INTERVIEW: Dean Devlin and Aldis Hodge talk about Leverage
Leverage is a new TNT show that airs Sunday nights. The show reminds me a lot of USA’s weekly spy caper – Burn Notice. The difference is being that instead of an ex spy stuck in Miami, Leverage is about criminals trying to do the right thing. They take on, primarily Corporate criminals who prey on the week and helpless. I watched the first two episodes a few weeks ago and liked it, can definitely see the potential in it, even though I’m usually not a big fan of procedurals or complicated con-games.
I recently had the chance to sit down with one of the shows stars Aldis Hodge who plays the techno geek Alec Hardison and the show’s creator and mastermind, the great Dean Devlin. Doing a multi-person interview is always strange because I always end up focusing on one of the participants and not both equally. I had a lot of questions for Dean, but I made a connection with Aldis over our mutual geek love fest and he new friend the Playstation 3. It was a 5pm interview (which I usually hate) both were energetic and a lot of fun. They were going to do a screening and Q and A later that night and I was off to see the Wizard of Oz at DC’s Warner Theater. We had a short-term (about 30 minutes) romance.
Aldis Hodge
I’ve been playing a lot of Call of Duty 4 the last few weeks. Thinking about picking up Call of Duty: World at War.
EM
I have that.
AH
What did you think?
EM
You have to read the review….
AH [laughs]
You know the level in COD 4 where the helicopter comes, you can hide in the grassy spot. [We wasted the first 10 minutes just talking about COD]. So obviously you can see I’m a geek.
EM
[laughs] I think I understand how you got your role. So I watched the show last night and kind of liked it, I’m not much of a fan of the heist genre or procedurals but this works. The first episode there wasn’t much chemistry between you all, but you could definitely see if building in the 2nd episode.
AH
The first episode it was intentional because in the beginning these are criminals who work alone and don’t trust each other. They don’t want to get attached or be too friendly. Our chemistry comes from our natural off screen chemistry. We shot it in Chicago for 13 days. We really had a chance to gell as a cast and get to know each other as people. I remember having a conversation with my cast mates saying, “We don’t want to act like we’re to close.”
EM
Are all the shows going to be in Chicago?
Dean Devlin
No, the pilot was shot in Chicago, but all the other shows are filmed in LA. The characters fly all over.
EM
Do you do a lot of location shooting?
DD
No, we do it all in LA. We have a stage where we film about 40 percent of the time, and then we film on locations throughout LA.
EM
When you are producing something like this how do you decide where you are going to shoot it?
DD
We picked LA for two reasons. One because of the talent pool, we want to be able to have good guest stars and that’s where the talent is. Two, because this is our first season we wanted to be close to the writers, production offices, and post production facilities. If we’re fortunate enough to get a second season we want to move the show around a bit and shoot more on-location.
EM
How did the role come to you?
AH
I just audition and pounded the pavement a lot. I actually got the job on my birthday.
EM
As we found out earlier, you are a natural geek. How do you go about preparing for a role like this? Are you a PC or Mac?
AH
I just got a Mac a few weeks ago….
EM
So did I, this is my fourth and last attempt at switching.
AH
[laughs] You gotta commit. You gotta commit… I was HP for a long time and just decided to switch. As far as preparing for the role, it’s really weird, this role I kind of took it easy. I liked character so much that I thought I’d just throw myself in there and if it worked great. I would let nature have it.
EM
What kind of director is Dean?
AH
For Dean first time directing, it didn’t seem like his first time. Because he was an actor himself, he understood how we work and wasn’t opposed to us taking risks and following our instincts with the characters. [Looks to Dean] What else did you pay me to say?
DD
That he’s a handsome guy….
AH
He’s a very easy going guy. He knows what he wants and communicates it very clearly.
EM
What made you decide to want to direct this?
DD
Pure selfishness. I read the script and liked it so much, that I hired myself.
EM
Were you nervous about directing for the first time?
DD
I don’t think I was smart enough to be nervous. I walked in thinking I could do this, then at some point, it became “What was I thinking?” But I had an great script, an amazing cast, world class DP, world class Editor and world class Camera person. So I could pretty much just sit back.
EM
You’ve been involved in so many huge blockbuster films. What’s it like to go from that environment to this one? The follow-up question is – and Why?
DD
To answer your first question, it’s speed Chess, if you think of creating a $150 million movie like a grand master. I think it’s the best exercise any director can do. In fact one of the directors is a friend of mine Rob Minkoff who did The Lion King and the Stuart Little Movies. On the first day of shooting he looked like a deer in the headlights. He said, “No one works this fast. You guys are insane.” In the end he was great he gave us one of the best episodes that we’ve had. He said this should be a requirement of all feature film directors because it really sharpens your skills. So, it’s the challenge, speed, and the idea that it makes you think a lot faster on your feet.
But the Why of it, when I was growing up Television was the ugly stepchild of movies. It was very predictable, formulaic and movies were it was at.
EM
People like you would poo poo television.
DD
Exactly. What happened was movies became more and more expensive they became more formulaic. They had to be an adaptation or based on a tv show, something that had an existing audience. The money became to big for studios to want to take a chance on something new. In the meantime cable became big and all of these new networks started popping up. The only way these channels could succeed was to become more and more chances and be less formulaic. It is more fun to do television than it is to make movies.
EM
Do you think Television has finally surpassed film in terms of quality and diversity?
DD
Diversity for sure, quality is always a case by case thing. There will always be a brilliant film and a horrible film, there will always be a great television show and a bad television show. As far as being allowed to do a wide variety of things, television definitely surpasses the movie business. As an exercise, at the end of the season we looked at all the notes given to us and they barely filled a page and almost everyone of those were good, thoughtful notes. Part of that is because we’re working with TNT. They have been very supportive, smart, grownup people.
EM
Do you think Cable Execs foster less drama than studio ones?
DD
I can’t say generally, but I’ve been working with TNT since 2004 and they have allowed me work without a studio. So I get to be my own studio and because of that there’s less voices in the room. The ones that are there are supportive. They have never treated me like an employee, more like a partner. That kind of respect made all of use wanted to do our best. We wanted to reward them, by staying a little later, giving our extra effort because they created that environment for us.
AH
That was a blessing for us.
EM
But you, as an actor, don’t have much contact with the studio….
AH
Not necessarily, I have been in situations where the network does get involved and it’s been maddening. I’ve been on projects where I’ve had to listen to four or five different people – from the Studios, Producers, directors, network folks, all saying different things. With this production everybody was on the same page. TNT has been so supportive of us.
DD
Even the fact that we’re sitting here with you is all TNT. We didn’t want to do these interviews via Satellite, so they sent the cast and crew out to all these different cities to promote the show.
AH
At the same Dean is such a sensible guy and he is the voice of the show.
EM
So the fact that Dean is doing everything on the set….
AH
It’s easier because I know who I’m talking to and I don’t have to search around to find the right person to give me the best result. You want to be able to go and state your case. It’s really easy for an actor to not have to deal with 50 different people who all have different opinions.
EM
How long did it take you to reach this point – in terms of coming up with the idea, pitching and filming the pilot? How many episodes have you shot?
DD
We’re finished with the entire season. I pitched it to TNT about a 1 ½ ago, got the greenlight last October (2007) and shot the pilot in July.
EM
What was the genesis of the show?
DD
I just wanted to do the type of show that I grew up with and loved. I missed Mission Impossible and The Rockford Files. Television today tends to be more dry, dark and edgy. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s not the type of show I was interested in. So when TNT said, they wanted to get a TV Show out of me, I said I wanted to do a throwback type of show. I wanted to have fun. I don’t want to live in a dark world.
EM
It seems to be a message show. What do you hope people take away from it?
DD
Well it’s not. We want people to realize that they aren’t powerless and can do something to change their situation.
EM
I have to ask, while it’s on my mind, how much money was in those envelops [in the first episode the team pulls off the scam of their lives]?
DD
$36 million dollars.
EM
[laughs] You actually know the exact amount?
DD
Yeah. You’ll see it on the DVD…
EM
Are you filming on HD?
DD
Yeah, we shot the Pilot on the Genesis camera and the Studio on the Red One.
EM
What’s the Red One?
DD
It’s the finest HD Camera in the world. It’s amazing. [His eyes light up when talking about the Camera’s finer qualities.]
EM
Are you a technical director/producer or are you the type who just uses whatever tool is around to get the job done? Are you a geek? [Stupid question to ask since this is the man who made Independence Day and Gozilla]
DD
Oh, no. I’m super nerd of movie tech stuff. In fact we shoot these movies on digital, take it back to my house and transfer it to my server farm, edit it, color it, create the special fx, final mix, and deliver a completely digital product without it ever leaving our building before it goes on air. There’s no post house, no lab…
EM
So when we get the Blu-ray…
DD
It’s going to be pristine.
EM
Can I do the color commentary?
DD
Absolutely!
EM
You should see the Batman Blu-ray, they have this new User generated Commentary feature. I haven’t been able to test it out yet, because I have an advanced copy and the service isn’t turned on. You can record your own video commentary, then upload it to their server via BD-Live.
DD
That’s really cool.
EM
Do you have an onsite tech person to keep you honest?
AH
I work closely with the prop guys, who know this stuff.
DD
Our main Tech Writer, John Rogers is the only guy I know who is more of a tech geek than me. Between the two of us we’re always hunting down new gadgets that we can add to the show.
EM
You should go to CES next month [Jan 09].
DD
[Excitedly] We always do. Every year. I was part of the Blu-ray panel last year. [Which I attended, but forgot Dean was part of.]. We do all the trade show.
EM
It’s funny that you are here because Jeffrey Katzenberg is going to be here giving a 3D Tech demo for DC Critics.
DD
I’ll give you a little scoop, if the show gets picked up for a second season we’re going to do an ep in 3D.
EM
How does that work on TV?
DD
Same way. You shoot it in stereoscopic camera and there are certain televisions that can project. Those that can’t you’ll have use the old red/blue to polorize it.
EM
So we’ll have to have the glasses?
DD
Yes.
EM
Looks like we’re getting the hook. Let me ask you the standard whatever happened to questions…. Whatever happened to the sequel to Independence Day?
DD
Well, 9/11 happened. What was fun to watch prior to that was no longer fun. Now that time has past, it may be time to revisit it. But at the time we working on it, we said, you know what? This isn’t fun. It doesn’t feel right. That’s why Roland Emmerich did “The Day After Tomorrow” because he was able to do a world ending film, but it had a more serious, somber message. But a sequel is still a possibility.
EM
I remember reading something about how you love Kenneth Johnson. Have you talked to him about possibly doing V?
DD
I think he’s moving forward with his production.
EM
He’s been talking about it for the last couple of years. What projects are you both working on next?
DD
I’m working on Vacation. Between this series, the new Librarian movie and a new movie for TNT, between the three I’m pooped.
AH
I’m writing scripts until the new season starts. I’m writing 2 pilots and 2 movies.
EM
You see that’s the difference between successful people like you and me. All I’m doing is writing bad X-Files crossover fanfiction and playing games…
AH
[laughs] Yeah, but you are here interviewing us, so you must have something going on…