Conference Call with Ethan Peck
By: Lauren (My Q&A is in the blue)
First off, I want to say that I’ve seen a bit of the show 10 Things I Hate About You (where Ethan plays the character of Patrick Verona, originally done by Heath Ledger in the film) and it seems like a fun show. Hopefully I can keep up with when the show airs and see more episodes. Ethan was really kind and easy to talk to during this interview. I’m sorry for the awkward phrasing of my questions. That happens sometimes, but I hope you can tell what I mean.
I wanted to make a couple notes real quick as well before I let you move on.
10 Things I Hate About You: Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. Central, on ABC Family
Ethan’s Voice: It’s mentioned a couple times in the interview about how he has a great voice and I have to reiterate this. He really does! It’s very deep and seems to work for the brooding feel of Patrick in the new tv series. Watch it to see!
Ethan’s Grandfather: I mention him in my second question, but we don’t explain who he is so I wanted to fill you in before you read. Ethan’s grandfather is the late actor Gregory Peck. Doesn’t sound familiar? He played the role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Read On!
Moderator
Our first question comes from the line Jamie Ruby with Media Boulevard; please go ahead.
J. Ruby
Hello, thanks for taking time to answer our calls.
E. Peck
Of course, Jamie, How are you doing?
J. Ruby
How did you come to this part? Did you audition for it and what drew you to the role?
E. Peck
I auditioned for the role in New York City first, I guess, in late November. It was just a regular audition for me; I go out regularly. I couldn’t really recall the film or the character at the time. I’d heard of 10 Things I Hate About You, of course, but I went in and it went quite well for me obviously and they flew me out to test me for the role. I realized that I was going to be a part of something that was turning out to be really wonderful. So I’m really grateful for the opportunity.
J. Ruby
Where do you draw your inspiration for your character from?
E. Peck
I draw my inspiration for the character from the day I had the audition. Actually I was having kind of an awful day and I went into the room with a lot of attitude and I guess not so much fear as I sometimes have when I have an audition because it can be scary. Something just clicked for me and Patrick Verona came forth and we sort of built from there. Really, Carter, who’s the creator and writer of the show and Gil Junger, the primary director of this first season, we really all work together and make this guy who he is. He’s very moody and mysterious and here and not here, if you know what I mean, with Kat especially. That’s sort of where he’s at right now.
Moderator
Our next question comes from the line of Lauren Becker with Shooting Stars Magazine.
L. Becker
My first question is everyone that’s a fan of the movie or has seen it all knows that your character, Patrick, was originally played by Heath Ledger. I was wondering if, once you got the part, you watched the movie or you just tried to make it how you would see Patrick.
E. Peck
I watched the film again after about ten years because I had seen it when it had first been released. I watched it again the night that I found out that I booked the pilot so I had already tested and been through the audition process. Did you ask how –?
L. Becker
I was wondering if you tried to make it like the movie, how Heath did it or you tried to make it your own version of what you felt Patrick should be.
E. Peck
In no way, with all due respect to Heath and what he did with the role, in no way is it inspired from the film. It’s really just the same names, the same franchise, and really re-imagining the show, the story and the characters. Again, with all due respect to what he did with the character, I haven’t taken any direct inspiration from him.
L. Becker
I think that would be good for the show because obviously it’s a whole new thing now. It’s good that the characters can kind of be their own people away from the movie.
E. Peck
Plus it’s really difficult, first of all you don’t want to recreate something like that, which is so beloved and was so well done. We’re really lucky to have Gil back, who directed the film as well.
L. Becker
My follow-up question was your grandfather was an actor in the past. I was wondering if you grew up wanting, you had that in your family and you wanted to be an actor or it just came later?
E. Peck
When I was about nine years old I had a sensation that drew me towards acting, that drew me towards the idea of acting. I didn’t really understand what it was at the time. Whether or not it was inspired by my grandfather I’m not sure because we never spoke about acting. He was very much a grandfather to me and the father of my father to me. I knew him as Grandpa Greg and I didn’t know him as the Hollywood icon he is to most every other person that I meet that has met him and has been in touch with him and in contact with him. So I think that in the most indirect ways he inspires me, which is, I think, even more profound than if he had raised me talking to me about acting and showing me plays and films and the like.
Moderator
Our next question comes from the line of Roger Newcomb with We Love Soaps; your line is open.
R. Newcomb
Hello, Ethan, thanks so much for joining us. You have a great, great voice and I’m hearing you talk more now than the whole first two episodes combined. I’m wondering when we might hear Patrick talk a little more so we can hear your voice on the show.
E. Peck
Patrick will be speaking more and more as the season progresses. I guess in Episode Four is when he really starts to speak more, but throughout the first season he really is going to remain this myth, in a lot of ways at Padua High and to the audience and even to me, Ethan Peck, playing him because we are still working him out and developing him as a character.
R. Newcomb
You’re doing a great job with the brooding looks. In the second episode Patrick hits his locker and it magically opens, he’s trying to impress some girl; it’s just like The Fonz on Happy Days. I’m wondering if we’ll see a lighter side to him at some point.
E. Peck
Absolutely you’ll see a lighter side to Patrick. He will be very hot and cold, as I said, both with Kat and with the audience. The audience really only views Patrick through Kat’s perspective and through, I guess, some of the perspectives of the other students as they spread rumors and gossip about him, which happens at times. But he is a real guy and there are multiple facets to his personality and to his emotional and psychological self.
R. Newcomb
Thank you so much; good luck this season.
Moderator
Our next question will come from the line of Sarah Fulghum with TotallyHer.Com.
S. Fulghum
Hello, Ethan, thanks for taking my call. How well do you get along with your costars?
E. Peck
We get along so well it’s very surprising. I guess it’s not surprising; I wasn’t really expecting or not expecting anything, but everybody’s been so amazing from the costars to the creators, the producers, the directors to everybody on set, the grips working, the props, everybody’s been incredible. Lindsey and I get along really well and I’m so lucky and honored and proud to be working with these other actors because they’re so talented and they’re really good people. Nick Braun, Kyle Kaplan, Meaghan Jette, Dana Davis, Chris Zylka. It’s surprising and every day I’m full of wonder because there’s not really a flaw with the cast, for me in terms of the personalities and how we get along. It’s been so wonderful I can’t really explain enough.
S. Fulghum
I know with the cast you cover a fair amount of age difference …being in your twenties and playing a high-schooler.
E. Peck
It’s totally bizarre. When I was 17 and auditioning for 17 I used to always be so frustrated when I would see the character, whomever they cast for the character I was auditioning for, to be 24 years old playing 17. Why is this guy playing a 17 year-old when he’s in his early twenties, etc.? It’s strange, but in a lot of ways when I was 17 I really wouldn’t have been capable of maintaining this perspective to act 17, if that makes any sense. So it is strange and I commend Meaghan, who is 17 playing, I guess, 16, for having the talent and grace she does in playing Bianca, because she is really wonderful. Even Lindsey’s younger; she’s 20 and she’s awesome. Again, I don’t think I would have had the perspective when I was 17 to do this kind of work. I’m still challenged by it.
Moderator
Next we’ll go to the line of Troy Rogers with The Deadbolt.com.
T. Rogers
Hello, Ethan, thanks for taking the time. You mentioned that after you got the pilot you went back and watched the film. At any point did you have a worry or a fear that fans of the film would compare you to Heath?
E. Peck
No, I didn’t have any worries or fears. That fear really comes from people from the outside and the media. Fans of the film who are going to be ignorant and not open to the idea of a re-imagining of this familiar idea, when in fact the film was derived from Shakespeare’s play, “Taming of The Shrew.” So I wasn’t afraid; I wasn’t in any way trying to emulate what was originally done with Patrick. Really it’s up to all of you in a lot of ways and up to the fans, to be open and generous enough to all of us at ABC Family with 10 things just to watch as though it’s a new show and an original show. It wouldn’t be fair to compare us to the film because like I said before the film was wonderful. I just hope that we can create a new piece of work that’s fresh and original that people will be changed by and be entertained by and be surprised by.
T. Rogers
You also mentioned your other costars. What’s it like to have Larry Miller on the series since he was in the film?
E. Peck
It’s great. Larry is so awesome. Unfortunately I’ve only had the briefest of moments with him in a scene this season. As I said before the relationship between Kat and Patrick is building very slowly, which I think will attract viewers to the show even more so because they want to know what’s going on in the main romance in the show. I actually can’t give it away, but Larry’s incredible. As a human being he’s just a wonderful, kind man, so generous. Whenever I have lunch with him I sit down next to him and pick his brain because we just can talk for a long time. He shares lots of insightful things with me.
T. Rogers
I have to agree, you have a great voice.
Moderator
Next we have a question from the line of Jamie Steinberg with Starry Constellation Magazine.
J. Steinberg
It’s a pleasure to speak with you this afternoon. I was wondering what’s been your most memorable moment you’ve had from filming this season.
E. Peck
I think probably it’s scenes that we had, again, I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this, but there will be a scene on a roof exterior, which was most memorable to me, which you will see toward the end of the season between Kat and me. We were filming up in Santa Clarita and they built this structure outside of the stage and it was a beautiful night during the sunset. I love twilight and the nighttime and that was most memorable for me.
J. Steinberg
Why do you think people want to take their time to tune in and watch the show?
E. Peck
I think people will want to take the time to tune in and watch the show because it’s really well written. As I said before I’m so privileged to be surrounded by an insanely talented cast. Everybody involved has only the best intentions in terms of treating us as professionals, everybody else on the set as professionals and entertaining the public and our viewers with something new and surprising and succinct and precise. If you just tune in, you’ll see.
Moderator
We have a follow-up question from the line of Jamie Ruby with Media Boulevard.
J. Ruby
What’s the hardest part about working on the show?
E. Peck
The hardest part about working on a show is probably staying focused, for me, and being consistent in my performance and rising to the occasion because it can be difficult. We are working on a stage and it’s a lot of the reality that we create on the screen, I hope we create reality on the screen; I think that we do, is mostly in our imaginations. Obviously that’s the case for any type of film or television or play or performance, but especially for this because the moments are so contained within an artificial space. That’s been a great challenge to me.
Also the pace can be very grueling. It’s difficult for me to keep up at times, but it’s been so challenging and so educating. Again I’m so grateful for this opportunity. It’s been nothing but good for me really.
J. Ruby
Can you run us through a typical day on the set?
E. Peck
They’re all pretty different, but typically I come in, a good day starts at 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning, go through hair and makeup. They call me on for rehearsal; we rehearse the scene, the director, who I said is typically Gil; we’ve also had several guest directors, will walk us through it and we’ll block it and discuss it and collaborate then he will discuss how to light it and we go and hang out for half an hour to two hours depending how long it takes them for light and we come back and film it. Usually it goes pretty quickly and then they change angles and that happens continuously throughout the day for anywhere from three to twelve hours depending on how many scenes you’re doing during the day.
Moderator
Our next question is from the line of Chelsea Daigle with Music, Movies and Mayhem.
C. Daigle
In the movie, Patrick won over Kat by publicly singing, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” Is that something you think you’ll wind up reenacting and if so are you looking forward to it?
E. Peck
Probably not. That’s such an incredible scene in the film. I feel like everybody that has seen the movie remembers that scene. It could be that that’s the scene the movie is known for, but I don’t think that our Patrick would do that. I don’t personally and I don’t think that Carter does either, who is like I said, the executive producer and creator of the show. He is much more brooding and mysterious so unfortunately I won’t be doing that even though it would be a really incredible thing to do, for television I guess and for audiences.
C. Daigle
My follow-up question is if there were one song to describe Patrick Verona what would it be? I’d like you to answer the same question for yourself in real life.
E. Peck
One song for Patrick Verona, I don’t know. Obviously I can only speak from my own knowledge of music, but there’s this piece called, “Boat Out in the Ocean,” by Ravel and it’s a solo piano piece. It’s very dynamic melodically and tonally. It makes the listener, in my opinion, feel all sorts of things. I think that’s what Patrick does to everybody at school, to his friends, whomever they are. So that for Patrick, “Boat Out on the Sea” by Maurice Ravel. I think it was probably written in the early 20th century.
Then for me I’m still in progress so I’m not sure there’s a song to pin me down quite yet. But for now, I guess … I don’t know. I really have been listening on repeat quite frequently a song called “Don’t Worry, Baby” by the Beach Boys.
Moderator
We’ll go again to the line of Jamie Ruby with Media Boulevard.
J. Ruby
Is there any scene that was in the movie that you want them to put in the series or that you would like to act out?
E. Peck
The series is so different from the film that it’s difficult for me to even think of the film in relation to the series, in all honesty. So I can’t really pick out any scene that I’ve been drawn to from the perspective of being a performer in the series. But I always remember the scene where Cameron, played by Joseph Gordon Levin in the film, first approaches Patrick in shop class and he’s got a book in his hand, I think it’s a French book or a science book and he asks Patrick a question. Patrick turns around, he’s got a drill in his hands and he just drills a hole through the book with a smile on his face. I’ve always loved that scene. That would be a fun little moment to have, but that’s really the only moment that comes to mind.
J. Ruby
If you could have any role, a dream role, what would it be?
E. Peck
I don’t know yet.
J. Ruby
Just something if you could have played a part in a show somebody else did.
E. Peck
I guess any one of the, I really loved A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints with Shia LaBeouf and Channing Tatum and Robert Downey, Jr. I can’t recall the entire cast. But any one of the under boys, men, I guess, I would have loved to have played. They were just really tortured and dark and struggling and real. I love truth; that movie felt very true to me.
J. Ruby
Do you often watch yourself act in the show?
E. Peck
I do, yes, when we are allowed to; when we’re giving the opportunity to, but it’s difficult for me to watch myself.
Moderator
We have a question again from the line of Roger Newcomb with We Love Soaps.
R. Newcomb
Ethan, what would you say is the biggest similarity between you and Patrick and also the biggest difference?
E. Peck
The biggest similarity between me and Patrick is that he exists so much on the periphery of high school and of, I guess, mainstream culture and life in general as people perceive it. In a lot of ways I ways like that in high school, not because I was a badass by any means, which is probably our biggest separation personality-wise. In high school I was an outsider because I was just kind of out to space all the time and in my own head. My parents were very strict as well so a lot of the kids in my high school used to party a lot so I had a hard time finding a place for myself. I think Patrick doesn’t care to find a place for himself whereas I struggled to identify and I don’t think he does.
R. Newcomb
You grew up in New York, right?
E. Peck
No I grew up in Hollywood actually, in Los Angeles. I went to school in New York; I went to NYU to the Tisch School of the Arts.
R. Newcomb
What would you say is the biggest difference between New York and L.A. in terms of the business and mood of the cities?
E. Peck
The biggest difference between L.A. and New York is the pace, probably. New York is hectic and alive and visceral in so many ways. The people and the way you move around the city and the way you communicate with strangers is just very alive is really the only way I can put it. I say that only because Los Angeles there’s such a sprawl here and there’s such a lack of contact, really, between human beings. There’s so much metal in the cars that surround and we drive. It’s a very solitary lifestyle in comparison. Even more so than I would say a small town that’s much less populated, but people aren’t as defensive when it comes to communicating with one another. Was there another part to that question?
R. Newcomb
I was just kind of curious. I was thinking that you had grown up in New York, but I guess you just went to college.
E. Peck
I really love New York though. It’s been difficult to be away from it.
R. Newcomb
I’m in New York so I’m partial.
Moderator
We go again to the line of Jamie Ruby; your line is open.
J. Ruby
Do you ever get to offer input for your character or is really strictly about the script?
E. Peck
I do offer input for the character at times. It really is about script though because Carter, again the executive producer and one of the writers, he really has a specific idea for who he wants Patrick to be. I had my idea and when I first went in for the first audition for the test, which was particularly and brooding and because the rest of the show is a comedy we really had to meet in the middle creatively. He’s got to be multifaceted obviously. He just sees bigger than I can because I am within the machine, if that makes sense.
J. Ruby
Do you have any new projects coming up?
E. Peck
Unfortunately I don’t yet, but I hope to.
You always get to interview cool people!
I have to say that Ethan is probably my favorite on the show. I also like the actress who portrays Kat. Ethan just seems like a natural.
I can't wait to see what else is in store this season!
I love that show! I thought it was gonna be like an extended version of the movie, and thus would suck, but it's completely other, and thus is great. 🙂
Nice interview, BTW. I can't imagine doing it over the phone, I'd be a stuttering stress case.
Shalonda: haha thanks. They've all been pretty great so far. some are definitely more upbeat, but that's just their personality and I'm sure doing interviews all the time isn't so much fun. LOL Ethan was great though.
I need to watch it more! I'm just so bad at rembering the days and times shows are on.
Zombie: Very true! It's quite a new thing, just with some characters you recognize. It's cool.
Thanks so much! And yeah, it's a bit odd but I'm slowlyyy getting used to it and it helps that others are asking questions too.
-Lauren
YOU ARE A WINNER!!!
http://newlywedcentral.blogspot.com/2009/07/winner-winner-chicken-dinner.html
Wow, that is quite an impressive interview ~ congrats!
xoxox,
CC
Hay!E. Im Eilene 🙂
I have a question if thats ok with you.Im from South Africa and had to move to australia last year because of harsh sercomstances …and to have a future.Do you think people like me will ever get a chance to meet you? and do you belive in dreams?
Hay .E.Peck.
Is it realy you talking? or one of the people stars pay to act like you? I realy hope its not.