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By Christina Radish
For over 30 years, the Zodiac murders remain one of America’s most intriguing unsolved cases. While this gruesome story has inspired many books, documentaries, television series and feature films, the psychological thriller The Zodiac is the first feature film to show a narrative account, based on fact, of how the crimes affected the professional and personal life of a small town detective assigned to the case.
The Zodiac is the story of the five confirmed murders that occurred in December 1968 and continued through 1969, and it shows how the power of the media fueled terror in a quiet Northern California town. Since, to this day, the killer has not been caught, first-time feature director Alexander Bulkley, and his co-writer brother Kelly, decided to focus on how the investigation impacted the life of the detective in charge of the case and his family, rather than a psychological profile of the killer. Although the fictional characters are an amalgam of real life people involved in the case, the film remains true to the events that actually occurred.
 Playing the centerpiece role of Matt Parish, a small town police detective dealing with the unthinkable, is Justin Chambers, star of the ABC breakout hit series Grey’s Anatomy. “My idea was to go to this town, a week and a half before we started shooting, and just engross myself in the community a little bit,” says the 35-year-old Springfield, Ohio native. “I would drive around and just map out Vallejo, and just try to place myself, living there, during that period of time, and feel like, ‘This is my place. This is where I protect people. It’s a great community that I believe in.’ And, I just sort of put myself back in the 60s, in small town USA.”
As the investigation into the Zodiac crimes continues, Matt Parish becomes increasingly frustrated as the case takes over his life, causing extreme friction in his normally happy marriage. Robin Tunney, star of the hit Fox series Prison Break, plays Laura Parish, wife to Matt and devoted mother to their 12-year-old son, Johnny (Rory Culkin). Laura’s biggest challenge is keeping her marriage intact due to the enormous pressure her husband is experiencing during the investigation. She grows increasingly frightened for herself, as well as her son and her husband, as she seems him fall apart under the stress and anxiety of trying to solve an unsolvable case.
“I’m from Chicago and my grandfather was a policeman, and my aunts are married to policemen,” says Tunney, when explaining her preparation for the role. “I didn’t do a lot of research, but not out of laziness. It was the sort of thing where my character only knew the broad strokes about the case, anyway. Matt Parish never really wanted to scare her, so the less she knew, the better. It shows you how different the dynamics in relationships are. This was 30 years ago, and there was definitely a huge difference between men and women, and the man wanting to feel like the protector, and not scare the wife.”
Even though the actors needed to display the heightened emotions necessary to convey their characters’ struggle in the film, both Chambers and Tunney said it wasn’t too difficult for them to leave the tension on the set, once they went home for the night.
“It’s just all those years of not working as an actor, and being able to let it out now,” says Chambers, when talking about how he was able to separate from his character once filming was done. “It’s pretty easy to go there. The film was originally titled In Control of All Things, so I tried to work off the fact that this guy was anal about everything. It was all about trying to control his environment. Whenever you set yourself up like that, the harder you’re going to fall because you’re not in control of all things. It’s very stressful to try to be in control.”
 “There weren’t a lot of light scenes, and that’s a little bit trying,” adds Tunney. “But, I’m kind of used to it. I haven’t really done a lot of comedies. I don’t know why, though, because I really like them. I’m kind of a firm believer in the fact that actors take to work who they aren’t at home. People show their other self in their art or in their work. On some level, it’s how you get that out.”
Having made The Zodiac two summers ago, neither Grey’s Anatomy nor Prison Break were even on the air yet, let alone the successes that they are now. “At the time, I had nothing going on, so The Zodiac fit perfectly into my scheduled,” says Chambers, with a laugh. “I think we shot it in a month.”
As part of the ensemble cast of Grey’s Anatomy, a drama centered on the personal and professional lives of five surgical interns and their supervisors, Chambers can now only work during the show’s hiatus. And, though he’s reading some great scripts, his biggest priority right now, aside from finishing season two, is moving his wife and family across the country from New York to Los Angeles.
“We’ve been doing Grey’s for a year and a half now, which is great. The show is popular and I’m having fun. It’s great to have a secure job and work with wonderful actors. But, I’ve been doing the back and forth thing. The show seems like it might be around for a little while, so now I’m looking into schools and trying to find a place to live. I have five kids -- an 11-year-old, 8-year-old twins, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old. And, I’m a twin, which is kind of freaky. Four of my kids are girls, so I have a little harem at home.”
Unfortunately, Chambers says that things are only going to get worse for his Grey’s Anatomy character, Dr. Alex Karev. “He’s definitely going to go back to the darker side. He just has a lot to work out. He doesn’t know how to express himself correctly. I think he’s in love with Izzy (Katherine Heigl), but she’s not in love with him.”
Finally back on the air after a four-month break, Prison Break, a highly intense series about an engineer (Wentworth Miller) who installs himself in a prison he helped designed, in order to help his brother (Dominic Purcell), a death-row inmate who insists he did not commit the crime for which he's been sentenced to die, escape from that prison, Tunney is really pleased with the reaction the show has gotten thus far.
“I just keep thinking, ‘Okay, when is it going to fall apart?’ But, I think the show’s definitely getting better, and we’re just finding our stride. The further in we are, the writers start to know the characters, and you have a bit more character development. Personally, I’m really proud of it. Wentworth is such an amazing man. The attention hasn’t changed him one bit, which is really remarkable. It’s a pleasure to go to work.”
“I think the reason the show has been successful is that it had a unique look. We shoot on real locations, and it’s a real prison, and I think people see that. I’ve been doing this long enough that you can tell when people have seen you in something that they didn’t enjoy, and when they have seen you in something that they actually enjoyed, and people really seem to enjoy the show, which is great. I’m really happy with it.”
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