So, What Did You Think of the Show?
Nathaniel Weighs in on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
November 25, 2008


Nathaniel on the L&O:SVU set w/Mariska Hargitay & Christopher Meloni

 

Q: How did you get your guest star role on SVU?

NM: I auditioned for it


Q: Did you watch the show before?

NM: I love the show. I’m a HUGE fan. I always wanted to be on the show.


Q: Can you tell us a bit about the character you play in “Persona”?

NM: He’s a really dark controlling scary man.


Q: What was your experience working on the show, with the cast and crew?

NM: I was unbelievably impressed w/everybody. The organization…..the production staff was on point, the camera crew were people that I had worked with before in my career. I saw a lot of people that I had worked with before on other projects, like the first movie I did with Angelina Jolie, people I worked with on Matt Waters….from camera people to stunt people…the stunt coordinator on the show, Jery Hewitt, was the stunt guy on “Love Is All There Is”, and we remembered each other after all these years. I was just unbelievably impressed. I felt really welcomed. I’m the type of person who likes to be in on everything, who likes to watch even when I’m not filming. I want to be on set to watch what the camera men are doing and sort of learning, and they were really open to that. The producer, David Declerque, was a really nice guy. He allowed me to sort of sit around and be in on the production, which was pretty cool. Also, Clea was great to work with and Brenda was very supportive.

Q: I hear you ran into a fan of yours while you were filming the episode?

NM: I ran into a few people who remembered me from One Life and a lot of people who were happy to see me working again. I heard things like, “Oh so this is where you went”, which was pretty cool. The nanny of one of the regular stars knew me from OLTL and was happy to see me, and that was kind of a fun moment. I was very impressed with Mariska, Chris and all the cast, had been watching them for years and I mean these are people who I really admire….so itwas kind of fun while telling them how much I admire them to have somebody connected to one of them say “Well I know who you are” and give me that “Hey, you’re somebody around here too”. And my response was “Well look I’m really nobody here. You have all these huge people around so…I’m just happy to have a job right now”.


Q: You've played in a couple of soaps, like One Life to Live, and in several movies, including The Craft, and now you're guest starring on a primetime TV show. What are the biggest differences between those different medias/formats? What's your favorite?

NM: I’d have to say that shooting anything on film (versus on tape) is my favorite, be it a television show or a movie. I like shooting with a one camera system over a four camera system. You get more of a chance to get the scene down right...…..the way you want it. When you shoot on film, you have more chances to do it the way you want. And I have to say again that the people working on Law & Order were all so professional…it was an unbelievable machine and they took anything in stride and the people were happy! Even the way Mr. Declerque spoke with his production staff……like even the PA’s (production assistants)…..I’ve seen PA’s in the industry treated really poorly; they’re the low man on the totem pole, but they’re an integral part of making any movie or television show. He really treated them in a manner that was respectful and appreciative….. I was really impressed. I was really impressed with it all, with everybody. They are a well oiled machine.

 

Nathaniel on the L&O:SVU set w/Mariska Hargitay & Christopher Meloni

Thanks to the folks at svufans.net for the stills and all their help.