Scott Patterson's first thoughts on 'The Event': 'Why bother?'

When Scott Patterson read the script for NBC’s conspiracy thriller “The Event,”  he didn't exactly rush to RSVP.

“To be quite honest, I just figured, ‘Here we go with another big project that a bunch of movie stars are going to inhabit. Why bother?’ ” the 52-year-old actor said during a recent phone interview.

Best known as Luke Danes, the always irritable diner owner — with the backwards baseball cap — on “Gilmore Girls,” Patterson said the role seemed like a longshot. But he bothered, nonetheless. And it worked. 

Last week, 11.2 million viewers watched Patterson take on the gig as Michael Buchanan, the affable, Marlboro Man type who is devoted to his wife and two daughters. 

Then things got twisted.

At the end of the first episode, he finds himself piloting a plane headed for the president after his daughter Leila (Sarah Roemer) goes missing. On the same plane is Leila's boyfriend, Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), who tries frantically to stop him before the plane mysteriously disappears mid-air.

“I would say few people have ever been thrown into circumstances that Michael Buchanan finds himself in,” Patterson said.  “They’ve given me a lot to play with.”

And Patterson wants to assure viewers that they’ll soon find out what compelled Buchanan to take over the plane.

"Michael has a few secrets,” Patterson said. “The second episode is going to answer a lot of questions … and it will pose new and bigger questions.

"That's what is so great about this show. It really is its own universe and its own logic. It’s unlike anything viewers will have ever seen before in terms of the amibitous nature of the show. The size of it is staggering."

It’s the kind of high-octane project that Patterson has anticipated might come his way. Long before he was steering planes astray as an actor, Patterson was a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and L.A. Dodgers.  He segued from scuffed cleats to the TV screen with bit roles in movies and TV. He was that dude that Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) reckoned “sponge-worthy” in an episode of “Seinfeld.”  Post-“Gilmore Girls,” Patterson appeared on the short-lived CW series “Aliens in America.” Horror fans, though, might simply know him as Agent Strahm from the “Saw” franchise.

“It’s been a fun ride so far,” he said. “I didn’t think it could get better — not for me anyway.”

The second episode of “The Event” airs tonight.

Until then, check out Patterson talking about the show — and "Gilmore Girls" fans — during a recent NBC after-party.

— Yvonne Villarreal
twitter.com/villarrealy

Photo credit: NBC

Video credit: Gerrick D. Kennedy

Comments

[Andrew]

I wonder why he didn't mention how awful the show was?

[rickh710]

@ Andrew: I think he did refer to how awful this show is - like the title of this article says, "Why bother?"

[Brett]

I kept wondering why Fox, O'Quinn, Emerson, and all those actors on "Lost" never said in the press how awful that show was, too.

[gurnemanz]

Dunno what you two were watching, but I saw a very fine piece of work with a challenging non-linear narrative and dramatic POV shifts that filled the story.

Very impressed, and I write a lot. This is good work, even if it's not for you.

[Mike Hayward]

I asked the same question after watching the first twenty minutes of the pilot. I was wishing I had a "Flashback Twenty Minutes" button on my tv controller.

[DeborahSG]

I'm watching the first few minutes of it now on the east coast. It really picks up this episode, and explains a lot about the Laura Innes character. However, Željko Ivanek's character is still annoying. And this show has more flashbacks than Lost.

[akri]

I miss Gilmore girls..I like him but not Luke for Lorelai..I wish him success in the future w/more acting gigs.