Chat with "Oz's" Tobias Beecher

HBO presents

July 20, 2000

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CindyB: Mr. Tergesen, if you could play any of the other characters on "Oz", who would it be and why?

Lee Tergesen: You know, the O'Reilly character comes to mind. He's just so diabolical. On the other side of what Beecher is. Something's always happening when he comes around. He's an exciting character.

Viewer: How realistic is the feeling of the set for you, and does it help or hinder your performance any?

Lee Tergesen: Especially now, we're shooting some episodes from 7am to 7pm at night.and we totally miss the days. Under those florescent lights, it really starts to feel like prison. It's predominantly a male show, and it resembles a prison. Card games will start up, and it has a sense of a little city, which a prison is. And that helps tremendously.

Curious: What is a typical day's shooting schedule like for you? Can you walk us through one, please?

Lee Tergesen: It varies. Three days a week, we're in for the entire day for the common room scenes in Emerald City. Everyone has to be around for those, as everyone is present. Then, you may have a couple other days where you have a half day, and the other days off. Those would be the days when our personal plot lines would be getting filmed.

Marty1: Hello, Lee. Why does "Oz" have such a following among its fans of the show?

Lee Tergesen: It's intense. It's compelling. It moves quickly. Those into are 'IN' to it.it drags you along, at such a pace, and what is going on with the characters is always interesting. It has a strange sort of alchemy and sort of works perfectly, and if you love "Oz", you LOVE "Oz."

Marcus: Have you ever wanted your character to be more of a tough guy?

Lee Tergesen: Well, you know, the first season, when he first comes in and gets brutalized, I think a lot of the people on the set really were like, "Why doesn't this guy fight back?" They wanted me to be a little tougher. By the time we got into the sixth or seventh episode, when I got a little 'hinky', I was ready to get there. I think since then he's gone a little crazy, and he's developed a 'fight and die' attitude. He's tough now. I had this relationship going on with this guy, so the character IS sensitive. But Beecher is now ultimately ready to kill - or die. He's committed.

Guy: What was your first impression of your character?

Lee Tergesen: Seemed like a nice enough guy. I thought he was a guy at a place where he was out of control. His journey led him to Oz - to the prison. The lessons he needs to learn are there, whether he likes it or not.

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