Baron Vaughn and Virginia Williams Talk USA's "Fairly Legal"

Baron Vaughn as Leo in "Fairly Legal"

This season, the USA Network launched Fairly Legal, another one of its most enjoyable quirky character-driven shows. The series revolves around the antics of Kate Reed played by Sarah Shahi, the great-great-granddaughter of a 19^th century Persian shah. She is joined on the show by Baron Vaughn, who plays Leonardo, Kate’s assistant, and Virginia Williams, who plays Kate’s stepmother Lauren. Yesterday, Baron and Virginia were kind enough to participate in a conference call, which turned out to be a lot of fun.

Baron Vaughn and Virginia Williams Talk USA's "Fairly Legal" 2

Virginia Williams as Lauren on "Fairly Lega"

Virginia told us she initially decided to do Fairly Legal after reading the script and finding it very well written, causing her to fall in love with the character. There was one scene in particular she truly loved. “The scene that really got me on board was in the pilot. She has a scene with a client who propositions her, and the way that she handles that situation I just thought was a really cool, and unique, and interesting way to present this character. She could have definitely been a very one-dimensional sort of antagonist that we’re supposed to hate and doesn’t have any heart. She could have been seen as a trophy wife. I thought, no, I’m not interested in playing that. That’s not going to be fun for many seasons. That doesn’t give her a lot of room to grow. But, really based on that scene and on the unique dynamic that Kate and Lauren have with each other, I thought this could be a really fun thing to explore for hopefully many years to come.”

Baron, on the other hand, told us to expect Virginia to give the intelligent answers, while he would give dumb answers to the questions posed. So his response to the question of how he became involved with the show was, “I also read the script and I really liked the character. My character Leonardo, changed a lot after I auditioned, because they liked what I did with it. And, they decided that they wanted to make him a little bit more like me. So, I enjoyed that. I got to do something that was, that’s very silly. And, I was like, can I do something that’s silly billy, and they said sure. And, I said how about silly billy willy, and they said that’s too much. So, that’s the heart of collaboration.”

Both Virginia and Baron attested to the fact that they had instant chemistry with Sarah. The funny thing is that while Sarah and Virginia are antagonistic toward each other on the show, they are actually good friends in real life who do booty dances in between takes. In addition to dancing, they also sing, and Sarah frequently joins in, and there’s a lot of joking around with each other.

As to similarities to their characters, Baron is very much like Leonardo. “You know, I’m always, I’m always there with the sarcastic, sardonic, facetious, ironic, snarky remarks…I’m into a lot of the same things that Leonardo is into, just as a life-style thing. I hate saying this, but I’m a bit of a nerd. I’m not necessarily nerdy about the same things. I think that Leonardo knows more about graphic novels. I know more about musical theater. That’s just different.”

Virginia, however, is different from her character, although there are a few similarities. “I actually aspire to be more like Lauren. She is incredibly prompt, and poised, and meticulous, and so put together. She handles, I think, every situation with such grace and elegance that I actually, I think in my own life, try in a lot a ways to be more like her. I’m a lot goofier than Lauren. Lauren doesn’t have much goofy in her. Virginia has a lot of goofy in her.”

I found Virginia’s and Baron’s answers about which USA show they would like to crossover to very fascinating. Virginia would love to do a crossover with USA’s Royal Pains as she has a “huge crush” on Mark Feuerstein – she even auditioned for the role of Jill before getting Fairly Legal and thinks everyone on the show is so fun. She’d also like to do USA’s Psych as she is a big Dulé Hill fan and would love to work on a case with him. Virginia realizes both shows she’d like to do have a huge comedic element to them – that’s because as Lauren Reed, she doesn’t have a lot of opportunities for funny lines on Fairly Legal. “Maybe she can let her hair down, literally and figuratively, and make some people laugh,” which is something Virginia misses in her life.

I didn’t quite understand Baron’s response at first, “Michael Weston meet Neal Caffrey.” However, when he explained, I totally understood, especially since I am a fan of both Burn Notice and White Collar.

“That’s what I would do. Yes, definitely. It would be in Miami, but Neil’s got to come down to help Michael with something, and Leonardo is the only one who knows how to do the programming that they need to get done, and then stuff will explode. Then, me and Bruce Campbell will be best friends.”

The fun relationship between Baron and Virginia is best exemplified by the following back-and-forth between them, which I totally loved.

B. Vaughn: “Here’s what’s going to happen. Lauren and Leo go on a road trip and the car breaks down. Uh-oh, comedy ensues.”

V. Williams: “Oh, I see that comedy in the news.”

Reporter: “And Mandy Patinkin happens by to help fix your tire.”

B. Vaughn: “Ha, yes.”

V. Williams: “There you go.”

B. Vaughn: “We all sing a very nice trio.”

V. Williams: “Yes, then it turns into a musical.”

Both Virginia and Baron did a fair amount of research about working in a law firm. Baron’s, however, was his real life, as he actually worked at a corporate law firm in New York for two years. The humorous thing about that is being such a naturally funny guy, there were times when he was asked to tone down the comedy because there were clients coming in who didn’t appreciate humor on the job. Virginia, on the other hand, found the top mergers and acquisitions attorney in the nation, who was kind enough to share her experiences with Virginia, including the fact that she doesn’t go to the bathroom without her Blackberry.

I found it interesting that Virginia would love to have Meryl Streep as a guest star on the show – “I just think she has this amazing ability to transform into any character, and I would kill to be able to work with her, and pick her brain, and just have a conversation with her” – while Baron would love to know “what the story was if Leo walked into Reed & Reed holding hands with someone like Rene Russo, or Frances McDormand.”

As both Virginia and Baron pointed out, USA is very particular about the shows they air and both hope Fairly Legal will continue USA’s perfect record for renewing new shows for a second season. In fact, they both wish the show will be around for a long time to come.

Watch Fairly Legal at 10:00 pm EST on Thursdays on the USA Network – Characters Welcome!

For more information on the show and to watch full episodes online, go to http://www.usanetwork.com/series/fairlylegal/video/fullep.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!