Interviews – John de Lancie

Hi, this is John Delancey and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Did you miss me,

Celestia? I missed you. It's quite lonely being

placed in stone, but you wouldn't know that,

would you? Because I don't turn ponies into stone!

The Continuum didn't think you had it in you,

Jean -Luc. But I knew you did. I was the one

that got you into it. A directive from the Continuum.

The part about the helping hand, though, was

my idea. The trial never ends. We wanted to see

if you had the ability to expand your mind and

your horizons. And for one brief moment, you

did. When I realized the paradox. Exactly. For

that one fraction of a second, you were open

to options you had never considered. That is

the exploration that awaits you. Hello and welcome

to this special GeekCast radio interview. I'm

your host Steve Megatron Phillips and joining

me in this awesome interview is Kevin Optimus

Solo Thompson. Hello Steve. Hello, and we are

interviewing today John Delancey. Hello John.

Hello, how are you? Good, how are you? Well,

you know what it explains is this this UK thing

explains What I was concerned about in terms

of being a lot of jet lag talking to a bunch

of guys who were like five o 'clock in the morning.

So, okay, we're on. We're much better. Yeah,

we're much better. Awesome. We're going to start

out with a couple of just general background

questions and starting those out. Where did you

grow up at? I grew up in Philadelphia. I grew

up in Philadelphia, Center City, for the first,

I don't know, seven or eight years and then my

folks moved out to the suburbs and then I left

Philadelphia when I was about 18. Nice. How did

growing up with dyslexia affect your life and

do you have any advice for the many other people

out there facing the same types of challenges

you've faced? Well, it was difficult. I mean,

it was really difficult because when I went to

school, people didn't know about anything about

dyslexia. So they just figured that I was a little

slow and I flunked out of, I don't know, one,

two, at least two places until I got to a school

in the sixth grade. which was pretty much for

kind of wayward kids, probably a lot of whom

had dyslexia. And the headmistress of the school

said, well, I think that he has dyslexia. Now,

that was okay with me because it was better to

find out I had dyslexia than to just be told

I was stupid again. But it isn't as if anybody

did anything about it. There wasn't anything

to do. It was a name. And it gave some sort of

credence to why it was that I could be, you know,

fairly clever on certain things and really behind

the eight ball and others. What was it that finally

kind of let you get over the hump there, especially

going on into a field that, you know... with

lines and you know acting in general that would

be so much there'd be so much focus on you know

the reading and everything else well I think

that like a lot of people you tend to gravitate

towards the things sometimes that you don't do

that well and you overcompensate I was in class

in again in sixth grade probably hacking around

in the back and my teacher came in and the next

thing I knew I had a book bounce off my chest

he threw a book across the room and it bounced

off my chest and fell onto my onto my desk and

he said you know probably along with be quiet

and a fair amount of other expletives he said

two months from now we're going to do henry the

fifth this was during the spring two months from

now we're going to do henry the fifth and the

lancey you're going to play howl and he went

around the room and and assigned part now I then

had to go and read the play, which was excruciating.

And, well, actually, I had to read the play,

which was difficult, but then I had to memorize,

and that was excruciating. I just didn't know

how to memorize. And to this day, I am not really

very good at it. And it gives me a lot of anxiety.

I don't know why my wife, who is not dyslexic,

can learn... very complicated stuff in a very,

very short time while I am still struggling.

The only difference is that once I've got it,

I seem to know kind of what to do with it, you

know, maybe certainly as well, if not in certain

instances better than others. But it's always

been a struggle and it will always remain a struggle.

So what was it exactly that made you decide to

get into the acting business and if you could

tell us about landing your first official role

as an actor. Well after all of this discussion

about struggle and what have you and flunking

and having to learn this stuff and perform it,

I went ahead and did that. And at the end of

that performance outside on that day in May,

everybody crowded around me and said, wow, you're

really good at this. And there was a guy there

who had come to see his granddaughter who went

up to my father and said, if your son wants to

do this, he should You should encourage him because

he's actually really good at this. Now this guy

happened to be the editor of the Pelican Shakespeare's

for, you know, those Shakespeare books that every

school kid used to have. And so that was the

first time in my life that I'd ever had any positive

feedback in school. And so I just glommed onto

that. I mean, that was like, oh my God. You know,

little did I know that each and every time that

the learning of my lines was not going to really

become that much easier as time went on because

it took me a very, very long time to even understand

how to learn lines. But that was something. So

now we jump forward. I ended up going to Juilliard.

I was very fortunate in being able to go there.

I had had a bunch of other jobs in between that,

but probably the first really official job was

being in the American Shakespeare Company up

in Stratford, Connecticut. Then I came back into

New York and I auditioned for a bunch of stuff

and I got an opportunity to be in a movie and

I went out to Los Angeles. Worked at Universal

for two years, where I did many, many, many shows,

and then I got tired of that, and I went up to

Seattle, back into the theater, and then... You

know, so I was up and running. I mean, I think

that I was, for the most part, pretty naive and

rather immature. One thing that was helpful is

that in my younger days, I... I sort of looked

like an actor, you know, I was good enough, good

enough looking that that was helpful where sometimes

my acting was probably not quite as good as it

should have been. Was there a certain, last question

on this topic, but was there a certain point

where you, did you know right from the beginning

that this is what you wanted to do long term

or was there a certain point where it clicked

and you said, you know, you figured out that

this is definitely what you want to stick with?

Well, I really hadn't thought about it. And when

you figure, I started acting when I was 14. By

the time I was 28, I now was actually making

my living at it. But I was making my living at

it in such a way that, you know, it was a struggle.

Not as much as a lot of people had I've been

very fortunate But it was enough of a struggle

for me to go. God is this something I really

want to do It was at that time that I began I

sort of sat myself down and and realized I'm

full into this now. I have no other profession

I mean there isn't anything else I'm good at

it isn't like I'm gonna go back and get my PhD

You know? I mean, this was, I was, for better

or for worse, I was stuck. And so it was at that

point that I thought, you know, I really need

to start thinking about this in a way that will

make me successful and not just a feather for

every wind. Right. Jumping gears a little bit

more into something a little bit more specific.

Do you have a favorite show that you've had the

pleasure of working on? Well, Breaking Bad is

an awfully good show. You know, I think it's

Vince, the creator of that, is just about the

best. I mean, oh my gosh. He's just amazing.

And so I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the last show

I was in, which I don't think is going to go

anywhere, but it was Torchwood, I thought, did

a pretty good job. Those are some of the shows

that you would have seen of late. Gotcha. What

about specifically looking at all of the different

Star Trek related projects that you've been involved

with? Is it possible for you to pick a favorite

out of all of them? Well, Star Trek clearly is

a defining show for me to the extent that, you

know, my grave will say best known. I went, by

the way, I was doing a play not too long ago,

a couple. months or so ago and and uh... sometimes

on the saturdays or sundays are in between shows

we would go and have lunch in the cemetery it's

it's this celebrity cemetery in in uh... westwood

and uh... maryland rose there and you know with

and merv griffin and what have you and some of

the grade markers are fantastic merv griffin's

is merv griffin's is uh... I will not be back

after a brief commercial. Nice. And then there

was some actor, and I wish I could remember his

name, but it's so, it goes, yeah, I'm going to

come up with a name, you know, Bob Gray, a fine

actor, weather permitting. Oh, geez. So there

were lots of... So in any case, um, oh god now

I forgot your question I've got I've got it's

just just out of all the different Star Trek

products if you had a particular favorite Oh,

well, sure. I think I think the for me the the

project the The next gen was the was the more,

you know substantive show the last episode all

good things was was Was a place where I I could

sort of do I didn't have a great deal to do but

each scene Sort of was pivotal or at least Character

wise it was pivotal and that I could I could

present a new fact of facet But you know each

one had a little different facet of this character

called Q Is it true that when they were going

to make that last episode of The Next Generation,

I read somewhere that you had approached Rick

Berman and asked if you could be in that final

episode. Is that a factual thing? No, I didn't.

I'm delighted on being in it, but it's very awkward

in asking producers for work. them in an awkward

position if that's not really what they want

to do and it places you in a position where you

know you're being told essentially I mean it's

it's I always think of it as like asking somebody

am I going to be invited to your dinner party

right you know it's like no oh my god so I never

I just never ask I never ask That was kind of

a nice bookend though, having Q in the first

episode and the final episode of TNG. Yeah, I

think so too. I think so too. For most people,

most people think that I was a series regular

on the show. Most people think when I say to

them, well, how many episodes do you think I

was in on all three shows? Whatever group. Deep

Space and Voyager. Oh, they go, oh my god, I

don't know, 20, 30. I said, well, try nine. Nine.

So there would be shows in which people would

say, no, no, no, no, no, you were in that. And

I go, actually, I wasn't. He goes, well, you

know, really? You should have been in it. I think

it's just a testament to how much of an impact

that character had. Well, there's no question

the character had an impact which was disproportionate

to the amount of times he was traipsed around.

So what project has posed the biggest challenge

that you've been a part of? Oh, I don't know.

I mean, you know, since we talked about line

learning, man and Superman, with the Don Juan

section represented about three hours and 50

minutes of me talking at high speed on stage,

that was terrifying. And also, because I did

it, it was exhilarating. I've written a fair

amount of shows for... symphony orchestras and

and they are fraught with all sorts of production

issues that don't usually exist in the theater

but you know the symphony hall symphony orchestras

are not producing instruments and so trying to

get a sort of theatrical production up in a symphony

environment is has been Super challenging i don't

know i mean one of the things i'm changing the

subject a little bit is that some actors just

like to act they just they just enjoy that and

regardless of almost regardless of what the material

is that state that you get in is something that

is for them is is everything i'm not somebody

like that. I really need to think the material

is good and really somehow have a feel for the

material above and beyond just wanting to have

the job. And so I tend to work less and less

because I don't really want to sit around the

set. I have other things that I do. that also

take up time, and time is becoming more and more

precious, so I'm doing a little tiny little,

I don't know what it's gonna be, 12 minute little

short for a guy next week, and I'm doing it only

because the material I go, oh, this is very interesting.

It's a story of a psychologist. who is counseling

a woman who is, cannot accept the fact that her

husband is gone and is not coming back. And she

has turned it into that he actually has run off

with another woman. And what we realize in this

very short short is that her husband died in

9 -11. And what we also discover is that my wife

died in 9 -11. So we are two people in real pain

trying to deal with this issue. And we are hooked

together. There's a symbiotic relationship that

we have. just as a little, it's a little tiny

project and I just thought, oh, that sounds really

interesting. Let's see where that goes. So that's

the type of stuff. I mean, along with, I just

finished doing them in Philadelphia, L 'histoire

du Soldat, which is a Stravinsky piece. I was

in Rochester a couple of, about a month ago now,

doing a new piece for a symphony orchestra, which

is a very exciting piece. It's a Dr. Seuss. piece

about the snitches. I didn't know this. Yeah,

I didn't know it. And the snitches was used in

Bosnia by the NATO commander at the time. He

ordered, I don't know, something like a half

a million books printed up of the snitches in

Croatian. to distribute to the people there to

try to get them to stop killing each other. And

a wonderful man by the name of Dr. Sidney Sobel,

a doctor in the way in which the arts has always

been. He's a patron of the arts. He has commissioned

He went and got the rights from the SUSE estate

because he feels very strongly about this piece.

And then he went and got, commissioned a Spanish

composer by the name of, oh my god, Lorenzo Palomo.

P -A -L -O -M -O. And me as the narrator and

we're doing a, we did a... a two piano version

of it in Rochester, as I said, about three weeks

ago. And then it's going to premiere at Oberlin,

and then it's going to start making its rounds

to symphony orchestras around the world. Cool.

Cool. The point is that whatever is interesting.

Right. Oh, yeah. I can definitely understand

that. Out of the several animated shows you've

been a part of, What has been one of your favorites

to have worked on? The experience is difficult.

You don't get too connected with it. I only come

in once or whatever. The one that's going on

right now is My Little Pony, which I thought

was a kids show. Little did I know that there's

such a world as bronies. you know, my understanding

of all that, I actually asked somebody, is this

coded? Is this a coded show that really means

something else? And they said, no, no, it isn't.

So there's that. I just finished doing a... What

did I do? It was a game, sort of a fun game.

I cannot remember the name of it. I don't know,

you'll have to help me with the... Was it Assassin's

Creed? Oh, I did Assassin's Creed. That was very

interesting. That was very interesting. I really

had a sense that I was working with people who

really, you know, obviously they know their business

very well and it was fun. That was nice. That

was nice, yeah. You mentioned a couple different

things here, working with the symphonies and

orchestras. You've obviously done theater work,

you've done film work, television work, video

games, cartoons. Do you have a favorite medium

within the whole acting genre? Is there one that

you prefer or one that is a personal favorite

out of yours? No, I don't. I tend to, if I'm

doing a play, which I just finished doing, you

know, after three months, four months, I'm really

ready to get out of that. I just like the variety

of stuff. I like that. In a way, though, I mean,

just from a technical point of view, sometimes

you don't get, you know, you become a jack of

all trades sort of person, but... But I mostly

enjoy just being able to go from one different

project to the next. The notion of doing a play

for two, three years is really apparent to me.

I just can't imagine. And I know that there are

a lot of actors who think that that's absolutely

fantastic, but I just would hate it. I absolutely

would hate it. In the same way that doing a television

series I mean I did two or three television series

and you know and they would last a long time

and it's a real grind and it's in a you just

I Just I sort of go dead upstairs after a while

makes sense Was there ever if you can remember

was there ever a project that you were involved

with whether it you know be Most likely a TV

show or something like that that you're really

excited and thought would do go places or do

great that never really materialized or was there

something that you thought was completely hopeless

that you were once it got involved but it really

took off and was successful and you didn't expect

it? Well, legend, the television show legend

was something that I thought was going to run

for a very long time and most people who saw

it just loved it and I thought that it was a

shoe -in. And we did 13 episodes, and that was

it. There are a number of reasons why that was

it, and I don't think it had anything to do with

the show. I think it had everything to do with

being on a new network, them not having the affiliates

to be able to make sure the show was given its

due. Sometimes it would be at 1 o 'clock in the

morning, or 10 o 'clock in the morning. I mean,

just ridiculous. Shows that I thought of that

I didn't think were going to be successful and

were. No, I have not had... It probably kind

of goes into the fact that you seem pretty careful,

like you said, about the roles that you're picking

and you want that kind of value to it, so it

kind of makes sense that you wouldn't get involved

with something if you didn't think it was going

to take off. Right. I mean, you know, everybody

goes into a show hoping and expecting, you know,

there's a sort of a suspension of reality or

disbelief or whatever you want to call it. You

go in going, oh, this is great and stuff like

that. And then it's only when, you know, other

people get involved that you begin to say, oh,

well, geez, I guess I misread that. I mean, I

just came from a show tonight that my wife was

doing. She'd been working on it for the last

two months. And I would say the last two weeks

have been a constant... She has been so down

on the show that, oh, my God, it's just gonna

be terrible. It's not gonna work. It's all this

effort and stuff like that. And I went to see

the show this morning or this afternoon. And

it was really good. And then I went back tonight.

That was sort of a dress rehearsal. And then

there was the performance tonight. These are

kids in the high school of the performing arts.

And they had to write a show. They picked a show.

They picked a story, a really interesting story,

one of the first prototypes for science fiction,

a Chinese story that dates back to the 13th century.

It's one of the first stories that is in human

history that has a character come from another

planet. Well, it actually isn't another planet.

It's the moon. And she comes from the moon, and

she's a daughter of the moon or something like

that. but uh... but yeah it's i've been often

times uh... you do shows that that uh... you

know you do say oh my you know you get into a

thing is going to be fabulous and then you go

through a period where you go this is good gonna

be hell it's just going to be terrible and then

the uh... as we say that you know the gods of

the theater come down and smile on from them

on that night and everything seems to work itself

out prompted the creation of alien voices uh...

i was doing A bunch of shows for L .A. Theatre

Works and L .A. Theatre Works is a producing

arm of, or their shows are on NPR and they are

plays and they're plays that are done as radio

shows. And I had been with L .A. Theatre Works

for a long time and I had done a number of their

shows and I had directed a bunch of shows. I'd

acted and directed a bunch. I they were looking

for ways to be able to sort of bring in, you

know, new audiences and what have you. And I

had suggested to Susan that we do War of the

Worlds. And at that time, I also wanted to have

a sequel to War of the Worlds. So I called Howard

Koch in Woodstock, New York, and asked him if

he would write a sequel to War of the Worlds.

He was very old at the time, he was 90 and he

really in the end was not up to the task. But

Nat Sigaloff, a writer friend of mine, he and

I did in fact write the sequel to. And so I put

together a science fiction cast made up of science

fiction actors, the vast majority of them from

Star Trek. Susan really didn't know who they

were, but Let me tell you, the night we opened,

we had people around the block. A lot of people

did not get into that opening show. And so it

was very successful. The headliner of that show

was Leonard Nemoy. When the show was over, I

said, Leonard, did you have a good time? And

he said, oh yeah, I had a great time. And I said,

well, I have an idea. So, he and I talked, and

I said, I'd like to bring Nat in, and you and

I, and my idea is to do classic science fiction.

The reason I wanted to do classic science fiction,

and now I'm beginning to see that probably a

lot of my life has to do with this dyslexia stuff,

is that my first book that I read from cover

to cover and enjoyed immensely, I was probably

around 13. It was about the time that I began

to be able to read at enough of a speed so that

I could sort of enjoy the process. And that book

was Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. And not

only was it a book that, as I said, I really

enjoyed, but it was a book that has gone on to

impressed me in many different ways. I just thought

it was fantastic that here were a bunch of guys

who had nothing and when they fell into the sea,

when the balloon finally deflates and they fall

into the sea, they arrive on this island with

nothing and they created through their wits and

their understanding of science and what have

you, they created essentially a utopian society

as best it could be done. You know, the fact

that I remember putting the book down when I

was reading it, you know, in bed. I would put

the book down and just think about it because

they would go, you know, one guy would go, oh,

I see against this hill I see that there's a

lot of iron ore. That means we will be able to

create a, you know, a forge and we'll be able

to make metal. I go, oh my God, how would they

know that? Oh, this is fantastic. And I wanted

to be somebody like that. And I just thought

it was just great. So I said, I want to go back

and I went on to read many of the classic science

fictions. The Wells, the Verns, you know, I read

many, many of those. And I said, I'd like to

go back and do that. And one of the things is,

is that I want to make sure that I do it in a

way that is respectful to the book. Because at

the end of that summer, when I read Mysterious

Island, the movie came out. And I was like, oh

my God, the movie, this is fantastic. And I went

to the matinee to see the movie. Well, the movie

opens up with a bunch of dinosaurs on the beach.

And I go, what the hell was this? There are no

dinosaurs in the book. And then from the sea

on a raft arrived two very blousy women. And

I stood up. amongst, you know, a theater filled

of kids my age. So, you know, we're all 13. And

I started screaming, this is not the story. This

is not what was in the book. This was not it.

And I got collared and I got thrown out. And

I just thought, God damn it. God damn it. I mean,

this is just not acceptable. So... So here it

was many years later that I am, you know, talking

to Leonard Nimoy and I'm going, Leonard, we're

going to do, you know, what do you think? And

he goes, I think it's a great idea. And I said,

okay, well, Nat and I will, you know, we will

read these books and we will create radio shows

from these books. And from, and from the script

of these radio shows, we then can do other things.

We can create television shows out of them. which

is what we did for the sci -fi channel and we

had deals with other companies. That's where

all of that came from. I've listened to a couple

of them, most notably being the First Men on

the Moon. There was Time Machine, Journey to

the Center of the Earth, Invisible Man. As a

matter of fact, I've just put them up where you

can download them now. What is it called? Alienvoices

.net, I think that's right. Alienvoices .net,

if you go to Alien, actually I can do it while

we're talking. If you can go to Alienvoices .net,

you can go there and you will see that they are

all there to be downloaded. Very cool. What are

some future plays or projects that you'd like

to add to that brand name or some other things

that you'd like to revisit? You mean for Alien

Voices? Yes. Well, Leonard and I are not doing

Alien Voices anymore. I mean, what happened is

that we had a wonderful time in the four years

that we did it. But like all good things, it

came to an end in no small way because we ended

up moving from being creators to being salesmen.

We just didn't want to sell stuff. I mean, you

know, right. Yeah, it just, and then, you know,

we had different ideas about how you sell it

and then, and then, you know, handing it off

to other people. And then you kind of go, well,

why are they doing that? And, and it just became

it, it, uh, a labor of love became burdensome.

And, uh, since there was never a thing that,

you know, let either of us were actually making

our living from, you know, so that was that,

you know, she, it was, we just said, look, that's

sort of it. I was, I did, I did do a, I did do

just, I floated an idea about a year ago, right

at Halloween, about a year ago, which is I went,

I went online, well, I went into my garage and,

and I did the Raven. with the help of a friend.

I did The Raven and it's pretty good and it's

really straight right into the camera. But it's

a pretty intense read and the last time I looked

it had something like 70 ,000 people had seen

it and my intention, I think we've got a theme

here, my intention was for teachers to play this

to kids who, because one of the things I didn't

add to any of this is that I taught myself how

to read through poetry. When I would look at

a page of a book, the typeface would be always

sort of floating. It's like, whoa, everything

looked really dense. But poetry, And those poetry

books, especially the, whatever it's called,

the living, the treasury of poetry or something

like that, they were spaced on the page kind

of in a pleasing manner. And they were little

blurbs, a half a dozen lines, or maybe at the

most a page, what have you. And so I use those

as a way to practice. So I have a very, I have

a good heartfelt feeling about poetry. So this

was going to be my, I was going to create a whole

bunch of those. Uh, and maybe I still will. I

mean, I've gone up there, you know, everyone's,

I go up on that site every once in a while and

people are always saying, Oh my God, would you

do Xanadu or you gotta do the rhyme of the ancient

Mariner or what about, you know, blah, blah,

blah. You know, so one of these days I might

do that. And, and the, and the, um, the people

who, the comments that are the most wonderful

for me. are the ones in which somebody will say,

I'm a teacher of a sixth grade class and I played

this and the kids were absolutely mesmerized

and it got them to realize that just words and

ideas can be really fun. So those things are

very gratifying. What are some of your favorite

characters out of the many you've played over

the years? Like, do you have one in particular

that's your favorite or do you just whatever

happens to catch your attention at the time?

It's sort of whatever catches my attention at

the time. I mean, Jack in Man and Superman, Byron

in Child Byron. I really grew to love Byron.

I really think, you know, you research. a lot

when you play these characters and I grew to

really love him. I thought he was great. Eugene

in Days of Our Lives. It was a really silly,

wonderful, wonderful romp. Three years of absolute

fun, great fun. Q, of course. What else? I don't

know. Bartok, which was Nikola Tesla. That was

wonderful. Those are some that I can think of.

You mentioned Q. How exactly did you come up

with the personality and the character of Q and

how you portrayed what was in the script for

that character? Was a lot of it outlined in the

script or was a lot of that just stuff that you

chose as far as how you envisioned the character?

Usually, especially in television, where these

things are not always that sketched out, they're

really waiting for somebody to come in and hand

them the role on a silver platter. I happened

to have been doing right then and there. I mean,

I was in rehearsal for a show called Terra Nova,

which was at the taper. And I was playing the

character of Amundsen. Now that character was

Amundsen who got to the South Pole before Scott.

And he was a bigger than life character. And

I myself tend to be a little, perhaps a little

overly, you know, a little too big. But in any

case all of that stuff was all of those juices

were flowing. Okay, and So they called me in

they asked me to do an audition and I went in

I looked at the material and I kind of knew I

don't know I just He's an arrogant son of a bitch

You know who happens to enjoy enjoy himself You

know, he's mad bad dangerous to know which is

Byron which is what was said about Byron. He's

omnipotent with clay feet. He's the most powerful

person in the universe, but too stupid to know

it. I mean, it's whatever are the juxtapositions

of those two things. And so I went in, and I

delivered it. Bam. And, uh, and I think it was

at that moment that they went, Oh, okay. All

right. Yeah. Well, this, we don't have to, one

of the things, especially in television and movies

and what have you is that you don't have a ramp

up time. You know, it isn't like, well, in three

weeks, you'll get the character and stuff like

that. What you do in the office is what you need

to be able to do tomorrow morning at six and

more. So. If you can come in as full -blown as

that then and obviously I Obviously I nailed

it so I nailed and I nailed something that they

might not have known was quite there You know,

they certainly had no sense of it having humor

in it So that was something that was not part

and parcel of anything in the scripts until until

the Until I brought that And I'm assuming that

when you auditioned for that character in the

beginning that that was a... Am I right to say

that that was a guest role that didn't necessarily

have future appearances planned? Right, that

was a one -shot. Right. That was a one -shot,

and Gene Roddenberry's original notion was that

they were going to just go right into making

episodes. But he lost the battle of it being

an M .O .W., two -hour M .O .W. And so in the

process of losing that battle, he had to come

up with, well, how do I extend the story that

I have? Which took him only a certain distance

so that he had to bring in kind of the B story

or whatever, you know, another story. And you

can see that, and I haven't watched, you know,

I watched it maybe twice this show, but many

years ago, but you can see the scene in there.

I mean, you can go, oh wow, boy, we really took

a right turn there. You know, it's really stitched

together, not very elegantly. of these two stories,

and I guess a couple, I mean, there are many

reasons why that became successful. Flamboyant.

You know, people love the notion of having power

and having no responsibility. You know, whatever

I brought to it, the tweaking, you know, whatever

they brought, who knows? Who knows? It's obviously,

you know, all of these things are of a collaborative

nature, so any actor or any writer or any director

who says it's all them is wrong. It's a collaboration.

And even when all is said and done, you go into

the editing room and it's yet another collaboration.

All the stars have to align. That's right. And

I guess the stars align. After it obviously became

a recurring character and then obviously appeared

in different series, looking back, once... Once

the Q character had run its span, looking back

at the character after the fact, how did you

feel about the character overall? Were you able

to do everything with the Q character that you

wanted to? Was there things that you wish you

could have been able to explore with that character?

Or at the end, did you feel like you had done

everything you could do with that character?

Well, the biggest problem with the character

is that is that, and I had gone through this

experience actually on the soap opera, I would

say do not write me funny. My sense of the undercut,

my sense of irony and sort of that wise -ass

thing will give it enough of that, but do not

write me funny. because nobody is really a comedy

writer and this is not a comedy show. So let

me give the wink and a nod. Sometimes that was

successful and sometimes it went over the line.

The best shows were always the shows that had

to do with big philosophical issues. Now you

could have a little bit of humor in there, but

by and large what's driving that show is You

humans have so screwed up your own backyard.

What makes you think that you have any right

to come out here? Is suicide a reasonable choice

to make? You have one more opportunity. to get

your life back. What will you do with that? You

know, I mean, these type of things, you kind

of go, oh, these are pretty big ideas. Whether

Q loves Vash is like, who cares? And those were

not as good. And I don't sort of remember them

for that reason. Makes sense. Yeah. I've noticed

that you're pretty widespread in all the areas

of the acting field. What has it been like working

on so many iconic shows? Well, you know, like

Stargate, Star Trek, Breaking Bad, Torchwood.

Especially like the science fiction, especially

iconic science fiction. Well, I was just going

to say those are genre shows. It's fine. When

you're on a major show that's doing really well,

it's great fun to be on. The West Wing is great

fun to be on. Everything is clicking at a high

level. And then there are lesser shows where

you just feel it. You're just cranking it out

and it's not as interesting. What are some of

your favorite film roles that you've had the

pleasure of being in or like is there one in

particular that stands out from the rest? Well,

the one in which I enjoyed the most and it's

the most bittersweet as far as I'm concerned.

It was my work with Peter Weir in Fearless. I

had many scenes with Jeff Bridges. We were that

about is that had to do with everything up until,

you know, getting onto the plane and all that

type of stuff. And then I got a call from Weir

saying, you know, I want to tell you that we've

decided to cut all the scenes up until the plane.

I went, oh my God, my God. I thought that this

was going to be something that was going to be

really great for my career, as well as being

involved with some really wonderful people. You

know, I made some impression, but not nearly.

I just, I don't know, I went from seven or eight

scenes to one. So it was just like, whoa. Who

else? I don't know. I have to look at my resume.

I'll look at it here. I will bring it up. I know

you're in, you know, Reign Over Me and Multiplicity

and you did the letter reading for Saving Private

Ryan. You're in Gamer. Oh, yeah. I mean, they're

fine. They're fine. They're special. What has

it been like over the years dealing with the

fan bases like you have? Like, you know, obviously

Star Trek has an insane fan base. I don't mean

it in a negative way, but. There's so many of

them out there, and your recent exposure to the

My Little Pony fan base, what has it been like

just interacting with such passionate fans? Well,

they are Hand That Rocks the Cradle, that was

great fun, I see that. Fisher King, that was

wonderful working with Terry Gilliam. The big

time is the show that you guys never saw i'm

sure but that was really wonderful. I was a wonderful

show about the move from radio to to television

in the nineteen late nineteen thirties early

nineteen forties and i play one of the radio

i played the radio actor. who in fact cannot

make the transition. It was an interesting thing.

I'm sorry, ask me the question again. Sorry,

it's just about dealing with your interactions

with some passionate fan bases like Star Trek,

My Little Pony. You know what? They are no different

than the people who meet you at the stage door

after a show. The only difference is that sometimes

it's like 20 years later. And they're asking

you questions. as if you just finished the show.

But the vast, vast majority of the, what would

be considered the, you know, ultra fans are very

sweet, very respectful, very, in many cases,

very smart people who just happen to, you know,

Like like that show right have you been to any

of like the different fan conventions for oh?

Yes, I've been to many of them Yeah, and uh and

they're terrific. I mean and they're they're

terrific they you know I mean I consider this

to be to be to be the Science fiction has essentially

offered the that the sanctuary from the other

half of the population which would want to be

a you know a NASCAR racer or or or you know or

or or a sporting event it's a little bit of a

gentler crowd and they are they are well read

in many instances and so you know it allows for

a sense of Science they enjoy science and then

they enjoy fiction and then they enjoy computers

and movies and and History and costumes and you

know all that type right so it's it's it's great

I actually had the pleasure of actually meeting

you one time at a Star Trek convention back in

I think it was 94 Yeah, I remember I know long

time ago. Yeah Were there any funny inside gags

you had while being involved with any of these

different projects? You know, everybody asks

me that. And the people who you can ask, and

they will actually say, oh yes, are the ones

who are usually series regulars. Because there

are certain days that they have, frankly, virtually

nothing to do. Just nothing to do. Okay? I mean

there are other days where they have a lot to

do, but in the course of 25 episodes, there are

times, and weeks actually, where they just don't

have anything to do, so they can play little

games. For Star Trek, one of the actresses actually

said to me one day, she says, you have more lines

in one episode. than I have in an entire year.

So when I would go on, I was really jammed. And

then add to that the fact that I'm saying these

words for the first time, which means I've had

to learn them, which now goes back to the tension

and unpleasantness of having to learn lines.

And there was nothing necessarily, I mean, there

were days that it was fun if I didn't have a

great deal to do, but it was never relaxed or

fun enough for me to be screwing around at that

level. Yeah, I can kind of see that. Because

understand, if I fiddle fart around in the morning

and I have really lots of work to do at the end

of the day, The time that I will want, oh, can

we do that, can we just do that take again? Can

we, you know, let me just think here, that will

all be gone. That time will have been eaten up.

So I was always very protective about that. That

doesn't mean that I wasn't part of my success

there was to be, you know, silly and naughty

and sort of pranksterish. But in terms of just

the Just getting the work done, I just didn't

have time for those sort of pranks. Who were

some of your role models when you were growing

up that influenced you for acting? Well, probably

people who did not help me understand what acting

was like. But in any case, Basil Rathbone, Adolf

Manjoo. All of these character actors that I

saw, it was a very long time before I began to

understand that acting naturally was part and

parcel. I was all about just the choices, all

these great choices. These, you know, sometimes

operatic choices. And not recognizing that the

style For even from when they were acting to

when I was a little kid was was moving Very directly

towards More and more psychological. I just finished

watching a film a couple of nights ago crazy

title of 44 inch chest you'd think it's some

sort of porn thing or something, but I mean it

was a wonderful British movie and the the acting

the acting style in it is really Is so current

and so tremendous But it was certainly not what?

That's the wrath bone and Adolf Munch you're

doing You know and Clifton Webb, you know and

all those people if you could pick any actor,

you know Living or dead to work with that you

never got the chance to work with You know who

are some who are some people that you would have

just you know given your right arm to be able

to Just work with well I've become a huge fan

of a guy who I will never work with because they're

just But you know who Tom Hardy is yeah? Mm -hmm

amazing Amazing I did you have you guys seen

Bronson? No, I haven't seen that no Wow Holy

moly, I mean that is amazing Work just amazing

work. Oh, I don't know all of these I tend to

be typed into the sort of you know, the intellectual,

you know the guy at the the the the guy at the

whatever it is the Lawyer or the sure or this

or so, you know I don't know so I don't I don't

have much hope that I will get roles with these

guys. One of my all -time favorite shows is MacGyver,

and I read somewhere that you are or were close

friends with Richard Dean Anderson. Is that valid?

No, we weren't close friends, but he and I were

in the same... He was in Legend, so we worked

with each other for whatever it was, eight months.

Think about getting to work with Leonard Nimoy

for the Alien Voices. What did you think about

getting to work with him and the other ex -Star

Trek cast? Well, I thought it was great. Leonard

is a wonderful, wonderful man. Really a terrific

guy. A consummate actor. He used to be an acting

teacher. obviously wonderful director. So all

of that was great. Just my last two questions

here. Do you have any, besides the ones that

you've already mentioned, do you have anything

coming up that you would like to promote or let

us know about any projects that you have coming

down the pipeline? No. I mean, I have a couple

of symphony orchestra things that I'm doing.

One is in Rochester in May. And then the other

is in Oberland in April. I think I'm going to

write a new piece about the Russian composers

for a show here in Los Angeles in September.

And after that, it's to get my boat ready for

the South Seas. And that's that. Nice, nice.

Final question for me, what was it like having

each one of your, I believe I read this right

on the resumes and IMDB and whatnot, but having

each of your kids appear in some of the projects,

especially some of the Star Trek projects with

you, and what are your kids up to these days

as far as their... My older son is studying architecture

at the University of British Columbia, and my

older son... It works for an organization called

IOM, International Office of Migration, out of

Jordan, and he runs the Iraq mission, which is

to determine, to figure out what's going on with

the displaced people in Iraq. Interesting. And

he was the one who played my son on Star Trek.

Okay. Cool Finally final question. Do you have

any advice for people who aspire to get into

acting or voice acting? Well, sure Think of it

as a sport which is to say that it's it's all

about doing it and So you just have to do it

over and over and over again you you it sort

of works with that 10 ,000 hour rule, you know

Nobody gets really good at anything until they

spend a good 10 ,000 hours at it. And not to

say, well, I'm going to go to New York or I'm

going to go to Los Angeles right off the bat,

because you will most likely get eaten up. And

well, more to the point is that most likely nothing

will happen. So what they should do is that they

should, whatever town they're in, whatever. louisville

kentucky here or or so we have sacramento california

they must exhaust all of the opportunities that

they have in that town first which is to go to

them community theaters to the opera to the whatever

it is that they would want to do and make sure

they shoot his main films that they got get to

the point that they've outgrown their own town

and then begin the March, as it were, to these

two or three, there are probably three or four

Meccas. Chicago, New York, L .A., maybe Seattle,

I don't know, but that's about the only, oh,

San Francisco, Boston, I don't know if you can

really make a full living in Boston or not, but...

until you've made your, you know, until you begin

to move to those towns. And then get a resume

going so that when you do come to New York or

do go come to Los Angeles, somebody can look

at it and go, oh, well, you know, gee, you really

got some stuff here, you know? Okay, okay. You'll

still start on the bottom rung, but, you know...

People won't just blow you off as just kind of

a want -to -be. You will actually have experience.

Makes sense. Yep. We'd like to thank you once

again, John, for taking the time out of your

busy schedule to hang out with us this evening.

Is there any way for people to contact or get

a hold of you for more information or just to

chat you up online? Websites. I don't really

want to do that. I just... Only because I get

into dialogues and I just don't I don't want

to be rude and I just don't have that time I

just don't have the time to do that and so I

That's why I do these things Actually appreciate

it. Yeah, I mean that way you can ask me all

the questions you want I think I answered pretty

fully and and Otherwise it and and this way you

can play it to many many different people as

opposed to me You know one person at a time answering

a question, right? I'd like to thank you too

personally. I mean, I'd really appreciate this.

I would have, if you would have told me, you

know, 15, you know, 18 years ago when I was watching,

you know, whatever, Star Trek The Next Generation,

that I'd get to talk to you someday, I would

not have believed it. So I really appreciate

you taking the time out and talking to us. Well,

it's my pleasure and your questions were great.

So I, and I hope that this, you can use this

material well. Oh yes, we will indeed. We'll

ask you to hold the line and we'll be back after

this. Quote the Raven, nevermore. And the Raven

still is sitting, still is sitting, still is

sitting, on the pallid buster palace just above

my chamber door. And his eyes have all the seeming

of a demon's that is dreaming. And the lamplight

o 'er him streaming throws his shadow on the

floor. And my soul from out that shadow that

lies floating on the floor shall be lifted. Nevermore.

In any case, I'll be watching. And if you're

very lucky, I'll drop by to say hello from time

to time. See you... ...out there. You've just

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