The off-kilter Canadian chemistry abounds with the two loquacious stars of TNT’s latest excellent “commatic” series “Trust Me.”
Trust Me - Tom Cavanagh and Eric McCormack - 35th Annual People's Choice Awards - Press Room - The Shrine Auditorium - Los Angeles, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos
“Commatic” is preferred to dramedy, a loathed genre term if you ask the guys.
TNT is scoring very well in presenting crack ensemble smallscreen shows, and "Trust Me" is quality, and excels on every level of writing, casting, crafts and acting.
Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh are similar in kinetic energy to their characters they portray in “Trust Me” which has its premiere on Monday night at 10 on TNT.
The two men riff off each other’s nimble wit and in their interview with Monsters and Critics, it shows.
The two play friends and co-workers in the new TNT series that also features the great talent Griffin Dunne as the agency boss Tony Mink. Monica Potter plays ad executive Sarah Krajicek-Hunter; Potter is a beautiful, brainy Cleveland girl whose quirky sense of humor is served well by the writers in this show.
Toronto native McCormack's smallscreen career is mostly remembered for his gay lawyer Will Truman on “Will & Grace,” opposite Debra Messing. He now plays Mason McGuire, an art director with Mink’s (Dunne) Chicago advertising firm who scores a great office when his boss keels over after a bad presentation.
Ottawa native Cavanagh, who was the star of “Ed,” is Conner, Mason’s copywriter partner for seven years and closest friend who is smarting slightly by Mason’s professional leap.
The bet paid off, and the two became screenwriters and co-executive producers for another TNT hit, “The Closer.”
Eric and Tom took time out to speak to Monsters and Critics on the phone and in person on the set of “Trust Me”.
What made you want to be a part of this show?
Eric McCormack: It was the right script at the right time. I missed being on a series. I wanted something smart that was about grown-ups but was funny.
I didn’t want to be a cop or a lawyer. The authenticity of this script both about the advertising part of it but also just the friendship part of it just really spoke to me. It was exactly what I wanted to do and I just prayed to get paired up with somebody great.
Unfortunately that didn’t happen but I do get Tom Cavanagh, which is just fine. It’ll do.
Tom Cavanagh: Twenty CCs of adrenaline stat.
Eric McCormack: Are you still there? Are you mad at me? I was only kidding about Tom.
So you’re both Canadian and you’re tooling about Los Angeles and you get this great pitch for this script from Hunt and John. And so my question is which of those guys is Conner and who is Mason?
Tom Cavanagh: John Conner.
Eric McCormack: They both maintain that they’re Conner.
Really?
Eric McCormack: Nobody wants to be Mason. I may be the only person that actually wanted to be Mason.
I think Hunt as a married man with kids is a little more Mason. I certainly look to Hunt in terms of his delivery just in life as a person; his delivery is very funny and dry.
And but yeah - I’ve asked him that question. They’re both like, “No. I’m Conner. No. I’m Conner. No. I’m Conner.”
Are you enjoying working with Griffin Dunne and Monica Potter?
Tom Cavanagh: Not really.
No?
Eric McCormack: Yeah. Whenever we can avoid it we try.
Tom Cavanagh: They’re amazing.
Eric McCormack: Yeah, they’re great. We’re really, really lucky with them and also Geof and Mike who play Tom and Hector. We have a lot of fun on set. Griffin - I love saying the name.
You know, you say it to the average person on the street, Griffin Dunne; they’re like I think I know that. But you say it to an actor and we’re like Griffin Dunne? Are you kidding me?
Tom Cavanagh: We lose our minds.
Eric McCormack: Yeah. It’s really fun.
Tom Cavanagh: We’re like Griffin Dunne? After hours Griffin Dunne?
Eric McCormack: And Monica Potter is one of those rare beautiful women that is also really funny and quirky and she has really surprised me in terms of how left field funny she can be.
Do you feel that the chemistry will ensure the success of this show?
Eric McCormack: Totally. I don’t think that - it’s not like people have been lining up saying when is an advertising show going to come along? It’s not about advertising. It’s about - any appointment television it’s either because you have to see the crime solved or you just want to hang with those characters.
And rarely does the twain meet. In this case it’s about characters that connect, that are riffing off each other. I think there’s a tremendous natural chemistry that is just the luck of the draw. And particularly with Tom and me, we were both delighted to discover that we play off each other really, really well. And that’s what we’re hoping people show up for.
What is the first thing that comes to mind about your character and what you each enjoy the most about that character?
Tom Cavanagh: The favorite part about Mason is working with Conner because he is exceptional.
Eric McCormack: I’ll speak for Mason thank you very much.
Tom Cavanagh: I’ll speak for Mason if I can. And the favorite part I get of playing Conner - I don’t have a favorite part. I like everything about it. I like the fact that he’s irresponsible, petty, shallow, you know? Immature and brilliant.
That he can skate on a lot of things simply because he’s decent at what he does but he actually is a decent friend. There’s goodness there too in spite of all the womanizing and drinking and all that kind of stuff. So he feels like a very real - a lot of the guys I know, he’s like a very real guy.
It’s enjoyable playing him. He’s exceptionally well written I think and that largely is the main thing. Any time you’re doing episodic you’re going to see and play the guy every day; you want it to be something that you like to do A, as a character that is well written.
Hunt and John have really earned their signing bonuses. Let me put it that way.
Eric McCormack: For sure. And for me, I like as much as it’s fun to play characters that are a whole 180 from your own personality, there’s a part of me that really likes bringing my sensibility and my sense of humor to it.
And I think Mason - I had eight years of gay and it’s nice to be able to play some of the marriage stuff. Already in eight episodes the stuff they’ve written for Sarah Clarke and I as husband and wife has mirrored my life in terms of some of the arguments we’ve had and some of the situations we’ve had.
It’s fun to be able to bring your real life to those situations. And I like Mason’s central dilemma; the idea of a guy that didn’t really think he wanted any power suddenly having power and trying to figure out how to use that. As an actor who has produced I’ve had that exact dilemma where it’s like one day I’m happy to be the boss and happy to be in control.
The next day I just want nothing to do with it. I just want to play like actors play and let somebody else make the decisions. So I think I relate to that.
What is some of your favorite off camera moment or incident while you filmed the first couple of episodes ?
Eric McCormack: Off camera. Off the top of my head, what I like, we go - every scene that we do we rehearse first. We go into rehearsal and it’s a different thing for everybody.
Every crew member is there looking at their own department. But we’re there not just to figure out where we’re going to stand to say the lines but we have naturally come into everything looking for what else we can do.
Tom comes in with ideas that had never occurred to me that are just a funny way to start, a funny place to sit, a funny - whatever it is, it’s just something else to add to the great writing.
Well, there was one the other day. It’s a funny scene; it’s not a very good story. But it’s just a matter of we could just do it as written or we could discover some little things. And my favorite off camera moment are the ones where we invent for the camera and the people will never really know the process that we did to come up with them.
Tom Cavanagh: That was a really good long, boring answer.
What are your favorite aspects of each other’s characters on Trust Me?
Tom Cavanagh: That’s a good question. You know that line from the classic Sylvester Stallone vehicle Rocky? There’s a line that’s like, “She’s got gas. I’ve got gas. Together we feel gas.”
That’s one of the things that - I don’t know if you know the line but that’s one of the things that I love about the relationship we have together. Like truthfully we do have gas, you know? I siphon some maturity and presence and perspective off his and he gets to live on a high wire a lot off my character.
And not only is it a good thing for the personal but for the professional side of things like necessarily to survive in the cutthroat world of advertising you need to have that kind of symbiosis. You need to be able to react and fill each other gaps and be able to know where the other person is going because you need to come up with a multi-million campaign tagline by 4:00pm.
So you need to be working with somebody that you understand, that you get and that shares your sensibility. So that’s one of the things that I like about the two guys together.
Eric McCormack: Yes. I like sitting back and watching this guy bounce off the walls. I mean it’s what I, Eric, like watching Tom do it and I think Mason likes watching Conner do it.
My wife said one day, we were talking about a stupid friend of ours that is just high strung. She said, “I love being around people like that. I love that because it’s so much energy. You wonder how they do it. It’s exhausting.”
But you admire it too. Like comedians that are always on or something, you can get annoyed but you can also just admire the sheer non-stop-ness of it. And when we’re on set and Tom is Conner, it pretty much never stops.
Tom Cavanagh: It’s a lot of non-stop-ness.
Eric, do you think having played a gay character for eight years has made it more challenging for viewers to see you in other series roles?
Eric McCormack: I guess we’ll find out. I don’t think so. I mean I think what I found when I started to shop around again and meet with some of the people of the networks to see what the next step might be, they weren’t presenting sitcoms to me and they weren’t presenting gay roles.
I mean there was a lot of leading man stuff. So I think I managed to play that role and still kind of circumvent that. I hope so. I’m very proud of Will and of that show but I think people know that that was a role I was playing and will hopefully give me a chance to be Mason.
Will the series skew to drama more than comedy?
Eric McCormack: I think there’s a real balance. And it was something that we played with the first couple of episodes, finding that tone because we’re both drawn to what’s funny.
But in situations like this sometimes what’s funny is what’s serious. The more at stake there is the funnier it is to an audience. So I think there’s lightness to this relationship that people will be surprised how quickly they can turn dark and betrayed and because of the setting.
The setting is often high stakes by 4:00 we lose $30 million kind of thing. Kind of like Wall Street but it can be scary. So I think you’ll see a real mix. I don’t want to say “dramedy.” I’m not going to say “dramedy.”
Tom Cavanagh: Don’t say “dramedy” because - oh you said it.
Eric McCormack: Dammit. Will one of you please coin a new phrase?
Tom Cavanagh: Yeah. Come up with a new thing. That’s your single mission.
Eric McCormack: You don’t like saying “dramedy.” We don’t like saying “dramedy.”
Tom Cavanagh: Nobody likes to say “dramedy.”
Eric McCormack: No.
Tom Cavanagh: What did you say? Did you say “dramedy?”
Eric McCormack: I’m (actually proud of that). That’s what we have to do. Is it a dramedy? It’s not. It’s a comma.
Tom Cavanagh: I’m looking for anything that’s well written, A, and B, that will have me. and this is one of those instances. It’s true that chemically the people who do what you do, the writers don’t get the credit they deserve.
And certainly there is no good show without good writing I don’t think unless it’s - no, I’m not even going to say it.
Eric McCormack: You (should) quit while you’re ahead.
Tom Cavanagh: Quite while you’re ahead. McCormack looks at me and says “Quit while you’re ahead, will ya?” So anyway - yeah. So in this instance I like playing the guy who is a little darker, who is different from some of the other stuff I’ve done.
The character walks a line and the show walks a line between the drama and the comedy that is as an actor something like that that does walk that line that is well written is just a boon to play.
Eric McCormack: I also think that with a character that never stops moving, when the character does stop moving it resonates even more. And several times in the last eight episodes - even in the pilot - when, as crazy as Conner is, the moment he finds out that Mason got the promotion, I mean there is tremendous hurt there.
Just the scene that he’s sitting at the bar, no dialogue, just the camera sort of pulling back from or pushing in - there is a well of hurt there because someone like a Conner avoids that at all instances.
So when it does land it does hurt. And I think those moments really play.
Sell me on Trust Me, why is it so good?
Tom Cavanagh: Everybody the next day at work will be talking about it and they’ll be left out. That’s my feeling.
Eric McCormack: You know what it is? I mean I’m not slamming NBC but wow, they just lost five hours of dramatic television for next season. I mean ABC just cut five dramas.
It’s a hard world out there for hour-long and TNT has like gone from two to six overnight because they are completely supporting this form and allowing these shows to be grown up and smart and allowing them to grow.
I think if you can get in on Trust Me from the beginning you’re going to love these characters. You’re going to love a fresh setting. This show doesn’t feel like any other show that I’ve seen in the last few years. I’ve been saying its kind of Thirty Something but it has almost a Boston Legal kind of madness to it as well.
I think it’s a real mix for people looking for a smart funny hour.
Is TNT supporting the show to your liking?
Eric McCormack: Yeah. We are for sure, which is great. And it’s nice too because both of us always felt support at our old - I always felt it from NBC. But NBC also had 38 other shows to promote in a September.
Right now TNT is kind of one by one launching these shows and giving them their full support. They’ve put all their stuff behind Raising the Bar then Leverage had its own time to come out. And now, I think we’re really going to feel the full TNT behind us in January, which is a real luxury.
Tom Cavanagh: We love them.
Eric McCormack: We do.
How about “commatic” instead of “dramedy?”
Tom Cavanagh: Commatic.
Eric McCormack: Nice. Very good. Dramatic, commatic.
Tom Cavanagh: I like that. It’s better than “comma.”
Do either of you have secret talents that you’d like to tell us about?
Tom Cavanagh: What are your secret talents Eric?
Eric McCormack: I can balance things on - oh I shouldn’t say that.
Tom Cavanagh: No don’t say that.
Eric McCormack: I probably shouldn’t.
Tom Cavanagh: Is that commatic?
Eric McCormack: I am a little bit of a drawer. Not in a big way but it’s been kind of fun to use that occasionally. Like in the pilot when I draw a finger like I’m giving Conner the finger.
I drew that. And it was kind of fun to have my drawing on the show. And you write, Tom. I mean you’re a writer. We both write. So it’s - in terms of secrets, the real secret found here is that Tom is an athlete.
Tom Cavanagh: Now you’ve let the cat out of the bag and all the pro teams are going to want to sign me.
Eric McCormack: Yes I know.
Tom Cavanagh: I can’t believe you’ve done that.
Eric McCormack: I’m good at Scrabble.
Tom Cavanagh: He’s a killer at Scrabble. He knows all the big words.
Eric McCormack: “Quiet” being a Q-word. Five letters. If you get it on a triple that’s...
Tom Cavanagh: That’s true. Glad we’re not keeping score. 40 points.
What have you found to be most challenging either on the show as a whole or maybe in your particular roles?
Eric McCormack: For me the most challenging is adapting from a half hour schedule where I worked 25 hours a week to working 14 hours a day. It’s a whole other grind that I did years ago but it’s been a while.
And just keeping your energy up. Just realizing that your job really is to not eat too much, not drink too much coffee. It’s almost athletic that way.
Tom Cavanagh: (You’ve got to) keep your energy up?
Eric McCormack: That’s where I was going.
Tom Cavanagh: It’s a challenge to keep our energy up.
Eric McCormack: Indeed.
Tom Cavanagh: Not really.
Eric McCormack: But also I mean both of us worked on hours or half hours where half of your energy is spent looking at the dialogue going, man, how do we fix this? How do we make this work?
And we’ve just found like nine scripts in a row now, they arrive and we’re like wow, I don’t want to fix anything. This is like really working it. And it gives us a lot of springboard to improve but not to fix it. Rather just to add to it.
So I think that’s been the more satisfying thing is that there is no dread. I’m not going oh please let this one be okay. Every script has been really great and has taken us in places they didn’t even warn us we were going, which has been surprising for a first season.
What would you like to say to people who are fans and supporters of you who will be watching the show?
Tom Cavanagh: Don’t judge us.
Eric McCormack: Just welcome back. I think both of us have shows behind us that we are really proud of but we are exceptionally proud of this. And we hope people that watch television understand that we’re actors. We have to move from thing to thing.
But at the same time if you’re a big fan of a certain show, certain characters get burned into your minds. Just give us a chance to be these guys and not the guys we used to be. And I think you’re going to love these characters.
Tom Cavanagh: And tell your friends and family to watch.
Eric McCormack: And their families.
Tom Cavanagh: And their families and their friends and their friends’ families and their families’ friends and their families’ friends.
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