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Moderator
Our next question comes from Joshua Maloni with Niagra Frontier Publications.

J. Maloni I just wanted to follow up on that last question. I really enjoyed the interaction that you had on-screen with Kari. Tell us about your relationship with her on and off-screen.

P. Gallagher
I'm so glad you enjoyed that because you never know. You know what? I just met Kari on this and she's really lovely and we have a great time. You know what's exciting about these scenes is I have to credit Matthew and Chris, Matthew Corman and Chris Ord, and Dougie (Liman) and Dave for being interested, even just marginally interested in that kind of a story line. I kind of liken it to The Sopranos where you have all of the regular issues of home life and problems and marriage and so on, but what you do for a living is a little different, so when we screw up we not only could get divorced, but people could die or the national security could be compromised, so it adds sort of an additional kind of bit of tension to the relationship.

We're having fun. I mean the way I see it is they are both effective agents in the field. I was a former Navy pilot and they have a good time. I think it's kind of a great relationship and so we'll see if the creators and the audience agree with us; otherwise, who knows what will happen.

J. Maloni Obviously, the show has been compared a lot to Alias. I love Alias, but it seems like Covert Affairs is a little bit more realistic, perhaps gives us a little bit better understanding of the real CIA. Do you think that that's a fair assessment? Do you find that this is maybe a little bit more true to life?

P. Gallagher Well, you know what? I really know nothing about the CIA. I've always read about it. I've always been fascinated with it. I always think I have a couple of friends that are in it, but of course, they can never tell me.
So I don't know, but I will say this: That the reason that working with Doug Liman and Dave Bartis appeals to me so strongly is, obviously, their strong storytelling skills and what I saw Doug bring to The O.C. in the pilot episode was real. He would start. He had the camera operator pointing in another direction entirely from where the scene was going. He'd call, "Action," and have the operator find the action. So it gave the camera a sense of urgency and a sense of your point of view and made it feel and was interested in making all of the scenes feel real. That's exactly how I feel about anything we do, even if it's the CIA or the mob or whatever you're doing. If it feels real, chances are the story will be better told. If it's important to you you'll look for those moments and opportunities to keep things on the planet so the rest of us on the planet can look at it and say, "Oh, I recognize that."
Do you know what I mean? Am I making any sense? It's so silent on the other end. You're probably all over there snickering. I know it. No, but did that make sense to you?

J. Maloni It does. I appreciate your answers.

Moderator Our next question comes from Travis Tidmore with The CineManiac
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T. Tidmore I think after watching the first episode a big question is obviously who is Annie's mysterious ex that you clearly know about, but I think the real question everyone wants answered is how long do we have to wait until you sing on the show.

P. Gallagher Well, don't hold your breath. But you never know. Listen, do you know what's funny? Nothing would surprise me about what Matthew and Chris and Doug and Dave and their extraordinary writers might come up with. But I know it will be credible. I know they all came to see me do my own live show where I sang and told stories about working with Gagney and all of these people and they all came, so they know that I do that kind of thing, so anything is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

T. Tidmore Well, maybe you could have the Bubs come in and be like a group of singing assassins and you--

P. Gallagher You know what? That's exactly the story line I pitched, a group of singing assassins.

Moderator Our next question comes from Sheldon Wiebe with Eclipse Magazine.

S. Wiebe I watched the pilot yesterday and also the first four episodes of the season's Rescue Me song. Once again I'm reminded of your remarkable range. What I'd like to know if how do you approach such a multi-layered character as Arthur. What's the process you go through? I mean, obviously, it's on the page, but what do you personally bring to it?

P. Gallagher Well, you know, I kind of bring 30-plus years of experience and I approach it like I approach every part I play. I mean, fortunately, I still love what I do and I still try to do it pretty well. I read the scripts. I try and understand what the character is really expressing. I mean I created sort of a back story for myself in the character.
It may or may not have any bearing on what's revealed, but I imagined Arthur Campbell as having been a Navy pilot, which is a tradition in the CIA. I think the first director was a Navy officer, a Navy Admiral. So, somebody who had experienced all sorts - has experience on the ground in the military and in the Agency and so it might be an interesting foil for maybe future episodes with bureaucrats or politicians, who don't have that kind of experience, but that's all happening in my head. But that's the kind of thing that you layer and you build and you have sort of a specific kind of - because the truth is you don't really know that much, so you kind of sketch it in and you have good directors to tell you when you're way off the mark or somewhere in the ballpark.

S. Wiebe Also, I was kind of wondering, the way it's set up you're mostly an office guy, although the office guy for Clandestine Services and I'm just wondering what is the professional relationship between Arthur and his wife. I mean is he her superior in the chain of command or are they separate.

P. Gallagher Yes. No. He's her superior.

S. Wiebe That will probably make for some very interesting episodes.

P. Gallagher Exactly. I think in some ways, just like most men, their superior position is mostly illusory.

Moderator Our next question comes from Stefan Blitz with ForcesofGeek.com.

S. Blitz Over the years you've given several fantastic performances throughout your career playing swarmy, unlikable characters and then you went on to play like the quintessential, awesome dad, Sandy Cohen. What kind of character is Arthur Campbell?

P. Gallagher Well, we're going to find out and I'll be finding out with you. What I think of Arthur Campbell is he has a very strong sense of duty. I think he's an ex-military, ex-Naval officer, a pilot. In fact, we got clearance to use the shield of the Hornet, which is a great tactical plane and so he has a military background, a great sense of service. I imagine then he was recruited to the CIA and, obviously, has some capacity for administration and communication and is saddled with these changing times and helping to bring the agency into a more modern place and more consistent with where the world is and what it's becoming. So I imagine all you have to do is watch our own government struggling with all of the challenges day in and day out and how fast the world is changing. It's just a short hop to imagine people in a position like Arthur's would be, really scrambling, because when you screw up the costs can be large.

S. Blitz At this point is there a particular role that you haven't played that you'd really like to?

P. Gallagher It's hard for me. The crazy thing; I still feel like my best work is ahead of me. I feel like my break is coming, so that might be a complete delusion. Part of what I love is that part, something that somebody just has written. That's out there. What I love is the next thing. I can't think of a specific role.
I keep singing and doing stage and doing all of those other things that I do; live things. But I've got to say I'm thrilled because I love working with Doug and I love working with Dave. I've been doing some great movies and some good TV and especially in a challenging time to keep it all going I just want to keep moving before somebody can draw a bead on me.

Moderator Our next question comes from Troy Rogers with Deadbolt.com.

T. Rogers I want to know what was your first impression of the show and the whole blind agent thing.

P. Gallagher My first impression of the show was that it was really well written because, as I say, I started talking with Dave Bartis, our Executive Producer, about wanting to just do something together and so we were talking about things that they were looking at. He said, "We have something for you. We've got something going on. It's called Covert Affairs. Do you want to take a look at it?" I read it and I loved it. I thought it had real wit. I thought it fulfilled the obligations of the genre. I just thought it was really well written.
To answer your question about the blind agent, you know what? It didn't really register a blip. It seemed perfectly - a little fantastical maybe with some of the gadgetry, but not that far off in terms of what - and maybe it is available, but I just thought it was interesting. I think the good news is I didn't think, "Oh, no. What's that all about?" He was a soldier. It makes perfect sense. It's nice to know that his skills are still being valuable
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T. Rogers Okay. Since it's covert and intelligence based, why does Arthur feel the agency needs more transparency? Wouldn't it need more secrecy?

P. Gallagher You're so smart. I have the same question myself. Why am I saying that? Is that just to put somebody off? I think transparency, the way I justify it in terms of the use of that word transparency, is not so much transparency with the Agency and the outside world, but within the Agency itself.
And so that the left hand will know what the right hand is doing, because, as we've seen with the challenges, as global challenges mount and the areas of conflict or problems are so many and varied that the only really viable approach, as I've read, to deal with it is through a coordinated effort not only of the various departments of the CIA, but also coordinated efforts with the various law enforcement and military and even foreign agencies. So obviously, you don't want to have a completely transparent spy agency, because you obviously wouldn't last long in the job and the nation wouldn't benefit. So that's what I think it must mean.

Moderator Our next question comes from Nancy Harrington with Pop Culture.

N. Harrington We actually wanted to touch on something someone mentioned a little bit earlier, which is we know that you sang with The Beezlebubs at Tufts University. We were wondering if you saw them on The Sing Off last year and what you thought.

P. Gallagher I was on the show with them. You know what was so funny? A friend of mine producing said, "Do you want to watch the show?" I said, "I'd love to. I want to support the Bubs." So I was on the last show that they did, the final thing. They were amazing. I mean they're so much better than we were it's not even funny.

N. Harrington Also, do you have any plans to return to Broadway? We'd love to see you back on the stage.

P. Gallagher I would really love to return to Broadway. I've actually been talking to a couple of people about something. I'm working on a couple of really cool shows actually. I was just on Broadway with Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand like two years ago, but I'd love to do another musical. I've been working on another version of my own singing show, my sort of one-man show where I talk about working with amazing people and blah, blah, blah. But yes, I'll be back. I'll probably breathe my last breath on the boards.

Moderator Our next question comes from the line of Pattye Grippo with Pazsaz.com.

P. Grippo When you realized you were actually going to be playing this character did you do any sort of preparation or research; I mean besides making your back story; of what a character like this would be like or did you just sort of jump in and--?

P. Gallagher You mean about the character?

P. Grippo Yes. You know, Arthur Campbell is this important CIA character. Obviously, most of us have no idea what that would be like. Did you do any research or look into it or any--?

P. Gallagher I did a little research, but the reality is I had no idea how many episodes I was going to be in this season, so I thought I was just going to be doing the first couple. So at the very beginning, being superstitious; and I don't like to be superstitious, but I'm superstitious; it's like you have no idea where anything is going. These TV shows are kind of living creatures and they morph and they change.
Obviously, the main thrust of the show is Piper and Christopher, who are wonderful and so I was happy to be in this company with those people and, as I say, working with Doug and Dave. Yes, I did my usual research, but I didn't go to Langley. I hung out with Valerie Plame and spoke to her at length about the Agency and about the kind of person that becomes an agent. I did some research about the kinds of people who occupy the office, the similar office that we created for the show, which supported the back story I'm sort of building of he's a Naval officer, because the first director of the CIA was a Navy Admiral and there were several other rankings of Naval officers that ran the department, the Agency over the years.

P. Grippo Right. That makes sense.

P. Gallagher But yes, I didn't go to Langley. Frankly, the scripts are good and the scenes themselves are fairly well defined. If there was an area that I had no idea what I was talking about I would Google it at least.

P. Grippo Well, let me follow up on that and ask you of the episodes that you've done so far for the season do you have a favorite moment?

P. Gallagher I had some fun with Emmanuelle Vaugier on a scene. I love Kari and I had a fun little bed scene. Don't worry. I keep my clothes on. I'm going to be doing three more, so I look forward to seeing what's in store. All I can tell you; it's a wonderful set. You might have been up there, but the vibe is very good. Our DP was from The O.C. as well, Jamie Barber, who just is a marvelous cinematographer. He's a great guy.

This is the end of part 1 of the podcast.

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Stay tuned for part 2 of this interview. Between the text and the podcast, this had to be split into two parts. So I will run the entire podcast again and the larger part of the interview transcript.

Stevie Wilson, LA-Story.com

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