A Little Mentalist Trivia
Up for a little trivia? How many of these interesting “knowledge nuggets” are new to you?
Did you know…
The first seven minutes of the opening of The Mentalist has Jane living vicariously through a character named June who kills the man who killed her daughter, just as he would like to do.
The original term Mentalist came from Harry Houdini. Harry Houdini disliked mediums and psychics.
Bruno Heller wanted a Cary Grant type actor for the role of Patrick Jane because he saw the role as needing someone with “grace - physical and spiritual grace.”
From the series pilot until the Red John reveal, there was a redhead (other than Van Pelt) in every episode.
Every episode from the pilot until the Red John reveal had a reference to or the word Red in it’s title.
From the Red John reveal episode until the end of the series, the five original series characters never said the name Red John again.
Lapsang souchong, the tea that Patrick Jane likes to drink, is a type of black tea originating from China. Black tea is called "hong cha" in Chinese, which translates literally to "red tea."
The throw on the back of Jane’s couch at the CBI is a tribute to Simon Baker’s Aussie roots, displaying stylized boomerangs.
Of the five original lead actors of the show, Tim Kang (Kimball Cho) is the only one who is from California, the show's primary setting. Simon Baker (Patrick Jane) is from Tasmania, Australia; Robin Tunney (Teresa Lisbon) is from Illinois; Owain Yeoman (Wayne Rigsby) is from Wales, UK and Amanda Righetti (Grace Van Pelt) is from Utah.
The show has included several real life family members of the cast: Owain Yeoman's (Wayne Rigsby) then wife, Lucy Davis, appeared in the episode The Mentalist: 18-5-4 (2010) as Daphne Valiquette, while Simon Baker’s (Patrick Jane) then wife, Rebecca Rigg, daughter, Stella Baker and sons, Claude and Harry, have all made appearances. Rebecca appeared in The Mentalist: A Dozen Red Roses (2009) as Felicia Scott; Claude and Harry appeared in The Mentalist: Red Sails in the Sunset (2012) and Stella appeared in The Mentalist: The Greybar Hotel (2014), as the Angry Inmate.
Charlotte Jane, the daughter of Patrick Jane, received her name from producer Bruno Heller's father, who wrote Hush, Hush, Sweet CHARLOTTE, and What ever Happened to Baby JANE.
The CBI headquarters are housed in a historic Los Angeles building. The Pico House serves as the fictional CBI headquarters on the show. The building was erected in the late 1800s by the last governor of California under Mexican rule. It was the first grand hotel in L.A.
Patrick Jane's personal car is an early 1970s model Citroën DS, manufactured in France from 1955-75, and sold in the U.S. from 1956-72. The DS was the first mass production car to offer hydropneumatic self-leveling suspension with an option for the driver to manually raise or lower the chassis at the push of a button. The Citroën DS 20 he drives is the same one Rupert Giles drives in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Baker gifted the famous car to the French TV channel TF1 to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2015. As it turns out, they love "The Mentalist" in France, too.
41 actors who appeared in the Baker-led The Guardian TV series appeared on The Mentalist including: Michael Gaston (Gale Bertram), Charles Malik Whitfield (Cole Ruger), Raphael Sbarge (Hollis Dunninger), Denise Dowd (Detective Carla Mulvey), Johnny Sneed (Byron Jordan), John Rubenstein (Judge Manchester)
The Mentalist wasn’t the first time Simon Baker (Patrick Jane) and Pruitt Taylor Vince (J.J. Laroche) appeared together. They shared billing in the 1998 indie film “Love From Ground Zero.” A diner scene from the movie was recreated in the Mentalist as a throw-back to the movie.
Xander Berkeley, who plays Sheriff MacAllister, and Simon Baker's daughter Stella later played father and daughter in The Republic of Sarah (2021).
The only actor in the first six seasons, with one exception, to have the word "red" in his name, frontwards or backwards, is Xander (xan-DER) Berkeley, the actor who played Sheriff MacAllister. This is reported to be on purpose as one of the reasons he was chosen to be Red John.
Red John's right-hand man, Oscar Cordero (Cor-DER-o) and his right-hand woman, Rebecca Anderson (an-DER-son) are the only two characters ever on The Mentalist with the word "red" frontwards or backwards in their name except for the three characters named 'Xander,' who were named after the actor who played Sheriff MacAllister.
Robin Tunney is an accomplished Poker player as well as being an award winning actress. On June 28, 2006, Tunney won her table in the eighth tournament series of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, moving on to the final table. The finale aired on July 5, 2006, where she finished second to Jason Alexander, earning $200,000 for her charity of choice, The Children's Health Fund. In August 2006, Tunney played in the World Series of Poker after having her entrance fee covered by the online cardroom PokerRoom.com.
Tim Kang was living a whole different life before he started acting.
Before he caught his big break as Agent Kimball Cho, Kang was working in a totally different industry—he was putting his BS in Political Science from Berkley to use at the Pacific Exchange, a regional stock exchange in California. He later got an MFA from Harvard.
Owain Yeoman is in fact Welsh; he puts on the American accent he uses, which even fooled the other cast members, as he initially stayed in character, even when the cameras weren't rolling.
Actor/producer Amanda Righetti was named to Maxim Magazine's 10th Annual Hot 100 Celebration, Santa Monica, CA on May 13, 2009.
The youngest of eight children, at the age of 15 years old Amanda secured a role in one of the proposed series which was known as No Place Like Home. Righetti also starred in a Fox drama series known as Reunion. She went on to appear in a number of well-received roles in TV series such as: The O.C., and The Colony, and film roles in Friday the 13th and Captain America: The First Avenger.
Robin Tunney and Rockman Dunbar both appeared in seasons one and two of Prison Break (2005-2006).
Simon Baker was named TV Guides Sexiest Man Alive in 2009 and a second time in 2013 according to TV viewers in France.
Rockmond Dunbar was named one of TV Guide's 50 Sexiest Stars of All Time. The actor played FBI Agent Dennis Abbott in the series, which he joined in 2013. He's also known for his work on Soul Food, Prison Break, and The Game.
Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis (Madeleine Hightower) made her professional acting debut in 1995 in a Broadway revival of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. You might recognize her from Men of Honor, Ray and the Taking of Pelham 123.
The Mentalist was Joe Adler’s big break into television. Playing the computer savvy but a little socially awkward Jason Wylie on the show, he went on to have major roles in Grey’s Anatomy and Maze Runner among other productions.
Pedro Pascal (Marcus Pike) and Emily Swallow (Kim Fischer) both went on to star in the Mandolorian.
Josie Loren (Michelle Vega) joined the cast as FBI agent Michelle Vega in season 7. Tom Szentgyorgyi (executive producer of The Mentalist) called her the day before she started shooting the very first episode to let her know what was in store for Vega, and in that phone call, he also laid out her storyline for Vega the actress revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. "So I knew everything that was going to happen before I stepped on the set." ...but the rest of the cast was totally blindsided.
Nor were they happy about the plot twist, according to executive producer Tom Szentgyorgyi: "A number [of castmembers] came up to me and said, 'Do we really need to do this?'" Alas, Vega was killed in a shoot-out in February of the final season.
Josie Loren was voted one of the 50 Sexiest Singles by OK! magazine in 2010. With her impressive filmography, she retired from acting in 2015 to study law, graduating from LMU Law school in 2019.
Simon Baker received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013...
The Mentalist was in its fifth season. It was presented to him by Bruno Heller (the show's executive producer) and Naomi Watts on Valentine's Day. He made sure to thank his co-star Robin Tunney, saying she made going to work every day a "joy." And even teared up thanking his friends for inspiring him with their work and his wife and family for their support.
‘The Mentalist' won several major awards. During its 7-season run on television, the show took home well-deserved trophies, including a People's Choice Award for "Favourite New TV Drama" in its first season. Baker himself was nominated for several Golden Globes, SAG, and Emmy Awards for his acting:
Awards
2010 - Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama - Nominated
2010 - Australian Film Institute Awards - International Award for Best Actor - Nominated
2009 - Emmy - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - Nominated
2009 - People's Choice Awards - Favourite New TV Drama - Winner
On May 10th, 2014, the series was renewed for a seventh season. However, it was also announced that the episode order was limited to 13 episodes. The series ended on February 18, 2015 with a two-hour finale.