Animal Practice stars Justin Kirk and Joanna Garcia-Swisher recently shared their thoughts on the new NBC comedy and what they love about the show.
Although Crystal the monkey has been garnering a lot of buzz as the true star of Animal Practice, former Weeds actor Justin Kirk and actress Joanna Garcia-Swisher head up the human portion of the new NBC comedy.
Justin Kirk, who played slacker Andy Botwin (aka Bill Sussman and Randy Newman) on the Showtime series Weeds, now dons a white coat to play a veterinarian among an ensemble of weekly animals.
How did Justin feel about returning to television after his gig on Weeds?
“I wasn’t planning on doing another show at all,” Kirk told The Deadbolt this week ahead of the new episode of Animal Practice. “I hadn’t even thought twice about it. But then this one came down the pike and it seemed to be, on the one hand, very different from Weeds.”
In Animal Practice, Justin Kirk plays Dr. George Coleman, a top veterinarian with an impressive list of famous animal patients at the Crane Animal Hospital – a bustling New York City veterinary practice where it often seems as if the patients are running the place. Despite his unorthodox style, George has an undeniable gift with animals of all kinds, except the human kind.
“On the other hand,” Kirk continued, “Animal Practice was something that I didn’t think we had seen on television before, both in terms of a setting and just how I thought that it could be a very bizarre and unique tone for a new television comedy. And it is definitely going in the direction I had hoped, and it’s been great so far.”
As for actress Joanna Garcia Swisher, who plays Dr. George’s ex-girlfriend and new veternary boss, Dorothy Crane, Animal Practice was a fun opportunity for several reasons.
“I was really excited once I became a part of the show,” Garcia-Swisher admitted to The Deadbolt. “I had the benefit of having seen the original pilot and falling in love with it and everyone that was a part of it. And then gathering what I thought I could bring to the character. It’s been a really fun collaboration of the whole process.”
Although fans will undoubtedly fall in love with the animals on Animal Practice, it’s the human characters that bring the show to relatable life through comedy.
In the latest episode, a young boy is left at the hospital with his ailing Parson Russell Terrier as Dr. George tries to be sympathetic. Dorothy, however, attempts to give the case to Dr. Doug Jackson (Tyler Labine), who is brilliant with kids.
So, what was it about Dr. Dorothy Crane that appealed to Joanna Garcia-Swisher the most?
“I really liked her levity and her warmth,” she continued, “and her eagerness to do a really good job. And as you watch further episodes, you start to learn that there are a lot of reasons why she really wants to make this work, and some of which are a personal journey for her. I really love that aspect.”
Animal Practice airs Wednesday nights at 8/7c on NBC.