UTF-8 Justin Chambers Online » Justin Interview + Sandra Oh Posts a Halloween Party Photo
Justin Chambers Online

EST 2007 | The Best Justin Chambers Source for 12 Years
11/01/2014

Sandra Oh posted on Twitter a photo from the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Halloween Party held last Saturday. Check it out:

 
An interview with Justin came out a few weeks ago in a Portuguese newspaper. It can be read online at the following link: Justin Chambers: ‘Sou o género de pessoa que faz as coisas mal’

For those who don’t speak portuguese, the interview is translated below. In it, Justin talks about Grey’s Anatomy, Lindsay Wagner and a bit about his kids.

Justin Chambers: “I’m the kind of person who gets things wrong”

Chambers is, for ten seasons, the impulsive Dr. Alex Karev on Grey’s Anatomy. In a mini-interview to a small group of journalists in London, the actor told how stability allowed him to see his five children grow up. With the departure of Cristina Yang (played by Sandra Oh) it’s assumed that Dr. Karev may have more protagonism. The new season launched on Fox Life on October 9th.

You are one of the key characters and you’ve been on the show since the beginning. Is it very important for the older characters to remain after ten seasons?
Yes, but it’s important to have new assets. Early on, the show gained a multitude of viewers and now this younger generation has also brought in other viewers. There are 13, 14-year-old kids that come to me and say they watch the show and I’m sure this has a lot to do with these younger actors. But we must see that this is a show in which people have invested a lot in the characters over 10, 11 years, and are still interested in the work they do because the ratings are very high for a product that has lasted so long. And the production has made it a point to make an effort to keep all the actors who want to stay on the show. And I like that security and to be able to continue to work with these people.


What do you think keeps the mystique of Grey’s Anatomy?
There are a lot of elements, but I think the most relevant is sex. And also the medical part. There’s nothing more dramatic and drama-worthy than the conflict between life and death. And there are all these patients coming into the hospital that we have to deal with. It’s something we also have to deal with in real life, in many ways. The side of the hospital staff having to deal with patients and accident victims and the fact that there is almost always a lesson to be drawn from the development of the episode is very interesting and addictive to the viewer.

Over the years your character has evolved, as it happens to anyone in real life. Have you given advice on the development of your character?
Once in a while. Alex’s past has always intrigued me. I have always wanted them to bring his past to light, and not just verbally. And they invited James Remar – who is a fantastic actor and was incredible in the role – to play Alex’s father. And to see that story investigated and him making peace with his father was very interesting to play. That was the only thing I’ve bothered the screenwriters to write. And I think there’s more to unearth about Alex’s past. There’s his mother and brother, and a sister who may appear in the next season.

Are you very critical of your character?
Maybe I’m the type to form opinions and judge. In the beginning, I judged him a lot, but he was a little more two-dimensional. But now that I’m older, I understand him. And as the story progressed we saw the reason for him being like he is and it helps to see – literally see, and not just hear – that he came from a broken home and he doesn’t know how to commit and all that. And now that I have that data, I don’t judge him as harshly.

After ten seasons, Grey’s Anatomy continues to be a mandatory reference. What were your references as a kid?
Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman and The Incredible Hulk.

Didn’t you work with Lindsay Wagner [star of Bionic Woman] recently?
Yes, I did. I was very excited. I went to a month long theatre course that she gave in Los Angeles. And you could tell that she and the other people there were asking themselves what the hell I was doing there. But the truth is that playing a character for ten years, with the same kind of dialogue, can give us some points, but on the other hand we need to get back to our acting roots. Sometimes we need to get back to the basics.

But is it weird being in a room with a person you had a crush on?
Yes, very. But we became friends; I call her once in a while. And it’s weird for me to say this, because as an actor I should know better than anyone else: she is very different from the characters she plays. She is very intelligent and spiritual.

Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the show, likes very dramatic finales likes catastrophes or accidents. What do you think of these type of solutions?
Killing everyone can be really unpleasant. But then she also has very subtle outcomes. It’s Shonda’s writing. She is able to create these extraordinary characters full of flaws that a person follows and wants to know what will happen to them. Or amazing action scenes such as the bombing, for example.

Do your five kids see you as Dr. Alex Karev or do they recognize you as dad?
For them I am dad, quite simply. But they grew up watching me on the show, so I don’t think they think about it a lot. When they come to the set, which is very rare now, they only want ice cream and to walk around. My daughter I am sure wants to see Jesse Williams [Jackson Avery in the show]. Cute guy with blue eyes. Working on a show like this has been super beneficial for me, because I can balance work with the kids. While many actors don’t know what they will be doing next month or have to travel a lot, I have been home. We spend 11 months a year at home and during a month travel anywhere together. And on the other hand, being an actor and not having to worry about the electricity bill has been very good too.

Do you have any memorable blooper or something that went horribly wrong?
I’m the kind of person who gets things wrong. But I have a problem, almost like Tourette’s syndrome, in that when I can’t pronounce certain words I start swearing. At the end of the seasons, the film crew gathers it all and show me. Which is pretty awful.



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