EAGLEHEART: Chris Elliott, Maria Thayer on how to properly pronounce ‘Monsanto’

Eagleheart, which airs Thursdays at midnight on Adult Swim, features comedian Chris Elliott as U.S. marshal Chris Monsanto, a character in the same vein of Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger. His fellow marshal on the show is played by Maria Thayer.

Recently, both actors talked with Hollywood Soapbox about the hit show’s third season, how they’re handling a rushed shooting schedule and the proper way to pronounce Monsanto.

On the enjoyment of shooting Eagleheart …

Elliott: It’s fun. I don’t think because of the action and all that in it, but because of the people that are involved. … It’s really fun on set, and the work is work, but you know playing around on the set and joking around and that kind of stuff is what makes it fun. So this has definitely been one of the better experiences in my, you know, 70-year career.

Thayer: Yeah, I agree with Chris. … He’s great to work with, and [executive producers] Michael Koman and Andrew Weinberg and Jason Woliner are really wonderful. … I got sprayed with blood this year, and that was like a highlight of my career. So that was like a non-people exciting thing that happened on set for me.

On the beginning of Eagleheart …

Elliott: In the beginning, the pilot was sort of a different animal. When Adult Swim picked up the show that’s when it started to transform into this other thing. … And it’s evolved from that first season and second season into this third season now, which is sort of a new kind of thing to me. This season it’s all sort of told in one long story from the premiere episode … It’s evolved sort of stylistically from something that was more parody-oriented into something that’s more surreal now. And then also in terms of how the storytelling has been evolving, it’s different this season.

On having a beer with their characters …

Thayer: I would have a beer with Susie definitely. Chris Monsanto [she pronounces Mon-sonto, like a red wine] …

Elliott: That’s how it’s pronounced? Mon-sonto? Sorry that’s the upper-crust pronunciation. Mon-santo is sort of how I pronounce it. I don’t know. In terms of my character, it’s kind of an extension of what I’ve been doing for 30 years. Although it’s more age appropriate I think now for me. He’s a little more grizzled and a little less out there compared to a lot of the other goofy characters that I’ve played throughout the years. But every character I’ve ever done … is essentially the same guy. It’s basically some version of what I started doing in 1981. I haven’t really grown much as an actor, and I like doing that. And these guys sort of were fans of mine, and so they sort of created this character kind of around what I had done, or at least refined it once I joined the cast.

On the shooting schedule and budget constraints …

Elliott: It’s very rushed. I mean it’s really rushed. We’re doing a lot of work in a short amount of time. And budget-wise, I don’t really think about that much when I’m on set. … It doesn’t feel low budget.

Thayer: The things that we’ve done this year, it doesn’t look [low budget].

Elliott: Well, my salary puts it in this really high budget, but in terms of production it’s pretty low. … What ends up on the screen, Jason [Woliner] directed every episode this season, it just looks so beautiful. I mean it really looks like a feature. … There isn’t a lot of improvisation going on because we’re on such a tight schedule, and there are times when you wish, oh, I wish we could play around with this scene or I wish we had more time to do another take or that sort of thing.

On the show’s third season …

Elliott: [There is] this sort of curtain suspicion when another marshal dies in the first episode and there’s the possibility that Chris Monsanto, or Mon-sonto as Maria pronounces it, murdered the other marshal. And he has to go off on this journey to kind of prove his innocence, and he goes off on this journey with Susie, Maria’s character, and they haven’t, in season one and two, they really didn’t have much to do with each other or even like each other. And so there’s an arc between the two of them on this journey, which was fun and nice to have the opportunity to do that.

On working together …

Elliott: [Maria Thayer] can do more than just comedy. I’m not being … humble here when I say that I’m not really an actor. I’m not. I started as a writer and I never really had much training, and I’m always sort of looking for other people to sort of cue me on how to do things. And right from the start, it was just really easy to work with Maria. She sort of knew my timing right away, and there was great chemistry there. There’s never, I’m never scared working with her. It’s always like, all right, I know this is going to be funny because I know she knows what I’m going to do and I sort of know which way she’s going to go with these things, too.

Thayer: I was a huge fan [of Elliott’s work]. I was really scared to meet him and super-nervous. … He immediately started teasing me, and I didn’t know if he was kidding or not.

Elliott: That’s the story of my life.

Thayer: But yeah it was a total thrill and still is. … Now I think he’s kidding.

Elliott: Aaah. I don’t know.

On working on an Adult Swim show …

Elliott: I, in general, don’t like seeing myself or watching myself do anything. And honestly I had no idea what Adult Swim was when I signed on. I couldn’t find it on my dial, and I actually literally do still have a dial. … It was new for me to see this new network, and after three years of working there, I can’t imagine a better place for my sensibility to be than Adult Swim. I’ve spent years … doing offbeat, odd comedy, but then it’s always been sort of challenge for me to sort of make that work in a more mainstream form on television. There never was an outlet like Adult Swim to sort of take advantage of, so I’m really happy to be there.

Thayer: Yeah, nobody else would let us do all this stuff. I’ve never see anything like this on television. … I’m so happy to work for these guys. I think the show, it’s so creative. There’s just nothing like it.

On Eagleheart’s future …

Elliott: I think this show can go anywhere, and whatever happens this season can always be altered for next season and changed around or whatever. That’s just the reality of Eagleheart, is that it lives in this sort of altered-states reality and can go anywhere. So, yeah, it’s not a matter of running out of material or running out of an idea, it’s really more a matter of scheduling and energy. That’s about it because creatively this is sort of a built-in rejuvenation factor because it can go anywhere.

Thayer: Anything can happen in this world.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Eagleheart airs Thursdays at midnight on Adult Swim.