Addressing one of the most perplexing and entertaining topics Showtime has to offer, a panel was put together to address: The Anti-Hero. In attendance were cast members, and the masterminds behind them, all four shows:
Weeds,
Nurse Jackie,
Dexter, and
Californication.
Jumping right into it each cast member was asked how they believed their character was relatable to the audience. In other words: what makes them so darn lovable?
Here's what they had to say:
David Duchovny believes Hank needs to always tell the truth in order to appear sympathetic. Even if the truth happens to be "ugly" or "self serving" it keeps Hank relatable to the audience.
Speaking for
Nurse Jackie was Paul Schulze who believes, "Jackie is the shadow we all have." We all keep secrets, tell lies and do our best to avoid the pain. Schulze continued, "We all relate whether we want to or not."
Mary-Louise Parker admitted that Nancy isn't concerned with guilt--at least not at first. There's no use in her feeling sorry for herself and why not deal with the issue on a later date. We've all had that feeling of running away. In Nancey's case, to fault or not, has perfected the art of being on the run.
And finally how do viewers manage to relate to our favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan? Michael C. Hall relies on the code. At first it was a way in--for the audience to relate. And now? After seeing Dexter breaking the code time and time again? That's simple. He's already won our hearts, now we want to see Dexter "lean against the code or actively defy it."
So there you have it. Our favorite anti-heroes in their own words.
A few additional tidbits of information leaked out about the upcoming seasons along with insider notes as well.
Californication: - Look forward to guest stars like Rob Lowe who plays a movie star, Tommy Lee who plays himself, and others
- Duchovny was first interested in the show because it reminded him of films from the 70s that he loves.
Nurse Jackie:- Linda Wallem enjoys when real-life nurses come up to her on the street quoting lines from the show. A popular one right now would be Jackie's last line of the season, "Blow me."
- Balancing the comedy and drama is similar to how real life hospitals balance it. When someone dies, someone is quick with a joke as a coping mechanism.
- The tap dancing scene from last season was a true story a nurse told Wallem about.
Weeds:
- Sounds like Nancey will only be having one identity this season.
- The boys are growing up. We've seen Shane grow from "clutching to his mother" to becoming a killer. It appears that with Nancey's homeschooling he's "learned all the wrong lessons," says Victoria Morrow.
Dexter: