An Interview with Diane Farr (Megan, Numb3rs)

From Rescue Me to Roswell, Diane Farr has played many memorable roles over the past ten years and possesses the remarkable ability to “own” each and every single role she takes on. I had the fortunate opportunity to chat with Diane about impending motherhood, playing a firefighter, her role as an FBI profiler and the unprecedented events that allowed Roswell to live on for an additional two seasons on the WB and UPN.

Q: When did the acting bug hit you?

Diane: "I started modeling when I was 12 years old. That was about sixth grade. By around tenth or eleventh grade I had really had enough of it. It was a great learning experience, it was great to understand some facets of business really early on, but I just didn't want to work, I didn't want to go on auditions anymore, so I took a couple of years off. When I started college, I started in a pre-law program and it was a little dry [laughs]. By the end of the first semester, I switched to the theater department and didn't confess to my parents till the beginning of sophomore year.

I was supposed to do my junior year abroad in France and I finally confessed to them because I wanted to transfer to a college in England (Loughborough). The reaction was rather mixed and they got over it and it took them ten years to stop worrying. When I was finally working regularly it was all their idea [laughs]."

Q: Were you aware of the momentous Roswell fan campaign, which resulted in the renewal of the series?

Diane: [laughs]"Yes! There was a thing about applesauce because of Shiri Appleby, where they sent in this enormous amount of applesauce. Between the first year and the second year, it was on the fence, it was the little show that could and the fans that knew it loved it, but it didn't break wide enough, so the fans had sent in an enormous number of applesauce to save it. And then the following year they sent in the Tabasco sauce.

I think Jason [Katims], who was the head writer was really fantastic and was really tapping into something nice and those kids were all very young. Most of those kids had started a really long time ago, particularly Katherine [Heigl], who had started at like five years old. They knew what they were doing, yet they were still cutting their chops to some degree for a series TV, it was really interesting to watch."

Q: What role do you think has been your most challenging to date?

Diane: "Most challenging was Rescue Me, that was literally back-breaking. The gear alone was 65 pounds, that's half my body weight. The first year I was on, people would come up to me on the street and say, 'You couldn't possibly be a fireman.'"

Q: Tell us about your character on Numb3rs.

Diane: "Megan Reeves is my personal trifecta of a civil service job. I play a detective on the job. Megan is educated, wealthy, probably got into a bit trouble as a teenager and needed psychological help herself, which is drove her to psychology. She's a bit of an adrenaline junkie that really wants to carry a gun. It's her and a bunch of boys, which is like every TV show I've done. It's really fun."

Q: Where is the relationship with Larry headed?

Diane: "I think we're the first couple on Numb3rs, the two actual series people to actually go anywhere. In the next episode, we actually go on a date, we have a really good time. In one scene, the intention on the page was that he was breaking up with me, but we had so much fun doing it that I wound up crawling across the desk and bite his ear. It'll keep going for a while."

Q: Do you think the FBI utilizes the type of profiling Charlie uses on the show?

Diane: "They say it is now. they say that the profiling Megan does and Charlie does is used. They also say that the profiling Charlie does and something similar physicists do can be used for the stock market. I feel like Numb3rs sort of hit on something just as the common consciousness is opening up and people are looking at things with a much broader perspective."

Q: Are any of the storylines actual real life cases?

Diane: "No. Some of the crimes are based on what comes out of the news. All the math is real life math, there are actual formulas that can be applied. There are two universities and a bunch of science classes in high schools which use the Numb3rs storyline as lesson plans."

Q: What upcoming storylines can we look forward to?

Diane: "We're not going to play my pregnancy on screen, so halfway through the season Megan will go through some emotional charge. I may cross the line via my ego and do something I'm not supposed to do because it means something to me. I may do something emotional and I'll frighten myself enough and feel too vulnerable to leave the office. One way or another, about halfway through the season, my character will go through quite a big turn."