Hurting for HankMed? Mark Feuerstein talks Royal Pains.

Royal Pains

On June 10 at 9/8c, Royal Pains returns to USA Network for Season 6, and it’s sweet, witty and utterly charming star, Mark Feurerstein, is excited that this season’s big new thing is a return to something old.

RoyalPains2So Mark, what’s new with the return of Royal Pains?
Royal Pains not only coming back, it’s coming back with a vengeance. It is returning to its greatest glory insofar as we are coming back with that jaunty fast-paced, romp of a medical show that fans first fell in love with. We may have diverged, like all entities searching themselves for who they are, we may have gone down a dramatic path or two in the last season, but we are back.

“There was nothing bad with that — we loved season 5 —but we are back in all of our pomp and circumstance, ready to celebrate the lavishness of the Hamptons while keeping all of the depth of character that we’ve developed over 6 seasons.

Royal Pains“You will see Evan and Paige returning to the love that they once knew, working through it, you will see Divya enjoying the now tangible fruits of her labor, I’ll leave that very enigmatic, but kind of obvious. Hank will return to his former love, his original love of medicine and treating patients the way he dreamed of doing when he first promised Jim the fisherman, Season 1 that he didn’t care what the medical establishment would allow him to do, he was going to take care of this guy. Hank is back to his patients.

“And there will be love, and there be conflict, and there will be brotherhood, And … not only will there be brotherhood, there will be something else, that you can fill in the blank, but I can’t fill in that blank for you … but it is of that ilk.”

Kablam!! Mind blown. Did Mark just reveal a major spoiler? Oooooooooh! (hand flapping).

I’m glad that you’re returning to the light fun stuff. Some of Royal Pains’ fans were confused by last season’s foray into the melodramatic.
“I’m going to get really pretentious for a second, [laughs] and refer to William Blake, the poet, the romantic poet who spoke of how children come into the world, innocent. They experience the horrors or challenges of the world and either they despair, because they see how hopeless life can be for some, or they achieve this state that Blake called, “organized innocence,” where we understand the darkness, but we choose the light. And that is what Season 6 is going to achieve for Royal Pains.”

Don’t you just adore Mark? He’s waxing poetic and quoting Blake, he’s giving spoilers, he’s praising the fans, he is about as nice, and friendly as celebrities come. And did I mention that he went to Princeton, earned a Fulbright Scholarship and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art so he’s mega smart.

Mark, Royal Pains has a very loyal fan base who are active on social media and on Royal Pains fan sites and chat boards. The most frequent comment that I’ve read is that fans are sad that the show is only on in the summer. They’ve had to wait 9 months for new episodes, so what can you say to your fans to calm them until the June 10 premiere?
“You’re so cute, I love the notion that they’re all addicts drooling on their couches, waiting for this premiere. And to soothe their hearts, I will say that it has seemed like forever for me too.

“It’s so cool that I get excited by what the story lines are going to be for the show. I’m still like, a kid on — I’d say Christmas but I should probably say Hanukkah — morning waiting for those scripts to find out what’s going to happen to Hank, and Divya, and Evan, Jeremiah, Paige and Russell and Boris and all of these amazing characters that these writers have created. And it still feels like that Season 6, and it’s very edifying to know the audience feels the same way, that they’re still chomping at the bit to find out what happens. Because without their interest, we’re nothing!”

Mark, do you mean that the show’s return to its light roots means the return of Medical MacGyver-isms?
“As we speak, the prop department is preparing one of my most intense MacGyvers of all time. We’re shooting tomorrow, one of my greatest medical capers (which should air in episode 5). It’s not necessarily using a bench or a fishing line or pulleys on a boat to pull a spear out of a man as I once did by video-conference. But it will be the most almost insane medical save I’ve ever done. It involves some gloves, some tubes and some tape and with that, I will return a very tough guy back to his former glory.”


Poll: What is Your Favorite Royal Pains Medical MacGyver-ism??


Yay for MacGyver! That is one of my favorite parts of the show. What about guest stars? Will anyone posh be popping over to The Hamptons this summer?
“There are some cameos, but I’m not at liberty to disclose those. I’m going to say that we’re going to have amazing cameos from our sister networks like Bravo and E!. We find ourselves this season, being extremely cameo friendly, so some of your favorite reality-show characters will be popping up. As you can expect in the crazy world of The Hamptons and HankMed.”

When we last saw Hank at the end of Season 5, he had left Jeremiah in charge of HankMed to attend to Boris as he seeks treatment for his medical maladies around the world. Has absence made their hearts grow fonder? What’s in store for this friendship?
It’s a good question. It seems like the tension that was left in the lurch by Symphony, the Symphony Hospital chain that wants to acquire HankMed, and the bad blood that was left between them, remains. There might be some competition for HankMed out on the South Fork and that will prompt some big executive moves on the part of Jeremiah, Evan and Hank. But I think it’s safe to say that Jeremiah and Hank will be the bigger men and allow that tension to be replaced by other, new challenges.

I’ve heard that two new characters will play big roles this season. Care to share?
There’s a new young actress by the name of Willa Fitzgerald who recently graduated from Yale undergrad and she is fantastic. She is like a great discovery of an actress and we’re so happy to have her matriculating into our little family. We have also had Donna Murphy, who was brilliant in the King in I on Broadway years ago and has been on The Good Wife. She has been brilliant as an intriguing liaison related to Boris’ man of mystery exploits in Europe.

So there you have it folks.  Royal Pains is back just the way fans like it.  Enjoy this LOL preview of the new season.