CASTLE: Juliana and Seamus Dever on Baby Ryan’s Delivery and What Comes Next

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the January 6th episode of CASTLE, “Under Fire.” If you haven’t seen it, please watch the episode before reading this interview.]

Baby Ryan is here! But, because it’s television, little Sarah Grace’s birth was pretty dramatic: as daddy-to-be Kevin fought for his life in a burning building, his wife, Jenny, gave birth in an ambulance just a few feet away.

I spoke with Juliana and Seamus Dever (Jenny and Ryan) about their new on-screen parenthood, and what comes next for the Ryan family…

So, that was not what would be deemed an easy birth! We didn’t see much of the delivery, but did you do anything special to prep for having a baby on-screen?
Juliana Dever: It was really funny, because I joked to [CASTLE creator] Andrew [Marlowe], “Just don’t make me give birth on-screen.” And he did. [Laughs]

Like all good actors getting ready to do something they’re unfamiliar with, I started doing my research, and I had a close friend who had recently had a baby, so I would go over to my friend’s house, and [we] would go to one of her rooms, and we would sit there and go into contractions together. I learned all kinds of things I had no idea about!

It was scary at first, because you’re portraying something some people are very familiar with and have an intimate experience with, and you don’t. And you want to make it as realistic as possible; you don’t want that to be the reason someone doesn’t follow the story for a few minutes. it’s a big responsibility, and it’s something I hope I achieved.

Well, given that the characters had followed on your real life path up to this point — since you met, dated, and married before your characters ever did that on CASTLE — was there ever any thought to ask the CASTLE writers to put off an on-screen pregnancy until if or when you guys opted to go there yourselves?
Seamus Dever: I think it’s pretty neat [to go through it onscreen]. What’s really neat now is that this is an area that Seamus and Julie have not ventured into, so this is all new stuff. It was easy to propose to my wife the second time on television, because A) I knew she was going to say yes, and B) I had already done it before. [Laughs] But this is all new territory. I think it’s kind of exciting to think about how would I react to this kind of situation, because I have no personal experience with them.

Completely understandable. Now that they have their daughter, what are your hopes for the Ryan family?
SD: It will be fun to see where it takes them from there. Who knows? If he tries to get promoted and get more of a desk job, that kind of thing to keep himself out of danger. It’s wide open, really.
JD: I really think they should get a family dog.

Hey, given that he just survived a fire, maybe a Dalmatians is in order…a traditional firehouse dog.
JD: That’s true. I kept joking about that: “Where are all the Dalmatians on set?”
SD: I expected Dalmatians. There are firetrucks, where are the Dalmatians?

Wait, they didn’t even let you play with a Dalmatian? If Ryan survived a fire, I feel like getting face-time with a dog should be the least they do for him.
JD: It was a little bit of a let-down. [Laughs]

Will we be seeing more of the Ryan family in January beyond this episode? Or is this it for the time being?
SD: That’s it so far. We’ll see what happens. We’re pretty much just caught up. We aired ten in a row, which is a big deal, so we stick all these things in, and there’s an accelerated process where we’re pretty much just cranking them out, and then we had a little break,  and then we run out [another chunk] at the end. We’re pretty much just catching up and coming up for air.

Well, in terms of another CASTLE family, James Brolin is coming back as Castle’s dad. Will you share scenes with him this time around, Seamus?
SD: No, I don’t get scenes with James, but I worked with James years ago on his television show PENSACOLA: WINGS OF GOLD, and I actually got to see him [on the CASTLE set] this time, and I said hi, and he remembered me, which was kind of cool. We spent a week together outside of a convenience store together outside of San Diego, and so there was a lot of time hanging out next to him, sitting next to the legendary Jim Brolin. So he said he remembered me, but no scenes with him. He’s still a mystery figure. That’s a very interesting episode when that comes through, but I can’t tease too much about that one…but I think the audience is going to like that one, too.

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So, what did you think of the episode? Did Ryan and Jenny’s pre-birth phone call break your heart?

Related:

CASTLE: Seamus and Juliana Dever Preview ‘Under Fire’
CASTLE: ‘Under Fire’ Photo Preview
CASTLE: Frances Fisher to Guest Star

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