SFX October 1996 (online edition)
The Star Killer BRUCE BOXLEITNER
BACKSTAGE AT THE WOLF: 359 CONVENTION ONE THING'S BLATANTLY OBVIOUS - BRUCE BOXLEITNER'S OVERWHELMED BY THE INTEREST IN BABYLON 5, SO MUCH SO THAT HE EVEN SUGGESTS THEY MAKE THE FINAL SERIES IN BRITAIN. ANTHONY BROWN TALKS TO HIM ABOUT FANDOM AND SCIENCE FICTION IN GENERAL...
"I never realized any of this existed before starting the show. I knew them were fan clubs, and I knew them were Trekkers, but I never knew that you went to places and that people actually paid you to appear there. It's an amazing thing. Actually, I wouldn't want the organisers to hear me. but [whispers surreptitiously] I would have done something like this for free anyway, just to experience it!
"In America it's a bit like being the neglected stepchild, because while we have this amazing fan support, it's so spread out. You really don't realise the impact of what you're doing until you get out and meet the people who watch the show. But I truly believe there's a bigger spirit for Babylon 5 here that there is in the States - there we're with a studio that has Friends and ER, and weÕre kind of that little itty-bitty thing on the space station, so the attitude is almost, 'Science fiction, hah! To come here and get such an outpouring of enthusiasm is overwhelming.
"Since starting on Babylon 5, I've started reading much more science fiction, grown more aware of the series' roots. My library is growing and I've got a stack of magazines to go through - my wife thinks I'm crazy!
"Over here, Star Trek's the only other space series airing, but I'm becoming familiar with the British shows, though I don't know what's still running. Are Doctor Who and Red Dwarf still around? I'm very curious about some of them. Our show is heavily influenced by Blake's 7, and Joe's very familiar with that. He's mentioned it a lot and I want to see some eventually.
"I just saw the Doctor Who movie on Fox, and not knowing anything about it, I enjoyed it. I thought they'd done very well. It was a wonderful romp - and they'd obviously sunk a lot of money into it. so maybe it'll carry on. I'd never watched it on PBS, but I heard the early Doctor Whos had primitive scenery and were very cheap, but that's fun in its own way, like the early Star Treks - when you leaned on the Enterprise walls they'd wobble. Saturday Night Live had that wonderful take-off they did with John Belushi. He's playing William Shatner at the cancellation of Star Trek and he won't leave. They're taking the scenery away and Spock's got the ears off, but they 're still refusing to give up their roles...
"Babylon 5's been a wonderful learning experience, helping me get to know about that sort of thing."
AS COMMANDING OFFICER OF SPACE STATION BABYLON 5, JOHN SHERIDAN, ALIAS BRUCE BOXLEITNER, HAS THE RISKIEST JOB IN THE GALAXY. JIM SWALLOW ASKS HIM ABOUT BEING ALL ALONE IN THE NIGHT...
Many actors might have balked at the idea of replacing a series lead one season into a five-year run, but not Bruce Boxleitner. In fact, he relished the prospect of stepping into Michael O'Hare's shoes when Babylon 5's first commander decided to leave the show at the end of season one...
"I walked in, and Jeffrey Sinclair was nine feet tall," he recalls. "Some fans were upset about his departure, but I just likened it to a Broadway show, where you might be replacing the person who started it and you carry on. I took it like a military man would... Sheridan received his orders and his next post was on this space station.
At 6'3" and with the kind of smile that would guarantee roles in toothpaste adverts for life, Boxleitner seems the perfect choice for a trustworthy command figure - one shot of that earnest gaze and you'd follow this guy to hell and back. So does he think the Captain's attitude has changed since Sheridan was first introduced? "Yes. that was the slow marriage of Joe Straczynski listening and getting to know me, and our building this guy up. I hope that I've put my own mark on it now."
SHERIDAN'S PAST HAS BEEN UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT SEVERAL TIMES THIS SEASON - AND BOTH BOXLEITNER AND STRACZYNSKI HAVE WORKED HARD TOGETHER TO FLESH OUT THE ROLE.
"Early in his career [Sheridan] was a real hardcharger, a Top Gun," Boxleitner says. "But as he gets older, he doesn't have the reaction times and that still bridles him a little; it's hard for Sheridan to put that away, so he's the, 'Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!' type when a calmer head should prevail. I told Joe I wanted to be more impulsive, different to Sinclair, who was more methodical. I thought it would be a great conflict with Sheridan, because when he needs to be diplomatic, he wants to punch the guy in the head!"
Future prospects for Sheridan seem fraught with peril, as the actor is swift to point out. "His universe is in turmoil... Certainly, a very unlikely person has entered his life - ant that's Delenn, a former enemy. I think we still have to come to grips with that, because these two become very much closer, a very vital pair, during the reshaping of the Alliance."
Boxleitner mentions the foreshadowing seen in season two's "Comes the Inquisitor," and thinks for a moment before casting his prediction: "Sheridan's going to be thrust into a role that he never, ever foresaw, and that will be a much larger role in the whole universe, also involving the Earth government."
IN A SERIES FULL OF TWISTS AND REVELATIONS, ONE OF THE EVENTS MOST EAGERLY AWAITED BY B5 FANS WAS THE MEETING OF THE TWO COMMANDERS, ACTORS BOXLEITNER AND O'HARE ONSCREEN AS SHERIDAN AND SINCLAIR, IN THE EXCELLENT TWO-PARTER "WAR WITHOUT END."
"It was terrific," beams Bruce. "Michael was very courageous in coming back. There are many different views on what happened [when he left], but essentially he came back and he was not the same Jeffrey Sinclair. He's been off on this post, handling the Rangers."
The actor smiles knowingly... "He's much more Minbari now."
Straczynski and the two actors worked together to create some elements of the backstory for the two character while preparing for the episodes. "We knew of each other; we had a past on Mars as younger officers, during the riots. We'd also known each other at the academy, Sinclair was maybe a class ahead of Sheridan, and I think John was competitive, with Sinclair as a young fighter pilot. In "War Without End," we formed an alliance to get through the job and I think the show worked very well as a result."
SEASON TWO INTRODUCED A GROWING INTIMACY BETWEEN SHERIDAN AND DELENN, AND SEASON THREE HAS EXPANDED THAT THEME. WILL THE STAR-CROSSED LOVERS EVER GET IT TOGETHER?
Boxleitner smiles as he "guarantees" much more in the Sheridan-Delenn relationship. "We'll be seeing a lot more of that, believe me..."
One spanner in those works, however, is Sheridan's missing-presumed-dead wife Anna, set to reappear in the season three cliffhanger, played by actress Melissa Gilbert, Boxleitner's real-life spouse. "That's fun, because there's a certain ease there that you don't always find with another actress. It lends the scenes more credibility, and you can't watch it and say, 'These people don't know each other.' The outcome of that [story] is going to be a big thrill for the fans."
But does the actor himself have any particular favourites? "I loved the battle [in "Severed Dreams"] when Earthforce came to bring us back into the fold after we'd declared independence, and I like my work in "In the Shadow of Z'ha'Dum..." In fact, I'd like to have done more with that." He also points out the more recent "terrific revelations" in "Interludes and Examinations," especially that memorable charged scene with Kosh. "I berated him. I said, 'Get involved or get out!' and I liked that. Joe let me get loose a little bit!"
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