By Christina Radish
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Enrico Colantoni at the 2006 San Diego Comic Convention. |
In the wealthy, seaside community of Neptune, California, Hearst College stands as a beacon of higher education. But, even within this idyllic and sun-drenched campus, higher education is not always what it appears. Luckily for them, incoming freshman and part-time private investigator Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) is used to getting to the bottom of things.
Hoping to leave the ghosts of Neptune High behind her, Veronica, along with boyfriend Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) and best friends Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino), are now freshman at Hearst College, on the third season of the CW’s Veronica Mars. Still living at home with her P.I. father Keith (Enrico Colantoni), a new campus, new faces and new surprises promise to keep both old and new fans guessing.
Best known for his lead role in the television series Just Shoot Me, the father of two in real life spoke briefly with MediaBlvd. Magazine about the changes for Veronica Mars, whether or not Keith might finally get a love interest, and what he would do if Veronica was his own daughter.
MediaBlvd.> What can viewers expect from season three of Veronica Mars, now that everyone has graduated high school?
Enrico Colantoni> They’re in college now. Certainly, from what I’ve read already, it’s really gotten racier. It has to. They’re not in high school anymore. It’s a different environment. Different things happen. Veronica grows up really fast. It makes it exciting. I hope people follow it. Maybe she’ll be teaching those college kids a thing or two.
MB> Will the father-daughter dynamic be changing on the show?
Enrico> I think it is. We joke about how much more grown up she can be, but there are areas where she’s still a little naive, like the sexual area. I have a feeling, although I can’t prove it, that there’s going to be a lot more distance between the two of them because people grow up.
MB> Will you still be working together so that you can have that interaction?
Enrico> I have no idea. She is living at home. I think I go out of town a lot more. I think I become a B story. That will give me more days off, which is just fine. But, my sense is that she might become more of a caretaker for him.
MB> Any chance that you’ll get another love interest in the future?
Enrico> They threatened me with one. But, they threatened me with one last year, too.
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Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni |
MB> Do you ever go into the writer’s room to ask them for anything?
Enrico> No. Then, I would actually be responsible, and I’d rather not be. I’d rather just show up and say, “Hey, this is cool.”
MB> What’s it been like to work with Kristen Bell?
Enrico> There are a lot of cast members on this show that I’ve never met. But, with K.B., the relationship is intact. When I see her, it’s like coming home. I have an immediate paternal instinct toward her, and it works really well. Thank God, because it would be really tough to fake that.
MB> Did you spend any time together before you started working together, in order to form that bond you have on screen?
Enrico> No. We had serendipitous moments on our side. Two hours after we had tested, I was doing a play, off of this quiet, remote street in Los Angeles, and she happened to be driving by with her boyfriend. She stopped and said, “Rico?” That was the weirdest thing. Then, I ran into her weeks later at the grocery store with my daughter, and got the opportunity to be the first one to introduce my daughter to her. The little things like that just made it magical.
MB> Do you think that, if you were Veronica’s father, that you would let your daughter go out and do all of these things?
Enrico> I’d beat the shit out of her. I’d raise her the way my dad raised me. No way, man. We always have that conversation -- executive producer Rob Thomas and I -- about how we can justify that he’s her dad, but he’s still letting her do all this crap. It’s a fine line we have to walk because, if he did know exactly what was going on in her life, he would have moved out a long time ago.
