How is it different playing a detective within WITSEC in relation to playing a detective on a show like Third Watch?
T. Williams: Well, see the thing is that Bobby D’s character is a local detective, so he has no affiliation with WITSEC. So, it’s relatively the same thing, just a different type of guy.
Can you explain the long story behind your name? It seems like there’s a big leap from D –
T. Williams: Yes, you know what? His last name is Dershowitz. They really didn’t give me a rundown on what his story was, so I was trying to make it up in my own mind. I figured that perhaps his grandfather’s name was Dershowitz and he had married a black woman and had his father who is bi-racial, but his name is Dershowitz, and then he married a black woman. I don’t know, but I figured that genetically maybe that would make sense. Yes, that’s all I could come up with.
How does Mary’s job get in the way of yours?
T. Williams: Because she has to always keep the identity of her witnesses concealed, any time they get involved with any of my cases - as a detective, you need all the information that you can so that you can do your job. It’s like pulling teeth because she wants to be able to protect their identities at the same time, but then try to collaborate on trying to figure out what happened. So, it proves to be difficult, but in the end we always end up getting who we’re supposed to get.
Your character is not in the Witness Protection Program, but is there anything about that program that surprised you? Did you learn anything?
T. Williams: You know what, because my character isn’t within it, my research didn’t really pertain to it. As the character, he himself doesn’t really know about it. So, I figured that if I knew too much about it, it would kind of take away from the authenticity of the character a little bit.
You’re from New York, how did you like (filming in) Albuquerque?
T. Williams: Wow. You know what? When I had moved from New York to L.A. it was a little shocking because everything in L.A. is a little more spread out – well, not a little. It’s a lot more spread out than New York. I felt like the pace of it was a little slower. So, when I went to Albuquerque, L.A. was pretty much New York to Albuquerque. It was much slower. Beautiful, though. I had to just appreciate it for what it was and not try to compare it for what it wasn’t. Albuquerque has a lot of cool things that you can do. If you want to clear your head, shoot, there’s nothing else to do but clear your head.
Is there a favorite episode that you have from the first season?
T. Williams: A favorite episode? Man. Let me see. There was one particular episode that was crazy. One of her witnesses ends up in a car accident where they find the car engulfed in flames and Mary goes to search out his wife. We end up finding out all this other stuff and we’re dealing with fire. We get caught up in an art gallery. They get caught up in flames. It was very exciting. Anything that has any danger, I kind of dig it. Anything that I can get close to kind of doing a stunt is cool without actually doing the stunt because I don’t like pain, but I do like to look cool. So, that was probably the coolest episode.
I was wondering, since you’re from New York, do you draw on any of your experiences growing up in New York, or knowing about the New York Police Department when you create your character and think about how your character will act?
T. Williams: No. I watched some Law & Order and a whole bunch of other cop shows because, growing up in New York, granted – police presence is strong, but you don’t really see it – I was never in a position where I could sit there and just witness how they did things. It’s never as exciting as it is on television. I figured if I just watch a lot of cop shows and see some people who I felt were cool that I wanted to emulate or just take things from, I figured that would be just fine. So, no experiences from New York, but Law & Order possibly.
I notice that you’ve been in a couple of police shows. Are there any types of dream roles that you’re interested in playing?
T. Williams: Oh, man!
Because I know you did the voice of Mongo in Superman Returns. Is there anything that you’d like to play?
T. Williams: Anything and everything. The whole spectrum because I think as an actor, you want to be able to stretch yourself, not to stay in one place. You want to be able to explore and discover things about yourself while you’re doing certain roles. So, just to do one type of role would get creatively boring after a while. Yes, everything. Anything that they allow me to do that’s a stretch and that is a departure from who I am naturally is cool.
You said that in casting for Bobby D that it was the only role on In Plain Sight that kind of fit your description, like, looking for an African-American actor. Do you find that going out on casting, there’s a limited amount of roles for African-American actors?
T. Williams: Definitely. I think that that’s just the nature of the beast. I mean, most shows are going to be geared towards the majority, and the majority amount of people within America are Caucasian, I think African-Americans maybe come in second. So, the shows that are going to be produced are going to try to reflect what the primary demographic is, so the roles are going to be just less unless they have an all Black cast, which comes along, but not as much, or if you have a more diverse cast, but even still, the roles are just not going to be as many.
Just to follow up, do any of the people that you’re hiding away in the Witness Protection Program that you interact with become secondary characters because of their interesting personalities or humor?
T. Williams: Not that I know of. I think one or two people, but usually it’s just a one-episode deal, like they come in and they go through their turmoil, and it’s get resolved or kind of resolved, and then that’s it. I think maybe there’s one actress, who is in the pilot episode, that I believe comes back for a second episode, but I’m not sure. I can’t really confirm that.
Did Bobby D interact at all with Jinx, Lesley Ann Warren?
T. Williams: You know what? See, I can’t give anything away. But, Bobby D does end up meeting Mary’s family under certain circumstances. That’s it.
Okay, so they only want you to give a limited amount of plot points away?
T. Williams: Well, I can’t give too much away –
You’re not giving anything away!
T. Williams: Yes, that’s the point. I did my job.
