Part 9:Behind the Scenes:Interviews
Ross scratches his chin. "Auditioning. Okay, that was interesting since as we were going to be playing a couple, we didn't just have to test well for the role, we had to test well with each other. At least have the right initial chemistry. I've auditioned for boyfriends and couples before, so I'm never sure what exactly it is they're looking for, since criteria seems to vary from one casting director to another.
Simon nods. "Yeah, what seems an identical role, they test for completely different things. Of course, it's a lot different when you're testing as a couple, rather than the new love interest for an established character."
"Or that thing where you go in as a new character and then several episodes down the line the writers and producers decide to hook you up with another character so you never tested for anything." Ross adds. "It can go so wrong, you wouldn't believe it." Pause. "Actually, you would, everyone's yelled at the screen when they've cast someone who has the chemistry of a lump of wood. I remember one really spectacular fail in Smallville. The actress playing Lana had no chemistry with anyone except Chloe, never mind all the boys who were supposed to be falling all over each other for her, including Clark." He coughs. "Never mind that Clark and Lex could barely keep their eyes off each other." Another cough. "Anyway. Auditioning. they announced they were casting The Authority, I'm a massive Warren Ellis fan, and my agent told me to stop calling up and begging him to call back and bribe them. And then we heard Angel had been cast as Jenny, and all the comics sites sat up and went 'ooo, that could work'. I auditioned for everything but The Doctor. I'd have liked Hawksmoor, but then certain people turned up who can actually drop-kick people in mid-air and then turn a somersault and run up a wall. Completely unfair." He grins. "But I got socially adjusted Batman, so there is no bad here. And then I did the dance of joy. It was a thing."
"What about Apollo?" Simon asks, folding his arms.
Ross grins. "You do happy go lucky eye candy way better than I do, it was fate. I am totally pretty enough, but I carry Midnighter's coat off better. also the threat of ultra-violence."
Simon narrows his eyes. "I can do ultra-violence. You have seen Solar Walk, right?"
Ross pats his cheek. "Course you can, sweetheart, it's just that you radiate nice. it's a skill. Angel, for instance, I have my suspicions about."
"Possibly because she isn't trying to impress us." Simon points out. "Though she's getting really good at barking orders when she's not acting now." he tugs at his collar. "Yeah, so I got chucked this script, and it was different enough that it looked really interesting - superheroes but going in for massive problems instead of the usual muggings and supervillains, which to be honest aren't really that interesting. Plus the whole couple thing, so my agent put me up for Apollo and told me to get my ass to the gym - I had to be able to give off ex-soldier and nice, which Ross clearly can't do, so we got to that stage of callback. I doubt I'd have ever got anywhere near Jack Hawksmoor, because although I can look decent doing a fight on screen, i can't run up walls and do backflips without thinking about it or do sarcastic bastard anywhere near Drew's level. Okay, so there's training, but the guy who can do that in the audition room and act kinda gets priority. That man has a major, major line on sarcastic bastard."
"What do you expect, he's *English*." Ross says. "It's their lifeblood."
"Yeah, so, that role was totally rigged in Drew's favour. the others may have just as well not turned up. We're just lucky it doesn't involve sword wielding as well, because then they might have just as well have handed it to him on a plate." Simon says. "Then came the chemistry tests we talked about..."
Ross groans. "Christ, the chemistry tests. How many did you have to do?"
"Three." Simon replies. "One guy was so nervous he screwed it up and nearly fell over his own feet. Second was sort of okay. third was you."
Ross shakes his head. "I had more. Really, really terrible ones. Two sort of okay. Slight problem that one half has to be sunny and nice and the other's mostly grumpy, but it's not as though that's an unknown concept in couples, right?" he takes a breath. "One of the guys actually flinched any time you put a finger near him. either he was deep into the closet and scared that touching him would bring on the jazz hands, or just deeply homophobic. Three other guys auditioning that day said he acted the exact same way with them. What was he even doing auditioning to be part of a gay couple if he couldn't even do it in the audition?"
"Agent probably saw 'HBO show' and chucked him at it without reading the character description." Simon replies. "It happens."
"Then there was the guy who was flirting with me like he was trying to pull me on a first date." Ross says, rolling his eyes. "The characters are an old married couple, not meeting for the first time. then there was plank of wood... the list goes on. And then there was Simon."
Simon grins. "We got lucky. There was a delay and they were running late, so we got to chatting while we were waiting and decided we'd play it fond and slightly exasperated. that and we were relaxed by the time we went in. so, bingo. my ticket to spending at least part of each episode shirtless." he pauses. "Actually, it's a pretty skin friendly show. I think Jenny and the Doctor are the only ones who don't wear anything form-fitting at any time."
"He's still not a comics fan." Ross pouts.
Simon pushes his head. "You're enough of a fanboy for the both of us."
@StreetcarJr
Portrait of a hangover. this is @RossHunter01 in need of a fried egg sandwich yfrog.com/aI48inkjfds
ONTD_Authority
...Oh, bless. Ross drank too much and is feeling the after effects.
image: Ross Hunter looking utterly wrecked in just a pair of jeans. A very well-fitting pair of jeans.
ShinyJan:
Ooo, someone had a bad, bad night. *snigger*
>JEssdeJess
Who wants to bet he went up against Mei and Isabella again?
>>Gamestay
I'll happily take your money.
FellSwift:
How is it that someone can look this pretty even when blatantly hungover?
Redshift:
God loves us and wants us to be happy. PROOF.
>ShinyJan:
Now can we please have proof of Shirtless!Midnighter on set? I have needs.
>>Invictus
Eleventy-billionthed.
Mei claps her hands together. "Welcome to prosthetics. They're very nice. They created my wings."
"We do more than that." Pippa says.
"But my wings are the important things." Mei replies.
"She'd get them bonded to her permanently if they actually worked." Gavin adds, from where he's leaning against the table.
Mei raises an eyebrow. "This is a totally natural reaction to have. Who doesn't want wings?"
"They might get in your way doing stuff, like sitting down or riding the bus." Gavin says.
"Might I point out: wings. Who needs the bus?" Mei asks. "So, anyway, this show is about explosions, sarcasm, and an excuse for me to have giant wings. And I get to beat people up and claw their faces off. he doesn't."
"I'm secure in my character's ability to change half the world with a thought, thanks." Gavin says. "Most of my stuff's done in post-production, but it's really pretty cool to read the script and see your character's just turned the invading force into trees and you've single-handedly re-forested LA. I get a lot of green screen stuff done, like we all do, except I get to go into trances so it's even more trippy."
"I suppose so." Mei says, folding her arms. "But it's still not wings."
"And there you have her entire reason for applying for this role." Gavin says. "Me, I get to watch everyone else get really physical and go mad, while my character drifts off and sees what's wrong, inserts a sliver of thought and twists. he's the world's Doctor. The one whose entire reason for being is to try to heal it. Which, okay, he's with a load of people who're out to save the world by beating things up, but you need that balance. Jenny found him, probably yelled at him, then got him drunk and extracted a promise out of him. Being the Shaman of the planet? Decently weird and yet really satisfying." He pauses. "Admittedly I do have a problem with not making him sound stoned out of his gourd the entire time."
Mei shakes her head sadly. "And still, no wings." She sighs. "Okay, the simple way to describe my character is that Shen had been in a Black Ops part of a team with Jenny and Jack. Lots of secret stuff - she was originally a pacifist but all of this changed her. The old team they were a part of imploded, and the Black Ops part had pretty much been going their own way towards the end as it was. Jenny presented her idea of wanting to make the world a better place, and Shen jumped at the chance. she's Tibetan and none of what her parents remembered from their childhood exists any more." Mei grins. "I am on this set, I have wings and it's all completely mad. Result."
fuckyeahrossandsimon.tumblr.com
image: Simon, sprawled on his bed and eyeing the taker of the photo. *Just* decent.
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Toytown said: Oh. My. Days.
Lostintransit said: THUD.
Lostinc said: So. Um. What was my reason for not ...uh... I totally forgot what I was going to say.
Drew leans back. "How we went for this role...I think she'd better start." he looks sheepish. "I get a bit enthusiastic."
Angel gives him a look. "Enthusiastic is putting it mildly, Warren Ellis fanboy. I got a call from my agent that they wanted to see me for the role, I went 'interesting' because i'd read the comics - couldn't avoid it, not with living with him. Seriously, she's a burnout who's lived the entire century, drinks like a fish and goes in and out of depressive fits because she so desperately wants to make the world a better place and keeps getting let down. She gets involved with superheroing on and off, but what she's mostly been involved in is secret agent stuff, and was working the more secret side of a superhero team when that imploded, so she saw her chance to go after the really big stuff. Really protect the world, none of this status quo bollocks. So on a mad power trip, she recruits the best for the job she can find, and then goes for it. Oh and she's essentially electricity. Communicates through it, commands the storm, can do your brain in... you wouldn't believe the stuff she can do. And there's a giant spaceship and aliens and clones and mad nutters. Just a wee bit different from most musical theatre and charging around the British countryside up to my eyebrows in mud playing at Robin hood." Pause. "Anyway, I told him I was auditioning, he pretty much screamed the house down that they were getting this far with pre-production, then had to tip him into an ice cold bath when he got a call back for Hawksmoor."
"You exaggerate." Drew glares.
"I had to sit on you." Angel points out. "And apologise to your agent for the ringing noise in her ear."
"Okay, she's right there." Drew admits. "But I auditioned for Apollo, Midnighter and Jack Hawksmoor, and oddly, when they found out I could do all the martial arts and backflips without training, they liked me a lot. Amazing what casting directors pick up on."
"And he can act and grumble really well, so there's that." Angel says. "Pity the role didn't call for you to sing too."
"We're holding out for a musical episode." Drew adds. "The thing about The Authority is it's all about a bunch of people trying to do their best to save the world. not just one alley, or one neighbourhood, or one city. The world. So we're fighting aliens and global terrorists who don't do bombs in public transport, they do attack squadrons. It's a different scale. And I get to be the embodiment of a Warren Ellis character, all of whom are mad, bad, dangerous to know and have great lines." Pause. "Though I have to say, green screen is weird. Having to re-do moves and fights against things I can't actually see. As a swordsman, you're used to what you're fighting being in front of you. I keep finding myself doing moves and spins as an extra for part of a fight that I've already done on, say, the Carrier set."
Angel cocks her head. "Oddly, there's not that much green screen for me, even though my whole power is lightning. I mostly focus or do my best Palpatine." She pokes Drew. "You still haven't described who jack *is, sunshine."
Drew does the sheepish look again. "Oh. Whoops. Jack Hawksmoor is designed, evolved, whatever, to live in the cities. He hears everything, if it's in range of a window he can see it, he can melt in and out of walls, hear what the city's trying to say... Basically he's the God of the Cities. He started trying to clean them up, then got recruited to a team and got put in its black ops team with Jenny and Shen, then joined Jenny's mad idea to try for the world, not just one place in it."