SciFiAndTvTalk

24's Howard Gordon - Final Countdown

Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, center) faces his final conflict this season on 24. Photo by Kelsey McNeal and copyright of Fox.

Now in its eighth season with Kiefer Sutherland starring as the heroic Jack Bauer, the inventive and suspenseful 24 has been nominated for a total of 68 Emmy Awards - winning for Outstanding Drama Series in 2006. Over the course of seven seasons, Sutherland garnered seven Emmy nominations and a win for Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series. While the series gained global recognition, Sutherland's portrayal of the legendary character penetrated the American psyche like no other dramatic television character to become part of the English lexicon.

Premiering on November 6th, 2001, 24 employed a pioneering, split-screen, fast-paced format with complex interweaving storylines as viewers followed anti-terrorism agent Jack Bauer through pulse-pounding episodes, each covering one hour and presented in real time. On Monday, May 24th, the show's eighth and last season will conclude with a two-hour finale airing on Fox from 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. EST/PST. Last Friday, 24 showrunner and executive producer Howard Gordon chatted with myself and other journalists about the series and his work on it. The following is an edited version of that Q & A - enjoy!

There is a huge online and Twitter fan base for this show that has been upset about the death of Annie Wersching's character, Renee. Was there another choice you had been pondering, or was killing the character off the idea from the beginning?

HOWARD GORDON - Typically we come upon these things as more of improvisations, but this was one that we had come up with at the very beginning of the season and stuck with for reasons that I think everybody is seeing right now, which is obviously motivating Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) to this very final, climactic confrontation and taking him to a place he has never been before. I have to say that I'm taking peoples' outrage as a measure of interest, and their indifference would have been far more hurtful than their outrage. But we have a history of doing that. I remember when that happened with Edgar (Louis Lombardi) we got a fair bit of angry e-mail, but, yes, this is something that we've thought about and thought about very carefully, and hopefully did it well.

I was wondering if the decision that this would be 24's last season came early enough that you could do any adjustments in the show, or is this the way you were going to end this no matter what?

HG - It’s a good question, and it was one that the network asked as well. To me, the show was always going to end the way it was going to end, whether there was a ninth season or a movie because the story has been told. What I think changed, though, was the context of it all. In other words, it really took on a different meaning. I’ve said this in the past that I think any number of seasons in years past – season four, season five, I think even last year – could have been a really cool series finale.  Only the fact that this was our series finale did it really have the kind of context that, wow, we’re really saying goodbye to this character. And there is a final moment that is very specific to the series finale.  It’s not so much a plot moment, but it’s a punctuation mark that I think is unique to the series finale. But the answer is really no. We told the story the way it was going to be told and would have no matter what.

Are there any hints you can give about what people might expect in the series finale?  Also, was there an emotional place you wanted to leave Jack as you wrapped up the show?

HG - We tried on a couple of very different endings for size and the one we came to at the end is the one that felt just right. So it was not for lack of trying a couple of different ways. But we knew it when we saw it, that this was the right way to do it. One thing we tried and didn’t work was happily ever after for Jack. Forgetting for a moment about the last eight seasons, what he does in these last few episodes, which you haven't seen yet, leaves him once again in a very compromised place morally, ethically and emotionally. This show is a tragedy, so to give Jack a happy ending just didn’t feel authentic. We gave him a happy beginning, and I really am very pleased with the way we started and, of course, gave him something to care about with Annie Wersching (Renee Walker) and his own family. And of course, circumstances and the story dictated a kind of very complex confrontation.

As far as what can expect in the finale has to do with the things that were aligning, which were basically Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub) versus Jack versus President Taylor (Cherry Jones). We’re taking all these characters to places that we’ve never seen them before. We knew it constituted a risk and one that was frankly challenging to write and, among the actors, pretty challenging to play. But it was one really we think was worth taking and I think it pays off really well in the end. In the spirit of trying to take the series to a place where it hasn’t been before, we’ve done this thing. It’s certainly not playing it safe, but it is very emotionally climactic and, we think, we’re pretty excited by it.

A lot of fans absolutely hated the whole Dana Walsh (Katee Sackhoff) character and sub-plot; I wanted to sort of get your defense of how that whole thing played out.

HG - Every season there is something that people seem to fixate on. You know, I got it and I guess all I kept telling people was to please wait until the story had been told before they commented. To me, I think episode 20 answered that question. I'm really, really proud of that episode and what I liked about it, too, was that for the first time, this very complex and admittedly very confused and crazy character, this onion of a character, got peeled down to the nub and you finally really understand a little bit, anyway, who she is. Now, of course, she is a sociopath and it’s kind of an insane story. But we also saw that Dana really cared about Cole (Freddie Prinze, Jr.); that she really had done this all to get out of a situation she got herself into.

Look, it’s crazy, the fact that  there is a girl from Rock Springs who somehow manages to get in to CTU as an analyst under an alias. And the fact that the Russians had sponsored her and put her in there made it make some sense.  I think it was a pretty wild roller coaster of a character which Katee pulled off, I think, beautifully. What I liked about it was that what felt unnatural or weird and maybe what didn’t resonate with people at the beginning was that very fact that Dana wasn’t authentic, that she was this counterfeit personality in the midst of our heroes.

I’m happy with the way it resolved. I really haven’t gone online to see how people reacted or whether they are even more upset. But I think in the end, Dana acquitted herself pretty well and her story turned out to be very interesting.

About a month or two ago there was some talk on the business side of whether the show might be shopped around elsewhere (another network). Was there ever really anything to that? Would that have been something you wanted to do?

HG - You know, it wasn’t something I wanted to do. It was something that I was willing to entertain as a loyal Fox employee - to help Fox find new personnel to run the show, and maybe even recruit some of the guys who had been with me. But when we really looked at each other, Kiefer included, I think we all felt  that we were really telling our final season. We kind of knew that at the beginning of the year, and we always kept the door open. Fox may have had different conversations that didn’t share entirely the same concerns we had in terms of that fact that we had really come to the creative conclusion of the story and wanted to end as close to the top as we can. But we did have some real conversations, and I certainly was insinuated into them. However, when we really sat down and considered it, it was something that just never caught fire.

I guess you're taking Jack to a place he's never been before, but he's been pretty far down already in the episodes. Can he get so low, though, that he can't come back? And can he come back?

HG - That’s a great question; that was really the question we asked ourselves and certainly the studio asked us. The answer is no. The good part about Jack’s character, and I really believe what has been a good part of the show, is that we never press reset. In other words, Jack is a character and you feel the accumulated scars of his experience and the weight of his actions for eight years. Jack has never been able to sort of snap back, even when he is happy, even when we introduced Audrey (Kim Raver) in season five.  It wasn’t like that didn’t discount all the tragedy that had preceded it.  Like in the beginning of this year, Jack allowed himself a moment of joy or possibility of human contact with his own daughter and her husband and his granddaughter, but it doesn’t discount what has happened before.

So I don’t think Jack is ever going to recover from what has gone on. It just adds to the weight as well as the complexity and darkness of his character. Jack has never gone happily-ever-after; that’s just not in his wheel house.  The show is ultimately a tragedy and you have to really play that and you have to honor that.

When you cast Katee Sackhoff, what exactly in her past body of work did you see as potential for the Dana character and how you wanted to develop it?

HG - Honestly, when we cast her, all the writers were just all fans of hers from Battlestar Galactica. We met Katee, sat down with her and just liked her as a person. We knew that Dana was a character with a past and we knew that she was a really interesting actor. But in all honesty, we weren’t sure where the character was going to go and were just sort of willing to proceed in good faith that we’d find something. It really, really was a challenging part and Katee was completely game for everything we threw at her. And again, particularly in episode 20, I think that was her greatest moment.  She gave a phenomenal and nuanced performance.

This season, what moment are you most proud of, most satisfied with?  And conversely, is there anything you wish you had done differently but just couldn’t because of time, resources or budget?

HG - I’ll start with the first question. The moment I’m most proud of, frankly, is the very last one, which obviously you haven’t seen yet. I'd kind of been obsessing for a while about what was going to be the last image or the last second on a real-time show, and I think that maybe it has a little more weight than any other moment of any other season finale.  So for me, that was really something I was very, very happy with. Otherwise, I think we had some phenomenally exciting moments, one being when Renee took off Ziya’s thumb. I loved that moment and the way she played it. It was just a beautiful performance and one that wasn't necessarily in the script. The way she sort of sexualized the character was a great moment. I loved Hassan’s death, too. I thought that was really moving as well as surprising and sad.  I’d say those are my two favorite moments except for the last one.

As far as regrets, I have remarkably few regrets, or none. I’d say the only thing was that the budget was rolled back a bit this year as it was across the board for all Fox shows. Hopefully it was invisible to the audience, but we didn’t have what in years past was a real ability to re-shoot or enhance some of the production. So we had to do a little bit of belt-tightening.

When you look back at the legacy of 24, I know that everybody is going to remember the innovative concept.  I’m just curious, are you happy with that being the legacy of the show, or would you prefer it to be something else?

HG - I think you’re right. One of the legacies of the show, and perhaps the most important one, is the revolutionary concept. But I think the legacy of the show is also, having been here from the beginning, is the fact that we just never let go of the reins and truly never let down our guard. I’m just proud of the effort that everybody put into the show from our end creating the show. The audience stayed with us by and large, and I think that is a measure of the fact that we kept the story interesting to us to create it. Consequently, it was interesting to write it.

The legacy of the show, too, we certainly seemed to have an interesting dance with the culture and with our society and with the world after 9/11. So I think we very much were part of the first decade of this century; we played a role in it somehow and I think that legacy is a significant one as well. But hopefully we just put on a really good TV show that people will continue to watch on DVD and in reruns.

What have you enjoyed most, would you say, about your 24 experience and what has been perhaps the most creatively fulfilling for you, working on the show?

HG - Getting to work with such talented people is a privilege, and you have to have been doing it for long enough and be of a certain age to really appreciate it. First of all, starting with my colleagues, my fellow writers were just brilliant.  I got to work with, I think, some of the best writers and producers in the business. The entire crew, because of the culture we created, everybody really was a stakeholder in the show so whether it was hair and make-up or wardrobe or props, people all were involved. And our editors, our editors are some of the best storytellers I’ve ever met.  Not that it was a democracy, but it certainly was a collective effort. It was a team, and a lot of these people have been on this team now for nine years, so getting to work with people – I’ll never have the chance to work with this many talented people ever again. I can’t really describe any great moment, but it was just a great nine years and an amazing privilege.

As noted above, photo by Kelsey McNeal and copyright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

24's Annie Wersching - Journey's End

24's Annie Wersching as FBI Agent Renee Walker. Photo by Kelsey McNeal and copyright of Fox.

Annie Wersching discovered her passion for performing when she made her stage debut in a fourth grade production of Cats. The performance led to her joining the St. Louis Celtic Step Dancers, a competitive Irish dance troupe in Wersching's hometown. She went on to tour and compete with the group for over 14 years, cultivating her skills for live performance.

The actress attended Millikin University, where she earned a B.A. in musical theater. As a student, Wersching toured with the stage productions of Anything Goes and A Christmas Carol. In 2001, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. Shortly thereafter, she appeared in the revival of Do I Hear a Waltz? at the Pasadena Playhouse. Her television credits include Star Trek: Enterprise, Journeyman, General Hospital, Boston Legal, Cold Case, Supernatural and Frasier.

For the past two years, Wersching  has played FBI Agent Renee Walker opposite Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer in the hit Fox Television series 24. In the eighth season episode 8:00 a.m. - 9 :00 p.m. (broadcast April 12th), Renee is shot several times by a sniper after she and Jack make love. Our hero rushes her to a hospital, but, sadly, despite efforts by doctors, Renee is pronounced dead shortly after their arrival.

A few days following her character's tragic demise, actress Annie Wersching chatted with myself and other journalists via a conference call about her 24 experience. The following is an edited version of our Q & A. Enjoy!

What are you going to remember from your time working on 24?

ANNIE WERSCHING - Wow, so much. I would say the biggest thing is the cast and crew, and the friends that I've made. However, I was absolutely a huge fan of the show before I joined it, so just being a part of such an iconic series and getting to play a role as amazing as Renee Walker. I really loved this part, and in your career you hope that you have greater things in your future, but it's hard for me not to, at this time, think of it as sort of a role of a lifetime because she was so dynamic. I'll probably miss her the most.

Why do you think people have continued to tune in and watch 24?

AW - Well, definitely in the beginning, it was such a groundbreaking show and there was nothing else like it on television. It's really like a little feature film every week with the ticking clock and the real-time aspect. There's such an intensity to the show, that at the end of the episode it just leaves you wanting more, which is how I think every television show should be.

What do you think of the fact that Renee was sometimes referred to as "Jacqueline Bauer" (referring to Kiefer Sutherland's character of Jack Bauer)?

AW - Obviously that's quite an honor to share that title. I got that a lot last year when she first came on the scene. It wasn't something we thought about or said when we were filming Season Seven, so it was interesting to hear that it was the fans' reaction. Again, he's [Jack Bauer] a tragic hero and, obviously, that sort of ended up happening to her.

Sorry to see you won't be on the show anymore. I'm wondering, were you happy with the way that Renee's death was presented and her story line concluded?

AW - Simply because I love the character so much, you always think of other ways that things could have happened. I kind of wish that the Jack/Renee love story-making would have maybe had its own episode to resonate and then maybe she got shot because that was a pretty huge deal. There's a little part of me that was bummed that both those things happened in the same episode because that's really kind of getting overshadowed by the fact that she died. That was a big moment for the show, the first time that Jack has ever done that. It's interesting, too, that Renee went out like that as opposed to maybe out in the field and in an heroic, saving-the-day kind of way. So I think it's interesting that they switched it up a little bit as opposed to what you may have thought would have happened to her.

What sort of reaction do you expect from what's happened to Renee?

AW - I've actually been very overwhelmed by the reaction. I knew that there were a lot of people out there that really loved Renee and the Jack/Renee dynamic, but I've had thousands of messages, either on Twitter, Facebook or different fan sites, where people are just genuinely so sad. However, it's kind of what fuels Jack Bauer in the remainder of the season, and I think audiences will end up being pleased that they get to see him being the most intense as Jack Bauer can be.

Given the realtime format of the show, how carefully did you guys plan how many minutes Jack and Renee would spend in bed together. After all, you don't want to go to commercial and then come back and, "we're done!"

AW - That was a huge consideration, and especially because he's Jack Bauer. There can't be like an eight-minute adventure, but we went through many different ways that it was going to be. We weren't even sure if we'd be able to actually get them to the place where they were actually making love because of the show's realtime aspect. But they [the producers/writers] finally figured out a way to do it, and it was interesting because they knew that she was going to get shot right afterwards, so Jack couldn't be naked when he was carrying her to the hospital. So there had to be a way for him to put some clothes on, but yet make it look like they were still going to go back and have more fun.

During your final episode, were there any moments that were particularly hard for you to get through knowing it was your last time, so to speak?

AW - Yes. Since I knew it was coming, I knew that I was pretty prepared for all this. However, we shot the lovemaking and the death together over a couple of days, and Kiefer and I were so nervous about the love scene that it sort of helped tame down the "Oh, Renee is getting shot," part. The whole thing was bittersweet. It was bittersweet to be able to shoot scenes with Kiefer where Jack and Renee finally get close and then straight into covered in blood.

Obviously both Kiefer and you knew that it was your last scene together; what was it like during the filming [of the death scene] between the two of you?

AW - It's funny because once I saw it air the other night, it seemed to all happen much quicker than it did in my mind, and we spent something like two 12-14 hour days in a row together of shooting scenes of basically Jack trying to save Renee. It was very intense and very big episode for Jack; I mean, the look on his face when they come out and tell him that it didn't work was just heartbreaking. We spent quite a bit of time on it, and it was very sad. I felt bad that he had to carry me so much.

How did you originally become involved in 24 and what were some of the acting challenges you found first stepping into role of Renee?

AW - I was cast in a Fox and 20th Century Fox TV pilot that [24 executive producer] Jon Cassar and [24 co-creator/executive producer] Joel Surnow did in the Spring of 2007. That pilot didn't get picked up, so when they were casting for Renee Walker, they were actually having a very difficult time insofar as trying to figure out how old they wanted her to be, how tough, how cold, etc. So they brought me in for it, and the role that I played in that pilot was very different from Renee, so I think they thought, "Oh, we liked working with her [in the pilot]; she's not really right for this, but we'll just bring her in anyway." That was a very proud moment for me in my audition life just because I feel like I really went in and sort of changed their minds about their preconceptions when it came to the type of actress I was and something I was right for. And the challenges in playing her were pretty much that because most of my stuff was with Kiefer, you really had to show up on your game. You could never be slacking in any sense, so it really challenged me and made me such a better actor and person. It was just an amazing experience.

Which version of Renee was more challenging for you to play, or more rewarding, or maybe both - the by-the-book Renee that we met in the beginning, or the more unhinged version that we saw at the end of last season and then again this season?

AW - Wow, that's a good question. The by-the-book Renee, that was in the very beginning, so sort of finding her was an interesting challenge, and figuring out that first little relationship between Jack and Renee when they first met was a challenge, too. That's what was so great about this character - I got to play so many different sides of her. Last year was challenging in that I was in every episode, and there was such a great arc that was written for the whole season, so I really wanted to give it [the character] little nuances and make the arc interesting. This season, I got to do more intense things when I was on, but it was more little bursts. I wouldn't be around for a couple of episodes, and then I'd be there in a really intense way for four or five episodes. So both versions were challenging and so wonderful.

What do you feel really kind of helped crystallize Renee as a character, either from an acting standpoint or a character standpoint?

AW - Obviously, just the relationship that was sort of able to develop between Jack and Renee in that first day of only knowing each other for 24 hours was a huge thing. Then there was the scene with Jack, Larry Moss [Jeffrey Nordling]and Renee in front of the Capitol that was shot in Washington, D.C. where the three of them are basically having a conversation and battling the whole moral dilemma of what's right and what's wrong and everything. For whatever reason, that was sort of her breaking point where she didn't want to, but kind of chose to do what Jack was suggesting. I think that was a big defining moment for her.

I was wondering if they [the show's producers/writers] ever talked about Larry Moss as a love interest for Renee last season, and if so, when did that change in favor of Jack?

AW - There was always sort of this lingering question as to what exactly was Renee's and Larry's history. They never addressed it specifically in the show, but for us, Jeffrey and I kind f decided that maybe they had dated for a second and then realized that, no, we have to be professional. Larry was still sort of always pining for Renee, though, and longing for her. However, there was no real discussion as to if Larry and Renee were going to get together last season. It was more a lingering history that they wanted you to sort of sense between those two.

Quickly going back to Renee's death scene - how long did you have to hold your breath at the very end while Kiefer did the long look at you at the end, and how challenging was that?

AW - That was actually very hard. It was probably just 20 or 30 seconds, and even though my eyes were closed, I could sense what he was doing, and you kind of want to watch. I thought, "Oh, there's amazing things happening that I can't see right now, and I can't breathe." It was easier and less challenging holding my breath when my character was buried alive [last season].

You've said elsewhere that it saddens you that there won't be a future for Renee in any sense in the 24 universe, whether the show is on the air or not. Had her future been different, what would you foresee for Renee?

AW - If it had taken off right from being in Jack's apartment, I think it would have been very interesting to sort of see the two of them try to make it in the world, maybe going back to California, but sort of always being called back into the line of doing the right thing to help save people. It would have been just fun to see them out saving the day together and running around in different situations and countries and places, always having close calls but getting to sort of save the day together would have been pretty fantastic.

As noted above, photo by Kelsey McNeal and copyright of Fox, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Robocop's Peter Weller - On The Fringe

In White Tulip, a second season episode of the Fox TV series Fringe, passengers aboard a commuter train appear to have died a still death. It seems that a switch was flipped because all cell phones, mp3 players, laptops, batteries and bodies have been drained of power. As the Fringe team assembles at the bizarre crime scene, Peter (Joshua Jackson) remains suspicious that something is amiss with Walter (John Noble), who is struggling to keep the unimaginable a secret. When the investigation leads them to Alistair Peck (guest-star Peter Weller, RoboCop, Odyssey 5, 24), a very powerful man who has tremendous energy with severe consequences, an ironic set of circumstances surface.

Prior to the airing of this episode last week on Fox, guest-star Peter Weller graciously spent part of his day speaking with myself as well as fellow journalists on a conference call. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!

How did this opportunity on Fringe come about for you?

PETER WELLER - They [the show's producers] called my agents and said, "We'd really like him [Peter] to do it." I'd seen a little bit of the show, but I've been finishing a PhD at UCLA, so I don't get a lot of time to watch primetime television. However, I had seen a bit of the show and my wife is a big fan of it, so I asked her, "We got this offer, what do you think?' I have to tell you that, honestly, I'm very discerning about primetime television and guest-star spots. A lot of it is entertaining, but sort of hamstring stuff. Fringe, however, is unique. It's the best that Science Fiction can be. It's fantastic and entertaining, but at the same time it has a humanist theme to it of people, places, things and relationships. So my wife said, "I think it's brilliant." I said, "Really? OK." So I read the script and it was brilliant, so I said, "I'm in."

What can you tell us about the character you're playing?

PW - He's a guy who's going back in time and making some serious sacrifices in terms of other peoples' livelihood and well-being. And it's all in order to save his wife from dying in a ridiculous moment, a mistake that he made. So he's trying to find redemption and go back to the only person who really means anything to him. It's just tremendously romantic and very moving; that alone was enough to make me want to jump on it.

What were some of the challenges you found with this role?

PW - First of all, there were scenes that were four pages of explanation and dialogue, but they were really well-written. They weren't just expository, but dramatic scenes to justify love, need and family. Those were a challenge to make come alive. The story is predicated on losing the person you love. I come from the method [acting]. I come from [teachers like] Elia Kazan and Uta Hagen, and you've got to plug your personal life into that stuff, and it's upsetting stuff. So you have to sort of imagine what it would be like if I was a guy who lost his wife or fiance, and that's hard stuff to tap into. At 60 years old, you want to kind of sit by the sea, which I'm doing now, smoke a cigar, have a cappuccino and not take a look at those possible horrors. So again that's the biggest challenge, how to access the sorrow of losing the dearest person to you in the world.

What was it like to kind of delve into that type of story?

PW - Well, it's entertaining. HG Wells was maybe the first to do it. The thing about Science Fiction is that it's sort of like an autobiography of the world. If you can follow me with that - it's like if you read history. I'm finishing this history piece at UCLA, and it's like if you have a linear sort of record of the great events in the world. And then you have intersecting it, vertically or thematically, Science Fiction; the what-ifs, the what if we did this, the whole thing outside our sort of linear experience. That's the great gift of Science Fiction. So it's fun. What can I tell you? If you have any kind of inventive mind at all, you go racing with it. I just think it was great. I don't understand science that much. I'm not a scientist and I'm not really good at mathematics, but Science Fiction is just an extraordinarily imaginative trope.

You just mentioned what Science Fiction is like; what's your view of Fringe's science?

PW - The reason why I love Fringe, and not just because I was on it, is that it goes past the surface adventure of science and sort of plumbs the responsibility and accountability of Science Fiction. Where the human being goes with it, what he has to suffer and what joy and also misery that he pulls out of messing with, if you will, fate or destiny as the Greeks say, or choice or the order of the natural world. That's what Fringe does. It takes you a little bit deeper, and as a matter of fact, in my opinion, a lot deeper than the usual Science Fiction program. It's all entertainment, but Fringe has an inquiry into what it means to be human along with this, and that's what really turns me on to this show.

How does it compare to the [Science Fiction] series you used to be on, Odyssey 5?

PW - It's very similar. That's what turned me on about Odyssey 5, too, is that people are placed back in time except that they have the knowledge of the future. And so they look, they mess with Mother Nature and everything goes askew. As a matter of fact, when I first started to do Fringe, I called up Manny Coto, the creator of Odyssey 5, and he said, "Oh, wow, this sounds like Isaac Asimov." Indeed, the [show's] writers are Asimov fans. So I think it's very close in parallel. Both these shows, particularly [the Fringe episode] White Tulip, and Odyssey 5 - or a bunch of episodes of Odyssey 5 - use Science Fiction to leverage the audience into an inquiry about being humanly accountable as far as relationships go with other human beings. Are you a person of peace or are you one of greed and aggression? These are great inquiries to me, and I really appreciate you bringing up the analogy between Fringe and Odyssey 5 because that's the very thing that turned me on about White Tulip.

Speaking of time travel, if you were able to go back in time to either warn yourself about something or even relive an experience in a better way, is there someplace that you think you'd like to go?

PW - Yes, there are a couple of places I would like to go, but I don't know if I'd redo anything. I've been very blessed, but there are a couple of relationships that I made youthful mistakes about and they were very egotistical and sort of self-absorbed mistakes. Just like the guy in White Tulip; he gets into an argument with his fiance, just a small argument, and therein death happens. So I'd go back and sort of make a few amends with some people who are no longer on this Earth. That's all I think I would do.

If I just really could time travel, though, there are a few people, including a couple of Renaissance artists and an emperor or two who I'd like to shake hands with. I'd certainly like to go back and step on the Island of Elba and talk to Napoleon for a second, or go back to talk with Frederick II, who was a great emperor in the 1200's who gave Jews and Muslims a whole lot of civil freedom and spoke Arabic and Hebrew and was a vegetarian and a poet. So those are two people I'd specifically like to meet, but, again, as far as my own life, there are two or three people who I regret mishandling and I'd like to go back and sort of straighten that out.

Don't you kind it remarkable that what is Science Fiction one day can very likely be Science Fact the very next day?

PW - I think you're absolutely right. I did this wonderful movie with a bad title called Screamers based on a Philip Dick short story called The Second Variety. And Dick's whole theme was that kind of Zen thing where if you invest your consciousness into building a robot or an automaton, it will eventually have a conscience because you put your soul in it. So I think guys like him and HG Wells are rolling in their graves about what's going on now with, for example, world communications and the possibility of space travel. And who knows, it might be like Albert Einstein thought; a general theory of physics may allow us to cross into another dimension at some point. The whole parapsychology thing that I thought was goofy when I was a kid, now looks more and more real to me and I can understand why places like Duke study it. So yes, it's astounding.

What was it like working with the cast of Fringe?

PW - Fantastic! One of the most fabulous crews who are on the ball, and the cast is egoless, which is sometimes and many times not the case. I've been in the movie business for I don't know how many years, and I'm sure when I was a young man I occasionally threw my own little hissy fits. But after a while, you just want to get the work done, particularly if it's a great part in a great show. You just want to really get the best work out there and the way to do that is for everyone to put their ego on hold and, while a movie set is not a democracy, it's essentially an oligrarchy. There's somebody in charge and somebody else in charge. If everyone is receptive to ideas, then you really get something done. And the Fringe set - and again, I'm not just saying this because I was on the show - has this fantastic egalitarian accessibility of everyone on it. It's magic. That show is a gift of creation and a wonderful place to create. The writers were available to me on the phone, the directors were available to me night and day, the crew was unbelievably helpful, and the cast was nothing but gems. I just had an absolute ball.

Is there a chance that you will come back and direct an episode of Fringe and put Fred Weller in it as well.

PW - I put Fred Weller and Graham Beckel in everything I direct. I'm going to pound Fringe to direct an episode for them. I'm actually cranking up a film to direct, but I'd love to direct for them and, if so, yes, I've got to get Fred Weller and Graham Beckel in it because they're gifted. I don't know if you know who Graham Beckel is, but he's been in every movie I've ever made, and Tommy Lee Jones once said that Graham is probably one of the two or three most inventive film actors walking on planet Earth.

You said you were cranking up to direct a new film; can you tell us a little bit about it.

PW - It's called The Meaning of Nowhere and it's about a very, very bad girl who kills three people. She's a low-level heist operator who kills three people in the first five minutes of the film and, by destiny, she ends up in a life that's actually sort of nice. It's not about somebody trying to go good because she doesn't want to go good. It's just that the current takes her on down the stream and she ends up in a fairly nice little sort of Brigadoon paradise and then doesn't want to let it go. It's actually a thriller, and one that's about whether you are fated to be one thing or whether you can choose to be another.

We're all desperately awaiting the return of RoboCop and rooting for Darren Aronofsky's vision. Have you heard anything about the status of the film and what do you think about bringing back this wonderful character?

PW - You know, I wish Darren well. He's a gifted director. I was happy to do it [the original RoboCop] and happy to leave it. It's like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; they were happy to get together and happy to part because they went their own ways. I left RoboCop to do Naked Lunch, and I was very grateful for everything that RoboCop brought me, particularly a large listing amongst young people in regards to education and making some sort of contribution to education or difference to education because young kids will listen to me because of that film. But I think the [new] movie will probably be good.

Can you tell us a little bit about your experiences working with Jeffrey Hunt, the director of "White Tulip," and what that was like for you?

PW - It was his first directing gig on the show. He's one of the DOPs [director of photography] and he was absolutely fabulous. He had a structure and within that structure, John [Noble] and I, because most of my scenes were with John, got to invent, and John is a very inventive actor. He is a workhorse. John has been around the block, man. He's done theater and everything else, so it's not like the director was working with a couple of newbies. John is so in-tune to a physical space and movement within a room and so forth, and one of the things that I'm good at is physically inventing a room. Some people say I'm prop heavy, but I don't call those things props, I call them physical life. The director really gave me a lot of leeway to work with stuff. He was great; it was as if he'd been directing all his life.

What would you say makes a career in this industry rewarding for you so far?

PW - You know, you can say it's the perks. Tony Curtis said, "There's nothing like the perks of the movie business." Look, I got burned out on acting about four years into acting onstage. I was just chasing one job to the next. Then I had sort of a life change, and hopefully everyone has a life change. You've got to have more than one, too. You've got to have these epiphanies about every 10 years. I realized that what it was about, and this sounds very simplistic. As a matter of fact, it sounds vacuous. It's like [the feature film] Alien; this thing is right on your face and you can't see it. It occurred to me in a major epiphany that what I was about was communicating, and if I can communicate a particular experience that either assists, enlightens or makes some kind of difference in a fictional world to those who are watching, then that's what I can do.

The fallout of that is that, as Robert Mitchum said, "Having celebrity can call attention to your favorite charity or getting a nice seat in a restaurant." That's about it. Insomuch as I got a little notoriety, I can bring some attention to my particular issues, which are essentially pre-school and early school elementary education.

It's also given me the gift of travel, and travel is educational as well as brings the world together. You find out about somebody else's culture, and then you don't feel so isolated and alien about your own. As a result, you're a little bit more available to understand somebody else's position. Anything that can help somebody break bread instead of picking up a gun with somebody else is worthwhile.

And that's what acting is, really. I don't want to get high and mighty about it, but it's really given me an access to the world. And subsequently in communicating a particular experience, like in White Tulip, which is about love. That's all it is; the whole episode is about love and the desire for love and the loss of people who you love. If I can communicate that, then I get re-infused with it, and I can go out and be nicer to the person next to me. Moses, Jesus, Buddha and every other avatar on planet Earth said, "Handle what's in front of you with kindness and then the world will handle itself." That works by the way, you know?

Fox Renews Fringe For A Third Season

Joshua Jackson, John Noble and Anna Tova in the season two Fringe episode "Johari Window." Photo copyright of Fox TV.

FOX has renewed Fringe, the critically acclaimed thrilling drama, for a third season, it was announced on Monday, March 8th by Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company. "Fringe tapped into a deep creative mine this year that built momentum throughout the season and helped give us our first real foothold on TV's most competitive night," said Reilly. "The entire Fringe team - from the producers and writers to the cast and crew - has taken smart storytelling and top production quality to a while new level. The rest of this season is mind-blowing, and we can't wait to get started on the third installment of this amazing journey.

Said Fringe co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams, "We could not be more excited to continue the wild ride of Fringe. We are grateful to Fox, and our viewers, for allowing this fun, mind-bending adventure to go on."

Series showrunners and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman added, "This early renewal comes at a great time and adds to the cast and crew's energy and excitement as we head into production on this season's revealing final two episodes. We have so many stories to tell, so this is awesome that we have another season to explore the worlds of Fringe."

The second season of Fringe resumes with eight all-new and uninterrupted episodes beginning Thursday, April 1st (9:00 p.m. - 1o:00 p.m. EST/PST) on Fox. In Peter, the Spring premiere episode, Walter (John Noble) flashes back to 1985 while explaining Peter's (Joshua Jackson) otherworldly origins to Olivia (Anna Torv). Also, Peter's mother (guest-star Orla Brady) is introduced and details of the neighboring world reaffirm that there is more than one of everything.

As noted above, photo is copyright of Fox Television, so please no copying or  duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Bones Star David Boreanaz Directs Milestone 100th Episode

FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) in the fifth season Bones episode "The Goop on the Girl." Photo by Greg Gayne and copyright of Fox.

OVER the course of five seasons, the partnership between Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) has evolved from strictly professional into an unlikely and perhaps romantic pairing. The formidable duo's dynamic and unusual history is examined in the milestone 100th episode of Bones, airing Thursday, April 8th (8:00-9:00 p.m. EST/PST) on Fox.

The Parts in the Sum of the Whole, directed by Boreanaz, recounts the first time Brennan and Booth worked together on a case. This look back at their beginnings has a profound effect on them and may forever change their feelings for each other. The episode also provides a glimpse at the other Jeffersonian team members to see how their relationships began and the influence they have had on one another's lives.

"I'm so proud to stand by each and every cast and crew member on this momentous achievement of our 100th episode," said Boreanaz. "All the blood, sweat and tears has brought us to this moment. With each step we became a family, and with each step further I take on directing this episode as a friend. To 100! Salute!"

Adds Bones executive producer Hard Hanson. "All of us at Bones are keenly aware of how rare and exciting it is for a television drama to make it to the 100th episode mark. For this to happen, a lot of elements have to come together in an organic way - the most important being cast and audience. Bones is fortunate to have the best of both."

Throughout Bones 100 episodes, Brennan's and Booth's "will they or won't they?" connection has excited a loyal fan base and generated much discussion as to what direction their relationship should take. In addition, the Jeffersonian team has explored and uncovered incredibly bizarre causes of death in their investigations, and the series has served up some of the most gruesome cases ever on television.

A darkly amusing procedural with humor, heart and character, Bones focuses on a highly skilled forensic anthropologist whose special expertise lies in her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the bones of murder victims. The series also stars T.J. Thyne (as Dr. Jack Hodgins), Michaela Conlin (as Angela Montengro), Tamara Taylor (as Dr. Camille Saroyan) and John Francis Daley (as Dr. Lance Sweets).

As noted above, photo by Greg Gayne and copyright of Fox TV, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Defying Gravity ' s Laura Harris - Starry Eyed

[caption id="attachment_3737" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Laura Harris as Zoe Barnes in Defying Gravity. Photo by Kharen Hill and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios"][/caption] For as long as she can remember, Zoe Barnes has always been the type of person who has identified a goal and then worked hard and done everything in her power to obtain it. She was determined to be one of eight astronauts selected for the Antares mission - a six-year journey to explore Venus as well as other planets orbiting Earth's sun. Zoe succeeded in turning her dream into a reality, but in order to do so she had to abort her pregnancy, the result of a one-night stand with fellow astronaut and Antares crew member Maddox Donner. As the Antares travels deeper into space, this dark secret begins to weigh heavily on her mind, giving Defying Gravity's Laura Harris, who plays Zoe, the chance to deliver a multi-layered performance. "Zoe is very confident in the way her life is going and what that path is going to look like, so much so that it verges on hubris," explains Harris. "So what happens when you're overconfident, crap happens, and that's definitely the case with her, but in a way it's good. By that I mean Zoe rediscovers her true confidence in order to get back on her path. What's interesting about our show is that we see our characters in the past as well as present, so you have an idea of what's going to happen with them. I like that because you don't have to explain back story, but at the same time we as actors discover more and more about our characters as well as have more questions with each new script. That helps keep things fresh for us and the audience. "One of the biggest challenges I had stepping into this role was getting into science mode. As soon as I got the job, I planned a trip to NASA [Goddard Space Center] in Maryland. A friend of mine who works there showed me around, which was awesome, especially from a day-to-day standpoint. There's quite a bit of archive footage and stories about the dramatic and exciting part of space travel, but there are also the everyday jobs that have to be done. I got to meet with a lot of extraordinary scientists as well as engineers and one astronaut, who also happens to be my next-door neighbor and an engineer. [caption id="attachment_3738" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Zoe in ISO's (International Space Organization) Mission Control. Photo by Sergei Backlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios"][/caption] "So that helped get me in the right mindset. Zoe is a lot like Jodie Foster's character in [the feature film] Contact, a strong woman who has her own ideas about her life, all of which revolve around the space program and geology. My character is done with Earth rocks. Zoe wants space rocks now, and that's all she cares about," jokes the actress. In the first episode of Defying Gravity, Zoe and the other prospective candidates for the Antares mission undergo a series of grueling physical tests to determine who will be able to endure their outer space adventure. This includes a ride in the centrifugal force chair, an experience that left Harris a little shaken but none the worse for wear. "They strapped me into the chair, started to shake it and me, and said, 'It'll be all right,' and it was," she recalls. "Thank God for YouTube because it's totally changed the way an actor can prepare for a scene like this because you can actually see the effects of things like centrifugal force and nitrogen narcosis on the human body. There's tons of footage showing pilots experiencing such things and what you're supposed to do, including this little breathing exercise that sort of tenses up your whole body. So that's what I did and I think the scene turned out good, especially considering the way it was shot, which was guerilla-style." [caption id="attachment_3739" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="At work in the Antares' lab. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios"][/caption] From simulated events to practical ones, the Antares crew experiences firsthand what it is like to work as well as live in zero gravity and float among the stars. That required some wire work along with green screen work for the cast of Defying Gravity, something that was both fun and taken seriously by all those involved. "You want to be able to show a person experiencing the cosmos when they're actually in it," says Harris. "It's a very human thing to just look up at the sky and experience the cosmos, but to tangibly be in it, I don't know, I just think it must be pretty miraculous. So you don't want to milk it, and in a show like this it's easy to overdo something like that, especially me. I'm someone who's into experiencing nature in all its grandeur, and I'll admit that over the years I've sometimes looked kind of goofy standing in front of a green screen trying to imagine what experiencing the cosmos would be like," laughs the actress. "I'm hoping they edited any such moments out of Defying Gravity, but I tried my best to appear believable and sincere when imagining and reacting to such situations as Zoe. I feel like we have a responsibility to the audience, and that makes the work all the more challenging." During their five years of training leading up to the mission, Zoe and her fellow crewmates develop relationships of varying levels and dynamics with one another. In the present, those bonds become valuable lifelines as the astronauts learn to adapt to and interact with each other onboard the Antares. [caption id="attachment_3740" align="aligncenter" width="199" caption="Zoe and Steve Wassenfelder (Dylan Taylor) watch intently as a situation unfolds onboard the Antares. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios"][/caption] "There is a great deal of growth with all our characters' relationships, a lot of which isn't what you might be expecting to see, and I think that's pretty cool," notes Harris. "Jen Crane [Christina Cox] and Zoe are best friends, whereas Zoe and Nadia Schilling [Florentine Lahme] have this sort of modern-day love triangle between them and Donner [Ron Livingston]. Neither woman, however, is outwardly jealous of one another. Zoe and Nadia have their own rules and ideas about how they run their lives, and Donner is something that they both share, which is rather interesting. As for Zoe and Donner, they're connected in some way. I don't think either of them is clued into why or how, but there's a definite connection between them that's beyond their control. "I have to say that working with this cast is such a delight, and that's true of every single person. I've had some really awesome scenes with Paula Garces [Paula Morales]. I love her character and everything that goes on with it. It's amazing to watch her drop into character because she does it just like that," says the actress, snapping her fingers. "For whatever magical reason, everyone has it in their heart when it comes to playing these roles, but there is also a major and very real transformation that takes place when we're in front of the camera. And that's something you don't always see. It's very much a wow-type moment of watching your castmate deliver his or her lines, and then stepping up to the plate and trying to match what it is that they're giving you," she enthuses. A familiar face to TV watchers, Harris has guest-starred on numerous series including The X-Files, Stargate Atlantis and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well as had recurring or regular roles on 24, The Dead Zone, Woman's Murder Club and Dead Like Me. In the latter, she played Daisy Adair, an actress from the 40's who died but was then reborn as one of a group of "grim reapers" who collect the souls of others just before death and help them cross over to the other side.  [caption id="attachment_3742" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A contemplative moment for Zoe in the Antares' observation room. Photo by Sergei Bachlakov and copyright of ABC/Fox TV Studios"][/caption] "I loved doing Dead Like Me because I got to be girly, and the thing is, I don't think I'm really a girly girl at all," says the actress. "Daisy was so different from who I am, so it was a true acting adventure. And as a cast, we had so much ridiculous fun together. We had such raw creative energy and everything we did was full of love. The show was truly a gift and I'm so glad I had the chance to do it." For Harris, it is who she works with that makes her job so rewarding. "You can't beat experiencing creative teamwork with really special, interesting people," she muses. "I love people anyway, and acting makes you go to places that you might not necessarily want to. In the process, you end up loving and appreciating people even more, because things that may seem unapproachable as qualities in others, all of a sudden aren't so unapproachable, do you know what  I mean? And that sort of realization makes anything in this world seem possible." Steve Eramo Defying Gravity is produced by Fox TV Studios and OmniFilm Productions in association with the BBC, Canada's CTV and Germany's ProSieben. As noted above, all photos by Sergei Bachlakov or Kharen Hill and copyright of ABC TV and Fox TV Studios, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Lie To Me ' s Mekhi Phifer - Reynolds ' Rap

[caption id="attachment_3466" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mekhi Phifer as FBI Agent Ben Reynolds in Lie To Me. Photo copyright of Fox Television"][/caption] In the season one Lie to Me episode Blinded, FBI Agent Ben Reynolds enlists the help of Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth and his team to help in the hunt for a serial rapist. This marked the debut of Mekhi Phifer as Reynolds, who by the end of the episode is made a member of Lightman's team. Perhaps best recognized for his starring role on ER, which garnered him two NAACP Image Award nominations, Phifer is also known for his many successful feature films. He began his acting career in Spike Lee's Clockers and then went on to star in such movies as 8 Mile opposite Eminem, O opposite Josh Hartnett and Julia Stiles and Soul Food with Vanessa Williams. The actor's other TV credits include The Tuskegee Airmen, Subway Stories: Takes from the Underground, Brian's Song and Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Additionally, he earned a third NAACP nomination for the film A Lesson Before Dying. At the end of September, I joined several other journalists on a conference call with Mehki Phifer. The following is an edited version of our Q & A. Enjoy! What are the similarities and differences between your role on Lie To Me and your character of Dr. Gregory Pratt on ER, which you were so good in? MEKHI PHIFER - Thanks, I really appreciate that. The only similarity is that they're pretty strong characters. They have different backgrounds and things of that nature, and, while both men save lives, they do it in different ways. Obviously, being able to, for example, carry a badge along with a gun and having gone undercover adds more layers to my character in Lie to Me and makes him different from Greg Pratt. So I'm having a lot of fun unveiling all those layers. As the season goes on are we going to find out a lot more about your character and get more into the personal side of things? MP - Yes, definitely. Shawn Ryan [series executive producer] and the rest of us really want to delve into this character and see what makes him tick. Can you tell us a little bit about how you first become involved in the series and your audition process for the role of Ben Reynolds. MP - Fortunately, they [the show's producers] knew my work and loved it, so I didn't have to audition. This job was an offer to come do the last two episodes of the first season and see how it all worked out, including how we gelled as a cast, and it worked out great. So once hiatus came I was officially asked to join the cast for season two. What were some of the acting challenges you found first stepping into the role, and how have you seen your character grow and develop so far in year two? MP - It's always hard, especially those last two episodes I did for season one because my character wasn't at all scoped out yet. Starting out, you kind of have to make it up as you go along, so you're sort of walking on egg shells when it comes to character choices that you're making because those choices affect the next episode and the one after that and so forth. I just knew that I wanted to portray someone who could go in many different directions, so I tried to bring a three-dimensional side to Ben. In season two, we have a little bit more clarity on the way we want things to go. You will get to see into Ben's past as an FBI agent and even him doing undercover work and how that affected his professional as well as personal life and what he's had to deal with because of that. I wanted to talk a little bit about your production company; as an actor, how important do you think it is to have a role behind the camera as well as in front of it? MP - I guess it's personal preference. Me, personally, I like to be able to tell the stories that I want to tell and do the things I want do to. It takes a little bit more work, but that's what the production side is. You're still going to have to sell [the idea] to someone who's going to give you the money and things like that. However, it does give you a bit more control to tell the story that you want to tell as opposed to just reading a script that somebody else wrote and saying, "Yes, please, can you hire me for this job." It allows you to be a bit more hands-on and closer to the heart. What influence do you ultimately hope to have or leave in Hollywood? MP - The point for us actors, just from the creative side, is to entertain and affect people. It's always the best compliment when people come up to you and say that they were affected by your film or performance on a TV series or whatever. I don't know yet what my ultimate legacy is that I want to leave. I'm still a fairly young man and hopefully I have a lot more to do. You character on Lie to Me is kind of like the "cops and robbers" type while everyone else is more scientific. Can you talk about the push and pull between the characters and what that friction is like? MP - You're right, Tim Roth's character and all the other guys at The Lightman Group are a bunch of scientists who may want to do something that's beyond the limits of the law if you will. My character is kind of the liason between them and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We do bump heads a lot because I don't necessarily understand, at least right now, how much their methods really do help solve cases. As the series goes on, he'll come to better understand that. Ben Reynolds has his own methods and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but ultimately both sides come together for the betterment of these cases. In terms of your breadth of work, you seem to be drawn to drama more than comedy - is that correct, and if so, why do you think that is? MP - I can do comedy but it's a certain type. I'm not a physical comedy guy or slapstick. That's not my style. Even when I was on Curb Your Enthusiasm I wasn't playing this over-the-top crazy character. I was playing it kind of straight, but it was funny because the situation was funny, do you know what I mean? That's how I portrayed him. I like dramas because you can laugh and joke and still be serious and real. I like the realism of the genre. You did such a great job in The Shield, which was such an edgy show. Are we going to see the same thing in Lie to Me? Is it going to be a little edgier and darker this year? MP - Yes, I think so. It's already kind of going there. The networks are different so they have a different approach. Obviously, The Shield was on the FX Network, so they had a bit more leeway as far as the dialogue was concerned, as well as with the content and what they showed viewers, which is a great thing. But on Lie to Me we will push it to the limit as far as Fox will let us go, that's for damn sure. What sticks out most in your mind about our first day on the Lie to Me set and shooting your first episode? MP - The first day, in particular, is always one of those weird days because you're thrown into your trailer, given your wardrobe, haven't really been on the set, etc. Fortunately I had been watching Lie to Me, so when I walked onto the set for the first time it was like, "Wow, this is what I've been watching on TV." You're also meeting people for the first time. I had never met Tim Roth before, even though I've always loved his work. It was the same thing with the rest of the cast, and to come on and have everyone welcome you with open arms and really be there for each other was definitely a breath of fresh air. It was the same thing on ER. We had a great camaraderie and that's more or less what I was concerned about more than anything else. It's a great group of people here and we're having a lot of fun. What did you enjoy most about working on ER and playing the character of Gregg Pratt? MP - I was able to be here [in Los Angeles] and be close to home and my kids every night and all that kind of stuff. Again, though, it was the people. The cast and crew on that show hung out together, we travelled together and did so much together. I always like having that sort of rapport with the people I work with because life is too short not to. What would you say makes a career in this industry rewarding for you so far? MP - What makes a career rewarding is being able to do good work and know that people respect and appreciate your work. As an artist and a creative person you always want to receive the accolades of others who are watching you or you wouldn't be doing it, do you know what I'm saying? No one wants to do this if people say, "Man, you stink." Actors want to do well and, to me, that's the basis of having a stellar career, earning peoples' respect. When your name comes up and people go, "Oh, yeah, he's a good actor, and I loved him in this or I loved him in that." It's a good feeling to have people appreciate you. You're on a show that has a multi-cultural cast just like ER. Can you talk about the importance of having a multi-cultural cast and what that brings to television? MP - I just think it opens up the viewership. The beauty of watching a good television program or a good movie is that, yes, you may have a multi-cultural cast, but those roles could go to anyone - they could be played by persons of any color, you know? To show the world that we have more in common then we have different from each other is, to me, the ultimate goal. It helps reinforce in peoples' minds that thought that we're all the same. Yes, there are going to be cultural differences, but for the most part we are all the same as human beings. Was the character of Ben Reynolds written with you in mind? MP - Yes, I think so. I know that they wanted to introduce a character who could go toe-to-toe with Tim Roth's character and be a sort of on-site lawman with a badge and a gun to deal with crisis situations right there without having to outsource or try to find an agent who was willing to work with The Lightman Group. As a Black man in Hollywood who is specifically doing drama, can you talk about the challenges of that. Do you feel there are challenges in finding work, having been fortunate with ER and now Lie to Me? MP - It was tough, just like anything else. I've been in the industry for 15 years and throughout that time I've mainly done dramas, but I've always tried to portray each character differently and make them three-dimensional. Lie to Me came up as a testament to my work in the past. Again, I didn't have to audition for it; the producers and director had seen my work as well as heard about my work ethic and asked me to come on. So in order to really be respected in this town, you have to have a foundation of good work. Without that, you have a shell of a career out here, rather than the meat and bones of it all. As noted above, photo is copyright of Fox Television, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Take Echo Out Of The Dollhouse

BEGINNING today, Dollhouse fans can have Echo (Eliza Dushku) come alive on their computer desktops with "Virtual Echo," a new application based on the fan-favorite series that airs Fridays (9 p.m. - 10 p.m. EST/PST) on Fox. "Virtual Echo," a new free augmented-reality desktop application built by integrated marketing agency BLITZ using the Adobe Flash Platform, is available for download only at www.fox.com/virtualecho. Powered by Adobe AIR, "Virtual Echo" brings the Dollhouse's most requested Active (or Doll) to life on computers in two unique ways. Desktop Echo turns any computer screen into Echo's playground. Watch Echo walk onto your desktop as she switches between her different personas, including dream date, hostage negotiator and assassin. Fans may leave the application running to be surprised as Echo displays her many special talents. Augmented Reality Echo allows users to expand the Echo experience using augmented reality (AR) technology. Simply print out the AR card at the website address above with the special Dollhouse symbol or "glyph," aim it at the computer's webcam and bring Echo to life by moving the card. Then use the arrow keys to choose between her different avatars. Get more information on the "Virtual Echo" experience by watching a brief video online at http://bit.ly/VirtualEchoDemo. Viewers will also get a closer look at the secrets of the Dollhouse as well as instant access to full episodes, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, cast and crew interviews and online photo galleries. The Dollhouse application was developed by BLITZ, a leading integrated marketing agency focused on developing immersive, entertaining and imaginative experiences. Known for creating revolutionary consumer campaigns, BLITZ worked closely with the team from gskinner.com in order to create an extended experience that tied the intrigue of the TV series to online content, real-world promotions and now viewers' desktops.

Joss Whedon ' s Dollhouse Returns In September

THE second season of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse will premiere on Friday, September 25th @ 9 p.m. EST/PST on FOX. Series creator and executive producer Joss Whedon will write and direct the episode that will set the stage for season two. In Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku stars as Echo, an "Active" in a highly illegal and underground group of individuals whose personalities have been wiped clean so that they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Confined between missions to a secret facility known as the "Dollhouse," the Actives are hired by the wealthy, powerful and connected to wholly become - with mind, personality and physiology - whomever the client wants or needs them to be. Whether imprinted to be a lover, an assassin, a corporate negotiator or a best friend, the Actives know no other life than the specific engagements they are in at the time - or do they? Dollhouse is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The series was created by Joss Whedon, who also serves as executive producer, writer and director. Tim Minear is an executive producer, while Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas and David Solomon are co-executive producers. Additionally, series star Eliza Dushku serves as a producer. The show also stars Tahmoh Penikett, Olivia Williams, Harry Lennix, Fran Kranz, Dichen Lachman and Enver Gjokaj.