Mark Tallman is thought for showing in widespread exhibits like Damages, State of Affairs, and First Wives Membership, however his newest position as Nick Brandes in Your Mates & Neighbors sees him parlay a formidable sporting background as a way to carry authenticity to a charismatic character.
M&F sat down with the athlete-turned-actor to learn the way the person from El Paso, TX, likes to coach, and we couldn’t resist getting the small print behind “that” significantly memorable basketball scene too.
Dwelling as much as his identify, the 6’3” Tallman towers over most Hollywood stars. In Your Mates & Neighbors, his character, Nick, is a former NBA standout who’s now retired and dwelling in an prosperous group—juggling his “Robust Ass Health club” with different hilarious entrepreneurial efforts, like a space-age rest room that he hopes will take off identical to the George Foreman Grill.
“The sensible rest room is one thing else,” says Tallman of the viewers’s response. “Folks find it irresistible.”
However together with the comedy comes some severe rivalry. Within the present, Tallman’s character has lately damaged a friendship code and brought the spouse of his buddy, leaving Jon Hamm’s character, Andrew Cooper, out within the chilly.
Casting the position would show troublesome as a result of Tallman’s character needed to be plausible as a assured former athlete whereas nonetheless being likeable regardless of hooking up along with his pal’s associate, performed by Amanda Peet. With only a month to arrange, Tallman quickly discovered that the backstory to his character would require real health photoshoots for mock journal covers, together with scenes exhibiting him within the throes of swimming, basketball, and tennis.
Whereas the tennis approach required some teaching, the actor tells M&F that he was all-in when it got here to that memorable basketball scene in episode 3 which resulted in a pleasant (however intoxicated) sport going south — after his opponent acquired a gnarly damaged leg for his efforts.
Mark Tallman Breaks Down His Memorable Basketball Scene in “Your Mates & Neighbors”
Following the graphic leg break, the scene referred to as for Tallman to proceed play whereas being interviewed by the police.
“Properly, it did take a very long time to shoot” he shares. “Significantly due to the stunt concerned, for somebody’s leg to interrupt. However the basketball half, hey man, I’m gonna toot my very own horn,” beams Tallman. “I’m being interviewed by the detective and taking pictures whereas performing. Firstly of the scene, I believe I say one thing like ‘I hope you don’t thoughts if I hold getting my pictures in.’ I needed to shoot all through that whole scene and usually with TV or movie, they’ll superimpose minimize pictures the place the actor’s taking pictures, after which they only present a ball moving into.”
However there was extra to the shot than meets the attention. “However for those who look carefully, they have been intentional about placing some full, large pictures in there as a result of I used to be making them pictures. Me and (Jonathan) Tropper, our creator, have been going backwards and forwards, and he stated he was going to place some cash on my share of taking pictures.”
With Tropper taunting Tallman and telling him to not “choke,” the athlete-turned-actor rose to the problem. After all, the large man wasn’t about to overlook an opportunity to compete. Tallman’s sporting pedigree consists of being a former Division I soccer participant who earned All-Star honors in highschool in three sports activities: soccer, basketball, and baseball.
Mark Tallman Nonetheless Loves To Practice
“I attempt to hold it easy,” explains the actor of his angle to staying in form. “I imply, I really feel just like the extra difficult you get, the much less motivated you’re to do the work.”
To keep away from harm as he matures, Tallman says he works on his mobility in addition to his muscle. The star says that a number of of his associates who retired as athletes have suffered with torn Achilles up to now, so he makes certain to strengthen that space with strikes like bent knee calf Raises. By way of pumping iron, the actor nonetheless likes to sweat it out within the gymnasium, nevertheless. “I attempt to incorporate two push actions and two pull actions,” he explains. “Say a bench press and an overhead shoulder press (for push day) after which on the flip facet both pullups or lat pulldowns, and a few form of row, whether or not it’s an upright row or bent (over) row.”
Tallman tells M&F that he usually opts for 3 units of 10 reps per train, however when he’s making an attempt to get lean for a particular process, he’ll improve the quantity to 4 units of 15-16 reps, “The place it’s simply burnout sort of stuff,” he notes.
With Your Mates & Neighbors proving to be an enormous hit, Tallman has already been picked for Season 2, which means that he’s discovered comradery in a stable performing group, identical to the bonds he loved on this planet of sports activities. Whereas Tallman as soon as seemed to his athletic coaches to enhance his sport, he now has some extremely skilled performing mentors, just like the present’s govt producer, Jon Hamm.
“I imply, he’s an exceptional actor,” says Tallman.” Everyone knows that, so I already seemed as much as him from a piece standpoint, however it’s been actually, actually cool to look at the way in which he carries himself not solely as an actor, (however) as a result of he’s simply what you’ll hope he’d be. He’s a professionals professional.”
