Category Archives: MCTV Exclusive

MCTV Exclusive: Hope for the Holidays – James Duff Previews the ‘Major Crimes’ Winter Return

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By M. Sharpe



Major Crimes Executive Producer and Co-Creator James Duff. Photo Credit: Mark Hill, Courtesy TNT

Major Crimes Executive Producer and Co-Creator James Duff. Photo Credit: Mark Hill, Courtesy TNT

With the holidays fast approaching, it seems fitting that the theme for the winter season of Major Crimes is “hope”, and the role it plays in our lives. Executive producer and co-creator James Duff took time out of his busy schedule to talk to MajorCrimesTV.net about how hope can come in so many forms, and how that plays out in the winter run of the show, premiering tonight on TNT.

A mid-season shift in focus to the theme of hope is a natural progression from the theme of “expectations” that characterized the beginning of the season, says Duff. “Our summer episodes were all about expectation and the role that expectation plays in our lives and how the ability to project what happens around the curve is part of what separates us from the animal kingdom. But when that fails, when expectations don’t work out or when you have to fall back on something else, you’re left with hope. And that’s what our last nine episodes are about, and with the holiday season it seems appropriate.”

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Photo Credit: Patrick Wymore, Courtesy TNT

Duff says in keeping with the formula of previous seasons, the upcoming winter episodes will focus more deeply on the personal lives of the squad, while, as always, exploring crimes that often reflect the struggles of the team. First up are Captain Sharon Raydor and Rusty, who, according to Duff, start the winter season off with a big decision – whether or not he will be adopted by Sharon. “He has a mother, he has a mother who is in prison and he has a mother who is difficult and a little complicated and has another mother who just loves him. And so he has a choice to make and hope is a double-edged sword. It is hard to hold onto and it is hard to put down and when it’s all you’ve got, it’s really hard to put down. And we dramatize that in our first episode quite a bit.”   Continue reading →

MCTV Exclusive Video: Mary McDonnell and Jonathan Del Arco Talk Major Crimes at Dragon*Con

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On August 30th, 2014 Dragon*Con hosted the very first Major Crimes panel featuring Mary McDonnell and Jonathan Del Arco at their annual science-fiction, fantasy and pop culture convention in Atlanta, GA. We’re pleased to present the full video of that panel, courtesy of Dragon*Con Media. Special thanks to the Dragon*Con videography team for providing this footage.

 

MCTV Exclusive: Ties That Bind – Mary McDonnell on Family and Major Crimes

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By Mina Sharpe


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Photo credit: Justin Stephens. Courtesy TNT, used with permission

It’s all quiet on the set of Major Crimes as Captain Sharon Raydor, played by Mary McDonnell, tries to come to terms with what her foster son, Rusty Beck, has just told her. Long estranged from her husband, Raydor has tolerated his occasional comings and goings for many years. But when his actions threaten to do serious harm to the trust she has so carefully built with Rusty over the past two years, it’s clear that Jackson Raydor may have finally gone too far.

Over several takes, McDonnell gives different glimpses into the complicated relationship with her character’s husband, and Raydor’s varying reactions to it. What doesn’t change is the fierce loyalty and protectiveness Raydor shows towards the boy she already considers her son, and the clear message that Sharon Raydor is a force to be reckoned with when those she loves are threatened.

As she sits down with MajorCrimesTV.net for a chat after the scene is done filming, it quickly becomes clear that like her on-screen persona, for McDonnell, family– in whatever form it comes– is key. Whether it is the family you are born into, the family that you adopt along the way, or the family that is forged out of difficult circumstances, McDonnell recognizes that family can have the largest and most resounding impact on a person.

When Captain Sharon Raydor first marched into the murder room on The Closer, audiences and fellow officers of the Major Crimes division alike bristled at the seemingly tough-as-nails and emotionless new officer, and on both sides of the screen she quickly became known by the moniker “Darth Raydor”. Now as Major Crimes enters its third season, McDonnell credits the relationship between her character and foster son Rusty Beck as the catalyst that helped make the transition between the two shows occur flawlessly, allowing the greater depth of Sharon Raydor to be revealed.  “In my mind it’s kind of a genius element to this,” McDonnell says.  “Because James [Duff] has this ability to understand, seemingly out of the blue, what is needed. And when he thought up this Rusty character and saw Graham [Patrick Martin], he understood that this could be our connecting object into the new series. It relieved us from having to force Sharon Raydor this way or that way, because he knew that through this personal relationship he could expose her as a human without her having to give up her Darth Raydor.” McDonnell laughs. “I did not want to give up Darth Raydor.”

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MCTV Exclusive- Michael Paul Chan: Still Tao After All These Years

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By M. Sharpe


Michael Paul Chan takes a break from filming the season finale of Major Crimes on location in Downtown Los Angeles to capture the moment. Photo credit: Michael Paul Chan

Michael Paul Chan takes a break from filming the season finale of Major Crimes on location in Downtown Los Angeles to capture the moment. Photo credit: Michael Paul Chan, used with permission.

In 2005, after 30 years of great success as an actor in TV and film, Michael Paul Chan auditioned for a supporting role as a detective in a new show. Coming off the cancellation the previous year of another show he worked on, Chan was initially wary of reentering the series television world, but fate had other plans. “I’ll always remember the audition experience for The Closer; I got the material and the writing just popped. I instantly knew how I’d go with it, and my instincts were correct as the audition went great. And now it’s ten years later!”

MajorCrimesTV.net spoke with Chan as filming on Major Crimes’ second season was just winding down, and he told us that he is grateful for the opportunity to still be inhabiting Tao ten years later, especially as much of his early career was spent as a guest-star, with appearances on over 300 episodes of television, many of those as the villain of the week. Now he relishes the chance to play a smart detective with a good heart, and to have that role to come back to every season.

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MCTV Exclusive: Notes from the Writers Room- Duppy Demetrius

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By M. Sharpe

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Major Crimes staff writer and co-executive producer Duppy Demetrius preparing to “break” Major Crimes episode 203 “Under the Influence”. Photo used with permission.

Navigating the path of changing a character from an antagonist that audiences loved to hate, to a protagonist that people would root for in the course of a few short seasons was no easy task. But according to writer and co-executive producer Duppy Demetrius, the key to Sharon Raydor’s transition to the center of Major Crimes had a lot to do with family. “The whole Rusty thing was a big boon for that. Just seeing her compassion with Rusty, and her being motherly, and getting the backstory with her husband and her kids helped the audience see her in a different light. I think we’ve done a good job, and the reaction has been spectacular.”

Off-screen, Demetrius credits another family with making the transition from The Closer to Major Crimes such a triumph- the team of writers who have worked together for over seven years. “Luckily our writing staff hasn’t had any changes since season three of The Closer. That’s when several of us hopped on. There really hasn’t been any turnaround since- the only reason people have left is because they’ve gone off to do their own show. Everybody going in (to Major Crimes) knew how to write for Sharon. When I first started on The Closer, it was a question of how polite was too polite to write Brenda- but there weren’t any of those issues with Sharon because we all had lived with her for three years. There was no learning curve on how to do her voice, or how she would handle a situation with these adversities against her. It wasn’t an issue.” Continue reading →

Graham Patrick Martin: Navigating His Path with Trust and Intuition

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By M. Sharpe

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Photo credit: Jason LaVeris/Getty Image

Before joining the cast of Major Crimes, Graham Patrick Martin admits to being a little nervous. “It was really scary at first, because all these actors had been on the show for so long, and they’ve been together and have this already established family. But fortunately everyone was really cool and really inviting, and it made me feel at home. It was great.”

Quite literally the new kid to Major Crimes both on screen and off, Martin also had concerns about how his character, Rusty Beck, would be accepted by audiences, especially in light of how he was introduced. “There was a brief moment where yes, I was concerned, because I knew right off the bat that Rusty butts heads with all of our heroes, all of the Major Crimes division. They’re nice to him, but Rusty is not kind to them, and I knew that people weren’t going to like to see that. But at the end of the day, all I can do is focus on my work, and trust that if I do the best job I can do, I trust that the writers are leading my character in a great direction, that ultimately will be successful.”

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Making Her Case- Nadine Velazquez Talks Emma Rios and Major Crimes

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By M. Sharpe

Photo Credit: Eddy Chen/TNT

Photo Credit: Eddy Chen/TNT

As a new cast member in season two of Major Crimes, Nadine Velazquez says she was nervous about stepping into the role of Emma Rios. “I was surprised at the reaction,” Velazquez told MajorCrimesTV.net, of the initial backlash to the no-nonsense deputy district attorney. Now as the show approaches its summer finale, Velazquez says she is feeling a change in the character herself, and in the reaction from fans, but cautions, “I don’t want to soften Emma too much.”

Following the evolution of a character from outsider to beloved core member of the ensemble cast is a journey that viewers of Major Crimes are already familiar with, having observed Sharon Raydor, and to a lesser extent, Rusty Beck, already complete the transition.  Though much of the initial reaction to Rios (and Sharon before her) had to do with issues of gender and perceived antagonism towards the lead characters, Velazquez is eager to explore Emma’s hidden vulnerabilities, and how those traits may help the character learn to better interact with the rest of the squad. Continue reading →

Power Play: Greg LaVoi’s Storied Career in Fashion Design

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By M. Sharpe

lavoibwFrom Reba McEntire and Bob Mackie to The Closer‘s Brenda Leigh Johnson and his own clothing line, Greg LaVoi has spent his career telling women’s stories through the clothes they wear. Whether with sequins, spandex, floral prints, or Armani suits, in LaVoi’s hands, clothing isn’t merely a mode of expression; instead, it lets us see how women in power actually look. Now, as Major Crimes enters its second season, LaVoi continues to chart the evolving female leadership of the LAPD, as we watch Captain Sharon Raydor’s life develop both within and outside the squadroom.

Although it might not seem a likely place to develop a passion for costume design, LaVoi was surrounded by fashion while growing up in Colorado; his father owned a clothing store and his mother was a fashionista. This flair for the dramatic first led LaVoi into the theater. But, after being told he wasn’t leading man material, LaVoi gave up on his dreams of acting. As disappointing as that was, it proved to be an auspicious event, because, as LaVoi explains,” I got upset and went to the other side of the stage, and that was costumes, because I had always loved fashion, and I would sketch outfits all the time.” In the mid-seventies, with Sonny and Cher and The Carol Burnett Show at the height of their popularity, LaVoi fell in love with the strong, flamboyant designs of Bob Mackie. Rather than attending fashion school in New York, he headed west, enrolling in Los Angeles’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Continue reading →