D.B. Woodside – Lucifer

By starrymag | May 17, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects you have been working on?

A) I’ve also been doing the new spinoff from “Suits” with Gina Torres called “Pearson” on USA, which premieres mid-July. It’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun!

Q) What did it mean to you to have the fans push for the return of “Lucifer” and for Netflix to pick up the show?

A) It was glorious. It surprised all of us and it made us all feel like perhaps we were doing something right over here. To touch so many people across the world is…I think it’s unbelievably humbling. We were devastated when FOX cancelled us, but now I think we all think FOX did us a favor. We’re at a much better place and friendlier people, people that really back the show and believe in the show and believe in us.

Q) With the loss of Charlotte, what is the current headspace that Amenadiel is in?

A) I think Amenadiel is in a good place simply because Charlotte is now in heaven. I definitely think he misses his mom, but I think he comes back to Earth on a goodbye tour. And I think as he is saying goodbye to these people that have touched his life, I think he realizes that his life has changed. Well, his life has changed because of the people he’s come so close with. So, I think that’s why he ultimately decides to stay. Of course, Linda’s news [spoiler alert] that she’s pregnant I think he finds reason.

Q) It’s great to see how the relationship between Lucifer and Amenadiel has evolved. Talk about how their relationship has altered over the years.

A) I’ll be honest with you; I’ve always been a little on the fence about their relationship simply because I didn’t want Amenadiel to be jumping from one relationship to another. I think in Season One he’s obsessed with Lucifer (Tom Ellis) and obsessed with Maze (Lesley-Ann Brandt) and obsessed with Dr. Linda (Rachael Harris). And so, I was concerned with it, but once I saw what the writers were doing it was something that I easily fell into. Being able to play with Rachael Harris is divine. She is just one of my favorite people on the planet and we have a good time together. I think what they are also doing is trying to show these people who decide that perhaps being in a relationship is not the best for them, but they are going to be friends as far as we know right now and agree to raise this child together.

Q) Tell us about working with Tom Ellis to develop the brotherly bond between Lucifer and Amenadiel.

A) Tom is great. Tom is one of my all-time favorite people. There is a lot of love that is actually really there. So, it’s easy to play brothers with him. What I love most is that we’ve seen their relationship evolve over time over the last four seasons. It started out being very adversarial and now it’s arrived at a place where there is a lot of deep love and respect between these two men. I love that. I absolutely love that. I talk about the scene in particular…I think it was Season Three when there is a turning point where Lucifer decides to tell a really cruel story and basically tells Amenadiel that story that he’s talking about that Amenadiel is like this guy who took a lot of pain. And in that moment where you see Lucifer really hurt Amenadiel it can go one of two ways, but Amenadiel makes the choice to love Lucifer harder. No matter how cruel Lucifer is to him and no matter how mean or disrespectful, Amenadiel continues to make that choice to just love him harder, which I think is incredible and admirable and a lesson for us all.

Q) Where does Amenadiel stand with Maze this season?

A) The relationship with Amenadiel and Maze is really interesting. And Lesley-Ann is one of my closest friends in real life so we have a lot of fun. I think they are still trying to work through their stuff. I don’t think that they’ve ever resolved what happened between the two of them. I think they’ve just chosen to push past it and now they kind of have this brother-sister relationship, which can be kind of tense but always supportive. And it’s a lot of fun working with Lesley-Ann. It’s just a lot of fun. We laugh all the time.

Q) What are some of your favorite moments you can tease for fans to see in Season Four?

A) I’m really looking forward to fans seeing Episode 8. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite episodes that we’ve ever shot. We really get a chance to dive into some things that are going on in our country right now. Specifically, police brutality towards young black men, women and Latino men and women. We get a chance to really play with that. Because I’m a politic person in my personal life it was so refreshing to be able to come to work and jump into subject matter that is dear to my heart. So, I’m excited for fans to see that episode. It was written by Jason Ning, who is one of our best writers. It was directed by Claudia Yarmy, who is my favorite director. So, it was just great to work with all of those great people and be addressing something that is current now.

Q) Have you had much of a say in how Amenadiel has developed over the seasons?

A) Well, I tend to kind of let the writers do their thing. Or, as they say, I tend to “stay in my lane.” I, of course, make suggestions. They have been really, really sweet about always listening to us and at least trying to incorporate stuff that we want to see. It took four seasons, but I’m so happy that it happened that it happened. Something that I’ve been pushing is doing a storyline like we see in Episode 8. So, they just really dove into that with so much sensitivity and respect for that difficult subject matter. That was incredible. I think now we’re just waiting to see about a Season Five, which I feel pretty confident in, but you never know. I would just encourage the fans to keep binge watching and shoot those numbers up.

Q) We have loved the friendship that Amenadiel and Dan have come to share. What does it mean to him to have someone outside of Lucifer as a male presence and someone to connect with?

A) I think he needs a lot more of that! I love Kevin [Alejandro] and acting with Kevin. I hope Kevin and I get to do a lot more in Season 5. I think Amenadiel needs that. I think Amenadiel has been defined or has defined himself by the people he gets involved with – meaning he made Lucifer his mission. He made Maze his mission. He made Linda his mission. What I love about Dan is that they seem to have a real unique friendship – something that was built from the ground up. Something that wasn’t pushed on Amenadiel, but that he actually chose to have Dan as his friend. I think there is a lot more from Dan that he can learn.

Q) What have you personally taken away from working on the series?

A) The idea of family. What family can be and how we can keep evolving our definition of family. Here you have us playing these celestial creatures who come together during times of emergency. As a cast, we’ve been together since season one and we love each other. And it’s just taught me that family can be whatever you make it. It can be the family you are born into or the family that you choose. It’s just taught me what family really means.

Q) Are you excited for the fan feedback you’ll receive to the new episodes?

A) I have a love/hate relationship with social media. It’s hard for me. [laughs] But I do love the fact that the fans are loving Season 4. Of course, that touches my heart. All of us worked so hard, especially Tom and Lauren [German]. So, it just means the world to me. It means the world to us to have people from all around the world follow us and tweet at us. Give us instant feedback from what they love, like and maybe what they don’t like at times. It’s great!

Q) Is there anything you’d like us to be sure we share with our followers about this season of “Lucifer?”

A) I really want to just thank everyone. It’s just been fantastic to be able to shoot this season and to see people’s reactions. That alone means so much. I think we’re all just excited about a Season 5. We want to respectfully keep the heat on our fans to keep pushing, asking and plugging away for us to continue bringing them this show.

Q) What can you tease is to come for your new show “Pearson?”

A) Working with Gina is a dream. She and I have known each other for fifteen years. We have worked on so many different things together. Like the people over there on “Suits,” the people on “Pearson” are glorious, glorious individuals. What I can share is that if you loved the relationship between Jessica and Malone than you are really going to dig it more on “Pearson.” It’s grittier. It’s grimier. It’s darker. And it reminds me of a lot of the thrillers from the 70’s. So, I think people are really going to dig it.

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

A) I know this might sound strange, but I simply want to say thank you. Thank you so much for always being there. It’s time like this…This is a crazy business and it’s time like this where we can get down on ourselves because we’re not getting this role or that role. Sometimes we can feel stuck. And the people that believe in me have always been there. At times, maybe fans don’t realize it, but we can get down and sad about things. Sometimes reading some of their comments and feedback gets me out of the bed in the morning and pushes me into my life and helps me to keep hoping and dreaming and evolving as a human being.