“There are a handful of actors whose presence alone transforms a television show into a Can’t Miss TV Event! Such was the case when Mary McDonnell joined The Closer in 2009 for a three-episode arc. The response to her character, Captain Sharon Raydor, was so strong (both behind the scenes and in the real world), that producers wisely extended her time on the show — and then crafted a spin-off explicitly for Mary to carry.”
Read the whole article from theInsider.com here.
From Creators.com/Women & Hollywood:
With a debut that scored 7.2 million viewers for her “The Closer” spinoff, “Major Crimes” star Mary McDonnell is looking forward optimistically to word of a Season 2 sometime soon. “I can’t commit the network, because I don’t run it,” she says with a laugh. “But I will say TNT has been absolutely, stunningly, remarkably supportive of this series in the promotion, marketing and belief that this is something that can be done, should be done and is what the fans want. TNT knows what they have, and they’ve handled it beautifully,” she gushes. “They have patience. Clearly, they were not disappointed. They were super smart and super brave. They’re the kind of network you want to be working for.”
Meanwhile, with the first 10 episodes of “Major Crimes” in the can, “I am enjoying a little relaxation time,” says the brilliant actress of “Battlestar Galactica” and “Dances With Wolves” renown. “I have a little independent film I would love to do, but I can’t really talk about it because not all the pieces are there. And then, I look forward to knowing about our second season. There are some things I really want to study about things I’ve learned in the first season.”
That’s right. A sixty year old woman is now the lead in an American TV series. A series that is doing just as well in the ratings after several outings as it did with her predecessor, who was 39 when she started on the show.
In a business where age discrimination is rampant in every area – actors, writers, directors, producers, you-name-it, this is a huge departure, and we’re thrilled to see it. (We’re thrilled to see any size departure from the television norm, but this one is especially important because of its implication for the future of every baby boomer in the field.
Whole (very fun) article here.
“It’s thrilling, what starts to happen over the course of the 10 episodes,” declared Mary, whose straight arrow police Captain, Sharon Raydor, is now in charge of the LAPD Major Crimes unit/family-of-sorts that she used to dislike. “It will be so delightful for fans of ‘The Closer,’ what we find out about these beloved characters they have spent seven years with, because of the way she runs the office, the way she is a boss, the way that they have to start to work together.”
As for Captain Raydor, “All the way through the 10 episodes, this woman has surprised me, revealed things to me and made me chuckle,” Mary said.
Read the entire article here.
From Indiewire.com:
While we were all obsessively watching the Olympics, one thing happened in TV land that didn’t get much note. A 60 year old woman took over as the lead on a TV show. Now techincally Major Crimes is a new show, but anyone who watched The Closerknows it’s basically the same show with a new name.
Mary McDonnell who played President Laura Roslin on Battlestar Galactica took over the squad as Kyra Sedgwick left her show after 8 seasons. The two female characters are completely different types. Sedgwick’s Brenda Leigh Johnson was nice and southern, as she got those confessions, and McDonnell’s Sharon Raydor is a whole different brand of cop. She made her mark in internal affairs and that is leading to lots of trouble with the squad. It’s almost like they are replaying the beginning of The Closer where all the male cops had to hate their new leader and break her down until they were convinced she was competent to have the job. Women have to earn that respect whereas when a guy gets that job they are assumed to be qualified.
Read the whole article here.
A wonderful new interview with Mary McDonnell from Zap2it.com with good questions and some wonderful insights into Sharon as an evolving character.
“As she becomes an insider as opposed to an outsider, that mistrust doesn’t just dissipate — because that means we would have to have a completely different person there, and there wouldn’t have been that history. So what’s interesting about it for me — one of the many things that’s interesting — [is] working with that mistrust from the inside, and seeing where that can take us and what we have to do. I feel like it’s very reflective of what a lot of people go through” when they either change jobs or get new bosses.
There are always these adjustments that are difficult to make, so I sort of love that we see this happening inside this Major Crimes division.”
Read the whole thing here.