Category: Interviews

Interviews with members of the Cast and Crew of Gotham

EXCLUSIVE Gotham Scarface Interview Andrew Sellon Part 2. Ventriloquist and Mr. Penn from Gotham

Gotham loves shocking us and the return of Andrew Sellon this week was a huge surprise. We chat with Andrew about how Gotham Scarface all came about. This interview contains spoilers all the way up to Gotham Season 5 Episode 8 “Nothing Shocking” so please make sure you’ve watched all episodes up to and including this one.

Gotham Scarface
We interview actor Andrew Sellon about his return as Ventriloquist
and Scarface on Gotham Season 5

On this week’s episode Andrew Sellon returned as Gotham Scarface after his untimely death. After our previous interview with Andrew where we thought it was the last we’d see of Mr. Arthur Penn he returned to tell us how it all came about. Here’s a few of the bits we discussed

  • Andrew’s past as a Ventriloquist before Gotham
  • The fans part in Scarface appearing in the show
  • This episode was the 11th episode written of Gotham. If Fox had commissioned a 12 episode season from the outset it’s very likely we never would have seen Gotham Scarface.

We hope you enjoyed our latest interview with Gotham Scarface Andrew Sellon. It was an absolute pleasure to speak to Andrew once again about his time on Gotham. He couldn’t tell us about his return to Gotham last time because of spoilers but his kindness in returning to our show to chat about how it all came about is so great.

Contact Us and Subscribe to the Podcast

Thanks so much to you our fellow Gothamites for returning to us on Gotham TV Podcast. We also want to say thank you to all of the new listeners joining us for this the final season of Gotham. We want to hear from you throughout these final 12 episodes with your thoughts about the show. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast over on Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or any other app of choice. You can email us your thoughts on the show or the podcast at [email protected] you can also record your thoughts on the episode and send them in to us through our website at https://gothamtvpodcast.com by clicking the “Send Voicemail” button.

Next week on Gotham TV Podcast

We will return this weekend with our usual in-depth discussion about Gotham Legend Of The Dark Knight Season 5 Episode 8 “Nothing’s Shocking”. The episode airs on January 24th 2019.

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Date Recorded: 26/02/2018
Date Published: 01/03/2019
MP3, 51.24 min. 96kbps, 35.4 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of Fox TV and their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

EXCLUSIVE Gotham Interview Francesca Root-Dodson, Ecco from Gotham – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 137

“I had to reread for the role of Ecco in Gotham Season 5 because it was so different from what I’d done in Season 4.” Francesca Root-Dodson

David Mazouz EXCLUSIVE Gotham Season 5 Interview – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 133

Here’s our full EXCLUSIVE interview with David Mazouz who plays Bruce Wayne on Gotham. We have presented excerpts of this interview over the last few weeks but as requested here is the complete SPOILER FILLED interview.

EXCLUSIVE Gotham Interview Andrew Sellon Mr. Penn from Gotham – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 132

We have a brand new exclusive Gotham Interview for you with Andrew Sellon who plays Mr. Penn and chats with us all about his time on Gotham.

Gotham Cast interview Season 4 spoilers with Robin Lord Taylor, Cory Michael Smith, David Mazouz and Drew Powell at HVFF London 2018

At Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London 2018 we sat down for an EXCLUSIVE Gotham Cast interview with Robin Lord Taylor, David Mazouz, Cory Michael Smith and Drew Powell who play Oswald Cobblepot, Bruce Wayne, Ed Nygma and Butch Gilzean on Gotham. We go into full spoilers for Gotham Season 4 so make sure you’ve watched it all before listening to the interview.

A huge thanks to the team over at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London and Walker Stalker Con who made this Gotham Cast interview happen and also thanks to Robin Lord Taylor, David Mazouz, Cory Michael Smith and Drew Powell for taking the time out to talk Gotham with us during his hugely busy weekend.

Gotham Cast Interview

We talk about

  • The renewal of Gotham for Season 5
  • The pressure on the cast of playing these iconic characters in Gotham
  • When Drew Powell first had a thought of possibly becoming Solomon Grundy
  • The completion of the arc between Oswald Cobblepot and Butch Gilzean
  • The cast playing together in Bruce’s fever dream and how good Donal Logue was with that chicken.

Thanks so much for joining us for our EXCLUSIVE Interview with Robin Lord Taylor, David Mazouz, Cory Michael Smith and Drew Powell. If you enjoyed it please make sure to subscribe to the show at gothamtvpodcast.com/itunes to get this episode and more as soon as they are released.

We were delighted to receive all of our feedback if you want to send us in your feedback on Gotham Season 4 “A Dark Knight” please email us at [email protected] or you can now record your thoughts on Gotham directly from our website by clicking the “Send Voicemail” button.

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Let us know what you think by contacting us at [email protected].
@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for GothamTV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date Recorded: 27/05/2018
Date Published: 29/05/2018
MP3, 22.12 min. 96kbps, 15.5 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

EXCLUSIVE David Mazouz Gotham Season 4 Interview – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 116

Our Gotham week continues join us for our David Mazouz Gotham Season 4 Interview. We talk all about Season 4 so far and what may be coming up for Bruce way in the second half of the season which begins airing from March 1st. As always make sure you’ve watched the first half of season 4 before listening to the podcast.

David Mazouz Gotham

Synopsis for our David Mazouz Gotham Season 4 Interview Podcast

We spoke with David about his first time putting on the his vigilante outfit.

His best moment’s working with the extended cast this season.

The pain that Bruce Wayne is going through and how he realizes his potential in the second half of season four.

We speak about the different paths that Bruce and Selina Kyle have been on this season and David teases a big story line that will lead to a very dramatic and devastating turn towards the end of the season.

Thank you so much for joining Gotham TV Podcast for our David Mazouz Gotham Season 4 Interview Podcast. We will return with our review of Gotham Season 4 Episode 13 A Dark Knight: A Beautiful Darkness which airs on Thursday the 8th of March so make sure to subscribe to the show at gothamtvpodcast.com/itunes to get this episode and more as soon as they are released.

We are delighted to receive all of our feedback if you want to send us in your feedback on Gotham Season 4 “A Dark Knight” please email us at [email protected] or you can now record your thoughts on Gotham directly from our website by clicking the “Send Voicemail” button.

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Let us know what you think by contacting us at [email protected].
@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for GothamTV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date Recorded: 26/02/2018
Date Published: 27/02/2018
MP3, 18.15 min. 96kbps, 12.7 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

EXCLUSIVE Interview with Robin Lord Taylor and Drew Powell at Heroes And Villains Fan Fest London – GTVP Episode 87

On our second day at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London we sat down for another EXCLUSIVE Interview with Robin Lord Taylor and Drew Powell who play Oswald Cobblepot and Butch Gilzean on Gotham. It was great to have the opportunity to sit down with Drew and Robin again. They were both hugely complimentary to all the fans who turned out for a difficult week in the UK. We also learn what Robin Lord Taylor feels is causing all of Oswald’s problems and what Butch would like to replace his hand.

A huge thanks to the team over at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London and Walker Stalker Con who made this interview happen and also thanks to Drew Powell and Robin Lord Taylor for taking the time out to talk Gotham with us during his hugely busy weekend.

 Interview with Robin Lord Taylor and Drew Powell

Thanks so much for joining us for our EXCLUSIVE Interview with Robin Lord Taylor and Drew Powell. If you enjoyed it please make sure to subscribe to the show at gothamtvpodcast.com/itunes to get this episode and more as soon as they are released.

We were delighted to receive all of our feedback if you want to send us in your feedback on Gotham Season 3 “Mad City” please email us at [email protected] or you can now record your thoughts on Gotham directly from our website by clicking the “Send Voicemail” button.

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Let us know what you think by contacting us at [email protected].
@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for GothamTV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date Recorded: 28/05/2017
Date Published: 01/06/2017
MP3, 18.33 min. 96kbps, 12.9 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

EXCLUSIVE Interview with David Mazouz Heroes And Villains Fan Fest London – GTVP Episode 85

While at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London we sat down for an EXCLUSIVE Interview with David Mazouz who plays Bruce Wayne on Gotham. He was an excellent guest, funny, interesting and intelligent and had a great time in the UK. We chat about the special relationship between Alfred and Bruce, David’s favourite scene and what Bat suit he would like to wear if he got the choice.

EXCLUSIVE Interview with David Mazouz

A huge thanks to the team over at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest London and Walker Stalker Con who made this interview happen and also thanks to David Mazouz for taking the time out to talk Gotham with us during his hugely busy weekend.

Thanks so much for joining us for our Exclusive interview with David Mazouz. If you enjoyed it you can also listen to our EXCLUSIVE interview with Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald Cobblepot) and Drew Powell (Butch Gilzean) at gothamtvpodcast.com/itunes to get this episode and more as soon as they are released. Or you can watch it on YouTube below:

We were delighted to receive all of our feedback if you want to send us in your feedback on Gotham Season 3 “Mad City” please email us at [email protected] or you can now record your thoughts on Gotham directly from our website by clicking the “Send Voicemail” button.

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Let us know what you think by contacting us at [email protected].
@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for GothamTV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date Recorded: 27/05/2017
Date Published: 29/05/2017
MP3, 16.48 min. 96kbps, 11.7 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

Gotham Cast Interviews and New York Comic Con Podcast – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 52

GTVP E52 Gotham Cast Interviews and New York Comic Con

In our second annual visit to New York Comic Con we get another chance to catch up with the cast of Gotham for a run down of their thoughts on Season 1 and what’s coming up in Season 2 we also discuss all the DC shows that premiered at New York Comic Con including Supergirl and the new CBS show based on Lucifer, the comic book character created by Neil Gaiman.

**SPOILER WARNING** The interviews contained within this episode cover some spoilers from Gotham Season 2 episodes 1-4 if you have not seen those episodes you may be subjected to some significant spoilers for those episodes **SPOILERS**

In our Gotham Cast Interviews at New York Comic Con John got to sit down with Cory Michael Smith (Ed Nygma) and Robin Lord Taylor (Oswald Cobblepot) about the new state of the Riddler and the Penguin’s new position as the King of Gotham, we talk to show runner John Stephens about crafting the show and Michael Chiklis about joining the show, we also spoke to Ben McKenzie about Jim Gordon’s new resolve to do anything he can to keep Gothamites safe and new cast member James Frain (Theo Galavan) about his nefarious new character and finally we talked to the new power couple in Gotham, Erin Richards (Barbara Kean) and Jessica Lucas (Tabatha Galavan) about their team up and their playful abuse of the city of Gotham. We were delighted to sit down with the full team again and have a chat with them about their thoughts on Season 2 and all the changes that have happened with the show.

As mentioned on the episode you can watch the full Dark Knight 30th Anniversary panel featuring Frank Miller.

We hope you enjoy our Gotham Cast Interviews and New York Comic Con podcast we had a great time at New York Comic Con 2015. We wish there were more conventions closer to home that were this much fun and had this much coverage of Gotham and access to the cast. We hope to get back to the show again next year and we’d highly recommend anyone to head over to the show next year if you can get a ticket.

Thank you as always for listening. You can send in your thoughts to [email protected]

Derek and John

Gotham TV Podcast

Let us know what you think by contacting us at [email protected].
@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for GothamTV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date Recorded: 14/10/2015
Date published: 15/10/2015
MP3, 56.41 min. 128kbps, 51.9 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended. The intro music for our show is provided by Mississippi MacDonald you can find more of his music at his website MississippiMacdonald.com .

EXCLUSIVE Sean Pertwee Gotham Interview – Gotham TV Podcast Episode 34

In our exclusive Sean Pertwee Gotham interview we got to chat with Sean about life at Wayne Manor as protector and butler to the most eligible young bachelor in Gotham, Bruce Wayne. Some of the other fascinating points we got to discuss in the interview included:

  • A tease of what’s to come in the second half of season one of Gotham including some exciting developments for Sean’s character Alfred in Episode 17.
  • The process of filming episodes with David Mazouz at Wayne Manor
  • Alfred’s experience in the wider city of Gotham and working with the wider cast including Donal Logue, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Drew Powell.
  • His experience as a young actor on the set of cult space horror film “Event Horizon”
  • How Sean uses his bodyguard training from a previous role to inform his “kick-arse” Alfred
  • His excitement to see another Alfred in Batman V Superman : Dawn of Justice
  • Of course we also asked about his favourite type of tea and finally get an answer to the question plaguing everyone’s mind since Episode 2 of Gotham “When exactly is tea-time?”

We also posed some of our listeners questions to him about his approach to playing the character of Alfred, Doctor Who and the influence of his father John Pertwee on his career.

It was an absolute pleasure getting another chance to catch up with our favourite ex-military butler and genuinely one of our favourite British actors Sean Pertwee.

If you’d like to send us your thoughts on this or any other episode you can email us at [email protected]

John and Derek

Gotham TV Podcast

@gothamtvpodcast on Twitter
Facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast” on Facebook.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for Gotham TV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Date recorded: 19/02/2015
Date published: 20/02/2015
MP3, 35:15 mins 128kbps, 32.2 MB

All images and audio clips are copyright of their respective copyright owners. No infringement is intended.

Gotham TV Podcast Special – Gotham Interview with Victoria Cartagena and Andrew Stewart-Jones

We teamed up with Legends of Gotham for a live Gotham Interview with Victoria Cartagena and Andrew Stewart-Jones Gotham’s Major Crimes Unit. You can watch the live interview below or listen to an audio version of the podcast.

We want to thank Victoria and Andrew again for joining us and as always a huge thanks to Bill Meeks and Ann-Marie Desimone for working with us and bringing together a really fun interview.

if you want to contact us you can email us at [email protected]
or email [email protected] or [email protected]

You can follow us on twitter at https://twitter.com/GothamTVPodcast
On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gothamtvpodcast or just search “Gotham TV Podcast”.
You can leave us a voicemail on Skype just search for Gotham TV Podcast.
You can also connect with us on Google + at gothamtvpodcast.

Constantine Showrunners David S. Goyer and Daniel Cerone Season 1 Interview

We attended a conference call recently with the show runners, David S. Goyer and Daniel Cerone, of the NBC & DC TV show Constantine. Four episodes into season 1 of Constantine the show is really finding it’s feet and just beginning to scratch the surface of the shows mythology. David and Daniel discussed in depth about the progression of the show, whether Liv (played by Lucy Griffith) can or will return in the future, working with Bear McCreary on the soundtrack, creating the show from a fans point of view but for a wider audience and tonnes of other information about Season One of Constantine check out the interview below.

Thanks to NBC we’ve seen both episode 4, “Feast of Friends” and episode 5 “Danse Vaudou” of Constantine which are well worth checking out. You can read our review of Episode 4 here  and here’s an interview with the shows writer to whet your appetite. Episode 5 of Constantine shows on NBC in the US this Friday the 21st of November at 10PM and will be released on Saturday on Amazon Prime in the UK.

Daniel Cerone also recommends that you should read some of Hellblazer so you can see how close they are sticking to the show. You can read it on Comixology here

Hellblazer issue 1 cover small

 

Niagara Frontier Publications:

David, let me ask you. Obviously, you have no shortage of significant projects that you’re working on. What made this the right time and the right platform to be involved in telling the story?

David S. Goyer:

The genesis of the project is that I had a meeting with Warner Bros. Television. This is right after “Man of Steel” had come out and they asked if I would be interested in doing a television show based on a DC property. And so we just started having a general conversation about which one made most sense.

The first character I asked was about John Constantine. I’ve always been a huge fan. I was reading Swamp Thing when he was introduced. And, in fact, I have a letter printed in one of the early issues that he was introduced as a fan, I think when I was in high school or something like that. And there were some sort of legal things to sort out initially and then we start talking about other characters. But eventually Constantine became free and I was really excited.

And the reason for why this is the right time, I’ve done, obviously, in “The Dark Knight” film from Superman sort of kind of the (superhero thing). But one of the reasons why I like John Constantine is he didn’t have superpowers, he didn’t have a costume, and he always kind of (thumbed his nose) at those characters. So it was refreshing for me to tell a story about an anti-hero as opposed to a hero and he is someone who was really damaged and I just feel like he’s one of the great characters of  modern literature and, I don’t know, it was a different change of pace

 

CNN.com:

I’m really enjoying the show so far. So what can you tell us as far as how far are we going to go into the Constantine/Mythos early on? Are you going to introduce a lot of familiar stuff from the comics? Obviously, we’ve seen Papa Midnite. And are there going to be more things like that?

Daniel Cerone:

We’re digging as deeply into the Constantine/Mythos as we possibly can. I mean, in fact, it really is inspiring much of our storytelling. I mean, the episode that is airing this Friday, which we’re extremely excited about, “Feast of Friends” is the title. And that’s a story that’s literally ripped from the pages of “Hellblazer.” It is the first issue from the “Hellblazer” comics and it brings (in) Gary Lester, who is one of John’s friends from Newcastle. And it’s a fantastic story that translated so well to screen and I would urge anybody who’s listening to this to try to watch it before Friday (14th of November) and get people talking about it because it is – seriously, it’s our show at its pinnacle and it just set a bar of everything that we hope this show can be and can do.

But in a broader sense, look, over the course of the season, we’re breaking 17 right now, we have a fantastic ride ahead. Before the end of the season, you’re going to meet and get to know every one of John’s friends from Newcastle that were involved in the sort of faithful exorcism of Astra that, led to the eternal torment of John’s soul.

And so you’re going to meet them all. I mean, look, Papa Midnite, I think, we have now in four episodes. Jim Corrigan comes back for a couple more. I’m reading an outline right now for Episode, 16 that includes Terence Thirteen with…

David S. Goyer:   

With Dr. Thirteen from,

Daniel Cerone:   

We have Felix Faust. Yes. We have this incredible source material and we want to honor it and dig as deeply into it as we possibly can and at the same time, look, we’re a weekly network show and we have weekly stories and we’re trying to present the best of both worlds in terms of ongoing mythology with the Hellblazer and DC world but wrapped around weekly stories the viewers can hook into.

David S. Goyer:   

And I would add one other thing, too, which is we read the responses to various episodes. And I think we have three episodes so far and some people – I know that people seemed to really like the last episode that introduced Papa Midnite but some people said “Okay, so now we know what the formula is going to be week after week and we still haven’t heard much more about “The Rising Darkness” or Newcastle ” Well, you’re about to with the fourth episode.

And we think that’s the right time to do it, we’re not a fully serialized show. We’re kind of a hybrid between standalone and serialize. And we’re going to start introducing more back story elements every few episodes or so.

KSiteTV :   

I was actually curious. Are we going to be getting any more episodes that might focus on Chas and his backstory at some point?

Chas_Cab_Driver_Electrocuted_Constantine_s1e1_GeeklyPress

David S. Goyer:

Yes.

Daniel Cerone:

Yes. Chas is an interesting character because, when David and I developed the show and sat down to figure out what characters do we want in a continuing basis. On one hand, Chas was a natural because he’s sort of the most constant companion and long living companion. Maybe the only living companion of John Constantine’s. He’s like the muscle and he’s the cab driver and John didn’t drive a lot. I don’t think he drives at all in the comic book.

And so we want to include Chas and he is definitely the strong, silent type, very laconic kind of character we wanted to roll out slowly.

I know there’s been a couple of issues where they dig in his back story but there’s not a lot there. So we’ve really enjoyed Chas. We’ve really enjoyed opening him up. We will open him up deeper, Episode 10. You know, we came up with this idea, this notion because Chas is…

Craig Byrne:

Don’t reveal it.

Daniel Cerone:

<Laughing> I’m not going to no spoilers, promise. But…

David S. Goyer:

Right.

Daniel Cerone:

…let’s put it this way. In the pilot episode, you see that Chas comes back to life. For some reason, people started translating that to the idea that he’s immortal. We promise you he is not immortal.

David S. Goyer:

He’s not immortal.

Daniel Cerone:

There’s a very good reason that he’s coming back to life and the only spoiler I will give is that those lives are not eternal. And we do have an episode that involves flashbacks where we basically tell that story and we get to know more about Chas, we meet Renee and his daughter, Renee’s wife, ex-wife as they’re separated right now and his daughter and we kind of dig into that story and figure out what makes Chas tick.

David S. Goyer:

And I would add to that that I – I think when the first 13 episodes are done people will be surprised at how much background we filled in on various characters and even in terms of the relationship with John and Manny and Zed’s back story and it’s not just case of the week.

Showbiz Junkies

In the first episode I really liked Lucy’s character Liv. I was really into her. How difficult of a decision was it for you guys to not carry on with her story and is there a possibility that she’ll ever pop up again?

David S. Goyer:

You know, honestly, it really wasn’t that difficult. I mean, it became apparent to us and, look, we’re glad you like her. I think she (Lucy Griffiths) did a fantastic job. But I think that the character was flawed in its conception. And obviously we’re to blame for that. She was the only major character in the pilot that wasn’t from the comic books and sometimes you make these concessions when you’re trying to get a show off and running and one of the benefits of doing a pilot is you’ve got this initial downtime after the pilot before you’re filming again in which you can think about retooling some aspects. And once we saw the character in action and we started breaking Episodes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, we felt like we were just running into a lot of dead ends. And that’s when we decided to go back to the source material and talking about the character Zed and I will say I feel like that the vast majority of the audience seems to have felt that the Zed character was a better match for John and seems to have supported our decision.

Daniel Cerone:

Yes, in terms of whether she’ll be back, look, she’s part of the foundation of the show. I mean the mill house in which John is crashing and full of all kinds of magical antiquities and that’s her father’s place. So listen, as we dig deeper into the season, as we start talking about possible arcs for next season, there’s – I would say there’s an opening there. Whether it’s an opening we’ll step through or not, it would have to be organic, it would have to feel right and not feel like a device. But if there’s an organic reason to bring her back into the story, we’d love to.

Constantine - Season Pilot

MingleMediaTV.com:

How does the fan base help you develop the storylines you want to produce?

David S. Goyer:

Well, I mean, it’s interesting. I’ve adapted quite a few comic book properties now. And it’s a – it’s tricky because I think you have to be really attentive to the fan base.

What we talk about is – but at the same time – I mean, I’m poorly quoting Steve Jobs here. You can’t give the market what they say they want. You want to give them something that they haven’t even thought of. If you give them exactly what they want, they become disappointed by the same token.

The way that we’ve always tried to measure it is that we’ve tried to dip in with the fans and be aware of what are the issues that are most important to them, what are the core concepts that are most important, with the characters that are the most important. But we are also cognisent of the fact that if the show is going to flourish and broaden its audience, we need to be able to respond to an audience greater than just the core comic book fans. And so it needs to work for both audiences.

Daniel Cerone:

I know I speak for David in this, too. I mean, one of the nicest things this is that David and I came at this as fans of the (character).

David S. Goyer:

Yes.

Daniel Cerone:

I mean, that’s really the bottom line, like, we were – we fell in love…

David S. Goyer:

We weren’t new to the character.

Daniel Cerone:

Not at all. We fell in love with all the things about John Constantine that the fans did. And – or at least based on what I’ve read of the fans. But look we needed that smartass, wisecracking, gallows humor, scruffy blonde-haired, trench coat-wearing, cigarette-smoking breath with a fatalistic attitude and this deeply humanist point of view for reasons that he doesn’t even understand. I mean, we like that character. That was someone that just appealed to us. So we’re going to be true to that no matter what.

And then when you start – and we wanted to stay true to the world and the characters. And then you take that foundation and you have to figure out, “Okay, how can we pour that into a show that can last and sustain itself on a weekly basis” and NBC had certain desires for the show. They wanted stories that were told every week. So as David mentioned before, this is a bit of a hybrid. I mean, for us, it was “Okay, how do we figure out how to both, as fans, tell the story we want to tell about the evolution of this character and his relationships as well as some closed-end stories to broaden out the fan base?” So yes. I mean, we came into it as fans.

David S. Goyer:

And I’ll give you – to build on what Daniel said, because we were fans of the character, when we first met with NBC, we said “Look we know that the Keanu movie is out there and he wasn’t British and he didn’t have blonde hair” and I think that that movie had a lot of great attributes but because we had fallen in love with the John Constantine as depicted in the comic books, it was our mission to try to bring to life the character that accurately reflected the character we had fallen in love with as possible. So when NBC says “Well, does he have to be British? Does he have to wear skinny tie in a trench coat? Does he have to be blonde? Does he have to smoke?” we said “Yes.” And they said “Why?” And we said “Because that’s the character we fell in love with.”

constantine

Daniel Cerone:

And I’ll say there every step of the way, they did ask those questions, too, like, they were very open and accepting and loving and they wanted to embrace the fans, too, but at a certain point, like when it came to casting, Matt Ryan does not have blonde hair. And initially, they’re like “Do we really need to lighten his hair” and we’re like “Yes we do.” They got the first draft of the script and they saw sort of all of the kind of British euphemisms and colloquialisms written into his dialog and they’re like “That might be off-putting. Does he really need to be British?” And we…

David S. Goyer:

We said “Yes.”

Daniel Cerone:

…he does. So at every step of the way, we fought for that. And to their credit, they were very open and they understood our passion and I believe the fans’ passion for the character.

David S. Goyer:

But to put a bow on it, how does the fans how does the hopes and desires back burn to it, it’s important because we were fans of the character and have been fans of the character for decades ourselves. So we were really determined to try to bring to life a version of Constantine that was accurate.

TVLine:

I was struck by this, especially in the first episode, but as it had gone on as well, how scary Constantine is as a drama. And I was wondering if there’s anything NBC had asked you to tone down or change in what you showed so far.

David S. Goyer:

Not really.

Daniel Cerone:

Yes. I got the same. And they – it’s funny, Kimberly, because they pushed us not so much anymore now that we kind of understand – and, look I was a show runner the first two seasons of “Dexter.” David has done a ton of feature films where pretty much anything goes.

But we’ve also done network shows over years and we’ve kind of self-censored ourselves in the beginning. And at every step of the way from the network be it in the outline phase of the scripts or the cuts that the network were seeing they’re like “Go further,” like “Push it further” like they – I don’t – I’m not sure what changed the network landscape.

David S. Goyer:

Yes, I don’t know if I could think of any instance in which they said “Tone it down.”

Daniel Cerone:

Yes, there wasn’t one. They have pushed us to go bigger. They have pushed us to go darker. They pushed us to go scarier. There’s constantly – if I had a broader note down to one, it would be “Just make this as big and scary as possible,” like, that’s what they want to see. So it’s been really framed for us. I mean, look, we have to do what we do with them but budgetary limitations and capabilities. But no, they have not censored us at all.

Mnemoth Police man

ohsogray.com:

So for Constantine kind of along the lines of what you’ve been discussing a little bit, he’s not like Arrow, he’s not like The Flash, he’s kind of a different kind of hero/anti-hero. So how does that factor into your writing and the portrayal of this character in order to still make people want to root for him? How do you make your anti-hero the hero?

David S. Goyer:

First of all, I would say, I mean, there are heroes and there are anti-heroes. And they’re both a lot of fun to write. But in some ways, anti-heroes are more fun to write for because they’re not bound by the same moral code that the heroes are.

And in some ways, anti-heroes are more human because most of us have variables. Most of us are imperfect. And he’s doing what he’s doing for fundamentally noble reasons but he doesn’t really have a code of conduct.

I do think that audiences also like anti-heroes. I mean, if you look at House, if you look at Luthor, if you look at Sherlock, I would categorize these characters more properly anti-heroes than heroes. They can be fun and different and they’re not aspirational. People don’t want to be them, people want to be Superman. I don’t think people want to be Constantine because he’s kind of a miserable sod. But he’s also fun. And it’s fun to it’s irreverence and it’s just a different way to go.

Daniel Cerone:

A lot of characters that are out there are doing what they do because it’s their job or because I have a badge or because I have a calling. As David said Constantine is doing the right thing but he’s doing it for totally humanist reasons It’s one of those fascinating aspects of the character to me is if you ask him why he’s out there helping humanity, I’m not even sure he can tell you.

David S. Goyer:

Yes.

Daniel Cerone:

You know, is he doing it because he wants to save lives? Is he doing it because, frankly, chasing demons is a bit of a fix for him and he’s just (jonesing) for the next kill? Is he doing it, as he said early in his career, for the women and to get laid? Is he doing it to because it’s kind of self-empowerment? You know, it’s just never really clear.

And what’s great about him is I don’t even think he’s clear. But yet, he keeps doing it and he keeps fighting this fight. And yes, as David said, one of the funest things is that there’s no code of conduct that he operates by. He’s doing the good things that all the cops and lawyers and whatever kind of other heroes are out there doing. But there’s no checks and balances for him. And that’s where he often gets into trouble.

And that – I think when you ask what makes him relatable, I think that’s it because he’s his own he has a self-sense to himself and he frequently goes over the line and he frequently makes bad calls and the fact that Constantine, anyone who gets close to Constantine dies. I mean, that has proven itself true for years in the comic books. Very early in our series, you’re going to see that, too, where he makes the hard calls and he loses friends over it, sometimes literally.

And so that’s kind of his curse and it makes him, hopefully – hopefully, that’s what makes him – it’s easy to vote for him.

David S. Goyer:

I would also add that I think that these things are cyclical and I think that they come in waves and maybe it’s a common – a broader commentary on where we are in society right now. But the television landscape right now is it’s flourishing with the really flawed characters.

And for whatever reason, audiences are responding and fascinated by these flawed characters. I think if you look at the television landscape now, it used to be that there were a lot of – the black hats were the black hats and white hats were the white hats and it was very clear who is who but there are a lot of shades of grey right now and that seems to be kind of what’s happening with the right guise in terms of the role.

Hellblazer vs New 52 ConstantineFanboy Nation:

I was interested in finding out how much of the Pre-52 influenced the series as well as the Post-52 and how difficult is it to ride that line of horror and suspense without crossing over to get the censors on your case?

David S. Goyer:

I would say as the sort of the resident comic book nerd, I would say that the show is almost exclusively influenced by the Pre-52, the Hellblazer comics. If for no other reason then Hellblazer ran for 300 issues and the new Constantine is – I know it’s less than 20. I’m not quite sure where they’re at now, 15, 16. They’re just not the body of work that exists in terms of what we’re influenced by.

So without question, and I know this is really inside baseball, but the show is primarily influenced by and inspired by the Pre-52…

Daniel Cerone:

Yes. If I can jump in on that part, David is completely right. We have the whole sort of Constantine cannon at our disposal in terms of storytelling. We do look to the newer issues to see if there’s interesting story ideas for us or stories that we can use or adopt.

But, look, the Web described what we’re doing on the show as Constantine is this amazing mythology. And there’s this amazing character and it’s just like this fantastic car that we’ve been given the keys to, to take it for a spin and we’re doing that on network television. And the writers of the new 52 Constantine, they’re doing the same thing as we are. They’re basically rebooting the franchise. We’re rebooting for television. They’re doing it for sort of a new generation of comic book readers.

So we’re kind of charged with the same task in terms of taking what was there, the foundation of what was there and just try to honor it and do the best that we can with it for our medium.

So yes, it’s all as cool. I mean one of the most fascinating things about Constantine to me is that it was the longest-running comic book series. According to my understanding of any imprint of any comic book publisher in its 30-year run, it was never rebooted, it was never renumbered, it was never reissued. It just stayed in continuous publication as a guy who can – who aged on the page in real-time. And I just think that makes him such a unique character.

And what we’re doing on our show is we’re going back to beginning. We’re basically meeting roughly the same time that you met him in Hellblazer in the very first issue. So our timeline when people are like “Wow,” you know, in terms of the cancer story and all the great arcs that he has we just hope and pray that this show has legs because we’ll get to him like we love those arcs, dangerous habits and all the arcs that everybody else is excited about, we’re excited about. And what’s great is that we’re choosing an entry point where the character is young and all those adventures are ahead of him and we hope to dramatize as many of them as we possibly can.

Fanboy Nation:

How difficult is it to ride that line of horror and suspense without crossing over to get the censors on your case?

Daniel Cerone:

If you read the network’s standards that we get, it’s like “Can we please not hear him urinating? It’s okay to urinate on screen but as long as we don’t hear it.” Or there’s a shot where Zed is like painting this young guy and he’s nude – like a nude model and it’s like “He can be nude but can we see him from the sides so we don’t see his butt crack because it’s like – it’s okay he’s nude but we just – we can’t see the crack.” So it’s – those are the kind of – those are the censorships…

David S. Goyer:

It’s not too bad. Yes.

Daniel Cerone:

No, it’s not at all. It’s not at all.

TV Megasite:

I was wondering since there are other shows where someone hunting demons like “Grimm” and “Supernatural,” is there anything that you do to make sure that you’re not inadvertently copying them or do you have someone watching for that kind of thing or just do your own thing and hope for the best?

David S. Goyer:

Well, first of all, let me just say that, taking nothing away from those shows, I think what’s fundamentally different about our show versus like “Oh, well, just show people the Supernatural” is the John Constantine character. He’s an amazing character.

And with all due respect to those shows, he was around a lot longer – a lot earlier than they were. And I know there’s, some people have said “Oh, this is the character on Supernatural” that character was influenced by Constantine, not the other way around. And he’s been around for 25, 30 years.

So I think once people see a few more episodes under their belt, particularly the episode that’s going to air Friday night (A Feast of Friends), It’s a very, very, very different show than those shows. And I also think there’s room for all of that.

Daniel Cerone:

I will say this, though, as a storyteller, you can’t pay attention to what other people are doing on similar shows. I think that’s where you get into trouble, frankly, because if it’s in your head, “Oh, they did this creature” or “They did this scare” or “They did this sort of legend or mythology.”

You know, then you start comparing yourself and, look, we’re just trying to channel the character John Constantine as clearly as we can. I mean, funny, one of the first shows that I came in on as a young writer was “Charmed” and I spent, like, the first four years of my career on “Charmed.” You know, we’re doing this on “Charmed” before they’re doing it on “Supernatural.” “Supernatural,” you know, “X-Files” is doing it before us. “Buffy” was in the middle of it all. You know, all you can do is trust your characters. That’s, hopefully, what people are tuned in to every week and, within that framework, we try and tailor it, we might do a vampire story or a zombie story. In fact there’s elements of a zombie coming up for us but filtered through the world of Papa Midnite. So it’s voodoo zombie. It’s more old school, raising and bringing, recently-deceased humans back. It’s not the sort of zombie – apocalyptic zombie virus that we’re all accustomed to.

So, we’re always going to spin it through our filter but you can’t worry about what other people are doing and really tell good stories.

Constantine

Three If By Space.net:

I love Constantine. I’ve been really enjoying it. But I was not familiar with it. I had never heard of it before the show. So obviously…

Daniel Cerone:

Great.

Three If By Space.net:

…I’m not, one of your comic book fans…

Daniel Cerone:

That’s good, though.

Three If By Space.net:

You know, looking at The Devils You Know section of the Web site and that kind of thing, what are you doing to really help the non-comic book fans, how could they best get into the show because you’ve got to have – and you talked about this a little bit before, you’ve got to have that contingent in order to make this show a success on the network.

David S. Goyer:

Sure. Sure.

Daniel Cerone:

Yes. Look, I actually think in the whole wide spectrum. I actually feel like we’re tipping closer to creating the show for the non-fan than the fan, truthfully, because there isn’t a single episode or story we tell where we’re just not seeing down to tell a cohesive story and every week introduce a danger and characters that you can relate to and care for and, at the same time, we’re trying to spin out this, the central character of John Constantine as someone who is full of aches and pain and guilt and torment and is going about doing something because he feels personally compelled to do it.

I feel like everything we’ve served and talked about this phone call is, it is a little inside baseball. I mean, for anybody who knows of this, you don’t have to know of the character Papa Midnite. You don’t have to know about The Newcastle Crew. You don’t have to know about Felix Faust or the Doctor Fate Helmet or any of these elements that we’re using to enjoy the show. I mean, every week, we’re just trying to tell the most sort of honest and accessible and humanistic stories that we possibly can.

But there’s an added layer on top of that for the comic book fan where if you know the world, if you know John Constantine, if you know Hellblazer, if you know some of the iconic images and people on the DC world, it’s value added. It’ll provide that much more entertainment and fun hopefully.

David S. Goyer:

And I would say one more thing let’s talk about, for instance, the introduction of Jim Corrigan, who’s a character the comic book fans will know. You know, the working rule of thumb that we’ve gone by is, as fans, it’s exciting for us to introduce a character like that and we know it will be to the comic book fans but he becomes another DC character called The Spectre a supernatural figure ultimately. But the point is it’s fun for us as fans to say “Hey, let’s get this character in there.” But we don’t want to do it just as a stunt casting and we won’t do it unless it’s organic to the story and we can introduce the character in a way that people who never read the comics will understand who he is and won’t be lost without his backstory.

So we have to make sure that every time we introduce a character or a plot element like that, we can do it in a way that stays true to the source material but doesn’t alienate the broader audience and they feel like they’re missing out or they don’t understand the story because they haven’t read the comic books.

Daniel Cerone:

And, Jim Corrigan is a great case study. I mean, if I can sort of present for an instant how the Jim Corrigan character came into being on our show, for Episode 5 it’s called “Danse Vaudou.” It airs on Friday the 21st of November. We did an episode where we’re like “alright, let’s start it with urban legends”. let’s serve a thematic urban legend episode.

And we basically decided to do three of them. One was like the vanishing hitchhiker. One was the slit-mouthed woman. That’s like the woman who carries a surgical mask in Japan. And the third was it’s the golden paw. What is it? The monkey’s paw basically…

David S. Goyer:

Yes, yes.

Daniel Cerone:

Somebody’s loved one comes back.

So we decided to have three ghost stories and all based loosely on those urban legends. And they all end up being ghosts that are brought to life by Papa Midnite unknowingly because of The Rising Darkness. So within the context of the episode, we realized we needed a cop character. There is a cop that, was coming across various dead bodies that were connected to his ghost. And so we’re like, “All right, we’re going to expose a police officer to the supernatural world here.” And so right away we’re like “All right, is there anyone in the DC world that we can plug into that could, sort of” – again, it’s a value added. Kill two birds with one stone and we thought “Well, Jim Corrigan is this cop, very much like Constantine, kind of takes the law in his own hands, really hard charged, will do anything, for the arrest and he ultimately is killed and comes back as The Spectre character.” We’re like “What if we meet him now as a cop. He can come into this case. He can see those” – you know, we’re sort of seeing like a bit of the origin story of Jim Corrigan where he sees the supernatural world open to him for the first time.

And so, A, we’re introducing Jim Corrigan; B, we’re giving John Constantine a friend of the force for future episodes, and that’s just sort of how that happened. But it came from very organic story, different place. It wasn’t about servicing DC fans. It was literally about just trying to tell a good story.

Derek O’Neill of Gotham TV Podcast:

Another one of the characters for the show really for me so far is the music. Can you have talk about working with Bear McCreary about the inclusion of the Sex Pistols and the Punk music so far?

David S. Goyer:

I’ll start. I mean, Bear – this is the third time I’ve collaborated with Bear. Most recently, he does the score for my other show, “Da Vinci’s Demons.” He actually won the Emmy last year for it.

And so as soon as Constantine, the pilot was going, I think I just said to everyone Bear is doing it. There’s not going to be a conversation. He’s doing it.

Bear is also a huge, huge Hellblazer fan. And one of the things that’s great about Bear is he’s incredibly versatile. I mean, his score for “Walking Dead” is nothing like his score for this. There’s nothing like a score for “Battlestar (Galactica)” nothing like “Da Vinci’s Demons.”

We also used, which is unusual, a full orchestra on the show. A lot of people just go with synths and might have one or two instruments. We have a full orchestra.

And if you want to handle the Punk thing, Daniel, it’s sort of part and parcel. That speaks to a character when John Constantine was introduced in the 80’s he was part of that Punk scene. He used to be part of a Punk band, which we referenced in the last episode and we thought even though it’s bit anachronistic, it would be fun to still utilize a lot of that Punk music whenever we’re using, source pieces.

Daniel Cerone:

But, look, here’s the deal. I mean, John Constantine was Punk. I mean, it’s as simple as that. I mean, he’s – you know, it just so that ecstatic just so embody his, that of rebellious ecstatic, free-thinking completely embodies who John Constantine is and, look, I have a 15-year-old daughter who just – that’s all she listens to is Punk. So, I mean, I don’t even think it’s throwback really. I think it’s just, it’s such a part of sort of culturally now, the music scene and there’s so many shoots off it. So to bring that into the show as a flavor just felt like a really honest thing to do.

Like David said when John left home in the comics in his timeline, I think he went straight into the London’s underground Punk scene and yes, that’s all long gone but that doesn’t mean that, as a character, that can’t be a music and that can’t be his musical style because it just feels honest to who he is. And for us, it’s a lot of fun to try to find cuts that we can use for the show.

Episode 5 of Constantine shows on NBC in the US this Friday the 21st of November at 10PM and will be released on Saturday on Amazon Prime in the UK.

GTVP E21 – NYCC14 Gotham and Constantine Cast Interviews

GTVP E21 – “NYCC14 Gotham and Constantine Interviews”

Show Notes

We’ve been asked by a few of our listeners to share the audio of the Gotham and Constantine Cast interviews we did at New York Comic Con. So in this very special episode we present all nine interviews we did with the co-creator Danny Cannon and cast of Gotham Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, Sean Pertwee, Erin Richards and Robin Lord-Taylor. We also share our interviews with the show-runner of NBC’s Constantine David S. Goyer and Matt Ryan who plays John Constantine along with Angélica Celaya newly introduced to Constantine as the character Zed.

While the audio for the interviews isn’t of our usual sound quality we hope you enjoy hearing their thoughts about Gotham and Constantine.

You can read the full transcripts of the interviews on our website (https://gothamtvpodcast.com/category/interviews/)

John & Derek
Gotham TV Podcast

Date recorded: 11/10/2014, 12/10/2014 and 30/10/2014
Date published: 01/11/2014
MP3, 1h 05 mins, 128kbps, 59.4 MB

NYCC Interviews Constantine – with Angélica Celaya – Gotham TV Podcast Exclusive

Exclusive:  Gotham TV Podcast were lucky enough to sit down at New York Comic Con 2014 to discuss Constantine with Matt Ryan (John Constantine), Angélica Celaya (Zed) and show creator and executive producer David S. Goyer. The roundtable interview included questions from other journalists present and our own questions to the cast and creator.

In our final Constantine interview we caught up with Angélica Celaya who plays Zed about what drew her to the role of Zed, her connection with John Constantine, staying in with the bad boys of Hellblazer to prepare for her role and her favourite moment so far. You can listen to our full set of interviews from New York Comic Con on the podcast below with or you can read on for the transcript of Ms. Celaya’s interview.

Question – So what really drew you the most to Zed?

Her sarcasm, I love her sarcasm. I love that she doesn’t take any crap from anybody especially John. I like that she is, you know, a little sneaky and she’s rough and she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. I like that she’s an empowering woman. I love it.

Question – Hellblazer was a very long running series and Constantine is in the New 52, he’s got his own series. When you got the part of Zed how much did you go and read to catch up on who she [Zed] is?

Well they gave me volumes of Hellblazer and it was like here you go this is Zed; and I stayed in, instead of having a Saturday night out with my friends and stuff, I stayed in with the bad boys of Hellblazer and it knocked my socks off. That’s why I get the sarcasm  and understanding her it’s like…OH! I see you!

Question – What can you tell us about how Zed enters the picture in the TV series. Are you able to tell us anything about that?

Well the new trailer came out yesterday (October 9th), a little teaser, and we see her drawing and she is lost in her [own] head. Zed is lost and she just crashes in to the world of John Constantine. Its just like, whatever is going on in your head is reality and it is that realisation of you’re not crazy and that’s Zed in this first moment that we meet her.

GTVP Question – We caught the pilot screening on Thursday and its quite a creepy ending, you’re drawing away and there is all those iconic pictures of John Constantine . There seems to be a psychic connection between the two of you. How much of a connection is there and how does that play out over the series?

It evolves, it becomes even more, it gets crazy, it gets messed up, it gets to the point where she opens…oh my God… I wish I could tell you it’s more than what we see [from the pilot] that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It becomes a whole new level for Zed each episode gets bigger.

Question – So obviously you’ve just started, but how long have you been filming and, without spoiling too much, do you have a favourite moment of your time as Zed?

So we’ve been filming since July. So we’ve been going for a while and we’re so eager for October 24th to come. My favourite moment…favourite moment,  I mean it’s a moment between John and me on the couch, in the mill house, and it’s our first moment where we are real with each other. Where he’s not sarcastic and I’m not being, you know, a bitch [laugh]. I’m not rough, I have no walls around me and I am what I am; that’s my favourite moment because it’s the real Zed not this facade she puts out there so she can hide.

Question – Who do you think is your biggest ally at the moment?

John Constantine, he’s the teacher, he is  to me, you know, as Zed he’s my teacher. He’s the one that explains to me and leads me in to this world; and Zed is this very eager learner you know, yes, yes I want to learn more and more and get in there. So it’s John.

Constantine

NYCC Interviews Constantine – with David S. Goyer – Gotham TV Podcast Exclusive

Exclusive:  While at New York Comic Con this year Gotham TV Podcast were lucky enough to see the pilot of the other big DC show Constantine. The show premiered in the US on NBC on Friday the 24th of October and we sat down at a roundtable at New York Comic Con 2014 to discuss Constantine with Matt Ryan (John Constantine), Angélica Celaya (Zed) and show creator and executive producer David S. Goyer. The roundtable includes questions from other journalists present and our own questions to the cast and creator.

In our Constantine interview we caught up with show runner David S. Goyer who chatted with us about the refreshing change of pace writing Constantine, the fun of the punk influence on the character and the music for the show, his admiration for the Hellblazer comic series and he revealed that someone will turn up on John Constantine’s doorstep to pick up the Helmet of Nabu. You can listen to the full interview on our podcast below or read on for the full interview with Mr. Goyer

Question – You’ve done a lot of TV and you’ve done a lot of movies contrast the experience?

Someone once said that movies is more like oil painting and TV is like water colour. The turnover time in TV is a lot faster, movies you have a lot more time to perfect everything. With TV it’s sometimes that by the time you’re in to your third draft, its time to go. So on one hand that time constraint is harder but also sometimes its better not to over think things and go with your first instinct. But with television you also get to revisit characters and have characters grow and change over the course of the season and this has already happened in our first season. We’ve had a couple of actors come in and really blow us away and we’ve thought “Oh they’re really amazing” and so we’ve brought them back a couple of episodes later.

Question – So in looking at the original version of the pilot and then the pilot that we’ll see later. What do you think is the biggest change in terms of where the show is going now versus where the show might have been going when we saw  the trailer back in May?

Well when we first started adapting Constantine I think there was some concern with the audience that we needed a character that was from the audience point of view that was not apart of this world. So we created a character that was not part of the comic books, named Liv, that embodied that point of view. We made the pilot and Lucy who played her did a great job, but as we started breaking the subsequent stories we thought it would be much more interesting and challenging if someone were more of that world and having seen the pilot we were able to convince NBC that maybe we should go in that direction. So we selected a character called Zed, who’s also from the comic books, and she has a really interesting back story, she’s not a blank slate, she’s got a lot of mysteries. She was able to go toe-to-toe more with  John and it made for some more interesting dynamics. I think with John and Liv, you know, John was sort of the cut up and Liv was the straight man or straight woman and with Zed they flip flopped those roles and it’s just more interesting.

Question  – You’ve worked on a lot of different comic book adaptations. When you approached doing Constantine compared to some of the more superhero properties was there a difference in how you approach the characters themselves or did they feel the same way?

Sure, I mean John doesn’t have any superpowers, he’s not a billionaire, he’s not an alien from another planet, he’s just a regular bloke. He doesn’t have a costume, he doesn’t have a secret identity. If someone arrests him and throws him in jail he is in trouble and that does happen in the first season. He can’t just swoop in and have someone expunge his record. It’s kind of interesting, after having written Batman and Superman, to write someone who doesn’t have access to those powers or that infinite amount of wealth to help him out. He’s also not a hero hero, I mean he’s a jerk, and it’s really refreshing to write a character that’s a jerk.

GTVP Question – We saw the helmet of Doctor Fate in the pilot screening. How far is Constantine going to delve in to the mythology that has been established within the comics?

Should we continue on long enough the plan is that we have access to the broader occult DC universe. So even in the first twelve episodes you’ll see two or three characters that show up that aren’t part of Hellblazer proper that are part of the larger DC universe; and the plan is that eventually someone will show up at John’s door to collect that helmet.

Question – You’re dealing with a supernatural version of the universe in a number of projects, so it’s a very different approach than taking a more straight forward superhero based in science fiction or the real world. How is it to envision things in that way?

It’s a really refreshing change of pace, its nice to be doing something that’s scary, it’s nice to be doing something that’s a bit more funny. I’m a huge fan of John’s roots he was created in the 80’s with a real punk sensibility and we’ve actually licensed a lot of punk songs in the show. I’m proud to say, I don’t know if this is a first or not, but we licensed a Sex Pistols song for episode three. So that is pretty fun having John Constantine listening to the Sex Pistols. I think he listens to Buzzcocks. [Interviewer] Gang of Four? Not yet but hopefully we’ll get there, maybe we’ll get some Cramps and Dead Kennedys.

Question – When there is such a rich pool of characters that you can pull from, how do you decide which ones you are going to bring in to the story and at when is a good time?

It’s story based. So we don’t say “OK we’re going to do a story about Doctor Occult” and I’m not saying we have done a story about Doctor Occult per se. We talk about where it would be good for the story to go or come up with an idea for a story; and then we think if there is an appropriate character in the DC universe that fits with that story and makes sort of sense in an organic way to bring that character in. That’s how Jim Corrigan entered in to the show as a a reoccurring character because we had a need for a homicide detective; and so we thought “You know let’s bring in Corrigan”.

Question – Hellblazer is such a long running series, there are so many storylines that you can choose, there are so many different runs. Do you have a favourite, a particular story line form Hellblazer?

You know I have a lot of favourite story lines and I will say even though the first season loosely tracks American Gothic we’ve already adapted within the first twelve episodes a couple of other singular issues. We’re trying to do a version of one of the Delano issues early on right now. We did a really cool version of the Hunger Demon issue that’s actually one of our better episodes, I think, so far.

Question – How soon do we learn more about Chaz?

Episodes nine or ten, we’ll turn over some cards relating to him.

Question – Do you have a hell of a comic book art collection? Who is you favourite artist?

I’ve got some choice pages. I mean old school [Jack] Kirby and contemporary I really like Steve Rude a lot.