The character of Logan Echolls, played by Jason Dohring, is a definite fan favorite as Veronica’s love interest, especially as they were broken up at the time of cancellation. So now fans are dying to have Logan and Veronica, a.k.a. LoVe, end up together in the film. Sure, Veronica may have had a boyfriend who adored her, the character of Piz, played by Chris Lowell, at the time of cancellation. But, nevertheless, the audience wants to see LoVe together.
Even though Logan has been accused of murder twice, has arranged bum fights, and has a murderer for a father who tried to kill Veronica, Logan was such a tragic character that fans fell in love with him regardless. Luckily, before the film comes out officially, we got the chance to talk to Logan himself, the amazing Jason Dohring. He put up with talking to me for a half an hour, and oh yeah, he talks about his love
of playing Logan Echolls, the craziness of shooting a fan-funded film, and getting to shoot again with his amazing cast.
Q&A WITH JASON DOHRING
ON PLAYING LOGAN ECHOLLS
Why do you think Logan is attracted to Veronica’s character?
I think she is just so smart and cute underneath it all. They have a very strong emotional connection in regards to, they feel very much. If I look at the other girlfriends on the show that I have, Veronica feels so much.
She’s a rival intellectually and there’s so much respect during the first half of the first season. She knew where he was coming from and even if he did something that upset her and she got pissed, he understood. They both know heartbreak very much and they share it together. They build a ridiculous relationship.
What did you and do you love about playing Logan?
Initially, my one note from the director was, “Have fun with it. Cut loose.” They would say to use the force that he has. I really enjoyed that as an actor. [I got to play] a character for three seasons and the character is constantly developing. I got to do anything that an actor could want to do. I got to do so many fun things. I was working so hard to try and make it something special and people understood that and connected to that and it was rewarding. People liked him or hated him, but either way, it’s a strong [opinion]. He just got to be so many cool things. I don’t know why people love him exactly but I added in what I knew about love and relationships to the character in the deepest way I knew how.
Is there anything about Logan’s personality that you have in common with him? On the contrary, what are things that set you and your character, Logan, apart?
My poor grandma. After every episode of TV I do, she says, “He’s not really like that! He’s not mean!” It’s so cute. I wasn’t the cool guy in high school.
I was the friendly guy. I think we both have deep-seeded opinions about life and that’s what I was taught in my acting class, making something more dramatic. It kills him when [Veronica] breaks up with him.
You can make it upsetting or the end of the world. When you make that choice, people care. You bring out the dramatic elements.
I’ve had similar feelings. I feel for people in the world.
I see actors that have a great sense of humanity and you can’t help but have it come through your work. I don’t know how it happens. When something terrible happens to Veronica on the show, if you could really feel what that would be like and be empathetic, then you could do something fantastic. Make it emotional. I know what it’s like to have that happen and have somebody go through that. I’m very emotional when somebody hurts somebody else. That’s a way that we’re similar.
As the movie takes place years later, has Logan changed at all?
I mean he’s not much of a boy anymore. [Rob] wrote in some discipline into his life. He still keeps his cool lines and he’s [still] Logan. He’s anything you would hope, but he’s a man, [except] he’s on trial [again] for murder. He’s light as he can but it’s a heavier [storyline]. Honestly, I get to beat people up, play fun games, and we do travel into the love story. It has stuff for everybody.
While you have had other roles that fans remember you for, do you get noticed the most for Logan?
Yes, probably. We have strong fans for Moonlight as well. It’s a vampire thing that had its own following. I didn’t even have to audition for it [as they saw me on Veronica Mars]. So I got the job as a 400-year-old vampire.
Logan was my first role so it felt so new. We were down in San Diego so we didn’t really have any families yet, so we were [each other’s family]. We were just trying to do the best work we could do.
I think more people notice me more for it now. I walk around these days and they give me a double take.
ABOUT THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN AND SHOOTING THE FILM
The Kickstarter campaign was funded in 24 hours and broke many Kickstarter records. What was it like to watch the numbers go up and actually realize it was going to become a reality?
I was actually [just] in my backyard, since we’ve been talking about it for years. [I was told] “Keep your schedule open today. We’re going to put it on Kickstarter.” I don’t think Warner Brothers wanted to make the movie, but it went viral through the halls of Warner Brothers itself. They decided to greenlight it. I was doing some gardening and all of a sudden I get a text saying, “Someone donated 10,000 dollars!”, letting me know what we’re at. Kristen [Bell] called me with Dax [Shepard] saying, “Jay, can you believe this?”
Next thing I know, my dad is sending me articles from Time magazine. In 24 hours, we knew we were making the movie.
What was it like to go back to shoot the film six years after the show got cancelled? Was it intimidating to be acting with the backers as extras?
It was just amazing, just incredible. [The backers] were extras in the party scene, standing for 16 hours in high heels saying, “I can’t believe you let us do this! This is our movie. We’re so excited.” They were cracking each other up. It’s an artist’s project that people really cared about it and you don’t get to do that a lot. Never again will we get to have the opportunity. They’re part of the crew. We’re the same people and we’re supportive of each other.
We had a mix of people who had donated. Some wouldn’t [be starstruck] and then some wouldn’t be able to shake your hands.
But, honestly, I didn’t feel any pressure. We felt
like we were making a big movie because the energy was fantastic. The backers paid thousands of dollars to be a part of it. That’s so awesome. When you give three years of your life to a project like this when people are appreciative of this, you don’t act so you can have a resume credit. If you can affect people’s lives, that’s what it’s all about.
The cast also did a panel at Comic-Con and the shirts you all wore were a big hit. Whose idea was it to wear the shirts? (Dohring wore a TEAM PIZ shirt while Chris Lowell wore a TEAM LOGAN shirt to convey who they felt should end up with Veronica in the film.)
The shirts were my idea! I wanted to draw up some support for the party. And then Ryan [Hansen] wore his “Team Dick” shirt. Ryan’s a dick. (Laughing)
There were plenty of awesome rewards to be earned as a backer. Were there any rewards in particular that were really fun or time-consuming?
We had to do 250 personalized autographs. I was on it for 9 ¬Ω hours, trying to make the handwriting legible.
We had to sign posters last week. We got to rent this cool place in the Sunset Marquis [hotel] for eight hours straight, signing one poster every six seconds. We signed 3,800 out of 6,000, so we still have to have another session. They even brought in a hand masseuse and a body masseuse. We were just playing music, taking pictures with each other.
We just enjoy each other.
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