By Jamie Ruby
Kevin Rankin, known for his work on Friday Night Lights as Herc, recently joined the cast of the new NBC Wednesday drama, Bionic Woman. Rankin plays the character of Nathan, the bionic technician, who has a crush on Jaime Sommers. MediaBlvd Magazine was granted an exclusive interview with Rankin for use on the affiliated Bionic Angels, an Internet radio show hosted at blogtalkradio.com, and dedicated to Bionic Woman.
It was the crossing over from Friday Night Lights, of show runner Jason Katims that led to the role on Bionic Woman. Rankin says that when he met Katims (Roswell, Boston Public), last season on Friday Night Lights, he decided he would go anywhere Katims went. When Katims offered the part to him, he didn’t know what the part really was, but Katims just said that they had created a new character, and Rankin told him that whatever it was he would do it. “All I knew is that he was going to be the bionics guy and ultimately was sort of a test run, so nobody knew what was going to happen with the character, and I just got up there and they all responded well to what I was doing, and you know, he was really just a crap shoot. I didn’t really know exactly how to play him. I didn’t want to play him too much of a techie geek…because I know there’s a possibility of a romance, but it was a fine line, because there’s a dark, serious tone to the show and I didn’t want to take it too far out there, but I also wanted to give it a little bit of lightness - also ground the humor in reality somehow.”
Traveling back and forth between Austin (filming location of Friday Night Lights), Vancouver (filming location of Bionic Woman), and his home in Los Angeles is challenging. Rankin says that he is constantly traveling back and forth between the three cities, but that they are all great towns. “Out of all the places I’ve ever been, Austin and Vancouver are two of my favorite places.” Even though the traveling got old really quick, he said that he would continue to do it for as long as they asked him. “Friday Night Lights – I just love the show, love my character on the show, and Bionic Woman has just really grown a really special place in my heart, because they’re actually letting me run free up there and do a lot of stuff, you know, just how I see it in my head, and just really run free, and I would do it as long as they would let me. I would deal with it now, and you know, I’m still young - I can keep it up,” he says.
The on-going writers strike is obviously a concern for Bionic Woman. Rankin says that he believes that the show could be a lot more affected than others, because they are fairly far behind in filming. At the beginning of the season they shot about four or five episodes, including the pilot, and for whatever reason the network didn’t like a good bit of it, so they reshot about fifty percent of it. They even took the second episode and completely tossed it out. He went in and shot three episodes in a matter of days, and then they placed his scenes into what they had already shot, which made it look like he was around the whole time, even though he wasn’t. Rankin says that they are also farther behind then other shows, because it is so effects and stunt heavy, and that they have really long shooting schedules. They usually work Monday through Saturday, with Sundays off. He also said that he does not know how many scripts they even have past the one that they are currently shooting. Rankin did however say that he supports the writers.
Rankin does have his own ideas about what he’d like to see done with the character, and they are already starting to do those things starting with the November 7th episode – getting him out of the underground lair and away from the computer. He also talked about the episode they are currently filming. “They’re training Nathan how to fight, and so I think they’re just really taking his character and they’re going to take him out of the underground world and just really let him be a part of the team more, as opposed to just sitting in front of the computer or fixing Jaime’s toe whenever it gets broken.” As for something specific he would like to see for his character, Rankin said that he would love to see Nathan’s family. “The reason why they’re training Nathan to fight in this episode, is because his big brother got a little physical with him, and I show up with a black eye, and so my big brother beat me up, and I show up and ask Will [Will Yun Lee who plays Jae Kim] to train me. I’d like to see a little bit of Nathan’s home life actually and so people can get a little clue into why Nathan’s the way he is.” He continues on about his character to say that Nathan is a guy that no one would have around unless they needed him, because he’s such a genius. “A lot of them are going to be annoyed with Nathan. Everybody’s slightly annoyed with him except for Jaime really. I do push Jaime’s buttons, but she’s the nicest one to me,” he says
Another question that comes up in the shows fandom is whether or not there is a possibility of a romance in the future for the two characters of Jamie and Nathan. Kevin believes Nathan is fascinated by Jaime as both a scientist and as simply a person. “I do know that Nathan, he loves his bionics, and he loves women, and you put them together, you can’t go wrong. I definitely think he is fascinated with Jaime, and I think that it’s just the combination of his two favorite things, like having peanut butter and jelly in the same jar.” As for the romance between the two, he said, “There was always that possibility when I came on the show that they wanted there to be some sort of trajectory there, but you never know when that ship is going to land. So, I think that if there is a romance, that you’ll always touch on it, but I don’t know how long it will be until you would actually see that.”
Rankin says that he loves working with Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan), who plays Jonas Bledsoe on the show. “I think Miguel Ferrer is just the coolest man I’ve ever met. He’s a great actor and just great to have on set, and just great to be in a scene with, and actually I’m glad that he’s taking Nathan out of the lair and kind of making me his sort of right hand man when he goes out on a mission and stuff,” he says. He also enjoys working with Michelle Ryan (EastEnders, Jekyll), who plays the lead, Jaime Sommers. “She’s just such a wonderful, beautiful young lady, and she never has a second to herself, because she’s in every scene and she rarely gets any time off, and God bless her, she’s just the biggest trooper.”
When asked if he prefers working on television shows compared to movies, Rankin said that he is finally at the point in his career where he can take a part because he likes it. He said that the two are different, and that he would love to get into more films and go at a different pace and really sink his teeth into a character. He also sys, however; “At the same time, being able to be a recurring or regular character, I get to really form a character over time, so it’s sort of like a film in that respect, but I would definitely rather do film.”
Kevin is experienced in both the comedy and drama genres. He said that when he first started acting, he planned to do strictly drama, but in less than a year in Los Angeles fell into comedy when he met Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) who will turn anybody into a comedian. He thinks that comedy is hard because there is something very abstract about it, but that drama is hard in another way, and that he finds it very fulfilling to do drama, just differently. He said, “As of recently, you know, I’ve been asked to do a lot of comedy, but I do love them both the same and I would love to keep them up equally.
Kevin has several other projets upcoming. He recently completed an episode of the upcoming season of Law and Order, which will air in January. He also talked about meeting director Michael Watkins (The X-Files, Smallville, Prison Break) while on the set. It was basically like a week long audition and at the end of the week he offered him the part in a movie that revolves around the rodeo circuit. He read the script and loved it right away. If all works out as planned, he will start filming in the spring in Santa Fe.
Asked about the greatest experience he has taken away from Bionic Woman, Rankin focused on the people with whom he works. “I would say that it’s really the people, and I think from job to job it ultimately ends up being the people that you’re surrounded with – the people that you go to work with everyday – from the crew and the cast, from the top to the bottom. That’s the experience that I’m looking for, because ultimately, this is life, you know, it’s not just a job, it’s my life, and because I’ve spent so much time at work, it just wouldn’t be as fulfilling as it could be if the people weren’t the way they are, and everyone’s just great.”
You can catch Kevin Rankin on NBC on Bionic Woman on Wednesday nights.
