COLLIDER: Pilot Preview: Michael Ealy Talks ALMOST HUMAN, Working with FRINGE Showrunner J.H. Wyman, Comic-Con, and More
by Christina Radish
June 24, 2013
Before every fall season starts, I watch all the pilots for all the networks, to see what stands out and to determine what I’ll cover. One of the best and most promising pilots that I watched was for the upcoming Fox series Almost Human, from creator J.H. Wyman (Fringe) and executive producer J.J. Abrams. It’s a high-tech, high-stakes action drama set 35 years in the future, when police officers are partnered with highly evolved human-like androids. An unlikely and intriguing partnership is forged when part-machine cop, John Kennex (Karl Urban), is forced to pair with the part-human android, Dorian (Michael Ealy), to investigate what is clearly a deep cover-up.
Collider, along with a couple other outlets, recently had the opportunity to chat with show star Michael Ealy, about this exciting new role. During the interview, he talked about what drew him to the show, where he’s taking his inspiration from for his performance, having to audition and test for the show, how he wasn’t going to return to television for awhile after the cancellation of his last series, Common Law, but the pilot script was that good, what it’s like to work with someone as passionate as Joel Wyman, what viewers will be drawn to with the show, and how excited he is to see what people think of it at this year’s Comic-Con...
(Almost Human cast includes Michael Irby, Mackenzie Crook (Game of Thrones), Lili Taylor, Karl Urban, Michael Ealy and Minka Kelly.)
... Collider: What’s it like working with Joel Wyman?
Michael Ealy: "Joel gives a lot. I’ve learned that about Joel. He’s not afraid. You can call Joel at two in the morning, and he’s up. And he’ll tell you whatever you want to know. He is very, very forthright. Oftentimes, a conversation with Joel will last an hour, easy. Our first meeting, was like three and a half hours. I had my wife in the car. I thought it was gonna be 20 minutes. And it was on Valentine’s Day, man! I’m not joking. The meeting was on Valentine’s Day, and I had my wife in the car. Literally two and a half hours in, I was like, “Okay, but is he more like a Mac or a PC?” It felt like we were rehearsing, at that first meeting, because we just got to a point where we started collaborating on this guy.
When I walked out of there, I remember I got back in the car and the first thing I did was apologize, profusely, and then I was like, “I think I’m gonna get this. And I think I’m gonna love it! Wow! If I can work with this guy, he cares about it. He pays attention.” I told him that my cousin was a big Fringe fan and he said, “Oh, dude, I’ll send you some swag. I’ve got plenty of it.” I was like, “Seriously?!,” and he said, “Yeah, no worries.” So, I’m looking forward to this and what we’re gonna do. I really hope you guys like it. I saw the trailer at the Fox Up-Fronts and I remember I was like, “Yeah, this looks good.” I was nervous, but finally I saw [the pilot] and was like, “Whoa!”
We have such a good cast. It was interesting when they cast Lili Taylor. They went in a totally different direction. You think of that character, Captain Maldonado, and you’re thinking about a tough broad, like Angie Harmon. They went with Lili Taylor, and Lili’s amazing. The first thing I said to Joel was, “Listen, Maldonado is dirty, isn’t she?” And he was like, “No, no, no!” We still don’t know who’s who. This thing is just gonna get bigger and bigger. I’m excited..."
Almost Human FOX
Almost Human Facebook
Almost Human premieres late Fall 2013 on FOX.
[Kelly - Is it just me, or does this series not resemble the '99 series, Total Recall 2070?]
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