Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 10:37:41 -0500 Cult TV on line http://www.futurenet.com/tvnet/ Pt 1
36 HOURS ON BABYLON 5 (unedited transcripts, I think recorded interviews)
Andreas Katsulas
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and crew? Well, the feeling amongst the Katsulases is that I'm not in it, nobody cares for me, and the hell with everything.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? Taking off the make-up.
What's the worse thing about Babylon 5? The constant fear about its future has been the most worrying thing about it.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? I can't answer that, because it's not just one, it's a lot of them.
What's your most embarrassing moment on Babylon 5? Oh, forgetting my lines.
Have you got another project you're working on? No.
Are you in the movies? No.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Well, just the fact that it's been a long run... It's the difference between a one-night stand with somebody or having a long-term affair where you really get to know each other. That's the advantage of having been four years in something, you become really intimate with the character.
You've worked in a lot of TV series and films, how does working on Babylon 5 compare with, say, Star Trek? That was what I was just trying to say.
You've heard that DS9 is introducing a story arc for it's final season. Do you think we'll see more story arcs now B5 has shown the way? Maybe, I don't know, maybe. I hadn't heard that.
What do you do to kill time when you're in your make-up chair? I go over the work for the day. Go over the lines.
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Bill Mumy
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among cast and crew? Gee, I can only tell you the feeling among me. I'm not in it [laughs] I get to stay home. I don't think it'll be the last episode, I don't think it's the end. I'm sure we'll be back, either for a fifth season or for more continued adventures of our little group, so I'm not going to say good-bye.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The best thing is knowing that you're contributing to quality entertainment that will endure for a long time and be remembered as one of the most ambitious and well done sci-fi television projects ever made.
What's the worse thing about Babylon 5? For me, the rough treatment on my skin, that's the worst. I mean, it's not the time spent in the make-up chair - actually, I've gotten used to that. And I enjoy being with Gab here and listening to music in the morning with my friends. It's not the time that it takes to become Lennier, it's the continued solvents on my skin. It's rough on my skin - that's the worst thing.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? Well, my favourite scene for Lennier, I think, is probably when he explodes in that kind of violent fury, lifts Marcus up off the air and confesses that he loves Delenn. There's a lot going on and you see so many different emotions in Lennier in that one scene... Basically, Lennier is a guy who always is really in control and keeps himself in check and is very Zen-like and he loses it completely in that scene. That's actually the only time in the series that we've ever seen Lennier lose it. So I like it for the explosiveness and the lack of control and then, of course, it's the most we've ever learned about his deepest innermost passion. So that would be my favourite scene for Lennier personally.
What was your most embarrassing moment on Babylon 5? We were in the middle of the third season, and it was in the summer, and it gets very hot out here. Very, very hot. Like 107 degrees. And we were filming some stuff on the White Star all day long with Claudia and myself. I can't even remember who else was there it's such a Claudia story. Claudia and I were standing next to each other in this scene. It was mid afternoon and she starts sniffing the air and making this really gross face like, 'What is that smell? What is that horrible smell?' and she sticks her nose here - [laughs] this sounds good in print, I'm sure - she sticks here nose in my bone, [laughs] and she goes, 'Oh God it's you. Your bone stinks, Billy! Your bone stinks'. I guess it had something to do with the fact that the rubber in my Minbari bone had intermingled with, I guess, the sweat and the heat and it was just bugging the heck out of her. She was sitting in front of everybody on the set going, 'Uh, Billy's bone really stinks!' So I actually brought in a bottle of cologne, and for the course of the next month or two I would spray my bone with cologne before ever working with Claudia. And I teased her about that. I suppose that was an embarrassing moment.
What's your next project? My next project? Well, I'm currently finishing up the Generators' second album - doing a bunch of voice-over stuff all week long. I think my next project will probably be a Babylon 5 project, but I'm not sure; and I have several new television series that I'm developing and creating and that I'm running around town frantically pitching all over Hollywood to sell. I just wrote the theme song to three TV Guide special television shows: TV Guide Looks At Sci-Fi, TV Guide Looks At Cop Shows and TV Guide Looks At Christmas.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Well there's not a very big crowd is there? I mean there's Star Trek and X-Files, which isn't really a future show, so it's a very small crowd. There's Voyager. There's Deep Space Nine. What else is there? That's a space show in the future that's an hour-long drama. They all stand out. As I said earlier, I think Babylon 5 is obviously one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken because it's, you know, like a novel as opposed to just week after week of alien stories or whatever. It's one big story. So I suppose that's what makes it stand out. I mean, I can't be objective. To me, I think it's got an incredible ensemble cast and Joe writes the stories really, really well. I guess what makes it unique is it's one man's vision and it's basically one man's project. There aren't a lot of other outside writers. From a production standpoint, I think it's very special that in our four seasons of filming this television series we've never had a forced call and every episode has been done on time. I think that's a testimony to an excellent production team.
We've heard that DS9 is about to introduce a story arc for its final season. Do you think we'll see more arcs now that B5 has shown the way? Well, yeah, probably. I don't know that it's because of Babylon 5. I mean it's not like an arc over the course of a season is something that Joe Straczynski created. Let's not go overboard here. I think it's great to see arcs carry through. I mean, in Space Cases, the sci-fi show on Nickelodeon that Peter David and I created, we definitely had an arc for the length of our series - actually we're talking to the Sci Fi Channel right now about doing a couple of Space Cases movies of the week. Yeah, I think it's a good thing - and if it's been inspired because of Joe's work here, or our work here, that's fine. I wouldn't get too possessive about inspiring somebody, you know, to have an arc over the course of a season. An arc over the course of a season isn't the same thing as an arc over the course of five years.
What do you do to kill time when you're in your make-up chair? I listen to music and I talk to my friends and I learn my lines.
What's the strangest thing that ever happened to you at a convention? I've had a lot of strange things happen to me at conventions. I had someone try to strangle me in an elevator once. I had death threats from a fan in a city hosting a convention I was appearing at, so I spent the whole weekend in a bullet-proof vest. I've had a lot of very bizarre people ask me to sign various parts of their body. It's a long, long list. Some very strange things can happen at conventions and in my younger days, before I was a married father guy, I used to stay up and party at those conventions pretty late, see the more Twilight Zone reality of sci-fi fandom.
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Bruce Boxleitner
You're about to film the last episode of season four what's the feeling among the cast and crew? I think it's bitter sweet. Yesterday we shot the last scene for Captain Sheridan and I had a lump in my throat, and I know Joe did too. And we did it in one take. It'll be several sequences, but the final line is in one take, and I never meant a line more in this entire show. So, you know, if and whenever this episode airs, be it the end of this season or the end of whatever season - let's be optimistic - it'll still be a very sad, sad thing. Amongst everyone else, there's a kind of ... we're in limbo again, as we were this time last year, but I think the stakes are much higher right now. Everyone is wondering where they'll go afterwards, and when we'll get the word either way. I think people made peace with it, made peace with it to like it. And all things do end. Everyone wants it to continue but if it is over we're just... we've been happy for the experience, I've certainly been happy for the experience.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The people. Bar none. You might have seen today, we're a wacky bunch, but a whole group of individuals [laughs]. I just think it's the people on this show, and that's from the producer, to the crew, to certain of the cast. We have no real problem makers, or real prima donnas, everyone has given their all for this show.
What's the worse thing about working on Babylon 5? The worst thing? I'll tell you what happened the most. When we were sold to TNT, when they ordered these two movies - that caused a lot of confusion in amongst the cast members because now there were deals. There were people who'd harboured feelings that their payment hasn't been what it should've been, and things like that. So people started to get a little rebellious. It had this group, who had pulled together through all kinds of adversity, and this was a kind of a moral (?). And this is just a glimpse behind the scenes. I mean it's nothing, it's all pulled together again now. At first when these things came out everyone was going, 'Well, how much am I in it? How much am I going to get?' Really. And it started happening, and that's when the agents start on the phone. It's like sharks smelling blood in the water. They go, 'New material? That means new contracts, new (?)', and that's when they start calling their clients and going, 'You should be working for this and this and this,' and all that kind of thing when we don't have that kind of situation here. Like I said, we don't have any real prima donnas, I don't think - unless I'm totally in La La Land somewhere. When that happened even Joe said it was like one of the greatest challenges to the morale of this group in four years. It was just starting to break things up, and it happens, but now it's pulled back together again because, I think, everyone got their wits back about them. The bad things? There aren't any. Other than that. That gave me stress, and an eye infection. You see, I want to see everybody do these movies. I want this, for myself. I was a sort of a Johnny Come Lately, but - pardon the pun there - nevertheless I sometimes feel like the booster, the cheerleader... when it's over, I want all of us to walk away and feel proud of what we did.
In light of the fact that you've just filmed your last scene from the final episode of the series, what's your favourite scene ever, and why? Isn't this bizarre? Not while I was shooting it, but the last scene of Z'Ha'Dum when I dove over the side - I'm still amazed at the (?). You know, when Kosh says, 'Jump, jump now.' It was just the way all those events were edited and the CGI was great. I fell into a bunch of mattresses ten, fifteen times, I don't know... it looked seamless to me, and very blue, and falling down that hole and the Shadows coming at me. I just thought that whole sequence was (?)
What's your most embarrassing moment? My most embarrassing moment? Oh, my first season. There's a scene, scene 49, in which I'm in the observation dome and talking to this ship. [It had] a relatively simple speech and some elaborate camera movements with a steady cam. The scene had to move quite quickly and I had to be very commanding, and for some reason I could not remember the speech. I would get to midway through it and just freeze. Take after take after take - I believe there was something like 27 takes. We were wasting the day, you know, we had to get on. I've had much more taxing speeches to do, and yet I couldn't get it - I would just freeze and freeze and freeze, and that's a danger when an actor just totally freezes up. I had to leave the set, had to go and walk around in the parking lot for a while, had to get my wits back about me. Everyone went on a coffee break and I was so embarrassed by that. You see, I was still trying to prove myself to these people. Uh! Anyway...
What's your next project? Babylon 5, the first TV movie, which is called Third Space, but first we're going to get a couple of weeks off. Mellisa (?) and I, and Jerry and a lady that he's been seeing, who's an astronaut, we're all going to Cape Canaveral as guests of NASA, who are very big fans of the show. We're going to be shown around, and we're going to be there at the lift off of STS 84 which is going up to the Mere spacestation. So that's like really exciting, that's May the 12th. And then we come back on the 19th and start shooting Third Space. Then the following month will be the prequel, In The Beginning, which is really going to be fun. In this saga I've had to go from where it ends, where I'm in my 60s, to ten years before I walked aboard the station in the second season.
How do you feel about Michael O'Hare's character, whether he's in the prequel or not? Well, I was very concerned about that. I know what you're going to ask, and I said, 'Certainly Michael's got to be in this. What the heck's going on?' I guess he [J Michael Straczynski] is going to deal with it in some way.
And the connection between the prequel and the pilot, there has to be a connection? Joe's got some way of doing it, but it's not going to be just like where everybody was; it's going to be different stories coming from other directions. It's bizarre to me, but we rely on The Great Maker; we'll wait and see. That's not to say that Michael won't be there - I don't know. I asked and I said, 'I think he should be'.
What makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Well, I think in science fiction television, at least here in the States... You guys over there [in the UK], you've had much more of an advantage, much more diverse science fiction, I think. I didn't have Doctor Who or the various shows right on back to The Prisoner. [In the US] Star Trek is the one I always point to - they were the ones who started it. What Joe did was take it off to another place in an ongoing saga like a soap opera, a space opera with a continuing story. I think for most of the core fans that has been the thing that keeps them coming back. I think that's it. And I think the various characters are very interesting. We don't rely so much on the real science and space, though that's in there. What Joe did was take a sort of mythology and contemporise it. To me that makes it more akin to Star Wars.
Do you feel it's more of a saga than a series? It's a saga, right, in the sense that... after the first season Joe handed me this large volume of Lord of the Flies - no, Lord of the Rings - that's another story. Lord of the Rings. He said, 'If you're not reading anything this hiatus tackle this and you'll get the idea...' [Babylon 5's] not Lord of the Rings, but he wanted to show the saga, this huge epic canvas that he's trying to come close to in his own story. It's not that we're trying to do some sort of a disguised version of Lord of the Rings.
In a recent science fiction awards poll your name featured prominently in the sexiest man in TV category. How do you feel about being a sex symbol? [laughs] I don't know. I don't know what that is. And there are just as many people who don't like you. Here's a sex symbol right here [referring to Bill Mumy]. Bill Mumy: Sleeps through fire alarms, yes he does. He who sleeps through fire alarms? That's my American Indian thing.* Bill Mumy: That's going to be in the book I'm going to write. 'My nine days in Britain with Bruce Boxleitner, he who sleeps through fire alarms - or parentheses, there wasn't a blow drier available.'
[laughs] interruptions for photo shoot
{*Note - reference to fire alarms - at 1996 Wolf Con in UK, the hotel kept having fire alarms all night, and once he slept through the alarm, banging on the doors, everything - another one he got up, but went out in his 'nightshirt' - whatever that means!}
I don't know, it's very flattering. What can you do? You appeal to some people, you don't appeal to others - I don't know what's going on. We don't do a lot of no-clothes-on and stuff like that so I don't know. I'm not Lorenzo Lamas (?) - Jerry does that. Garibaldi has always got his shirt off, showing everybody. I don't do that. I don't do that on purpose, because I just don't think that stuff is necessary.
There's been a lot of recent talk about the one-off TV movies and spin-off series. If you were in charge what story concept would you pitch? Well, I think the prequel is fascinating, and Joe's doing it just the way I would have done it: one of them telling the story which makes it seem like a saga. After all, the first actors were storytellers, and so to have - like he's going to have, I believe - Londo telling the story to a bunch of Centauri children... that's just the way I would have wanted to do it. I know, for Sheridan, Mars was a very important thing. It was his first off-world experience, and so for my aspect of it, I would have like to have delved more into that story. What were his first experiences in Earth Force? Then there's the Mars Riots where he met Sinclair - that would have been a great meeting. We can do that yet; maybe that's in there. That's probably it... I think a prequel is always fascinating, to see where characters have come from and we're going to do just that.
Given the fact that Star Trek has just celebrated it's 30th anniversary and the talk of Babylon 5 spin-off series and TV movies, do you think you'll still be out saving the galaxy in 25 years time? I would like to be. See, I'm not one of those actors who says 'I don't want to be pigeon-holed'. I was just talking with Walter [Koenig] about this the other day. He was talking about Shatner's one really human moment when the new movie, First Contact, was being done. It was doing great box office, and Shatner said how it saddened him because for the first time he was not part of it. That's sad because he literally is the guy for us here that we all point to. It was Kirk and Spock and those guys - they really are sci-fi TV to us. So if Joe has created this universe of characters like Roddenberry did, and if it manages to go over that time, I think it would be a marvellous thing - that people have an identity of you when you're much older, that's not a bad thing. Bill Shatner and those guys have tried to fight it over the years. Remember the I Am Spock/I Am Not Spock thing? Now he is Spock. He kind of came to grips with it finally. He said, 'I've became part of history and it's an amazing thing.' I want to appreciate that sooner than those guys did - if this goes on, I want to appreciate that I was part of it.
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Claudia Christian
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and crew? Well, obviously people are hopeful towards the possibility of having a fifth season, but there seems to be a slight melancholy. I notice Bruce [Boxleitner] especially is getting kind of maudlin about the whole thing and I think that's kind of sweet. I myself, I can go either way: I hope we can go another season, but if not it's been a great run, and I'm very happy to have been involved in it.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The people. Definitely. Full stop. The cast and the crew are extraordinary - kind, nice, professional. They made me laugh all the time, and that's something I've never experienced before.
What do you think is the worse thing about working on Babylon 5? The people . No, just kidding. No, the food. Yeah, the food. No, actually, working on stage B on the White Star or in Down Below, that was just horrible because there's no oxygen and we used to use smoke and all these special effects - horrible things. You'd come home and you've got your lungs filled with crap - that's not very funny. And you don't get outside much.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? My favourite scene ever was the fake scene that Joe Straczynski wrote between Londo and G'Kar where they go to bed together, because G'Kar turns into a woman. This was a fake scene that he put in the script as a joke to Andreas and everybody thought that it was real. They thought that Joe had completely lost his rocker, so that was my favourite scene by far. I would have loved to have actually seen that aired. They were going to do a live reading of it, but they never did.
What's your most embarrassing moment on Babylon 5? It just happened the other day. I was filming a scene with a guest star and in the middle of the scene my stomach made a noise like an alien [does a screeching impersonation]. It was like this howling. I was very hungry, it was before lunch, and it was the loudest thing in the sky. I was trying not to crack up, it was my close-up and when I finished the scene - without breaking character - everyone went, 'What the hell was that?' I mean it was so embarrassing! It was a stomach gurgle from hell, and I've never had that happen to me before. The sound man even had to take his headphones off and shake his head it was so loud.
What's your next project? The next one that's coming out is a pilot I did for Stephen Boschco (sp?) called Total Security with Jim Bulushi. We just did that and I did a movie called Snide and Prejudice and there's this guy - actually my boyfriend - he plays a guy who thinks he's Hitler. It's a bunch of insane people in an insane asylum. Rene Auberjonois plays the doctor. I play some woman who has an affair with Hitler who ends up getting killed. That's when we go over to Europe, we're also going to go over to Cannes 'cos it's going to be showing.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? I think that the fans sense a certain camaraderie about the people who actually work on it, and our love for each other shows through - and our genuine respect for each other and, I think, the quality of the writing. I think that Joe has never stooped to cheap tricks, the bombshell of the week or the sex scandal of the week, in order to get ratings... it's been very solid writing from day one.
How do you plan to celebrate the end of season four? Sex, champagne, and rock and roll [laughs].
In a recent science fiction awards poll your name was featured prominently in the sexiest woman in TV category. How do you feel about being a sex symbol? I was very upset because it was actually in the male category - that was the unfortunate part [laughs]. What sex? After playing a sort of ambiguously bisexual, strong woman and then for men to be turned on by it? Well, it's acceptable I guess. I think it's all very flattering, very nice, but I still put my pants on one leg at a time. [laughs]
If you could play any other character who has appeared on the show, which would it be and why? I would like to say G'Kar or Delenn because they have such great speeches and great stuff, but I would hate the prosthetics. So, I would have to say, if it wasn't for the prosthetics, Lorien had a good role. Anybody who's been on the show? Oh, I know! Zathras. Yes, Zathras, absolutely. Or the character that Paul Williams played [check details (?)]. I like those little quirky alien types, and Zathras had so many great lines, and so many great speeches. "Zathras work under but nobody cares for Zathras". And he went off on these tangents, which I actually do in normal life so that would have been very easy for me to play.
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Jeff Conaway
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and crew? Well, I think everybody's looking forward to season 5 [laughs]. I don't know, for me it goes on, I feel fine - we're doing the TV movies, I got no problems. I'm very positive about everything.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? First of all the scripts. The story's great and then you get the chance to work with a bunch of wonderful people, you know, at the production end as well as the cast. Everybody is really lovely.
What do you think is the worst thing about working on Babylon 5? Sun Valley gets really hot.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? I don't know, I really don't know. I love all the CGI stuff that's... I love the action. There are some cool scenes. My favourite scene that I've had, is... I don't know. I love watching the CGI, I get really excited about it. I love all that action stuff. I hope one day I can fly in a Star Fury.
What's been your most embarrassing moment on Babylon 5? I guess the first episode I did when I couldn't get the gun, the PPG out of the holster. You know, hero time and I couldn't even... I felt like Barney Fife. And then I shot everybody. During the scene I had my finger on the trigger [the whole time], and then they yelled, 'Cut and print,' and I had to tell them, 'Guys it's not a print. I just assassinated everybody in the entire room.' So that was pretty embarrassing and stupid.
What's going to be your next project? I'm working on Grease now, the play, on Broadway. I don't know when this magazine comes out so that might be in the past already.
It'll be around July... So I'll be in the middle of it, and I have a movie I did called Reasonable Doubt, that'll be out next spring, I guess, starring Melanie Griffith and Tom Berenger.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Again I think it's Joe Straczynski's vision and the story and the characters. It's far, far way and above other science fiction shows as far as I'm concerned. I think the geopolitical values of it are really applicable to what's going on right now in the world. I love the fact that if you really watch the show, you can kind of pick up a real sense of 'let's get it together folks before it's all over'. It would be great if everybody in the world would watch the show and did what Joe told them to do. [laughs]
What's the strangest thing that ever happened to you at a convention? Well, it wasn't at a convention, but when I was in London a guy told me he was an Iranian terrorist and pointed a gun at me because I was taking his picture. That was pretty strange.
If you could play any other character who has ever appeared in the show, who would it be and why? That's an interesting question. There are some great characters on the show. I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing. I like being Zack, it'd be fun if Zack became a captain somewhere along the line, you know.
You want to be the captain, but you want Zack to be the captain? A different captain, on a different ship - if it ever spun-off. I don't know, whatever. I think the growth of the character so far has been a pretty interesting evolution of character and I would like to see that continue and see where he ends up going. I'm always excited about what pops up next.
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Jeffrey Willerth
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and crew? Well, this time each year as we get towards the end, it's much like the end of your school year - you can't wait for the summer. It seems like the days get longer, the weeks are ten days, and you're forever waiting for your summer break so you can go play. More importantly, the last episode is emotional, without doubt, and yet at the same time it's somewhat comforting because it's very complete, it finishes everything up and it is a nice neat ending. It's like being at your favourite person's house and then having to go home - you know it's over, you don't want to leave but you have to.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? Claudia Christian: Claudia Christian. Took the words right out of my mouth. The best thing about working on Babylon 5 is the realisation that, many years from now, I'm still going to be absolutely thrilled and proud of the fact that I was part of this.
What do you think is the worst thing about working on Babylon 5? Probably that it wasn't as complete a project as it could have been. By that I mean that we didn't have the big budget to do the things that could have made the show even better. That we didn't have the publicity and support that would have brought the fans to the storyline earlier. That we didn't have the regular airing schedule so everybody knew that on a certain night and a certain time they could tune in. Those are the things I think that have frustrated me the most.
What's your favourite scene in Babylon 5, and why? My favourite scene, although there are a few, is probably still what I call the brawl in the hall between Sheridan and Kosh in Interludes and Examinations. The moment of reckoning when we decide we're going to Z'Ha'Dum, with or without Kosh. Of course, I'd be bias about that because, you know, I play Kosh, but for me that was one of the real turning points in the storyline too. That was a gruelling day, it was a lot of hard work. Jesus Trevino beat the living hell out of Bruce and I to make that scene work, and it pays off because you can see it in Bruce's face. That's one of the most pivotal scenes in the entire four seasons.
What's your next project, what will you be doing after Babylon 5? I think the next immediate project is... John Copeland and I are working on a documentary on the American volunteer group, the Flying Tigers that were in China defending the Chinese against the Japanese aggression. It's a project I have a real personal interest in and I'm really looking forward to it.
What's been your most embarrassing moment? In [episode] 222, The Fall of Night, the scene where Kosh goes to rescue Sheridan after he has leapt from the shuttle. We were in the garden and while we were setting up the shot - you know, I'm rather limited inside the Kosh suit, I don't have a lot of mobility - and the crew decided to pick on me once again. They took one of those sanitary toilet seats and placed it over my head, then they hung toilet paper off the nipple things on the side, then they draped me with other toilet paper and bathroom artifacts. I was totally defenceless. I couldn't help myself. There's the entire cast and crew laughing at me wearing these toiletries [laughs]. Yeah, that would probably be the single most embarrassing moment.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? The story.
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End part 1 Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 10:38:04 -0500 To: walke028@mc.duke.edu From: Alison Weinstock <weinwalk@ma.ultranet.com> Subject: Cult TV on line http://www.futurenet.com/tvnet/ Pt 2 Cc: Bcc: X-Attachments:
Part 2
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Jerry Doyle
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and the crew? Everybody is a little, you know, edgy. It would be one thing if we knew it was the end of the show, you know. I'm sure that would have kind of a senior year in college or high school kind of a feel to it - where everybody's graduating and going their separate ways, and you know and you may see one or two people again later in your life, but probably not see many others. So, that would be one feeling. But we're shooting as if it were going on, so it's kind of a mixed emotion right now as to what's really happening with the show. I mean, we're treating it just like any other episode, approaching it like any other episode. But I think watching what you're seeing around you today - people are flying pictures back an forth and signing these posters - so it has kind of a feel of, you know, this could be it. But you know, based upon the numbers, the growth, the demographics, the popularity I don't see why it wouldn't go a fifth season.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The people you get to work with. The crew is suburb. The cast is great. There's no egos, no bullshit. You get to come to work every day and you're surrounded by creative, enthusiastic, upbeat kind of people. And there's a great energy, you get to play with each other and you tell jokes. If you screw up, you get to do it again. It's not like you have a real job as an actor. It's not like a heart surgeon you can't go, 'Oh shit! I'm sorry he's dead, can I try that again?' So it's a great vibe, we have fun in the make-up trailer, we have fun on the set. It's just you leave at the end of the day, maybe a little tired from the day, but you feel good because you had fun.
What's the worse thing about Babylon 5? I can't think of a bad thing about working on the show. Don't eat the fish some days, that'll get you. There's nothing bad about having a steady gig with people you like when you're having fun. So I can't say there's a bad thing about the show at all.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? Well, my answer is always the second season, first episode, in a coma, said nothing, full salary - and the producers say it was some of my best work! Oh, I can't pick out any one scene because I've had a chance to work with so many wonderful people and I've been given moments all along the way that are very special. I can't boil it down to any one scene or any one episode. For me, it's the elements in the last four and half years, since we did the pilot, that hold rich moments for me, and have resonance for me. So it's too difficult [to answer that question], because different scenes give me different things.
What is the most embarrassing moment on Babylon 5 for you? Anything on the blooper reel, or reels. I think we have, like, nine or ten of them now. Sometimes you get hung up on a word and you just can't get it out. I haven't had anything, like, really embarrassing I don't think... nothing in particular jumps out. It's just we all screw up and pooch words and pooch scenes and trip over stuff and bump into the furniture - that's just the way it is on a day. But nothing really, really embarrassing.
What's your next project. What are you going on to? I'm going onto a sports fisher with a margarita and a bathing suit. That's my plan for the summer.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? I think the flawed nature of the characters integrated with a well-told, woven story. We're not perfect people in an imperfect universe; we're imperfect people in an imperfect universe. I think the thing that our show has done is to show that no matter what the year is, 1997 or 2997 or 5997, the thing we're always working on is ourselves, and our relationships with other people. We address issues of today in tomorrow's vein, but we're still trying to get it better, to get it right, to make ourselves better, and hopefully the outcome is that much better. But a lot of our episodes... you see we don't have a great resolution, and you do see the consequences of your actions: people die, people are hurt. Wars are won; wars are lost. So I think the consequences of our actions are in this very homogenised world, and I think people can relate to that because we've all got our little demons and foibles that we're working on. I think people can relate to the fact that the characters have those kind of foibles too.
Have you had any strange requests from fans? Like wanting to buy my clothes, or something?
Any kind of strange request? There's been a bunch of stuff. I don't think it's strange, kind of funny, you know. The Vulcan butt police had to certify my ass at one convention. I thought that was a little bizarre. Wanting to buy your clothes, your underwear - I think that's a little bizarre. Nothing really outrageous. I think it's just all fun stuff. People enjoy the show and they feel compelled to talk to you, ask you a question or approach you in some way. That's fine. I've had very, very few - not even bad experiences - I've had very few odd experiences.
When you started on B5 did you expect it to take off in the way it has? I thought the show, when we did the pilot, had great potential for a number of reasons. One is the popularity of science fiction; two was the story that was being told; three it was a new network entity, PTEN, that was being put together. And you know, when you combine those elements, we were putting on, dollar for dollar, one of the best shows on television. I mean, our budget relative to a Star Trek or a Deep Space Nine - and I'm not downing their shows - I think our people put as much on the screen for half the money as anybody else. So, when you combine all of those elements and the passion that Joe had for the story and the great crew, I thought it had all the elements to keep flying.
If you could play any other character that ever appeared on the show who would it be and why? Probably Doctor Franklin, because he gets laid the most [laughs].
You don't get much luck there... Well, now, now, now, you have to keep watching the fourth season, you might be in for a surprise.
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Mira Furlan
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among cast and the crew? It's a sad feeling, I have to say, a very sad feeling.
Is that because it's just coming to an end, or you believe it might not get renewed? It's just the feeling that it might end. And it was a big piece of our lives - I mean it was four years. It's not like when you do a movie and then you forget about it. Although you always bond - in a movie you bond with people and you're always sad when it finishes - this is a different thing because it really became a part of our lives. I feel sad and kind of shocked. I know that some time it's going to be the end - I mean, that's rational and logical - but still I feel kind of, 'What? End? Why?'
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The people. The people, the cast. I have rarely, rarely in my life worked with such a great bunch of people who are so different. But somehow our differences, I think, make the show interesting. That's one of the things that makes it interesting for us, besides all the things Joe has in his head. But definitely the different people - they are great fun and wonderful, and interesting, every one in his own way.
What's the worst thing about Babylon 5? For me the worst thing is the make-up. Getting in so early to put that make-up on. I'm not a morning person, I hate early calls. You feel in a daze while you're working when you get up at three o'clock in the morning, it kind of completely sets you off balance. It's hard on my eyes and my skin. That whole aspect, I think, is for me the hardest to deal with.
What's your favourite scene ever, and why? That's a hard question... What comes to my mind is a scene that, reading it I would have never thought it would become one of my favourite scenes. It's the scene when G'Kar accuses Delenn of not telling him the truth, and thus being guilty for the death of millions of Narns, and she admits her guilt. It's a very emotional moment, which actually didn't come so much from the scene we were playing but it came from us. From Andreas as an actor and me who reacted to his emotion. It's just one of those moments you create in your whole life where something happens, something unexpected.
What's your most embarrassing moment? You know, embarrassing moments are when you... when you... how to say it and not use a bad word? [laughs] When you mess up your lines and that happens often to all of us, and it has to. You know there's this line that you cannot say and that's embarrassing. I can't think of a specific moment but maybe I will - I'll call you.
What's your next project? What's my next project? There are a few things that are possible, and they are all European. One is a Norwegian project; one is an independent movie by a European director shot in New York; one is a French film. So they're all, surprisingly enough, European, which kind of suits me.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? From the crowd? You mean of other shows? I think the presence of intelligent thinking in the writing is what makes it different. I think that's what makes it outstanding definitely. It's an intelligent, subversive show - I like that aspect of it. It deals with major subjects, and it deals with them in just a very bold way - I think that's the major thing.
Do people recognise you as Delenn without your make-up? If yes, what's their reaction when they realise who you are? People rarely recognise me out of make-up, but when they do most of the time they're delighted and I'm surrounded by this love and appreciation, which is a wonderful feeling. You know, they're always... they're embarrassed and they're not sure. I guess I'm totally different with my eyebrows.
What do you do to kill time while you're in the make-up chair? I was reading a lot at first, now I'm trying to use that time to learn my lines. It's a huge amount of time, three hours, so I try to use it in that way.
Does that mean you're getting more to say? Yeah, they're huge [lines] sometimes. Joe likes to write.
That means you're getting all the good stuff to say? I don't know if I'm getting all the good stuff. Sometimes it's more explanatory stuff, you know, function for the story and that's not so interesting, but you have to do it.
Star Trek has just celebrated its 30th anniversary. Given the talk of a B5 spin-off series and the TV movies do you think you'll still be saving the galaxy in 25 years time? You know what, I will probably be the last to know. I have no idea. I would love to be connected to Babylon in the future, but as we all know, Joe is The Great Maker [laughs]. He will decide, it's more a question for him than for me.
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Peter Jurasik
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling among the cast and crew? You know what I think, everyone's happy to be coming to a conclusion. Joe's scripts are romantic and filled with emotion and love, I mean it's actually a very wonderful feeling. It feels like the end of a symphony when the notes get very long - brum... brumm... brummm! That's what it feels like.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The Joe Straczynski scripts. That's the best thing, and we've got a good cast and crew, fun people, nice people, relaxed. Considering it's a television series in Hollywood, people are pretty calm, pretty easy to hang out with day to day.
What's the worse thing about Bablylon 5? Having to wear the big wig and sitting in the makeup chair for three hours. After a couple of years it starts to wear on you, gets sort of tiring. And the worse thing beyond that, these fucking actors and the fucking crew we have to work with every day - these people are driving me nuts!
What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you on Babylon 5? The most embarrassing moment as Londo I've ever had? Just about all the work with Stephen is pretty embarrassing. Stephen Furst, it's pretty humiliating stuff to have to do - being on a set with Stephen Furst! But I fight my way through it, you know, I do the best I can.
What's your next project? I don't know what my next project is going to be, it's still up in the air. I'm in the middle of writing another book, so maybe it'll be a book. And I'm raising a son, so that's a good project.
Will you be appearing in one of the movies? I will be in one of the movies.
Do you know which one yet? I'm going to be in the prequel, and I think Londo's the narrator.
Telling the story, I was there at the Dawn of the Third Age? Exactly, and actually telling it to children too, so that'll be fun.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Without a doubt it's the continuing storyline, the long storyline. And also they have Peter Jurasik in the cast - I think that makes all the difference, don't you? [laughs] 'Is it a plus or a minus? We don't know, but you've got Peter Jurasik.'
What's the best thing about playing Londo as opposed to any of the other characters? That's simple, six tentacles. He's got six sex organs, what else do you want in a character? Everybody else has got one. One, or in the case of Minbaris and Narns, none. But it's six you know, that's the best thing.
What do you do to kill time when you're in your make-up chair? Well I've got six sex organs, so my hands are filled.
What's the strangest thing that happened to you at a convention? When I was in Munich and, as Londo, they started questioning me about the Shadow war... Londo started to ask them whether they had had any war history and whether they were a peace-loving people and you could feel the ire in the German fans. Some of them backed off, the rest of them rose up. I thought we were going to have a small neoNazi party form and take out the Centauris in Munich. It was a little scary, a tiny bit scary. We recovered from that, I signed a couple of extra autographs. It was pretty... It actually got a little more uncomfortable. I tried the same thing in England at one point, on the English fans, and they reacted to it better. The English got sort of polite.
Do you think it had something to do with the fact that they won the war? [laughs] Yeah, I guess that does make you happier about the war, doesn't it? If you win as opposed to losing, you're right.
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Richard Biggs
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling amongst cast and the crew? A mixture of hope that there's still a fifth year, sadness that this could be the end of something that everyone has enjoyed, excitement because of the two movies, and the possibility of Babylon 5 going on for years and years in movies, feature films etc.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The best thing is the time. You come in at a certain time and you know you're going to be leaving at a certain time. In television most shows go on into the morning - 11 o'clock, 12, 1 o'clock in the morning. They have terrible hours. Babylon 5, in the four years I've been on it, we've never, ever gone past 8 o'clock at night.
What is the worse thing about Babylon 5? It's probably that it takes me almost an hour in the mornings [to get here] and an hour and 20 minutes at night if I get off during rush hour to get home. It's all the way out in north Hollywood - it's the farthest studio ever.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? Oh, probably Garibaldi and I sitting down to eat food that had been sitting on the studio floor for about seven hours and it was nasty, yet we kept having to eat this food in this scene and do it over and over and over and over again. That was very funny.
What's your most embarrassing moment on B5? The first day when I had to do almost 20 takes for my first scene.
What's your next project? Next project is the Babylon 5 movie.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? Probably, oh I don't know, probably a different take on the future. It's a different look to what has been put out on TV before. No-one's seen that type of gritty, unrealistic but very realistic look.
If you could play any other character who has appeared on the show which would it be and why? Probably Bruce [Boxleitner's]. He's the hero, he gets to save the day. I'd make a good hero. I'd make a good captain. He's got all the good lines and he gets to have a wild affair with Mira [Furlan].
Do you believe in aliens or that humans will ever leave Earth and colonise other worlds? Yes on both counts. It would be very naive of us to believe that we're the only intelligent beings in this whole universe or universes.
What's the strangest thing that happened to you at a convention? A man actually had a question for me. He wanted to know if I knew that if I were stabbed by a knife six inches long that the possibility of me surviving would be few and far between. I reminded him that it was a TV show and he really didn't understand it. He actually had a hard time believing that we were just pretending.
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Stephen Furst
You're about to film the final episode of season four, what's the feeling amongst cast and the crew? It's more of a family feel. It's almost like the end of summer camp. People are having us sign their last scripts. Nobody ever bothered to have their scripts signed by each other before. And it's kind of like we're taking pictures of each other. It's like the end of summer camp and you're saying good-bye to your really good friends. Although we're hoping that we'll be back - we know we'll be back for the movies. I don't know why it's so sad, but it is.
What's the best thing about working on Babylon 5? The best thing about working on Babylon 5 is working on a show that we all feel is high quality. And we love the writing, we love the characters. I love coming in and doing this guy. I love Vir myself, I'd like him if I met him and I just think I like being him.
What do you think is the worst thing about working on Babylon 5? I think the worst thing about working on Babylon 5 is the lack of work. Sometimes I'm not in for two or three weeks at a time if I'm not in the episode. And then I have one day in another episode and have to go two or three weeks without working, and it's very difficult to find another job for a three-week period. So that's the most difficult thing about working on Babylon 5.
What's your favourite scene ever and why? I think my very favourite scene ever would be-- Bill Mumy: -- Would be that one with Lennier at the bar. Yes that was one of my favourites, with Lennier at the bar discussing what it's like to be an assistant. And also I think the Centauri opera, when Peter and I just burst out into the Centauri opera it was just so much fun we had a hard time keeping a straight face. I just had a really wonderful time with that. Bill Mumy: Be careful, he'll mix truth with lies as he's the spawn of Satan, so you have to be careful. Yes I am.
What's your next project? Well, my next project, the immediate project would be the TV movie of Babylon 5. I'm also going to direct a docudrama about the credit card business for PBS, and as always I'm looking for more work. My next job is like most actors and directors, looking for work is my next job.
What is it that makes Babylon 5 stand out from the crowd? I compare it to the difference between watching the old Marcus Boden show, which would be to me all the Star Trek stuff, or watching St Elsewhere. I think, to me it's a standout because of the quality of the writing and the quality of the acting. Even though we have a great time we're very serious about doing the very best job we can. Nobody ever says, 'Ah it's a syndicated show, nobody's going to see it, just a couple of million people. We'll never get 20 million people watching it like Seinfeld or ER.' We all take it like it's the biggest thing on the Earth
How did you find directing your co-stars, did they behave better or worse than with the regular directors? They were all so wonderful, and so giving, and tried, not 100 percent like they always try, they tried 110 percent - all except one actor who refused to come out of his trailer many times and that was Peter Jurasik. He demanded to have script approval, to speak to the director privately and pizza... Pizza was a big ordeal for him, he had to have pizza before he'd come out of his trailer, other than that everybody was wonderful.
There's been a lot of recent talk about the one-off TV movies and the spin-off series. If you were in charge what story concept would you pitch? The series would be a sitcom and it would be called Emperor That Crazy, Wacky Guy and it would be all about Vir. About him in his single life and dating, and trying to run the empire of the Centauris, and just him getting in to trouble, one thing after another. It would be a total sitcom.
What do you do to kill time in your make-up chair? What I do to kill time in my make-up chair is two things. One is I memorise the lines for the scene. I can memorise them the night before but then I forget them the next day, so I'm constantly going over my lines, and I talk about my life. It's like sitting in a barber's chair, you talk about your life, you exchange, not gossip, but philosophies of life and stuff, and that's about it.
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