Brian Austin Green called us to exclusively chat about the upcoming season and to also take us through his career from his humble Beverly Hills, 90210 beginnings, through the short-lived, but fantastic Sarah Connor Chronicles, to the role of a lifetime on Desperate Housewives.
Brian Austin Green goes Desperate
SheKnows: I was curious about your experience on Desperate Housewives and whether it's different for you than your work on other series.
Brian Austin Green: The show itself is so different than any other show on television. That's been the biggest change for me -- working on a show with a creator and executive producer that is as hands on as Marc [Cherry] is and so knows exactly what they want and is able to see that through and make that. It's a really rare experience. Most shows -- you kind of get into the first season and the creators are around and they tend to slowly go away and start working on other things and let other people come up and take over and re-work it. Marc has hung in there and continued to make the show that he wants to make. It's brilliant. It's brilliant what he created. It's amazing that he's kept it going as long as he has and continues to somehow make it fresh. It's amazing to me that I've come in, in season seven, and I'm working with Marcia and there's now this new fresh relationship that the show hasn't had. That we've pulled it off in any way is amazing -- because usually by this time most people couldn't care less.
SheKnows: Did you follow the show over the years? And if you did or did not, did you go back over anything before you joined the show to get up to speed?
Brian Austin Green: No, I'd never seen it. I didn't follow it at all [laughs]. I just knew it was beating the [expletive] out of every other show. All I was concerned with was it was a force to be reckoned with and the ladies on the show were on the cover of everything that had a cover -- except for a Wheaties box. I never saw the Desperate Housewives on a Wheaties box [laughs].
SheKnows: I think they're working on it.
Inside Desperate Housewives
Brian Austin Green: I do drink Desperate Housewiveswater on set. They do cover water bottles [laughs].SheKnows: Is there an apple on the label?
Brian Austin Green: [Laughs] No, there aren't surprisingly. It's just the four ladies standing holding the water. No apple. So, as far as getting up to speed on the show, I didn't go back and watch anything. I went into it with fresh eyes and an open mind. I think I was the most hopeful that it wouldn't be the classic season seven on a show where people are just here because they're getting paid to be there. For me, that was kind of a big deal because I had just come off of a show -- Sarah Connor -- that I loved working on. It was a group of people who were so committed. Not since 90210 had I done a show that's gone on for seven years or even close to that. I didn't want to walk on set and have that feeling that I'm showing up ready to go home and Marcia [Cross] also just wants to go home. That wasn't the case. Marcia and I stepped into the very first scene and we have a very similar approach. We show up to knock it out of the park and do the best scene we can do. The reality is, if we make it the best scene we can make it, our day will be shorter. We go in and give it 110 percent. Marcia's fantastic. She loves what she's doing and loves being there. Everybody that works on the show is fantastic. It's a strange thing, it really is.
SheKnows: You've shared scenes with quite a few amazing actresses. I'm just curious how you found your volley with Marcia Cross.
Brian Austin Green: It's really just about finding the rhythm of the show. That's the biggest sort of obstacle as an actor coming into the show. The show is really specific. It's not really about finding the rhythm with the people as much as it's finding the rhythm of the show. You realize you have to trust Marc Cherry and not fight it.
SheKnows: It sounds like it's quite the inspiring experience for you as an actor.
Brian Austin Green: It is. It's been really challenging and really fun. Marcia pushes me and I push her. We really show up to have fun and do a good job. We really click well and we understand each other, I love her. She's amazing. She's really great. It's become a really fun relationship to have.
SheKnows: You've obviously been with shows from the very beginning. You've done a slew of guest spots. How does joining a show when it's a well-oiled machine differ for you, if it does at all, from something you're with from the beginning?
Brian Austin Green: It's a lot more intimidating going into. When I showed up for the first table read for Desperate Housewives, I was definitely intimidated because they've been together for so long and they all know each other so well. This cast and set in particular is really just fantastic. It's an amazing crew. Everybody that works on the show -- they have fun. They really have a good time working. It's very welcoming for anyone. I felt at home pretty quickly, but sometimes on a set that's been going for so long, it becomes cliquey. But that wasn't the case here.
Brian Austin Green looks back at 90210
SheKnows: I wanted to ask you a question about 90210 and looking back on it. It's still to this day something that people refer to in pop culture regularly, long after the show went off the air. What does it mean to you to be part of a show that had a huge pop culture impact?
Brian Austin Green: I honestly don't look back on it that way -- because it didn't impact me in that way. It impacted me in a completely different way.
SheKnows: Interesting.
Brian Austin Green: I think for the people on the show -- for us we drove to work every morning in Van Nuys and went to our little stage and shot our show and then drove home. So as crazy as it was for the outside world watching it, for us it was this really tiny small little experience. It only seemed crazy when we were away from it, when we would go and do appearances and meet fans and do things like that. For me personally, it was an incredible learning and growing experience. I was 17 when the show started and 27 when it finished. It was pretty crazy to think that such a large portion of my life was spent in Van Nuys, California, shooting a show about daily life [laughs]. It became a bit mundane. We'd go to set and shoot a show about kids our age living a normal life and then I'd go home and live a normal life. It wasn't as magical for me as it was for people watching, but it was a great experience. I look back on it and have amazing friends that are like family now because of that and I speak to them all the time.
SheKnows: Now lastly, on Desperate Housewives, guest actors can at times have an end date, characters die or move on. On a show that is as unpredictable as this, do you just focus on what's in front of you that day or do you worry about where your character will be next year?
Brian Austin Green: Yes, it's a little different on this one because there's always that looming question -- how long am I going to be here? I wonder how long my character's going to be on this show. I'll sit around every once in a while and think, "I wonder what's coming up next." If Keith's going away, I wonder how it's going to happen and wonder where he's going and wonder why. But, I do have to be honest -- we have some really good things coming up for the two of them, Bree and my character.
