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By Shaun Daily and Kenn Gold
 New Amsterdam is Fox’s mid season show about John Amsterdam, the 400 year old homicide detective who was given the gift of immortality by a Native American medicine woman. The catch though, is that John will become mortal once he meets his true love. After having a near fatal heart attack on the train platform while confronting a fugitive, John wonders if his soul mate may be Dr. Sara Dillane, who treated him and saw him die.
Alexie Gilmore recently came onto ShaunOMac Radio’s TV Talk to talk about the show and her character with host Shaun Daily, and MediaBlvd Magazine Editor, Kenn Gold.
Shaun Daily> What do you think of your character? Do you like Sara Dillane?
Alexie Gilmore> I do. I feel for her because I feel she is just a regular woman who happens to fall for a guy who is immortal. But that’s a really hard thing to believe. But she’s a doctor and she’s very sensible. So I think for her it’s a real circle to try to find out who John Amsterdam is. And there’s kind of that mystery there. She doesn’t have all the facts yet, so there’s not a lot of trust that’s there yet.
Shaun> She’s a very smart character who isn’t going to take this explanation lightly. From the pilot, you’ve got the pieces. He has this unusual blood type, he walked out of the morgue. Now as she’s going out and getting more and more pieces it will start sinking in as you go along. I mean she walked away when he told her that he was 400 years old.
Alexie> Right, I think it’s a pretty absurd line and I obviously don’t believe it, but in the next episode you see a little bit more. Like how much do I need to know about it to be ok with him? It’s kind of funny because not everyone knows everything about everyone, but as long as I don’t feel like she’s getting lied to or something like that. She knows that something is up, but she doesn’t think this guy is really 400 years old. So it’s very interesting. It’s been a lot of fun working on this because it’s not just cut and dry.
Shaun> How did you feel when you first saw this role? She’s a doctor and the heartbreaker of this immortal, John Amsterdam. It’s a unique show, and we like it. We’ve been on it since day one. How did you feel when you first saw this role. Were you like ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’
Alexie> Yeah, it’s definitely a little bit far fetched. But I liked that it was a little bit different. It has that element of being a cop drama show, and there’s a case their running and it’s real life. There’s also that love story element to it, is there the one out there for you. His happens to be really important though because he can’t get his mortality back without it. And then the fact that it was shot in New York. Just to see it now playing, you don’t really see what it’s going to look like until you see it airing. So that’s been really exciting seeing how much of New York you see in it, that was really exciting to me.
Kenn Gold> How long ago did you wrap up? I assume it was awhile ago since there was the delay in it starting?
Alexie> Yeah, we actually shot the pilot last March, and then we shot the rest of the episodes this Fall. So I think it was in October and November, before the strike happened. We were kind of lucky that we didn’t get affected by the strike. So yeah, we’ve just been waiting. I’ve been forgetting what happens each episode, and I’m like ‘Oh yeah, that happened, I was married.’ So you’re like playing catch up, but it’s exciting to see it like that, to see it unfold.
Kenn> Do you know when we will hear about a 2nd season? Fox has announced some things already.
Alexie> Yeah, I don’t yet. I mean we’re all kind of waiting on that right now. We have two more episodes left, then we’ll hear shortly after that at the up-fronts. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed.
Shaun> How do you feel about that? You have all the characters on the show, and then you have the character of New York. David Manson said the goal was to make the city as much a part of the show as each of the characters was. Do you feel the same way?
Alexie> Definitely. You just recognize so much of it, just being there. I was born in New York, so it’s like a lot of memories for me. Then the history part of it too, you just feel like you really are getting to know New York city. Because it goes back and forth in time, and most of our scenes were really shot on location. Of course some of our scenes were shot in studio, but a lot of it was shot out in the street, so it was pretty cool. I’d call some of my friends and be like ‘We’re shooting on 7th Street’, and they’d come by and watch. So New York is definitely a huge character in it. People are really connecting to it and liking that it’s not fake New York. It’s the real thing. We can’t fudge that.
Shaun> How do you feel about these high concept shows like New Amsterdam, and we had earlier in the fall with Journeyman. Then there’s Jericho. I really think the viewing audience is hungry for shows like this where there is the procedural drama, but then there is a big twist, like an immortal cop. Do you feel there is a future for shows like this?
Alexie> Oh yeah, definitely. I think as long as the show keeps a human quality to it, like John Amsterdam, who is pretty much the guy carrying the show, and I think he is just so wonderful having that sense of vulnerability. He’s like this Renaissance man and dashing and smart, but he’s also really vulnerable like everyone else. And I think as long as there is that human connection in the show, people will relate to it.
Kenn>So without giving away too much, will we get to see if Dillane and Amsterdam get together, and whether or not she really is the one?
Alexie> We’ll see! What does David (Manson,) say? You’ve got too watch to find out. There are a lot more answers.
 Kenn>I was talking to someone about it, that it would be a really interesting twist if he becomes mortal because he meets her, then she has no interest in him. Back when we found out she had a husband, I thought that was maybe the end of the relationship.
Alexie> Yeah, that’s the thing that’s funny about life. You think you’ve finally met the one and maybe they don’t think the same thing. There are a lot of possibilities that it could go right now. Though he thinks he’s found the one, there’s so many different ways it could go. Every episode there’s a few more answers, but it keeps you guessing. We were learning just as we were going, as I’m sure David was. He’s like ‘Yep, we’ll see what happens next episode.’
Shaun> Is there going to be some sort of a cliffhanger, or can you say?
Alexie> Yeah, there’s definitely a cliffhanger. I can say that. I won’t say what it is, but there is.
Shaun> You’ve had a great career, how does a series like New Amsterdam fit in with the highlights of your career?
Alexie> It was a dream come true when I got it. For me, to get a series regular on a New York show was definitely one of the things that I thought would be so great, because there are so few shows that shoot in New York. So I always said, ‘I’d just love to get a TV show in New York’, and it happened. I feel like I’ve been truly blessed with that. It’s so hard just to get a little something, you’re just going out there and auditioning and auditioning, and it never ends. You get one thing and you’re still working for the next. I’m thankful for having been a part of New Amsterdam and having been able to work on a really solid TV show.
Kenn>What was your best experience on the show?
Alexie> I have to say it was being a doctor; just playing an ER doctor. I’ve never done that before. My brother in law is a doctor, so I got to trail him so I was learning things. It’s not a doctor base show, so it’s not like all the scenes were like that. A lot of scenes are in the bed too. But that was a very cool element of that, just being able to come into the show. There would be soldiers around and you never knew what time era you were coming into because everybody was wearing different costumes. It was really cool, you just never knew what you were going to see that day on set. All my scenes were basically with Nicolaj. It’s a small cast and it was definitely a great experience for me, so I just hope it keeps going.
Shaun> Someone from England is IM’ing and you just broke their heart talking about your brother-in-law. Are you married?
Alexie> No, I’m not. It’s my sister’s husband. Unlike my character, I’m not married.
Shaun> There you go, the ratings will go up again on Monday. We do have a call, caller, go ahead.
Caller>High this is Jim Iaccino. This is one of my favorite shows. My wife and I stay home intentionally to watch the show, and we were watching when came on and we really like the show.
Alexie> Thank you so much, that’s so nice to hear that you’re watching.
Caller>It’s great to see your character, because sometimes you don’t even have to say a line, you just smile and it’s like a Beauty and the Beast type of moment. I do have a question. What happens if John ever finds out that you may not be the love that makes him immortal? Can we assume that you are, or will we know that by the end?
Alexie> Well, the only reason he thinks that right now is the heart attack was his first experience with mortality. But we don’t have proof yet, so we don’t know for sure so that’s why every episode is like ‘Is she or isn’t she?’ But you’ll definitely find out more as we go along. I don’t want to give anything away, but you didn’t know for sure right now. You don’t have proof yet. I can’t say exactly what happens, but it’s still not sure.
Caller>But if there is proof forthcoming, that would mean he starts changing and becoming a little more mortal. Then he is going to start noticing some changes.
Alexie> He’ll have to be a little more careful on his job too. He can’t just be jumping in front of bullets.
Kenn>I just have to say, that episode where they showed you with your husband was really disappointing. I was asking my wife, ‘Oh my God, what are they going to do here?’ In normal shows, this one is so short, it’s like a mini series.
Alexie> Yeah, if they are telling you crazy things that can be an obstacle in a relationship, but there is more and more revealed. But that’s one of the things everyone can speculate about.
Shaun> What was your first role?
Alexie> My first role ever? That was in high school. I went to this great high school in New Jersey that had a great drama program and I took an acting class in ninth grade and it just felt so right, I just fell in love with it. I auditioned for the Wizard of Oz and got it. I played the Scarecrow, and it was just so much fun I was just like, this is it. This is what I should be doing. So I majored in theatre in college then just moved to New York and started pounding the pavement. So it’s been a real progression getting where I am today. It’s always a journey. But nothing has ever just happened for me overnight. It’s always been like, go do it, go do it, keeping your chin up and knowing it’s all going to be worth it. I’m pretty happy where I am right now.
Shaun> We have another caller, then we’ll let you go, I know you are busy.
Caller> I just love your show. One of your first credits was Rescue Me, right?
Alexie> Yeah, I was actually the best friend of Diane Farr. You remember that, that’s so wild.
Caller>My question is what is it like to work with Mathew Matthew McConaughey on this new picture, Surfer, Dude?
Alexie> It was so much fun, we shot it this past summer. There’s not a release date, but hopefully it will be out by the end of the summer. Matthew was wonderful. That was something I got so quickly, I’ve never experienced anything like that before. With TV you shoot the pilot, then wait months to find out if it got picked up. With this, I auditioned for it in New York and got cast. The next day, Mathew called me up to tell me I got the part. I flew out the day after that and I was like shooting like 3 days after that. I was just trying to play catch up reading the scripts, but we just had such a great time. Woody Harrelson is in it, and Willy Nelson has a cameo, and Scott Glenn; just a great bunch of actors. It was really fun.
Shaun> Well Alexie, thank you for taking time from your Friday afternoon. Everyone here really loves the show, and we’re really hoping for a second season. |
