Sign in or 
Share this
Interview James Van Praagh
411's Tony Farinella sits down with the co-executive producer of Ghost Whisperer and Spirit Communicator, James Van Praagh
It goes without saying that James Van Praagh knows a thing or two about communicating with spirits. His job is to help people who are having a tough time dealing with their emotions and feelings after the death of a loved one. On his offical website, James says the following, "I'm clairsentient," he explains, "which simply means clear feeling. I feel the emotions and personalities of the deceased. I am also clairvoyant," he adds, clarifying that, "the first is feeling, the second is seeing, very much like Whoopi Goldberg
in the movie, Ghost." James is also an executive producer on the hit show, Ghost Whisperer. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing James to discuss the recent DVD release of the Second Season of Ghost Whisperer. After interviewing James, I'm a believer. If you would like more information on James and his background, please go to his offical website at www.vanpraagh.com
TONY: How do you feel the changes in Season Two of Ghost Whisperer have benefited the show?
JAMES: Well, I think that the audience was able to be more brought into the mythology of the show and of the town of Grandview and of the characters and become more brought into the personal life of Melinda Gordon and her husband. It's really a part of it. The mythology of the whole series began to really take whole.
TONY: What has Jennifer Love Hewitt brought to the show from day one?
JAMES: She brought a sense of truthfulness, and I think she brought a sense of amusement and fun to the show. And I think a lot of that is who she really is. And I think that innocence, it just brings that sense of being real and genuine, and people can really relate to that. And that's who she is in life, too. She's just very loving and fun. She's a fun girl. She also brings a seriousness to it as well. So, that's what I think. It's the innocent part of it.
TONY: One of my favorite episodes from Season Two of Ghost Whisperer is the Autistic episode. How did you guys prepare for that episode?
JAMES: That was an interesting issue, the Autistic episode, because when you do serious issues like that, there are a lot of people that you have to answer to. You have network people, you have studio people, and it's a big issue out there. So, we had to be very, very careful. And we did the show about that, but we also wanted to touch on issues like that for people to start thinking. And my main focus was that once you're out of the physical body, you're a spirit and how does that physical ailment change when you're a spirit? And that was difficult, because what is it like for an autistic person or a mentally handicap person to be like when they're dead? And, really, they're perfect souls. Melinda Gordon in that episode says, "They're perfect once they leave the body." But there's strong memories of the old behavior and the old way they were. It was a little difficult transitioning the two types of things ... helping someone who never understood about communication and on one level being able to communicate now that they're dead, it was a little difficult, as you can imagine.
TONY: Another one of my favorite episodes from Season Two is the episode about domestic abuse. Was it hard to prepare for that episode?
JAMES: One thing about Ghost Whisperer, which really has helped with its success I believe, is that we do touch on very emotional and very real subjects that are out there. It's so funny and ironic, because of the show, which people don't think about ghosts every day and that ghosts haunt people and that ghosts are earth bound, but they're all around us. Spirits are always around us. The reason I like the show is because there's an emotional pull and there's some realistic things that go on here. It's realism, and it's really kind of reflecting what's going on in society and the issues that are going on in society. And we have to do that. We have a responsibility to do that as well. And to make the show as real as possible, we have to bring issues in like that, like abuse and so forth. It's a sticky issue, because, again, you don't want to offend people, but at the same time, you want to educate people and you want to have the emotional pull. And one thing with Jennifer Love Hewitt, she's so wonderfully able to convey that sense of empathy and that sense of caring and compassion in a situation like that. It really, really does help. It's really through her, I think.
TONY: Ghost Whisperer is about to enter its Third Season on CBS after doing very well in its first two seasons. What do you think is the main demographic for your show? Teens? Families? Or is it really a show for everyone?
JAMES: Everybody does know. It's across the board. When we first started out, it was usually a little bit of an older crowd, probably 25-55 with the First Season. And then it's gotten really, really big now with the younger crowd of 18 to 35, and it's remained that way. And the funny thing is, not only did the demo change from 18 to 35, but now we have more male viewers watching than ever before. This isn't really a male show, per se. As a joke, we call it Boob Whisperer, because we think the men watch just for that. Maybe at the beginning they did, but then they got sucked into the story and the emotion. And I think they like it. I just got back from a tour in Australia, and I can't tell you how many people came up to me, at a seminar I did, who love this show. And it was a lot of men in the audience that came up to me and said, "Thank you for doing the show. It's a spiritual show. It's something which is new on television that's hitting on these emotional levels, so thank you." So, a lot of people out there do want this. And personally, I've noticed in my workshops, after the show premiered, that I have a lot more males in my audience, which is very interesting.
TONY: Why did you decide to abandon the ghost rules?
JAMES: I initiated the ghost rules at the very beginning, because I wanted to be fair to the audience. I wanted to make this show as honest as possible when you depict the ghost world and what it's like with spirits. I know it's a television show, but I'm also a teacher, and I educate people. And when I developed the show, it was something that I wanted to use as a vehicle to teach people about spiritual things. It's a show and it's to entertain people, but you can also entertain people and teach them as well. When we wanted to do that with the First Season with ghost rules, we really wanted the lineation between the physical world and that of the ghost world. And that could have been just because it was the First Season, and we really wanted to orientate the audience about ghosts and about what they were about. We really wanted to orientate them on what they were capable of doing and what they were not capable of doing. We were very strict as far as the First Season and that the ghosts can't touch the person or the ghost can only influence them so much. And then we found in the Second Season that we ran into a problem as far as writing the show that the ghost rules really held us back in many, many respects. And we wanted to make it look more exciting and a little bit more scary, so we had to slowly dissolve the ghost rules, which I was fine with, because once people understood what they can and can't do, I think people got it. We really didn't need that many more and now it opens it up to doing a lot more different types of stories. Plus, visually, we can do other things as well.
TONY: I really like how Ghost Whisperer shows how hard it is to maintain friendships when you have this gift. Personally, have you found it hard to maintain friendships?
JAMES: Yes and no. Being of medium or a physic, I find that I'm very intuitive, so I know right away where a person is coming from. I know if they're truthful or not truthful. At the same time, you have to realize that you have people who are there just to be around your ability. They're not genuine friends. They just want to see what you can do for them or how you can help them or whatever it is. I've run into that. Then there's the third group of people who think you're weird. I've had that my whole life, people thinking I'm weird, so that doesn't bother me whatsoever, because I know my truth. And that's where I come from, so that hasn't bothered me. One thing I will tell you, it's hard for me to be around a lot of people, because I'm too sensitive, so it's hard for me to be around a lot of people.
TONY: I know this is probably a common question, but how do you deal with naysayers and non-believes? I mean, you really believe in this, and certain people just stomp on your dream.
JAMES: Really, Tony, you have to do this work for the work and for the overall picture
. And the overall picture is to really change the conciseness of the planet. And I believe that. Not only this show, but my books, movies, and TV, it reaches millions and millions of people. And I believe in the rippling effect. And it will change the conciseness. It already has, because shows like this are much more readily available now and successful, too. More and more people are coming out and saying, "I had this type of experience. I know about these things. I feel this way. I thought about someone and five minutes later the phone rang, and it was that person." They have telepathic, if you will, experiences. It's much, much more common. I never get caught up in the negativity or the "prove it" aspects or "this isn't real." Because for me, it is real. And for millions and millions of other people who've had these experiences, it is real. So, what good would it be doing negating anything? I really believe there are many paths to the light, and this is my path. And if people want to see it and be a part of it, then I welcome them aboard. It's a present to give out. And if they don't, they have that right. I also believe that everybody should be skeptical of these things, but open-minded skepticism. Not close-minded, because if you're close-minded, you're a cynic. And that's very different. When you're close-minded, you also don't learn, because you've already made up your mind. And we're here on this planet really to learn. This is our school room. So, really, that's what I say about that.
TONY: Your job seems really draining and really emotional at times. Do you ever need a vacation from it and just want some alone time?
JAMES: Oh, yeah. Are you kidding? (laughs) Every day. I live down in Laguna Beach, and I'm really California. And I'm really happy about that, because I live in a place surrounding the ocean, and I have a beautiful garden here. I really find that this is my place that I recharge. I love to garden. I just love it, and it recharges me. I love the ocean and going swimming and going surfing. It just recharges me there, too. I've learned over the years, and I've been doing this 20 years, how to protect myself. And I've learned how not to run my energy down and how to be around people who are helping me and powering me instead of just bringing me down. It's something you have to learn and go through, but I'm good with it. I'm pretty balanced.
TONY: I'm sure it's hard to put into words, but how does it feel to make that connection with someone?
JAMES: That's a very good question. That's a really, really good question, and I I haven't been asked that in many years. The reason I do this work is because of the energy that I feel. I was working once at Paramount doing contracts for shows and making a lot of money, and I gave that up to doing readings full-time, where I wasn't getting paid practically anything. But I'll tell you the thing that made me do those readings, it was because I saw the instant change over the person. When you can help that person understand their loved ones who have passed in a different light and understand what the reasoning is behind the life they have led and to bring up issues about forgiveness and about abuse and so forth and you make the person deal with this right in front of you and you see that sense of forgiveness with their loved ones, it's incredible. You've changed their life. And, also, if I can alleviate anybody's fear of death and make them live life, that's a very powerful thing. It's a very powerful thing. And that's my job. My job is to teach the masses that there is no such thing as death ... there's only life. When you start taking away the fear of death, you truly do begin to live life.
TONY: What's the biggest misconception about death?
JAMES: Number 1, there is no such thing as death. There really isn't. It's a natural experience. It's funny, because of Ghost Whisper, the ghosts who stay earth bound are those who don't realize that they're dead, because it is such a natural process that we're out of the body, that people don't realize it. They expect this big thing to happen. They're very, very much aware. People have had near-death experiences and have come back to talk about them and explain what it's like and how you have this sense of peacefulness. There's a tunnel or a light, and you're drawn to this incredible sense of love and peacefulness, that most of them don't want to come back.
TONY: I'm sure it's hard to pick just one case, because you've been doing this for such a long time, but do you have a particular case that really sticks with you?
JAMES: This happened this week, so I can tell you about that, because it's the most recent one in my mind. It was pretty wild. People say to me, "Aren't you kind of jaded? You've heard so many of these readings, and you get so many spirit messages and so forth. Aren't you just tired of it and jaded? And I say to them, "No, because it's like a miracle. Every single individual is new to me, and every experience is new to me." And I think it's incredible to hear these things, because we're going through interdimensional communication here. So, a lady called me this week whose daughter hung herself. She committed suicide. It was a good friend of mine, and I went to her house to try and help the mother. And I gave her a message, several messages, and she understood most of them. But there was one message in particular that she really understood. I said, "Well, Daisy is there to greet her." I said, "Does that make sense to you?" She started crying, and she said, "Oh, my god. Daisy, Daisy ... Daisy is her cat." It was her favorite animal. She goes, "She loved that animal. She gave more love to that animal than any human being." And she goes, "James, I want to cremate her and put her ashes in with Daisy's ashes." That just happened two days ago, so it's fresh on my mind. Stuff like that on that level, you can image the impact that has. It shows that she knows her daughter is OK, and it shows her daughter was met by loving people and animals. And that she'll be alright. That helps the mother also with her grieving.
TONY: Finally, what are your plans for the future?
JAMES: I'm writing a book right now called Ghosts Among Us, which comes out in May. It's really good about how you should be aware of ghosts around you every single day. It's coming out in May. So, Ghosts Among Us, it will be a big hit.
It goes without saying that James Van Praagh knows a thing or two about communicating with spirits. His job is to help people who are having a tough time dealing with their emotions and feelings after the death of a loved one. On his offical website, James says the following, "I'm clairsentient," he explains, "which simply means clear feeling. I feel the emotions and personalities of the deceased. I am also clairvoyant," he adds, clarifying that, "the first is feeling, the second is seeing, very much like Whoopi Goldberg
in the movie, Ghost." James is also an executive producer on the hit show, Ghost Whisperer. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing James to discuss the recent DVD release of the Second Season of Ghost Whisperer. After interviewing James, I'm a believer. If you would like more information on James and his background, please go to his offical website at www.vanpraagh.comTONY: How do you feel the changes in Season Two of Ghost Whisperer have benefited the show?
JAMES: Well, I think that the audience was able to be more brought into the mythology of the show and of the town of Grandview and of the characters and become more brought into the personal life of Melinda Gordon and her husband. It's really a part of it. The mythology of the whole series began to really take whole.
TONY: What has Jennifer Love Hewitt
brought to the show from day one?JAMES: She brought a sense of truthfulness, and I think she brought a sense of amusement and fun to the show. And I think a lot of that is who she really is. And I think that innocence, it just brings that sense of being real and genuine, and people can really relate to that. And that's who she is in life, too. She's just very loving and fun. She's a fun girl. She also brings a seriousness to it as well. So, that's what I think. It's the innocent part of it.
TONY: One of my favorite episodes from Season Two of Ghost Whisperer is the Autistic episode. How did you guys prepare for that episode?
JAMES: That was an interesting issue, the Autistic episode, because when you do serious issues like that, there are a lot of people that you have to answer to. You have network people, you have studio people, and it's a big issue out there. So, we had to be very, very careful. And we did the show about that, but we also wanted to touch on issues like that for people to start thinking. And my main focus was that once you're out of the physical body, you're a spirit and how does that physical ailment change when you're a spirit? And that was difficult, because what is it like for an autistic person or a mentally handicap person to be like when they're dead? And, really, they're perfect souls. Melinda Gordon in that episode says, "They're perfect once they leave the body." But there's strong memories of the old behavior and the old way they were. It was a little difficult transitioning the two types of things ... helping someone who never understood about communication and on one level being able to communicate now that they're dead, it was a little difficult, as you can imagine.
TONY: Another one of my favorite episodes from Season Two is the episode about domestic abuse. Was it hard to prepare for that episode?
JAMES: One thing about Ghost Whisperer, which really has helped with its success I believe, is that we do touch on very emotional and very real subjects that are out there. It's so funny and ironic, because of the show, which people don't think about ghosts every day and that ghosts haunt people and that ghosts are earth bound, but they're all around us. Spirits are always around us. The reason I like the show is because there's an emotional pull and there's some realistic things that go on here. It's realism, and it's really kind of reflecting what's going on in society and the issues that are going on in society. And we have to do that. We have a responsibility to do that as well. And to make the show as real as possible, we have to bring issues in like that, like abuse and so forth. It's a sticky issue, because, again, you don't want to offend people, but at the same time, you want to educate people and you want to have the emotional pull. And one thing with Jennifer Love Hewitt, she's so wonderfully able to convey that sense of empathy and that sense of caring and compassion in a situation like that. It really, really does help. It's really through her, I think.
TONY: Ghost Whisperer is about to enter its Third Season on CBS
after doing very well in its first two seasons. What do you think is the main demographic for your show? Teens? Families? Or is it really a show for everyone?JAMES: Everybody does know. It's across the board. When we first started out, it was usually a little bit of an older crowd, probably 25-55 with the First Season. And then it's gotten really, really big now with the younger crowd of 18 to 35, and it's remained that way. And the funny thing is, not only did the demo change from 18 to 35, but now we have more male viewers watching than ever before. This isn't really a male show, per se. As a joke, we call it Boob Whisperer, because we think the men watch just for that. Maybe at the beginning they did, but then they got sucked into the story and the emotion. And I think they like it. I just got back from a tour in Australia, and I can't tell you how many people came up to me, at a seminar I did, who love this show. And it was a lot of men in the audience that came up to me and said, "Thank you for doing the show. It's a spiritual show. It's something which is new on television that's hitting on these emotional levels, so thank you." So, a lot of people out there do want this. And personally, I've noticed in my workshops, after the show premiered, that I have a lot more males in my audience, which is very interesting.
TONY: Why did you decide to abandon the ghost rules?
JAMES: I initiated the ghost rules at the very beginning, because I wanted to be fair to the audience. I wanted to make this show as honest as possible when you depict the ghost world
and what it's like with spirits. I know it's a television show, but I'm also a teacher, and I educate people. And when I developed the show, it was something that I wanted to use as a vehicle to teach people about spiritual things. It's a show and it's to entertain people, but you can also entertain people and teach them as well. When we wanted to do that with the First Season with ghost rules, we really wanted the lineation between the physical world and that of the ghost world. And that could have been just because it was the First Season, and we really wanted to orientate the audience about ghosts and about what they were about. We really wanted to orientate them on what they were capable of doing and what they were not capable of doing. We were very strict as far as the First Season and that the ghosts can't touch the person or the ghost can only influence them so much. And then we found in the Second Season that we ran into a problem as far as writing the show that the ghost rules really held us back in many, many respects. And we wanted to make it look more exciting and a little bit more scary, so we had to slowly dissolve the ghost rules, which I was fine with, because once people understood what they can and can't do, I think people got it. We really didn't need that many more and now it opens it up to doing a lot more different types of stories. Plus, visually, we can do other things as well.TONY: I really like how Ghost Whisperer shows how hard it is to maintain friendships when you have this gift. Personally, have you found it hard to maintain friendships?
JAMES: Yes and no. Being of medium or a physic, I find that I'm very intuitive, so I know right away where a person is coming from. I know if they're truthful or not truthful. At the same time, you have to realize that you have people who are there just to be around your ability. They're not genuine friends. They just want to see what you can do for them or how you can help them or whatever it is. I've run into that. Then there's the third group of people who think you're weird. I've had that my whole life, people thinking I'm weird, so that doesn't bother me whatsoever, because I know my truth. And that's where I come from, so that hasn't bothered me. One thing I will tell you, it's hard for me to be around a lot of people, because I'm too sensitive, so it's hard for me to be around a lot of people.
TONY: I know this is probably a common question, but how do you deal with naysayers and non-believes? I mean, you really believe in this, and certain people just stomp on your dream.
JAMES: Really, Tony, you have to do this work for the work and for the overall picture
. And the overall picture is to really change the conciseness of the planet. And I believe that. Not only this show, but my books, movies, and TV, it reaches millions and millions of people. And I believe in the rippling effect. And it will change the conciseness. It already has, because shows like this are much more readily available now and successful, too. More and more people are coming out and saying, "I had this type of experience. I know about these things. I feel this way. I thought about someone and five minutes later the phone rang, and it was that person." They have telepathic, if you will, experiences. It's much, much more common. I never get caught up in the negativity or the "prove it" aspects or "this isn't real." Because for me, it is real. And for millions and millions of other people who've had these experiences, it is real. So, what good would it be doing negating anything? I really believe there are many paths to the light, and this is my path. And if people want to see it and be a part of it, then I welcome them aboard. It's a present to give out. And if they don't, they have that right. I also believe that everybody should be skeptical of these things, but open-minded skepticism. Not close-minded, because if you're close-minded, you're a cynic. And that's very different. When you're close-minded, you also don't learn, because you've already made up your mind. And we're here on this planet really to learn. This is our school room. So, really, that's what I say about that.TONY: Your job seems really draining and really emotional at times. Do you ever need a vacation from it and just want some alone time?
JAMES: Oh, yeah. Are you kidding? (laughs) Every day. I live down in Laguna Beach, and I'm really California. And I'm really happy about that, because I live in a place surrounding the ocean, and I have a beautiful garden here. I really find that this is my place that I recharge. I love to garden. I just love it, and it recharges me. I love the ocean and going swimming and going surfing. It just recharges me there, too. I've learned over the years, and I've been doing this 20 years, how to protect myself. And I've learned how not to run my energy down and how to be around people who are helping me and powering me instead of just bringing me down. It's something you have to learn and go through, but I'm good with it. I'm pretty balanced.
TONY: I'm sure it's hard to put into words, but how does it feel to make that connection with someone?
JAMES: That's a very good question. That's a really, really good question, and I I haven't been asked that in many years. The reason I do this work is because of the energy that I feel. I was working once at Paramount doing contracts for shows and making a lot of money, and I gave that up to doing readings full-time, where I wasn't getting paid practically anything. But I'll tell you the thing that made me do those readings, it was because I saw the instant change over the person. When you can help that person understand their loved ones who have passed in a different light and understand what the reasoning is behind the life they have led and to bring up issues about forgiveness and about abuse and so forth and you make the person deal with this right in front of you and you see that sense of forgiveness with their loved ones, it's incredible. You've changed their life. And, also, if I can alleviate anybody's fear of death and make them live life, that's a very powerful thing. It's a very powerful thing. And that's my job. My job is to teach the masses that there is no such thing as death ... there's only life. When you start taking away the fear of death, you truly do begin to live life.
TONY: What's the biggest misconception about death?
JAMES: Number 1, there is no such thing as death. There really isn't. It's a natural experience. It's funny, because of Ghost Whisper, the ghosts who stay earth bound are those who don't realize that they're dead, because it is such a natural process that we're out of the body, that people don't realize it. They expect this big thing to happen. They're very, very much aware. People have had near-death experiences and have come back to talk about them and explain what it's like and how you have this sense of peacefulness. There's a tunnel or a light, and you're drawn to this incredible sense of love and peacefulness, that most of them don't want to come back.
TONY: I'm sure it's hard to pick just one case, because you've been doing this for such a long time, but do you have a particular case that really sticks with you?
JAMES: This happened this week, so I can tell you about that, because it's the most recent one in my mind. It was pretty wild. People say to me, "Aren't you kind of jaded? You've heard so many of these readings, and you get so many spirit messages and so forth. Aren't you just tired of it and jaded? And I say to them, "No, because it's like a miracle. Every single individual is new to me, and every experience is new to me." And I think it's incredible to hear these things, because we're going through interdimensional communication here. So, a lady called me this week whose daughter hung herself. She committed suicide. It was a good friend of mine, and I went to her house to try and help the mother. And I gave her a message, several messages, and she understood most of them. But there was one message in particular that she really understood. I said, "Well, Daisy is there to greet her." I said, "Does that make sense to you?" She started crying, and she said, "Oh, my god. Daisy, Daisy ... Daisy is her cat." It was her favorite animal. She goes, "She loved that animal. She gave more love to that animal than any human being." And she goes, "James, I want to cremate her and put her ashes in with Daisy's ashes." That just happened two days ago, so it's fresh on my mind. Stuff like that on that level, you can image the impact that has. It shows that she knows her daughter is OK, and it shows her daughter was met by loving people and animals. And that she'll be alright. That helps the mother also with her grieving.
TONY: Finally, what are your plans for the future?
JAMES: I'm writing a book right now called Ghosts Among Us, which comes out in May. It's really good about how you should be aware of ghosts around you every single day. It's coming out in May. So, Ghosts Among Us, it will be a big hit.
jdf08 |
Latest page update: made by jdf08
, Oct 10 2007, 6:33 PM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
JVP Interview
- jdf08
2846 words added 10 images added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
interview
More Info: links to this page
|
There are no threads for this page.
Be the first to start a new thread.
