Brennan Elliott – UnREAL

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I’ve been really busy with “UnREAL.” We started the first week of March and I have been doing the Hallmark Mystery Channel film series Flower Shop Mystery. They are filmed around my schedule and Brooke Shield’s schedule. We did three movies and then I came back and did “UnREAL” this series. There are a bunch of projects on the table right now that I can’t discuss, but I’m very, very busy.

Q) And “UnREAL” has already been renewed for a third season. So, it seems we’ll be seeing you return!

A) I don’t know when they want to go back. I haven’t been given that kind of information. I would love to because it is absolutely a fantastic show. And the cast and crew is like a big family. Everybody is so great at what they do and we’re so happy with the product.

Q) How was Graham originally described to you?

A) There really wasn’t much to him. I remember driving through Oregon coming back from filming “Cedar Cove.” I was offered to play “host” and I don’t think he even had a name at the time. It was kind of just being a line here and there, but they didn’t know what they were going to do with him yet. I kind of came into it with a blank slate, which was kind of exciting because I could bring something interesting to him. The writers, producers and I kind of creatively constructed him into something interesting. You’re not starting with something established. You get to create him as the weeks go on and it was a great opportunity for me to find the Graham that I wanted to create. I started with nothing and piece by piece I started to develop this monster, so to speak. It’s been great. There wasn’t much to the beginning, but it has kind of turned into a full-fledged three dimensional character that is a lot of fun to play.

Q) How will dynamics shift for Graham this season?

A) You’re going to see a lot more of him and a lot more of him when they say “cut” this season. So, you’re going to see a really nice dynamic with him playing the mask of the host in that “Everlasting” world. Then, when they say “cut” you’re going to see Graham off camera and how he interacts away from playing his role on the show. So, I’m kind of playing two characters. It’s been a lot of fun with our different directors playing out different scenarios and seeing him off camera. I don’t want to disclose too much, but he is definitely developing in a very funny way. There is a lot of room for humor and to poke fun at him a little bit. It’s such a tense show with a lot of wonderfully deep storyline that I always feel like Graham is a breath of fresh air for the audience between all these wonderful brilliant storylines that are happening. If you get a moment of Graham, you can get a shot of humor and then go back into something else. We’ll see how it plays out in the end, but there is a lot more to him this year on camera and off camera outside of the “Everlasting” world. That’s been a lot of fun.

Q) How does Graham feel about having the first African American bachelor on the show?

A) It’s great! To me, he’s done so many seasons that it is almost like auto-pilot for him at some point. For him, it’s like, “Bring him on in, who ever the next guy is!” I was talking to B.J. [Britt] and we’ve become friends from the show (as we all have). We work so closely, the host and the bachelor, that much like last year with Adam (Freddie Stroma) they become friends. Graham gets close to the bachelors and roots for them to fall in love. There is a lot of truth underneath all of that humor. I think the irony of that is that deep down he would love to be the bachelor himself. There is an ongoing joke that the bachelor is a “10” and that Graham is a “6.5. out of 10.” He’d always love to be a “10,” but it will just never happen. He’s very supportive and encouraging. He wants them to find the right person. As the years have progressed, I see that as playing Graham it starts to mesh into my real life where I’m like, “I really want this guy to find the right person.” When someone gets cut and it gets down to the final contestants, I’m like, “Man! I was really rooting for her,” even though I know the script. I’m sure other hosts of reality television shows get close to that person that they really root for them. I think that whether he is African American, a woman, white or Asian that it doesn’t matter. I think the whole diversity issue is absolutely fantastic, is something that needs to be said and it is time. In my opinion, it’s good to have that kind of diversity in film and on television.

Q) Graham gets to look into the outer workings of “UnREAL” and the inner workings on “Everlasting.” He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place within the series.

A) He’s kind of this enigma as he is in both worlds. As an actor, it’s been wonderful to play these worlds and two sides to Grhaam. For Graham, he never really has a home because he has the show and then he has the stuff off the show. He’s never really accepted in any way. He’s not the bachelor and the girls don’t like him. He’s kind of like “uncle creepy” and then off camera he wants to have more and become part of the development of the show, but isn’t really given those reigns either. So, he’s kind of in this purgatory of just “do your job and shut up,” but he wants more. There is a backstory where he is an actor that maybe wanted to become an A-list star, but got stuck on a reality show and just became such a successful host that he got so insecure he couldn’t leave the money and the constant work. But he’s bitter about it.

Q) Do you enjoy getting to be the comedic relief of the show?

A) I love it! I played a lot of serious roles in the beginning of my career and over the last few years I can’t get away from comedy. I’m actually having the best time of my career now. This season has been one of the best and most fun seasons probably in my career. It has to do with the writing and the crew. We’re a family. It sounds cliché because a lot of shows say that, but we have a show within a show and the crew is actually a part of it. So, all of us are really just in it together. Our crew knows our characters so well and we know them so well that it is just a symbiotic relationship. It makes it so much fun. I’m trying to find choices in the work to find that levity, but the irony is that the great thing about it is that he takes this job so seriously because he wants it to be his five minutes of fame. This is his moment to shine and maybe someone will see it and give him the career he always wanted, but no one did. It’s that thing of being a guy and you would always love to date the princess who is the really beautiful great woman who is perfect, but you’re never really going to get her. That’s kind of Graham. It’s sad, but there is humor in that. There is lots of levity in that. I’m having a blast playing him. I’m so blessed to be able to have that opportunity. It wasn’t there in the beginning, but the writers and producers have been really supportive of that.

Q) Graham has had some great lines. What have been some of your favorite to say?

A) I can’t say some of them! [laughs] There are some lines that we say off camera that I don’t know what they have even kept. There are so many this season that are ridiculous and hilarious. I even love his monologues. I love the way they write his monologues. There is so much more to setting up these monologues during a challenge or for the dates. The way they write it and the way I work with creating choices – the lines are just so great. If I’m in a scene and it happens, I’m like, “Oh man! I love that line. It’s such a great line.” There was a line where I said that the bachelor and the girl are going to have a date in a hot tub and I say, “They’re going to find peace and love in the hot tub…” He says these things. You don’t find peace and love in a hot tub. It doesn’t really go. It’s just a tribute to the writers. I was asked by another acting friend of mine how I find the cadence in all of these different things. As an actor, I’ve explored a lot of different things to create him. You use your personal experiences and different things. It started to evolve and the audience loved certain deliveries and I just try to just keep exploring and toing that. I think that’s the most fun I’ve ever played, without question.

Q) Is there someone you haven’t worked with yet or would like to have more scenes with?

A) I think I have one scene with Constance [Zimmer]. I don’t often have many scenes with Shiri [Appleby] and Constance, which I love because every actor on the show is so wonderful. I don’t get a lot with Chet (Craig Bierko). I don’t get a lot with anyone except really the girls and the bachelor. When I get a scene with any of the other cast members, I love it. I love getting an opportunity to have a scene with them. I’ve never had a scene with Jeremy (Josh Kelly), which I think would be an interesting dynamic. I’m very unbiased on the show because I think everyone does their role so well and does beautiful work and are beautiful people. I can’t say I want to work with him or her more. My best scene partner is the Steadicam. [laughs] That’s my scene partner. So, when I get a live human being that breaths and has emotion, that’s always a fun day. [laughs]

Q) What do you think it is about “UnREAL” that has made it a fan favorite show?

A) It’s obviously brilliantly written and the performances are strong. I think it’s a polarizing show. There are millions and millions of people who watch reality TV and millions and millions of people who like or dislike it for whatever reason. The characters are so truthful, yet there is this other element that is so untruthful that is it really untruthful or is it vice versa? It connects with everyone who loves reality TV or doesn’t like reality TV or wants to know why they don’t like or wants to know what goes on behind the scenes. Then, when you have great writing and actors that are really committed to delivering the best performances they can and a crew that is shooting it so beautifully, it’s a recipe for success. You never know what shows are going to connect with an audience and I’m so grateful and appreciative that this one has. There are a myriad of reasons and we’re so happy that people are sipping our drink, so to speak.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive during episodes?

A) I do! I love interacting with the fans. I have some incredibly loyal fans that watch anything and everything that I do, but are really hooked onto this show. I’ve never done something where fans are so passionate about it that their lives are wrapped around that hour of TV. It’s wild how people are gravitating towards our show. We’ve struck a nerve with our audience and when I have a chance to live tweet with the fans, castmates and the other people involved with our show it is a wonderful, wonderful hour.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the show?

A) I love them. I love their interactions and what they have to say. When they have input on the show and storyline ideas…Just keep watching. One of the things I always try to tell everybody is that what we’re doing if you like it keep supporting it because we’re having a lot of fun. If you’re having a lot of fun watching it, imagine what it is like for us doing it. The rumor is that our creator sees the story as a five year thing and she sees an ending to it, which makes me sad and a lot of the cast members and probably a lot of the audience. This thing could go as long as “The Bachelor” – forever. There are so many stories to tell. It’s a great show and we want to bring bad people making brilliant TV to the masses for a very long time. The more they interact with us the more we want to interact with them. It’s a beautiful, vicious circle.