‘Bones’ Star Emily Deschanel Was a ‘Wreck’ After Being Reprimanded in Season 1

At the peak of the anxiety, an accident in Deschanel’s commute caused her to arrive 30 minutes late to set. The incident resulted in a stern talking to from series creator Hart Hanson.

“Hart knocked on my trailer door, which was not a usual thing, he wasn’t knocking on my door often,” she remembered. “He took me aside and says, ‘The studio has concerns about your work.’ They said that I was late and unprepared. That to me — I get emotional just thinking about it now because it was probably shame.”

“I mean, I was a wreck. I took it so hard,” she added. “I was such a fragile person at the time. I got hardened up doing that show for so long. I was not sleeping, I was so stressed out. I was already, I’m an emotional person, so I was just beside myself.”

Deschanel said that afterward, she made sure to always be on time. And luckily, the day after the conversation, she learned the show had been picked up for additional episodes. Hanson also helped his lead actress going forward, getting her a bigger trailer and more time to run lines.

“Hart helped me find ways to be better, get my job done in terms of learning my lines and remembering them,” Deschanel said. “A lot of it was having downtime or having some scene that I’m not in, etc. He’s just a good one. We were so lucky.”

Sherry Stringfield?

Sounds like utter hell and one of my worst nightmares.

I would be a horrible actor.

I could never memorize lines.

I'd need cue cards the entire time.

I have never heard a professional actress talk about being terrorized by lines so much. I wonder if she has some learning, reading disability that she was hiding, still hiding.

Memory is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. I went to drama school and had to memorize huge chunks of dialogue. After a while you just absorb it like a sponge. And the shit stays.

She wouldn’t have lasted a day on a soap opera.

Was this a show about the doctor on Star Trek?

It’s about morning wood, Rose.

[quote]R5 I have never heard a professional actress talk about being terrorized by lines so much. I wonder if she has some learning, reading disability that she was hiding

She played an anthropologist solving crimes with the FBI, so her lines went something beyond, “Oh, honey, you’re home!” It included technical jargon.

I think something that would be hard about a weekly procedural show would be the slew of new names and locations each week. (“Did you spot the Averys… the IVORS, at the Sheraton? I mean, the Sherry-Netherland?”)

She was TERRIBLE in the first season. It really showed.

My heart fuckin' bleeds for her.

Here’s the clip.

[quote]I went to drama school and had to memorize huge chunks of dialogue

At night after you worked a 14-16 hour day, r5?

I’m glad they eventually aloud the chemistry of the program to unfold orgasmically. My family were fans from the get go. I stopped watching after they dumped the gay actor. It’s fortunate that Emily wound up being the star of a hit that she can live off of her salary and residuals and not have to stress out for the remainder of her natural life. Amen. I certainly haven’t seen her since “Bones”.

What sucks about these shows is that you don't get delivered the next day's script until nighttime after working an incredibly long day. If you're in almost every scene, it's not like you have oodles of free time on set to learn your lines on the go. And each new take you force everyone to do because you haven't mastered your lines means that much longer on the set for everyone.

So yeah, while this would seem whiny and privileged to say, someone working 14-16 hours of hard labor, it's still incredibly taxing.

What about Jennifer-Love Hewitt? Was “The Ghost Whisperer” as big a hit as “Bones”? I’ve seen scant trace of her since that series folded and it seemed like a turbulent production with frequent cast overhauls. My family were fans of it from the get go. I almost stopped watching several times, but especially after they killed off her original friend. Jennifer and Emily should do a show together, perhaps entitled “Wooden”.

[quote]At the peak of the anxiety, an accident in Deschanel’s commute caused her to arrive 30 minutes late to set. The incident resulted in a stern talking to from series creator Hart Hanson.

One of the smartest things I ever did when I lived in NYC was move across the street from my job (at a hospital). The 5 minute walk across the street was PRICELESS. If you are working 12 or more hours a day and you've got the money, especially if you are earning millions a year like she was, there's no reason at all to be making a commute, especially a 30 minute commute. Move, rent an apartment. Do something, but don't be driving 30 minutes each way.

[quote] What about Jennifer-Love Hewitt? Was “The Ghost Whisperer” as big a hit as “Bones”? I’ve seen scant trace of her since that series folded

Seriously???

She's been on Ryan Murphy's 9-1-1 for over five years.

That's been her regular gig.

And now she's also in the film reboot of "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

Jennifer is still a busy actor.

I stayed with “House” even as the stench began to arise from cast member unhappiness. It ultimately ruined the charm and logic of the production. But it was a sizable hit and it seems it’s cast are all happily retired.

[quote] So yeah, while this would seem whiny and privileged to say, someone working 14-16 hours of hard labor, it's still incredibly taxing.

Let's not go there. It's not hard labor. Not even close. They have down time half the day. Go try working in a factory even for just 8 hours a day. And come back and tell me about hard labor.

Jennifer was so good in ‘Munchie’. I’m pleased to learn she’s still hot property.

[quote] an accident in Deschanel’s commute caused her to arrive 30 minutes late to set. The incident resulted in a stern talking to from series creator Hart Hanson.

Did she actually drive herself? I thought the studios get actors a driver who picks them up from home early in the morning so that they are not arriving late. Is that not a thing anymore?

That still sucks R22. Wasting 30 minutes each way. Not when you are working 14 to 16 hours a day.

R20, I think you read that wrong.

[quote] Did she actually drive herself? I thought the studios get actors a driver who picks them up from home early in the morning so that they are not arriving late. Is that not a thing anymore?

I think she got stuck in traffic because someone else had an accident, and not Emily.

Someone else's accident tied up traffic and made her late.

In Manhattan. the lousy buildings are hospital-adjacent. Transient nightmare

I'd hardly consider Emily or Jennifer to be wooden, r16.

R20 I'm curious what you actually read in that sentence, because it says precisely what you are saying.

Right, R9, and I recall Rory Cochrane saying similar in a few interviews--that, coming from a mostly-film career, then being cast in CSI: Miami as a criminality was extremely difficult. And it wasn't just the pacing--it was the insane amount of very specific technical jargon had him shook. He lasted only two seasons before bailing.

^^ criminalist ^^

[quote]Did she actually drive herself? I thought the studios get actors a driver who picks them up from home early in the morning so that they are not arriving late. Is that not a thing anymore?

I question whether she was a big enough name that first season to be making demands or spending money on a home closer to the studio. Besides, half an hour in LA IS living nearby.

She did have a trailer if the commute was that big an issue. Hardly ideal, but people work away from home during the week or for extended periods for far less money than even a first year lead actor on a major network series earns.

Do today’s TV actors ever get so fed up with a commute that they’ll virtually move into their dressing room, and sleep there? Does insurance allow them to sleep on the lot?

Some actors (Jane Fonda in KLUTE, Winger and Nolte in CANNERY ROW) will move onto a movie set for some Method Acting bond/verisimilitude. Joan Crawford moved into her dressing room while shooting TORCH SONG, but that’s mostly because she was a desperate freak.

[quote] Joan Crawford moved into her dressing room while shooting TORCH SONG, but that’s mostly because she was a desperate freak

Did she ask the crew to tear down that BITCH of a bearing wall, and put a window where it OUGHT to be??!!

I will say that she got better as the show went on

[quote]I’m glad they eventually aloud the chemistry of the program to unfold orgasmically.

Oh dear!!!

I think that it would be so much better to be a minor actor in an ensemble cast.

I'm watching old episodes of "The Walking Dead," and in some of the later seasons, the regular cast was between 20-50 people, on any given episode.

I never realized how few lines certain cast members had in every episode.

Most of the dialogue was given to the four or five main cast members. Everyone else had one or two lines, here and there throughout the episode.

I think that would be fabulous.

You're on a hit show, you still get the name and face recognition, but you don't have to remember too many lines.

Sign me up!

R33 - I had the same question. Her getting a "bigger trailer" in my mind didn't mean that it was because she planned on sleeping in it overnight (not on a regular basis anyway!).

R16 Jennifer was better in GW than Emily was on the early seasons of Bones.

Emily had a trickier role, r39.

R39 Not really.

I gave up on Bones after several seasons. I watched mostly for David Boreanaz. He's pretty damn lucky having multiple consecutive long-running series.

I don't find David Boreanaz even the least bit attractive.

r5- That is not my experience. I was great at memorizing lines when we started the series. By the end of my three seasons on the show, my brain was shot and never recovered. I can't memorize anything. I am 51, sure, but in drama school, were you learning new lines every single day for 8 months? And I was just a supporting role. I don't know how David and Emily did it. You're memorizing the next episode while doing the current episode. It is rough. Soap operas are even harder but I've never done them.

r15- you're not shooting an entire show the next day. That is soap operas. You have the script for about 8-10 days while doing the show you're currently on. Yes, there are constant rewrites delivered to your home though.

r17- Yes, you can live near the studio (I was about 10 minutes away) but a lot of the show is shot on location. These locations can be up to an hour away from the studio. There's no one place you can live to be close to work on a TV show like this.

r20- It's totally different. If you are in a factory job, there aren't cameras in your face. There isn't a room full of a hundred crew people all focused on you. And you're not performing for millions of people. And people don't talk about your work and how easy it is on Datalounge. A starring role on an hour long drama is as hard as it gets. People leave their factory job at home when they go home. They don't have to memorize the next day's work. If you had one single person try both jobs, they would absolutely say the TV job was harder. No question in my mind.

No, r22- no one drives us to work. They will drive us to parties and publicity appearances but we have to get ourselves to work.

And by the way, there is a way to make sure you're always on time. Leave 2 hours early which is what I did even when going to the studio 10 minutes away. I was only late once, it was on location and the directions were confusing. But I was only a supporting role. Leaving to work 2 hours early every single day would be hard considering you need to sleep.

r31- not at 5 in the morning.

Emily did not have her own trailer during season 1. She shared a double banger with me. David B was the only one with his own trailer.

Any more questions?

Eric, I’ve enjoyed your posts here for years. I remember that ordeal you posted about with your brother. I hope you’re doing well. Hugs and love.

The hormone cortisol which can flood your system under extreme anxiety ignites the fight or flight effect which wipes out one's short term memory.

I had a big speech in a feature film get rewritten the night before and I stayed up all night trying to memorize it for the shoot, but NONE of it would stick. I barely made it through the scene without writing lines on my props. I was humiliated. In the edited film (which will be released in October) the camera is all over the place and barely on me while I'm talking. It looks great! Lol.

Thanks r53. Ordeal with my brother? Brantly? Yeah, he's a problem. I was talking with my baby brother the other day and he said all 6 of us (our siblings) turned out great. I was like, I don't know about Brantly and he said well 5/6 ain't bad. I mean, Brantly is financially successful. He has millions upon millions of dollars and 8 cute kids but he's a bad person. Point blank. Near evil, in my opinion. Which is sad. He was my favorite when he was little.

Yes, r54. I used to memorize auditions even if there were 15 pages and 2 songs to be prepared only 24 hours in advance. And I did it. I practiced over and over and over and I pulled it off. But it doesn't work anymore. I practice over and over and I still get lost and have to start over. Now, I don't memorize at all. I hold the script and refer to it as much as I want. Even if it's a self-tape.

Watching the first season's episodes with that in mind, it doesn't show. Emily did a great job of hiding any insecurities.

Emily is a fun drunk.