Mike Farrell & "Providence"

Mike Farrell on....

Jim Hansen:
I like Jim. Because the writers are still figuring things out I keep learning new things about him, so that takes a bit of adjusting. I like trying to figure out how much he has retreated from relationships because of his dysfunctional relationship with Lynda, but keep wanting to prod him forward to be more warm and forthcoming. They've given me the chance to do a little funny stuff with him lately, so that's fun.

Lynda Hansen / Concetta Tomei :
Again there are changes, so it keeps us on our toes. Lynda seemed to be too tough, too much of an ambitious bitch at first, at least for me, and I suspect Concetta had a hard time playing that. It seems to have been rounded out a bit now, though she's still quite tough and cynical. Concetta is anything but. She's open and breezy, chatty, very friendly.

Sydney Hansen / Melina Kanakaredes:
Sydney is one of those women who have it all and don't have enough appreciation of themselves. Self-doubt is the killer. She's intent on doing her best in all things and taking care of everybody but herself. The trap in a character like this is "nobility". Melina is wonderful and is quite impressive in the way she avoids the nobility trap in the character by insisting that she be real. Melina is a fine actress and a terrific woman.

Solid, smart, well- grounded, she has great personal values and has been able to avoid falling into the traps that plague so many beautiful actresses in our business, primarily, I think, because she's just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.

Joannie Hansen / Paula Cale:
Joannie has a heart of gold and a self-image of lead. She's her own worst enemy, but her basic decency continues to pull her through. Everything is a learning experience for her and the great thing is that she knows it and is learning. Paula is fabulous. She's funny, boisterous and crazy, but at the same time very smart, very caring, always interested in knowing what's going on and learning new things. She's a doll and monumentally talented.

Robbie Hansen / Seth Petersen:
Robbie is changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. At first they kind of had him pegged as the "bad boy", but they quickly swerved away from that, thankfully, and now he's just kind of a good-hearted doofus who keeps getting in his own way in an attempt to keep from having to do any real work. The funny thing is that every time he has to do any real work he finds he's good at it and actually enjoys it. He just doesn't want to admit it.

Seth is very sweet, very hyper, very funny. He's always onto something, is a major fan of old movies, old television, he knows cartoons, music, everything. He's always working on his acting, as well. Shelley and I went to see him in a play about the Vietnam war in a little theater in Hollywood. He was terrific. Shelley calls him a young Jack Lemmon, which is about right.

Hannah Hansen / the Bodkin twins:
Well, what can one say? Hannah is exactly what she seems, except she's two of them. As the girls grow they are developing distinct personalities, but it's still very hard to tell them apart. Very sweet girls, of course. They're starting to walk and talk now, which is going to make working with them even more interesting.

Heather / Dana Daurey:
Heather, the ditzy character played by Dana Daurey, is a great combination. Knock-out looking, open-hearted, only wanting to serve, she is a dream come true, except for the broken china. Dana knocks me out. Very demanding of herself, always trying to figure out how to do it better. Feels like she's the luckiest actress in the world to be working with us - and in fact we're lucky to have her. She is truly a lovely young woman in every way.

Q & A

Over the years you received several offers for series, but turned them down. What attracted you in "Providence" that made you decide to get involved in this series?

The script. I liked the fact that it was serious and a bit wacky and I liked the idea of dealing with family issues. After reading it I told my agent it would be worth a meeting with them and I liked it even better after meeting the people involved. Meeting Melina was the icing on the cake.

When the show first started the critics nearly trashed it. But the audience seems to love it. How do you explain the difference between what the critics write about the show and what the audience really thinks? And how do you explain the show's success?

The critics definitely trashed it. Not all, but most. Critics have to justify their positions, so must say something. In this instance, I feel that much of their criticism was a result of a kind of cynical overview that has suffused the media. Our show is not "hip" in the currently accepted sense of the word. We're old-fashioned, sweet and sentimental much of the time. I think the public has been hungry for something it recognizes in its own life and we struck a chord. We're not trying to be young or hip or clever or cynical, so they beat us up. They were wrong.The public is right.

In what sense can we compare Jim Hansen with Mike Farrell?

I have a tough time remembering that Jim is pretty emotionally closed. My tendency is to be open and embracing, so I'm trying to work him slowly to life in that regard.

The choice of Jim being a vegetarian, which is in my view the perfect life style for a vet, was that some of your own input or did the writers come up with that?

That was the writers' choice, as far as I know. I don't know if they knew I was a vegetarian when they made Jim one.

Playing a vet requires getting involved with a lot of different animals on the set. Has this ever led to funny, unexpected, annoying or absolutely adorable situations?

Sure, we laugh a lot when the animals behave like animals instead of actors. Some of it is hysterical, in fact, but it falls into the you-had-to-be-there category. And a lot of it, of course, is utterly adorable. So far I've been lucky in that the animals provided by the people who bring them to us are well-trained and lovingly cared-for. They haven't been a problem for me at all.

Do you have any pets yourself?

I don't have "pets", as it were. I gave away two dogs years ago because I felt guilty at not being able to give them the time and attention they deserved. I now regularly feed an army of squirrels and wild birds around our house.

The Hansen's family-life has some pretty weird, goofy, funny, and also sad moments. How important is family-life to you personally and what message do you hope the series carries out concerning family-life?

What one gets, I hope, is that all you can do is the best you can do. If you try to do your best there is no failure. My family is everything to me. And the kids in the show (and those behind the scenes) are becoming family in a very real way.

Which male character in the series do you find most suitable for your TV-daughter?

Haven't found one yet. Father's have a tough time with that, as I can tell you from experience.

Lynda haunting Syd's dreams not only undoubtedly creates a lot of terrific story-lines and interesting dream-sequences for Syd, but it also makes you wonder about what's out there on the other side of life. What are your views on the supernatural? Have you ever experienced something supernatural/unexplainable yourself?

Nothing that is clearly supernatural has come my way, though I'm a firm believer that there is more to life than what meets the eye. I think we know more than we allow ourselves to comprehend and as we progress we'll come more and more in touch with that knowing.

Syd's dreams must be fun to make. If you could write your own "dream" to act in, what period in history would it be set in and what would happen?

I'm not usually involved in the dream sequences, so I just watch them and enjoy. And they do get pretty far out. As long as they're justified as dreams they can go anywhere, so the possibilities are unlimited. I have to confess that I'm more into the 'reality' aspect, so I'm not the best one to ask to pick a fantasy sequence.

But outside Providence. What kind of 'dream'(s) would you like to see realized for yourself in the future?

My dreams for the future are simple: work, a happy, healthy family, a lovely, long motorcycle ride and continuing the struggle to awaken people to the need for serious human rights reform.

If you mean as an actor, I really don't have any great unrealized ambitions. I'm not one of those "must" act or "must" return to the stage actors. There is no role calling me.
I'd love to do a western. I can think of some things that would be fun, but I'm living my dreams.

The show is also partly being shot on location in Providence, R.I. How much time is spent on doing those location shots and what's it like to have fans showing up at the shoots?

The people of Providence have embraced the show and the cast in an astounding manner. They've been openly embracing and terrific. We really only go there, usually for a week at a time, a couple of times a year. And those are to film the outdoor scenes. (When they can find places that will pass, we film outdoor scenes here as well). The intention is to provide a sense of the reality of Providence for a show that is mostly shot indoors on sound stages. The last couple of times the company has gone to Providence I haven't had to go because I wasn't involved in the scenes that were being shot.

Last but not least... will there be another season of "Providence"?

Yes, we're already well into production of the second season and I have very little doubt that there will be at least a third. The ratings are holding up very well, so far, so that's a good omen. Also, economically speaking, having done two seasons it almost demands, from the production company's point of view, that they give it a third so they'll have enough episodes to syndicate. Of course, nothing is guaranteed, but that's the way it looks to me at this point.

Thanks for your time and good luck with the show.