going to see it expanded more where your character winds up being more and more at the number 2 spot while G.W.’s character evens it out?

Tony Denison: That won’t ever happen. The balance of the show is… I mean, it may happen in a way where it becomes annoying to him [G.W. Bailey] so that there’s more friction…

G.W. Bailey: It’s interesting what perceptions [are out there] because we [he and Tony Denison] won’t talk about this, but he and I have very strong opinions about…

Tony Denison: Yes.

G.W. Bailey: About this very issue and who is emerging as what we call the…

Tony Denison: The go-to.

G.W. Bailey: Corey Reynolds…

Tony Denison: David Gabriel.

G.W. Bailey: Gabriel. Gabriel had nothing to do with seniority. He was the youngest of all of us and wasn’t even made a detective. He made detective grade on the show. [He] was [Raydor’s] kind-of partner. He was her right hand, so it really has nothing to do with seniority at all. But there’s somebody on the show that we think is taking that position, but it’s neither one of us [Flynn or Provenza].

Mary McDonnell: And you know what? I just want to say that, from my point of view, both as the actress and Raydor, that’s not now I’m experiencing it at all, that there’s any one person. There’s been an interdependence to each one of them at different points that I felt very strongly. I don’t have that consciousness. Do you know what I mean? I’m not quite seeing what you’re [G.W. and Tony] seeing, perhaps, but maybe I don’t want to? (Laughs)

Read the rest of the interview here, and follow RizzlesUnlimited for all the latest news and information about TNT’s Rizzoli and Isles!

 

 

Video: Major Crimes Unfiltered!

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TNT has released three new behind-the scenes Major Crimes Videos:

What Character Would You Like to Be for a Day?

Either/Or With Tony and GW

Secrets from the Set

News Briefs: Major Crimes Season 1 Marathon and Mary McDonnell Discusses Season 2

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tomberengerset- TNT will be airing an encore of Major Crimes season 1- all ten episodes- before the season 2 premiere on June 10th.  Check local listings for the exact start times, but in most markets the marathon, starting with the season 1 premiere episode “Reloaded” will begin at 11am, and continue all day until the season 2 premiere at 9pm/8c.

- In a new interview with Celebrity Extra (part of a larger piece that will be released later this week) Mary McDonnell talks about her character’s long-estranged ex-husband, Jackson Raydor, that Tom Berenger has been brought on to portray.

 “We’ve worked together before, so we knew that working together again would be awesome,” she said. “He’s been on the set for the past couple of weeks, and it’s been absolutely great! It is exciting because we learn more about Raydor’s past. As we learn about her and how she deals with this personal relationship in her life, we get a much more revealing picture of the woman. The more I find out about her past, the more I understand her present.”

About the new season, McDonnell also says: “We are about to finish shooting episode No. 5, so we have a good sense of at least the beginning of the season, and I can tell you we’re pretty excited. It’s fantastic. It’s new, and it’s interesting, and it’s complicated. I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say there’s a lot to be learned, and it’s been tremendous fun to shoot.”

 

Summer Returning Favorites: Major Crimes

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MAJOR CRIMESOnly one week away from the Season 2 Premiere of Major Crimes, and this weeks issue of TV Guide’s “Summer Returning Favorites” includes some information (and slight spoilers) for what we can expect in season 2 :

Major Crimes (TNT)
Premieres: Monday, June 10 at 9/8c

Where We Left Off: Capt. Raydor & Co. teamed with the FBI to bring down a sniper. Rusty’s abusive father tried to reconnect with his son, but the entire Major Crimes bands together to force Rusty’s father to waive his parental rights and make Rusty a ward of the state.

What’s Next: Just as Raydor finally gets to good place leading the team, Deputy D.A. Emma Rios (new cast member Nadine Velazquez) threatens to challenge Raydor’s guardianship of Rusty. That confrontation gets even more complicated when Rusty receives a threatening letter and Emma demands he be relocated. Meanwhile, Raydor’s estranged husband of 25 years (guest star Tom Berenger) returns to L.A. to work as court-appointed attorney.

American Profile: Mary McDonnell Up-Close

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1.04-sharonFrom Dances with Wolves to Major Crimes, Mary McDonnell’s early life and her career of playing strong women characters are featured in a wonderful new article with American Profile. McDonnell’s husband, Randle Mell, was also interviewed for the piece, as was her daugther Oliva Mell, who says of her mother, “She’s Wonder Woman! She’s very gifted at playing a strong woman because she is one.”

Read the whole article here.