By Crystal Ann Taylor.
Joe Henderson
For Joe Henderson, co-executive producer on USA’s series White Collar and Graceland, the transition from the one show’s writing staff to the other was easy: Season 1 of Graceland was scheduled to fall “mostly” in White Collar’s hiatus between seasons 5 and 6. “I was able to do both and not go insane (also mostly).”
Like White Collar, Graceland has its roots in the buddy cop show genre, but it is a far darker, grittier show. Graceland is the name given to a Southern California beachfront property which serves as a safe haven and base of operations for a multi-departmental group of undercover agents from FBI, DEA and ICE. Their individual cases often intersect, prompting them to work as well as live together. But together or separately, their jobs have them steeped in drugs, guns, streetwalkers, pushers and gangs, not the suits, museums and art galleries so prevalent in White Collar.
Into this mix is assigned a rookie FBI agent (Aaron Tveit) whose secret mandate is to investigate the enigmatic and legendary FBI agent (Daniel Sunjata) who heads the group.
Daniel Sunjata as Paul Briggs and Aaron Tveit as Mike Warren
Asked if he had a hand in the creation of the series, Henderson says it was all Jeff Eastin, from a script he wrote years ago, “dusted off and modernized.” For Henderson, the opportunity to tell a different kind of story was thrilling. “I got to flex some new muscles. And once I was done flexing them, it was also great to go back to White Collar and look at it from a slightly different perspective.”
That reference to a different perspective then begs the question of whether there are discussions in the writers room on what character behavior or storyline might be more appropriate for one show or the other.
“There were definitely moments in the Graceland room where we stopped because we were telling a White Collar story,” Henderson admitted, “or approaching it in the way we’d approach White Collar. We had to relearn how to walk a bit, or at least how to break story.”
Was there a conscious effort to make the two series different or was it just the question of characters in different environments? “The fact that the world and characters are very different helped a lot,” Henderson conceded, “because there were constant reminders that we wouldn’t tell certain kinds of stories in White Collar (and vice versa). Every time we cut off a gang member’s hand, for example…”
And as so often happens with the best of shows, how the actors play the roles influences the way the writers view the characters and alter their original vision.
Graceland Season 1 cast (Photo by: James Minchin III/USA Network)
Actor Contributions
“Daniel Sunjata was completely different from the character he was supposed to play,” Henderson disclosed. “Briggs was supposed to be a white, long haired surfer bum, like Swayze in Point Break. Daniel came in and completely redefined the character. Jeff had to rewrite and it was so worth it.”
According to Henderson, a “decent amount” of ad-libbing is allowed. “We discuss with the actors before shooting as much as possible line tweaks, and always let them riff after a scene ends. These actors are professionals and live and breathe these characters; as such, when they have a change, it’s usually something that makes us look like better writers.”
Getting Inside the Writers Room
To bring these characters alive, the writing staff has to be first and foremost good storytellers. But some writers rooms have been known to be staffed on compatibility and some to fill a diversity of skills (like someone really good on character, humor, etc.) or both. About the staffing of Graceland, Henderson said, “To me, it’s all on the page. Script first, then personality. If I’m not blown away by the script, I don’t understand taking the meeting, because I can’t imagine hiring someone I’d have to plan on rewriting. Special skills are always a plus, but to me, those can be learned and researched.”
Henderson went on to elaborate, “It is nice, I find, to have a mixture of boisterous room presences and what I call snipers – quiet writers who, when they do speak up, have a killer pitch.”
He also said he lives by something Matt Nix said: “There are patriots and mercenaries. Patriots bleed for your show; mercenaries work 9 to 5, then go home and forget about their work. I will always go out of my way to find patriots and hire them.”
And the research they do to come up with the storylines?
“We had John Marcelo, the DEA agent who actually ran the house Graceland is based on, which was a wonderful resource. We also did some calls with the FBI, DEA, and ICE just picking their brains about things they encountered, new kinds of crime, etc. But I’d say most ideas came from the sick brains of the writers room and google.”
The experience Henderson is most proud of on Graceland is surprisingly not something he wrote. “On Graceland, I’m proud of something a little more behind the scenes. One of our writers, Aaron Fullerton, got cancer about halfway into production. He was determined and kept working on the show as much as he could through treatment. What really touched me was that the writing staff shaved their heads in solidarity to Aaron (I have a shaved head, so I glued their shaved hair to my head, in solidarity/grossness). At that moment, I felt like we had become a family instead of a writer’s room.
Graceland returns to the USA Network this summer for a second season of 13 episodes.
