‘Almost Paradise’: Christian Kane Says Alex’s Season 2 Problems Are More Emotional
[This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]
It’s time to go back to the island with Alex Walker (Christian Kane) on Almost Paradise.
Season 2 drops on Amazon Freevee on Friday, July 21, and in these ten episodes, the former DEA agent continues to get pulled back into the world of dangerous people and situations (but as we all know, he loves it), alongside his friends in the local police Kai Mendoza (Samantha Richelle) and Ernesto Alamares (Art Acuña).
Here, Kane tells us what to expect from Alex in Season 2, including the introduction of his ex-wife (for which you can check out an exclusive sneak peek above).
When Season 2 begins, how does Alex feel about his time on the island?
Christian Kane: I think Alex is kind of fine with it. I think he’s actually settled down. I think he’s accustomed to it. I think he thinks that he has somewhat of a family, and he’s getting checks, and he’s doing all this stuff, and then the carpet just gets ripped out from underneath him. He had health problems, he had heart problems, he had anxiety, and he thought it was physical, but towards the end of Season 1, you find out that maybe it was mental. So I think he’s feeling pretty good about himself. I think he’s on his way to recovery, and then [when] all these mishaps start happening again, it just really, really affects him.
I don’t know if he’s going to get sick again, but I know he is not going to be able to deal with it mentally. And when he can’t deal with something mentally, I think there’s your show. Alex will never let anybody know that he doesn’t have it under control. It’s fun because only the audience sees it; he’ll turn away and show people he has no idea what he’s doing.
How’s he feeling about working with Kai and Ernesto? They’ve settled into a nice rhythm, even if they have to keep reminding him that he’s not a cop.
Yeah, that’s his big thing. He can’t go too far, or it makes him look like an idiot because all he did was remind them that he’s not a cop: “You guys are cops. I’m not a cop. I’m not doing…” except for when he wants to get something done himself, then he thinks he’s a cop. And that’s funny, watching Alex trip over his extremities if you will. You know what I mean? It’s fun.
Chari Villegas/Amazon Freevee
Gary Rosen wrote this with Dean Devlin, and he brought it up with Dean, and we all agreed; it’s got a Rockford Files vibe to it, and some people won’t know who that is, but with James Garner. The guy just can’t win. You really root for him. But as someone who’s watching, you really want him to mess up because that’s where the comedy comes in. And so it’s fun to root for the guy. It’s just at the same time; you’re rooting against the guy. We don’t have a lot of people like that on TV or people writing for people like that on TV. I’m very fortunate to be able to play this guy.
How’s Alex’s personal life going?
He’s trying to get back in the game. He’s been told he needs to get out into the dating scene. [But] Alex is so old school. If he didn’t meet somebody in a bar, then it’s definitely not going to happen. He’s not going to put the time in. If you remember correctly, the very first time we ever met Kai, he followed her into a restaurant just because he thought — he has no idea what to do with a dating app. He can barely use a cell phone. So just the comedy of errors of him trying to get in this game because it is literally prescribed for him to use dating apps for his health by the doctor. And so he’s forced to, and I think people are going to get a really big kick out of just watching him not know exactly what’s going on. I know I did.
Alex’s ex-wife shows up. How does he handle that — not only having her around but also having that part of his life come into his new life?
Lisa Brenner did such a good job, and it’s such a great episode. The way she shows up just absolutely floors him. It ruins everything he thought he was trying to do. There’s a girl in there who’s a very good friend of mine — I asked her if she would come in, and she said yes; she’s actually the winner of Asia’s Next Top Model, Maureen, and she came in, and she did me a favor. It’s just such a funny scene because he thinks things are going so well, and then, of course, in true Alex Walker style, it does not go well. And the beautiful Lisa Brenner comes in to play my ex-wife, and people will know this, but some people won’t — that’s actually my boss Dean Devlin’s wife in real life. She did a really great episode on Leverage a few years ago, and I’ve known her since 2007 because that’s how long I’ve known Dean.
But to have one of your friends come in and play it, I remember us getting in the car, the very first scene, and we had this huge argument. We just let each other have it, and then we just started laughing once they cut. And to me, that’s acting. I didn’t have to shake her hand and go, “Hey, how you doing? Christian Kane, I’m playing Alex,” and then do a big scene. It was like we just walked in and high-fived and started talking. I think that you’ll be able to see the chemistry with me and Lisa on set just because we’ve known each other for so long. And the awkwardness of me playing her husband, who’s married to my boss, there’s so many underlying bad things about that that it just works out comedy-wise for us in that episode.
What can you say about any notable fight scenes coming up for Alex?
Dean wanted me to come in to watch a few episodes for something that we were doing, and I saw the fight scenes for the first time actually cut together, and I said, “Man, these are better than Leverage.” And he goes, “Right?” They were. I don’t know what was going on because I love my fights on Leverage. Those are my favorite parts of the show. These fights are brutal, and they’re rough. It was fun to watch them, and it’s a little bit different.
Chari Villegas/Amazon Freevee
Thank God I had spent six months in New Orleans in 110-degree heat so that I could fly to the Philippines and spend six more months in 110-degree heat doing fight scenes, with the humidity of both places, so that I was actually used to it because it was brutal. There’s a lot of action. There’s chases, there’s fights, there’s a lot of running. It keeps you moving. I love that about this season: You can sit there on the couch and go on vacation, but we’re not going to let you sit there for too long, just sipping on a mai tai. You’re going to have to get on the edge of the couch just a little bit. I think we do that a little bit better in Season 2 than we did in Season 1. And I was very happy with Season 1. Fans are in for a real treat.
Is Alex thinking about how long he’ll stay on the island?
Therein lies Season 2. There is a lot of stuff that goes on with a lot of different characters to how the island is affecting them and whether they’re going to be on the island if they’re going to make that their home, or if they’re not going to make that their home. Who’s their family? Are Kai and Ernesto his family? Or is he going to go? There’s so many questions. And there’s a great point that you brought up; I believe that actually takes over the health problems he had for Season 1. So now his problem is mental: What is he going to do in his life? It really affects him. It was really fun to play that because I don’t get a lot of emotional stuff on some other shows. To be able to carry that through a whole season without anyone seeing it in front of me and just hopefully the audience realizing it’s going on makes acting a lot of fun.
What can you preview about any threats or anything from Alex’s past coming up and how he handles it?
Toward the end there, it gets a little heavy for him. Alex has a pretty bad past, and it wouldn’t take that much for somebody to try to find him. He’s just kind of sitting there. One of the great things — which is fun — is towards the end of the season, we have some people come back that maybe were in the first season that Alex went up against. Some of these [actors] have become my friends in real life, and so it was really fun to have them back on the set. It’s just kind of a Baskin-Robbins of people that he’s taken down, and it’s nervous looking [and] kind of scary. Do yourself a favor and catch up with the first season again, just to remind you of all this stuff, because once you get to the end, you’re like, “Oh, that guy! That guy!” It was fun how we did that. I wasn’t expecting it. All the writers back in Los Angeles threw that at me, and I had to act against it.
This is such a great summer show. It’s gorgeous.
That’s the point. Dean’s half-Filipino, and the thing he got sick and tired of is every time they showed the Philippines; it was poverty porn. Every single bad guy when you’re in the Philippines is a Filipino. He did something really smart. We shot the Philippines as a supporting actor. There’s no CGI. What you’re looking at behind us is actually there. Not one of the bad guys — [except] a street thug that I’m going to beat up real quick — is Filipino. They’re Russian; they’re Taiwanese. Every time you’ve ever seen the Philippines, it’s been in not that great of a light, and we put it in such a great place.
And you’re right about the summer show because you get to go on vacation when you watch our show. That’s the one thing I’ve heard the most about people that have watched our show. … We’re supposed to transport you out of your real life to somewhere that you want to be, somewhere fun. Maybe it’s dark; maybe it’s not. But that’s entertainment. This show does that.
Almost Paradise, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, July 21, Amazon Freevee
