I spoke with the wonderful Ray Ford from Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23. Ray plays James Van Der Beek’s personal assistant, Luther. We are just getting to know the lovely cast of characters in this quirky and fantastic show. I’m really enjoying it and Luther is so much fun when he makes an appearance. There isn’t anyone in the cast that I don’t like, and of course James Van Der Beek plays a really fun version of himself. Do check it out if you haven’t already. I had a fantastic time speaking with Ray and not only is he an impressive actor, but he is an amazing person that doesn’t complain about all the wrongs in today’s society but steps out to work on changing them. I spend a lot of time speaking with actors and they are always nice but sometimes you come across one that really leaves a positive impression on you, and Ray is certainly one of those people.
Lena: It must be a nice change for you to star in a comedy and not have to run around with body parts like Ray (the paramedic) in Grey’s Anatomy?
Ray Ford: “I got the leg.” It’s so exciting. It’s so much more fun and you get to use a completely different part of yourself. I’ve been having a ball.
Lena: It looks like it is a really fun show to be on.
Ray Ford: It is.
Lena: The Grey’s Anatomy scene where you are trapped in the ambulance and they took out that huge needle, I’m sure that needle helped bring out the fear in your face?
Ray Ford: Yes that was an intense shoot, that whole situation, between hanging upside down and the heat of the day after doing take after take, after take. It was a pretty intense set.
Lena: I can only imagine. How long did you have to stay like that?
Ray Ford: They built a contraption that put me upside down just in time for the scene, so they would flip me up when they cut the scene and then flip me back down when they rolled action. SAG wouldn’t let them keep me upside down for more than 45 seconds so we had to work really quickly but because of that we ended up working really slowly.
Lena: You must have had a really nice headache that night?
Ray Ford: I sure did.
Lena: Well it came out great.
Ray Ford: Thank you, it was a lot of fun in the long run.
Lena: I actually really like Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23. It is one of those shows that’s just fun.
Ray Ford: I think it’s really funny and really well written. I’ve been saying this a lot but it’s really what I respond to the most when I pick up a script to give it a first read, is how it’s written. So often, in audition situation, you have to find the humor or create the humor but with Apartment 23 it was just in the words on the page.
Lena: That has to be fantastic, as an actor, to already have that to work with?
Ray Ford: It’s refreshing (laughing).
Lena: You don’t have to make something pleasant.
Ray Ford: Yes, make something out of nothing because it’s all right there. You add to that a really great cast with Krysten Ritter, James Van Der Beek, Dreama Walker, Liza Lapira, all those guys, they are so talented and they bring a whole different side to it then what you see on the page even. It’s been really fun.
Lena: I hope we are going to get to see more of Luther in upcoming episodes.
Ray Ford: I hope so, too. You see a bit more of him in the next coming weeks. I think no one even knew who Luther was, as a new character, because he wasn’t in the pilot. I think you get to see a little more of him and it’s great.
Lena: James is hilarious in it and it must be great to play his personal assistant.
Ray Ford: He’s so great. He’s so funny and I never knew he was so funny. I knew him as Dawson. I actually did see his Funny or Die video that was going around and went viral maybe about a year ago. I caught that and I was like, oh this guy is funny. I see him here and on set and he’s hilarious. Watching it is even funnier.
Lena: He will never be able to live down his Dawson’s Creek days (laughing).
Ray Ford: (Laughing) He won’t.
Lena: Were you a fan of that show?
Ray Ford: I loved Dawson’s Creek. I was a little bit old for Dawson’s Creek but I still enjoyed it.
Lena: That’s okay because sometimes you need those guilty pleasures.
Ray Ford: You do and that was definitely a guilty pleasure.
Lena: What is it like working with James and the rest of the cast?
Ray Ford: I’m a big fan of a really strong ensemble and all of them were just so open and kind that first day and when you have first day nerves on the first day of a job, you never know what to expect and everyone I encountered was just kind, open, excepting, and welcoming. It is a really great place to work.
Lena: That’s so nice. I loved Krysten Ritter in Breaking Bad. I don’t know if you watch that show?
Ray Ford: I just stared watching it about a year ago and had a marathon of season one in a day. I absorbed it all and then heard she was on season two after we started so I have to have another marathon day of that. Oh boy, what a ride that was.
Lena: That is an intense show.
Lena: Since we really don’t know anything about Luther yet, what can you tell us about Luther and what he brings to the series?
Ray Ford: What I know so far is that Luther’s main function is to keep James functioning and to make sure that he’s being the very best James that he can be. I’ve just been working with that and taking it on a script-by-script basis. This was just a couple of episodes that it started out as anyway. You take the script that you were given and all that I’ve been given was really, hey this guy is really interested in taking care of James. That is what I built on for a good long while and it turns out that is the heart of their relationship, and the heart of Luther is taking care of him.
Lena: Did you make up your own backstory for him?
Ray Ford: I always do. That’s just part of that first homework and being able to go in and own the words in the audition situation. I come up with, not a so elaborate backstory, but just enough so I know where he’s coming from and his goal in life.
Lena: It must be fun as you continue to play him and you realize how much it’s different or similar to what you were thinking.
Ray Ford: Absolutely, I even watched a clip from tonight’s episode and just based upon where I started, I realized that he grew so much, in my mind anyway, from that first episode. All these other colors started to appear based upon what was happening on set and what the other actors were doing that I couldn’t have predicted or planned.
Lena: Is Luther going to be updating his diary on a weekly basis?
Ray Ford: Luther’s has a diary? I have not seen that.
Lena: They have his diary up on the ABC site. It only has one excerpt on it right now.
Ray Ford: Oh, what do I say?
Lena: It’s something about clothing but I can’t remember exactly what it said.
Ray Ford: (Laughing) Luther does love fashion.
Lena: It was pretty funny. I was just wondering what they were going to be doing with that. What would you like to discuss in his diary next?
Ray Ford: Oh his dreams, I think Luther probably has really vivid dreams of big production numbers, costumes, lights, and stars. I would love to see him describe that or maybe his Bollywood numbers (laughing).
Lena: Hopefully, that should be fun for you. I don’t know if they are going to be having him reveal any dirty secrets as it goes on.
Ray Ford: I don’t know, we found out in the first season that he has a sort of strange relationship with his father and with his stepmother. His father has remarried several times and he has an issue with this one stepmother in particular. That was one of his secrets and I’m curious to see what comes next.
Lena: What do we have to look forward to from Luther in the show?
Ray Ford: You get to see Luther being a super supportive dance coach with Mr. James Van Der Beek who makes an appearance on Dancing with the Stars. That was a lot of fun to do.
Lena: Would you ever want to do Dancing with the Stars?
Ray Ford: I don’t think I’m a good enough dancer. James Van Der Beek is an amazing dancer, by the way. I just don’t think I could pull it off.
Lena: ABC has some pretty funny comedies, and I don’t know if you watch Suburgatory, but that is another one of my favorites. Do you watch Suburagtory? It’s a good match up for you on Wednesday nights.
Ray Ford: I do, yes. ABC does good comedy.
Lena: What other shows do you watch?
Ray Ford: I’m a big fan of Modern Family, Mad Men, and I watch a lot of home and garden television (laughing).
Lena: What does your home and garden look like? Is it up to par with what you see on the shows?
Ray Ford: I have to say, it’s pretty good. I have a great little Xeriscape, which is this low water garden going in my place. I put it in about three years ago and this is the first year that it is really beginning to shine. I’ve learned a lot so the time has not been wasted.
Lena: Do you want to talk about the Courage Campaign?
Ray Ford: I did some work with them starting right after the 2008 election when Proposition 8 was passed. We started a campaign to go door-to-door and talk to voters in lower income neighborhoods about marriage equality. It was really the most profound experience because there was all this dialog at the time that it was poor people or people of color who were the most against it and there was this demonization going on that I didn’t feel comfortable with, but in talking with these voters, face-to-face on their doorsteps, what we found was that most people either A) had no opinion or B) were misinformed about what was really going on. It was a great opportunity to really connect one-on-one with people and Courage Campaign really spearheaded that whole movement. They organized canvassers to go and talk to people and really educate them about what was going on. It’s a really great organization and they fight for equality for all people, not just for gays and lesbians, and I really respond to that.
Lena: That is fantastic but it’s sad that stuff like that even goes on today. (No one should be discriminated against. I am a firm supporter of marriage between two people that truly love each other. That is the definition of marriage to me.)
Ray Ford: It is but as long as there are people counteracting it on the other side and taking positive action then I think, in the end, it will all be worth it.
Lena: Definitely. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Ray Ford: I do a lot of reading. (laughing) I know that is so exciting. I actually do a lot of volunteer work. A big part of my day-to-day is supporting people and encouraging people and doing what I can in my community. I’m a big believer in the idea that in order to have world peace, you have to start within your own community so I make as many efforts as I can to be involved right here where I live.
Lena: That is fantastic and I’m sure it keeps you very busy.
Ray Ford: It does.
Lena: What else do you have coming up that you can talk about?
Ray Ford: Coming up, I’ve been talking about this play a lot, I work with this theatre company called Critical Mass Performance Group and we are doing a new piece, rehearsing starts soon, about Poland and the Solidarity movement, the Jazz Ambassadors program, and Ronald Reagan (laughing). It’s a mash-up of history but it’s really interesting.
Lena: Are you a history buff?
Ray Ford: I wasn’t so much until I got involved with this company because so many of our pieces deal with history and really exploring what we’ve done as a nation so there was a lot of research involved and I started to just adore it. I spent much of last year studying Thomas Jefferson, who was such a fascinating character, that I remember studying in school but as an adult I see him from a completely different angle.
Lena: Yes, the things that they teach you in school and then when you get older you realize how different things are.
Ray Ford: Yes, things are just a little off. You have to really do the work in order to get some of this information because it’s not readily available. I guess now with the internet it’s more available but you kind of have to know what you are looking for in order to find it.
Lena: I’m so excited about the show and I can’t wait to watch more of it. It’s has such a great cast. It’s one of those shows that could have been good or bad but…it’s good.
Ray Ford: I’m glad you like it. I had so many friends call me and say, “Oh my god, it’s so funny. I’m so surprised.” (Laughing)
Lena: When you watched the (early) commercials (it was a tossup) of whether it was going to be really good or bad. I love being surprised by shows.
Ray Ford: That’s a good thing.
Lena: I don’t know if you watch Wilfred but I thought I was going to hate it but it is actually fantastic.
Ray Ford: I’ll have to check that out.
Lena: American Horror Story is really good on FX too if you like horror stuff. Jessica Lange was in it last season and she was amazing. She was so evil.
Ray Ford: I don’t like being scared but I did hear that she was brilliant.
Lena: It was great speaking with you and I’m looking forward to watching more of the show.
Ray Ford: Thank you, it was a lot of fun.
DON’T TRUST THE B IN APARTMENT 23
Ray Ford Interview
“Luther”
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, Wednesday Nights on ABC
May 6, 2012
By Lena Lamoray