Bones star T.J. Thyne kicked off our interview at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con by joking about his lack of beard. As filming gets underway on the 12th and final season of Fox’s Bones, Thyne was looking decidedly clean shaven. The full beard will be a product of the hair and makeup department now that shooting’s started on season 12 of the popular show which fans will have to wait patiently until early 2017 to check out. Teamed up with co-star Michaela Conlin for roundtable interviews, Thyne and Conlin talked about what it feels like to head into the final season and how they felt about the devastating twist their characters were forced to deal with in season 11.
Michaela Conlin and T.J. Thyne Interview:
How does it feel to be heading into the final season?
Michaela Conlin: “It’s so strange to see the Comic Con art. It says ‘The Final Season’ in print. It was the first time…I think that’s when it hit me, ‘My god, it really is the final season.’ That was the first time it sort of really landed on me. I don’t know. Maybe in November we’ll feel…”
T.J. Thyne: “You’re going to miss me so much!”
Michaela Conlin: (Laughing) “Every day I’m going to say, ‘T.J.! How long is his beard? What’s happening?'”
T.J. Thyne: “I think it’s going to be interesting. It’s such a funny thing. We didn’t think that it would go this long as actors. I don’t think we ever thought from the pilot that this would be 12 seasons long so we’re very grateful that it’s gone as long as it has. But I think there is this moment of like, ‘Wow, it’s time.’ These characters are kind of ready to go on their journey and leave us. It’s sad, but also really exciting.”
How have you enjoyed having this medical crisis to play?
T.J. Thyne: “I was very excited that we were going to go there and I was happy that I’d have a chance to portray this debilitating circumstance and how it really affected (Angela). This is my most exciting experience with that whole thing was, ‘How will they make it? How will they adjust?’ So, billions of people across the planet are confined to a chair and it affects their loved ones greatly. But I’m such a huge fan of anyone who has stayed positive through that experience and to be able to have the ability to portray that and honor those that are in that situation was huge. I was really happy to do it.”
Michaela Conlin: “Yeah. I think they allowed us to do a lot of different things with that storyline. You see different sides to his recovery or my recovery, however you want to look at it. But I think it’s been interesting to see how it affected them because we saw them content for a really long time. So, I know T.J. and I were really glad that we had something else to do. We really wanted to show the people who had stayed with the show for a really long time that there were different sides to the relationship and behind closed doors. I think they’ve done a really good job of showing that.”
As an actor playing a character for so many years, what do you do to keep it fresh?
T.J. Thyne: “Pulling Michaela aside and saying, ‘What should we do? How do we make this interesting?’ We legitimately have conversations. We’ve got to keep pushing each other as a cast. We can’t get lazy. We’ve got to find the new, if you will. And it is tough at times. You get into this lull sometimes, but I think it’s just relying on great friends that you’ve got to work with for so long to kind of help you.”
Michaela Conlin: “We really know when the other person is doing it or not doing it.”
T.J. Thyne: “That’s true.”
Michaela Conlin: “We’ve worked together so long, more than high school or college or any acting class we’ve ever taken, so you really can tell when someone has thought about a scene or brought something. I don’t know. I think we’re all good in that way.”
T.J. Thyne: “That’s the validation I think genuinely after each scene that I look for the most. When I can look at Michaela and she just (shakes her head), then I know I’ve got it. Whereas notes coming from other places you might still feel like, ‘I don’t know!’ But Michaela just goes, ‘Yeah, that was it,’ then I feel, ‘Okay, good, I’m ready to move on.'”
Watch the full Michaela Conlin and T.J. Thyne interview:
(Interview by Fred Topel. Article by Rebecca Murray.)
