TV Tattler: Celebrity Interviews
Continued: Scott Foley Dodges Bullets, But Not Our Questions
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Do you ever hear from military folks about the show?
I had a guy say, "You're the sniper in the group, and that's what I do. Most people close one eye when they're looking through the scope, and you know to keep both open so you can sight correctly." He said, "Every guy in the barracks watches it, and we wait for Tuesday night. We love the show." That's huge.
So an important part of being a soldier is making tough decisions. What is the best decision you ever made in your life and the worst decision you ever made?
I think they might have been the same decision.
What was that decision?
To move to Los Angeles and become an actor. I think it was the best because I've been able to live out my dream. I've been able to get behind the wizard's curtain and do what so few people who set out to do have actually done. The percentage of working actors in the Screen Actor's Guild is like .4 percent. A lot of people try to do it. That's why I feel lucky, why it's one of the best decisions I ever made. It is one of the worst because I am able to see behind the wizard's curtain, and as much as I love making television and film, I do not necessarily enjoy watching it as much as I did. It loses a bit of the magic, which was some of the reason I got into it.
So what happens when you go to the movies or watch a TV show?
I am looking for a boom to fall into a shot and I know with that wall, there is nothing on the other side of it. You know the actors and you know what they are going to do sometimes if you are familiar with them and worked with them before. But you know, overall I'm pretty damn lucky.
First and foremost, it is great. The reason I took this show was because I wanted to work with David Mamet. I do not know if I will ever tell him that face-to-face, but I have been a fan of his work for years. I have read most, if not all, of his plays and a lot of his books and his books on acting, although I do not necessarily agree with everything he says. I think he is an individual thinker and that alone makes him great, on top of being "savantish" with regards to writing. He's arguably the best living American playwright. So it's great to say his words and you mix him with Shawn Ryan, who is a great success in his own right. He has done 'The Shield,' and is a wizard in the editing room. He can put together a show like nobody else. I mean, the cup runneth over, my friend. How cool!
If you could magically play any other character on television, who would that be?
It is so funny you should ask because I just directed an episode of 'Monk,' and I would love to play that character for a day. Tony Shalhoub has done a wonderful job of humanizing that broken aspect of people. I think we all have a little bit of obsessive compulsive in us, but I would love to try to take it to the next level with those ticks and looking at the light in a certain way and having to touch things. I think it would be so interesting.
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