Interview: Alisen Down Chats about GRACEPOINT's Pillar of Integrity

Deceit, secrets, and lies. Not exactly solid building blocks for a small, tight-knit community, but somehow, the tiny town of Gracepoint manages to thrive despite this rocky foundation - or, at least, it did until Danny's murder rattled the entire village. There is one pillar, though, that has so far managed to hold strong as everyone else succumbs to suspicion and gossip: Kathy Eaton, the editor of Gracepoint's newspaper. Recently, I got the chance to speak with the crazy talented Alisen Down, who plays Kathy, about her experiences on the show, and about where Kathy stands in a town full of mystery.

You already know what I think of Kathy: she fights for the truth with integrity, and she's a breath of fresh, honest air in a town otherwise suffocated by deceit. But what initially drew Down to the character? "I felt a connection to her right away," she explains. "Some auditions you get, and you feel like you already know the character. I got into her skin a little easier, and that's always a big draw. You don't have to struggle as much."

Naturally, an audition soon followed. "I filmed the audition on tape in my dining room with my husband," Down reveals. The casting team and producers loved her...for the most part. If you've seen BROADCHURCH, you may remember Kathy's UK counterpart, Maggie Radcliffe. You may also remember that Maggie was significantly older than Kathy. "The producers came back and they said, 'We loved your audition, but you're too young and you're too pretty,'" says Down. As far as critiques go, that's not such a bad one to get! Still, age and physical appearance do pose a genuine problem when creating and establishing a character. If an actor or actress doesn't look the part, it can be difficult for audiences to truly accept him or her as the character. That wasn't going to stop Alisen, or the producers, for that matter, who were so blown away by her audition that they tweaked Kathy a bit. "I'm sort of mid-thirties, and the character is mid- to late- forties," says Down. To fix that, the hair and make-up department cut Down's hair, popped some grey in it, and poof, Kathy was born.

Or at least, almost born. "Once we got me on camera," Down explains, "we realized we couldn't push the age as far as we wanted to believably." To solve that problem, producers simply made one more tiny adjustment to Kathy: they simply made her younger. "We established Kathy safely in her early forties," says Down.

Problem solved! In the long run, Kathy's age doesn't make that much of a difference. What matters more is that she's believable as a character, and Down and the production team ensure that this comes across in GRACEPOINT.

Speaking of believability, we learn early on in the series that Kathy, as the editor of Gracepoint's paper, expects a high level of respect from her workers, aimed at her, her staff, and at the people who call Gracepoint home. There's no room for gossip or exaggeration in her paper. At the same time, she genuinely cares about her town, and feels an obligation to serve them with integrity. That's probably one of the reasons why she takes Owen under her wing in the first place. Down recognizes this trait in Kathy, as well. "I think when we first see Kathy, she's a very trusted figure in the town. She has a really good relationship with the police, which, as a journalist, you need to have."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is something really unique: a good relationship with the police, especially when we're talking about Carver. Even Ellie doesn't get along too well with Carver, and she's his partner. That's something else that makes Kathy stand out from the pack: her good ol' journalistic integrity. "What I like about Kathy," says Down, "is that she's a very good reporter, and she's an ambitious reporter, but, for Kathy, I don't think that ambition means lying or bending the truth or writing different bylines." (We're looking at you, Renee!)

And now I feel even worse about Owen's actions. He really let her down! In case you forgot, Owen got himself into a bit of a pickle when he teamed up with Renee for a piece about Jack Reinhold. Owen worked diligently with Renee on the piece and agreed to share a byline with her, but when the article was published, it was almost completely re-written and twisted to make Jack look like the bad guy (and remember, Jack was completely and totally innocent). How can Owen, who spent years under Kathy's wing, let this happen? One word: ambition.

"Owen, feeling ambitious, breaks that trust a little bit," explains Down. "Kathy has to work to get that back." Luckily for Owen, Kathy is blessed with the patience and forgiveness of a god, and despite Owen's flaws, she keeps him on the paper's staff. "As the series goes on," states Down, "I believe that integrity wins out over twisting the truth just to make something exciting." Hear that, Owen? Get your act together. You got this!

Kathy's truth-telling skills serve as a nice contrast to...well, everybody else in the show, who all seem to have some big secret that they'll do anything to keep hidden. Does this mean that Kathy is hiding something, too? After all, she is a Gracepoint native. It seems like secrecy is in the water there. "I think Kathy has her secrets," teases Down, "but I don't think she's ashamed of anything she stands for or of any 'secrets' that she may or may not have. I don't think it's in her make-up." That's refreshing in a town full of people apologizing for what they've done. Kathy knows who she is, she's proud of that, and she's not embarrassed to admit that she's made mistakes in the past.

BROADCHURCH's Maggie Radcliffe has similar characteristics, but the characters are certainly not identical. Did viewing BROADCHURCH influence Kathy's development in any way? "For the original audition, I didn't watch BROADCHURCH, mostly because I just didn't have the time," recalls Down. "Once I got the role, I watched the entire series. Carolyn Pickles, who plays Maggie Radcliffe in BROADCHURCH, is so vastly different from me and I didn't feel like there was any risk of me subconsciously mimicking her at all, because she is just so different."

Any differences are only for the better, since these differences and nuances make GRACEPOINT appealing to both new audiences and BROADCHURCH viewers (like me!) even though viewers of the UK edition already know the general gist of the show. One thing that doesn't change? Danny's murder. Quite the heavy subject matter, no? It must have been difficult to film certain scenes knowing that the entire show is based upon the murder of a very young and very beloved boy.

"Kathy's a little removed from what the family's going through," explains Down, "but I have a small son - he's two - so I react to shows like this differently than I did before I was a mother. The show has a looming sadness underneath everything that we're doing, especially because I think about my little boy."

I give everybody involved with this show a lot of credit, especially actors and actresses like Alisen, who play characters that try to keep the town upbeat and moving in a forward direction. I'm no actor, but I imagine it can be difficult to maintain a sense of positivity and hope within the characters when dealing with material as tragic as the murder of a young boy.

GRACEPOINT's only the beginning of the road for Alisen, though. She's already received much acclaim for shows like COLD SQUAD, ROBSON ARMS, and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, and she's got an exciting project coming up. "I'm shooting some episodes of a new show called TWELVE MONKEYS," Down reveals. "It's a really well-done show and I'm really excited to be a part of it." TWELVE MONKEYS is, as of now, slated for a January 2015 premiere on Syfy.

Until then, you can catch Alisen as Kathy Eaton on GRACEPOINT, Thursday nights at 9 PM ET on FOX. Hurry up, though - after this week, there's only two more episodes left! I know, I know, it went fast!

How do you think Kathy impacts Gracepoint? Is she as moral as she appears, or do you think she's hiding something? Speculate in the comments below or let me know on Twitter @CourtHenley!

Photo credit (GRACEPOINT photo): Fox

Photo credit (headshot): Pennant Media Group

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