Adam Arkin's duties on NBC's
Life go beyond playing a convicted felon.
Apparently, the 50-year-old actor is also expected to direct a couple of episodes of the new drama series, with the first from the initial set of 13, and the other from the remaining nine that NBC has just picked up.
Your Take
cabooklover said:
I love Adam Arkin and it will be great to see his work on camera and behind the camera!
Arkin's directorial duties on
Life are part of the contract he has with the show. He had been active as a director prior to joining the series, so when he was cast in the show, he tried to strike a deal with NBC that would allow to helm some episodes.
“I had spent a year doing nothing but directing, and it was the first time since I was a teenager and a whole year had gone by that I hadn't acted at all. So when the opportunity to be cast in
Life came up, it was a little bittersweet because I felt like, ‘Well, I'm walking away from this other venue that I'm really enjoying, and is there some way this can be woven into the deal,'” Arkin told TV Guide.ca. “They looked at some of my work and were encouraged enough by that that they said, ‘Yeah, we'll put it into your deal that you can direct.'”
As stipulated in the deal, Arkin will have the opportunity to direct a minimum of two episodes per season, as well as appear regularly as Ted Earley, the former prison mate of Charlie Crews (
Damian Lewis), a man who goes back to being a detective after being wrongfully imprisoned for 12 years.
Adam Arkin said that among the things that drew him to
Life was the writing.
“I found that there was a style to the writing and the characters that from the first page made me want to know more about them,” he told TV Guide.ca. “That's usually a signal to me that the writing is good and that the script is in the hands of people that know what they're doing... The quirkiness of it was also appealing – I liked the idea that this guy was living a life that seemed rather unusual.”
As for his character, Arkin said that despite his run-ins with the law, Ted is “essentially a good guy and his relationship with Charlie and his devotion to that friendship is probably the best part of him.”
Life airs Wednesday nights at 10/9c on NBC.
Which other Life cast member would you like to have on the director's chair?
-Lisa Claustro, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide.ca
(Image Courtesy of MSN)