Tim Kang – The Mentalist

By starrymag | January 22, 2015

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

 

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

A) I have got a TV series that I am developing right now with a writer. It’s obviously something I’ve been thinking about for a little while. It’s a neat idea. We’re right in the fine tuning stage and we still have a little ways to go, not too much. That is in the works as well as a feature script that we are doing. Both are in that stage where I can’t really discuss in detail. Also, pilot season is here so it is just now starting to ramp up a little bit. I’m excited about that.

Q) As it is the final season of “The Mentalist,” what have been some of your favorite scenes to film?

A) Not to spoil anything or go into too much detail, but I really enjoyed shooting scenes with Josie Loren. She is a fantastic actress and it was really a lot of fun working with her. Fortunately, the stories lines mid to late episodes for this final season afforded us that opportunity. We had a blast! It was great!

Q) Many of your fans are hoping Cho will get a love interest this season. Any possibilities?

A) You have to wait and see! I can’t say one way or the other. I know it is not a very fun answer, but I don’t want to in anyway spoil the surprise.

Q) There have been some wonderful moments throughout the seasons. What have been some of the hardest scenes for you to film?

A) I think going back to the Josie question, working with her some of those scenes were not necessarily hard, but required a little bit more than just, “The victim is twenty-five years old and has multiple gunshot wound.” There is a little bit more than that procedural scripted thing that a lot of us need to do week after week. There is a lot more into it and a lot more moments. I wouldn’t go so far as to say hard, but more involved and made you think as an actor a little bit more. Most of those scenes were with Josie.

Q) Are there some behind the scenes favorite moments you could share with fans?

A) I think as far as the last day, we certainly missed having the actual last day. We wanted to have it be a little bit more of a festive situation, but we were kind of at the end and like, “We need to just get this done.” As far as the way that I felt on that last day, it was really nice to have worked with Josie and Joe [Adler] and Rockmond [Dunbar]. They really came in a really unenviable position and just knocked it out of the park. I can’t say enough about those three actors that came in and really gelled immediately. Certainly, I missed Owain [Yeoman] and Amanda [Righetti] during that time. Just to give them the due credit, I kind of breathed a sigh of relief that we were really lucky to bring those three in and pick up where Owain and Amanda left off.

Q) There was a tragic storyline that Bruno mentioned about Cho. What insight can you give to his statement?

A) There are moments that occur towards the end of the season where Cho kind of has to face the realities of his behavior and the way he interacts with those around him. it’s kind of an eye opener for Cho. Things happen in those moments where he is actually forced to look at himself a lot closer than he has before. It’s a very interesting way of approaching it and a side of him that we really haven’t seen before.

Q) Cho seems to be unaware of the chemistry between Jane and Lisbon. Is he purposely putting on blinders or does he truly not see it?

A) To him, their interactions and the way they behave…He’s a super perceptive, observant guy (second only to Jane). Very little gets by him and we all know this and understand this with seven years having gone by. As far as the Jane and Lisbon, (and this has been brought up a few times on Twitter) to him there is no romantic chemistry between the two to him. The way they interact at work and any time he has ever observed the two of them he just doesn’t see it. Last season Abbott and Cho were talking about it. I think Abbott saw a little bit more into that than Cho did because he was a little bit more privy to some of the things. Abbott just saw more. He definitely saw them in a more romantic setting. Any time Cho saw them or any time they behaved in front of him, it is just business as usual. I think it is less blinders or anything else. He just never saw anything, not for lack of looking or lack of perception. I just think they behave that way in front of him.

Q) Because the show has been on for seven seasons, are these lasting relationships you plan to take with you?

A) Oh yeah! Absolutely! You can’t go seven years on a show without having become a huge family. I can pretty much say it is lasting relationships with everybody, from the top down. From the producers, to the cast, to the crew – I have no hesitation calling any one of them at any given time and it is really fortunate that we were given this opportunity to be a part of this “The Mentalist” family.

Q) What memorabilia did you take home from set when all filming was finished?

A) No, not really. There were a couple knickknacks and stuff that I took off of my desk. It’s more stuff that I brought in anyway. So, it was mine. I didn’t take my desk home. I didn’t grab my chair and put it in my car trunk.

Q) You didn’t even take your badge?

A) Those badges are so close to the real things that they have to go right back to the prop house.

Q) What was the last day of filming like for you on set?

A) It was pretty surreal. We, us as a cast, I don’t think we really realized what was happening on that last day. It was just like any other day, except we had better food! It was one of those things where we went through our thing and there was a bittersweet moment, but once the cameras were rolling and the director says “Action,” we are business as usual. I think it is starting to hit everybody just now. As I’m talking to you, I’m getting a lump in my throat. It’s going to take a little while since we have been at it so long that it is going to take a little while to decompress and to understand really, truly what we have been doing for the last even years.

Q) What do you think the legacy will be for “The Mentalist?

A) I think going seven years, in and of itself, is a big thing. I’m hard pressed to come up with shows that do that anymore. These days, it’s three or four and out. I think that is one part of it. I think another part of it would be that procedural/comedy drama. I think we did a fairly decent  job of marrying those two. We could have really dramatic moments and then have a lighthearted, funny one. It takes a certain style of writing and certain characters to pull that off. We could go from the whole Red John heavy, heavy storyline to Rigsby drinking a Big Gulp. I think that was one of the things that we brought to the table that kind of set us a part.

Q) You’re an actor and a writer. Is there anything else you would like to try your hand at in the entertainment industry?

A) Right now, I’m doing the writing thing and putting my sort of acting skills set and trying to adjust it a little bit to get into the writing mode. I would love to direct one of these days. I think seven years on “The Mentalist” has afforded me with a really great graduate school in film making, seeing it at least from the point of view of a TV script. Certainly, that’s in my future. It’s wide open now, which is really great and refreshing. We, as a cast and crew, put in a lot of work week after week after week. I think we all became better artists as a result.

Q) You are a part of social media. Do you enjoy that instant fan feedback that you receive when episodes air?

A) It’s really great, obviously! There are a lot of negative things in and of itself, but one of the really positive things is the immediate feedback. There is that dialogue that happens in real time that I definitely, definitely appreciate. Hopefully, people enjoy what we are doing and how we deliver the show. But you have to take everything with a grain of salt.

Q) Why is that such an important way for you to connect with fans?

A) In our day and age, it’s the ease of it. It makes it easier to connect with fans and it makes it important to connect with fans because they are the ones supporting your  show. I wouldn’t be there without the fans support. We wouldn’t be here as a production and as a show without that support and I think it is very, very important to give back in whatever way you can. I think social media and opening a dialogue is important.

Q) What would you like to say to fans and supporters of you and your work and of “The Mentalist?”

A) A huge thank you! I think it is as simple as that. Just to kind of reiterate what I said before, we wouldn’t have gotten this far and had this much success without you. Just a heartfelt thank you and we’ll see you on the next one!