Joshua Jackson is getting his ship together and we are ready to ride!
In TV Insider’s exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Doctor Odyssey (which sneaks in peeks at newly announced guest stars Rachel Dratch and Broadway fave Tom McGowan), the actor and his costars Don Johnson, Phillipa Soo, and Sean Teale offer some insight into what makes their new ocean-set ABC medical drama worth booking. From the sets to the storylines to the cast’s obvious chemistry, the crew of the Odyssey certainly looks like they’re having a blast, as do the myriad guest stars. Even if there are occasional stormy seas.
“The stakes are definitely high. People could die. Things happen. It’s madness. I’ve had to put my hands in all kinds of nasty things over the course of the last month and a half,” he told us with a laugh during a break in filming last month. “But the vibe, if you will, is joy.” In fact, it’s the show’s fast-paced vibe and fun-loving spirit that has him happy to be back on a network series after several years of darker cable and streaming projects.
“It has been so, so long since I’ve worked on dialogue that works like this, where the intention is just to keep it moving, keep it fast, keep it on the front foot all the time,” he notes. “And having Pippa and Sean and Don to do that with has been amazing. We immediately fell into a groove.” He also credits the behind-the-scenes team for adding to the enjoyment. “Ryan Murphy, his company and his crew have all worked together before. So from Day One, you get in there, everybody’s locked in and it gives us the time and space to just play around and have fun.”
ABC
Launching this week between two of the network’s higher-octane shows—9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy—this one fits right in with its own glossy blend of soap and procedural, which is heightened by the fact that every crisis is happening thousands of miles from land with limited resources on basically a floating paradise. So it’s kind of the perfect escape…if you can survive. “You have to really feel like bad things could happen,” Jackson continues. “But everybody needs to feel like they’re in good hands when they’re watching this show. The intention is you come out of the tension of 9-1-1, you take a nice long, deep breath with us, and then you go back into the tension of Grey’s Anatomy.”
RelatedInside New Medical Drama ‘Doctor Odyssey’ With Its Star-Studded Crew
But before you think it’s all Lido Deck liaisons, pool parties and (from the clip above) passengers with jacked-up junk, there is one downside to playing in the sun, Jackson admits: Filming exterior locations during the “hot as hell” California summer.
“I’m still too Canadian to be in the desert like that!” he jokes. “But when we got back to the Paramount lot and we go into our home set in the infirmary, we’re like, ‘Huh…this is so fun. Who knew that the most fun set for us was going to be the infirmary in the doctor’s office?’ We just get in there and it’s like playtime…the camera’s moving, we’re having a good time and we look great!”
Doctor Odyssey, Series Premiere, Thursday, September 26, 9/8c, ABC
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