(L-R): Jason Gann (as Wilfred) and Elijah Wood (as Ryan). Photo by Prashant Gupta and copyright of FX.
It is often said that diamonds are a girls’ best friend, but when it comes to the opposite sex, the adage is that a dog is mans’ best friend. Over the years, there have been a variety of light-hearted and dramatic stories written about guys and their canine companions, but perhaps none quite as odd or amusing as the relationship depicted in the hit FX TV series Wilfred.
Based on the equally popular Australian show of the same name, Wilfred stars Elijah Wood as Ryan Newman, who, when first introduced to viewers, is a depressed, washed-up lawyer with suicidal tendencies. He decides to end it all by overdosing on pills given to him by his sister Kristen (Dorian Brown). Unbeknownst to Ryan, the drugs are, in fact, sugar pills, and his suicide attempt fails.
Still very much alive, he winds up looking after his neighbor Jenna’s (Fiona Gubelmann) dog Wilfred. To everyone else, Wilfred looks like, yes, you guessed it, a dog. To Ryan and, of course, the audience, he appears as a man (Jason Gann) dressed in a dog suit. Ryan’s Wilfred is laden with vices, including smoking cigarettes along with plenty of marijuana, eating junk food and drinking beer. While he does not sound like any type of role model, Wilfred turns out to be a mentor to Ryan and, through their comedic adventures together, shows him how to live a life that will make him happy.
Best known to moviegoers as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its prequel, The Hobbit, the congenial and humble Elijah Wood spent some time last week speaking with me along with other journalists about his work on Wilfred. The following is an edited version of our Q & A. Enjoy!
Do you sometimes have a hard time just holding it together and keeping a straight face when you film Wilfred because it’s (the story] so crazy?
Elijah Wood: Yes, and I would say even more this season, oddly enough, than previous ones. For some reason I sort of busted up more this season because of what Jason (Gann) was doing. I’m so used to seeing him in the dog suit and also to a certain degree I’m very used to the context of a lot of my character’s situations, but it still definitely makes me laugh. It’s something that keeps all of us as a cast and crew constantly laughing, so it’s a pretty wonderful working environment to go to every day.
In last night’s episode (“Uncertainty”) there was a lot of Ryan thinking and deciding that perhaps he is mentally ill and sort of trying to figure out how he’s going to cope with and come to terms with it. Is that something that’s going to add a whole lot more sort of double-meaning to the scenes and everything else going on this season?
EW: Well, I don’t think we really address head-on any further in this season so much the idea of mental illness, but it’s always been there even if we haven’t talked about it. It was interesting to see that in this episode, Ryan kind of addressing it for the first time and sort of being self-aware that that could potentially be the reason for Wilfred’s existence.
I think from here on out having established that as a possibility, it will always be there as a way to potentially look at each of the scenarios that he gets himself into with Wilfred. But I also think because we don’t outright answer it, that there’s still a sense of ambiguity as to what Wilfred is, and I feel that it’s kind of important for the show that we don’t necessarily answer that question.
Do you think Wilfred should have a fixed ending point or can it just continue on indefinitely?
EW: That’s a very good question. I think that the structure of the show that’s been created is such that it’s about a guy who is essentially in recovery and trying to figure out what his path in life is. This manifestation of Wilfred has provided essentially a push for him to kind of figure that out. That can only really last for so long insofar as believing that we are dealing with a man who is kind of struggling for answers in this sort of existential question period of his life and in recovery.
I don’t know that we can believe that for 10 seasons, and I think to a certain degree there has to be a resolution or a move in a specific direction. To be fair to the construct of the show, I think it can only survive for so long. I would hate for things to kind of carry on for too long and not necessarily support what we’ve created, if that makes sense.
Regarding the future of comedy, in your opinion are gimmicks and situational comedy going to win over highbrow intellectual comedy?
EW: Man, the future of comedy, I don’t know if I have much of an opinion on that. I mean, on a sort of broad level for films I think there are exciting things happening, but nowadays, some of the best comedy is, I believe, probably coming out online. There are so many distribution models now and people are potentially doing some of the more interesting and exciting things in smaller avenues.
Cable provides that conduit as well. For instance, a show like Louie couldn’t exist if not for a network that was sort of brave enough to just let it be what it’s supposed to be. Hopefully that inspires similar avenues of comedic expression. I think Louie is probably one of the more inspiring things on television because it’s allowed to sort of exist and be whatever it is without it having to be strictly funny all the time, and I think that’s really exciting.
When you play Ryan, in your mind do you have an answer to why he sees Wilfred in order to help you with your performance?
EW: Yes, I do; I have an idea. I’ve kind of made up my mind as to what I think Wilfred is. I don’t know that that’s reflective of what the character has decided, though, and to a certain degree when Ryan meets Wilfred in the first season it’s really within an episode in a way that he sort of accepts Wilfred’s existence. From there on out, even though he does question what Wilfred is, I think there’s a deeper level of acceptance and recognizing that Wilfred’s purpose – despite Ryan’s uncertainty as to where he’s manifesting from and what it means – his purpose is ultimately positive and that is helping my character.
I don’t know what Ryan has decided because I think he clearly questions the whole thing. Again, I have an idea, and that probably does help me in playing the character, but overall there’s just a sense of general acceptance for Ryan.
What originally drew you to the Ryan character and how do you continue to keep the character fresh and at the same time allow him to grow?
EW: Well, upon reading the pilot script I kind of fell in love with the whole idea of the show, both the character and the structure of the show being so unique and unlike anything I’d seen or read before. I also found it deeply funny.
As far as the character is concerned, I think the idea of playing someone who has effectively hit a wall in life and is trying to rebuild and help himself, definitely provides a lot to work with. There is a sense of growth over the course of now the three seasons and I think that keeps it exciting, but it’s also fun to work in the context of what we’ve created and always exciting to work with Jason Gann. Aside from the characters in development, I find it inspiring and always exciting as an actor to be working opposite him and everything that Jason comes up with in his performance.
Was there anything about Ryan that wasn’t originally scripted for you that you added to the character?
EW: That’s a good question. No, I don’t think so. Beyond what I interpret in terms of what’s written to how it’s played, I don’t know if there is anything specifically that I’ve added or suggested to be added to the character. I think I bring myself in to the role as much as possible and kind of bring him to life in as a unique a way as I can.
Are you in any way at all like Ryan?
EW: No, not really. I think I can relate to elements of the character, but I’m relatively well-adjusted and mentally sound, so I’m not like Ryan.
What perhaps sticks out most in your mind about filming your first Wilfred episode, and what maybe were some of the initial acting challenges you found stepping in to the role?
EW: Well, it was completely new territory for me. I had never really worked on a television show before. I’d done guest appearances and things of that nature, but I’d never made a TV show from scratch, so it was a brand new experience. Working on a comedy I found deeply exciting because it was something that I really believed in and it was a joy to work on something that felt unique and different.
I’m not really fearful, but any time you sort of jump into something that is a little less familiar, it comes with that sort of exciting anxiety about pulling it off in the right way. However, I was also immediately comfortable working with Jason and that continues to be the case.
As you get older, how do you think you’ve grown as an actor and are you trying to move towards any specific career aspirations, and are there any goals in your career right now?
EW: I feel like I continue to try and challenge myself to do things I’ve not done before. It’s difficult, though, for me to speak to how I’ve changed as an actor. I think I’ve changed and grown as a human being, and I think that’s probably reflective of what I do as an actor. Hopefully, I’ve learned and grown along the way.
As far as aspirations, they sort of remain the same as they have for a long time, which is simply to continue to push forward my abilities as well as to grow and to do things I’ve not done before as an actor, and to take on roles that provide new experiences and challenges.
Do you have a favorite moment from this season of Wilfred, either part of the show or behind-the-scenes that you can talk about?
EW: In episode three (Suspicion),the “caper” aspect between Wilfred and Ryan kind of working together was something we sort of experienced for the first time this season and that we all really enjoyed. I love the idea of Ryan and Wilfred not always being in sort of a combative relationship, but rather actually working toward something together. It was a blast, particularly the scene where they bust into the guy’s car and that they’re now sort of in this thing together as like a sort of caper scenario. That was really fun, and I think something we’d like to continue doing.
Could you address the importance of the Bear to the overall story?
EW: I think Bear is an important character for Wilfred. The fact Wilfred has an independent relationship that is not reflective of the one he has with Ryan adds something to the show as well as to Wilfred’s own existence. I mean, it’s obvious that it also provides a great amount of comedy, because it’s a hilarious relationship and one that is extremely curious and strange, and, I think, reflective as well of the sort of notion of dogs having an obsession with a certain stuffed animal, which happens with dogs.
So It sort of works on all those levels, but ultimately it’s just very funny that he’s carrying on these conversations that in some ways also mirror Ryan’s and Wilfred’s relationship. We never get to see the outside perspective of Ryan talking to a dog, so in some ways we get to see what that’s like with Wilfred talking to a stuffed animal that can’t talk back.
Last season you guys had that awesome dance number. Are you going to do anything to outdo it this season?
EW: I don’t think we do anything to outdo the dance. That was a pretty incredible undertaking, because in the midst of working on an intensive season, we were also trying to squeeze in dance lessons and learn this choreographed dance number. That was a real challenge without having enough time or feeling like we had enough time to do it properly. In some ways, when we didn’t have something like that this year I was quite relived, but that was a blast last season and awesome to do.
With all of the kind of wacky, fun and sometimes dark situations that Ryan and Wilfred have gotten in to so far in the series, has there been any one thing that you have gotten the most reaction to either from fans or friends? Is there one that really stands out in your mind that caused the biggest reaction?
EW: The Jane Kaczmarek episode (Pride) from the first season stands out as definitely being a little shocking and extremely funny. There was the kind of sex montage between what Beth (Kaczmarek) and Ryan are doing, and what Wilfred is doing with the giraffe. I remember shooting that and thinking, “Wow we’re doing this. Are we going to get away with it?” I’m constantly surprised at the things that we do get away with, and I think that’s part of what makes our show fun to watch, too.
What was it like doing the Joffrey scenes? I was a little nervous watching the third episode when you’re handling a baby in Ryan’s condition. Can talk about that and if we’ll see more scenes with Joffrey?
EW: That’s another very good question. I love that, in Ryan’s condition, he should he be carrying around a baby. Actually it was a mix of working with a real live baby and a fake baby as well. For the majority of that work, we didn’t have a baby on-set, but we did have a baby for some of it. We actually had twins, who were amazing and really easy to deal with, except one of them, oddly enough, was sort of petrified of Jason in the dog suit. If we wanted tears, it was kind of easy because we could put that baby in that particular scene and he would be petrified. When you work with babies, and sometimes animals, too, it’s always a little unpredictable and you almost sort of anticipate it being difficult, but it really wasn’t. We were very lucky.
As far as if it will feature more, well, we’ve definitely established a relationship between Joffrey and Wilfred, so we explore that a little bit more. Also, given that Kristen has a baby and that she’s Ryan’s sister as well, the baby will be around.
Elijah, have you ever, possibly out of morbid curiosity, tried on the dog suit?
EW: For the first time this year, I did. Funnily enough, I don’t know why I’d never tried it on before. I think I was always curious, but I felt there was something a little bit sacred about the suit, and that maybe I was respecting Jason’s character and that it’s Jason’s suit that I didn’t ever try it on or wasn’t moved to try it on before.
We actually filmed a little behind the scenes kind of thing this year. They wanted me to put the suit on for a specific thing that we were doing. We asked Jason if it was okay and he was like, “Yeah, it’s fine.” So I got the go-ahead, which is why I ultimately tried it on, and it was surreal to kind of see myself in that suit.
I’m really intrigued by Lance Reddick’s role this season as Ryan’s therapist (Dr. Blum). What can you kind of preview about that, because it seems like it would be very interesting to have both Wilfred and Ryan in front of a therapist talking about Wilfred.
EW: Well, it’s Ryan in front of Lance’s character himself, so Wilfred isn’t even in the office. He does go without Wilfred, and it provides a really fun and interesting exploration of Ryan’s psyche. Working with Lance was fantastic, and especially with him being from The Wire, everybody was thrilled to have him on-set. I think he was really psyched as well, so that was fun. It was cool as well to have Ryan in a kind of therapy situation in order for him to recognize that he might actually need some outside help and perspective. That makes a lot of sense and provides a really neat conduit for some mental exploration.
As an actor, do you have a uniform approach to playing a role or does it change based on the project?
EW: I suppose it changes depending on what’s required for the individual role. For instance, I played a pianist last year and I had to learn how to play piano for the film, so there are certain characters that do require research or learning something specific to the character. But overall, I think my approach has remained the same for the most part. I don’t know if I’ve ever even analyzed my approach or put it in to words, but I think I try to understand who the character is and play him as truthfully and as honestly as possible.
What would you say makes a career in this industry rewarding for you so far?
EW: Well, it’s rewarding to simply continue to work, but I think a rewarding career is one that allows you the freedom to try new things and to be accepted to try new things. My favorite careers and the ones I admire the most are those that have a lot of variety and actors who are capable of a lot of different roles and are sort of seen in different things. For me, to be 32 and still working and having the freedom to try a lot of different things is incredibly rewarding.
Wilfred airs Thursday nights @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST on the FX Network. As noted above, photo by Prashant Gupta and copyright of FX, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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