Post by Valerie on Feb 20, 2006 20:30:39 GMT -5
From nbc.com/passions
The hunk-o-meter just rose a few notches in Harmony thanks to the addition of two hot and talented young actors. Adrian Bellani took over the role of Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, and to further confuse Kay, Mark Cameron Wystrach is now the new Fox Crane. While Miguel and Fox seem destined to become rivals, Adrian and Mark are fast becoming friends. Besides sharing a leading lady and storyline, these newcomers have quite a bit in common. A couple weeks after they began taping, Adrian and Mark both sat down for a chat on how things were coming along.
Have you two met before today?
ADRIAN: We’re sharing a dressing room together. So we’ve had some brief conversations when we both worked on the same day.
MARK: Doing stuff like the photo shoot was nice because we got to bond.
ADRIAN: It’s good to get to know one another since we’re sharing a room and we’re both new on the show. For both of us, it’s our first contract role on a series. We can motivate each other.
What was your first day like?
MARK: My first day was cool, but I had the classic nerves. I had a lot of dialogue! I got to work with Ms. Juliet Mills, which was really cool. She comes from a pretty amazing pedigree of actors. And of course Heidi Mueller. They were both fantastic and made things easy. It was stressful, but it felt great once I finished that first day. I was like, “Bring it on!” I was ready for more.
ADRIAN: My first day was fairly easy since I just worked by myself. The scene was a phone call with Theresa, but the stage manager was reading Theresa’s lines. I haven’t really worked with somebody else yet.
MARK: On my first day, I worked with a frog.
ADRIAN: (Laughs) What was his name?
MARK: I don’t remember... I also had to do special effects takes. A lot of setup, a lot of blocking. It was tough to do all that and still get your point across.
That first week of taping for both of you was a parade of shirtless scenes... were you both mentally prepared for all that?
ADRIAN: (Laughs) They let us know ahead of time. The first day I worked, they were like, “Today you don’t have your shirt on. But wait until you start moving books or answering the phone, and you start taking your shirt off for no reason!”
MARK: Having my shirt off isn’t a big deal for me because I’m a surfer and I’m on the beach a lot, so I’m used to it. I’m always changing into my wetsuit on the side of the road on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). I lived in Costa Rica for three months, and I don’t think I wore anything but my board shorts the entire time. I didn’t even wear shoes!
Had you watched the show before? Did you know anything about your characters and their history?
ADRIAN: Maria O’Brien, our acting coach, has been great. I didn’t know Miguel’s past storyline so I didn’t know what he was like. He hadn’t been on the show for years. When I first got my scenes, I had no idea what his relationship was with each person. Maria really helped me with that.
MARK: Whereas Adrian’s character hadn’t been on in a while, my character was still airing. I didn’t watch Justin (Hartley) at all because I didn’t want to be impersonating him. I know he’s done a great job, but I want to have my own take on Fox. I did watch the show in general, though, to get a feel for the beats, style, and pace. It’s quite entertaining!
Adrian, had you seen the show?
ADRIAN: I had flipped through it a couple times because a year ago I had met Galen (Gering, Luis) and James (Hyde, Sam) at a charity event. I watched the show a little to see them at work. Miguel was gone by then. But like Mark said, it’s important to bring your own thing to the character and not try to be someone else.
Was it confusing to figure out how you were related to the other characters?
MARK: Very confusing! In fact, Adrian was just briefing me on the way over the photo shoot today.
ADRIAN: I did a little bit of studying once I got cast to see who I’d be working with, see what they’ve done. There are some great people on the show that I look up to and hope to learn from. It’s also important to know how to play the relationships.
What’s the hardest thing about joining the show so far?
ADRIAN: There’s so much work you have to do. The amount of dialogue... it’s just overwhelming. The memorization and doing the homework is tough. You spend more time doing that than actually shooting the scenes. (Sly smile to Mark) At least I do, I don’t know about Mark. (Laughs)
MARK: (Jokes) Yeah, I have one of the PA’s reading the lines to me in an earpiece. I’m kidding. For me, I’ve been working manual labor to support my acting. I had acting jobs during the day and then other work at night, so I’ve had two full-time jobs. It’s so nice not to have that stress anymore. It’s such a motivating factor for me and I feel so blessed, that I don’t feel like any of this is hard. As far as workload, I’ve had tougher jobs working on a ranch so this is not bad.
What was your prior acting experience?
MARK: My first audition was a year ago this month. I got cast in a movie and then I also did another one this past year. I took acting classes in college, Groundlings training in improv, an actors’ studios, etc. My training really comes watching from film. I see sometimes two films a day. When I see Morgan Freeman or (French actor) Romain Duris, I borrow from them like any good artist does.
ADRIAN: This is my first TV role. I did a commercial a couple months ago. It was a worldwide Pepsi campaign with Christina Aguilera. I’ve been out here for a while working on my craft, but this is my first big break.
What do you do in your free time?
MARK: (Laughs) My work has kind of taken up my free time. I’m sort of hyperactive and interested in so many things. I play guitar and I’m learning other instruments – I love music. I skateboard. I’m an avid surfer so I try to be in the ocean as much as I can. And since joining “Passions,” I try to exercise a lot for those shirtless scenes. (Laughs)
ADRIAN: I’m more of a homebody. I like to spend time with my friends. I like to watch movies, exercise... I like the beach a lot, too, but I’m not a great surfer. I just like to joke around in the water.
MARK: We’ll get him a surfboard, get him out there.
What’s playing on your iPod right now?
MARK: I was just playing Adrian an electro-rock group from Mexico called Pánico. They’re pretty funky. I listen to a lot of electro-rock like Radiohead. Also, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.
ADRIAN: I like a lot of music. Josh Rouse, Pete Yorn.
MARK: Pete Yorn’s great.
ADRIAN: I’m really into this band called Citizen Cope. And Coldplay. I’m really into Coldplay right now.
Final question: Who should Kay choose?
ADRIAN: I think Miguel and Fox should end up together. (Laughs)
MARK: Brokeback Passions! No... I think she should be with Fox! Who doesn’t want to kiss Kay everyday, are you kidding me?
ADRIAN: I like that Kay’s been a great mother to our little girl. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but it’ll be interesting to find out...
