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Tuesday Jun. 9, 2009
Exclusive: Harper's Dead -- We Chat
with J.D. Dunn (a.k.a. "The Black Sheep")
by Alyse Wax, Fear.net
J.D. Dunn, played by Dean Chekvala, is the latest wedding guest to
fall victim to Harper's Island. The dark, brooding, tattooed
brother-of-the-groom was positioned to be a prime suspect, even
though we know he was way too obvious. So it was a surprise to no
one (at least not to any FEARnet readers) that J.D. was found on the
docks, gutted like a fish. We spoke to Dean about his role, keeping
secrets, and how much of his entrails ended up on the cutting room
floor.
How did you come to get the role of J.D. on Harper's Island?
It was just one of those normal auditions. I went in, didn't really
know what it was, and auditioned once. My "follow-up" audition was
actually a meeting with Jeff Bell and Dan Shotz, the producers. I
wasn't sure how that went. I thought it went well, but I didn't hear
anything so I thought I had screwed it up. I finally got a call
after quite a few days, and they said, "Oh you got it. And by the
way, you are leaving tomorrow."
Were you signed on for a set number of episodes, or were you
week-to-week?
I think most if not all of us were week-to-week. The cast wasn't
told anything, and the killer wasn't even told anything. We were all
under the impression that anyone could go tomorrow, or anyone could
stay the whole time.
So the killer didn't even know they were the killer until the
very end?
I know, how wild is that? Part of it, I think, was for secrecy's
sake. But I think part of it was so that the killer didn't play it
like the killer
I don't know. Maybe the producers just didn't even
know! I thought I was just on for the pilot, but then it got picked
up, and when I came to set, the producers said, "Look, here's the
deal: you could be here the whole time, or you could be gone next
week. We don't know."
Is it hard to plan your life around that kind of uncertainty?
Not for me particularly. I don't have much planning in my life! But
I'm sure for some, it was a little hectic. I love just picking up
and moving, and being on the job for however long it ends up being.
That was great.
The show set up your character, J.D., as a prime suspect from the
very beginning. Did you ever believe that you could be the killer,
or did you realize you were just a red herring?
There were moments where I thought I was the killer actually, from
the every first moment. At the start of the show, the producers met
with the cast individually and asked us all, "If you were the
killer, would you want to know?" I didn't think I would really need
to, but then I thought, "Wait, are they really asking me because I
am the killer?" But no, I found out later that they really were
asking that of everyone just for the producers' curiosity. I
eventually realized I was the red herring, but a great character to
bounce those suspicions off of, cause there is no other character
like that.
How did the producers tell you that you were the next victim? Was
it a surprise?
It was a big surprise. I found out from Karim "The Assassin" you
know he does a blog called "Notes From an Assassin" he was given
the job of telling people every week that they were the next
victims. He was heading to the airport, so he had to tell me over
the phone normally he tells people in person. He called and was
really casual, "Hey Dean, how ya doing?" that kind of thing. I asked
if he wanted to hang out later and he said, "Oh, actually, you're
not going to be around much later." It was a surprise because when
he called, I thought it was about something else. But it wasn't a
surprise in the sense that it was time. It was time for them to kill
off some characters they had invested some more time with.
Who do you think the killer is?
I actually asked them not to tell me because I wanted to watch the
rest of the show and guess along with the audience. But I've always
felt it could be Abby. I don't know why, if I made that up based on
no evidence, but going through all the characters, she seems to be
the most unlikely suspect. Maybe she is schizophrenic or has a split
personality or something. But [the cast] would talk about this every
week, when we would get the script, so now I have kind of been
convinced against that, and thought Jimmy might be a good suspect.
He's very unassuming in a sense. I don't think it is the sheriff I
feel like the sheriff already has a lot of secrets.
What ended up airing of your death scene was basically just you
laying there. Were you gutted? Was there more to the scene that was
later cut, and could we see it on the DVD?
Yeah, I was gutted. We shot several versions including one with my
guts hanging out and some cleaner versions. I think they ended up
using the cleaner versions because they weren't as graphic. We
didn't shoot anything else leading up to that scene, that would
explain it, so I am led to believe it was a stabbing, or a machete
or something like that. They might put the more graphic versions on
the DVD. I know they also filmed a more graphic version of Malcolm's
death last week. With him, they had to cut out scenes where his body
parts were being thrown in to the furnace, but I think I did hear
them say that the extra scenes would be on the DVD.
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