Let’s
Meet Veronica Mars
By Art Swift
January 11,
2005
“Veronica Mars” is a television show
in its first season that has mystery, lost love, social commentary,
unpredictability, and a heroine who is one of the breakout ingénues of the
decade. And it’s on UPN.
UPN? That’s right.
The
network that boasts “hits” like the is-this-still-on-the-air “WWE SmackDown!”
is the home of “Veronica Mars,” the best new series on TV.
The clever show, available Tuesday
nights at 9 EST, takes place in the town of Neptune, a sunny suburb of San
Diego. Seventeen-year-old Veronica
(Kristen Bell) used to be in the “cool crowd” at her ritzy high school until
her best friend Lilly Kane (Amanda Seyfried) was murdered. Lilly was the sister of Veronica’s boyfriend
Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn). After
Veronica’s Dad, sheriff Keith Mars (Enrico Colantoni), fingered Lilly and
Duncan’s rich father as the lead suspect, Keith was removed from office, the
billionaire Kane was exonerated, and Veronica’s mother left town.
Keith set up a private investigator
business, tried to lick his wounds and enlisted Veronica to become his
assistant. But Veronica was not
convinced that the man convicted of the murder, Abel Koontz, killed Lilly, and
she has been searching all season for the “real killer.” At the same time, week after week, Veronica
uses her detective skills to help solve smaller mysteries for the students of
Neptune High. In a show that Bell calls
a cross between “Twin Peaks,” “The OC” and “Dawson’s Creek,” questions remain:
did Abel kill Kane? And in a town
called Neptune, what’s the significance of being a Mars?
“I would really have to say there’s
nothing much like it on TV now,” Bell stressed in an interview from her
apartment in San Diego last week. “I would say it’s much smarter and darker
than anything I’ve ever seen on television.”
The 24-year-old Bell is resting at
the moment from shooting episode 15, which will air February 22. Her shooting last night went until 3 AM, and
the cast has been busy, grateful to be picked up for an entire season. Bell and her co-stars have been appearing in
malls this winter to promote the show and a major media push is being planned
soon.
As the ratings for “Veronica Mars”
slowly improve (beating competition from the WB at least), Bell is happy about
the show having a “cult” following.
“It’s a cooler way to come in like
an indie film, and come under the radar and all of a sudden have people go, ‘Oh
this is like a great show I haven’t been watching, I’ll check it out.’”
Having the show find an audience
might be easier than getting the part of Veronica was. Bell says she was chosen over 300 actresses
for the role, and the casting process was rigorous.
“Rob Thomas (executive producer) had
just seen a film that I had done so I went right in to meet him,” Bell
recalled. “It’s a process of
auditioning where you keep meeting the higher-ups every time you go in. So first you meet the producers, then the
executive producers, then you meet the network people. And in the final one where they all get
together to meet you is called the ‘pest.’ … The audition process is about two
or three weeks long.”
Bell says there’s a comparison to be
made between Veronica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sydney from “Alias.” They’re all strong, crusading women, yet
there is more reality to Veronica. She
tussles with economic class warfare in Neptune, especially between spoiled,
movie star son Logan (Jason Dohring) and Harley-ridin’ gang leader Weevil
(Francis Capra).
Yet
a blast of soapiness has been felt lately ever since Veronica discovered that
she might actually be the daughter of Jake Kane (Kyle Secor). And that would make Veronica’s past
relationship with Duncan seem a lot like … incest. Will the show tackle this issue?
“The incest issue will be dealt with
either way,” Bell says carefully. “It
will definitely be addressed. They’ll
get more into it soon. The whole
episode doesn’t revolve around it, but the next three or four episodes will
help you out.”
A native of Detroit, Bell was
graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in
2002. As a student, she was cast in the
Broadway productions of “The Crucible” and “Tom Sawyer.” Those led to roles on the series “Deadwood,”
“The Shield,” “American Dreams,” and “Everwood.”
She
also appears in “A Little Night Music” at the Los Angeles Opera. Bell’s vocal talents will be on display,
sort of, in an upcoming “Veronica Mars” episode when she does some 80s rock
karaoke. In real life, she also likes
to hit the karaoke circuit of Los Angeles.
“I can rock out anything,” Bell
joked. “I mean, I can rock out ‘Time After Time,’ I can do a little ‘Greased
Lightning.’ It depends on the
mood. It’s a lot of fun.”
For the most part, though, it’s work
and more work for Bell. Last week she
returned from the holiday break and on the first day put in 19 hours at the
studio. She tries to keep at least one
guilty pleasure for when she’s not on the clock.
“I love watching ‘Extreme Home
Makeover,’” Bell said. “So I TiVo that and I usually try to fit it in on the
weekends, even though I usually work on the weekends. And I love Ty Pennington.”
Before she came onto “Veronica
Mars,” Bell said she brought an appreciation of mystery stories to her
character. One of the many things she
liked about being hired was that she thought she could solve some mysteries of
her own.
“I figured when I got cast that I
would have all the inside info and know what’s going on and I really
don’t. They don’t tell me
anything. It’s just as frustrating as
being a viewer being on the show because I really only know details like two
weeks ahead of everyone else. So I have
no idea who killed Lilly.”
Bell doesn’t know who killed Lilly
Kane nor whether the currently low-rated “Veronica Mars” will live another
season either. The network will
announce whether they want to order scripts for a second season in April or
May, she said.
For now, the countdown is on to who
really killed Lilly. Was it her
billionaire father or the man who sits in prison already convicted? Or was it someone else? It might be someone you least expect. With roughly 10 episodes left this season,
Veronica has her work cut out for her.
Art Swift is a student at the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Check out www.ArthurSwift.com for additional
writings.
Copyright
2005 Arthur Swift
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