Bionic Interview: Kevin Rankin - Not Sure If Bionic Woman Will Survive WGA Strike
Regular readers know that Kevin Rankin as Nathan is one of our favorite characters on Bionic Woman. Rankin adds a sense of humor and levity to the show and is overall a funny character. His weekly flirtations with Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers are the funniest moments of the show and usually the most entertaining.
Rankin is a busy man as he also stars in NBC’s prime time drama Friday Night Lights. BW is filmed in Vancouver, FNL in Austin.
Rankin recently gave an interview to the LA Daily News and discussed his hectic schedule and the fate of Bionic Woman.
On landing the role on BW:
“At the beginning of the season, they did a lot of retooling. They fired some of the producers and writers. The guy they brought on to fix the show was Jason Katims. He was the show-runner for `Friday Night Lights.’ Within a week, he called me up and invited me and offered me the part. He said come up and try and instill some humor, and ground it in reality a little bit. I became Nathan, the bionics guy, I work with computers. I’m going out on missions and learning how to fight.”
On BW returning after the WGA strike is settled:
“The show was getting its feet under it before the strike happened, but I’m not sure if it’s coming back,” he admitted. “I just don’t think it got a fair shake. I’d love to see it come back.”
His first big break:
Kevin’s first regular television role came on NBC’s short-lived but well-remembered comedy “Undeclared,” in which he played the resident adviser in a college dorm. He knew he was a part of something special because the show was created by writer/director Judd Apatow, who is responsible for such movie hits as “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”
“That took me to a different level,” he said of “Undeclared.”
“Little did I know that a couple of years later, (Apatow) would be the biggest thing in town.”
Although Bionic Woman and FNL are on hiatus during the WGA strike, Rankin fans can catch him on the second episode of NBC’s Law & Order, which returns in January.
Let’s hope Rankin is wrong about BW not returning and we get more of Nathan.
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