Jason Gray-Stanford – Crime and Punishment

Q.  What are the current projects that you’ve been working on?

A.  Right now obviously “Monk” just went on hiatus.  So, I am as of right now just getting ready to enjoy the holidays.  I do however have two movies coming out next year.  Obviously, “Monk” premieres on January 13th but I’ve got a film called Lonely Hearts with John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Salma Hayek, Jared Leto.  It’s a really great ensemble cast, it’s like a film noir set in the 40’s based on a true story.  It’s about the lonely hearts killer who is kind of like a con-artist that went on a killing spree back in the late 40’s.  It’s a film that I’m really looking forward to having come out, the director Todd Robinson, it is based on his grandfather who is the original arresting officer on that case.  That’s one, and there is another one called Flags of Our Fathers, which is a film about the flag bearers in Iwo Jima in World War II.  That’s a movie that’s directed by Clint Eastwood, it comes out later next year.  So, I’ve kind of got one coming out in the beginning of next year and one coming out at the end of next year.  It’s going to be a really busy, busy year once January kind of rolls around.  It’s very possible that I might do one more job before we start shooting “Monk,” because I think “Monk” begins to shoot some time in late March for the beginning of season five.  We’re all really excited about that but I may try to fit in one more project there but it is up in the air simply because once January rolls around there is only three months until we start “Monk.”  Obviously “Monk” is my first and foremost commitment at this point.

Q.  What can you tell us about your character in the film Lonely Hearts?

A.  I can tell you this, I can’t say too much because I don’t want to give a lot away.  What I can tell you is that he plays somewhat of a morally challenged young officer on the police force in search of these two killers.  There is some information, he has a couple of ethical issues to deal with during the course of the film.  I don’t want to say too much or it’ll give it away but I think that’ll lead you down the right path.  I’m a morally and ethically challenged young officer.

Q.  What made you want to be a part of this project?

A.  In that movie particularly it’s very, very simple.  I met the director and we sat down and we had a meeting.  I went in and I met for a completely different role on that film and while we were in the meeting I said to him, “Gosh, it’s smaller than this other part but I think it’s really, really cool.”  At pretty much the same time he said, “You know what, I was just thinking the exact same thing.”  Sure enough, almost six months later the phone rang and it was this director talking to my managers and my agents.  He basically said, “Hi, I remember a meeting I had with Jason and I want him to play this other part.  We both connected on it right away.”  That’s what ultimately brought me to the part but first and foremost it was a really, really nice script.  It was really well written, it made a big difference, at the time John Travolta wasn’t doing it and James Gandolfini wasn’t doing it.  It was a movie that a guy wanted to make and I thought that was really, really cool.  That’s how it always starts with a really, really great script, if you can find one of those you know you’re in good shape to start.

Q.  You also got to work on the film Flags of Our Fathers.  How was getting to work with director Clint Eastwood on the film?

A.  As cliché as it may sound, it is everything that everybody says it is.  Clint is a true icon of this business and he is cooler than cool, the way he shoots his film and the respect that the crew has not only for him, but for just film making.  It’s just genius, it’s a joy to kind of see, it was a real pleasure to go to work everyday.  We shot it over in Iceland and there was a sequence when we were shooting on top of a mountain.  Every morning, I am going to say the mountain was maybe six hundred feet, it might have been a little high and it might have been a little shorter.  Every morning we would hike up the top of that mountain and Clint is seventy-four years old and he had the option of flying in a helicopter to the top of the mountain.  Every morning he would get up and he would hike with us up to the top of that mountain and he would be first up the mountain.  He is like in incredible shape, he’s got incredible drive, he’s funny and intelligent.  It was a blast working with him and everything they say about him is true.  He’s an economical, very kind of no-nonsense filmmaker.

Q.  Do you have a most memorable moment from working on this movie?

A.  The most memorable moment that I have from working on that film barring all the great extracurricular activities that I had with a lot of the other boys on that film.  One morning we were shooting a scene where we were being attacked by the enemy.  It was just a little, small skirmish where they came out of their fox holes and we had to return fire on them and they fired on us.  Well, I got my weapon and we talked about doing the scene and the next thing I know out of the blue we hear a live gunshot that Clint had set up.  It was to kind of scare us into position and I found myself lying flat on my belly firing my gun into any which way direction.  Just trying to find out where the gunshot came from and when we finished I thought, “Oh wow, what a great way to get into character.”  Then I heard, “Great, we got it, well done everybody, good job, moving on.”  We actually shot that whole scene just like that and that’s one of my most memorable moments.  The speed at which we shot that scene and the kind of just natural, instinctual way.  I remember that and I thought to myself, “Okay good, that was a good test round.”

Q.  We know that the latest season of “Monk” will be airing soon.  What can viewers expect from the new season?

A.  I tell you what, I think “Monk” is one of these shows that is kind of just really, really starting to find its drive.  It’s been a great ride for us and I think every season what we try and do is we try and top ourselves in the mysteries.  We try and top ourselves in the way the characters react with one another and we try to top ourselves in what type of situations that we can put Monk in that will kind of generate great mayhem for him and the team around him.  What we’ve got, we’ve got an astronaut coming up this year and we’ve got a little amnesia that Monk might get.  We’ve got a thing that happens with Lieutenant Randy Disher, as I mentioned a little earlier on, you got a little taste of his singing chops in the “Secret Santa” episode.  You heard about a band called The Randy Disher Project if you remember that episode well, you might get a little trip down memory lane somewhere in the middle of the season with Randy Disher and that particular set band.  We actually have a fashion show episode as well which we’re all very, very excited about that.  We have a terrific actor on that show named Malcolm McDowell and he plays terrifically with the class and you can only imagine the horrors that Monk would face going to a fashion show.  So, we have a lot of interesting episodes and we’re very proud of this season four and a half that’s about to come out.  Sure enough I do believe our writers and creator are hard at work already with coming up with some really cool stuff for season five.  When you’re lucky enough to be a part of a show for this amount of time, which we all are, and to have it find the success that it has found, we take it upon ourselves as our duty to make them as best as we can for the audience so that we really each time out of the gate we can give a little bit more.  Whether it’s in the mystery or the character or the story or the plot or the other characters that we bring in, we just really try to raise the bar every time out of the gate because with such a great fan base we owe it to them.  That’s what makes the show run at the end of the day, all the people that watch it and when they see you on the street or in the mall and say “Hey, great job,” that’s kind of what it really boils down to at the end of the day.  We have a blast working with each other but it’s of most importance to do justice to the show and to the fans, we try our best and sometimes we fall on our faces and some of the episodes don’t necessarily translate to all of our fans.  At the same time I think we’re at eighty or eighty-five percent we’re pretty happy about that.

Q.  How has the show been able to sustain itself after being on the air for many years now?

A.  You know what, I think that’s a really, really good question.  It gets asked to us all the time and there is no one real answer for it that’s kind of a cut and dry answer.  I honestly think because initially at its very root “Monk” is a formula show very reminiscent of a “Columbo” or a “Murder She Wrote” with a very familiar plot.  There is a murder and the murder somewhere in the course of the show gets solved.  When you go back to the show there is not necessarily a time line, it’s a new show with a new murder.  That’s one reason, there is a familiarity to it.  The second reason is I think that people have been really able to evolve along with the characters on the show as they evolve.  For example in season one, Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher were very much the straight-ahead cops who came in for one or two scenes to kind of pretty much question or chastise Monk’s abilities.  Now, even though there are still a lot of maybe a little envy from Lieutenant Disher, they’ve become much more of a well oiled machine, they know how to work with Monk now, they know how to use him to their advantage.  They trust him a lot more and I think they all trust each other, so I think it’s a matter of that we have a very kind of straight-forward simple formula show with really, really strong characters that people can relate to and that have grown over the four seasons that we’ve been on.  Each time you go back not only are you going to see a nice, familiar show that you really, really love but you’re going to see something new from one of the characters or from all of them.  So, I think that a combination of those two things and the truth is that you never ever really know why it keeps going.  We have great writers too who kind of like to raise the bar all the time who keep it smart and keep it funny.

Q.  What are some of your passions besides acting?

A.  Well, there are many.  First and foremost family and friends for me, I love spending time with my friends and with my family when I’m not working.  We can all just kind of get together and just eat and drink and talk and laugh.  I’m also a huge, huge sports fan, I’m a big, big basketball player.  Actually, I’m about to go and play some basketball right now after we get off the phone with each other.  I have played a game of basketball for about six years now with the same group of guys two or three times a week when I’m not working.  We’re on hiatus now and so it’s all the time and obviously in Los Angeles we still have the weather for it so we get outside and we run around.  That is definitely a passion of mine, sports, in any shape or form.  Surprisingly enough, other than acting, I love going to the movies.  I love watching films and I love watching other good actors, that is an avid passion of mine.  I love watching other actors that are just terrific and that move me and kind of engage me in what they are doing, filmmaking period.  I love going to watch movies.

Q.  What is your latest obsession?  Are you into any particular book, sport, music group or activity?

A.  My latest obsession is my iPod, I just keep jamming songs into my iPod now.  That came about because of an earlier obsession, a friend of mine from London said to me one day, “Hey, a friend of mine and I are making a list of our top one hundred songs in order. We want you to do it too and we want you to spread the word to anybody else who wants to do it.”  That has become a huge passion of mine I would say in the last two or three months, compiling a list of what I think are my top one hundred songs of all time.  Then seeing all the other lists from all the other people around the world, all of my friends from around the world and his friends and their friends and so on and so forth.  That completely relates to my iPod, which is why I’m plugging in so many new songs into my iPod right now.

Q.  Are there any holiday movies that you’re looking forward to seeing?

A.  I have to say I’m an old softy when it comes to holiday films, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of my favorites because the two characters Mr. Heat-Meister and Mr. Cold-Meister in there that are my two favorite characters from childhood.  So, I can’t wait to see that every Christmas, that kind of lets me know that Christmas is around.  I actually am from Vancouver and I’m actually just about to head home for the holidays and when we get there we all kind of gather around and that’s one film we’ll definitely watch.  As far as holiday movies go, right now it’s a great movie season, all the time for the Golden Globes and the Oscars and all of these other award shows so I am going to catch up on all of these other great holiday movies.  Movies like Capote and Syriana and Constant Gardner, these are the films that I’m looking forward to seeing over the holidays even though they have nothing to do particularly with the holidays.  I just saw Harry Potter, that was terrific!

Q.  What would you like to say to all of your fans and supporters?

A.  First and foremost I would like to say thank you because without you guys, without the fans, without people who watch the show, without people who embrace me on the show as Leiutenant Randy Disher there would be no show.  I love this job, I am very, very grateful for all the people who have been so, so kind and walk up and be appreciative of that.  The people who say, “Great job on the show, it’s terrific, we love your work,” all of that kind of stuff, that kind of makes it all worthwhile.  So, at the end of the day it’s basically a big fat hug, I’m giving all of my fans a big fat hug.