John Ross Bowie – Speechless

By starrymag | September 21, 2016

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

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

A) I’ve been working primarily on “Speechless,” which has been an amazing journey. It is an interesting show in that it shows a family that we haven’t quite seen on TV before. The show is interesting because the family, obviously, has a child with a disability, but there are a lot of other ways that they are very relatable. It’s about a family who buys a not great house in a really great neighborhood in order to put their kids in a really great school, particularly their older son JJ (Micah Fowler). He uses a wheelchair because he has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal. It’s about a family with a disability, but also being a parent and what you will do for your kids and how sometimes despite your best efforts you are still going to fall short. Speaking as a parent, it’s been a really fun thing to explore on television and comedy. There is a way to do the show where it isn’t preachy or an after school special. It’s just a really fun, edgy show that I think people are really going to enjoy.

Q) How was your character Jimmy originally described to you?

A) He was described to me as a quiet working class guy. Those aren’t exactly my first two traits. We were not wealthy growing up and just to be able to afford to live in Manhattan my dad had to be doing fairly well. He was in the paper industry, but we weren’t exactly blue-collar. I’m not (as this interview will prove) a particularly quiet guy. So, it was interesting to have those two immediate challenges when I went into the audition. But when Jimmy does talk it usually quite funny and quite clever. I loved the script so much. I just really wanted this job and I, frankly, can’t believe I got it!

Q) Was the quiet trait to him what was most challenging about the role?

A) There is something that most of the character I play have the gift of gab. It’s because me, as a person (John), has trouble shutting up sometimes. So, I tend to play really wordy characters – even if those characters have difficulty speaking like Kripke on “The Big Bang Theory.” So, there is a certain challenge in just sort of staying quiet, listening and reacting in a scene but I love it. There is a strength to Jimmy’s quietude that I like, admire and really frankly should emulate in my every day, day to day life.

Q) Was there instant cast chemistry when you began working together to portray this family?

A) Minnie [Driver] and I had worked together a couple years ago. I had played her boss very briefly on “About A Boy” and we had met and got along. We started immediately following each other on Twitter, for whatever that is worth. So, when I came into to do my chemistry read with her (which was sort of the last phase of the audition process) we were asking about each other’s kids. We got up to do the scenes and she very surreptitiously took off her shoes to do it, which I needed her to do because she is taller than me (to the tune of maybe two inches). So, that was her way of saying, “Hey, I’m going to make this as comfortable for you as I can.” We did the scene in the pilot where she walks in on me in the shower and it was very weird when I was pretending to be in the shower when I was actually in an office on the 21^st Century Fox lot. But, we were making each other laugh right out of the gate. She’s just such a terrific actor with incredible comedic timing and a real sweetness to her. It is really a delight to work with her. As for the kids, we kind of had to hit the ground running. I had to have this intense heart to heart with my son in the pilot and I’d known him for maybe forty-eight hours at that point. But we had a couple lunches together and he’s a sweet kid and a really good actor. That makes everything much easier. The kids are great. We’re really, really lucky. Kyla [Kenedy], Micah and Mason [Cook] are all really smart and really talented and really enthusiastic and that’s a wonderful infectious way to start the day. Your children are ready and rearing to start the day of work!

Q) You have great comedic timing! Is it something that has always been natural for you or have you had to work to hone it?

A) I’m trying to think of a funny answer to that…Hang on, this could take a while…I grew up in New York City and I bring that up because you kind of have two options living there – particularly during the time I grew up, which was the 70’s and 80’s. You either learn how to fight or you learn how to talk your way out of things. And I was firmly in the second camp! [laughs] I have always enjoyed making people laugh. In my late 20’s I decided to take improv classes and hone whatever gifts I had. What is interesting about taking an improv class is that you are suddenly thrown in with a bunch of people who are funny. It is no longer that special or interesting and it kind of puts a little fire under your ass. So, taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade, which is what I started doing in 1998 kind of helped me take whatever funny I had and turn it into something I could really work with and something that could eventually be my livelihood. My father is funny. My mom is funny. I’d like to think I come from a family that appreciates comedy.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable behind the scenes moments from filming “Speechless?”

A) One that comes to mind – I can’t give too much away. I had a scene a couple weeks ago where I was to be asleep. I was to be asleep through the entire scene and the kids and Minnie are talking over my head. God help me, I got the giggles. I had exactly one job and that was to lie there quietly with my eyes closed and I couldn’t do it. It took much longer than it should have. Minnie, at one point (and it is captured on film), screams at me “you had one job!” [laughs] She was one hundred percent right, but for some reason I just found my cast very, very funny and they were cracking me when they were supposed to be asleep. It’s a very, very funny group and we are six episodes in and we are going to have a very densely packed blooper reel because we can make each other laugh quite a bit. We’re having a very, very good time making the show, which is great. Sometimes incredibly funny shows on the air the people behind them are miserable, but this is not the case here. We’re having a really fun time making the show.

Q) Is there someone from the cast that you haven’t worked with much or at all that you would like more scenes with or to work with at all?

A) My answer is Cedric [Yarbrough]. Cedric and I have a couple quick little interactions here and there throughout the series this far. There has been some talk about his character and my character having some sort of guy’s night and I’m really looking forward to that. I got to work with Cedric when I would come to do guest spots on “Reno 911.” He is really one of the funniest people in the world. I love that guy so much. He was the first person cast in the pilot of “Speechless” and when he got the job it made me really, really want to get the job just so I could work with him and see him a bunch of times during the week. He’s so funny, charming and self-effacing. He is really a delight to work with.

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

A) There is nothing to look forward to because it has already started! We have gotten some really moving responses from people who have family members who are living with disabilities and it is interesting to see. I didn’t realize how badly that community was underrepresented and it is really exciting and moving to see how excited people are about the show and how they feel like it represents them or shows a version of their story. With this business, sometimes you are just happy to be working and when I think of how lucky I am that I’m not just working but I’m working on a show that really matters to people and that people really enjoy and feel like they even dare I say need…that makes me feel great!

Q) Is there a chance for you to return as Kripke this season on “The Big Bang Theory?”

A) I don’t know! I wish I had a better answer. I’m certainly ready and willing to go back there, but it’s really a question of scheduling. The hours on “Speechless” are pretty long. We’re putting in a lot of twelve hour days there. “Big Bang” would require me to get out for a few days and a Tuesday night tape night. If the opportunity arises and they need me, I would happily jump over there and bring Kripke back to life. It’s just a question of scheduling and logistics at this point.

Q) Have people started to recognize you when you are in public?

A) When “The Big Bang Theory” went into its fifth season and they started showing reruns – when they had their one hundredth episode and it stated to go into syndication – it would air a few times a week. The weirdest thing was two years ago I was working in South Africa and I was on the subway in Johannesburg and I got stopped by somebody who was a law student there. I thought, “Wow! I’m on the other side of the world and someone just recognized me from a TV show!” Last week I was at a Starbucks in Paris and in French a guy asked me if I was the actor from “The Big Bang Theory.” All I could say was, “Oui! C’est Moi!” It is just really, really strange the reach the television has, but it’s also nice to make a lot of different people laugh.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure fans know about “Speechless?”

A) For all the talk about representation and all the talk about disability in the media, I want to remind people that the show is laugh out loud funny and our main job is not to lecture and not to preach. It’s not even to educate. Our main job is to make people laugh and I think we are doing a really good job of that so far.

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

A) It’s funny. I’ve been at this long enough that I’m just really grateful and surprised that I have fans and supporters of my work. I’d just like to say thank you for being there. It is still a strange experience when someone stops me on the street and says they are a fan of my work. I appreciate it incredibly, but it’s just so weird to be in a medium where I can do something and they can see it on the other side of the world. It’s very nice and I’m always very flattered.

 

 

“Speechless” airs at 8:30pm ET/PT on ABC