Neil Brown Jr. – SEAL Team

By: Jamie Steinberg

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

A) I’m doing “SEAL Team” and “Insecure.”

Q) How was your character Ray Perry on “SEAL Team” originally described to you?

A) Ben Cavell, who created the series, said Ray was a consummate member team. He was the best friend of Jason Hayes and the most solid operator on the team. He was a great family man. He was the operator who had more balance with his life, more so than the rest of the guys. And I thought that would be really cool to play.

Q) What can you tease is in store for the mid-season finale?

A) It’s going to get hairy. [laughs] It’s going to wrap up the Mexico operation. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s going to wrap things up in a good way. I’m excited about it.

Q) Real life members of the SEAL teams are as close as family and it portrays that way so wonderfully on screen for the show. What is it like for the cast off of set?

A) It’s very much like it is on the show. We just don’t shoot people. [laughs] We are always joking around. The chemistry between us on the show is very much like it is outside of work. When you hang around these guys like Tyler Gray, Dan Briggs and Mark Semos and all of them, who are all special operators, you see how they interact with each other, joke with each other and kid with each other. They are super smart and super funny. They can poke at each other. We only saw it right that we do the same thing amongst ourselves. [laughs]

Q) What keeps challenging you about your portrayal of Ray?

A) Pushing the envelope. Delving more into the tests and trials he goes through and his faith and his friendship with Jason (David Boreanaz). That’s the challenge. Finding what makes him tick and what can challenge Ray, himself, as it pertains to his life. Because he is the one operator who compartmentalizes things very well. So, what is challenging about how do we break up those compartments – what will test Ray to not be so solid and then how does he come back from there.

Q) Do you get much say in how the character continues to develop?

A) Fortunately, the writers confer with me about a lot of things. They are very open to my ideas, especially as it pertains to Ray and Naima as well. Parisa Fahkri, who plays Naima, and I have constant communication and we bring our ideas to the writers’ room. But they are very open because they are so good at what they do. A lot of times before I can even get to them, they are already on top of what I was thinking about in terms of the development of Ray’s story. So, I would say that they are very kind to me and open to the few ideas I do have.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from filming “SEAL Team?”

A) I just had one! Hanging outside of a car going sixty miles per hour on top of a roof shooting bad guys. That’s memorable. Any time I’m hanging outside of any vehicle. So, I have a little-known fear of heights. I love heights, but I also hate them. When they take you up in a helicopter and strap you in and say, “You’re going to be hanging outside the helicopter shooting bad guys,” for a guy who doesn’t like heights that’s a little shocking, it’s very memorable and fun – to say the least. And it was great! I got over my…It’s not a real fear, but you’re not going to see me doing parkour on the top of a roof any time soon – a twenty-five story roof. But I will hang outside a helicopter and shoot bad guys. That was really cool and that’s happened frequently. Whether I’m hanging outside of a car, a boat or a helicopter, those instances are super memorable for me.

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

A) I do! I love the fan feedback! They are what keeps me going because I’m a little bad about that stuff. I have these amazing publicists and they remind me, ‘You have to make sure you’re on your social media!” So, they are good about getting me on there. There are just so many fans and so many good people.

Q) It must mean a great deal to hear that from those who served in the military.

A) They all have these wonderful stories and a lot of them are veterans, which really touches my heart because my dad is. And they love the show! They love how we portray the characters. They love the comradery. They love the chemistry. They think we capture some of the authenticity of what it is like to be not just in the military, but the family part. Because it’s not just the operators who are in the military – it’s the families as well in the military. If your husband is a special operator than you are not just a special operator’s wife. You are, but you are more than just the wife or the kids because when they are gone you are gone. So, I’m very touched by how the fans connect to that and how they respond to all the shows.

Q) What is it about this series that makes it such a fan favorite show?

A) Mostly it’s Max Thieriot’s abs. He is always naked. When he takes his shirt off viewership goes up twenty million, easily. So, I think that’s what’s really got us going. [laughs] I think it’s that chemistry between the team. Everybody loves the action part, right? But it’s the heart of the guys in the action and outside of the action that I think people connect with. It’s the banter. It’s the feeling like these guys really are family. Even Jessica Pare, who plays Mandy the CIA liaison who guides our missions and stuff, is part of the family. She’s like that cousin you want to be here, but she can’t always be there. It’s Toni Trucks and all these guys (A.J. [Buckley], Max and David) – you get a real sense that they are family. A dysfunctional family, but a real family and they can get the job done. I think that’s what people can connect with and keeps them coming back for. We just can’t have mindless action. There is a purpose to it all. I just think that people get a real sense of family and that’s why they keep tuning in. I hope they’ll keep tuning in! [smiles]

Q) Is there anything else about mid-season that you want to be sure we share with our readers?

A) It’s going to be exciting and it’s going to wrap it in up in a way that it needed to be wrapped up.

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

A) Oh, I would just like to tell them that we absolutely love each and every one of them and that we appreciate their time. There is so much content out there to watch and the fact they will sit and watch our show is just so humbling and very lifting to all of our spirits. We surely appreciate each and every one of them.