Finally back for a third season on RTÉ Two, 'Private Practice' continues to grow out from under the shadows of its big brother, 'Grey’s Anatomy'. Tim Daly talks to the RTÉ Guide’s John Byrne on location in Hollywood, about the show’s shocking cliffhanger, his character Pete’s relationships, and his personal battle with demons.
It’s been a long time coming, but 'Private Practice' is finally back on RTÉ Two – great news for fans of the show who have been waiting almost a full year to find out what happens to Violet Turner.
The cliffhanger at the end of the show’s second season was pretty gruesome as Violet was attacked by Katie, a mentally ill former patient who believed that the heavily pregnant doctor was carrying the baby she miscarried. After drugging Violet, Katie tied her up, and produced a scalpel to perform an amateur C-section to get 'her' baby.
Tim Daly – who plays Turner’s love interest and fellow doc, Pete Wilder – grins broadly at the mention of the season three opener which, without spoiling it for anyone, sees Violet being rushed to Oceanside Wellness, where Addison and Naomi fight to save their colleague’s life. Nobody saw the attack on Violet coming, and it was one of the most jaw-dropping moments in recent TV history.
"In sort of typical ['Private Practice' creator] Shonda Rhimes' fashion, you know, just when everything seems like it's going to be okay, everything falls to s**t," says Daly. "And, you know, when I got the script [for the season three opener] I was really excited about it because . . . I'm trying to think how I can say this without getting in trouble. But I felt as if my storyline, particularly some of the speeches that I had, were really beautifully crafted by Shonda. In terms of what it meant to me in terms of the storyline, it's just, you know, a starting-off place for a long season. And I still don't know how it's going to turn out. And if I did know, I wouldn't be able to tell you. So don't ask."
We’re in an interview room at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, on a typically sun-drenched LA afternoon. Daly’s wearing shades and looking like he spends most of his time outdoors. His sunny disposition is not just down to geography, he’s a man who’s seen off inner demons while maintaining a lengthy acting career that stretches back as far his breakthrough role in Barry Levinson’s 1982 movie, Diner.
But despite his successes, mainly on stage and in TV shows such as 'Wings' and 'The Sopranos' (where he was Emmy-nominated for his role as a drug-addicted screenwriter), and a long and happy marriage that’s lasted since 1982, Daly has had to battle booze and drugs. But it was a battle that he won.
"I never talk about this," he admits, "but I suppose I'll talk about it now because it's been so long. I'm an alcoholic and a drug addict." Daly got sober on October 23, 1982. And the reason he can recall the day he quit, isn’t an obvious one. "It was my father's birthday. See, my dad is all over me in some sort of karmic way. And I never really talked about it, and then I would watch talk shows, and people would come on and talk about their rehab and their recovery and all this stuff. And I thought . . . it got to be very, very strange. Yay! This is what I am still addicted to," he says, as he’s handed a cup of coffee by an assistant. "I'm convinced that I would be dead if I hadn't changed my life. So that was a very dramatic moment for me."
Daly draws a lot of connections with his deceased father, the actor James Daly, who appeared in many iconic TV shows such as 'The Virginian', 'Mission: Impossible' and 'Star Trek' before his death in 1969. Although a self-confessed sceptic about the supernatural, he acknowledges that "they happen", and then offers some examples.
"My father died the day we were going to go into rehearsal for my first professional play. I got sober on my father's birthday. This stuff is weird. But, you know, I was - I had one of those kind of white-light moments. I was totally, you know, drunk and stoned and completely wasted, and a light clicked on for me. I just saw my own death if I continued on that path. I was like, 'I will die if I do this.' And, you know, thank God, from that day on, I've been sober."
Being on a primetime show such as 'Private Practice', and in a key role too, means that Daly’s got a lot going for him at the age of 54. Talk in Tinseltown often revolves around the problem actresses have with getting good roles after they hit 40 – but Daly’s more concerned about losing his mental faculties.
"I just hope that I'm healthy long enough to get into those years where I can be a character actor, you know?" he admits. "I hope that I don't lose my mind. But part of my fear is that it's going to be one of these deals where I wake up one day and it will all have just gone to s**t . . . I don't want to be the guy who walks into the room and people say, 'What happened?'"
And as for Pete Wilder, Daly is clearly a fan of his character. "Pete has transformed so much," he feels. "I loved the beginning of Pete because he had such sort of a healthy adult attitude about sex. He wasn't, you know, exactly a dog. He loved women. He loved sleeping with women. Sex he felt was kind of good, clean fun for two consenting people that wanted to have a good time.
"Then we got these inklings that he was ready to change and do something more and he had this thing with Meg. And then, of course, this thing with Violet - where he really fell. And he fell hard for her. So, you know, without giving too much away, I can say that he remains kind of committed to having this be something. How long that commitment will last, I can't tell you."
And what about Pete and Addison (played by Kate Walsh)? Early on in the show they seemed to be heading in a certain direction. Tim Daly gets a little playful when the topic’s raised.
"Pete and Addison had this affair, this thing. They actually didn't," he insists. "They made out a couple of times. You know, nothing really happened between them." Trying hard to keep a straight face, he adds: "And I think we owe the audience, you know, at least some sort of consummation of that thing because it was hot and steamy."
John Byrne
