From: fakeaddress@mindspring.com   
      
   rom the 10-04 STARLOG's lengthy interview with veteran   
   director (and occasional actor) James Whitmore Jr.:   
      
      
   ===>   
   [...]   
   Strange Files   
      
   Whitmore survived a crash course on working with animals in the   
   X-FILES episode "Fearful Symmetry."  "That show had invisible   
   animals, but we were also working with real animals, including   
   an Indian elephant and a Bengal tiger," Whitmore notes.   
   "Working with the tiger was weird because it was *so* big.   
   We had that tiger in downtown Vancouver, at a big town square   
   where they held the World's Fair -- with 250 extras walking   
   around it.  There was a guy in the crowd with a stick and a   
   shotgun to protect the people, but that was really scary.   
   I was with this giant cat, and we had to spend about five hours   
   trying to get him to jump on a table.  Typical animal behavior,   
   but an amazing experience.  You got a chance to do extraordinary   
   things on THE X-FILES."   
      
   He liked the show's intrepid FBI agents.  "Gillian Anderson   
   was as nice a human being as you would ever want to meet.   
   She's a very different, unique actress, and was very nice,   
   especially to someone just coming in to do the show for a week.   
   David Duchovny is really smart, but he *didn't* want to be there.   
   He thought it was beneath him to be an actor.  Between takes,   
   he would talk about politics and geopolitics.  He's very   
   talented, and together he and Gillian were really funny."   
      
   Overall, though, Whitmore didn't enjoy his X-perience.   
   "The script [by Steve De Jarnatt] was good, with a great opening:   
   Two puerto Rican guys are cleaning the floor of a bank while   
   listening to salsa music, and then this *elephant* comes through.   
   But I didn't care for Chris Carter," Whitmore confesses.   
      
   "It was January in Vancouver, pissing rain and colder than hell,   
   and we were trying to figure out how this show -- which had an   
   elephant, a tiger and a Rick Baker-built monkey that was going to   
   act in a number of scenes -- was going to work," Whitmore groans.   
   "We had invisible things running through stuff, and Chris came up   
   for the last day of prep and didn't like anything we had prepared.   
   He was really quite rude about it.  At one point, I said,   
   'The elephant knocks through this window, smashes this kiosk here   
   and then goes across the road and flips this car.'  He said,   
   'It doesn't make any sense!  Why would he go across the road?!?'   
   It was like an old joke: 'Why did the elephant cross the road?'  I   
   started to explain, 'Because he ran into a kiosk that diverted him...'   
   but then I said, 'Wait a minute.  We have an invisible elephant   
   runnin' down the street and *you're* asking what makes sense?!?'"   
      
   Whitmore also worked on the short-lived STRANGE WORLD.  "That   
   was created by Howard Gordon, whom I later worked with on '24'.   
   He has done some of the best TV shows of the last 20 years:   
   BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE X-FILES, BUFFY.  Howard is a huge   
   contributor to whatever show he's on.  He's so smart and a great   
   writer, and STRANGE WORLD was quintessential Howard Gordon stuff:   
   complex, intellectually engaging and dark.  So dark that   
   I think it was just too much for the American audience.   
   But I loved making it."   
      
   [...]   
   <===   
      
      
   In contrast to his opinion of working with CC ...   
      
   ===>   
   Whitmore's five BUFFY episodes represent some of his best genre   
   efforts.  "That was a great show to work on," he says fondly.   
   "I have more respect for Joss Whedon than anyone in the business.   
   Joss is absolutely committed to his vision. ..."   
   <===   
      
      
   I'll be posting other excerpts of this interview on   
   rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap and alt.fan.bruce-campbell.   
   I'm sure others can tackle transcribing his praises of   
   BUFFY, ANGEL, David Boreanaz, etc. etc. etc. ...  ;-)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)