Hill Harper

[CSI Files]

<p><i>CSI: New York</i>'s <font color=yellow>Hill Harper</font> (Dr. Sheldon Hawkes) has some exciting news for fans: he's going to be <A class="link" HREF="http://twitter.com/hillharper">Twittering</a> from the set of the show, which resumes production in Los Angeles today. In an exclusive interview with CSI Files' <font color=yellow>Kristine Huntley</font>, Harper shares all the scoop about his decision to Twitter, his hiatus and what's to come for Dr. Hawkes and the rest of the team following last season's cliffhanger.<p><b>CSI Files:</b> So you have some cool news about something you're going to be doing for the upcoming sixth season of <i>CSI: New York</i>!<p><b>Hill Harper:</b> Yes! I'm really excited. I want to invite everyone who is on CSI Files to my <A class="link" HREF="http://twitter.com/hillharper">Twitter</a>, @hillharper, and I'm going to tweet all season long from the set. I'm going to include when we're shooting scenes--maybe we'll talk scenes, we'll talk about the actors in them, I'll hand my Blackberry to <font color=yellow>Carmine [Giovinazzo</font>, Danny Messer] and <font color=yellow>Eddie [Cahill</font>, Don Flack] and <font color=yellow>Gary [Sinise</font>, Mac Taylor] and <font color=yellow>Melina [Kanakaredes</font>, Stella Bonasera] and <font color=yellow>Anna [Belknap</font>, Lindsay Monroe] and have them tweet something. I really think that welcoming people in in real time is really important. I want to just do it this whole season and see how people respond and see if we can build up a big following of people talking back in real time. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens. Obviously I'll talk to the producers about what I can and cannot include as far as spoilers and this and that, but I think it's going to be really fun, so I'm excited about it.<p>What's interesting is maybe as I'm doing it, since it's going to happen in real time, someone's response can influence a scene, or what we do in a scene. I don't know. It will be all new territory obviously for me as well as for whoever's following, so you never know. Someone will say, "Well, what about this?" and maybe that will have an impact. So I don't know. I'm excited about exploring the new frontier and really interacting with the audience.<p><b>CSI Files:</b> For those not familiar with Twitter, how will does it work and how will it allow you to interact with fans?<p><b>Harper:</b> It's 140 characters, so it's shorthand. The reason I like it because unlike MySpace or Facebook or e-mails or blasts where you can go on and on and on, it's shorthand so you really have to think about what you want to convey quite quickly without wasting a whole lot of time. So I really like it in that regard. So what it is is that you can post something and if you're following me, you can see it, and then you can either Re-Tweet it, RT space, and post that out there or just reply. And I can Re-Tweet and reply and so on. So you can end up interacting with a whole lot of people. And because it's shorthand, it's able to come up on my Blackberry. So I'll be doing it from my Blackberry. I'll bring my Blackberry to set with me.<p><b>CSI Files:</b> So you'd Tweet anything from, "Eddie just tripped over that egg carton" to "Wow, we're shooting this really powerful, beautiful scene in New York"?<p><b>Harper:</b> Exactly! It could be any of that as well as, "Hey, I'm handing my Blackberry to Eddie--he's going to say hello." Or "What do you guys think? I'm shooting a scene with Carmine--I was thinking about drinking coffee in the scene. Should I or should I not?" I really want to do that kind of stuff. Obviously I can't do too much of that or the producers will get very upset, but I'll do some of it. It's that kind of thing where it's literally welcoming people onto the set.<p><b>CSI Files:</b> Fans of the show definitely love the behind-the-scenes scoop!<p><b>Harper:</b> I could say something like, "Carmine is in a bad mood today--watch out!" <p><b>CSI Files:</b> And then he grabs your Blackberry...<p><b>Harper:</b> [...and writes,] "Don't you Tweet about me ever again!"<p><b>CSI Files:</b> Are you hoping the other actors will get in on the Tweeting as well?<p><HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5"><p>To read the full interviews, please click <A HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/interviews/hill_harper6.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>

 

[Faylinn]

Aww, I love when Hill gets excited about something - it's adorable. :lol: Awesome interview, Kristine - thanks for sharing it with us!

I don't do Twitter, and I probably won't bother to join, but it'll be interesting to follow what he shares - I know some of y'all will help a sister out and post the info in the spoiler thread over in the NY forum.

I also shot a movie, a sci-fi film, and I'm not going to say the name because one thing I've learned in my career with sci-fi and horror movies, you want to watch them first before you tell anybody, because you never know how they're going to turn out! Sometimes they turn out amazing and sometimes they turn out corny--you just never know. So I shot a sci-fi film and I played the bad guy, the villain.

I am intrigued.

I think some people get injured, let's put it that way.

Hmm, I'm interested to see how things turn out. I'm not worried that anybody is going to die, to be honest, but that doesn't mean things can't be serious. Hopefully we'll get some long-term fallout from the shooting - as well as Angell's death, of course.

I think that the new character is going to start out as a recurring. I don't think [she's] going to start out as a series regular per se, and if the audience responds and it works well, eventually [she] would become a regular.

I'm hoping she works out, although I'm a bit greedy about wanting my favorite characters to get enough screentime. I especially hope she works out if they decide to make her a reg. :lol:

And that was the first time we'd really done that. So we all went to Peter's house and we watched it the episode.

Ooh, I'll bet that was fun. And "Yahrzeit" was such a great episode. They should have viewing parties and invite me.

You don't see that kind of heterosexual male love on television that much, so I love that. Everyone's [usually] trying to be super macho.

Translation: NEEDS MOAR MANHUGS!

He's going to be great! He's going to teach the baby all about using science to solve her problems, to use the Bunsen burner to heat up her baby formula. I'm excited--Hawkes is going to get to babysit!

Oh dear - between Hawkes and Adam, this could get very interesting. Never leave the baby alone with the pair of them, you never know what crazy antics they could get up to!

Actually, on second thought - do it. :lol: Hawkes and Adam could have the b-story of an episode, taking care of Lucy. It would be all 'Two Scientists and a Baby' and be full of hilarity.

*cough*

One of the [fans'] favorite characters on the show was injured.

Spoiler: Speculation

Sid? That would fit with what we've seen for 6.02 where nobody else is mentioned to be injured - but I guess we'll see. It could be anybody.

[We're all missing] Detective Jessica Angell! I was proud that Danny and Hawkes were in her first scene on the show.

Aww, I liked that scene - the 'Angell got her wings' line was corny, but not necessarily in a bad way. That scene was girlcrush at first sight.

Are they going to give it to Adam (AJ Buckley)? Come on! I don't even know if Adam likes girls!

See, now he's just teasing me! :lol:

(But you know, I could totally buy Adam being bisexual. Just saying. *sends mental vibes to TPTB* )

 

[GregNickRyanFan]

:lol: He's funny. I love the part about Adam. :lol: I think Adam definitely likes girls because of the Kendall thing. He seemed to be quite smitten with her for a while. Plus his obvious crush on Stella. So he definitely likes women. But whether or not that is his only preference, I do not know.


I loved the part about teaching baby Lucy to use the bunsen burner to warm her bottles. :guffaw:

Spoiler: about injured party

One of the fans fave characters. Hmm... sounds like Danny or Adam to me. Possibly Sid.

I sincerely hope Hawkes gets a love interest, but not another CSI. We've already got that with D/L. We do not need another version of that. I hope his love interest is someone who is in a different line of work. Maybe a doctor or lawyer or something. Maybe they could bring back Kara or whatever her name was and have them get back together. I liked their flashback scenes together. Great chemistry too.

 

[Elwood21]

Was a fun interview there, thanks for that. :bolian:

The twitter could be interesting but lord knows how he'll be able to keep up with the traffic he's likely gonna be inundated with :lol:. Also fun he wants to pass his blackberry around. Hope the producers are supportive of it. (I should think that given that Zuiker himself has spoken of wanting to embrace as many media platforms as possible as part of his general outlook with his projects, that hopefully the show will kinda share a similar spirit, within certain parameters, yada). Hope people tweeting also participate in the spirit Hill intends it to be. I'll definitely check it out, tho I doubt I'll be able to keep up in realtime.

I'm somehow not really surprised about Kaye, other than in thinking she mighta been cast already. But I guess awaiting confirmation is pretty damned close and largely involves intent and negotiation. Speculated early on that 'recurring' didn't necessarily mean an appearance in every episode. I am kinda glad they're not just tossing her in there and that everyone will have a chance to see how she's doing. I do really hope that if she's brought in, it's as her own character and not a love interest. I do think the show needs a bit of fresh air, and if she's a part of it, that could be good. If it works well. I'd just hate to see her as a purpose instead of a person.

I am glad to hear that Sheldon will be getting more of his personal life explored. It's about damned time :lol:

I'm glad to hear he's done a movie, and also that he's got another book coming. Got it goin on .

It's great to read his enthusiasm in general too.

This was far more interesting and fun than most of what's been in the not so spoilers of late :lol:

Thanks for posting it.

 

[Elsie]

Great interview, Kristine! I love interviews with Hill Harper, he always comes across like such a great guy.

Interesting to read about the tweeting. I'm not personally up with that myself, but he does seem excited by it. :lol: I can't wait to find out more about the new season, and now I'll spend my time trying to guess who gets injured!

 

[CSI Cupcake]

Awesome! I have been waiting for these interviews to start coming out. It's very good to know Hawkes is going to be back for S6. I was concerned that his character was at risk for the diner shootout but it appears that all is well.

Hawkes and Adam babysitting would be hilarious to watch.

Great interview! Thanks, Kristine!

 

[Nat_attack]

-screams- :lol: That was the best interview ever Kristine!
I am actually a huge tweeter, and the possibility of joking around with the cast of CSI: NY on Twitter?

Down-right insanely awesome!

I'm just, wow, I am just like few for words right now...:guffaw: I'm so happy everyone is going to live too.
I'll be back when I can think straight.

 

[ladyhunter]

CSI Files as a site has had a huge impact on the CSI franchise and all the shows.

Really? I didn't know the fans had that much impact on the show.

Thank you so much Hill Harper for Tweeting all throughout the season. I must be one of the last hold-out of this century. I don't tweet or have Facebook or anything like that. But I would like to hear that Eddie did trip over an egg carton or that Gary wants to share something with the fans. I WOULD LOVE to hear about things like that!!!

Also, LOVED what you said about Yahrzeit! I agree it was one of the most beautifully acted and written piece of television. I hope the writers continue storylines like that.

 

[Axelsonfire]

Wow. I joined Twitter just to get in on this :lol:

This was an awesome interview! Thank you so much for sharing it.

 

[Miyukiseta]

I've always had Twitter, but I never acutally used it...

Until now. I started tweeting like hell yesterday evening.

Must get the inside scoop from Hill...:guffaw:

I really hope that the other cast members will also start tweeting.