Jon's interview on 95.5 WPLJ Jan14,2002

This is a transcript of Jon's interview on 95.5 WPLJ on Monday, January 14, 2002. The cast of characters is as follows: Scott is Scott Shannon, Todd is Todd Pettingill, and Patty is Patty Steele, all regulars on WPLJ's The Big Show morning broadcast. This interview was phoned in to WPLJ in New York City and was on the air at about 7:40 a.m. EST on Monday, January 14.

Todd: On the WPLJ Star Phone, an old friend of ours, he dabbles in music and movies, and tonight at 9, he's an all-new cast member on a new episode of Ally McBeal.
Scott: Good morning Jon Bon Jovi!
Jon: Good morning you all!
Scott: Out in Hollywood, California - still working on Ally McBeal, right?
Jon: I am; a couple more months of this. Hollyweird, California!
Patty: Is it weird?
Jon: Oh, yeah, you know, I keep telling people from Jersey that move here, "don't worry, we'll take you back, you know, you can leave anytime, as soon as you come to your senses."
Todd: So, Jon, what was the deal, you were supposed to do like one or two shows and then they saw how brilliant you were and they said, "this guy's gotta hang around a while!"
Jon: Oh, that would be a good lie to tell, but that's not the truth. David Kelley, the writer and creator of the show, he was adamant that I do a minimum of nine . . .
Patty: Wow!
Jon: . . . because I didn't want to even do that, I would have been happy to do two or three, but they wanted me for at least nine, and there wasn't anything going on moviewise, so I needed the time out here.
Scott: Now, do you do any singing in any of the episodes?
Jon: Ah, you never say never, but I don't go to that bar, I don't do any of that kind of, you know, anything that they do. I mean, if I were to pick up a guitar in a house somewhere because it was appropriate for the situation perhaps, but I don't do any of that bar, I don't even go near it.
Scott: You sing one time, before you know it, you'll be starring in one of those Elvis kind of movies!
Jon: Yeah, yeah, yeah. My worst nightmare, thanks! That's why I studied acting for ten years so I could do that.
Patty: Are you having fun doing this?
Jon: I am having a blast, um, I have to tell you, the people, the cast and the crew and Kelley, are fantastic. There's a couple similarities to making movies and a couple differences. And one of the good differences is unlike a movie, where you get a script and there's a beginning, middle and end, this you have no idea where it's going the next week, it needed just David Kelley, so he writes you something as he sees fit and your character can start off some place and end up some place else, which is pretty cool for like an acting exercise.
Scott: Now tonight on Ally McBeal, you play Victor Morrison, who's kind of a painter/contractor, right?
Jon: Yeah, he's a handyman, contractor, you know, everything guy.
Scott: Isn't that kind of like the role you played in your first movie, Moonlight and Valentino?
Jon: Yes and no - I mean, yeah, I'm a guy that has a job, you know, blue collar guy, I'm not a lawyer, that's for sure. But the funny joke about Moonlight is, I remember going back to my coach and saying, "Hey man, you know, I got all these great notices and little reviews, but what could we have done better, but what could we have done better, the arc of the character," I used all this cheap two-dollar terminology. He says, "Arc? You didn't even have a name! The dog's name was Valentino!" You know . . . (laughs)
Patty: You were on the ladder; everybody was looking at your butt!
Jon: I didn't even get a name! You know . . . .
Todd: (laughing) Look at the butt on that guy!
Jon: (laughs) Wait a minute! (laughs) So, ah, this guy is a lot smarter and deeper.
Scott: You know, we haven't talked to you since you did the Concert for New York at the Garden with all the police and the firefighters in attendance. What was that night like for you?
Jon: It was one of the most important nights, you know, that and the telethon, You know, being there, of course, playing, performing, just the simple performance of it - had I as an artist not been invited, I would have been really bummed, because you know, there you are in a room with Elton and Billy Joel and The Who and Keith Richards and, my God, it was pretty much a who's who.
Patty: Sure.
Scott: It was kind of neat that The Who basically stole the show.
Jon: Well, I wouldn't have expected anything less, you know.
Scott: They rocked the place.
Jon: Yeah!
Todd: Don't get us wrong, you guys were amazing, too.
Jon: Ha ha! Yeah, but we're the young guys! It's, uh, I understand and I agree with you. You know, I thought that The Who, Townsend, I never heard him play like that, you know, I mean, the guy was really on fire.
Scott: They were up for it.
Jon: They wanted to win and I thought Billy Joel was outstanding and a few other people, too, so I enjoyed the night. I don't think it was a competition, but I know what you mean. That place was all so on hops and barley by the end of it . . . .
Scott: Most of us were there. It was a pretty wacky night for the audience.
Jon: Yeah, yeah.
Patty: They needed that night so bad.
Jon: Yeah, absolutely.
Scott: Now, I hear that you and Richie have already written quite a few songs for the next album. What is the timetable for that CD?
Jon: Well, one of the good reasons why I'm here simultaneously doing Ally McBeal is that we were writing and now I think that we're so far ahead in the writing stage, we're ready to go. I'm hoping that by next week we're confirming dates in the studio and instead of doing the entire record in Jersey, I'll start it out here just to get it going. In which case, I hope to have it out by September, you know, a September release.
Patty: Wow! That's a lot of work!
Jon: We're feeling pretty good, I think I've got it. Yeah, it is a lot of work, but what else am I going to do out here? I'm sitting here by myself, staring at the walls.
Scott: Now, we just got the news earlier in the week, you probably got the news before we did, but congratulations to you and your wife Dorothea about the brand-new baby on the way.
Jon: Um-hmm.
Patty: How exciting!
Jon: Yeah, I finally got another one coming.
Scott: You got Stephanie Rose, you got Jesse James, and a brand new one on the way!
Jon: Yeah, we're pretty excited.
Patty: That's great!
Jon: It takes six years to realize, you know, you forget about diapers and high chairs and strollers and all that rot, so, you know. . . .
Patty: Six years! Oh, back into it!
Jon: . . . and then you sober up and you go, "Oh God! What have I done!" (laughs)
Todd: Well, tonight, 9 o'clock, Channel 5, Jon Bon Jovi kicks off his nine-episode run on Ally McBeal. We'll all be watching, man.
Jon: Thanks, guys!
Scott: Thanks, Jonny!
Patty: Bye!