Luke Macfarlane Interview (Part Two)

Writers' Intern Jeff Bibeau continues his interview with Luke Macfarlane...

Jeff: So you went to Juilliard?

Luke: Yeah, it was wonderful.  As a guy who came from London, Ontario, I didn't know really anything about the theatre.  It was a perfect place for me to go because I could be stripped down, you know… do the whole broken down and built back up thing.  I didn't have a lot of ideas of what theatre meant.

Jeff: Do you prefer stage to screen?

Luke: It's an impossible question.  But both are very different.   It's been, frankly, too long since I went back to stage.  So I'm looking forward to hopefully doing something on stage soon.

Jeff: Any possibilities?

Luke: No.  I'm locked in.  ABC owns me.  (Laughs)

Jeff: So are you recognized a lot out and about?

Luke: Um…no, I'm not really recognized to tell you the truth.  I had a very nice girl push me in the airport last week  (Laughs)  But no, I'm actually not recognized that much.  I grow my beard out and wear a hat.  (Laughs)

Jeff: So any other exciting projects coming up?

Luke: Well, the two other passions in my life are biking and cello.  I have a race coming up which I'm looking forward to – a 40 mile mountain bike race.  And, uh, I started taking cello again – I played for thirteen years and I gave it up when I went to Julliard – and I just started taking lessons again about 6 months ago.  Sometime in the next year, I want to have a recital.

Jeff: Do you prefer the United States to Canada? 

Luke: You know, the one thing I say about that is that I love going home and it's a great place.  I would never turn in my Canadian passport.  But I will say that America feels like a good place to be a young person. There's just so many possibilities and job opportunities and such.

Jeff: Do you get to go home a lot?

Luke: Not as much as I want to.  I got to go home for Canadian Thanksgiving, and I go home for Christmas.

Jeff: Nice.  And your family is all still there?

Luke: Yeah.

Jeff: Do they get to come down here a lot?

Luke: Yes.  My twin sister has visited me, and my older sister and my mother have all come individually.  When you live in Los Angeles, people tend to want to visit you, especially during the winter months.  (Laughs)

Jeff: Without giving too much away, what can we expect from Scotty this season?

Luke: His career is going to take an upturn, so that's exciting.  He'll finally be making money like the rest of the Walkers.  (Laughs)  And, you know, they're doing a really good job of keeping the relationship between Scotty and Kevin really honest, with little tensions here and there.

Scotty proves his mad culinary skills, it's all about presentation

Jeff: So married life is good?

Luke: Married life is good so far.  No roadblocks yet.

Jeff: Scotty's a chef – do you cook?

Luke: No, I love cooking, I love food.  But…I'm not a cook.  I have fantasies of it one day – in fact, my friend and I have been talking about taking a cooking class.   But, no.  (laughs)

Jeff: Any other similarities or differences to Scotty? 

Luke: We look shockingly similar.  (Laughs)

Jeff: Yeah, I noticed that.  It's very disarming.

Luke: Of course, when you're on a television show, you're always drawing from your own experiences.  I admire Scotty very much, I think he has a lot of tenacity.

Jeff: So you're not as tenacious?

Luke: No, I don't think I am.  (Laughs)  Scotty's drawn me out a bit, I think.

Jeff: Is there any approach you like to take when you're working on a character?

Luke: It was funny you know, one of my favorite things is doing all the research.  When I do a play, I read as much as I can about it.  It was funny, when I got this role, I didn't know really to start with the research.  Scotty didn't have a job, and I really didn't know anything about him.  I remember going to Facebook and going to people's profiles and trying to like steal traits from them.  Thinking that I could find Scotty somewhere in the Facebook universe and I could somehow look at a picture of somebody and copy stuff.  But there wasn't a lot of research I could really do on Scotty.

Jeff: (Laughs)  You can drown in the Facebook universe.

Luke: Exactly, and just go for miles and miles and miles.  But, you know, since he's become a chef, I've been reading a lot of cook books.  I like to read; I like to research.

Luke was an absolutely pleasure to hang out with and was more than happy to take time out of his day to talk to me, and to the readers –  so keep an eye on Scotty this season and Luke in all his future endeavors. 

You can catch Luke and that crazy Walker clan every Sunday at 10pm on ABC – but if you're on this blog, you should already know that.  This season is going to be awesome – take it from the intern.  I'm not on payroll.

Until next time –
Jeff Bibeau
Writers' Intern

Comments

[will]

If Luke went to Julliard! - (for chrissake) - and is taking up the cello again, write it into the frigging script! Hire a concert pianist and let them do Chopin or Rachmaninov together! It can only give Scotty character and background and sacred individuality! You still kind of get the queasy feeling he's only there because of Kevin - husband comes home, wife has the chicken primavera on the table waiting --- a hanger-on-er, not quite whole.

When you see a gifted actor-musician actually performing onscreen in the framework of crafted drama (authentically, I mean; I hate when actor non-pianists, say, "mime" passionate playing. It always feels off. Like Natalie Wood lip-syncing to Marni Nixon's voice in "West Side Story"), it can be surreally beautiful.

Let Scotty stand on his own two feet. Let him play cello! (it can be a hobby, too; don't get all crazy and intricate and think a detailed storyarc has to be sketched out! Luke is Julliard-trained musician. Use it! Give his character meat and subtext in only a few short strokes!).

[will]

Sorry for being so freaking long-winded (I'm working on this).

What I mean succinctly is: the relationship between a musician and his cello is a sensual, sensuous chemistry.

If we can't get our sensualness from Dave and Emily (I specify actors rather than characters, though the fault is probably both) --- and if it is still considered a bit "taboo" to let Kevin and Scotty honestly explore each other's skin --- then maybe the chemistry and sensuousness that is made between a musician and his cello will just have to suffice.

[Kong Chang]

Thank you Jeff for this 2nd part of the interview with the great Luke Macfarlane!

Please tell him he's doing a great job as Scotty!

KC
Maintainer of Luke Macfarlane Online

[BC]

Thanks for the second part.

How's about correcting the spelling of his surname?

Will, Luke is a Julliard trained actor not musician. He gave up the cello when he went to Julliard.

Luke sings too. He has a fantastic voice. Why not have him sing and play the cello to make up for the lack of using him in every episode? Why waste such great talent.

[Sylviane]

Good second part. I really enjoyed reading that. I hope we will also get to read interview with other actors now. That would be fun.

[will]

It looks like the California proposition banning gay marriage is passing unfortunately. With 95% reporting:

Yes: 52%

No: 48%

So far, almost 10 million votes cast for this prop 8, with a 400,000 margin of difference. Is it me - or does it just seem plain bizarre that people can go to the polls to legislate other american's private lives? (this thing will wind up back in the courts, trust me).

But, I STILL FEEL GOOD! In 2000, the ban on gay marriage passed with 61% (called prop 22). Now, eight years later, it's passing with what looks like less than 52% of the vote. THAT'S A BEAUTIFUL TREND....it's a crystal ball to the future. Just a matter of time now. Obama has won with a resounding 349-163 electoral college vote victory. The very RED states of Virginia, Indiana & North Carolina have turned blue. The Minnesota Senate race between democrat Al Franken and republican Norm Coleman is still too close to call (less than 750 votes separating...I only mention this race because the conservative talk-radio community HATES Franken; he drives them frigging nuts; you'd think he was the antiChrist; David Marshall Grant would surely appreciate this race).

Ok. Ok. Let's see now. TITLES!

"Bisexual Binges, Cracked Crab, Busted Lips"

There you go, writers! Make this title work! Homework assignment! I want hot sensual bi-curious action and CRACKED CRAB in a coming episode!

Cheers everyone.

[FLmom]

Enjoyed the second half of the Luke Macfarlane interview! I love how Scotty has evolved on the show. I hope we see more of the Kevin and Scotty relationship!

[Mel]

Thanks very much for the interview. Luke is great and I hope we’ll see much more of him in future episodes.

[luiiss]

amo a luke es perfecto
bellisimo y perfecto

[Gene]

The music played in the background is very annoying in all the episodes. It's so loud that we can't hear the dialogue-- We'll just have to give up watching it, if the music contiues to be so loud.

[j.U.d.E.]

Will, I agree with you! They should have Scotty go into Music/playing cello! That would be awesome!