BODY OF PROOF on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/CLAIRE FOLGER) Pictured: NICHOLAS BISHOP, DANA DELANY
The season finale of Body of Proof is airing tonight (10:00 p.m. ET/PT, ABC) and though it was a short season the drama it was a hit right out of the gate.
To wrap things up – and to create new storylines, Body of Proof will dig into the personal lives of the characters – which will lead to a hairy confrontation between Megan Hunt (Dana Delany) and her boss Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan).
Nicholas Bishop, who stars as Peter Dunlop on the show, is convinced the conflict was inevitable.
“I think it’s certainly heading in that direction for Jeri’s character and for Dana’s character because of things that are reveal throughout the next episode,” he acknowledges. “But, I think there was a potential for that to happen with those characters from the very beginning just because Megan stands up for what she believes in and she doesn’t do things the way that she should and she’s constantly getting into trouble. I think this is just icing on the cake.”
And though Megan is abrasive, Bishop says Peter Dunlop keeps her in line…up to a certain level, that is.
“One of the great things Peter does is he has such a sense of humor about things and he knows women because he had three sisters and grew up with being around three strong women,” Bishop points out about his character. “He constantly puts a mirror up to her and says, ‘Do you realize how much of a pain in the butt that you’re being to people? You’re brilliant, you’re beautiful, you’re all these things, but you can be a real pain in the butt.’ So, I don’t think he lets it affect him too much except when she’s going to do something that could potentially be a threat to her family or to herself. I think he just stands back and giggles at her half the time saying, ‘Oh well, that’s the way that she is.’ He’s not going to be able to change her.”
Bishop is one of many Australians playing an American on U.S. television. And he has a theory as to why Aussies are so attractive to producers.
“I think there’s something in the water and I think we’re very cheap,” Bishop laughs. “I don’t think there’s any answer to this question apart from, certainly my perspective we are surrounded by American television in Australia. It’s on our TVs all the time so we’re very familiar with it. So, doing things like the accent and becoming an American character is maybe not as much of a stretch for us as it would be for an American to play an Australian because you guys don’t have any of our television here.”
The actor also credits the extensive training in drama school for perfecting his skills by performing American plays, so it just makes sense for Aussie’s to come to the U.S. to apply their trade.
And the entire cast, including Bishop, will continue playing the characters for at least another season. ABC has just announced that they’ve renewed Body of Proof for the fall, but they’ll be moving the production from Rhode Island (where they shot the first season of the show) to Los Angeles.