Interview: Robin Tunney talks with "Le Parisien"

French "Le Parisien" released an interview with Robin about The Mentalist.
To read the translation I did, click on Read More.

Source: leparisien.fr


"The Mentalist": all the women envy her.
Robin Tunney, The Mentalist's boss, talks with us about her impressions and the series' shooting. And about her deep friendship with Simon Baker.

by BENJAMIN RABIER - September 4, 2012.

Robin Tunney plays the role of Teresa Lisbon, Patrick Jane's boss since four years. 
She's currently busy shooting Season 5 in Los Angeles, and she took some time to answer our questions on the phone.

Q: How do you explain The Mentalist's success, the most watched tv series in France?
Robin Tunney: It's amusing, because I don't know French people's taste at all. (Laughs). I believe that Bruno Heller does a wonderful job with The Mentalist. On other series, the Red John storyline wouldn't have lasted one season. He managed to keep the pubblic's attention after five years, by distributing clues every season. And I also believe Simon Baker's charme helps a lot.

Q: How it is, shooting with him?
RT: I adore him. And I feel lucky about it, because we spend 15 hours every day together, from Monday to Friday, shooting the series. It's rather exhausting, but what is crazy is that we get along so well together, that we see each other also during the weekend. He's become a friend, like a member of my family. I adore his wife and his kids. He's part of my life.

Q: You've also played with Wentworth Miller, on "Prison Break", and then Simon Baker: are you aware of the fact that women envy you?
RT: I have a confession to make to all the women: it's not so easy as it might seem. Joke. I was lucky to be part of these two series that had such international success, with two charming men. I can understand that they might hate me for that. (Laughs)

Q: You're busy shooting Season 5. Didn't you grow tired?
RT: It is so difficult to find a good female role on television. My character has a strong personality that allows her to avoid the typical clichés about females.

Q: Is she still secretly in love with Patrick Jane?
RT: Maybe at the beginning of the show but not now. They have developed such a strong platonic relationship, that it would be difficult for me to say that what she feels for him is love. They have extremly complicated personalities. Lisbon always thinks about her job and Jane about Red John.

Q: What do you do when you're not busy shooting The Mentalist?
RT: My only wish when the shooting is over is to leave Los Angeles. It's not the most healthy place. I try to travel as much as possible. It's good sometimes to leave a world where all the people you know shoot movies. Recently, I visited Japan, Italy, Bali, I went back to New York where I used to live some time ago. It's incredible to notice the effect of the globalization when I travel. I visited Pakistan and people actually did stop me while walking down the streets. I replied to them: "Really? Do you also watch The Mentalist"? (Laughs)

Q: Are you going behind the cameras for The Mentalist?
RT: Not this season. Bruno (Heller) asked me that, but I've been engaged to a film director, and I know how difficult it is. It's so different than acting and it requires other kinds of talent. It is something that scares me, but maybe they'll persuade me to do that.

Q: Something you can tell us about next season?
RT: One of the characters is going to become a parent and so juggle with life and the job. And we'll get closer to Red John. I still don't know what Bruno Heller has in mind. The more we move forward, the more I find the series dark. And that's what I love about The Mentalist.