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Getting to Oz Shooting Preparation Scenes On The Set General Opinion Preparation Fans DVD Nit-picking Random Facts GETTING TO OZ When Tom Fontana offered Chris the role of Keller, did not have any initial conversations about Keller and his role in Oz (Apr 29 2000). Chris says, "I knew Fontana and loved working on Homicide, so it was more than a job. I was working for friend I respected" (Sept 28 2003). For the final season of Oz, Chris says that it wasn't a matter of convincing him to return, "just juggling of SVU - Oz schedules. Also, the hue and cry from the fans didn't hurt" (June 8 2001). SHOOTING In response to a fan question, Chris gave this description of a typical shooting day on Oz: "Call times vary, but I start on average at 6 or 7. Oz is about TWELVE hour days, with a lot of hanging around and then rushing to get the shot" (June 12 2000). Of the seven days that it took to shoot an average Oz episode, Chris worked four or five of them, twelve hours a day (Apr 11 2000). He used to get about 5 minutes to rehearse a scene (Apr 21 2000). Given that he was filming another show at the same time, Chris said that he was happy that Oz generally only shot eight episodes per season (Apr 24 2000). PREPARATION Christopher was "barely" aware of the show before he became a part of the cast (Mar 7 2000). He saw the first season "once I got the job; I got the tapes to research where I was going. I don't think I connected with it in the same way as the fans" (Nov 14 2000). During the filming of the show, Chris watched the show "to study: make critical notes, sometimes enjoy, sometimes look to see how I could improve - it's work, but one of the most enjoyable parts of work" (Mar 7 2000). Even when Chris was no longer on Oz, he continued to watch the show (Apr 19 2001). When asked how he prepared for an emotionally draining scene and whether he received guidance from others on the set, Chris replied, "I've used the state secret shtick many times, but the reality is something like this is impossible for me to answer except for the second part. I rarely seek out advice, but if the director sees something I don't, then I may be open to tips. Anything Tom Fontana says I look forward to hearing, even when we disagree, which we have quite often" (Aug 20 2000). He later added that he was somewhat disappointed with some of his acting choices with respect to his character: "I can't honestly tell you which scenes or where. I just remember not having enough time to feel fully prepared. I don't like acting by the seat of my pants. I need a 'feeling' that only comes from sitting with scenes and a character for a while" (May 3 2005). SCENES For "sensitive" scenes, Christopher's attitude was "drop yer drawers, know what you wanna convey, roll the camera" (Dec 27 1999). Chris says that he and Lee found out their storyline on Oz "as we went along" (Apr 21 2000). One memorable twist in their storyline was the "Family Bizness" episode, which includes Keller-Beecher wrestling scenes and the breaking of Beecher's arms and legs. Chris says that he is "madly in love" with the episode's director, Kathy Bates, describing her as a "great, great director and person" (June 12 2000). Regarding his approach to the arm-and-leg breaking scene, Chris says, "Ya wanna make it emotionally real and physically safe" (May 22 2000). The grappling moves he used during that scene were "stuff I picked up working at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (Gracie style). Submission holds" (June 22 2003). When filming physical scenes, Chris advises, "You just gotta work it out - violent choreography. One guy cracked his head open on the camera once" (May 22 2000). The wrestling scenes in "Family Bizness" were choreographed by Doug Crosby, but, again, there wasn't much rehearsal; they just "got the basics down" (June 12 2000). Chris has said that it took two takes to film the infamous "bucket scene" in "A Word to the Wise" (Sept 28 2000). When asked how he could "screw up peeing," Chris replied, "A camera move screwed it up by not getting the composition of the shot right" (Nov 1 2001). That episode also was memorable for Keller's confession to Father Ray. Chris says, "I actually begged Tom to reshoot that scene because I was unhappy with my choices the first way I did it. Tom never reshoots - this time he did. God bless that man" (Aug 20 2000). Chris "got a kick out of" wearing lingerie for a scene in "Secret Identities" (June 12 2000) and was a little disappointed that Keller wasn't worked into any of the boxing scenes in Season 3 (Apr 11 2000). He also says that it took "three or four" takes to shoot the cock-grabbing scene in "A Cock and Balls Story" (Jan 12 2001). A fan asked why Keller was "strutting around" during the gunfire in that episode. Chris said this was the result of "different thoughts not brought together properly" (July 27 2000). In one episode, the cast arranged themselves as figures from Da Vinci's The Last Supper, copying their poses from the painting (Aug 9 2000); Chris said doing the scene was "great fun" (Aug 9 2000). A fan asked Chris to elaborate on scenes that were cut short that would have provided insights into Keller. Chris said he "thought it was a mistake" when the "cigarette smoking/hell scene in the pod" was cut short in "Works of Mercy" (Aug 23 2000) - even though he's refused to spell out exactly what was left out of that scene (Aug 29 2000). He also mentioned that "a Mukada scene was cut - I think because it already played out a beat we'd hit in another scene" (Aug 23 2000). Scenes were cut and dialogue rewritten for different reasons, including time constraints, because "sometimes the rhythm of the episode needed tweaking" and sometimes just because "the fat needed to be cut away from the meat" (Aug 29 2000). Christopher's favourite moments playing Keller were "kissing Beecher or any Rita stuff" (Mar 26 2000). The funniest thing that happened while playing Keller was that Chris "got aroused during a scene" (Mar 29 2002). And no, he's not telling which scene it was (Apr 4 2002) and has asked fans to guess (Apr 20 2005). ON THE SET Christopher did not know any of his Oz castmates before joining the show (Apr 21 2000), but described them as "a lot of people who like each other enormously, hang out occasionally and are very serious about their work and about their jokes" (Mar 3 2000). The set was filled with "many very funny, quick guys that love each other, busting balls" (Sept 16 2000). When hanging out with Oz castmates, Chris says, "we have bowled. We go to boxing matches" (May 18 2000). When filming the last episodes of the series, Chris said that he had "no insight" into the atmosphere on the set. He elaborated, "It was heavy for Lee and me and, I think, Tom. Gotta lotta love on that set" (Feb 12 2001). GENERAL OPINION Christopher never watched all the Oz episodes straight through, but says that he "always enjoyed the poetic moments of the show, even with the brutality" (Feb 27 2004). A fan asked if Chris thought Oz's portrayal of prison life was "real." He replied, "We're telling a story that happens to take place in a violent world. I think we take great dramatic license and yet, I'm sure prison ain't no picnic" (March 4 2000). In Chris's opinion, Oz was such a hit because viewers had "never seen anything like it before" and because of the show's "good writing and good acting" (June 19 2000). When asked if it was "frustrating" when Oz got shut out of the Emmys, despite the quality of its cast and writing, he responded, "I have so much to say on this subject that it's better to let it be…you read into it" (Aug 2 2000). When he was anticipating having to leave Oz, Chris said, "It'll be a big fat bummer and an immeasurable loss to me" (May 5 2000) and "Closure takes time for me when I love something so deeply" (Apr 1 2001). He also said that he would most miss "the places I was allowed to roam in my head and heart" (Aug 20 2000). FANS Christopher claims not to have visited any Oz websites (Dec 27 1999) and says that any pictures of him from Oz are not official, but are "handmade by computer masters" (Feb 26 2004). Chris says that the cast felt that "a small dedicated band of watchers follow the show and we like it" (June 14 2000). One fan of the show is Chris's wife, Sherman, who "digs it" (Oct 19 2000). His children, on the other hand, "ain't watching Oz or SVU for a while" (Mar 20 2005). DVD Chris was not approached to do commentary on any of the Oz DVDs. While the DVDs were still being produced, he commented, "I am not much for pushing myself on people. They know where I am" (Sept 26 2002; June 22 2003; Apr 26 2005) and added that he thought doing the commentary "would be cool. If I could remember anything is another question. Me, Lee and Tom…together? Whew, watch the sparks fly" (Sept 26 2002). NIT-PICKING One fan (who worked as a librarian) asked Chris why in one scene, Keller was in the library, apparently reading a book upside-down. (The fan had noticed that the spine label was on top of the spine of the book Keller was holding - and noted that when a library book is held correctly, the spine labels are never at the top of the spine.) This question was rewarded with the longest answer in Ask Chris: "Dear Persnickety: Whether this deductive reasoning yer using is factual or not, I cannot say (I am not a librarian). However, I can assure you that I have never been so in-character, or unaware enough of my surroundings, that I have ever allowed something like that to happen. It probably was a fake title glued to the outside of a real book whose real title we did not have clearance for. So, there you go. I assure you, I can read and was reading - didn't you see my lips move?? And you should win something. I believe this is the longest response I've ever written - I felt it my duty to defend myself against such scurrilous and persnickety attacks. Now, clean up that Dewey decimal system and keep that hair up in a bun. HEY, YOU IN THE ANTHRO SECTION! SSSSHHHHHH" (Feb 16 2003). RANDOM FACTS Chris shaved neither his chest nor legs for Oz (Dec 8 1999) nor was he the one riding the motorcycle in Keller's debut episode, "Losing Your Appeal" (Mar 28 2000). If he had had the chance to write a Hill monologue on Oz, he would have incorporated "what people do to themselves in the name of decoration, attraction and beauty - from foot-binding to tattoos, etc." (Mar 30 2000) Finally, Chris says that it is Tom Fontana in the Haz-Mat suit in the last scene of the series (June 22 2003). Last updated: March 04/06 | |