Chillin’ With Michael Mosley

Actor Michael Mosley can next be seen opposite Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara in the Warner Bros./MGM feature HOT PURSUIT [opening May 8, 2015].

When not on the big screen, he stars as “Johnny Farrell” on the hit USA comedy series “Sirens” [now airing season 2, finale slated for April 14.] Michael is also well known for his recurring role as Jerry Tyson aka Michael Boudreau aka 3XK on ABC’s “Castle” – an elusive serial killer who taunts Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion).

Of HOT PURSUIT, Michael shares, “it’s a road-trip comedy where Reese and Sofia are running from myself and Matthew Del Negro. We play maybe good, maybe bad cops in the film. The ladies are running through Texas, and aside from us chasing them, there is a drug cartel chasing them; it is pretty hilarious.”

CHILLED: What are you finding most surprising about your “Sirens” character Johnny?

MM: We’ve all started to kind of share a brain. It’s fantastic. Last year we kind of found the show and what’s really nice, being on USA is, they let us be free. And so I’m kind of living in this bubble in Chicago and I’ve shot 10 of these things, and by the 10th episode we’re like, “Oh, I get it. Now I kind of get the show.” You know? And with other shows, sometimes, the show never really gets to find its own feet, and we did. And I’m so thankful to USA for that. This year, we just picked up where we left off last year. We all know each other’s rhythms and what people’s strengths are and we just play to those strengths. So we got a lot stronger like a band, you know? The longer you play, the better you get.

CHILLED: What kind of things do you like to do when you do have some spare time?

MM: I love music. I love finding some instrument and tinkering with it. The piano. I was down in New Orleans this summer and I just love that town. I think it’s one of the best places in the world. Some of the greatest music I’ve heard was produced in that town. It’s music on every corner at every hour of the day. I went to Mardi Gras a couple years back and I got back and just Craig’s List-ed a piano and bought it. I love that. I bought this thing called an omnichord on eBay the other day. It’s like a weird 80s synthesizer. I like to tinker with little things and maybe record little tracks. It’s kind of just for me. In my house, I have all my instruments in the dining room. I love to have my friends over and drink wine and have a big dinner and then bust out the instruments. It’s kind of like a hick thing to do but I love it.
It’s kind of my favorite room in the house.

CHILLED: When you’re in New Orleans, what’s your favorite food?

MM: I love a good crawfish boil.

CHILLED: What’s your favorite place to go when you’re in New Orleans?

MM: There’s a place called Cochon which is really nice. It’s kind of fancy-pants, but it was really nice. And the Acme Oyster House in the quarter has got good crawfish boil. I mean you can’t really go wrong. There’s a place that was on Decatur I think that has amazing fried chicken. I mean everywhere.

CHILLED: Do you like to cook when you’re at home?

MM: I do. I do. I don’t as much, when I was coupled up I used to cook a lot more.
I like poking around a farmer’s market, find something weird to try that I haven’t played with before. I used to watch Food Network and I’d have everything on high and I’d run round like a maniac because I thought that’s how you cooked, you know? I thought you had to look like a crazy person while you cooked. I was trying to do too much. And then I was listening to Fresh Air with Terry Gross. And then I learned to chill out, have a glass of wine while I cook, and simplify my ingredients. A little olive oil, a little lemon, a little salt and pepper, you can do anything with that.

CHILLED: So in terms of wine, what’s in your drinks cabinet?

You know, I feel bougie now. I joined this thing called The New York Times Wine Club. Every couple of months, they send me 6 bottles of something. It’s very nice, you know?

I haven’t done the whole Sonoma/Napa thing in California yet. I’ve been to Paso Robles, [which is connected by highway] to a cute little coastal town called Cambria. And there’s like a hundred vineyards on this one little strip that’s just beautiful, free roaming cattle.

CHILLED: If you’re drinking something on the rocks or making a cocktail, what’s your personal choice?

MM: I’m pretty good with Jameson rocks. It’s easy and I like it. It’s not as sweet as Jack Daniels. I like that, I like scotch.

CHILLED: You like things in the whiskey family.

MM: Yes, I do. Every once in a while I’ll get Laphroaig and watch my friends taste it and they’ll go bananas.

CHILLED: Have you ever tended bar?

MM: I bartended for years. I bartended all over New York. In the Upper East Side, all over Brooklyn. When I was 19 years old I was in Iowa bartending and kicking guys out that were older than me because they didn’t have their ID. And my high school friends, I snuck in the back, and they were sitting behind the bar trying not to get caught. It was great. You don’t really know how many friends you’ve got until you’re by the bar. You’re everybody’s best friend then. It was great. I spent a ton of years bartending and made a ton of money and had fun. It’s a good gig. And then you have your days off, you can go audition – I mean you look like you’re a vampire and you’re tired and you have a day off, you know?

One of my favorite bars in New York is out there, it’s out there on Bedford and North 7th. It’s called Rosemary’s Greenpoint Tavern. And they still have the same folks bartending. And they’re not spring chickens. They’re older ladies. And they have, like, big blue hair. They have these white Styrofoam containers of Budweiser for like 30 bucks and they’re like the size of a basketball, they’re huge. They’re cheap, you know? And that’s when we didn’t have any money, we’d go in there.

If you’re ever in Williamsburg, check out Rosemary’s Greenpoint Tavern. Because every season there is like a holiday. If it’s St. Patty’s Day or something, the whole place is green. On Valentine’s Day, the whole place has got red hearts all over the place. It’s cool.