Suffice to say, the mission in the pilot episode of Scorpion eventually gets pretty dramatic and involves some stunts involving a car and an airplane that allow Lin to show off his Fast-derived skill set.
I sat down with Lin to chat about Scorpion, casting the series, teaming with executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and more. IGN TV: You’ve got a big film career going, so when this came up as a possibility, what intrigued you about it?
Justin Lin: You know, it's crazy to think that 12 years ago I started in the indie world, a credit card movie. And once Better Luck Tomorrow got picked up, I haven't stopped working. All my films have overlapped. In that period, I had the good fortune of being a part of Community in the first season, and that kind of whet my appetite. So when I left the Fast franchise, I think the first thing I wanted to do was try something completely different. And I didn't want to be the director with a script that came in and directed the pilot; I wanted to see what the TV business was like. So I set out to do that. I remember -- it was very early on -- I got a call saying, "Hey, do you want to meet this genius, who started this genius company?" I thought, "Okay! Yeah, of course." It was very interesting sitting down with Walter and thinking, "Okay, this could be an interesting show. What kind of show is it going to be? Is it going to be edgy like The Shield, or is it going to be broader?" I wanted to be a part of that process, and I'd wanted to work with Alex Kurtzman and some of the people that came on-board. It was very organic, and I was there from the seed; that is what I was seeking. Now I feel like, "Okay, great. We were able to hit a home run," in the sense that it got made. You know, it never really happens on that first try, and to be able to do that, I feel very fortunate. At the same time, I think I'm more please because everybody that was on that stage today, they all came on for the right reason. That's something that's usually very rare in this business.
IGN: What was it like casting for a show with the real person involved? There are biopics, of course, but this is a little more rare as far as being about someone who's actively doing this and consulting on the show.
Lin: Yeah, Walter was a great collaborator. He was very articulate in who he is, and nothing is out of bounds. So it was great for me and for us as we were developing this show. At the same time, he also understood -- I had a conversation saying, "Look, this is not going to be a perfect -- as the show evolves, as the character evolves, it's going to start deviating. We're inspired by you." So again, he was just a great partner in this whole process. In being able to have a partner like that, we were able to go out with a wide net and really go for the best actor. When Elyes came, I thought, "This is the guy I want," and I was able to meet Elyes and craft that around his strengths also, at the same time. IGN: There are other shows that are about a really smart person solving crimes, but this obviously adds an extra layer because of how hard it is for Walter and the others to deal with social interaction and whatnot.
Lin: Yeah, I feel very fortunate [with casting]. It actually took awhile to find the right fit, because, at its core, if Walter O'Brien is going to work on the show, it has to work on many different levels. So if you want to enjoy the genius on a superficial, action level, and the humor, it's there, and you can enjoy. But if you want to dig down deeper, it has to be there too. I really did enjoy the time Elyes and I spent. He would go talk to Walter, he'd come back, and we really took a lot of time to craft it. So hopefully when people want to engage on different levels -- we didn't neglect that.
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IGN: There is a pretty big action sequence there at the end, and it does involve a car, but a big difference, clearly, is that in the Fast movies, they fearlessly leap from a car to something else. Here, these people have never done anything like that. So was that interesting for you to have an action scenario where the characters are not going to be ready for it?Lin: I feel like every beat in the action sequence has to be earned. So in crafting it, my approach is never in saying, "Oh, we need an action sequence." My whole thing is about trying to create a scenario where we actually get to know the characters more, because when we talk, we can always fudge it. You know, I can tell you I'm the best basketball player in the world, but when we go on that court, you'll know in five seconds. That's what I enjoy about these sequences, and I think at a certain point, I felt like, "Okay, we earned it. Now let's figure out, with this budget" -- for me, a limited budget -- "how we're going to accomplish that." IGN: Was there a time when you really were like, "Wow, can we do this? It's written here, but can we actually pull off what they want us to pull off on this budget and with this schedule?"
Lin: I like the challenges, because, again, it's kind of coming from the indie world. It really tests you, if that sequence deserves to be in the show. If it didn't deserve to be on the show, then very easily we would have modified it and done something else. So it's a good test. For me, I enjoy that process. A lot of favors are called in, and a lot of amazing work was done in a limited amount of time. I'll give you an example. In the Fast movies, those were on an accelerated schedule, but I still had five months to do it. Here, I had two and a half weeks. So it was crazy. The action sequence had to be shot and edited before I even finished the pilot, which was already on an accelerated 15-day schedule.
IGN: What was it like for you working with Orci and Kurtzman, since from our perspective these guys are kind of the uber-producers and are involved in so much?
Lin: It was great. I mean, I feel like in this business sometimes, you know, you usually get your heart broken, because I was a film fan at one point. But this is one of the rare instances where -- I mainly worked with Alex on this, and as successful a writer-producer as he is, I love having a collaborator that worked just as hard as me. We pushed each other, and that's all you can ask for. I think that sometimes with success people start finding ways to disengage or justify certain things. I just like to show up and work. To be able to find someone else like that who was talented and works hard, that's actually very rare. So I feel like in a very short amount of time, I got to work with not only Alex but [executive producer/writer] NIck Santora and all these guys. It kind of fulfilled everything I wanted it to in going into TV -- and now I'm back in feature world! Like, holy s**t! [Laughs] It was all, like, four months and it's done! IGN: Right! That actually brings me to my next question, which is you are plenty busy, but would you like to direct another episode of Scorpion, if that was possible?
Lin: Definitely. I'm emotionally invested in this, all the characters. So even in the writing, talking about who these characters are, I was a part of that process, and I think Community's a great example. If I have a window -- I'm a shooter -- I love to be on set. I don't like to sit around. I like to either be writing, shooting, editing -- and I always have multiple things going on. So I see a possibility down the road where, if there's a window, I'd love to jump back in. Someone like Robert Patrick, you know, for me, that was a dream come true, to work with the Terminator! So yeah. Scorpion premieres Monday, September 22nd on CBS.
Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN, IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman.