Fairly LegalBy Sammi-T
Fairly Legal is the newest show on USA Network and already it promises to be a huge hit. Formerly known as Facing Kate, the show is about mediator Kate Reed (played by Sarah Shahi) who assists with court cases while dealing with the death of her father, working with her young stepmom Lauren (Virginia Williams) and trying to figure out where she stands with ex-husband Justin. (Michael Trucco) Her toy and comic book loving assistant Leo (Baron Vaughn) helps her keep it all together by being a rock, friend and confidant.
Over the summer, I had the chance to visit Vancouver and see parts of the show being filmed and interview several of the show's stars and writers. They shared some of their favorite things about their characters, what to expect during the first season and for all you ladies out there--what Lauren and Sarah will be wearing!
WHAT THEY LIKE ABOUT THEIR CHARACTERS:
VIRGINIA WILLIAMS: (LAUREN) Mm hmm. Yeah, I’m happy to address that. I never saw Lauren as a b*tch, primarily because I didn’t want to play the part if that’s how she was going to be. I wouldn’t have taken the part if I thought she was just our stereotypical, you know, second wife, trophy wife, gold digger. I didn’t find that interesting. It’s been done 100 times before. I made the choice that Lauren very much was in love with Teddy. Of course then, as an actor, I’ve come up with those reasons as to how I could fall in love with a man so much older, and what my daddy issues are, and all that kind of good stuff. But no, I think she adored him. They were best friends. More than anything I think they really got each other, and they were best friends. And she loved him. And I think that the only person really that would ever refer to Lauren as a b-word would be Kate. And you understand why Kate feels the way she does.
BARON VAUGHN: (LEONARDO) I like his relationship with Kate, because it’s, like, even though I’m, quote unquote, “her underling,” there’s a lot that she has to learn from me. And I think that she gets to learn from me, even though she doesn’t necessarily see it on the surface. That there are things that she’s like, “Hmm, that is an interesting point.” And then later she’s like, “I had this great idea.” But I know it started with me. I’m the Tesla, if you will, to her Edison. Yeah, that’s a nerdy reference. I am David Bowie in the movie The Prestige, to her – all right.
MICHAEL TRUCCO: (JUSTIN) He’s sort of taking the aggressor in finishing the – the role of the aggressor in ‘let’s finalize this divorce’. We’ve set up – we’ve established paperwork, we’ve drawn up – we’ve got lawyers on both sides. It’s over. We can still be friends and that’s great. But this thing about ending up in bed together is freaking him out – it’s weird. And I like that.
SARAH SHAHI: (KATE) She’s incredibly dynamic in her personal life. She’s still sleeping with her ex-husband in this relationship that on paper is supposed to work, but it doesn’t work. She’s in this battle with her stepmom at work. And, so she has all these different cards that she’s juggling. And at the same time, she herself is the one thing she cannot confront. With the death of her dad, she’s one of those little busybodies. She tries to make herself incredibly busy just to – just so she doesn’t have that moment to stop and realize how messed up her own life is. But look, the fun thing about playing any role I think is it’s boring to play the perfect role. It’s boring to play the sunny, happy character. What I like is I like people’s flaws. What’s the crack in the veneer, you know? And for her that’s exactly what it is. She puts herself out there so much because she can’t stand to be alone with herself and her thoughts for too long.
ON WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE SEASON:
MICHAEL SARDO: (WRITER) Yes, that’s a very good question. And it’s something, you know, when you’re dealing with background, it’s how do you bring it in elegantly without saying, “Remember when eight years ago we were – ” Which is always tempting. But yes, and we’ll learn about how Lauren and Kate first met. We learn about Justin and Kate’s relationship, and how it started out, and where it ended up. We learn a lot about Kate’s dad, and history that we didn’t know existed. And how sometimes a parent presents a certain face to you, and then when you look deeper, you know, you’ve only known them as that parent. But they had a history before they had you. And Kate’s going to find out some very interesting things about her dad.
ON JUSTIN AND KATE:
MICHAEL TRUCCO: (JUSTIN) So there’s a slight role reversal, whereas this arrangement usually works for the traditional male. The arrangement being we’re separated, we’re not together, but every time we see each other we end up in bed together – no strings attached. Spend the night, you go off to work, I go off to work, it’s all good. Most traditional male perspectives would be like, “Hey man, that’s a great arrangement. You know, you’re friends with benefits.” And for Justin it’s not. He doesn’t – it’s a dysfunctional relationship. It’s toxic. That’s a bad way. We were married, we’re separated, we’re facing a pending divorce. We’ve got to stop ending up in bed together. He can’t move on. And that gives a certain emotional dynamic to the character of Justin that I like. So he’s sort of taking the aggressor in finishing the – the role of the aggressor in ‘let’s finalize this divorce’. We’ve set up – we’ve established paperwork, we’ve drawn up – we’ve got lawyers on both sides. It’s over. We can still be friends and that’s great. But this thing about ending up in bed together is freaking him out – it’s weird. And I like that. I like [that] the show starts with our two central characters already having baggage, already having, you know, a relationship. Because most shows when you cast a male and female lead, you’ve got that they just met, they’ve just been thrown together. They’re at odds with one another, then there’s kind of flirtation, there’s attraction, then the will they, won’t they. Justin and Kate have already been there, done that, and we’re starting the series with a pending divorce. So it’s an interesting way to start a show, yeah.
THE WIZARD OF OZ REFERENCES:
MICHAEL SARDO: (WRITER) I think at this point in her life, Kate’s a little like Dorothy. Everything that she’s familiar with has just been swept aside. And even though she is part of the force sweeping them aside, she’s grappling with, “What happens now?”, “Where am I?” Her dad, who she hadn’t resolved her conflicts with, just died. And that’s a very uncomfortable thing where you haven’t dealt with it just yet. And Justin, who she wanted – she’s the one who wanted the divorce – they’re very connected still. So how does that work? And now Lauren is the person she most talks to at the firm, and she really doesn’t like her. And this is my stepmother, and yet I know that you made my father happy. So she’s sitting in all that discomfort. And in some ways, you know, Sarah and I have talked about this, it makes her drive to more toward solving other people’s conflicts, because she can’t quite resolve the ones of herself.
THE FASHION!
BARON VAUGHN: (LEONARDO) (After being told his character is a snappy dresser and that the panel Snappy – thank you very much. That’s a better word than crappy. They’re both –appy, so as long as you’re –appy, I’m –appy. But sweater vests – they want sweater vests, a lot of different colours. I said no more grey. There’s a lot of grey. I just like to accessorize it, you know what I mean? Like, if I could I would dress similar to what to the way that they do except with jeans and the loud skater sneakers. But yeah, lots of different vests of different shapes and sizes – sheens, hues, tones, thickness, and other adjectives.
VIRGINIA WILLIAMS: (LAUREN) Lauren gets incredible stuff. All my stuff’s, like, Hugo
Boss. I don’t think I wear anything under, about, two grand. I’m serious. They’re outstanding.
I’m always in Manolo’s – she’s dressed to the nines. She had – we both get great wardrobe.
And she was in there – they do a really good job of keeping it very – keeping us very distinct.
Even in my wardrobe fitting today I saw something and I was, like, “Oh, that could work.”
And she was like, “Well, you know, we really keep – ” Lauren’s always in dresses. Always in
super skinny, A- I mean, not A-line – super skinny, like, very fitted dresses, and Kate’s always
in an A-line, or a pant. Lauren doesn’t wear – Lauren only wears the pants metaphorically.
SARAH SHAHI (KATE) (I think) That the goal for her is to look more, sort of, thrown
together, and random, and not quite so put together. But she kind of all pulls it off. Plus she
lives on a boat, so her pieces are not your, you know, your conventional outfit. Plus she’s the
antithesis of the corporate world. So and her wardrobe reflects that.
Thank you to the cast and crew of Fairly Legal for the interviews. The show premieres Thursday, January 20th at 10/9C only on USA Network.
