Geneva Carr – Bull

By starrymag | September 23, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

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

 

A) I spent my hiatus focused on two projects.  First, Tony nominated director Moritz Von Stuelpnagel and I collaborated on a new Philip Dawkins’ play Something Happens for Joe.  We did a workshop for a small invited group of investors and people with a keen sense of theater in hopes of getting it produced in the future.  It’s a dark comedy about a woman who realizes that she’s in a play, but devastated to find out that she’s a plot device for the lead male character.  So, she takes things into her own hands and hijack’s the play. Josh Radnor played Joe and he was as amazing as you’d imagine.  It’s soooo good and unlike anything I’ve done before; fingers crossed something happens with this terrific play and for Philip! My other project is a new home in Manhattan that I am currently renovating.  The ups and downs are intense and I’ve realized nothing happens without a strong support system.  I hired Genevieve Pavitt of Rock Star Renovation and I’ll be erecting a shrine in her honor when this is all over.  She and her team literally rock.

 

 

Q) What can you tease is in store for Season 4 of “Bull” and for Marissa?

 

A) Michael Weatherly and I just filmed a scene in an upcoming episode and it was intense. Emotional and jarring for Marissa and me. In fact, our show runner, Glenn Gordon Caron, reached out to check on me the night before filming.  Some rather shocking information is revealed and he knows how much I take everything to heart.  He, kindly, wanted to make sure that I was okay!  Marissa is me and I feel what she goes through so personally.  Four years in, it’s hard to not feel the pain your character feels.  Marissa has had so much heartache in her life, being given up for adoption was probably what set her on a tail spin of self-doubt early on.  Her journey shows how long we hold onto our battle scars.  And, sadly, how often it affects our choices in men. Oh, Marissa!  Dr. Bull comes to her rescue yet again and proves that friendship isn’t interested in gender or judgement.  I’m all for these awesome “Bullrissa” scenes where we learn about these two old friends.

 

 

Q) What continues to challenge you about your portrayal of Marissa?

 

A) In my humble opinion, Marissa is the brainiac at the TAC offices.  She dives in, gets the data surrounding each mirror juror and deciphers it all to help Bull analyze how a real juror is likely to vote.  You know, “Oh, we’re green as a leprechaun’s hat in here, Bull!” or “Yikes, this jury is as red as Rudolph’s nose, Bull!”  I kid, but what she’s doing is at the core what TAC does.  Bull and Marissa have their sassy banter, but these twists and turns of our mirror jurors reacting to what’s happening in court IS what’s happening.  It’s an integral part of how Bull casts his spell in and out of court and wins cases.  What’s challenging is that I am actually alone staring at a blank monitor with the crew filming these scenes.  When you see them on screen, they’re scenes where Michael and I having this often witty banter about the case and the jurors, but we’re not even filming on the same day or the same studio.  Initially, Michael would come in and sit on the sidelines off camera on set so we could find the tone.  But that man works such ridiculous hours (no one mentions that about TV, do they?!). I had to insist he stop.  Acting is reacting and he wanted to make sure I wasn’t alone.  Isn’t that darling?

 

 

Q) What are some themes we’ll see explored this coming season?

 

A) Honestly, this season is so full of surprises. I have been taken aback during every episode we’ve been filming.  I gasped reading a script more than once.  Really.  The show and the characters are at a tipping point.  Four years in, the fans know us. They’re invested, if we’re lucky, and this season there’s an intensity and an intimacy that only comes with time.  The stakes are higher because when you know someone, you risk more by baring your soul.  And whoa, there is some soul baring.  Season 3 left us with one less TAC member and Benny’s (Freddy Rodriguez) fight to be seen for who is and what he believes in is a terrific season opener. Chunk’s (Chris Jackson) daughter Anna (Jazzy Kae) returns and needs him to be the father he never was.  He wrestles with issues of faith and family and love and it’s gonna knock your socks off.  Taylor (MacKenzie Meehan) takes on a case that no one supports and risks everything for what she knows is right.  Not an easy task when our guru, Bull, doesn’t see it that way.  Yeah.  Did I mention surprises this season?!

 

 

Q) Fans love the chemistry between Marissa and Bull. What are some of your favorite moments the two have shared?

 

A) Every moment I get to share the screen with Michael Weatherly is utter joy.  He is the funniest, most generous acting partner out there.  What truly sets him and the Bull/Marissa relationship apart for me is the way the care takes with Marissa.  How honest he is with her.  How honest they are with each other.  Marissa knows Bull’s secrets, his past, he weak spots and also everything that’s lovable about him.  And vice versa.  Their friendship is based on mutual respect.  Bull has guided Marissa through bad relationships and career moves and tough choices.  We’re hard on each other, we call each other out.  Remember when Bull was drinking too much?  Who else could have called him to task but Marissa?  Heavens, that’s an exciting friendship to explore on screen!  Marissa has some personal challenges ahead in Season 4 and Bull is the only one who can guide her.  The only one she’ll allow to guide her.  Have I mentioned that they’re both hard headed?  She’s a strong, independent woman who ran the show at Homeland Security.  I’m bragging now, but she developed the matrix at TAC that reads our jury pool and defines these cases.  No small accomplishment and, yet, deep down she’s a fragile woman who has yet to get love right.  Bull is the love she does get right.  Their friendship is the stable, loving, honest relationship that grounds her.  I venture to say, grounds them both.  I know he’s having a baby with Izzy (Yara Martinez), but I bet Marissa is godmother to that baby!  Bull and Marissa have scenes together in every episode this season. Filming these scenes is so exciting because they gently tease out the depth of this loving, mature, humorous friendship and satisfying because Michael is so doggone fun to act with on film.  We run lines and dissect the scene itself endlessly before cameras roll, no wasted takes on our watch.  Bullrissa for the win!

 

 

Q) Going into this new season, who in particular were you hoping to share more scenes with?

 

A) This cast is bananas talented.  Making a hit television show is a magic trick and it always begins with casting.  There’s a chemistry that you cannot fake and I’m grateful to this team of actors because we have it in spades.  There’s a rhythm that happens when we play together.  We’re all sooooo different and this is what makes our scenes click.  If we were all alike maybe the work would seem staged, but it’s the fact that we seem like a true mismash of personalities and interests that makes things feel more natural.  And fun.  Oh boy, FUN.  We were filming a scene the other day in an evidence locker in a police station (On set, fantastic set design!) and somehow, we got punchy and I got so tickled I couldn’t even say words.  I’m usually the one who keeps it together, but lord have mercy, I couldn’t.  We were on Michael’s close up, cameras in his face, and I’m silently shaking with laughter, tears pouring down mine while poor Michael is forced to deliver serious lines about a murder or something equally depressing.  The director yelled, “Cut!”  And fearing the worst, Michael turned to me, broke out in a huge grin and said, “Don’t ever apologize for laughter. Laughter never bothers me.”  Our days are long and the material this season is intense, thank God for laughter.

 

 

Q) Is there a storyline you’d like to see explored in the future for Marissa?

 

A) Marissa and her husband, Greg Valerian (David Furr), have been through it this past season and I’m afraid their journey isn’t going to be smooth sailing in Season 4 either.  Marissa and Greg have been debating being parents and I would love for them to further that discussion.  And truly further the discussion on what makes a healthy, loving, committed relationship work. Are children the answer for them?  Marissa’s inability to be honest with herself and her partner may be an issue.  Or is it her inability to trust?  I love exploring what makes Marissa tick away from the office and this season there will be more to that storyline.  It’s not on the docket, but the other storyline, I’d give my eye to explore Marissa’s relationship with her birth mother.  Though she was given up for adoption, Marissa’s birth mother came back during her childhood before making a final break from her role as mother and Marissa was raised by her adoptive parents.  Season 2 had Marissa on the stand in court while lawyer Ron Getman, played by the wildly talented Brad Garrett, exposed this information about her.  It was a pivotal moment in understanding Marissa – how private she is and how much it meant that Bull knew her secret and risked being thrown out of court to protect her.  Learning more about the armor that Marissa thinks protects her is driving me this season.  And I have casting ideas….

 

 

Q) Who are some guest stars that we can expect to see in Season 4?

 

A) We just wrapped an episode with Francesca Faridany whom I had seen in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on Broadway.  I saw the show with friends and didn’t get to meet her at the time.  Her performance on stage in that show had such a profound effect on me.  Francesca played a therapist treating a preteen boy on the spectrum, helping him navigate the world with his particular abilities.  She was fantastic.  Her performance was measured and sensitive in ways that surprised.  And she brought this same sensibility to our set.  The storyline of her episode hits very close to home for me and will most definitely hit home with many of our viewers.  I don’t want to say too much because it involves a twist that will shock you and punch you in the gut.  Suffice it to say, Francesca’s hold on the character was spot on.  In addition to meeting actors I hadn’t known, I also love working with pals from my stage work or film or commercials or all the jobs I did before “Bull.”  Actors like Veanne Cox, Kim Sykes or Jason Leibman.  Running into an old friend on set is one of the great joys of being an actor on a TV show.  Some of the crew call me the mayor of New York.  Given all the jobs I had as an actor in this city, I’m bound to know at least one guest actor an episode.  At the very least, I give the impression I’m popular.

 

 

Q) What episode this season are you most looking forward to fans getting to see?

 

A) For me, personally, Marissa has spectacular moments in every episode this season.  All the characters do.  From my perspective, we seem to be playing the long game this season. Storylines of all the characters are being teased out slowly.  The bigger picture is opaque at the moment, so you’ll have to stay tuned and watch each week.  I think that audiences will like our stories being told over time.  It asks more of them.  It allows them to feel the impact of what we’re feeling as characters because it’s not wrapped up in a bow in a single episode.  It’s not a roller coaster, but a road trip this season.  Heck, I’m on it too!  We don’t get scripts in advance, so I’m in the dark as well.  As soon as new pages come out, I drop everything to find out what’s happening for all of us at TAC.  I’m a fan too.

 

 

Q) You’ve done film, TV and theatre. Do you have a preference for the medium you work in?

 

A) I throw myself into whatever I’m doing at the time.  I just love acting.  I love story telling in all its forms.  Commercials paid my bills for years and I often described them as making thirty second movies starring me!  It’s no easy feat to move people in thirty seconds.  Chances are you’ve cried at least once after a Christmas commercial.  That’s tough.  Now try that with Drano.  Tougher, right?  I shot a campaign years ago with Dov Davidoff about a couple arguing over how to clean the tub.  Yes, commercials are profound too.  We were so believable that the campaign turned into another round of spots with an older couple presumably playing us into our twilight years and still arguing about that tub!  That was fun.  Today, I’m passionate about television because I’m loving getting to know Marissa Morgan and her place in the world we’ve created on “Bull.”  There is something wonderful about playing the same character over time in new situations.   It draws on your imagination in a different way.  You have to let go of artifice and just BE that character because a TV audience can see through you.  You’re up close and personal in their homes.  I’ve been with Marissa for nearly four years now and I’m still trying to get under her skin and in her truest heart.  Theater, which I adore as well, is playing the same person with the same lines every performance.  I played Margery Stevens in Hand to God for hundreds of performances.  And every show was different.  The words, the movement, the gestures are all the same, but the moment to moment, the feelings you have and use to express that character are different on a nightly basis.  The trick is saying the same thing again and again and making it fresh.  I love that too.  Listen, I’ll come over an act out the phone book if you ask.

 

 

Q) You were incredible in Hand to God. Do you have any plans to return to theater in the near future?

 

A) Hand to God was one of the greatest challenges and joys of my life.  It was a four-year process with the most incredible people.  It was like having baby.  We nurtured and argued and cooed over this beautiful thing we made together.  I’d do theater again in a heartbeat and it may happen at some point on hiatus.  That being said, being a part of “Bull” has been one of the most thrilling experiences of my life.  I learn every single day on this job.  A guest director on the show recently said that seemed like an exaggeration, but I assure you, It’s not!  It’s a team sport and the players keep changing, so you’re constantly challenged.  The crew and series regulars ground you, but the guest stars and costars keep it fresh. It’s like waiting tables on a ship, uneven seas keep you on your toes!  I’ve always loved TV.  In fact, don’t tell anyone, but TV was always my dream as an actor.  In my view, it’s the great equalizer of the Arts.  Who doesn’t have a TV? When you’re on TV, you’re in people’s homes.  You’re a part of the family.  You’re asking for their attention and their trust.  I don’t take that for granted nor does anyone on “Bull.”

 

 

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

 

A) There aren’t even words to thank the fans that tune in every week.  No words to thank the fans that engage and care about the stories we’re trying to tell.  I admit to secretly reading any and every blog or discussion on social media about the show.  I love reading fans’ opinions and ideas and take on everything “Bull.”  I’d love to thank those fans, the ones who are invested.  I’m a cryer, so chances are I’d blubber some form of thank you given the opportunity to any fan who tunes in and watches.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you for your compassion, your curiosity and your willingness to go on this journey with us.  We’re exploring human nature.  And it’s in the fans’ image.  I hope we do it justice.