Interviews – John de Lancie

Hi, this is John Delancey, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Did you miss me,

Celestia? I miss 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, 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, you know, like 5 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 fairly

clever on certain things and really behind the

eight ball in 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 acting in general, there would be so

much focus on 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, 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 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 V. This was during the spring. Two months

from now, we're going to do Henry V, and Delancey,

you're going to play Howe. And he went around

the room 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, 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, you know,

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, well, 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 on

to that. I mean, that was like, oh, my God. 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

was being in the American Shakespeare Company

up in Stratford, Connecticut. And then what else?

Then I came back into 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

and then I. 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, you know, 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. I was 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, there were, 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 sort of sat

myself down 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 going to go back and get my PhD. I mean,

for better or for worse, I was stuck. And so

it was at that point that I thought, I really

need to start thinking about this in a way that

will make me successful and not just a feather

for every wind. Jumping gears a little bit more

into something a little bit more specific, do

you have a favorite show that you have 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 there 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. a month or so ago. And, and,

uh, sometimes on the Saturdays or Sundays in

between shows, we would go and have lunch in

the cemetery. It's, it's the celebrity cemetery

in, in, uh, Westwood. And, uh, Marilyn Rowe is

there and, you know, and Merv Griffin and what

have you. And some of the grave markers are fantastic.

Merv Griffins is, Merv Griffins is, um, 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... He goes, I'm

going to come up with a name. Bob Gray, a fine

actor, weather permitting. Oh, jeez. So there

were lots of... So, in any case... Oh, God, now

I forgot your question. It was just out of all

the different Star Trek projects, if you had

a particular favorite. Oh, well, sure. I think,

for me, the next -gen was the more substantive

show. The last episode, All Good Things, was...

was a place where 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 present a new facet,

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. Okay. No. I mean, I'm delighted

on being in it, but, you know, it's very awkward

in asking producers for work. It places... 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 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 Makes

sense. Yeah, 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. And I mean, you know, for most

people, they don't most people think that I was

a series regular on the show. I mean, most people

think when I when I say to them, well, how many

episodes do you think I was in on all three shows?

Oh, you know, whatever. deep space and voyager

oh they go oh my god i don't know 20 30 i said

well try nine nine um so i uh there would be

shows in which people would say no no no no no

you were in that and you 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 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 they are fraught with all sorts

of production issues that don't usually exist

in the theater. But, you know, the symphony orchestras

are not producing instruments, and so trying

to get a sort of theatrical production up in

a symphony environment has been Super challenging.

I don't know. I mean, one of the things, and

I'm changing the subject a little bit, is that

some actors just like to act. They just enjoy

that. And almost regardless of what the material

is, that state that you get in is something that

for them 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 going to 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 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, 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 in Philadelphia, L 'Histoire

de 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,

The Sneetches. I didn't know this. Yeah, I didn't

know it. And The Sneetches was used in Bosnia

by the NATO commander at the time. He ordered,

oh, I don't know, something like a half a million

books printed up of The Sneetches in Croatian,

you know, 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 ASUS 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 Oberland,

and then it's going to start making its rounds

to symphony orchestras around the world. 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? I don't really, you know, the experience

is really sort of, it's a difficult, you don't

get too connected with it. You know, if I did,

I only come in, you know, once or whatever. I

mean, the one that's going on right now is My

Little Pony, which I thought was a kid's show.

Little did I know that there's such a world as

bronies. my understanding of all that, I actually

asked somebody, is this coded? Is this a coded

show that really means something else? And he

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 the 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 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 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 abhorrent 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 they would last a long time, and it's a real

grind. I sort of go dead upstairs after a while.

Makes sense. If you can remember, was there ever

a project that you were involved with, whether

it be most likely a TV show or something like

that, that you were 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 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 shoo -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. 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 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 going to be terrible.

It's not going to work. It's all this effort

and stuff like that. And I went to see the show

this morning, 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 performing arts, and they had

to write 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, yeah, I mean, oftentimes

you do shows that, you know, you do say, oh,

my, you know, you get into it thinking it's going

to be fabulous, and then you go through a period

where you go, this is going to be hell, and it's

just going to be terrible, and then, as we say,

you know, the gods of the theater come down and

smile on that night, and everything seems to

work itself out. What prompted the creation of

Alien Voices? I was doing... a bunch of shows

for la theater works and uh la theater works

is a producing arm of uh uh or their shows are

on npr and they are they are plays and they're

they're plays that are done as radio shows and

i had been with la theater works for a long time

and i had done a number of their shows and i

had directed a bunch of shows i'd act i've acted

and directed They were looking for ways to be

able to sort of bring in 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 it. 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. Let me tell you, the

night we opened, we had people around the block.

Most people, a lot of people did not get into

that opening show. And so it was very successful.

The headliner of that show was Leonard Nimoy.

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 that 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... impress

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 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 Vernes, 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

to the 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 is this?

There are no dinosaurs in the book. And then,

you know, 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 here it was many years later that

I am 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, OK, 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.

So that's where all of that came from. Yeah,

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,

The 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. 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. And 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, 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, 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. Right. 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 online, well, I

went into my garage 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, and everything looked really dense. But

poetry, and those poetry books, especially the,

the, whatever it's called, the living, the treasury

of poetry or something like that. Um, they were,

they were spaced on the page kind of in a pleasing

manner, you know, little, and they were little

blurbs, you know, a half a dozen lines, or maybe

at the most, uh, a page, what have you. And so

I use those as a way to practice. And, 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, 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've got

to 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? 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 of 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. And Eugene in Days of Our Lives was a

really silly, wonderful, wonderful romp. Three

years of absolute fun, great fun. Q, of course.

What else? I don't know. Oh, Bartok, which was

Nikola Tesla. That was wonderful. I don't know.

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 happen 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. OK.

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 world,

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 and I think it was at that moment

that they went, oh, OK. 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, 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 in the morning. 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

a, you know, an M .O .W., two hour M .O .W. And

so in the process of losing that battle, he had

to come up with like, well, how do I extend the

story that I have? And what what which, you know,

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, the show, but many years ago, but

you can see the seam 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, you know, the biggest problem with the

character 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? I

mean, these type of things, you kind of go, oh,

these are pretty big ideas. Whether Q loves Vosh

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 what? Like Stargate,

Star Trek, Breaking Bad, Torchwood. Especially

like the science fiction, especially iconic science

fiction shows. Well, I was just going to say

those are genre shows. Fine. Yeah, 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 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, was my work

with Peter Weir in Fearless. I had many scenes

with Jeff Bridges. his uh 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 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 and uh 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'd

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. There's nothing 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... You know, 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 a show that you guys never saw, I'm

sure, but that was really wonderful. That was

a wonderful show about the move from radio to

television in the late 1930s, early 1940s. And

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 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 uh 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 the uh science fiction has essentially offered

the that the sanctuary from the other half of

the population which would want to be at a NASCAR

race or a sporting event. It's a little bit of

a gentler crowd, and they are well -read in many

instances, and it allows for a sense of They

enjoy science, and then they enjoy fiction, and

then they enjoy computers and movies and history

and costumes and all that type of stuff. So 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 and stuff like that. When, 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, Adolph

Mongeau. 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 even from when they were acting to when

I was a little kid, was moving very directly

towards more and more psychological. I just finished

watching a film a couple of nights ago, a crazy

title, 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 acting

style in it is really, is so current and so tremendous,

but it was certainly not what Basil Rathbone

and Adolph Marsh were 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? Who are some people that you would

have just given your right arm to be able to

work with? Well, I've become a huge fan of a

guy who I will never work with. But do you know

who Tom Hardy is? Yeah. Amazing. Amazing. Have

you guys seen Bronson? No, I haven't seen that.

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, the guy,

whatever it is, the lawyer or the teacher or

the so -and -so. 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. Okay. So we worked with each

other for whatever it was, eight months. Okay.

What did you... 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. I mean, Leonard is a wonderful,

wonderful man. Really a terrific guy. And a consummate

actor. Used to be an acting teacher. Obviously

a 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 Oberlin 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. 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 younger son is studying

architecture at the University of British Columbia,

and my older son... 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. Oh, cool. 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 all

about doing it. And so you just have to do it

over and over and over again. It sort of works

with that 10 ,000 hour rule. Nobody gets really

good at anything until they spend a good 10 ,000

hours at it. And not to, you know, 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, you know, whatever,

you know. Louisville, Kentucky, or Sacramento,

California. They must exhaust all of the opportunities

that they have in that town first, which is to

go to the community theaters, to the opera, to

the whatever it is that they want to do, and

make sure they shoot as many films as they can.

Get to the point that they've outgrown their

own town. And then, begin the the march as it

were to these two or there are probably three

or four meccas uh chicago new york la maybe seattle

i don't know but that's about the only you know

oh san francisco uh boston i don't know if you

can really make a full living in boston or not

but but um 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 come to Los Angeles,

somebody can look at it and go, oh, well, gee,

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

still start on the bottom rung, but... people

won't just blow you off as just kind of a wannabe.

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

time. I just don't have the time to do that.

And so that's why I do these things. We appreciate

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

the questions you want. I think I answered pretty

fully. Otherwise, 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 really appreciate this. If you

would have told me 15, 18 years ago when I was

watching 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.

And I hope that 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

flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

on the pallid bust of 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. Never more. 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 listened

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