ABC/NATHAN BELLThey are family.
No, seriously. If there was one thing to take away from the Charlie's Angels panel at the TCA press tour on Sunday, it was the feeling of family. The (extremely attractive) cast and crew were feeling the love and making sure the critics in the house felt it too...
"This is a family. The idea that this agency is a family. Their family business is being detectives," creator and executive producer Al Gough says of the ABC reboot. "The kind of family dynamics of the family secret." Say family one more time, Gough. We dare you!
The members of the family? Minka Kelly as Eve, Rachael Taylor as Abby, Annie Ilonzeh as Kate and Ramon Rodriguez as the new (and may we add hot) Bosley.
"The biggest commonality we have is the fact that there's so much camaraderie and family," Ilonzeh says of comparisons to the original hit series. "We're a huge family. There's a huge family-based relationship that we all share." See? Family!
But wait, there's more! "I think there is a genuine chemistry and warmth between the four of us. You can't fake that," Taylor says. OK, we're thinking the title should be changed to Charlie's Family at this point, no?
Switching gears a bit, Kelly says she can relate to her character, an orphan turned car thief looking to make her own family... To a degree, at least. As an only child who was raised by a single mother, Kelly says she moved around a lot when she was younger, an experience she shares with Eve.
"I understand what it is to create your own family. I'm really attracted to that aspect of the show, as far as making the girls and Bosley my family," the Friday Night Lights alum says.
So how's the transition from small-town Texas on FNL to glamorous Miami on Angels? "Coming from Friday Night Lights, having to wear Target clothes every day, now I get to wear beautiful dresses from Gucci and Yves St. Laurent."
Aside from the clothes, Kelly goes from girl-next-door cheerleader to complete "badass" on Angels. "It's a Minka Kelly you've never seen before," Gough says. Color us intrigued!
"I'm excited to get into the tomboy aspect of it," Kelly gushes. "She's the least girly of the three." (Fun fact: Eve was created for Kelly, who originally auditioned for Abby.)
Here are some of the other highlights from the Charlie's Angels panel:
Show Description: "If Jack Bauer and Carrie Bradshaw had a lovechild, it would be Charlie's Angels," says Gough. 24 and Sex & the City? Sold! (Also, Gough admits he stole that line from Taylor. Copyright that, stat!)
New Voice: Robert Wagner recently left the project as the voice of Charlie, and Gough says they have yet to replace the most famous vocal box on TV. "One will be coming shortly." What are they looking for? "Someone who brings a paternal nature to it, a certain amount of authority and mystery."
Archangel: Just how involved is executive producer and movie Angel Drew Barrymore? "Drew is sort of the Archangel," Gough says. "Obviously she's busy, she's prepping movies, but she and her company are involved. They read the scripts, they give notes. She sends emails of encouragement." Taylor adds that Barrymore was "hugely" involved in the casting process.
Fourth Angel: Rodriguez says he's been preparing to play Bosley (who was repeatedly called the fourth Angel throughout the panel) his whole life. No, seriously! "I was raised by three older sisters and they thought they were the Angels. It's a great transition from three sisters to three other sisters." All together now: Aw!
Put on Your Dancing Shoes: "I have a salsa dance, Bosley and I are going undercover as salsa dancers," Kelly reveals. "I'm looking forward to that." What we're looking forward to? The sexual tension between Bosley and Eve, which is muy caliente in the pilot