NBC’s new gritty crime drama starring the amazingly appealing Maria Bello as a tough-as-nails NYPD homicide detective premieres Thursday, September 22 at 10p ET on NBC.
Exclusive Interview with Maria:
What was it about Detective Jane that caught Maria’s interest? You know, it was purely the rating. I hadn’t even considered doing a television show for ten years and then I read Alex Cunningham’s script and I hadn’t read a woman like this, such a complex woman on television who was so incredibly self-possessed and unapologetic and quirky and I just knew in my guy that I might have to do this.”
How similar is Maria to her character Jane?
“I think that Jane and I are very similar, for sure. I don’t find her to be a hard ass. I really don’t. I find her really direct and candid and honest to a fault. But you know, you see at that point when she goes home to her boyfriend like crying in bed she’s still like a little girl who wants to be loved. So I think that – and more and more throughout the series you’re going to see both sides of her, all sides of her. We’re very complicated people and sometimes, most of the time, people forget to write that.”
Did Maria do any type of preparation like shadowing a real life homicide detective to get ready for her role?
“You know, I worked in New York City in bars for a long time with NYPD and FDNY guys, so I organically had a sense of what that was and the best thing that I feel like Alex was able to do to bring to the script was this really dark, amazing sense of humor that all these guys have. And then we have this incredible consultant Mike Sheen.”
The Alex she speaks of is executive producer and writer Alex Cunningham, a former playwright who got started in 2000 on the acclaimed ‘NYPD Blue’ and who most recently served as exec producer on a small show you may have heard of Desperate Housewives with an Emmy nom and Two Golden Globes. Said she, “Yes. We have a retired homicide detective and also when we shot the pilot we put Maria together with a female detective who took her around to kind of show her what that experience is like in the modern NYPD.”
Maria on how it was constantly hanging out with a bunch of guys in the guy’s club. “Even during the first ready through when they had to be mean to me, they would do a line and then would say sorry over and over again. We are really having a blast. And we laugh a whole lot. I grew up with brothers in a neighborhood of all boys and so for me it’s just such a natural part of my life.” Added Alex, “Maria is also a very blunt, ballsy girl from Philadelphia, so I’m sure you know, there’s probably moments when she says things that the guys react to like I don’t know how to feels about that. She can hold her own. I think she probably scares them, so it’s a good energy.”
Prime Suspect is based on the critically acclaimed British TV series from the same name starring Helen Mirren. Said Maria, “You know, I saw a couple of them years ago, like when I lived in New York that I didn’t really remember. But I’ve always been a he fan of Helen Mirren. She’s one of my heroes. When I read the script I didn’t care if it was called Prime Suspect. It was so original and interesting and I think it’s so different from the other show. The character is quite different. Yes she is strong, central female character but she is different.”
Has the seasoned and talented actress Maria found this role challenging? “Honestly, the most challenging aspect has been trying to figure out my life, how it works with having a 10 year old son who’s going back to school and I work in Haiti. I have an organization in Haiti that, I you now, I lived there part time last year, so non it’s time to figure all that out. And I’m so lucky to have producers that are making that much easier for me than I thought it would be. But that’s been the biggest challenge. The rest of it is just—it’s like going to a playground every single day and being in a sandbox with a bunch of amazing kids. I’m beyond happy”
And we’re beyond happy as well to have a cool chick like Maria running around NYC playing cop. ‘NBC’s Prime Suspect premieres, Thursday, September 22 at 10p ET.
Movies Maria has coming up are Abduction, and Carjacked with Stephen Dorff.