By Jamie Ruby

NBC's new crime drama, Crossing Lines, premieres Sunday June 23rd. The series focuses on cross-border crimes and the special law enforcement team who work globally to solve them. One member of the internatinal team is Carl Hickman, played by William Fichtner, a wounded ex-cop.

Fichtner, along with executive producers Rola Bauer and Ed Bernero, talked to the digital media about the new series which premieres June 23rd on NBC.

Bauer talked to SciFi Vision about how the project got started. "...We looked around at all the different show runners who were available or interested in working in a different independent way and were introduced to Ed Bernero...We considered ourselves very luck to be able to have a chance to brainstorm with him and talked about this idea. And he just immediately broke the story.

He said, "Oh my God. I have been wanting to do something in this direction." At first I thought, "Oh, this is Hollywood speak," but he truly did have it in his head because he broke the story in literally a matter of weeks.

"And we met and we're started to work together in February. And we went straight to an order of ten episodes on the middle of July. And we started shooting in the beginning of October. And we shot ten episodes and had them all wrapped in the can in the third week of February. So it happened in literally one year from meeting and getting to know to developing, producing it and delivering it."

Fichtner continued on, "Then I had a conversation with Ed Bernero...I read it and I liked it but, you know, it's a challenge. It was big thing. This is not like, you know, I'm going to commute to California and see the family. This was a big commitment to go because I wasn't going to do this without traveling with my wife and my entire family, which I did.

"But I did speak to Ed and...I thought the first two episodes were exceptionally well written.

"And if I didn't have that right off the bat, I don't think I would have entertained it any further. And then I spoke to Ed, had a few questions and I wondered about, you know, characters and where it was going and every time I had a conversation with him, it was better than the one before.

"So it didn't take long. Just a mater of, you know, a couple few shorts weeks and a lot of deep conversations with my wife and onboard we were and away we went. Glad it all went that way."

NBC Conference Call
Crossing Lines
Star William Fichtner, Executive Producers Rola Bauer and Ed Bernero

June 6, 2013
2:00 pm ET

QUESTION: William, I wanted to ask you more about the international [aspect], because this show is so international in its scope and so forth. Tell us first of all where it's based at. Where is the central park that you guys are working out of? And then how far afield do you go to film these things? Are you trying to recreate all these countries in one place or are you actually going around to them?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well, we went on tour last fall into the winter. Our home base is Prague where we began shooting. And that's - Rola, I would say that's a home base. Correct?

ROLA BAUER: Yes. Prague was definitely our home base. We spent the majority of the 22 weeks in Prague. But I'd love to hear Bill's perspective on this adventure that we put him on.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: I'd love to talk about it because it surely was an adventure. You know, different than anything I've ever worked on before. Obviously Prague I'm speaking from the perspective of the character of Carl Hickman, an ex-New York City cop living in Europe, living in Amsterdam.

It was great for an actor to not be searching, being a little bit of a fish out of water because it's exactly what it was, not that I felt that way, certainly not in the beautiful country of the Czech Republic and the wonderful city of Prague.

But that's where we began. And also part of our episodes - the opening episodes took us into a park in Paris and different places in Paris, France. So we shot there for a couple of weeks. And some of the episodes took us into the South of France and we shot there.

So I think you can get the idea that as we went on this tour it was remarkable because the places changed and the people changed and the locations changed. And it was fascinating and unlike anything that I've ever experienced.

Sure, I've shot films where we've gone on location but nothing quite like this. And the scope of this.

...

ROLA BAUER: ...like checking out all those wonderful restaurants in those places.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: That was very - it was hard and I still can't get over the wine list. But no, it was a fantastic time.

QUESTION: Just give us a little feeling about Prague in general, because we see Prague a lot but what we see is when they have to recreate a 1930s or 40s movie and they film in the older parts of Prague and make it look like it was World War II. Is that the kind of thing you were filming or are the sleek office buildings and modern parts you were filming in or - just give us a feeling of what it's like to be working in Prague.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well I think Prague just has everything. Sure, you can find the sleek office building but you can find anything in Prague. And I really mean that. Including amazing places to - you know, I lived in old town Prague with my family when I was there. And there were days where we were shooting at locations that were literally a half a block away that I could walk to work.

And other times we were at our home base at the (Barinda) sound stages. But it's a beautiful city, very modern and at the same time very old. So you could really - I mean, so much was available not only visually but for the experience. Not only as actors but as people because this was our home. This is where we're together.

We, many of the actors and the producers, we had our favorite Irish pub in old town and on Fridays and Saturday nights and it was a beautiful thing to be there and experience it.

I said it earlier on this call and I'll say it again that I'll never forget. It was really truly that remarkable. There was nothing about it that felt like, “Oh boy, I can't believe it. Man, I got to get out of here.” No. Quite the opposite.

ROLA BAUER: And if I may add to what Bill is saying, we also wanted to protect the look and the credibility of the story. We didn't want to put any of our talent in front of a green screen, which is why we made sure that we had the ability to go to these places.

We shot Prague for Prague. We doubled it also for other European cities but we also made sure that Paris and Nice and the South of France were very much a part of what the story location was and not pretending to be something else.

QUESTION: I think what gives a series a real authenticity to it is the fact that you all do go to places and it's not in front of a green screen. I know these days and with network television it's getting a little harder and harder to do things like this. But what is it about you think this series that really speaks to people that really want to watch it?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Rola, you want to take that?

ROLA BAUER: Okay. I think one of the things that is the DNA in the project is that as the title says it crosses lines. We're living in a global world. We're connected by the Internet. We are trying to have certain things that are common to each other through television. Hollywood has been an example of it in that films transcend the boundaries and are released everywhere.

But what we sometimes forget is how we protect our families. And that is what the challenge was about for us. When we started developing the idea and we pitched it to Ed, he loved it because he said for him it reminded him of how America had been when there was not an FBI, when criminals could cross form one state to the other and where essentially there was no sovereign structured entity that could look after people. And from that [J.] Edgar Hoover had set up the FBI.

And over here in Europe it doesn't exist. So criminals can travel the borders, can cross over without being really monitored or checked anymore. And Europe didn't have anything that was proactive. There's Europol, and there's Interpol but they didn't really have a structure like that.

And I think what attracts people is that ultimately these crimes, we can see them anywhere in the world. And this is a team that is proactive. You've seen it in different features where there have been teams from different parts of the world who come together and crack the case. And I think that's an international subject that allows an audience to really connect from a fear factor of how do I protect my family in a normal situation?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: I also think that what also is going to be appealing is living in the States, occasionally we get incredible actors from around the world being on series and - I love the aspect. I know the first time that I read the first couple of episodes of the show and I loved the fact of having the American guy be the fish out of water. Have the American guy join in with his sensibilities.

And because we have a multinational cast, it's not just a gimmick or something that's like, “Oh, we're the A team.” It's not that at all. It's just that our experts come from different places.

And you truly get - you get the Italian girl with her own culture behind her. And Marc Lavoine, the leader of the team, the French singer and actor, and his French sensibilities. And all of this plays in and all of it comes through.

And I found that that was not just something that was a nifty thing about the show but part of the heartbeat of the show.

QUESTION: What was the toughest part of this role for you or this show for you so far that has been challenging or has there been really big challenges with it?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: The 12-hour flight to London from LA. That's just really challenging. I'm telling you right now. I can't sleep on planes. I wish I could tell you that whenever I work on something, that it hits me in a challenging sort of way. It's all challenging but it's all part of the joy of doing things.

I guess it never hits me like it's a real job or it's a real challenge. It's just all part of what I love to explore and to try to find who is this guy. What makes him tick? And what does he care about? And what's his world about? And what does he want and what does he dream about? And all that stuff, all the actor-speak that I have the most fun thinking about.

And hopefully, at the end of the day fully realizing somebody that you made to be a real person. I have to tell you this, I had a tremendous amount of support and help from the material because I guess I'm a little old school but if it is not on the page, it is not on the stage. And Ed Bernaro knows how to put it on the page.

And no, gee, really. It's true. The first two episodes alone, I as an actor, I'd love to keep reading it and reading them over and over and over because I think good scripts gives you more and more details and you get more and more layers as you work on them. And I was not disappointed working on this material, ever.

SCIFI VISION: Speaking of challenges, William, was it hard for you to remember to not use your one arm or is that something you get used to right away? Just seems like it might be hard to remember.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: No. I love that question. I love that question. It was...halfway through the season where we were on one take and I walked in and...I went to point at them and I'm like, “Get them,” and I reached out and I'm...with my glove (down) and I'm like, “Okay. Cut. That didn't work.”

But it didn't happen that often because there's just a few moments throughout the season - one is in the very first episode that you actually see his hand and the damage that happened to it. But the rest of the time he has a glove on that covers the damage to his right hand. So I always had, once that glove was on - once I slid that glove on every day, as an actor, it was great. It was a great reminder. I just all of a sudden after a very short time I felt [that] the right hand is something that I just don't have.

So was rare moments and when they happened they were usually pretty funny at least inside of myself thinking, “Come on, Bill.” But I had a glove so I got a constant reminder.

SCIFI VISION: And then for both of you, can you talk about how the whole project came about and how you each became connected to it?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Yes, please Rola.

ROLA BAUER: Well, it started actually that we have been working predominantly in the limited eight-hour miniseries. You might know one of our productions, “Pillars of the Earth.” And we wanted to get into the one-hour series.

And we looked around at all the different show runners who were available or interested in working in a different independent way and were introduced to Ed Bernero. I'm sure you're aware of Ed's pedigree and his many, many years of experience. So we considered ourselves very lucky to be able to have a chance to brainstorm with him and talked about this idea. And he just immediately broke the story.

He said, "Oh my God. I have been wanting to do something in this direction." At first I thought, "Oh, this is Hollywood-speak," but he truly did have it in his head because he broke the story in literally a matter of weeks.

And we met and we started to work together in February. And we went straight to an order of ten episodes in the middle of July. And we started shooting in the beginning of October. And we shot ten episodes and had them all wrapped in the can in the third week of February. So it happened in literally one year from meeting and getting to know to developing, producing it and delivering it.

And I don't know if you want to know the auspices of the idea but that was the technical. And then in terms of the idea...that was the genesis of it. We were concerned about what was happening in Europe, how similar it was to what has happened in the U.S. and how could one create a new team, a team European FBI that could transcend the boundaries and help people. And that's how it started in that.

May I just to pass on the baton to Bill? We sat with the broadcasters and we told them our wish list as filmmakers, as producers and the people we would like to have for each of the roles. And Bill was number one for us in the role of Hickman. We had to give them three names and he was number one.

I have been hounding, tracking - what's the word I'm looking [for?] - stalking Bill for many years on working...

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Stalking is good. Stalking is good.

ROLA BAUER: And when I gave his name to Ed, he was like, “Oh, I love him. That'd be great. That would be fabulous.” And so once we had a script we sent it to his agent and then I'll pass on the baton to Bill.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: And then I had a conversation with Ed Bernero. I have to tell you though, first I'm very bummed out that on the list of three, I thought I was going to be number one, two and three but I was only number one. That's okay. I got over it. I got over it.

And then I read it and I liked it. but it's a challenge. It was big thing. This is not like I'm going to commute to California and see the family. This was a big commitment to go because I wasn't going to do this without traveling with my wife and my entire family, which I did.

But I did speak to Ed and like I said earlier, you can talk about anything and imagine anything but if it's not on the page, it's not on the stage. And I thought the first two episodes were exceptionally well written.

And if I didn't have that right off the bat, I don't think I would have entertained it any further. And then I spoke to Ed, had a few questions and I wondered about characters and where it was going and every time I had a conversation with him, it was better than the one before.

So it didn't take long. Just a matter of a couple few shorts weeks and a lot of deep conversations with my wife and onboard we were and away we went. Glad it all went that way.

QUESTION: Bill, was there anything about this role that wasn't originally scripted for you that you added to the character?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Good question. Well, here are not things that - every character with every show, this is like everything. You take a first step and by the time you take ten steps, you're better on your feet on the tenth step than the first step.

So we started from the beginning. We had a super strong base right off the bat. You know, it's so clear in the first two episodes who the character is. It's the back story that for me as an actor that I like to fill in because even though that's not something that may be said in the production, it's the understanding of the base of where somebody comes from and who someone is that really, really feeds who they are today.

Those are the conversations over the phone and in Prague over many a pilsner with Ed Bernero that I just loved talking to him about and sharing my ideas of who I think the guy is.

And so yes, the back story elements get deeper and deeper. But so much of what was there from the beginning, who he was and what his difficulties were and some of the crutches that he was leaning on in his life, that's - Ed Bernero put that in the story, I'm happy to say. So it was just a matter of, most of it was just to go deeper with all of the thoughts that he'd already put out there for me.

QUESTION: You're doing social networking. Are you looking forward to the instant feedback about the show you'll be receiving?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well now, Rola might speak better than me. I'm a dinosaur, just started emailing two weeks ago. So you're going to have to tell me what what that means, the instant - what did you say?

QUESTION: Feedback for...

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Instant feedback.

Hey, listen. You know what? I have four beautiful sisters and my wife. If the five women in my life like what I'm doing, I got all the feedback I need. I'm telling you.

MODERATOR: I'm sorry to interrupt right now but you guys have Ed Bernero on the line.

ED BERNERO: Hey. Sorry I'm late. Hi guys. Hi guys.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Ed Bernero. I'm trying to place Ed Bernero. You (got a fantastic career) - I'm just sitting here singing your praises. Your ears must be ringing.

ED BERNERO: You've always been funny, Fichtner.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: No, not really.

ROLA BAUER: He's spent half the time talking about you. It was like I was nothing.

...

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well they're asking these scripted character things and I'm saying, “If it is not on the page, it is not on the stage.” And Ed put it on the page. So there you go.

ED BERNERO: Well, I'm here. Hi everybody.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Hi. Welcome.

ROLA BAUER: Hi.

QUESTION: ...There's an event at the end of the pilot episode, which involves a kidnapping. Is that an event that emotionally invests [the team in their mission]? And also, how guilty and responsible is he feeling going forward into Episode 2?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well, I'm not sure. Ed, help me out here. I'm not sure how can we speak completely freely about - I don't want to give too much away either because one of the things that I find that is fascinating about this show, about our show, is that it isn't just the weekly events. You know, who these people are and the events that are happening and shaping their life - it continues on from episode to episode.

So I'd love to speak about what the kidnapping is but I don't want to say too much. So where do we go with that, Ed?

ED BERNERO: I think she's talking about the Ann Marie thing in the beginning...But it's an interesting question and actually something that Bill and I talked quite a bit about during the whole season about how committed the character is to the team and when he commits completely to them.

And I think for both of us the complete commitment is going to happen more next year even. I think that he was pretty betrayed by the police world. And I think he's very reluctant to join another group and be part of another team.

And I think that what happens in the pilot in the first two hours is certainly something that sets him on the course. But I think the most important moment is when Louie asked him if he wants to feel like a cop again, because Bill and I had many conversations about his state of mind and what he feels like and how he feels betrayed and lost his identity not only with his wounding but also with the betrayal of the police department and his leaving the NYPD.

So it's an ongoing process for him. I think it's something that he, the Hickman character may never fully embrace being part of the team. Wouldn't you say that that's probably true, Bill?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Yeah. Absolutely. And also too the - what I love is, there's many things that I love about Hickman and that's just the point. There are many things. I think he is a character that has more than one plate spinning.

And one of those elements of his life is the bigger picture of why he's in Europe in the first place, which by the end of Season 1 you will g know exactly what that is.

And so for as much as Hickman gives to the group, there are things that the group can give to him. And all of that begins to reveal itself throughout the first season. And that single thing alone is one of the big through lines for the character and one of things that I really love about that journey, because it's always more than just one thing.

ED BERNERO: And there's also quite a large element of the characters all in some way, shape or form using each other too. That it's not just all for the same goal. I think you find out through the whole season that almost everyone has a little bit of an ulterior motive for being where they are and joining this team in the first place.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Yes, absolutely.

QUESTION: Are we going to get to see the team in Ireland at any point in time?

ED BERNERO: Oh, it's so funny that you should say that. Yeah, we're actually - the third episode next year is set in Ireland.

Yeah. It's funny that you should say that, yeah. Yeah. Because our Tommy character is a big part of the team and his family - there's a story involving his family and a Scotland Yard detective that we're introducing. So yeah, it's funny you should ask that. I was working on that this morning.

QUESTION: Ed, over the course of your career here, have you seen networks allowing more or less violence in episodes? And do you think that networks cancel shows too early now? Don't give shows a chance to really catch on?

ED BERNERO: I'll take the second part first. Yes.

I don't know that they have much choice. I mean, yeah. There definitely is - there are quicker cancellations than there used to be. Shows like Seinfeld and Hill Street Blues did horribly their whole first season. And people like Brandon Tartikoff stayed with them.

But I don't blame them for it. I think it's a different marketplace right now and eyes go other places so quickly. Yeah, I would like to see shows get a little bit more of a chance to build some lets but I don't know that the marketplace will allow it anymore.

So yes, but I don't blame them for it. It's just sort of what they have to do. And the first part of the question was...?

QUESTION: About violence on TV...

ED BERNERO: Oh yeah. That's an interesting question. The other show that I've done, Criminal Minds. We tried very hard to imply more violence than we show. But we don't really get a lot of notes about violence. In America you get notes about sex. You don't get notes about violence.

It's actually quite the opposite in this European theater that we're in now that we get more - there's more concern about violence and there's almost no concern about sex. So it just culturally a different thing.

But for my personal case, I've always thought that it was much scarier to not show things and let the audience fill that blank in. But no, we don't get a lot of pressure - at least if you handle it responsibly you don't. You know, there may be other shows that get a lot of pushback on violence but we try not to do anything graphic, so I don't have a problem with it.

QUESTION: William, you made some references to the fact that you were a live fish out of water that was kind of like the character is some ways. Tell us a little bit more about that experience. First of all, were you there for 22 weeks in Prague or was that just in production? How many weeks were you there?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: I was there pretty much - yeah, yeah. I was there start to finish. For sure.

QUESTION: You mentioned you had your whole family there. And so that's you and your wife and a teenage daughter. Is that right?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: I had a couple of sons. My two boys happened to be there also.

QUESTION: Tell us more about fish out of water in general. What are the little surprises of everyday life of how people do things there compared to here that are just different approaches to life and you found interesting as you got there for a while?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: As a character or as my own...

QUESTION: As yourself. I'm sure that you evolved into the character. But just things you found yourself that were interesting.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: First of all, one of the most important things about being in Prague is this: the Czech Republic, the national sport is hockey. Now you got to remember the NHL was on strike last year. But in a country of ten million people, there are 14 pro hockey teams in the Czech Republic, two in Prague alone. You have Sparta and you have Slavia.

So I had the chance, being a hockey fan, to go with my son, with my wife to go watch hockey. I would go see both of them so eventually I leaned towards Sparta. Now I had the option to the hockey team right away...The Czech hockey league lost 29 players that went back to the NHL.

But honestly it's things like that that really endeared me to the country and the people. I love the sport. We had the (transpo) guys that worked and moved the trailers around and everything, these guys were all hockey fans.

We'd finish work in time and I would just hop in the car and pick up (Kimmy) and my son and away we went. But that was our life there. And we were close and we were working in the town and we were living in the town. And like I said earlier on the call, we had a favorite Irish pub that we'd often meet at, all of us.

And we found that sort of existence. And you can't ask for anything more than that. The place just felt like - I don't - absolutely never been on location anywhere that I had such a feeling of home that I had being there.

QUESTION: We often hear from people when they're in Europe that first of all that the filming hours are more sane. They work at a more reasonable hour. And also that life is a little more sane. People are a little more at leisure in general. Is that something you found? Is there a little more easygoing life both at work and the rest of the time?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Well, we had an intense shoot. Very often we were shooting six-day weeks and even though it may be easier in some facets but it was a lot. It's an intense story and an intense character.

So there weren't many days that I wasn't on the schedule and that was just, I loved it. Was it easier? I don't know. Maybe in some aspects. But [it] sure didn't feel that way sometimes.

SCIFI VISION: I was wondering if you guys could talk about the moments that you're real excited this season for fans to see, without giving away spoilers.

ED BERNERO: Bill, you want to go first and then I'll...

WILLIAM FICHTNER: No, no, no, please.

ED BERNERO: Well, just overall, this is the longest I've ever gone without something being on the air. I'm more used to being in the studio system here in the States where you do something and it's on that September.

So just in general I'm just excited about people seeing the show. This is the first time I've ever had the benefit of having the entire thing completed before it ever went on. So it's really exciting to me to know where it's going and that it's all put together in the way we wanted it to be put together. And I'm excited to see it.

I'm always most excited to see how people accept the family of the show, that the character moments come to mean more as the show goes on than they would have in the beginning.

So most of the things that I'm interested in seeing is how the people react to the fact that they're seeing people with French accents and German accents and Italian accents. It's just something really different for American television. And I'm just interested in seeing how it plays around the world.

For me, every bit of it is exciting. There's not any particular moment that I'm looking forward to. I love the surprises, too. I think there's a couple of surprises in the first two hours that I don't know that many people will see coming. But overall I'm just excited about the show in general.

ROLA BAUER: Bill, do you want to - do you want me to?

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Oh go ahead Rola, please.

ROLA BAUER: I think one of the things that we've seen in this is Ed's created fabulous character (arcs) and you're going to be in for surprises on the nemesis of what brought Hickman over. I think you're going to be intrigued to connect the dots.

So we still have the crime of the week and we still have the team resolving cases. But there is a number of layers of mystery that come in. And when you start getting towards the eighth, the ninth and the tenth episode, there is a real second layer of a story that makes each one of those characters stronger and quite exciting.

Ed finished it off by having us have a cliffhanger on the tenth episode. And he's probably going to get a lot of hate mail because of it.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Not from me.

ED BERNERO: Not for that reason. Hey, if you were here I'd take you to the game tonight.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: I can't believe you're going. I can't...

ED BERNERO: Yeah.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Did you go to the one the other night?

ED BERNERO: Yeah. Of course I did.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: Yeah, yeah. I figured you did. Oh good for you. Hey, we're back talking about hockey. I told you, hockey's a big part of the show. We're going to have a whole - there's a two parter coming up about hockey team. I don't know that. I'm just throwing it out there.

ED BERNERO: An Irish hockey team.

WILLIAM FICHTNER: An Irish hockey team. There you go.