I gotta tell ya, I’m not exactly enamored of this new show, “Life.” There’s definitely an interesting concept at hand: cop gets thrown into jail for a crime he didn’t commit, gets cleared and earns a tidy settlement sum from the department as a result, then returns to the force, where he has to play catch-up with technology while trying to figure who actually did the crime for which he’d been accused. My problem with it is that the lead character is walking that line between eccentric and obnoxious, and he’s constantly teetering. I was quite glad, then, when someone else made the observation to the cast and creators…
…and, even more so, I was glad that the show’s creator, Rand Ravich, was aware of the concern.
“Well, we are aware of that,” he admitted. “There are some quirky shows and certain quirky characters. I don’t like to think of them as quirky. I think he’s been through an experience that has made him different. I read this great movie story about when the astronauts came back from the moon, everything was different about the world, everything they saw, everything they touched, everything they tasted. It was a completely unique experience that only they could touch, and that’s how I think of the Charlie Crews character. He’s been through something so unique that he experiences the world in a completely different way, but it is relatable. I want to feel when I watch him that if I had come through this, I would like to be able to react like he’s reacting. I would be able to understand what he’s understanding and all of the traits, as opposed to being quirks, are based in relatable characteristics.”
* Star Damian Lewis, who’s not unfamiliar with replacing his English accent with an American one (he utilized the latter when he starred in HBO’s “Band of Brothers”), says it’s pretty easy to “go American,” as it were. “I like to have a couple of dialect lessons just before I start each show, but after that, I find it’s very easy. I just stay in it. I feel confident. I stay in my American accent when I’m surrounded by American people, and it’s easier for me to do that then go back and forth from English to American…” At this moment, Lewis switched back to his native accent and closed, “So, no. I find it pretty easy.” (Co-star Adam Arkin offered mock awe at the transition, saying, “I have to say that was absolutely extraordinary.”)
* Why did Lewis finally decide the time was right to make the commitment to do an American TV series? “I love this script. It always starts with the script. I met Rand, find him to be an intelligent, witty, talented, intensely annoying individual. And I trust the scripts will remain that way, will continue in that vein. I think he and Far have a great partnership going. I think it really can be an extremely interesting series. I think you can do things in longform that you often can’t do or cannot do at all in two hours of feature-film making. And I read a lot of unbelievably crappy film scripts. So it was just nice to get a decent script.” And why are there a lot of Brits over here? “Because you keep asking us. Thank you very much.”
* When someone suggested that, with all the sci-fi shows on the various networks this season, Lewis might need a power other than to change accents at will, Ravich said, “He does fly.” Arkin added, “But only five feet up. We’re keeping it gritty. Real.”
