stuff.co.nz 00/09/2009

Drama goes mental

By Cath Bennett

HAVING married a Kiwi and spent nine months here filming Vertical Limit, Robin Tunney knows New Zealand pretty well.

So her claim that Kiwi viewers will enjoy The Mentalist is not made without considerable knowledge of her audience.
“It has a very strong sense of irony and humour, which I think will appeal to Kiwis,” says the actress, whose husband is director Andrew Dominik.
“It’s something that’s sort of old fashioned – it’s the anti CSI, where crime is solved with wit and not the microscope and DNA.
“It’s not gory and it’s not ugly like a lot of shows.
“We’ve had such a tumultuous time with our economy that people want to turn on the TV and be entertained with things that are light – and this fits the bill.’’
The US crime drama follows former celebrity psychic Thomas Jane, played by Simon Baker, who becomes an independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and helps them solve cases using his skills of observation.
However, he meets resistance from Tunney’s character, Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon, who alternates between reluctantly acknowledging Jane’s usefulness and cursing his theatrics, narcissism and dangerous lack of boundaries.
“Throughout the series it becomes less of a power struggle between Jane and Lisbon,’’ Tunney says.
“But she alternates from episode to episode – one minute they’ll be flirting and the next she’ll want to kill him.
“It’s very much: ‘Will they won’t they?’’’
Baker, who appeared in the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada, adds: “She’s a strong woman and there’s a lot of back-and-forth.
“Sometimes it’s very mother and son, but at times they feel like peers.’’
In the US, the first series so captured the public imagination that a second is already underway.
And fans have very much bought into Jane and Lisbon’s relationship.
“You know how you had Bennifer and Brangelina? Well we have an on-line nickname of Jisbon,’’ says Tunney with a laugh.
“Isn’t that horrible? We’ve been stuck with something that sounds slightly pornographic.’’
Tunney’s role as the smart, abrasive investigator in charge of a team of people was slightly daunting for the Chicago-born star, who is best known for her role in The Craft and for playing Veronica Donovan in the first series of Prison Break.
“I never really saw myself as a cop, and being the boss kind of scared me,’’ she admits.
“Suddenly I was giving people orders – whereas in real life I’m always apologising if I have to ask someone to do something.
“It has been challenging – but it’s been fun because it’s a very different approach.’’
Tunney has a passion for New Zealand having spent the best part of a year in Queenstown filming the mountain climbing movie Vertical Limit, directed by Martin Campbell.
Also in the movie was actor Ben Mendelsohn – who introduced the 37-year-old to her second husband Dominik, the writer and director of Brad Pitt film The Assassination of Jesse James.
The Los Angeles-based couple are keen to return here when they can.
“I spent two glorious months at Mount Cook,’’ Tunney recalls.
“It’s the place you should just go to for a weekend. It’s a six hour trip to Christchurch to watch the movies and you had to go to the town of Twizel if you needed tampons.
“But I loved it, I’d love to go back and spend more time there.
“You can drive for three hours and see three completely different terrains, it’s really spectacular.
“And there’s a real ‘get on with it attitude’ that Kiwis have – it’s never cold it’s just ‘fresh.’’’

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