Michael Gaston – Political Ambition

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

A) Well, I am about to start working on a series called “Jericho” for TBS. It will be on in the Fall on Wednesday nights. I just finished a movie playing Marcia Gay Harden’s husband in a film called Home, which was shot in Pennsylvania. That’s it in terms of acting. I’ve written a few screenplays this year, adaptations of things.

Q) Please tell us about the premise for the show “Jericho” and your character Gray Anderson.

A) The premise of the show is that it is about a small town in Kansas that is close enough to Denver that, one night, a mushroom cloud over Denver can be seen. It seems to be some sort of apocalyptic event that happened in Denver. All of the lights and all of the power go off in the town. The town is basically isolated from the world and it is discovered that there was at least one other major explosion in another city. The fact is, by the end of the pilot episode, it’s not clear what happened either to the characters or, frankly, to me. I haven’t seen any of the scripts so I don’t really know what happens. I am going to just follow it along week by week. My understanding is that every episode will be the next day. It’s not unlike “24,” where every episode is an hour in one story. Every episode will be the seceding day so at the end of thirteen episodes it will be almost two weeks from the initial event. Gray Anderson is just a local businessman who is running for mayor against the incumbent (played by Gerald McRaney). He’s kind of a thorn in the side of the local small-town power structure. Then when the apocalyptic event happens, there is much less talk about the mayoral election since it doesn’t seem that important. Again, I don’t know where the characters go from that point on. I just know that he’s a bit of a troublemaker.

Q) What made you want to be a part of the show?

A) It was a good job! I thought it was a real fun character and the guy was just trouble. Those are always more fun characters to play than the good guys. Also, I thought there were some real good people involved like Jon Turteltaub. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. He directed it and produced it. those were all good reasons to get involved.

Q) What has been your most memorable moment from filming?

A) My most memorable moment I would say is shooting the final scenes over the course of a twelve hour rainy cold night with three hundred wet extras. Everybody seemed to be either just freezing or screaming at the top of a fire truck. We had a huge group of extras that were there all day and all night  and we worked until the sun came up, which was about 6:45AM. I was actually the last shot of the pilot. It was me screaming at the crowd about what they should do next if the sun was coming up. Everyone stayed and their commitment was kind of amazing to see, frankly.

Q) What was it like working with Skeet Ulrich, Gerald McRaney and the rest of the cast?

A) Everybody was really cool. It was an incredible group of people. Skeet is one of the nicest guys I have run into in this business. I really look forward to doing more things with him. We didn’t do any acting together. We were just together. My scenes were all with Gerald and he is definitively an old pro. He couldn’t be more relaxed, easy going and clear about what he’s doing. It’s a great group. There is another great actor in the show named Lennie James who is an English actor that is a really terrific guy. There are a lot of nice people on the show.

Q) Why should viewers take the time to tune in to “Jericho?”

A) I think it’s a really scary show. It’s really fun! There are a lot of interesting people and a lot of interesting characters. It’s an easy thing for us to imagine happening in the times that we’re living in, something sort of horrible happening and us being isolated. This is how people will react in a time of crisis and they act various manners of ways. I think it’s a real thoughtful examination of those themes and those worries that a lot of us have. I am from New York and I was there when everything happened in 2001. Sadly, that’s when we see the best of people in those situations. It’s going to be a very exciting thing to watch as people react positively to a town in great crisis.

Q) You are also on the summer show “Brotherhood.” Please tell us about your character, Mr. Speaker.

A) Mr. Speaker is the Speaker of the House for the state legislature for Rhode Island. He kind of embodies politics in that state, which has a very very rough history. The speaker is an incredibly polished really dishonest difficult clever man. It’s a really fun character to play. It was as much fun acting as I’ve had in a long time! Jason Clarke, who I did all of my scenes with, plays the brother named Tommy  and is an extraordinary talent. We had a great time together!

Q) You’ve guest starred on numerous programs. What show would you most like to make an appearance on?

A) I’ve had so many great experiences guesting. The best writing I ever worked on was probably the most exciting was would “The West Wing.” I know the show is gone, but if this were a fantasy question that would be the fantasy job. My fantasy job would be to go back and be a regular on “The West Wing.” I thought it was some of the most interesting intelligent fun television that was out there.

Q) What do you do in your spare time?

A) I don’t have any spare time. I’ve got kids and I live on a farm in upstate New York. I have a lot of responsibility there and I write. I am trying to get some movies produced. I wouldn’t say there is much spare time. There is not a lot of spare time to be had. I really it that way. I am not really having to do anything I don’t have to do. I feel really blessed that way.

Q) What is your latest obsession? A book? A sport? A film?

A) I have been doing writing. I have a partner I work with who is an actor named John Slattery. He was just the lead actor on “K Street,” the Steven Soderbergh series for HBO. He was Julie Bowen’s love interest on “Ed,” as well. He’s been around for a long time. He and I write together. We have a company together and we’re trying to get a bunch of movies off the ground at the same time. There are some New York playwrights who have given us the rights to their plays and we’re trying to gather some money together to get some things made. John and I are doing the adaptations ourselves. It’s a whole new world. I am not crazy about the word obsession, but I guess that is about as close to the right word as it is. I find myself thinking about it all the time.

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A) Thank you! Thanks a lot. Watch “Jericho” and help make it a hit!