PAUL PROVENZA
interviewed by UD correspondent Billy Mernit
interviewed by UD correspondent Billy Mernit
Paul Provenza, the actor who joined CBS's NORTHERN EXPOSURE (playing Dr. Phillip Capra) as its resident fish-out-of-water Rob Morrow (Dr. Fleischmn) made his slow exit, took a few minutes from his busy shoot in Seattle to talk about it all to URBAN DESIRES.
BM: So, I'm imagining the phone call from your agent: Paul, the good news is, you're going to be on this major television series, the bad news is, you're replacing the star.
PP: Actually there's nothing really negative about it. I have the most amazing margin of error. The real good news was - I get to move to Seattle, and they pay me. And actually, it's not quite "replacing" Rob Morrow-
BM: They took a different approach.
PP: Right. I don't have it anywhere near as bad as that poor guy on "Bewitched," you know, wearing the other guy's shoes...
BM: I've been enjoying what you've done with the part.
PP: Thank you It's funny, because it really evolved from week to week. The guy is so much more neurotic than I ever expected him to be. It's fun. He has a different sort of reaction than Fleischman had, but it's just as angst filled.
BM: You're playing it a lot more deadpan than he did. You kind of take it all in, and we get to see you process it...
PP: Yeah, that's what I'm trying to do. 'Cause basically, this is a guy who wants to be there. He may get disappointed and frustrated but he doesn't want to say, "Hey, I made a big mistake here," so he's gotta go through that process of biting the bullet.
BM: The episode where you were with Rob Morrow, on the "Alaskan golf course," was just great. How was it relating to him?
PP: It was really funny, because the crew was real nervous, it was like the Thunderdome. They were, like, is Rob gonna get all proprietory, is he gonna have an attitude, or is the new guy gonna be real cocky, or... what's this gonna be like? And -boom - within five minutes we really hit it off and we had a great working relationship. That episode we spent like 3 or 4 days out in the woods, together, working non-stop. By the end we were disappointed that we weren't going to get to do more.
BM: Sounds like it was the way you'd hope such things would be.
PP: Yeah, well, y'know, he's a real pro, and he approaches the work very, very seriously. And when you connect on that level, everything else is secondary.
BM: Similarly, it seems like you have a good relationship with Teri Polo [who plays Dr. Capra's wife on the series] .
PP: Teri Polo is a doll. She is such a talented actress. My respect for her grows, week by week.. And the two of us are real loose in the joints. We play around a lot, we have a lot of fun, and the process is really, really enjoyable.
BM: That reads on screen. You're very convincing as a couple.
PP: Thanks. we found that we have a real knack for screwball comedy, and we're hoping that we get a chance to do more of that. Actually, in the episodes we're shooting now, our relationship takes an interesting turn. So we're getting to run the gamut.
BM: Are you at liberty to infer what sort of a turn?
PP: Well, the stress of moving to this new town takes its toll.
BM: As one would think! I've fantasized that the two of you have a wonderful and somewhat kinky sex life.
PP: Yeah, well, we'll find out.
BM: What would you say has been your favorite experience on the show thus far?
PP: Episode One when I worked with the moose.
BM: Ah. Working With The Moose.
PP: It's very tough to work with moose around that time of year, when we were shooting. It's rutting season.
BM: You had a rut-ready moose on your hands?
PP: Apparently - and this actually inspired an incident in a later episode - there's something in Japanese radials that stimulates the pheremones. Moose can get, like, really hot over a 4 X 4. The car that we're driving now is all wrecked because it had been raped by a moose.
BM: I sense a National Enquirer headline here.
PP: Well, I still keep in touch with him.
BM: I know, those moose relationships.
PP: The moose had issues.
BM: Always!
PP: But it's true, I'm sitting behind the wheel of the car, and dealing with this moose, which is huge, and it's really attracted to something...
BM: Were you in physical danger?
PP: It never got to that point, but...you know, you can always tell that gleam in the eye.
BM: And you just don't want to see that gleam in a moose's eye.
PP: I'm always open to new experiences, but...
