- Hi, I'm Jason Dohring
and I'm in studio with The Hollywood Reporter.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, Jason Dohring.
- Yeah (laughs) what's up.
- Okay.
So we're gonna talk about all things Veronica Mars.
- Okay, cool.
- Clearly. - Cool.
- Because the new season has just dropped
- Oh yeah. - On Hulu today.
Everyone's watching.
- Yeah.
- Today, today.
- Big surprise.
- Okay, before we get into the new season,
I tried to find information about you.
And you're kind of,
I couldn't find a ton about
maybe like how you got started in acting.
I don't know if you went to acting school.
I'm just very curious about where you,
where you came from and when you first wanted to act.
- Okay, great, yeah.
So my mom was in a building with a talent manager,
her company.
And I have twin brothers who are identical twins,
and I have twin sisters that are identical twins.
So when kids are very young they can only work them
three hours a day.
So they get three hours of work from one of the twins
and three hours of work from the other.
They can't work them overtime or anything like that.
So the agency found out that we had this extraordinary
twin thing in the family,
and they wanted to bring them on and I tagged along.
That's how it went.
- Oh my gosh.
- I'm the only one still doing it.
(laughs)
- That's so ironic.
There were two of each of them and you were the lone one.
- I know.
- So then, I thought I saw some,
maybe some TV roles or TV movies or something
when you were pretty young,
like maybe 11 or 12?
- Yeah, I did a movie with Jason Robards
and Brenda Fricker, who are like Academy Award people.
So that was really cool.
I had one line in Deep Impact
where I got to say the word sex when I was 13,
and I was super famous at my prom.
And everybody knew my name.
It was pretty cool.
And I did that commercial with Britney Spears for Pepsi.
And then it was all downhill.
- Oh (laughs)
well I don't know about that.
I think you're doing okay.
Okay, so then you go in,
and presumably you auditioned
for the show Veronica Mars.
This is in the early 2000s.
- That's right.
- And what did you know about the character Logan Echolls
when you were auditioning?
Did you know he was a serious regular?
What was that like?
- Yeah, right.
I originally auditioned for Duncan,
who is kind of the male lead
and he was, you know, the good boy and stuff like that.
But I was watching a lot of James Dean movies
so I went in and did it super dark
and like cool and they were like no, that's not good.
Why don't you read for this guy,
and he's like the guy with the abusive father
and I did well with that one.
And it was my first series.
And I was originally supposed to be like a guest star
and the opposite to Veronica.
And then, about six episodes in, a few episodes in,
the writers, they liked what was happening
with the chemistry,
even though it was antagonistic,
they said you know, we're gonna,
you guys are gonna be together.
And we were both like, you know,
what are you talking about?
You know what I mean?
And they were like yeah,
you gotta start warming up to each other
because we're gonna link you up romantically.
And I remember having to like,
as we were warming up,
my character has to put his hand on her shoulder.
And it took me about four rehearsals
before I could actually do it because it was just like
(laughs)
could not bear to do it
because I'd built up this hate for this character.
- Oh no.
- No, it was okay.
(laughs)
But what was so cool is that it was never intended to be
that way between the characters
so it comes out of left field in a very organic way.
And then it had this wonderful, romantic element
to the relationship.
- Yeah.
So did you not realize that you and Kristen
had such good chemistry?
- No, I mean I,
she's obviously very easy to have chemistry with
because she's just right there and she's you know,
wonderfully present
and so we always enjoyed working together.
And especially in the scenes we were against each other.
It was always like I can be
worse to you than you can be to me,
and we would just try to top each other
with who was meaner or whatever, you know.
And then the writers liked that sort of banter
and that they decided to put us together,
it was just crazy.
- Yeah.
It's, you really are,
your character really is sort of like the anti-Veronica
in the beginning
- Absolutely.
- in a lot of ways.
And she needs that, though.
I think that's,
I have a little theory about why Piz didn't work out,
and I'm pretty sure it's because
she needs someone who can kind of like
put her in her place or, you know,
just stand up to her
because she's very small but very powerful.
- Absolutely, yeah.
So I think that they both
had a very good sense of integrity.
You know what I mean?
And even though he had his own way
of where he was coming from,
and sometimes morally that didn't agree with her so much.
But then the creator, Rob Thomas,
and he's a writer and he would always write, you know,
that I would save the day or something like that
right when I did something totally deplorable.
- Yeah.
What were you guys thinking and feeling about the show
as you were making it?
I mean, the writing is so good.
It's funny.
It's all dark at times and serious.
It has all these amazing elements
and is starting to grow this fan base.
Were you sort of aware of that,
like how good it was
or what were you thinking during those first three seasons?
- I was just, and I think we all were,
just trying to be good, you know?
We like were just coming out of high school.
We all moved to San Diego, which was not really a home
for any of us so it was really like a,
turned out to be a family
because we're in this foreign place
and we're all like trying to make this show that,
our ratings were marginal to you know.
And Joel Silver, who produced the show,
would send us around to these different malls around,
trying to drum up support and stuff like that.
And nobody had ever seen the show,
and they're like,
you know, we're signing autographs for people
who don't know who we are.
It was crazy.
And then, by the time,
this is what was really cool was
by the time we had like three seasons in the can
then it kind of caught on.
You know what I mean?
Like somewhat in DVDs and stuff like that.
So it was cool because we didn't care.
We were just making something great,
and that's all we cared about.
And, uh,
you know, that it became this huge thing
because I think just, I don't know,
there's this quality around,
all around, and I think especially with a young cast,
it was very unique.
- Yeah.
So the first three seasons, that was 2004,
2007 when it was on air.
And then flash forward six years later in 2013
we get the movie, which had the Kickstarter campaign.
And then another six years later
we have the new season on Hulu that's coming out.
We have now seen Veronica and Logan
go from teenagers in high school
to now being in your 30s.
I feel like that never happens.
- I know.
- You know?
How have you sort of been able to jump back in,
and what is it like,
or actually what's a challenge been
while you're going through
the three seasons and then it's over.
And then it's like oh, we might have a movie.
And then you get the movie.
And then you have to wait another six years
before you get this other season.
Are you constantly sort of hoping for more
or do you just have to kind of let it go?
What are you thinking?
- Yeah, I mean, you know,
you never know, I guess,
after you're done with whichever one
if it's really the end or if,
you know, what's gonna happen in the future.
But, it's cool because you started out
as such the bad character,
and then to get to do,
to get to be the good guy and the guy who saves the day
and then something totally bad again
and then this romance in the middle,
it was kind of a dream role,
especially coming out of high school.
And then to add these different elements,
like the military and turning his life around
and stuff like that with each of the new iterations.
- Okay, so let's talk about the new season.
(laughs)
Which is why you're here.
- Yeah, sure.
- So, where do we find Logan?
- Um, he's just coming back
from a tour of duty and sees Veronica,
and they live in a 600 square foot apartment
on the beach with their huge dog,
who's always like taking up 500 feet of the space.
And you sort of see him in the place,
instead of being kind of the bad boy,
you know, now, with the military he's kind of like
friends with her dad, which never happened before
because he's a good guy
and he wants to kind of maybe point her in the direction
and where are you going with your life?
What do you want to do?
I want to help you, but
she's jaded and cynical.
She's a private detective.
She inspects cases all day and adultery.
So how that is affecting our relationship
in moving forward, that's where we start.
- Got ya.
- And shirtless.
(laughs)
- Well, that's lot of shirtless
- Like Rob always writes.
(laughs)
- action happening.
So one thing that whenever I was watching the first episode
it kind of took me a second to realize what was
a little bit different, I mean--
- Oh, what did you think.
(laughs)
What did you think was different?
- Well, I realized it was the narration.
- Oh yeah, right?
- We have some in the beginning of the episode,
and then at the end,
but we weren't really going all the way through.
Was it like,
when you were reading the scripts
did you feel it was different also?
- Yes, totally.
And there's a reason for that,
as people will see the show of that
why it's a different narration
and why,
why it's done in a different form
and stuff like that, which you may notice
with what happens.
- Are you trying to be (laughs)
you're trying not to tell me.
Okay.
Well, presumably if people are watching this
on the day that the episodes come out,
they've already seen a couple
so I think it's a little bit okay.
But, yeah, it's also much more grown up, you know?
Even just in the first episode, there's, uh,
it's a little bit more mature.
Some of the language and things.
- Yeah, originally there were like 18 fucks
in the first script,
and the first thing she does is
she's at a call box and she, "Oh, fuck."
(laughs)
And that's the first line.
And Hulu said, you know,
we wanna do it for like 14 year olds and stuff like that so
- Got ya.
- You know, in the script,
Rob's so creative so he takes that no answer
and then he puts it into where her and her dad
have this game of who can go the longest
without dropping an F bomb.
And it's really annoying to my character,
like they're still going on after six months of this.
But it really adds a humor element,
where it could've been a wall, you know,
so that's kind of Rob's creativity coming out.
- Yeah, I thought it was well done.
Can we go back to the narration, though?
Did you wanna say something about the narration,
about it not being as much as it was before?
- Uh, yeah, um.
- I don't know there's a,
if you're giving something away
or if you're scared to give something away?
- Yeah
(laughs)
so a lot of people will kind of see or whatever,
but you sort of get
kind of, there's a particular sadness that comes and stuff.
And, you know, you watch the show and you find out things
and stuff like that.
- Is it in episode four?
- I don't think so.
- Okay.
Because at this point, as of us talking,
I've seen the first three episodes.
- The three, yeah.
- And you said earlier that episode four was great so...
- Yeah, episode four is great,
and seven and eight are fantastic.
Those are the last two.
And yeah, you'll love it.
- Let's talk about some of the new cast.
- Yes.
- So we've got Patton Oswalt,
J.K. Simmons,
- J.K. Simmons.
- Clifton Collins, Jr.
Who are you looking forward to, to working with?
- I mean, Clifton Collins is amazing.
And then I've never had a lot of scenes with Max Greenfield,
who's not new but is coming back.
And that was really great.
There's some good stuff in that trio of her and,
him and Veronica and me and Veronica
and how that all works.
And, um, but these guys are all professionals,
and what was beautiful is they all fit beautifully
into the world, I felt.
Like Patton Oswalt comes in, and he's perfect for this role,
and you know,
he's kind of bumbling and helping this case
and he's just fantastic and had all these
wonderful ideas and creative choices,
and it was cool to watch these pros come in and kill it.
- Yeah.
He has this like,
this like ability,
and then also the fact
that he's just delivering this pizza.
It kind of breaks your heart.
And then, you know, in the first episode he gets hurt
in the bomb explosion, that's a spoiler,
but you shouldn't be watching this if you haven't it yet.
- Exactly.
- But yeah, he just,
he definitely brought something really great
to the show, I think.
After these eight episodes,
would you just keep doing this character forever?
I actually have a quote here.
I don't know if this was in the heat of an interview
on the red carpet, but you said at one point
to a different reporter,
"This is the best role I've ever played."
- Yeah, I think,
I think, especially coming out of school
and acting class, it gave me a chance
to try everything because
there was ups and downs and it was so volatile and
playful and like,
he had an abusive dad and this romance with Veronica,
I mean it just kind of had everything
in the way that I enjoy playing characters.
And yeah, if it goes beyond this somehow
that would be cool, you know.
And I am always happy to work with Rob,
and I've done several of his shows.
Yeah, I'm really pleased with it overall.
- Big iZombie fan also.
- Ah, killer.
- Okay.
Is there another character,
well I guess you just said Max Green, Leo,
I guess you got.
I was gonna ask if you wish you got
to share scenes with anyone
- Oh, right.
- That you didn't really get to very much.
- Yeah, I mean, Clifton Collins is so cool.
He's just
amazing, like the way you see him just disappear and stuff.
So that's cool.
We have maybe a potential dinner set up
or a get together.
We're gonna chat acting or whatever.
I ran into him at the,
yeah, just voiceover stuff
and he was really kind and
so I'm, he just,
you can tell, good actors.
I love that, love to work with them.
- He seems really intense,
but then I also heard he's just really nice and cool--
- Oh, yeah.
and chill and yeah.
- Yeah, he's totally,
I mean from just the one conversation I've had,
he was totally chill
and then he'll drop something very important
about acting and I'm like wow,
like there's something else, too.
- [Natalie] I love that.
- Very professional, cares, thoughtful.
- Do you have a favorite scene or moment?
You probably get asked this all the time
and I'm sorry, but I gotta.
- No, no, no, that's great.
- It can be like a scene, a moment, an episode.
It could be with Logan or without Logan.
- Right.
I don't know.
I think, for me personally,
the one that always rips my heart out,
Veronica is trying to find her mom in the first season
and her dad is kind of avoiding,
and her voice cracks as she says this line to her dad,
"You can find anyone."
And I'm just like (gasping) like it kills me,
the way she said that.
I was just like oh.
Like it just rips me out.
So like, I think,
I love that emotional stuff,
that really kills me.
And I search for that as well in my own work.
- Yeah.
It really makes you laugh.
It makes you cry.
I cried a lot during the first season.
It still makes me cry.
Even just watching a clip sometimes.
I think I, you know in season three,
I think it was the last episode
or towards the end, at least, of season three,
when you guys are in the college
and you're in the cafeteria
and the guy comes over
and basically he calls Veronica a name
and tells her to stay away or whatever.
And then you walk away and go (laughs) like beat him up.
That's one of my favorites, too.
I know it's not like, you know,
feminist or whatever because you're going
and beating this guy up for her, but you know,
she didn't say anything for a reason.
- No, she helps me, and I help her, you know?
- Yes.
It was just so satisfying
because that guy was horrible,
and seeing you beat him up was very nice for the audience.
Last question, very important stuff here.
Which theme song version is your favorite?
- Oh, of the show?
- Yeah.
- Boy, I only know the one from the show.
- [Natalie] The original.
- Yeah, the original.
- [Natalie] That's the best.
- Yeah, and I think it's good.
I was in the airport traveling two days ago,
and the girl who was the security girl,
and she's like you know checks my bag and stuff like that.
And she was like, "Oh yeah,
"a long time ago did we used to be friends?"
And I'm like yeah.
And she was like cool, loved your work,
- Aw, (laughs) that's pretty smooth.
- and carry on.
I was like (clicks tongue), thank you.
- It was very smooth,
and I was like very good.
- Yeah, what are the odds?
She just kind of pulled that out of nowhere.
- We should hire her.
(laughs)
- Um, well, thank you so much.
It was so nice talking to you.
Congrats on the new season.
Hopefully we get more,
and yeah, I wanna see anything else that you have coming.
Yeah.
You're great.
- Okay, good, good.
I look forward to you (clap hands)
seeing all the episodes.
- Thank you, me too. - Okay, good.
- Everyone, you can watch Veronica Mars,
this new season on Hulu now.
Thanks.