CASTLE: Andrew Marlowe on Meeting Castle’s Dad and More
February 24, 2013 by Marisa Roffman
Things have gotten pretty intense on CASTLE: not only has Alexis been kidnapped, but she’s being held in Paris. And as if Rick hasn’t had enough family drama, his long-missing father comes back into the picture in tomorrow night’s episode, “Hunt.”
I spoke with CASTLE creator Andrew Marlowe about Castle’s dad, why the time was right to introduce him now, and more…
ABC has been pretty upfront about the fact that James Brolin is playing Castle’s dad. Was that something you wanted the viewers to know before they watched “Hunt” or were you hoping it would be kept quiet?
Andrew Marlowe: If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t reveal it, but ABC was pretty adamant that they wanted to reveal that to the viewers. And so that’s part of the delicate dance we do — how much information do we get out? I’m more of a fan of playing coy. Having people speculate: is it possible this [is it], is it possible that [is]? But I have to trust in my partners across the way that they know what they’re doing.
Does James get to share scenes with anyone aside from Nathan Fillion (Castle)?
AM: I’d rather not answer that.
I’m not sure if you’ll want to answer this either, but does Castle go into the meeting knowing this man is his father?
AM: No comment!
For something you can talk about, you’ve stated before that you really wanted to wait until the right time to meet Castle’s father. What made it right to do this storyline now?
AM: The kind of story we were telling lent itself to it. And it allowed me to confront some aspects of who Castle is in a way I think will uncover some aspects of his character for the audience. So for me, it was a way of revealing yet another layer of Castle.
Will we learn if Castle’s father is CIA?
AM: I don’t have any comment on that. It’s absolutely possible, it’s certainly possible ever since that moment with Sophia Turner, where she said, “When your father reads about your death, I’m sure he’ll be proud of you.” So was she lying? Was she not? It will be interesting to find out.
Interesting, indeed. Looking elsewhere, will Senator Bracken return before the year ends?
AM: We’re not sure yet. One of the things we love about it is how Beckett’s mythology has morphed from ghosts that haunt her in her past to this ongoing dance she’s doing with the devil. And this notion of him owing her a favor, because do you ever call in a favor from the devil? Because it inevitably will have strings attached, but is there a moment in the future when you need to? It feels like a really wonderful, delicious card to play.
So it’s something we’re talking about internally — how best to deal with that. Assuming the TV gods smile on us and we keep going forward, I can tell you I don’t think we’re done with Senator Bracken. And [Jack Coleman (Bracken)]’s such a good actor, and he really brings it in the episode. We really love that.
How important is it for you to have those underlying themes and cards to play? For so many years, you did have Castle’s father as this big unknown, and now we’re about to meet him. Beckett’s mother’s case was unsolved, and now she knows what happened. Castle and Beckett danced around their feelings, and now they’re together. At this point in the series, do you find it important to lay the groundwork for new multi-season arcs? Or are you happy to be free of that?
AM: I think part of the challenge is finding new ones. You never want to get stale, you never want to fall too much into a groove, you want to shake things up. I think people enjoy being in the comfortable groove for a while, and then they enjoy things changing and staying the same, if you know what I mean.
I don’t think anyone out there in universe would want us to fundamentally disrupt the show, but I think there need to be new elements, new secrets, new complications in order to keep the show fresh and interesting for us to write it, for viewers to see it, and for our actors to play the characters. And that’s the hope.
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CASTLE airs Mondays at 10 PM on ABC.
Related:
CASTLE: Andrew Marlowe on the ‘Personal Stakes’ in the Two-Parter, and More
CASTLE: ‘Target’ You Ask, I Answer
CASTLE: Andrew Marlowe Previews ‘Reality Star Struck’
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Filed under #1 featured, Castle
One very long sentence with a very short meaning: ” I don’t think anyone out there in universe would want us to fundamentally disrupt the show, but I think there need to be new elements, new secrets, new complications in order to keep the show fresh and interesting for us to write it, for viewers to see it, and for our actors to play the characters.”
Short version: Caskett will get bumpy but they won’t break up. Fan note to other shows: knowing the destination does not make the ride less interesting!
No matter what happens, the Castle writers are brilliant and will keep bringing us incredible stories. Fans are up for anything with the exception of Castle and Beckett breaking up. That is non-negiousable.
I love when the stakes are high, and when there’s danger in the air, so I look forward to more complications, because that keeps us intrigued. I just hope that they come natural to the overall story, and I hope Castle and Beckett’s relationship continues to move forward despite of them, even if it’s at a slow pace.
Marlowe’s done a fantastic job, and Season 5 is going very well. Especially the two parter. Great foreshadowing leading up to it. I don’t even like Brolin, but the clips show great chemistry with Nathan Fillion and I’m happy with the move. “Target” was great, probably the best acting I’ve seen from Fillion in years, and quite possibly the best Castle ep ever. Handling Castle’s “dark side” won’t be easy for the plot, but it’s an interesting twist that will long out-last Alexis’s return.
Idea: can Brolin play the “federal agent” in the two-parter NEXT year? Forcing Castle to pretend that he’s never met the guy before and finally having to admit to Beckett that he knows exactly who this guy is?
This season we’re seeing much more of the ensemble moving to the forefront, which is a smart move for a show like this. Ryan and esposito, of course, each have gotten two episodes. Will there be a Laney episode? I hope so. I’d like to see a uniformed cop be promoted to a recurring role. If Sullivan and Son were cancelled, the obvious pick would be Valerie Azlynn (retired superhero Anne Hastings), but we’re hearing L.T. Tolliver’s character mentioned more often, and he’s been around since season 1 (usually called by the actor’s name “LT” but at one point called Scott in season 1), so that works too.
(Btw, also finally seeing them make good use of Gates. PJJ is fantastic but her character was tacked on and awkward in season 4.)
TV needs more of Jack Coleman’s goodness.