Joshua Jacksons foray into dark drama was never by design.
Murder, adultery, drug addictionI had the whole basket of bad things.
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JOSHUA JACKSON:It certainly wasnt by intention.
Disney/Tina Thorpe
It was on a case-by-case, project-by-project basis.
And I love that stuff.
I dont mind stretching the dramatic muscle, as well.
Joshua Jackson, Phillipa Soo and Sean Teale in ‘Doctor Odyssey’ABC
DEADLINE: DidDoctor Odysseycome to you as a script or as a concept?
JACKSON:As an idea.
Ryan reached out, and obviously you take that call.
The whole point is, Come with us.
Were going to sail away, were going to be silly, funny, dramatic, sometimes action-packed.
DEADLINE: Its likeLove Boat, but bonkers.
JACKSON:Yeah, exactly.
Its likeLove Boat, if you ran it through Ryan Murphys mind.
DEADLINE: Are there professional challenges in it that wouldnt occur to us?
Other than that, no.
He is like, I dont really care about the specifics of the words.
Its a ton of fun to do that.
It is harder sometimes to find lightness in a moment.
I guess that is the challenge, but everybody here is engaged by it.
Im engaged by it.
DEADLINE: Also, theres talk of a Broadway episode.
I am the core advocate.
DEADLINE: Do the rest of you sing?
JACKSON:I sing loudly all the time, but its nothing that anybody wants to hear.
I think Ill leave it in the hands of the professionals.
But Pippa, now she cansingsing.
Did that time have a profound effect on your life as well?
JACKSON:Yes, in an unexpected way.
JACKSON:Oh, no.
I fully understand Maxs reasoning.
My life is a perfect example.
I dont even have to be dying to know this, thank God.
Would I be more excited if Covid hadnt happened and I went and did another job?
No, I would not, right?
I was forced to do that because we were all forced to do that.
But I think the origin story of Max, for this show, makes sense.
I think thats a really human thing.
DEADLINE: What have you learned from working with Phillipa, Sean Teale and Don Johnson?
Its truly a joy.
With Don its really just sitting and listening to the stories.
I can listen to that man tell the stories about his life for the rest of my life.
And I really appreciate that.
I really just appreciate someone whos there to do it without any pretense.
Its a lovely gang, and I think you could see that on camera.
I think it translates how much we enjoy working with each other.
JACKSON:Well, if youre going to go there, go all the way there, I guess.
[Laughs] I was a little surprised.
Ryan told us early on that we would be doing a threesome, so we all knew it.
But I was really proud of it.
Unless thats your kink, and no judgements.
I thought we did a good job with that scene.
DEADLINE: Its also interesting, the way the male support plays out.
JACKSON:Yeah, I love that because one, I think its really true.
Ill just solve it.
We get to the solution and then we dont have to deal with the problem.
Heres what we do, step by step by step by step by step.
And if you want to talk it out, well talk it out.
If you dont want to talk about it at all, we wont talk about it at all.
DEADLINE: Before we go, can we talk aboutKarate Kid: Legendsthat you are in next?
What drew you to that?
Daddy, what do you do for a living?
Well, Ill tell you when youre in college.
DEADLINE: What was that experience like?
He loves the original movies.
DEADLINE: Do you get to go at it?
Thats all I can tell you.
