Joshua Sasse and Leah Gibson have spent weeks traveling in support of their new show, “Rogue”, but that hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm for the project. Instead, they remained candid and engaging during a recent interview. The duo sat on a couch in the Denver Four Seasons hotel on a crisp afternoon, sipping espresso and chatted about all things “Rogue”.
The gritty whodunit is the first original series from provider DirecTV, and is slated to air exclusively on the Audience network. Already the series has turned heads for its boundary-pushing approach to storytelling.
Gibson and Sasse have been able to experience much of the buzz firsthand, having attended screenings and Q&As with fans across the country. “It’s great to be there and hear their questions and receive their feedback. It’s exciting and everyone seems to think something strongly of it. Our show definitely gets [a reaction],” Gibson said.
Already, comparisons have been made to iconic series, such as “Homeland” and “24”. Though the pressure of those connotations is something that has only recently permeated their experience.
“It’s kind of there now when we’re on press tour hearing that those are the comparisons that are being made. Those are things that surely you hope for, but when you’re filming, I don’t think we even thought of it. We knew that we were doing something different and groundbreaking, but when it’s groundbreaking you know that the first one through the front line gets bloody and gets battered,” Sasse said. “We were never sure that it was going to work.”
Gibson agreed. “For me, I felt kind of blind while we were inside the process because you have a bug’s eye view of it, you don’t have the bird’s eye view and...I didn’t know how much my character was going to be involved.”
Sasse expanded on Gibson’s point, explaining that the cast was in much the same place of suspense that viewers will be between episodes.
“We didn’t get told anything. You see, we were filming episode one while we were reading episode two, so we didn’t know what happened except on a week-to-week basis. We didn’t know whether our characters...we might die or we might get exiled or we might fall into a coma or we might have an affair. You just don’t know!”
He continued, “It is incredibly humbling to be put in a category like that with those shows that have done so well and that have evoked such a response from the audience across America. We hope that we can do much the same, if not go a little further.”
One area in which the show is sure to go where no one else has gone before is in the nature of its graphic content. “Rogue” depicts sex and violence in a way that is so far from standard network fare viewers might even be surprised to see certain scenes on a subscription channel such as HBO.
The experience of creating a world so dedicated to realistic depictions is one that both Gibson and Sasse have found rewarding.
“I mean look, it’s as if you’re riding a horse and you’ve got someone telling you not to kick and you’ve got this incredible beast between your legs and you’re not able to go with it...to it’s full potential,” Sasse said of the restrictions in the more traditional television world.
“With the show we had such potential, such scope to do such brilliant, fantastic things that have never been done before. DirecTV never held us back. When you’re not held back you can really soar and I think that’s what’s happened. As an actor it’s so, so rewarding and so pleasing to not be reprimanded,” he added.
Gibson agreed, “Being that it is DirecTV’s first original show, I think that they made some very specific and well calculated choices all along the way with the show...and deciding how far they were going to go to tell the story. Being able to go there as actors without the limitations and boundaries of network tv, to be able to really show a sex scene and the violence and express the story that way, it’s a really satisfying thing to do.”
The approach to the material was one of the first things that excited Gibson about the idea of being on the show.
“I certainly walked into my chemistry read with Josh with nothing to lose. I knew they were considering other girls for the part, but I thought, what the hell, just give everything,” she said. “On set I think it was just very much that for all of us. We kind of knew the nature of what we were doing and we could go places that we hadn’t gone before, and all of us did it in a very raw and real way.”
It’s fortuitous that both Gibson and Sasse felt similar in their approach to the material; as an on-screen husband and wife the pair needed to have not only chemistry, but complete trust in each other to create an authentic experience for the audience. Something they joked was fueled by vodka and woman’s rage before digging into their process.
“Me and Leah are two peas in a pod in that respect, because we both work incredibly hard and...I’d say we’re fearless in the way that we approach our job. That matched with trust and sensitivity, I think, is a potent mix. It’s really important for us to make sure that the audience felt they were watching a real couple with real history and a real, true dynamic. We worked very hard at it,” Sasse explained.
“I mean, the best way to do that isn’t, I don’t think necessarily, isn’t spending hours and hours and hours of time together, it’s just being able to look the person in the eye and know that they are gonna be as completely bare and raw as you are. By doing that together I think you can achieve anything,” he added.
As surely as the pair have gotten to know each other, they’ve come to know their characters.
“I think there are always people that you meet in your life that scare you a little, but not because of the terror in their eyes so much as their unpredictability. I think that’s very disconcerting, when you’re not sure whether what you’re holding in your hands is going to freeze you to death or burn you, I think that the fear of not knowing is almost worse than the eventuality of it. I think that’s sort of what Alec’s all about. You just don’t know what’s going to happen or how he’s going to react to any situation,” Sasse said of his character, a noted gangster’s son.
“The first time she [Cathy] became defined to me was when I met Josh and we read together, because for me she represents the strong, sort of mothering, maternal figure in this man’s world, in this really unusual crime family. I wanted her to be really in touch with her female intuition, because for me she sees the game of what this family is doing and how they move and she knows her role inside of it,” said Gibson. “I was really intrigued by the depths inside of her and her emotional life of what she keeps silent.”
Ultimately, the emotion of the show is what Gibson and Sasse think will set it apart.
“I think what’s interesting about this show, if I try to take an abject view, is the colossal amount of tv that’s available to the the global audience. I think what sets shows apart is the content of each actor’s character. It’s less about the story and more about how these people are living their lives. If you have a show that’s based on characters you have much better longevity, I feel. I think when the plot starts overtaking the importance of the characters...it’s not as potent, you don’t get drawn in. I want to watch people interacting. I want to watch people fall, I want to watch people rise from the ashes, I want people to fight and love. They can be in any situation, but I think what’s great about ‘Rogue’ is it’s about humanity.” Sasse said.
“I think that’s what sets this show apart. Apart from the fact that you have DirecTV taking the gloves off to up the graphic content of the show sexually and violently.”
“And people will take what they will from those things.” Gibson interjected. “ J.K. Rowling, when she was promoting her last book...I watched an interview of her talking about it and she was receiving some criticism about [the content], and she just kind of said, if that is all someone would take from the story, I wouldn’t have much to say to them about it. I feel the same way about our show, yes there is sex that hasn’t been seen before on tv, and the violence, and this and that, but it’s so much more.”
“I think people are going to be very surprised with the poignancy,” Sasse added.
“I have an incredible amount of reservation for a lot of tv out there because I see people killing other people and then it leaves no stain on their soul. That makes me throw my drink over and turn the television off, why would I watch people some people having sex with their clothes on? What is this that I’m watching? I’m sitting down to be entertained...[I feel] like Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator’, when he goes 'ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?'"
“Rogue” premieres on DirecTV’s Audience network on April 3.
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