Molly and Gary Press conference

 

I spoke earlier today with Las Vegas star Molly Sims and the show’s executive producer, Gary Scott Thompson. The two were kind enough to do a press conference call to discuss this week’s season finale of Las Vegas and the big changes coming to The Montecito next season.

Next year, the show is moving forward without original cast members James Caan (Ed) and Nikki Cox (Mary). No decision has been made yet on who will take Ed or Mary’s jobs at the fictional hotel, or who the new owner of the Montecito will be, Thompson said. He also would not divulge whether the popular recurring character of Casey Manning is truly swimming with the fishes — er squid — or if he’ll pop up again next season.

What is certain is that this Friday’s season finale is going to be a thrill ride for Las Vegas fans, Thompson said.

“There’s an explosion. Molly’s character is pregnant. We’ve got a shooting,” he teased.

Thompson wouldn’t confirm whether Delinda would have a baby bump next season, despite a valiant attempt by Sims, and reporters, to get him to spill script secrets. What is known is that Sims has not been fitted for a fake pregnancy tummy yet.

For the legions of Cox fans wanting the scoop on why she isn’t returning, Thompson did comment on her departure: “She has other things that she wanted to explore and try out,” he said. It was recently reported in The Hollywood Reporter that Cox was allegedly a victim of budget cuts, but Thompson didn’t mention that.

Sims and Thompson shared some fun anecdotes during the call, discussed their favorite Vegas moments and talked about what other NBC show they’d like to see do a crossover. Hint: Steve Carell, there’s a suite waiting for you and the rest of The Office gang at The Montecito.

Here are the highlights of the interview:

Will Caan and Cox be back for guest spots?
Thompson: “Jimmy did say, ‘ I don’t’ want to leave you in the lurch, so why don’t I come back from time to time, (schedule permitting.)’ He was very open to doing guest spots, possibly the season opener, and then maybe some other ones down the line. I think it would have been easier for Jimmy, if we didn’t get picked up for season five, then he wouldn’t have had to say, ‘Count me out.’ I’m hoping that Nikki will want to come back and do some guest spots, as well."

Why isn’t Caan returning next season?
Thompson: “Jimmy wanted to do features. He was itching to do a movie, and he couldn’t do them while we were shooting. TV is really tough. Eighty-seven episodes is a long time to be away from a feature career. That’s four years; that’s an eternity in features. He turned down a lot of features over four years. Some of them we tried to make work, but with the schedule of TV, it’s impossible.”

Why isn’t Cox returning next season?
Thompson: “Nikki just got married, and she has other things that she wanted to explore and try out. I can’t speak for her personally about what her plans are in her personal life. (That’s probably a question directed toward her people.) She comes from the sitcom world, and I think she really wanted to go back and do sitcoms and try some other things. People don’t really understand that it’s very difficult being on a show as long as this. And kudos to the people who make it past five or six years. But most (who do) are on sitcoms, which are really easy to shoot, compared to a drama. (On sitcoms) they do a table read, they have one rehearsal, and they shoot the thing. When you’re on a drama, it is an eight-day episode, anywhere from 12-18 hours a day, five days a week, for almost 11 months straight. Our first season, we were shooting 18 and 20-hour-days, and sometimes in our second season, too. It’s really hard on people to play a character for so long and to keep doing the same thing over and over again. They just want changes. In Jimmy’s case, he’s toward the end of his career and wanted to move on and do some stuff that he really wanted to do. And in Nikki’s case, she’s at the beginning of hers, and there are other options and opportunities out there. As an actor, as a writer, creator, no one wants you unless someone else has you. The opportunity to jump is usually while the iron is hot. You don’t jump after the show goes down, because, well, the show has failed. But, to jump off a successful show means you’re going to have lots of other options.”

How will cast changes change the dynamic and plots for next year?
Sims: “I think anytime someone leaves and they bring new people in, it ultimately changes the dynamic. It’s always someone new, and someone you’re not used to working with, someone that brings new energy. I don’t believe in replacing the old with the new, but I have to say that it’ll be surprising. That’s the best way to describe it.”

Thompson: “There is no way we can ever replace James Caan or Nikki Cox. These are two valuable players on Las Vegas. I don’t like the word “replacement,” because we can’t replace them. Obviously characters come and go on Las Vegas all the time. Some stay longer than others. Some fly off the roof. That’s what we’re gonna have to sit down and figure out, when I get the writing staff back here because we start shooting early in April. We’ve got a lot of things hanging. We have to figure out who owns the Montecito. Is there gonna be a replacement for the James Caan character or for (Mary’s) position? Are there new people going to come in, or are the old people gonna take over some of those jobs? We haven’t quite figured that out yet. My objective was just to get us to season five, so I wrote this incredible cliffhanger. My objective was, if I close everything up, there’s a reason for them to say, “Series over.” And if I don’t do that, then, they can’t say, “Series over,” or 15 million people are gonna be really pissed off at NBC. (The cast changes) are a new development. The departure of a couple cast members was kind of a surprise, and the season finale had already been written. And it’s going to be kind of challenging to get us out of the situation I put us in.”

Las Vegas has done several crossovers with Crossing Jordan. Are there any other NBC shows that you’d like to see do crossovers?
Sims: “I wish Steve Carell (The Office) would come.”
Thompson: “The Office could come to Vegas for a convention. Let’s put that out in the universe. And apparently, we live in the same universe as Heroes, because they have come to the Montecito, and they have shot on our set. And every time they’re in Vegas, we see the little Montecito sign. We’re open to anything, because on our show we can do that. Everybody goes to Vegas, so there’s no reason why any show couldn’t come to Vegas.”

I received a ton of mail after Casey Manning was killed by a giant squid. Is Dean Cain’s character truly dead and was that the point of the autopsy comment, or will he pop up again next season?
Thompson: (Laughter) “I actually got a ton of mail, too. And then when they found out that he’d been poisoned, and possibly whacked, because he had leveraged the Montecito to the hilt, I got another ton of mail. I can’t say one way or another. I can’t divulge that in case it may or may not be a storyline. But, I will say one thing, the greatest thing about the giant squid was two days later, off the coast of New Zealand, the largest squid ever found was pulled in by a fisherman. It was like 83 feet long.”

Will Cheryl Ladd be returning as Jillian?
Thompson: “I’ve spoken to Cheryl. She wants to come back. She loves being on the show. She actually pitched that she’s the new owner of the Montecito! So, I’ll take that into consideration, Cheryl. Thank you.”

Online fans seem to love the Sam and Delinda scenes? Are there any plans for more friendship scenes between the girls? And what’s it like working with Vanessa Marcil?
Sims: “We call her “little whipper-snapper.” She’s an amazing, feisty, little actress. I think she is one of the best on our show. She’s so fun to work with. The girl speaks faster, and clearer, than any person I’ve ever met, to the point where I start speaking faster.”
Thompson: “I always have to step in and go, ‘Molly, you’re picking up her cadence. Stop.”
Sims: “She’s so fun and mean and fabulous. It’s great.”
Thompson: “But to answer your question, “Yes, they’ll have lots of scenes together next season.”

What’s the mood on set since Cox and Caan announced they’re leaving?
Sims: “It’s always hard when you’ve been with people for four years. Nikki is one of my best friends. Jimmy has been such a pleasure and such an amazing teacher. I’m gonna miss them. It came as a shock and a surprise. They were amazing people to work with. The amazing thing about our show is that we all really like one another. I think on most shows that’s not always true, but in our case, it is. I knew that Jimmy had turned down a lot of stuff, I just didn’t think he was gonna go.
Thompson: Look, George Clooney left ER and that show is thriving. People come and people go. That’s what’s expected. It’s gonna happen. Hopefully, we’ll be lucky that we’ll be on for another five years and more people will come and go.”

Molly, do you identify with your character?
Sims: “Yeah. I totally identify when I’m kissing Josh. I identify really well! She’s fun and charming. I think she dresses a little sexier (than me.) She’s more blatant, and a little more manipulative than I am.”
Thompson: “What we try to do is take a lot of the traits of our actors and incorporate them. Sometimes, something will happen to our actors, and unbeknownst to them, it’ll turn up in a script, just because we think it’s funny. We’ll hear about something that happened to one of the actors, over the weekend, and sneak it into a script. And that’s just a way of entertaining ourselves, after four years of seeing each other every single day. We see more of each other than we do our own families.”

What happens when the cast/show goes to Las Vegas? Do the casinos treat you like local heroes and welcome you to the inner sanctum?
Sims: “When we go to Vegas, we are treated like princes and princesses."
Thompson: “Yes, we’ve been in the inner sanctum. We are treated very well. But, I hate to hang out with Molly because she’s mobbed all the time."
Sims: “And they call you by your characters name. They scream, ‘Danny, Sam, Delinda.’ It’s strange. I think a lot of people aren’t from Vegas and think the Montecito is really there."
Thompson: “Yes, they do. It’s one of the number one questions asked of cab drivers, “Where is the Montecito?”

 

Molly, where do you like to go on vacation?
Sims: I just got back from spending time in Europe and Milan. I went to the Valentino show and flea market shopping. Depending on our schedule, it was very new to us. We are starting back in April. I'm becoming an ambassador for Operation Smiles, so I will travel to India or Peru. I love traveling. I spend half the time here and half the time in New York.

 

Gary, what was the genesis of Las Vegas?
Thompson: It's an old story, but I had a vision of a dead body in the desert and you pan up and there's Las Vegas. I never could figure out where it led to. Then NBC asked about a Las Vegas show, and it all came together. I find Vegas fascinating. I've been going since I was 14. The changes over the year are fascinating. I love the old Vegas with the Rat Pack ideal and the new Vegas is awesome. 24 Hours in Vegas is like a week anywhere else.

 

What were your expectations when it launched?
Thompson: When I wrote the script, I finished it and went, "wow who wrote that?" It came out so naturally. I thought I must be channeling someone else ....
Sims: I think the pilot caught my attention - I was doing reoccurring roles - but this read like a movie. It was so intriguing. It didn't seem like a TV show.
Thompson: So, for me, expectation wise, it was, for whatever reason, I had a good feeling about it. I thought it would get on the air, we'd do well, and it would be on the air. When we came on the air, we were the show that wasn't supposed to make it. We had a nine o'clock Monday night time slot against Everybody Loves Raymond and Monday Night Football. Then we were moved to Friday.
Sims: Even though we got moved to Friday, NBC stood by their show. We're going on our fifth season. When we moved, it was a big adjustment. We loved our Monday nights, but we made Friday work just as well.
Thompson: We did love Monday. There was a bigger audience. Nine on Friday is one of the least watched hours of the week. It's a very tough hour. We constantly try to do things that are different to get people to pay attention. My objective was to get the show to 100 episodes. Once there we will look for another 100.

 

Was the first episode one of your favorite moments? [In the first episode, Sims' character is making love to Josh Duhamel's Danny character when Jimmy Caan walks in on them. She sees him and says, "Hi, Daddy."]
Sims: It was probably my favorite. I came into Las Vegas as a reoccurring character. I remember even shooting the Pilot, I was so nervous, and it was so exciting. That scene will go down in history as one of the most shocking, surprising fun times I've ever had.
Thompson: She and Josh had just met. I think it was Midnight ....
Sims: It was midnight ....
Even the scene we just shot, where I say "I'm pregnant" was definitely something that was fun to play. It was a good moment for her character. This year has been the most exciting for Delinda. You've seen so many things happen to her and seen her grow from a little manipulative sexy girl to ....
Thompson: A big, manipulative sexy girl ....
Sims: It's been nice to grow the character and that's the great thing about Gary. He's always trying to push the actors and come up with different things that happen in the show. For me, I'm not on a one hour drama or half hour comedy, I'm on a dramady. I love the drama and comedic moments.
 

What do you think of playing pregnant?
Sims: It was interesting. I did some research. Are we keeping her pregnant?
Thompson: I can't tell you that.
Sims: When I stole the last script --
Thompson: We didn't allow the actors to see the final script ...
Sims: ... and got my hands on it, I called Gary and said, "What do you mean? I'm pregnant and you're blowing me up?"
Thompson: [laughs]

Can you tell us if you have been fit for a fake tummy?
Thompson: We just finished shooting. She hasn't been fit for anything yet. The show just finished today. I go to playback at four today. She doesn't actually know anything yet.
Sims: I really don't. We shut down three weeks ago, and I just found out we were picked up for a season five.

 

Lara Flynn Boyle's flying off in to the wind was classic ... did you top that in this finale?
Thompson: I don't think I can beat that. We thought it was hysterically funny here. Except some of us.
Sims: I just didn't think there was enough wind. We had a massive disagreement about one thing.
Thompson: It's very windy at the top of those buildings. I didn't feel a need to top that. The need was to build us to a point where we get the audience on a Friday night. When we had Delinda's character kidnapped and buried alive, we got a huge audience to watch. Part of that audience went into the ten o'clock hour ....After 87 episodes, what haven't we done? In reality, Josh's character Danny is a marine and in reality there is a war, and I felt we had to touch upon that again.

How did the mood change when James announced he was leaving?
Thompson: We had already finished shooting. I think that a lot of people were surprised he stood as long as he did on Las Vegas, considering his prolific career in films. Jimmy did the Godfather and was nominated for the Academy Awards. We're grateful for him staying so long. Plus with him doing guest appearances, we feel like he's still around.

What are some of the highlights of working with Caan?
Sims:  The very first moment he comes in and catches me in bed and I go "hi daddy." The Kidnapping episode was a really good one too. My favorite scene between us was the end of Season Four, when I'm in a wedding dress about to marry, and we had such a special moment. The one thing about Jimmy, even though he's a great friend, he also is kind of like the Big Daddy on the set. I learned so much from him. He was great to all of us. He cared so much about the show. For someone with such a prolific acting career, he really did give it his all being on the show with us.
Thompson:  He never wanted to just phone it in. He was always fighting to do better things and more for the show. My favorites are the season finale - probably because I was directing it as well, and it was the first time I directed. Jimmy will fight with directors, but he was so great and fantastic to me, and so helpful -- it was wonderful. The other one was the pilot. In the original pilot, Jimmy's character quoted Shakespeare. He told me, "you don't want to hear me do this." I thought it would be cool. Then he did it, and I said, "you're right." So I changed it to something else he quoted. I remember that because it was so funny.

How is being the star different than just guesting?
Sims: When you become a regular, if you trust all involved, there is a safe factor. You feel like you can do different things and explore different things. Josh had just finished a film at the end of season four, and we were talking, and were like I'm glad to be back and come home. I think on other shows, it's kind of like every show has their domain and when you go on it, it can be hard and tricky to find your place. That's the real difference in it. But it's always good to explore other characters and do other things; and that makes you grow as well.

 

Would you change anything about Delinda?
Sims: I like to do unexpected things of her character. You don't want to play too nice or too sweet, but it's nice to go down more of an unexpected way. When she's mean or PMSing I like that. I like to do things in her character that aren't necessarily expected.

If you could change one thing what would you change?
Sims: I would probably change my shoulders, because Gary gets on me all the time about them. I was a swimmer and I'm really broad - sometimes I feel I look like a Football player. I would have smaller shoulders.
 

Anyone you'd like to see join the show?
Sims: “It's only been four days since we learning Nikki and James are leaving the show. I'm still shocked. We're open to anybody and everybody. I don't have anyone in mind, but I don't know."
Thompson: “Yes, we’ve been in the inner sanctum. We are treated very well. But, I hate to hang out with Molly because she’s mobbed all the time."
Sims: “And they call you by your characters name. They scream, ‘Danny, Sam, Delinda.’ It’s strange. I think a lot of people aren’t from Vegas and think the Montecito is really there."
Thompson: “Yes, they do. It’s one of the number one questions asked of cab drivers, “Where is the Montecito?”

 

With the explosion how much are you doing and when does the stunt person take over?
Sims: I want to do my own stunts and they don't want me to, because I'm clumsy.
Thompson: Yes ... there's that.
Sims: I do like to do as much as I can do until NBC or Gary won't let me. I think that's the fun part. I love working with Walter Scott ....
During the kidnapping episode, Josh and I would get in the dirt and do push ups -- we loved it. Even Vanessa in the season finale, she's all taped up has carpet burns and ...
Thompson: The girls are pretty bruised this season.
Sims: I had a hand print from Chris on my arm for probably two weeks after the kidnapping episode. It was fabulous.

Much thanks to Sims and Thompson for taking time to chat.

The Las Vegas season finale airs Friday, March 9, on NBC at 9 p.m. EST.

Source: Jennifer @ Tube Talk