As much praise as I lavish on Nathan Fillion for making “Castle” endlessly enjoyable, the show’s appeal stems from a carefully choreographed dance — and Stana Katic is one hell of a partner. In fact, more often than not, she’s leading.
Much of what I as an audience member find so fascinating about Kate Beckett is something intangible that Stana brings to the table. She has an innate watchability, which is the most essential quality in a star. And now Stana is bringing her wattage to the big screen with a duo of new movies, the Polish brothers’ “For Lovers Only” and “The Double,” co-starring Richard Gere.
I had the chance to chat up with Stana on a break in between films to look back on “Castle’s” second season, find out what she’d like for Kate in season three and toss my feathered cap in the ring to play Beckett’s soon-to-be introduced gay best friend.
PopWrap: Now that you’ve had time to reflect, what did you think of “Castle” season two?
Stana Katic: As an actor it was exciting. We had more time this year, so we got to delve deeper into the characters and could do darker episodes like “Sucker Punch” – about the Irish mob — and have a lot of romantic comedy. We could play up the tension between Beckett and Castle because we’d established a foundation to work off of in season one.
PW: And then after a year of getting closer and closer, Castle goes on summer vacation with his ex wife!
Stana: [laughs] Yea, he walks off with the ex. So not right! As Kate, I was a little bit like “what the hell?!?” But I think we needed to make it a season ender where they could come back and jump right back into the crime solving fun next year. But I’m a high stakes kind of girl. I like something big and bombastic and treacherous. That’s why I loved the two-parter. I would have loved another for the finale.
PW: I thought that was a tremendous episode — what did you like about it?
Stana: It was really nice for the first time to play the vulnerable one in the storyline. Most of the time Kate’s saving the victim – whether they’re alive of dead – by finding the killer. And in this case, she was potentially the victim, so that was a shift.
PW: That second episode really showed off a kick ass to Beckett.
Stana: I especially loved the second episode. I thought Kate came into her own and took the bull by the horn. I was the matador [laughs]. I loved that it went dark for a while. That’s part of the intrigue for the show – riding between the comedic and the dramatic moments. I think the more we can play with the yin and yang of the dark and light, the more enticing it will be for audiences.
PW: It was also interesting exposing her to Special Agent Jordan Shaw — who kind of represented this ideal that maybe Kate didn’t think was possible.
Stana: Putting her face to face with Agt. Shaw, which is her future, showed Kate that someone could balance family life and being a really powerful professional. That opened Beckett up to creating some sort of personal future for herself.
PW: Do you think she has a life that the audience doesn’t see?
Stana: I believe she has a really fantastic personal life. I really hope the writers delve into it. Most of what we’ve seen of her has been sequestered to solving a crime, or anything inside the bull pen. I loved when they brought in a love interest, even though it was to a limited extent.
PW: Is that what you’d like to see more of in season three, off the clock time?
Stana: I would love to see her personal life outside the realm of solving a crime. So instead of saying “I’m dating so and so,” I’d love to see those very personal, interactive, private moments on screen. I think there’s something exciting about a strong professional woman juggling the person she needs to be in the work world and who she is behind the scenes. I also feel like she should have a gay best friend or something like that. A guy who has a fabulous NY lifestyle – that shows the more colors to the life of a young woman living in NYC.
PW: I have to ask, Emmy time is upon us — any thoughts on potential nominations for the show?
Stana: Wow. To be recognized and presented with something like that, essentially from co-workers, is a huge, huge honor. It doesn’t come into mind when I’m doing work. But there are so many amazing projects out there, awards are really fantastic avenue for projects to get more visibility. But I don’t know, it’s too big of a concept to think about.
PW: Speaking of other projects, people are very excited about your next movie, “The Double.” What can you tell me about that?
Stana: I play this feisty Russian prostitute who is a strong element to the [federal agents] bringing down the Russian crime syndicate. Everything and everyone in this film is not who they appear to be. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. The script is fantastic. That’s about all I can tell you – it’s a wonderful old cold war Russian spy film.
PW: Sounds like we’ll be getting another accent from you.
Stana: Yep! I love accents, I would love to find more characters with a variety of vocal intonations. It creates a character. It’s like you’re singing a song. Some people find their character through walking or movement — for me, voice is one of the ways I find parts of the character. Even Kate. Naturally I’ve got more of a flowery intonation, so I have to hold that back because it doesn’t make sense for a NY cop.
PW: Aside from potential accents, what draws you to a character?
Stana: I’ve only recently started having a choice. So much of starting off is just trying to get work. And then as you move on, you get to pick work you find inspiring. But I don’t know what it is. There’s like a flutter. Something makes your heart glow when you’re reading it. Something that speaks to you. There’s this wonderful dance that you recognize intuitively while reading it. And intuition isn’t like a hammer over the head, it’s like a butterfly sweeping by your cheek. It’s really soft … but it feels so good.
Photo: ABC