TVSquad Talks To Jeri Ryan on "Leverage"

[JamesG]

Jeri Ryan Talks "Leverage"
by Allison Waldman
posted May 25th 2010


Jeri Ryan is one of the busiest actresses in television, going from successful series to successful series. Her track record is quite amazing; she's rarely not working.

In fact, during our conversation she mentioned that she was waiting to hear if her latest pilot was picked up by ABC. It was. She's co-starring with Dana Delany in "Body of Proof" which will premiere in the fall.



In anticipation of the DVD release of TNT's "Leverage", season two, in which she appeared earlier this year as con artist Tara Cole, Jeri spoke with TV Squad about the show.




What was it like stepping into "Leverage" for the second season?

It's sort of my m.o. I'm kind of the designated pinch hitter.

"Shark" is the only series I ever joined from the pilot on. Every other series I've ever done I've stepped into later.

My first series was "Dark Skies" and I joined during that run.
I was in "Boston Public" starting with season two.
"Star Trek: Voyager" was season four. So I'm used to it.







It's such a lighthearted and clever show.
It seems like it was a fun set, was it?

This truly was one of my best jobs ever. It was one my favorite places to work. It truly was.

Everything about it, the crew, the cast is amazing, the producers, the writers ... Everybody's a goofball, everybody wants to have fun. It was really, really a great experience.

And it was a wonderful character that they gave me to play. It was a win-win situation all around.







The characters on "Leverage" display a tremendous amount of confidence -- they are con artists, after all -- in all their schemes, which is really delightful to watch ...

Well, it's escape. Especially in times like this with the economy being as bad as it is, people are worried about where the next dollar is coming from.

With "Leverage", you get to feel that someone is standing up for the little guy, they're making things right for people who have been taken advantage of, they're doing things that a lot of us wish we could do.

That feels really satisfying, especially in these times.







Also the quality of the production is first rate, with feature producer Dean Devlin in charge ...

Oh yes, it's very cinematic.

The season two finale was like a feature film. It's pretty amazing the feats they pull off.
There are amazing production people involved.







The character of Tara wasn't warm and fuzzy.

She had a sort of 'I'm in it for myself' quality instead of the dynamic of the team, which is more like they're all Robin Hoods, doing right by people who've been wronged ...

I think it was a great dynamic because it added a little bit of tension to it, because it was like one big happy family before. When you bring in this other element, and like you said, she was in it for herself and out to make a buck -- hopefully as many as possible -- is was something different.


Also, she wasn't afraid to tell Nate when she thinks he's being an idiot or when she didn't agree with the way they wanted to do things. It was nice to bring that extra element in there and to watch as they began to appreciate each other, began to respect each other, and even develop some affection for each other.







Is the door open for Tara to come back some time in the future?

Yes, I think the door is open. I think it would be a ball to come back for an episode or two and see everyone again.

It would be fun to catch up with that character again. I loved working with those people.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/05/25/je...ager-and-more/