BODY OF PROOF - "Cold Blooded" - When the owner of a family owned and operated Italian restaurant turns up dead in the freezer, Dr. Hunt and the team take a closer look into family matters, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/RICHARD FOREMAN) DANA DELANY
Dana Delany‘s Body of Proof character, Megan Hunt has changed considerably since the show’s debut – and the actress is confident she’ll become more complex as the series continues.
“I think in the beginning Megan was almost emotionally autistic,” Delany acknowledges. “There are people like that, but now it’s become more of this family in the [Medical Examiner] office. Everybody has their role, everybody knows what part of the family they are and I think it’s evolving that way and I think we’re having a little more fun.”
It’s a welcome change from last season when Megan was essentially cat-fighting with her boss Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan) over Megan‘s ex-husband. Delany admits the storyline wasn’t her favorite and seemed forced for the two tough female leads.
“I thought that was a little cheap,” she confesses. “Not that it doesn’t happen in life, but the minute you show two strong women fighting over a man I think, ‘Oh come on! Can’t we find something more to fight over than that?’ I think they realized that’s not really what our core audience wanted. Now, it’s just two smart women having differing points of view and butting heads that way. I enjoy a relationship like that.”
And now that Megan‘s mother Joan Hunt (Joanna Cassidy) is unemployed, it appears we’ll be seeing her hanging around the laboratory more often.
“Behind my back she sets me up with online dating,” Delany adds smiling.
It appears Joan‘s plans pan out because Megan will get a little lovin’ this season.
“Jamie Bamber (Scott Decker on the show) is delightful and very nice to look at,” she gushes. “And a good actor, too. I have to say that. I can’t be too sexist here. It’s always nice to see that side of Megan because she’s so tough in other areas and so in control and she’s so bad in her personal life. She’s just so awkward in her personal life and uncomfortable in that area. So far there has only been a kiss, so we’ll see.”
Delany insisted her scenes with Bamber ring true, too. Originally the writer had the love scene rough and tumble, but the actress suggested a much more romantic and gentle version between the two characters.
“Whenever I read a scene like this I know a man has written the scene because that’s not what women like. That’s not sexy, at least to me and I’m like most women,” the actress advises. “We like somebody who holds back and makes us come to them a little bit. So the whole thing was sort of switched around that he held back and I was so uncomfortable that I pushed him against the wall and he was like, ‘Slow down. Relax.’ ”
It’s a smart direction for Body of Proof (Tuesdays, 10:00 p.m., ABC), but certainly expected from an intelligently written series.