Jazmyn Simon joined the Psych cast when the franchise pivoted to creating television films. Her character Selene embarked on a serious romance with longtime protagonist Burton "Gus" Guster. Selene and Gus take their romance to the next level inPeaco*ck's upcoming movie. InPsych 3: This Is Gus, a baby is on the way for Selene and Gus, and their wedding day is rapidly approaching. As Gus and Shawn investigate Selene's past while evaluating changes to their friendship, Chief Karen Vick -- portrayed by Psychseries star Kirsten Nelson -- finds herself at a crossroads. She mustreconcile how her career has taken a toll on her home life.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Simon and Nelson shared the joys of getting to take their characters into interesting new directions. They also praisedPsych 3 screenwriters and executive producers Steve Franks and James Roday Rodriguez's continuing work on the movies and teased where they want to see their characters go next.
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I was so happy to see Psych back for another movie so soon after the last one -- just over a year ago on Peaco*ck. How does it feel to come back in such short order?
Jazmyn Simon: It was a little under two years because I was nine months pregnant when we shot the movie. When we went back to shoot the new movie, Levi just turned two years old. [laughs]
Kirsten Nelson:[Kids] are a fantastic way to mark time in the Psych Universe. Now that we have Levi here, we can just watch him and say that he's two or four, "It's time to make another movie!" [laughs]
One of the things I love about the Psych movies is you guys can get a lot more serious with the character exploration than the TV show. How is it exploring that with these characters you're so familiar with?
Nelson: With James and Steve at the helm of these scripts, they explore that and expand our personal world... A lot of times in shows, it's almost like a cartoon: you see the character and they stay the same. They never grow. The fact that they're encouraging our characters to grow up a little bit, and that they have enough faith in us as actors, and that they trust us to explore that, I have found that it is a gift. A lot of times, I come to work, you say your lines and move on. The fact that we get to see them grow up a little bit, and not just in an ending but a springboard for new beginnings, makes me keep wanting to come back. I'm so happy to come back.
Simon: I think one of the things about having a long-lasting TV show -- I joined with the first movie and they had this well-oiled machine that I got to come and jump in and be a part of -- I feel like the thing that makes this so great is, normally when you're doing a show, you're doing the same thing over and over. It can feel very boring. It gets boring and you feel like you can do it with your hands tied behind your back, but with Psych, they do give the characters the opportunity to grow and change and take the audience on a journey.
I have to say personally watching Kirsten in this movie, I was just blown away by the things that she was doing. It's something that she hadn't been doing in the series. It was great to see that she could evolve into something else. Even the guys, they've grown up and they're doing new things -- getting married, having children, and you just see how that looks on them. It makes it interesting for everybody, forus that go to work and do it, and for the audience that gets to see it.
Nelson:The audience grew up with us. They get to grow up and we get to grow up. But you still have the nicknames and Shawn and Gus having irrational fights in the most unlikeliest of places. It's still the same, but it's so rich and a better world.
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With Selene playing a bigger role in the Psych family, how is it finding that rhythm with the cast three movies in?
Simon: Initially, I was nervous and it was so nerve-wracking because they built this thing and everybody loved it. It felt so perfect. So how do you take something that is already perfect and add somebody in? That was a challenge, but the way that James and Steve wrote Selene in the first movie, I like to say that it was perfect. They were always waiting for me.Before I came in, they had already made this space for me, they just didn't know it yet. When I came in for the first day on the first movie, the first shot was Selene in the planetarium.
I was so nervous and once I started [acting], it just came out and it was brilliant. Everyone was so welcoming and they wrote her so great! I've had the opportunity to play different characters but this is my favorite one because she is actually a character and that made it easy and everyone was supportive. I feel like they were waiting for me, they just didn't know it yet.
Nelson: We like to say that Selene and Jazmyn were our missing piece. We were this circle looking for our missing piece of pie and we got herand we kept rolling. We didn't know that we needed her. We just bumped around a lot because that was how our wheel went until she joined our little piece of the pie. She is our sister-friend. She was always meant to be here.
Simon: Thank you! It is truly exceptional to be able to join a cast and a crew and a fanbase like Psych because, really, I've never experienced anything like this before. There's nothing but loyalty, love and support and Psych-Os are the best fans. They're family!
I was talking to Steve and he said he has at least three additional Psych movies planned. Where would you personally like to see your characters go next?
Nelson: I would like to round out my family. Let's see my husband and get into the earthy, crunchiness of what the chief is. I think with this third movie, you're going to see this springboard of jumping off into all new, different directions that Steve and James have launched us and created these rich characters. We need to see [Gus and Selene's] baby. I want to see their family grow up and, with Shawn and Juliet, I want to see their world expand. I want to see these happy, new quiet times!
Simon: I want to see more ladies' night! For eight seasons, you saw a lot of Shawn and Gus. I really think that, without taking away from Shawn and Gus, there's more Jules/Chief Vick/Selene going on adventures. Maybe they solve something in the next movie, obviously, the ladies always save the guys. That's always the way that it is. Maybe the ladies get themselves in a precarious situation and the guys need to save us! I really do think that we struck gold in this movie with the ladies. I would really like to see that expanded on because I think that is something that has been lacking and we really plugged a hole in this movie.
There was one scene when we were around a fire and we were just making up our own stuff as we went along, the way James and Dulé [Hill] do. It just felt right, like our ode to Sex and the City. The opportunity to have that, Steve was there and he encouraged us to find our lane, so I think the next couple movies need to have more ladies' nights.
Nelson: We go off, turn our location services and phones off so that we cannot be found, and we go off!
Simon: While Gus and Shawn have the baby! [laughs]
Directed by Steve Franks from a screenplay he co-wrote with James Roday Rodriguez, Psych 3: This Is Gus premieres Nov. 18 on Peaco*ck.
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