Michael Mosley – Sirens

By: Jamie Steinberg

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

A) We just wrapped Season 2 of “Sirens.” I also play this elusive serial killer on “Castle.” That has been crazy fun and the fans have been rabid. I have done about four episodes total and people just love it! I’m coming back on that to try and get Castle again. I am also in the movie Hot Pursuit that was originally called Don’t Mess With Texas directed by Anne Fletcher with Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon. We were in New Orleans over the summer for two months filming it and it was a blast! What I’m really excited about is that I just optioned a book by Scott Cawelti called Brother’s Blood, which is about a very famous scandalous murder in my hometown of Cedar Falls, Iowa. We have eighteen months to try and turn in into a movie. Life is good!

Q) How was Johnny on “Sirens” originally described to you?

A) He was a neurotic, kind of hot headed. He was like the Denis [Leary] character. I felt he was the character that Denis most identified with and responded to on the show. I was always afraid that if I wasn’t careful I would do a Denis impression and I didn’t want to do that. No one wanted me to do that, but it was so clearly his voice. I guess I always felt like he was that kind of character, but he is settled a little bit more in the second season. He is still kind of neurotic and still jumps to conclusions and angers at the drop of a hat, but he has kind of evolved a little bit.

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

A) I had done “Pan Am” and more dramatic primetime things before. Then, I did the last season of “Scrubs,” which wasn’t very successful, but was a ton of fun. I had a blast working on it and I grew to love the people on it. So, I was always kind of sniffing around for another half-hour irreverent comedy. When this popped up, I just jumped on it. I didn’t know if I had a chance in hell of getting it. When you are an actor, you go to audition and in the room there are basically like fifty guys who look like you. A lot of times you recognize half of them from gigs. So, I went to audition and I threw the sides away when I left, like I do. It didn’t seem like that big of an audition. Then, my manager called up and said, “This thing is looking like you might get chosen for it.” They made the call and that was it.

Q) How hands on has creator Denis Leary been with the show this season?

A) He was extremely hands on the first season. They would call, “Cut!” and it would be him and Bob Fisher, the director, that would rush the actors. He was all over it the first season and I think during the prep and lighting of the second season he was equally involved. He has his own show now on FX so I think he has kind of had to do more of that. He is definitely there reading the scripts and looking at the final cuts. As far as the days he was crouched down in the back of an ambulance, smoking a cigarette and looking at a monitor, he is not doing that anymore. I take that as a vote of confidence that he feels he has created this little bird and he can let it fly away. He is such an asset to have! He’s an amazing asset to have.

Q) There is such great chemistry with the cast. Was that something you instantly felt or did it take some time for you all to bond?

A) We got really lucky that there is a bunch of us and we all kind of share the same brand of humor. We love to bust each other’s balls and give each other the business. We have been lucky that there hasn’t been a headcase on set. It’s so great and rare. It’s supposed to be fun and I think it is a fun business so it should be approached with as much lightheartedness as possible. To me, it works best when it is playful. The spirit of what we do is playful. We have just been playful. We did the pilot in 2012, did the reshoots in 2013, shot the series in 2013, aired in 2014, shot Season 2 in 2014 and now it is 2015 and we are airing Season 2. We have been banging away at this from 2012! Even though we have only shot two seasons of it we, as a group of friends, have been with this stuff for a while now.

Q)  You bounce between comedy and drama seamlessly. Is your comedic timing something that has come naturally to you or did you hone it in some way?

A) I think that if the writing is there…I think it all depends on the writing. I’m not a standup comedian so I can’t come up with this on my own. If we have these great scripts and well crafted characters it is easier for me. I am more of an actor so I can play the objectives and intentions and look at Brian and roll my eyes. To me, it’s all about the writing. If the writing isn’t there, I don’t think there is much any of us could do.

Q) What has been your most memorable moments from filming Season 2 of “Sirens?”

A) Some of them happen off camera. Every morning we get up at about 5:30am or 6am and we get into a van. I’ve got my coffee and Daniels has his coffee. Bigley tends to drink a can of Pellegrino. He thinks it is really funny that when I get into my trailer that right when I let my guard down and start to get into my wardrobe that he likes to open my door and throw his crushed can of Pellegrino at my head and shut the door. That’s always a fun thing!

Q) You are newly a part of social media. Do you enjoy the instant fan feedback you receive during episodes?

A) Isn’t that an interesting new thing? It’s a fascinating new thing. It’s become so much more interactive. We didn’t learn about this in acting school and no one kind of prepped me for it. It’s kind of a new way to enjoy this stuff. It’s fun! It’s a blast to kind of get that back and forth instant feedback. It’s interesting that people can watch the show and bounce around and tweet back and forth. I do hope they are watching the screen in front of them more as opposed to the screen in their hand! We don’t really have control over it though. It’s kind of a bit of an experiment, this social media thing. I think people are still figuring out what it is. It is interesting and it definitely has become part of the process and the enjoyment of it. Fans really like the show and it’s very sweet to be able to thank them for that. They will tease us and we tease them back. It’s kind of like being in a big bar somewhere.

Q) What is it about the USA Network that makes it such a great fit for the show?

A) USA has been fantastic. Other shows I have done, they will come in halfway through the season and if the numbers aren’t there they start tinkering with stuff and change this or that. With USA, they let us just make the show! They were hands-off for ten episodes and let us fight it. It’s such a luxury! When you shoot a pilot, it is kind of a rough blueprint of the people or what the show is going to be. Halfway through the season, we kind of started to get what we were doing. By the end of the season, we were kind of looking around and knew what it was and what it wanted to be naturally without any forcing. We let the rhythm happen and we kind of knew what it was by the end  of the season. You can’t put a value on that. I respect them so much to have the confidence in us, Denis, Bob and the writing staff to just let us find it organically. It was such a luxury and I think they are an amazing network! That was awesome. This year we picked up where we left off and the energy is tighter and quicker. Hopefully, it s funnier!

Q) What do you think it is about the show that has made it a quick fan favorite?

A) I don’t know. I hope it is because that Bob and Denis have crafted these people that you want to hang out with in your living room while you are drinking a beer and eating popcorn after a long day at work. I hope these are people you can unwind with. That’s what I am hoping for. I hope that is what works. I think that is why TV ensemble comedies work because you kind of grow to like these people and want to hang out with them. I hope Bob and Denis have created that. I like hanging out with them! Hopefully, other people do too.

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

A) I just want to thank them for hanging out with “Sirens” and giving us a second season. It brings us so much joy to make it and I hope it brings everyone else a fraction of that. We have so much fun making it and I hope it reads. I hope that the next day when they are sitting there doing their jobs that they chuckle a little bit because they remember something stupid that happened the day before on “Sirens.”