Season 2 Recovery with Benjamin Bratt and Warren Boyd of The Cleaner By Reg Seeton
After
debuting on A&E as a series that blends entertainment
with the reality of drug addiction and the message
that hope does exist for those in need, The Cleaner
became one of the most unique shows on all of
television. Starring Benjamin Bratt in the role
of recovered drug addict, William Banks, a character
inspired by the life of former drug addict turned
God fearing recovery interventionist, Warren Boyd,
The Cleaner offered viewers weekly insight into
the dark world of addiction and the sometimes
sad, emotional yet hopeful drama of addicts who
need help to get clean.
While the series incorporates a flashy, edgy, and contemporary cinematic style that brings Los Angeles to life like C.S.I. in rehab, it's the message of hope and inspiration for TV viewers afflicted by addiction that matters most while also giving insight and options into what it takes to get clean. Now on the A&E airwaves for a second season, Tuesday nights at 10pm, The Cleaner returned as a more mature series after its first season with a season long star studded guest line up featuring such names Whoopi Goldberg, Gary Cole, Joe Don Baker, Rebecca Gayheart, Christine Lahti, Lori Petty, Mariette Hartley, Steve Landesberg, and former Partridge Family mom, Shirley Jones in the role of a nightclub with an addiction (July 14).
To usher in the second season of The Cleaner on A&E, the real life Warren Boyd recently joined actor Benjamin Bratt on a conference call with journalists to talk about the differences between the first and second season of The Cleaner, new relationship and family dynamics in the character life of William Banks, how The Cleaner touched the lives of its viewers, both Warren and William's relationship with God, and whether we'll ever see the back story of William's former drug addiction that would mirror that of Warren Boyd's.
In the doing of this
show, have you absorbed a lot of the information,
maybe even too much of the information at times,
which is to say are you spotting warning signs
real and imagined in people because it’s seeped
into you because of the show?
BENJAMIN
BRATT: It’s funny you mention that because
my wife continually [drives] me for me pretending
to be a detective because I played one on TV
for four years. Maybe I’ve always been suspicious
of people and slightly paranoid, which lended
itself to being a detective.
And in a way, what Warren Boyd does, and likewise what William Banks does, is a kind of detective work a lot of which is reliant upon gut instinct and experience that comes from personal history. So am I more aware of the symptoms? I think so. Am I more suspicious than I had been before of anyone I come in contact with? No, because I’ve always been suspicious.
I’m curious to know what
you both make of all the celebrity rehab shows
and kind of the general idea of that in Hollywood
rehab is like a second home to so many people
in terms of that getting so much press these
days, and how that might effect the way you
look at the show or approach the show?
WARREN BOYD: The way that I feel about that stuff is that everything has a mechanism in it that can help and those shows, you know, God bless them because they are helping people. I mean, I don’t count the numbers or anything like that. But I have thought that anything that can be out there on a grand scale that can touch people and help people, hopefully that’s what’s going on with those shows and I think it is.
Do you think that your
character and his wife will ever get back together
or his ex-wife?
BRATT:
Good question, I won’t answer it directly. I
will say that just like all relationships that
have, at its core, real love between the two
individuals, there is always going to be an
effort to try. At the end of the first season,
William Banks was kicked out of the house by
his wife because he was spending more time on
the job and not doing the things that a good
husband should do. And so at the opening of
Season 2, he [was] sleeping in a dilapidated
back room of the shop where he holds the lease
in that auto building - that motorcycle building.
Over the course of the second season, they will still relate as they need to because they’re co-parenting. Then my son takes a job at the shop during his summer vacation. Hopefully by the end of the season you will have a much clearer answer to your question so stay tuned.
I wanted to ask about
William’s kind of one-sided relationship with
God and how he often talks to God. One, I want
to know if that came from Warren’s experience?
And also, Benjamin, how do you play those scenes
because they come off really sharp, they’re
not hokey or too heavy as far as a religious
aspect? Can you talk about that a little bit?
BOYD: I think that’s carried off really well by Ben in the series and of course, honestly, I do a lot of praying and I do a lot of what I call contact with God and I think that the way it comes off in the series is very honest. It’s a very honest way for him to let that out there and, no, I don't stop and exercise my voice talking to God every day out loud. It's not quite like that. But it is the same thing.
BRATT: What we've taken from Warren's
life, and now are actually utilizing as a thematic
structuring for the show, is this one-sided
conversation to God. So and that's part of the
reformatting of the second season in how we're
both focusing more on the story of the guest
star and their particular dilemma and using
that opening monologue of William's to God as
the theme of what will follow.
You're
right. It is one-sided and that's part of the
fun in doing it and part of the fun, I think,
for the writers in writing it is that like with
most of us who feel like we do have a relationship
with a Creator, it remains, as far as we know,
one-sided.
We're not necessarily certain that he's up there listening. I mean, what's funny is sometimes you'll have directors who come in, guest director of the week, and they'll want to put a camera way up in the corner of the room, like 12 feet up, and William perform the scene from down below. And Jonathan Prince, the Executive Producer and run of the show is fine with saying, "Well, we can't do that because we're not sure God is listening." You can't have God's perspective because otherwise it means that he's listening. And so that's part of the fun, really, that we're poking fun at is that in that way Banks and his relationship with God is - it's not so heavy. There is levity in it because you're not necessarily sure he's there.
I wanted to know if you
had any specific examples of maybe people that
you've talked to after the first season that
were formerly drug addicts, or maybe still are,
and how that touched them to watch a show like
yours?
BOYD: [We] had a lot of people make contact either through the website or somehow get a hold of us and talk about how they were so easily able to relate to the episodes because of having an afflicted family member or an extended loved one of some sort that this problem took place with. All the feedback that I got was it was very authentic and it really, touched - comments like it really touched my heart and I had the same similar situation going on. And because of the authenticity that was carried out throughout the season, people continued to call and those calls still continue to grow.
I was very surprised
that the very first episode of the series didn't
concentrate on the tale of how the character
of Banks came to be the person that he is today,
to show how far down he's gone before being
lifted back up with a second chance much like
the DVD cover. At the time was there ever a
conversation or discussion about if such an
episode should have been filled perhaps?
BRATT:
In the first season towards the end - I believe
it was Episode 11 or 12, when (Twenton), one
of my team members, falls off the rails and
starts using Meth again, there were a few little
flashbacks of William when he was in the throws
of addiction.
That was about as close as we got to sort of imagining what that history was like. That's actually a very good idea and one that hasn't really been discussed yet. But I imagine, as we go forward, the first season and the pilot episode, in particular, is very much an experiment. You know, you have a bunch of great ideas and a bunch of interesting notions about what would make a compelling hour of television. You throw it all together and then toss it against a wall and hope it all sticks.
But I would say by Episode 10 or 12 of last year we had a pretty good idea of what was working and what was not and, thus, the restructuring that I spoke about. So we'll take that key. We'll take that note. That's something to discuss. Actually, it's kind of interesting to me because it would be fun to play, certainly. I probably have to shave, which my wife wouldn't like, but all in sake of the art.
my family have been drug addicts and alcoholics for years. Im 20 yrs old today and ive never done a single drug because i didnt wanna endup like mom or dad. But this show is a wonderful way to show real addicts what theyre doing to their lives, to their childrens lives and it pays off to watch an episode every tuesday night it comes on, I love this show and i pray they keep it going as it is a wonderful thing for me and my family to have
Jean – Whittier, CA
August 12, 2009 - 15:04
Subject: Outstanding Show
I've never been addicted to anything. I'm so independent, I can't even stay married! LOL I don't like anything or anyone controlling me. Maybe that's my problem. Anyway, watching this show is an incredible eye opener for me. I can't imagine being dependant on anything. I have a cousin that was addicted to meth for about 20 yrs. and has since fallen a few times with Cocaine. She drinks alcohol all the time but thinks she dosen't have a problem anymore. Her husband I believe is her enabler. He dosen't help her. He likes to keep her dependant this way she won't see him for who he really is. Everytime I watch the show, I wish she was watching it too. But her husband dosen't like me so I can't exactly call her and suggest it. She would get offended.
The first season I would have nightmares after watching it. But this season I haven't, so far.
Benjamin Bratt isn't too bad to look at either! But I really do think this is an outstanding show and very well done.
My son smokes pot alot and he dosen't think he as a problem. I wish Warren could take him and fix him. He is 27 and such a wonderful person when he's not high.
Thanks again for a wonderful show!
richard szczepanski – 143 e. mahan hazel park, mi 48030
July 10, 2009 - 14:56
Subject: the cleaner
omg william banks plays the real person to the tee. i have been with this person and he totally saved my life its like god has sent me an angel and for all his hard work and unselfishness his stories are begining to be told iam so happy that he was my sponser and made a huge difference in my life today society didnt accept these as dieasaes just excuses in 1995 and man things have changed for the better to you w. b. thanks for all your trust lov and much careing for me, and many many others. i shall love you forever and life the way god has planned me too. hope there is no end to this show plese tell everyones story so there is hopw for all who seek this precious gift
After
debuting on A&E as a series that blends entertainment
with the reality of drug addiction and the message
that hope does exist for those in need, The Cleaner
became one of the most unique shows on all of
television. Starring Benjamin Bratt in the role
of recovered drug addict, William Banks, a character
inspired by the life of former drug addict turned
God fearing recovery interventionist, Warren Boyd,
The Cleaner offered viewers weekly insight into
the dark world of addiction and the sometimes
sad, emotional yet hopeful drama of addicts who
need help to get clean.
BENJAMIN
BRATT: It’s funny you mention that because
my wife continually [drives] me for me pretending
to be a detective because I played one on TV
for four years. Maybe I’ve always been suspicious
of people and slightly paranoid, which lended
itself to being a detective.
BRATT:
Good question, I won’t answer it directly. I
will say that just like all relationships that
have, at its core, real love between the two
individuals, there is always going to be an
effort to try. At the end of the first season,
William Banks was kicked out of the house by
his wife because he was spending more time on
the job and not doing the things that a good
husband should do. And so at the opening of
Season 2, he [was] sleeping in a dilapidated
back room of the shop where he holds the lease
in that auto building - that motorcycle building.
You're
right. It is one-sided and that's part of the
fun in doing it and part of the fun, I think,
for the writers in writing it is that like with
most of us who feel like we do have a relationship
with a Creator, it remains, as far as we know,
one-sided.
BRATT:
In the first season towards the end - I believe
it was Episode 11 or 12, when (Twenton), one
of my team members, falls off the rails and
starts using Meth again, there were a few little
flashbacks of William when he was in the throws
of addiction.