Bret Harrison Talks BREAKING IN at WonderCon 2011

With Fox’s new workplace comedy Breaking In premiering tomorrow night after American Idol, the network brought most of the cast (Christian Slater, Bret Harrison, Odette Yustman and Alphonso McAuley) and executive producers Adam Goldberg (Fanboys) and Doug Robinson (Rules of Engagement) to WonderCon.  It’s about a high-tech security firm that takes extreme – and often questionable – measures to sell its protection services.

While the show was on my radar, after learning about an upcoming episode, I’m definitely tuning in.  So what sold me?  In the next few weeks they do a Comic-Con show where Contra Security (where they work) is hired to transport Goonies 2: The Legend of Sloth so it doesn’t get pirated.  Any show that works in a sequel to The Goonies has me.

Before the panel I got to speak with Bret Harrison and we talked about karaoke, collecting DVDs, how he got involved in Breaking In and who he plays, WonderCon, what it’s like to get the post Idol timeslot, and a lot more. Hit the jump to watch.

And before getting to the interview, here’s the trailer for Breaking In which premieres tomorrow night after American Idol.  And here’s my video interview with Christian Slater.

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Bret Harrison

• How Christian Slater is a huge geek
• 0:20 – Harrison’s go-to karaoke song is probably “Gimme Shelter” or anything from the Rolling Stones even though he’s a “little frightened” by karaoke.
• 1:10 – He geeks out over movies with an extensive DVD collection (the whole front wall of his family room is filled with DVDs)
• 2:10 – He thought the idea of a half-hour action comedy was fresh; compares Breaking In to Get Smart.  Harrison calls King of Kong one of his favorite documentaries, so he was really excited to work with director Seth Gordon.
• 3:40 – Harrison gets pitched a lot of sitcom scripts — with every script he asks himself “Day in and day out do I want to be on that set?”
• 5:00 – There is an episode centered around Comic-Con where Contra Security is hired to transport Goonies 2: The Legend of Sloth
• 6:50 – The delayed pickup surprised him, but Harrison suggests it always comes down to politics.  Fox could hold the actor up to six months with pay while deciding on a pickup.
• 8:00 – The delay between pilot filming and pickup allowed Adam to write a few more episodes to convince Fox this could work as a series.
• 9:15 – It’s “amazing” to land the post-American Idol timeslot.
• 10:20 – Harrison is the “ultimate hacker” on the security team.  He talks about the roles of other people on the team.
• 10:55 – He isn’t quite as good as his character with computers, but he’s on Twitter.
• 11:30 – He might pick up a Batman mask to walk the WonderCon floor anonymously.

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