A DIFFERENT LOOK
‘Bull’ star’s dish on changes to CBS hit
IT’S no surprise that “Bull,” TV’s top-rated new drama, was recently renewed for a second season.
What is surprising is that the CBS series — starring “NCIS” alum Michael Weatherly as New York jury consultant Dr. Jason Bull — is changing showrunners and adding a new major character this late in the season.
Glenn Gordon Caron (“Moonlighting,” “Medium”) will replace Mark Goffman as the “Bull” showrunner — while veteran actress Eliza Dushku (“Buffy”) joins Bull’s team as attorney JP Nunnelly in May (she’ll be a regular next season).
Weatherly, 48, spoke to The Post about the changes, about his perception of Jason Bull and about his 1991 episode of “The Cosby Show.”
Isn’t a bit unusual to switch showrunners so late in the season?
Why tinker with something that seems not only not broken but performing quite well? It really has to do with the potential that CBS sees in the series and the places it can go. What I came to understand was that I locked myself up in my approach [to Jason Bull] and I needed to unshackle myself. By the third episode I felt stuck, then I was OK, and by the seventh episode I felt stuck again. When you bring in a guy like Glenn Gordon Caron it’s all about character, peppy dialogue and the movement of the story. We were trying to tell people what the show was about [adopts a deep announcer’s voice]: “He’s not a lawyer. He’s a trial consultant.” But we didn’t let people figure out what it was. We didn’t concentrate enough on the character and the interaction between the cast. It became sort of “The case of the week” as opposed to the world of Jason Bull. What I was worried about is that Bull would become an iconoclastic loner who’s smarter than everyone else. I always loved “Magnum, PI” and “Columbo” and Don Draper [“Mad Men”] — flawed guys who project a certain virility and confidence. I’m much more interested in a flawed character who’s not in control and doesn’t know what he’s doing all the time. The show’s not broken — it’s just about giving it that extra oomph to make it a show you have to watch because it’s so f---ing entertaining.
Will we ever see Bull lose a case?
Yeah, and I would say maybe he has and we just don’t know about it. We have to help the audience with that, with thinking he’s infallible. This is a guy who plays with narratives and truth. He’s deflective and tricky. The only problem I have with Bull is if he seems too earnest. What’s that? Yech! What I liked about “The Mentalist” was that it was all bulls--t. He didn’t have some supernatural power — he was a con artist. In Bull’s world, I’m pretty sure the apartment we saw him living in ... I’m not even sure it’s a place he lives in all the time, or maybe he rented it. No one had ever been there before. He stays in hotels and floats around and has a difficult time with commitment. I think we know it’s CBS, so there is going to be a certain kind of resolution [in every episode].
What can you tell me about Eliza Dushku’s new character?
It’s been on the books for a while. She’s there to upset the apple cart. Bull finds her very intriguing and she sets him off in a new way. He kind of changes the way he dresses and is a little bit looser and has a different approach than the cool reserve of the previous Bull.
I had no idea you played Theo’s [Malcolm Jamal Warner] roommate on “The Cosby Show.”
It was my very first acting job. I got that job and a role as a preppy killer on “Guid
ing Light” in the fall of 1990. I didn’t know my ass from my elbow; I taped a subway token on my forehead during rehearsals and Cosby said, “What’s that?” I said, “I’m the token white guy.”
They did not invite me back.