On drama, ‘Idol’ star sings a new tune
Since she first sang her way onto the pop-culture stage almost 10 years ago, Katharine McPhee has made music her top priority.
She just missed capturing the American Idol crown during the 2006 season, but that hasn’t seemed to matter: She has outdistanced almost all of the winners and recorded several albums, and even performed at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Most notably, she was center stage for NBC’s highly promoted Smash, an ill-fated Broadwaybased musical drama series initially embraced by fans and critics before winding up as a punch line during its second and final season.
This fall, McPhee is singing a different tune — no tune at all.
She is part of the ensemble of Scorpion, the new CBS drama about a group of misfit geniuses recruited by U.S. Homeland Security to combat high-tech threats. Think of it as a heavier, more action-packed, less jokedriven version of The Big Bang Theory.
And McPhee’s new character couldn’t be further away from her one on Smash, on which she performed intricate production numbers showcasing her chops.
As Paige Dineen, a waitress and single mother of an introverted boy genius, she finds herself helping the brainy Scorpion troupe, led by eccentric Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel). Though a bit out of her comfort zone, McPhee is singing the praises of Scorpion, calling it “a wonderful, thrilling adventure.”
Still, the 30-year-old actress realizes that some of her fans might be bewildered by her signing on to an action series.
“I do feel for the fans who know me as a singer,” she said. “That’s a part of me that’s never going to change.”
Meanwhile, she hopes that Scorpion will dim at least some of the recent spotlight on her personal life — which has brought her no shortage of embarrassment. A year ago, TMZ. com posted pictures of the actress smooching Smash director Michael Morris. At the time, both were married to others.
Scorpion executive producer Nick Santora was ecstatic when he learned that McPhee might be available.
“We looked at a lot of actresses,” he said, “and a lot of young actresses don’t want to play young, single moms. We knew Katharine was in demand. She just exudes accessibility. You feel you know this person.”
Starring on Scorpion is turning out to be a less flashy experience for McPhee than Smash, a show she looks back on with mixed feelings. The ambitious series focused on the drama surrounding the creation of a Broadway musical about Marilyn Monroe. McPhee played Karen Cartwright, a small-town girl from Iowa who becomes a serious contender for the title role, putting her in fierce competition with a seasoned Broadway trouper. But the warm glow that initially greeted the series faded.
McPhee is still looking forward to returning to singing. And Scorpion producers haven’t ruled out her character singing a note or two down the line.
“Kat is a powerful talent,” Santora said. “And if we didn’t use that, it would be a waste.”