After last year’s sensational finale, Private Practice is returning to RTÉ Two for a third season. Will Violet and her unborn baby survive her horrendous attack?
It’s a baking hot day in Los Angeles, but Amy Brenneman is dressed for more downbeat weather as she arrives for the RTÉ Guide interview at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. The 'Private Practice' star is decked out like a disciple of the 1960s, with a big, beige hat, a brown velvet jacket, a blueish-grey jumper and a pair of jeans. A great big grin rounds off the look of someone who’s obviously very comfortable in herself.
That, of course, cannot be said for Brenneman’s character in the medical drama. Psychiatrist Violet Turner is seemingly incapable of finding joy in her life, and when we last saw 'Private Practice' on RTÉ Two, she was in a very bad place indeed.
No one who saw last year’s season two finale will ever forget it. Held captive in her home by Katie, a mentally ill former patient who believes that the heavily pregnant Violet has the baby she miscarried, things rapidly went downhill. After drugging Violet, Katie then tied her up on the floor, and produced a scalpel to perform an amateur C-section to get ‘her’ baby.
We’re obviously not going to reveal how season three opens (why spoil the anticipation for those fans who’ve waited so long to see what happens?), but Amy Brenneman is keen to speak about the pleasure she’s had playing Turner on 'Private Practice'.
"You know, it's just this great ride," she says, smiling broadly. "It's truly one of the reasons I enjoy television so much. Because, you know, with a movie or a play the script is what it is and you know what it is and you sign on or you don't. And one of the exciting and sort of nerve-racking parts of this job - but I really like it - is you just don't know. And I had no idea that was going to happen. Really. None... I don't think I did. I knew something about KaDee (Strickland, who plays Charlotte King) coming back, but I didn't know that that was going to happen."
At this stage of her career, Brenneman’s got a very impressive CV. The Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress (who’s a remarkably fresh-looking, botox-free 46-year-old) has starred in the classic cop show 'NYPD Blue' and was the central character in Judging Amy, a drama about a family court judge, Amy Gray, which was based on Brenneman’s mother, who played that role for real.
But nothing prepared her for what she had to endure while shooting those harrowing scenes as Viiolet is attacked. The smile that’s almost permanently on her face disappears when she recalls the experience.
"It's awful," she insists. "But at one point, you know, like hour 16 I couldn't really connect to it. And then I thought, okay, my son's name is Bodhi. And I was like, okay, this is Bodhi. And I drop in, and I felt all the emotion but I also felt like I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that. I don't want to do it."
'Private Practice', of course, is the creation of Shonda Rymes, who is also the inspiration for 'Grey’s Anatomy'. According to Brenneman, Rymes delights in recouting the time she had to go to the studio bosses to discuss the season’s shocking finale.
"She said that when she went to the studio, ABC Studios, to tell them this is what she wanted to do for the season finale, the executives were really shocked and horrified," she recalls. "They said, 'That's just terrible. We don't want to do that.' And she said, ' 'Well, your studio, ABC Studios, makes 'Criminal Minds'. It makes these procedurals in which, every week, a woman is brutalised or raped or something terrible happens.' And they said, 'Yeah, but those aren't characters that we know and love.' She said, 'Well, that's the point. We're actually going to follow a person that we're invested in and what would happen.'"
Aside from the shocking scenes during the finale, season two in general saw Private Practice become more dramatic, with less comic moments than there was back in the show’s debut year.
Brenneman insists that this is evidence of the show’s strengths rather than an indication that it’s lost its way in terms of tone. And, certainly, plenty of viewers will be tuning in to see how this third season pans out for Violet and everyone else connected to the Oceanside Wellness Centre.
"I think our tent is really big," she insists. "I think that, if you get audiences to have a buy-in with characters - which is no small thing, as it takes a while to establish that relationship - and you have skilled writers, then you can go wherever it goes.
"Having done a series before it's like you want within that hour to be funny, to be dramatic, to be sexy, you know? And on a procedural sitcom, you get locked into one tone and it can be great, but that's [like] eating one food all the time. So I think I explain it [by saying] that that's where we're going right now." Outside of acting, Brenneman is quite active politically, supporting various liberal issues, but otherwise takes it easy with husband Brad Silberling and their children, Charlotte Tucker (9) and Bodhi Russell (5).
Glowing at the mention of her children, she points out: "They're old enough that we really just can really relax" before outlining what sounds like typical Californian downtime. "I live in the San Fernando Valley, where it gets very warm. We spend a lot of time in the water. We go to the beach a lot. I think we - kids included - we live a pretty structured life. And so the weekends, we really don't do much. We just lie around."
And whatever fate lies ahead for Violet, Brenneman remains as protective of her character as she would be of her own children. "Yeah," she agrees, before offering an example. "I had this woman the other day. She's a huge Judging Amy fan. And it's clear she likes Judging Amy more than 'Private Practice', which is fine. And she said, 'Be honest. Who do you like playing better Violet or Amy Gray?' And I turned to her and said, 'I love all my children equally.'
"I am not going to go there," she adds, firmly. "They are totally different. Amy Gray in some ways is closer to me, which is fun in some ways and a little boring. Like Violet's a little different, which is also fun. I'm guarding her. We all feel that way, you know. Shonda sort of gave birth to these people and then we guide them."
John Byrne
