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: ‘To be candid, it just all reminded me of my childhood, like “Oh, yeah, I’ve seen that thrown before”.’
‘One 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.
‘I went, “I really know what I’m doing.” The [stunt coordinator] was like, “Are you sure?” Then cut to about 30 minutes later, I’m stuck in a hole in the middle of the desert.
‘They had to call two tow trucks and they’re looking at me like, “I thought you knew what you’re doing?” I said I do but I didn’t see that… They still talk about that.
‘I’m sure I won’t be doing any more driving in the future, but boy, it was fun.’
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.
‘It’s 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,’ he continued. ‘He’s this private investigator, he’s supposed to have this machismo about him, which he doesn’t. Jim Rockford is his idol, from The Rockford Files…
‘When 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.
‘They were like, “Yeah, do that!” I was like, “God, I hope it’s not too much.” That’s where you trust the director and you trust the writers when they tell you it’s working, and you’re not sure.’
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.
‘To work with Patricia Arquette is a dream, she’s just so inventive and she’s fearless as an actor, and as a human,’ he added. ‘It’s a perfect storm for fun.
‘I just love the subject matter that it takes on in a comedic way – from addiction to loss to grief, to all the things we deal with as people, and how Patricia’s 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. It’s just been a fun, fun project.’
High Desert is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.
