Greg Grunberg plays a police officer in the upcoming TV movie "Bond of Silence," but he won't be reading any minds.
"It would be a very, very short movie if he did, because I'm like, 'Why don't I just read his freakin' mind! Why am I interviewing these people?'" Grunberg, who played Det. Matt Parkman on "Heroes," told me earlier this summer. (Read "Band From TV Gets Taste of Chicago.")
In "Bond of Silence," premiering on Lifetime at 8 p.m. Aug. 23 and based on real events, Grunberg plays Paul Jackson, a detective investigating the death of Bob McIntosh (David Cubitt), who was murdered while trying to stop a teenage house party on New Year's Eve. Jackson and Bob's wife, Katy (Kim Raver), can't get any of the teens or their parents to talk about what really happened.
According to Grunberg, the real party and murder took place in Squamish, British Columbia, about 13 years ago when Bob McIntosh walked to a neighbor's where more than 250 kids were partying. He never came home.
"They punched him, kicked him and he died," Grunberg said. "None of the kids would talk about it; they all decided, 'No one says anything,' and ... the parents backed them up. And this poor woman wanted to know who killed her husband and how this happened."
Grunberg agreed to do the film because of its Oscar-winning director, Peter Werner, and the fact that he'd never done a TV movie. "This is one of these things I was like, 'Sure, I'd love to try,"" he said, adding that he also had the opportunity to work with a great cast.
Besides Grunberg, Raver and Cubitt from "Medium," the film stars Charlie McDermott from "The Middle," Magda Apanowicz and Genevieve Buechner from "Caprica," Paul Campbell of "Battlestar Galactica" and Haley Ramm.
"If you get into a situation like this and you immediately can tell--I can, I mean; I've done this for years now. It's like, Day One and you're like, 'Uh oh. This is gonna be bad,'" Grunberg said. "This was exactly the opposite. It was like, 'Wow! We're gonna have a good time and it's gonna be great!' So I'm happy."
Grunberg, who was in Chicago with Band From TV earlier this summer (read more here) and his former NBC show, "Heroes." We also talked about NBC's new series, "Love Bites," which has been bumped from the fall schedule and is going through a rough pre-launch period, so I'm not sure how current our conversation is. (Read more about "Love Bites" here.)
Greg Grunberg plays Paul Jackson, a detective who gets stonewalled by families in Lifetime's "Bond of Silence." (Lifetime photo)
Tell me about "Love Bites."
"Love Bites" is this new show that I'm on. It's like "Love, American Style" was years ago. It's an anthology; it's a comedy about sex, love, romance kind of thing.
You were originally just in the pilot, right?
Yeah, but then they called and said, "Look, we're testing this thing. It's testing through the roof. Everybody loves your character; we'd love you to come on here as a series regular." And I said, "Well, I thought there were stand alone episodes," and they said, "Well, we need something to be a through line, and Becki Newton from 'Ugly Betty'--she's one, and you'll be the other." I was like, "Awesome!" So, we're doing it and I'm in really, really good hands with the writers and Bucky (Mark Buckland), so it's gonna be a blast. Hopefully everyone will find my character really relatable, and I basically play myself. I mean, I've been married almost 18 years, you know, and you'll do anything to keep that relationship fresh. But this guy's just a goofball, and he gets into situations that are way in over his head.
Is he a friend of Becky's in the show?
No, we're completely separate from each other. She's in L.A. or San Francisco, and I'm--where am I? Oh, I'm in Venice Beach, so our paths could cross, but right now we're not. She and I actually went in to discuss the show, and we were both like, "When do we get to work together?" and they said, "We have no immediate plans to let you guys work together."
So, is there anyone crossing paths in the through stories?
Yes, there will be, but I haven't seen one script yet, so I don't know. I'm a tattoo artist in the show, so I would imagine it would be great if they used my shop as kind of like, somebody comes in, gets a tattoo... "What are you getting this for?" "Oh, my relationship blah, blah, blah," and we go into the story. I hope they do that, but I don't know.
Being in a romance show, does it make you think of "Felicity"?
A little bit, a little bit. But even "Felicity," there was so much plot. It was very serious. Every scene started off with, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Give me a [bleeping] break, you know? I wanna have fun. I wanna laugh. And that's what this is. This is just really a fun comedy. But it's very real, but it's also just a comedy.
So, "Heroes." Are you sad, disappointed, angry?
Yeah, man. All of the above! I really am. I'm not gonna hold back. I'm in the NBC family. I'm really happy about staying because I do love this company. The network, I think, is in a real transition so I be part of the new NBC that works. That would be great. But I am a little bummed that we're not wrapping it up properly, so they're still talking about making a two-hour movie and trying to wrap up these characters. I just think we owe to the audience. On the business side, it completely warrants it. I mean, the show is a monster hit all over the world. It's a money machine. I don't know why they wouldn't do it, so hopefully they can work it out, and everybody's schedule will allow and then the network approves some sort of a wrap-up because I know Tim [Kring] wants to do it. I certainly want to do it.
It's just disappointing. I was like, "What?" We thought we were gonna get something. Most of us were kind of resolved of the fact that it was the end, but we didn't know how it was gonna end, and everywhere I go people are like, "What?" Everybody is shocked...
I got very, very fortunate that I got on to something that I like, so I can't complain because, again, I'm still with NBC, and I'm happy. But I just wish that on the "Heroes" side that they would wrap it up.
Greg Grunberg believes that if his career path is any indication, his next series should be a big hit.
According to a Web report, a "reliable insider" says there had been talk at ABC about creating a reboot of J.J. Abrams' spy series "Alias," which was canceled in 2006 after five seasons.
Heroes has been canceled by NBC, but series star Greg Grunberg has promised that good news is on its way despite the cancelation. Grunberg, who has his hand in several other projects beyond the television show, including a rock band and iPhone app Yowza, could be referring to just about anything. But shortly after the news of the Heroes cancelation broke this evening, he tweeted “W/bad news comes GOOD!!” and promised that his next tweet (which he hasn’t yet posted) will explain what he’s referring to. While some fans are surely hoping that Grunberg is referencing some of possible spinoff or other positive news for Heroes fans, it’s worth emphasizing that he could be talking about just about anything.
Television viewers will get more than they bargained for with the news that NBC has picked up the show 'Love Bites.' One of the new comedy's episodes features the unlikely scene of Greg Grunberg joining the Mile High Club ... with Jennifer Love Hewitt.
