Weird Loners (Tuesdays, 9:30/8:30C) premieres tonight. It’s a series about four individuals who find themselves unable to form satisfying long-term relationships for various and sundry reasons (usually having to do with them being, yes, a tad bit weird and maybe a bit on the offputting side).
Last week, two of the show’s stars – Becki Newton and Zachary Knightson – took some time to chat with a group of journalists/bloggers about Weird Loners.
Hey, guys. Thanks so much for doing the call today. I saw the first few episodes. I’m really enjoying it so far.
Zachary Knightson: Thank you.
Becki: Good to know. I like it.
So the four of you seem like you have a lot of fun on set filming this. Can you talk about kind of your relationship off set and also during filming, kind of just how that is?
Becki: Well I think what works so well, and you can see right away from the very first episode, we all started, and there was a very easy chemistry between us as though we’ve all been working together a very long time. And I know that’s, that it made filming so much more fun and so much easier, and we were able to really play around from day one. If there wasn’t a learning curve, that I’ve had in the past where you sort of get to know each other and become more comfortable, we all arrived pretty ready to go.
Zach: Becki, are you eating a bagel?
Becki: I’m not eating a bagel. It’s actually a frittata. Can you hear me eating because that’s disgusting.
Zach: No, but I know you’re hiding it and I applaud the hiding of the eating, but also it’s making me hungry—
Becki: It’s not hiding if you could hear me. I’m so sorry.
Zach: I can’t hear you eating. I can just hear you hiding your eating, so don’t worry. Keep going.
Becki: I’m just gonna eat louder then so I don’t even have to hide it.
Zach: Yes, we love each other. Do you want me to expand on that? Like those guys are so funny and everybody comes from a television background. I think we’re all kind of pros. I guess Meera is like the newcomer, but it doesn’t feel like it. She feels like the coolest customer of all of us but—
Becki: She feels like she’s been working for 50 years in TV and yet it was her first TV job. So you had sort of three of us who have been around the block a million times and then Meera who was just absolutely incredible. It all felt really easy from day one. Back to my bagel.
All right, and then as a follow-up. Is there something maybe coming up that you can tease about that you’re looking forward to for fans to see?
Becki: For me, there’s a scene, I believe, Zach, is it Episode 2 where we go down to Florida and you show up at Nana’s?
Zach: Yes.
Becki: That was a particularly interesting scene—it was a cool shot. There was a really neat shot when Zach and I, or our characters had their first, I think, real moment of connection. And Jake Kasdan, who I believe directed that episode, did something really cool with the cameras and slowed everything down and I think it started what continued to be a really cool style for this show. These sort of surprising elements.
Zach: They shot it with the [indiscernible] style of the show that’s really cool. Like some of the shots are a little bit off, a little awkward, a little tilted, and then this particular scene without really spoiling it, it’s sort of a dance. My character takes Becki’s character and starts dancing with her because he’s pretending that he is Caryn’s fiancé, so this old lady in the nursing home feels comfortable that her granddaughter—
Becki: The old lady’s name is Nana. Thank you very much.
Zach: Yes, Nana. Okay fine.
Becki: Right, Nana.
Zach: So, the lights dim. It sort of becomes a fantasy sequence, and it’s really beautiful. We did it all practical; it wasn’t something that was just done in [indiscernible]. So we shot it with these lights changing and it made the episode, and I think it really sets a really nice tone for the show, and we sort of explored that some more. Hopefully, if we get a Season 2, we’ll do even more exploring.
I watched three episodes this morning. I really enjoyed them a lot.
Becki: Oh, great.
Zach: Thank you so much.
Becki: That’s a great start.
Yes, and I’m very picky about comedy and always watch with trepidation and go oh, is this going to be funny, and it really had me laughing.
Becki: Oh, great. That’s great.
I was wondering if you guys, you said you had this natural sort of just feeling on the set. Did the four of you do anything to try to bond more for the show, to try to get that sort of feeling after you started shooting or—?
Becki: For me, I think what was so great is we didn’t need to force anything. Like I said, we showed up and from the minute we started there was an ease. We didn’t have to work any harder to create that chemistry. I think it’s one of those things that it’s either there or it’s not. I know also with Zach, our characters have a lot of chemistry and that’s something that, in my experience, it’s either there or it’s not, and it was so there with Zach.
Zach: Hey.
Becki: I’ll speak for myself, I don’t want to speak for Zach, but I just thought it was this really comfortable, really easy, and therefore, very charming and believable.
Zach: And I think it’s probably a testament to my performance ability—
Becki: It is.
Zach: Because I don’t believe I have any chemistry with Becki. Just kidding, I have great chemistry with Becki and Nate and Meera, and you know, Becki has a couple of kids at home so she’s a very good mom. She’s always at home. Believe it or not, we actually, the rest of us would go out and have a couple of drinks every now and again. We try to get Newton to come with us, but usually [indiscernible]—
Becki: I am, I do have a double life. That’s true. But this is the first I’ve heard of these so-called drinks with the rest of the cast. Apparently, I wasn’t invited.
Zach: You’re always invited. Can we—put us on mute. Just kidding.
So just as a follow-up. I noticed that you guys are both really good looking, but in the show they kind of ugly you up a little bit to like, so that you’re funny and everything. Do they tell you these things before they do them, or are they just like okay come here, we’re going to mess up your hair or whatever?
Zach: First of all, I think that they tried to make me better looking so now I’m a little bit confused about—
Becki: I think the truth is we were very aware that these characters weren’t the typical ones you see on TV. So Michael, our creator, really wanted them to look as imperfect as their characters were. It wouldn’t make sense for these people to struggle so much in life, but have perfect hair and perfect skin and perfect clothes. So I think our creator rightfully really wanted these, the way these characters looked to reflect their situations in life.
Was it a straight offer or did you have to go through the long process of the network test and being in front of 40 people, picking and choosing at you?
Zach: Straight offer, Steve, straight offer.
Becki: Straight offer. I think we’re both very fortunate to have been chose in the past that have been really great platforms, and hopefully our work has spoken for itself enough and we have been able—
Zach: How could a hundred—how could nine other series be wrong? Nine other canceled series be wrong?
Becki: Exactly.
Zach: [Indiscernible] a straight offer.
Well, look at it this way. With nine canceled series, at least your dollar quote goes up.
Zach: Oh, definitely.
Becki: Exactly.
Zach: Thanks, Steve.
And one other question. This one is for Becki, is that how was the transition moving from Philadelphia or Connecticut to Los Angeles?
Becki: Mostly the driving was the issue. I didn’t get behind the wheel for 3 years when I moved to LA because I was so terrified. I had gone to the university in Philadelphia then moved to New York, so for 10 years I didn’t drive and I was suddenly on the 405 and after 3 years of getting rides from my friends and my husband, I decided to get behind the wheel one day. I’m a late bloomer in many ways, and driving is another part of that. I just couldn’t do it, I was terrified.
Well, officially welcome to LA.
Becki: Thank you.
So, I’m curious. Is there anything, like any lines or anything that you guys improv’d. I don’t know how kind of strict they are with the script in the show, but—.
Becki: I’m sure that—it’s funny, they weren’t—
Zach: You know it was all pretty much on the page.
Becki: Yes. I know that they were obviously—
Zach: I mean everybody—
Becki: I’m sorry, go ahead Zach.
Zach: No, you go, you go.
Becki: I think obviously Michael, Jake and everyone was open to improving but it really was all there on the page. I think Michael had a very specific vision of who these characters were and what they would say, and we really wanted to honor that and we stuck pretty close to it. Anytime that funny things were going on, obviously they would keep the camera rolling, but I would say in comparison to other shows, this one stuck closer to the word.
Great. And then, for both of you, what’s your favorite part about your character?
Zach: I would say, for me Stosh, he’s kind of a despicable guy. He’s kind of, you know he’s not a very nice person all the time to the people around him. He’s kind of a user and I like exploring that darker side of myself for comedy sake, because I get to do kind of despicable things and not really have to pay the consequences. That’s kind of my favorite thing about this particular character.
Becki: For me, I love Caryn’s optimism in the face of logic. She, and I have a little bit of this in me, where she just goes all in to everything including her relationship and doesn’t really look at the facts and often gets herself into trouble and no matter what, she doesn’t really learn any lessons and just stays supremely optimistic/really obtuse and I like that. I like people that don’t really learn their lessons but keep on going anyway.
I have an acting website, it’s called Daily Actors and I always like to ask this question. What were the very first professional jobs that you guys had?
Becki: I was paid to be Barney the dinosaur at children’s birthday parties and I got paid $25 per party, and after a summer of wearing this costume in 90 degree heat I was fired because apparently I wasn’t committed enough to the character.
Nice.
Zach: Wow. That explains so much about you.
Becki: It really does. Again optimism is the key word here. Optimism.
Zach: My first job was this first movie called Cherry Falls about a murderer who kills virgins, and Jane Moore was the killer and Brittany Murphy was the lead in the movie. And I was cast only off my headshot because they were looking for someone to play Michael Biehn in a flashback rape scene, and I was cast because I supposedly looked like young Michael Biehn. There were no lines and I showed up to set to shoot my very first movie. I was super excited, I couldn’t believe it, and when I got there, I went through makeup and hair and then this producer knocked on my door and he said, “I’m so sorry, there’s been a really big mistake. The names were switched with the headshots, we actually wanted to cast this other guy.” And the other person that they cast, the person they really casted was my roommate, and so I was fired from this job before I even did it.
I’m driving home and my roommate calls me and he says, “Oh my God, you wouldn’t believe it. Dude, I got cast in Cherry Falls, too.” And I just said, “Dude, no you got my job.” I went home, I was heartbroken.
And they called me that night at 2 a.m. when they wrapped and they said everybody feels so terrible about what happened that we actually created a character for you in this movie. And they gave me a part, which turned out to be way better where I play a guy who comes into the police station like a crazy guy. I think my character was named Mr. Rolly, and he comes into the police station claiming to be the serial killer. So I have this whole scene where I’m like improvising crazy mad, jumping on the counter of this police station claiming to be this killer. So it actually turned out to be a much better part.
Wow.
Becki: This story gets way better as it goes on.
Zach: And my buddy in the movie is black and white.
That’s the greatest story I’ve heard. Wow, nice.
Becki: Yes, that’s great.
Zach: Yes, it worked out pretty good. Not so well for my buddy, I’ll tell you that right now.
My question is more general about the show. I watched the first three episodes and I saw a lot of kind of comparisons to Happy Endings and [indiscernible], which are two other very funny, amazing shows. And I was wondering what do you think sets Weird Loners apart from other shows about 30-something singles?
Zach: You know, I would say that in a weird way these people are just not very likable. I mean they’re kind of pathetic in their own ways, and you know, I think that’s something funny to explore in television. You know, I don’t know if you’re really rooting for these guys or not. I mean I’ve only seen a couple of episodes myself and you know, to me it’s funny to not really root for a character. So that’s kind of where I sit with it, in terms of what makes it kind of different.
Becki: Yes, I think you watch it and you’re cringing while you watch it. Maybe in the past, characters on TV were more aspirational [ph], you watched it and hoped you could be like them or looked like them, or act like them. In this case, you absolutely do not want to be like any of these people but it might be fun to watch them because you sort of can’t believe their behavior.
That’s great. And just a follow-up question. So, Stosh and Caryn are obviously dancing around a hook up and going off what you guys were just saying, do you think they’re good for each other or is it kind of what you were saying where maybe not?
Becki: I think what’s great is in other shows [indiscernible] will they or won’t they, and this particular show it probably will and who cares.
How close are the characters to you guys in real life?
Becki: For me, there’s certain similarities. Like I’ve said in the past, unwavering optimism in the face of logic. When I do something, I’m in 100%. I happen to be a married mother of two, so in that respect my life is very different than Caryn’s life, but our attitudes about many things are similar. Like I said unwavering optimism.
Zach: I would say I’m completely the opposite of my character. I probably have those kind of a*** personality traits but I’ve suppressed them for a long time and they’ve sort of disappeared but it’s fun to bring them to the surface and explore that and not have to pay the consequences, like I was saying earlier. But, yes, no I’m kind of the opposite. I feel like I’m not as concerned about running scams as Stosh is, but it’s so much fun to play that and for me it was just a great little exploration.
Perfect. Thank you very much.
Zach: Thank you.
Photos by Michael Beck and Ray Mickshaw/Courtesy of FOX