Dylan Walsh – Superman & Lois! Nip/Tuck! Blue Bloods!

Dylan Walsh

Jeff Haas: [00:00:00] Hello, sir.

Dylan Walsh: Hello? How’s it going? I’m good. Let me start. I’m just getting set up here. Bear with me.

Jeff Haas: No worries. Take your time.

Dylan Walsh: Uh, is it

Jeff Haas: working yet? I can see in here.

Dylan Walsh: Okay, great. I don’t see

Jeff Haas: you up. Give me one second. Oh, Peter’s a little bit snowy for some reason. [00:01:00]

Dylan Walsh: That’s it? Um, I just moved to Vancouver and so we’re trying, I’m like this place is a mess.

I’m in my daughter’s bedroom right now.

Jeff Haas: Just give me one second. Just figure out what the, usually doesn’t come off snowy like this.

Dylan Walsh: Um,

Jeff Haas: Hm,

that’s weird.

No, it’s weird is you don’t come out. Uh, all, uh, snowy like this.

Dylan Walsh: Do I look snowy to you?

Jeff Haas: No, you look completely.

Apparently. So, um,[00:02:00]

Hm.

Sure that did anything. Usually I’ve been very clear when I’ve done this. Can we just, oh, sorry, sorry. Just one more moment. Okay. I’ll get

Dylan Walsh: my, uh, is it something from my end?

Jeff Haas: No, this would be, this is a, my issue problem, and I’m not sure exactly

Dylan Walsh: what that is. Alright. Well for once it’s not me.

Jeff Haas: See.[00:03:00]

Not quite as bad. It’s pretty good. But I still looked like, um, some in some sort of Arctic regions, sort of an

Dylan Walsh: aquarium

Jeff Haas: glow about it, apparently. Hmm. Um, can we just, I’m gonna try one more thing and then we’ll just jump in and I’ll just survive with whatever is happening here. I do want to thank you so much for talking with me.

I’m a big fan of yours and I’m really enjoying guestroom in a lowest, quite a bit.[00:04:00]

I mean, it’s just how to survive like this, unfortunately. I’m sure. Yeah. Um, if worst comes to worst, it looks too bad. We’ll just put it like, uh, my photo will be over my video and you’ll just be like, you’re talking to a photograph of my still or something. Um, and unfortunately, The video is being, um, odd, some reason.

I’m not really sure what’s going on with it. Um, anyways, so, uh, we’ll go over a few things and then we’ll jump in. Okay. Okay. Um, first off, uh, we do edit I’m actually, I thought maybe one more issue. Uh, give me one second, trying to think of one [00:05:00] more thing.

That’s not gonna help, nevermind that maybe the light was doing something, but whatever.

Alright. Um, so, so we do edit, um, there’s something that you say that you want to take it off. There’s something that you want. I mean, like how something sounded, could be anything. Um, anything you’re not comfortable with you, please let me know and we’ll make sure we edit it out.

Dylan Walsh: Okay, let me get this text message out and I will not be doing that anymore.

Jeff Haas: No worries. No worries.

Dylan Walsh: Okay. A hundred percent here.

Jeff Haas: All right. Perfect. Um, the other thing is I always keep up my chat box as well on zoom. So do something you want [00:06:00] to say to me privately during the interview could be something like, um, I need to pause the recording for a moment. I need to step out step away, whatever it may be, uh, type it out.

I’ll make sure I mantra it and I’ll react. Okay.

Dylan Walsh: Okay. All right. All right. Do you have any questions

Jeff Haas: for me before we get started? No, I’m good. All right. Um, so what I always ask for my guests is to do a book. Uh, basically your case would be hi, this is Dylan Wall. She know me from wherever you want to say about yourself and you’re listening to spoiler country.

Dylan Walsh: Uh, you’re listening to spoiler over there. Country. Spoiler country. Yes. Oh, well, uh, yeah,

Jeff Haas: I’m ready. Tell me when Paul, as you do the bumper, then we’ll pause again and do the intro and then we’ll jump right.

Dylan Walsh: All right, let me get that off. There’s a lot going on

Jeff Haas: here. All right. Yeah, let’s take the technology, the pain, the ass.

You

Dylan Walsh: ready now? Yep. Whenever you’re ready, sir. Okay. Hi, I’m Dylan Walsh. You know me maybe from nip tuck, maybe from Superman [00:07:00] and Lois, maybe as the mayor on blue bloods, maybe from Congo, who knows? Uh, I’m here doing spoiler country and I’m happy to be doing this today.

Jeff Haas: All right. Fantastic, sir. I’ll do the intro.

We’ll jump in. Okay. Hello listeners. This polar country today on the show. We have the fantastic actor, Mr. Dylan Walsh. How’s going. I’m doing good. How you doing? I’m doing so well. And I liked that you mentioned that a Congo. I remember that movie. Well, it’s a fantastic movie.

Dylan Walsh: Yeah. You know, it’s funny that that sat around for a long time that Michael and book, and nobody could figure out how to do the gorillas.

And, um, I’m not exactly sure we ever did. Either.

Jeff Haas: You bought, um, you know, the viewer has the view you bought into it completely. And like I said, as someone who loved the book itself was a big crowd and fan, I really thought you guys handled it well, and it wasn’t. Yeah. Um, so, um, I did read as I was doing some research on you, I read that your parents met in Ethiopia.

Is that a, is that [00:08:00] true? That sounds like a, like a romance movie plot, you know, like it

Dylan Walsh: kind of played out like that. Um, this is back in the early sixties and my mom had taken some courses so that she could join the foreign service. My dad was already in the foreign service. Uh, they both wanted to try. Um, my dad was from Texas.

My mom was from California. And so, uh, my mom’s boss, the person who was going to be her boss and ADIs Abba wrote her a letter saying, okay, this is what’s going to happen. I’m going to meet you at the airplane. I already got a place for you to stay at, et cetera, et cetera, while she was on the plane, this person died.

So they sent over my father to take care of her. When she got off the. Oh man.

Jeff Haas: You know, I’m not sure I believe in a fate or not, but some stories like that you hear and you’re like, that’s the odds of that? You know, how things play out? Yeah. That’s a good story. It really is. And because of that, you were you’ve traveled.

It sounds like all over [00:09:00] the world. You’re like Kenya, India, Pakistan. Is that all

Dylan Walsh: right? Um, not Pakistan Jakarta Jakarta. Okay. That’s all true. I don’t remember the Africa. Um, I went back to Africa later in my life, but when I, we lived there with the family that I was too young, but I remember India very well.

I remember Indonesia and all the traveling, Bangkok, Tokyo, I was, it was pretty exotic.

Jeff Haas: I mean, that sounds absolutely incredible. I would, you know, I’ve always been mostly stuck within these two oceans, you know, on, on, in the United States. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to have that kind of experience.

Do you think that impacted you as a person? Like who you are? Yeah,

Dylan Walsh: absolutely. Um, I mean, traveling I’m also, uh, I read a lot and traveling is kind of like reading, you know, it’s like going places, but also, uh, different worlds, just kind of exciting your imagination, but also it made me kind of quiet. I mean, I kept having to every two years move to a new [00:10:00] school and I was kind of shy, but, you know, I had to learn how to find my way and, um, I was pretty shy all the way until I tried acting when I was probably about 15 years old.

And that, that to me answered all the questions. Um, so yeah, no, it definitely impacted me now. I will say that we, we plopped down in Northern Virginia when I was about 10 years old. So I had both upbringing really worldly and then suburban.

Jeff Haas: Is it possible that, or do you think that all that traveling and having to learn to reintegrate yourself into different.

Groups and, you know, it’s different schools. Do you think that led, led you to acting or gave you some background on having to act or at least learn to mimic your

Dylan Walsh: absolutely all these different contexts? You know, when I say new different schools, I went to a school in India, um, you know, British kids, some Indian kids, uh, but then when we moved to [00:11:00] Jakarta was a completely different school international.

Some of the kids. I couldn’t communicate with, um, all of these kinds of different contexts were so dramatic and, um, absolutely. I think, I think that definitely influenced me.

Jeff Haas: So when did you finally decide, you said in high school to be an antidote, what was it? Do you remember what kind of sparked that interest?

Um, immediate the immediate interest anyway.

Dylan Walsh: Well, part of it was that I was overseas so much and didn’t get much, you know, I was deprived of it. So I remember going to see Chitty, Chitty, bang, bang when I was five years old. And, uh, I remember seeing a few episodes of the old Batman, but it was hard to get stuff and I was starving for it.

So when we got back to the states, Uh, it was pretty pent up in me. And, um, I dunno, I just started to feel like whatever they’re doing up on that screen, I want, that’s what I wanna do.

Jeff Haas: That’s awesome. Um, what was your first [00:12:00] acting experience?

Dylan Walsh: Well, I told my mom and I was so shy. She was surprised. I said, you know, I want to try an acting class.

I must’ve been about. To be honest with you 13 maybe. And uh, she said, okay. And she found one that Fairfax county county sponsored. I would go there like one evening a week. And then we had a, you know, a scene night and I did something from a really strange play called, oh dad, poor dad. Mama’s hanging in the closet.

And I feel so bad. It’s something very strange play, but I had fun with it. Um, and then I. It answered all the questions for me. I could feel comfortable in front of people, sort of hiding behind a character. Um, and I had, uh, I had a great time and then I would just do things here and there and school. And until I could start doing stuff in Washington DC.

Jeff Haas: And so your parents sounded like they were supportive then of the stories. I mean, did they understand the complexity of trying to pursue a career like. [00:13:00]

Dylan Walsh: Yeah. And I think that, you know, as long as I wasn’t talking about trying to pursue a career, they were supportive. And then later, you know, my dad felt like I should go to college, but I, I wanted to go to college anyway.

So there really wasn’t a fight about it. Um, I was an English major in college, which kind of made him chuckle. If that’s your backup, that’s not too smart, but, but they weren’t, to be honest with you, they were supportive. They, um, I think as time went on and they saw how much I loved it and, you know, I was, I was doing plays when I was still in high school.

I would take the bus and the Metro into the city. And, uh, yeah, they were very supportive. Um, I think they both, sadly, they passed away when I was 27 years old. I’m now 24 years old. It’s been a long time. Um, so they both had cancer and, uh, they only got to see me do a [00:14:00] smidgen of what I ended up doing. And they saw me in a few things on TV, but hopefully they had.

Some idea of where

Jeff Haas: it all went. I’m sure they looked and they were like, yeah, if he can do this, he’s, he’s an actor. When, when, when you went to university of Virginia, um, as you said as an English major, what was your plans on, what were you going to do with it?

Dylan Walsh: Well, I just didn’t know. I mean, back at that age, you’re, it’s a, it’s a mixture of ignorance and.

Some kind of Moxie, right. Where you’re just think I’m going to find my way. It’s this kind of ignorant confidence that I have. And, uh, I was quiet about it. I didn’t boast, but I just felt like I was going to find my way with this. Um, and the majoring in English was really about, I ha it seemed to go with it.

It’s literature, it’s storage and. UVA had the best English department in the country at that time. And I thought, you know what, that’s what I’m doing. I did a lot of [00:15:00] plays while I was at UVA though. So I had a lot of great, uh, great experience.

Jeff Haas: Well, it takes some serious guts to pursue it. I mean, I remember when I was in college before going into college, I told my father I was going to go primatology.

I was like, I got this dad, daughter, I got this. I can do this. I, I was wrong. I’m like, what’s wrong. And I had to back out and go back for as an English teacher. Uh, went back to school I’m in my early thirties, but, um, you know, the difference between having the gun and actually pulling it off is, is, is a big deal, you know?

And you actually did obviously pull it off.

Dylan Walsh: Well, I pulled it off and you know, I always tell people you work hard, but also got lucky here and there.

Jeff Haas: Well, what, what do they say? It’s better to be lucky than good. Sometimes a little bit of both doesn’t hurt either. Exactly. No, a hundred percent. Um, so how did, um, being an English major, help you as an.

I

Dylan Walsh: think, I think I’m a much better reader for. Uh, my dad was a, was a serious reader and I got that from him. And, and I loved, I was one of the few kids who did love [00:16:00] English in high school, and it’s just, you know, I didn’t like everything, but every once in a while something would come along and I found it very inspiring.

Um, something like portrait of the artist is young man. Um, a lot of the kids were just sort of bored with that and I just, I just found it fascinating. So I had a real interest in literature anyway, and I. You know, being able to, that’s the first thing I have to do with every part I play. I have to read a script.

I think I’m a better reader for that.

Jeff Haas: Is there when you’re reading a script, especially, I’m like you’re right now, you’re playing a general Sam lane in Sacramento. Lords would bring it to you just one moment. Um, do you find that when you’re reading a script and reading your character or reading your parts of the character or the overall story, you think you’re picking up on nuances in the script?

That may be another actor.

Dylan Walsh: Well, if I am, it’s just because I’ve been doing it for 35 years. Um, I I’m looking for anything to help me and I, and that you develop that. I think that I, and that view into, into your, what you’re [00:17:00] reading and it becomes sort of second, second nature. Um, I, you know, every script is different and let’s be honest.

It ain’t all literature sometimes, you know, The hardest part of your job is finding some way to like that thing that you’re reading or to find what is it in it that’s going to make you like it. And, um, you know, I, that more than anything was, has come from experience,

Jeff Haas: no, I’m not going to ask you to, to, to name the project.

I want to, I want to do that to you, but was there a project then that you, that you were in, that you. Um, that this is scripted just really bad, but, you know, but I needed, obviously, because you know, early in your career or whatever you need, the rule you thought, you know, I gotta find something in this that I can do or something I can like about this script, because it’s awful.

Dylan Walsh: Absolutely. One of the great differences and it was a luxury for me. It was back in the eighties and the nineties. They made a lot of little movies that may not end up anywhere. Uh, there were a lot of [00:18:00] entrepreneurs out there. Look, we just want him to dabble in movie making and somebody would write a script and they’d get this thing done.

And so I would work in places like,

Jeff Haas: oh, I think I lost you.

Can you hear me?

Hello?

Well, sir.[00:19:00]

All right.

So I’m I read it. So you first inhabited the character general lane in the TV show Supergirl, is that correct?

Dylan Walsh: Uh, no, actually, uh, somebody else played it in that, and so I was a little surprised to get the call that there was interest in me. I had worked with Greg Berlanti years ago on Everwood and, um, I was doing blue bloods.

I was playing the mayor, but it’s only kind of half a job and I was looking for something and, and they offered me general lane and I’ve had a great upgrade, great time playing them.

Jeff Haas: So, so there’s a different actor. Who did Supergirl, when you took over, were you told to follow kind of like the acting beats?

Were you allowed to make your own character? Was there any kind of directions at all, in fact that you rehabbing a

Dylan Walsh: car? One of the things that, that they told all the actors is that Superman and Lois was going to be its own thing that we didn’t have to worry about. In fact, I know that a Betsy who plays Lois and, and even Tyler, I think they [00:20:00] played the characters in a different way than they did on Supergirl.

So, um, for me, that would freed me up to just worry about my, what I was doing. And, uh, I really appreciated that. We, we, we, haven’t worried so much about the arrow verse and all that. Uh, we try to let it stand apart and, um, I think it’s better for

Jeff Haas: that. I, I think I agree a hundred percent. I mean, there’s a lot, it’s sort of, um, the same issue you have in the combo where there’s a lot of continuity to jump in.

If you’re like a new reader, either new reader, new viewer have to swim in a Lois. And I really think it helps around lowest. You don’t have to worry about the denseness of the ouroboros continuity because it’s what four, five shows now. And I think it has been a benefit of that.

Dylan Walsh: It can drag you down. And I think that, uh, they were very smart to just kind of free it up and let it be its own thing.

Um, you know, they have other decisions that they’re making right now about possibly. They have to cast Lois lane sister, my other daughter. [00:21:00] And, uh, so that keeps coming into it. What you’re talking about, the idea that we can be a part and we don’t have to stay with the same actors or the same, really even the same characters.

I know that I know that, um, Superman and Lois are very different in this show than they were. And, uh, super. Yeah. And

Jeff Haas: you and Lisa, you’re doing a great job as general Sam lane. And so when I read that you previously played a captain in the scene in the movie, we were soldiers. Has that helped you know, how to inhabit the character of general

Dylan Walsh: lane?

Yeah. Yeah. I remember very much. Now that character we were soldiers. Um, I believe I was, yeah, I was a captain. But we all got to go to Fort Benning and this was before nine 11, when they really allowed actors to, to get to know people in the army and they let us put you through real training. I mean, we did three weeks of real training and of course I was a grunt.

I was an actor in my thirties. But, you know, compared to the, all these other guys, we were very, very [00:22:00] humble. And so I came at that from that side, but I remember those guys. I remember the real captains. I remember a major in particular. And then, so for me coming to this, I started with that. And I’m trying to imagine those guys and actually bump it up because we’re talking about general lane.

It’s not just, you know, he’s the general, he’s Doug guy, uh, and you know, carrying the weight of the world and, and, and the idea that there’s nobody higher than. He has to do it. And

Jeff Haas: one thing I really do like about how, how the general is being here and not just by you as an actor, but from the writing, is that it seems like in the world of combo movies that the general always has, there’s like a trope where the general of an army is always this kind of, I hate the superheroes.

I hate, you know, I want to do this all, you know, they’re gonna destroy the world. I’m gonna have to kill the bubble. Like, you know, like Marvel has a character like that as well. Um, funder or something, we’re all if ever his name is. And I like that. Sumerian Lois is walking away from that, you know, it’s like you create the re trying to make it him.

This stereotypical TV show general who’s was like [00:23:00] this asshole, whatever they make him a likable guy who loves his family, cares about super, you know, the guy who’s his son-in-law. And I really think they’ve given him so many layers that I, and I think. Playing all of them, you know, the nuances of it all.

Dylan Walsh: Thank you. Because that, that is the challenge. And I credit Todd helping and Greg Berlanti, um, with those kinds of choices, because you know what works on the page and a comic book doesn’t necessarily work on film, right? You always have that general with this iron jaw. And everything is very gruff and he’s, and we know that guy and we’ve seen him before and good luck trying to play him.

Um, but what’s great on a TV show is that, you know, they’re going to come at him from different angles. And the reason I wanted to do this part from the very beginning is that there was one world where he’s the army general. And then there’s another world where he’s. He’s a grandpa, [00:24:00] he’s a father and clearly a troubled past with his family and he’s got, he wants to make up for it.

And I felt like that that was the sort of duality that could make this really interesting. And you’re right. The one thing kind of tempers the other, the fact that he has to deal with Lois who is a very strong one. Yes. And in her life, and often you’ll see me in a scene, the general having to kind of defer let’s put it politely, but that’s what makes it fun that that’s the it’s like he’s between a rock and a hard place.

Um, and that’s, what’s made it fun and challenging and why I’ve really liked it.

Jeff Haas: And obviously in Supergirl, the initial general and Supergirl was the more stereotypical TV show general. And. I do like how, because of like, it is all too to be about family Sumerian, Lois, um, more than almost any other CW superhero programs that this is truly a family, other than, you know, not a surrogate family.

This is legit a [00:25:00] family. And you do have also the grandkids, you know, Jordan and Jonathan. Um, how do you, do you play that aspect of the general that. The fact that you know, that of the, kind of the worldly grandfather, the caring parent grandparent.

Dylan Walsh: Well, two things. First of all, I come at it from he, he has ground to make up with them and I don’t even know the backstory, what we’re going to use.

You know, it gets fed to you as an actor, you know, as a little spoonfuls and you try to get a sense of it. Um, I haven’t worried about doing research because I feel like we’re making this thing on our own. So, so that’s sometimes frustrating because. The little they’ll give me, I have to kind of figure out what that is.

But I, I feel like with that family, each member of that family generally, and feels like he has some ground to make up. Um, first of all, he’s always a general, it’s hard for him to let that that down. So [00:26:00] I come at it from that point of view and also the writing’s been really good there. I, uh, you know, sometimes the kids are so.

Uh, detached from, from their grandfather or really angry at him. And again, he’s got to drop that general thing in that moment, um, or he loses them. So that’s the, that’s the conflict. It’s almost like a conflict of genres, you know, that, that comic book page version, and then this grandfather, uh, and, and to reconcile those two is, is in the tension between those two.

I feel like is for me the whole.

Jeff Haas: What was there any tips they gave you when you got the role? Because like I said, you’re getting this a script at a time and you’re kind of it, the fact that it all works so seamlessly as an, as your performance from episode one episode, I think it was a 12 or 13. It’s a Testament to how well the job you’re doing.

But since you weren’t told necessarily what was happening, episodes 12, 13, you know, 10 or whatever, but did they give you any tips? Like, oh, I’m just letting you know, you may want to perform like this [00:27:00] because something could happen. You know, something could happen in five or eight episodes that.

Dylan Walsh: Well, we do have conversations.

I remember there was a scene with, uh, Jonathan, where. I was telling him off and then I walk away and I’m not even going to say which seeing, because I don’t want to ruin it for anybody. But, um, I did call Todd and I said, you know, we’ve been in such a bad place that in this moment, I’d rather play the sadness of it.

And he said, I’m with you, except I know what we’re about to do. I need you to come hard at him. And so those kinds of discussions they happen all the time. Well,

Jeff Haas: we had on the show. Maybe a week and a half ago, um, Alex Garfein who plays Jordan, and he’s also doing a fantastic job on the show when you’re playing general lane and you’re playing with the, against the grandkids versus how you’re playing against Lois.

Are you changing your approach at all for [00:28:00] how he’s approaching grandkids versus his own kids who have the more deeper history?

Dylan Walsh: Yeah, I think with Lois, that’s the exact phrase, deeper history, more, more complexity, more ground to make up there. Uh, he’s never, he’s never going to win there that that’s he gets the smallest little reprieve here and there.

But with the grandkids, I, I feel like he wants he’s ready. He’s ready to do better and he can do better with them. He feels like now he, he messes up an awful lot because you know, the problem with Superman and Lois is the world is always about to end. The stakes are so high, but, um, I think, I think even all through that, that first season, I think that general lane feels like that’s where he can.

He can kind of find himself again, he has some guilt. And I think that with Lois, there’s only so much he can do, but with those grandkids and their great boys, those actors, both of them are great actors. Uh, I really enjoy doing scenes with, [00:29:00] with them

Jeff Haas: when, um, the interesting about, I guess playing general lane is the, obviously you exist in the same world as Superman and his, you know, his daughter’s lowest, but her husband obviously is against Superman when, when you’re in having the character.

And in many ways, Um, your understanding of the character is as good as anyone else. I may be the writers who are creating the character. Do you think it affects general lane? Because I’m sure he’s used to being the alpha patriarch of his family to have Superman being also the saran, you know, the part of the family.

And I guess in many ways being his own patriarch, do you think it affects the general lane as an industry?

Dylan Walsh: Absolutely. I feel like it’s a little easier. It’s a lot easier for general land to talk to Clark because Clark is a person in general and can handle that. He can talk down to him a little bit in Boston around, and then when he Superman, I think general lane has a hard time with that.

I think it took a lot of getting used [00:30:00] to just to know how to refer to him, how to talk to him face to face, how to deal with the fact that this is the most powerful preacher we’ve ever. Uh, had on this planet. Um, I don’t think, I think it took a while for general land to come around to the, the realization that this is his best weapon.

This is how he can. How you can defend the world. And so it’s grudgingly that he has to deal with with Superman. Um, and he wants to deal with them as, as if he were an employee and Superman just doesn’t, isn’t going to go for that. So that’s one of those little nuance conflicts that we’re always revisiting.

And I

Jeff Haas: think one of the great thing that they do later in the show, once again, don’t give away too many spoilers, even though, you know, the show’s been out, sorry, my cat is knocking my, uh, desk and is making the screen shake. Sorry. Um, anyways. So I think when a great wrinkle they added into the show later on is that they introduced John iron’s as being from an alternate [00:31:00] earth where things happen differently.

And I think the fact that the general knows about this alternate possibility with Superman. It’s also an intriguing character, um, character characterization to integrate into the show. Um, what kind of options does that offer you as an actor to know that he knows about this other possible Virgin of

Dylan Walsh: events?

I think it helps bring out the paranoia in general way. Again. If you are tasked with, you know, defending the world, as we know it, uh, you’re in charge of all defenses. Um, if Superman ever goes bad, what would you do? He has to think about that. He’s got it. That’s got to go through his mind that would never go through the mind of Lois or their kids or anybody else.

But, but me and so, uh, you know, it was a hard thing to play for a few episodes. [00:32:00] I was the bad guy, basically kind of like a. You know, a VR version of a villain, a B, but I, the way I approached it was, was hold on, Ooh, who’s got this angle. Who’s going to take care of this. Um, who has thought this through and if nobody else has, then I have to.

Jeff Haas: And I think he did a great job. And I think the interaction between you and the actor who plays John iron’s is fantastic. And I think that feels like something that once. I don’t know if I would have guessed when the season started, how well that duo works together, but it really does. I mean, there’s, you, you, the two characters that you actors, you guys do a great job working with one another.

And if, yeah,

Dylan Walsh: while I was great and we didn’t know where that was heading, either as most things in the show start, uh, you know, it was just huge conflict. Who is this guy? He’s a problem. But we actually [00:33:00] got to develop that and it evolved over time. And I love that, that he’s the one I’m talking to, uh, at that last party, uh, that we have at the end of season one.

Um, it’s it’s we have an unexpected, uh, friendship that is coming. You know, just, just experience we’ve gone through. The other thing that happens with general Layne is that he feels like he’s their boss, but then he’s always left at some command post while they go off and do all this crazy stuff. And, you know, I think he has to respect that he has to respect that they’re the ones who do it.

Jeff Haas: I mean, I don’t even, I know you can’t give anything away, but is there indications that next season you’ll get to do more people are more deeper into the action, the heart of the actual. Alright. Is there any things that he mentioned to you about potentially what’s the directions your character could move into

Dylan Walsh: all I can really say without ruining any, anything, and I don’t know much at this point, we’re just starting up.[00:34:00]

It’s a little surprising at the end of season, one general lane felt like he needed a break and he really does take a break for, let me put it this way. He tries to take a break. She tries to just go have some fun with life. Uh, take his uniform off, leave all of that responsibility behind. And, uh, I gather he doesn’t get to enjoy it for long.

Jeff Haas: When does this season film the next season? When you guys start. Well, we start filming in about a week. Oh, wow. Okay. That’s gotta be really exciting for you. So a week from now, huh? Uh, when is it? Um, like I’m not sure what you can share or not share, but I’ll be looking at, um, a season two in the beginning of 2022, or are we looking at, towards the end?

You think

Dylan Walsh: it’s a good question. I don’t want to, I mean, they don’t want to wait too long. I know that. Um, and I don’t know the answer and I don’t want to mislead anybody. So, uh, we’ll we’ll know pretty [00:35:00] soon. I think everybody will

Jeff Haas: know. And it’s still gonna be under the COVID protocols. Cause I mean, it seems like it would have impacted last season.

I’m sure it was impacted heavily by COVID. Is it still going to be dealing with the same stuff this

Dylan Walsh: year? What we’re finding is that. In spite of the fact that now we have a certain percentage of the public and a certain percentage by the way of the crew who are vaccinated. Um, it doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods.

Uh, so as much as we thought we were all coming into a very different season, most of the COVID protocols are exactly the same as they were last year. So, um, we’ll see. I think it evolves as we go and, and, uh, I don’t know. I, I there’s a lot, we don’t know.

Jeff Haas: And like, and the one thing that I do like about watching the show is.

The chemistry on set is definitely present among the entire cast. Is it the same offset even though with Colby? Would you guys, do you guys interact a lot, um, off the set as well? [00:36:00]

Dylan Walsh: Not as much as we would like to just because of COVID. So we would only meet up outside of. We were social distance wear masks, um, there’s Stanley park, which is in Vancouver and anybody who’s worked here knows what I’m talking about.

We would meet there. Uh, Betsy has a large backyard. A few of us at a time would meet there. But again, we had to be careful that one of the thing we all found the actors, uh, if we test positive, which during the course of the season, a few people did, few actors did everything stopped. The whole show stops and the whole crew stopped getting paychecks there.

There’s a, there’s a huge peer pressure to, um, to do the right thing. And so we weren’t going to restaurants. Um, we weren’t supposed to go to the gym, but, but we would all kind of. Figure that risk out as we went. And, um, you can imagine while Les and Tyler have to go to the gym, [00:37:00] but you know, that’s what was so hard about the year.

Um, we test three times a week and, and the fear of, of testing positive and then everything grinding to a halt, um, really kinda kept us sequestered. Saving ourselves.

Jeff Haas: What were the changes made to the scripts to go around the COVID issues? I mean, were there shots or stories changed because an actor could not participate four episodes.

Yes. Yeah. We’ve

Dylan Walsh: moved some things around, um, you know, one, this is just a small with seemed like a small thing, but it actually is hugely impactful, which is that. You know, if Tyler were to get sick aside from how we’d all feel about that terrible, you know, we have no show. So, um, I think we did, I think we did try to protect him.

For instance, you don’t see his character [00:38:00] appearing with a lot of extras. Um, you know, we all tested the main cast at the test three times a week. And while I was home for the reasons I just told you, we, we didn’t go out much. Um, but it’s hard to control everybody. And some of the local, uh, atmosphere, um, got extras.

I think that, uh, I think that there was an effort made to keep him away from them. So you don’t see him sort of standing with a group of bystanders,

Jeff Haas: that kind of thing. So you’ve wrapped them in line with those like bubbles, you know, he was stayed queen quarantine at all time.

Dylan Walsh: I mean, it was tough that way.

And if anybody forgot that, you know, obviously when we work, we don’t have our masks on. So as soon as I say cut, we’re all reminding ourselves to pull the mask up. I mean, it got tedious and we got tired of it.

The good news is we made a season of television. We got

Jeff Haas: through it and it timed out well that. The show moved to Smallville instead of being in [00:39:00] metropolis, because honestly, once again, less extras to worry about and in a town like Smallville than worrying about metropolis and

Dylan Walsh: Smallville is a place we built.

So it’s a facade on each side of the street and we can control that environment exactly. As you’re saying, um, it did help. Yeah.

Jeff Haas: So what can our listeners look forward to in the future episodes of, um, Lewis and Clark? Sorry, it’s just one minute lowest. I sort of think.

Dylan Walsh: There’s still Lois and Clark, but you’re right.

Um, well, I, I, I don’t know much, but I know that from the first few scripts, it feels like we’re trying to get back into the family, try to, you know, that it got so plot oriented in the last four or five episodes last season. I think they want to reboot and get back down to the characters and some of the family issues.

And so I, again, it’s whole hard to talk about things without spoiling. That’s kind of where we start again. There’s a little bit less hoopla and [00:40:00] action while we reboot these characters and relationships.

Jeff Haas: Well, like I said, I think the show is absolutely fantastic. Um, I’ve enjoyed, I’ve enjoyed it as a big comic book nerd.

Um, I’ve really enjoyed how they handled Superman. It’s nice to see him back on television again. It is definitely my pleasure. And I want to thank you so much Mr. Walsh for your time. You’re fantastic. And I, and I hope to talk to you maybe when, uh, next season’s about to launch,

Dylan Walsh: I would love to cheers.

Thank you so much. Have a great night.

Jeff Haas: Bye-bye bye.