We fell in love with the uniformed officer David James Elliott on the television series, “JAG.” Now he stars in the FOX movie, Truth Be Told. Before the the movie aired, Daedrian McNaughton had a chance to talk with David on his new movies with Kristin Chenoweth and Candace Cameron Bure.
Annie Morgan (Candace Cameron Bure, “Full House”), Colorado’s leading marriage counselor, makes a living by preaching that honesty is the key to successful long-term relationships. Ironically, Annie has never been married and doesn’t always follow her own advice. Through a misunderstanding, Annie receives an invitation for her and her spouse to join media mogul Terrance Bishop (Ronny Cox, “Stargate SG-1”), at his New Mexico ranch to discuss her dream job: hosting a radio advice program. Fearful that being single will ruin her chance of a lifetime, Annie conspires with Mark Crane (David James Elliott, “JAG”), an old college friend, recent widower and father of two teenagers, to pose as her husband for the weekend. A series of comical misunderstandings color the trip, leaving Annie emotionally involved with Mark’s family and battling with her own conscience, in the all-new TRUTH BE TOLD airing Saturday, April 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (FM-1105) (TV-PG)
Cast: Candace Cameron Bure as Annie Morgan; David James Elliott as Mark Crane;Ronny Cox as Terrance Bishop; Belita Moreno as Sophia Bishop; Danny Gokey as Himself; Kurt Warner as Himself
FOX TV Movie, Truth Be Told on FOX.
I enjoyed watching you on Jag and we love men in uniform. Can you tell me what’s different about doing Jag and Truth Be Told for you?
David James Elliott: Well, Candace Cameron Bure was very difficult to work with and everyone on Jag was really kind and nice. No, anyhow, it’s always a different character and I didn’t have on a uniform, which was a nice change. It’s completely a different story, but however, they’re both moral people, and they celebrate being a good guy and doing the right thing. So I guess there are some similarities and some differences.
What attracted you to this role?
David James Elliott: It’s nice for Candace and I—we both have young children—to be part of something that they can enjoy with us. That would be my motivation, mostly. I mean it’s a charming story. That and working with Candace, who’s a wonderful, charming actress. The story was something that my little guy could watch and enjoy. In fact, he came out when we were filming it, and loved the series of films that Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble have made. Some of the producers gave him copies of those and he sat in the trailer and watched them all and told me without hesitation that he really loved them-that’s coming from an eight-year-old.
How was Kurt Warner?
David James Elliott: Kurt was a great guy. He was in and out fairly quickly, came with his wife. He was charming, and was actually—everybody was talking afterwards with him, “Well, Kurt was really good.” Everyone, for some reason, had expected that he might be a little stiff, but not at all. Really charming, amenable guy, and played himself with aplomb, I felt. Candace was kind of down on him, but—Danny Gokey was great, too. Very funny, nice guy. He just came in … he had no airs or pretense. They both were in and out and delivered a great job, so, thankfully. Amazing voice.
How did you find a way to connect to each other to make the character relationship so warm and believable?
David James Elliott: I’m a difficult man, so—Candace, it’s a real tribute to her tenacity that I break through. It’s always a challenge when you first meet somebody, especially when you need to have that connection. If it’s not there, that’s a lie that’s really hard to fake, but Candace is a really open person, and she was easy to connect to. Aside from her physical attributes—being so beautiful and talented—she’s just an open, available person. I think for me it was effortless to connect with her. I, on the other hand, am a little more difficult to get into, and so the challenge probably lied with Candace. Probably the most difficult thing was trying to get through the cold. It was so cold and I’m from Canada, and this cold scared me. It was bitter cold. Everybody, quite frankly, in the film from the director to the producer, Craig Anderson—Jonathan Frakes directed it and all the other actors were really—they came to play. They came and they put their best face on. We endured a lot of physical hardship, but you know everybody was a real, true professional. It was a great environment to work in, and that’s certainly not always the case. You know what’s great about it? There are two things that are great about it. We had a lot of common things to deal with: fan bases and people recognizing you and approaching you out on the streets. It’s always good to have somebody who kind of understands the challenges of that. Also the professionality, I mean, the fact that we’ve both been in front of the camera for so long that there’s a lot of things that when you work with somebody who hasn’t had the opportunities that we’ve had to work the craft consistently like that. So it really helps to move things along quickly. You don’t have to school anybody. You don’t have to wonder what they’re going to do when something specific, some little glitch happens. The more you’ve done it, the quicker you roll from it and the more you continue on. You know, if somebody flubs a line, you don’t blow the whole take. They just go back, just go back, they can roll easier with the little problems and we can get the day done faster and we can—and the work is better because of it. So it’s always great to work with somebody with the experience that Candace has.
How do you think the audience will relate to your characters and the themes of the film?
David James Elliott: Well, for the reasons that we found the piece attractive; one would hope that the audience would find those same themes attractive. One of the things that I find as a parent, it’s always challenging to find things that the whole family can watch. Hopefully there’s a movement towards more of this. I think there is, because there’s definitely been a void in the whole family entertainment. Sometimes things are advertised as being for the whole family, and then you get into it and you start finding themes and topics that are a little challenging to navigate with a young child. That puts you in a difficult place and also brings up questions that kids start asking questions that they shouldn’t be asking at a certain age. I find that a lot in advertising, certainly in radio programming. The fact that they advertise a lot of things for male impotence on TV constantly—non-stop during the day in the typical family hours and you’ve got your seven, eight-year-old, “Gee, what’s Viagra, Dad?” So this was a nice theme for me, quite frankly, and I would hope that the families out there, the Wal-Mart, Proctor & Gamble family certainly should understand.
There seems to be a trend with your co-stars being short…
David James Elliott: Short people in …. Yes, I’ve always been down on short people, and I don’t know why they hire them. Really? Quite frankly, I just finished working with somebody even smaller than Candace; who was 4’11”. So they get smaller with every job-Kristin Chenoweth. From where I’m standing, I’m always looking down on people. So I’m so used to it, I didn’t really notice the height difference. So maybe on camera—and quite frankly even with the actresses who are 5’9” they put them on boxes sometimes. And people, often when they talk to me, they go, “Oh my God, you’re so much taller than I thought you were.” I said, “Because that’s just the way it is.” … to have a camera frame that people have to fit into. So it didn’t disturb me, it was just part of the job. My wife is close to Candace’s height.
Have you lied at an audition?
David James Elliott: Well, yes, when you want to get the job. One of the things at theatre school, I remember one of the first things they told us, “If you can’t ride a horse, don’t say you can ride a horse.” So, I don’t know that I’ve—I think, you know what? I think the natural instinct may be for most people—certainly, I’m no different—is to, we all tell a little white lies here and there. It’s a challenge every day to—because maybe it’s because, maybe I’m just speaking personally; maybe I am the only one. But you often feel not enough, so you expound upon things without all the truth. Your story is not quite enough, so you build it a little better to hold interest. That’s certainly a challenge every day, but it’s a good challenge, and it’s a good …, and so I’m for the truth.
Were there any standout moments on set, any memorable scenes from filming?
David James Elliott: We were forced to spend long periods of time with each other in a 4×4 tent huddled around a small heater. So there was no escaping one another. I think the film, as a result, everybody walked away really—and certainly was my experience—missing the gang when we got home, which is one of those things that often happens. You force these wonderful quite deeply personal—you talk about things that you often wouldn’t with somebody you just met, and then you walk away and good chance you may never see that person again.
Anything you are working on for the future?
David James Elliott: I’m just finishing a new Darren Star pilot, which I play Ripp Cockburn, an oil billionaire and Kristin Chenoweth is my wife. It’s a comedy.
What are keys to a successful long-term marriage?
David James Elliott: You know what? All those things are absolutely true. Communication is a big one. Trust, communication. Those are the two biggies for me. Let’s embrace the truth, except when to do so would injure them or others, right? You don’t want to go, “Hey, how do I look in this? Do I look fat in this?” or those stupid questions, you never want to tell the truth if it’s going to hurt somebody, especially when it’s insignificant. But trust and communication.