IGN TV: What has it been like joining the cast this season?
Chris Lowell: It's been pretty good. To be honest with you, I was really pretty nervous about joining a cast third season in, but they've all been super welcoming, incredibly kind. Because you never know with TV shows. People typically, by their third season, are in their cliques; everyone's hooked up with everybody. But no, it's a very clean, good group of people, so I'm happy.

IGN TV: Recently we've seen Piz help out Veronica a bit more with her cases. Might we see more of that coming up?
Lowell: I think so. I think this season's a lot more about sort of the vulnerabilities and limitations that she has. I think she's not as strong as she was in high school. It's a whole different ball game for her. So I think she relies on her friends a lot more than she used to, which is pretty cool.

IGN TV: When you were introduced, there was talk you might be a potential love interest. With Veronica and Logan having just broken up, it seems there might be more of a chance there for Piz.
Lowell: I hope so! I mean, if I don't end up getting it on with Veronica, I'm gonna at least gonna get it on with Logan. That's all I want. One or the other! No, I think things are looking good. I think the cogs are turning. We'll see what happens.

IGN TV: There is a certain sect of Veronica/Lo'an fans who are a little rabid?
Lowell: Let me tell you, I keep waiting for like a frickin'? An envelope of anthrax or something from a fan. I mean these people are crazy obsessed. But the producers came to me, and they're like, "Look, you need to know when you sign on, there's gonna be a lot of people who are probably going to hate you. Our hope is that you'll be charming enough that they won't hate you so much." So we'll see. To be honest with you, I'm probably the biggest fan of Logan and Veronica. I think them being together this past season has been really fun and some cool things have come from it. But I think some cool things will come from them not being together.

IGN TV: Can you talk a bit about the main mystery on the show right now, with the Dean's death?
Lowell: I think what you're going to see a lot of is, yeah, trying to figure out the murder of the Dean. There's gonna be some tough decisions to be made between some of the core cast. I think there's going to be a lot of ethical challenges for a lot of them, which I think is going to be a really interesting dynamic. Not everyone's as pure as they seem. So that should be fun.

IGN TV: Not saying whether it will happen for sure or not, but would you like to see a bit of the dark side of Piz? So far he's been a pretty light character.
Lowell: Yeah! I'd like to see Piz get kind of crazy. You know for a long time, I was really hoping they were gonna make me the rapist. But they wouldn't. So then I wanted to get raped, so they would cut my hair. But that wouldn't happen either. They don't listen to me! So I don't know what's gonna happen.

IGN TV: Well, your hair looks a little less shaggy than before.
Lowell: Yeah. I'm slowly working towards it, you know?

IGN TV: It's a large cast, and some of the characters aren't so associated with Piz, like Keith and Weevil. Have you gotten to work with them more?
Lowell: I'm very excited actually. Next week, we're shooting episode 16, and I get several scenes with Enrico [Colantoni] as Keith, which I'm so excited about. Off screen he and I are pretty good buds. He's a great guy. I haven't had any scenes yet with Weevil, but I'm sure they'll cook something up.

IGN TV: How's Kristen to work with?
Lowell: It's like handling a pit viper, you know what I mean? They can kill you, but at the same time, they just sort of like get you all wrapped up and poisoned. I don't know. It's awesome!

IGN TV: If things don't work out with Piz and Veronica, are there any other options you think? You mentioned Logan, but Mac's around too?
Lowell: You know what, my first choice is Logan. That's my only choice. If there's anyone else out there, I can be with on the show, it would be Logan Echolls.

IGN TV: Have you pitched that to [executive producer] Rob Thomas?
Lowell: Several times. To no avail.

IGN TV: Was it surprising for you to hear they were going to switch to smaller, more self-contained mysteries?
Lowell: Not really. I think it was the logical step on their part. I think the reality of most television these days is you have to expect that viewers are going to jump in, three episodes or five episodes in, so you've got to be prepared for it. I think they've done a really good job of keeping the mysteries kind of fluid, so it's not like each episode is the end of whatever the big mystery is. It's a very fluid motion, so far. I think it's gonna hold its own.

IGN TV: The episode "Spit & Eggs" was your first time working with Rob as a director. How was that?
Lowell: Painless. It really was painless. It was a lot of fun. What I really like about working with Rob -- aside from the fact that he knows the show better than anyone, because he created it -- is he's unbelievably prepared. When he shows up on set, he knows exactly what shots he wants. He knows exactly what lines he wants in that shot. Just everything? It was one of the most fluid shoots. It was a really tough shoot, because we had a ton of extras shooting at a really tough location. But he made it work. He's very focused.

IGN TV: How early did you know who the rapist would be?
Lowell: The day I read that script. I'll tell you something else - That's how early the rapist knew they were the rapist! They keep everything from us. I mean you guys are always telling us, "Without giving anything away?" I've got nothing to give away! I don't know who killed the Dean. I don't know anything! It's pathetic. I'm embarrassed. I almost wish I had a fake answer that I could potentially give to you guys, but I don't.

IGN TV: So you really thought, "Maybe I'll turn out to be the rapist," when you read the script?
Lowell: Yeah, absolutely. The cast will get together and sort of make their guesses. In fact, I think last season they were taking bets. And this year, it was a big twist, because there was two people. So I was dead set on it being Moe. I was convinced. But I didn't win, because it wasn't just Moe. It was Moe and Mercer. You can't win 'em all! But that's all we know. We only know when we read them what's gonna happen.

IGN TV: We just heard how Paul Rudd is going to be on episode 17.
Lowell: I'm so excited for that! I get a lot of scenes with Paul. I was traveling. I was in Korea, and I get this email from Dan Etheridge, who's a producer, who's also directing that episode. He's like, "We got some good news man. You get to have some rock scenes with Paul Rudd." I was like, "Can't wait!" I'm pretty excited. It should be a lot of fun.

IGN TV: Your character has his own radio show. Are you musically inclined?
Lowell: Yeah, big time, big time. I love music. I was so excited when they gave me the radio show. In fact, the story I told, which didn't spark the plot, but I guess it helped Rob liking me and casting me, is that this past summer, I went on a road trip with a friend of mine. We drove from Atlanta to Montreal and back, with only $200.00 in a cookie jar. And we had instruments, so we'd just pull into any town and play music in the street, or we'd go to bars and ask them to give us money or free drinks or free food [for playing]. And that's how we made it. Took us a month and a half to do it. So music's a real big part of my life, so it was a lot of fun to kind of make that transition on the show.

© by Eric Goldman/ IGN.com