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By Suzanne

Interview with D.J. Qualls of "Memphis Beat" on TNT 6/29/11.

I love this show, and Qualls plays such a great, quirky but likable character. He was very nice on this call. I enjoyed it, and I so look forward to seeing him grow on the show.

TURNER ENTERTAINMENT
Moderator: Chrissie Eckhardt
June 29, 2011 3:00 pm CT

Operator: Good day and welcome to the Turner Entertainment Hosted D.J. Qualls conference call. Today’s conference is being recorded.

At this time, I’d like to turn the program over to Chrissie Eckhardt. Please go ahead.

Chrissie Eckhardt: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining the D.J. Qualls Memphis Beat conference call. Memphis Beat is currently airing new episodes on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Eastern on TNT.

The conference call is now open for questions. Please press star 1 to ask a question. Thank you.

Operator: And again, please press star 1 on your phone if you’d like to ask a question. Our first comes from the side of Jamie Steinberg from Starry Constellation Magazine. Please go ahead.

Jamie Steinberg: Hi, D.J. It’s a pleasure to speak with you again.

D.J. Qualls: Hello.

Jamie Steinberg: I’m wondering, what keeps challenging you about playing as a police officer on Memphis Beat?

D.J. Qualls: Well, this year we had – this show has totally changed. We shifted more to a more serious, I think, procedural kind of show.

Jamie Steinberg: Yes.

D.J. Qualls: We’re still trying to keep the quirks that we had last season but this year we’re focused, I think, more on the crime, a little less on, sort of, the quirk of being in the south. And also, last year, my character was – he was more, sort of, finding his footing you know as a brand new cop. And this year, I’m actually getting to do more cop work.

And I find that more interesting because I don’t often get to play a lot of serious roles. And especially with the next episode, which is – every year, I get one episode that’s a Sutton episode on my character.

Jamie Steinberg: Yes.

D.J. Qualls: So episode 4, which is next week, you really see – I find a baby. And it’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. But it was beautiful. I’ve seen it and I’m so excited for the audience to see it.

Jamie Steinberg: Why do you think people keep tuning in to watch Memphis Beat?

D.J. Qualls: Well, I think that it’s – like, I said that we’ve become more of a standard procedural this year but also, we have maintained that character focus kind of show where we really try to create a show where people just want to tune in an hour with these people. I think that there’s a lot of heart in our show. And, like, I read the message boards. I don’t know – people say that they don’t.

If you don’t read your message boards, I think you’re stupid because you want to know what’s working and what’s not working about your show. And people just – they really seem to respond to the heart of it.

Jamie Steinberg: Right. Thank you so much.

D.J. Qualls: Thank you.

Operator: And once again, it’s star and 1 on your telephone to ask a question today. And please try to limit your questions to one question and one follow up.

Our next comes from the side of Suzanne Lanoue from the T.V. Megasite. Please go ahead.

Suzanne Lanoue: Hi. I was wondering if your character would see any romance on the show any time soon.

D.J. Qualls: I do have a little bit of a romantic interest this season.

Suzanne Lanoue: Oh, good.

D.J. Qualls: We have a crime later in the season where somebody is doing identity theft. And the person from the bank who’s brought on to help us solve the crime and I have a little bit of a romantic – not ((inaudible)). We don’t – it’s sort of left open. But it was really sweet to play. The actress, Jennifer Masala, who plays the lady from the bank, was wonderful and sweet and cute. And it was really fun.

Suzanne Lanoue: Well, thank you. I look forward to seeing it.

D.J. Qualls: Cool.

Operator: And once again, please press star and 1 on your phone if you’d like to ask a question. Next, we’ll go to the side of Allison Ebner from Pop Culture Madness.com. Please go ahead.

Allison Ebner: Hi, D.J. Thanks for talking with us.

D.J. Qualls: Hey.

Allison Ebner: Hey. So how do you think this upcoming episode will shape Sutton for the future of this show? You know will this experience with the baby stick with him?

D.J. Qualls: It definitely does. And we – I mean, it changes who he is as a man. Sutton has some realizations about himself and about what he wants for his future based on this experience with the baby. I mean, it actually changed me a little bit. It changed, sort of, what I – how I feel about myself and maybe started making me think about, maybe it’s the time to start thinking about you know moving in a different direction in my life and settling down.

So maybe that’s something that I’m going to start looking at soon.

Allison Ebner: Awesome. So you’ve been involved in a lot of different projects. What would you say you’ve learned and taken away from Sutton and Memphis Beat, in particular?

D.J. Qualls: Well, when I first got the script sent to me, I was like, “There’s no way I can pull this off. There’s no way I can play a cop.” So much so that – and I’ve spoken about this before – but so much so that I didn’t even – I turned down the initial audition for this show. I just, sort of, walked away from it.

I had a crisis of confidence and said, “No.” And this show – the producers pursued me. And so I went in and I did my initial reading and they offered the show to me because they believed that I could do it. And so what I’m taking away from this is keep myself open and that I’m only limited by my own imagination. And we all are. So that’s what I’ll take away from this show.

And also, I have great relationships on this show. I get to work with Alfre Woodard, who I’ve known for 10 years. And Jason, I’ve also known for about the same amount of time, Jason Lee. And you know I love the show. It’s the best show I’ve ever had.

It’s a feeling of a family like I’ve never known professionally. When you do a movie, there’s you know an end. The show is open-ended and going for a very long time. And so you let your guard down in a different way than you do in a film. People really do become very close to you; I mean, your crew, also.

So I think that I’m going to take away from this experience just how wonderful it was to have that feeling of belonging.

Allison Ebner: Great, thank you.

D.J. Qualls: Thank you.

Operator: And again, it is star and 1 on your telephone to ask a question. Next, we’ll go to the side of Alena Lamore from Lena Lamore.com. Please go ahead.

Alena Lamore: Hey, D.J. It’s a pleasure to speak with you. Now, can you talk about filming the shooting range scenes with Whitehead and are we going to see more Sutton helping them out in the future?

D.J. Qualls: Those were really fun to shoot. Those shooting range scenes were awesome. Yes, this year, you see Sutton and Whitehead – because last year, Sutton and White Head really didn’t have a lot of interaction. Whitehead just sort of you know didn’t like how green he was.

And this year, Sutton really starts to prove himself, so Whitehead responds to it. The actual shooting of the scenes were great. We had several days of prep. I don’t know why they were so nervous about me shooting a gun. I’m from the south; I got a gun when I was 12 years old. But we got to shoot in an actual police shooting range where all of the people, all of the New Orleans Police Department trained. And it took about, maybe 6 hours. I shot probably 150 rounds during the filming of that.

And I’ve got to say, for a second – I mean, I’m actually – personally, I don’t really like guns. But it made me think, like, maybe I could own a gun. But then I walk away from it going, “You do not need a gun in your house.”

Alena Lamore: Can you tell us about some of the guest stars that are coming up?

D.J. Qualls: Oh, man, we’ve had such great guest stars this year. And it’s another improvement from last season. You know we just had Thomas Lennon on. He was so amazing. We have Gail O’Grady comes on the show this year.

We’ve also had – oh, gosh. Hold on, let me think. We’ve had Jordy Masterson, who is Danny Masterson’s little brother – was just on the show. I mean, we’ve been really blessed with the quality of actors that come on the show. It’s been amazing.

Alena Lamore: Thank you.

Operator: And once again, please press star and 1 if you’d like to ask a question. Next, we’ll go to the set of (Cynthia Boris) from (Gellar).com. Please go ahead.

Cynthia Boris: Hi, D.J.

D.J. Qualls: Hi.

Cynthia Boris: I have to say, last night when Jason had the line about, “I have an app for that” before he breaks the window, I almost fell out of my chair laughing. It was so funny.

D.J. Qualls: Thank you. It made me laugh, too.

Cynthia Boris: That was a great line. I wanted to ask about the music on this show. It’s such a big part of creating the feeling. I’m wondering if you could just talk a little bit about you know about how that fits in and your feelings about the music.

D.J. Qualls: Yes, it definitely is a component. The music is a big component to this show because Memphis, if you’ve ever been there, the city is all music, all the time. You have these people who have been performing for 30 years on (Beal) Street in these barbecue joints and blues clubs. And they’re doing it for the pure love of it; they’re not doing it thinking that they’re going to get famous for doing it.

And that’s a big difference from what you see in cities like L.A., where you come here and if you’re good at something, you want to be famous for it. These people just do it for the love of it. And I think that’s been a Memphis tradition you know from the birth of, like, (Sack) Record and Son.

And because we actually don’t do the show in Memphis – we shoot it in New Orleans – I think that that music is a really important component to the show to make it have a more authentic feel.

Cynthia Boris: Well, that’s great. I really enjoy it every week and I look forward to seeing what you’ve got coming up. Thanks.

D.J. Qualls: ((Inaudible)).

Operator: And again, it’s star and 1 if you’d like to ask a question. Next, we’ll go to the set of Earl Dittman from Wireless Digital Journal. Please go ahead.

Earl Dittman: Hey, D.J. How are you doing?

D.J. Qualls: I’m good, how are you?

Earl Dittman: Doing great, doing great. I have to ask, what is your relationship like with Jason? How do you get along with him? Is he a great guy to work with? Does he welcome great fun improvisations or a meat and potatoes man?

D.J. Qualls: Well, I think it helps a lot, the fact that this is the third job I’ve had with Jason. I did my – I think it was my second or third movie with Jason, and then I was on “Earl” for a few episodes, and then, now, this show. So I’ve known him a long time. And he was a friend before I did the show, which makes it – I think it makes chemistry easier.

What I like about working with him most is that he keeps the mood on the set light. We work very long hours. We shoot in – I mean, a lot of our show is on location outside in New Orleans in the summer time and that’s brutal.

Earl Dittman: Yes, that’s very – I’m in Houston, so that’s very brutal.

D.J. Qualls: And you’re pretty gnarly. And he always has a smile on his face. And, I mean, it starts from the top. Like, he’s number 1 on the call sheet. He’s you know our hero, essentially, on the show. And so working with him – and when he’s in a good mood, we can’t help but be infected by that.

Earl Dittman: Yes. So he brings a whole lot of excitement and a lot of friendship and camaraderie to the set?

D.J. Qualls: Right, and levity. And he also is so appreciate of, like, his stand. It’s great to see how excited people get – people ((inaudible)) see him when we’re shooting on location. And a lot of what you don’t see is, I mean, the crew is just as an important part of our show as the cast. I mean it’s 200 people who are there to support us and stand out in the heat for us.

And he’s great with them. And it makes them want to work harder for him and us.

Earl Dittman: That’s great. Well, thank you so much and keep on putting out a great show.

D.J. Qualls: Thank you so much.

Earl Dittman: Thank you so much. Bye-bye.

Operator: And one last time, please press star and 1 on your telephone if you’d like to ask a question. It looks like there’s no further questions in queue. I’ll give one last opportunity; star and 1 to ask a question. I’ll pause for just a few more seconds.

All right, it looks like we have no further questions from the phone lines.

Chrissie Eckhardt: Thank you, everyone, for joining today’s call. As a reminder, Memphis Beat airs on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm Eastern on TNT. And a transcript of this call will be available within 24 hours.

Thank you so much, D.J., for joining us and for your time. And thank you, everyone, for participating. Have a great day.

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