TV Addicts such as ourselves often have a hard time letting go when it comes to some of your previous work. As actors do you mourn the loss of a show, or look forward to the opportunity to explore something new?
Maura Tierney: I found that for both NEWSRADIO and ER it was sort of time to go and that my time with those shows had run its course. But I still miss both of them and think about them all the time, they were fun times.
Rob Morrow: The fun of being an artist or an actor is creating something, so after six or seven years and a 100 episodes something new is always exciting. But I tend to miss the people though, you become very tight and it’s a very intimate dynamic. As for the shows, it’s usually years later than I get a new appreciation for things which is nice.
What attracted you both back to series television fresh off extended stays on ER and NUMB3RS respectively?
Maura Tierney: I wasn’t planning on going back to TV, but then everything about this job and everybody involved was so appealing to me. Plus I really enjoy how the the show really keeps audiences guessing until the very last scene of each episode when we get to find out who is the good or bad guy.
Rob Morrow: For me, the character is what attracted me to the role, which is not always the case. This character of Jimmy Brogan is really fun and very different than what I had just been doing for six years. Also, the structure of the show just felt fresh.
Probably the most interesting element of the series is the reveal at the end of each that tips off audiences as to who was actually telling the “whole truth.” When you’re getting a new script do you find yourself flipping to the last page to find out who did it?
Maura Tierney: I was just joking with Tom [Show creator Tom Donaghy] that I really never know!
Rob Morrow: I never know which is always amazing at this point, having read so many screenplays and TV scripts over my career I’m pretty jaded.
Maura Tierney: I sometimes cheat!
Rob Morrow: That’s a good sign, when you want to know.
One of the things episodic television loves to toy with is the obligatory “will-they-or-won’t-they.” Is that something you two are looking forward to exploring more of.
Rob Morrow: More Maura! I always say way more Maura!
Maura Tierney: I’ve already explored Rob’s good looks.
Rob Morrow: It really is a classic kind of dynamic where it’s going to be how to keep them apart. There’s a history, an attraction and at some point the characters have to come together in some way. Of course how that will happen we don’t exactly know but hopefully it will happen in a way we haven’t seen.
And finally, having both had your fair share of success on the small screen, do you still get nervous when you’re launching a new show?
Maura Tierney: Having joined ER when it was pretty well established the last time I did a new show really was NEWSRADIO 15 years ago. So this is all new, but I’m kind of calm because I don’t really have any control over what happens anyways.
Rob Morrow: Like an opening night, I feel anxious. We, along with everybody we work with put their heart and soul into a show like this, work crazy hour and give everything we can and if people don’t like it, it’s hard. So at this point you hope people like it, because it’s what we do and you can’t not take it personally if they don’t.
THE WHOLE TRUTH airs Wednesday night on ABC at 10PM (CityTV in Canada)