Lie to Me's Brendan Hines on Always Telling the Truth

In Lie to Me, the new Fox drama premiering tonight, Brendan Hines plays Eli, a researcher who always says anything that's on his mind. In the first couple of episodes, Hines's character often made me chuckle, so at Fox's all-star party at TCA, I caught up with him to ask about the show, his character, and whether he's now self-conscious about lying. Here are highlights:

Tell me about your character. He has this radical honesty thing going on.
I have it going on in spades. My character is brutally honest at all times. Not only does he tell a truth when he's asked a question, but he'll always just spit out what's on his mind no matter what. To me, that's fascinating. I love it when characters in TV or movies get put in incredibly awkward situations, and my character does — quite a bit — get put in those situations.

It seems like that would happen a lot if you were a person who just spit out whatever was on your mind.
It does, and I didn't even realize this until we started shooting the show, but I've known people like this for years. Maybe they haven't taken this sort of pledge where they're like, "Oh, I'm going to be honest at all times," but they are the kind of people who will just always tell you what's on their minds and not spare anybody's feelings at all. Problem with those people, you don't want to be around them all that much, so it's a difficult thing for the writers to try to do, which is to stay true to this pledge that the guy has taken, yet still make him likable and accessible.

Has playing him made you more honest in your own life?
No, but I will tell you that I am much more conscious of the lies that I tell. I do sort of stand back and assess whether or not I had to tell that lie, because most of the ones that you tell, they're harmless, or you think they are. As far as my character is concerned, he thinks any lie whatsoever is a no-no.

To hear whether Hines has become a good lie-spotter and whether he'll be involved in any on-screen romances, just read more.

Between shooting the show and meeting Dr. Paul Ekman [on whose work the show is based], have you learned a lot about the science of lying?
I've learned a pretty fair amount. I've read a lot of Paul's books. As soon as I knew we were getting started on the show, I bought all of them, and I just started to delve. But anytime I'm around Paul, I try not to talk to him about the science. I have a challenge that I've set for myself, basically, where I try to have the most benign, normal conversation with Paul and just make sure that he never calls me out on anything or goes, "bullsh*t."

Do you have a favorite trick you've learned for spotting other people lying?
Yes, but I'm a little worried that I'm imposing it on people when I'm not actually there. . . I'll be sitting back and watching two people talk and just be like "Aw, yeah, no way, you are so full of sh*t." Who knows if I'm actually seeing what I think I'm seeing or if I'm just imposing it on those conversations.

Your character has a very straightforward come-on to one of his colleagues in the first episode. Is there any chance the show will get into a romance between them?
Yes . . .

See, and I haven't watched enough of the show yet to be able to tell if you're lying!
I think the charm of the character that I get to play is that ultimately it's not about him trying to sleep with her — it's his way of saying hello. It's just basically, "Oh, I'd like to sleep with you" and not "Let's get on that right away, let's start to make that happen." It's like, "I just need you to know this, right up front." As far as the writers, they go where they want and I'll follow . . . It could happen. They're always hinting at it.


Source: buzzsugar.com