Anne Heche Talks About Executive Producing ‘Bad Judge’ and Starring in ‘Dig’

Anne Heche Talks Dig and Bad Judge
Jason Isaacs as Peter and Anne Heche as Lynn in ‘Dig’ (Photo by: Ronen Akerman/USA Network)

Anne Heche was happy to see me at the NBC party for the Television Critics Association this summer. I saw the comedy That’s What She Said at Sundance in 2012, in which she plays a very raunchy comedic role, and told her how much I appreciated her performance. Now she is an executive producer of the NBC comedy Bad Judge, starring Kate Walsh as a judge with a rowdy private life herself.

Seeing me at the TCA, Heche gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and was happy to talk about her new show. Shows plural, as she stars in the upcoming USA series Dig.

During the panel for Bad Judge, reporters asked a lot of questions about the title. Was she bad at judging, or just a judge who behaves badly? Was it anything like Bad Teacher? So Heche and I got deep about both what it means to be bad and what it means to judge. Bad Judge airs Thursday nights on NBC.

Showbiz Junkies: Did Bad Judge come out of the sensibility of doing raunchy comedy in That’s What She Said?

Anne Heche: “I would love to say it did. No, Bad Judge came out of five years. I’ve been developing that in my head basically for five years. I’m fascinated by judgment, why we judge people and why they judge us and who we put in the position of judgment. I’ve been a bit of a rule breaker and I wanted to understand, what if the people we put in a robe is actually a person just like me? How outrageous would that be? So I started developing Bad Judge. She’s a really fabulous judge but people perceive her as something because of their judgment. I liked all that, how would that work and how do you write that and how does that become a character that we laugh with and at?”

How deep into the spiritual issue of judgment did you get? Mother Teresa has a quote about judging, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Anne Heche: “Oh wow, I love that. I wish I had come up with that. I think that’s true.”

I try to tell people that.

Anne Heche: “That is incredible. I’ll take that gift with me forever. I love that you told me that. It’s true.”

I was surprised in the panel people had such a hard time with the title. I thought that’s just how we title things now. You put the word “Bad” in front of something and it’s funny, like Bad Grandpa, Bad Santa and Bad Teacher.

Anne Heche: “I have to say, Bad Santa, the incredible roles that are done for men where they get to be raunchy and comedic, in a way we give male characters the right to be such an outrageous mess and conflict with themselves all the time, and we laugh.

I really did want to put a woman with that much responsibility on her shoulders, both comedically and artistically, to say this realm hasn’t even been explored yet for women. We’re as complicated as men. We have as much going on with us and I wanted to create that outrageousness because I fell so madly in love with Bad Santa that “Bad” to me was something comedically that really intrigued me.”

Bad Teacher was a woman and that worked for the movie. I don’t know about the TV show, but it’s not unheard of for a woman.

Anne Heche: “No, it’s not, but it’s hard to pull off and I think pulling it off is what Kate Walsh has been able to do.”

What do you get to play on Dig?

Anne Heche: “I play the head of the FBI in Israel. It’s a little bit different role. It’s a drama. Of course, I did Save Me last year and USA brought me this show with Jason [Isaacs] as the leading man. It’s so interesting, unique. It’s an action/drama/thriller. It was such a departure from Save Me, I couldn’t say no.”

You may also remember what a big fan of Volcano I was. Is it action like Volcano?

Anne Heche: “Oh, it’s big time. Rooted in a truth where Volcano was absurd.”

That’s why I loved it.

Anne Heche: “This would not be absurd, but because it happens in Israel, the underground of what we’re exploring is so intense and unique. Of course, it’s timely.”

Where did you shoot Dig?

Anne Heche: “Israel.”

You actually shot there. Were they welcoming of a production?

Anne Heche: “Yes, it was incredible.”

How many episodes did you shoot there?

Anne Heche: “One. They did this incredible thing where they’re doing a 90-minute pilot. We were already picked up to series, so they did 10 and Gideon wanted to do a longer pilot and really figure out, we were planning this hiatus both to do press and also to look at the show, and see what they really needed to make it fantastic. It was an incredible experience. I don’t know where we’ll shoot the rest of it, but we will continue.”

Does your character have much of a home life in Israel?

Anne Heche: “Yeah, I think Lynn really digs in. I think she really becomes a part of the culture that she’s involved with. She’s probably been to many countries and been in this position many different times in many different countries. When she goes there, I think she is, yes, an adventurer and loves the city that she’s in.”