Best known for his role as David in “Being Mary Jane” and David Justice in “Moneyball”, the very handsome Stephen Bishop has stepped on the dark side in Bravo’s latest dark comedy series “Imposters”, where he portrays a swanky FBI agent out to get a bad girl who’s out to get him. In the twisted turn of events, the leading characters become love interests and are depicted struggling in their “federal agent meets con artist” relationship. The Sentinel recently sat down in an exclusive interview with Bishop to get the scoop on the new show and just how to spot out an imposter when you see one.
LAS: Tell us about your role as the very handsome “Patrick” in “Imposters”.
SB: The target and the love interest and now the pursuer of Maddie is Patrick. Patrick has been exposed in the last episode an FBI special agent and he has been tracking Maddie for quite a while. Up until this point we’ve seen him as a pure, innocent, organic love interest for her that met her at a coffee shop while she was on the way to pursue one of her other marks. They have a real chemistry, they have a real connection, and both of them now are conflicted as to what they should really be doing. Maddie, she knows that because the doctor and her team have put her on Patrick, she is supposed to be trying to get him, but she really cares about him. Patrick, obviously he’s FBI. He’s supposed to be trying to get her; he’s beginning to care, so you can see where these conflicts are going to be juicy for the viewer.
LAS: What was so intriguing for you about doing a dark comedy?
SB: It wasn’t necessarily the fact that it was a dark comedy that intrigued me; it was the fact that I was going to be working with Paul Adelstein and Adam Brooks. When I walked into the room for the audition, it was such a warm feeling in that room, and I was familiar with Paul’s work and I had known Adam’s stuff as well, so just the opportunity to work with a couple producers, and writers and directors that were top notch guys and very, very capable of all of the things that they were putting on the table.
LAS: How did you prepare for the role? How does it differ in your role opposite Gabrielle Union in “Being Mary Jane”?
SB: Preparation is very similar for me in all of the work that I do. I try to connect with the character emotionally. I try to explore the circumstances that the character is going to be in and suss out my own emotions and how I would live in that circumstance. In “Being Mary Jane”, you know David was a character that was well on his way to success business wise but couldn’t find the right page to be in love with Mary Jane. Patrick is different in respect that he’s already a star in his field and he isn’t necessarily looking for love, not really caring about love but just happens to find it, they’re different guys in that respect.
LAS: Now you were once a business major and professional baseball player, so for those artists seeking some inspiration, tell us how you transitioned into acting.
SB: I took a drama course in school while I was playing baseball in college and I got a lot of really positive feedback from the professor and he suggested that I considered doing acting for a living. Being the young, cocky, baseball player that I was, I was like ‘aw man I’m going to be a pro baseball player, I’m not going to be needing that’. And he said, well just keep it in your back pocket; you never know what can happen.
Sure enough, my baseball career lasted three years professionally, and at the end of it, I knew that after baseball I wanted to try acting. At the end of the third year, when I got released by Baltimore, I was sitting in my kitchen fielding calls from other teams to try to see if I wanted to continue to play and I kept hearing what I say was God’s voice in my head saying it’s time, it’s time, it’s time and I took that to mean that it was time to transfer off of the baseball train onto the one that would take me to my ultimate destination. So I just packed up everything, through it in a rental car and drove to L.A. and slept on my college buddy’s couch for a couple months until I could get situated and the rest as they say is history.
LAS: Have you ever encountered any real life imposters and if so, how did you deal with it?
SB: I have. I’ve dealt with a couple and I’ve dealt with them in different ways. Some ways, we’re not going to discuss here, other ways have found us in litigation. There’s nothing in my opinion worst than a fraud. If you’re claiming to be something, be it, and if you’re aspiring to be something, don’t fake like you are, go make yourself that something. Imposters in real life are like the fly in the ointment. Everything can be going really great until somebody fake comes along and tries to put their two cents into something that they know nothing about or don’t know enough about, and then things start to go left.
LAS: What are some keys to spotting an imposter?
SB: It’s difficult to spot a lot of imposters because their job is to be convincing. But there are certain subtleties that you can look for. Let’s say you’re dealing with a music industry person and they’re telling you how great they can be for your career, you’re a young rapper and they’re trying to put you on. Look at the way they present themselves, look at their shoes, look at the accessories that they use jewelry wise, watches bracelets, these things.
You can tell al lot about somebody by the way they present themselves, and a lot of imposters will try to present a bigger face then they actually carry and they can expose themselves that way if you know what to look for. If you know what jewelry you’re looking for, if your know what a Rolex time piece really moves like, if you know what diamonds really look like under light, it’s kind of easy to spot em; not a mile away, but when they get up close, you can spot them.
LAS: Lastly, what are the casts dynamics like on “Imposters”?
SB: This was the best cast that I’ve ever been a part of. A close second was “Moneyball” but the camaraderie on this set was better than any set that I’ve been on. Everybody is really truly friends on this set. Rob, Parker and Marianne actually hung out a lot as they do on screen, they got to be really close, and Inbar was really close with them as well. Brian Benben and I became really good friends, we talked about a wide variety of subjects; I really enjoyed this cast, they’re very talented, they’re all very friendly, we all had a good time and a lot of fun. It was a great dynamic and I really think it comes through on the show.
For more with Stephen Bishop, be sure to check out “Imposters” on Bravo every Tuesday night 10/9c and visit lasentinel.net for exclusive interviews.