The Devil You Say: It’s Ray Wise from Reaper

March 24, 2009 by Cynthia

I spent part of my Friday the 13th, talking with Ray Wise who plays the smooth talking, utterly charming devil on Reaper. After a long hiatus, the series is back for its second season and it looks like the poor devil is up to his eyeballs in parenting problems. Disobedient children, slacker sons, it’s tough to raise kids right now a days and it’s even tougher to raise them wrong!

You have had an amazing career, Twin Peaks, 24, Charmed, Dallas, Charlie’s Angels and you did A-Team!

Ray: Yeah, I got punched out by Mr. T on that show. And at the time I was, of course, much younger and I think I could have taken him but the script said that I had to fall down.

Looking at your resume, you don’t do a lot of comedy and yet here you are on Reaper.

Ray: No, I’m not known as being a comic actor, but obviously I have it in me. I’m enjoying the whole humorous aspect of it and playing the kind of a devil character that I play, you know? It’s not the stereotypical kind of devil. I sort of liken him to a cross between a good used car salesman and a game show host, with a touch of Carrie Grant thrown in. He’s sartorially resplendent and he takes obviously good personal care of himself. The body that he’s chosen to use while he’s interacting with the humans here on earth is one I think that he likes very much.

What I find really interesting is that even though the devil is the villain of the piece, we like him. He seems like a real fun guy!

Ray: I think that would be the ultimate devil, the guy who makes you feel good when you’re around him. He would be able to make you feel confidence not only in yourself, but in him.

Is any of that in your personally? Are you a good salesman yourself?

Ray: Well, I’ve been selling myself for about forty years now, so I guess you’d have to say that I am.

Has there been anything that really surprised you when you saw it on the page?

Ray: Yeah, all the time. Our writers are very clever and they write great dialogue and it’s never the obvious, it’s always something different and even strange sometimes, and I enjoy that.

And as evil as they want us to believe the devil is, it does seem that he is genuinely proud of his son, Sam.

Ray: Absolutely, yes. He loves mixing it up with the humans here on earth. That’s his realm that was giving to him by God. The devil is the lord of air and he’s in control here on this planet. And then there’s the fact that Sam is doing a good job here on earth. He’s trying to capture those bad souls that escaped from hell and put them back where they belong and that’s a good thing.

And that’s what’s funny about the plot from the beginning… Sam’s working for the devil, but in the long run he’s making the world a safer place.

Ray: Absolutely. It’s given him a purpose, he’s not longer a slacker, and he’s doing good.

Would you give me your thoughts on his bumbling sidekicks, Sock and Ben?

Ray: I love those guys. It’s just as fun for the devil to watch them as it is for the audience to watch them. They’re just a hoot. They’re young, they’re inexperienced in the ways of the world and just to watch them operate is hilarious.

Reaper is back for its second season. So what’s new?

Ray: This season is revelatory! We’re getting away from the escaped soul of the week and new characters come into the mix [including] demon gargoyles. You’re going to see more of how the devil operates and relates to a number of characters that come into the story.

You know, we wondered if we’d come back at all and to be able to do the thirteen new episodes was certainly a gift and we took full advantage of it. They ratcheted up the level of the writing considerably with some new great ideas and for my money our second season is far superior to the first season and I liked the first season a lot so I think the viewers are in for a real treat.

Now that you’re finished filming, what are you doing with your days?

Ray: I just hang out in my backyard and pick oranges. (Laugh) I’m just waiting to see how well Reaper does because I would really like to continue playing this character for a while if that’s possible. It’s really a good one and you hate to let go of those good ones.

Ray Wise’s devil — definitely one of the good ones.

Watch Reaper every Tuesday at 8:00 on The CW.

Photos: Eric Ogden/Jack Rowand/Sergei Bachlakov/The CW