We Make Standoff's Sexy Fed Talk

Fox's Standoff (Tuesdays at 9 pm/ET) presents Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt as top-notch FBI crisis negotiators who, when they aren't trying to keep madmen from blowing up hostages, are trying to keep their off-duty romance from interfering with their on-duty work. A few days before last week's series premiere, DeWitt talked to TVGuide.com about bringing this new balance of cops 'n' lovers to TV, and also gave us the scoop on her and Livingston's Sexy past.

TVGuide.com: So how are you feeling about the show?
Rosemarie DeWitt: I'm pretty excited. Now that it's here, I'm really looking forward to it and to seeing if people dig it.

TVGuide.com: What kind of feedback have you gotten from impartial parties?
DeWitt: A lot of people like it. It's an interesting mix of action, drama and romantic comedy. I think the key is going to be getting the tone right, so that audiences know what it is. I also think that people are liking Ron and I as a couple.

TVGuide.com: I was going to say that in this world of countless procedurals, what sets Standoff apart is the potential for spontaneous, good 'n' sweaty sex.
DeWitt: There's that, yeah make-out scenes in the storage room at work. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: I recently saw Inside Man on DVD, and both that and your show suggest there's this conflict in strategies between negotiators and police tactical units.
DeWitt: Sometimes they work as a great family  in a perfect world  but there are two different agendas. Once a crisis escalates to a certain point, [negotiators] still want to fight for talking the guy off the ledge....

TVGuide.com: Whereas the tactical guys want to start lobbing in the tear gas, or worse.
DeWitt: Yeah. We have some episodes where they're ready to shoot to kill the hostage-taker, [in order to] save the other people's lives.

TVGuide.com: How are you at negotiating? Ever haggle at a flea market?
DeWitt: You know what, I dont do that at all because I'm terrible at it! I never get myself a bargain. But I'm getting better. I was saying to Ron this morning that I need to "break up" with all my friends because we have this crazy [shooting] schedule, and I feel like a lot of my friends are in constant drama. I am a professional crisis negotiator when I get off work every night. "No, he likes you! He does like you! And this is why: If he said this and you said that...." [Laughs] You get good at it. At every job you take away some things from the character and bring them into your life, and you're usually pretty grateful for them.

TVGuide.com: Have you been working with some real FBI types at the show?
DeWitt: We have some really good technical advisors, yeah, and what they help me with the most is shooting a gun. I was terrified about it! We went to the range, and Ron was having so much fun, and I'm like, "This is not fun at all." I was shaking, I was so scared. Cut to a month later: I'm shooting my gun on the show, and I'm like, "Can we get another take? That was fun!"

TVGuide.com: Give me three words to describe Ron Livingston.
DeWitt: Oh god. One of them was going to be a curse, so I'm not going to use that. "Really cool guy."

TVGuide.com: And what three words would he use to describe you?
DeWitt: [To Livingston in the background] Hey, Ron, what are three words you would use to describe me? [Livingston replies] "Hot, hotter, hottest!"

TVGuide.com: You're the granddaughter of legendary fighter James J. Braddock were any moves passed down that have come in handy for you?
DeWitt: I was playing a stripper in a friend's movie last fall, and I knew I was going to be scantily clad. I wanted to get in shape fast so I took boxing at the gym. I thought I was pretty good at it!

TVGuide.com: Did your relation to Braddock play a role in your appearing in Ron Howard's Cinderella Man?
DeWitt: Oh, definitely. I asked my agent if there was anything I could read for in the movie. Ron met with me, but I think it was more as a courtesy  "I'll meet with her and maybe she'll share some personal anecdotes." And then I read a scene for him and he was like, "Oh, OK." [Laughs] I guess he thought, "Oh, she is an actress." I had a cool little part in the movie.

TVGuide.com: Before Standoff, what did you consider your juiciest acting role?
DeWitt: I came out of New York theater, so I've had many of them, but I would have to say it was a revival of Danny in the Deep Blue Sea. That was the most challenging part I've had to date, because of the physical demands. We had to beat each other up on stage every night. My character was so damaged, this single mom from the Bronx who has this horrible, horrible secret. It's a love story between her and this person like herself, and the way they find each other is sort of brutal  yet beautiful at the same time.

TVGuide.com: Now remind me who you played on Sex and the City?
DeWitt: I played Fern, a coworker of Miranda's who sort of rats her out for slacking a little bit after she has the baby. Ron [Livingston] was in that same episode, but we didn't know each other back then. We had never met before I auditioned for this job.

TVGuide.com: Wow, Hollywood really is a tiny little town, isn't it?
DeWitt: Isn't it? [Laughs]