James Roday is everywhere.
His on-screen character, Shawn Spencer, is the centerpiece of the USA Network hit show “Psych.” Roday plays Spencer, an exuberant police consultant who uses his powerful skills of observation to trick detectives into thinking he’s a psychic.
When a rift develops between Shawn and his father, Shawn resorts to random, dead-end jobs. He finds thrill by calling in tips to the police departments about cases he sees on television or reads about in the newspaper.
One of his tips comes too close to the truth and police arrest him, thinking he is an accomplice.
Shawn uses his charm and special skill to make police believe he is a fake psychic. The same qualities he uses to fool police prove useful to Shawn in solving cases.
“I think, to a certain extent, there is a part of all of us that wishes we could be Shawn, just because there’s nothing that stops this guy,” said Roday, who describes his personal life along a more narrower line. “What about life? What about planning? What about consequences? To not have to worry about any of that stuff is not something that most of us are capable of doing.”
On his own Roday is currently directing his second film, “Gravy,” a simple story that takes place over a Halloween night inside a restaurant “where some people come in at the end of the night, around closing time, and bolt the doors and take the remaining employees hostage and have some fun with them.”
The movie uses a small cast and shoots all on one location.
“We’re going to be in one place the whole time and a lot of this is going to be about directing actors and just making sure that other people are making sure that it looks good,” Roday said, almost reassuring himself, in a telephone interview last
summer. “I can do this. I can do this. This is the perfect sort of way to get started.”
Roday previously collaborated with two friends to create “Skinwalkers,” a horror film revolving around a 12-year-old boy and his mother who are targeted by two warring werewolf packs. The film is set for release next summer.
With “Psych” returning for its second season, Roday is enjoying success in acting and screenwriting.
“It’s one of those things where you finally are doing something that you believe in and that you feel good about … and then it’s just me becoming this giant set of crossed fingers, hoping that the rest of the country or people at home will appreciate what you’re doing, and so far they have,” said Roday.
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