It’s been a great summer of interviews! And last week I was lucky enough to take part in a conference call with Tate Donovan — one of the stars of DAMAGES, FX’s latest addictive drama. Here is how the call went down.
Has starring in a high-profile series with the super popular Glenn Close rubbed off on you? Has it affected your life and/or career in unexpected ways?
Tate Donovan: Working with Glenn Close is a fantastic experience. But you have to bring your ‘A’ game when you work with her. She’s really prepared. It’s actually really a joy because she asks the director and the producers the best questions. Every time, she’s sort of like, “Well, hold on a second. Why is this?” She was asking about the plot, because it’s very confusing to everybody, exactly what’s going on in the case, since we’re not really lawyers. She’s very inspiring in terms of just the questions she asks, and you’re always going, “Geez, I wish I had asked that question,” like “Why does Frobisher do da, da, da, da, da?” Yes, she’s wonderful, a total inspiration.
The writing and the characters are so nuanced in Damages. There is no clear-cut bad or good, just all sorts of shades of gray and in between. Your character, Tom, is for the most part, an on-the-level guy, but are you hopeful that the character will veer into the dark side more or stay more above the fray and above all the machinations that Patty has up her sleeve?
What’s kind of exciting about Tom is that he, like all of us, are just trying to do the best we can. I think he lacks that killer instinct that Patty has in spades. She’s a genius. She knows exactly how to go in for the kill. Tom, I think is more interested in being liked. Patty doesn’t care, she just wants to win. It’s funny; a lot of people are like, “You are the worst kind of evil, because he’s a nice guy and he’s evil.” I don’t particularly see him as evil. I see him as just a guy who is trying to survive in a pretty cut-throat environment.
Tom is kind of Patty’s right hand man. And we saw him basically stay with her, even though she wouldn’t fight for him. I was just wondering, is the character simply happier in her shadow or does he kind of see them as making an unbeatable team when they’re together?
When we shot the pilot, I said, “Tom is sort of like Patty’s wife.” The producers were like, “Yes, you’re absolutely right, totally.” That’s kind of how I play it. There’s a certain power in being behind the person who has the power. D you know what I mean, the obvious power? I think Tom sort of shines more brightly when he’s not in that first chair.