Role Call
Role Call is a series in which Vulture talks to actors about performances they’ve probably forgotten by now, but we definitely haven’t.
In a way, Shawn Spenstar and Gus T.T. Showbiz willed this into existence. Among the most inspiring casting ideas Psych pulled off was getting Tears for Fears legend Curt Smith to play, well, a punching-bag version of himself. Smith bruised just about every part of his body and ego in the name of humor throughout his four appearances on the show, beginning in season five’s “Shawn 2.0” when he encounters our psychic detective (James Roday Rodriguez) and Gus (Dulé Hill) while being forced to serve as an in-house entertainer for an eccentric billionaire with excellent taste in music. Season seven’s “100 Clues” and season eight’s “A Nightmare on State Street” upped the body-horror stakes with Smith getting shot and then mauled by a panther, and devoured by a pack of zombies, respectively. But Psych 3: This Is Gus has become his melodious swan song. In the movie, Smith tries, and fails, to get to the “top of a very short list” for Andrew Ridgeley’s newly reformed Wham!, and he’s convinced to play at Gus’s wedding with the promise of an extra $35. Too bad American Duos wasn’t hiring a new judge. “I’ve got to be ready to bounce if I get the offer,” his character says. “My Manchester United bets haven’t been working out lately.”
Smith was heavily pursued by Rodriguez to appear on Psych — “He came in hot,” Smith recalls — and his inner circle encouraged him to take the opportunity. To this day, he still finds a great amount of fulfillment from the role, and he remains close with most of Psych’s cast. “If it wasn’t for the fact that James seemed likable and promised to make it easy on me, I probably would’ve said ‘no,’” Smith explains. “Even though, as we know now, the storyline doesn’t make it easy on me at all. But it’s still very funny.”
I’ve been debating for years which Psych guest star I wanted to interview for this column because it’s an embarrassment of riches. But doing this with you just seemed right.
It’s because it’s probably torture. That’s what they do to me every time I go on. It’s like, How can we torture him this time?
What’s the ratio of people who approach you to talk about your incredible music versus being in Psych?
I do get stopped a lot. You presume it’s for your music, certainly by younger people who want to compliment you on a certain song. But it always seems to be like, “I loved you on Psych.” It just happened when I was at a soccer game a few days ago. Someone came up and was like, “Hey, man, I love your music, but to be honest I loved your appearances on Psych more.”
Let’s do a bit of scene setting. Your debut aired in 2010. How would you describe where you were in your life professionally? Where was Tears for Fears fitting in among the music landscape?
We got into a groove where we were touring primarily in the summers. We weren’t making any records at that point. We released an album in 2004, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending, and hadn’t yet come up with anything new after that because it didn’t really do as well as we wanted it to. The album probably wasn’t made with enough pain and passion. We were just enjoying ourselves. But musically, we were making a great living going on tour for a few months every year, be it in America, Europe, South America, Australia, or the Philippines. We would go everywhere.
The story goes that James attended one of your shows in Los Angeles, got on a guest list to meet you backstage, and pitched the show. You had no idea what he was talking about, but he was persistent in his efforts to get you on. How did you familiarize yourself with Psych before you agreed to do this?
I went home and watched several episodes. James was bugging me to the nth degree, but people were telling me about Psych and insisted it was a well-known show. I’m not a big cable-television watcher. So I went and watched Psych and thought it was irreverent and amusing. There were obviously a lot of references to eras that include Tears for Fears. I was playing myself, so it seemed like an easy gig. I spoke to James a few more times and liked him. We got on very well. Being amusing isn’t something you would tag Tears for Fears as being. Roland Orzabal and I both have a dark sense of humor, but primarily our music is quite serious and intense. To play on what’s effectively a comedy show was good for someone like me.
This was the first time you’d been on a set and tried acting. How did you prepare? Were you given any directives on how you should deliver your lines?
They kind of left me to it. They gave me the script, and that was pretty much it. Steve Franks, the showrunner, recently told me, “With comic timing, you either have it or you don’t. You were funny. Lines could be delivered in so many different ways. You delivered them so dryly that it was amusing.” So no, nobody gave me any direction. It’s not a stretch when you’re playing yourself. You’ve just got to play a version of yourself that doesn’t give a shit. After the first episode, they wanted me to come back because I wasn’t that bad at it. The other thing I learned rewatching the episodes is you see what you see on television, but watching a scene being filmed is very different. It doesn’t look very natural when you’re there, but on-camera it does. It looks like they’re overacting, but on-camera it works. It’s strange. The first thing I learned was you’ve got to lose those inhibitions. Just go for it. Don’t be shy. If you want to overdo it, overdo it. It doesn’t come over like that on-camera ever. Watching the cast perform was so helpful.
What did you observe about the cast’s dynamic during this first appearance?
When I got up there to Vancouver where they filmed, it was like a little family. What you see is the way they are. They’re hilarious to be around. Going out with them in the evenings after filming was fun. One night, we went out to do karaoke. The cast is very big on karaoke and loves to go out. Timothy Omundson, who did Galavant after Psych ended, is a gifted singer and performer. He’s very Broadway, a total showman. When we arrived at the karaoke place, I said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I went up and sang ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’ and see what people do?” And no one batted an eyelid. No one knew. No attention was paid. They were just all too busy in their own worlds. Either that or I was bad.
We’re introduced to Psych Curt when you’re strumming a guitar after being hired for a party, and you’re kind of being held hostage by a billionaire to hang out at his mansion for a few extra days. In reality, what was the strangest or most exorbitant private event you’ve been hired to play at?
Funny enough, we were never a band that did many corporate gigs. We don’t get invited to them, which is unfortunate because it would be nice to get the big payday. The only over-the-top one was probably for Oracle. We did that in the Caribbean. We did it purely because it was a big payday, but not gigantic. We got to be in the Bahamas for five days. You have to pay for us and everyone in our crew to stay there and then pay us to perform on top of that. So that was probably the most exotic as such. Personally, the most enjoyable for me was doing the Formula 1 Grand Prix. That was a paid gig, but I desperately wanted to go down to São Paulo and see the racing.
If anyone with great taste is reading this, Curt Smith is available for your event.
For a substantial fee and the luxury accommodations you have available.
The episode also features your own pastiche of the Psych theme. Tell me about how you approached this because it strikes me as a fun task.
I primarily used vintage instruments. I refreshed myself on the songs I recorded back then and did it in an ’80s fashion with sequence synths and all the other stuff we were guilty of utilizing before we got a bit more guitar heavy as we got older. It was an electronic version of their theme song. It was easy and indeed fun to do.
Have you ever performed it live?
No, I never have. When the show threw a big party for the 100th episode, I went and sang at that, but I didn’t do the theme song.
You’re shot in the stomach and nearly killed by a panther when you return in season seven. Was there ever a point when you were compelled to say, “Maybe choose either-or? This seems a bit excessive”?
The fact that being shot, eventually being wheeled out on a gurney when there was a panther on the loose, and then the characters running away and leaving me there was just so funny. I couldn’t say “no.” Actually, you don’t really know what happened to me. You have no idea if I survived or didn’t survive. I remember thinking, What more could they do? Well, this is what more they could do.
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I remember thinking, What more could they do? Well, this is what more they could do.
Could you see a future where Curt Smith Duets With Curt Smith is a compelling idea worth exploring?
I don’t know how you could do that. Duetting with yourself is just singing yourself unless you’re going to do a question-and-answer session. But I guess that could work? You could play someone else. The whole duets-album concept was big at the time for musicians to pursue. The joke was I had such a big ego that I would duet with myself.
In the penultimate episode, you get eaten by zombies and then turn into one. What was the process like to get fitted for such authentic monster garb?
It took two hours in Los Angeles. You go to a place where they mold your face and then make a custom mask for you. When I went up to film the episode, it took over two hours to actually put it on, get it properly positioned, and get the blood and everything going on my face. The most painful part about it wasn’t anything to do with the prosthetics but having to wear contact lenses. I’d never worn contact lenses before, so putting on those blue lenses was awful. My eyes were kind of streaming water, and the makeup woman was like, “Just relax. Give yourself 20 minutes. Your eyes will get used to them.” They never really did.
Gus catches you listening to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in your car before transforming into a zombie, and you brush off the behavior as being “utterly Rob Thomas of me.” What Tears for Fears songs do you enjoy revisiting the most when you’re alone?
First off, Psych did its best to get me a car that was as close to the one I drove in the song’s music video. It wasn’t an actual Austin-Healey, but it looked a lot like it. Not a lot of people have noticed that. But to your question, that changes all the time. The songs that are normally your favorites, and you like to revisit the ones you’ve just finished because they’re the ones you’re most proud of at that time. It’s very different from when you’re playing live because there are different reactions from the crowd. How the audience reacts plays a big part in how much you enjoy it.
A lot of people presume, “God, you must be sick of singing ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World.’ You’ve been doing it for four decades, man.” No, not at all. Because as soon as we hit those first four notes, the whole emotion of the audience changes completely. All thanks to four simple notes of music. Then suddenly your mood changes and you enjoy singing it even more. I wouldn’t choose to listen to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” if I’m at home by myself; I’ve heard it too many times. But playing it live, it’s the most enjoyable thing to sing because of this two-way between you and the audience. It’s the same for “Mad World.”
Smith convalescing after being shot in the stomach in "100 Clues" (left); Smith offering himself up as a tasty zombie snack in "A Night… more Smith convalescing after being shot in the stomach in "100 Clues" (left); Smith offering himself up as a tasty zombie snack in "A Nightmare on State Street" (right). NBC Universal.
In Psych 3, you’re pursuing a role in Andrew Ridgeley’s new take on Wham!, which, as you rationalize, is legal because he co-wrote “Club Tropicana” and is taking out the H and the exclamation point. What’s a band you earnestly would want a hand in reuniting?
It took me long enough to even want to reunite my band. It took ten years to really get into that mind-set. The problem is you can be a fan and love someone’s music and then you meet them and go, “I would never, ever want to be in a band with them.” It would’ve been fun being in early Talking Heads or early Blondie. Not the Ramones. Playing the New York scene that was happening at CBGB in the 1970s would be attractive to me.
There’s something quite poetic about the last sound we hear in the Psych universe being you singing a beautifully confusing Christmas song called “Previous Holiday.” How does it feel living with that legacy?
Wow, I didn’t even think of it until now. You’re right. Let’s hope it’s not the last. That was an amusing thing to record. Steve wrote it, and because he’s the creator of the show, he gets to put his music in and insist that I sing it. Because Psych 3 was filmed during the pandemic, James was directing from Vancouver and I was filming in Los Angeles. I could have gone to Vancouver, but it would’ve meant ten days of isolation in a hotel room for a one-day shoot. I said, “No, I’m not willing to do that. But I’ll happily film from here.” We worked on a dual-video-monitor setup, and all I could hear was him laughing hysterically on the other side of the camera. He was like, “Yeah, buddy, lick that ice cream. Give that rope a nice little squeeze.”
Did you ever attempt to record a Tears for Fears holiday song to have your own “Last Christmas” moment?
Not back then. We tried more recently but failed abysmally. We actually used the melodies and structure to create another song but changed all the lyrics. It became one of the four tracks on the live album. Here’s the thing about Christmas songs: They’ve got to be that good. “Last Christmas” was a great track. As much as I’m not the biggest Wham! fan, it’s a fantastic song. Growing up in England, I would listen to “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day,” by Wizard, on repeat. It’s just genius. It had to be something that good; otherwise, don’t bother. So in the end, Roland and I were like, “This is a good song, but it’s not good enough to be a Christmas song.” It doesn’t mean we won’t try again at some point.
I talked to James a few months ago about Val Kilmer’s death, and he wasn’t at all optimistic that there would be a fourth film. It’s a real shame. They should be given millions of dollars every two years to make another movie.
Or at least $50. The last time we got together was when they wanted me to go and do one of the Psych conventions in Philadelphia earlier this year. I flew into New York and took the train down with my youngest daughter for three days. We took over the whole hotel — we were the only people staying there. It was a fantastic time.
Was there ever an attempt to get Roland on the show, or was this just your own special thing?
No, I don’t believe James ever asked him. He also has no real desire to act, so I don’t think he would’ve said “yes,” anyway. He’s a private guy. He watched all my episodes, though. He told me, “You’re quite good.”
What does the future of Tears for Fears look like? Do you envision another album that won’t take 18 years to make?
We hope so, yes. We were going to tour this summer, but Roland and his wife had a baby in June. So the summer touring obviously was off because you don’t want to be away from home that close to having a baby. We’re doing some shows later in the year in Las Vegas and then Roland is coming back to Los Angeles for eight months. His house is still very near where I live, so it’s our intention to record. Hopefully, it will be an album, but only time will tell with those things. We’re not done recording yet, and we’re certainly not done touring yet.
Do you make more income from Psych royalties or Spotify streams?
Oh, that’s a good question. Spotify does suck. I would say I make more from Spotify streams, the only reason being that we renegotiated our deal with our record label to make sure we get 50 percent of them as opposed to the original deal they tried to make us adhere to. So we now get half of the profits from Spotify. But should it be more? With the profit they’re making? Hell, yeah.
In all seriousness, I find it wonderful that your legacy has become interwoven with the show. I don’t think a lot of musicians would’ve agreed to this particular depiction or found the humor in it, but you did. That’s worth celebrating.
Thank you, that really means a lot. It really can’t be overstated how much I enjoyed doing this. Like I said, it became easy to say “yes” after the first episode because they’re the nicest people. I feel part of the Psych family. I still see them and hang out with them all the time. How great is that?
