Grant Harvey – The Crossing

By: Lisa Steinberg

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

A) I have been very busy. I’m currently doing something that is really unique. I did an indie movie three years ago and the edit on the film actually ruined the movie. My costar and I, Gia Mantegna, got together and we were somehow able to buy the rights to the indie movie – free and clear. We’ve since secured an editor and we’re having it recut, retitled, resound mixed, recolored and re-everything’d! We’re going to make it the movie it should have bene three years ago and hopefully something good comes from it. Then, I did a few episodes of “Shooter” on USA. I did another indie film that was really cool that I think is going to be really good called Foster Boy in November. It’s about a broken foster care system.

Q) Please tell us the premise for “The Crossing” and about your character Roy.

A) “The Crossing” is ABC’s new hour-long drama about a small Pacific northwest town where that is peaceful and nothing really happens there. Steve Zahn plays the sheriff and Rick Gomez plays the deputy. Then, all of a sudden, bodies wash up on the beach and float up in the surf. There are like five hundred of them and about fifty of them are alive -t hey survived. There has been no shipwreck or plane crash. All the people vary in race, ethnicity, age and sex so there is really no…It can’t all come from the same place in our world. When federal immigration comes up the local authorities check them in and find out that their birth dates are at least a hundred years in the future. We find out they are fleeing a global war and the only way to flee a global war two hundred year from now is to go to a different time since it’s so all enveloping. They don’t have time travel perfected yet though so that’s why they end up in the ocean and many of them die. So, they start to come into our world and we kind of put them into a camp. So, there is a lot of parallels between immigration and refugees now in our real world and this somewhat surreal world of “The Crossing.” I play Roy, who is an immigration agent and he’s very by-the-book. As the show goes on, he starts being conflicted about doing his job and doing the right thing, which becomes a choice and they are not one in the same. It’s why he became an immigration agent – he wanted to do a good job and help the world. But then there starts to be a dissonance between the two.

Q) Was there anything you added to Roy that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) Yes, there was really not a lot in the breakdown. So, it was really great since I could really bring what I wanted to bring. I understood him really clearly right out of the gate. I knew exactly how to play him, and what I wanted to do. I think the breakdown was just “a boyish, by the book immigration agent who has a connection to Hannah.” That’s basically it. I talked to the show runner, Dan, one day. I texted him and said I think that Roy should be a veteran. I thought he should be a Marine or something so we added that. It might not come into that show, but that’s how I’m playing it. We eventually made him from Arizona where there are big immigration issues, obviously. I wanted him to be very warm and likeable and empathetic. He’s like the heart of the show. There is a lot of heart in the show. He’s in the perfect spot of always trying to do the right thing at any cost. That’s kind of how I played him.

Q) Talk about working alongside Steve Zahn.

A) He is as cool and nice as you’d think he’d be. If you’ve just seen his movies and not met him in real life, that’s probably exactly how he is in real life. He can’t not be funny. He’s a pleasure to be around. He’s a consummate professional on set. He sets a great example for the other actors. It’s kind of a trickle-down thing. He treats everyone with equal respect from above the line down to the PA’s. He’s very respectful and kind as an actor. I love him and I’m happy and proud to be his friend.

Q) You often take on dramatic roles. What is about this genre that draws you to it?

A) I think it’s more or less that I’m capable of pulling off a sense of gravity to roles. I do enjoy playing dramatic, heavy roles. I think most actors do. I kind of meet it half way since people see I’m capable of doing it so it kind of comes my way and I know I’m capable of doing it so we meet in the middle with these projects that require a gravity to the role or take on a heavy subject or setting. I do enjoy playing dramatic roles. It’s why we do it. I really love acting so I can really bite into it and give it my all and walk away feeling I did something.

Q) What are some of your favorite moments from filming “The Crossing?”

A) One of my favorite things about filming “The Crossing” is we shot exteriors all the time in Vancouver. First of all, I love Vancouver and secondly when you shoot a show outside it is always more fun. There are more variables and it’s harder to get a perfect shot. But it’s so much fun to shoot outside. It’s easier to act. You don’t have to act because you’re out there and you’re in it. My favorite part of shooting “The Crossing” is that we were outside constantly. We were in this wilderness in the mountains around Vancouver. Also, they have these birds in Vancouver at high elevations called Whisky Jacks and I was totally blown away by these birds! They were really friendly, confident and really interested and playful with people. You could take some crumbs and put them in the palm of your hand. All you do is stick your hand and they’ll fly down and land on your fingertips. They’ll look straight in the eye and eat the crumbs out of your hand. You could feel the strength of their talons and feel how light they were being on your hand, but you could tell how strong they are. I was into it and loved it! So, I’d always be feeding the Whiskey Jacks. That was my favorite part of shooting, for sure.

Q) What do you think it is about this series that will make it a fast fan favorite?

A) I really hope that. That would be amazing if it does well. Even if I wasn’t in the show, I would think it was a good show. I remember when I auditioned for it I really wanted to get it I saw how good it could be. When I shot the series, it is truly compelling and good. It balances itself between funny moments and heavy moments. It’s still character driven and there is a character for everybody in the show. There is an aspect to every human on the show and their different struggles. It has all the potential. It should be a fan favorite. I hope I tis!

Q) You are a part of social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback to the series?

A) [laughs] No, I’m not. I struggle with the whole social media thing. I guess it’s just a way of life now and have to roll with it. I’ll probably not look too much at the comments and things like that. I’ll definitely be interacting with people as much as I can, for sure.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure our readers know about the show?

A) There is a love triangle with Hannah (Kelley Missal) and Marshall (Tommy Bastow). Marshall is like a kid from the wrong side of the tracks and he is a bad boy. Then, I come into to town as this by-the-book immigration agent. Hannah is one of the refugees and we kind of develop a love triangle thing. The funny thing about is that the character who plays Marshall, Tommy, we were roommates. We hit it off when we were filming the pilot so we got an apartment together up in Vancouver while we were shooting. You’ll see us butt heads throughout the series and it’s funny because we were roommates. It was fun to have had a love triangle on set and then leave set and go home where we were all friends. Also, I originally auditioned for the role of Tommy and he originally auditioned for the role of Roy!