Ed Quinn – The Oval

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What can you tease about this new season of “The Oval” with the Franklins? 

A) Well, basically we pick up right where we left off. All the skeletons we were trying to stuff in the closet come running out and run through the White House and we create a whole bunch of new problems and a whole bunch of reveals that turn Season 2 into an absolute mess.

Q) What continues to challenge you about portraying Hunter? 

A) Just basically the tone. Trying to keep him dark and scary, but also entertaining because I find it makes the show so entertaining when Hunter is borderline funny. Then, also he has these moments of real darkness. And then every once in a while, I add just a sprinkle of humanity, so you want to root for him, but you kind of hate yourself for rooting for him. I think that’s the one thing I really added to the role in the initial breakdown. When I got the initial breakdown, he was very dark, kind of one note. He didn’t really have a lot of charisma, at least on paper. But then when Tyler [Perry] hired me I felt like he was doing that because he wanted me to give the character a bit of life. The truth is that he’s the president of the United States and that as we know is a very difficult position to achieve. You have to be likeable. You have to convince at least half the country to vote for you. I wanted to bring a little bit of that to see the charm, to see his devilish grin, to see how he might have been able to seduce half the country to vote for him. Also, sometimes being a humorous creates a great misdirect in scenes. A bit dark comedy makes it a lot more interesting.

Q) What ways will Season 2 incorporate any of the current issues of our 2021 political climate?

A) Not a lot really. In all honesty, our show is supposed to be escapism. It was pretty ridiculous in 2020. Our show is supposed to be the sensational, over-the-top, crazy show and then you turn on the news and real life was almost crazier than our show. So, we will up the ante in Season 2 and, hopefully, we can transcend the actual political climate and give people an escape from reality.

Q) There’s such chemistry between Hunter and Victoria. Did you and Kron spend much time before starting the series to discuss their family and relationship dynamics?

A) Yes, in fact I flew back to Atlanta after Tyler offered me the role to screen test with Kron [Moore]. From the moment Kron got the job, she and I started working via Skype on all the scripts. We had twenty-five scripts immediately. We knew how fast Tyler wanted to work, so we really needed to develop everything. We just needed to do all the work and all the scene study work and break down, but also develop a relationship where we could create that chemistry on-screen quickly. Fortunately, Kron is one of the sweetest, most generous wonderful women you could ever want to work with. She and I have this great trust and friendship so that when we’re in the fog of war we can always look at each other, grab each other by the hand and let each other know we’re going to be fine and then just jump back into the scene or continue with the day’s work.

Q) How hands on is Tyler Perry when it comes to helping you work through scenes and allowing your input with the characters decisions?

A) Tyler is maybe one of the most hands-on creators in the history of Hollywood. He writes every show, he directs every show, he created the show, he walked his studio grounds and watched every studio and set being built. He took me to the White House when it was a pile of dirt. I watched it get built before my eyes. If you look at Tyler’s career, he’s done his massive movie franchises that have done so well. He’s had I don’t even know how many television shows that have done hundreds and hundreds of episodes. But he started doing church plays. He has such an instinct watching something live. If it works, if the tone works…you’re moving on. It’s incredible because you always know he’s there and you always know that if you make a mistake or you do something that won’t work, he’ll be able to correct it immediately. It’s an incredible experience because you’re not working for a committee. You’re working for one man, one vision and he has so much autonomy that he can make decisions in the moment and decide what he likes or doesn’t. It’s truly a blessing. It’s one of the best experiences any artist can ask for.

Q) What are some episodes that fans should keep an eye out for this season?

A) There are a lot of crazy episodes! One of my favorite scenes this season is the therapy scene with the family. I think it’s going to be hilarious. It was so much fun! Talking about Tyler being hands on, this is one of those scenes where he started re-writing the scene as we were in the scene, in the moment, feeding lines to all the different actors. I cannot wait for this scene to air. I can’t wait to see the edit because in the moment it was hilarious.

Q) You are part of social media. Do you enjoy the fan feedback when the episodes air?

A) Yah, it’s so much fun! I don’t participate or interact on Twitter too much. I feel like I was part of making the show and now, when the show is airing, I love to sit back and watch. I’ll follow the feed hashtag #TheOvalOnBET because it’s hilarious. The memes and the gifs are hilarious. People’s reactions are hilarious. I don’t feel like weighing in. I feel like you make a show for an audience and now it’s the audience’s time. Some people are turning their phones off and watching the show and don’t comment or interact until the shows over. Some people want to interact live. I love sitting back and watching twitter and laughing.

Q) “The Oval” reminds me of “House of Cards,” but with two maniacal political leaders. What makes this series so unique and captivating?

A) I think number one it’s Tyler’s style of storytelling. There is no one like him and his shows are produced in a way where they have their own tone and insanity that his fans really love. I think it’s this interesting upstairs downstairs aspect where we stay away from the politics. We stay away from the storyline getting too convoluted and we focus mainly on what’s happening behind closed doors. The purpose of the show was to explore the insanity that takes place that we hear whispers and gossip about, but we’ve never actually seen.

Q) I loved your work on the sci-fi show “Eureka.” What did you personally take away from your time on that series?

A) I loved “Eureka! I’m still so proud of Season One. It was this incredible journey. You just don’t know how a show is going to turn out or how it’s going to be received. I still remember Colin Ferguson and I were driving home from Season One, we had no idea how the show would do or if people would like it. He and I have a dark sense of humor, so we were always joking about how it would be the end of our careers. We had the same agent at the time and she called us both and told us that Variety had just dropped the review and they gave us a B+ …Hey, loved the show! A little later the show aired and it was the highest rating in the history of the SyFy network…The record still holds. So, it was just incredible to be part of such a moment and such a show. It’s a high-water mark for the SyFy network and the fans just love that show and will re watch the DVD’s. I miss Nathan Stark.

Q) You were a part of the fan favorite series “2 Broke Girls.” What is it you think made Max and Randy such a great couple?

A) I don’t know. They’re sort of an odd couple on screen if you really thought about it. It was supposed to be this odd couple…. of this older hipster guy from Hollywood and super cool Max Black (Kat Dennings). I was only supposed to do like three episodes, but something happened by the second episode and Michael Patrick King decided to rewrite the second half of the season and keep Randy on the show and make him permanent in Season 6. It was one of those special moments in Hollywood where everything falls into place. That is VERY rare. That show was so tight and so successful. It’s very hard to find real estate on a series like that, but somehow Randy was written in and became part of the show and became part of the legacy of the show and I’m really proud of that.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and love and support the work you do?

A) Just thank you! I couldn’t feel more blessed. I’ve had an incredibly long career and I think my greatest success has been my longevity (YOU CAN’T GET RID OF ME! 😎). I look back on the hard times now with a fondness and a pride with having made it through all the pilots that didn’t go and all the shows that got canceled, all the times I thought I was the first choice but came in second place. So, just know that I love doing this and I’m still super hungry. I’ve sold a lot of scripts, but I’ve never gotten one made. I’ve got books I want to write. I’ve got music I’m recording right now. So, I’ll continue working and if anybody out there cares, I’ll be happy to entertain them. Thank you very much!