BREAKING IN: Christian Slater as Oz in BREAKING IN premiering Wednesday, April 6 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Cr: David Johnson/FOX
Christian Slater will be taking yet another shot at television with Breaking In on FOX. The show premieres on April 6th, and I will have something more like a review shortly, because if the pilot is truly a workable representation, then I'm going to be a fan of this one.
I got a chance to talk with him about the show on a Q & A Press call recently, and he was great to talk to. Hints of the Christian Slater we (ok, I) grew up with have melded with a very down-to-earth, clever... I want to say "fellow" for some reason, but it seems wrong.
The conversation kicked off with Captain Kirk's chair, and we couldn't seem to get away from it for long. Eventually, it took a strange turn, and I think Christian had enough strange questions for one day.
While it will be hard to keep comparisons to Leverage at bay, this one is strictly comedy, and Slater stands out in a way he didn't quite get a chance to in his last two efforts.
BREAKING IN is an offbeat half-hour workplace comedy about a high-tech security firm that takes extreme – and often questionable – measures to sell its protection services. Created by Adam F. Goldberg and Seth Gordon, the series centers on a team of uniquely skilled oddball geniuses hand-picked to work for a manipulative mastermind.
Contra Security, corporate America’s answer to “The A-Team,” gives clients a sense of security by first ripping it away. The firm is led by OZ (Christian Slater), a larger-than-life head honcho who is a man of mystery and master of manipulation. The members of the odd squad include alluring bad girl MELANIE (Odette Annable), who is in charge of lock-picking, safe-cracking and heart-breaking; and CASH (Alphonso McAuley), a fanboy who specializes in strategy, logistics and office pranks only a mad genius could think up.
Oz’s newest recruit, plucked right out of college, is lovable and charming computer hacker CAMERON PRICE (Bret Harrison). Unfortunately for Cameron, cracking into state-of-the-art security systems is a lot easier than dealing with his co-workers. Between Melanie’s sex appeal and Cash’s hazing, Cameron has more than a few obstacles to overcome if he wants to cement his status as part of the team and become Oz’s go-to guy.
Q - What I was wondering about this show is that it shows your great comic timing, and I was wondering if there’s any kind of improv going on?
C. Slater - Yes there’s definitely been a little bit of improv going on, certainly. When I first got the script, the character of Oz hadn’t been really clearly identified. So when I sat down with Doug Robinson and Seth Gordon and Adam Goldenberg [sic], we just started talking and came up with ideas and I figured, you know what?
I’ve got nothing to lose here so why don’t I just throw out some options and some things that I would like to particularly do in a show and see what these guys think. They ended up popping everything I kind of suggested into the script and I read it and I was like, “Oh boy, okay, well this is pretty exciting. If we can actually pull off getting the Captain Kirk chair in the show that would be wondrous!”
Q - Was that Captain Kirk chair your idea? I know you’re a fan.
C. Slater Yes, well a buddy of mine had gotten me the chair—did I say Goldenberg or Goldberg? I don’t know what I was thinking before—but a buddy of mine had gotten me that chair for a birthday present about a year ago so it was really just sitting in my house and I really liked it and I just thought this chair, I think, would represent, in a way, who this Oz character is.
He is definitely the captain of this particular ship. It does have a throne-like quality and it also has a little bit of a throwback-type quality as well. I’m a fairly eccentric character myself and the fact that these guys were so open to hiring people and including a lot of their own personal eccentricities into the characters was thrilling.
BREAKING IN: Oz (Christian Slater, R) and Melanie (Odette Annable, C) convince Cameron (Bret Harrison, R) to join the Contra Security team in the new half-hour comedy BREAKING IN premiering Wednesday, April 6 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2011 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Richard Foreman/FOX
Q - You’ve always been really entertaining. But it’s not just that you’re entertaining, I mean you’re also—you’re a talented actor. I kind of think that you were maybe a bit underrated in this industry. Do you think that you’re getting the roles and the parts and the offers these days that you really should be getting?
C. Slater Thank you. Look, I mean my ego of course wants to say, “Yeah, I’m the greatest actor who ever lived. I’m absolutely brilliant and I should be doing everything that’s out there.” But I’m going to use this show, hopefully, as an opportunity to exercise every kind of fantasy that I can get away with on national television.
Q - What continues to be appealing to you about working on television?
C. Slater I like the consistency of it. I like the pace of it. With the first two experiences I had, I really did respond well to the schedule. It’s a very, very fast moving train. I don’t like sitting around. I really like to get in there and do the job and get it done and feel good about it at the end of the day, and that pretty much seems to be the vibe on all the sets that I’ve gotten to be a part of.
Q - What is it about the character Oz that makes him tick? What attracted you to that character?
C. Slater Well, I do like the fact that he is an eight-moves ahead kind of guy. You know, he pretty much knows what the outcomes are going to be right from the get-go, which I really appreciated and I like. I think it’s nice to have characters like that on TV. It makes people feel safe and comfortable.
Even though it’s a made up character it still, I think, makes people feel safe that there’s somebody out there like that, potentially. I like that he’s in charge. I like that he likes to have fun, that he doesn’t really take things all that seriously and he’s just kind of a guy—a very mysterious guy, and there’s definitely a lot more going on beneath the surface than he’s revealing.
BREAKING IN: Oz (Christian Slater, R) leads a staff meeting at Contra Security, a group of uniquely skilled oddball geniuses and high-tech security experts who help keep corporations safe from security breaches, in the new half-hour comedy BREAKING IN premiering Wednesday, April 6 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Also pictured: Trevor Moore (L). Cr: Richard Foreman/FOX
Q - There are a lot of pranks on the show. Do you guys have some of that going on behind the scenes as well?
C. Slater Behind the scenes, not yet. So far there have been so many pranks in front of the camera that it’s been difficult to get things going, but I’m sure over time we will certainly have a lot of fun with each other. I’ve definitely had some good pranks in the past, on other shows that I’ve done. I mean, one prank I pulled kind of lasted even after the show was cancelled. Yes, about six months after, finally, the person found out that they were being pranked.
Q - In the past, and currently on Breaking In, you’ve played a lot of really morally ambiguous characters. What tends to draw you to roles like that?
C. Slater I love characters with edge. I love characters that are a little bit more dangerous, a little bit unpredictable. I think they’re just fun to play. They’re definitely more interesting than just your standard, run-of-the-mill action-y type hero. I love just being these guys that are a little offbeat and a little twisted, and just a little dangerous.
Q - How do you view Oz as a person? What kind of person do you see him as?
C. Slater I think he is definitely a guy who, at times, has to rule with a bit of an iron fist because he is dealing with a large group of misfits that he’s assembled, but my personal feeling is that he’s definitely got a heart of gold. I think he loves everyone that he’s chosen to surround himself with.
Q - Is that really Captain Kirk’s chair?
C. Slater Yes, well what’s nice is that as a way to do some research for this particular show, me and the gang all broke into the Smithsonian and stole the real one. Yes, so the one that they have at the Smithsonian is a replica now.
Q - Can tell us—a little bit about your experiences filming the pilot episode for Breaking In, and perhaps some of the acting challenges you maybe found stepping into the role at first?
C. Slater Well, filming the pilot—look, Seth Gordon is certainly a wonderful director. I loved his movie, The King of Kong. I thought it was a great documentary and he certainly gets story and building characters. I found him to be an absolutely wonderful director. It’s always adventurous and exciting working with new people, figuring out how they work and how they like to do things, so it’s a process.
I think we’ve really fallen into a nice groove. I mean honestly, the last four episodes that we’ve done have been a pleasure. The directors who have come in have been great. We had Fred Savage come in and direct. I did a movie with him when I was 17 and I think he was about 12, so it’s just kind of amazing to see people grow up and take on these new roles.
Q - What would you say has made a career as an actor rewarding for you so far?
C. Slater I think the opportunities to experience so many different things. To get the opportunity to, quite honestly, travel; see things. At times, I get the opportunities to go on USO tours where if I wasn’t in the position that I’m in I wouldn’t have those chances to get to go to Bahrain or Djibouti, or get to visit the Walter Reed Medical Center. So having those kinds of experiences are quite remarkable and certainly perspective-changing.
Q - Breaking In is different than a lot of your roles up until now in that it’s a comedy rather than a drama. What made you decide you wanted to do this genre of TV?
C. Slater Well, Doug Robinson told me that he’d seen me do a few comedy things. I did a bit on Curb Your Enthusiasm and I did something on The Office and I was pretty much playing myself in—well I was, I was playing a version of myself in those particular shows. This was an opportunity to create a character from the ground up and really make somebody come to life in a comedy-esque type fashion. It was something new, it was something different. It was something that certainly feels more geared towards my strengths and things that I really do enjoy doing.
I definitely prefer doing comedy. I think comedy is vital in our world. I think it’s very, very important and we need as many excuses to laugh and be jolly at this particular time.
Q - A lot of viewers are hesitant to start a new show, especially when it premieres at kind of an odd time in the season. You’ve talked a lot about it already, but can you give them a couple of good reasons to tune in?
C. Slater It’s the greatest show ever made. I mean, you’d be crazy not to. There’s two reasons right there.
Q - Because of a lot of your roles, the public sees you as a dangerous, cool guy with a shady past. I know it’s a role but that’s how we always see you. Can you tell us anything about yourself that would totally surprise or shock any Christian Slater fans?
C. Slater I’ve pretty much gone from a “bad boy” to a “dad boy.” Somebody came up with that one yesterday and I really liked it. “Dad boy” is definitely more a fitting moniker for me. I mean I’m going to LEGOLAND on Thursday to check out the new Star Wars exhibit they have there. I’m not going just myself, of course, I’m taking my son.
Q - Okay, so your son’s your excuse for going?
C. Slater There you go.
Q - In the closing shot of the pilot, next to the Captain Kirk chair, I saw this old book. Is that on purpose and/or what is that?
C. Slater Well that is a book—it was a prop that I stole from The Name of the Rose so we figured there’s a good spot for it, so we might as well put it in there and more will be revealed. A lot of the pages on that are very much like they were in the movie. They’ve all been—it’s got that poison ink on it.
Q - Oz is such a man of mystery to the rest of us. Have you been clued in on his past and what he’s really all about?
C. Slater Well, yes, very kindly Adam has certainly sat me down and exposed me to Oz’s timeline, which of course, makes it a lot easier for me to understand the character and see the direction he’s going in. Now, of course he made me swear to secrecy about it all so I can’t say anything really about Oz’s true past but it certainly gripped me and I found it very interesting. The guy who’s going to end up playing his father is pretty phenomenal.
Q - Working with actors like Bret and Alphonso, did you feel that you had to, sort of, raise your game when it came to your comedy skills?
C. Slater Yes, definitely. I definitely felt like they were setting the bar very, very high and if I didn’t show up and be as prepared as I could possibly be then I would definitely fall behind with the timing and the comic genius that they possess.
Q - How do you relate to all the high-tech security elements in the show? Like, are you a tech-type of guy in real life?
C. Slater I do love the tech stuff. I enjoy the iPad. I’ve got the iPhone. I’ve got a Mini Mac hooked up to my TV. I’ve got the Xbox. I’ve got the PlayStation. I’ve got the Wii. I mean, I’m insanely techie and I love to play all that stuff with my kids.
Q - As you get older, what do you like most about the roles that you receive now, as compared to early days?
C. Slater Well, it’s funny. I mean I’m now the boss, which is very interesting. For me, to kind of—have been around long enough to get the opportunity to be the guy who can actually appropriately sit in the captain’s chair is quite shocking, but I guess that’s just what happens when you keep breathing.
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Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.
