By Kenn Gold
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Noah Bean plays David Connor in FX's Damages. Photo courtesy FX Network.
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Damages is the story of the nation's toughest litigator, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close), who is taking on the former executive of a large corporation, Arthur Frobisher (Tedd Danson), who may have bilked his employees out of their retirement funds. The surprise summer hit, which airs Tuesday nights on FX, also features the interactions between Patty, and her latest hire, Ellen (Rose Byrne), a brilliant new lawyer fresh out of law school who may have been hired for her connection to the case, rather than her potential. Simultaneously a legal thriller, a murder mystery, and a psychological cat-and-mouse game between the main characters,
Damages premiered to nearly 4 million viewers, and has maintained that momentum, making it the most successful new cable series of the summer.
The story is told in two different time frames, simultaneously. The pilot episode opened with Ellen leaving an apartment and walking through the streets of New York, bloody and confused. Then the story shifted to a time 6 months ago when Ellen was first considering working for Patty. As the story from 6 months ago develops we begin to see Ellen's family and friends being drawn deeper into the web of intrigue surrounding Patty Hewes and her legal dealings. At the end of the pilot, we see that it is Ellen's fiancé, David Connor (Noah Bean) whose blood she had on her hands.
Noah Bean took time out of his busy schedule on the hit show recently to talk to MediaBlvd Magazine and other publications about the hit show. He discussed what it was like to be playing a character that is dead in the pilot, and gave some hints to how things end up that way.
How did the Damages pilot script cross your path? What was the clincher for you to sign on to this project?
Noah Bean> Basically, I just lucked out. I was the lucky one. They said yes to me, so I got it just in a typical way that my agent gave me the script. And I remember though when my agent gave it to me, he said, “This is really special and really good.” And I’ve been in New York since 2000, so it’s sort of rare that you get so few shows that shoot in New York.
So that to me was the first thing that it was something that I was really looking forward to try to find a show that keeps me in New York and not have to go to Montreal or L.A. And it just so happened that it was this fantastic script and so I was really lucky enough to get the part.
Did you know that Allen Coulter was going to be directing the first pilot?
Noah> I didn’t know that. I didn’t realize. And do be completely honest, I didn’t realize who Allen was and then quickly, I did my research and obviously then knew the Sopranos and Hollywoodland and all that. And Allen totally blew me away. I think that he did a great job with the pilot and he really set the tone of the piece and the way it’s shot because if feels like we’re shooting movies every week. It’s really shot in a really beautiful schematic way. Allen is just fantastic. I wish he would come back and direct more, but he’s off to some other projects.
All of directors have been fantastic. We’ve had different directors for every episode and all them have come in and really jazzed up the focus and really want to do some cool things. That's one thing that stays with the … they’re just doing fantastic cinematography. They’re doing some really cool camera work and that really stays. And I think these directors that are coming in are just really excited to be able do some really cool work that you don’t always see on television, stuff that really looks like movies.
You’ve done a lot of theatre work and I was wondering if you could talk about how you find filming a TV series compared to acting on the stage.
Noah> Yes, that’s a great question. I think that the biggest challenge is that we don’t know where we’re going in this; and so building a character when you don’t know what the end is going to be, although, I do have the fortune or the misfortune of knowing the ultimate end for my character.
But in the theatre, you get a script and you can really plot out your journey, the beginning, middle and end. And you know you want to play anger a certain way in Act I because there’s going to be a payoff in Act III. But in this it’s like being a part of a novel or being part of where all you can do is know everything about where you’ve been up to the current point. And then just play every scene for what it is, it’s a challenge, but it’s sort of an exciting time. And you’ve just got to be bold and brave and go in and give every scene everything you’ve got. But I think the theatre is always a great training ground for television and for film because of the specificities that’s required in theatre and really the ability to chart out a greater journey and … Bringing that to this project has been very valuable.
Now that the show is doing well, with the first episode having had 3.7 million viewers and the second week’s being listed as the most watched basic cable program of the night, what the feelings are like on the set now that you know it’s doing well?
Noah> I shot a scene yesterday with Rose because we actually took a week off after the premier week we had that week off from shooting. So we just all came back to work on Monday and I went in yesterday for the first time and it was great. Everybody was congratulating everybody and it was sort of kind of high fives. And I think it is so exciting now that we actually went up from the pilot, which seemed sort of rare.
Everybody is just totally thrilled and I think we were working hard before, but now I think everybody’s even more jazzed and excited and really happy to be there. So it’s great. It’s a great feeling because you’re kind of working in a bubble for so long and then finally when it comes out and for people to like it and for it to be catching on is a great feeling.
Is there anything you’d like to tell people about Noah Bean? And what can you say about Damages that might bring in people that aren’t already watching it?
Noah> I am absolutely terrified now. Tell them about Noah Bean? I don’t know, man. I think I am, like you said, this is the highest profile thing that I’ve ever been fortunate to be involved in and I am psyched and I’m really excited and thrilled to be a part of this. I love the show. It’s a blast to be shooting this thing. It’s a thrill ride to watch and it’s just as exciting to be making it, be involved in it. I’m excited for the season and I hope there’s plenty more to come. Whether or not I’m a part of those seasons, we’ll wait and see.
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Noah Bean talks about his role in Damages. |
Even if not, I think that I would just love to stay involved in projects of this caliber and that are this kind of writing that is as good as this-- and with a cast that is as good as this, and with similar creators and directors. I’m excited and I’m just so thrilled that people are getting hooked to the show as much as I am right now. Hopefully, people will be seeing more of me beyond the season. I’m excited.
So have you had anybody recognize you yet from your work on the show just walking down the street or anything?
Noah> I had the first, a bartender actually, the other day. I was at this place called the Beatrice Inn in the West Village of New York and the bartender recognized me. He said “I saw you get killed the other day,” which is pretty cool. And he said he’s been seeing me on the show and he likes it. I don’t know. I haven’t gotten too many.
I actually asked Rose that last night because she’s obviously—you’ve seen the poster and Glenn Close is falling out of her forehead. So I asked her if she’s been recognized and she actually said no, but I thought maybe it was she’s got her head split wide open. Not many. But I don’t know, New York is probably a little different. I think that people kind of—even if someone did recognize me, I don’t know if they’d really care enough to tell you.
What were your thoughts on joining the show where you know your character ends up dead and that then potentially resulting in you not having as long as a run as other characters?
Noah> I don’t really have any idea what’s going to happen either, which is amazing. When I first got the job, obviously in the pilot, we see what happens to David and it didn’t look so good. But at first, I was kind of thrilled because I thought this was just great. I get one season on this great show. And then once we started shooting it, I was like, “Darn it, this stinks because, it’s so great". It’s just gotten better and better and better as we’ve continued shooting. So it’s a little bit of a bummer, but I think it’s going to be sort of fascinating. I think our writers and our creators have got some really cool story lines that are going to kind of build up to the end of the season and then like you said, I think that we’ve all kind of got no idea where this may go. So who knows?
One of our executive producers is Todd Kessler. He used to work on the Sopranos for a few seasons and he was saying that all those actors were dreading the call they would get— that their character was going to get whacked next week or something. He said, “You know what, you don’t got anything to worry about because you already got the call when you signed up for the job.” I don’t have anything to worry about. I know my fate is sealed, but how it’s going to happen and how long I’ll be around it’s still sort of a mystery to me and all of us over there.
Is your character David Conner going to have any scenes with Patty Hewes, and how many more episodes do you have to shoot?
Noah> They got us for 13 episodes, which is a full season on FX. And we’re about half way through shooting right now. We’re in the seventh episode shooting lines. And yes, without giving too much away, David, my character, does start to get some run-ins with Patty Hewes. Thankfully for myself, the actor, it’s like a dream come true. It’s fantastic.
She is really amazing. We shot this scene a couple of weeks ago and I went in with all this stuff kind of planned out and had all these ideas about the scene and was kind of going to do this thing where I really want to stare her down. And I’ll tell you, we got into this scene and they yelled action and Glenn just—she saw what I was doing, I think and she then went so over the top with me and stared me down, that I couldn’t even look at her. She went inside my soul; it was really fascinating and terrifying at the time.
What are your thougts on working with Ted Danson and seeing him in this role of such a corporate heavy like a Ken Lay type person
Noah> I think Ted is unbelievable. I just think he’s so good. I just rewatched the second episode last night and he is so darn good. I grew up watching, just like everybody else, Cheers and Tom Malone. And the great thing about him is he keeps that humor, he keeps that sort of great likeability that he had in Cheers and everything like that. But this is a completely different side of him. The stuff that he’s going to be doing in the future is just fantastic and fascinating and complicated.
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David Connor (Noah Bean) is found dead at the end of the series pilot. Photo/screencap from Damages Pilot.
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Because the writers put these people in these really difficult situations and see how they react. I love the scene when he kind of says in the second episode that he doesn’t want to take Katie out. And then they choose to put him in the back of that car with the hooker doing coke and that’s when he makes the decision. It’s sort of fascinating. And, of course, that’s not the best place to make a decision to end somebody’s life.
Would he be someone that you’d want to do theatre with or work in film with to continue some sort of creative collaboration in the future?
Noah> If Ted Danson wanted to go to a bar a sing show tunes, I would do it with him.
So, obviously Damages is first things first, but are there are other things that you’re involved in, or are looking to get involved in both small screen and big screen and also theatre?
Noah> I’ve actually got a theatre company in New York called Stage 13 with some other fellow actors. I'm working with another actor named Dan Fogler, I don’t know if you know who that is. He’s got a bunch of movies coming out, this movie Balls of Fury and Good Luck Chuck. He’s got a whole bunch of movies that are about to come out. He is a really, really funny, unbelievably talented guy. So he and I and few other actors and some directors and playwrights and filmmakers have the company called Stage 13.
That’s been sort of feeding my theatre habit for awhile because we do lots of readings. We’re actually searching for another spring show right now. My involvement has sort of been on the producing side right now while I’m doing this. But it's been very good to have that around to keep the creative juices flowing.
