PA - 10.20.2011

Al Norton: How much does Cooper know resemble the character you thought you were signing on to playing in the pilot?

Paul Adelstein: I think he's still the same person but I think he's really grown. I don't feel that growth isn't true to he was, though. In the pilot he was a bit of a man-child. He had never had a serious romantic relationship before. He was having a lot of casual sex, meeting people on line, all sorts of adventures, and as we learned last week some random hook ups that may or may not have resulted in off-spring.

He wasn't ready for that kind of serious relationship. In that first season we saw he thought he was in love with Violet, and maybe he was in love with Violet but couldn't really reconcile those types of feelings. Then Charlotte came into his life and for the first time he was having sex with someone who he felt was a formidable person for him, and he fell in love. They went back and forth and then down that road.

After her assault – as challenging as that was for them, I think it really bonded them – he seems a lot more grown up to me, for lack of a better term. I think it's all very true to who he was. I think one of the things Shonda (Rimes, Private Practice creator and executive producer) wanted to do was show what happens with a bunch of adults who have achieved quite a bit in their professional lives but their personal lives aren't as defined. Cooper's starting to get that part of his life on track.

Al Norton: How soon after you starting doing scenes with Kadee (Strickland, who plays Charlotte) did you realize you two had something?

Paul Adelstein: We felt it immediately; we loved working together from the get go, which was a great sign. Sometimes you think you have great chemistry with someone and enjoy working with them but it doesn't translate, it doesn't hit people, but this seemed to hit people. Shonda obviously loved it because she ran with it. We were thrilled because we thought it was interesting for our characters and we loved working together.

Especially with all the sexual stuff that went on with our characters at the beginning, we were so lucky to be working with someone we liked and trusted. That stuff can be weird. I think it's harder for the women – it can feel exploitative for the women – but great writers, great producers, and a great crew made Kadee feel same and frankly made me feel safe, too. We had to do some crazy stuff for network television standards. It just bonded us more as actors, too and we realized we could trust each other and made everything kind of an adventure together.

We'd have these huge fights, break up and then get back together, and then everything from last year, it bonds the characters and bonds the actors, too. That's true of everyone on our cast, too; the ensemble to a person is a joy and a gift.

Al Norton: Kadee got a ton of praise last season, and rightfully so – I thought she got robbed of an Emmy nomination…

Paul Adelstein: Me, too.

Al Norton: When you're acting opposite someone who's in that kind of a zone, do you recognize it in the moment?

Paul Adelstein: Yes, absolutely, and what it does is it makes your job easier. Cooper was there to support her and he obviously goes through his own journey but so much of the work was done for me. All I had to do was show up and look at her and it was there. It was serious subject matter and emotional draining but it was thrilling because it was so juicy. And she was so good, all I had to do was just show up and be there with her.

Al Norton: Is the set as much fun as one would think from watching the show?

Paul Adelstein: Yes, more so actually (laughing). We're filming an episode now where everyone is in almost every scene – we're basically all in one room for the whole hour – and I just feel bad for the director. It's like herding cattle for them but for us it's like being at a party all day long. The other day we worked 12 hours and then all went out to dinner together; I don't know there's another cast that could do that, that genuinely like each other enough to spend that kind of time together. I don't know how it happened; I give Shonda all the credit in the world for putting this group together.

Al Norton: When you found out that Cooper was going to be told he had a son, did you spend a lot of time thinking about how you wanted to play the reaction to that news?

Paul Adelstein: No, because you have to see what it's like on the day. I've thought about how Cooper would feel about being a Father in general, so that way when he's presented with it specifically he could have a genuine reaction. And then you have to wait to see what the actual words are. It's one of those things that knocks someone off their feet so you can't do too much planning in advance.

Al Norton: Cooper was told he has a son at the end of the last episode; what happens next?

Paul Adelstein: He tried to follow up on it immediately. He pulls AJ's (Langer) character into his office right away and she suggests he spend a minute or two with the kid and he's dubious and cautious but the minute he spends a minute with the kids he smitten, for lack of a better word. The other people in the practice – his friends and Charlotte – are dubious about his reaction. They think he's being naïve, they want to know why he isn't suspicious of the women and her motivations and why he isn't doing a paternity test. Cooper feels very strongly that the boy is probably his son and doesn't understand why they won't let him have this moment. He is being woefully naïve, I think because he really wants to be a father.

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