|INTERVIEW| Bruno Heller: Teresa Lisbon is essential (2010)

Translation of a French Interview to Bruno Heller, The Mentalist Creator- 2010.


Thanks to @RfewTimeT for providing the scans. (Bottom)
Credit for the translation: robingreenshades.blogspot.com


Teresa Lisbon is essential
Bruno Heller, the series' creator...


Every week, between 8 and 9 million viewers hang on this story of a fake medium who helps the police. We've spoken to Bruno Heller, the brain of The Mentalist, who talks about his heroes: the seductive Patrick Jane and the irresistible Teresa Lisbon.


Very busy with the shooting of the third season, Bruno Heller, The Mentalist creator, has accepted to talk to us on the phone. A nice voice, with an English accent, who enamel his answers with some French idioms. This screenwriter has become a master, finding great success with the series "Rome" and "The Mentalist".


Q: Can you tell us why The Mentalist's name is Patrick Jane?
BH: Hello! This is the first time that someone asks me this question, and this needs to be developed. Primarily, Patrick is a good old Irish name and I adore it. Moreover, his surname -Jane- is a woman's name, an aspect that I wanted to sneak in his identity, because his personality is gracious and seductive. Lastly, in English, Jane is pronounced "jaine", like an ascetic religion that extol the virtues of the
nonviolence. The Mentalist likes better other tools to reach his goals.


Q: While writing the first draft, were you already thinking about Simon Baker?
BH: No, I didn't know him. During the casting, he arrived with a list of five-six actors submitted by CBS. He had the grace I was looking for. But I had an hard time to persuade him to sign on for six years.


Q: What did win him? The number of zeros on his check?
BH: Oh no! Paradoxically, Simon loved the idea of devoloping and refining the character in the course of the series.


Q: The fact that you're English and he's Australian, did it have an impact?
BH: Without a doubt, during the shooting. English and Australian people have the same kind of humor, which is also one of the series' trade mark.


Q: And what if Simon was French?
BH: Well, it would have worked the same way, your sense of humor is very close to our humor. I think I should hire also a French actor!


Q: The Mentalist will last until the sixth season, as initially planned?
BH: You see, everything's fragile in the show-business...


Q: Does Simon know the conclusion?
BH: Yes. Just a small circle knows. I try to reveal just the essential.


Q: The arrest or the death of Red John will determine the end of the series?
BH: For me, yes. There will be no follow-up or spin-off.


Q: Robin Tunney, who plays Teresa Lisbon, Patrick Jane's boss, will be on the series until the end?
BH: It would be difficult without her. My wife and Simon Baker's wife adore her! This character, who is often understimated, is essential to balance the series. She enbodies the normality, she is down-to-earth. She is nice, while having her flaws. She is torn between her role of boss, who has to straighten out Jane's behaviour, and her admiration, her affection, even her love for him.


Q: Internet has different theories regarding Red John's identity. Do you take them into consideration for future episodes?
BH: I prefer not to read fans' websites. But the writers and me, we take inspiration from "l'air du temps" (what trends). It can be something we talk about with our friends, or even with the media, like you...


Q: Are you spreading clues about Red John's indentity?
BH: Yes. But we're also sneaking in some false clues. Fans will have enough elements to find the solution before the end of the last episode.


Q: Is it true that you took inspiration for the idea behind the series from your wife Miranda, who is obsessed with mediums?
BH: Obsessed is a bit too much. She likes to consult them, since you can find these people everywhere. To me, it's just deception, but Miranda has pulled me into this secret universe, and I'm interested to explore it during the series.


Q: You don't believe in mediums' psychic powers?
BH: No. I think those are all con artists. And Patrick Jane should be the first of them all. He doesen't have any superhuman power.


Q: Have you ever been contacted by a medium willing to prove his abilities?
BH: Never. I think they're afraid to be unmasked.


Q: Yet in the US, local police often uses mediums for the investigations...
BH: Yes, but just because they feel the pressure of the public opinion. When they aren't able to find a missing person, it's difficult for the sheriff of a small town to refuse help, wherever this help is coming from. But there's no certificated example of a medium or mentalist helping the FBI or national police.


Q: In the series "Lie To Me", a psychiatrist is able to detecte the suspects' lies. Who would win, between him and Patrick Jane?
BH: Jane, without a doubt! I adore Tim Roth, but his character has a limited capacity in detecting lies. Jane is able to do that, and he's also a master liar himself. He constantly manipulates suspects and his CBI collegues.


Q: Is it true that you found inspiration in Charlot for his character?
BH: Charlot, Buster Keaton... That came most from Simon. His game resides on gestuality. He took as example two geniuses of this genre. And you can see this on screen, right?


Interview by Frédérick Rapilly


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Special thanks: @RfewTimeT & @RobinTunneyBlog
Source: Scan1 (french), Scan2 (french), Robin's Green Shades

|NEWS| Simon Baker on the Hollywood the Walk of Fame

Simon Baker has been selected along 23 other celebrities to receive a star on the Hollywood's Walk of Fame on 2013.

You can read the full press release on the link below.


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Source: @FansVoyage & Hollywood Walk of Fame

|PROMO| The Mentalist, New Night, Old Enemy

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Source: Chizuruchibi, CBS that blocks everything

|NEWS| Bruno Heller teases season five

TVG article week June 6-10, 2012
The Mentalist “Will they ever catch Red John”

Patrick Jane staged an elaborate trap for the serial slayer Red John, but the whole thing back fired when the Feds moved in and inadvertently killed CBI boss Luther Wainwright. Still executive producer Bruno Heller swears progress is being made, thanks to the capture of Red John’s accomplice, Lorelei Martins. “This will help lead Jane and the CBI to some really important, concrete facts about Red John next season.” Heller says.

“There will be a cascade of information – how he operates, who’s with him and who isn’t, and what his game really is.” How can we over look Jane’s escalading lawlessness, especially after he buried a man alive? “He got away with shooting a man in cold blood at a shopping mall this time last year.” Heller notes “His charm and his abilities will certainly get him past this.”


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Credit for the transcription to Tia from simonizecomau.proboards.com
Special thanks to: Robin's Green Shades
Source: Tv Guide

|NEWS| Robin Tunney goes to Japan to promote The Mentalist (May 21st)

There are a lot of pictures of Robin and her hosts in our sister website, Robin's Green Shades. You can see them on her gallery.


PART ONE.



Source: SuperdramaTVofficial

PART TWO



Source: SuperdramaTVofficial


Another video who was released earlier and has summarized the event.



Special thanks to: @aoyuduki
Source: moviecollectionjp

|INTERVIEW| Emmanuelle Chriqui, Simon Baker about Season Finale

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Source: etonline.com, Tidlee1

|INTERVIEW| Bruno Heller talks Season 4 finale and Season 5

Get that limo! Get that limo! But that dastardly Red John outsmarted Patrick Jane again in the season 4 finale, having used a decoy to fool the CBI team. Worry not: EW.com has an interview with The Mentalist creator Bruno Heller, who wrote tonight’s episode, answering burning questions about the finale, sharing thoughts about Red John’s identity, and giving hints as to what fans can expect next season and beyond (could The Mentalist suffer the same abrupt conclusion as CSI: Miami?).



Entertainment Weekly: You got to jailbreak Patrick Jane from the constraints of the CBI. Bet you had fun writing this one.
Bruno Heller: It was a laugh. These last few episodes of the season are always a challenge and a laugh because you get to break out of that CBI prison.


I particularly liked the first scene at the bar, I thought that was very well done.

That’s the other thing. Simon [Baker] takes such joy in being able to stretch that character, to take it to the edge of the character. It’s great fun for the actors as well.



Red John’s accomplices don’t tend to survive long in custody. Given the ending, are we to expect this one (played by Emmanuelle Chriqui from Entourage) to stick around?

They’re like Spinal Tap drummers, aren’t they? Yes, I hope so.




In the first season I thought Red John was just a serial killer. But he’s evolved to be more of a Moriarty-type villain with this web of other people under him and lots of money. Can you give me your sense of how you see the character?

The character is consistent in the sense that he has grown with time. He’s a bit like anyone who’s very successful at what they do, this superstructure grows up around you. Over time, he’s evolved as you say, from a serial killer to something more than that. I hate to use this analogy, and it may be an inaccurate one, but it’s like an actor. You start out by saying lines, then as you move up the ladder you start to think you’re more than a simple human being. Power attracts power and this is how great criminal psychopaths get power.


There’s this smart line near the start of the third act of Seven, where the audience is warned that when we meet the film’s serial killer, there’s no way he’s going to live up to our expectations. He’s just a man. Has that concerned you, building up the villain for so long that it can’t top expectations?

Sure, if season 5 we just opened a door and said “tah-dah!” and it was some mid-range actor, that would be disappointing. The trick is going to be — and this is coming — bringing the audience along and making them second guess themselves and ask, “Is that him? Is that him?” Red John ultimately is just a man — whenever you see the great criminals reduced to the flesh it’s sort of disappointing. I have two seasons or so to make it come true. I can guarantee that people will be disappointed.


Will you cast Red John next season?

Will I cast him? He might already have been cast. You might already have seen him.


So chances are when Red John is revealed, it will be somebody we already know rather than a “tah-dah” walking-out-of-the-fog moment.

Yes, it would be very disappointing if we did that and it was Nigel Lythgoe or something. I suppose if we could get Elvis Presley to come back we’d do it that way.


I thought Bradley Whitford did a good job as a faux Red John in last year’s finale.

He had a lot of fun doing it. It’s not quite sacrilegious, but verging on it, pretending to be Red John. I think we got away with it, the audience came with us on that one.


What else can we expect next season?

As you see at the end of last episode, it’s not that Jane is No More Mr. Nice Guy, but we’re certainly going to see a little more of that hard darker side of him. That’s one of Simon Baker’s great assets as an actor, he can play both charming and dark at the same time. The show is not going to turn into a much darker show, but that character will show more of those colors. We’re getting closer to the meat of what the show is about.


There’s a Sherlock Holmes show this fall, a character that inspired The Mentalist. Fox has a new show called The Following about a serial killer who creates a cult of serial killers. Were you like, “Hey, there’s already a show about all this!”

There’s room for any number of shows along these lines because it’s a universally beloved genre. I hear the Sherlock Holmes show [CBS' Elementary] is very good and I look forward to seeing it.


CSI: Miami was canceled after a decade on the air without the producers having time to write a series finale. Have you been reassured by CBS that you’ll get to have a final-season arc?

There’s no assurances in this business. It’s the job of myself and everybody else on this show to keep it working as well as it does to ensure we get that final arc. A show that’s been running this long with the degree of success it’s had, we’ll know well in advance of that sort of outcome and we’ll adjust accordingly. I’m not concerned about that.


Assuming you’re fortunate enough to get a “final season” heads-up, have you considered throwing out the crime-of-the-week format and turning your show into a serialized drama about Jane chasing Red John?

It’s a good question. Most writers would rather write serialized drama because it allows you to explore [the characters] in depth. If it seemed that’s what the audience wanted, we’d consider going there. But I think the audience so far is coming to us because it’s a procedural detective show and I’d be loath to break faith with that deal. I think you can have your cake and eat it, and we have.


Any thoughts about moving to Sunday nights in the fall?

I’ve always left that side of things to the experts who know what they’re doing. And more to the point, if I thought making a fuss would make any difference then I would feel differently. But there’s aspects of this job you don’t have control over. Our audience will follow us and hopefully we’ll also find a different audience than we found on Thursday nights.


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Source: insidetv.ew.com & Robin's Green Shades

|SNEAK PEEK| 4.23 - The Crimson Hat

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Source: SpoilerTV

|NEWS| CBS moves The Mentalist to Sunday nights

CBS released the fall schedule for 2012/13 and for Season 5 The Mentalist says goodbye to Thursdays and hello to Sundays. The show will be airing at 10PM after The Good Wife. The Sherlock Homes update Elementary will get The Mentalist's old spot on Thursdays at 10/9c.

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Source: CBS and TV Guide.

We just don't know yet if CBS wants to kill the show or they're just incredible dumb. So, with all the respect, fuck you CBS.

|PROMO| 4.24 - The Crimson Hat - CBS 2

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Source: TheRedBlog.