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What did they tell you
about your character on Harper’s Island when you first signed on?
I think the only thing
they told me about Sully was that he was quite the ladies man, and that he had some history with most of the females on the
show. So I guess he kind of made the rounds with the Dunn and Wellington community of people. And they told me
that Henry and I have been friends since like junior high or high school – we were true friends. But other than
that I had no clue where the character was going – or how long I was going to be breathing. A lot of it was a
mystery.
Did you like the way your character evolved over the series? At first
you really did seem to be just a playboy, but near the end we really got to know Sully better.
Yeah,
I thought he had one of the best parts – the writers were really great to Sully. I never knew where it was going,
but when we first meet him he’s this really trivial guy – a lot of his qualities that were unattractive in the
beginning became qualities that helped him survive towards the end. He was stubborn, bold, selfish and self-serving
– which is why I think he goes with Cal to find the boat towards the end – because he just wants to save his own
ass. In the process he ends up saving some other people. But yeah, it was fun to see him arc and start to realize
there’s probably more depth in life that he could experience.
Is there a little
bit of Sully inside of you or are you completely different?
You know, that’s a great question.
Sully is definitely much cooler than I am [laughs] – you know, it’s funny… I think we’re pretty different,
but since playing Sully I’ve sort of adopted some of him – that may sound weird, but I think that Sully was fearless;
kind of lives in the moment and is spontaneous… I’ve kind of adopted more of that philosophy to life.
Since Henry was your best friend on the show were you shocked by the end?
I was, I was… I remember I was sitting in an airport with Chris Gorham, who plays Henry, and I haven’t read
episode twelve and he told me that he was the killer – when he told me that I knew – I knew that I was going to
get it. It’s just too perfect, and when Sully saves Madison and Shea – when he stays back to try to save
Henry I knew… this was a bad move. [laughs] You are definitely going to get it – I guess it was poetic that he
was stabbed in the back.
Who did you think the killer was before the big reveal?
Throughout the whole season I actually thought it was Cal…
I
thought the same thing too…
I thought that this guy didn’t fit; what is he doing here…
he’s British… I thought there was too much mystery surrounding him. I kept waiting to find out that he
wasn’t even an Englishman; that he was from Long Island…
 You know why I thought it was Cal; in the first episode when he shows Madison the finger trick – that’s when I
first thought it was him because he was spending time with Madison right before she started acting a little odd. Plus
he was a doctor; so he knew where to cut people.
You know, you’re right – I totally
missed that [laughs] – you know the show better than I do [laughs]. But I thought that Cal and Chloe’s death
was perfect… maybe the highlight of the show. Yeah, I was surprised… I think the ‘who’ was
surprising, but the ‘why’ was even more thrilling… and the whole brother-sister incestual storyline was
pretty creepy.
Would you have preferred
to be one of the survivors on the show – or did you like the way your character ended up?
No, I loved it – I actually told the producers in the beginning, as
a joke I said “I would love to die in the very last episode” – I wanted to be there throughout the whole
show – I wanted to have some fun – so I thought it would be a heroic way out. I think its fun to be immortalized
that way.
At
what point did you guys know that Wakefield was still alive?
I actually didn’t know until I read it in the script – they were so secretive about
everything. I think I read it the Sunday before the following week – and there he was. Then I remember when
they hired Callum and he first showed up – it was almost creepy to meet him…
Because you’ve heard so much about
Wakefield and there he is…
Yeah,
there he is – he just looks creepy, but he was the nicest guy ever.
I heard that the groomsmen on the set were pretty close; what was
it like to lose each other as the series evolved?
It
was the worst part of doing the show; we were inseparable on camera and off. Each week when we lose another one –
it was like you were losing one of your brothers in battle – we would have a little celebratory party and have a few
drinks to say farewell to the fallen brother. Part of life on the island.
Since you made it to the final episode; did they reveal the rest of
the script to you – or did they keep that secret too?
I got the final script – so I was able to see what was going to happen, but I didn’t
see the final cut of the whole thing until they aired on television – it always changes a little bit from when you read
the text. I thought it was exciting.
Speaking
of changing the script a little bit; were you able to be free at all with your character?
Yeah, that’s what was great about it – after several episodes
when we started to really own our characters and kind of found our footing inside their shoes I think that the writers and
producers all felt more comfortable with us branching on ideas and able to improvise things that we thought our character
would do. I would say that ninety percent of the time they would keep it in there – just let us roll with it.
What was the last day
of shooting like for everybody?
[laughs]
Good question – it’s funny because I think – I think the whole crew was so exhausted from a really long
week – we were doing night shoots too; I think everyone was like “How quickly can we get to the wrap party and
have a drink”, but I think I was like crying [laughs]. I was there on the last day and everyone seemed like they
were happy to get the job done and I was bawling like a little girl [laughs]. You know what I was going to miss –
I was going to miss that shotgun; it was like I was a little kid playing GI Joe, and I knew in my next job there was a good
chance I wouldn’t be carrying a twelve gauge shotgun. It was fun playing dress-up while it lasted.
Tell me about your co-star “Muffin”;
what ever happened with her?
[laughs] You
know what my story is? I think that someone who lived on Harper’s Island that got to escape on the ferry that
left – I think he found Muffin… I live by the “pay it forward” idea – he got to take Muffin
and Muffin lived on through this adolescent. I think Sully could maybe engage in real breathing women from now on.
I don’t know – I miss Muffin – she was fun…
Yeah, she seemed fun…
[laughs] I couldn’t believe that I had a scene where Mr. Wellington
had just been murdered – a guy’s brain is on my shirt and yet somehow I have the time and energy to search for
my blow-up doll. The writers gave me an
amorism with
that one. Whatever… it was fun.
What
else are you working on right now?
This
week I’ve been shooting a show called Castle on ABC – I’m doing an episode. I’m actually producing
a movie called Twelve Mighty Orphans; it’s about an orphanage during the depression in Texas –
there’s this genius mathematician coach that comes to this orphanage and creates this football factory… it’s
a true story… this team goes on to dominate Texas football in the 1930’s and they go all the way to the state
championship – in the process they inspire the whole nation who is down on their luck. Sort of ‘Seabiscuit’
meets ‘Remember the Titans’.
You’re
only producing; you’re not going to be in it?
Well,
maybe – right now I’m just trying to get it developed – I’ve been meeting with the studios for the
past month.
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