This Friday, the first stage of the Emmy nomination process will come to an end. Right now, responsible Academy members are watching screeners and throwing their support behind the most deserving candidates -- though it's safe to say that the majority of voters will simply pick the shows and actors that are buzz worthy and well-known. It happens year after year. Series like Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica don't survive the nomination process, despite their undeniable merit, because they're not pulling 20 million viewers a week. Actors like Connie Britton and Mary McDonnell don't stand a chance, despite their phenomenal talent, because they're not recognized around the water cooler. Still, there are exceptions. Last year, the little-watched but critically acclaimed 30 Rock not only won a nod, but went home with the statue too. And so, with the nomination process underway, I thought it might be fun to take a totally unscientific poll of the handful of Emmy voters I know, and find out which deserving candidates on my personal wish list might actually have a real shot of making the ballot this time around. There are a few worthy applicants whose names kept coming up:  Dexter's Michael C. Hall for Best Drama Actor, Big Love's Jeanne Tripplehorn for Best Drama Actress, 30 Rock's Tina Fey for Best Comedy Actress (she was nominated last year, so no surprise there) Pushing Daisies' Kristin Chenoweth for Best Supporting Comedy Actress, Mad Men's Christina Hendricks for Best Supporting Drama Actress and In Treatment's Blair Underwood for Best Supporting Drama Actor. Because I was so thrilled to hear these people mentioned as possible contenders, I decided to do my part to support the recognition of their talent by tracking one of them down and documenting their thoughts on their Emmy-caliber role. Blair Underwood was kind enough to oblige...

You've had quite a year. I was watching you on Dirty Sexy Money every week and then you completely switched gears for In Treatment. I know you went right from filming one into filming the other. Was it nice to play two very different parts so close together?
It was. But it has kind of been an insane year. I actually did a third installment of The New Adventures of Old Christine with Julia Louis-Dreyfus in between everything else as well. That was very odd, a rare thing for me. I’ve never been in that kind of position. Drama is really more my sensibility than comedy, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to Old Christine. I hadn't done a lot of sitcom work, and that [medium] is similar to my first love, the theater. But doing In Treatment also felt like doing a one-act play. It's two actors in a room, talking, which is what I enjoy most.

Was it hard to switch gears between the three, especially with In Treatment being so intense?
No, I wouldn’t say hard. There was really only one day where I had to do more than one of the roles, and it was Old Christine and Dirty Sexy Money. The timing of In Treatment was good, I was able to do that by itself before I started shooting DSM.

With all these different parts, you could argue that you've really avoided the trap of being pigeonholed after so many years in the business. But there is usually one common denominator in the roles you land: the sexy element. However, In Treatment was different. It wasn't about being sexy.
(Laughs) Well you are so kind, Korbi. Thank you. I realize [many of my roles] do have that common denominator, but I could be pigeonholed into a worse category, I guess. That’s the way I look at it. You know though, in a sense, Alex [my character in In Treatment] had some of that component too. He just really turned it on its head, getting up and underneath the complexity of someone like that. If you watch the first episode, he’s so overly confident. He speaks in great length on how he was bred to be perfect. He gives a whole [monologue] about how the quarterbacks of the team are usually the best looking. They have to lead, and God has given them everything, the physical gifts, the charisma, the talent. But because of the nature of the show, from there we began to really peel those layers away and get to the real human being underneath all that bravado.

Were you specifically looking for a role that was this intense or did they come after you?
Both. (Laughs) I’m always looking, but in this case, I was very fortunate that they called and made the offer. My first thought was, will people tune in to watch two people talking in a room? It works in a theater, but it’s always hard to have that drama translate to an audience on camera. Having said that, In Treatment is based on a very successful Israeli series and when they sent me the DVDs, I was completely swept up. And by the way, I’m hearing it in Hebrew, reading subtitles, but I was still drawn in. I knew then that this could work on that level. And [writer] Rodrigo Garcia called and I got the chance to talk to him about his take on the character and the entire show. I could not pass the opportunity up, because really, these type of characters don’t come along very often, certainly not for me.

When you think about Alex, this very serious, severe man whom you had to embody, is there anything in particular about him that still sticks with you?
When I think about him, I think about his profound pain, never having been embraced by his father. Getting into the whole psychology of that, in this day and age, we know that a great deal of who we are as adults is directly linked to who we are as children. So given his background with a father who loved him, but never overtly showed him love, was always challenging him, always putting him down, he always felt a disconnect. The disconnect between father and son meant he was never really able to explore emotion. In some ways, he was raised to be very robotic: do your job, accomplish your goals. And when you compound that with military philosophy, it just made for a very complicated personality.

Did you do any preparation for it, maybe talking to people with military backgrounds?
Well, I grew up in that world. My dad is an Army veteran. He retired a full-bird Colonel. I was raised on military bases, so that part of the role was almost instinctive. Having been around that dynamic, I had a certain understanding of it. It was exciting to approach a role like this, really laying into to the emotions of the character, with that kind of psychosis in the sensibility of the military -- forcing himself into that rigid framework, but bursting at the seams, because there’s a human being inside of all of this that never really expressed himself. That’s where the tragedy comes in. So much is bubbling up from underneath that he just can’t handle it.

What do you think about the Emmy buzz surrounding you?
It's so strange to me. I've had 23 years in this industry and I’ve always been the kind of actor who just aspired to work. I’ve been fortunate enough to do that. You just sort of put your head to the grindstone and try to make the right choices. When award season comes along, I’m not usually part of the conversation, so it’s a new experience for me. I'm thankful.

Comments

Thanks Korbi, great interview! I love, love, love me some B.Underwood. He seems so humble and sweet here. I want to take him home. I hope he gets that nomination he so greatly deserves.

Tee | Jun 17, 2008 9:36:45 AM | #

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Blair Underwood is amazing on In Treatment. Good luck to him.

Cynthia | Jun 17, 2008 12:36:25 PM | #

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I never got to finish watching In Treatment b/c I had to go overseas. Does anyone know where I can find the episodes?

Zach | Jun 17, 2008 1:11:26 PM | #

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I still see him from Sex and the City and earlier. lol. He's got really great potential on DSM, I hope he does well next year.

Alicia Gray | Jun 17, 2008 3:26:05 PM | #

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I love your Q about the sexy element! hehe. This interview gives me even more reason to enjoy Blair's on-screen work.

Dee | Jun 17, 2008 7:09:37 PM | #

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Great interview and article Korbi. Well done!

Robert Licuria | Jun 17, 2008 9:53:37 PM | #

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I loved Blair on In Treatment. I am also hoping for an Emmy nomination for Harold Perrineau for his role on CSI. He was great too. It's about time we get recognition for these guys.

Matthew | Jun 18, 2008 8:27:49 AM | #

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Matthew, Harold Perrineau was never on CSI. He was on Lost.

I would think Gabriel Byrne should be a shoo-in for a nomination, but would like to see Underwood get one as well. Such an underappreciated show.

Corey | Jun 18, 2008 8:39:01 AM | #

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If Underwood is getting talk then Mia Wasikowska "Sophie" definitely belongs in the conversation for "Best Supp. Actress" for her exceptional performance on "In Treatment". She was the main reason to keep tuning in.

BRIAN1304 | Jun 18, 2008 1:52:32 PM | #

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I agree about Mia Wasikowska (Sophie). She was phenomenal. Gifted.

korbi_ghosh | Jun 18, 2008 6:06:43 PM | #

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This actor is so talented amazingly sexy and from reading your article also humble . We need more like him in Hollywood . Good luck Blair on that Emmy !!!

| Jun 20, 2008 8:28:38 AM | #

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Congratulations to Blair!

P | Jul 2, 2008 4:42:55 PM | #

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