CSI Files
Captain
<font color=yellow>Jonathan Togo</font> joined CSI: Miami this season to step into the vacancy left by <font color=yellow>Rory Cochrane</font> (Tim Speedle), who left the show in the third season opener "Lost Son". Replacing a beloved character is never easy, but Togo has tackled his role with aplomb since first appearing in the third episode of the season, "Under the Influence" as a young patrolman eager to join Horatio Caine's team of CSIs. Much like his character, Togo has an enthusiasm and passion for his job and brings with him an energy that has livened up Miami's third season. Togo sat down with CSI Files in between shooting scenes for an upcoming episode to share how he's fitting in on the hit television show.
CSI Files: What led you to take the role of Ryan Wolfe on CSI: Miami?
Jonathan Togo: What led me to take it was that it's a better job than bartending! I'll go out on three commercial auditions a day, but sometimes you get good ones. I'm going in for a bad sitcom, I'm going in for a really awful movie-of-the-week, and I'm going in for CSI: Miami to be the new cop! And wouldn't it be funny or crazy if I ended up [landing it]? Well, I ended up getting the job. They flew me to L.A. Usually it's a process where you cast in front of a bunch of network executives and it's like an 8-round gladiator pit of actors. [But for Miami] they flew me in and took me to [CSI: Miami Executive Producer] <font color=yellow>Ann Donahue</font>'s office and we talked for a while and she asked me if I wanted the job. And I had this look on my face where it was like <font color=yellow>Ed McMahon</font> handing someone the lottery check. It was mind-blowing! And so I said yes and she brought be to meet the writers and that was it.
For an actor in my position, it's not a question of what roles you choose, it's what roles choose you. I was just lucky to have a role that chose me that's as wonderful as this one.
CSI Files: Do you like your character?
Togo: I said to [the writers], so who is he, who is Ryan Wolfe? One of the writers sort of looked at me and said, "It's you. You're the guy. We're building it on you." I sat down with [the writers], they got my sense of humor, they heard me tell some bad jokes and they started writing a character. So Ryan Wolfe is based on [me].
I was a theater major at Vassar, and when you go to theater school, you play a lot of roles that have already been written, have already been done, but in television, the character is evolving and you're going with it. So [Ryan's] a lot of things. He's obsessive compulsive, which I am not.
CSI Files: Are you a fan of the CSI shows?
Togo: Here's the funny thing--my girlfriend is obsessed with all of the CSIs. So I started watching and started getting into it. So to be a fan of it and then to be on it is a quick, really crazy jump.
And I was the hugest <font color=yellow>Emily Procter</font> (Calleigh Duquesne) fan. Another show I love is The West Wing, so when I first met Emily Procter, I was like you're Ainsley Hayes! And you're Calleigh Duquesne!
They gave me a bunch of episodes so I saw what had happened previously. Everyone on set talks about the show the way my girlfriend talks about CSI and CSI: Miami. They know every intricate detail.
CSI Files: What was it like coming in and replacing a popular character (Tim Speedle, played by <font color=yellow>Rory Cochrane</font>)?
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To read the full interviews, please click here.<center></center>
CSI Files: What led you to take the role of Ryan Wolfe on CSI: Miami?
Jonathan Togo: What led me to take it was that it's a better job than bartending! I'll go out on three commercial auditions a day, but sometimes you get good ones. I'm going in for a bad sitcom, I'm going in for a really awful movie-of-the-week, and I'm going in for CSI: Miami to be the new cop! And wouldn't it be funny or crazy if I ended up [landing it]? Well, I ended up getting the job. They flew me to L.A. Usually it's a process where you cast in front of a bunch of network executives and it's like an 8-round gladiator pit of actors. [But for Miami] they flew me in and took me to [CSI: Miami Executive Producer] <font color=yellow>Ann Donahue</font>'s office and we talked for a while and she asked me if I wanted the job. And I had this look on my face where it was like <font color=yellow>Ed McMahon</font> handing someone the lottery check. It was mind-blowing! And so I said yes and she brought be to meet the writers and that was it.
For an actor in my position, it's not a question of what roles you choose, it's what roles choose you. I was just lucky to have a role that chose me that's as wonderful as this one.
CSI Files: Do you like your character?
Togo: I said to [the writers], so who is he, who is Ryan Wolfe? One of the writers sort of looked at me and said, "It's you. You're the guy. We're building it on you." I sat down with [the writers], they got my sense of humor, they heard me tell some bad jokes and they started writing a character. So Ryan Wolfe is based on [me].
I was a theater major at Vassar, and when you go to theater school, you play a lot of roles that have already been written, have already been done, but in television, the character is evolving and you're going with it. So [Ryan's] a lot of things. He's obsessive compulsive, which I am not.
CSI Files: Are you a fan of the CSI shows?
Togo: Here's the funny thing--my girlfriend is obsessed with all of the CSIs. So I started watching and started getting into it. So to be a fan of it and then to be on it is a quick, really crazy jump.
And I was the hugest <font color=yellow>Emily Procter</font> (Calleigh Duquesne) fan. Another show I love is The West Wing, so when I first met Emily Procter, I was like you're Ainsley Hayes! And you're Calleigh Duquesne!
They gave me a bunch of episodes so I saw what had happened previously. Everyone on set talks about the show the way my girlfriend talks about CSI and CSI: Miami. They know every intricate detail.
CSI Files: What was it like coming in and replacing a popular character (Tim Speedle, played by <font color=yellow>Rory Cochrane</font>)?
<HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5">
To read the full interviews, please click here.<center></center>