October 1994
When production begins on the second season of Babylon 5 there will
be a new commanding officer in charge. On August 2nd, Warner Bros announced
that Bruce Boxleitner would be heading up the cast of the SF/action adventure
series, replacing former leading man Michael O'Hare. Boxleitner plays Captain
John Sheridan, who takes command of the space station when Commander Jeffrey
Sinclair (O'Hare) is assigned to the Minbari Homeworld.
Moving Quickly
"Things are moving rather fast here, " notes Boxleitner, who steps in
front of the camera less than three weeks after being cast as Captain Sheridan.
"I've just come back from two months in India, and a month in Montreal
where I was doing a mini-series, which should be showing in Europe around
Christmas. Right now, the working title is The Maharaja's Daughter and
that cured me of wanting to travel a lot. This just came screaming towards
me, and it all felt good. I had seen the show several times and liked it,
and I also knew (executive producers) Doug Netter and John Copeland, as
well as John Flinn the DP; I've worked with all these men before.
"A this point, I really haven't gotten into Captain Sheridan's shoes
yet, or his space boots. I've had wardrobe fittings, and they've been rushing
everything, because we start this coming Wednesday, plus I think there
are two new characters coming in. They've been very careful to get the
right people. The uniforms are being played with a bit, which I like. It's
nice when a series is constantly trying to change and improve. It keeps
the freshness going. "I have to say, I've always been a closet SF fan,"
Boxleitner continues. "I'm very picky about my Science Fiction. I enjoy
films like Blade Runner, which is one of my favorites. I was never
a Star Trekfan; I say that openly: I was just never a Trekkie; I
never understood it. To me, they didn't create a believable world in that
show, but I think Babylon 5 does. I can believe in the work they've
created, and I think their graphics are super."
Debut
Boxleitner will be making his Babylon 5 debut when the second
season begins airing in the Sates on October 31st. "I will becoming over
on a transport to land on
Babylon 5 to assume command. It's kind
of a fun opening. Lieutenant Commander Ivanova is expecting me to arrive
at a later date, and all of a sudden I show up. There's nothing but chaos
going on and I come walking right into the middle of it.
"It's picking up from where they left off in their last episode of
last season, where Garibaldi is in a coma, all these other things are happening,
and I walk smack-dab into the middle of it, and like me s the actor, Captain
Sheridan is suddenly immersed in this. He's coming off two years o patrolling
the rim as the commander of a Star Cruiser, so this is a different gig
for him and he's got to deal with that. That's going to be a lot of fun.
I'm very excited about this character. At this time n my life and career,
it answers a lot of things for me. I don't have to be socking anybody in
the lip too much!"
A native mid-westerner, Bruce Boxleitner originally move dot Los Angeles
in 1972, and earned his Screen Actor's Guild card doing five lines for
an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show . After embarking on a string
of screen tests and auditions, he finally landed the role of James Arness'
nephew in the critically acclaimed How the West Was Won.
Leading Man
Over the next two decades, Boxleitner continued to build his reputation
as one of Hollywood's most popular leading men. His TV credits include
House of Secrets,
Double Jeopardy, From the Dead of Night,
East of Eden and four of the five Gambler telefilms. He also
co-starred in The Scarecrow and Mrs. King for four seasons, as well
as the short-lived Bring 'em Back Alive. Among Boxleitner's big
screen credits are Kuffs,
The Babe, The Baltimore Bullet,
and Disney's ground-breaking SF film Tron, which foreshadowed his
current project by featuring then state of the art computer-generated special
FX.
As the 'new kid' on
Babylon 5, Boxleitner admits being slightly
nervous bout joining a well-established cast. "I asked Doug Netter and
Joe Straczynski, 'It's a strange thing, coming in an ensemble of actors
when they've been through so much together already. They've created their
characters and everybody's pretty much set'. I do know Peter Jurasik pretty
well, who plays Londo. We were in Tron together, and I think he's terrific
in this thing. What he does whit that character is wonderful, absolutely
wonderful. I'm very excited to be working with him again."
Changeover
One Character that Captain Sheridan won't be meeting, at lest for the
time being, is his predecessor, Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, played by Michael
O'Hare. "He's gone by the time I come in, and has just left. I believe
they have something already filmed, where he gets that departure, but it's
not in the script I have.
The President calls directly to Babylon 5 and talks to Ivanova,
giving her the word about this change. They've done it very well, I think.
It's not like (Sinclair) is being killed off for anything like that, and
there's a great possibility of him returning." Is Boxleitner ready to hit
the ground running, only a matter of days after landing the role? "Yes,
I think I am. All of this has occurred since last Monday, when I finally
knew it was going to happen. I feel ready for it. I'm rested up from the
previous show I did, and I'm very enthusiastic. I can't wait to dive in.
From what I've heard, everybody seems to be very enthusiastic about me
joining them, so I don't think there will be any problem. I think jerry
Doyle is terrific, and so is Claudia Christian. It's a very solid group
of performers." Surprisingly, the actor had no hesitation jumping into
what may well be another long-running television series. "Actually I enjoy
it. I'm kind of a factory worker in that way: I like to have a place to
punch in and punch out. Another thing that has always intrigued me is that
I've looked a lot of these SF shows and thought, 'You know, I'd love to
do that!' but was never given the opportunity. Now that opportunity has
finally come. I like series work; especially this one, I think. Because
it's more of an ensemble show, you're not in every single shot. I've seen
the first few scripts, and I think they're giving Ivanova and Garibaldi
a lot more to do. They're taking some of the heat off the lead guy, letting
me get into the rhythm of things." Since the character of Sheridan hasn't
been fully developed yet, Boxleitner is looking forward to providing some
input of his own during the upcoming season of Babylon 5.
"They've giving me a lot of freedom," he notes, "but I've also had two days of sitting down with Joe and talking about it, and I like his ideas and where he's going with it. He's the head writer, and this is his creation. I can't ell you how exciting it is. I get to do some stretching in some directions I haven't been able to before."
Interview by Joe Nazzaro
Thanks, Nicky & Janet!
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