Saturday, August 10, 2013

Shore Leave: Saul Rubinek & Eddie McClintock Part 2


Sunday right after Brent Spiner was the final talk for the duo. Unlike the first talk, they started and ended together. There was a lot of overlap so only one story got retold (Rubinek on Star Trek). Saul decided to open by talking about some of what goes into filming a TV show.

Most shows film outside L. A. proper for budgetary reasons. Directing a pilot is an incredibly sought after job because you set the tone and establish a pattern for an entire series. Every future director must follow what you did. Somewhere in here Eddie’s wife called. He had to pick up and tell her that he was on stage and would call her later.

I’m not sure how this quote came to be but it must me shared: Eddie: “I’m gonna do some interpretive dance to In A Gadda Da Vida.” Saul: “Can I leave?” The fans started asking questions and Eddie insisted on running into the audience and using his mic rather than the one set up in the crowd. It was great.

When asked about his favorite Pete and Myka episode, McClintock said it was the body swap episode and the Noir episode. He enjoyed switching from Noir speak back to regular speak for the entire episode. For body swap they acted each scene as their characters and then the other would come in and follow that. Both were really good exercises as an actor.

The telenovela episode they’re filming right now is entirely in Spanish. They have to learn what their lines mean in English so they can give it a proper inflection and emphasis in Spanish. They also must speak it like they’re fluent. The director is fluent so he catches when it doesn’t sound believable.

McClintock’s favorite artifact isn’t actually seen but is captured in a line of witty dialogue: “I once put on Abe Lincoln’s hat and had the irresistible urge to free Mrs. Frederick.” When someone had a Saul question, he pouted and either went back onstage or catcalled form the audience. When Rubinek retells the story about Star Trek and gets to the part where the little person tried to off himself, Eddie asked “Was it the script?” McClintock also pretended to snore.

Since Spiner and Rubinek are reunited in season 4 of Warehouse 13, they threw in several lines of dialogue for the fans from their episode of TNG. I now must watch that episode of TNG and that season of Warehouse close together.

McClintock got to tell the story of how he got the role of Pete since it was already cast by the time Rubinek auditioned. He was stressed since he hadn’t had an abundance of success and his wife had just had their second kid. For Warehouse they called in 6 Petes and 6 Mykas. By lunch half were eliminated which is incredibly hard for an actor to come thisclose and then be cut. McClintock is getting stressed and starts ranting and freaking out while they’re all sitting and waiting while the other actors do the scene.

Joanne pulls him in and tells him to breathe and just talk it out. They go in to read together next and it’s a scene from the pilot. Joanne turns to him and butchers the line calling him a “showbot.” McClintock starts doing the robot and ends with a little Michael Jackson move and a ‘hoo-hoo.’ They finish the scene and as they’re walking out Joanne punches Eddie in the arm and says “Dude!” The casting people just look at them and go “That’s the show.” From an actor’s worst fear of butchering a line came on of the best roles in her career. She still calls him dude BTW. McClintock just got a text from her saying “I love you dude.”

The next fan question was from a man announcing the name of the 12th Doctor. You could hear the room gasp from the hallway outside. McClintock announced himself before the real new Doctor. Rubinek talked a little about being an actor. It’s what his daughter is looking into doing and “The biggest talent you can have is to get up once you’ve been kicked down.” He likes acting for TV since “some of the best work is on TV: the best comedies, the best dramas, the best stories.” He and Eddie are looking into doing a show with Brent Spiner.

At the end the staff of Shore Leave came out to give them their bunnies. Rubinek’s had a Data uniform on so he finally collected Data. McClintock promised to do his best to work the bunny into one of the final 2 episodes of the series. Now that is love for your fans.

I think what I liked so much about these guys is that they’re not high on themselves. Once I heard Shatner talking I suspected he didn’t really care about the fans, he thought he was above us. We were there to adore and be amused by him. I never got that sense from Saul or Eddie. They wanted us to have the best experience with them as possible. They appreciated us and related to us. They enjoyed us which is part of what made them enjoyable.

Music: Something I Need by OneRepublic

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