Shaun Cassidy Talks Fame, Family, and Creating 'Ruby & the Rockits' By Reg Seeton
In such a celebrity driven age of Hollywood fame and musical popularity, no one knows what it's like to be one of the biggest, most popular stars on the planet better than writer, producer, and TV creator, Shaun Cassidy. Well, no one that is except his brother David Cassidy. In the mid-to-late '70s, Shaun and David Cassidy reached the heights of fame only reserved for the biggest names in the business, from older icons like Elvis, Michael Jackson, and John Travolta to current stars such as Britney Spears, the Jonas Brothers, and Robert Pattinson.
While David became one of the biggest teen icons in the history of television and music after his leading heartthrob role in The Partridge Family with their Academy Award winning mother, Shirley Jones, Shaun was carving out his own road to massive iconic stardom with the biggest solo debut in music history at the time, a #1 Grammy nominated hit, three top 10 singles, six albums, worldwide sold out concerts, and a starring role as Joe Hardy in the mega popular '70s mystery series The Hardy Boys. Having amazingly dominated almost every teen magazine cover from 1970 to 1977, together Shaun and David Cassidy are two of the biggest, most popular names in the history of teen idol stardom. But there's more to the brothers than days gone by ...
After stepping away from the music charts and TV spotlight to hone his skills on Broadway, Shaun left the glare of the limelight to follow his heart into a more comfortable career behind the scenes as writer and producer. In 1995 Shaun created the groundbreaking series, American Gothic before going on to create Invasion and write and produce for such shows as Cold Case, The Agency, The Mountain, Inseparable, and more. While his brother David continued his career path in both music and television, also with his own successful live show on the Las Vegas strip, Shaun Cassidy worked hard to shake his teen star image to become a successful TV writer and show runner.
Drawing upon his skills behind the TV camera, Shaun has enlisted the talents of his brothers, David and Emmy nominated and award winning stage actor, Patrick Cassidy to bring to life the new ABC Family series, Ruby & the Rockits, about a former teen idol trying to recapture '80s glory while his bandmate brother attempts to lead a normal family life. Starring young actress, Alex Vega in the role of Ruby Gallagher, the daughter of David who turns up unexpectedly and forces him to seek parental leadership from his brother Patrick, much of what fans will see in the Tuesday, July 21, 8:30pm ABC Family premiere of Ruby & the Rockits has been culled from the fame and family dynamics of not only the life of Shaun Cassidy post teen idol stardom, but also the personal dynamics of David and Patrick as brothers within the famous Cassidy family.
Ahead of the July 21 premiere of Ruby & the Rockits, we tracked down Shaun Cassidy for an exclusive one-on-one while he was on a break from shooting to learn more about the inspiration for the series, how it reflects their lives as teen stars, what we can expect, and whether we'll see his mother, Shirley Jones, step in to take a role on the show.
THE DEADBOLT: Ruby actually seems like a representation of the innocence of you and David, having been thrust into the unknown at an early age. Was that the entry point into Ruby?
SHAUN CASSIDY: That’s an interesting observation. I hadn’t even thought about that, but it certainly applies. I mean, I don’t know how innocent any of us were but the show is from Ruby’s point of view. Actually, in the writing we always have to remind ourselves [of that] because it’s easy to dive into Patrick and David's confrontations and a lot of jokes to be had there, obviously. But it really is about a stranger in a strange land and thematically, really, what does it mean to be a part of a family, because Ruby comes in without any experience because she’s brought up by her mother and hasn’t had a serious boyfriend. This is the first time she’s been in the middle of a family dynamic and she doesn’t know where her place is and doesn’t know what the rules are and has to find her way.
I think to a certain extent every teenager feels kind of like they’re the one in The Munsters that doesn’t belong. And in the case of our family, going into show business was kind of a right of passage. But when I say we weren’t really innocent about it is only because we’d completely grown up in it and so it was an old pair of shoes to us. If you grow up in a family of dentists, you’re really comfortable around a drill, I guess.
THE DEADBOLT: In such a celebrity focused era, how important was it to balance fame with David’s character and a grounded sense of family with Patrick’s character?
CASSIDY: Well, that’s where the autobiographical aspects of it come from. I mean, I made a concerted effort to try and stay out of the public eye. I don’t know if I completely succeeded, because here I am talking to you, but for me show business really was something that I knew well. But being a performer was the logical thing to do because that’s what everybody did. But by the time I was actually doing it, I knew I was way better suited to being behind the scenes as a writer or producer and I have really tried to kind of be "in show business" but not "of show business" and try to keep my family out of it as best I can and live as normal a life as I can in the business we’re in.
I think that’s probably much more difficult to do today if you’re a young performer because the nature of celebrity is so much more twisted and so much more hardcore. From my point of view, the trade off for being famous just seems so terrible and I felt that way twenty years ago. So Patrick’s character has a lot of me, not necessarily the way Patrick plays it but the choices he’s made with his life are like the choices I made.
David’s character is similar to David’s and a bit of our father. Our father was a very funny but also a very narcissistic guy and David has chosen to stay in show business and he has played in a number of bigger casinos than what he played in the show. You know, he’s played Vegas for a long time and he’s been in for the long run. That’s a choice and there’s pluses and minuses to that and there are pluses and minuses to the choice I made. So I guess that’s a reflection of our lives in the show. I get to be both characters, David and Patrick. I get to play puppet master [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: So is the series therapeutic given what you guys went through in your own family dynamic?
CASSIDY: I think it is, and with that it’s also a bit scary. I mean, I insisted upon having a real serious conversation about boundaries before we ventured down this road, because when you work with any family, no matter what the business is, it’s a risky proposition. And we’re really close but we’re wildly different people, all of us, and our youngest brother Ryan is on the show, too. He’s a set dresser and he did ER for a number of years and it’s great having Ryan around because he actually knows where to toss the throw-pillows or where we’d hang a picture.
But when you’re working together, 24/7, any family is going to get in situations where the personal and professional get blurry and that’s why I said to the guys. I said, "Look, at work we’re working and I’m going to treat you the way I treat any other actor." I actually go out of my way not to give them any notes even if I normally give actors notes because it’s my brothers. Me criticizing Patrick in any possible way would be construed as the five year old getting criticized by the eight year old and it’s a mine field.
But so far I can’t imagine a better working experience, knock on wood, I think Patrick and David are great. They’re all playing to their strengths and that’s the way the show was designed. I know how funny David is, a lot of people don’t, and I know what a wonderful actor Patrick is having seen him on Broadway a million times. I knew they’d be funny together and, if for nothing else, because of their physicality. Patrick is 6’2" and David is 5’8" and they just look funny together.
THE DEADBOLT: How will Ruby grow throughout the first season?
CASSIDY: Well, as I said earlier, the main thrust of her journey is what is the rule book - How do I fit in? What is allowed here? What is not allowed? This is a girl who’s raised herself. So she never really had anyone saying, "You can’t be out past ten o’clock or you shouldn’t be driving a car without a license," or any of that stuff. By nature her character is kind of a people pleaser. So she’s going to be tempting boundaries to see where she belongs and try to carve out a place for herself and gain a level of confidence where she doesn’t sort of pendulum. In the early shows, that’s what she’s going to be doing.
I compared her in the early going to the character Holly Hunter played in Broadcast News. The character Holly Hunter played in Broadcast News was an overachieving, people pleasing, very smart woman who ultimately was completely wound up in knots inside to the point where she would have to go hide in her office and cry, and I think Ruby has some of those. She needs an outlet of music. She doesn’t want to be a performer like her dad. She doesn’t, in any way shape or form, want to be the performer yet she gravitates to the piano and songwriting as a means of working through her issues and she uses it like a journal.
A lot of who she is internally will be revealed in what she writes. Even if she doesn’t say it, it may come out in a song. I think it’s a fresher way to do musical television. We’re not really making a musical show, we’re making a show about people with music in their lives. And in that sense, it’s an analogy to the way we grew up because there was always music in our house. But that doesn’t mean we all stood up and performed for each other like The Partridge Family. You know, ‘We’re gonna be a band!’ That’s not the show.
THE DEADBOLT: Your mother was fantastic on The Cleaner last week.
CASSIDY: Yeah, wasn’t she? I thought that was the best work she’s done in years. Part of that is just being given the opportunity. But I called her up because I was so impressed with her, because she was so subtle and nuanced in that part, and I really thought she was great.
THE DEADBOLT: Yeah, she was fantastic. So now I’m wondering, can we expect to see her on Ruby?
CASSIDY: You absolutely can. As a matter of fact, I think it’s going to be happening sooner than later. We were going to hold it to the end of the season, but we have a script so well designed for her. I think, yeah, we’re going to bring grandma in. And grandma is going to be a very funny character because she just adores David, he can do no wrong, and Patrick never lives up to her expectations [laughs].
Not original - maybe not - but very normal in a family. And who else could do it better than the actual mother and such a great actress.
Give me a break - quit picking and just enjoy!
Ally
July 22, 2009 - 00:39
Subject: Ruby & Rockets
So Shirley Jones will be playing a character very much like Marie Barone from 'Raymond", since she will love one son more than the other. Not original idea, Mr Cassidy.
In such a celebrity driven age of Hollywood fame and musical popularity, no one knows what it's like to be one of the biggest, most popular stars on the planet better than writer, producer, and TV creator, Shaun Cassidy. Well, no one that is except his brother David Cassidy. In the mid-to-late '70s, Shaun and David Cassidy reached the heights of fame only reserved for the biggest names in the business, from older icons like Elvis, Michael Jackson, and John Travolta to current stars such as Britney Spears, the Jonas Brothers, and Robert Pattinson.
Drawing upon his skills behind the TV camera, Shaun has enlisted the talents of his brothers, David and Emmy nominated and award winning stage actor, Patrick Cassidy to bring to life the new ABC Family series, Ruby & the Rockits, about a former teen idol trying to recapture '80s glory while his bandmate brother attempts to lead a normal family life. Starring young actress, Alex Vega in the role of Ruby Gallagher, the daughter of David who turns up unexpectedly and forces him to seek parental leadership from his brother Patrick, much of what fans will see in the Tuesday, July 21, 8:30pm ABC Family premiere of Ruby & the Rockits has been culled from the fame and family dynamics of not only the life of Shaun Cassidy post teen idol stardom, but also the personal dynamics of David and Patrick as brothers within the famous Cassidy family.
SHAUN CASSIDY: That’s an interesting observation. I hadn’t even thought about that, but it certainly applies. I mean, I don’t know how innocent any of us were but the show is from Ruby’s point of view. Actually, in the writing we always have to remind ourselves [of that] because it’s easy to dive into Patrick and David's confrontations and a lot of jokes to be had there, obviously. But it really is about a stranger in a strange land and thematically, really, what does it mean to be a part of a family, because Ruby comes in without any experience because she’s brought up by her mother and hasn’t had a serious boyfriend. This is the first time she’s been in the middle of a family dynamic and she doesn’t know where her place is and doesn’t know what the rules are and has to find her way.
CASSIDY: Well, that’s where the autobiographical aspects of it come from. I mean, I made a concerted effort to try and stay out of the public eye. I don’t know if I completely succeeded, because here I am talking to you, but for me show business really was something that I knew well. But being a performer was the logical thing to do because that’s what everybody did. But by the time I was actually doing it, I knew I was way better suited to being behind the scenes as a writer or producer and I have really tried to kind of be "in show business" but not "of show business" and try to keep my family out of it as best I can and live as normal a life as I can in the business we’re in.
David’s character is similar to David’s and a bit of our father. Our father was a very funny but also a very narcissistic guy and David has chosen to stay in show business and he has played in a number of bigger casinos than what he played in the show. You know, he’s played Vegas for a long time and he’s been in for the long run. That’s a choice and there’s pluses and minuses to that and there are pluses and minuses to the choice I made. So I guess that’s a reflection of our lives in the show. I get to be both characters, David and Patrick. I get to play puppet master [laughs].
But so far I can’t imagine a better working experience, knock on wood, I think Patrick and David are great. They’re all playing to their strengths and that’s the way the show was designed. I know how funny David is, a lot of people don’t, and I know what a wonderful actor Patrick is having seen him on Broadway a million times. I knew they’d be funny together and, if for nothing else, because of their physicality. Patrick is 6’2" and David is 5’8" and they just look funny together.
A lot of who she is internally will be revealed in what she writes. Even if she doesn’t say it, it may come out in a song. I think it’s a fresher way to do musical television. We’re not really making a musical show, we’re making a show about people with music in their lives. And in that sense, it’s an analogy to the way we grew up because there was always music in our house. But that doesn’t mean we all stood up and performed for each other like The Partridge Family. You know, ‘We’re gonna be a band!’ That’s not the show.