Jack Stehlin stars at Captain Roy Till on the Showtime Channel's hit series Weeds. He shared a 2009 Screen Actor's Guild nomination with the cast and is on the way for more success with the new season. He hashed it out with Windy City Times about what brought him to Weeds.
Windy City Times: Hi, Jack! You live in L.A., correct?
Jack Stehlin: Yes, and you are in Chicago. I love Chicago. My in-laws live in Naperville. I will be there for the Fourth of July. I hope to catch some blues and walk through the museums. I played the Goodman Theatre there.
WCT: What play was that?
JS: That was Six Characters in Search of an Author, we had traveled all over the world on tour with that show.
WCT: How is it going with Weeds?
JS: Fantastic. Talk about an actor's dream. I get to work with the most smart, funny writing, and the best actors that you could hope to be with.
WCT: Tell me about working with Mary Louise Parker.
JS: She's a pro. She just comes onto that set and nails it. I am always amazed by her. She carries the show. The work you have to do to be a lead …
WCT: Does she need a lot of takes or is she just that real from the start?
JS: Every once in a while she will ask to do it again. But she gets it almost every time. Elizabeth Perkins [ who plays Celia ] hits it also. I try to come up to that level. When you work with people like that you have to rise to the occasion.
WCT: The show is so popular.
JS: I wasn't on the first season but the show already had such a buzz for being a new take on a half hour comedy. People turned on to it more and more. The opening of last season was the largest audience for them ever.
WCT: What is your role this season?
JS: When last season ended, my character was set on revenge and that's going to play out for me on this season. With Weeds writers, they pride themselves on thinking of things no one will think of.
WCT: How many more seasons will there be?
JS: I heard rumors of one or two more. At least one more after this one.
WCT: What inspired you to audition for a gay character?
JS: My story on the show was a charmed one. I went in there for a one day guest star. It was only five or seven lines. One of the writers turned out to be a former student of mine. He was part of the theater company that I have in L.A. called Circus Theatricals. He was instrumental in getting my character to be written to stay longer.
WCT: So, let be a lesson for people to not burn bridges, you never know what's going to happen.
JS: You better believe it!
WCT: I love the fact that your character is not stereotypical.
JS: No, he's not. He's out there. Weeds has been really cool to develop this character and get familiar with him. It's been really great.
WCT: Well, we look forward to seeing what happens this year.
The fifth season has started running on Showtime; go to www.sho.com for details.
