Ron Livingston will probably always be best known for two things: Peter Gibbons, the lovable slacker from Office Space, and Jack Berger, the guy who broke up with Carrie on a Post-It on Sex and the City. But from Livingston's perspective, there are probably worse things to be known for.
"No, it doesn't bother me at all, actually," says the 42-year-old actor. "You don't get into this job unless you want to tell stories that have an impact on people. And if you can tell a story that has a lasting impact on people, it's kind of like having your jersey retired."
Granted, Livingston might not feel the same if his well-known roles had led to him being typecast as lazy office workers or pathetic ex-boyfriends. Luckily, he's had the good fortune of playing a wide variety of characters, from Capt. Lewis Nixon in Band of Brothers, Steven Spielberg's HBO miniseries about the Second World War, to hostage negotiator Matt Flannery on the now-defunct series Standoff.
And now, Livingston is taking on one of the more unusual roles of his career, that of astronaut/lothario Maddux Donner on the sci-fi drama Defying Gravity (premiering Aug. 2 on CTV). Set in the near future, the series follows eight astronauts selected for a six-year voyage through the solar system, dealing with their personal relationships while exploring the universe. The unique concept is difficult to categorize (a popular description is "Grey's Anatomy in space"), but, Livingston says, that's what drew him to the Canadian production in the first place.
"I think that's definitely been a little bit of a guidepost all along the way, kind of a Grey's Astronomy," he quips. "Anytime you do a new show, you say, 'Where can we set this that's going to give us exciting things happening, week in and week out?' And a fairly common answer that comes up is in a hospital or in a police precinct or in a courtroom. And [the producers] said, 'Well, what if we set this in the astronaut corps?' And from there, it just kind of opened up."
By refusing to fit neatly into a specific type of show, Livingston thinks Defying Gravity appeals to fans of all kinds.
"I was kind of drawn to the way they had sort of bridged genres," he says. "The creators wanted to make a show that, you know, that men and women could watch together and it wasn't all one thing. It wasn't all kissing and it wasn't all spaceships, you know? There's a little bit kissing and spaceships."
Laura Harris, Livingston's costar, agrees.
"I understand why people are [comparing it to Grey's Anatomy], and I think people watching the show to see that are going to be pleasantly satisfied but completely surprised," says the 32-year-old Vancouver native, who plays geologist Zoe Barnes. "There's nothing traditional about it. There's at least a handful of things that have never been done on television before."
Of course, that meant a lot more preparation for the actors, who not only had to get into their characters' heads, but their characters scientific backgrounds, as well. Despite the show's more fantastical plot points, the story is rooted in realism, so Livingston and Harris had very little time to turn themselves into credible astronauts.
"I started looking at geological books, but it's hard to start randomly learning the names of rocks and recognizing them with absolutely no context," Harris remembers, laughing. "So instead I just learned about the space program. I had a friend at NASA who let me come and check it out, and that was pretty incredible. Everyone I met was so happy to be there. They could be getting paid much more at a different corporation, but they choose to work at this government job because they're at the forefront of science, basically."
For Livingston, his preparation had a somewhat different focus.
"I spent a lot of time just really trying to get in shape. You know, get to a place where I could feel comfortable taking my shirt off," he admits.
But don't get any ideas – even though he'll be romancing many a female astronaut, fans of Office Space or Sex and the City shouldn't tune in expecting to see Livingston slacking off or breaking up with someone in inappropriate ways.
"I think Maddux is good up to a point and then past that point he's not very good at all," the actor muses. "And a lot of how this show operates is what happens now, when you're stuck on a ship with not one but two women that you had a history with."
Livingston chuckles.
"You can't just stick a Post-It note on the screen and take off because you're half a billion miles away from Earth," he says. "So where do you go? What do you do?"
Defying Gravity premieres Sunday, Aug. 2 at 9 p.m. on CTV and ABC.
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