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To read the full interview (includes minor spoilers) go to tv.yahoo.com

So how did you get involved in this episode of “Castle”?

They actually had offered me a couple of different parts over the past few months, and I just wanted it to be special when I actually did the show because I’m a fan of the show. I think the writing’s really great. So then when this one came up, and the character was the one that got away from Castle, I just thought it would be really fun.

What were the other parts they had offered you?

Well, one was a suspect, and the other was a victim – there were two scripts.

“Castle” has really been gaining momentum lately. As a fan, what do you think it is that makes the show so appealing?

I think [on] any show, what makes it appealing is the cast of characters and the chemistry within. It’s really like lightning in a bottle. You really have to have the right formula to make everything work. I think when you watch this show, there is a sense of wanting to know the characters and loving the dynamic between Castle and Beckett. And I also think the writing is really smart. I think because Castle is a novelist, they’re able to take more of a risk and write really smartly.

You just mentioned chemistry. How was the chemistry between you and Nathan Fillion?

Really good, really good. We’ve known each other for about nine years now, and he’s such a sweet, sweet guy. From the second I stepped on the set, he was so appreciative and hospitable throughout the whole process, and I think a bit of that you can actually feel.

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[Andrew] Marlowe tells TVGuide.com. “We think they’re doing a terrific job creating a real family ensemble show. We’re trying to be unlike other procedurals on TV; we’re trying to bring some humor and character into procedural storytelling.”…

…Marlowe’s approach seems to be working. Debuting as a midseason replacement in early 2009, the show survived being on the bubble in May and has pulled strong enough numbers to earn a full Season 2 pickup. Marlowe gives much of the credit to his two stars, but he says he’s excited to expand the story to supporting players such as Detectives Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Esposito (Jon Huertas).

“We’re bringing them more into the cases, giving them a little more to do,” Marlowe says. “They’re just doing terrific work and they’ve really popped. I think in the latter part of this season, we’ll have an opportunity to see a little more of them in their private lives.

“Tamala Jones [Dr. Lanie Parish] has been a terrific role player, and I am looking for an episode to feature her with a medical mystery,” Marlowe continues. “I’d like everybody to get a moment in the spotlight as we move forward. As the show goes on and as viewers are more familiar with all of our people, we feel like we have an opportunity to add to our storytelling by exploring those characters.”

But don’t look for Marlowe to abandon what he calls the engine of the show: the will-they-won’t-they romantic tension between Castle and Beckett. “Audiences expect forward motion… [but] you never want to resolve something like that too quickly,” Marlowe says. “In this sort of relationship, when the romantic tension is running high, the opposite side of the spark is that there could be misunderstandings and wedges driven between the people. So we want to keep it going as long as we feel like it can sustain, but we also need to grow the relationship so it doesn’t feel like we’re stuck in the same gear. That’s the delicate dance moving forward.”

Marlowe is equally hesitant to wrap up the story of Beckett’s mother’s murder too quickly. “We do have an episode dealing with it coming up; there will be some significant movement in the case in that episode,” Marlowe says. “It’s so much a part of Beckett’s character, this unresolved mystery, that we feel like resolving it too quickly would not be fair to her character. It’s something that we will be developing over the next season or two until we get to the ultimate resolution.”

And its the concern Marlowe has for his characters that he says drives him to make Castle unlike the rest of TV procedurals. “Some of those shows take themselves very, very seriously when they hang a line on a guy putting on sunglasses,” Marlowe jokes. “But we want people to know that we’re taking our cases and our people seriously…

Visit TVGuide.com for the full interview

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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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