An Interview with Shaun Duke (Page 2)

Q: Did you integrate pretty well with the cast?
Shaun: "Yeah. I've done most of my stuff with Peter Gallagher and he's just a non-chalant, easy-going guy and very, very funny."

Q: You're due to appear on Alias as well?
Shaun: "Yeah, that's kind of a fun thing also. It just came out of nowhere. Ron Rifkin's character, Mr. Sloane has been given his marching orders from a group called Prophet Five, a group of twelve guys basically running the world. And I'm one of those guys who've been giving the orders. They've been a secret organization, so in the next few episodes, you might get to see who these people are."

Q: When is your appearance?
Shaun: "We shot a couple of episodes, they should be coming up fairly soon." [Ed. note: Alias returns on April 19th]

Q: For those of us who want to be spoiled, what can you tell us about what is coming up?
Shaun: "There's going to be a situation, we're giving Ron (Sloane), well, I've put on his plate that he has to do one more job and then we're going to cut him loose. We've been blackmailing him a little bit, putting him in a tough spot. We've given him an assignment and they are going to sort of try and double Sydney. We've got Sloane's daughter (who is in a coma) and we have the means to solve that problem. We shot at Greystone Mansion, a historical house here in L.A. We basically tell him that you'll do this job for us and you'll translate Rembaldi's great mystery. He's going to be translating one of the most important pages of Rembaldi's code."

Q: You're also due to appear on The Unit?
Shaun: "Yes, I play a guy who is a CIA bureau chief in Indonesia and I get sent out to rescue these missionary people. There's some civil unrest, they’re killing these missionaries, and all these guys who are trying to build churches in the middle of nowhere."

Q: You appeared on an episode of 24 during season two (he played Reza's father), was the cast as intense as their characters?
Shaun: "Yeah and it was a real unusual set and you had to keep reminding yourself that this was all happening in one day. The scene I did was shot over in Bing Crosby's old home. It was a great old colonial house in the valley and his presence was pretty much there. Whoever owns the house today still has a lot of old photos up."

Q: If you could have any role on a current television show, which would you choose?
Shaun: "I'd love to play Michael Chiklis's role on The Shield.

Q: Who would play you in a movie?
Shaun: "Oh, that's a good one. The guy who could probably do it would be Johnny Depp. Although we don't look remotely alike, his quirkiness would do it."

Q: Your band's name is Johnny the Bossman, how did you come up with that name?
Shaun: "That's a funny thing. We were trying to come up with a name and we were at the time heavily into blues. There's a great album that was done with Johnny Winter and Muddy Waters and in-between two songs, you can hear Muddy Waters talking and they're starting up a song and he's saying, 'Ok, we're starting the song now, we're starting the song now, Johnny's the bossman, Johnny's the bossman.' Laura Citrano and Lenny (fellow band members) both said, 'That's it, we're Johnny the Bossman!'"

Q: Favorite Movie?
Shaun: "The Godfather"

Q: Favorite TV Show?
Shaun: " Will & Grace I get a kick out of. And The Shield."

Q: Favorite Comfort Food?
Shaun: "I do all the cooking in the house. I'm big on lamb. The biggest comfort I make is ground lamb and onions and you pour a little yogurt over the top. It's sort of a Russian/Middle Eastern thing. I'm big on racks of lamb. Lamb is sort of the lasagna of our house."

Q: What's your favorite genre of music?
Shaun: "I don't know what genre it would be, but I love Peter Gabriel. I also really like Sting and Paul Simon. I love strong rhythm and instrumentals and great storylines. I've never stopped playing The Beatles or The Stones."

Q: What's your favorite genre of television?
Shaun: "I love good comedies when they're around. I like The Office, the British version."

Q: What's your ringtone?
Shaun: "My wife has to get my messages on my phone for me. Whoever has touched my phone last is what I've got."

Q: Is there anything you'd like to say to the people who enjoy watching you?
Shaun: [laughs] "I'd like to thank the Academy....I am just enjoying playing with Johnny the Bossman, we're having a ball doing that. There's just something great about connecting with an audience. Every once in a while, you have an aha moment when you're playing or as an actor, you do a lot of stuff that's pretty goofy, but once in a while, you have that aha moment when the audience gets it and you get it and there's nothing better than that. I just so appreciate it when I connect with the audience."