Jim O’Heir is recounting an act of generosity from James Spader on the set of “Boston Legal.”
As the “Parks and Recreation” star, 62, recalled in his book, Spader’s moment of kindness happened while they were filming a “heartfelt scene toward the end of the episode” when he guest starred on the law drama.
“We did the first take, which was okay. Not great… but okay,” O’Heir wrote in his book “Welcome to Pawnee: Stories of Friendship, Waffles, and Parks and Recreation.” “I knew I could do better. After the second take, the director said, ‘Great. What do you guys think?’ I took that as his saying that it was good enough and that we could wrap this thing up. I knew I wasn’t fully content with my performance, but I also knew that everybody wanted out.”
As the actor fondly remembers, Spader, 64, stepped in to help.
“Spader looked at me, then leaned in tight. ‘What do you think, Jim? Were you happy with the take?’ ‘It was okay,’ I said. I couldn’t lie to James Spader. Dude is so intense, in the best way,” O’Heir continued. “Finally Spader asked, ‘Want to do it again?’”
“‘I would, but we’re kinda under the gun here, no?’ The director heard me say this; his eyes widened. ‘Yes, yes, yes we are,’ they told me… Spader must’ve had eyes behind his head, because he turned to the director and, without hesitation, said: ‘Respectfully, we’re going to do this again. And then again. And then maybe another time after that.’ ‘Dayum,’” O’Heir thought. “The director snapped awake. The crew got into place. Action was called.”
‘Loose Lips.’ ABC
“Boston Legal,” which aired for 5 seasons from 2004 to 2008, was the spinoff of the popular law procedural “The Practice.” The original 1997 series starred Kelli Williams, Dylan McDermott, Lara Flynn Boyle and Jessica Capshaw, with Spader playing ambitious and moralistic lawyer Alan Shore on both.
O’Heir’s “Boston Legal” episode was titled “Loose Lips,” with the actor playing a man named Gil Furnald, a mall Santa fired from his position after his employer found out he wears women’s clothes in his private time. O’Heir felt it was critical to allow the audience to see the character in a sympathetic manner and didn’t want to rush through his scene.
“There’s a heartfelt scene toward the end of the episode where my Gil and Spader’s Alan Shore are sitting in a bar,” O’Heir elaborated. “I should say that this was one of the last scenes we shot after a grueling 10-day schedule. As it was, we were already behind. But now, we had a big scene to shoot — perhaps the biggest scene — and we were again running late.”
He added, “By the time the cameras were ready to roll, it was ‘golden time,’ which refers to work that goes beyond the planned shooting schedule at which point cast and crew need to be paid extra. Adding to the anxiety permeating the room was the fact that the scene centers on Gil and Shore sharing a personal, reflective conversation.”
O’Heir shared that “in the scene, Gil explains how tough life has been because of his being both gay and a cross-dresser.” The star felt that if he were to mess this moment up, the rest of the episode could be in jeopardy.
The “Bless This Mess” alum also felt that the other lead on “Boston Legal,” William Shatner, viewed his character with “disgust.” All of that added up to a feeling that “the tone had to be just right,” or else “the episode would fall apart,” he wrote.
“Loose Lips” was the eighth episode during the show’s first season, setting the stage for the legal procedural’s theme of addressing controversial subject matters. The show aired for five seasons, bringing Spader’s time as Alan Shore, including on “The Practice,” to 13 seasons.
Although O’Heir never returned to the series after his single-episode role, less than a year after the show’s final episode, the actor landed the part on an NBC sitcom going by the working title “Untitled Amy Poehler project.”
