Psych set visit, part two: Spotlight on Dulé Hill

(Be sure to check out part one of the Psych set visit)

I’ll be honest — I never initially understood the mystery of Dulé Hill. During The West Wing’s height, I remember scanning articles where Martin Sheen and other guest stars occasionally referenced Dulé Hill over the actors with larger parts such as Allison Janney or Bradley Whitford. When I watched She’s All That, I couldn’t comprehend why they cast such a skinny guy as one of the most popular kids. Additionally, during Psych’s first season, when Gus initially appeared more like Shawn’s uptight, sidekick half, I didn’t quite understand why so many articles referenced Hill alongside James Roday. However, upon meeting the man himself a few weeks ago, I absolutely understood.

Dulé is one of those rare items that seemingly no longer exists in today’s fame-oriented culture. He’s an actor’s actor. He doesn’t care about the next name-branding production. He doesn’t try to shift outside his range. He doesn’t want to play Hamlet to Glenn Close’s Gertrude, hear a disembodied voice whisper Mary Reilly, or learn how to quit the next Brokeback Mountain. He doesn’t try to pretend he pens the scripts himself. He doesn’t care about directing and doesn’t fervently search for the next big thing. He just focuses on the script, shows up to work, and takes direction. If The West Wing discourages off-book acting, he memorizes the letter of the script as his law. If Psych requires improvisational interaction, he pulls it out like a Not Ready for Primetime Player.

I remembered asking him a couple questions about his character’s development and his upcoming projects. Rather than pull a Joey Tribbiani, he told me I should ask the writers instead. Rather than bluster or mention scripts he received or projects he contemplated pursuing, he calmly and unabashedly stated he didn’t have any. Additionally, unlike other actors, he doesn’t name drop. Although a portion of Psych’s guest stars seemingly came from his personal contact book, including Broadway’s Kerry Washington (Fantastic Four) and the ‘90s Taylor Lautner, Freddie Prinze, Jr., he doesn’t overtly delineate his interactions with his friends.

If that doesn’t show Hill’s humility, his continued success should. While rarely consuming the spotlight, he is one of those few actors whose repertoire incorporates a show/film/theatre production which defined and/or represented a part of American popular culture for each decade. In the 1980s, he served as the Broadway understudy for the American version of Billy Elliot, The Tap Dance Kid. In the late 1990s, he participated in She’s All That, reflecting mid-’90s teen culture fads, as well as The West Wing, a political mirror of a Clinton-esque administration. Ironically, now, in the ‘00s, he co-stars in Psych, a show that continuously catalogs popular culture’s variations.

Dulé is definitely a magnetic personality. After the main interview, I found myself sidling up to him when he chatted with the writers during the on-set breaks. Out of the group, he’s the one I’d probably feel most comfortable asking out for a beer or inviting to drop by my place with his wife for a barbecue. Although I’ve learned that talent/writers/directors tend to ask who comes from where to make a connection with their interviewing audience, I  discovered minor links between myself and Dulé, due to it.  He lived in portions of NJ where I currently have connections. Additionally, I went to see the Tap Dance Kid in the 80s, with Savion Glover, and almost watched Dulé when he took over for the tour. Considering my childhood self always imagined running into the tap dance kid on the street, meeting Dulé partially fulfilled part of my childhood fantasy and I found myself leaving the interview room with a crush that did not previously exist.

Click claque on to find the questions I managed to ask the charmer of the Psych cast during our round table discussion.

Clacked by An Nicholson
on Sep 02, 2010 @ 14:00 EST5EDT