Family reunion at the Paley Festival

FLASHBACK: Here's a look back at one of the shows featured at the 2007 Paley Festival

It was a family reunion as the cast of ABC’s hit show Brothers & Sisters gathered for a panel discussion honoring the family drama on March 5 (2007). It was part of the Museum of Television and Radio’s annual William S. Paley Television Festival honoring the best of TV shows.

The entire cast was present except for Rachel Griffiths (who plays oldest sister, Sarah) who was ill and Ron Rifkin (who plays Uncle Saul) who was in New York. Joining them were show creator Jon Robin Baitz and show-runner Greg Berlanti. The discussion offered lots of fun tidbits and behind-the-scenes trivia.

• The show’s genesis came when an ABC executive approached actor/director Ken Olin (best know for playing Michael Stedman on thirtysomething) about creating a new family drama. Olin contacted Baitz who immediately went to work on his ideas.

• Sally Field came aboard as matriarch as Nora Walker after the pilot was filmed, a replacement for Betty Buckley. The 60 year old Emmy and Oscar winner took the job knowing little about the role, wooed by Baitz saying he wanted to “explore how women age.” Although Nora is still grieving the death of her husband, the producers teased that Peter Coyote would be coming aboard as a love interest for her.

• Calista Flockhart came aboard as conservative Republican commentator Kitty Walker based purely on admiration for playwright Batiz’s work. She says playing a conservative commentator is not difficult for her even though it is playing against type. She just finds the character’s “passion” and the rest is easy.

• It’s a family affair for Patricia Wettig, who plays Holly Harper, mistress of the deceased family patriarch. Her husband, Ken Olin, is an executive producer and occasional director on the series. Her son Cliff is on the writing staff and her daughter Roxy was featured as the girlfriend of closeted soap star Chad (who’s having an affair with Kevin Walker). Wettig, who won three Emmys for her role on thirtysomething, was reluctant to take the role since she already had a role on Prison Break playing the Vice President. However, she said she succumbed to family pressures to take the role and is very pleased with things.

• Matthew Rhys (rhymes with grease) who plays gay lawyer Kevin Walker surprised the audience who assumed he was American by speaking in his native Welch accent. He says he worked hard to create an American accent comparable to that of his two brothers on the show. However, his Welch accent does occasionally come out, such as the time Ken Olin was directing and cut the scene telling him, “could you not sound like you’re from Middle Earth?”

• Baitz and Berlanti praised Rhys for his willingness to play a gay character so earnestly, saying if he had put up any resistance, they couldn’t have been able to do what they’ve done with the character. Rhys said of kissing scenes, “if you close your eyes, you can’t tell the difference between a guy and a girl, as long as he’s shaved.”

• Balthazar Getty, who plays sibling Tommy Walker, is happy to be playing a normal character after having played an action character on the series Alias.

• Dave Annable who plays youngest brother Justin Walker, took the role because of the chance to play veteran of the Afghanistan invasion and also the chance “to meet Harrison Ford,” Flockhart’s real life beau.

• Rob Lowe joined the cast as Senator Robert McAllister, even though it means playing another political character (he is best remembered for playing Sam Seaborn on The West Wing). He said what won him over was when producers told him they were tired of seeing 40 year olds trying to be 20 year olds; they wanted a real, age appropriate character. Although the Senator seems to be squeaky clean (except for a pending divorce), Baitz teased, “nobody that handsome can be trusted.”

• Berlanti praised the cast for helping the writers’ do their best job possible, saying the actors do such a phenomenal job, it pushes the writing team to do their best work. “We go back to the writer’s room and we want to impress them as much as they want to impress us.”