Jim O’Heir says James Spader stood up for him on Boston Legal set: ‘Dude is so intense’

6 comments

1. > “We did the first take, which was okay. Not great… but okay,” O’Heir wrote. “I knew I could do better. After the second take, the director said, ‘Great. What do you guys think?’ I took that as his saying that it was good enough and that we could wrap this thing up. I knew I wasn’t fully content with my performance, but I also knew that everybody wanted out.”

   > O’Heir was painfully aware of his position in the pecking order and remembered, “This was Spader’s show, and nobody moved on until he was happy.” The director, Jeannot Szwarc, asked O’Heir if he was happy again, and he noticed members of the crew already breaking down the shot.

   > “Spader looked at me, then leaned in tight. ‘What do you think, Jim? Were you happy with the take?’ ‘It was okay,’ I said. I couldn’t lie to James Spader. Dude is so intense, in the best way,” O’Heir wrote. Finally Spader asked, “’Want to do it again?’”

   > O’Heir continued: “’I would, but we’re kinda under the gun here, no?’ The director heard me say this; his eyes widened. ‘Yes, yes, yes we are,’ they told me… Spader must’ve had eyes behind his head, because he turned to the director and, without hesitation, said: ‘Respectfully, we’re going to do this again. And then again. And then maybe another time after that.’ ‘Dayum,’ O’Heir thought. “The director snapped awake. The crew got into place. Action was called.”

   > And just like that, O’Heir got his extra take.

2. That’s my boy ultron

3. Were you happy with that take, Larry?

4. I had strings
   But now I’m free
   There are no strings on me…

5. Guy singlehandedly carried the turd of a show The Blacklist on his shoulders while directors and writers tried to kill it season after season with bad writing.

6. Spader is one hell of an actor and a total pro. He makes every project he’s involved with more watchable. Hell, he helped carry The Office when Steve Carell left

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