Merrin Dungey – Shining Vale

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) Merrin, I’ve been watching your acting for like, it’s like 20-ish years now. And you’ve played every profession on the planet and this one, we see playing Pat’s oldest friend and book editor. But this is not the first time you’ve worked in the publishing industry on screen. On “You’re the Worst” you were working at a publishing company.

A) I thought I was a PR agent in that. I at a publishing agent, but as a PR agent for him.

Q) Related to all that I’m curious how much work goes into seeking the professions and learning the ins and outs before you’re appearing as that on screen?

A) That’s a great question. Thank you very much. I think a lot of what I don’t necessarily dive into so heavily unless it’s like detective work, because that’s so much more foreign to what I know. To play a publishing editor or book editor or even a CEO there just is sort of like, what’s the gravitas? What is the nature of? How are you presenting as opposed to what is it you actually do? Because unless you really see me doing what it is that I have to do, like when I do detective stuff, there’s usually a different objective for my character. So, I don’t have to worry so much about what it is that I do as a therapist or any of those sorts of things.

Q) So besides being Pat’s friend and editor, what else can you tell us about your character?

Well, it’s not simply that I’m her friend and her editor. I’m sort of the engine that keeps the story going because without what I need from her, that’s what leads her to make the decisions that she makes along the way. And I feel that my character is her moral center and her life raft – the one outside of everything else that’s happening, that she clings to, that she is like, this is the person that can help me move things forward. And I feel like she’s also a little desperate to please where there is a sister like relationship that we have. I feel that it’s a long-standing relationship. I was there for the beginning, I probably was the one who like discovered her and brought her along and got the first book success, hence the why I’ve been on this horse and stuck by her so long through her rehabs, through her ins and outs and having children and all the whatnot. But like my patience runs thin and I have bosses to answer to at this point as well. So there is a point at which the rubber meets the road and I feel that without me, you don’t have a show. You don’t have that engine that keeps her chasing to finish the book.

Q) It’s such a beautiful relationship that the two of you share that Pat shares with Kam. What does Kam particularly seeing her? Obviously, you mentioned that she probably discovered her, but is there something special that you feel like she initially saw her and what continues to have her stand by her side?

A) We all have that friend, don’t we? It’s kind of like a little bit of a like sister relationship. The one that you kind of need to take care of and put under your wing and she’s constantly effing up. I certainly have had those people in my life and I think that that’s what Kam sees in her. There’s talent amongst the ruins and she wants the best for her. She loves her. She also wants to get paid, you know what I’m saying like? There is like sadly, a financial component, ultimately here, and there does come a point at which we’re like, “My neck is on the line.” So, it is a twofold relationship.

Q) So, she has some great dialogue. Talk about that and how it really plays into kind of like, what I love about her that snarky side of her and all these great lines.

A) We get to play. That’s the great thing about the show is that like, there is room to play and Courteney’s always game and she’s such a great sparring partner as you can well imagine. She’s so witty and sharp and funny and Jeff Astrof comes in with the zingers at all times. Anytime you open the scene there you and the scene like there’s a lot of room to sort of like have fun and improv and do some stuff. So, from that comes some of the zingers in the stuff. And late night shoots, you get tired and then you start saying stuff and it just happens and it’s fun.

Q) When you had the pleasure of auditioning for the show. Did you actually read any of your character’s lines or were the sides just totally random stuff and they we’re gauging your connectivity to it all that way?

A) It’s all great. It’s written. I mean, I believe that I added some stuff at the end. And this is the thing I miss the most about in person auditions because I’m great in a room because I like people and I like to have fun. And I honestly truly believe that some of my success and things have happened…I mean, like at the end of the day when you were auditioning for something for a series that could go for six years you want to know do I like this person? Do I want to spend time with this person? That’s part of the game. But I believe I said some stuff about what I was wearing in my audition. They have you do like the, “Hi, I’m Merrin Dungey and I live in Los Angeles and I am willing to…” Whatever you say all the things like “I’m five nine” or whatever your height is and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I made some stupid joke about my pants. Like, like what I was wearing. I think that that helps.

Q) So, it’s been sixteen years since “Alias” went off the air and I know that both of your characters died, but nobody really dies in those type of shows. Do you think that we’ll ever see a reunion series or movie, and would you do it?

A) Yes. Hopefully then yes. And yes. Well, Jennifer [Garner] got us all back together for the most part for the 20th anniversary. It was super, super fun to see everyone and just connect and hang out. But I think that we are all game for that. And I would hope that I feel that that Francie lives. She lives somewhere on life support somewhere. Look, she’s T-2. She’s a robot so it would be great. I would love it very much. I would be wholly disappointed if they did do it and I did not get to reprise any sort of… I don’t care even if it’s a flashback, but not a flashback to good Francie because who cares.

Q) You do take on some wonderfully these dramatic roles. Is there something about this character or maybe about drama series in general that really draws you to that genre?

A) Well, this is a horror comedy, so it’s not really a drama. And this is my first time doing that. Although I guess “American Horror Story” is sort of like horror comedy. Look, I go where the goods are. I go where there’s some great fun and good people. I feel like in my later years, in particular, I have been able to work with some outstanding…My entire career. I work with some great people – Aaron Sorkin, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jane Fonda and Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon…Like I’ve been very, very, very lucky. It’s ridiculous. Bryan Cranston. I mean, it’s crazy. So, I just feel like I fell out of the lucky tree, and I hit every branch on the way down. So, to continue that streak with Greg Kinnear and Mira Sorvino and Courteney Cox again, it’s like, are you kidding? Like, this is a dream come true. It’s crazy. But yes, I’m happy to work with great people. I don’t care what they’re doing. I did an online thing with “Con Man.” I think was an online series with Nathan Fillion because it was like Nathan Fillion. Sure, yeah. Alan Tudyk? Yep.

Q) Oh, you checked a few boxes into “Star Trek,” live action and animation. In horror you done “Lucifer,” of course. And now you’re doing this although you’re not in the horror aspect per se. At least not yet. But what’s it like to kind of play in those playgrounds and the visit those kinds of worlds?

A) Awesome. I mean, I It’s such a gift. It’s complicated when you do something like a “Picard” because doing that is much like doing a like “ER” like an OR kind of thing. Because, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know what I’m talking about. You know what I’m saying? Like I’m not in space. Okay. I’m not with the Romulans. I don’t understand what we’re talking about. So, it took me a long time to sort of pull in what I know about what I know and being a good television interviewer. And then how does that work? And what points we’re trying to hit? And we had so much rehearsal for that because it was six big pages with him, with Sir Patrick Stewart. And we had a blast, and it was a longest hardest day of my life – except for when I did the fight with Jennifer. But in terms of concentration and what it is and having to do like spinning a sphere of something, you’re dealing with things in CGI that don’t exist. That is complicated. At least when I was doing “Once Upon a Time” even though there was CGI in that like it’s still more grounded in terms of what you’re saying. I think that’s the hardest part. It’s harder to play in those playgrounds because are fantastical so you are trying to pull in what you know about the real world and attribute it to something that doesn’t exist. But for other people this is really real, and I’m very proud of myself particularly for that with “Picard” because people are mad at me. I was like, “Good! I did what I was supposed to do,” and I had no idea what I was talking about. [laughs]

*CONFERENCE CALL*