USA Network‘s new drama Necessary Roughness premieres this week, and we caught up with star Callie Thorne to hear about her role as Dr. Dani, a therapist who begins to take on high-profile clients just as her own life is falling apart.
On what attracted her to the role:
“Initially the fact that it was a true story and that it was based on a real woman, a real extraordinary woman, is why I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the script and read it in the first place. Because to me that automatically means that a story’s going to be that much more rich and that much more layered. You know if Dr. Donna is there, especially in the writing room, it just means that everything’s going to be that much more true, that much more grounded. And I was right, I read the script and it felt so honest and based out of a real kind of truth. . . . Because there’s a spirit about her that fills up the entire page, which then makes it that much easier to go ahead and get in front of the camera and try to tell her story.”
On how she identifies with her character and the real-life Dr. Donna:
“I think that the thing I most connect with is the idea of not giving up. You know it’s something that Dr. Dani, and obviously Dr. Donna, works on with her patients in therapy. You know, the bottom line really is to not give up on yourself, and that’s an ongoing thing that I have in my own life, that you have to trust your instincts and just keep trying. And if you come up against a brick wall, you’ve just got to figure out which way you want to go up or around. It’s all about the attempt and that’s what I connect with, that not only is she trying to teach people that herself but it’s a daily lesson and it’s a daily exercise for me.”
On the dynamic and a potential love triangle between Dani, trainer Matt, and fixer Nico:
“It’s kind of a delightful accident that happened during the pilot – not necessarily that we weren’t meant to enjoy the relationship between Nico and Dr. Dani, but I think that after all was said and done and the show was put together, because the relationship is so different between she and Matt and she and Nico that it does set it up for a delicious place for there to be a possible triangle. And the way things have been going – not that there’s flirting going on between Dani and Nico, but that there is an energy between them. . . . They find each other interesting. . . . I like that they’re letting us play with that a little bit because I think that while there is the fascinating part of the Matt and Dani role, it takes it a little bit further than the formula to have there also be the questions of Dani and Nico. And whether that would become a romantic relationship or he would become someone like a confidant to her – I think that’s what’s going to come into play.”
On her favorite client so far:
“Well, my favorite client’s always going to be TK because he’s the first. You know, it’s always going to be Mehcad Brooks’ character, even though in each episode so far, . . . the stories have been so great and so out of the box . . . a professional poker player, professional skateboarder, a race car driver, a war reporter – there’s no end to the variety of these characters that are going to come to her for help. But I think TK’s always going to have this special spot in her heart . . . He will always be the sort of constant patient.”
On her ideal guest stars from other USA Network shows:
“Oh, I want to bring all of them. I want to bring Mark [Feuerstein] from Royal Pains, I want to bring Matt [Bomer] from White Collar, I want Jeffrey Donovan over here, I want Gabrielle Anwar, I want them all. I want them all to have a problem . . . They can come as their characters, and they all come to me and I think that that would be a really good idea. Not only for me but for the audiences as well.”
We certainly agree that the other USA Network characters could use some therapy. In the meantime, tune in at 10/9c on Wednesday July 29th for the premiere of Necessary Roughness!
Photo Courtesy of USA Network
