Another video interview was posted at french channel TF1’s site. Because it’s geo-blocked for people outside of France (boo!), I uploaded it to Youtube.
The video can be watched at the source here: Justin Chambers « Alex et Jo, la famille risque de s’agrandir !» or below.
In this video, Justin discusses the evolution of Alex and his relationship with Jo. Also, Justin speaks a bit in french.
There have been quite a few interviews that have come out over the last couple of weeks from the ABC Studios press tour, but they’re mostly in french. I’ll try translating them and posting sometime. In the meantime, here is one from Portuguese newspaper, Metro.
Justin Chambers
For almost 11 years he’s played the role of Dr. Alex Karev in “Grey’s Anatomy”. We sat down with the actor in London where he explained his motivations.
“I have gained Alex’s mannerisms”
How does an actor stay motivated to play the same character for 10 or 11 years?
That’s a good question, because I don’t know! Maybe a check and knowing you have a job? But more seriously: in “Grey’s Anatomy” we have a lot of people coming in and leaving, even in each episode. I think I inspire myself in the way they commit, by the freshness they bring. The characters that Shonda [Rhimes, creator of the show] wrote have the necessary flaws to keep the show interesting. It’s like if you asked me: “Why do viewers keep watching the show?” It also goes for us actors: if we seem to be interested, it’s because it must be interesting.
Are you still surprised by the scripts you get?
Sure. A few seasons ago Alex ratted Meredith out in a specific situation. I told Shonda that I didn’t think my character was capable of committing that kind of betrayal. It didn’t seem like him! So we both sat down and agreed on: “We’ll get him drunk, because people do stupid things when they drink.” It really is like that: there are things that we might not understand, but what my character does can affect Arizona and then Callie…
All characters have a narrative arc. After a decade as Alex Karev, what is the narrative arc of your life?
My God… it’s a decade. I stopped being an actor that didn’t know where he would be or what he would do next to having a steady job for ten years. From that moment on, I started having structure and stability in my life. A lot happened during that time: my grandparents passed away, my parents got older, I have five kids and one of them is in college now… they were babies when we started doing the show. Today I live more peacefully. I have stability, I can relax, provided I have imagination.
Do you think your personality mixes a lot with Alex’s?
I don’t think so. I feel like I’m different… depends on the personality, but I know I would react differently to several things. Alex’s upbringing is rougher than mine and I’m more humble than he is. But without a doubt it’s very strange to play a character for such a long time and I myself have gained some of his mannerisms, like the cadence or the way he speaks.
As an actor, do you fear that at the end, you’ll be very connected to this character? Will you have to have double the work to separate yourself from this character?
Possibly. I used to have that fear. I’ve been to auditions where I felt like it wasn’t Justin, but Alex doing the audition! I think at the end I’ll have to go back to having acting classes again. But I believe I’m more versatile than this!
We’re going to have an eleventh season of “Grey’s Anatomy”. Because the show is based on emotions and human conflict, I believe that will continue. Do you already know what we can expect next season?
I have no idea! I don’t know if he’ll be in conflict with the situation of assuming a place on the hospital board or accepting the proposal to go into private practice. I think that will be the conflict. We start filming in about a month and the new season airs in September!
