The world of Southfork is going to get a little more glamorous when the new “Dallas” premieres on June 13, thanks to Jordana Brewster and Julie Gonzalo.
Jordana joins the rebooted series as Elena Ramos, the daughter of Carmen, the Ewing family cook. She gets dirty, but not with pots and pans. Instead, it’s with oil, at the side of her beau – an heir to the castle – John Ross. But she’s got some history with Christopher Ewing (played by Jesse Metcalfe) – her ex.
Don’t expect an immediate boy battle for her heart, though. Former “Eli Stone” star Julie quickly enters the picture (in a rather steamy clinch with Christopher Ewing) as Rebecca Sutter, the fiancee of Bobby Ewing’s son
“Dallas” makes its big TNT premiere on June 13 at 9/8c, and Jordana and Julie told AccessHollywood.com, what’s to come on the highly-anticipated drama.
AccessHollywood.com: Let’s talk about the pilot and how great it is. As actresses – was there a moment when you were shooting it, where it was like, ‘This is really good!’?
Julie Gonzalo: All day long we’ve been hearing people saying, ‘It’s really great.’ And, obviously, I hope they’re not lying, but it’s really nice, because to us, it’s like we’re living up to such an expectation. I had a great time. I think the pilot was beautiful.
Jordana Brewster: When you’re making it, it’s like watching behind-the-scenes stuff. It’s so weird. It’s like, ‘That’s what it looked like when they shot that?’ You never know until you watch it and then when we saw the pilot, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s really good.’
Julie: It’s so pretty. It’s so rich and colorful and beautiful, but it’s true. When you work on a project, the magic goes away.
Access: So neither one of your characters has a backstory in ‘Dallas’ history that people will know much about…
Jordana: It gets filled in later on. [Elena] lost her dad early on, so Bobby’s kind of been like a foster dad so she’s very loyal to Bobby and Southfork and she’s grown up with Christopher and John Ross.
Access: And Julie, your character is new. Did they give you a brief on your backstory or did you make some of it up?
Julie: I think they write as you go, and to me, I’m playing Rebecca, who is brand new to this whole family, to this new dynamic, to this already established crazy, dynasty of a family and she’s just trying to find her way and she’s just really in love with Christopher and she just wants to fit in. But, as the show goes [on] — you really do bring things and [insert] little things that you do – your mannerisms [to the role]. You have to build a character somehow.
Access: Jordana – will we see this season, your backstory with Christopher, because Elena, at one point, was engaged to Christopher. Will they do flashbacks?
Jordana: No, but that would be really fun. That would be really fun to shoot… Actually, they did have a flashback. They had like a mini Elena… a younger Elena… but I think they cut that out unfortunately. It was like Elena and Christopher playing.
Julie: That would be fun for the future, I think. I think they have to do that!
Access: Will there be catfights this season?
Julie: No.
Access: Although, that was perhaps, more ‘Dynasty.’
Julie: Kind of.
Jordana: It’s more below the surface.
Julie: And it’s so much smarter than that… We’re totally doing that [on the inside], but on the outside, we’re very proper.
Jordana: That’s more true to life.
Julie: Exactly, you’re not gonna be like, ‘I can’t believe you! Why did you date him?’
Access: With Elena, will we get to see her start to suspect John Ross on different things? He’s J.R.’s son.
Jordana: Listen, she grew up with John Ross. She knows his nature. I think she just really wants to believe that’s he’s turned [over] a leaf and I think that John Ross does really love Elena… I think that’s what’s so interesting about all these characters, is that they’re so complex and they think that they’re doing the right thing. I think she wants to believe that he’s doing the right thing and he’s not. It’s not black or white with these characters. It’s very gray. So, I think it’s an interesting journey between Elena and John Ross.
Julie: That’s the beauty, I think, of all the characters on the show. They’re all coming from an honest, true place of themselves. No matter how you choose to view them – bad, good, whatever — they’re all coming from an honest place.
Access: You’re working with people – Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman and Linda Gray – who were part of a cultural phenomenon. When you’re on the set with these people, is it a different kind of set? An older Hollywood-style set?
Julie: No, they’re more goofy than us.
Jordana: They set the bar. They’re so gracious and awesome and humble and lovely to everyone, including the crew, that it was like, there is no misbehaving on set.
Julie: You literally go to have fun. They really set the bar of like, ‘We’re here to have fun.’ And the beauty is that everybody’s so on top of their game.
Jordana: And so professional.
Julie: Everybody comes prepared. There is not one actor who shows up and you’re like, ‘Oh, woah! I partied too hard last night.’
Jordana: Yeah, if Linda Gray’s not late, you’re not late.
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