‘Forever’ Creator Matt Miller talks Series Inception, Casting and “Adam” on Maria Menounos’ AfterBuzz TV Network
(PRWEB) November 03, 2014 -- Showrunner and executive producer Matt Miller is the man behind numerous TV series, including Las Vegas, Chuck, 666 Park Avenue and The 100. He joined hosts Kate Aquillano, Pegah Rad and Marielou Mandl on Maria Menounos’ “after-show” network, AfterBuzz TV, to share behind-the-scenes secrets and tease upcoming episodes of his latest show 'Forever' that airs Tuesdays at 10pm on ABC.
‘Forever’ follows 200-year-old Dr. Henry Morgan, an eccentric, but brilliant, medical examiner at the New York City morgue. He constantly surrounds himself with death in an effort to discover a way to end his immortality. “I was putting my 5-year-old son to bed one night,” Matt Miller explains when asked about the origin of the show. “He said, ‘Dad, are you ever going to die someday?’ You don’t know what to tell them. And, so I said, ‘No, no, I’ll never die.’” Miller finally fessed up to his son, but the question sparked an idea. “I started playing with that idea. What if a character, you know, for some reason, couldn’t or wouldn’t die – all the amazing things you could do with eternity.” Dr. Morgan is continually conflicted with his situation. “Would it prove to be more of a curse than a blessing?” Miller adds, “So I started with the kind of idea, of a character, that kind of had the thing that we all wanted, and that he didn’t want. He was there to tell you, ‘I have immortality and it’s terrible.’”
Fans love the storyline of Dr. Morgan and his adopted son, Abe. Their relationship is unique due to the fact that Dr. Morgan remains 35, while his son has aged into an old man. The role reversal makes for some hysterical and heartwarming moments. But, these moments could air on the side on corny if the two actors did not have great chemistry. “Its one of those roll of the dice kind of alchemy things and it just worked,” explains Miller. “The first person who was cast in the show was Judd [Hirsh].” The veteran actor quickly agreed. “It was really an easy piece of the puzzle that fell into place.” Finding Dr. Morgan was not so easy. “It was really hard to find Henry,” stressed the creator. “I needed to hear someone read it and I needed to feel it and I needed to believe because the concept is so big. You needed an actor that could do the humor and the romance, but that really would ground the performance. You really believe that this guy lived for over 200 years.” The team looked everywhere, until Miller stumbled upon British actor Ioan Gruffudd at his son’s pre-school. “One day I was dropping both of my kids off at preschool and this guy was getting into his car,” says Miller. “He was rocking these white loafers. It was just shocking to see a man in white loafers and no socks. And I was like, ‘Who is that guy?’ Then I realized it was Ioan [Gruffudd]. I’d never worked with him or anything, but I knew him from Fantastic Four and those movies and I was like that guy is really interesting.”
Miller teases numerous storylines during the nterview. “We’re going to do an episode, episode 14, which will be our only flashback we will have done that predates Henry’s affliction. So we’ll get to see Henry in London circa 1812,” said the showrunner. Another episode to look forward to is one that uncovers more about Det. Jo Martinez past. “We will really dive into it – there’ll be an episode where Jo sort of has to solve an A story, but the A story directly related to her dead husband. So it forces her to deal with all of this baggage that she hasn’t dealt with.” But, Miller explains, “This season we’re really dealing with a lot of the Abigail backstory, the story between Adam and Henry and how long that actually has lasted and maybe there’s things that Henry learns, like interactions between them that he might not have known about.” Adam, the show’s nemesis, haunts Dr. Morgan and claims to suffer from immortality too. “[Adam] will return in an episode, sort of right before Christmas.” Miller promises, “We will meet Adam.”
The full interview with Matt Miller can be viewed on AfterBuzz TV's website, iTunes, and YouTube via these links:
Website: http://site.afterbuzztv.com/shows/forever-s1-new-york-kids-e7-afterbuzz-tv-aftershow/
YouTube: ht.ly/DvqsK
iTunes: ht.ly/DvqvQ
About AfterBuzz TV:
AfterBuzz TV's Forever AfterShow is a weekly post game wrap up show for ABC's Forever and airs live and posts on demand on platforms such as iTunes and YouTube. It's hosted by Kate Aquillano, Pegah Rad and Marielou Mandl and broadcasts worldwide from Los Angeles, CA as part of E!'s Maria Menounos and producer Keven Undergaro's online broadcast network, AfterBuzz TV. AfterBuzz is dedicated to producing daily post-game wrap-up shows for fans' favorite TV shows, covering shows like Walking Dead, Dancing with the Stars, Once Upon a Time, WWE's Monday Night Raw and countless others. Currently, AfterBuzz TV receives over 23 million weekly downloads on iTunes from over 150 countries. For further information about the network, visit afterbuzztv.com.
Phil Svitek, AfterBuzz TV, http://www.afterbuzztv.com, 2035082801, [email protected]
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