Heather Graham and Tom Cavanagh play very close brother and sister in Gray Matters. They share a bond in real life, having both appeared on Scrubs, even in the same episode, but they had never worked together before this film.
Tom Cavanagh on Gray Matters
"We've been in the same episode but we our storylines never met," said Cavanagh. "I had a great time over there doing the show for years and they're great. They love her over there too. It's almost like, 'Oh, by the way you do Scrubs too.' We'd forgotten about that. Heather and I got along from the beginning. She's a very welcoming accessible person, she’s very nice. We bonded over many things but Scrubs might not have been one of them."
Creating the sibling bond was actually more violent than you'd imagine. "Basically for us it was like it was her beating me up. Very early on in our time together she started slugging me during scenes and the first time she was like, 'I'm so sorry' and I was like, 'Girl you can't hurt me.' Then it all became a thing whether she could actually you know, lay the beating on the boy. So a lot of our scenes and a lot of the more violent stuff actually didn't end up on camera because they're like, 'Can you tone it down a bit because this isn't like Ultimate Fighting' but we had a lot of that going on and ultimately that contributes to the brother sister relationship a little bit. Makes it seem a little more real on screen I think and she loved it I can tell you that much so it was fun."
Gray Matters
Gray Matters
For the record, Cavanagh's manhood remains intact. "She never really did [hurt me.] It was funny, she's a strong girl and in good shape but that must have been like the fact we had the scene going so I wasn't paying too much attention. I was more concentrating on getting the lines right but for all her wailing away, I can't say I walked away with too many permanent injuries."
It worked out well that the actors got along so well, but Cavanagh's a pro. He could do it with a partner he hated too. "I don't know that you have to get along with the other person to do a competent acting job but I always do feel personally in my own personal opinion that something ephemeral gets translated to the screen when the people really like each other. It certainly doesn’t hurt the process if you like the other person I think. We got along great."
Ultimately, Cavanagh's character has to be the most forgiving person imaginable, after he finds out that his sister has fallen in love with his fiancé after discovering she is gay. "It's a focal point for the movie and I think no matter who you are, you're stung a little bit when the idea of infidelity is raised, be it like something frivolous like this, a drunken moment that the person doesn’t even remember. But I think peoples' initial instincts are to protect themselves. I think in this movie that's where we go. The first instinct is like, 'What, with who?' and I think that's Sam's first instinct is to protect himself. Then better emotions or reasoning takes over after awhile and he realizes that this woman is his best friend, not to mention she's his sister and there's probably another way of looking at it."
Gray Matters has a limited release on February 23rd.
For the poster, trailer, more interviews and additional movie info, go to the Gray Matters
Movie Page.
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