The beauty of Necessary Roughness

MANILA, Philippines - When the going gets tough, television has found another character to turn to. Meet Dr. Dani Santino (deftly played by Callie Thorne), the resident psychotherapist of the hit American drama series Necessary Roughness, which has recently been renewed for a third season. On Philippine TV, its second season begins airing on Jan. 21, exclusively on beTV.   

Described as equal parts sexy and strong, Dr. Dani is known for her tough love therapy, exacting necessary roughness on her patients/clients — sports stars and many others belonging to the rich, powerful and connected, who seek out her counseling expertise and skills as they wrestle problems and predicaments. But the lady doctor also tries to keep her own sanity intact as her seemingly perfect world unravels. In Season 2, she bravely faces her own issues on both professional and personal fronts.

In a recent exclusive phone interview with The STAR, lead star Callie talked about how the strong persona of Dr. Dani and the fact that the character is based on a real person were her reasons for wanting the role so badly. These are the same reasons that she thinks would draw Asian audiences, especially the women, to the show.       

“I think that the show will appeal to Asian audiences the way that it has appealed to audiences here, and most especially to women there, because my character is such a strong woman,” Callie began.

“Though the show is about so many things — sports, family and relationships — it centers around this woman who puts her mind into doing what she believes is true. And I think that is something women everywhere, and hopefully in Asia, will find attractive as a story to invest in. But there’s also a lot of things for men and for different ages, but what I am most proud of is telling this story of this strong woman.

It helps, too, that Callie can see much of herself in her character. “Oh, I’d say there’s a lot of me in the character. The way they write Dr. Dani, so much of it is on the page. The writers are so magnificent at what they do and they have someone to base it on with the real doctor, Dr. Donna Dannenfelser (a Long Island-based psychotherapist who’s also a supervising producer of the show). But they are also very open to me bringing parts of myself, whether parts of my sense of humor, or sometimes, how I would do such and such in real life.”

Callie, who is of Armenian descent, is also bringing to her character inspiration she gleaned from the strong female figures in her life.

She shared, “My mom is my first strong role model as well as my grandmother. The two of them taught me everything I know about being honest, or at least attempting to be honest, because sometimes, it’s all in the trying, and trying to do the best as you can. But my mother (who is an astrologer, whose clients include high-profile people from Hollywood) for sure inspired me, especially when I was really young. Before she remarried, when I was about seven, it was just me and her and I remember there were rough times. We didn’t have a lot of money but she made me feel safe and loved. I learned so many lessons from her back then and because of that, I would turn to her and think (in handling situations) ‘What would my mom do in this situation?’ I bring a lot of that to my character as Dr. Dani.”

Doing TV work since the late ‘90s, Callie, who studied theater and dramatic literature in college, is a regular face and reliable actress on many of US television’s most celebrated and critically-acclaimed series. But you’d most probably remember her as Sheila Keefe on the FX drama Rescue Me (topbilling Denis Leary), or her multi-episode arcs on FOX’s Prison Break and NBC’s ER, or her being the estranged wife of Jimmy McNulty on the HBO series The Wire, or as Det. Laura Ballard on NBC’s Homicide: Life on the Street. She was never cast in the lead, however, until Necessary Roughness, which started its US run in 2011. To say that the hard work and pressure have doubled (or tripled!) is to state an understatement.  

“It’s hard (laughs). Even if I’ve been doing television for so long, I’ve always been part of an ensemble; I’ve been part of the troop that sort of supports the lead actor. Though hours might be hard, I used to just work for a couple of days a week. It didn’t seem that hard, but now… The really difficult thing to adjust to was the first season of (Necessary Roughness) because I was so out of my element, and the hours were so hard, and location can be hard, and we shoot in the heat of Atlanta’s summers and that was a really hard combination for me… plus having to navigate learning lines for the episode I was shooting as well as beginning to work on the next episode. There was no (free) time in between. Every minute that I was off, I had to learn how to master all my time. The hours (now) are certainly different from every (TV project) that I had worked on.”

Does she still have time for some downtime? “Ah... no (laughs)! First season, I was on every single page of the script. On the second season, they started to branch out and everybody starts to have more storyline. So, I did have a little downtime for the 16 episodes of the second season, and if I had a day-off, it felt like a luxury. I would make great plans for my day-off like do something fantastic but I would find myself sleeping the entire day, you know, because you grab your rest when you really can so you can be alert when you go to work.”

Nevertheless, when love of work enters the equation, all these work challenges including minimal downtime are easy to dismiss. Callie said, “(Downtime) has not even crossed my mind because I love my job, thank God! When you love the show and your crew, it doesn’t feel so bad. You suddenly feel you’re part of a family and you’re off to telling this great story and these long hours, you feel they’re worth it.”

And she agrees that now is a great time to be on TV. According to industry watchers, American television is currently enjoying a “golden age.” “I do agree, and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of TV right now in this age. I started on TV in 1999, and it wasn’t so in 1999 and during the ‘90s when I was first trying to break out. During those times, people looked down on TV, movie actors looked down on TV.”

“But there’s been an incredible shift and the writing for television and the stars that television attract, which certainly makes it a little difficult for someone like me who’s always been on television…,” Callie noted. “Suddenly, there are movie stars trying to get television jobs. But that’s because actresses are noticing that the better jobs more often are coming on to television because it’s an ongoing job. You’re not just going away for months to do a movie with incredible writing, you’re actually getting to do six months (or how many months a season will be); you get to take a journey with a character and I think more and more actresses are noticing that it’s a pretty great job, moreso than ever for sure.”

But going back to her Dr. Dani character. Does she also believe in what her character preaches and practices — the tough love therapy? “I do believe in tough love therapy. I myself have been in therapy for a long time and I think that my therapist had used tough love on me,” Callie revealed.

“I do recommend therapy. If your heart is open to it, if you’re looking for help, and if you’re interested in learning about your own pattern in your own life, I think therapy is one of the most tremendous things you can do for yourself. Sometimes, people think of the stigma, but it’s (empowering) stuff and it’s about educating yourself about yourself and I think that’s beautiful,” she added.

Even with her compelling portrayal and the many things she’s been learning about the actual work of psychotherapists through Necessary Roughness, Callie would never attempt to do a “Dr. Dani” off-screen. Interestingly though, more fans seemed convinced she’s capable of doing so.

“I find that when I’m meeting people and they recognize me from the show, all of the sudden, we’re having a conversation wherein they say, ‘You know, my son has ADD, or whatever,’ and they want to know my take on it, and I go, ‘Oh no, no, no. I just play that on TV, I don’t know anything!’ (laughs). So, I think that happens more now. I don’t know... I’d ruined somebody’s life if I try to psycho-analyze.”

(Season 2 of Necessary Roughness debuts on Philippine TV via beTV on Jan. 21 and airs Mondays and Tuesdays thereafter at 8:30 p.m.)