It's incredibly interesting to do an interview with British actor Paul Blackthorne, star of ABC's highly-anticipated new show “The River”. Not only is he known for his roles on some of television's biggest shows such as “24”, “Leverage”, “White Collar” and his series regular role as Brooke Shield's husband on “Lipstick Jungle”; he is also a filmmaker and photographer who just finished shooting, writing and directing a film based on the journey of two strangers (himself and Mister Basquali, an acclaimed Australian photographer ) on their cross-country quest to better understand what “change” and “The American Dream” with this recession means to everyday Americans. Blackthorne, who has an extensive theater background both in New York and London, told me about how the idea for the film, titled, THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY came about, why he is passionate about photography taking him around the world; as well as his character on “The River” and the many adventures viewers can expect from the new series!
What is your character, Clark, like in “The River” ?
Paul- The role I have is Clark. He's the producer of the reality show. So it looks like you're watching a show being made, the reality show being based on trying to find the lost doctor Emmett Cole, somewhere down the amazon. We innocently go off to document the extravaganza of his wife and his son trying to find him and then all of a sudden in this rather paranormal peculiar world, things start going bump in the night in the jungle, which is why it's even more scary!
What did you most enjoy about playing this role?
Paul – I enjoy the fact that he's not necessarily a goody or a baddy. He's not really easily defined. He's doing good things, though for what reasons he may be doing them are up to you to decide. He's definitely an ambiguous character which is something that appeals to me.
What was your favorite moment with him that you want to tell viewers they can look forward to?
Paul- I don't want to give too much away. There is one episode where Clark definitely has a very, very hard time of trying to survive and in the midst of that his feelings for certain people are coming out. It was an interesting aspect. There's this one episode where we come across a tribe in the middle of the jungle and they do things to us which make us harder for us to get around. Something inadvertently happens to me and it puts me in a bit of a pickle and then everybody ends up being in a bit of a pickle, and in the midst of the pickle certain feelings come out about other people in the boat from Clark and that episode was a particular favorite of mine.
You've played various roles on many hit shows, is there one that has stood out to you as an actor?
Paul- I have to say “The River” was definitely up there in terms of a great acting experience. A because of the character and B because of the script. In this paranormal world, you never know what's going to happen next on these shows. We were completely surprised every time we read new scripts. And that's always the nice thing when you're on a project and everybody is shreaking around the place going “Oh my god what's happening in the next episode?!” So this experience was fantastic. I'd say my experience with “24” a few years ago was great. Playing the bad guy on “24” and being chased around by helicopters and planes and all that stuff. That was fun. And as far as the other one that really stands out is the Indian film that I did a couple years ago in India, LAGAAN. shooting in the middle of a desert, riding around on horses, talking Indian; That was quite of an extravagant experience.
I read you're also a photographer and filmmaker and that you just wrote, shot and directed a film called, THIS AMERICAN JOURNEY, how did the idea for it come about?
Paul- I was in New York a few years ago, I finished working there and I had to get back to Los Angeles and it was in the wake of the economic downturn. And I was really interested in speaking to people from everyday America about how they felt about the phrase the American dream these days and what they considered the future of America to be, what was important to them these times and ultimately what makes us happy really. So it was talking to every day Americans about the state of the American dream in the wake of the recession. We went out there and we drove across from New York to California and we randomly interviewed people. Farmers, cowboys, singers, judges; all sorts of people. We're just finishing up final editing touches now.
Has film-making always been a passion for you as well?
Paul- I've enjoyed taking photos over the years. I've had lots of photographic exhibitions in London, and the last one I had in New York was a Tibet house. That was pictures when I was living in Tibet in India. I like to get out there. I like to see what's going on in the world. It's good to get some perspective and see what's happening out there in the other parts of the world. So I've enjoyed taking photographs of those experiences and I guess rocking the camera was an extension of that I suppose. And I'm always just interested in other people's lives and that puts you in places you don't normally go to.
I read that you held a photographic exhibition in London to raise money for Greenpeace, which helped with the relief efforts of the earthquake in Lagaan.
Paul- What happened was I was shooting the Indian film that I just mentioned and we shot in that film in an area right next to Lagaan. And a year after we were there they had this huge massive earthquake and people that worked on the film with us died. We went back to the town that we stayed in when the film came out and that town was decimated. I obviously had a strong connection with that part of the world which itself was in the earthquake, so when I was having a photographic exhibition of that Indian experience it seemed pretty obvious that any money raised from the photos should go to the people that have gone through that terrible experience.
If you could go back in time and spend a day in the life of anyone from history, who would it be and why?
Paul- There was a Victorian explorer called Richard Burton. And I'm not talking about the actor Richard Burton. When the British Victorians were going around the world exploring and discovering and taking over and colonizing, Richard Burton was one of the people that fore-fronted that. He felt very close to the Arabian world that he knew, he ended up spending a lot of time there, basically become Arabian himself. He spent a lot of time in their culture, trying to understand their culture. Spoke the languages and immersed himself in the culture. He to me has always been a fascinating person because he basically turned somewhat from his own culture to another one. And he certainly didn't want to take anything out of that culture before he fully understood it and in trying to fully understand it, he became part of it. So I have always just been fascinated with that guy. His name is Sir Richard Burton.
For more on Paul visit www.paulblackthorne.com
"The River" premieres Tuesday Febuary 7 on ABC!
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