[IMG:L]She’s back! Det. Brenda Johnson–and all her controversial interrogation methods and neurotic behavior–returns this summer for the third season of The Closer. The badly dressed, self-aware Deputy Police Chief could have been such an easy character to dislike, yet for two years she’s held the top ratings spot on cable TV, and last winter’s Golden Globe award for Kyra Sedgwick, the actress who brings Brenda to life, sealed the deal for another four years of criminal investigation.
As headlining star and producer of The Closer, Sedgwick couldn’t be more excited about her hit show. And despite claiming she is nothing like the character she portrays, Sedgwick does have some Brenda moments (these appear early on in the interview when she fidgets with her misbehaving shirt collar). But the most significant commonality with her character is her genuine adoration for the show’s ensemble cast.
“The whole first episode, it opens with everyone introducing themselves and they’re all there, their characters are so there,” Sedgwick enthused. “The actors have stepped up to the plate as well as the writers and we’ve just really honed in how to write for these characters. I love it. I’m thrilled! I just watched it last night, so I’m just really happy the way it turned out.”
Hollywood.com: Did you have any idea there was going to be a third season when you first signed up?
Kyra Sedgwick: No, I really had no expectations of the show, which I think is a great thing. If we could all go through life and not have expectations, then we’d all be so much better off. But it’s a wonderful thing when it happens, so this has just been like a gift for me. The whole deal, people watching, the fact that it’s good, and the fact we get nominated year after year–I think it’s really nice.
HW: You’re the show’s driving force. How has it affected you?
KS: I try not to notice how much I’m out there in the world because I have this image of myself–that I’m walking though life anonymously–that I still hold on to. So it’s always striking when I go “Oh wow, there is that big poster over there.” Yesterday was so funny. I got followed around by paparazzi. I went to one store and they followed me in a car. Then I go to the Verizon store because I have to switch out my phone and I am literally there for an hour and I come out and this guy is taking my picture. I thought, “You’re so bored right now, and so am I.” I’m so boring. It’s not something I try to focus on, but it’s been really great for the show.
[IMG:R]HW: Do you have an idea of what she’s going to be doing coming up?
KS: This year, Fritz is more demanding of her time and where they’re going to live. Instead of him fitting into her life, he’s now saying, “You need to fit into my life. We need to have a life together.” She has to deal with some medical issues that I don’t think anyone has really touched on in any of the other shows. I can’t tell you what it is but it’s going to be good. And she goes head to head with one of her favorites in the squad–and it’s a really dark moment for both of them. In the beginning, we had antagonists in her squad but they’ve all come together. Now we’re going to see two protagonists, my character being one of them, and somebody else in the squad that you really like a lot, going at it in a way that’s painful and difficult to watch.
HW: You say you haven’t become Brenda in any way, but you have had a few Brenda moments.
KS: There was a perfect Brenda moment this morning when I was trying to look for my keys and I was literally in my bag, just like her, you know, three quarters of my head in the bag and I still can’t find the thing I need. Just completely unorganized beyond belief and always in a rush and lost, trying to keep it all together desperately!
HW: And you have Brenda dreams, right?
KS: The Brenda dreams I have are dreams of being chased, dreams of seeing dead bodies. Sometimes it can work on you in your subconscious in a way that you don’t understand. It can get pretty dark, especially after the heavier episodes. When it’s a funny one, sleeping is easier.
HW: What do you admire about your character?
KS: I admire her integrity and her fierceness about getting to the truth. I think she’ll stop at nothing to find out what really happened. I admire her empathy for people, her intuition and her loyalty. Her fierce loyalty. I think that’s really awesome.
HW: Is there anything that drives you absolutely insane about her?
KS: How utterly un-self-aware she is as a person. She’s just completely clueless to what’s really going on. You know, she’s not a self-analyzer. It doesn’t drive me crazy, it’s just very different than me. It’s kind of fun to play someone who is so oblivious to how she affects people sometimes and who is completely unaware of how she is acting in a particular moment. But it’s an unusual character for me to play in that way.
HW: Could Brenda become a little more self-aware?
KS: Yes, definitely. There is actually a moment I can think of with her father, where she realizes that she needs to let go of her need for constant approval. She is 40, after all. But don’t we always want approval from our parents? I know, I do. I’m 41 and I’m like, “Mom what do you think?” So I think it’s something we can all relate to.
HW: Kevin (Bacon Sedgwick’s husband] is directing another episode of The Closer. Is there anything you two learned from the last time he directed you that you want to change?
KS: No, honestly… he’s an amazing director. I’ve always thought so and I think he did a great job last time. I think the actors loved him, which was very important to me because I wanted my peeps to like him as much as I do. I was really nervous the first time he came on the set. I had butterflies in my stomach. But after the first rehearsal, the first scene, I knew he was in the groove. And I think everyone was sort of watching and going, “How is it going to be with the star and the husband on the set?” But I think everyone is definitely past that now and knows that it’ll all be smooth sailing. Actors in general as directors are incredibly empathetic and kind and sometimes get the best work out of other actors than just plain straight directors.
[IMG:L]HW: What’s your opinion of the Los Angeles Police Department and U.S. law enforcement?
KS: I tell you, I’m just totally in awe of these people. I think that there are some really great cops out there. The cop that works with us all the time is a 25-year vet of the LAPD–and he’s still a detective. He works incredibly hard to save peoples lives. The LAPD in general is thought of as the toughest police department in the country and that is really because there are so many people in L.A. County and so few police officers. They get a lot of flack for what they do, but the fact of the matter is there is not a lot of them so they have to be tough. I sort of grew up in a hippie mentality of police as “the pigs” or whatever, and now I think a lot of them give their life to a higher calling for a lot of us.
HW: LAPD officers have reportedly said The Closer is one of the more realistic cop shows on television.
KS: I think one of the reasons is we don’t have a lot of hi-tech contraptions on the show. There aren’t any. We have a crappy slide projector thing, we have bad computers, we have a video camera in an interview room that shoots bad video. I think that we keep it real, certainly in terms of our accoutrements, and hopefully we keep it real in how they break down a case and how they try to figure it out. A lot of it is spit and man power.
HW: Is the prospect of starring in seven seasons at all daunting?
KS: I cannot think that far in advance. I’ve got to take it a year at a time. The thing about our show is that it’s only 15 episodes. I think when you’re doing 22 and you’re talking seven years of that, it probably is more overwhelming and daunting. This year I just don’t know how it’s going to be perceived. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I only can be responsible for the work that I do. And of that I’m proud.
