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Northern Disclosure
S4E5: “Blowing Bubbles” with Anthony Edwards
00:57:24
Anthony Edwards joins Rob Morrow and Janine Turner to dive deep into how his character, Mike Monroe, shook up the Maggie/Joel dynamic in Northern Exposure.
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Welcome to Inside the Art House. The go to destination for cinephiles and the number one place for art house cinema and filmmaker conversations. Each week, today's most visionary filmmakers pull
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back the curtain on the art of cinema.
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Sharing how stories are made and why they matter. Hosted by Greg Laemmle of the legendary Laemmle Theatres, a family that shaped the movie business for over a century. And Raphael Sparge, actor and award winning director. Together they explore the creative process, the struggles and the triumphs behind the camera
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and the bold ideas shaping film today.
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From indie debuts, documentaries to international art house cinema, Inside the Art House dives deep into a world where passion meets craft and where the love of film lives loud. Inside the Art House conversations with today's most visionary filmmakers. Listen or watch wherever you get your podcasts.
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Foreign.
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Welcome back Northern Disclosure followers, Our dedicated fans that watch this show week in, week out. We're so grateful that you're here with us and as always, you know, hit that subscribe button and, and send us your questions. You know, we, we love reading them, we love hearing your comments, mainly see them on YouTube. But thanks for tuning in. How you doing there, Janine Turner?
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C
I'm fine and dandy. This is my third podcast of the day.
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A
Wow.
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C
One hour and then another hour and another hour for my three different. You know, Rob, you talked about spinning plates of all the different jobs we do. So that's sort of what I've been doing today. But I'm. It's raining here, but it's a beautiful, it's beautiful spring. How are you, Rob?
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A
I'm good too. It's. Well, you, you, you're in a groove now because this is your third one. It's raining here in la. You know, interesting is rare. Yeah. But it's been a pretty good year with rain. But I was surprised. I didn't know it was going to rain. Then I just walked by the window and there it is. So this is a, a fun episode. This is an episode called Blowing Bubbles. It's season four, episode five, directed by Rob Thompson, written by someone named Mark, Mark B. Perry. I don't really remember him, but it, what's interesting about it is it stars guest and stars the great Anthony Edwards. And it's a setup. What I noticed when I was watching the show last night was that it's a setup of an arc. We don't really see that often, you know, because he comes on for, we believe it's 10 episodes and there's an arc and this is like a real setup episode, and it's got some real, real charm to it. What did you think about it?
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C
Oh, I thought it was charming, too. Very interesting dynamics. It created a. And I appreciate the bubble man, so to speak, much more now than I did then, the more I know about the environment. And once again, I think Northern Exposure was ahead of the curve. The environment, the radical sensations that give you migraines from something burning in the sky or volcano coming over plastic.
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A
Well, let's just explain to the audience what we're talking about, because the. The bubble man is. Who is the nickname for. For Mike Monroe, who's played by. By. I call him. I guess. I think that's what. That's his. That's his nickname. And I'll read the synopsis so the audience understands what we're talking about, because it's fascinating what you're saying. So, outside of Sicily, former lawyer Mike Monroe lives in a plastic bubble confined to its sterile environment over multiple allergies. When Joel diagnosed him as crazy, Maggie wonders if someone dismissed by Joel is worth getting to know. And so, of course, she does that. And so drives out to the bubble find. And finding that, as this, as suspected, she rather likes him. Meanwhile, Matthew, Ruthanne's son, comes to visit. After being let go by his employer, a Wall street investment bank, and tired of the cut and thrust of corporate life, Matthew considers moving back to Sicily to open a tackle shop. But when Maurice, inspired by Mike Monroe, begins talking about investing in making Sicily a health resort, Matthew can't quite quite help himself.
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C
I. It was so much fun to see Anthony Edwards again, too. I. I always called him, I think, Anthony. Anthony Edwards and how handsome. And he played that role to perfection of being somebody who's captured in this bubble and is ahead of the curve, surrounded by people who don't believe in him at all. And it was sweet, I think, to see that Maggie was curious about it and interested about it and brought you the article. And you're like, I don't want to read that article. And one of my favorite scenes between the two of us is like, I don't remember. I didn't write it down. So forgive me, everybody, but it's like something. Something Fleischmann is angry and. And then Fleischmann is angry.
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A
That was funny. Yeah, you kind of. You kind of say that no matter what happens, Fleischmann gets angry. Well, I love seeing Tony. Tony's a great actor, a great guy. I've known him for a long time before. I think a little bit before the show, and then we had some fun when he was up shooting. And, you know, he's just a. He's just a fascinating guy and with amazing credits. I mean, his. His resume is. Is extraordinary. Obviously, everyone knows star is Dr. Mark Green, which he did for. For, I think, 14 years or something like that. Top Gun, if you remember. He was Goose. The famous Goose. Everyone. I'm sure wherever he goes, people talk about that. He was on Designated Survivor as I was Billions. He was on Billions as I was. He was in the movie Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, the Sure Thing. And not many people remember this, but Fast Times at Ridgemont High. He was one of the stoners with. With Stalz, I think, and. And Sean Pen is the. The one and only Tony Edwards.
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B
Do you guys know how to blow a person's mind? I'll tell you that much.
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A
Why is that?
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B
Because a few weeks ago, I got a text from a guy said, hey, is this still your number?
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A
Oh, that's right.
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B
It was Rob saying, hey. And I. You. I did something in the last few days that I just never thought I'd do, which was I went back and I looked and I went, what was this? Because I thought, oh, yeah, I remember Northern Exposure. I remember. And I went back and I looked and, oh, my God, it's incredible how great your show was and why. I remembered how excited I was to be a part of it because you guys were doing something storytelling wise that no one was doing.
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A
It was really. It was definitely fresh territory for TV anyway.
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B
And I just remember I dove right in because I was like, season four, you guys were already a huge hit.
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C
And.
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B
And I came in and you were like, ah, the writers are doing this. And there was so much, like, sturm and drawing going on. And I was like, what. What's. What is this about? I hadn't been on a series that had been ongoing, and so I didn't know it. And I just remember being, like, thrust into this world with these super talented actors, wonderful crew, incredibly happy people. That was what really hit me. Like, you guys had established your family and you owned it and you owned Seattle and you owned. And I was just like. It just reminded me of how blown away I was at that time.
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A
How did you get the part? Do you remember?
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B
I think they just came to me, and when I see it now, I'm like, oh, I was really good casting for that. That was exactly who they needed. Perfect bas. Someone who's like, this close to being on the spectrum. Like, he's so, like, genius, but he's so also socially adept, you know, and here's the most beautiful woman in the world in front of him, and he's, like, not even knowing what's happening to him as he's falling in love with her. And. And then I thought, I just. I love how Josh and all your writer creatives were like. They knew they were going to do an arc, and they were like, okay, Now I look at it, it's genius. He's a lawyer. We're going to cover all kinds of legal stuff. He's going to have, like, this total sensitivity to the environment. This was all early, you know, global warming days. And a foil to come in there, too, because of. Obviously, everybody's just watching the whole show to see when you guys are going to get together. And it was really. I love that they just, like, immediately, you and I are. Rob and I are at odds because
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A
Joel picks up on instantly, like, the fact that Maggie's interested, you know, in. In someone else. I think Joel is automatically, like, even if he doesn't. If he. He. I don't think he would ever say that, but you can see he's just, like, jealous from the fact that she's even curious. And then when she, you know, as it grows, he gets like, that scene where. I love that scene, Jeanine, where I rip the magazine out of your hand as you're walking away and, you know, to see what's going on. There's. There's such. The two of them can children, you
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C
know, the spontaneity of that moment, I thought was a lot of fun. I thought the writing was excellent. I really. I really did. I thought the writing was excellent for this show. And the establishing of your character, Anthony, was. Was beautifully done. And, Rob, when I come in and you're lying on the bench, I knew Rob Thompson directed it. I didn't pay attention in the credits or maybe the captioning was on top of it or something when I was watching it this morning. And I thought, this feels like a Rob Thompson show because it was beautifully directed. But when you're lying there on that bench and I come in, you're like, I'm not gonna. You know, I'm not the one that wants to give a massage or, you know, whatever it was. It was just. There was. There was a lot of tension. But, Anthony, you did the most beautiful job with it. I mean, what a difficult character in a way. And it just showed your acting chops to come in and. And to. To bring such likability and honesty and sincerity to the part. And Intrigue. And as I said in the opening, I was just. Now that I've been through food allergies, airborne allergies, you know, I've. I've gone through. You know, I'm in 63 now, so I have list of things I'm allergic to and things I can and cannot do. And I can. I'm like, wow. It was. It was really a precursor. They were ahead of their time in a way, I think.
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A
And what did they call you? Suffered from something they called mcs. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
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B
You summed it up. Allergic to the 20th century. And there are people. Because I did research on it. There are people. And there are to this day, of course. And we see it even more where people, you know, we have so many chemicals and some people's systems just are hypersensitive to them.
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C
Well, they're bad for us. I remember when I was filming Steel Magnolias, we were in a rural Natchitoches, Louisiana, in a rural hotel, and I went out the window and there was a crop duster, you know, just coming to drop all the chemicals and. And whatnot. And. And we were realizing now how much those things really affect us. All the chemicals, pesticides, you know, additives, preservatives. I mean, in our. My great grandmother's day, my Grandmother's Day and my Mother's Day, they've. They had fresh food, you know, outside of the aisle, the grocery store. They didn't have all these canned foods with things in them. So it really. Well, how was it? How was it? Did you enjoy the process of. Of the show? And I will just say too, isn't it great to be up in the Pacific Northwest?
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B
Yeah, no, I mean, that was really. And I just was working this year up in Vancouver and it brought a lot of memories back of being up in that year in Seattle or whatever. I think I came in September and left in February or something and was. Did those episodes in that time. So I saw the full spectrum of the seasons. But, you know, just back to what you were saying of. And I cannot say more emphatically, you guys set a tone and you guys made a world in which your styles of acting, your styles of approach. Everybody, I mean, such eclectic group, Darren and Column and everybody, all this eclectic actor, but all doing it in such a natural, beautiful way that that's what we all knew, how we. I mean, to look now. And I punched through a bunch of them. I'm like, of course Bill Irwin was there and, you know, Kevin Conway and all these amazing actors that came through because of the, of the world that you set and, you know, we. It was just so much fun. It was free and fun and like, you're seeing Rob Thompson just was so welcoming and, you know, Corbett, I mean, it was just crazy. It was a crazy time too, because it was such a huge hit. It was so in the zeitgeist. And I think because of the experience I had there, I then a year later was like, yeah, I could do a doctor show, I guess, because if you could have that kind of experience, then maybe, you know, because as Rob and I, you know, as actors in the 80s and 90s, we're like TV. We're not, you know, oh, I can't sign away eight years of my life, and I can't. I'm like, give me eight years of that anytime.
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C
Well, that's good to hear.
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B
No, and you guys had that. You were with the right people. You're like, that's. Those are the good old days you talk about.
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A
Yeah, we talk about that a lot. About how, you know, it's not. I don't think we took it for granted, but we did, you know, we were young, experience our life. But, you know, to that kind of world, I mean, what I love about the work is to get immersed in these worlds, you know, and then when I have, you know, by the way, I know Wiley's a good pal of mine and he has this mantra that I have adopted, which is. And he said it for like a year until he landed, until the pit came and he'd been, you know, he hadn't been working, he was frustrated, and he says, place me in the company of first class artists with good hearts and good minds doing great work. And that to me, that, that, that was Northern Exposure, you know, these were good people with good hearts and they were first class and they were great at what they did. And, you know, that's. That to me, is everything. So, so. And then when you came on, I, you know, I was already a fan and personally and professionally and. And knew your work and was so excited to get to play with you. And we dovetailed right away, you know, I mean, we just kind of clicked and found a groove for those characters.
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B
And, And I remember, Rob, you were so good. You were always so good about fighting for what you believed in, you know, and in most experiences around bad television, people don't do that. You know, people go like, oh, whatever. I'll just do whatever. There's that thing that happens that can happen where people go, like, oh, well, if they're Looking at that, then we're in trouble. And you're like, no, we have to do that part right, you know, and you were always that way with the truth of what was going on in the scene. And, you know, to be honest, you were like a great example because, you know, there's. You know, when you don't please people, they're not always pleased, you know. And you. You. You weren't afraid to be a little. A little stand upish, a little edgy.
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C
I call it passion.
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A
Janine and I both fought for, you know, to try to keep the integrity of the show. I remember, you know, as the show goes on, as, you know, 14 years on a show, you know, it's. It. They're not interested in quality at a certain point as much as they are about getting the day, getting the crew out, getting them off the clock. And so you have to fight in a way to. To. To maintain that integrity. And I remember a director on Northern Exposure coming up to me and saying, you know, it was like night, and I was exhausted, but I wanted to do one more take because I didn't feel. I nailed it. And he said something to me like, hey, it's just tv. And I just. I saw stars. I was like, are you kidding me? Really? You're saying that to me? Like, really, in the middle of my work day, you're gonna tell me to dismiss this? It was amazing.
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B
That's the tone that was set.
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C
Well, thank you. It's so good to hear that. And I remember we were. I had just returned from filming Cliffhanger, and I was just so glad to be home. I'd been in Italy for three months and working in the mountains, and it was exhausting. But. But the freshness of there was just the. I don't know. Of course I'm biased, but Northern Exposure was written so beautifully. I think everyone was at high peak performance. There weren't any slackers. You know, the writing was great, the producing was great, the directing was great,
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A
the lighting was great, and the production design.
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C
Let's talk about the bubble. The bubble. I was looking at the bubble. Yeah.
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A
Which was. The Circle 8 ranch in eastern Washington is where they placed the exterior. And then they also had an interior for the interior scenes.
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C
Do we film interiors on the set? Set?
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A
Yeah, on the stage.
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B
We did. And. And you guys were really good at that. And the show that, like, I mean, you know, you. You were not afraid to be outside, and. And you seamlessly went inside into your stages really beautifully, and it really holds up. I was like, That's. That stuff still looks great.
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C
Sometimes I. You know, it's been so long. Were some of those scenes, those interiors, they were on the set because the lighting was so great.
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B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We built. They had the interior for the stage, but they had the dome where you could. Just people walking in and out. But that was just like, you know, your office. I mean, just like the Fleischman office. Right.
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C
But the interiors were in Redmond. We filmed them in Redmond.
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A
We filmed the interiors on the stage in Redmond. And then the. The. The exterior was in.
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B
In.
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A
In. In. On this place called the Circle 8 Ranch.
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C
The lighting. The lighting then was superb because the lighting, you know, Frank Prinzey did a fabulous job of having that light just bounce down. Of course, I love. As a woman, I love light like that.
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A
It's natural diffus.
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C
They did that on the soundstage is pretty amazing. To create. Recreate that on the soundstage. Kudos to them.
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A
I love your reaction to. To. To. To Mike, Janine. The way you. The way you kind of. Your curiosity and your. Your being, you know, kind of attracted to him and realizing it. And it's sweet. You have a very sweet kind of way about you when you with him. It's nice to watch.
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C
Well, it was different. It was nice to have that different color, to be able to have this sort of genteel, gentle experience with this man and to be intrigued by him and attracted to this handsome Anthony Edwards. But then. And then to go back to the caustic sort of repartee between the two of us where we're just always like this with each other, I think it
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B
was helpful that we didn't know where we were going. I mean, that's where, like, I was always remarked with the fact that, like, the writers were all in LA and everybody else was up in Seattle, and there was always like a kind of a tension. But the fact is, because I know that. I mean, maybe you guys knew, but I didn't know exactly where this guy was going.
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A
No, I don't think any of us.
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C
We didn't know.
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B
Yeah. So because of that, we really were in this alien environment, Janine, where we were like, who are you? Who is. What is all of this? And it kind of made us be extra aware, you know, And I think that was fun for the audience because you're like, this guy's a fraud. Oh, no, he's real. Oh, no. Oh, shoot, she's falling for it. Oh, no, he's scanning her. Like, they're really good about keeping Everybody on edge. As uncomfortable as that could be at times, because as actors were always like, I want to know everything. I want every detail and I want it. And it's like, you know, you. I think in age you start to realize, like, no, it's okay for me to not know.
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C
Our characters were discovering each other as we were also as actors, discovering what was right in front of us because we didn't know what was going on. So.
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B
Right, because you just got back from Italy, you didn't know what way was up.
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A
I know.
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C
I was so tired.
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B
You were like, where's my dog? Where's my dog?
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A
I know.
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B
That was like the love of your life, that dog. I was like, there's a dog. What is this dog doing here?
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C
I loved her so much. I had her from 19 to 34.
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B
I bet. I mean, she. She was like part of you.
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A
Wait, you said 19 years. Janine.
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C
I had her from age 19 to age 34. Eclair.
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A
So Janine had this dog that was always there. Eclair. With. With. With those eye boogers. Always. Never used to drive me crazy.
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B
Can we rehearse? Someone has to hold Claire. And who was that crazy? You had a. You had a bodyguard. What was his name? Was he English? Oh, yeah.
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C
Oh, gosh.
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B
He was security because you guys are so big. But he was the sweetest guy in the world and would do anything, help you in any way.
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C
Bonsai tree or something that he had at the time. But. Yeah, well, you know, weird things can happen and that. You start to get those letters and
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B
you guys were huge and everybody had to be safe. It was good.
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C
Yeah. That's so funny.
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B
Little.
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C
Little Eclair. And you know, it's funny, I named her after my. One of my very first characters in Los Angeles when I was 17. It was a behind the scenes. It was a soap opera that was airing opposite Johnny Car on cbs, so we never had a chance. But it was created by the same creator at Dallas, and I got my start on Dallas in Dallas. Anyway, the character was Jane Eclair. But if you said it really fat. No, Janie Claire. Janie Claire. Janie Claire. But if you said real fast, it sounded like Jane Eclair. So that's why I named Eclair Eclair. Good to know she was French. Aren't you excited to know that little tidbit of history?
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A
Yes, it's good to know.
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B
Yeah, I'm starting to like the dog now.
- [22:35]
A
I love that Mike guesses your perfume. That's such a sweet little moment that's kind of where it starts to begin, you know, you and. You and your character. Maggie loves that. Like, it's. You're so moved by that. It's. It was sweet because it really feels like a. A kind of inciting incident.
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C
It was very sexy.
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B
It was sexy in an alien kind of way.
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A
In an alien kind of way. But the audience doesn't. But you are beautiful and Tony, you. You look so handsome and. And you know, so there was something cool about it. And the, the audience just like, we didn't know what was going to happen. The audience doesn't realize. They think, you know, because. Because this is the first time. I mean, aside from Adam, who just kind of popped up here and there, this was setting up a whole storyline, you know, and they don't know that you're going to be there for. For the next 10 episodes.
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C
Six, eight or 10. None of us can figure that out.
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A
Right. It's. I think it's more than six. It just. It. But I re. I remember. But it said 10 in.
- [23:40]
C
In the IMDb just walking down the street at the end in. Which must have been sort, I guess Maggie's idea because it's like, do you want to take a walk? She probably went to Maurice. And the fact that he would let you wear it. I just kept thinking, oh, my God, he's letting someone wear his space outfit from, you know, his, his space shuttle or whatever. It probably wasn't the shuttle, whatever he did. I don't know. But. But how unique was that? I mean, what. Tell me. Show me a TV show that had a bubble. A bubble man and somebody that walks down the street in a NASA and everybody.
- [24:10]
B
And everybody in town is like, oh, yeah, okay, well, that's. That's normal.
- [24:13]
A
He's a novelty. But I think, Tony, I remember that it was. I don't know if I'm just. If I'm misremembering, but that you had a hard time because it wasn't like ventilation. It wasn't like, as you know, you weren't getting real air in there, you know.
- [24:25]
B
Yeah, no, it wasn't actually hooked up to a life support system. So I was trying to not fog up my close up.
- [24:33]
C
Well, that's a new line instead of, you know, I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille. It's. I don't want to fog up my close up. That must have been kind of claustrophobic. I wouldn't have liked that at all.
- [24:44]
B
Yeah, no, but it was cool because it was like a real replica of A spacesuit. So it's as close to, you know, Hail Mary for me, you know, as I could get.
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A
What, what, what comes back like when you first kind of showed up or I mean, you kind of told us a little bit but like as, as the show kind of progressed and you started to kind of of get used to the world and you became one of the company, you know, pretty quickly.
- [25:11]
B
It's really interesting because it's, you know, we all, it's all very personal for all of us especially because here we are, we're all. I think we're all exactly the same age. We're. I was born in 62. I'm 63. Yeah. And you know, so here we are and looking back at that and going, wow. Yes. The. My real memories are really feeling a part of the. I feel. And to this day, you know, John Cullum ended up working with my wife Mare. And I've, you know, all like there, there's but that time like doing that silly things like going to a Mariners game and throwing out the first pitch with you guys.
- [25:51]
C
I miss that too. Somehow. I missed all the fun things.
- [25:55]
B
No, you were there. I have pictures of you and I. Was I there in the Mariners stadium? Yes, yes. We went out, out to. Yes.
- [26:02]
A
Janine, maybe you didn't miss so many things, you just don't remember them. I'm not sure which is worse.
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B
I don't know.
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C
There's been a lot in my life since then. The brain can only hold so much. Anyway, go ahead. Okay. You threw out the first pitch at the Mariner games.
- [26:15]
B
Yeah, I was just saying there was a lot of like really just great fun that was happening there. And it was also for me just personally it was a time in my life when I mean I was shooting a scene with John Corbett and we were up, it was by a campfire. It was a beautiful, spectacular day. And I got a call from my ex wife, but my wife at the time and she had gotten pregnant. And it was a moment in my life when I was like, I'm going to be a dad and a wanting to be a dad. And so I like as you guys know because you have kids, like there's nothing more pure than that unconditional love or that experience of being a parent. And that happened to me in the middle of doing this show. So I have a real connect and then to look at the work which is to. I'd never do but to do it now because I was going to talk to you guys and see I'm like looking at myself and going, wow. I. I was really free. I was feeling incredibly free as an actor.
- [27:25]
A
Right. Like that moment where you do the windshield when you're. When you're doing the squeegee. Squeegee. You're doing this whole dance. It was really. And you're just. It was so fun.
- [27:36]
B
Yeah. And it was just a time when you look at it and you go like, yes, that's the place I always want to be. I was just so full of kind of happiness.
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C
Don't we wish we could have it back now that we're all 63?
- [27:46]
A
No, we want new ones. We want new ones.
- [27:49]
B
Yeah. And I. But it reminds me of what. Of what that is. And. Yes, and I have had it. And I've had. It's come and gone in different times. But. But that is. It was a real high point. That's where I was so happy to go, like, oh, my God, here's. You know, I didn't talk to janine turner in 34 years or whatever it's been.
- [28:12]
A
Was your wife Janine as well?
- [28:14]
B
Yes. Yes.
- [28:15]
A
And now you're married to the great
- [28:16]
B
Mayor Winningham and Mayor Winningham and I. Yeah. And we. Yes, we are. We're living in New York and living the kind of grandparents dream of just doing plays and then the television when it comes up. So, you know, but like I said, I was working in Vancouver last year and it really brought me back. And I'm now gonna do a. I'm gonna do a series that we're going to start shooting soon, I hope, and it's all set in Seattle, but we're shooting in Vancouver. And I was like, couldn't we shoot it in Seattle? I really. It's really fun to do a show in Seattle, but I'm having to relive my Seattle days through Vancouver.
- [28:57]
A
Well, Vancouver is so close that it doubles really fine. But it's interesting that you could, you know, back then you could. You weren't. Everything didn't have to go to Canada or Atlanta. You know, Seattle was viable. It was a right to work state, too. So that's why they went there, because it was cheap.
- [29:21]
C
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- [30:47]
B
I wanna. I did win a Golden Globe. Yes.
- [30:50]
C
Congratulations on that. That was for er.
- [30:53]
B
Yes. My Emmy world was never as an actor, but as a producer.
- [30:57]
C
You won the Emmy for producing er?
- [31:00]
B
No, Temple Grandin produced that and produced. Won a daytime Emmy for another TV movie that we do when I was on er.
- [31:08]
C
What did you win the Golden Globe for?
- [31:10]
B
For er?
- [31:11]
C
Oh, yeah. For actor.
- [31:12]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [31:13]
C
Okay. But are you saying you won another one?
- [31:16]
B
Not another Golden Globe. Only one Golden Globe.
- [31:18]
A
He won the Emmy for producing.
- [31:20]
C
Oh, you won the Emmy for producing.
- [31:22]
B
You said Golden Globe and Emmy. I was trying to, like, be clear and not assume that I'd won an Emmy.
- [31:27]
C
Great. So you won the Emmy for which show?
- [31:30]
B
That was for Temple Grandin, which we produced. My partner, Dante DiLoretto, who's an old friend, we produced. And actually the other Emmy I won was for a daytime Emmy because Adam Arkin directed it.
- [31:48]
A
Oh, yeah. The great Adam.
- [31:49]
B
To your pal. The great Adam, who you mentioned.
- [31:52]
A
Yeah.
- [31:52]
C
What was that for?
- [31:54]
B
It was a thing called My Louisiana sky and it was kind of a family movie that we made.
- [32:01]
C
Is that when they were doing the daytime movies of the weeks?
- [32:03]
B
Yeah, it was when I was on ER at a development deal. And so I thought I was going to be because when I left Northern Exposure and roles weren't coming, I was like, I'm ready to just direct. That's what I was. I was like, you know. And then ER came up and changed my life again.
- [32:22]
A
Do you direct a lot?
- [32:23]
B
I did. I directed a bunch of ers and then I directed a movie in New York in 2012. And I think I've realized now is in. In. In going through all of this, I'm really happy being an actor. It's such a great job.
- [32:44]
A
It's so much better. Whenever I direct, I'm like, why would I, you know, as an actor, they're like, do you need anything? You want some food? You want a nap? You okay as a director? Like you better fucking get this day man, because you're behind and you're in trouble.
- [32:58]
C
Yeah, I'm producing now, directing. I've been on offered the director of independent film, but I'm doing my musical where I'm producing. It's just. And directing and gonna start singing and dancing, choreography. It's so much work. It's some. But I do love to direct and I think as a woman directing is really great because you can just get behind the camera.
- [33:16]
B
Yeah, well, you're smart enough to direct and produce. I'm just, I realize like I could act like a director.
- [33:23]
A
But let me ask you this, what was it like to. To do a series for 14 years? Was it 14 years? Years?
- [33:30]
B
It was only eight years that I did it, but I mean it was still eight years. Yeah, yeah. I did the first eight seasons.
- [33:36]
A
Noah did it for 14.
- [33:37]
B
I guess Noah did it for 14. I left. I had my last of my four kids on the last season. I had four kids during the making of ER. So that was my life on ER was work and then kids being born. So that was a whole other. Other income, you know, just an amazing
- [33:59]
C
time and to have the babies. So do you have four babies or five babies?
- [34:04]
B
I had four kids. They're all, you know. The youngest is 23 now and my oldest, I have a boy and three girls and. And my oldest is an actor and he's a really wonderful actor. I used to say he was too smart to become an actor. And then he. In college he went off and studied Shakespeare at Lambda for a year and he came back and I saw him and I was like, oh, he's smart enough to be a Shakespearean actor. I get it. So anyway, he lives in London and he's a lovely great actor and then
- [34:35]
C
what's his stage name is?
- [34:37]
B
Bailey Edwards.
- [34:39]
C
Bailey Edwards.
- [34:40]
A
It's a great.
- [34:41]
B
He's going to be in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer and he's got a one man show he's doing. He's really just amazing. I mean, right. I mean, you guys. I think we have kids the same age because when I started researched. You have a daughter, Janine, that's 28, 29.
- [34:55]
C
Yes. 1997.
- [34:57]
B
Yeah. My daughter was born in. In 20. In 97 as well. So my daughter's living in LA and she's. Yeah.
- [35:02]
A
And mine is 25 and she's an actor too. And it's so wild to go through watching them. I Get more frustrated for her than for myself. You know, like, she shows me all her self tapes. It's so different the way they. What they go through now in these auditions. But. But I get so, like. I'm like, who. I want to know who's. Who's casting this because I want to call them and tell them they better cast you because this is a great tape. You know, it's like, yeah, it's so
- [35:29]
B
hard that they're not. That's the saddest part for me. And I think my son tried that for years. And being an ally is they don't get to get in the room because I don't know how an actor can sell themselves or be themselves without people feeling and sensing them. I mean, this tape thing is just.
- [35:44]
A
I had a recent revelation where I had a relationship with someone on a project that I only knew on Zoom, right? And there was something about them that bugged me. You know, I just was kind of just in the back of my head. I mean, it all worked out. We were all copacetic and everything. But in the back of my head, I just had this little pet peeve. And when I met them, it wasn't there. It was the opposite. I just fell in love with them. And I was like, wow, that's so amazing. Because if I had never met them in person, I would have walked away with this sense of, oh, they're this when they weren't. And I think when you think about. About the auditions, you know, when we were back auditioning, like you. You get a pat on the back, you get a nod, you get a wink, you get an energy sense of, not only just did you do well, but that we're all in this world together, you know, it's so isolated and. And these kids, like my daughter will do these amazing auditions and not get them or. And I'll be like, well, she could have gone a different direction. But there's no one to say, do it this way.
- [36:45]
C
I don't like it. I don't like it at all. And you don't know who looks at the tape.
- [36:49]
A
Never hear from. They never hear if they were good, bad, or indifferent. And I don't think anyone tends to do it, but it's cruel to do that to artists.
- [36:56]
C
But nobody gets on the phone anymore. So in the day, remember when we would audition, the three of us, the agent would talk to the casting director, you get feedback, and they would. I remember quizzing my. Well, what exactly did they say? Now you don't. You don't really get anything. Talk to us about the difference of filming ER compared to filming Northern Exposure.
- [37:16]
B
ER was all. It's interesting because I realized like, oh, I actually Northern Exposure seems like a prequel to er. I mean the amount of kind of technical crazy dialogue that Mike Monroe had that they gave him to get through all that expositional, like that stuff. I was like, oh my God. I guess I was good at that kind of stuff because like I don't think I can do it now. I've used up all that short term memory, memory. But the, I guess that the, you know, we. There was just a. An energy of intensity of the real. Of the reality of ER in which I mean we just were like in a sound stage working and then, you know, two days a week we get outside and get, you know, a little bit of breath of air. It was like. It was kind of the opposite. It in relation to like Northern Exposure was like. It was relaxed. It was like. It was, it was open. There was time. I never felt like there was this huge pressure, this rush, you know. I mean er, we were doing 10 pages a day because our scripts were 80 pages long.
- [38:25]
A
That's amazing. 80 pages. Just let's tell the audience that that's about 20 to 23 pages longer than the average, average. Our show, Northern Exposure scripts were around 56 pages and you're talking about 24 pages more to do because they had so much dialogue, you know, that they just crammed it all in and it was going so fast, right.
- [38:47]
B
The pace and energy was. And then it ended up becoming a wonderful rhythm you got used to and you found, you know, it became comfortable, everything. But originally it was very alien. It was a very difficult. You no idea where you were and what you were doing technically because it was all of this new stuff. And then, you know, it ended up becoming a ritual, you know. Whereas I felt like a Northern Exposure and then seeing it like every episode was its own opus. You know, you guys did like these incredible, you know, it had a theme and a color and use of characters. It was like make these beautiful little one act plays.
- [39:30]
A
It did make take away from the monotony of doing a TV series because there were constant dream sequences and fantasy sequences and, and things that took us that, that let us continue to use our imagination. So it didn't, it didn't feel stale. I mean eventually toward the end it started to, they started to run out of ideas I think. And, but, but, but it was very late in the game. Game.
- [39:54]
B
How many seasons did you guys do?
- [39:56]
A
They did. We did six. 110. 10 episodes.
- [40:00]
C
Six seasons in five years. But I. We all three played doctors on TV because I played a doctor in On Strong Medicine for a lifetime.
- [40:09]
A
Oh, by the way, Phil. Phil Kazanov sends his love. I saw him the other night, Janine. He said he. How much he loved working on that show with you. He was great. He just. He sends us. He was. He lit up when we started talking about. About you. He said he had real fun with you.
- [40:22]
C
Oh, he was awesome. I just adored him. Tell him I said hi, please. That's. That's really great. But playing a doctor on TV is a completely different animal, isn't it? I mean. I mean, Rob, you talk about all that dialogue you have to have, and of course, you dealt with that as the. As the bubble man. But also on er, and then I dealt with it on Strong. Strong Medicine was these, you know, all this dialogue of the disease of the day.
- [40:45]
A
Well, ER takes the cake because they. They just crammed stuff. I mean, they were. And they were moving so fast, and there were a lot of oners. So if someone fucked it up, you'd be, like, pissed off, I'm guessing. You know, because you'd have to go back and. And do the whole thing again.
- [41:01]
B
Yeah. That is the kind of one directorial thing I was proud of. I did direct an episode of ER where I asked them to write me an entire act of continuous action. So we shot 24 pages in one shot.
- [41:14]
A
Jesus. How many takes?
- [41:16]
B
It was about eight takes. And what we had to do, because it was all film. He could only carry 700ft. Right. The Steadicam. So we'd have to do a whip pan at like 7 minutes, 8 minutes. A whip pan. And then we did another whip pan in to do the last five minutes.
- [41:34]
C
How many pages in one shot?
- [41:36]
B
24. So it was continuous action. 24 pages. And what's cool is that it. Because Error already had it, like, fit into it. You don't even notice that it's one shot.
- [41:48]
A
Didn't y' all do a live show?
- [41:50]
B
Yeah, we did. Yep. We did a live east coast and west coast live. We did two lives.
- [41:56]
A
So, Janine, they did the whole thing live, right?
- [41:59]
C
Wow. Like a stage play. Like a play.
- [42:01]
B
Literally at 8 o' clock New York or whatever. 10 o'. Clock. We were on 10 o' clock New York time. And then we in. And then we did it again for the West Coast.
- [42:12]
A
That's amazing. Which was there. Was the second one better or the first one?
- [42:17]
B
You know, to look at them now? Neither of them are that great. Like, it didn't really serve us to do it live. But I will never forget the feeling of being in. We had the doctor's lounge, like, four minutes before we were about to go live. And we're all in there together, and we look at each other and we're like, if we walk out of the stage right now, now, it could get really interesting.
- [42:42]
A
You should have. You should have gone into negotiations.
- [42:45]
B
Yeah, exactly. There was a sense of power, of like, wow. It really is. They really.
- [42:49]
A
But that was Clooney, right? Clooney was the one who was all about the live. Like, he was probably pushing that.
- [42:55]
B
Yeah, yeah. He and I came to. Came up with it together because we. We were doing these wonders and we. And. And we just thought, like, you know, it feels like it that way and that, you know, that's when stuff's at stake. It feels good.
- [43:08]
A
Did you guys see the show Adolescence?
- [43:11]
B
Yes. Yeah, that's an unbelievable.
- [43:12]
A
That's. That's one of the great shows in history, Janine. They. They did each episode. Four episodes. One take.
- [43:18]
B
Wow.
- [43:19]
A
One take, the whole episode. And they moved in and out of locations. They would walk outside, they'd get in a car, they'd drive somewhere. It was all one take. It was. It was a masterpiece. It was a true masterpiece piece.
- [43:30]
C
I'll have to watch that.
- [43:31]
B
Yeah, it's really worth watching as a director. You'll see.
- [43:35]
C
I guess it's on Amazon Prime.
- [43:37]
B
I think it might be Netflix.
- [43:39]
A
Yeah, it might be Netflix, but it's. It, you know, won every award there is to win.
- [43:43]
B
Just put it in your Google. It'll come up.
- [43:45]
C
Yeah, yeah, I'll Google it. What do we do before Google? I was thinking about that this morning. How do you explain to youngsters? You know, I always feel like the old timer on the set. Well, back in the 70s.
- [43:55]
B
Yeah. And now that already dates us because it's. It's all AI and no one even thinks about Google anymore more.
- [44:10]
A
So. You know what's interesting to me? The. The guy who played Matthew Ruthanne's son.
- [44:16]
C
He was good.
- [44:17]
B
Yeah. Joe Polis.
- [44:19]
A
You know him?
- [44:20]
B
No, but I looked him up, too, because when I was looking at. I was like, how do I know this guy?
- [44:24]
A
But he looks a little like you.
- [44:25]
B
You.
- [44:26]
A
I. I just find it fascinating that they cast him because you guys could be, you know, from certain shots, you look like your brothers or something. And I find that, like, they never do that in television. You know, they're always like, oh, well, he's. He's this coloring, then we should hire a blonde or whatever. You know, I found that. I wonder if that just was an accident because it's just so unusual.
- [44:47]
C
I think they look different. I don't think they look that much. That much alike.
- [44:50]
A
Well, they. Similar head shape and, you know, it's
- [44:53]
B
because you were falling in love, Janice.
- [44:54]
C
That's right. I'd only had eyes for you.
- [44:57]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [44:58]
A
But they cut to you and you think for a second it's the other guy.
- [45:01]
B
No, I had the same experience, Rob. I. I thought the exact same thing. Looking at it. I was like, wow. Yeah. And how great was it to see her?
- [45:09]
A
Oh, so great.
- [45:10]
C
They did that in Cliffhanger too. And I'd actually worked with her during the Sicily episode. Why am I blanking on her name right now? And she was a really good friend of mine. And. And she. She played the gal who first fell in the beginning of Cliffhanger. You know, I don't want to die. I don't want to die, but people see me and they think that that was my character. Like, no, no, no.
- [45:32]
A
What was her name? Michelle something.
- [45:34]
C
Michelle, yes. Why. Why am I blanking totally today? Maybe it's because it's my third podcast of the day. There's just so many words. There's so many words and so much recall. But it is a bit of a problem when. When you cast characters that look the same. But I thought there was enough differentiation in this, and I thought he did an excellent job, actually.
- [45:52]
B
You guys had great actors on your show. It was really great casting fun. Yeah.
- [45:57]
A
Yeah.
- [45:58]
C
It's just so wonderful to see you. It's just. This is the greatest part about doing this is just seeing people that we haven't seen in 30 years. You just look awesome. And your work on the show was just pitch. Perfectly fabulous. And it was a real treat to work with you and to see you again. And congratulations on this extraordinary career you've had as well. Well.
- [46:19]
B
Oh, thanks, Janine.
- [46:21]
A
What did you. Did you. Because you said you watched a few episodes ahead, like down the. That you. The ones that you were in. What. What. What stood out in terms of where the. The arc of Mike Monroe, like, you know, that. That surprised you.
- [46:35]
B
Yeah. Because I mean, classically, like, you know, if you pick up a script, you go through to your parts and you look at them. Right. So I did that and I went through. Because I realized, oh, I don't. When I saw that first episode, look, I was like, oh, my God, there's so much I don't remember I don't remember. You know, and so I went through. And I went through the. I don't know, I guess I looked at six or seven of them where I just kind of jumped from the scene to scene. And I would say I just was taken aback about the commitment and the. And the forethought that the writers had. They really set it up so that that arc really did work in a way where it served, because I was there. You know, guest stars are always about disservicing the show, and they used it really smartly. And I touched so many different characters, and I'd forgot all those great scenes with Darren Burroughs and, you know, this great. And, you know, working with you, Rob, of course, and Janine. But then, you know, interweaving back and then representing Corbett in a trial.
- [47:37]
A
That's right.
- [47:37]
B
Because he was a lawyer. So I ended up having to do legal work for different people. And it was like. And it was all so absurd and yet so committed. And I just thought, that's. That's wonderful writing. Like, it's no surprise that what we all picked up when we read those scripts knew that that was good writing. It is, and it lasts and it remains really interesting. And so that's. You know, it's not an accident that your show is so loved. Loved.
- [48:11]
A
It's. It's Josh, you know, you gotta. You gotta give him the credit because he really. You know, it's not that he had everything to do with every single moment, but he set up this situation where all these different people, he hired writers, and he kept the ones that he. That he. That were doing a good job. And they. They brought a. Each one of our regular writers was very distinct in their voice. And I love that, Janine, you know that you kind of sensed. Rob Thompson directed this episode before you knew, because he was a regular, he was an executive producer, and he had a kind of a style about him. Like, I noticed that scene where you were talking about Janine where I'm laying on the kind of counter in my office and you come in. Right next to me is a table with some toast and a cup of coffee. You know, those little details that Rob would get just to make it feel like this was life.
- [49:04]
C
And I straddled the chair the way I did in the audition mission.
- [49:07]
A
That's right.
- [49:08]
C
They. I almost didn't get the job because I wore a skirt, and they thought I was too pretty to be a pilot. And so I went back in and I straddled the chair. They took me back into the network And I took that chair and I just straddled it and I thought, oh, there's the straddling of the chair. There is some great, greatest acting is from the straddle. But then I got up and sat next to you. I just thought it was, it was just directed with ease and fluidity. There was a lot of fluidity in, in the direction for sure. But I love seeing you in that beautiful cabin and knowing that everything's just ticking along for you so well, and, and, and having our kids too, isn't that, that's, that becomes sort of the, the focus and the prime primary reason for existing and. But then they grow up and I go, oh, who am I? Let me go back to who I was, which is what I'm doing right now.
- [49:58]
A
What's your new show that you're going to do?
- [50:00]
B
Do you know the playwright Will Arbery? Yeah, he wrote a story. He always writes very kind of personal stories. And he grew up in a Catholic family in Texas. And this is his series.
- [50:13]
A
Oh, this is with Jay.
- [50:15]
B
Yeah. Jay and I are the parents and it's called Seven Sisters and we have seven daughters and a son.
- [50:21]
A
They're all great casting.
- [50:23]
B
The ages of 22. Yeah. Incredible actresses. Is very female focused because of the drama within the family. And it's kind of a family. It's got. There's some demon in here and there's some Catholicism going on and it's kind of like a family exorcist. It's really interesting.
- [50:43]
A
Well, you're going into the right time of year, man. You're going to have a good time. So beautiful up there this time of year.
- [50:49]
B
Yeah, yeah, that'll be fun. But to your point. Point, Janine, I would just say, like, you know, anytime when I hear. And being older now, you know, when I hear or meet people who are lucky enough to do what they love for most of their life, you know, that's a really. I feel really grateful for that and I really appreciate it. And it's a hard thing and, and I'm just, you know, seeing you guys reminds me of like, wow. That same joy that I had then can still be around now when, as Rob said, when you're with the right people, people are trusting each other. They're diving off the, you know, the, the high diving board into the deep end with material that you hope works and you trust and you, you know, you exchange that and you end up with these things. And the fact that we get paid to do it, you know, what a miracle. And I'm Just. Just, you know, really grateful.
- [51:45]
A
A miracle. Here's to creativity and getting paid for it.
- [51:49]
C
Yeah, Creativity there. It's like. It's a saving grace, really. There's a catharsis.
- [51:54]
A
It's a saving grace that. You're right.
- [51:56]
C
It is. And to be able. Now that I'm singing and dancing again, it's so funny. This. This youngster who's about 29, she goes, I can't believe I'm so impressed that you're going to be doing a Broadway musical at age 63. She's like, you're old and you're actually trying to accomplish this. And I'm the one thing. I don't really feel that old, but
- [52:17]
B
you know what I mean? That's what all old people say. We all say that.
- [52:21]
A
It's true. I guess we'll wind it up. We could probably talk to you for hours, but.
- [52:26]
C
Yeah. Good seeing you. So good seeing you.
- [52:29]
B
Great to see. Thanks for doing this, you guys. This is fun. I meet fans of this show all the time and. And what a nice thing you're doing to kind of bring it back to life and give another depth to it.
- [52:42]
A
Tony, thanks for taking the time, and I hope our paths cross. Maybe I'll be up in Vancouver or New York, and it'd be always nice to hang out with you.
- [52:52]
B
We're around and always up for a meal.
- [52:54]
A
We can go skiing. You remember we went skiing?
- [52:56]
B
Oh, yeah. We did it all. Yeah. I broke my knuckle on your show. That's what I remember.
- [53:01]
A
Believe me, I remember.
- [53:03]
B
Look at my fingers. Shorter because of Northern Exposure.
- [53:07]
A
This. This guy who doesn't look like we were skiing. And he is. He does. You wouldn't think he is, but he was. Anyway, then, incredibly wild daredevil on skis, he. We would come upon these precipices, and I'd be like, okay, I'm not sure. And he just would launch off it and. And in one particular one, he. He tumbled down to the bottom. Yeah.
- [53:30]
B
Wow.
- [53:32]
C
Well, you know, contracts. Do you remember? They didn't really want. They didn't want us skiing. Remember that used to be in the contracts and I was riding a horse. So when y' all were skiing, I was on my horse. The horse was probably more dangerous than skiing, but do you remember they said, like, no, skiing.
- [53:44]
A
I never. I skied all the time.
- [53:46]
B
Filming television, you can't do anything now
- [53:48]
A
you can, but then I don't think I had anything writer because no one ever said anything about me. And I skied constantly.
- [53:54]
C
Maybe it was an innuendo or something or I don't know. They couldn't keep us from having a life, obviously. Obviously.
- [53:59]
B
But we'll go skiing.
- [54:00]
A
Consider me there.
- [54:02]
B
Good. We have a date.
- [54:03]
C
All right. Well, thank you for joining us. It was so wonderful to see the great Anthony Edwards again with us today and my my soulmate, work pal, Rob Morrow. And thanks for joining us. And this is we're wrapping today. And we'll see you next time. So signing off from o' Connell and Fleischman.
- [54:20]
A
Actually, I think it should be Fleischman o'. Connell.
- [54:23]
C
In your dreams Fleischman, or drop dead Fleischman, which is what she said in this episode. Northern Disclosure is a production with Evergreen
- [54:38]
B
Podcasts and executive produced by Paul Anderson and Scott McCarthy for Workhouse Media.