Du Quoin Actor's Starring Role Keeps ‘Law & Order' In the Hunt for All-Time Prime Time Drama Record
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For "Law & Order" unit producer Steve Wertimer, having his staff send a cross-country text message to Du Quoin actor Brian Gant in Los Angeles that simply read "Can you skate?"--and Brian's subsequent upcoming starring role in Wednesday night's episode (9 p.m. CDT on NBC)--becomes part of a bigger hunt.
Brian portrays a crazed and complex roller skater in a Manhattan District Attorney's investigation of a copycat killer connected to the murders of three homeless men. It is part of a plan to give L & O the staying power it needs to win its 20th NBC renewal.
The 20-year-run of "Gunsmoke" (1955-1975) holds the all-time prime time drama record, and L & O needs two seasons to beat it. There's a parallel between the storied Matt Dillon, his sidekick Chester, Miss Kitty and Doc.
Both shows are driven by Dick Wolf and star Sam Waterson's (ADA Jack McCoy) deep-rooted ethics in "doing what's right", according to Wertimer, who spoke to the Du Quoin Evening Call from his New York office about Wednesday's episode and Brian's role in it.
"It was great working with Brian. Casting saw a lot of people who weren't quite getting the character-- a guy who has screws loose. The thing that distinguishes him--Brian is a roller skater stuck back in the 70s. Brian needed to be convincing as a homeless, crazy guy-- it was physically demanding. Roller skating is more demanding than in-line skating-- wheels are not in line. Brian knew how to skate. He worked his butt off. During two scenes in the show he's trying to get away from the SWAT team (and is considered) armed and dangerous. They make for two good action sequences," said Wertimer.
"Brian created a character that was multi-faceted. He's a big guy and threatening. He was believable out there as far as where is head was. It was a complex character and Brian brought it home beautifully. Brian has physical ticks. He had a way of personalizing this guy--the voices he hears in his head."
For Brian, it's a return to acting that needed to happen.
"After the death of my wife in November 2006, I had a very hard time...for a long time. It was a brutal chapter in my life, that also offered an opportunity for a lot of growth. I chose to take a self-imposed hiatus from my career for awhile, and honestly didn't know If I would ever feel like going back to it. I took about two and half years off to get my life back together, and I met a very special young woman, photographer Melissa Flores, found love again, and with the support of my parents, my brother, my fantastic friends and my new love Melissa, I decided to get back into the game," Brian said.
"I got an audition for a really interesting guest star role on "Without A Trace" at the end of February and booked the job. I was to work with veteran television and film director Jonathan Kaplan (director of two Academy Award films, "The Accused" starring Jodi Foster and "Love Field" starring Michelle Pfeifer, and five time Emmy Award nominee for his work as director/producer on "ER".) It was a great re-introduction to Hollywood and the business. Mr. Kaplan was very supportive and gave me a lot of creative freedom with the role of "Bill Snyder." I watched about 20 hours of real case studies of paranoid schizophrenics on and off their meds over the course of about eight days, which really helped. I wanted it to be real. It was a wonderful experience and everyone at Warner Bros. was very responsive," Brian said.
"About two weeks later, I got up one morning and had a text message from Norberto Barba, a director I had worked with on CSI: NY. The text simply said, "Can you skate?" So I replied, "Skateboard? Rollerblade? (And as a joke) I said "or roller boogie?" Norberto texted back, "Roller boogie, like straight up old school disco rollerskating." Like most young kids when I was growing up, the Skate-A-Way was the place to be. I practically lived there and became an excellent skater. But that was about 20 years ago, so I wasn't sure if I had spoken too soon," he said.
"So a day before the audition I went to a skating rink here in Los Angeles to see if I "still had it"… and thankfully, it was like riding a bike. This really came in handy while working on Law and Order, plus I got to do most of my own stunts, which was very cool," he said.
"Rollerskating was only one element of this complex character. For me, constructing a character is a very intricate, laborious process. The appearance, the physicality, the emotional mind set, the rhythm, and the essence are all part of it. For this particular character, we are dealing with a homeless schizophrenic who may be a serial killer…or the serial killer's next victim. After having lived in New York City for a third of my life, I know that homeless people are usually sunbaked from being outside all day, every day. With that in mind, I bleached my hair and got a Don Juan/George Hamilton tan to get the look across."
"It is very easy in television for mental illness to become cliched and cartoon-y. I always work tirelessly, and will pretty much do anything to get it right. With Law and Order, I wanted it to be something interesting and truthful; something people would recognize and relate to as being real. A person, not just an illness. They had seen a lot of actors for this role, including a lot of "names" and none of the other actors seemed to "get it"...and I guess I did."
The next morning he was on a plane to New York City. "I would like to say, considering the fact that Law and Order has been on for 19 years, I found everyone working on this show to be fresh, creative and inspiring. By far the best experience I have had working in television. Everyone, in every department, seemed to respond to my work, and allowed me an incredible amount of creative freedom. The director, Norberto Barba, was very inspiring to work with. He kept pushing me to take it one step further."
"Great. Do it again. Now do something totally different."
"As for the future, we are hoping to get some good attention from this episode. Hollywood is pretty quiet right now during the summer, until the end of July when things will pick back up. I have a few auditions lined up for next week, so we'll see how they go. Right now, I am just happy to be back in black," he said.
Brian Gant is the son of Charles and Sharon Gant currently residing in Elkville, IL. Charles works at General Cable in DuQuoin, IL. and Brian's mother Sharon is a professional fantastic mom.
Brian has one brother, Steve Gant. Steve is District Operations Manager for Home Depot in St. Louis, Mo. and teaches Yoga and Brazilian Jui Jitsu. Steve is dating architect Emily Howard, responsible for the highly acclaimed design of the new Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Ga.