411mania Interviews Timothy Omundson (PSYCH)

Posted by Al Norton on 02.20.2009

411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive interview with PSYCH's Timothy Omundson.



Timothy Omundson has been working steadily in television for over a decade, with stints on Judging Amy, Deadwood, and Jericho as well as guest spots on CSI, NYPD Blue, Nip/Tuck, and Criminal Minds. He currently plays Detective Carlton Lassiter on USA's PSYCH, which has its season three finale tonight on USA.

Al Norton: Not that Lassiter sees himself this way but is it hard to play uncool?

Tim Omundson: First of all, I'm not incredibly cool in real life so it's not that much of a stretch. Certainly there is a bit of ego thing involved…someone once told me on the set, "oh, you're like Frank Burns." And I hated Frank Burns. The character was amazing and the actor was great but I still was like, "No! I'm not Frank Burns!" But then I realized Frank Burns was played by Robert Duvall in the movie, so that made it better.

I always go with something that Rainn Wilson said, and I paraphrase here, "there is great comedy to be had in great seriousness." I try to look at it that way, not uncool but more serious.

Al Norton: What drew you to Lassiter?

Tim Omundson: It's strange because he has evolved. First, just flat out the fact that he was a cop. I had played such sweet, social worker-esque, spiritual guys and I just wanted to play a little more of a bad ass. I know he's not a bad ass but Lassiter thinks that he is, so it's sort of the same thing. And also the fun in playing someone who is so uptight. It's great to be able to get my stress out through him. I have two small daughters and as any parent knows, it can be a little stressful on occasion. I am able to channel my frustrations with my daughter not necessarily doing what I may gently ask her to do; I get to take that out on Shawn and Gus.

Al Norton: Had you held a gun before? Did they give you any training?

Tim Omundson: I had held a gun before. I had played a couple of crazy, mentally unbalanced ex-military people, so I had held a gun before. I had done some westerns. On Deadwood they wouldn't let me have a gun as much as I tried to get one. I begged for some gun training on PSYCH. I am not a hunter at all, I am a huge animal lover, but I do love guns. I love target shooting. I had a basic knowledge of what I was doing but I really wanted some real training, just to look like I know what I'm doing. Our props guys are really wonderful; if I'm doing something that looks really stupid, they let me know. "Pull your elbow in, you look like you're on Charlie's Angels."

There was an episode in season one where Maggie (Lawson) and I had to shoot the hummels that belonged to my wife. Actually they were generic figurines because using "hummels" didn't clear. I said we needed training just for safety's sake but in fact we just wanted to go shooting. They took us out to a range and let us shoot a lot of crap. It was a lot of fun.

Al Norton: How many blown takes do you have to go through to get a scene right on PSYCH?

Tim Omundson: If they are scenes that I am in, a lot. Here's what I think; nobody realizes that I have the toughest job on this show. Yes, James writes and directs and he and Dule help produce, and they are in just about every scene, but I have the hardest job because I have to keep a straight face. Those guys get to laugh and have fun. I find them so funny in real life – they kill me – and Lassiter finds them so unfunny, so that's the hardest part of my job. If you ever watch the PSYCH-outs at the end of the episodes…

Al Norton: I don't want to say there my favorite part but if you put a full hour on I would watch them as much as I do the actual episodes.

Tim Omundson: And a good 56 minutes of that hour would be me breaking character. I am the worst, most unprofessional actor in the world on this job. The editors have become very masterful at the art of the quick cutaway. I'll watch an episode now and say to my wife, "look at my lip." Just as the corner is about to go up, they cut away. They've been able to save my job.

Al Norton: Was it difficult to go from a happy, loose type of show from PSYCH to the more intense Jericho?

Tim Omundson: It wasn't. It was very refreshing. Phil Constantino is not that far off from Lassiter. He's a serious version of Lassiter, taken a few more degrees. They're both lawmen, and they both have their hearts in the right place for them. I kind of discovered that along the way so it wasn't like I was shifting gears too much. It was really refreshing. As an actor I get bored really easily and, as much as I love PSYCH, to be able to get to go do Jericho and play it from a totally different point of views was a great thing.



Al Norton: Was that a real beard on Jericho?

Tim Omundson: In season one it was real. There is a story about the beard (laughing). I knew a couple of writers and producers on the show and they said, "hey, we've got this job for you, start growing your beard." I grew it and it got pretty massive. I grew up in theater and in college used different facial hair in every roll because it's one of those fun things I could do. I called up the guys and told them the beard was getting pretty Grizzly Adams and I sent them a picture of (Robert) De Niro from The Deer Hunter, which is a very specific beard and said, "how about something like this?" They emailed me back and said, "10 men just sat in a room for 20 minutes discussing your facial hair" (Laughing). They told me to go with the DeNiro. I now call that the Constantino. I recently grew it back again. Because I was actively shooting PSYCH, in season two of Jericho they had to build me one. I showed up and said, "I don't have that much grey in my beard." That was a good wake up call.

Al Norton: How do you go about choosing your scripts and has being a Dad had any effect on your choices?

Tim Omundson: Yes it has. I am not that choosy - to be honest I always say I want to be the Michael Caine of television because I love working - but I did have something recently that wasn't a great paycheck, it wasn't anyone I was really excited to work with, and the script was just slasher porn. Not just because of my children but it had no real redeeming qualities to offer to society, so I didn't take it. There's not a lot I wouldn't do on TV because if it's on broadcast, or even cable, it can't be that bad. I mean, I certainly would never let my kids watch Deadwood until they're about 34. There's not much I wouldn't do but really gratuitous violence I'm not in to, misogyny I'm not in to. And I have daughters. Let's try and make the world a little bit of a better place for them.

Al Norton: What was James (Roday) like as a director?

Tim Omundson: James was fantastic. I have nothing but respect for the little s.o.b. I hate him so much. Funny, talented, "I write and direct." He has razor sharp focus and is so serious about his work. He eats, breathes, and sleeps film and TV. He was an inspiration to watch and the whole crew felt like he was our boy; we all wanted him to succeed. He was fantastic.

Al Norton: Two of your co-stars are dating in real life (James Roday and Maggie Lawson) and while I am sure people are more comfortable now that it's been going on for a while and things seem good, was there any nervousness at the start, like a feeling of "hey, don't ruin this good thing we've got going"?

Tim Omundson: Not necessarily because they play it so close to the vest. They're both very mature, very smart people who, like I said, play it very close to the vest on set. I was oblivious for a long time. My wife picked up on it way before I did. I was like, "they are not."

Al Norton: What do you think the audience learned from meeting Lassiter's ex-wife last week?

Tim Omundson: This was the biggest opportunity to show all the dimensions of this guy, to really show the audience what makes him tick. I think the main source of his crankiness for the past three seasons has been his unhappiness in his marriage. Playing an uptight asshole for the sake of being an asshole isn't any fun; why is he this way? I've always been interested in showing, even if just a glimpse, his personal side and his marriage and how it's destroying him. And he takes it out on Shawn and Gus. We got to see his wife, and the circumstances under which they met were very pleasant at first. Lassiter got to smile in a way we never got to see him smile. I hope the audience walked away going, "he is a full character and a full person and we love him a little bit more (laughing).

Al Norton: After three seasons, how close is the show's current form to the picture you had in your head when you took the job?

Tim Omundson: I think it's still surprisingly close. There have been shifts that just evolved but to me the heart of the show is still smart, funny banter. When I walked into the audition, I honestly didn't know it was a comedy. All I knew is that I was auditioning for a cop so I wore my dark blue cop suit. I was about to start and they said to me, "just so you know, this isn't NYPD Blue, it's Moonlighting." And I went, "well, I know how to do that." To me there's 10,000 guys who know how to do NYPD Blue really, really well but there's maybe only 9,500 guys who can do comedy right. The picture in my head matched up with theirs and we were off to the races. These are very funny people, there very silly, but I think you care about all of them. They're all real. Growing up my Father really put a love of screwball comedies, the Thin Man movies, all the Preston Sturges stuff, in me. The episodes where we really get the banter back and forth are just heaven to me.

Don't miss the season finale of PSYCH tonight at 10 pm on USA. The show returns for a fourth season later this summer.