By: Victoria Nelli
Miguel Ferrer is best know for his roles as Dr. Garret Macy on CROSSING JORDAN, and Andre Zeller on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, but the role that is receiving so much buzz recently is his portrayal of Owen Granger on NCIS: LOS ANGELES. Ferrer has been featured on the show for three seasons now; he spoke with me about his character, what drew him to the show, and what’s next for his character, Owen Granger.
You play Owen Granger on NCIS L.A. how did you prepare for that role?
Miguel Ferrer: I just pretty much took the given realities of the script and did what I was told and took it from there. I didn’t go to Washington and study NCIS or anything like that, it was pretty clearly written and I just kind of fulfilled my duties as I saw them.
You’ve worked on other shows before such as DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and CROSSING JORDAN, what drew you to NCIS L.A.?
I’ve been a big fan of Chris O’Donnell for a long time and Linda Hunt, I really wanted to work with those guys, as well as the rest of the cast. It was an enormously successful show and is still and I was just really happy to be a part of it. To just be able to step into something that’s up and running at such a successful level. The character really intrigued me, so I was happy to be asked to be on board.
If you have an idea for your character do you pitch ideas to the writers?
Yeah! Sometimes, there are a couple of guys that if I have an idea I’ll say would it be cool if Granger did this or that and they’ll say here’s what I’m thinking and we’ll talk about it a little bit. We talk about the direction that they are heading and there is sort of an open communication along those lines, they are really, really good that way. They really welcome a collaborative sort of effort; they are really open that way.
You guys have had a lot of intense scenes on the show, a lot of awesome crime scenes, which scenes stick out to you?
I love the really quiet scenes with Linda Hunt, it’s been implied that we have this long and sort of strange history and that nobody really knows too much about, and when we sit down and have a quiet scene just the two of us it’s always interesting. She’s such a terrific actress, I’m never really entirely sure what she is going to do, I sort of have to be prepared for anything, and she always surprises me. Those are probably some of my favorite scenes, the ones with Linda.
Can you tell us a little bit about this week’s episode?
Kensi (Daniela Ruah) is in Afghanistan on a mission and she’s running into some difficulties. The thing that’s really interesting about next week’s episode is I pair up one on one with Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen), which is something I’ve never done. I’ve kind of gone a long with everyone else on the team but this will be my first time with him, and the dynamic with him was really different then it is with a lot of the other characters and that was a lot of fun.
Is there anything you would like to see happen to your character?
The great thing about Granger is that pretty much anything could happen, he doesn’t really stick to the rules, he makes up his own rules as he goes along and he seems to be a guy with many contradictions, so I’m just curious to see every week where they take. I’m always surprised because he can really go anywhere, anytime I get a new script I’m excited to see where they take him because its completely unpredictable.
You can watch Miguel on NCIS: LOS ANGELES Tuesdays at 9:00 on CBS and follow him on twitter @Miguel_J_Ferrer
Victoria Nelli loves TV so much that she is paying $30,000 a year to learn about it in College. When she’s not learning about TV she enjoys writing about her favorite shows, interviewing anyone in the industry that will let her, and ranting about how underrated Parks and Recreation is. She is very much aware of her Netflix addiction, and no she will not be seeking help anytime soon. You can follow her on Twitter @VictoriaNelli