Detective duo back – and this time it’s personal
Season seven of the famous crime and investigation series, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, is due to air on Universal Channel from May 21. We caught up with Vincent D’Onofrio and Katheryn Erbe who play detectives Robert Goren and Alexandra Eames to tell us what viewers can expect in their latest offering. What’s being done this season to make Criminal Intent unique? VD: There’s going to be some procedural type shows, because people like the crime stuff. They like to see us investigate and catch the bad guy at the end, but we’ve filled this season up with character driven things. Fans are going to see sides of them that have never been seen before. And to see these sides of these two very distinct characters is definitely going to be different from another show. Actors/characters come and go on Law and Order. How important is it that you two are a team? VD: It’s absolutely vital. I don’t think either of us could do it without each other. It’s been a long time now and our relationship as actors is as tight as it could be. KE: It’s such a difficult job and it took us a long time to figure out how to do it in a way that worked smoothly. It’s a different kind of acting than Vincent or I have ever done. Are the roles still exciting to play? VD: Yes, I still get excited. Sometimes I even get scared and nervous while shooting certain scenes. But I like to keep things interesting so I change my acting up a bit. Kathryn, looking at the season preview, Goren and Alex are both going through some pretty heavy circumstances. How is that going to affect them and their relationship? In this season they have a lot more respect for each other. They’re much more of a team and they know each other a hell of a lot better because their wounds are more apparent. The season opener’s going to be great. Is there anything you haven’t done on the show that you’d like to see your characters do? VD: Yes. Well I think that we have – as far as Goren goes, we have an episode coming up that his mental health gets tested a little bit on and I think that’s going to be interesting for me. KE: I’m just frankly happy to have concrete interesting stuff to do every show. And Eames being an important part of the investigations is really the highest priority to me. And I’m very excited about Goren’s mental health being tested. Any qualities your characters have that you wish you did? VD: No. I have enough trouble in my personal life. I wouldn’t want to trade it for some kind of troubled life like Goren has. Kathryn, the first episode in the season focuses more on your personal life than in past seasons. Did you change your approach when preparing for this season? Well I think – and when we see the episode it’ll be clear, but I think – my hope is that with her being forced to address this major event in her past, my feeling is that up until this point, Eames has been all about work and has been living kind of through her family and through other people, and has been somewhat rigid in her views about right and wrong and good and bad in a good way. I mean I don’t think that that is necessarily a bad thing, but my hope is that she will lighten up a little bit and be able to enjoy life more.
Season 7 of Law & Order: Criminal Intent airs on Universal Channel from May 21 at 8.50pm.