BREAKING IN: Christian Slater Talks Returning to TV for Laughs

Debuting his new comedy series Breaking In, Christian Slater shared in a conference call with NiceGirlsTV what continues to draw him to such a variety of television roles and his hopes for his new series on Fox. Playing an independent security consultant who employs a rag-tag group of social manipulators — aka con artists and thieves — in order to test various companies’ security systems, Christian plays Oz – the man behind the curtain. This is a new role for Christian whose last two forays into television included the drama series The Forgotten (an ex-cop helping track down missing persons) and My Own Worst Enemy (a spy living a double-life).

Taking a break from the weighty dramatic fare and opting to stretch his comedic acting chops, Christian heads a cast of entertaining actors, including Bret Harrison (best known for his work on the short-lived series Reaper), Alphonso McAuley, Trevor Moore and Odette Annabele – and with a fine guest-starring appearance by Michael Rosenbaum in the pilot as well. Being a half-hour comedy series, Breaking In smartly relies on its cast as a source of amusement and lively entertainment. Each is a force of personality and carry the comedy on a wave of enthusiasm.

Sharing what drew him to the role of Oz, Christian explained that executive producer Doug Robinson had seen some of Christian’s recent comedy work, including appearances on The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and he presented Christian with the opportunity to create a character from the ground up. That was appealing to Christian who liked the idea of bringing such a character to life. He revealed, “It was something new — it was something different. It was something that certainly feels more geared towards my strengths and things that I really do enjoy doing . . . [and] I definitely prefer doing comedy. I think comedy is vital in our world. I think it’s very, very important and we need as many excuses to laugh and be jolly at this particular time.”

It also offered another chance to crack into the television world and that appealed as well. Christian explained, “I like the consistency of it . . . [and] I like the pace of it. With the first two experiences I had, I really did respond well to the schedule. It’s a very, very fast moving train. I don’t like sitting around. I really like to get in there and do the job and get it done and feel good about it at the end of the day, and that pretty much seems to be the vibe on all the sets that I’ve gotten to be a part of.”

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In addition to the chance to do television and comedy, the role was an open arena. The more layers Christian pulls back, he is discovering what makes Oz tick. Christian shared, “I like the fact that [Oz] is an eight-moves ahead kind of guy . . . he pretty much knows what the outcomes are going to be right from the get-go, which I really appreciated and I like . . . It’s nice to have characters like that on TV. It makes people feel safe and comfortable — even though it’s a made up character it still makes people feel safe that there’s somebody out there like that, potentially.” He laughingly added, “I like that he’s in charge. I like that he likes to have fun, that he doesn’t really take things all that seriously and he’s just kind of a guy—a very mysterious guy, and there’s definitely a lot more going on beneath the surface than he’s revealing.”

While the pilot thrusts the audience right into the middle of Oz’s world without explaining how he got into this particular type of business, the show may slowly reveal Oz’s back-story. In the pilot, the story plays out through the eyes of Bret Harrison’s character, Cameron, who is reluctantly recruited to work for Oz’s security company. Christian, trying to explain Oz’s motivation, said, “[Oz] is at a particular moment of need . . . [and] I like the fact that he has the ability to kind of find these little diamonds in the rough — these people with these great skills that aren’t really using them to their full and utmost potential. He picks these people, like Cameron’s character who’s a brilliant computer hacker, and really gives him the opportunity to kind of flourish and have fun and sort of point his skills in a particular direction where they could have gone down a darker path. Now he’s getting the opportunity to break the law, legally.”

As for Oz’s story, well, that remains a mystery for now as Christian teased, “Of course [executive producer Adam Goldberg] made me swear to secrecy about it all so I can’t say anything really about Oz’s true past but it certainly gripped me and I found it very interesting.”

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Also adding another layer of insight into why he chose to play Oz, Christian admitted, “I love characters with edge — I love characters that are a little bit more dangerous, a little bit unpredictable. I think they’re just fun to play. They’re definitely more interesting than just your standard, run-of-the-mill action-y type hero. I love just being these guys that are a little offbeat and a little twisted, and just a little dangerous.” In fact, he sees Oz as, “A guy who, at times, has to rule with a bit of an iron fist because he is dealing with a large group of misfits that he’s assembled, but my personal feeling is that he’s definitely got a heart of gold. I think he loves everyone that he’s chosen to surround himself with.”

When it was noted that there is a significant piece of sci-fi history showcased in the pilot, namely Captain Kirk’s chair from Star Trek, Christian confessed, “A buddy of mine had gotten me that chair for a birthday present about a year ago, so it was really just sitting in my house and I really liked it and I just thought this chair would represent, in a way, who this Oz character is.” He further explained, “Oz is definitely the captain of this particular ship. It does have a throne-like quality and it also has a little bit of a throwback-type quality as well. I’m a fairly eccentric character myself and the fact that these guys were so open to hiring people and including a lot of their own personal eccentricities into the characters was thrilling.”

Thus, after reading the script and sitting down with the producers, Christian admitted that his reaction was along the lines of, “Oh boy — well this is pretty exciting. If we can actually pull off getting the Captain Kirk chair in the show that would be wondrous!”

Another personal item that Christian brought to the set is the book that sits beside the Captain Kirk chair, which he sheepishly admitted was a prop he stole from one of his earlier films 1986’s, The Name of the Rose. Like everything on the show, it too has Easter-egg significance, Christian explained, and more will be revealed about that particular item as well.

While the show has only filmed 7 episodes, before its first season finale airs on May 18th, each of the characters on Breaking In will be explored in order to give the audience insight into who each is and why they were recruited to be a part of Oz’s special team. Christian added, “It’s very much like Star Trek: they had a five-year mission to explore strange new worlds – [and] Oz has a five-year plan and he’s hired each of these people for very specific reasons.”

Talking about his comedic co-stars, Bret Harrison and Alphonso McAuley, Christian was effusive in complimenting them, saying, “I definitely felt like [Bret and Alphonso] were setting the bar very, very high — and if I didn’t show up and be as prepared as I could possibly be then I would definitely fall behind with the timing and the comic genius that they possess.”

Finally, reflecting back on his lengthy and varied career, Christian admitted that this role may be the zaniest he has portrayed yet, explaining, “When I started my career I definitely did movies like Heathers, which was certainly a black comedy and very, very twisted in a lot of ways. So, in a certain respect this is a little bit of a nod and a wink to, I think, some of the earlier things that I started off doing.”

But, for right now, Christian is pleased with this great opportunity to show-off his comedy chops and have a bit of fun playing Oz. He happily shared, “I’m so happy and proud with the work everybody’s been doing and I’m telling you it just gets nuttier. . . It gets crazy. There’s a lot more going on beneath the surface as well.”

With that last bit of infectious enthusiasm, you are invited to tune-in for the premiere of Breaking In on Wednesday, April 6th at 9:30/8:30c, following American Idol on Fox.