Tim Minear

The exciting new FOX series Drive comes from Executive Producer Tim Minear (Angel / Firefly) and tells the story of a secret, illegal, cross country race. This week I attended a Drive press event for IGN, where six contest winners got to compete in a tire changing competition, in order to win a grand prize any of us who drive can appreciate, especially these days: $10,000 in gas.

At the event, I spoke to several of Drive’s cast members, including star Nathan Fillion (Firefly / Slither), Dylan Baker (Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3) and Kristin Lehman (Prison Break / Felicity). We talked about their characters, the green screen process used for most of the car scenes in Drive, and what it’s like to act out many a car lovers fantasy.

Nathan Fillion ("Alex Tully")

IGN TV: How are you doing today?

Nathan Fillion: Not bad. We just got off work and we scrambled straight here. I was in the lead. Kristin [Lehman] was behind me. Kevin Alejandro behind her. And then I looked in my rearview mirror and every time I changed lanes, they were following me here. Every time I changed lanes, they’d change lanes. I’d go into the passing lane, and then just come back for no reason, and I’d watch the train [of cars] behind me do the same thing.

IGN TV: [Laughs] Since you do most of the racing scenes in front of green screen, do you ever want to say, "Okay, let’s take this outside," and settle it on the street?

Fillion: You know, it’s funny, because the studios are all the way out in Santa Clarita, it’s a 40 minute drive; it’s 40 minutes to work each day, and 40 minutes back. That’s 80 minutes of solid driving! That’s more than I think we’ve ever done in one point on the show.

IGN TV: You’ve obviously done green screen work before, but so much of this show is in the cars. Does it take some getting used to?

Fillion: In the sci-fi show, it was a spaceship, and I had Alan Tudyk driving. So all I had to do was lean and react and go, "Oh look, there’s something spooky over there," or, "There’s something we need to know about over that way!" You just kind of mark it and regard and observe. With the green screen with the vehicles, Alex Tully is most often behind the wheel, so we’re turning on the wheel, back and forth. But those cars are on these little coasters; I mean those cars aren’t really going anywhere. So you’re kind of fighting it. You have to make it look real. It’s a real workout! By the time we’re done, and Kristen’s usually in my car, we’re all reacting to speeding and jumping, and they’re banging and shaking the car around... By the time we’re done, we’re panting, we’re breathless, we’re sweating. We’re like, "Oh my God! Let’s get of this car! It’s really hot! That’s an awful lot of work." And it is. My shoulders get a real workout. It’s a lot of work. I banged my shoulder so hard one day. Kristen, just yesterday, banged her head!

IGN TV: Wow!

Fillion: Yeah. Just from our super acting.

IGN TV: How would you describe your character?

Fillion: I would describe my character as probably the coolest guy in the world. Alex Tully is the everyman. Alex Tully is just a regular, average joe. He’s got a beautiful wife, who’s a fifth grade teacher. He’s a landscaper. He lives in Nebraska. He doesn’t have an exciting life. He lives a very calm, very relaxed, very sensible life. When his wife is suddenly kidnapped, he’s forced to win this illegal, cross country road race, just to get her back. Now you’ve got this average, normal guy, but really forced into a corner, and you start to think, "What would I do?" What would someone do if their wife was stolen and they have an opportunity to get them back, but they have to jump through these hoops? And then it’s gonna eventually come to life that maybe Alex Tully wasn’t the man that he presented himself to be all along.

IGN TV: How is it working with Tim Minear again on this show?

Fillion: Fantastic! When Tim Minear calls you and says, "Hey, I got a new show, and I wrote a part just for you," that’s when you say, "Sign me up!" That’s a guy who can really tell some amazing stories. He’s got such an amazing voice. And he writes the same way he speaks. He’s very, very clever, just on the spot, doesn’t matter what you’re talking about; just very, very entertaining. So to go to work and read these scripts, you’re so entertained reading them. I just love going to work, acting these bits out, playing out this dialogue, working with spectacular actors, and taking all the credit for this hard work.

IGN TV: [Laughs] You do a great job of taking all the credit!

Fillion: Thank you very much.

IGN TV: Do you ask Tim a lot of questions about what’s to come?

Fillion: Oh, I love to know ahead of time, and he loves to tell me. Because we’re both excited about it. It’s like, "Hey, I just wrote episode seven! You want to read listen [to what happens]?" "Yeah!" It’s not, "No, no, don’t worry, I’ll just find out on Tuesday. Don’t worry about it." No, I’m right there. I want to know!

IGN TV: How is it working with Kristen? Obviously you spend most of your time with her.

Fillion: I spend most of my time with Kristen. We have the Canadian contingent in common; we’re both from Canada. That, right off the bat, is a huge bonus. Aside from being a spectacular actress, and absolutely beautiful, she’s extremely entertaining. I have a little bit of a problem with her being funnier than me! We’re working on that. We’re working on that dynamic. But every day is a great day.

IGN TV: Your fellow Joss Whedon/Tim Minear alum Amy Acker plays your kidnapped wife on the show. Have you gotten to work with her yet?

Fillion: Yes. Yes I have. And this is another one of those cases where Tim Minear and I have worked together in the past, and I’m a huge fan of his work and his talent. And he knows what to expect from me when he’s asking me to come and do the show Drive. He knows exactly what to expect from me. Same in regards to Amy Acker. He’s worked with her before, he knows exactly what to expect, and she’s there for a reason. She’s there because she’s extremely talented and she does such a fantastic job. And again, I’m a fan, so it’s real nice for me to be able to work with people who not only I enjoy their company, but I can really respect their talent.

IGN TV: In a lot of your work, there’s humor thrown into dramatic situations, and that happens again for you in Drive. Is it fun for you to do those little added beats?

Fillion: Always fun for me. We watch movies and television, and we’re familiar with story conventions. We know that the main character is the cool one and everything is going to work out for him. Because he’s so cool, everything will be great. We take a little twist on these conventions.