© (C) 2009 Gerald Downey and Rick Overton from LEVERAGE

Television:

Exclusive Interview: GERALD DOWNEY AND RICK OVERTON REVEL IN THE OBLIVIOUSNESS OF THEIR 'LEVERAGE' FBI CHARACTERS

The funny duo lend their comedic skills to their third go-around as McSweeten and Taggert in 'The Fairy Godparents Job'

By CARL CORTEZ, Contributing Editor
Published 8/5/2009

When oblivious FBI agents Taggert and McSweeten first appeared in “The Bank Shot Job” and “The Wedding Job” episodes of LEVERAGE in Season 1, actors Rick Overton and Gerald Downey never expected that they would turn out to be a favorite of the writers.

Yet, here we are, Season 2, and Taggert and McSweeten are back on the job in “The Fairy Godparents Job” (which airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. on TNT) where their complete lack of FBI skills are manipulated by the Leverage team – and always allow the bumbling do-gooders to come out on top.

Here’s what the dynamic duo of Downey and Overton had to say about their appearances on the inventive hit TNT heist show.

iF MAGAZINE: Did you think when you filmed “The Bank Shot Job” that they would be bringing back Taggert and McSweeten?

RICK OVERTON: I certainly had the hopes they would. [Executive producer] Dean [Devlin] had also alluded to it too. You always hope that’s the case and every now and again it pays off with something wonderful like this. I was raised on MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and THE A*TEAM, so this is great.

GERALD DOWNEY: Rick and I met for the first time on “The Bank Shot Job.” It was instant chemistry and we definitely hit it off and had this timing and natural ease with each other. Once we left, we shook hands and said, “hope to see you again.” Sure enough they called us back and when they called us for Season 2, it was like winning the lottery. I’m really happy with coming back because it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a set.

iF: There’s a lot of improvisation on the show, did you get the same kind of leeway with your parts?

OVERTON: We instantly started doing our shtick together when we first met.

DOWNEY: Yes, absolutely. Especially with [director] Jonathan Frakes and [writer] Amy Berg. We start off doing a clean copy of it. Rick or I maybe after the second take say, “hey, I have an idea, let me try something.” Jonathan was very supportive of letting us try things. One thing would feed off another and we’d end up with a fun scene with the script still in mind. Amy Berg called it “going shopping” sometimes. “We give you the script and you guys can go shopping” as she called it.

OVERTON: Certainly Jonathon Frakes loves improv and has a fun sprit about it. He’s very appreciative of that and we are too. I’m a big fan of that. We have a great time on set. We’re trying to build up the thing of this fun microbe. If you do a giant beat as your joke, it’s really hard to follow it with anything. But if everyone knows you for your little beats, you can run that donkey from one tarp to another all day long.

iF: This is the second time you’ve worked with Frakes on LEVERAGE.

DOWNEY: That was something that Rick and I were really excited about -- to see Frakes again. There’s some synergy happened with “The Wedding Job” and the “Fairy Godparents Job.” With Frakes it’s creative funBoth Rick and I have a blast doing it -- we love having Jonathan as a director.

iF: Would you call your characters oblivious or are they not as savvy as the LEVERAGE team?

DOWNEY: Honestly, I would say oblivious. I think McSweeten and Taggert have the best intentions at heart. They’re not as keen and spot-on as FBI guys should be, but that also helps the LEVERAGE team. They are a bit oblivious to what’s going on around them.

OVERTON: I’m not giving up my obliviousness. I like the rhythm between the two of us is getting down to a cool team beat, because I’ve been in a couple of comedy teams and I’m a fan of the team rhythm. So Gerry has a good team partner thing going – he’s a wonderful improvver too.

iF: Have Taggert and McSweeten moved up the ranks a little in this new episode?

DOWNEY: Yes, thanks to the LEVERAGE team. They’ve been able to stumble on closing some cases so they’ve moved up the ranks at the FBI. They’re the fortunate heroes at the FBI. They think they’re great FBI agents, little do they know, the Leverage team has helped them with their success.

iF: What happens in “The Fairy Godparents Job?”

OVERTON: I’m the man who brings down Bernie Madoff, so to speak. I take him down and my partner gets to take out his scamming partner. We always collect on what the team does.

DOWNEY: There’s a man who has been convicted of a ponzi scheme and he’s under house arrest and we’re watching over him. In our theory, Rick and I have this thing where we’re always thrown the cases that nobody else wants and so we’re given these long boring cases. We just stand outside and watch them. But, we run into the Leverage team of Parker and Haridison [Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge]. They’re trying to use our surveillance and stumble upon us and of course we recognize them from “The Wedding Job.” And of course, from there, McSweeten tries to woo Parker throughout the rest of the episode. We kind of have a combining of the teams – the Leverage team and Taggert and McSweeten throughout the episode.

iF: Do you think Parker is sweet on McSweeten?

DOWNEY: He thinks so, but that’s a big mystery about Parker and the whole Leverage. It’s something the audience members are wondering who Parker likes anyway. For me, I hope she is. [Beth] is great to work with.

iF: In some ways, being recurring supporting players, I bet you know more about McSweeten and Taggert than the writers do.

OVERTON: They’re very generous to us. It seems we all jibe well and we all get each other very well. That’s a rare treat. I think that’s one of the marks of really great writers is they adjust around people and work to their gifts.

iF: Have they talked about bringing you guys back before the season is over?

DOWNEY: We never can tell. There are a lot of other factors, but there is rumor we might do more -- we’ll see. Part of either this season and hopefully next, they do want to have us around. Amy Berg and Jonathan have expressed wanting to work together again, so hopefully, knock on wood, that would happen?

iF: Does Amy have plans in her head what she has for the characters?

DOWNEY: She has some ideas in her head, I don’t think she didn’t wants to give away anything too much. She was smiling and laughing. She would always shake her head “Taggert and McSweeten … my favorite FBI guys.” She didn’t give us any goodies yet. We’ll see.


iF: I wouldn’t be surprised at one point, Taggert and McSweeten aren’t assigned to investigate the Leverage team at some point.

OVERTON: Yes, you’d have to think they’d give us that assignment at some point and I hope they’re reading the article and you’ve planted the idea in their head. That would be perfect.

DOWNEY: That would be an interesting and fun episode as well. Hopefully there’s more with McSweeten and Parker. In McSweeten eyes, he would love to have a wedding and little McSweeties running around. He’s definitely smitten with Parker.

iF: What’s the one secret about Taggert that no one else knows?

OVERTON: I have a hair piece he’ll sometimes put on when he wants to meet women and everyone knows but him that it’s a hairpiece. It’s sad the person wearing it doesn’t know.

iF:  Rick, you’ve worked with Dean before on EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS – was it fun reteaming with him on LEVERAGE?

OVERTON: I’ve known Dean for years in the comedy world. We were both in comedy teams. We became buddies a long time ago and I got to work with on EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS. I had tons of fun on that. It was the most effects I had ever been involved with and I was in WILLOW too. Dean’s a good guy. He’s one of those guys with a conscious.

iF: Anything else you’d like to say about LEVERAGE?

DOWNEY: It’s like winning the lottery with this show -- hopefully we’ll be in some more.

OVERTON: I’m just very happy to be part of the show. It’s a show I would have watched even I had never got on it, so it’s really fun to be in it. I don’t watch a ton of TV. Remember when shows were great all the time – this feels of that era.

Reader Comments

slamdunker from San Francisco, CA sez....
As a fan of the show from day one, this duo brings balance and comedy to a very unique story line. I rarely write in, so please keep all these characters in synch and keep up the good work.
8/6/2009 11:11:17 AM

Bash from New York City sez....
I think it's entirely appropriate and ingenious to bring this bumbling, oblivious FBI duo back to Leverage. With the small cameos that I fell in love with in Season 1, it feels almost right that the two should be back on the show with something bigger to offer. Glad the writers did this and I love this show!
8/5/2009 5:32:16 PM

MaxMarie from Las Vegas sez....
Excellent article! I love this sort of interview. Thank you so much. Eight Legged Freaks was hysterical! Just the sort of B Movie homage I enjoy.
8/5/2009 10:50:52 AM

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