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A Conversation with David Chokachi
(Jake McCartey)
Q: Tell us about your character and how he's related to this whole show.
A: I play Jake McCartey who's the new guy in the precinct, and he's kind of a bit of a wild card because no one really knows where I came from or what my back story is. There's just a lot of rumors flying around about me, and I'm assigned to this precinct. I'm from the West Coast, in theory, and Yancy Butler's character, Sara Pezzini, becomes my training officer. She, in Season 2, is partners with Will Yun Lee, who is now alive. So I'm kind of like the third guy on their team still, so I got to kind of do the proving myself thing. But the character this season has a lot more. They started him on a higher bar so he doesn't have to prove himself as much to kind of gain their respect because he brings a lot more to the dance. And that's good.
Q: You've said that this was the kind of character you loved and that you can really get into. How has that evolved? How have you been able to make Jake your character?
A: I think the fact that they've given him kind of his back-story, like really where he's from, that is just really interesting. He's a talented kid and the fact that people kind of keep judging him because he's supposedly from San Diego, and he's supposedly a surfer. Never judge a book by a cover, but they're doing it. There's a lot more going on with the character. It's kind of similar to a lot of things I do with life as far as people assume --I'm not even from California, but I look it, so they assume, you know, you're just a surfer with that mentality. But actually in reality, I had a good education and was raised on the East Coast. So it's kind of funny. There's a lot more going on in both my life and the character's.
Q: Everybody knows that you were on Bay Watch for a while, and in our first interview we talked about kind of staying away from that. But in Season 2 there's a line about it written into one of the scripts.
A: You know, we thought about it and we actually took it out. Because I didn't want -- I mean they gave me my start basically. It was a while ago, and they treated me well. So I didn't want the people who gave me that chance, to disrespect them. . . It wasn't written as a joke, it was like he's (Detective Dean Gorner) using a genre, which that lifestyle is, and he was trying to make a point, this narcotics officer with me. . . So, hopefully they're not going to use it, because I just don't want the people to think, people who gave you your chance like that, once you're done with them, to be like, nah, to just throw them under the bus. So, we'll see.
Q: What experiences from the past or things that you're interested in do you bring to the set?
A: Well, he is an ex-pro surfer, and I happen to surf a lot at the moment, so that's a pretty good correlation. But like I said before, more so the fact that he's not a rookie cop. I mean everybody in the precinct thinks he is. Someone has recruited him and he's had higher training, and he has worked for various government agencies, or one specific government agency. It's kind of a neat thing, because in my lifetime, kind of on a whim, I was working for a congressman, and I applied to the CIA and I made it. They flew me down to Washington from Boston. I made it past all these psychological tests and whatever, and I was like, well I might as well keep going, see what happens. 'Cause I was really dreading the idea, this was before I got into acting, of getting a nine to five job and just being on this treadmill in life and the station wagon, the two point two kids. They flew me down and I had three interviews and they went well. But they thought I was too young actually to be, you have to be accountable and make decisions that other people's lives -- I mean it's the real deal, obviously, other people's lives are gonna be heavily affected, and it kind of ended there. But it was a neat experience. It was like, man, I can't believe its goin' this far. Had it gone a little further, I don't know.
Q: So how are you all approaching Season 2 in terms of production?
A: This year, it's actually amazing. I've never seen it on another show where you have that many crewmembers return. It's like ninety-nine percent return of everyone. And also, Season 2, Ralph Hemecker did a great job in bringing on some other writers. . . . The way they've gone forward after episode eleven of Season 1 into episode one of Season 2, is amazing. It's so brilliant. So I think everything in a sense is up a notch. It's really good.
Q: How much input do you have in terms of your character in these scripts?
A: You have a little bit. I think the best time to do it, and we've all done it, is we go kind of have a little powwow with the executive producers and the writers if we can, and put in our two cents. And they try to work it. They're actually pretty good about it. Even for like Will -- he's this really talented martial artist and he talks about it with them, and now they're actually using his skills more this year. So, yeah, I have some input. But as far as like direction of the show, it's kind of their concept, so. But it's fine. It ain't broke. That kind of thing. So it's good.
Q: What's it like when you get that script? Is it like a page-turner where you've got to find out what's going on?
A: Yeah, everybody does the same. Everybody is selfish. . . . You just look for your character's name. Then you go back and read it. It's not really the right approach but you can't help it on this show 'cause you're just -- everybody wants to see what's goin' on or what's the new revelation for your character, for yourself. So, it's not the smartest thing for like really understanding what's going on in the script, but it's inevitable.
Q: You mentioned homework. How do you learn your lines?
A: I have a coach in L.A. that we work on the phone while I'm here in Toronto. And everybody's different, but by the time you're done understanding what's really trying to be said in this scene, or what your character's saying, they automatically come to you. I've never had to sit down and memorize lines, because you really want to break it down obviously and see what they're really trying to say, so it kind of happens that way.
Q: So do you have a little bit of room on the set to improvise?
A: Yeah, we do. And Ralph is an amazing guy and the other executives are really cool. They're not like, 'well, we wrote it that there's an exclamation point there and not a question mark.' They're not gonna flip out. And you can take that as much as you want to. Like if you don't feel comfortable in the semantics of the sentence, then change 'em. You know? You can't change the story points obviously, so that's the same with everything. . . If you can add something that's in the moment, it works, it goes into the show. Yeah, absolutely.
Q: Walk me through a typical day of production, starting at the night before. What time did you get your call sheet?
A: You get your call sheet at the end of the day. So say today is Tuesday, you get it at the end of the day, and get your pick-up time for tomorrow. And your driver comes and picks you up, and you go out, have some breakfast, and do your hair -- or go block actually. Then hair and make-up and then usually hang out for, you know, a few minutes while they light it, and go in and rehearse a little more and then start shootin' it. And then, it just kind of keeps goin' all day. Go home, do a little studying, if you still need to for the next day, and go to bed as early as you can.
Q: Does that leave any room for a social life?
A: Yeah, definitely. Like, the neat thing about this show -- and there's what, six or seven of us as principles - in almost every episode, we bring on a couple guest stars, so, Yancy's the only one who's probably, she's the one punching the clock a lot more than we are. And she does it well. She's so great at that. She never brings it like, 'well you know I'm working so much harder.' She loves it and she doesn't bring any of that the next day. So we, everyone else, kind of it's cyclical that they almost rotate kind of an A story through everybody's character. So it'll be mine, then it'll be Will's then it'll be Eric's, or Anthony Cistaro, or John Hensley, and then it will do that kind of rotation. So you will have a few days off out of the eight-day workweek, which isn't bad. You get to go, you know, do what you do.
Q: Season 1 proved to be a very physical time. In each episode you had a more physical role. What kind of training did you do to get ready for this season?
A: I've played sports all the way through college -- football and lacrosse -- and our parents are great about that. It's kind of like an East Coast thing: they plug you into sports and they keep you out of trouble. It's a great thing, so I've been kind of attached to exercising, or it's become like a ritual. If I don't get to either run or do something kind of physical in a day, or if I have to skip two days, you start to feel off, so that's an automatic. And then also to train for this. . .a big part of it is. . . you're portraying people who are every day, when you put your uniform on or your gun, you go to work, your life's at risk. And so I trained with this kid Wade Allen, in L.A. It's called Krav Maga and it's Israeli self defense, but they work with SWAT guys, they work with all the LAPD. So he was able to teach me a lot of gun tactics. So when you're walking and if you don't know what's behind that door, there's potential threats in there, they teach you how to enter rooms. . .You just want to represent these guys in the fullest, because they're out there risking their lives and you don't want to be walking around with your gun like this, you know what I mean? So that training that I did was invaluable.
Q: One of the great mysteries on production for a typical audience is what happens when the cameras aren't rolling.
A: Oh God. On this show? So much buffoonery. It's just a lot of laughs actually. It's really fun. This cast is amazing. I'm sure there're shows out there, but I just haven't experienced it, where you get so many people who are so well bonded and kind of on the same level, and no one's got a huge ego. Everybody's kind of like for the betterment of the product. They're not self-serving, so we get to rip each other, or whatever. There's so much crap flying around, like as soon as they call "cut!" or even before action. You have a tough time. A lot of times I'm biting my cheek. . .You just start going off and you get a little tired and punchy and have to bite your cheek once in a while to stop the laughing fits that's about to come up.
Q: The Season 1 finale left everyone in a complete state of expectation. Where does Season 2 start from?
A: . . .Everybody was questioning how're they going to pull this off? Because it seemed like you were almost going to cheat the audience by doing what we did. . .It's so well done the way they've gone forward, and the way they've kind of tweaked things. It's like the movie Memento. There's a lot of deja vu and there are weird connections. It's true if you mess with time, I think if you ever could mess with time like we're kind of going with, there's gonna be consequences and things are gonna change and people are gonna be a little different, and events are gonna be different. So, that's the neat part. That's the really neat part.
Q: Okay, give it up. In the first season we saw Sara and Jake getting a little close at the end. Where's it goin' in Season 2?
A: You know, I don't know. I keep bugging Ralph. I'm like, man, when's Jake gonna get a little lovin' here? What's the deal? I think it's more of an admiration kind of quality that's happening this year, and she's a kick ass detective and a beautiful girl who just who brings a lot. So any male would be obviously gravitating towards that. I don't know if it's gonna go in that direction at all. They're kind of leaving her a little bit solo, no lovers yet, and Jake's not getting any love either, which I'm not too happy about. (LAUGHS) I'm like dude, bring on the guest stars.
Q: Enter Gabriel Bowman. Who is this character?
A: He's like one of those kind of trippy, weird kids who's, for his age, he's seen a lot in his life. And he's experienced a lot and somehow has come, I don't know how he is coming to it, but you basically meet him as he is in this whole world of antiquities and dealing with some really amazing -- and the neat thing about this show is I'd say ninety percent of the things that Gabriel brings up or maybe even one hundred percent are historically true. So he's not talking BS. These guys have done their homework, the writers, and he's talking about all these things that have happened in history. So that's like the neat kind of parallel that going on, and then somehow the history fact they tweak it and tie it in with the Witchblade. And he's just this kid that Sara Pezzini, bumps into . . .and they kinda hit it off a little bit. . . He's got a cool opening. We even talked about it. . .He said, 'man I don't even know how to do a head stand.' He supposedly is doing a headstand in this scene. And she walks in his door and he's got this really cool place he lives with all these artifacts, and she walks in and he's upside-down doing a head stand and he pops up and the first thing he just says without even looking, is 'nice bracelet.' So it's a cool scene, and they kind of introduce it well. . .He's really an eclectic kind of trippy kid.
Q: Why do you think he's such an important ally for Sara Pezzini?
A: They need some people that she can turn to when she's just getting her ass kicked all over the place by all these people, and there's so many weird things happening in her life that you would literally check yourself into an institute. So she needs people like Gabriel Bowman and Ian Nottingham and, in a sense, Kenneth Irons would provide her with a fair amount of understanding of what's happening to her. Otherwise she'd just be crushed.
Q: How has your fan support motivated you?
A: We check out the Warner Brothers message board once in a while, and we get some pretty good laughs. It's cool. All all of us do anyway, like Will and Eric and I. And it's pretty funny. You just see this stuff. . .like the fans all created this thing called Jake's Defenders Anonymous. Because there was all this input on or towards Eric's character and all these people are like, well wait a minute. And then as they watch the season, people write on the message board and you can totally see what they're thinking. Like, 'wait a minute, Jake's a good guy. He's not trying to kill Sara. No, he's cool.' And so they started this whole little group. It's cool. I keep checking it out and well yeah, they totally are rallying around me. Bring it on.
Q: Do you ever anonymously add into the chat?
A: I haven't yet. I thought about it. I just haven't come up with anything good yet. I only actually attempted it once, and I said, 'what could I add to this?' And then I just bailed on it. I'm thinking about (LAUGHS), you know, typing in a little more.
Q: This series, like several on TNT, centers around New York police. What is it about New York cops that made them so dramatic?
A:. . . I don't know, I've done a fair amount of research, and it seems like it's one of the top three places where you'd experience a high amount of danger to your life, so in that sense, your day to day life, I think they bring a lot of stress. And Ralph Hemecker has done a great job of turning us onto some good books, like this book Homicide, which is based on Baltimore cops. . . It happened that this guy followed a Baltimore homicide unit for a while and man, the hours they put in, and the stuff they see. I don't know where you would find your happiness; it's a tough, tough job. So in a way, I think all of us have taken it very seriously, the fact of portraying these guys. We're probably a little bit young for homicide detectives in New York, but you know, its TV, so. But we've taken a fair amount of responsibility in trying to bring the reality and trying to represent them as well as possible and respect what they do, and be truthful to it.
Q: What are some of the most dramatic aspects of their day to day life?
A: . . . .The fact that there is no gravy day. There's no day that you can just show up and kind of walk through the motions, you know? There's always a chance that your life's on the line and something can happen. . . .You can never just say I'm gonna cash that day and just walk through it. And then when we're doing it on the show, I think definitely try and represent real things. You can't play the John Wayne character and also represent a true detective or police officer, when there's three guys shooting at you. You're not gonna be sittin' there banging out these one liners. It's the real thing. So I think what I do, and I'm pretty sure everybody else does, is to try and bring a fair amount of reality and real fear that would come with obviously, even if you're a seasoned veteran, people are shooting live rounds at you, it's -- I couldn't even imagine it. I've gone to a shooting range, and to shoot a handgun, it's a very powerful thing. And that's with the ear protection, eye protection. You can't imagine ever being in a real gunfight.
Q: What does drama mean to David Chokachi? If you had to define drama.
A: Oh no, I try and eliminate all the drama in my life (LAUGHS). I try and really enjoy day to day. But I know what you're talking about. I think drama is actually people in life, going through their journeys. Everybody's got their own journey, no matter what you're doing in life. . . . It's not them getting to their conclusion, it's them getting up the mountain, and I think drama is the way they deal with that section where they're trying to get to their conclusion. You know, as far as dealing with tough times and struggle and being able to actually stay and have a strong mind and a good energy and be happy with life, even though the chips are down, but you're still going in your direction and to persevere. Yeah, I think that's what drama is.
Q: Thank you!
A: Thanks.
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