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In accordance with NBCUniversal's Green is Universal initiative, productions are encouraged to adopt as many green practices as possible, and the new series "Deception" is doing exactly that. "Whatever we can do, we do," says line producer Craig McNeil. "If we can avoid using bottled water we do it. We don't have bottled water in our office. We recycle all our cans. We do biodiesel when we can get it. We electronically transmit everything that we can," he says, noting that all office correspondence is sent that way, as are scripts, with the exception "of one or two people who can't tolerate them," and those single-sided scripts are cut up and turned into note pads. Plates and utensils at craft services are biodegradable," he adds.

 

"Deception" shoots in New York, and was impacted by Superstorm Sandy. "It was pretty tough. We shut down for three days. We're finally up on our feet again," confides McNeil. "We were quite fortunate. We had a little bit of damage to one of our sets but that was it."

 

In the thriller surrounding the death of a socialite, Laz Alonso plays the FBI agent that sends his former partner (Meagan Good), who was the victim's best friend and is now an NYPD detective, to go undercover to investigate this danger-fraught situation. It's complicated by the fact that he's still very much in love with her. "I get to play a lot of emotions and the insecurities and the feelings that a lot of us have at times. This character's given me the opportunity to show some real human emotions and how he deals with it to the world when he's forced to."

 

Despite the fact that he played law enforcement officers in his last two series, "Southland" and "Breakout Kings," he found the "page-turner" script of "Deception" too good to pass up. It meant moving from Los Angeles to New York, but he's loving everything about it. "Of course I miss the sunshine and the warmth, especially at this time of year, but it's great. New York is just a great mix of intelligence and people that are politically savvy. The city itself is a character in the show. I'm getting to the point where I need the noise that New York offers. When I'm on set and it's a closed set it's too quiet," he laughs.

 

Alonso drives a Prius but he's left it behind in L.A. "I'm on foot a lot in New York. I rediscovered the joy of walking. In L.A. you kind of forget that," he says. "I got a little foldable grocery cart and I walk to the grocery store."

 

 

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