Gadgetory

Lance thanks so much for being here really appreciate it we turned up the heat in the building for you I can tell ya it's very warm and I apologize a good thing is that when black people get seen it looks good so you know just keep that I wish I were black I mean I'm just I'm just gonna sweat and look like crap well we really look amazing let's see that's what fair see that's how you know God works in mysterious ways because white people look good dry so it's just I do look I do look amazing dry that is as a well known what are we document I like this interview already this is good so I want to talk a little bit about your earlier career I know you've got new stuff that we're gonna talk about but um maybe you hate bringing this up maybe I you don't want me to talk about this but I want to about the wire a little bit okay there's a very rabid fan base for the wire a lot of people say it's the greatest show greatest drama ever put on television so that must be cool to be part of that but but that character your character in the show is a character that seems to be people seem to like you in this character which is sort of kind of an asshole like a little bit of an asshole but just get done it's funny because I think embroil is much more than Astin at least at least for a season is similar in a similar vein Paul Giamatti now buddies from drama school and we were shooting the first season of Fringe you know we're having lunch and he was talking about yeah the first season of French is really was the very end was the win the last season of The Wire aired and that's when he really kind of blew up right and we're shooting in New York and it was the first time in my career that I just like I just could get down the street without being stopped and I was talking to Paul about it and he said man is something about TV - because I didn't he you know cuz Paul's a movie star but he said it wasn't a telly did John Adams that I started getting that and it's something something about coming into people's living rooms you know on a consistent basis and it's not just that they see you often but they see you as that person I mean I remember we're shooting the first season of Fringe and the makeup artist the head make a person told me the story she said that a couple of cops were doing security we were shooting in New York they were doing security and they they came to her and said that guy's a badass and she looked around she said why and well that's the character yeah you use Aria playing badasses do you not do not think of yourself as a badass you mean in real life well I don't know I mean you get cast as a badass my kids they'll say no really yeah I mean it's funny cuz like I always think you know when you see somebody who you know it's a kind of a gruff character yeah I mean III said an asshole but it's which is kind of insulting I now realize but but it is a character who's kind of like you could see how that's the character who kind of gets in some ways can get under people's skin on the show in a way that is very forceful and and it's a very specific role you know it's kind of gruff but then ends up being a good like a really good guy and I feel like that must be something that people see in you naturally because it's so you're so often in such a similar kind of role well but once again the point about it is it wasn't until the wire I mean you remember I auditioned for three different roles for the water and that was the last they didn't want to see me for Daniel's at first yeah I just did four bunk three times that's so insane because to imagine it as anybody else seems impossible yeah I just have a bunk three times and the third time I went in they wanted to see me four bubbles really yeah because in my third audition David Simon was there and he had cast me as Marvin in in in the corner whose it was crack head so he knew me as a crack head and I just played great crack head and in Oz you know I played in undercover cop but a guy who gets addicted to heroin right boylar yes boiler in case you're watching Oz hello you know what that shows it's been several it's like a decade I think there's got to be a statue of like to think so that's interesting so it's crazy though because I show you so perfectly embody that character I mean I think it's a job playing Broyles after that kind of that's what it's like okay I may be in danger of becoming typecast yeah I don't think it's typecasting I mean I think that it's it's a I think it's a role that's hard to play I mean in my opinion it's kind of because you kind of have to like it's almost like in some ways you think that guys kind of a jerk but then you sort of love them and I think that's a fine line to walk am I in my you know Lin I did feel that I had to get really get into the guy's head because it wasn't just a matter of saying the lines and you know acting feelings so so obviously the wire is is a big deal for you but then fringe comes along with sci-fi something that that you have an interest in naturally or was that did you have to come around to the concept of doing something that was because it really is you know there is a pretty big difference in the tone between something like the wire where like it's like really gritty really real and then and fringes obviously feels with it's almost straightforward action-adventure yes right exactly was that was that something was with sci-fi something that you you you love to start with or was it did you have to come around to it I mean I will say I'm a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan yeah particularly I mean I have all seven seasons of Star Trek Voyager yeah yeah and kept the Kirk but I mean will William Shatner's portrayal of Captain Kirk was one of my like I growing up I just always wanted to be him yeah I mean I remember when I think about like I'm over a moat and that's like one of those Shatner's very throws himself into the emotion well I mean in all I'm missing shatters this is blowing my chances of shattering well essentially because I feel that um if you watch his work in the first season there's really a lot of subtlety and nuance I mean it's peace he's mesmerizing to watch right and I just think that quite frankly as iconic as that original series has become once you got into the second or third seasons it really kind of a lot of the writing became more and more ridiculous yeah so he's character that I played that yeah and when you you know when you're kind of being the guy mostly who carries the show and get into me right I just think he kind of fell into some habits then he became more like Kirk right and he almost became like a parody of himself right but right yeah but no I guess that's true again I just feel like he was really you don't know me yeah I think there is more subtlety in general in the first season of that show and and yeah it's weird to see how it did become it well I mean look once you establish the character and this in the place then it's sort of easy to play inside of that but it also gives you more rigidity to the to what you can do yeah and also you're it's the kind of thing where and once again I don't I don't want to spend too much time trying to defend shadows really you really are a Shatner defender you well know it's it's it's I'm just thinking about the difference in SE the wire for example you know I remember I I can't say what was but I went I had a meeting at the end of the last season of The Wire I started going on auditions for new pilots and I wanted this pilot edition in one of the the creators of the show was big fan of my work and he had he had been a showrunner on an HBO show and now this was a network series he said you know the difference between Sean HBO and a show network is on HBO they hire you to do your show a network that how are you to do this and I know and I and you know from the things that I've read about the original Star Trek it was as groundbreaking as it was it was a constant fight to keep it just from being a Western in our space right so you've got a new thing a new very new project that everybody's very excited about White House was it because there is there's all this other thing to talk about white house down explaining white house down to me tell me what this movies about I mean I think I know it's about but I want to hear from you well it's basically about terrorists attacking and almost it's successfully taking over the White House they're just so crazy to hear it out loud yeah terrorists taking over the White House yeah and and it's about kind of the the channing tatum is the hero and we could say to heroes and jamie foxx prison president and almost yeah yeah the god it just badass ass president ever and you're in your character is I play the Vice Chamber the Joint Chiefs of Staff okay so you're a military dude yes and I'm basically the guy in the military whose in charge of the military got the host some reason it's given but it's a little shaky but for some reason the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not around so I falls to you yeah he's like on vacation something like that listen I know you got to go thank you so much for doing this everybody appreciated