Says actor Bruce Boxleitner, who plays Captain John Sheridan, the
new commanding officer on Babylon 5, "I have a hard time articulating
myself about the character. There's something about when I get into that
uniform and start my daily routine; I'm like Sheridan: he gets up, puts
on that uniform and heads for the observation dome, and whatever comes
at him, he has to deal with it right there on his feet." Boxleitner is
just getting ready to start work on In the Shadow of Z'ha'dumone
of the last six episodes in Babylon 5's second season. If anything,
he's even more excited now than when he first joined the series, as new
revelations about Sheridan and his past continue to unfold.
As the actor explains, most of his character's back-story remains
a mystery to him - until each new script arrives. "Now that I've got that
direction, I've certainly used it more, but when that first script came
up, I said, "Whoa, here's something I didn't see coming, and hadn't even
thought of. ' I love that extra dimension. We'll play it, then go two or
three episodes without even a hint, because something else is going on,
and then we come back to it again. All these threads are starting to be
brought together, and the last six episodes are going to be very exciting
as Joe Straczynski starts to tie it all up, or tie it to a point and then
leave you hanging."
Another reason for Boxleitner's enthusiasm is the group of people he
works with every day. "This is the best group of actors that I've had the
good fortune to work with," he says emphatically, "and I think that comes
right from the top. Joe Doug Netter, John Copeland, it's a young crew,
not an old bunch of potbellies, standing around bored with just another
show. Everyone is enthusiastic. It's the chemistry of the people that makes
this show, and I think you can see that."
Pressed for specifics about some of his co-workers, Boxleitner shares
a few personal insights, starting with Claudia Christian, who plays Sheridan's
second in command, Susan Ivanova.
"First, I have to say fun, because she is an individual who enjoys
herself so much. Dedicated, fun, flirtatious; she keeps that levity going.
I think she's probably one of the most solid performers on the show. Claudia
is rarely not on the mark, professional all the way, and certainly for
my coming on to the set, she was the one that immediately helped me and
was there.
"Jerry and I are like athletes: we're team members, but we like to
push each other's buttons a little; not in any negative way. We're very
free in saying, 'Oh, you're going to do it that way? Okay.' Then we'll
laugh with each other about it. I would say it's camaraderie more than
competition.
"There was a slight wariness between the two characters in the beginning,
and between Jerry and I, but the more we've been able to work together,
that relationship continues to build. Jerry is very comfortable with me
there too, I think. Because of that competitiveness, I've been told there's
a certain edginess that he doesn't have any more.
"Richard Biggs often has to tackle some of the hardest stuff, the medlab
technobabble, an he handles it with a lot of grace. He' a very graceful
actor, very concentrated, and I think he sees Franklin as very much the
professional and humanitarian. Rick puts a lot of time thinking about these
things. Jerry and I can afford to work instinctively a little bit, but
Rick is playing a very specific professional, a man of medicine, so there's
something a little different there. Sometimes Sheridan comes down a little
hard on Franklin, but hat was early on, when Sheridan was trying to grasp
command of the situation. The essence of command is keeping a certain distance
from the people you command, and he tried to bring that in. Sheridan could
acknowledge some of Franklin's work, but only unofficially.
"Mira is wonderful, and I'm very interested to see where our relationship
is going. Delenn has tapped into this side of Sheridan that is still child-like;
the kid who went into Space, with this fascination about alien races and
other worlds. He looks to her for a spirituality and discovering his own
spirituality himself.
"In Delenn's becoming human, Mira is exploring a frivolousness the
character didn't have before, and I think it's going to be quite surprising.
You see Delenn now as she's being ostracized from her homeworld, and it's
going to get testy. What she's becoming is having more bearing on her,
in terms of who she's going to be and who she was."
And finally, Andreas Katsulas and Peter Jurasik, who play ambassadors
G'Kar and Londo, the show's biggest scene-stealers. "I keep saying that
it's hell to be a human between these guys! They do steal the scenes, and
that makes it very difficult to hold your own. Both gentlemen are masterful
actors. I've known Peter for a long time, and Andreas is a treat to work
with every time. I can't say enough about them.
"It's funny, but the relationships between our characters is such that
I sometimes feel I'm lecturing two children. Sheridan gets a little pompous
sometimes, which is something I like about him, and then again I think
probably most at this point, Sheridan is probably most in sympathy with
G'Kar, and yet we've had some horrendous battles in the council chambers.
"The one he really has the problem with is Londo and his duplicity.
I don't think Sheridan trusts him at all, and it should be interesting
to see where we go with that."
Aside from his work with the show's regulars, Boxleitner hints that
a meeting between Sheridan and his predecessor is a distinct possibility.
"I'm not sure if it's going to happen, but I think Joe wants to bring Sinclair
and I together. He talked to me about it one day after lunch to feel me
out, and I said, 'Joe, anything you want to do'. I think it would be exciting,
and that story line has got to be dealt with and either played out or finished,
depending on what Joe wants to do with it. He asked me how I felt, and
I said, 'Yes, let's go for it'. I think it's a terrific idea to see these
guys together and I hope it happens."
As long as Boxleitner is on a roll, it seems a good time to solicit
a few comments on a cross- section of the second season's later episodes:
GROPOS, in which Babylon 5 is overrun by 25,000 Earth Force soldiers.
"To tell you the truth, I thought losing everyone at the end was a little
heavy-handed, but what the hell? I liked what jerry did with that relationship
there; he'd been screaming, 'Garibaldi has to get laid' for the last season,
and when they gave him an opportunity, he balked at it, which was wonderful.
There has to be a sense of responsibility with your leading characters.
I wouldn't have liked Garibaldi at all if he'd jumped into the sack with
this woman. Call me old fashioned, but there has to remain some sort of
morality, so I'm glad he didn't. It would have left a really bad taste
in people's mouths and I don't think they would have liked him as much."
All Alone in the Night, where Sheridan is captured by an alien
ship and forced to fight his fellow captives. "We had some production problems
with that one, but I think we carried it off. It was an exhausting episode,
because we had a fight with swords, and I was also fighting off a bad cold
at the time. It was during the last rainy season e had, so that place was
rather damp, but that might have been for the better. I love where we drop
this ending on everyone. That was terrific."
There All the Honor Lies sees Sheridan being blamed for the
mysterious death of a Minbari, "It was a fairly good story, and I had a
lot to do in it. While Sheridan is trying to maintain his innocence, and
also find this culprit, he's also starting to doubt his perceptions, the
way he was taught to do things; all this is coming into play now as they're
being whittled away."
As the second season continues to heat up, Sheridan finds himself having
to deal with his obsession over the loss of his wife under very mysterious
circumstances. "Much more so," says Boxleitner, "especially in In the
Shadow of Z'ha'dum, where he has to deal with the fact that someone
has survived the crash of the Icarus, and that opens up this whole episode
in his life again. He starts tying some of those threads together, and
ends up acting a little Captain Bligh-ish.
"We find out that there were only two important elements in his life:
his career and his wife, and one of them was taken away from him. Sheridan
has a history now, and I feel more able to use these things now than when
I first joined the show. Knivescertainly started it, where Sheridan
is seeing things, and stars his slow process - I don't know where I'm going
with it or what's going to be revealed, but it's an exciting adventure,
that's for sure."
One aspect of In the Shadow of Z'ha'dumthat Boxleitner is definitely
looking forward to is working with Ed Wasser, who plays Morden, agent of
the unseen shadow creatures. "Let me tell you, watching the episodes that
Ed was introduced in last season, he made my skin crawl. In fact, when
I met him for the first time a few weeks ago, I reacted to him as though
he was a character; I almost wanted to wipe my hand after he shook it!
That's because it's the only thing I've seen him do, but working with him
is going to be fun."
Away from the Babylon 5 sets, Boxleitner's life has been
just as exciting. On New Year's Day, he finally married actress Melissa
Gilbert, after a long, on-again, off-again relationship. The wedding made
the front page of the American tabloids, who hinted that Boxleitner might
have been pressured into the last-minute ceremony, but several months later,
married life seems to be agreeing with the actor, who's never been happier.
"I can't ever understand it, but it's part and parcel of this business
of being and actor, and we've both been doing this for a while. It had
been and up and down thing with us, and I think that's what the press loves.
It was hardly as dramatic as the way it was portrayed.
"It's something we had been mulling over for almost a year, and finally
decided, 'Let's just do it'. It solidified a bunch of things about our
lives that had been floating around out there, and for me especially. I
had been single for quite a while, and it becomes harder to just suddenly
jump right into it. That's why I did get cold feet at first, which the
press interpreted as 'They broke up'.
It was basically just me being hesitant, but finally I said, 'What
am I doing? I'm 44 years old, I have a woman I can't seem to live without,
I love her dearly and respect her, and she's my best friend. What am I
thinking is going to be on the other side of that hill?' I had it all dreamed
up in my head for some reason, which is actually a kind of classic bachelor
thing."
"I'll tell you what," laughs Boxleitner, "we've got a new fan here,
of Babylon 5. She never used to watch these shows, other than the
original Star Trek years ago, and suddenly I have this person who wants
to do an episode. I'm saying, 'Well, sweetheart, we'll see'. Suddenly she
can't wait to get home to see the show at night, even more so than her
own show."
With his first season of Babylon 5 drawing to a close, Bruce
Boxleitner is very happy with the way his life is going right now, and
with the possibility of playing Captain Sheridan for a good deal longer.
"I feel this show has helped me a great deal, because I have a home.
I'm the kind of guy who likes to have a place to go every day. I'm certainly
enjoying the time off, because that's just recharge, and I need some time
to myself, but I like that, I like to have a factory to go to. I'm a working
class guy, and it's a good thing. I'm going to enjoy it.
"The last few years have been too unsettled, and with a new marriage
and a new job, these are the things we work towards. I have learned that
you can be making a lot of money and be absolutely miserable. You can pay
more bills and buy more things, but in the end, the two things I have right
now are the most important."
By Joe Nazzaro
Thanks, Nicky & Janet!
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