We at Survived The Shows had the pleasure of chatting with Josh Banday about his experience in the making of Not Dead Yet and what fans can expect from Dennis’ arc. Check out the full interview in the video below!
What’s the main element in Dennis’ character and the show in general that fascinates you the most and drew you to join Not Dead Yet?
JOSH BANDAY: I really love this series. It has a lot of heart at the core of a series that’s about a girl whose life explodes and she goes to work at a small newspaper in town and finds that she can see the ghosts that she’s writing obituaries for. Even though that sounds like a really fantastical show, what attracts me to it is that it’s very human, and it’s honestly very grounded, and natural, because it’s all about what happens when your life doesn’t go the way that you thought. I think that’s at least in the last two years, everyone on Earth has gone through some experience with that. And you know, I had my experiences with it. And so finding that in Dennis was the beautiful exploration of this particular project with me.
Is there any feature in Dennis character you can that you can relate to personally as a human being? Where are you two most similar and where are you two most different in your opinion?
Dennis, for me, finding his character is how you ever look at like a sound studio or someone’s recording and have all those different faders that go up and down. Dennis is just certain aspects of me dialed up to attend. So all of my nervousness and all of my kind of flamboyance and honestly, parts of my femininity and feminine-self really come to the forefront as Dennis. And it’s it was beautiful to be able to play a character very different than what I’m used to playing. He’s also a very intelligent, very funny and bisexual as well, which is something we both share. Yeah, it was a real honor to be able to play him.
To all the fans that haven’t watched Not Dead Yet yet, how would you describe the show if you had just like 3 words?
Oh gosh. I would say it’s – We have a term in the states called Bessies, which it’s like your best friend, the best friend of your best friend. I would say ice cream – you’ve got that ice cream in your fridge that is like there when you need it at like the worst possible times. You’re like, I’m going to have some ice cream. This is that kind of a show, you know, it doesn’t ask a lot of you, but it’s just right there. Heartfelt is the last.
What can you tease about Dennis’ journey throughout Season 1 of Not Dead Yet? What can we expect from him?
Dennis, throughout the show, has a really interesting and beautiful arc. If you’re paying attention, it’s happening in the B-story of the episode. But he deals with some issues with family. We saw in the last episode he’s really worried about being a dad. There’s more of that, there’s also issues with him being nervous and speaking to powerful figures like Lexi in the show and kind of coming into his own voice, I think is very Dennis. And at the end this, the finale, there’s a very emotional, beautiful moment with him that I’m looking forward to seeing. Hopefully it’s not terrible.
Acting-wise, what’s been the main challenge that you experienced in portraying Dennis?
I’ll tell you a story I haven’t told very many people. When we filmed it, it was one of the most difficult times in my life because my dad was in the process of passing away and there is a very emotional scene that’s happening in Dennis’s life that I had to perform. At first I was really worried because I was tamping down these feelings in my personal life so that I could do the acting right.
I needed to be Dennis. I didn’t want to be Josh, I didn’t wanna bring Josh into this. But in the moment, the kind of climax of the scene where Dennis really needs to show his feelings and be emotional, tapping into those things as Josh gave them meaning and gave them a different perspective. And so when you watch that scene in the finale, it is very much the real emotions of me as a person coming through the lens of this character, and it was a challenge. But it’s also one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had as an actor, as a person.
If you could choose any other character on the show, apart from Dennis, that you would have loved to play if you could, which one would it be and why?
Oh, that’s a great question. I think it would be really fun to play Lexi, who’s like unapologetic and rich as anything. I think Lauren knocks it out of the park and is so much better than I am at every aspect of that role. But it’s just such a great excuse to be a total jackass to people, which is very outside of my character. All apologize to a trash can.
The interview with Josh Banday has been edited and condensed for length and clarity. Get a look at the full interview in the video at the top of the article!
Not Dead Yet, with Josh Banday, airs Wednesdays on ABC. Get a preview below!
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