Exclusive interview with Missy Peregrym

This interview with Missy Peregrym about "Rookie Blue" was made available to us by 13TH STREET. "Rookie Blue" season 4 will air on 13TH STREET from Sunday January 5, 2014.

Missy Peregrym plays Andy McNally on the Canadian Police Drama "Rookie Blue". In this Interview she talks about new developments at the beginning of season four, how her character changed throughout the seasons and how the show altered her perception of the work of cops.

Note: © 13TH STREET/myFanbase 2014 - The interview is exclusive to myFanbase and may not be published on other websites or the like. You may share the first 2 questions or up to 160 characters if you link back to this site. Translations other than English and German may be posted with full credit including the writer's name and link to this site.
Foto: Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue - Copyright: 13TH STREET/Caitlin Cronenberg
Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue
© 13TH STREET/Caitlin Cronenberg

So what can you tell us about the fourth season?

We left last season and I go undercover. We come back and it’s been six months. Everything is different even though nothing has changed really everything is kind of different. I come back really thinking I am over Sam and I’m just going to my job. But then I get back and obviously I have not changed my feelings over him and seeing him again is difficult. But he has moved on which is hard. The dynamic is again different. Chris has a son, which is crazy. I think we are all growing up in a different way. Losing Jerry last year is like losing a family member and we are all getting to an age where we have to make decisions for our lives that might take us away from each other which is normal I think. With Andy I think it’s a matter of taking responsibility for the decisions she has made in the past, accepting the fact that she did not choose Sam but she chose her job and she comes back and has to accept the differences. I only know so much, which is good. Right now that’s what happening but I’m not sure where its going to go for the rest of the season but I only know up to episode five.

Do we find out much about the undercover mission or do they skip over that and it’s just you coming back?

It’s only the first episode that we see it. Obviously Andy and Nick Collins get along extremely well, they’ve been living together and playing boyfriend and girlfriend. Its business for Andy- I’m not going to speak for Nick, but there’s a familiarity that has to be noticed. It’s like being an actor- it’s a very strange thing. You have your life then you go to work and pretend to be in a relationship with somebody else and make yourself vulnerable and open. At the end of the day that’s work but you are still putting yourself in a place you would never do in any other job and so that part was kind of weird. It was interesting and familiar. But really it’s us getting back to the division at the end of the first episode. I can’t say anything else.

Andy had relationships with Sam and Luke. What guy is most suitable for Andy?

Oh man! I don’t know, apparently Andy likes a lot of different guys- I think she’d give anybody a chance. I think that as Andy changes that changes for her. She is growing and learning about herself and figuring out what she is and needs that changes. Luke and Sam were extremely different. She chose Luke because he was safe, consistent and she knew what she was going to get with him. It didn’t scare her to commit to him, which sucked when he cheated on her because then you’re like well I guess you’re not the safest one.

She had chemistry with Sam and it’s really powerful and they’re great teammates but at the same time it’s totally risky. You have two very independent people where it’s not a guarantee that things are going to work out and I think she really wanted it to. That changes everything for her. I think you can meet somebody and the dynamic is completely different- you always learn with every person you invest in, date or spend time with- it’ll bring out a different side of you. Even Nick Collins is completely different from both of them. He is very genuine and real and there a comfortability there as they are really good friends; that is safe and comfortable.

Ultimately I guess Sam would be the best if he grew and was able to be open and vulnerable and give himself to Andy. I think he is gun-shy about that and didn’t know how to deal with the seriousness of it. It’s really romantic to try but if you can’t go through things with somebody ultimately that relationship isn’t going to work. That’s something that he is going to have to face. Andy is going to have to understand that nothing is safe and not to take it so personally when things go wrong- which is something she is learning in her job anyway.

Andy is a tough lady- chasing and running- how do you prepare for the role physically?

The physical stuff I can handle- that’s okay. I like it because I don’t have time to go to the gym so when I can do it on set that’s awesome. What I have only in the past year realised is that I have developed some really weird fears like being shot. I literally think about getting shot a lot. It’s so stupid. I am always in these scenarios and even though they are fake I put myself in them- essentially I have been in a state of fight or flight for years now because of it. This year I have to do it a little bit differently, I have to remind myself that this isn’t real and set the boundaries. I talk to myself before the scene; looking at the blood and the scenario. I’m able to only go so far with it so I don’t take it home with me at night and develop an emotional attachment to something that I was just playing and didn’t really happen. When I was strangled in the forest the guy actually covered my mouth and nose at one point so there were takes where I couldn’t actually breath. That affected me for a week! Physically through that was really disturbing. It’s something that you don’t plan but in the moment it happens and its something you have to grieve which sounds so weird. I grieved Jerry- genuinely I was crying in the read-through. I was balling because we were losing him and he wasn’t going to be on our show anymore. It was a really emotional time for me to say goodbye. It was the strangest thing. Physically- that’s like the easy part compared to everything else that’s going on.

Foto: Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue - Copyright: 13TH STREET/Caitlin Cronenberg
Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue
© 13TH STREET/Caitlin Cronenberg

Has this role changed your perception about cops?

es sure, I remember the first year it really blew my mind. I don’t know how they do it. Yesterday actually some said to me please can I get a picture and he was a police officer. He said, "I have a girlfriend and we are Sam and Andy!" and I am like, "Really?" and he’s like, "Yes!" Cops really relate to the show and say they’ve been in that experience- I think that it is the coolest thing. Also I think its crazy that they have been in our situation and lived that stuff out.

Yesterday I was on set with a medic and somebody has been shot. I am like, "Oh my God! If I was shot I don’t know what I would do!" and I shouldn’t even be thinking about that but I am because there are bullet wounds. I ask the medic, she’s a real medic and plays one on the show, "How do you do it, you don’t have a problem seeing people shot?" She says, "Not at all". I have so much respect for her I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t not put myself in that situation and see people suffering all the time. She said, "Well I couldn’t do what you do either." What I’m doing? I’m not even doing the real thing- I was acting- this is the easy part compared to the sacrifices that people are making constantly. The fact that they are out there helping people and doing the right thing and they come back home with horrific images or the loss that they feel. I don’t know how you see all this stuff and not fear for your family’s life or sit at home supporting the wife or husband out in the field every night thinking something bad might happen. Fearing that phone call of something happened would just be awful. So yes this has changed my perspective- for sure. I look at it differently.

How much time do you spend for yourself per day?

I am trying to take time in the morning before I go to work but a four o’clock call is not going to help me. I try and take moments throughout the day for myself. I guess at the end of the day I go home have a cup of tea and watch Seinfeld. Probably half an hour or 45 minutes when I working. But that’s all I really need right now. If I do it throughout the day in small ways then I don’t need it so badly at the end of the night. It’s a balance I didn’t have that the first season at all. I ate grilled cheese as much as possible because I wanted comfort foods, everything was really imbalanced. As you get to know yourself better you know how you succeed and how you are happier overall. You can inject those things throughout your day I feel like I have gotten better at that. But it feels really good to buy a new jacket and spoil myself that way- if I have a second to go out. It sounds really superficial but its nice to get up in the morning and actually to put some nice clothes on rather than wear your pyjama’s to work everyday, which is something I’ve done for ten years. It’s the little things like making an effort- it makes a difference.

What do you think about the popularity of the show and fans reactions?

I don’t think any of us expected that. We had no clue how it was going to do: it was a summer show and the next year we were moved to a later time slot. Everything kind of changed. We really do have great fans, of course so appreciative of them because that’s why we are on Season Four right now. It blows my mind how many people make YouTube videos because of the show. I’ve never don’t that before- that’s a lie- I made a T-shirt when I went to a Celine [Dion] concert because yes I am that person who makes things for somebody who I am a huge fan of. I find it very complimentary and I think it is really cool that people take the time do that- that means we have impacted them in some way. The cast, crew and writers work extremely hard to do that, its very flattering. Without them we would not be here right now so we are grateful.

What are the biggest things that drew you to Rookie Blue?

I love that it was character-driven and not procedural. When I met the team I really liked them and they had the same vision for the project. I felt like we were already collaborating and on the same plane in terms of what the tone of the show was. We were discussing Andy and I just cared about having a strong female character. Strong does mean always having it together and the idealistic views but I wanted her to be genuine, honest and real. I wanted to play a character that women would be proud was a woman. I’ve always felt the pressure to be like a man in certain situations and to be stronger and not emotional or vulnerable- to think that’s what I had to do to be better in my work or in my life. Only now am I not doing that as much because I am accepting who I am and what I am and really starting to love me. Its ironic I’ve always cared about that with the characters I have played yet I wasn’t doing that myself which was kind of upsetting when I figured that out. I always wanted to play somebody who would inspire women to know their worth and know what they has to offer and be okay being themselves and yet I am just figuring that out. Maybe that’s normal- I just turned 30- people say you go through that when you get older. I think that’s what really drew me to it. I’m excited that I have been able to play that and that I have had that room. I love this job!

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