Alfred Molina was just as surprised as anyone when he found out about the major changes for his TV series "Law & Order: Los Angeles" before the first season had even been completed. The NBC series, which premiered in September 2010, features a huge shakeup in the cast when the show returns for its mid-season premiere April 11, with two back-to-back episodes at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time. (The series goes back to its regular 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time slot on Mondays, as of April 18.)
Among the changes: Molina’s Ricardo Morales character has grown frustrated with being a deputy district attorney, so he goes back to his police roots and becomes a detective again. Meanwhile, exiting the cast are Skeet Ulrich, who played police detective Rex Winters; Regina Hall, who played junior district attorney Evelyn Price; and Megan Boone, who played junior district attorney Lauren Stanton. Joining the "Law & Order: Los Angeles" cast is Alana De La Garza, who reprises her Connie Rubirosa character, a deputy district attorney from the original "Law & Order" series that was canceled in 2010. Molina, De La Garza and Emmy winner Dick Wolf (creator/executive producer of all the "Law & Order" series) talked about the growing pains and improvements of "Law & Order: Los Angeles" in a recent telephone conference call with journalists.
Dick, you’ve mentioned before that there's not a lot of violence on "Law & Order," because the stories come in after the crime are committed. But the episode airing April 11 is very violent, with lots of shootings, and several people killed by the end of the episode. Is it unusual or is it a change of heart?
Wolf: No, I don't think it's a change of heart, but we have had sort of violent episodes of all the brand's iterations over the years. It depends on the specificity of the crime and what the suggestion of the crime was. Obviously, this was a watershed episode for us. The last time a cop was killed on "Law & Order" was George Dzundza after the first season. We don't do it lightly. And this is a really bad guy. So the violence seemed completely justified and mirrors exactly what has been happening, certainly south of the border and at times in the United States.
Alfred, you actually grew up learning Spanish from your father, right? When you're playing someone with roots in Mexico rather than Spain, what differences do you have to do, or to get your character into dialect?
Molina: Actually, you're right. I learned Spanish from my dad, who was from Madrid. So we grew up sort of speaking his version of Spanish. Like a lot of immigrant kids, you learn your parents’ language, which is a mix of language and their local dialect and so on.
But the big thing I noticed since I've been living in Los Angeles is that my Spanish has become more Latin-American than Spanish-Spanish, if you know what I mean … And so when we were working on Morales, it was important to remember that his parents were Mexican. So that's a whole other way of speaking Spanish. So I was listening more closely to Mexican Spanish than anything else, to try and get the same sort of flavor and intonation and so on, just for the sake of making the character as authentic as possible.
Mr. Wolf, when "Law & Order: Los Angeles" started, you had talked about the way of getting both Alfred Molina and Terrence Howard on the show was to use them only every other week. Now that that's going to no longer be the case, can you just talk about logistically how things are working out?
Wolf: Fred should comment on this.
Molina: You're doing fine, Dick.
Wolf: It's one of these things that it's more work but more predictable. I mean I think that, for me as I said earlier, ot's really a dream to have both of these guys on-screen every episode. I don't want to exaggerate too much, but it was a little like I had the feeling that we were all fighting with one hand tied behind our back a lot of episodes.
I think for the working style, as I said, it's probably a little bit tougher but much more predictable in terms of, they each do one half of the show now every week, as opposed to having a week off, but the frustration of not having long enough off to go to Europe or something. As I said, this is just more predictable I think.
Mr. Molina, how's the transition been for you, going from courtroom attorney to police detective?
Molina: Courtroom to the street, as it were. Well, it's been fantastic. When Dick pitched the idea I must admit part of me was a little surprised, but very excited at the notion because this is a very bold, very audacious step. And I think it was something that was bound to create a great deal of interest and excitement.
But on a personal level, I was very thrilled by the idea because I love to work. I'm one of those actors: I just like working. And I must admit, although the one-episode-on/one-episode-off regime was very luxurious for those of us who were able to enjoy it, I was coming into work on my episodes thinking, "Oh I've got to start up again."
I felt like I was missing out on something. And I happened to blithely say one day, "I'd like more to do." And I think somebody must have reported back to the management.
Wolf: Not the usual response of serious actors, I might point out.
Molina: It's really been absolutely fantastic. And from a creative point of view, it means that the character goes somewhere that has, I think, a great deal of mileage in terms of how we proceed over the next few years. The fact that Morales has this background of law enforcement, as well as being a prosecutor. I think it opens up a whole area; something for the writers to explore. So it's been all good as far as I'm concerned. I just hope the audience is as enthusiastic about it as we are.
Wolf: I can't give you numbers, but it is not a unique, made-up-out-of-whole-cloth sequencing There are a surprising number of prosecutors — especially in major cities — who did start out as cops. I don't know of any that have gone back. But the forward momentum is well-trod.
Three original "Law & Order: Los Angeles" cast members have departed, and Alana De La Garza has been brought back to a "Law & Order" series, after she was on the original "Law & Order" from. What was the decision making process that went into those changes? And how do you think this new cast configuration will benefit the show going forward?
Wolf: I think that this goes into the whole history of the show. The history of the show was rather strange because — as some of you may [know], if you were following the story, I think that I was one of the more surprised people on the planet when the mother ship "Law & Order" did not come back. It was sort of in everybody's plans that that was going to continue. There had been a different schedule laid out with ["Law & Order]: Los Angeles" coming on after a sort of final group of episodes from the mother ship.
When that didn't happen, we were in a very much breakneck race to get on the fall schedule in time. We had not shot a pilot; this was basically a transition at 60 miles an hour. And some things get to go through their growing pains on-screen, which is never the first choice of the people making these shows. I would have liked to have had more time at the front end to sort of explore some different options.
When we had the situation with Fred and Terrence that I had two of the best actors in America who were only getting used 50 percent of the time, that showed up pretty early in the season. We were given the opportunity to retool.
And for that I'm very, very grateful to [NBC Entertainment Chairman] Bob Greenblatt, because he came in, we had a very honest conversation, I think the second, third day he was there, that he had some problems with the show. And he specifically had some problems in the front half, that he just didn't think it was clicking the way it should.
It wasn't a question of, "Do this, do that," it was we had a very open discussion and he was, frankly very supportive of the idea of having Fred and Terrence in every episode. And it sort of evolved into that. And obviously, when Fred went back to the street, we wanted an additional presence sort of to bolster Terrence in the back half.
And Alana was somebody who very quickly came to mind. I think that she was well-loved by the mother-ship audience. Everybody who has worked with her is crazy about her. And the opportunity to put her in, we felt, was too good to pass up.
And as I said, "It was definitely evolutionary, but it was rather revolutionary to change clothes on-screen, or just off-screen. Never done that before but I think that, frankly, the proof is in the pudding.
These two episodes [airing on April 11, 2011], I think that they're both better than anything we did in the first 13. Sorry we didn't come out in our terpsichorean finest at the beginning, but it's one of those things that we were given the chance.
If I had my choice, I'd almost call it "Law & Order: Los Angeles 2.1 or 2.0," that this is a real major change. And the rhythm of the show is different. I think the rhythm of the show is better. It's a pretty world-class group of actors across the board. I've known most these people for an extended period of time and seen them do great work over a large number of years.
So as I said, "It's pace your money, take your chances." This is a bigger risk than any show that I can remember in recent history taking. But all I can say is, if given the same set of circumstances, I would un-hesitantly do it again with the talent involved.
Alfred, how are you enjoying that transition?
Molina: I'm enjoying it very much. It sort of makes complete sense. And it would have been very odd if it had been a completely different character. It’s someone going back to his original place, as it were. The transitional episode sort of makes that clear that he's basically going back to where he feels he's most effective.
But the interesting thing, from a creative point of view, is that he goes back with all the knowledge and all the experience and all the insight, and wisdom, hopefully, that he's gained as a prosecutor going back to his original job as a detective. So there's lots of room for the writers, lots of room for all the creative team to really explore that. I think when you have characters that reveal themselves to have many folds and crevices and creases, that's where all the interesting stuff happens. And there's plenty there.
Wolf: And I have to say that, because I can unabashedly beat Alfred's drum, that the interrogation scene in with the Secret Service agent is one of those wonderful scenes that you would have a hard time accepting that if you were just dealing with a guy who had been a cop for the last 25 years.
It was sort of intellectually elevated the way Fred conducted it that it utilized the best of both a really good cop and the knowledge of how to deal with somebody at this level that he has obviously gained in the prosecutor's office. So that one scene, when I saw that, that was really worth a fist pump, because it showed that it was sort of additive, that the experience that was in his back story really came home to roost.
I'll give you one insight that when I called Fred, I said, "Look, I've got a proposition for you." And he was very surprised but very supportive because it was organic. It was something that came out of a situation that sort of made the decision rational. You're always worried if an audience is going to accept that.
When I told him this back story I said, "Look, I don't know if you knew this, but before you became a prosecutor you had been a cop for 12 to 15 years, and you were actually a pretty senior detective." And Fred said, "Oh that's marvelous. I'll be able to use that so fruitfully in my back story." I said, "Well, how about front story? Because that's what we're ..."
He went, "Oh, my. What a surprising idea." But luckily, he embraced it and I think it was really, really as I said, "Additive to the power of the show."
Alana, how were you invited back to join the "Law & Order" family? And how have you been enjoying it so far?
De La Garza: First of all, I've been loving every second of it. It's very much like moving into a brand new home and somebody already put everything away for you. You what I mean? It's so comfortable, but completely new and fresh and fun. I think genuinely fun.
And to be cast in such a fun, exciting way, kind of a last minute, "Hey, what do you think of this?" And of course, I jumped at the opportunity to work with such incredible actors, but also a team that love and that I know. And so for me it's just been fantastic.
And truly it just came about with an email that said, "Hey, don't do anything rash and move on to anything. We're trying to resurrect Connie." And the next day, they made an offer, which I was thrilled about.
Alana, is it true that your Connie Rubirosa character had some prior relationship with Terrence Howard's Jonah "Joe" Dekker character? Can you just talk a little bit about the different sides of Connie that we're going to be seeing with you in this new show?
De La Garza: To be honest, I don't know what their back story is, if they have just met.
Wolf: No, there was no real connection between them. Connie came out to Los Angeles, basically to take care of her mother and left the New York D.A.'s office. I shouldn't speak for Rene [Balcer, one of the executive producers of ‘Law & Order: Los Angeles"], but I haven't seen anything that indicates a previous kind of working relationship with the two of them.
De La Garza: Right. And the fun thing I always say about Connie is that she's kind of sassy and smart and quick, and will apologize later, and will go head-to-head with anybody and question them in that sense. And with Joe Dekker, she does the exact same thing, behind closed doors will question and discuss. But then in the end, that's her partner and team and they're out for justice.
Alfred, when they first explained the idea of Ricardo Morales’ big change from attorney to a policeman, what was your initial thought, just in that moment that they explained to you what was going to happen?
Molina: Well I was very surprised, but sort of delighted as well by the notion, because when Dick first mentioned it, I thought he was talking about an interesting bit of information that would inform the back story of the character. So I sort of said, "Oh that's great. Yes, how interesting. Yes I can use that. I'll be able to play with that when we're rehearsing the courtroom scenes."
I thought maybe it might give Morales a bit more kind of a street edge that he could be a bit tough about. And then I think I said, "That's an interesting bit of my back story." And I think Dick said something like, "Well how about if it was your front story?" And then we started talking about it in more detail, as I picked myself up off the low stool that I was sitting on at the time.
And I began to think about it very seriously because it's a bold move; it's an audacious move. But like all interesting things that happen in show business, it's the bold and audacious things tend to be the most interesting. And I thought about it and it began to feel very, very good, and very sort of right. And I thought, "Well this is something that rhythmically, emotionally, intellectually I can really get a hold of. And let's see what happens."
But I must say, Dick's enthusiasm for the idea, all the writers that I spoke to, they're enthusiasm for the idea, everybody seemed very, very positive about it. I thought, "Well this is - this, , the fates are trying to tell me something." And I dived in, head first. And I'm really, really glad because I think we've hit a new stride, if I can be so bold as to say myself.
And I think Corey [Stoll] and I work very, very well together as the detectives. We have very different rhythms. We complement each other I think. And there's a nice energy, which is crucial if you want to sustain a show over a length of time. And so it feels wonderful. And I'm very, very, very pleased and very happy to be here.
Alana, how does it feel to be back on a "Law & Order" series?
De La Garza: I love my job and I love the people I work with. Like Fred was saying, I'm an actor who likes to work. And I like the hours and I like to go. And to do it kind of back in a family that I adore is really a dream.
And actually, when I booked [the oridinal "Law & Order" series, which was filmed in], I was living in L.A. So it's kind of nice to go home to my own bed and be in my home at night and then do what I love to do for a living. So it's really been a blessing.
You recently starred in "CSI: Miami." Do you miss that job? And how does it compare with "Law & Order"?
De La Garza: [In] "CSI: Miami," my character was the damsel in distress. So to be a part of "Law & Order" and kind of defend the damsel in distress is a real gift. And it's a lot of fun to be that passionate, strong, intelligent woman. And "CSI: Miami" was a wonderful experience as well; it's just completely different. So as actors, we live to kind of move from role to role and become new people. And so it's kind of part of the journey.
Alfred, what do you connect with playing Ricardo Morales and how he switched jobs?
Molina: Well, I was very happy to discover that Ricardo Morales is remarkably similar to Alfred Molina, in many, many ways. It was just a happy coincidence that he's the son of an immigrant family, he's the first person in his family to go to college, he carried the weight of responsibility of his parents' expectations and his own ambition, which has left certain buttons that can be pushed, certain chips on his shoulder.
And as I was discovering this about the character, I sort of thought, "Hmm, this reminds me of somebody I know rather well." So it's a very easy fit in that way, which is crucial really when you're working or trying to develop a character that's going to last, one hopes, for a long time. It has to be a good fit.
And as far as the transition from prosecutor to detective is concerned, he was a detective originally, before he became a prosecutor. So the move isn't quite so drastic or dramatic as you might imagine. His increasing frustration with the politics and posturing of the prosecutor's office drives him to this decision to go back to being a detective, to a place where he felt he was more effective in putting away the bad guys.
Dick, you've managed to go for 20 years with "Law & Order" spinoffs, coming up with creative ways of introducing and removing characters from your shows, and rarely by killing off any of the main characters. What went into the decision to kill off this Skeet Ulrich’s Rex Winters character? Was it an awkward conversation that you had to have with Skeet?
Wolf: I can honestly say the worst part of my job for the past 30-odd years now has — and it's not limited to actors — it's an overused term, but an hour show is a form of "polite warfare."
That to get a show out in eight days, have it come in, in decent shape, certainly by the first day of prep to script, to have all the pieces fit together in sort of the insane jigsaw puzzle of trying to do this 22 times a season, it's kind of like "Shakespeare in Love." How does that happen? I don't know. It's a miracle.
The worst thing I've had to do ever is let people go. I don't think anybody would dispute it, but Skeet is one of the nicest actors I've ever worked with. He is a great guy. And it is the unfortunate history of the business that when something is not working, it's my fault; it's not the actor's fault.
Skeet has an unimpeachable record of having performed very, very well in a variety of different shows, movies. He was the first person cast. As the show evolved it, just is one of those things that, it's kind of like, "Gee, I shouldn't have put the beige upholstery in the car, I should have put the red upholstery in."
And I'm not being flip about it; it was just that there was an opportunity. The show was not performing at the level that anybody was really happy with. Bob [Greenblatt] came in and had sort of problems with the first half of the show more than the second half. He did not mandate any changes, but when we came up with this solution he was fully supportive, which is a major step for a new [NBC] head of entertainment coming in, because obviously it was an expensive change. And he was willing to make that kind of change in the hope of getting a slightly different chemistry going.
And as I said, one of his overwhelming thoughts was that I've got two world-class movie actors that I am only seeing half the time. So I'm again, not being flippant, and at some time somebody has to die so that everybody else can live.
And it was a very, very painful call. And it's not something that, in the abstract, Skeet deserved. It's just, that's the way it evolved, and he was the odd man out — whatever analogy or simile you want to use. It's always musical chairs, and this time there was one less for him. But look, I'm sure it's not what he wants to hear. I would unhesitatingly use him again as an actor in something that I think called on his strengths better than this one did.
But I remain a fan, and as I said, [Skeet Ulrich is] one of the nicest people I've ever worked with. And [firing a cast member from "Law & Order: Los Angeles" is] not something that I enjoyed or hopefully will have to do ever again. But it’s my fault. It's not his fault. I don't know what else I can say.
For more info: "Law & Order: Los Angeles" website
RELATED LINKS ON EXAMINER.COM:
Interview with Alfred Molina for "An Education"
Interview with Alfred Molina for "The Tempest"
Interview with Terrence Howard for "Law & Order: Los Angeles"
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