Paola Turbay – The Cleaner

Colombian  actress Paola Turbay’s first role in an American television show did not end the way she would have liked. As the character Isabel Vega in the short-lived CBS series “Cane,” which starred Jimmy Smits as the head of a Latino family in the rum business, the show was one of the many that was cancelled after the Writer’s Guild Strike of 2007.

The rough start, however, didn’t discourage Turbay from continuing to build on her acting career. Since the strike, which ended in February 2008, Turbay has landed roles on a number of TV shows including “Californiacation,” “The Closer,” and “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”

On Sept. 1, she will make her debut on the A&E drama “The Cleaner” with Benjamin Bratt. In the episode titled “Standing Eight,” Turbay plays Angie Carmichael, the wife of a drug-using boxer who is also an addict herself.

What kind of research did you have to do for this role? Did you have any conversations with real drug addicts?

Well, I majored in psychology before studying acting. When I did my internship in college, I worked with some addicts. I also know people that are addicts. And then, of course, I had my drinks (laughs). I know exactly how it feels and what it looks like after I have two glasses of wine. I was very conscious of my muscles and how they would relax. I think I tried to make the performance very organic. Of course, you have to observe and watch people. I brought it all together and I think it’s really good. I’m extremely proud of myself.

How did you get from psychology to acting?

Well, when I was young I would always perform. I would sing and dance and do anything related to the arts. I really wanted to move to New York because I wanted to be on Broadway. I was supposed to move there with an aunt of mine, but she was transferred to Puerto Rico. My father was very protective and he would have never let me go to New York on my own. So, I stayed in Colombia. I started studying psychology, which I always liked. I would still take acting classes. Then, I started working in television when I was in my second year [of college]. Even though I knew I wasn’t going to be a psychologist, I just finished because I really liked it and wanted to get my degree.

So, besides your role in “The Cleaner,” has your degree in psychology actually helped you in your acting career?

I always felt I had the ability to analyze people. I’m very perceptive. I could always connect easily with people. I think when you go to college and study for a certain amount of years your skills get refined. As an actress, it’s very helpful because I’ve been exposed to a lot of cases and I know how the psychological structure works. I have a degree that helped me analyze different kinds of personalities and disorders.

Since your character is the wife of a boxer who is a drug addict, do you have any thoughts – as someone who knows a lot about psychology – on the professional athletes who get caught taking banned substances?

When you think about somebody that is involved in sports or exercises a certain amount of hours during the day, you don’t expect them to have addiction problems or be involved with drugs and alcohol. I mean, you get a high with exercise alone. Some of these athletes have a psychological condition. Usually when you’re an addict you suffer from some kind of depression. You have to be able to separate these two aspects of your life. I think people should be able to understand that. I think sometimes people judge to harshly. I think everybody has their ups and downs and their problems and everybody has a certain way of solving them. Some people, unfortunately, think that [drugs] are the only way they can sooth their pain.

Do you want to continue doing television? If so, what is it you want to find in this industry?

I’ve done television for a long time, here and in Colombia. Every actor wants to do features. Thank God we can cross over and do features and TV at the same time. I would always want to audition for both. “Cane” brought me to television here in the U.S. and that’s why I stayed on television.

I think “Cane” was a show that had a good chance of surviving if it wasn’t for the writer’s strike. Was the cancellation of that show heartbreaking especially since there rarely are shows that center around Latinos like that one did?

It was very heartbreaking. We felt for the first time that there was a show where Latinos were put in a place where they were important and powerful and well-educated – exactly where Latinos are today. A few years ago Latinos were just immigrants. Now, they are second and third generations that have power and influence. That was what we were doing on “Cane.” We were so proud of it. Unfortunately, the writer’s strike killed us like it did to all the shows that season. We had a good audience. It was a show that was growing and was very well-respected. It was like a Latino “Godfather.” Where it was going was so incredible. It was very sad to see it just vanish.

Benjamin Bratt – The Cleaner

The pressure still lies on the shoulders of Benjamin Bratt as he enters the second season of the A&E show “The Cleaner,” which premiered June 23. While all eyes are on Bratt as a leading man, the 45-year-old actor, who has starred in such films as “Miss Congeniality,” “Traffic,” and “Love in the Time of Cholera,” is just happy A&E gave the show a second opportunity to build on last season.

“I count it as a major victory to not only be on a series that’s had a full season run, but to actually be on one that’s gotten picked up for a second season,” Bratt told me during a phone interview last week. “I think the biggest leap for new TV shows is from Season 1 to Season 2. From there it gets a little bit easier.”

In “The Cleaner,” which airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on A&E, Bratt plays William Banks, a drug addict who makes a deal with God that if he is given a second chance to live he would turn his life around and be a mentor to people with the same affliction.

During the first season, which is currently available on DVD, William keeps his promise through 13 dramatic episodes by helping a number of drug addicts, including a high school athlete with heroine and methamphetamine addiction and a math professor who starts doing cocaine so he can meet a deadline to publishing some research. The show is based on real-life recovering drug addict Warren Boyd, who is known in Hollywood as an “extreme interventionist.”

“[Warren is] one of those guys who has…an aura of gravitas to him and a little bit of mystery that you can’t really penetrate,” Bratt said. “I think that’s part of what made him appealing for me to play because I don’t have any of that. There’s also a lot of subtlety to who Warren is and what he does.”

With a satisfactory premiere season (according to the Nielsen ratings, “The Cleaner” averaged 1.1 million viewers weekly) already in the books, Bratt says he is looking forward to new and exciting adventures that fit into A&E’s new motto of “real-life drama.”

“I think [A&E] was really encouraged by the initial response to the show,” Bratt said. “As good as it was last year, I think it’s dramatically improved this year.”

In the first episode of Season 2, William faces his old sponsor (guest star Whoopie Goldberg) and helps a news anchor fight of an addiction. The guest role by Goldberg is only one of many that viewers can anticipate this summer.

“We have a really impressive roster of guest stars that come to play with us on the show…from Christine Lahti to Joe Don Baker, Michael Beach, Shirley Jones, and Rebecca Gayheart,” Bratt said. “And what that really means…is that the writing is strong enough to draw this kind of talent to a television series. That increase in qualitative level has resulted in bringing some really accomplished performers on board.”

Bratt adds that at the end of the day, “The Cleaner” is a show that should remind people that if given a second chance they should seize it and turn it into something positive.

“That’s our real aim in creating the show and telling these stories,” Bratt said. “Whether you have familiarity with addiction or not, everyone knows what it’s like to receive a second chance.”