Huge has become a big summer hit for ABC Family. It centers around teenagers at Camp Victory, a weight loss camp, and their trials and tribulations. At the core of this show however, is not weight, it’s learning to be happy with yourself, and start a new lifestyle. The show has drama and romance and some hilarious moments to boot. I have really been enjoying it, and I wish there were more than just a few episodes left in the first season. I recently had the chance to chat with the absolutely lovely Harvey Guillen about his character (one of my favorites) Alistair. We talked about Alistair’s sexual preference, his relationship with his sister Chloe, and how sometimes the skinniest person in the room carries the most weight.

What originally drew you to the role of Alistair?
The first time I auditioned, I auditioned for Ian. When I read the pilot, after I knew I was going in for Ian, I fell in love with Alistair because in the original pilot he had three different scenes where [his] layers were just peeling away. And I thought “Wow, this guy has a lot going on inside,” like a lot of secrets, and there’s a lot of things he’s dealing with, as do all the other characters on the show, but there was something about Alistair that just stood out to me. And I wanted to play him, I was like “I have to play this part.” So I told my manager “I want to play Alistair,” and they were like “Well, you’re going in for Ian.” So I went in to read for Ian, but I read Ian as Alistair (laughs). I was hoping it wouldn’t backfire. Sure enough, I got a call back for the next week to read for Alistair. And I read for Alistair in front of Winnie Holzman [Creator] and she’s like this fairy godmother, she has this angelic voice and she goes “I’m sorry, but I have to give you a hug.” She gave me a hug, and I felt accomplished.

Aw, that’s so cute. So your plan worked!
Yeah, my plan worked. I don’t know if you can call it a plan. I took a risk and it paid off.

And Alistair as you mentioned has so many layers, but at the same time he’s very comfortable with who he is, and he’s very innocent. Is there a lot to him that we don’t even know yet?
Absolutely. People are always asking what’s going on with him, or why is he so weird or why is he so different. There’s [a lot of] speculation about his sexual preference, but the truth is, if the problem was his sexual preference, that would be the least of his secrets, that would be the least of his problems. He has so many secrets that people don’t know, and hopefully you get to see them all come out. There’s a big shift coming in episode 8. Alistair like you said is sweet, and he’s innocent and we all were at one point or another. We were all children, and we were all brought into this world and we were all innocent. And it’s at some point along the way that we all got jaded. But he hasn’t. And he’s holding onto that, and I think we’re going to see what people do to him. [They] say we don’t accept when you are too nice and too good and what not, and it might make you cry.

Aw. And it is sort of implied that Alistair might be gay. Will we see this addressed in the upcoming episodes?
Absolutely. The next episode is when we see that question asked and answered and shown.

Will we see maybe a crush?
You will definitely be seeing a crush, and you will especially be seeing something done to him by another camper unexpectedly.

Interesting. How will his relationship with his sister Chloe continue to develop as the season goes on?
The thing with Chloe, is not only are they blood related, but they are twins. And having that connection hidden away from you is really heartbreaking. I’ve been hanging out with Ashley Holliday a lot, who plays Chloe, and it’s so hard because I built that rapport with her off the set and when we’re on set, I long for it and I want it. You want to be next to your friend. It was like when you were in school, and you had a best friend and you wanted to have all your classes together, and you wanted to spend lunch together, and you had to spend after school together. It’s that instant rapport that you have with someone that I build with Ashley. So when we’re on set, and we can’t be next to each other, it kills me. Because not only are you my twin, [but] you’re not acknowledging me. It breaks my heart when I read the episodes every time, to have to come and do that to Alistair. But everyone has their reasons, and she has her reasons. They may not be justified, or maybe they are, but that’s her idea and her understanding of it.

 That makes sense.
There’s a moment in episode 8 where you actually see the human side to Chloe, and her feelings may change a little bit. Maybe they change too late for Chloe and too late for Alistair, so the clock’s ticking and things are going to happen and maybe someone’s not going to be able to salvage what they had before.

Interesting. And what about his new found friendship with Trent?
Yeah, the new friendship with Trent is the longing — Trent represents the jock, the popular guy, the good looking guy that Alistair’s not associated with. And he accepted him after Spirit Quest, he acknowledges him as a human being basically. And that’s a huge thing for him, because he’s being accepted for who he is. He didn’t conform to anybody’s cookie cutter mold, he’s actually being accepted not only as himself, but even after he chose to be Athena for Spirit Quest — a girl’s name — to be accepted at that level was a huge thing for him because people don’t accept him as he is period, already. And for him to take that and have the guts to choose a girl’s name and still be accepted by Trent — At first it wasn’t such smooth sailing because he wasn’t happy about sharing a tent with me. But now after he thought he was on shrooms — Alistair looked out for his well being, he placed the fake mushroom on the floor. So you have that idea and the illusion — It’s like those friends who have a drink and they’re like “I’m sooo wasted!”

(laughs) Yeah and it’s so not the case.
Yeah, it’s like I gave you Martinelli’s apple cider and you thought you were drinking champagne. It’s all in the head. And I think it’s so cool that it’s all mental. All of people’s perception of others and themselves, it’s all in their head and when you take down those barriers, those nets, then the truth comes out. And he totally accepted him for him and accepted him for the choices he was making, which is a huge breakthrough for Alistair and he feels really connected to Trent right now.

Absolutely. I hope to see more of that. And are you anything like Alistair?
We are similar in a lot of ways, and we are different in a lot of ways. Alistair marches to the beat of his own drum, and I think I can say that as well for myself. But he does let people step over him, and not acknowledge him or acknowledge his response to something. From earlier in the season, you saw how Trent wouldn’t even give him the time of day when he was trying to join his group in the talent show episode. That’s not like me. If I have something to say, I speak up. I totally speak my mind. I just say what’s on my mind, and I don’t hold back. I think Alistair sometimes holds back, because he doesn’t want to step on people’s toes. I’d prefer to step on other people’s toes and apologize later, than hesitate and elongate what’s inevitable.

Yeah, I feel like for me personally, sometimes it can go either way.
Yeah, totally. It was hard for me because I’m not like him in that sense, and I read the scripts and when someone does something mean to him or something bad, it just breaks your heart. But it’s so important to have this character on TV because he’s not like anything ever put on TV. There’s never been a character played like Alistair.

Absolutely. Is there a character that you would relate to the most — aside from Alistair?
I would probably relate more to Ian. Just because I’m a musician. I sing, I do musical theater. I can [also] relate to Poppy’s personality. Because Poppy [acts] – kind of like how I do when I’m with my friends — I’m just like “Oh let’s go do this.” I’m very outgoing. “Let’s go to the mountains, let’s just pick up and go.” And Poppy’s very much like that. And Zoe Jarman, who plays Poppy, has become a really close friend of mine, and she confessed to me — I actually asked her the same question. I asked her who do you relate to on the show, or who’s your favorite character on the show. And she said Alistair; she said she has a comedy crush on Harvey Guillen. She has a crush on me, and I have a crush on her, so it’s a mutual comedy crush that we have on each other.

Aw, that’s nice. And yourself included, there’s a ton of musical talent on the show. Do you think we might see Alistair sing or a musical episode in the future?
Absolutely. We’re so lucky that people are comparing the show to Glee and Ugly Betty. But it’s its own show, so it can’t really be compared to anything on TV. We lucked out, because our whole cast is musical. Hayley Hasselhoff has a girl group with her sister. Obviously Nikki Blonsky, we have musical theater with Ari [Stidham, who plays Ian], Stefan [Van Ray, who plays Trent] does musical theater, Raven [Goodwin, who plays Becca] loves to sing and dance, I’m musical theater, so we really lucked out where the whole cast is trained or has some experience with musical theater or some kind of music background. So Winnie Holzman has already told us, she goes “I know what’s coming. We’ll see.” So we’re all keeping our fingers crossed, and we can’t wait to see when we have a musical theater episode.

I feel like it would fit really well with the show — like a camp talent show episode.
It would. It totally would. You should talk to Winnie Holzman (laughs).

(laughs) I’ll tell her Harvey told me to talk to her. And obviously Huge is a show with a bit of a controversial but such a groundbreaking premise. Why do you think it’s so important for a show to address this topic?
I think everyone can relate to it. You have a cast that has never been done before. It’s a full cast of plus size actors. It’s about going to weight loss camp, but besides that, everyone can relate to the show because it’s not about teenagers losing weight. It’s about everybody’s burdens. We all carry extra weight every day of our lives. You carry the burden of work at your job, you carry the weight of caring for your family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you carry the weight of caring for an elderly parent — everyone has extra weight that they carry every day. That’s what these characters are. They’re dealing with the excess baggage and the weight — whether it be physical weight or emotional weight, they’re all dealing with extra weight that they carry. That’s the bottom line. Everyone can relate to that. Sometimes the thinnest person in the room is the heaviest.

I never thought of it that way. I like that analogy quite a bit. And what kind of feedback have you gotten about the show?
Actually, I’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback. There’s always going to be people who say “Well, I think they’re promoting obesity.” We’re not promoting obesity, it’s all about being happy with who you are. If you’re happy and healthy at the size that you are, then you’ve accomplished your goal because you’re happy and you’re going to be happy in the lifestyle that you live. But if you’re not happy, we live in a country where he have choices, we have options, and we have a choice to make a change. That’s what’s so great. But I’ve gotten some great feedback. This could have easily gone a different direction with the idea and the premise for the show if it wasn’t for such a strong team of writers and producers behind us. It’s not making fun of this. It’s very touching and very loving. It’s actually very well done, so I think what a perfect team to have behind us to do this project than Winnie Holzman and Kim Rosenfeld…every single person down to the last person on the roll sheet is behind this project one hundred percent and it’s just so amazing to go to work every day. Our main point is just be happy with who you are. That’s our goal, and we’re trying get the message across that we all deal with extra weight. And once you deal with it and find out who you are and the life you’re meant to lead, then you’ll be happy, and you’ll do it regardless.

Definitely. And what challenges you the most about the role?
What challenges me most is putting myself in those shoes. I was talking to Raven Goodwin, and she was saying “It’s so funny, when you walk on set, you become Alistair. And as soon as you step off, you’re like Harvey again.” I think what’s hard for me is to become Alistair and not to linger in him too long. It’s a challenge for me, because I’m usually a very nice person and upfront, and I never get mistreated because of it. So I’m very nice and people respond to that very positively. But with Alistair, when he’s so nice and polite, he gets overlooked and trampled on, especially with his age group. Because being polite and nice and sweet when you’re a teenager doesn’t count. People want to be cool and popular. But it’s like “I want to be friends, and I can make us a picnic,” and they’re like “Who cares about that?” They want to go to Forever 21 or get the latest camera, which is what my sister represents. Chloe represents all the materialistic at that age group. And when we’re adults too, we want materialistic things and we think that we’re happy if we have a boyfriend and the perfect hair and your nails done. And that’s what she represents. And I represent the opposite. I’m happy with the minimal, which is the free things in life: what surrounds you, the people and relationships.

And what have you noticed are the big differences between musical theater and television? Do you have a preference?
I don’t. When we go on hiatus, I get to do both. I get to do an outside project — a musical and be in films. The difference is that theater is always so broad because it has to reach the last audience member in the back row of a 2,000 seat house. You’re movements and facial expressions are so broad that it’s almost too much. And you can’t do that for TV and film. You have to bring it down. Sometimes I’ll feel like I’m doing a scene and I know it’s too much. It’s crazy, it’s just because I know that I’m going to have to take it down. Especially when you pick it up from that level and bring it down, it’s the best. It really just shows that it’s natural.

One of the most subtle scenes was when you picked up the magazine, started reading and then signed the body pledge. There was no dialogue, and it was definitely drawn back, as you said. I really enjoyed that moment, but do you have a favorite moment from filming the show so far?
I love that scene, too. Because we saw Chloe and Amber sign that treaty and I think that’s what he’s been looking for. He’s been looking for a moment to really just accept what he’s already been thinking. Camp was a getaway this summer for him. Chloe got to go last summer, and she came back and she’s Miss Popular. That was a big switch, maybe not in the best way, because we saw a flashback to when she and Becca were friends and she seemed to be nice. Something happened where she became thinner and popular. Maybe losing the weight wasn’t the best answer to her [problems], but she took that and ran with it. And for Alistair, I feel like the summer is going to be the summer of discovering himself. And once he finds that treaty, he acknowledges that he knows what he wants to pursue, and he just goes full throttle after this. My favorite episode would have to be episode 8, our birthday episode. [Ed Note: Episode 8 airs tonight] That was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. People forget his birthday but they remember Chloe’s. That’s just one thing. And what happens to him later that day on his birthday is a moment that’s captured, that literally, if you go back to your life, it’s one of those moments where you’re like “Yup, that’s where I changed, where everything changed for me.” This is that episode for him, and I love it. Because after this, it’s going to be amazing.

I really look forward to that. I got a lot of questions from Twitter, and one of them was who inspires you and who are your influences?
I would say people who inspire me – I’m really big on people who do things unselfishly. Tomorrow, I’m helping out with Habitat For Humanity. And the people who devote their whole lives to a non-profit organization always blows my mind. It’s so amazing that [they] made a career out of helping others, and [they're] not in for money because obviously there isn’t, [they're] in it because of other people. So people like that inspire me every day. Actors who are inspire me would probably be Kate Winslet, just because I love Kate Winslet. I’d marry her if she wasn’t already dating someone.

(laughs) Well, I’ll put the word out.
Yes, put the word out that I would marry Kate Winslet. It’s because she always takes projects that she’s devoted to and wants to do. There’s certain people who probably won’t work with her in Hollywood, because she won’t lose five pounds. If she wants the part, or if she thinks the role calls for it, she will lose the weight. It’s up to her. I feel the same way. Whatever it takes, I’ll do. I was worried because Alistair was supposed to be the heaviest on the show. And I thought to myself, I’m already plus sized. I was thinking maybe I should gain ten pounds. But they were like “Well, we can do that with clothing.” So I made the choice not to, and they did it with clothing. I chose not to further myself into a bigger size.

You gave quite a nice teaser, but can you tell us a little bit more of what’s coming up for Alistair, perhaps post episode 8?
You get to meet our parents. At this point in the show, it’s half way through camp. So episode 9 and 10 is the half point of camp. Our parents come, and you’ll be surprised to know who Chloe and Alistair’s parents are. You also get to meet all the other campers’ parents. And you try to put things together, because sometimes people say “If you’re overweight, it’s because you over eat or you’re eating junk or you’re not exercising enough,” but sometimes it’s emotional eating. These parents send their kids to this camp and it’s like “Why can’t you lose weight? You should go to camp to lose weight,” but at the end of the day, when they go home, they gain the weight because of what they’re around, the relationships at home. It comes down to stuff like that. And you’ll find out a lot about the characters. You’ll be like “Ohhhh I get. I see why you’re — ohhh.” You’ll put everything together, and they’ll definitely leave you wanting more for the following episodes.

Well I look forward to it. And do you have any other projects lined up for the hiatus?
As of now, I’m looking into doing a couple musicals. I’m going to be shooting a commercial later this month for sure. I also want to do some film. We have a pretty big break, so for now, I’m just looking at different projects and reading for different stuff.

Thank you so much for taking the time to talk. I really look forward to the rest of the season.
Tell everyone thank you for sending in those questions!

Be sure to tune in tonight at 9 pm to ABC Family for the big birthday episode of Huge!

Elite athletes are obviously more at risk for eating disorders than your average teenager. What was behind the decision to give Kaylie the early stages of an over-exercising/eating disorder?
Not all athletes are prone to eating disorders, but gymnasts are. We love to do stories on MIOBI that resonate with all teenagers, but have a particular relevance to our unique world, and anorexia certainly falls into that category. The fact is, even “normal” gymnasts keep their body fat and weight at a level that some people would find extreme. It’s an extreme sport. But the top 1% of participants in any activity – be it music, art, or sports, live a much more extreme lifestyle than most people would find normal. Extremely low body fat and very aggressive training and a super restricted diet are par for the course in our world. What tips it into the realm of pathology, of disease? I’ll answer that, and why Kaylie, in your third question, below. One more thing – its interesting to note the only other sport that routinely restricts eating in a way considered by some to be unhealthy is wrestling. And sometimes I think the same general behavior in gymnasts is stigmatized more simply because they are girls and not boys. But Kaylie’s issue goes beyond that.

Did you talk to any gymnasts who struggled with this problem during their elite years?
We talked and researched both gymnasts and non gymnasts with the disorder. We took it very very seriously. There are some powers that be in the sport that are very very sensitive to a story like this because they don’t want to give the impression that all gymnasts struggle with this. They don’t. That is why even though it is a disorder more common to gymnastics than other sports, we saved the story for our third run of episodes.

Kaylie seemed from the beginning one of the healthiest gymnasts on the show, but now her family life is falling apart. Why give her this particular issue as opposed to one of the other girls?
Kaylie was initially the golden girl, the girl who had it all going for her. But peeks into the Cruz family life have shown us that it’s not all perfect inside their mountain mansion. They are a family prone to “appearances,” to looking good; we know that they have secrets and problems like any other family. One of the most interesting things about this show for me is that to be an athlete at the level our girls compete at, almost have to alter the family dynamics and distort them a bit. Kaylie and her father are both “professional athletes,” it’s the root of her relationship with her father. Being on top, being a winner, that’s how they define themselves. It’s not particularly healthy to be a “peer” with a parent, and both of her parents now manage her. In essence, they work for her. Kaylie thinks that her winning, her staying on top, is the glue that will keep them together. Furthermore, in the wake of her parents threatened divorce, and of losing Carter as well as her best friend, all she really has to hang onto and control is her national championship. She wants to keep that status at all costs. Her world depends on it. And unfortunately, her competition is four years younger and 20 lbs lighter.

How are you going to ensure this isn’t the same story we’ve seen before? (Some of my favorite shows have had these types of stories).
I think no story on MIOBI is like a story we’ve seen before because our world is so unique. The show is fun and addictive and has soapy elements, so its easy sometimes think of these girls as just normal teenagers. They’re not. They are professional athletes, the Alex Rodriguez’s and Kobe Bryants of their sport. At a very young age. So the pressures on them are unique. That very restricted eating and aggressive training is a part of this sport makes what Kaylie is going through, and what constitutes her tipping point, very unique. But the disease doesn’t discriminate. It looks the same whether you’re a fancy athlete, a model, or a “regular” girl.

And lastly, can you give a teaser of what’s coming up in the next few episodes and the big finale?
This is far and away the most exciting, tense, story filled second half of a season we’ve done so far. The writers and I “break” the entire season before we start writing episode one, so you might notice our episodes build up suspense and momentum to the finale because all the stories are starting to come together and explode and implode. What I’m particularly proud of from a writing standpoint this year is how many story lines dovetail and impact and explode upon each other. Its easy to come up with a linear story for each character which is good and organic, the challenge is where those stories bob and weave and impact each other. I can promise you there are things you will not see coming. But hmmm, a teaser or two. Something huge happens to each of the girls in the final few episodes – so huge they will never be the same. And here’s another – you will see at least a couple boys you haven’t seen in a while.

Be sure to tune in tonight to ABC Family at 9 pm for an all new episode of Make It Or Break It.

I’ve read the books, so I know a fair amount. But tell us a little bit more about your character Alison DiLaurentis.
She is very feisty. She’s the queen bee of the school, and the girls. There’s five best friends, and she kind of rules over them. She’s like Regina George [from Mean Girls]. She’s very manipulative, but at the same time, she’s got a really sweet side too. She really does care for the girls, but she kind of has them under her thumb. (laughs)

Are you anything like her at all?
Um, (laughs), I like her style, and I kind of like the way she does things. She’s fun to play. I can kind of relate to her, I guess.

It’d be weird if you were like “I’m exactly like her!” (laughs)
(laughs) Yeah, I feel bad sometimes reading the script and then filming the scenes. And I feel bad because I totally belittle someone, and I’m just like “Oh I’m sorry!” but it’s so much fun. She’s like my guilty pleasure to play.

You have read the books. What about the books have you taken and brought to Ali? And what did you enjoy most about the books?
First of all, I love Sara [Shepard's] writing. Everything is so, so detailed and graphic. You can visualize everything, and I love that about it. And I love how she describes every characters so immensely — it’s just amazing how she does [it]. It’s kind of nice just to bring Alison alive. Because in the books, too, she describes her and so to put a face to Alison is really important because there are a lot of flashbacks in the books. And I think the show is a better understanding of who Alison is, which is good. I think the fans will really enjoy it.

You had mentioned you think Ali is like Regina George. Do you take any aspects from her and bring her to the role?
Oh definitely. You know how Regina George is so manipulative, that she’ll do something in a sweet way but it really has an evil meaning? And it’s just how you twist people’s emotions and get them to do what you want them to. Regina’s really like that, and I think Alison is too. I think Alison definitely has the control on the girls and no one really wants to be controlled by a mean person all the time, but when you’re really sweet about, it’s even more twisted, but it gets them to do what you want.

A scene in the movie that sticks out for me is when Cady’s character realizes Regina’s backhanded compliments, and that she doesn’t like her bracelet.
Exactly!

And do you have a favorite moment from filming the show so far?
There’s been a few. In Vancouver [where the pilot was filmed], it was freezing, it was like negative seven degree weather, which was crazy. And there’s one scene where Troian [Bellisario, who plays Spencer] and I are in our bathing suits outside. It’s supposed to be this nice summer day, we have all the lights on, it looks summer-y from the camera side. And then there’s snow falling in Troian’s hair and my hair but you can see more in Troian’s. So they had to cut the taping, and put something over her. We had to put a canopy over us so you couldn’t see the snow. And then we’re breathing really hard, so you can see the air, so we had breathe through our noses and all that kind of stuff. It was fun, actually.

Oh my gosh! Well it must have been a nice bonding moment for you.
Yeah, definitely. Lucy [Hale, who plays Aria] and I had that moment too when we [had] frozen yogurt, and we’re all in these little skirts and shoes and our toes are freezing. (laughs) But you know what, it was really fun. The crew was really good to us. They had little canopies with heaters inside them. We had toe warmers, hand warmers, everything you can think of, they were great.

Has playing Ali been a challenge to you at all? Since to the viewers, we’re not sure if she’s alive or dead.
I think every role is a challenge, and Ali for sure, because you really have to get all of her layers, because she has so many. And right now, no one really knows if she’s dead or alive, or who’s sending the messages. There’s so many secrets, so you have to play it in a way that you don’t give away anything, but at the same time, people really get Ali. So yeah, it’s a challenge, but it’s fun and I love it.

You’ve been acting since you were very little. What makes this show different from others you’ve worked on?
Actually being in a series is great because it’s different every week. There’s so many secrets and so many details that you never get bored. You’re always doing something different, and there’s always different circumstances and different areas and things that you wouldn’t normally see. There’s a lot of shows [where] the same thing sort of happens every week. I think especially in teen shows too because it’s the drama and the boys and the clothes. And this has that aspect, but because there’s so many secrets, and because it’s almost like a murder mystery, it’s a Mean Girls/Gossip Girl/Desperate Housewives sort of feel for teens. I think it’s really cool for the viewers and for us because we’re never bored, they’re never bored, you’re always doing something different and seeing something different which I think is really good.

Yeah, absolutely. You had mentioned that Ali has a lot of layers. We really haven’t even begun to delve into that yet. Can you give us a little teaser of what’s coming up for her and what we might see soon?
I can’t give away too much! (laughs) But I will tell you that I think there’s a lot that no one really knows about Ali and I think we’re going to be seeing a lot of that hopefully in the second season and hopefully towards the end of this season. Obviously, if we have a second season, cross your fingers!

I think so!
I hope so, I really do hope so. But I think a lot is going to be revealed about Ali that hasn’t even been touched on in the books yet. I think it will bring a different aspect to the girls and their characters because as much as they have all these secrets, Ali does too, and they don’t know them yet. And so they all intertwine. It’s like this big web. And I think slowly but surely, you’re going to be able to put the pieces together. I think as the show goes on, it’s just going to be such a broad picture of what these girls are really living like. There are so many different pieces to it, and it’s crazy. Sara has pulled certain things from her childhood — not that these are true stories necessarily — but things that would happen in Rosewood. So you just get this dark, eerie feeling about what happens in Rosewood. It’s a really cool story.

Is there more to Ali in the show than there is in the books? Does it branch out as the season goes on?
Yeah, yeah definitely. It’ll definitely surprise you and the viewers. Especially in the second season, if we have one, there’s going to be a lot more to it.

I noticed that you connect with a lot of your fans through Twitter. Have you gotten a lot of good feedback about Ali and the show?
Definitely. I’ve been really happy because every time I go on Twitter, there’s so many nice messages. I’ve gotten like one or two bad ones, but there’s always those. But most of it is really good, and I have so much support already which is unbelievable. I’m so blessed with it. They’ve all been really, really good to me, and to the girls and to the show. Everyone’s a big fan already which is so great to see. It just makes us feel better, I know for sure, knowing that we’re doing a good job and that we’re portraying the characters the way they want to see it, which means the world because that’s what we’re doing, that’s our job, that’s what we’re living for so it’s very interesting and very exciting to see all the feedback. So I’m very excited. I hope you are too!

Oh yeah! It’s interesting that you say that, because it’s sort of a fine like between people who read the books and were fans of the books, and then seeing it come to life. And to hear they’re excited about it — I know I am — so that’s very good to hear.
Aw, yeah. It’s actually mind-boggling already. The fourth episode [was last] Tuesday, and already there’s so much hype about it. Which is good, it didn’t fall flat. Our viewers keep growing. It’s very exciting.

Do you think any of the cast anticipated the extreme success of the show?
I think we were all hoping for it. I don’t think we thought it would do this well, this soon. All of the ratings and feedback and articles and everything that’s being put out there — it’s great. It’s really amazing to see success this soon. So I’m very excited. And I know the girls are. Everyone has such a vibe on set already, and now that there’s success with the show and the ratings are so good, everyone is so happy and bubbly all the time. We’re so carefree it’s ridiculous, so it’s a lot of fun on set. And this just makes it better.

And are you all friends off set as well?
Oh yeah. I know the girls hang out all the time. They go shopping, and so do I. We all have busy schedules but we make time to check in and see each other when we’re not filming. We’re a good little family.

A good little Rosewood family.
Yes, exactly.

If you were to tell viewers as to why they should tune in to Pretty  Little Liars, what would you say?
First of all, I think it’s a good summer show, and you don’t really have that many options right now. If you really want to Tivo something or tune into something that you have to see every week — which, we had Lost and Heroes and that sort of thing where you had to pay attention to the storyline. And [Pretty Little Liars] is one of those. You really have to watch every week to understand the story and what the girls are going through and to find out all of the mysteries. And I would just say, especially if you’re a fan of the books, this is just bringing it to life. Even if you’ve never read them before, I think it’s an interesting story, and I think it’s a good story for girls…and guys, too of course. But as a young adult drama, I think it’s a really good show to watch. I really hope you do, and I’m just excited and hopefully they are too. We will see!

What TV are you watching lately and what are your favorite TV shows?
Oh my gosh. I love So You Think You Can Dance. My parents are professional dancers, so we all sit down and watch it. The show is just amazing, and the talent is absolutely incredible. I love the comedies. I love Big Bang Theory, New Adventures of Old Christine. I love Two and a Half Men.

All the sitcoms!
Yeah. Chuck. Honestly, I will sit down and watch those in my free time, whenever I can.

I read that you were working on your music. Do you think there’s a chance we might hear you sing on Pretty Little Liars?
That would be great. We will see. I’m doing my demo right now. No news yet if I’m going to do it on the show, but you never know. I’m sure you will hear some of my music soon.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 pm to ABC Family for an all new episode of Pretty Little Liars.

What originally drew you to the part of Roman?
I wish there was a more complicated answer that I just received a phone call that I had an offer from a TV show that I knew nothing about but that Paul Rudd was producing, and I said “I guess so. Tentatively yes, I would do it. But I’ll read the script first, I suppose.” So I read it, and of course I loved it.

Are you similar to Roman at all? Do you love sci-fi quite as much as he does?
No. (laughs) That will be a disappointment to all of our sci-fi fans I suppose. Although I kind of doubt that we have a massive sci-fi fan base. I don’t know, I don’t really watch that much TV. I love Star Trek, the original with Shatner and all those guys. I used to watch that growing up on TV Land or Nick at Nite, and that was awesome. Actually I think it was just on regular TV late at night before TV Land and Nick at Nite started.

I feel like it was on UPN or something. [Ed Note: This was a total guess]
Yeah, UPN 13.

If you don’t like sci-fi as much as Roman does, how are you like or unlike him?
Hopefully I’m not as grumpy (laughs) and unhappy and sadistic as he is. I hope!

I’m sure you’re not!
Well, you don’t know me yet.

That’s true. Maybe by the end of this conversation, I will think the opposite. I don’t know.
You will now know the real me.

Do you have any personal experiences or know anyone that you draw from to portray Roman? When I spoke with Ryan Hansen, he didn’t name names of course, but he said he did know a lot of the Party Down types.
You mean like the producers he used to go to the bathroom with to get parts from?

Right (laughs)
Is that what you mean?

Yes!
Ryan definitely used to do that. He’s told me crazy stories about San Diego all the fun stuff that happens on B movie sets. Just joking around!

Have you ever had a catering job? Or do you have a job that was your least favorite?
I wish. I wish I had. I actually always wanted to. I still want to. That’s going to sound so (laughs) — I feel like ignorant for me to say this — but I really want to work in a service industry job, because I feel like you gain a lot of respect for people with patience, once you have to deal with 100 morons a day. I feel like I know so many people that don’t have enough respect for people who take care of them. You know?

Yeah.
It’s just the general idea of respecting the people around you, in your environment. The fact that those people, who you may be disrespecting in small ways in your eyes, have the power to shit in your food. So just based on the fact that I don’t want feces in what I wind up putting in my body, I would like to show respect to all the people are kind enough to take care of whatever needs I have at an establishment that I dine at.

Well, that’s a good thing. (laughs)
(laughs) But the worst job I ever had was as a barista. And that wasn’t bad at all. I actually really enjoyed it, and I wanted to keep working there and they just didn’t hire me on.

Well that’s a service industry.
Yeah, I got to do it for one day. I worked behind the counter, because I didn’t have that much experience. So I just learned how to make all the things that needed to be made — frappachinos and all that jazz.

And have you ever had a boss anything like Ron?
Meaning just a complete moron?

Exactly.
I don’t think so. Not that I can recall. I mean, I’m very fortunate in the fact that except for being a barista and stapling newsletters for my mom’s business when I was a kid, the only job that I’ve had have involved this.

Well that’s good.
I don’t know if it’s good. I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of experiences. I mean, you talk to Adam Scott [Martin's co-star on Party Down] and he’s such a bitter, unhappy human being, but in such a funny way, and it’s because he had so many horrible jobs. But I just wish I could be that bitter and unhappy and sarcastic constantly, but I’m just not capable. I’m just so happy all the time. [Ed Note: He is certainly capable of the sarcasm. Ha!]

It sure sounds like it!
(laughs) Yeah! Yeah! I hope whoever reads that understands that that was a joke.

I will make sure that it is well translated on paper.
(laughs) Just to throw it out there, Adam Scott is a total asshole.

Good to know!
There’s no sarcasm. Please don’t write any sarcasm. I think Adam would be disappointed if he didn’t read that in an interview.

I will make sure that there will be no sarcasm written in. [Said sarcastically]
(laughs) Thank you. Every time we have mass e-mails, where we all — we’re really a tight knit cast, I feel like that’s one of the beautiful things about this show. You can really see the chemistry. We’re such a good, fun group together. We really enjoy each other’s company. So every time an email goes out to everybody, Adam feels the need to single me out after he responds to the email itself and say “Oh yeah, and [expletive] you Martin.”

(laughs)
That kind of happens after every email. And I’m sure it won’t stop now.

Well I hope you write back and say the same thing to Adam. (laughs)
No, no. I write back: “Thank you for the ego boost. I appreciate your friendship. Love, Martin.

Well you take the high road.
And then I draw in letters — it’s really complicated — but I draw in letters, a hand flicking off Adam.

Awesome. Back to the show, one of my favorite moments from this current season is when you dressed up as Jackal O’Nassis. So I wanted to know if you had a favorite moment from filming the show so far or a favorite episode.
There was one take where I flashed everybody and they cut it out, but that was probably my favorite moment.

(laughs) What about dressing up as Jackal O’Nassis. What was it like doing that?
That’s actually when that happened, when they cut it out. I don’t know what my favorite moment is from the show. Every day is so much fucking fun. We came to work on days that we didn’t work. That’s how much fun it was. And people don’t do that. Especially people with a wife and kids, you know. Not talking on my behalf, but everyone else pretty much is married, and they would come in on their days off.

The show has gotten some really great guest stars so far. Do you have a favorite that you’ve worked with or a dream guest star who you want to see appear on the show?
Oh there’s so many people that I want. There was kind of a — it didn’t end up happening, I forget what part it was for — but they had sent out an offer to Gary Oldman. And I just thought holy fucking shit, how amazing that would have been to have Gary Oldman on our show. I mean, I feel like someone had some connection to him, and that’s why we thought it might actually happen, but you know, there’s no way Gary Oldman’s going to come and do TV anyway. He doesn’t really do anything except sweet movies.

You never know!
Yeah, that’s what we daydreamed about when we heard that they had sent an offer to him. I really love Stephen Weber, and that was from the first season. We’ve got so many great guest stars on this season and last season, that it’s hard to pick one out, because every episode is really filled out with great actors. And the show would not at all be what it is if it weren’t for them.

Right. And a recent episode was with Steve Guttenberg, where Roman reads his screenplay out loud. What was it like filming that episode?
That was really fun. He was really interesting to meet him, especially after seeing all the movies he did in the 80s and then none of the ones he did in the 90s. Just joking around! But he was such a sweet guy. I saw him when I went back to New York, a few months after, and hung out with him, which I didn’t expect to happen. He’s a genuinely sweet guy. He’s so much like the character that he plays on the show. He really just kind of is that really nice, uplifting, supportive person. He’s a really great guy — really a giving actor, too. I don’t know what I’d expect from him, but there was no ego at all.

That’s good to hear. He was really great in that episode. There’s always rumors floating around — since Adam Scott is now on Parks & Recreation — that no one is sure about a season 3 of Party Down. I obviously would love to see it, and of course, I’m sure you would too. But have you heard anything about a possible season 3?
[Ed Note: Martin talked about the lengths he (and Adam Scott) would go to get a season 3. I'm not going to publish what he said, but take my word for it, it was hilarious. He did mention that if there is a season 3, Adam would be on for three episodes. The rest was too dirty to post.]

Do you think the show is coming back?
I don’t have any idea. I have my suspicions about what’s happening, and I’m not happy with how long this is all taking, which is definitely not a good sign. Though was haven’t heard at this point. But I still keep my hopes high, and my expectations low. And if we got the opportunity to do a third season, that would be just incredible, and I feel like we would pick up once again where we left off. And just keep rolling with maybe a couple new people and see what we had to do to fill out the cast again. But we have the majority of the people. And then if we didn’t get the go, I don’t know. They’ve thrown around the idea of doing a Party Down movie, which would kind of be a big thing. But I don’t know what the odds of that happening are either.

That sounds pretty great. And Jane Lynch left at the beginning of the first season, and she was such a presence. But I feel like Megan Mullally filled her shoes really well. So I think the show gives the opportunity to bring in new people if needed.
Oh yeah. I mean the show is set up [that way]. Initially on the first season, the show was set up so that all of us could leave. Because they didn’t expect any of us to actually be able to come back. Because they had hired such a great cast and they didn’t have anyone signed on for another year. So they figured, well, if everyone starts working, then we can always get new people and just make up reasons why they all had to leave, which they kind of set up at the end of the first season.

Right, right. I obviously love the show. I’m sold…
I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it.

(laughs) But what would you tell viewers as to why they should tune in?
Because they’ll laugh til they puke out their ass. Is that allowed on your website?

I think puke is nothing compared to what you said thus far.
(laughs) What are you talking about? Puke is like the foulest word ever. Fucking watch it, you idiots!

Good good! I’ve already told others to watch.
I was giving you a title for your article!

Of course! Fucking watch, you idiots. I love it! It’s great!
(laughs)

By Martin Starr.
(laughs) I would be a great marketing person, I think.

I agree. I don’t think they’d censor you at all.
(laughs)

They would be like: Run it to copy! Or whatever they say!
I would have it up on billboards across New York: Fucking watch it, you idiots!

Exactly. Although I have seen Party Down billboards all over New York. They don’t say that though…and I just want to know if you have any other projects coming up in the interim?
So much stuff happening. It looks like I’m going to do something on The League, the FX show with just a great cast and great writing. To me, it’s like in the same vein as Party Down, just a lot of fun, and it seems like they’re having a great time there. I’m going to do a little bit of that. Otherwise, I’m writing and trying to figure out how I want my life and my career to go as a whole.

Well I think it’s going in a good direction.
Yeah, I feel really good about it, but I’m a rather picky person and I feel lucky enough that so far it looks like I’ve mapped out a great game plan, when really I’ve just gotten really fortunate with the opportunities that I’ve had and I don’t want to let myself down and not continue on this path.

Be sure to watch Martin on the finale of Party Down this Friday at 10 pm on Starz.

What originally drew you to the project?
I had the great fortune of working with Alan Ball on his feature film “Towelhead”, and he’s the one who told me about “True Blood.” He said he had a part for me in it, but when I read the script I didn’t know what he was talking about. Arlene was so different from me, and I didn’t think I was physically right for the role. But when the offered me the part, I couldn’t resist it. It was a chance to play a real character and to transform, which is something you don’t usually get to do on television.

How do you relate to Arlene? Are you anything like her?
I’m not as outspoken as she is. I’m also not narrow minded like she is. But I can understand where she is coming from. I grew up with women like Arlene, and I take it as a responsibility to find the humanity in her. On the page sometimes, Arlene runs the risk of being ridiculed by the audience by coming off as a stereotypically racist, ignorant southerner. Yet I think she expresses a much needed viewpoint on the show, which is this: Vampires might be seductive and mysterious and sexy, but they are also killers by nature, so maybe we shouldn’t trust our children with them!

Arlene is a heavily influenced character, as she showed last season with Marianne. However, she is strong at the same time. What has it been like playing her?
I like to find the balance between the humor and the pathos with Arlene. On the page, I get a lot of one-liners or jokes, but I try to find the truth behind them. I always try to build a three dimensional woman with responsibilities and cares and woes that are similar to the concerns of our audience. She’s grounded in the real world, which is a nice balance with the supernatural stuff going on around her.

Is there more to Arlene that we don’t know yet? Will we meet her children’s father?
The audience is going to see a deeper, more emotional side of Arlene this season. However, it’s not the familiar histrionics that she displayed in the first two seasons.  I don’t know if you will ever meet the father of her first two children — I like to think they are two different fathers, actually.

Arlene has had some bad luck with men. Do you think Terry Bellefleur will be different?
Terry is by far the sweetest and most vulnerable man Arlene has ever dated. He’s the first guy who seems willing to drop everything to make her and her kids happy, so even if he’s got some emotional issues due to the war, it seems like she wants to make things work with him.

What has been your biggest challenge in filming the show so far?
The biggest challenge happened in season two, when we were “frenzied” and did crazy long night shoots wearing those really uncomfortable black contact lenses. But other than the physical demands of that season, I feel blessed with how wonderful the cast and crew are. I’m always grateful to go to work on this show.

Was it difficult to speak in an accent? Did you have any dialect training?
I grew up in Macon, GA. So although Arlene’s accent is a different, harder accent than the one I grew up with, it come very easily and naturally to me.

Do you have a favorite moment from filming the show?
I loved in Season Two doing the scene with Tara (Rutina Wesley) in the bathroom where I tell her that I can’t remember if I slept with Terry or not. It was a brilliant scene written by Raelle Tucker, and I loved playing it with Rutina. We were both totally engaged in it, and it had really high stakes, but it was also a bit humorous. That’s the alchemy of the show that makes it so appealing.

Do you have a character you would like to have more scenes with?
I wish I could have some interaction with Eric. I think seeing Arlene square off with Eric in some kind of strange debate about vampire rights would be hilarious and scary.

What has it been like working with Alan Ball? He’s quite a prolific producer/creator.
Like I said before, I worked with him on “Towelhead”, and we hit it off immediately. We are both from Georgia, and we are both theater people. So we have a lot in common. He is a real collaborator, but he also has strong vision and leadership. It’s a rare and wonderful combination. I feel so lucky that I’m a part of his acting family now.

What do you think sets True Blood apart from other vampire shows out there? Why do you think there has been such a positive response to the show?
Well, as we say on the show, it sucks you in. People love the fantasy of literally devouring, or being devoured by, the object of your desire. Also, we live in a youth obsessed culture, and vampires live forever. These vampires are young, hot and eternally sexy. They aren’t the old, scary Draculas of the past. Along those lines, the audience gets to imagine the sexy creatures they could be if they were allowed to fully let themselves go.

Can you give us a little teaser — I know you can’t spoil too much — of what’s coming up in season 3, especially for Arlene?
Arlene is grappling with something quite big and personal this season, so there will be more of an insight into how she deals with stress and pressure. She’s still serving up a lot of the humor of the show, but it was a nice change of pace for me to be asked to tap into a deeper well of emotions this season.

I loved your guest role on The Good Wife. Will you be back on that show in the fall?
I actually had the great fortune of doing two episodes. I’ve been a fan of the show since the pilot. The cast is terrific, and everyone on set was very welcoming. Their writers gave me a real gem of a character. On the page, they created a quirky, mysterious, smart and complicated woman, and I was honored that they sought me out to bring the character to life. I do hope they bring me back in the fall. I would love to continue to develop that role with them.

True Blood has taken home some awards since its debut, but the Emmys haven’t been too kind. The show is so fantastic and has such a big fan base, do you think awards matter?
We always joke that the Emmy winners can have their trophies, and we will keep our ratings and fan base! It would be nice to win awards for the show, of course, but we are more interested in continuing to please the audience and staying on the air.

Do you think there’s ever a chance that we might see your husband, Michael Emerson, appear on True Blood?
You never know in this business!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. I’ve seen the first few episodes of season 3 and I can’t wait for more!
Thank you! I’m glad you like the show!

How did you originally get the part of Jesus?
I had to go through a series of auditions. It was actually quite a long process. I think it was about a month before I finally found out whether or not I was going to be a part of the show. I went through several auditions with producers and call backs and stuff like that, but I think the deciding [factor] was the last audition where they had to narrow it down to a handful of guys, and we all had to go into the room and have what’s called a chemistry read with Nelsan [Ellis, who plays Lafayette] and whoever fit the best [got the part]. I was glad to feel that they thought that I was that one.

We haven’t been introduced to your character yet, but he is the caretaker for Lafayette’s mom. What more can you tell us about him?
That. And he is the love interest to Lafayette, played by Nelsan. There’s a really strong connection that they develop. You can just look forward to a lot of really interesting things that happen. I can’t really tell you too much about it. Other than what you already know.

Had you seen the show before you got the part?
Oh yeah, definitely. That’s what made this whole process really cool is that it was this show that I had already gotten into, and just to get the audition was like “Oh yeah, that would be awesome.” Further d0wn the line, as steps got closer and closer to it, I was like “Wow, this might actually happen.” It’s really super cool to be a part of something that you already know, and that you’re a fan of.

Absolutely. And have you read the books at all?
I have not, actually no. A buddy of mine, who is actually the Godfather to my kid, he works on the show, his name is Luis. He’s a camera assistant. So when it first came out, he was like “This is such a great show…” so we got into it for that.

So you have been for the past few seasons been playing Nate on Southland. How different is it going from playing Nate to Jesus on True Blood?
It’s completely different, like two different worlds. But that’s part of the decision making, what helped me decide to do this was that I’m coming off Southland as a gang detective, as a husband with a couple kids, and dealing with that sort of hard-core life. And then to play a character like Jesus who is going through a completely different hardcore world and life. His sexual preference is different, it’s such heightened – they’re just two extreme worlds, and that was so challenging and very inviting. That’s part of why I wanted to do it.

I was just about to ask if it was a challenging transition for you, but you touched on that a little bit.
Yeah, but it was a good one though. It was something that I really wanted to go through.

Does your character have a southern accent?
He does not have a southern accent. That’s all I can say about that.

Since you are a fan of the show, you know there are a lot of risque scenes–there’s a lot of sex, there’s a lot of risque things. Were you in any scenes where you thought “Oh this is very risky!” I know you can’t spoil.
Just playing the character in general is like I said earlier, a challenge and risky and everything. So there’s a lot of really interesting, really cool stuff that happens. And remember, it’s True Blood. A lot can happen.

Right (laughs). And what has it been like working with Nelsan?
It’s been so great. I love working with him. I learn a lot from him. He has good instincts, and I think he and I work really well together. It’s sort of like we’re dancing our way through it. He’s a good solid actor.

I’ve seen things with him, and have heard he’s very, very different from Lafayette.
Yeah, of course. That’s part of what’s great about this show in general. I’m surrounded by really great character actors. I’m not sure if you’ve ever interviewed him or if you will, he is completely opposite. He is not that guy at all. He’s a dude. He’s a regular old dude. He’s Nelsan, and then the camera goes on and his mannerisms change, his voice changes. He does a great job with it.

I assume that’s sort of the way it is for you, that you’re not at all like Jesus.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s awesome. You just get to jump into this world of pretend, and it gets nerve-wracking at times, but you get through it and you really invest in these people. And it’s really, really cool.

Do you have any scenes or moments not with Nelsan? I know you can’t spoil but were there any other actors or actresses that you really enjoyed working with?
Yeah, I really enjoyed working with Alfre [Woodard, who plays Tara's mom]. She plays a really great Cookie character. Just to watch her go into that, is just a really awesome experience. I worked with several of the actors on the show, and I’ve met several of them at the table reads. So I’ve had my chance to be around everyone at one point or another throughout the season, and I’m still the new guy on set, I’m still just taking everything in, and really just wowed by all of the performances.

I know it is a tight knit cast, were they very welcoming to you?
Yeah, definitely. It was very intimidating to step into a show like this that already had all the hype and it’s already this great, cool thing that’s been created, and you come in to try to play with them. And so it was intimidating, but everybody made me feel really comfortable.

What has it been like working with Alan Ball? He seems like a very interesting creator/executive producer.
He is a very interesting producer. He’s a great producer. He’s one of those guys who’s right there with us. I remember one night we were shooting until very, very early in the morning and he was right there with us. He’s hands on, he knows what he likes, and he gets it done. He has a great sense of humor. He’s not Mr. Serious all the the time. People don’t walk on egg shells around him. He’s created this great thing — he’s created a really nice balance of people that really work together.

Did he have any interesting insight into your character? Did he give you any advice?
He doesn’t like to give anything away. He does it on a need to know basis like “Maybe think about this, or maybe think about that. This could happen.” So he’s not saying “You’re this,  you’re that, this is what’s going to happen.” He definitely knows what arc everyone’s going to go through. When he sees you struggling for something, he’s given me a hint where I’m going to go.

I know you can’t spoil a lot, but is Jesus mysterious? Does he wear his heart on his sleeve? What type of tone does your character set?
The best I can answer that is he is a good balance for the character of Lafayette. So he’s sort of a balance for that contrast [between the two].

Almost like a yin and a yang situation?
Yeah, kind of. Kind of. There’s still a lot to be explored, but I think in the beginning, he’s a pretty nice guy and wherever they take it later, I have no idea, but people are going to be able to relate to him.

And is Tara accepting of this new relationship between Jesus and Lafayette or is she a little wary of it?
Can’t tell you that. (laughs)

(laughs) I had to try, right? From what I understand, you’re going to return to Southland as well, right?
Yes m’am. I’m not sure exactly when we start that up again. But yeah, I’ll definitely be going back.

Will there be any sort of time overlap?
I think there might be a little bit of time overlap, but so far, everyone’s been pretty cool about agreeing to work with each other. We’ll see how it goes.

If there is a time overlap, do you think it will be difficult being Nate one day and Jesus the next?
(laughs) I hope not! I don’t think so. I think the most difficult thing would be if I have to be there on the same day, driving from wherever True Blood is to whatever part of downtown that I have to go to shoot [Southland].

I know you are busy with both shows, but do you have any other projects coming up?
Yeah, I’ve got a movie that a buddy of mine did. A bunch of my friends went out to Texas and shot it, it’s called The Legend of Hell’s Gate. It’s a western, you can check out thelegendofhellsgate.com and see the trailer. It should be a really fun independent movie that we all put together. Another buddy of mine  — we’re going out to Kentucky this summer, and we found this story about this treasure that has never been found. And one of his family friends owns this land, so I think we are going to go try and see if we can find some treasure, just for fun.

That sounds pretty great. I’m sure you have a fan base from Southland, have you heard anything from them? Do you think they will follow you to True Blood, even though they are two very different shows?
All of the feedback I’ve gotten is pretty positive. A lot of people that I have contact with via Facebook, they’re just really into seeing me and other actors playing different characters. Everyone was on my side.

That’s good! And since you can’t spoil: What would you tell fans as to why they should tune in? Why will this storyline be super interesting?
You should tune in for some really crazy, crazy things. When I say crazy, I mean CRA-ZY! That’s why!

What originally drew you to the project?
When I first read for it, it hadn’t started airing yet. So I all I knew was that it was Alan Ball’s new show, which that in and of itself was enough of a draw. I knew it was his new show, and that it was about vampires, and that it was set in the south. And that’s kind of all I knew, but I was such a fan of Six Feet Under, and I just love his creative genius, that I was drawn to it immediately just because I knew he was behind it.

Obviously, Lorena’s not human, but there are human elements. How do you relate to her?
I try to focus on — in any scene with Lorena — I always try to go back to what’s at her core, what motivates her. And sadly, it’s a tragic love for Bill. And that’s behind everything, and that’s what makes it easier for me to participate in a scene where my character’s doing something really evil (laughs) or really morally questionable. That’s really who she is. She’s a tragic, lonely, desperate character who may be a little unstable as well. And it all stems from her need to be loved and to have this connection with this  man that will never be returned.

She’s also an incredibly powerful  female character– not just because she’s a vampire — so what has it been like playing her?
Oh that’s just been a dream. (laughs) It’s fabulous enough to play a vampire, but to play a very powerful vampire, and exactly — to be in these power scenes with men, and go toe to toe with them, and sometimes literally throw them across the room (laughs) is a fantasy of mine. It’s an insane amount of fun to play her. Again, I have to give Alan the respect that he deserves for giving so many on the women of the show such powerful and complex parts. That doesn’t always happen.

Absolutely. And what has it been like working so closely with Stephen Moyer?
Stephen is fantastic to work with. He’s an amazing guy, and a brilliant actor, obviously. He’s an incredibly generous actor. He’s always concerned about how you’re doing, and even if it’s somebody who’s only there for the day, who has a couple lines and is there for the day, he’s always concerned about if they’re being taken care of, if their experience is as good as it should be on the show, and that’s the qualities of a true leader, when you’re looking for someone to lead a cast and I have to say that Anna’s the same way. And they’re just the most wonderful people and a wonderful couple and extremely funny. And it’s just a joy to be around them and work with them.

That’s good to hear. And you touched on it a little bit, but Lorena is a very complex character with many layers. She’s still a bit of a mystery to us. Is there more to her that we don’t know yet that we might find out soon?
Yes! I can’t give too much away, and not too much is revealed, but you do get to see a little bit more in season three and you see some new sides to her, which I’m excited to see how it comes out, and excited to see how the fans receive that. Some new shades of Lorena, and a little bit more information in terms of who she is.

I’ve read the books, so I know that Lorena has a pretty big role in season 3. Did you read the books before you started the show?
I did, yes. Lorena doesn’t really have a strong presence in the books. Luckily for me, Alan and the writers have changed that when it comes to story lines in True Blood. And I enjoyed the books immensely, they’re very fun, but I did read them looking for insights into who my character was and where she comes from, but it doesn’t really give a lot away. She’s even more mysterious in the books. You hear about her a lot, but you barely even see her. So we’ve expanded on that, and taken some liberties. I did read the books, but I kind of had to do a lot on my own of coming up with storyline and background.

Lorena deep down is motivated by love. She’s turned a lot of people, but what makes Bill so special to her?
I think what draws Lorena to Bill always, is his honor. And it’s ironically the thing that prevents him from ever loving her. I think she obviously if you go back to the scene where you first meet Lorena, in season one, it’s clear that she’s been searching for a partner. And all the men that have come in to her cabin were never deemed worthy enough until Bill. And he showed his true character, he showed his dignity and his morality and his honor and that is what (laughs) planted the seed in her, and that is the switch that made her realize this is the man for me. And so she turned him in the hopes of creating a partner for all time. The problem is that his honor is exactly what prevents him from accepting his vampire life. That’s Bill’s internal struggle is that he doesn’t want to be a vampire, he wants to be human again, and he’s always doing everything he can to reclaim his humanity and live that part of his life again instead of embracing who he is now, which is what she desperately wants him to do. And therein lies the conflict.

Do you think that Lorena shares that same instinct that Bill does in that he wants to reclaim his humanity? Is that even a concern for her at all?
I don’t think so. I don’t want to give too much away, because there may be a little hint of that this season. I think deep down the answer is yes, there’s a part of her, somewhere way deep down that is very troubled about that. I think that a big difference between the two of them is she has let go of her humanity, and that’s just not a part of who she is anymore, and she fully embraces her vampire life. Which that also makes it easier for her to do things everybody else thinks are so evil. Because to her, they’re really not, it’s sort of what you do as a vampire. Yes, she’s sort of playing with her food. (laughs) But it’s not as if she’s doing the horrific things that we see her doing, because to her, well, that’s what vampires do. We’re better than humans, and they’re our food, and it’s perfectly fine for us to do that. In my mind, her human life was quite painful and sad in and of itself. And so I think she does not want to go back to her human life and those memories and what those are. And I’ve not been told that. It was something as an actor, I just made the choice myself. So I think that it’s something maybe deep down she wants to, but it’s too painful for her to remember. And it’s much easier for her to be powerful as a vampire, because perhaps she was not powerful at all, and maybe victimized as a human.

Oh that’s interesting! I never would have thought of it that way. I like that choice a lot. And what has been your biggest challenge in filming the show so far?
The biggest challenge is kind of knowing if you’re correct in the tonality. It’s an easy style to get melodramatic. It is the type of show, and it is very broad, and we are playing vampires, and there’s an element of campy-ness to it. But you can kind of push a little too far into that world. Luckily we have wonderful directors that we work with, and we’re lucky that they know the show very well. So they are very well versed in the world and they can pull us back in when it seems like we’re getting a little too moody or melodramatic, and guide us back into keeping it simple and keeping it real and so on and so forth. But I think that could be the most difficult thing is to find the place where the correct tone of the show lives.

That makes sense. Was it difficult to speak in an accent?
No, no. The only thing that’s difficult for me is that I want to (laughs) get pulled into two things. One: Either going into the romantic Georgian Tennessee Williams accent, which is not really from Northern Louisiana, completely do away with your “r’s” and sound like Scarlett O’Hara. Because there’s a part of Lorena that wants to go to Scarlett O’Hara, but that’s really not correct. And the other thing is to not get too twangy or modern. I want to keep her sounding a little bit old and a little bit more classic, which is what Stephen does. And so I kind of mirrored the way that he speaks and the way that he’s chosen to give Bill his voice, which I think is a great choice because it distinguishes them from the townspeople. Somebody like Arlene — Carrie [Preston] — has this great twangy way of [speaking]. She’s given Arlene this great voice, but I don’t think that Lorena should speak that way, I think there should be hints of a past life there.

One of my favorite scenes is the flashback to the 20s with Lorena and Bill. But I wanted to know if you have a favorite moment from filming the show so far?

Oh I have so many. The 20s flashback was one of the highlights. That whole day was just (laughs) was incredible to shoot. It was so much fun. It was a long day. I think it was 17 hours or something. But getting into costume alone was just a dream for any actor. I showed up on set and nobody recognized me, I went through such a transformation. (laughs) The director thought I was a background player. He didn’t realize that I was me. That was just so much fun. Wearing the dress, doing the French accent, the makeup and the hair, and eyebrow prosthetics…it was just a whole production. As a nerdy actor, those are the days that are the most fun — when you really go through a whole transformation.

Yeah, definitely. I watched the panel that they recently had in movie theater at the Ultimate Fan Experience, and they said that Ryan Kwanten was a big practical joker. Have you been a part of any of those pranks or witnessed any?
(laughs) I’ve heard of those practical jokes, but sadly I never get to work with the majority of the cast. I can’t complain, because working with Stephen and Anna — I get to work with Anna in season two — is just fantastic so I have no complaints there. But I am dying to work with the rest of the cast, because it’s such a brilliant cast and I don’t get to, so I’ve heard [tales] of practical jokes (laughs). I have not experienced them. [Ed Note: I would love to see Lorena go to Fangtasia or even Merlottes. Make it happen, people!]

Have you had any interesting fan reaction to your character?
Everybody that’s come up to me has been really lovely. But I do know that some people out there (laughs) have a hard time distinguishing between me and the character I play. So I had to stop reading stuff online…

Yeah, don’t go up that road.
(laughs) There were some of the nastiest comments ever. I realized “Oh, maybe that’s not the healthiest thing to do, reading up on all the blogs and websites.” So I’m hoping that there are some people out there (laughs) who do like Lorena, or at least are able to distinguish that I am not Lorena. She’s a nasty character, but she’s a lot of fun to play.

(laughs) And I love it, but what do you think sets True Blood apart from other vampire shows that are out there?
I think we are able to incorporate so many genres into our show in every single episode. I feel like every episode is a rollercoaster, and while other shows just focus on one or two scenes, which is great. But what I think makes True Blood the show that it is, is that it incorporates so many different themes. There’s the romantic theme, there’s the scariness of it, the political aspects of it, the horror aspects of it, the sexy aspects of it, the comedy of it. It just has so much to offer and I think that’s what draws so many people, and so many different people, to the show. Our demographics are so varied and I really love that about the show.

Obviously I know you can’t spoil anything, but I wanted to know if you could give us a little teaser of what’s coming up in season three especially for Lorena?
I touched on it a little bit. I think in season three, you will be able to see the new sides of Lorena, and some new dynamics in the relationship between Bill and Lorena. And that’s all I’m going to say.

How did you originally get the part of Britta?
It was pilot season last year, and you get a stack of scripts. I was very wary about doing a half hour comedy on TV, but the script just blew me away. I actually laughed out loud while I was reading it, and I loved the character and I thought the writing was so smart. So I went in and read for Dan Harmon and the Russo brothers, and I actually had a 102 degree fever, so I was not really feeling my best. I kind of dragged myself out of bed. But I think they responded to me, and then I read with Joel, and read for the network, and thankfully I got the part. It was definitely my favorite script that I read.

Are you anything like Britta at all?
(laughs) You know, it’s so funny because originally at the beginning of pilot season, I was making a movie in the middle of the woods, and I was not auditioning for things. And one of my best friends, whose also an actress, called me and said “I just read this script, and it’s you. And you have to go out for it.” And I said “I can’t do anything about that! I’m in the middle of the woods, I have no ability.” So when I called her and told her that I got “Community,” she was like “That’s the part I was talking about! That’s you!” So I definitely think that there’s a link between me and Britta. And I sort of got her sarcasm, and I got her wary-ness of Jeff Winger in the pilot. And I really felt like I understood her. I think as time goes on, I see the ways in which I’m different from Britta. I think that I’m a little less rigid than she is, and I guess a little bit better at school than Britta is doing. And I hope that I’m not a buzz kill like Britta, but I totally understand her.

And what has it been like working with such a great ensemble?
It’s so terrific. I really feel so lucky, and I think that people do see that on screen, that we really do get along as friends when the camera isn’t rolling. Also, I feel like we’ve developed such good energy and chemistry together as a cast when we’re in front of the camera, that it makes the work day so much easier. It’s just a bunch of really nice, smart, funny people who sit around all day trying to make each other laugh. It’s a great job.

That leads perfectly into my next question. Is there a lot of breaking character just because of the hilarious cast?
Oh my God, yeah! Yeah! We all break. And I used to think that like Danny Pudi [Abed] was a robot and could not be broken, but he started to break down as well. A lot of times when the camera is rolling on Ken Jeong as Senor Chang, I’m so glad that it’s not on my face, and you may catch my shoulders shaking at times because I just lose it. I lose it so much of the time, and you kind of have to bite your lip or punch yourself in the leg to stop from breaking. There are just certain things that get you no matter how many times you do that scene, you’re always going to break a bit at that line.

Yeah of course! And is there any improv happening? I know that it’s probably around 98 percent scripted.
Yeah. I definitely feel like there are times in which they say “Okay, now just go for it.”  Or people sort of ad-lib little lines at the end of the scene and sometimes they make them into the show and sometimes they don’t, and sometimes they will just say “Do whatever you want on this take.” I’ve had maybe like one improv actually make it into the show. (laughs) Donald Glover is a genius at that, and I feel like he’s the one who most of the time gets improv [on] because they are so hilarious. But I’m not quite at his level.

So last week’s episode “Modern Warfare” involved a big paintball war. So how fun was that to shoot? Did anyone get hurt? Or are there any funny stories you can share?
We were all grinning from ear to ear like drunken fools the entire week, because we were so excited to be doing that episode. Justin Lynn who directed it has done the last two “Fast and the Furious” movies and he’s just incredible when it comes to that stuff. And he’s also great working with actors, so it was kind of a dream combination of getting to do things that I never thought I would be doing on a half hour network sitcom, and also just having fun playing Britta in that episode. Running and jumping and firing guns and doing stunts and I think the only injury — I think Alison got a welt. She was hit by a paintball, and I think she suffered a welt. But that might have been the only injury. But it was just so much fun, even when it was like three o’clock in the morning, and we’d been shooting for 16 hours, we were still just so happy to be there.

Are you amazed by some of the creative things the writers come up with — like the Goodfellas homage?
I’m just in awe of Dan Harmon [the creator] because he really reinvents the sitcom, week after week. And it’s just so much fun to be a part of it, because it’s the first show that I would be a fan of, even if I wasn’t on it. And to watch how smartly he does it, and it’s still funny, and it’s still about the characters, and it’s not just completely a Goodfellas ripoff to the point where ten minutes in, you’re like “Okay, I get it. I get the joke.” He always makes sure that it’s about the characters and their stories and that it’s relevant to our show in addition to being so funny and referential.

And you’ve had some really great guest stars so far. Do you have any dream guest stars you’d like to see appear on the show?
I keep saying that I would like Amy Sedaris to play my mother. I’m waging a one woman campaign for that. She’s amazing. I know that there’s been talk about trying to find a way to bring John Hodgman onto the show, and that would be incredible. I feel like we have such amazing comedy pedigree on the show with our guest stars John Oliver, I think is a genius. And John Michael Higgins and Eric Christian Olsen and Jack Black and Owen Wilson. Everyone that’s been on our show has been amazing. I’m so grateful that people are willing to come over and play with us for a week. So, bring ‘em on!

Can you talk a little bit about the romantic moment between Britta and Jeff?
(laughs) Yes. Well, there’s always got to be a little bit of love, right? In the middle of the action movie. So, there’s moments, but I think with Jeff and Britta, there’s always a degree of ambivalence and an unwillingness to admit one’s true feelings or remain vulnerable. So I definitely think it’s going to be a conflicted moment of romance, but there’s some kissy time.

Good good. And what’s coming up on the big finale especially for Britta?
Britta, I feel like is trying to put herself out there a little bit more, be a little more vulnerable, and it might work out, and it might now. And put herself in uncomfortable positions. There’s a beauty pageant coming up, and Britta’s going to be wrestling with her own natural defenses that sometimes prevent her from really making herself vulnerable to other people.

And I heard there may be some crazy costumes coming up in the finale?
Yeah, there’s some costumes! There’s definitely some head-to-toe costumes that you will be seeing in the finale. I don’t know how much more I should say, but it’s great. Eric Christian Olsen is back, so you’ll see Vaughn again, you’ll see John Michael Higgins again. Any character that have sort of become our favorites that have appeared more and more [you'll see] — the characters that sort of populate the school — that are becoming more and more a regular part of show, which I really love, because it feels like there’s a world outside our study group. (laughs)

Community started out slow ratings-wise but has picked up steam. What do you think makes it stand out from the pack?
Well, I definitely feel like it’s unlike any other comedy on TV. Either you like it or you don’t, but it’s not just more of the same. And some people really love the pop culture, meta reference element of our show, some people really hate it and fixate on it, and other people realize that it’s one aspect of our show, but it’s not the entirety of it. But I think the quickness of our humor, the rapidity of the jokes — I think sometimes we have more jokes per square inch than any other show. Maybe “30 Rock” rivals us in that, because “30 Rock” is incredible and just hits you and doesn’t let you rest. And that’s what I always love about “30 Rock,” and when we have those moments on our show, I really, really love it. I think people love the characters. I think that obviously people love Troy and Abed and once you start to have that sort of identification with the characters and people love watching these people get themselves into ridiculous situations. And I think you never quite know what’s going to happen on our show, and so I think it’s fun for the viewers each week to see…”Oh will there be a goat? Will Britta be throwing dead bodies into a quad? Will Shirley and Annie become like cops for an episode?” And I think Dan Harmon’s created a world in which just about anything is possible, and I think it’s really exciting to see where we’re going to go each week.

I totally agree. And just out of curiosity, since Community College is typically two years…I assume all of you will end up staying?
Dan Harmon would like the world to know that you ca get a four year degree at Community College. I’ve heard him say that on enough panels that I know the company line. You can be at Community College for four years. Plus, I’m not doing so well. So, I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to get that degree anyway. I think I really need to bring my grades up.

Well, no one’s really doing that well. Maybe Abed.
Annie’s doing really well. But I think Troy and Britta are pulling about the same grades. So I might get my own spin-off of just like “Will Britta Ever Graduate?”

Are there any tidbits about next season that you’ve heard that you can share?
You know, what, I know absolutely nothing. Dan Harmon’s in Europe right now, so I have no way of trying to pump him for information. I have no idea what they’re going to do. When you sign up for a TV show, all you read is the pilot. You have no idea, you just have to put your faith in the people behind the show, and it’s really paid off for me. So, I have no real worries about season 2.

I look forward to whatever it brings. And what would you tell viewers — why should they tune in for the big finale if they haven’t seen it before?
Because we’re the funniest show you’re not watching. And we have it all. We’ve done singing, we do dancing, we have animals, we have war, we have bloodshed, we have humor, we have heart, and we have the man with sideburns shaped like stars, and nobody else has that.

Be sure to tune in tonight at 8 PM to NBC for the season finale of Community!

My love for Glee knows no bounds, but tonight’s episode, entitled “Dream On,” really outdoes itself in terms of greatness. The episode is directed by Joss Whedon, and guest stars Neil Patrick Harris, but one of the characters that really shines is Artie. I don’t want to spoil everything (although anyone could probably find out if they looked hard enough), but let’s just say that you see Artie in a way you have never seen him before. And it’s fantastic! I recently had the chance to catch up with Kevin McHale, who plays Artie, about his biggest challenges filming the show, dancing in the wheelchair and even his dream guest star and song.

Congratulations on all the success of the show. You’ve definitely had a whirlwind couple of weeks. What was it like being on Oprah and visiting the White House?
Oprah itself was insane on its own, and then only to be trumped by the White House. (laughs) Oprah is big as it is, and then we get to go to the White House. And Amber sang from the White House balcony, and we got to meet the first family. It was so surreal. After that, we were like what are we going to do next week? (laughs)

I was about to ask what was your most surreal experience?
Yeah, it definitely was. I mean Oprah saying [In Oprah voice] “Keeevin” (laughs) and more than meeting the first family, was to see Amber standing next to him [President Obama] on the balcony singing the National Anthem.

Yeah, I watched the feed online. That was quite incredible.
Yeah, she was incredible.

And what has awards season been like for you?
Insane! It was just unreal. Growing up, I was a big awards show kind of person. Like I was the guy in the house who would make my family shut up so I could watch the Golden Globes.

I’m the same way!
And I brought my brother with me, just getting out of the car and seeing the sign of The Golden Globe Awards behind you. It was so surreal. Granted, it was raining, but nothing could have stopped me from being there.

Right, absolutely. And talk a little bit about the audition process and how you got the role of Artie.
It was just like any other audition. I’ve been to dancing auditions, I’ve been to acting auditions, it was kind of both of them combined. It was actually a pretty easy process in terms of the amount of auditions. There were four auditions, but I was one of the first ones to be put on hold to test for it. And so, I auditioned pretty early on, and my callback and first audition were within two days of each other. The worst part was waiting like 6 and a half weeks until I got [called] for it. And like “They’re probably trying to find somebody else for the part, what am I going to do?” And I was hoping I didn’t forget how to play the part. But luckily, it was all worth it.

Of course! What did you sing for your audition?
I sang “Let It Be,” by the Beatles.

Good choice. Do you know if they were looking for someone who was in a wheelchair?
Well the part was originally in a wheelchair, but they audition able-bodied and disabled people. I think it was just about who got part the part down, [and] what they saw that they liked. They’re all very, very creative, specific people: Brad, Ian and Ryan. So luckily, they saw something in me.

How has it been playing Artie? How do you relate to him?
We’re very different, but at the same time, we’re very, very similar. I mean, he’s definitely more confident with ladies than I am. Because, like last week, he was saying “If you want to get up on this.” I would never do that. (laughs)

Well that’s good. I’m glad to hear it.
Yeah, I would never do that. Just the fact that I don’t know if it’s confidence or arrogance, I don’t know what it is. I relate to him probably the biggest way is the fact that he does singing regardless of what anybody thinks. That’s how I was. I didn’t sing in school, but I always did it outside of school. And growing up, that’s not always the coolest thing you can do. I never cared at all. I was like this is what I like to do. You don’t know what you like to do, I do, so…

Well, it led somewhere good!
Yeah, it did!

And is it difficult singing and dancing in the wheelchair because I’ve heard you’re a great dancer.
You know, it took a little getting used to. But that’s the part, I never thought twice about it. It was just, “How am I going to make this as believeable and as good as possible.” Getting used to and memorizing choreography in a wheelchair as opposed to standing up, that’s definitely a different mindset, but I like it. (laughs)

That’s good. And what would you say has been your biggest challenge in filming the show so far?
Definitely keeping up with the work schedule that we have. We regularly have 15, 16 hour days. It may take a day to shoot an episode, but that doesn’t include the weeks of prep before with dance rehearsals and recording. We could film for 10 hours one day, and then have to go to the recording studio. Or while we’re filming, in between while we’re turning around or something, to go to run to a dance rehearsal and to come back. It’s definitely getting used to all that, but the thing is all — I feel like there’s fifty of us on the show — we’re all kind of going through that together, so all we do is make each other laugh all day, and we keep our energy up that way. And so it’s good, because it feels about half the time than it actually is.

And you were saying that everybody makes each other laugh. Can you think of a good prank that’s been pulled?
Nothing specific. I’m lucky that I work with some of the funniest people I’ve ever met. A lot of it too is kind of making us laugh during takes, which we’re pretty good at not doing because it’s pretty much not tolerated. (laughs) We have a lot to do, we don’t have time to start the tape over. We all kind of do that for each other. If I have an inside joke with somebody — like Naya would always do a Kim Kardashian impression and one episode she said her line like Kim Kardashian and then it ended up in the episode. So (laughs) it’s stuff like that, where we do stuff for each other than ends up in the episode, and we’re like “Oh my God!”

(laughs) And you were in a boy band, NLT. What are some differences between being in a band and now on a TV show?
You know, as one of the people at Columbia [Records] who puts out the soundtrack. They were like “You’re probably used to seeing the numbers go the opposite way, aren’t you?” (laughs) which is very true. We were kind of the struggling artists, never had too much success, so it’s nice to be a part of something that people are responding to in such a positive way.

Do you and Matthew Morrison (of the boy band LMNT) ever share boy band stories?
No, pretty early on, we would all get made fun of, or make fun of each other for being in a boy band. Now we’ve kind of accepted that we’ve all done things like that before.

On a slightly more serious note, have you experienced any backlash from handicapped people who are upset since you can actually walk?
You know, before the “Wheels” episode aired, there were a few things like that that came out, but for every person who has something negative, I would say there’s a thousand more that has something positive. I went to a charity event a few weeks ago, where it was about people that had disabled children, and building playgrounds so handicapped and able-bodied kids could play together. And those are the people that are really in it with their kids, and it was nothing but great things from them. And that’s the best thing. Because we’re not just doing a show where you get to make people laugh, and sing and dance, we’re doing something that people can relate to in small ways. Or play a character that has never been played on TV, or is played in such a great and sensitive way. We deal with a lot of sensitive topics, and I think Ryan and everybody write it with such class and creative ways, that it’s just so fun to get to play it.

I completely agree. The Artie episode that stands out in my mind is “Wheels.” I want to know what it was like filming that episode?
It was really fun. The first scene we did of that entire episode was me and Jenna in the hallway, and her telling me about her stutter. So that was kind of our biggest scene. We were a bit nervous about that. Up to that point, it was the most we’d ever gotten to do. We’re best friends in real life, so it was so fun to just get to play that with each other, and have us become an item.

And Artie is a character who is still a little bit of a mystery to us. You don’t get high-fived by Finn…
(laughs) That’s another inside joke. I forgot which episode it was in the first 13, but there was one take where me and Heather — who plays Brittany — are next to each other, and we were dancing or something, and I go to high-five her and she happens to look the other way, and she didn’t high-five me back, and everybody busted up laughing, and it was right in front of the camera. It wasn’t intentional, but it ended up being funny, and it ended up being in the episode. So now we always kind of do that — I will go for the high-five, and whoever I am going to high-five will purposely (laugh) not high-five me back.

Well maybe one of these days you’ll get your high-five.
I know. It happens sometimes, I do get high-fives, but for the most part, we think it’s pretty funny that I don’t.

Yeah. (laughs) What do you want to see from your character going forward–another song? More with the Tina/Artie relationship?
I’m always down for Tina/Artie stuff. I love Tina/Artie stuff. But you know what? Nothing that any of us could ever think of would be even a quarter as good as what the writers come up with. It’s kind of like we trust them with whatever they want to do, because every episode is so different in what they have us doing just as far as performances and stuff. Anything they want Artie to do, I’ll do it. I’m rapping in next week’s episode [Ed Note: last week's episode]. So I’m doing things I never thought I’d be doing.

Oh great. And do you have a favorite musical number from the show so far?
Early, early on we did “Push It,” and that was probably one of the funnest ones we got to do, because it was just so raunchy and the look on everybody’s face was awesome.

And I’ve heard a little bit about the process of recording songs for an episode. The most interesting thing I found out was that you all go to the recording studio by yourself and lay down the tracks. So I wanted to know what that was like for you.
For me, that’s always how it’s been done. Even when I was in a boy band, you had to go separately and do it. So it wasn’t any different to me. Plus with our schedules, some people will be in scenes, and it kind of has to be done that way, because even to get us in dance rehearsal, all in the same room at the same time, is extremely difficult, and now it’s pretty rare. Luckily, we have found a system that works.

Glee has had some really great guest stars so far. What has it been like working with Idina Menzel and Neil Patrick Harris?
Idina is super super sweet. Neil was awesome. It was just kind of like watching acting class, watching him. Because he’s so great, and he was super nice and he’s playing this character that’s pretty much the opposite. (laughs) And so it’s always fun to get to see somebody get to play the opposite of who they are. Like Jonathan Groff is the nicest person you’ll ever meet, but he’s playing such a douche. (laughs) He’s playing a divo, the male version of Rachel Berry. I remember the first scene we had with him as a group, when he’s joining our Glee club. I’ve known him for a while, just as himself, but seeing him start to be — I don’t know if I can say it — but he was pretty much a dick, I was taken aback in the scene. I was like “This is insane and Jonathan Groff is awesome.”

Do you have any dream guest stars that you’d like to see appear on the show?
I mean I think it would be awesome if Sir Paul McCartney came on. I don’t know if it’s possible, but I will always be down to have some Beatles references. I have a “Let it Be” tattoo, so I would love it.

The Madonna episode is probably one of my favorite hours of television I have have ever seen.
Aw, thank you!

What was it like tackling her music?
There were so many numbers, that I was just kind of interested in seeing what everybody else did. Because I was only in one of the nine or ten that we did. We were all kind of mixed up in different groups that were not necessarily in it. And it was kind of like summer camp — you go away, put your little thing together then you see — watching the episode together was just insane. We were exhausted at the end of watching it, because it felt like two hours instead of like 45 minutes. It was Ryan’s baby and he did an amazing job.

I completely agree. And do you have a dream song you’d like to sing on the show?
I mean, I always say Michael Jackson. I think the beauty of the show is that they pick songs that we would never think of for the situation or the scene, and how its used. And I think that’s always the cool thing, because they have us doing songs that we never thought we’d do in a million years.

Do you have a favorite song that’s out there right now that you could see yourself singing on the show?
I don’t know. I like Usher’s new song “Oh My God.” (laughs) I don’t know if we’d ever do it on the show, but I just like that song.

Well you did “Push It,” so you never know!
I know, right? So maybe! Who knows!

And what character do you think you’d like to work more with or have more scenes with?
Any time you have a scene with Jane, it’s just insane. It’s good and bad, because you have to keep yourself from laughing. But any scenes they want to put me in with Jane, I’m there!

Awesome. And your big episode is tonight, and it’s called “Dream On.” Can you give us a little teaser about the episode?
You definitely get some more Artie and Tina, and some of the more personal aspect of their relationship as opposed to the beginning stages of “I like you, you like me, we should go out” kind of thing. More real issues between the two of them and helping each other in their — I can’t give away too much! But helping each other in their lives apart from Glee club.

I heard that you might walk or dance in the episode, because it’s a dream sequence.
I’ve heard people saying that, but I don’t know…(sarcastically) I have no idea what you’re talking about!

(laughs) You plead the 5th!
Yes!

Can you give us a little teaser of what’s coming up in the back 9 in general? Again, I know you can’t spoil too much.
There’s Lady Gaga with all her outfits. There’s just a lot. I feel like in every episode, there’s more than there was in the first 13. There’s more songs, there’s a huge finale with massive, massive performances. I can’t give away too much. It’s just kind of more of everything.

Yeah, do you know anything about season 2?
No idea! I don’t even know if they know yet. We just wrapped season 1, so I think we’re all just exhausted.

Have they told you anything about the musical numbers on the tour? [Ed. note: I spoke with Kevin before the tour had started]
There’s no set set list yet. I think we’re going to go in there — it’s going to be all the most popular songs that we’ve done, and I think we’ll feel it out, see how it goes in rehearsal, the chemistry and what everybody likes. It’s going to be fun though!

Can you say if you’ll be in a wheelchair on the tour or not?
Well yeah, it’s in character, so as of now, I’m going to be in the wheelchair.

You talk a lot about Glee on Twitter. Have you been able to connect with a lot of fans through social networking?
Definitely. I’m on Twitter right now. (laughs) One of my favorite things is to look at Twitter while the episode is on, and see what people are saying. It’s awesome. We have a lot of screenings where fans get to come and watch the episodes in advance and I always love those, because it’s always fun to see what fans react to.

And have you had any interesting fan reactions to Artie? Perhaps people coming up to you, surprised you’re not in a wheelchair.
Yeah (laughs), I mean that’s pretty much the most common thing. “Oh my God, you walk!” I think one of the funniest times, which I don’t think about, because I’m used to me walking, right after we performed at the World Series, we had a signing for our soundtrack coming out. And this woman comes up to the table and she was like “I had no idea that you walked until I saw you standing at the mic at the World Series, and started freaking out.” That’s true, that’s probably the most people that had seen me standing at the time. I don’t know that’s pretty funny.

And is there anything you’d like to add — any message you’d like to say to people watching the show?
You know, we’re just so happy and proud of our fans and everybody who has latched onto the show, because it’s such a unique thing and we’re so excited to go on tour and see everybody, it’s kind of like a thank you. And thanks to everybody watching, we get to make more episodes. So it’s a big circle.

Be sure to tune in tonight to FOX at 9 pm to watch Kevin shine!

I wanted to know first and foremost why people root for Jackie. She is a drug addict who cheats on her husband and it doesn’t make sense to root for her. But the show has a brilliant way of turning her into a hero. Edie wasn’t quite sure. She joked “Oh I don’t know. Because she’s nice. She thinks she’s funny. She’s good at what she does, and I think she aims high. I think she falls short a lot of times, but I think she really does want to do good.” I think part of the reason why we do love her so much is because she is a great nurse. She is constantly helping people (sometimes cutting corners to do so) but has an incredible work ethic and really cares about her job.

However, I wanted to know if anyone would ever catch on to her secrets. I knew Edie wouldn’t spill all the details, but she said “I don’t know. She’s pretty good at covering, so I’d be surprised.” I’ve always thought that if people find out (I guess besides Sam), it could unravel the entire show. So I think it will take a while before anyone truly catches on. I then asked her about what it’s like playing a character who leads a double life. “Fun, because it’s like getting to play two characters in one.”

And I wanted to know who she related more to: Mrs. Soprano or Jackie. I always want to know how people relate to their characters so I though this question made sense given Edie’s decorated career. “You mean as far as their lifestyles are concerned? Oh gosh, I think I fall right smack in the middle of the two of them.”

Shortly after speaking with Edie, I got to chat with Eve Best, who plays Dr. O’Hara. Dr. O’Hara is one of my favorite characters on the show and I absolutely love her friendship with Jackie, her interactions with Zoey and her new romantic dilemmas. She was so incredibly sweet in person, and I was thrilled she was at the event (she wasn’t scheduled to be there).

I first wanted to know what her favorite part of playing Dr. O’Hara is. She laughed and said “The clothes. No seriously, working with the cast. Love it. Love them. Love working with Edie and all of them. It’s fantastic.” When asked if she’s anything like Dr. O’Hara, Eve responded “Like Dr. O’Hara?” she laughs, “I’m exactly like her! No, I’m not at all. I’m naturally a very scruffy person.” (Side note: seeing her in person proves that she is anything but scruffy) “Oh no, I am. It’s kind of strange to me to be cast as [her]. The last part I played before I did this show, I played a pig farmer, and I had bare feet and mud all over my legs and arms, and I took to that role more easily than I took to dressing up in Dolce and Gabbana every day for work, but you know someone’s got to do it.” And may I say, Eve, you do it marvelously.

I asked her if she missed the pig farmer role and she candidly replied “No I don’t. I don’t miss the mud.” I delved deeper into her fashion sense on the show and asked about a favorite designer or outfit she’s worn on the show. “For myself, I like Calvin Klein and I like Burberry too. I have to say that because my cousin works for them.” She did declare herself a “fashion clutz” and that she didn’t know too much about fashion, but she looked fantastic.

Because her scenes with Zoey are some of my favorites, I asked if there would be any more of them. “Oh I hope so, yes. Yeah, she’s fantastic and really fun to work with so I hope we do more.” And I asked for a little teaser of what was coming up in the rest of the season, and she asked if we had met her girlfriend yet. I told her that we had, and that was all she was really allowed to say. In her defense, she had been in England so she wasn’t quite sure what we were up to. Whatever the rest of the season holds, I know that I look forward to it.

Nurse Jackie airs Monday nights at 10 pm on Showtime. Be sure to tune in tonight for a new episode!