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What’s it like to play Castle, who is so focused getting Beckett to like him? Castle – I don’t think his primary goals are other people,” Fillion replies. “I think his primary goals are selfish. He likes Beckett, he wants Beckett close to him. He admires her, he thinks she’s great and there’s no character that really has that control over Castle. I think Beckett is as close as he has to an authority figure, which he hasn’t really had in his life. You look at his mother, the absence of a father, his daughter is the closest thing he has to a parent. So he has no authority figure in his life and certainly, I think we look to fill these gaps and I think one of his character flaws is that Castle’s incredibly selfish. He’s incredibly selfish. And that’s what he wants. He wants to be happy for himself, and in a selfish way, he wants to be around Beckett. At the beginning, he does not [understand why she’s angry with him], and again, that is his flaw, that he doesn’t understand. He’s just a little too self-involved, a little too selfish, and he doesn’t get it.”
All of this makes Castle fun to play, Fillion adds. “I learned on TWO GUYS, A GIRL AND A PIZZA PLACE to embrace your character’s flaws. Flaws are what make people great and likable.”

The set for Castle’s office is so beautifully decorated that Fillion says, “What the heck, I could live in this place.” He reveals its one drawback. “I’ll tell you this much – this carpet that you’re standing on, it sheds like you can’t believe. It leaves a nice fine white haze on everything and makes it slippery. So this is the only thing I wouldn’t have for sure.” Stuff he wouldn’t mind bringing home: “Right behind you here is a touch-screen TV. This photograph I find mesmerizing. This desk is absolutely beautiful. I spend a lot of time here. You’ll probably see a lot of my scripts here.”

Fillion may add a few touches of his own. “I think I’m going to try to grab some stuff from previous seasons I’ve done of other television shows, take little bits that I’ve saved and put them on the shelves.” This won’t include the red button from FIREFLY. “I don’t have that – that’s Joss’s now – but I have some other bits. I would love to take more credit for the incredible [production design] work that’s done. We’ve got a wonderful man by the name of Alfred [Sole] who designs these things so incredibly well. There’s a lot of [taxidermied] bugs [in glass cases] – there’s bugs on the wall, there’s bugs on the desk here – and I just think that Castle bugs people a little bit. He’s just into that, the quirky, the odd, the interesting, because he is quirky and odd and interesting.”

The CASTLE writing staff and cast seem to have the same notions about where the characters and series should be headed, Fillion notes. “Yes, absolutely. We all know the flaws and we’ve all seen television series jump the shark – we’re not going to aim to fail.”

Molly Quinn is the young actress who plays Castle’s daughter. Fillion believes she’s got enough experience of her own not to need his advice on show business. “I’ve shared embarrassing stories with her, I’ve got tons of those, but she’s not a stranger to the industry by any means. If anything, until this season, she was a stranger to this schedule. It’s a heavy, heavy schedule. That’s the one major I think Kryptonite of one-hour dramas. It’s a long haul. I’m certainly busy, but it’s not constant. You have to be here the whole time, but it’s not like you’re completely taxed entirely all the time. It’s long days. It’s not rare that we do fourteen-hour days.”

To read the full article go to www.ifmagazine.com

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Stana Katic: Of course. The writing lends itself to a very Hepburn-Tracy type of rapport, so it s easy to simply say the words and find that wonderful rhythm.

In addition, Nathan has a history with and a wonderful knack for comedy. On my end, I ve become a big fan of the Hawksian dame– fast-talking, spirited broads like Rosalind Russell, Kate Hepburn, and Barbara Stanwyck. Using them as an inspirational resource helps in adding to those charming verbal sparring sessions.

…[SNIP]…

Scooter: We got a few glimpses into Kate s personal life in the first season, will the FBI ex-boyfriend show up again and/or a new potential beau be introduced this season?

Stana: As far as i know, there are plans to re-engage in the Kate-Sorensen storyline. I m not quite sure about the scenario and to what extent. That s the part that is exciting for me as the actor. Each script is a new discovery and surprise.

Kate and Castle are kind-of like a great wine. We re going to take our time enjoying all of the flavours and nuances before we finish off the bottle and get down to business. In doing that, I m sure we’ll be exploring the personal lives of both of the characters in more depth before they fully dive into each other; and i wouldn’t be shocked to see both of them going out on dates before they make it back to one another again.

Scooter: What is one thing you personally would like to see happen on Castle this season?

Stana: You know, we touched on it somewhat above. I would love to see more of Kate s personal life. I feel like the writers are doing a great job of unveiling other layers of Beckett this season. Nearly each episode provides a small glimpse into this working girl’s life.

In fact, I just found out she is a bit of a comic book junkie (it s a brief story point in the upcoming episode)! How fantastic is that?!!! i cannot wait to do the character research for the episode.

That being said, I would love to meet her father and see a storyline with them.
It would also be great to see her off-duty and out on the town (perhaps on a date). I have a feeling Kate has a bit of wild streak in her that can’t necessarily be shown in the precinct and on duty; but once the badge is in the box, I think she can throw down with the best of them.

And finally, I would love to have a few one-on-one scenes with captain Montgomery (played by Reuben Santiago-Hudson). Reuben is our Tony Award winner and our new NAACP lifetime achievement recipient. To be able to have a couple of quality character scenes with him would be an honour.

Scooter: Anything else that you haven t mentioned in previous questions that the viewers can look forward this season on Castle?

Stana: What I m really looking forward to this season is watching some of the other characters take center stage, as well. I think audiences can anticipate more of what they enjoyed so much last year, meaning that Castle-Kate witty rapport; but the writers are also building wonderfully fun storylines for the rest of the ensemble. Detectives Esposito (John Huertas) and Ryan (Seamus Dever), for instance, have a beautiful storyline coming up in which they pair up against Kate and Castle in a crime-solving race. Bets are laid, and the two teams are off on a really fun episode to see who wins precinct bragging rights. John and Seamus shine in this episode, so I m excited to have people see their great work.

…[SNIP]…

Scooter: Did you do anything during this past summer? If so can you tell us a little about it?

Stana: I traveled around Europe and French Polenysia. If I m not working on a film or other project, I try to travel and explore as much as possible.
Polenysia was particularly wonderful because i got to visit with an archaeologist who took me on a tour of ancient burial and temple sites. It was astounding to see the remnants and to learn about that beautifully self-sufficient and powerful people because so much of their history was eradicated by invading explorers and missionaries.

I also got to visit with a falconer here in Southern California during the summer molting season. Falcons are beautiful hunters, and of course they sit at the apex of their food chain. So, learning about them was tremendously informative in regards to the state of the environment as a whole.

Anyway, I did things like that this summer. It was fun.

Thank you Scooter for the time.

Read the full interview at http://scooterksu.blogspot.com…

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Jim Halterman: When you were creating the show and the characters what was your inspiration?

Andrew W. Marlowe: I was a fan of the old-fashioned murder mysteries on TV with the eccentric characters and we’ve seemed to enter the age of procedurals where it’s really more about the evidence than the specifics of the case. I thought there was an opportunity to tell some great characters stories in that arena so I wanted to be able to blend the stuff I love, which has always been character storytelling, with more of the procedural elements. When I set out to create “Castle,” I thought, “Let’s do something that’s leans a little bit more towards the stuff I loved growing up.” You remember “Columbo” and you remember “Rockford” but you don’t necessarily remember the cases as strongly because the characters were so very interesting. As a writer myself, going through those periods when I’m deep into it and I never get to leave my 10×10 room, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to actually get to go out into the universe and do some of the things that we were writing about?,” and that’s where the concept of Castle was born; a guy who is a writer that actually gets out into the world and use some of the things he’s learned along the way.

JH: The chemistry between Nathan and Stana is the kind that any network dreams of. How did that come together?

AWM: We started with Nathan, who was the perfect guy for this role. I think the line between Nathan and Castle sometimes gets blurred. We interviewed a number of actresses. I think when we were casting it we brought in about 125 actresses and Nathan was very gracious to join us in the sessions because, really, it’s all about the chemistry and it really is about the ability for these two people to sell the kind of love/hate/sparks fly relationship. We were very fortunate to have Nathan in the room and when Stana came in there was that chemistry and we just had our fingers crossed that it would be captured on film.

JH: How do you balance the crime, romance and family element equally without one taking over the others?

AWM: When a draft [of a script] comes in it’s usually weighted towards one aspect or another and we just look to make sure we’re telling a complete story. There are some episodes where the case will dominate and there are some episodes where it will be a little bit more character stuff but we try to keep it in that sweet zone in the middle where each element of the storytelling is contributing. I also think that the thing that we look to do is have the personal stories speak to what the main story is so it feels as if it’s all a part of the whole.

JH: In the writer’s room what comes first? The case of the week or the character stuff with Castle and Beckett? Where do you start?

AWM: The Castle/Beckett relationship… I think everyone understands that DNA. These are two characters who like each other but there are obstacles and for the fun of the show we have to maintain those obstacles. Oftentimes, since we’re so familiar with those two characters, we start with the case and see what the case suggests in terms of a personal story that can fit into or around it. Then we look at the order of the cases so the personal stories end up laid out with the main cases relatively cleanly. Usually at the beginning of the season, it’s a lot of people sitting down talking about the creative murders that they’ve heard about or thought of and whether it feels like a “Castle” case and whether there’s an element of fun to be had or as much fun as you can have being respectful to the fact that we have a body and we have a victim’s family and all that sort of stuff. But if there’s something interesting and unusual about the case that our characters would be interested in… you have Detective Beckett, who is detective at the top of her game who isn’t going to be as engaged with a run of the mill murder case. Then, you have a guy like Castle whose interest is, “What’s the story of the case?” If it’s a simple Jack shot Jill over Bill it’s not going to be that interesting to him so we’re always looking for cases where our characters can engage.

JH: How do you maintain the audience’s hunger to want them together when we all know what can happen if that happens too soon?

AWM: It’s early in the series and I think the characters will tell us where they need to be and what they need to do. I think life throws complications at relationships and that’s a good guiding light for us. New people enter, old flames resurface and there’s plenty going on to keep these two people at arms length. I think the characters are making the choices themselves. Beckett doesn’t want to be one of his conquests and for Castle this is a woman who has challenged him in ways that other women haven’t. I think that there’s a fear on his part that going any further will ruin their relationship so I think they both feel like they can flirt and play with each other up to a line but at this point they’re both scared to cross it. In the future, there will be many other complications; he’ll date somebody, she’ll date somebody, there will be missed opportunities, near misses. I think that as long as we’re honest about the relationship with the audience and we’re not fraudulent and trying to force it and manipulate our characters into a particular situation I think they’ll be patient as long as we’re also having fun.

JH: Is it safe to assume that the mystery behind Beckett’s mother’s murder isn’t really going to go away even though she doesn’t want Castle to pursue it any further?

AWM: It’s something that is going to keep popping up. We don’t want this show to feel serialized so it’s certainly not going to be in every episode but we are going to deal with it and it is going to come up with certain particular cases and we’ll get a little further down the field with it on occasion but it’s not going to be something that will cast a huge shadow over the series. We want to be very friendly to the occasional viewers but also reward our loyal and longtime viewers.

JH: Is there going to be opportunity to explore more of the supporting characters this season?

AWM: I think we are very blessed with having a very strong supporting cast and we actually look forward to being able to explore them a bit more. Being a midseason show last year, we got 10 episodes under our belt and we felt like we were just starting to hit our stride and, of course, coming back this year we wanted to reintroduce ourselves to the audience. The first several episodes are focused on the Castle and Becket of it all but as we get into it, I think Jon Huertas, who plays Esposito is a tremendous actor and Seamus Dever, who plays Detective Ryan, is terrific and the two of them have a great chemistry together in their own right both in character and just as the actors waiting for someone to yell “action.” I think that Ruben Santiago-Hudson is a tremendous actor and I’d like to see a bit more storytelling for him, as well and, of course, Susan Sullivan. We’re all big fans of Molly Quinn who plays Castle’s daughter. That character is coming into an interesting time in her life in that she’s about to turn 16 and even being a good kid there are temptations and challenges… as a character she’s very smart, got a good head on her shoulders but I think there will be times when she is challenged and that Castle is even more challenged by some of the stuff that she’s going through.

JH: In the season premiere, Alexis talks to her father about her confusion over boys and relationships but what she says actually resonates with Castle’s situation with Beckett. Was her character planned to be an insightful presence in Castle’s life?

AWM: Absolutely. I view her as an old soul but there are times when she is absolutely her age and she needs emotional support. Castle is a very good father but there are times when she has to be a parent just because of the kind of guy that he is and I think when you grow up in that household with a grandmother (Sullivan) who is always vying for the spotlight and a father who is famous and enjoys being a little bit of a rogue, the way you rebel is by being smart and having a good head on your shoulders and being emotional mature. There are times when she’s the emotionally mature one but then there are times when you’re 15 or 16 and you’re just starting to date and you’re trying to figure out what life is all about that you need someone to lean on and in those situations her Dad is always there for her.

JH: “Castle” premiered this past spring around the same time as some other ABC dramas like “The Unusuals” and “Cupid” but “Castle” was the only one to get renewed. Any theories as to why your show caught on while the others did not?

AWM: Honestly, I think that we were in the right place at the right time on the right network. I think having the key emotional relationship between Becket and Castle that people could tune in to see every week while they were watching a procedural was helpful. “The Unusuals” was much more of an ensemble and there was a lot for the audience to track. I thought there were a number of great qualities about the show. I didn’t really see “Cupid” so I can’t comment on it. But I do think that shows like “The Mentalist” and the growing audience that we have for “Castle”… I think there is a feeling that the conventional procedurals – the “Law & Order”s and the “CSI”s – they keep going further into sensationalist areas to try to maintain their audience and there’s a lot of darkness that comes out of those shows and the world is at a difficult place right now I think people want to come home and see something familiar that is a procedural but they also want to have fun along the way and we’re hoping to provide them with the procedural elements that they’re used to executed at a high level but also give them some of the character fun with some of those kinds of stories.

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WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS

Daemon’s TVâ„¢ talked with Stana Katic about what’s coming up in season 2 of Castle.   To read the full interview click here.

So what’s coming up this season?

Stana Katic: Well, last season we left on a cliffhanger. There was a question of whether Castle and Beckett will be able to work together again and whether that relationship will fall apart or find its way, after he broke her trust. Basically one of the things that Beckett said clearly was, ‘Do not cross this line –’ and the line was to not research her mother’s murder. Of course Castle does and when she finds out it was kind of like, ‘Okay, we’re done.’

Then what happens is we open up the season with this fabulous PR stint for Castle’s new book ‘Heat Wave’ which is based on Kate Beckett’s character through a fictional character called Nikki Heat. So he decides to do this PR thing in the precinct and she’s forced to talk about him. In the meantime there’s a call coming in about a murder. The journalist ends up putting the two of them back together again and we go on a journey of crime solving and pretty much make amends quickly and get back to the fun of solving crimes together. I think that’s what audiences enjoyed last year, that repartee, that kind of chemistry between the Beckett character and Nathan Fillion’s character, Castle. So we get to do some more of that.

There are some really sexy murders I’m looking forward to showcasing. We’re also going to delve into some of the other characters’ lives as well which is really exciting because we have such a really fabulous all around cast. We get to build on Esposito and Ryan who are my two fellow detectives. We’ll get a chance to learn more about Captain Montgomery played by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who just won the lifetime achievement award from the NAACP which is really awesome. We were all very proud and gave him a huge standing ovation when he came to set that day. Then we go into Castle’s home life as well with Martha and Alexis and learn a bit more about that. So I think it’ll be really fun. I’m looking forward to this next episode. It’s a Halloween episode. We go into that kind of vampire underground, coven kind of world. That’ll be fun, too.

[SNIP]

Can you give me an example of one of the sexy murders you mentioned?

Stana Katic: This week we found a girl stuffed into a manhole and we literally had to go to a manhole and when they opened up the real city manhole there were swarms of cockroaches creeping out. We’re all peaking out over this manhole and the cockroaches are charging at you full force. That’s not super sexy though [laughs]. We have a murdered model. We go into the modeling world during Fashion Week which is really exciting, in New York. I’m trying to think what our first murder was, but that’s probably the first example.

Is Beckett’s mother’s murder going to be brought up again and will there ever be a resolution for it?

Stana Katic: I think so. I can’t imagine that if Beckett found out about it, or found out a piece of information; I mean last year we find out that that’s the reason why she became a detective. From my talks with the writers and even trying to work on this character she was your average Manhattanite girl, going to university and getting ready for a fun life. That murder happened and that spun her into a different scenario and she decided to become a detective and didn’t want anyone else to suffer that same injustice. I can’t imagine that her finding a piece of the puzzle wouldn’t inspire her to get back onto it and solve that crime that was basically the thrust of her entire new life, her entire new journey. I know that the writers plan on delving into it. It’s going to take a little bit of time because that is a huge thing and so I think we’ll work it out by the end of the season, but taking time to get there.

Do you think that Beckett and Castle will ever get together or should get together?

Stana Katic: They’re definitely made for each other, definitely a fabulous pair and they solve crimes together so well. They’re both obsessed with it. I think like any really, really good meal you’re going to take your time enjoying it and I think the two of them have a lot to learn about each other still. There’s the question from Beckett’s perspective of what happened to Castle’s last two relationships, why did they fall apart and why would she just jump into something. I think they haven’t totally opened up with each other about their feelings for one another. Although, we do kind of flirt with the issue throughout this last episode that I’m doing right now which is really fun. We’re going to take our time getting there as well. There’s so much to learn about each other and I think since it is that kind of relationship that it makes sense and so why not enjoy the characters, enjoy what it is that makes them tick and then slowly bring them to that final point.

Is there something you wish would happen to your character, an event or a storyline so that you could play something specific?

Stana Katic: The writers are really fabulous and finding a lot of opportunities. There was a line last season that said, ‘So many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all?’ Beckett says that to Castle and he’s basically poking at her, trying to get more information about her life and she’s kind of like, ‘No way, buddy.’ I think this season especially the writers have a lot of fun, kind of peeling other layers of Beckett. We discover that she studied in Russia for a bit. You get to see another sassier, sexier side of Beckett which is really exciting to play. I think that a lot of those wishes are getting fulfilled because I think the reality of every working woman is that she has to be one kind of person at work. She has to be the consummate professional, but every working woman is I think a fun loving girl when she goes home.

So it’s really exciting to be able to play that side of Beckett. I’d really love to see more of her home life. I’m sure that we’ll delve into the relationship with her father, which I’d be really excited to play because that’s her only parent now and the two of them share that history together and I think that’d be really beautiful. Also, then to get to know who she is outside of work, what she does when she decides to play. We’ve given some to it and I’m looking forward to the other stuff that we’ll be able to work with as we move along in the season.

Since season one, have you found it easier to get into character, and generally how is the set working differently from the first season?

Stana Katic: What’s amazing is that a huge majority of our crew came back to season two which is almost unheard of because so much of our crew are actually film people. So that was really neat, being able to step back onto a set and know everybody’s name and just fall back into it. Literally, in that first week, within that first couple of hours we all looked at each other like, ‘Wow, it doesn’t even feel like we had a hiatus because we just stepped back into the groove.’ Everyone knows each other and everyone understands each other’s rhythms as we move forward. So it’s been really easy to move back into it with everybody. A majority of the people are people from last season.

As far as my character is concerned we did a lot of the groundwork last season and so now we’re having some time to play and discover the other things that make her tick which is really exciting. I think the first season they had a mandate to make her a detective and to communicate that and now we get to see that sassy, saucy side even more. I think that’s what the audiences really enjoy, that Tracy/Hepburn kind of repartee. I’m loving playing that and Nathan is just a really great teammate, bouncing that kind of dialogue off of. We’re getting to do a lot more of that and I think we did a fun job of it in the first season which is why we got a second season. So this season we’re taking advantage of it even more.

[SNIP]

To read the full interview click here.

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