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Inside the Actors Studio

Inside the Actors Studio


Cast Front Row (Left to Right): Mitchell Hurwitz, Jason Bateman, Jessica Walter, Will Arnett. Cast Back Row (Left to Right): Jeffrey Tambor, Portia de Rossi and Alia Shawkat.

About[]

All of the cast (excluding Tony Hale, Michael Cera and David Cross who were not in attendance) of Arrested Development were in attendance on the evening of November 7, 2013 for Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton.

Synopsis[]

Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton is a TV program on the Bravo TV network. Hosted by James Lipton, who appeared as Warden Stefan Gentles in Arrested, the show explores the processes and habits of successful actors.

Bravo Media's Inside the Actors Studio, hosted by James Lipton, promises big laughs and riveting revelations when the cast and creator of Netflix’s Arrested Development appear on the show on Thursday, November 7 at 8pm ET/PT. The series has won six Primetime Emmy awards including “Outstanding Comedy Series” in 2004 and Time Magazine included it in its “All-Time 100 TV Shows” list.

Lipton, who has a recurring guest role on Arrested Development as Prison Warden Stefan Gentiles, will be joined by Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, Portia de Rossi, Alia Shawkat, Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter, and creator Mitch Hurwitz. In the episode, series creator Mitch Hurwitz unveils his real-life inspiration behind the Banana Stand and the personal meaning behind the name “Maeby.” Find out the stars' favorite Season 4 moments, which cast member swore off television after many false starts, who moonlights as a teacher, and the genesis of Portia de Rossi’s name. - Bravo - Inside the Actors Studio

Arrested Development Cast Discuss Their Characters[]

  • Portia on finding her stage name in movie credits: "They were scrolling and de Rossi caught my eye and I thought, 'Yeah, that'll do.'"
  • Will on G.O.B.: "G.O.B. is officially a magician. He's not a particularly successful one, monetarily, but he'd argue he's at the top of his game."
  • G.O.B. on his failures as a magician: "It's usually because other people don't live up to their side of the bargain. Because Michael has failed me."
  • Jessica Walters on playing villains: "I think I'm lucky to get these mean, vicious, horrible people to play, but I don't think I'm like them."
  • Portia on Lindsay: "She actually thinks she's a genuinely good person and a good wife."
  • Jason on the Bluths: "Mitch said early on, 'Our job as writers is to make these characters as despicable as possible, your job as actors is to make them as likeable as possible.'"

Arrested Development Cast Fun Facts[]

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James Lipton

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The Boston Chipyard

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Jeffrey Tambor

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Portia de Rossi

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Alia Shawkat

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Jessica Walter

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Inside the Actors Studio

  • Mitch Hurwitz desribed the casting process: As I was in the pilot phase, I was already thinking about interesting casting, and it was Liza Minnelli and you (James Lipton).
  • The Banana Stand was based off of the The Boston Chipyard: When I was 12 and my brother was 15 we started our own business, the Chipyard. We were going to sell cookies off a cardboard table in our front yard, but my father put up the money for us to run a little stand on Balboa Boulevard.
  • How Jeffrey Tambor describes the difference between conservative Judaism (what his family practices) and reform Judaism: Conservatives are “Jews that read from the Torah. Reform Jews just sing showtunes.”
  • Jeffrey Tambor still teaches acting classes, and his professional website sort of seems like it was designed by George Bluth Sr.
  • Portia de Rossi was born Amanda Lee Rogers; she decided to change her name at 14, snagging “Portia” from The Merchant of Venice” and de Rossi from “the end credits of a movie.”
  • Don’t worry about how to pronounce Alia Shawkat’s last name, which is Iraqi in origin; she likes to switch it up depending on her mood. Also, here’s her describing her college career: “I went to Sarah Lawrence for… two days.”
  • Here’s Mitch Hurwitz’s one-sentence distillation of Arrested: “I always thought if you were to ask any of them, they would say they’re the only sane member of the family.” The show’s fourth season, designed as a series of character showcases, was meant to really highlight that line of thinking.
  • Jessica Walter, in character as Lucille Bluth, describing her relationship to her neediest child: “I need Buster, just not all the time…He needs a strong hand.” And then she cracked up, realizing what she had just said.
  • Portia and her wife, Ellen DeGeneres, officially debuted as a couple at the 2004 Golden Globes, when Arrested Development was first nominated for best musical or comedy TV series. The two had been dating for just about a month. The event doubled as de Rossi’s public coming out: “For me, it was the first time that I stepped out as a gay woman, really,” she said.
  • Mitch Hurwitz says that he gave his characters such similar names — George, George Michael, George Oscar, etc. — because he thought it would “compel you to pay attention…” though he also admits that may be a B.S. after-the-fact explanation.
  • The cast was warned ahead of time that the production would be bare-bones — Jessica Walters describes their dressing rooms as “cells.”
  • Hurwitz basically tricked Ben Stiller into guest starring on the show. “Early on in an episode, we were going to establish this competing magician, and I contacted Ben Stiller’s people, and I said, ‘Could I just use a picture of him? No strings attached,” he explained. “‘And then if he ever wants to do the show’ — which was probably not on his radar at that point — ‘we will have already set him up.’” Stiller’s reps agreed. Half a year later, Stiller called Hurwitz about some unrelated business — and Hurwitz, who assumed that Stiller wanted to do AD, told him they’d shoot his guest appearance the following week. Miraculously, everything worked out. Or should I say… wonderfully?

Extra Fun Facts[]

  • Mitch was a writer on "Golden Girls"
  • Will Arnett got the call to audition for G.O.B. right after he decided to quit doing pilots
  • Maeby is a combination of Mitch's daughter's names: May and Phoebe
  • Portia de Rossi's least favourite word is "panties," Jason Bateman's is "fleshy."
  • James Lipton and Liza Minnelli were among the first people Mitch knew he wanted on the show

More Quotes[]

  • Jason Bateman recounted the moment he received his script for the Arrested Development audition: "When I first...got the script, there was a cover letter on the front of it saying, 'To all actors that are thinking about reading for the show, there will be no marks on the floor, no lights, no makeup, all the cameras are going to be handheld..."
  • Alia Shawkat opens up about her friendship with co-star Michael Cera: "When were talking about coming back and working on the fourth [season], that all of us, who for the first time around, who were already adults, the years that we first made this show were three or four years of our lives," says Will. "For these guys, it was their teenage years...these formative, big years. It's such a different experience."
  • Mitch Hurwitz admits to having some issues keeping the characters straight: "I thought it would compel you to pay attention!"

Promo Pictures[]

→ See 68 pictures from 2013 Inside the Actors Studio at Images from 2013 Inside the Actors Studio.

The Panel[]

Cast and Crew Throwback[]

Vintage Pics of the 'Arrested Development' Cast

Videos[]

For more clips visit gloublog.net

External links[]

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