I did not expect to land a one on one with Kelsey Grammer. FX was not scheduled to present “Partners” to the Television Critics Association, but Grammer showed up to the Fox/FX evening party and I was in the right place at the right time.
“Partners” teams Grammer up with Martin Lawrence as lawyers. Just earlier in the day, “The Simpsons” producer Al Jean announced the title of the season premiere, in which a character will die, leading many to speculate it’s Sideshow Bob. I think they’re wrong, and it certainly sounds like Grammer didn’t record a Sideshow Bob death scene.
But he is also going to be in next week’s all-star The Expendables 3. After appearing in Transformers: Age of Extinction, it’s been a busy summer for Grammer. “Partners” airs Mondays at 9 on FX.
CraveOnline: Al Jean announced that the title of the “Simpsons” episode where a character dies is called “Clown in the Dumps,” so everyone assumes it’s Sideshow Bob.
Kelsey Grammer: Sideshow Bob is no longer a clown. He is only a criminal.
Good, because I think it’s Rabbi Krustofski, Jackie Mason’s character.
It could be. I don’t know. They don’t tell me.
But you’re saying you’re safe.
I imagine so.
This has been an amazingly big year for you. Has it been really productive with Transformers, Expendables 3 and launching “Partners?”
It’s been incredible. I’ve had a great year, mostly because I’ve really enjoyed the work I’ve done. I’ve enjoyed doing what I was doing. My life at home has been wonderful. My creative life has been wonderful. It’s been a good year.
Is “Partners” a return to comedy?
Well, I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for Martin. I wouldn’t be doing a comedy if Martin Lawrence weren’t in the equation, so it’s a return to comedy because of him. If you’d asked me two years ago, “Are you going to do another television comedy?” I would’ve told you no.
Were you eager to get back on television, even if it were drama, after “Boss?”
No, I just thought, “You know, I’m going to do some good roles wherever they may be.” I certainly enjoyed stepping into some films. The films I’ve done this year have been really fun. It does give you a different lifestyle which I liked. Now I’m back to 9 to 5.
How did Expendables 3 come up for you? Did you know Stallone previously?
We have some friends in common and I heard this role was available, so I went after it a bit, made a couple of calls. I just thought it’d be a good fit. It was about time we did something together. I think he would agree at this point.
Why particularly that franchise and the character you get to play?
Because I love him. It’s the same reason as I did the show with Martin. I love Sylvester Stallone. I love his work, I love his history, I love his pedigree. I always wanted to work with him. This came up.
It’s funny, aside from X-Men, the most actiony thing you’ve done was just recently Transformers. So now it’s a fit.
Yeah, yeah, right. Now I’m working it. We’ll see what happens.
When you have two actors of the level of yourself and Martin Lawrence, do you do a chemistry test?
We just assumed it would work. We spent a year and a half meeting writers and that was probably more of the chemistry test than anything else was meeting the writers. When Bob Boyett and Robert Horn came in and pitched us this idea, we were very cool at first and said, “Thank you for coming in.” Then we turned to each other and nodded a little. I said, “I think that was it.” Martin said the same thing. He said, “Yeah, I like that.” So we kicked around for another week or two and then finally called them and said, “This is the one we want to do.”
Was the chemistry as you expected it to be?
You know, it’s always interesting when you get into a room with somebody and you’re starting to work, you put things on their feet. We have different ways of working a little bit. I fly by the seat of my pants. I don’t care, I’ll try anything.
Martin likes to rehearse maybe a little more than I do so we try to meet halfway. I’ll say, “Aren’t you ready? We’re ready to shoot this now.” He says, “Okay, all right, let’s go.” I think we’ve arrived at a great process that we enjoy together and I love watching him work. I do stand inside the character sometimes then as myself and say, “That guy is really funny.”
Does the comedy come from your character being frustrated by Martin’s?
No, I think both characters are frustrated with one another quite a bit, but I would say that what makes it a remarkable relationship and one that will grow into a remarkable relationship is they are honest with each other almost from the get go. For whatever reason that is, serendipity or otherwise, these guys need each other in that moment, and they continue to until the show is over.
What are some of the cases they try?
You know, it’s not really a case of the week kind of show but we do have a couple that catalyze what happen next. They sort of provide the background for our behavior. Like we pose as a gay couple in one show in order to find out something about this woman that’s been ripping gay couples off.
So that’s a fun show that is motivated by the case itself. A lot of this stuff is based upon “Where do you want to sit in the office?” It’s very silly sort of human stuff a lot of the time. Martin’s got trouble with his family, we talk about it. I have trouble with my stepdaughter, we talk about it. I think we provide some kind of a sounding board for one another. Hopefully it’s just funny.
Then is it more of an office show than a courtroom show?
It’s certainly more of an office, and even more of a domestic show. It’s in Martin’s apartment a lot too.
What was your experience on Transformers: Age of Extinction. Was that the part you wanted in that movie?
Oh, Transformers was great. Absolutely. I guess it was “Boss” that actually helped them understand that I could probably play the bad guy in Transformers. They sent over a clip, Michael saw it and said, “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.” I went in and we read some stuff. We sat down with the script and the writer and I suggested some things as we read through it. Some of that ended up in the film. It was a great character to play.
What was one of your suggestions that made it?
The stuff about being the tireless servant of the people for decades and getting no reward.
Was it more intense than even X-Men or The Expendables?
Well, X-Men was more physically demanding. Work is just fun. You want to, I guess, fall into that scenario, it’s a popular misconception I think, that we don’t like what we’re doing. I love working hard so if bombs are going off and I’m running around and jumping into cars and throwing people out of them, shooting things, I couldn’t be happier. I’m having a great time.
What did you think of Nicholas Hoult as Hank in the new X-Men movies.
Oh, I think he’s terrific. I think he’s terrific. When they first started the younger ones I went, “Well, sh**, where’s my guy?” But I was delighted to go back to the franchise in the capacity I did. I would still love to do another Beast performance, but that’s life.
Have they said that X-Men: Apocalypse is possible for you?
No, no, I don’t think so. That’s another time zone.
