Dollhouse

Exclusive Interview; ’DOLLHOUSE’S’ FRAN KRANZ IMPLANTS A NEW PERSONALITY FOR SEASON TWO

The actor talks about his second year as Topher Brink on the Joss Whedon series

It seems very unlikely that DOLLHOUSE,the Fox Friday-night series created by Joss Whedon, or Dollhouse the institution that implants entire personalities into people, could function without Fran Kranz’s character, Topher Brink. Topher programs personalities into the Actives, or “Dolls.” In Season One, he at first seemed entirely unaware of the implications of his work, but we know from the flash-forward season-ender “Epitaph One” that the guilt will eventually make Topher crazy. Kranz talks about Season Two and his character with us.

iF MAGAZINE: Were you and the rest of the DOLLHOUSE cast surprised by the Season Two renewal?

FRAN KRANZ: We did it [laughs]. No, it was really surprising. It was pretty thrilling, because we were dead, we were pretty much counted out. No one thought we were coming back, no one wanted us back – no, people wanted us back. But it really was one of those things where as an actor, you have to move on. And then all of a sudden, it was like, ‘Man, but I know this show is good. I know this show gets really good. It just needs that chance.’ And then word started getting out – ‘Wait for the sixth episode’ or ‘Wait for this episode.’ I was telling friends and whatever and the buzz started building online, and then next thing you know, there was this whole campaign to save DOLLHOUSE, which was awesome. Joss [Whedon] has the best fans in the world. It’s so cool to be a part of his world now, and I’m so grateful for it, because they saved the show.

iF: Did you get to do the rock star thing at Comic-Con this year?

FRAN KRANZ: Yup. It was sweet, because last year, I was in Comic-Con – because I’m a big nerd, too, I just like the videogames and stuff – I would go down anyway [as an attendee]. But last year, it was weird. This woman was getting Tahmoh [Penikett]’s autograph, and she has one of those cast photos, and I’m in the photo, and I’m standing right next to Tahmoh, and she looks at me and she goes, ‘Next year,’ but doesn’t ask for my autograph. That’s so weird – it’s like, ‘I’m right here …’ [laughs] Not that I was offended, but it was just kind of a strange thing. Sure enough, this year, everyone wanted my autograph. I sat around for like an hour, signing autographs. It was really fun. People really love the show.

iF: Maybe the woman last year was a fan of Tahmoh Penikett from BATTLESTAR GALACTICA …

KRANZ: That could be it. We’ve got so many BATTLESTAR people on the show this season, Jamie Bamber and Michael Hogan. [Talking about BATTLESTAR],I always blow it. Joss hates me. I actually ruined some of BATTLESTAR for Joss. I have the biggest mouth. He hadn’t finished [watching] it yet, and I was talking about the last episode. I was up in Vancouver [filming CABIN IN THE WOODS]and I got to meet a lot of [the BATTLESTAR cast], and I’m the biggest BATTLESTAR geek.

iF: Was your level of surprise as great, greater or lesser than Topher’s to discover in ‘Epitaph One’ that Topher is instrumental in ending civilization as we know it?

KRANZ: How great is that? What a fun thing to play, the guy responsible for ending the world. I was surprised, but I probably shouldn’t have been, because he’s creating this technology. If he is the guy, the brains behind it, it’s a very dangerous thing. You get the sense that Topher wasn’t judging himself before, but he’s starting to. He clearly is starting to feel his actions have consequences. So I think it makes sense, but no, I did not see it coming. It’s not this kind of overnight thing. It takes awhile for him to break down. So the journey getting there will be really interesting, it will be really fun to explore how I can make that kind of subtle, slow and real transition. At the end of Season One, Dr. Saunders [played by Amy Acker] finds out she’s a doll and she’s like, ‘Hey, what’s up with me hating you, if you made me?’ So the beginning of Season Two, we’ve got to deal with that. Because we work together, I have to answer that question. And it’s honestly one of the best scenes I think I’ve ever been a part of. It’s such good dialogue. Joss wrote the most amazing scene. He even emailed me and he was like, ‘You will not be sorry – consecutive twenties will be fine,’ as in, I owe him money for how good this scene was. Amy Acker [is one of] my two favorite women in the world, and I got to do this great scene with Amy. It was just really powerful, funny – the whole spectrum. And I think that sets Topher on the downward spiral. I think he felt Dr. Saunders in a way was his most beautiful creation, and his most beautiful creation hates him, and I think that’s the first time he has to re-evaluate himself and really look at himself. He gave her free will, he gave her the opportunity to make her own decisions, so that they wouldn’t always agree with each other, because they had to counter ideas off each other. I think there’s always a bit of self-loathing involved in Topher, but that really comes out finally there. I think that he has some real issues and I think that’s when he starts having a look at whether what he does has consequences, bad ones sometimes. I think that’s a big influence on him going mad, so to speak.

iF: There are also some scenes where Topher gets kind of friendly and even cuddly with Dollhouse matron Adelle DeWitt, played by Olivia Williams …

KRANZ: Oh, yeah, it gets very maternal. We have like a little mother-son relationship. I like it – I think it’s really interesting. In Episode Thirteen [of first season, ‘Epitaph One’], you get the sense that we’re the bad guys, sitting around in the Dollhouse. Everyone else, the Dolls, they’re all woken up and going off to that safe haven, and it’s questionable what Eliza [Dushku as Echo] is going to do with us. At the very end, she [Adelle] says [to Echo], ‘Are you going to kill me?’ And that question is not answered. And I don’t even really know if we actually left the Dollhouse. But we have to stick together, Olivia and I, because we were in it together and it develops – I think as I sort of lose control, she has this instinctual maternal quality to her and she is there to protect me.

iF: Would you be in favor of an episode where Topher put himself in the chair and took on another personality?

KRANZ: Oh, absolutely. Or I’d love to see Topher’s personality imprinted on a Doll. I think Enver [Gjokaj, who plays Victor the Active] could do a great impression of me. You know, the possibilities are endless. That’s why it’s just the coolest TV show. Because you can really do so much. There’s so much room for, ‘Let’s just do something really funky or something really twisted.’ [‘Belle Chose,’ the episode] Tim Minear wrote, is so twisted, it is so creepy and crazy. So we’re going to do really fun things, but I am all for Topher getting in the chair and getting his brain all scrambled. But he’s got to stay Topher. Maybe [he could be an Active] only for a little bit – maybe I can be a Laker for awhile or something. [laughs] It’d be fun to do Tahmoh. He’s got the whole intense FBI glower down. Or Harry Lennix. Harry is like the greatest actor in the world, because [when] he gets direction, he intellectualizes it and then physicalizes it. He understands the direction, but he also executes it perfectly, whereas sometimes actors can understand direction, but do they necessarily execute it and act it out and perform it as well as they were told to? And Harry never gets it wrong. So it would be fun to fill his shoes for a little bit.

iF: Both Enver Gjokaj and Dichen Lachman said they would like their characters to be imprinted with Topher’s personality.

KRANZ: Yeah, they all like Topher. See, I get jealous of the Dolls. As an actor, you want to play different roles. So I get to Enver, I see him walking around, showing off all this talent, and I’m like, ‘Mmm …’ I think that would be really fun, a challenge. But they all think I get the fun lines and all that. And I guess I do. [Topher is] kind of the comic relief.

iF: Are the Season Two budget cuts affecting how you work?

KRANZ: We’re shooting it all on digital, we’re getting very creative with how to make things cheaper. For instance, half of [‘Epitaph One’] was shot digital, the future scenes. That’s how the whole new season’s shot. It’s very run and gun, we’re moving really fast for a TV show – for single-camera, it’s amazing how quickly the pace is going.

iF: Have you learned to memorize Topher’s techno-jargon more quickly?

KRANZ: I’m pretty good with the lines in terms of memorizing the weird stuff. I gave up on asking about it, because half the time, they just made it up and I’m like, ‘Really? Okay, I’ll come up with my own definition.’

iF: Is there anything else you’ve done lately?

KRANZ: Nope. Since I finished CABIN IN THE WOODS [produced and co-written by Whedon], I had a month off before we started DOLLHOUSE again. Joss has employed me for the last two years. If I never met that guy, I don’t know. That’s scary to think about [laughs]. [Season Two of DOLLHOUSE] is going to be the best thirteen episodes. I can guarantee that, because all bets are off and we’re just having fun now, so if you decide to watch, you’re going to be really, really blown away.