TV Goodness Q&A: Graceland’s Vanessa Ferlito [INTERVIEW] 

It’s time to get excited. Season two of USA Network’s Graceland starts tonight. It’s one of the summer premieres we’ve been anticipating for a long, long time. In preparation for all the show’s hotness, madness and awesomeness, we have an interview with Vanessa Ferlito, who plays badass FBI Agent Charlie DeMarco. At the beginning of this season, the character is in a bit of a vulnerable place. She thinks she wrongly accused her friend/colleague with benefits — Paul Briggs — of being Odin. But we know better, right?

TV Goodness recently took part in a press call with Ferlito. The passionate actress filled us in on the new season from Charlie’s perspective. Plus we love the way she talks about her co-star, Daniel Sunjata.

Oh and if you need a little bit more of a preview check out Cortney’s article here. In addition, we have photos and video right after the interview below.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON TWO

On working with Daniel Sunjata [Paul Briggs]

Vanessa Ferlito: I get to work with him the most; I’m the luckiest girl on the planet. Obvious reasons, he’s one of the most beautiful men on the planet. But, honestly, that’s such a small part of who he really is. He is one of the smartest, most considerate, giving, selfless human beings I’ve ever met in my life. I adore him. I’d like to say that I can call him a close friend. I love him, I do. He’s a tremendous actor, he’s giving in every way, in real life and on TV. Most of my scenes are with him this season. Charlie and Briggs are back together, stronger than ever, and there’s a lot of twists and turns. [Sunjata]’s like one of my favorite people in the world. I love him.

Her thoughts on why people will love season two

Vanessa: It’s way darker than the first season and if you want dark and you like dark that’s what you’re going to get. A lot of stuff between Charlie and Briggs — really crazy — I think people are going to fall off the chair when they see what happens. That’s what happened when I read the script. I almost died. And just everything — it’s violent, there’s sex, there’s love, there are fights. The house is kind of…there’s like a divide in the house…It’s really crazy and really dark, really dark. So if you thought last season was heroine…you know, me shooting heroine and all that crazy stuff was dark, then you have to be prepared for this season, yes.

On Mike’s new leadership role in the house

Vanessa: I don’t think she likes taking orders from anybody other than Paul Briggs and herself. So Mike was the rookie last season. All of a sudden he comes back and he’s trying to run the house and tell everybody what they have to do and blah, blah…It’s a little bit of a — I don’t want to say problem — but it’s interesting for her. She’s not used to that. You know, last year she was like his – you know, he is like, she is the mom of Graceland. She like took my kind of under- but she really likes Mike and he was like a rookie and, you know, she would help him out with things and, you know, he comes and he’s like you’ll all be working for me. So it doesn’t go over too well with Charlie. You know, she still tries to push her weight around with Mike. You know, he’ll give her an order and she still does what she wants to do. So it doesn’t go over too well with her.

The status update on Charlie and Briggs: they’re together. But for how long?

Vanessa: It’s an ongoing thing. They can’t be with each other; they can’t be without each other. When they are with each other it’s like so intense. So they’re giving it another shot and they’re both trying to be kind of low key but, in my opinion, it’s not really in their character. So it eventually all just breaks loose. Things start to happen. Stuff from the first season comes out and it blows up. I don’t think anybody should be too comfortable with the lovey-dovey stuff because what happens is heart-wrenching. Still, when I read the script, I’m like, ‘Oh god,’ like it’s really, really intense.

On her favorite scene of the season so far

Vanessa: I can’t give away too much because it’s the one right before the finale. But there’s a scene between Daniel and I. It’s probably one of the best scenes that I’ve ever done in my – I mean I haven’t seen it but it sounds like – it felt like magic. Without giving away too much, Daniel and I are together a lot this season and, at this point, by the end it’s just a mess and there is this scene between us that involves an animal and something bad happens. And it was just such an emotional scene, so emotional that I couldn’t – I got so emotional and so upset that it was hard for me to come down from it. But Daniel stopped then came over and was like kind of taking care of me because I just got so worked up and felt sad. I think that is one of the best scenes that I’ve ever done in my life.

On how fun it is to be a part of Graceland

Vanessa: Honestly, I have the best time. I have to be honest. This is like one of my favorites. I don’t know if it’s just that when you’re in the business quite a while you get a little more comfortable. I mean, I’ve worked with Tarantino; I’ve worked with Oliver Stone; and I’ve worked on great things and I loved all of them. I have to say this is one of my favorite jobs. I’m having the best time of my life. Really…I love my cast members. That’s so rare, okay, everybody just gets along all the time. The writing is fantastic. I love the creator [Jeff Eastin] of my show. I am having the best time. We joke around a lot, you know? It’s a really great set.

Graceland season two premieres tonight at 10/9c on USA Network.

VIDEO

SEASON TWO CAST PHOTOS
Photo Credit for Following Images: James Minchin III/USA Network

 Interview edited for space and content.