Jeff Hephner plays Morgan Buffkin on Easy Money. Morgan is the middle child of three and helps run the family-owned business Prestige Payday Loans. He's smart and responsible, but doesn't no quite how he fits in with his family, which includes matriarch Bobette (Laurie Metcalf).

Hephner took a moment to weigh in on the show:

Why did you decide to do Easy Money?
Hephner: That fact is was written and produced by Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov most importantly, I am a huge fan of Northern Exposure, the MRC business model and quite honestly the prospect of employment.

Would you describe your character and how he fits in the family?
Hephner: Morgan is just like all of us. He is at a point in his life where he wants to know where and how he fits in to his world. He is eager to explore his identity, but the life he already knows puts limits on that. His wrestles with love and loyalty to his family and the responsibilities that entails.

What was it like working with Laurie Metcalf? What does she bring to the show?
Hephner: Working with Laurie is a wonderful experience. I suggest everybody do it sometime. It's like having fun at school, if that is possible.  She is an Actor in the truest sense of the craft and what she brings to the show is immeasurable. I believe that she makes us all better at our jobs and brings a real joy to the set.

Is identity important for Morgan to reach his potential?
Hephner: Yes, as it is with all of us. Identity in sense of being and not the picture on your driver's license. I believe the search for that is what defines an individual.

Is Morgan happy -- with the choices he's made in life? with his family?
Hephner: Morgan is aware of the choices he makes, he understands he is responsible for them. It is his involvement in the payday loan industry that makes him starkly aware that not everyone else is. Some of the people he deals with always believe they are the victim, that the world has done them wrong. The weight of this is frustrating, and fuels a lot of his questions about feeling out of place. Is he always happy with the choices he has to make in his job?  Not always. He has to make choices that sometime clash with his instincts, but we all do. Those choices are made out of a sense of duty and loyalty to his family and because of the world he was brought up in.

What do you like the viewer to take away with them?
Hephner: I hope they enjoy the colorful characters and interesting story lines, but I really hope they can identify with the family and Morgan's struggle for individuality, identity, and its delicate balance.

For more, check out Zap2it's TV Review of Easy Money.

Comments

This guy is so good on Easy Money, as is Laurie Metcalf. The show is worth watching for them alone--seriously! I look forward to this show on Sundays as much as any series on the CW network. The acting is first-rate, and it's interesting to see the seedy side of payday loan businesses.

Sadly, most of America is wrapped up with football or the Housewives on Sundays, which leaves a small audience. But, man, I can't say enough about Jeff.

Nick | Oct 13, 2008 8:44:52 AM | #

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Great show. I got to watch it this Sunday and Jeff Hephner is great. However, I thought the rest of the cast was little weak

Payday Loans! | Oct 13, 2008 10:44:08 PM | #

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I don't really think the rest of the cast is weak whatsoever, but Jeff Hephner's character is the heart of the show, Easy Money couldn't be this touching and weird without his quiet still moving performance. And the dialogues, of course : Frolov and Schneider really created something, with that wicked general atmosphere, from Morgan's delusional point of view...

I really hope they bring us the whole season, I don't even hope for a second one, too bad beacause this is one of the most colourful and challenging shows on TV right now.

Zurabinho | Oct 14, 2008 5:23:09 AM | #

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