article from delight!
Hit Men
By Greg Archer
James Roday and Dulé Hill have a comedic chemistry that’s right on target.
There is no doubt that onscreen, James Roday and Dulé Hill are one of those rare Hollywood duos that can capture lightning in a bottle. Jackie Gleason and Art Carney (The Honeymooners) did it. Jack Klugman and Tony Randall (The Odd Couple) harnessed it, too. And, to a wilder degree, so did Eric McCormack and Sean Hayes (Will & Grace). But grill the stars of the smash USA Network hit, Psych, about what they feel is the magic ingredient to creating one of the hottest teams on television today, and they’ll both agree it’s all about respect and friendship.
“I think we clicked real quick,” Roday says of his connection with Hill. “We have this very natural chemistry together.”
Hill agrees. “I also think we both respect each other as artists.”
But if their current success is rooted in their friendship, then the key to their tight friendship must be humor.
“James is a great actor and his comedic timing is unsurpassed right now,” Hill muses. “He’s up there with Steve Carell.”
Roday sighs. “I think Dulé is being too kind. I put myself up there with the likes of Pauly Shore, perhaps Jim Breuer. I can hold my own to those guys any day of the week!”
Laughter.
Then Hill, a grad from NBC’s West Wing, says he is more introspective and that Roday is more cerebral. But Roday quickly jokes that Hill is both more introspective and cerebral, which, actually, suggests that Roday may be neither, venturing down a completely different path.
And so it goes with the candid-dare we say, Psychically linked-headliners of Psych, a series, which after four seasons, continues to rank as cable’s most popular outings and, perhaps, the best evidence of late that male bonding is, indeed, alive and well and doing just fine-season five unfolds this summer.
The show finds Roday in the role of Shawn Spencer, working for the police after conning them into believing he uses Psychic powers to solve crimes. Hill morphs into Burton ‘Gus’ Guster, the perfect creative trampoline for Roday’s alter ego to bounce right off of. In fact, one of the reasons the series soared beyond initial expectations has a great deal to do with the combination of Roday’s dry wit and Hill’s ability to play the comedic straight man.
“From day one they hit it off,” says series creator Steve Franks. “They’re really fun, giving guys that can relate to each other. At the heart of it, they’re just really good people.”
Lately, all that good has been extending beyond the set of Psych. “Eventually, the whole idea is that we have some type of working friendship beyond Psych,” Hill reflects. “At some point, the show is going to end and we want our careers to keep crossing paths, one way or another-either with James writing something I am in, or me directing something he’s in, or with something we’re producing together,” says Hill.
Actually, the latter manifested earlier this year in the form of Extinction, an off-Broadway play in which the pair co-produced and Roday starred in with Michael Weston (House). Written by Gabe McKinley, the work chronicled the emotional ramifications felt by two college buddies whose annual weekend getaway suddenly turns sour. The play showed off Roday’s often-hidden deeper side and, with Hill also behind the scenes, proved that, together these two can also soar behind the cable universe.
“It would be wasteful not to team up [creatively] on other things,” Roday notes with sincerity, a trait the actor seems more comfortable exhibiting only after he cracks a joke. Hill is just the opposite-he tends to wear his heart on his sleeve and allows the playfulness to be lured out of him.
But there’s something about Roday’s sudden vulnerability that makes you wonder: Could it be the glue that keeps this dynamic duo so, well, dynamic? He goes on to confess that he and Hill have stellar “luck” and that he’s grateful to be part of a winning team, and how his union with Hill has, surprisingly, allowed him to reflect on his life, his craft and relationships in general.
“There are people that tell you comedy is hard and drama is easy, but the truth is, they both have their fair share of challenges; they’re just different,” Roday says. “I don’t consider comedy hard as much as I see it as trial by fire-being willing to take risks and fail miserably. But knowing that Dulé is there and going to have my back, whether it’s a good bit or lousy bit, and that he’ll go along with it and give it a chance …” Hill chimes in, “It makes the journey a lot easier.”
“Because the great thing with being part of a duo,” Roday adds, “is that you always have a parachute. If we bomb, we bomb together. If we soar, we soar-together.”
****
Dulé Hill
What inspires you most?
“My grandparents-those who came before me. And my nieces and nephews, those who came after me. I’m big into family. They are very close to my heart, especially those who come after me because it’s time to hold down my role as a mentor. That’s my inspiration.”
One of your biggest influences in life?
“Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Bros. He was the first tap dancer that I knew who would go off and act, which is what I wanted to do. And then, the older I got, the more I got to know Gregory Hines. At the age of 15, when I thought of goals, I looked to them. Gregory was my mentor. He was the one I called and asked questions about the business.”
Best advice you’ve been given about life?
“Such is life-it is what it is-and ‘this too shall pass.’ It puts things into perspective so that you won’t get caught up in circumstances.”
James Roday
What inspires you most?
“I’ve been pretty darn inspired by this ride on Psych. Every time we get greeted by large groups of fans … I mean, the idea that there are people out there being affected by your work and carving out an hour of their lives to come together, sometimes as a family, it’s pretty inspiring.”
The trick to balancing work and home with costar Maggie Lawson, whom you share a romantic partnership with in real life?
“Don’t know if there’s a trick because a lot of people have tried and a lot of people have failed. For us, I think we’re both levelheaded. We had an agreement, early on, that the show comes first. Psych existed before we existed as a couple and that philosophy has served us pretty well.”
Best advice you’ve been given about life?
“Never think that somebody owes you anything. The only person that owes you, is you.”
Source