AMC's The Killing is unlike any other show currently on television -- cinematic, realistic, mournful, hopeful, heart-pounding, and endlessly addictive. One of the standout performances has been Brandon Jay McLaren's turn as Bennett Ahmed, a high school English teacher who was everyone's favorite suspect for the murder of Rosie Larsen. Rosie was one of Bennett's students, and earlier on in the season, details came to light that painted a very suspicious portrait of their relationship. Bennett was obviously lying about something... the question was, what? Eventually, Bennett's innocent was proven, but not before Rosie's father Stan administered a brutal beat-down that left him fighting for his life in Seattle General. Luckily, Mr. McLaren is alive and well in real life, so much so that he kindly agreed to speak with me last week.
My challenge for this interview will be not coming off as a gushing fanboy, because I love The Killing and think you're fantastic on it.
Thank you, thank you.
How did you get involved in the project?
My agent was like, "Hey, there's this great new project called The Killing." She sent me the pilot script and said, "If you're interested, you could try and go for the Bennett role." I read the pilot and I loved it, I was clearly on board. At the time, I didn't really know how much the character would play in the show, but I wanted to be part of it in any way I could.
Were you at all familiar with the original Danish series?
I became familiar with it after I was cast, but I haven't watched it, nor have I seen clips. I just wanted to be free from that, so I really know nothing about the original other than it was a huge hit in Denmark.
Like you, I'm staying as far away from it as humanly possible. Even though the original ending has been changed, in that it's not the same perpetrator, knowing who that is will inevitably rule someone out in the American version.
Exactly. I just wanted to look at it through the freshest eyes possible.
You guys shot in Vancouver, right?
Yeah, correct.
When was that?
We shot from late November till about mid April.
2010 to 2011?
Yeah.
Wow, so you wrapped just this past April?
Yeah, I think April 11th was the last shooting date. It's fresh.
It's so interesting to talk to you right now, because in the world of the show, you are in critical condition.
[laughs] It's funny, you know? I see people on the street and they're like, "Omigod, I just saw you get your ass kicked!"
Yeah, you are severely incapacitated at the moment.
They [the creators] put Bennett in such a tough spot, because he can't tell the truth about anything. He has to keep this huge secret from the police and from his wife. He could potentially get in real trouble for what he's doing, but what he's doing is such a noble thing. That's so great to be able to play.
Clear plotting is one of the strong suits of the show. Once it was apparent what was happening with the Somali girl, as a viewer, you didn't even have to dig through your memory to make sense of it. Linden and Holder were told point-blank that there was a missing Somali girl.
Right, right.
What's next for you?
I just started season four of Being Erica, which is a Canadian show that shoots in Toronto. I'm actually looking at this sort of horror-comedy movie that I'm interested in. I hope that will work out, because it'd be nice to do a comedy after something like The Killing.
Definitely.
I like to jump around like that.
Source: ...ology
Streaming Options
Sign Up for the SpoilerTV Newsletter where we talk all things TV!
Recommendations
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
