Brad Garrett has spoken up about his funny new programme, High Desert, and the awful moment he tried to demonstrate his driving abilities in front of the camera.
The 63-year-old Everybody Loves Raymond star played failed private investigator Bruce in the Apple TV+ series, opposite Patricia Arquette, Matt Dillon, Rupert Friend, and Christine Taylor.
His company is in trouble when Peggy (Patricia) persuade him to recruit her – after she resolves to change her life, causing more havoc than he can handle.
When asked about the new comedy, Brad acknowledged that he had an awful experience filming one sequence.
When reflecting on some of the stunts, he told us: âTo be candid, it just all reminded me of my childhood, like âOh, yeah, Iâve seen that thrown beforeâ.â
âOne of the great things is, in one of the upcoming episodes, I get to do a lot of my own driving. I love to drive, I love cars. There was a scene where I got to drive through the desert, off the road and through the desert.
âI went, âI really know what Iâm doing.â The [stunt coordinator] was like, âAre you sure?â Then cut to about 30 minutes later, Iâm stuck in a hole in the middle of the desert.
âThey had to call two tow trucks and theyâre looking at me like, âI thought you knew what youâre doing?â I said I do but I didnât see that⊠They still talk about that.
âIâm sure I wonât be doing any more driving in the future, but boy, it was fun.â
We need to watch that on a blooper reel right away.
High Desert follows Peggy as she navigates a fresh beginning after the loss of her mother.
Feeling adrift, she takes on a new job as a private investigator, and immediately begins an inquiry into her coworker’s dubious colleague, Guru Bob (Rupert).
Of course, things don’t go as planned, and pandemonium erupts, with crazy twists and turns keeping us captivated throughout.
Unpacking one of Bruce’s most memorable scenes, in which he broke down in a bizarre’squeak’ when Peggy handed him a ‘loan,’ Brad stated that he put a lot of ‘faith’ in director Jay Roach to ensure that he didn’t go too far.
âItâs funny, that sound, we really talked about crying, and this is definitely a guy who would do all he could not to have anyone see him cry,â he continued. âHeâs this private investigator, heâs supposed to have this machismo about him, which he doesnât. Jim Rockford is his idol, from The Rockford FilesâŠ
âWhen we were trying it different ways in rehearsal with the showrunners, we just experimented [around the idea that] this guy was doing all he could not to cry. And that squeak just came out.
âThey were like, âYeah, do that!â I was like, âGod, I hope itâs not too much.â Thatâs where you trust the director and you trust the writers when they tell you itâs working, and youâre not sure.â
The Gleason actor also claimed that he couldn’t get enough of working with Patricia, who was in her own as the rookie detective, and that there was a lot of fun behind the scenes.
âTo work with Patricia Arquette is a dream, sheâs just so inventive and sheâs fearless as an actor, and as a human,â he added. âItâs a perfect storm for fun.
âI just love the subject matter that it takes on in a comedic way â from addiction to loss to grief, to all the things we deal with as people, and how Patriciaâs character is able to ground it, and plough through and help my character, whose career and personal life is on life support as well, when we meet up in the series. Itâs just been a fun, fun project.â
High Desert is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.