The Point Radio: James Spader From BLACKLIST To THE AVENGERS

James Spader is a master at creating riveting and intense characters. There is no better proof than on his new NBC series, THE BLACKLIST. James talks about why he came back to TV, how he gets into a role and the reason why he wanted to be in the next AVENGERS film. Plus SHIELD takes a dive and SLEEPY HOLLOW is the first winner. THE POINT covers it 24/7! Take us ANYWHERE! The Point Radio App is now in the iTunes App store – and it’s FREE! Just search under “pop culture The Point”. The Point Radio – 24 hours a day of pop culture fun for FREE. GO HERE and LISTEN FREE on any computer or on any other mobile device with the Tune In Radio app – and follow us on Twitter @ThePointRadio.

Transcript

The Point Radio I'm Mike Raub, welcome to The Point. When you want intense, you go to James Spader. He talks blacklist and the Avengers coming up. Plus, she'll take the drop and Walking Dead's back on the web.

Let's get to The Point. From swarming comedy to intense individuals, James Spader is the master of the complex character. There's no better showcase for that than his new series Blacklist on NBC. With James playing a master criminal, the FBI knew nothing about who enters into an

interesting relationship with the organization that allegedly will benefit both parties. I asked James about what brought him back to series television. Well, that character. I mean, I just thought he was really… I just thought, first of all, that he seemed like he'd be great fun to play in the pilot.

But he also just… He seemed like he'd sustain over the course of the season and even over the course of, you know, multiple seasons. I just think, you know, there's so many unanswered questions that it felt like it would take a long time to answer those questions.

And for me, just from a completely selfish point of view, that was enticing because it, you know, opened the door to all sorts of surprises as time goes on. James agrees that episodic television, like the Blacklist, doesn't give the audience or the actors much clues to how a story is playing out until it actually happens. And that's okay.

It really depends on the medium I'm working in, you know? I mean, in theater, you know everything going in. In film, you know, a little bit less, but still an awful lot. And in television, you know very little. And I think that's fine for me.

I mean, you know, working in theater or film or television are three different sorts of jobs for an actor. And I accept them as such. And I, you know, I think that, you know, the volume of material on a television show is so vast that I think that it helps in a way.

It's surprising from week to week. I think, you know, I've never been a big TV watcher. And so for the first time when I first started working on a series, I got to feel what it felt like to be a viewer and that I was so anticipatory about the next script that was going to come in and what direction we'd be going in and how the story might unfold and how, you know,

relationships might evolve or what kind of mess we might be getting into next. And with this show, it just seems like the possibilities for that are limitless. I mean, it really has such an inherent surprise factor in this show just because you know so little going in. So I really I like that aspect of it a great deal.

And I also, you know, I just being able to find a piece of material that tries to marry successfully, you know, something that's sort of thrilling and fun to watch. And that also can be very dark and quite serious, but also at times can be funny and humorous and irreverent. But the show sort of married those things very well.

And I like that. But it's just more exciting and compelling, I think, from an actor's point of view. It's just a much more compelling job. Initial reaction based on promotion over the summer had a lot of comparisons to the Blacklist and Silence of the Lambs.

But James is one of the first people to step up and say that's not necessarily the case. I understand that based on the pilot because you know so little and also because of the imagery in the pilot with somebody shackled to a chair and a big conveyment cell and this young Westby eye woman coming in. And there seems to be what might be perceived as a sort of obsessive compulsion that the

criminal or the shackled guy has about her that disappears out of her short place. You know, after he after the he's come to an arrangement with the FBI, you know, he's done with the freely again and he's no longer a guy shackled to a chair and an orange conveyment cell. But also, you know, it's very different from just sort of an obsessive sort of

psychopathic obsession about this woman. He clearly has a very real, given one sided, but very real relationship with her and and has intimate knowledge of her background and her past. I think it's a lot more than just fixating on somebody and finding out everything you can about them.

He really knows this this woman and and he knows of her background. He knows of her family. He knows of her present life. And I think that's, you know, I think the similarities between these two things that you're referencing disappeared very quickly.

So as far as his character on the show goes, will we get a little more inside into his backstory and the horrid crimes he allegedly is committed? Yeah, I think that's going to be sort of eked out slowly over the course of the episodes. A sort of overall history. I don't think will ever happen on the show.

I think I think it'll be over over this lifespan of the show that he starts to discover more and more about. And you do start to see in subsequent episodes in conducting business is really the transition from him being a prisoner to working out the parameters of his deal with the FBI and the Department of Justice.

And then, of course, they take on a case immediately. But from that point, immediately, right away, you see he's now moving freely. He is still living his life away from the FBI. And in subsequent episodes, you see him. You see small samplings of him still conducting his nefarious affairs.

So after decades of doing it, how does James go about creating a character? I look at story and I look to the influences or relations in whatever that character's life happened today. And I also look to see what their everyday life would be like and how that would inform who they are.

And also try and look at what sort of person can live that sort of life. And all those things sort of come together and marry with a given set of circumstances in the story and on the page. And there's a character. And then there's the Avengers.

James Rolle as Ultron in the second Avengers movie has a lot of buzz already. And I asked him how that all got started. Well, I met with Kevin Fie a couple of years ago and just told him that I would love to come in to that world at some point if the circumstances were right. And I don't know, it might have been for a lot of reasons.

It was, you know, I there was a time in my life where I used to go over to my friend Will Tout when I was a kid and I didn't write any comic books in my house. And he had trunkloads of them. And I used to go over there and bury myself in his room with his comics and devour them. And then I sort of put that down in my life and didn't get it back up again.

And then I have three sons and a couple of them along the way have shown a real keen interest in that sort of world. And so before it was too late, I wanted to try and see if I could be part of it. It just seems like something, you know, I'm, you know, it's a great it's one of the great luxuries as an actor is that you're able to participate in projects that the actual even

the process of making a thing or the world you're entering is so foreign to you. And that foreign world, in many cases, forces you to work in an entirely different way. And the challenge becomes so different. And I was intrigued by that. You know, I've been doing this a long time and it seemed like it would be great fun to

do something that I have no frame of reference for. So far in the new season, Blacklist is a rating success. And that means it's going to be kind of a tight schedule, beginning from this to the Avengers. How's that going to work out?

I'm hoping that it's going to be a fairly smooth transition. But you know, I don't know. We'll wait and see how long the Blacklist plays. Whether it plays a full season, if it plays a full season, then I'm sure I will be packing my bags in the last few days of our production on the Blacklist to in preparation to get

over to London and start shooting the Avengers. Between now and the summer of 2015, see James in the Blacklist new episodes every Monday on NBC or catch some clips right now at NBC.com. And we know we're the latest in pop culture. While we wait to see just how comic book sales were in stores during the month of September,

we do have a few numbers on graphic novel sales in the traditional bookstores for that month. The top 10 includes Saga Volume 1 at number 10, Attack on Titan at number 9, Saga Volume 2 is at number 8, Attack on Titan Volume 2 is at number 7, the 68th volume of One Piece comes at a number 6 from Viz.

Marvel checks in with Marvel Avengers, the ultimate character guide hardcover at number 5, Attack on Titan Volume 1 is at number 4, Naruto the 62nd volume of that from Viz is at number 3, Walking Dead Book 9 is at number 2, and the best-selling graphic novel in bookstores during September, Sailor Moon Short Stories Volume 1. Citing that the current situation in the company could destroy the franchise, six employees

of Archie Comics have filed a lawsuit against the co-CEO Nancy Silver-Kleit in a Westchester, New York court a few days ago claiming a number of different things involving not only sexual and personal harassment but also some odd behavior as well. Last year a lawsuit between Silver-Kleit and co-CEO John Goldwater ended in a private settlement. The numbers game continues in primetime television and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

is something people are looking at especially after the second episode was down about 30% from its debut. Of course that debut number was huge and even at this 30% drop there's still at well over 8 billion viewers. They also dropped about 34% in the key 18 to 49 year old demo and of course people will

be watching week to week to see if the decline continues. Meanwhile the first positive sign of success seems to be on Fox in the series Sleepy Hollow which has already been renewed for a second season. The first season runs 13 episodes and will end about mid-year on the network and the new episodes will be set for the fall of 2014.

The initial episode scored some 13.6 million viewers on Fox which was the network's best number since 24 debuted in 2001. We must be getting close to a new season of Walking Dead because the new web series has premiered AMC has launched the third season of the web series on their website and on their YouTube channel as well.

It's called The Oath and there'll be three episodes in all and it's directed by Greg Nicotero which makes it even better. Each episode runs about 7 to 10 minutes each and again best place to see it would be amc.com. Move over VMAs here comes the YouTube Music Awards will be presented in New York City on the 3rd of November and of course streamed live on YouTube.

Nominees will be determined by YouTube data like views and then voted on by fans as well. Lady Gaga and Eminem are set to perform and again it's streamed live on YouTube Sunday November 3rd. This is a fantastic form movie now has another writer on board to rewrite the film. Simon Kinberg has been brought on board and according to Hollywood insiders they say he's

overhauling the script substantially. Kinberg's resume has some pretty impressive things about it including work with the X-Men in Star Wars movie and of course X2 and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. With so many licensed products in their lineup it seemed logical that Dynamite Comics might get into the toy business and now they are with a new division called Dynamite Toys

and Games. The announcement was made at the Dallas Toy Fair and you'll see items based on the $6 million dollar man, Red Sonja, Army of Darkness and Vampirola as well. No word yet on any specific products at this point in time. By the way it's all part of Dynamite's 10th anniversary.

That's it for right now but we're back in a few days with actress Mary McCormick from in plain sight the West Wing and now the new series Welcome to the Family. Mary loves TV and I gotta tell you after sitting down with her the feeling is mutual. All that and more on the way but in the meantime keep up on whatever happens at Pop Culture at GetThePointRadio.com.

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