Tom Verica on Playing Dead in ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ 

Tom Verica has gotten very good at playing dead. As murder victim Sam Keating on “How to Get Away With Murder,” he’s at the center of the whodunnit. Luckily, he’s got another day job: as producing director of yet another of Shondaland’s hit shows, “Scandal.”

SEE MORE: From the February 03, 2015 issue of Variety

Yes. (Laughs.) I started my career as an actor, but I’ve been a director for 15 years now. That’s where my passion has been lately, because I can have far more input and say in how we can put a story together. But my initial foray into acting, my passion for that, I don’t think that ever goes away.

She’s OK. If you have to work with someone, she’ll do. (Laughs.) Seriously, she’s fantastic. You have to come with your “A” game right away. She’s such an intense and powerful actress, and so connected and immersed in the character. It’s been such a pleasure to work with her. She’s a hell of a partner to have.

The fact that it’s an interracial relationship is never even mentioned.

What’s fantastic in Shondaland is they don’t really address it. It’s just a marriage of people who happen to be of different races. Myself, I happen to be married to an African-American woman, and we’re together 17 years. We took a few trips to the south 15 years ago, and we were sobered by some of the reactions people had — how subtle or not-so-subtle their reactions were. This TV couple was married for 20 years. I imagine initially, there may have been some things they may have had to deal with. But who are they are now, (their racial differences) is not the main focus. And I love the fact that writers chose not to lead with that as the point of interest.

It’s not as easy as it looks. We establish in the pilot that my eyes are open, and that’s been the most challenging thing. It’s like that blinking contest you had with siblings when you were a kid. I try to see how long I can go without blinking. Now I’m fairly proficient at it. I can put on my resume: “Can Play Dead.”

I know you’re dead on “Murder,” but will we see more of you?

That’s the surprising part. I don’t have any specifics, but there’s been talk. They keep adding me to more and more episodes. I’m not going to argue it. It gives me a little bit of respite from the madness of “Scandal,” which is quite consuming on many levels.

It depends on the given day. We’re prepping episodes that are very dense — the page counts in our scripts are sometimes 70 pages. Most shows are normally 40 or 50 pages. We’re cramming that much more content into a 9-day schedule. So the biggest challenge is juggling all the elements and the layers that make the show that literally is like a roller-coaster.

In one episode, we’re “Bourne Identity”; in another, we’re “All the Presidents’ Men.” One of the things I love hearing from directors who come through here and go on to other shows is that they feel like they’re moving in slow motion, because we move at such a breakneck speed not only with the dialogue but with the camera. I’m concerned that when everything ends here and I go on to something else that I’m not feeling stagnant. Every day here really is a ride.

There was what we call the naked smackdown, when James and Cyrus — Dan Bucatinsky and Jeff Perry — had their big moment where James was trying to gather info about Cyrus, and their marriage was on pins and needles. They had to strip off all their clothes because Cyrus suspected him of wearing a wire. We had to play this very long scene and figure out this journey they had to take — not only the emotions and the complexities of their relationship, but also the logistics of how to shoot two naked men facing off against one another. The guys certainly brought it.

It is Jekyll and Hyde. It’s two different brains at work. I guess this will fight off any kind of mental issues I will have later in life … or contribute to it.

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Executive Director, Development, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

Reblogged this on Cerulean Chronicle and commented: Attention ‘Scandal’ and ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ fans! The following is an interview with Tom Verica, courtesy of Variety. Verica is multitalented, wearing several hats in the realm of ShondaLand Productions: He is serves as a director and producer of both ‘Scandal’ and ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’ He is also an actor, most recently playing the role of Sam Keating in ‘How to Get Away With Murder.’