D.B. Woodside

Singing, Slaying Vampires, and Jack Bauer Team-Ups with D.B. Woodside Exclusive: We talk to the busy actor about his new series Viva Laughlin, and his characters on 24 and Buffy.

August 15, 2007 - D.B. Woodside has had a busy few years, beginning with his role as Principal Robin Wood on the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a character who turned out to not only have a Vampire Slayer for a mother, but to end up in a relationship with the popular Slayer Faith (Eliza Dushku). More recently Woodside has appeared on FOX’s hit 24, playing Wayne Palmer, brother to President David Palmer.

Woodside got a promotion both in real life and on the series this past TV season, as the actor became a series regular on 24, while his character became the latest president on the show. However, by the end of the season, President Wayne Palmer was taken out of the action thanks to medical reasons, taking Woodside off the show - at least for now.

However, Woodside will be back on network television again this fall, with his new role in Viva Laughlin. Woodside plays Marcus, the lieutenant to the rich and nefarious casino owner Nicky Fontana, played by none other than Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, in a recurring role. Fontana is often at odds with lead character Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen), and Marcus is the man sent to get the job done for Nicky, whatever that job may be. Of course Viva Laughlin’s big twist is that it’s also a musical, with each episode featuring the characters performing several hit songs, from many different eras.

Last month I spoke to Woodside, to learn more about his role on Viva Laughlin, his thoughts on where 24 took Wayne Palmer this past season, and the lasting impression Buffy the Vampire Slayer has left on both the actor and fans.

IGN TV: What did you think when you first heard about this role on Viva Laughlin and that the show was a musical?

D.B. Woodside: You know, it’s funny, I didn’t really see the music aspect of it until a little bit later. I just saw the script and the characters and what they were hopefully intending if the show got picked up.

IGN TV: Had you done much singing before?

Woodside: What’s really funny is I was actually a musician before I was an actor. I play the piano and write. I was in a few bands in college and write my own songs. It’s something people actually don’t know about me and that I keep hidden. It’s just very personal for me. I love music and I think people will really catch on to this show. I think it’s gonna be a show that people will hopefully really dig. It’s all the music that we love, so how can you not?

IGN TV: Have you started filming [beyond the pilot] yet?

Woodside: Yeah. We had Hugh for a few days, so we had to shoot some things in Palm Springs. We start shooting more in about ten days. [Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted on July 19th]

IGN TV: So have you had any big musical numbers yet, or will you be doing one in the near future?

Woodside: Not that I know of. My character hasn’t had one of those singing moments yet.

IGN TV: Have you given the producers any song requests?

Woodside: No, but I’m gonna start to! I hope, because they cover so many genres of music… I think hip hop gets a very bad rap, and being someone that grew up with it and loves it, I hope that my character is kind of able to show some of the good things about hip hop, if that’s the way that they’re willing to veer and experiment, to show America a little different side of hip hop. So I would love to do stuff like that, but I’ll do whatever they ask me to do, because I trust these guys and I have a lot of faith in the show, and I think it’s all gonna be good.

IGN TV: You play Hugh’s right hand man. How is it working with him?

Woodside: It’s fantastic. I feel bad saying this, because I’ve said it so many times, but Hugh is amazing. He’s generous. He’s an amazing family guy. He loves his wife. He’s great with his kids. He’s absolutely boring! I know that’s horrible for people to hear, but he’s a fantastic human being, so there’s no drama there. He’s just the nicest individual I have ever met out here. He’s incredible.

IGN TV: Watching the pilot, and knowing Hugh can’t be on the show all the time, I would guess your character will continue to represent his interests?

Woodside: Yes. I’ll be kind of stepping into his shoes, making sure that Nicky Fontana’s voice is heard through Marcus.

IGN TV: Is it fun to play a bit of a threatening role?

Woodside: I love it, I love it. It’s fun, it’s exciting. I think it’s probably what excites me the most, playing roles like this; characters that can be charming, and at the same time intimidating and dangerous. You never know what’s gonna happen. They’re extremely unpredictable. And the way I see Marcus is he is unpredictable - At the same time he’s smiling at you, five seconds later, you could be dead. There’s something amazing about it.

IGN TV: It would probably be a bit difficult at the moment schedule-wise, but do you think you might pop up on 24 again at some point?

Woodside: This is what I’m telling people; this is what I’m allowed to say. Anybody who watches 24 knows that the characters of 24 constantly kind of go away, maybe for a year, come back, go away, come back - unless they’re dead. So what I can say is that Wayne Palmer does not die. That’s what I can say, is he’s not dead, so we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.

IGN TV: What did you think when you found out you were getting the big promotion to president last season?

Woodside: You know what, in the beginning I thought that was great. I found out like last April or May. I think that I wish that the writers and the creator had kind of stuck with the character that we had created in the previous two seasons. I thought a little bit like they were almost giving me a new character at the beginning of this year, simply because he was president. I think that they were probably somewhat nervous, and to be candid, it didn’t work. And I think that as writers they know that — as an actor, I sure as hell knew that — and that both of us kind of dug an impossible hole that the writers and myself spent a good part of the year trying to climb out of. I think unfortunately, for most of the season, it was… I don’t think it was bad, I just think it was disappointing. But I do think that the last three episodes that Wayne Palmer was in, before he went down for the final time, they went back to the Wayne Palmer that people know, the Wayne Palmer that people love; the fighter. The guy who’s scrappy. The guy who can be intimidating and is somewhat volatile. I just wish they had started off the season with that guy. I think it would have been a lot more interesting to see what he would have done as president, versus almost like it was a brand new character, and the writing kind of had him being somewhat nervous and unsure of himself. Any true fan of 24 that watched Season 3 or Season 5 knows that Wayne Palmer is not that way. So I think that’s what was a little kind of troublesome for a lot of people this year, on the president side, but we did the best we could.

IGN TV: I loved in Season 5 when you were out on missions with Jack.

Woodside: That was fantastic, that was fantastic! That was incredible.

IGN TV: The funny thing was you kind of disappeared near the end of Season 5, and I know people were trying to figure it out and making jokes like "Is he sleeping at Buchanan’s house or what?"

Woodside: That’s funny, because that was actually a simple thing where they wanted to bring me back, and I was already actually contracted to do something else. They wanted to bring me back for the final episode of Season 5.