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MOONBEAMS & ROSES artbyWALnRsiMONSON

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DUKE ELRIC art by JOHN RIDGWAY

^(^rs by WALTER SIMONSI CALL HER EXTERMINATOR Mira Sorvino gets up close & personal with cockroaches THE MESSAGE OF MIMIC Director Culilermo Dei Toro creates a stylish SF thriller

INSIDE DARK EMPIRE For director Alex Proyas, it's a dark world after all TIME TO MAKE CONTACT filmmaker explains why

TELEVISION HITMAN BaUlestar Calactica's Glen A. Larson unveils NightMan

"^mSlC OF THE MYTHS With & , Joseph LoDuca knows the score

58 FACE OF THE Finally, Richard Herd unmasks as the leader of the Visitors SALUTING GENERATIONS The Next Generation crew celebrates 10 years of ROBERT BELTRAN SPEAKS He's ready for new adventure as Voyager's

NOG'S NEW DEAL profits from STARLOG: The Sc life as a in October fo°g"crouM^cTlSSN bT9i"46267rcanadran GsFnumber: R-124704826) This is issue Number 243 INC. All rights reserved. Reprint or reproduction in 1997 content is © Copyright 1997 by STARLOG GROUP. EARTH'S MOST WANTED articles and graphics on any Internet or com- part or in whole-including the reprinting or posting of STARLOG accepts no respon- Vincent D'Onofrio faces off puter Site-without the publishers' written permission is strictly forbidden. but if submittals are accompanied by a sibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials, against the ivien in Black Please do not caM self-addressed, stamped envelope, theyii be considered and, if necessary, returned. fiction. Fiction submissions are not the editorial office re: this material. STARLOG does not publish advertised are not necessarily endorsed by accepted and will be discarded without reply Products those of STARLOG. Periodicals STARLOG and views expressed in editorial copy are not necessarily Subscription rates; $39.97 one year (12 ON SALE postage paid at , ny and additional mailing offices. NEXT ISSUE subscriptions $48.87 in U.S. funds only. New suB- issues) delivered in U.S. only. Canadian and foreign OCTOBER 7 Notification of change scriptions send directly to STARLOG, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016. 61054-^0430 or for of address or renewals send to STARLOG Subscription Dept., RO. Box 430, Mt. Morris, IL change of address to STARLOG Sub Customer Service call toll-free 1-800-877-5549. POSTMASTER: Send scription Dept., P.O. Box 430, Mt. Morris, IL 61054-0430. Printed in U.S.A. LE<1ENDS If4 3 PIMENSIOKfS presen-A hich-end, limited EDiTft>N COLtECTIBLES. DRAWINC FROM A WIDE RANGE OF INTERESTS AND <;£NRES, LEGENDS HAVE SELECTED THE MOST LEGENDARY CHARACTERS TO IMMORTALIZE ' IN HAND-PAINTED, COLD-CAST PORCELAIN SCULPTURES. • • RENOWNED HOLLYWOOD * SCULPTOR, S REG ARONOWITZ, IS PROUD TO PI^SENT.

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CREDIT CARD ORDERS MAY BE FAXED TO (212) 889-7933. NEW YORK, NEW YORK TQ016 sstsmmmmm way, Leahy. President/Publisher one else). By the NORMAN JACOBS despite publicity, it seems would star. U Queen Vice President that De Clie may not have Character Castings: Executive RITA EISENSTEIN ever been actually signed Latifah and E.Ts Peter Coyote Sphere. BABYLON ON for the role. also star in Associate Publisher Grieco is in MILBURN SMITH Once again. has is Richard upcoming from FM stepped back from the brink back to being interested in the an V.R/Circulation Director Sinbad: The SCHULKIN lof oblivion. The series has been remake. He Entertainment: ART the Dark Knights. Bat- its pivotal (and do it after all. He will prob- Battle of renewed for may Executive Art Director is not involved, but Dean Ifinal) fifth season, although ably star in / am Legend, the man W.R. MOHALLEY Zelda Rubinstein Ithere's a change of venue. The third film version of Richard Stockwell, Editor novel. and Mickey Rooney are. Ififth season shows will air on Matheson's classic SF DAVID MCDONNELL Television: Colum- the forthcoming home of Production is underway on Genre I TNT. TriStar Television is devel- Managing Editor/Designer I the B5 reruns as well as two all- What Dreams May Come. bia animated MICHAEL STEWART Inew, made-for-TNT TV Williams, Max von oping the inevitable of Godzilla as movies. Sydow and Cuba Gooding Jr. TV series version Special Effects Editor cartoon of / DAVID HUTCHISON Here's . Fourth star in this adaptation of another well as a new Jeannie. season episodes (both new and Matheson novel. Annabella Dream of Assistant Editors the Hard continue to air this Sciorra will play Williams' V.E.N. U.S. on PATRICK HAMBRECHT repeats) will OLEXA (a.k.a. A.N.G.E.L.) has KEITH fall on their regular stations. In great love, his wife. Drive ordered Fox as a mid- 1998. B5 goes to the cable sta- There have been numerous been by Contributing Editors It's a Weird TIMPONE January TNT will release changes since the Fanta- season replacement. ANTHONY tion. On 4, MICHAEL CINCOLD Science-like sitcom with a com- debut a new TV movie, fol- sy Film Calendar on page 24 SICRUN WOLFF SAPHIRE lowed by the regular weekday went to press early. The most puter-created beauty. of the Tim NBC greenlighted The Van Consultants % afternoon broadcast of the four notable is the delay TOM WEAVER (the vam- seasons of reruns. The new fifth Burton film which Helsing Chronicles IAN SPELLING KERRY O'OUINN season episodes will play on a weekly basis, Monday nights, Senior Art Director IE premiering January 19. JIM MCLERNON ^ Claudia Christian is exiting Art Staff V the series, apparently, effective YVONNE JANC LUIS RAMOS with the fifth season's start. m^ ERIC ZHANG Updates: will JASON POLKOVITZ only be in rwo Voyager episodes JOHN DINSDALE this season. Jeri Ryan—who West Coast Correspondents plays the new character Seven MARC SHAPIRO WARREN of —has dropped the Lynn BILL credit. Previ- from her screen Financial Director: Joan Baetz ously on Dark Skies, she was Marketing Director: Frank M. Rosner Circulation Manager: Maria DamlanI billed as Jeri Lynn Ryan. Staff: Debbie Irwin, Dee Erwine, Katn- Kevin Dobson won't be arlne Repole, Jose Soto. Correspondents: (West Coast) Kvie back in the syndicated F/X: The counts Pat Jankiewicz, jean-Marc & in Series. Evil matches wits against smart alec k\ds Randy Lofficien (NYC) David Hirsch, Joe Nazzaro, Steve Looks like there won't be a Masterminds (now in theaters). Mike McAvennie, iswires, Dan Yakir; () Will iVlur- Tarzan in town after new TV ray; () Jean Airey, Kim Howard hunter's descendant fights chrisslnger, Bill all. Instead of going ahead with would star Nicolas Cage. It will pire Johnson; (West) Craig for mid-season. It's now Florence, Jo Beth Taylor, Michael a second season of Tarzan: The not begin shooting this month, evil) Wolff; IVA) George Kochell, Lynne called Legacy. Epic Adventures (which was but instead commences in Janu- Stephens; IFL) Bill Wilson; (Canada) producers of Stargate Peter Bloch-Hansen, Mark Phillips; intended to replace star Joe Lara ary. Correspondingly, it's shift- The (Booklogl Scott schumack; (Car- release SG-1, of course, made two semi- with Xander De Clie and add a ing from a summer 1998 toons) Kevin Brockschmldt, Mike changes in the mythos Bob Muleady. Jane), the producers are opting to next Christmas. notable Fisher, Tom Holtkamp, Thanks: Robert Beltran, Guiilermo never-before-seen : David Cro- established by the film. The to go with Fantasy Del Toro, Vincent D'Onofrlo, Aron various merchandis- reruns. How? The same compa- nenberg's next film, an SF movie and Elsenberg, Erin Gray, David Hanson, Melissa it StarGate. Richard Herd, Lori Holland, ny previously produced four action-adventure, has a unique- ing spin-offs made Kates, penny Kenny, James Kester, TV, it's Stargate. And the seasons of a Tarzan TV series ly capitalized title: eXistenZ. On Scott King, Leah Krantzler, Glen Lar- LoDuca, Raj Manoharan, starring Wolf Larson (STAR- Paramount has picked up character played by son Joseph Tom Phillips, W.C. Pope, Alex Proyas, rights to The Edu- in the film was Colonel Jack LOG #172). Only the first sea- distribution sandy Rice, Leah Rosenthal, John Richard Dean Mira Sorvino, son of shows were broadcast in cation of Little Tree. James O'Neil; on TV, smith, Doug snauffer, Robert Anderson plays Colonel Jack Jeff Walker, Jason Yungbluth, the U.S. (where it was not a rat- Cromwell and Graham Greene "1" zsmGcKis This extra letter ings performer), but the Larson star in this biographical drama. O'Neill. Cover Art: MimlC: Kerry Hayes/Copy- someone. right 1997 Dimension Films: Dark Tarzan continued for three more Genre People: Ne.xt Gener- undoubtedly matters to Empire: Jasln Boland/Copyrlght 1997 Let's not even get into the years overseas (where it was a ation vets Greg Strangis and New Line Cinema; Men in Black: in Black comic-film script- Copyright 1997 Sony Entertainment; ; big hit). So, the second season Robert McCuUough are produc- Men Hercules axena: Copyright 1997 MCA > the syndicated novel-toy-cartoon craziness of Epic Adventures, debuting ing and writing TV. I whether the heroes are Jay Information: * this month, will be comprised Soldier of Fortune, Inc. TV about For Advertising (212) 689-2830. FAX (212) 889-795S premieres shortly. and Kay or J and K. Or whether of 22 unseen-in-America Lar- series. It Advertising Director: Rita Eisensteln abbreviated MiB or son episodes. If there's a third 's Larry it's properly Classified Ads Manager: Tim Clark For Ad Sales: Dick Faust, The Faustt season, it may be more Larson Kasanoff and Alison Savitch MIB. Co 24050 Madison St. ste. 101, Tor- only knows. Or is that imports or possibly all-new, will serve as executive produc- God rance, CA 90505 (310) 373-9604 or 8760 Licensing Rep: Robert just-filmed episodes (either ers of an SF updating of god? International Associates, inc., 720 —David McDonnell J. Abramson & with Larson, De Clie or some- Beowulf, scripted by Mark Post Road, Scarsdale, NY 10585 j*-;;jji!il?iv';-yiiiikijv(,w

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IDICATE SIZE WHEN ORDERING: T-shirts are available in M. L. XL & XXL. Sorry, we cannot ship orders outside of the U.S. CREDIT CARD ORDERS MAY BE FAXED TO (212) 889-7933 peace offering for the Valtese ambassador. (STARLOG#193) and starring Bill Travers A mysterious glowing object becomes a and William Sylvester. Gorgo is a captured young 's pretend playmate in "Imagi- sea monster put on display in 's Pica- ~" nary Friend." Each episode retails for dilly Circus. Carnage ensues. COLLECTING DATA S 14.95 in VHS and Beta, while the CLV dou- Also from Roan: the classic Gargoyles, Hall and Fresh from movie theaters, the Special Edi- ble-episode laserdiscs are $34.95 each. starring Cornel Wilde, Grayson tion of ' Star Wars Trilogy The Data Collection gift set includes five Scott Glenn with Emmy-winning creature has debuted, wrapped in foil and priced at "Best of Data" Next Generation episodes: FX by , was originally shot for S49.98 in VHS for all three films, or individ- "The Measure of a Man," "The Offspring." television, but packs plenty of chills. in ually at $19.98 each. The Star Wars Trilogy "Hero Worship" and the "Descent'' two- Winston also supplies the creature FX Special Edition will only be available from parter. This VHS-only collection is priced at The Relic. stars as the Fox Home Video until November 30. Includ- $64.80. pretty anthropologist battling a monster on ed in the package is a behind-the-scenes Laser: The truly engimatic X-Files the loose in a museum. Tom Sizemore. Linda short on the making of the Special Edition. continues on laserdisc from CBS/Fox Video Hunt and James Whitmore join the fight. The well The laserdisc release is scheduled for mid- with three new entries. Volume 13 offers widescreen transfer and DDSS sound November. "The Blessing Way," a sequel to the serves the deadly doings of the toothy Paramount Home Video continues the cliffhanger "Anasazi," followed by the con- Kothoga: $39.95 in CLV from Paramount Star Trek saga with four more episodes cluding ''Paper Clip." Peter Boyle and writer Home Video. (#119-122) from The Next Generation. In Darin Morgan won Emmys for "Clyde Not to be outdone in the cult chills "The First Duty," Starfleet cadet Wesley Bruckman's Final Repose," which is coupled department, Buena Vista has announced a

Crusher is caught in a cover-up when Picard with another Morgan script, the very funny deluxe edition of 's in investigates an in-flight accident. Guest stars "War of the Coprophages" on Volume 14. A widescreen and Dolby Digital Surround include Ray (My Favorite ) Walston videotape of an alien autopsy begins Volume Sound. Director Craven also supplies alter- and Robert Duncan McNeill (in his pre-Voy- 15, which features the rather grim two-parter, nate track commentary as well as some addi- "73 ." ager days). While an intruding life form "Nisei" and 1 Each two-episode volume tional footage. turns key starship components into goo in lists for $29.95 in CLV. Around the corner from Buena Vista, Dis- "Cost of Living." free-living Lwaxana Troi Roan Group has two genre staples due ney has announced CAV and CLV versions () prepares for a traditional shortly. The British-made Gorgo has a new of James cmd the Giant Peach. Both editions Betazed wedding—in the nude. Picard, in transfer from an original Technicolor IB print carry the THX seal of approval and feature Disney are two clas- "The Perfect Mate," can't resist the beautiful which preserves the original 1 .66: 1 theatrical DDSS sound. Also from mesomorph () intended as a aspect ratio. It's directed by Eugene Lourie sic live-action adventure films from the 1950s: Johnny Tremain is the young lad who finds himself mixed up with Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty during the Boston Tea Party while The Light in Forest stars James MacArthur as a young British Colonist raised by Indians who must now adapt to life with his family in . Light has a great cast including Fess Parker. Carol Lynley, Wendell Corey, Joanne Dru and . And, lastly. Mr. Banks is looking for a nanny in a new Special Limited Edition box set of Disney's adaptation of the Maiy Pop- pins books by PL. Travers. This new THX supervised transfer includes newsreel footage of the original 1964 premiere and other goodies in a widescreen DDSS package priced at $49.95. Cheap: The Widescreen Collection from Universal Home Video brings the full width theatrical aspect ratio home to VHS users. Once the nearly exclusive domain of laser aficionados, the increasing popularity of big screen TVs has made more home viewers aware of the limitations of traditional pan- and-scan image cropping. The series boasts distinctive new metallic foil packaging and includes such genre titles as 12 Monkeys, Backdraft, Waterworld. Apollo 13 and Drag- onheart, $19.98 each. The widescreen Juras-

sic Park is only $9.98. while widescreen

Dime is $14.98. Look for several other non-widescreen- but-cheap titles from Universal: The Fright- eners. Tales from the Ciypt: Bordello of Blood and Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight for $14.98 each in VHS. The Fright- eners videocassettes features special 3-D lenticular packaging. —David Hutchison —

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DINOSAUR #2

Official Movie Magazines are packed with interviews articles, betiind-tiie- scenes information plus dozens of color photos! 64 pages.

Official Tfieater Programs are a slightly slimmer package, but also con- tain the story of the film plus interviews with the stars. Official Poster Books unfolds to make a giant 22" x 33" poster in full color. On the reverse side are articles, biographies and additional color photos.

Each issue is a Collector's Treasure!

Rambo III _Star Trek: Generations S6.95 POSTAGE & HANDLING: One magazine: Add S2.00. Three to Theater Program $2 _Star Trek: Generations five: Add S3. Six or more: S5. FOREIGN: S4 per magazine. New 2se indicate quantity being ordered: III $3 Special 3-D Cover $9.95 York State residents ad 8 1/4% sales tax. OVERSEAS (PLEASE NOTE: Customs requires purchaser's daytime phone numbers Rocky III $2 _S(reef//ghferS4.95 on all Overseas orders.) Rocky IV $3.95 _Superman IV: Send cash, check, Poster Magazine S3 or money order to: Rocky IV Quest for Peace D/nosaur S6. 95 Total Enclosed: STARLOG GROUP, Inc. Poster Magazine S3. 50 Poster Magazine $3.50 475 PARK AVENUE SOUTH Dinosaur S Rocky IV _Tales from the Crypt: NEW YORK, NY 10016 U.S.A Special 3-D Cover S9.95 Method of Payment: Magazine plus Posters Demon Knight S4.95 Dracula $4.95 Cash Check VISA S4.95 _ 2: $5.95 Money Order Spaceballs Judgment Day 4,95 $ Freddy's Dead: Discover MasterCard Visa Poster Magazine S3. 50 _The Crow: City of Angels $5.99 The Final Nightmare $4.95 _The Island of Dr Moreau S5.99 inside the Mafia ^The Phantom $5.99 Account Number (Godfather III) $3.95 Star Trek _The Shadow S4.95 Card Expiration Date: /_ _(Mo.A'r.) Jason Goes to Hell: Your Daytime #: fJlakeup FX Journal S6.95 _The Untouchables S3.95 Phone ( Ttie Final Friday $4.95 Star Trek II: _Spawn $5.99 IMng Daylights Wrath of Khan $3.50 _Spawn (Dyna-Etch) $7.99 Poster Magazine $3.50 Name As It Appears On Your Card Star Trek IV: _Willow$2 Uaslers of the Universe The Voyage Home S5.95 _Species $5.99 Paster Magazine $3.50 _fJlortal Kombat $5.99 street Hgtmmre on Elm St. 5: _t^ortal Kombat Deluxe $6.99 Oream Child $3.95 Poster Magazine $3.50 _ rote/ Reca//S4. 95 City State Zip Oe*possyS3.50 Star Trek V: _Rocky II Poster BookS^ .50 "^e Top The Final Frontier S4.95 _Batman and Other Comics Heroes Signature -: ; : ';:=z!ne $3.50 vv.- $5.99 IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO CUTOUT COUPON, WE __SferJ>|/c , ,_ \A/IM ar^rCDT \A/DITTCM nOr-iCDC Di.,.,^^ .,11^.., .1 c 8

EPCOT and Disneyland. finale which wasn't on the original album. The ""Music From and Inspired By" Goldenthal's new score should follow. album for & Robin (Warner melts the town down with 0 explosive to 1997's second natural Sunset 46620-2) is one of the new releas- his score Sarabande HEROIC HARMONIES es this summer—a compilation of 13 disaster flick. Volcano (Varese songs including R. Kelly's "Gotham City"" VSD-5833). Also from the same label, the ho, hi ho. it's off to Mt. Olympus we Hi ballad and a new version of the song "'Poison music from the black comedy 8 Heads in a go—with the soundtrack to Disney"s Ivy." by Me'shell Ndegeocello. The Elliot Duffel Bag (VSD-5835). which was com- Hercules (Wah Disney Records 60864-7). Goldenthal suite underscore included here is posed by the appropriately named Andrew Master composer Alan Menken teams this actually from , but it fea- Gross. time with lyricist David {The Swan tures a portion of music from that film's Compilations: Milan Records has hon- ) Zippel to create a lively musical ored director by assem- score reminiscent of Little Shop of Hor- bling selected themes from his first 12 rors. In that early effort. Menken and his films on Passions & Achievements partner. Howard Ashman, used a classical (35800-2). This album contains original Greek Chorus to narrate their story, but soundtrack material from such films as gave the chorus a contemporary Motown Cocoon. Willow and Apollo 13. The For Hercules, the chorus sings to a spin. "Love Theme"" from Splash, however, spirited gospel beat. Vocal artists on the w as from the Charles Gerhardt ret- soundtrack include Danny DeVito and rospective on composer Susan Egan. Zippel has already begun (Citadel STC 77103). Packaged in a writing for the next two Disney animated cardboard tri-fold. illustrated with poster musicals, the Chinese fable Legend of art. the 28-page booklet features in- Mulan (due out in 1998) and the heroic depth profiles on the composers who swinger, Tarzan. For youngsters, Disney have worked with Howard, including released Sing Along and Read has also Hans Zimmer. James Horner and John Along book-and-cassette sets, the latter Williams. narrated by DeVito. Imports: 's CAM Original Also from Disney is an updated edition Soundtracks label has added Robert O. of their theme park musical collection. The Ragland's score for 's 1982 Official Album (60945-7) features old- monster flick ^The Winged Serpent time standards from classic attractions (CSE 800-128) to their ever-growing such as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates music library. Also available from the of the Caribbean, with never-before- Look for a new compilation honoring Ron same label are Lee Holdridge's The released music from Space Mountain and Howard with music from his 12 films, celebrating Beastniaster (Kaan. Principe Guerriero- the Nighttime Spectacular shows at Passions & Achievements. CSE 127) and the score for the Italian monster tTick Tentacles (Tentacoli- CSE 023), all in Dolby Surround sound. Readers can check out their catalog and order on line at: www.cam-ost.it. Four more volumes have been added to Futureland Records' ever- growing library of complete sound- tracks from classic Japanese monster movies. Each title is scored by the The Ultimate Trek Fan Vacation Adventure!! .legendary Akira Ifukube, and each just happens to have been co-pro- Trek '98: "The Alaska Adventure II" * 12. 1998 Cruise duced by American film studios with itinerary! Sail the Voyage of the Glaciers from Brand New 5 Star Ship! New American in the leads. The the massive glaciers up close, calving Vancouver B.C. to Anchorage. Watch titles are Frankenstein Conquers the before your eyes, As an option, extend your vacation and explore the interior of World {TYCY-5504). War of the Gar- Alaska. Tours available to Denali Park, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula. gantuas (TYCY-5505). King Kong Escapes (TYCY-5507) and Lcnitude •> Enjoy 7 days and 7 nights of unforgettable Trek fun! •> Trek Share program * Zero (TYCY-5506). which starred Sail with Trek actors Interest Free Payment Plans Batman's arch-nemesis Cesar (The < VISA/MC/AMEX accepted * Meet Trek fans from ) Romero. < Special rates for kids around the world Also available is a three-CD set of * Set a course on a beautiful, state-of-the-art "starship" Visit exciting ports of call

•••• the complete scores and songs from * Tours & Hotels Available Low Air Fares the first three original Camera On the past Cruise Trek Adventures the fdlowina actors have been on board: 236-8). Rene Auberjonois (), John de Lance (Q), (), movies (King Records KICA (Sulu), (Chekov), Wll Wheaton (Wesley Crusher), The 28- page booklet comes illustrat- (Nurse (B'Elanna Torres), (), Garrett Wang (), Majel Barrett ed with plenty of monster photos. Struycken (Mr Homm), Jennifer Hetrick (Vash), Patti & Lwaxana Troi), Carel Columbia Records of Japan has re- Yasutake (Nurse Ogawa), Robin Curtis (Lt. Saavik), (Garak), Mark issued, in one double-CD set. the two Lenard (Sarek), Eric Menyuk (The Traveler), Max Grodenchik () and Jonathan del 12230- Arco (Hugh, the ). Plus special behind the scenes personnel Be Forever Yamato (COCC- 31) symphonic suite albums first return address and phone number) For free information, send a communique (with your released on LP in 1983. via phone/FAX/mail/Emaii: CRUISE TREK • P.O. Box 2038 Agoura Hills, CA 91376-2038 Got Questions?: "Write dhirsch9 1 Tel: (818) 597-2940 FAX: (818) 597-7576 Email: [email protected] saw this ad) @earthlink.net NEW Internet Home Page: http://members.aol.com/cruisetrel(/cniisetrek.html • (please tell us where you May be only booked through Cruise Trek. Only Cruise Trek passengers will attend Trek event. —David Hirsch Don't Delay! Call Today! Your Vacation Adventure of a lifetime awaits! Cruise Trek: Going again wliere no Trek cruise has gone before!! Cruise Trek and Coiises Cruises CruisesJnaCST #1 01 3661 -40_ is in no way associated with Cmise Trek, which is produced by Life-Size Science Account No. Fiction Standups^*^ $25 each Card Expiration Date: / (Mo.A'r.) Si. ^± Please send me the following Standups: Your Daytime Phone Character Number Quantity #:( )

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Street POSTAGE & HANDLING: U.S. Postage; S7.00 per standup. FOR- #181 sl82 #183 Cmdr. #184 #185 #187 E.'3\: (PLEASE NOTE: Customs requires City State Zip ri-rirasers daytime phone numbers on all STAR T R£ K :T H E NEXT GENERATION^" =^>-3gn orders.) $40 tor 1st order. SI 2 each Your Signature SMtcral. NEW YORK STATE residents add : -N saies tax. CANADIAN residents add Send cash, check or money order to; saes tax. MiXIxjcl of Payment: STARLOG GROUP, INC. -I C^asr J Check Money Order 475 PARK AVENUE SOUTH ^ Dsccer Master Card Visa C-rS' Fax (212) 889-7933 NEW YORK, NY 10016 IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO CUT OUT COUPON, WE ACCEPT WRITTEN ORDERS. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks lor Total enclosed: S but also destroys other Plague is sweeping through ing Walnuts." powers matrix crystals. the streets, accompanied by For the reader who suffers psi-enhancing terms strange apparitions. Noble- thinking about the future of SF. She struggles to come to volume down as a with this power even as she is Derelict for Trade by Andre women and occultists are mark this thrust into Darkover 's past to Norton (Tor, hardcover, 283 attempting to pierce the future, solid cure. with other- -Michael Wolff vanquish her old nemesis. pp, $22.95) and communing Ashara (defeated in the present The merchant vessel Solar worldly beings. in Bradley's previous book. Queen, operated by a band of For The Stars Dispose. Exile's Song). colorful FreeTraders. encounters Michaela Roessner has carefully is a life in Matrix a derelict ship which pulls it out researched day-to-day bag of virtues and foibles. Queen's crew Renaissance Italy, and the results t mixed of a space jump. the Most of the characters are dislik- enter the drifter and find it aban- are terrific. Through eyes of able, the ethics concerning mind doned, though there are no signs an apprentice artist, readers not a sacred subject only see an age of intrigue, but control— once of a scuffle, or the ubiquitous THE I with the author— are practically plague, to explain the derelict one when speaking with demons DIGITAL ignored here, it is incredibly het- crew"s disappearance. and spirits was a necessity for Darkover book is fan- EPPM3T, ereosexist for a An abandoned ship is free survival. This not a simple and it becomes too self-satisfied game for salvage, so the Traders tasy, but a richly brocaded work near the end. But, to its credit, it head for a nearby Cyclome. a where every embellishment adds is a remarkably intricate tale, gigantic rotating space station, to to the development of the char- lacking acters and the progress of the STEYE with vivid descriptions make their claim. Soon, they find in earlier works, and it is truer to themselves in the middle of a story. Recommended for those the Darkover milieu than any of conspiracy that revolves around who enjoy fact-heavy historical the other books since Bradley's their salvaged ship. fiction. City of Sorcery. It sounds compelling, and -Michael Wolff Steve That's not saying much, Andre Norton has invented a The Digital Effect by 272 though. The Shadow Matrix ulti- thoughtful and fully-fleshed uni- Perry (Ace, paperback, pp, mately falls short of the mark. verse, but she has written a plot $5.99) Sivart is a modelmaker — Keith Olexa so safe and writes her characters Gil giant space station. with such a cute, innocuous air living on a Occasionally, he dabbles in Widowmaker Reborn: Volume that it"s impossible to get excited the Widowmaker Trilogy about them. She also creates detective work, and especially so Two of lovely Patricia Black- by Mike Resnick (Bantam, aliens so burdened with singular when the well hires him to find out who paperback, 304 pp, $5.99) traits that they come off as little Widowmaker clone deux. more than comical props. Ver- killed her lover. It's it's usual Legendary lawman Jefferson bose insectoids called the Kand- From then on, the attempted murder, Nighthawk (Widowmaker) doyds chatter and dither in a business; in darkened alleyways, remains cryogenically frozen, politely droning manner, while assault with the police, waiting for a cure for his lethal the war-like Shver conveniently conferences corruption and above disease. His clone is created to heighten a weak conflict with uncovered if the heroine will rescue a corrupt billionaire's their aggressive posturing. all. wondering It's nothing daughter and kill her rebel leader Derelictfor Trade could have fall for the detective. that hasn't happened hundreds of captor. Once that's achieved, been remarkable, but it fails to in other novels, but thanks there will be enough money to rise past its terminal niceness. times Widowmaker's —Keith Olexa Absolute Magnitude, edited by to Steve Perry's style. The Digi- pay the original Warren Lapine and Stephen tal Effect is never stale. This medical bills. Unlike the first this one has been given Pagel (Tor, hardcover, 320 pp, book stands as an example of clone, memories mak- $23.95) how to enliven an old chestnut. the original's — capable, dangerous Absolute Magnitude maga- Despite its far-future setting. The ing him more likely to follow his zine continues to keep the tradi- Digital Effect would be easily and more bad his creators tion of Golden Age SF alive, and recognized (and appreciated) by own agenda. Too think to take that into the genre is healthier for it. readers of Ross MacDonald, didn't You can learn just how Dashiell Hammett and Raymond account. story is fast healthy by reading this antholo- Chandler Mike Resnick's and lean, with no wasted words. gy. Instead of the usual names -Michael Wolff entirely through which pop up in mainstream SF It's told almost dialogue, mak- collections, there are new and The Shadow Matrix by Marion its bright, smart extraordinary emerging talents mixed with Zimmer Bradley (DAW, hard- ing it all the more fully established and respected cover, 576 pp, $22.95) that Widowmaker is a intriguing character authors. Janet Kagan weighs in "This doesn't even smell like developed, Kenny with the charming "'Fermat"s Darkover!" says Margaret Alton —Penny Best Theorem."" With ''Sortie."' in The Shadow Matrix. Sadly, Hills: The Hal Clement maintains a tight she couldn't be more right. Mar- Beneath the Vaulted Darkness (Book hold on his crown as king of the ion Zimmer Bradley's latest River into once-remark- One) by Sean Russell (DAW, The Stars Dispose by Michaela hard SF authors. Frank Dodge's installment in the saga has some hardcover, 464 $23.95) Roessner (Tor, hardcover, 383 alternate-universe tale, "The able Darkover pp, of Mages is ending. is a compact good moments, but as Darkover The Era pp, $23.95) Barefoot Mule" Only one. Lord Eldrich, remains, Welcome to Florence in the gem. And Linda Tieman Kepner stories go, it's off. Alton is possessor of the and he's erasing all traces of first half of the 16th century: the begins what will hopefully be a ghostly crys- magic from the world. His plans age of Michaelangelo. Titian and long and distinguished career Shadow Matrix— a which amplifies her psionic are not unchallenged, however. CeCellini — and conjured de\"ils. w ith her ad\ enture stor\- "Plant- tal By special arrangement with Lucasfilm Ltd., we are pleased to offer a special lim- ited edition of the original art used in the making of the Star Wars animated films. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own a piece of Star Wars history This collection features both Ewoks and Droids. Each beautiful limited edition eel is produced by the fine art process of silk screening on acetate. Affordable priced Each eel is double matted and comes complete with a Seal only $99 per cel. and Certificate of Authenticity indicating its limited status. QUANTITIBS BXTRBMBIY UMITBQl STAR WARS AlVIIVIATfaiV CELLS Please indicate quantity being ordered. Credit cards may be used on orders over $10. Cred- Your Daytime Phone #:(_

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literary novel about the cating things, a wily general of and before the outcome is decid- and of an American tourist the Mughul Empire and an enig- ed, many lives will be changed. journeys matic Sufi mystic are also hunt- There's .something of a who wakes up in a hospital in his universe ing the goddess. Everyone meets Gothic. Victorian feel to this (fhildren." Italy. After that, fall apart. There is a in the city of Bijapur. where prequel to World Without End. begins to (as in Philip K.) quality death permanent or tempo- As in " novels, raarid Dickian — Dumpty. except that rary revelations and betrayals the atmosphere is almost a char- to Hwnpty — quite convey the hor- await. acter. Readers slide slowly into it doesn't a world Exotic, funny and sad. Russell's story, uncovering ror of feeling alone in benefit. Bijapur is flawed only by being pieces as they go. Until the manipulated for one's Knight's protagonist is the second book in a series. events begin to fall into place. Damon reflective, intel- There is a sense that Kara Vaulted can be read as three dif- also more more generally speaking, ferent stories. The threads lectual and. than Dick's weave together, but for the most a better class of man part readers have their choice nerdy heroes. MtoAPUR of following the adventures of Humpty Dumpty is not an "Kehler/Hayes — investigators easy read, but it is captivating. |Kl^d of the Goddess ending will satisfy into the unexplained." or the David B.Goe Whether the Erasmus/Countess/Skye/Averil readers is debatable. Are there or not relationship or the Eldrich/Tel- Children of Amarid: Book 1 of too many answers 3alkey another act Dick lerites/Politics thread. the Lontobyn Chronicle by enough? That's —Penny Kenn\ David B. Coe (Tor, hardcover, always managed well, but is not 383 pp, $22.95) accomplished quite as skillfully t Mm For centuries. Hawk and Owl here. £W YORK TIMES BE5TSCLLING AUTHO Mages have protected Tobyn- —Jean-Marc Lojficier Ser's land. But now there are reports of renegade mages Into the Forge: Book One of Crucible Duology by 1 y slaughtering villages. As tem- the Hel's pers rise, Jaryd enters the mage- Dennis L. McKiernan (Roc, hood—his potential for hardcover, 448 pp, $24.95) greatness is obvious. But unless There's something missing he can uncover the traitor within in Dennis L. McKiernan's latest tune how- the mages' ranks, his future work—his wonderfully rhyth- Dalkey is marking — entertainingly while plot- could be over before it begins. mic and poetic writing style. It ever — David B. Coe has written a made his stories seem both new ting the next volume. This is if the third strong, entertaining fantasy and old. Without it. Forge is a only a mild criticism; novel. While volume one tells a generic fantasy. entry in "The Blood of the God- complete main story, the unre- Tip and Beau are two War- dess'' is as good as its predeces- solved subplots and potential rows entrusted by a dying sors, readers will no doubt be tales hinted at will hook readers human with a coin that must be delighted. — and bring them back for the next delivered to someone, some- Scott W. Sclmmack book. There are a few draggy where. Their only clue is the Water: Volume spots, but considering it's a first word "Agron." As they cross a The Book of Quartet novel, Coe shows a good grasp war-torn land, they meet Two of the Dragon by of pacing. and dwarves, fight furious bat- Marjorie B. Kellogg (DAW, The Demon Awakens by R.A. —Penny Kenny tles and get slightly closer to paperback, 336 pp, S5.99) Congratulations to Marjorie Salvatore (Del Rey, hardcover, their goal. At times, McKiernan's way B. Kellogg for writing a second 517 pp, $24) Humpty Dumpty—An Oval by entertaining as her first. The Demon Awakens covers Damon Knight (Tor, trade with words is evident, but mostly book as repetitive. In The Book of Earth, a girl goes roughly 10 years in the lives of paperback, 288 pp, $13.95) Forge is dull and will a quest with a once-slumber- three people who will one day What used to be called "New Hopefully. McKiernan be on for the volume. ing dragon to discover why it fight the dreaded demon dactyl. Wave" science fiction is alive back in form next —Penny Kenny has awakened. In Water, the Avelyn is the faithful monk who and well in this highly stylistic continues 1100 years in harnesses gemstone magic. quest Dalkey (Tor, the future. They meet the dragon Elbryan is destined to be the Bijapur by Kara $22.95) Water and her companion, the people's protector. And there is hardcover, 285 pp, N'doch. who is Pony, who must overcome her The sequel to Goo is an street-smart fantasy. afraid to commit to a cause. His past before she can be the help- excellent historical growth into a courageous, giv- mate and lover Elbryan needs. Thomas Chinnery. a young Eng- continues his ing individual becomes the There are things to enjoy in lish apothecary, Demon—most notably Avelyn quest across 16th-century India book's focus. can revive the Kellogg's characters make a and Elbryan. two genuinely lik- for a powder that delightful quartet. Like Erde and able young men. The portions dead. His traveling companions Portuguese sol- her Earth, N'doch and Water are devoted to them are a pleasure. include some HUMPTY priest of the Inquisition, mirrors of one another—impa- It's Pony that Salvatore stum- diers, a the tient, vain, mouthy, but likable. bles over. She's a boring, gener- DUMPPT a roguish Scotsman and AN OVAL woman Thomas Kellogg neatly balances Erde's ic love interest. Also, the book mysterious is also the agent of fish-out-of-time experiences drags a bit in its final third. The loves—who sorceress, or goddess, they with N'doch, a modem man who end is worth getting to, however. the real magic for the When Avelyn confronts the are seeking. Any of these "com- encounters might kill Thomas if their first time with a sense of awe, dactyl, it's powerful. rades" —Penny Kenny —Penny Kenny ends demand it. Further compli- —

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Cash Check Money Order Discover Master Card Visa Send cash, checl< or money order to: Ik. i ordering by credit card, you STARLOG PRESS By fax your order to 21 2-889-7933. 475 PARK AVENUE SOUTH VISA 1 ^^^^^ NEV/YORK, NY 10016 IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO CUT OUT COUPON, WE WILL ACCEPT WRITTEN ORDERS. iooount No. Please aliov/ 4 to 6 weeks for delivery. THE SIXTH ELEMENT ... (issue #239), director of , may have been hop- ing to forestall harsh critical opinion of his movie by keeping its story a closely replies are unlikely. Mail cannot Personal guarded secret. As it turns out, that strategy, be forwarded. Other fans and advertisers if strategy it was, paid off. The comments sometimes contact readers whose letters circulating after the release of The Fifth Ele- are printed here. To avoid this, mark your ment charged that the story protected like letter "Please Withhold My Address." — a national treasure—is complete rubbish, Otherwise, we retain the option to print it. inexperienced tyro, or Write: STARLOG COMMLOG unworthy of the most 475 Park Avenue South. 8th Floor even Ed Wood. By the time the word was New York. NY 10016 out, however, Besson's picture was already or e-mail STARLOG: a sizable hit. futuristic setting is not quite as contextually [email protected] What sustains The Fifth Element instead vital to The Fifth Element as it is to 2007. of an intelligible plot is the and numerous other SF films. sheer inventiveness and humor In those films, the namtive would come to a of its visuals (the cigarettes dead stop without their respective cus- that are mostly filter is an tomized futures. The Fifth Element, on the amusing example). The eye- other hand, could conceivably be told in a massaging visuals dictate the mythopoeic past, or even the present and not story, or what passes for it. miss a thematic beat, though perhaps the rather than the other way adventure would be much less extravagant. around. There is precedent. In the end, the lack of story takes its toll. Think of Independence Day. and are wel- There's no overriding rea- come screen presences, but they don't make son, for example, to visit the up for an absence of emotional involvement. 23rd century except as a tan- There's nothing to ultimately move or touch gential indulgence, a chance to an audience. No sense of transcendence or show off exotic gadgetry, blue expansion of mental horizons or a fresh alien divas, interplanetary perspective. The arresting production cruiseliners. flying taxicabs. design and ultra-slick special FX, witty as cockroach spies, layered they are, don't quite forge an epochal SF cityscapes with streaming aesthetic, despite borrowing heavily from low-level air traffic, etc. The every significant SF movie, from 2001 to Star Wars and onward. In short. The Fifth Element is a movie where there is a lot less than meets the eye. Al Christensen Tacoma, WA TO THE RESCUE

...I have been a Star Trek fan for more than seven years, and in those seven

years, I have never seen a more inter- esting time than now. Today I was surfing the net and found a web site dedicated to saving Star Trek. I was interested to know why it needed sav-

ing, so I stopped and read some infor- mation. The people who made that page said that Star Trek is losing view- ers. They said that ever since the death of , the shows have gone downhill. They also suggest get- ting rid of , and a few others. In my opinion. Star Trek is at an all-time high. I have never been more interested in Trek than I am right now.

I believe that all the credit goes to the fine people who work in front of and behind the camera. I would like to say that whatever certain people are say- ing, they are very wrong. I believe Berman, Taylor and the rest of the Star Trek family are doing a great job—and Roddenberry would be very proud of them all. www. revell-monogram .eon< Matthew T. Lester

Actua! model kits shown. ic us(2) geoc itie s . com ^''-S" 1997 Parg'raUff mat

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Shipping Normal Express" Continenfal (excluding Sub total SHATNER US PO Boxes) S5 PO Boxes. US Territories, APO, FPO SIO S30 Canoda SIO S36 stripping MAN O WAR Europe. Austroiio 320 South America.Pacitic Rim., Mexico S28 S60 r^or orders of wer 15 comics, submit on additional SS fa regular or SIO for express In the US, Canado. and Mexico, Total M day money^xjck guorontee. New York customers please odd soles tax, HARDCOVER please odd S5,C0 ifiipping end handling for ony rrftiogroph/postef ade's, "Subject to chonge Name BOOK Address Written by Wiliiam Shatner City [State |Zip The newest novel from one of Phone Fax E-Mail today's hottest authors! This Card Type Cord = action afventure Sci Fi epic Expiration Signature focuses on Ambassador Benton tiawkes and his struggle for peace on Mars. $22.95 Each Reose oSow W weeks for cJeTrvery FILM FANTASY CALENDAR Release dates are extremely subject to change. September: Wishmaster, The Peacemaker. Personal Crescendo Dark Empire, FairyTale: October: Norman grew up sun'ounded with music. "My Dad was always playing A True Story. An American Werewolf Neil records. He had a stereo when everyone else had a radio. And he had professional in , Gattaca, Rocket Man, Phan- tape equipment at home. Each year he recorded me, and he formed an audio toms. The Devil's Advocate. record of my growing up. So, I was saturated with music and audio." November: The Little Mermaid This unusual domestic atmosphere was because Neil's father, Gene Norman, was one (re-release). Mortal Kombat: Annihi- of the most famous jazz disc jockeys during the years when radio was king. He also lation. Starship Troopers. Anastasia. owned several popular night clubs, where he presented such legendary tal- Flubber, ALIEN: Resurrection. ents as Stan Kenton, Woody AUen. Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Cosby, Miles Davis, Don Rickles December: Titanic. Tarzan & \ and Errol Gardner. Jane, Tomorrow Never Dies, Mr. "My Dad has a film of an interview he did with Nat King Cole," Neil says, "when Magoo, Sphere. The Postman, Scream Natalie Cole was only six, bouncing on his knee. Incidentally, she and I went to the same 2. high school, but she was not the beautiful woman she is today." February 1998: Blade. Deep Ris- In true entrepreneurial style. Gene Norman moved from radio and night clubs to ing. records. "After 1965," Neil remembers, "my Dad concentrated on his record company. March 1998: The Mask ofZorro. Crescendo." Spring 1998: Eaters of the Dead, Neil started making his own music at an early age. "My Dad saved a fikn of me play- Virus. Lost in Space, My Favorite the Ven- ing the piano when I was eight, and I was learning guitar licks by listening to Martian. Dr Dolittle. really excited tures when I was 12. The British rock invasion and surf music of the '60s May 1998: Godzilla. Deep Impact. culture. me, because I grew up surfing in Malibu. I'm a product of June 1998: Mulan. "The thing that really sparked me was guitai's. Today, my number-one instrument is July 1998: . guitar, and my number-two instrument is keyboard. And I still surf." Summer 1998: Mighty Joe Young, Neil Norman also grew up surrounded with science fiction. "I loved it from a super- The Quest for Camelot. Superman Rocky early age. thanks to TV. I remember watching Godzilla, Forbidden Planet and Reborn, The Silver Surfer, The Jones—-Space Ranger, In my childhood. Saturday was the day for science fiction on TV." Avengers, The Lone Ranger Movie, So how did the Uvo worlds of music and science fiction finally collide in Neil's life? Inspector Gadget, Manhattan Ghost make a "My Dad, who is really brilliant at telling people what to do, said, 'You should Story, What Dreams May Come, science-ficfion album. No one is doing that, and you are a total expert at it.' That's when I Species II, The Second Arrival, The X- recorded Greatest Science Fiction Hits 1, 1 remember putting a few copies in a local Files Movie. record store, and I went back a week later to see how it was doing. The store manager said, 'Give me 10 more. They're really selling!' I'll never forget that. It was like a turning point for me. "I flew to New York, met you and Norman Jacobs, and we began selling the album in WEBLOG After col- STARLOG. I started going to more conventions and producing more albums. lists the various E-mail address- This of Great- lege, I really became active in the record company. I've done two more volumes es and Web page sites for SR fanta- I est Science Fiction Hits, produced many TV and movie soundtrack albums and formed sy & animation creators and their I own band." add I my creations. Web site operators may ' Neil's Cosmic Orchestra recently appeared at one of the hottest spots in Los Angeles, their sites to this list by sending rele- I the House of Blues, and they have also played at numerous SF conventions. "One of my vant info via E-mail (no calls please) to biggest thrills was doing miisic for STARLOG's 20th Anniversary Reunion in San Fran- communications© starloggroup.com I Cisco. It was a big show, featuring some of the biggest people in the field. "My music work has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of brilliant people, like JOHN COLICOS FAN CLUB I Jerry Goldsmith. , and motion-picture people like Rick Official fan club site for the Star Berman." Berman recently sent Neil a letter thanking him for all he has done. Neil Trek/Batdestar Galactica . smiles, "It was really touching.''Another thrilling moment in Neil's career came when he http://www.klingon.org/ went to Paramount to try and get rights to the soundtrack of . "We Colicos/pages/index.html are a small, independent label, and big deals like that have always gone to major compa-

f telling them how involved we are in the science GREG EVIGAN'S nies. I went in and started pitching hard, Trek from TV and how.. .suddenly INTERNET STUDIO fiction field, how we've produced so many Star albums they just interrupted me and said. 'Hey, you've got iti' What a rush." The music and TV career of the Tek He. has saved from oblivion much of the music from TV series of the '50s and '60s. War actor. Crescendo's six-CD boxed set of Irwin Allen shows (Lost in Space, Land of the Giants http://www.evigan.com and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) is one example. Crescendo also released .Mission: Contact. Greatest Science Fiction Hits 4 CANADIAN SF RESOURCE Impossible. and Star Trek: First GUIDE and The Best of Star Trek are his latest albums. Neil is a rare example of a kid whose Mom and Dad actually supported his crazy hifo on Canadian SF book stores, pub- dreams. "Yeah, I'm lucky," Neil chuckles. "I picked good parents." lishers, writers, etc. Neil Norman's life has been a gradual crescendo, with no climax in sight. "I want to http://infoweb.magi.com/ in compose music for movies and TV. I want to continue my band, and I'm interested -gonzo/cansfrg.html some kind of challenging new project involving music, science fiction and business. I The project might take me THE OUTER LIMITS CAVE don't know exactly what it might be, but I'm a problem-solver. 15 hours, or 15 years, but I'll do itI" Covering the Showtime —Kerry O'Quinn anthology series. http://www.theouterIimits.com/outer_ rock.html Explore the Historyof Science Fiction in

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#2 Gene Roddenberry. Mark Lenard. Hauer. James Horner. Space: 1999 EP #24 STARLOG's 3rd Childhood's End. S25. Guide. Logan's Run. Anniversary, William Dr Who. 36. Steve Guttenberg. 85. War of the Worlds. Shatner. Leonard #43 David #117 Catherine Mary #81 Alan Dean Foster S50. Nimoy. 86. Cronenberg, Jeannot #64 David Warner. Stewart, Lenard. Adam Fred Ward, Veronica #99 Anthony Daniels. Szwarc. Altered States Peter Barton. Dr Who West. Nation. Frank Cartwright, Greystoke. Zemeckis. "Cubby" #3 Space: 1999 EP #25 . FX. EP Guide. EP Guide. 875. Oz. RoboCop. 35, Guide. Nichelle Star Trek: TMP. Thing. 35. Buckaroo Banzai. 35. Broccoli. Mad Max. 35. Nichols. George Takei. 35. #65 Arthur C. Clarke. #118 Shatner. Rod #82 Schwarzenegger. #100 Lucas, Nimoy. DeForest Kelley. S35. #44 Altered States. Hamill. E.T FX. Dark Taylor. Jeff Morrow. Max von Sydow. Chris Carpenter. #26 . H.R. Bob Balaban, 35, CrystaL 85. Michael Keating. D.C. Lloyd. Faye Grant. Dr. Harryhausen. Ellison, #4 3-D SF Movie Giger. ALIEN. Gerry Fontana. GRR Martin. Who. Jedi FX 2. 34. Matheson. Guide. Richard Anderson 85. #45 . #66 Dark Crystal 310. Anderson. Outer Limits Thorn Christopher. Frank Herbert. Frank Roddenberry. Irwin #83 Kate Capshaw. Allen. Nichols, EP Guide. S50. #27 Galactica EP Escape from NY. 85. Marshall. 85. #119 Takei. Kerwin Robin Curtis. Fritz Gushing, Guide. ST: TMP 36. Matthews. Doc Leiber. Marshall. Dr #5 3-D Film history. ALIEN PX. Nick Meyer. #46 Harry Hamlin. #67 TRON. "Man Who Savage. 85. Who. V. 810. #101 Ellison. Ridley UFO& Space: 1999 35. Blair Brown. Superman Killed Spock." Trek II Scott. . Roddy EP Guides. SI 5. II. G American Hero. FX. S5. #121 Reeve, Mel #84 8th Anniversary. McDowell. Macnee, #28 . 85. Brooks. Dante. Nimoy. . Takei, Fred Ward. 35. #6 Robert Heinlein on EP #68 Octopussy. Never Lithgow. Weller. Karen Chris Lambert. Marc Destination Moon. Guide. 85. #47 Takei. Sarah Say Never Again. Allen, Jacqueline Singer. B. Banzai. Jedi #102 Spielberg. Mel Animated Star Trek. Douglas. Doug Adams. Harve Bennett. Pearce. Henriksen. FX 3. V. SB. Blanc, Michael S25. #29 Erin Gray Outland. S5. Richard Maibaum. 85. 810. Crabbe. 85. Douglas. Allen 2. Alley #85 Jim Henson. Joe Doug Adams. Peter #7 Star Wars. #48 5th Anniversary. #69 Anthony Daniels. #122 007 Film Salute. Dante. Jeff Goldblum. Davison. 35. Rocketship X-M. #30 Robert Wise. . Lucas. Tom Mankiewicz. Jedi. Martin Short. Duncan Bob Zemeckis, Ivan Space: 1999 Chekov's Enterprise. . Bill 85. Regehr, RoboCop. Reitman, 35. #103 Daryl Hannah. blueprints. Robby. S35. Questor Tapes. Mumy S6. Lost Boys. Snow Hauer. Bennett. Bottin. Stuntwomen. 315. #70 Man From White. 350, #8 . Star #49 . U.N.C.L.E. Debbie #86 . Elmer Bernstein, 35. Lenard. John Sayles. Wars. The Fly. S25. #31 Empire. 20,000 Kurt Russell. Lucas. Harry. Chris Lee. John #123 Nancy Allen. Chris Columbus. Rick #104 Peter Mayhew. Leagues Under the Takei. 007 FX. Badham. 35. . Tim Moranis. Jedi FX 4. Stephen Collins. Ken #10 George Pal, Ray Sea. Chekov's Ent. 2. Raiders. 815. Dalton. RoboCop. 375. Johnson. V. Outer Harryhausen. Isaac 35. #71 Carrie Fisher. STTNG. 350, Asimov. S20. #50 Spielberg. Sean Judson Scott. Dan Limits. T. Zone. 35. #87 FX. #32 Sound FX LP Connery. Lawrence O'Bannon. V. S5. #124 . Kevin Kelley. Prowse. David #105 Lambert, #11 CE3K. Prisoner & Trek Kasdan. Lucas. Ray Colin McCarthy Gary Lynch. 2010. B. Baker Jonathan EP Guide. Incredible designs. Chekov's Ent. Walston. Heavy Metal. #72 7th Anniversary. Lockwood. Courtney Banzai. 35. Pryce, Grace Lee Shrinking Man. Rick 3. 36. Dr Who. 350. Hamill. Shatner. Roger Cox. STTNG. 315 Baker. S20. Moore. Bradbury. June Whitney Planet of the #88 Terminator Apes. VEP Guide. #33 Voyage EP Guide. #51 Shatner. Lockhart. 86. #125 Bruce Dern. Schwarzenegger, Japanimation. 85. #12 Roddenberry, Ellison reviews Trek. Harryhausen. Gerry Anderson. Kelley 2. . Doug Trumbull & 35. Roddenberry. Jerry #73 . Carpenter. Running V. Dune. Gremlins. 86. #106 Nimoy. Tim . Goldsmith. Kasdan. Robert Vaughn, Roy Man. Princess Bride. Curry. Clancy Brown. CE3K. Dick Smith. #34 Tom Baker. Irv Batman. 35. Scheider. Jason . 86. Badler. Terry S10. Kershner on Empire. Robards. Hamill 2. 85. #89 Jane Nation. ALIENS. Helen Slater. Patrick Japanimation. 35. Martian Chronicles. #52 Blade Runner. #126 . Troughton. Jim #13 . Pal Buck Rogers. 815. Shatner. 85. #74 Molly Ringwald. Schwarzenegger. Cameron. Irish #107 Henson. Tom on The Time Machine. Michael Ironside. Macnee. . McCalla. Starman. B. Cruise. Terry Dicks, Logans Run EP #35 Billy Dee Williams. #53 Bradbury. Patrick Malcolm McDowell. Michael Praed. Robert Banzai. Terminator 85. W,D, Richter. Jean M. Guide. S5. Empire & Voyage FX. Macnee. Blade L. Sample 1. 35. Hays. Maureen 35. Auel. ALIENS. 85. Runner 35. O^Sullivan. B&B. S5. #14 Project L/FO. Jim #75 Nancy Allen. John #90 Scheider. Karen Allen. Ironside. Dean #108 10th Anniversary. Danforth. Saturday #36 4th Anniversary. #54 3-D Issue, Bob Lithgow, McQuarrie. #127 Lucas. Stockwell. Pinocchio. Roddenberry. Martin Night Live Trek. 85. Nichols. Prowse. Glen Gulp. Connie Selleca. George Lazenby Harryhausen. Gates 875. Landau. Chuck Jones. Larson. Yvette , Leslie Semple 2. 35. McFadden, Peter Kurt Russell. Rod #15 Twilight Zone EP Mimieux. 36. Nielsen. Raiders PX. Davison. RoboCop. #91 Koenig. Michael Taylor David Hedison. Guide. Galactica. Trek bloopers. 85. #76 Buster Crabbe. 350, Richard Donner. This #37 Harrison Ford. Sybil Danning. 86. Crichton. V. Dune. . BTTF Gremlins. Terminator. V. 36. Island Earth. S5. Terry Dicks. First Men #55 Quest for Fire. Phil #128 Ron Perlman. S10. in the Moon. S5. K, Dick, Gulp 2. Ed #77 Phil Kaufman. Weller. Paul Darrow. #109 Henson. #16 Phil Kaufman. (UFO) Bishop, . Tom Koenig. James Eari #92 Carpenter Tom Carpenter. Sigourney Fantastic Voyage. Trumbull. Trek Baker. Trumbull. 35. Jones. Prowse. Selleck. Gilliam. Brazil. Weaver. Ally Sheedy. Invaders EP Guide. bloopers. 86. William Campbell. Barbarella. 35. Takei. . 35. #78 Ferrigno. Scott . 35. #56 Zardoz. Triffids. Glenn. Nick Meyer. Bradbury. 325. #17 Spielberg. Tre/f bloopers, 35, Arthur C. Clarke. #93 Donner. Lithgow. . Robert #110 Bradbury. Roddenberry. Joe Trumbull 2. Lance #129 William Windom. Englund. Simon Jones, Cameron. Cronenberg. Haldeman. Ralph #57 Lost in Space Henriksen. 85. Wil Wheaton. Robert Dr Who. Jedi FX 5. Nimoy Geena Davis. McQuarrie. S5. Robot. Conan. Shayne. Michael M. Python. 810. Bob Gale, 35. Caroline Munro. Ron #79 Dennis Quaid. Cavanaugh. Starman. #18 Empire. Joe Cobb, 310, Kershner. Jon RoboCop. 350. Dante. Dirk Benedict. Pertwee. David #94 Doohan. William #111 Columbus. Sarah Katt. Sayles. John Douglas. Nick Richard Hatch. S5. #58 Blade Runner #130 Denise Crosby Barry. . Courtney. Martin The Thing. Syd Mead. Pertwee. Caroline V. Jedi FX 6. 35. Caidin. Trek IV. 310. #19 Roger Gorman. Gil Tre/f bloopers. SIC. Munro. . Gerard. Star Wars. . 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I In form-fittin space suit lovely Erin Gray went raygunning for aliens.

ByPATJANKiEWICZ 5t —

As Wilma Deering, Gray teamed for two adventurous TV seasons with that 500- year-old hero. Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard).

guy," she laughs. "I go through the whole

thing, aim at the bad guy and I go, 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' The whole crew cracked up. 'No, Erin, we put in the sound FX later. We " don't need you to make them!' One of her favorite perks on the series "was having my own Starfighter. To have your own Starfighter is a real thrill! What amazed me about my Starfighter is how I was surrounded by pieces of technology parts of a radio here, bits of a typewriter

there. I thought, 'It looks like my toaster at home.' "It would kill me when the crew would say. 'We're gonna do a pick-up shot of you

in your Starfighter." I would say, 'OK, Where's my Starfighter?' They'd say, 'It's too expensive to bring in, so we're just gonna sit you here on a stool.' 'Wait a

minute, I know you're only doing a head shot, but I'm in a battle scene in my

Starfighter. Could I have something to help me have a sense of where I am?' They gave me a broomstick to use as a joystick, so I

could pretend I was flying." Film Fox No one was more shocked than Gray when Universal decided to release the Buck Rogers TV series to theaters as a fea- ture in summer 1979. "We did the first two hours as the first part of a 10-hour mini- series," she states. "Months later, I get a call saying, 'Buck Rogers is a feature film and " we have some pick-up scenes to do.' Although she was excited to be doing a feature, she had her concerns. "As an actor who cares about her role, I look at some- thing and make choices—where the arc of my character is going and how she relates to

I did the film, I asked, 'Is et's face it; Earth's Defenses, she was cute and had a something. When here are the sides The appeal of nice butt, but you didn't mess with her. She there a script?' 'No. but and said. 'I'm a little the feature was in charge." Gray giggles. "I think many for today.' I read them scene very similar film and TV guys would like to be dominated by me!" confused—I know I did a so tell me where we series Buck While she has done numerous movies to this six months ago, this before or after the Rogers in the and TV shows, the easy going actress is still are in the story. Is 25th Century proud of her spacebome alter-ego. "Wilma

it was was not the flashy special FX. the cute was only my second acting part, and fiction." robots or the wisecracking — it hard to begin my career in science was Erin Gray. she confides, "because nothing is normal in As Earth's security chief Wilma Deer- science fiction. A door is not a door, a light Science fiction ing, Gray made the future look promising. switch is not a light switch. Clad in a skintight spandex catsuit that audi- changes everything! I would ences were asked to believe was a military 'As an actress, I never realized uniform. Gray's sexy heroine teamed up have to learn so much about guns. When with 500-year-old Earthman Buck Rogers to you train to be an actress, you imagine play- protect the galaxy. ing Queen Elizabeth, but in reality, the first gun. Gray's Deering was one of SF-TV"s 15 things I was in. I always had a On strong, independent females: decisive, Buck Rogers, they handed me the gun and I spacesuit on a clever and in command. Armed with a smile thought, "How cool—I'm in a gun!' and a blaster, she helped Buck save the space set and they've given me a ray planet and the universe from renegade "In one of my first scenes, I had to run robots, angry aliens, femmes fatale and around a corner, dive and fire at the bad many other menaces. years, Erin Gray "She was how I wanted her to be: strong Still lovely after all these delighted to meet fans. and assertive. Wilma was Commander of Is

28 STARLOG/Ocfo/jer 1997 trial sequence?" I got answers like. 'Just do It was easy to act alongside robots. "The corne to work. He wants your credit the lines/ I didn't like that about the movie." whole point of acting is to bring truth to changed." I went. 'My credit? What was my

In the film. Wilma is tough, even refer- something that's not truthful. Be it a robot or credit?" I had no idea. ring to Buck as "the barbarian." She seems a person, you have to make it believable and "The credits had read. 'Stairing Gil Ger- more winsome in the series, more curious bring truth to it. Whatever works for you. I ard and Erin Gray.' He wanted. "Starring Gil about Buck and 20th-century customs. "I would be looking at Theo and think about Gerard" first, and on a separate card. 'Co- don't think Wilma in the movie differed that my little boy's darling face," she admits. stan'ing Erin Gray.' I was a contract player, much from the TV version in the first year," Slinky Princess Ardala was another and I was only making S600 a week for a

Gray states. "Wilma was equal to a man. I favorite. "Pamela Hensley was great. She's major TV series." she shrugs. 'The studio liked that a lot. She was softened in the what I call —and I mean this in the nicest had iTie under contract, so they could do show's second year and I was saddened by way—a 'broad." One of us girls, you know? with me what they wanted, but Gil had them that. I didn't want to play a typical female She was terrific, no same-playing, no jeal- by the. ..well, you knowl" role. [She lapses into Minnie Mouse falset- ousy. We got along great. A terrific lady; Many writers, directors and producers to] 'Oh Buck, are you all right? Can I help she's maiTied to a big producer now." on Buck Rogers have recalled Gerard's you. Buck?" I was wringing my hands!" behavior, including his attempts to diminish She was pleased with the TV supporting Leading Lady Gray's role. "I never knew anything about -.i^t: "ambuquad" Twiki. resourceful scien- While Gray had a great chemistry with tist Dr. Huer and robot clock Theo. "I loved Gil Gerard on-screen, she found him some- Gray's favorite escapade pitted her playing with Tiin O'Connor. Tim was so what enigmatic off-screen. "There were against the dreaded essence-sucking good as Huer. I also liked Wilfrid Hyde- problems with my leading man that I didn't "Space Vampire" (Nicholas Hermann). White [Dr. Goodfellovv in the second sea- understand." she confesses. "The first indi- son], but I really missed Tim the second cation I had [that she and Gerard had prob- year. We were terrific together and I felt lems] was literally the day Buck Rogers secure working with him. aired on television.

"Twiki was played by Feli.x Silla [though "After the feature. I thought eveiything

\oiced by Mel Blanc and Bob Elyea]. Nor- was fine. It was gonna be a series. The first mally, Felix would be sitting off to the cor- episode aired and I came on the set saying, ner with his helmet off. smoking a cigar. 'Wow, wasn't that a great episode last Felix was a 45-year old man with three kids night? Um. why isn't anybody

'.".ho would visit him on the set. The\' were working? What's the mat- all twice his size. It was interesting to see ter?' They looked at me him be a parent on one hand and on the and said, 'You mean other, say. 'Let me put my cigar out." put on you don't know?' "No. his Twiki hat and go to work."' What's aoina on?' Dr. Theopolis. the talking computer, was one of her most difficult co-stars. 'The little face on Theo was battery-operated and the connection was always loose." Gray reveals. "We v\'ould do a scene and Theo would fade halfv\ ay through—we had to wait for some- one to chanae the batteries 1" I

will always belong to Honolulu!" She had more say about the show. I must say where I walk moved to California and began modeling at there was a shot in one episode end' age 15. "There aren't many professions away from the camera, a classic "rear I thought. where a woman can make a lot of money, shot. I blushed, it was so good! the world and set their own "No wonder they watch this show—that's a travel around " hours, so I'm not gonna complain. How pretty good-lookin' tush there.' often do women make SI 50 an hour? One of the series' big disappointments "There wasn't much stimuli for the mind was the way Wilma's cool attitude and mili- altered for the second sea- in being a model. I couldn't put on one more tary unifomi was nurse's uniform or stand in front of a miiTor son. Instead of a woman wanior. Gray now In the span of and look at my face for the umpteenth hour." played a futuristic stewardess. fighting space Instead, she went into acting. a season. Wilma went from believe Does she ever feel tempted to watch vampires to babysitting Twiki. "I Buck Rogers reruns on cable? "I don't, to be that was [producer] John Mantley's deci- why. I honest with you. Well..." Gray grins sheep- sion, and I would still like to know and I ishly. "I take that back. They ran a marathon wasn't happy working with Mantley to character over Christmas, so I spent the day taping didn't like what he did my character were taken episodes! I didn't have any of them and I Wilma's strength and

still need to complete my collection!" from her second Gray—who discussed the series in "I didn't want it to go on after the I was nor happy STARLOG #29 & #39 when it originally season, I was so miserable. second year. In aired—especially enjoyed Buck Rogers with anything Wilma did the to reckoned episodes "where Wilma went undercover. I the first, she was a woman be Wilma even loved that: Put a wig on me and I had fun. w ith and I wanted them to make or slave girl, more catlike and smart. Instead, they made Whether I was posing as a spy " w ho always has angst.' Playing Jenny Hayden, the lost love to a it was always cool. Episodes like me the 'woman alienated old fans Starman {Robert Hays), "was one of the Olympiad' were great. The one I really The character changes attract a new audience, and more enjoyable experiences 1 ever had," loved was with the vampire." while failing to Gray announces. That show. "Space 'Vampire." pitted contributed to Buck Rogers' ratings decline. it could have Wilma against a "Vorvon, a space vampire "The show fell short of what right and off life essence, not blood. To save been. It started out with the idea that until it was in your magazine." she who fed have they should have stayed with it." she states. admits, referring to the "Writing Buck Buck. Wilma sacrifices herself. "I to was "They had the right thing going and the Rogers" two-part article in STARLOG say that shooting the 'Vorvon show my I so much audience liked it." #231-#232. In fact, at the time, she was puz- favorite experience on Buck. had Stewart, the direc- Gray isn't sure if Wilma could hold her zled by the actor's antics. '"You must under- fun working with Lan-y very caring and had a great own against such genre heroines as Ellen stand, I was so happy to be a working tor. He was humor. The gentleman who played Ripley. Susan Ivanova. actress, it was all my dreams come true— sense of had this and Xena. "T don't think I'm an authority on was a leading lady with a great role. If they the vampire. Nicholas Hormann. I feel never swollen purple head to this day, I have no that." she admits, "but Wilma gave me a script. I did it. I didn't get into — like, but we had a lived up to her potential; the time had come fights with the producers. When I read that idea what he really looked role. With a lot. I love that for women to take a commanding STARLOG article. I was like. 'Whoa! I had great time and laughed " day. baby!" Kate Mulgrew on Star Trek, we have." no idea how much he was doing!" episode—suck my essence any a loyal cult fol- Another big SF role for Gray came on Her least favorite part of the 25th centu- Gray's Wilma developed "I wish I had TV's Starman. where she played Jenny ry was the male audience's favorite—the lowing with pre-teen boys. I would have Havden. the alien's lost love and the mother form-fitting futuristic fashions. "I couldn't known." she chuckles, "maybe stand those stretch suits." she giggles. "They looked good, but I wanted to burn 'em! Everyone liked Wilma's demeanor, but being in those stretch suits meant I couldn't

sit or bend my knees, so I came off as tough

and rigid! I would get a headache from that

suit; it was like a full-body girdle!" The shooting schedule didn't make it any easier. "Those long hours were hard on a young mother making one quarter of what a teamster on the show was making. Because

I was a contract actress. I came in before Gil and w orked long after Gil and I was the one who had a baby at home. I resented that." she declares. "My young son was missing Mommy and I was missing him. That took

its toll on my family and me." Sultry Sidekick Gray spent the early years of her life in Honolulu. and. she says, "my spirit

On the set. Gray got along well with Ger- ard, mostly unaware of his behind-the- scenes behavior until reading about it in STARLOG 16 years later.

30 STARLOG/September 1996 ' "

of his son. "Starman was one of the more this, the actress blushes. "I knew he liked enjoyable experiences I ever had," she me, but I didn't realize he liked me!" states. "We shot in Sedona. Arizona, a real Stannan also has an enduring following paradise to woxk in. Second!); what's not to fostered by the still-active Spotlight Star- like about Robert Hays? He's a lovely man. man fan movement. "I'll tell you something one of those real good people, and Chris that I would like you to put in STARLOG." Barnes was sweet. The whole experience Gray notes. "Every year I have been invited was great. to a Stannan party. These people who fol-

"I also fell in love with the show's direc- lowed Stannan really love it and still meet tor. Claudio Guzman. This was a man who every year and have asked me to come for

loves women, and women love men who years. Every year I keep meaning to and I

love women, you can really tell. It was after haven't, but I want to say: 'Hang in there, he had encephalitis, so he couldn't speak ask me again and I will come! " Stannan fans ver)' well. I didn't know anything about him. passionately believed in that series."

and when they asked me to do it. I said. "I've The actress recently returned to SF in the got this image of what I think the character thriller Official Denial. "I really loved work-

should be and I would really like to talk to ing with Dirk Benedict and Parker Steven- the director to make sure we've got the same son. Official Denial was interesting. That, to

thing in mind.' When I got the script, the me. was a good SF story. It's not an 'alien

character. Jenny, is an artist who went into cover-up,' the twist is that the aliens are us. the desert and lived like a heimit. doing her All through the movie, we think we're deal-

paintings. I had just finished reading a biog- ing with an alien from another planet, but

raphy of the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, so I no, it's one of us from the future and he's

wanted to base it on her. here to tell us, 'This is what's going to hap- "Claudio gets on the phone. I had never pen to us if we destroy the environment.

met him. and all I hear is this broken Eng- We'll have to develop skin like this to pro- lish, like a person who can't speak very tect ourselves.' It was a great story, really

well. I think. 'This is my director? Oh gosh! heartfelt, which is why I enjoyed doing it. But he said two words: 'Georgia O'Keeffe." The writer, Biyce [Dark Skies] Zabel, really

I said. 'Yes! I'll do the part!' told it well.''

"Claudio got it. so he didn't need to She was also fond of her human co-stars.

speak English clearly. We had the same "'I was really impressed with Parker as a

vision. When I worked with him. he was so human being. I've worked with many lead- loving and touching. He made observations, ing men and of all of them. Parker had the

he was just delicious. I'm sorry I never least ego and was the most supportive. Dirk

worked with him again. I only did the final was also a wonderful man, very intense." two-parter where they find Jenny." Gray became part of 's first family when she played ' sis- Lost Love ter in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. Barnes revealed (in issue #211) that she "That was fun and I'll tell you why: Every- made a big impression on him: "Erin Gray one including the director was under 23, played my mother and I had a big crush on except for me. There's something to be said

her. I thought she was hot! I was like, for having the attitude, 'Oh boy, I'm here

'C'mere. Mom, lemme give you a big hug!' making a movie! ' I really enjoyed it, but I'm

I was 14 and that's what happens." Hearing not into horror films. One reason I took it. other than the money," she confesses, "w as that the script was pretty tongue-in-cheek. She appeared as a politician in the thriller T-Force. which recently announced a sequel. "Oh, good," she laughs. " I wasn't killed in the first one so maybe I'll "I couldn't stand those stretch suits," confesses. "It was like a full-body call them up! Jack Scalia starred. I was the Gray mayor, a strong woman telling people off. girdle." That's always fun!" As for the prospect of a Buck Rogers but I read and love all of them. I'm putting reunion. Gray reveals that one may already my own page on the Internet and I started an

be underway. "I would love to do it. Univer- Erin Gray Fan Club."

sal just called me and asked if I would be Besides doing voice-overs, the actress willing to do intendews if they re-released has remained busy with films and infomer- Buck Rogers as a feature. They were cials. "I'm also on the Board of Directors of inspired by the success of the Star Wars re- Haven House, a battered women's shelter. I release.'' give speeches and educate people about bat- And Wilma Deering's popularity hasn't tery situations. I just co-produced and wrote diminished. "I get 10 letters a day," she a PSA for them and I'm going to do a docu- chuckles. "I love getting letters from fans. mentary." There are too many to respond to personally. Ironically, her life as a 25th century fox has come back to her son. "My son is

in college now. He called me up and said, Among the guest stars were Mark Lenard "Mom, when I go to Economics, they yell, (front), Buster Crabbe and Jack Palance. "Beedy! Beedy! Beedy!" whenever I enter Gray also enjoyed working with regulars the room!'" -ig like Wilfrid Hyde-White (rear). f4m

By DAN YAKIR & IAN SPELLING

-1^

ira Sorvino is battling

I bugs in Guillermo Del IToro's moody SF

thriller Mimic. Now an action hero- ine, Sorvino believes that women, like Jodie Foster and Sigourney Weaver, are doing far more in science fiction these days, but more importantly, she believes they are doing more, period. "Movies are becoming more equitable in general now," says Sorvino, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as the hooker/porn star with a heart of gold in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite. "We've seen that women can succeed at the box office. There was a period of time in the '70s and '80s when they were thought not to be able to succeed. "The '30s and '40s were a real female-driven market. You had many female stars at the top of the marquees. They were headlining the movies and the male stars would often come second. There were so many fans of the great movie actresses of that era. They would go see a movie because Bette Davis or Joan Crawford was in it. For some reason, the movie industry lost faith in the selling power of women. That has started to change." But what of women and SF? Clearly, roaches that ha\ e caused the deaths of thou- 1 It's an amazing world once you get down to

they bring something entirely different to sands of children. Three years later, howev- it. and Eisner's natural ease with the subject the game than men. Sorvino nods her head er, the engineered insects are back—bigger, and his normalness and real warmth broke in agreement. ""There is a kind of humanity deadlier and quickly evoh ing into a species down all of my stupid assumptions about and willingness among female characters able to approximate human form. Tyler and entomologists. I discovered that they were to feel things. That combined with heroic Mann, realizing that they may have con- people with a passion for something—con- activity," she says, "makes for a very mov- ceivably brought about the demise of versant with what they do but very normal." ing story. Often, when you have a male mankind by altering the balance of nature, After playing bimbos in both Mighty

hero in the genre, their very masculinity race desperately to undo the damage Aphrodite and Romy and Michelle 's High prevents them from showing much emo- they've caused before it's too late. Sorvino School Reunion, Sorvino intentionally

tion, from really feeling things along with talks about what it took to prepare for the sought a change-of-pace role. She knew the

the audience. They are almost too brave to role. ""I liked ladybugs. butterflies and inch- instant she read the Mimic script that she be really brave, and male movie characters worms, but I'm not an enthusiast," she had found just such a part. Not only was

often don"t feel as much fear as a real man admits. "Yet I had to play one, so I met a Tyler more refined and mature, but she was or woman would in the face of danger. bunch of [entomologists] and was tutored also a flawed, reluctant hero. "I've made 15 Male characters often don't have quite as by professor Thomas Eisner from Cornell films in my career. It just so happens that much empathy or compassion. And that's University, a leading insect behaviorist and two of the most successful were with me

not to say real men don't have it. We've just an incredible man. He shared his passion playing blond bimbolinas." notes the constructed our male movie heroes as a line for the subject with me and his fascination actress. "I would say that Romy was a dif- of icons. They seem to possess this Teflon- with the insect world. I was impressed by ferent breed of bimbo—perhaps not even a like quality that they're up to any challenge the incredible variety of ways in which bimbo. She didn't use her feminine wiles

without it denting their armor at all. We're insects adapt to their environment and the for sex at all. Romy dressed like a bimbo not typical action or big Hollywood movie chemical defenses they have. There's a bee- but thought of herself as tough and cool.

characters [in Mimic], because we don't tle that can ward off attackers with a little When people think bimbo, there's a sexual

have that kind of flashiness, and we're not burst of , like sulfuric acid, that just side to it, and Romy didn't have that." all buffed and ready for the challenge. shoots out in all directions like a revolving Hardly a bimbo herself, Sorvino is a We're not superheroic in any way other cannon. It's an amazingly precise defense. multi-lingual college grad and an avowed than our litde acts of bravery when we're But the mimicry aspect was also fascinat- genre fan who read SF novels as a kid and put to the test." ing. There are so many interesting ways in "was raised on'' the original Star Trek

which insects mimic other insects. I studied series. "T grew up like a total, original Star Ingenues & Insects one situation in which a female 's Trek addict— I actually had a phaser, and I Sorvino stars in Mimic as Dr. Susan light codes, their mating signals, are loved SF novels,'" she says. ""The world of Tyler, a brilliant entomologist who. with flashed to the males by a different species the imagination-run-wild is, I think, one of her husband. Dr. Peter Mann (Jeremy of firefly [every species has a different the most creative areas we have. I wouldn't Northam), uses genetic engineering to cre- visual code]. The female of one species will make it my mainstay as an actress because ate a breed of insects to rid a besieged New flash out the code of another to attract the you can get locked into an SF, action or

^ "rk City of deadly disease-carrying cock- males of that species, [in order] to eat them. k horror ghetto, but to visit the genres when

STARLOG/October 1997 33 underground subway sets, Sorvino notes, was like experiencing a "water-dripping-from- the-ceiling Hell."

similar power on the think. "Boy. isn't she win- ably going to have a you have a powerful opportunity to do so and who you screen. I was told. "Well you have to watch ning.' That wouldn't fit in our world. We're [is good], because they give you this great going to make lonely world, a world that has a Cronos.' I said. T think Tin chance to explore extraordinary circum- dealing in a another movie, I don't think 1 want to do stances that real-life situations rarely dark aspect to it." this movie.' 'Watch Cronos.' I was blown afford. I like the kind of climactic intensity it; it was exactly my sen- Dungeons away by it. I loved that a SF story has, and also the opportuni- Directors & beautiful and artistic and a serving as Sorvino's personal tour sibiUty. it was so ty for heroism." And of Mimic's cock- really new spin on the whole vampire leg- the actress was looking for a role guide through the depths Still, over- director Del Toro. end—really more about addiction, with more than a fantastic . ""After roach-infested Hell was and self-sacrifice, than the talented young Mexican who put a coming addiction Romy. I wanted to do something dark and from fangs. Such suiTeal spin on the ages-old vainpire about blood dripping sort of traumatic."" says Sor\ino. the daugh- wildly too. I mean there's a scene in Cronos. For Mimic. ""Guillermo cre- shocking scenes, ter of respected character actor Paul Sorvi- saga Lupi licks a spot of blood an ated our Hell, with all of its inroads. He where F^ederico no. ""I thought it would test my limits as I remember Guiller- the characters to go through that." off the bathroom floor. actor. I've always admired the dark work wanted wasn't excited about Sorvino. ""This inovie punishes the mo saying. 'Lupi that male actors get to do in the mo\'ies. I says folly, for their doing that part: we had some problems. We could give you two classic examples, like humans within it for their us in some of the cleaned the floor, we made it absolutely N4arlon Brando in On the WateifroiU and lack of humility. It puts ' "Just imag- situations possible. To go sterile.' Guillemio said to him. in Raging Bull. They both most horrific something off of the as an actor, you must be ine that you're licking happened to be boxers in those films, but there emotionally woman."" and that gave dark with someone you trust immensely. There navel of a beautiful the roles and the situations have this moment hours, many days shot in him the cue." It's an amazing emotionality to them. Women almost never were very long get to do that in an ordinary circumstance. I do in Mimic. The difference between Mimic and other SF films is that my character is ins not in any an prepared for the battle. She's be not ("It would way a soldier, a pilot or anything newfan- gled. She's a university-bound scientist to call thei world mimics w ho gets thrown into a very physical that's dark and full of grime. it really has that odd sensuality to the same squalid location, and it was very because "When 1 was in the subway sets, under it's it. end of Cronos made me cry, and inter- wearing." The the ground. I felt like I was in a very admits the script was so rare that a movie which has such capacity esting vision of Hell. This was a clammy The actress also make you cry. turned it down. "I was to frighten can Hell, a water-dripping-from-the-ceiling intense, she almost the next day and he just wowed extremely disturbed by it. I wanted to go to "We met Hell," she explains, "but it was just as hell- his intellect and his vision and his before finishing it but couldn't— I had me with ish as a hot . It was cold, moist and sleep I felt that in his hands I could safely it to the end. I ended up reading it humor fetid, with corpses lying around and to read I had not gone yet as an five different times: I kept wanting to go into places squooshing underfoot, and it was totally about actress in terms of intensity of experi- it away because it bothered me and I without escape or help. It was torture to see push struggle, bravery and physi- I didn't want to go there, and yet it kept ence—trauma, feet walking over the subway grate. Susan felt invading my thoughts and if something cality—and so I said yes. is not a perky, funny woman entomologist — out of love for Guiller- time has that much power on the page, it's prob- "It was almost I who has these great one-liners all the —

I

"We're not superheroic," Sorvino says of Mimic's protagonists (Charles S. Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini, herself and Northam), "other than our little acts of bravery when we're put to the test."

and then add all of these demonic powers. When we make the Judas Breed and when the mimics evolve, they're so different from the things that we are squeamish about they're really loathsome creatures and real-

ly frightening. It would be an insult to the mimics to call them bugs." Ambitions & Actions After Mimic, Sorvino promptly moved on to her next project, the high-octane actioner Replacement Killers. The actress co-stars with Asian superstar Chow Yun- Fat, who makes his debut in an English-lan- guage film. "It's very exciting, total action," Sorvino says. "It's not futuristic

action; it's gunslinger action. It's a hybrid between 's style and a European

look, like a Luc Besson film. I learned a lot from Fat about the nature of "genre acting.' and the ballet-like nature of action films.

"It was really fun; it was more of a game

than any film I've ever been in—although it mo." Sorvino admits, "that we would sus- Though Sorvino also speaks highly of has some really serious themes and some tain the energy we had to bring to the film. her co-stars—who include Charles S. But- really styfish, witty dialogue. I really liked to is It was not a fun place to go emotionally. ton. Josh Brolin. Giancarlo Giannini. my character. As opposed Susan, who But he knew what he needed and we will- Alexander Goodwin and F. Murray Abra- very normal, my character in Replacement is rather arch. She's a tough cookie ingly gave it to him. It wasn't a situation ham—it's the bugs about which she chats Killers where, at a certain point, we would say. most animatedly. "The scene early in the with some really wry observations about follow - "OK, I've given all I can give today.' If he movie where I get bitten by one of the everything. That was a lot of fun to needed us to go that extra mile, to do a cockroaches was one of the only scenes up Mimic with, because Mimic was such a

scene again, you would do it for him where I was interacting with a mimic that distressing experience in terms of the emo- because his \ision was so strong and you was completely computer-generated. I was tional reality of the character. To immedi- than wanted to be a part of it. And he's so smart, acting opposite nothing in that scene." she ately return a-blow-for-a-blow-rather he's just amazing. He disturbs me some- recalls, a bemused smile crossing her face. suffer was nice. I liked being very visceral-

iimes because just when I think I'm smart. "I had the tongs up in the air and the whole ly active to get it out of my system. Mimic night.'' Guillermo walks in, says something, and I reaction was in my head. They put the used to give me nightmares every .nink. 'I'm an idiot!' The way he talks cockroach in where I had moved the tongs. With Replacement Killers due for .;bout the film, he stuns you; that's how he In the latter half of the movie, we had a lot release in February, Sorvino is now reading talked about the project at its inception, and of live-action, animatronic mimics that I scripts and trying to determine what to do director that's one of the reasons I decided to com- worked with. I wouldn't define them as next. Though she and her beau, Tarantino, plan to "work together mit to it. His vision was so strong and so bugs by that point. They were winged crea- Quentin

fascinating, and he was so cle\er about it tures from a nightmare, far more formida- on something in the next few years." she clue as to that project will be. and saw it as the right field of opportunity ble than anything you would call a bug. has no what "Luckily for me," she adds, "I had the "I'm pretty ambitious," she plainK advantage of having them in the room with states. "I want to try everything. I want to me [as opposed to being added during the do whatever I can that's out there; I want to iult to the post-producfion FX process], being operat- try all the different forms and play all kind n ed by a team of puppet-masters. They did of roles and just have a fascinating experi- not seem like puppets when they were ence as an actor. I want to keep testing I bugs. splashing around or spraying liquid at me. myself too. I want to live through these dif- We also had a few live bugs. They had all ferent experiences. I want to have a very for him to express all these fantastic kinds of fantastic insects in that terrarium varied artistic life." images, situations and moods. He loves the [in Susan's lab], and there were five cock- Of course, if Mimic comes to rule Amer- Gothic, Old World sense of fear, and there roaches in the scene in the tunnel [when ica's box office as cockroaches one da\ mat- is a kind of moralization that goes on with- Tyler introduces the genetically engineered may rule Earth, there will likely be the for to consider. Del in the film. But I don't think it hits you over cockroaches to the existing population]. ter of a sequel Sorvino direct a follow-up. the head; you realize it as it's going along. But that was not my hands in there with the Toro says he won't seems to feel likewise about acting It doesn't say. "Now here—think this!' It live ones! I'm disgusted by roaches. I don't Sorvino really takes you on this visceral journey and know if fear is the right word. in one: "I don't know if I would do a "I actually it's a very harrowing one. Del Toro's quite "The interesting thing about this film is sequel," Mira Sorvino explains.

brutal with his characters and his that it magnifies that natural revulsion don't know if I believe in sequels. Mimic

vengeance is mighty and swift, but he ulti- towards insects into a massive fear, because stands on its own. I don't think a second

creatures one could surpass it.'' . mately sort of forgives his people too." you take a few elements of those

STARhOG/October 1997 35 Director puts more than a human face on his bug-fest. Mimic

By IAN SPELLING & DAN YAKIR

short . any if 1 iramax asked me if there was i I story that interested me," recalls \ \ GuilleiTTio Del Toro. "I said, 'If you find I anything that has a Catholic theme or I I I bugs, or both of them, I would be very T I interested.' They said, 'What about

' Mimic'T I read the story and found the concept really intriguing. It was not supplantation. but human pretension, that drives the stoiy What I mean is it's not like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where you're commenting on the humanization of things, because everyone could be a body snatcher.

"What I Uke about insects is that they have so many things in common with humans," the director says. "Humans and insects are the only two species on Earth that are expansionists and colonists. We are both hungiy and unstoppable. We don't care about other species. We will conquer and raze the Earth in order to expand our colony, regardless of what we destroy by doing it. Those are parallels between us and it's what scares people. Now, put that into a sense of scale. Insects are braver. An insect will never give up fighting you. even if you're six feet tall and the insect is an inch long. When an insect like that flies at us and chases us. v.'e run. We run! And we are many times its size and power. Their single-minded-

I gave Mimic two years ness, their absolute lack of fear of us is fascinating. Fm of my life for it to lool< fascinated with them because they are powerful, they are beautiful, for it to move almost mythological figures in their power. They can get beautifully and for it to hundred times pissed-off enough to attack something a scare beautifully," their size. It's like Marlene Dietrich, because she just did Guillermo Del Toro says. not give a damn. The word fascinate means to hold the That's Charles S. Dutton, beholder in rapture. That's what insects do to us. They're getting scared at left. so alien to us. But I admire them. I admire their beautiful ^^mmmm^mi^^ami^ design. We're sharing the world with creatures that we don't really understand, creatures that have nothing in common with us biologically. I think insects are extremely powerful figures." Manning Mimic Del Toro. a Mexican director with only the acclaimed vampire saga Cronos to his credit, e^'entually decided to invoh'e himself with Mimic, based loosely on the short story of the same name b)' SF legend Donald A. Wollheim. The plot involves Dr. Susan Tyler (Mira Sor\'ino), an entomologist who uses genetic engineering to stop cockroach- es from spreading a deadly virus. But three years later, Tyler's once-celebrated heroics come back to haunt her; The mutant roaches have evolved rapidly and thri\ed, rather than aged in months and died, as planned. Now huge and smart, the Judas Breed, or mimics, are ready to hunt their hunters by imitating them. Realizing that the entire world may be threatened, Tyler teams with her scientist-husband, Peter Mann (Jeremy Northam), a transit cop (Charles S. Dutton), the grandfather (Giancarlo Giannini) of an autistic young boy (Alexander Goodwin) and Northam's assistant (Josh Brolin) at the Centers for Disease Control, to stop the mimics.Del Toro then launched into crafting a

script for the film—a process that also encompassed the talents of Matthew i "'batteries "Doing films is like sculpting with not included} Robbins. Matthew {Prophecy 2} Greenberg and frequent polisher of genre ;

sand," Del Toro observes. "It goes : through your fingers." 36 STARLOG/October 1997

' —

In this type of movie, women usually particularly the abandoned section of sub- become men with breasts. They rip their way where much of the action unfolds, with shirts open, are all musclebound. and they personalities all their own. "We tried to grab the shotgun and are ready to rock and show the man-made environment as more

roll. It's more interesting if they use their threatening and strange. We tried to make bravery and intelligence to combat the the subway and the city sound and look dif- things. If you notice, the tools they use [in ferent. On the sound design, we totally Mimic] and the way they handle them—like flooded the city and the sewers and subways grabbing the very glands of this thing and to sound organic. I tried to make the audi- covering themselves with organic matter ence part of an experience, sensually, that's very different from grabbing a because the hard part about this movie was machine gun and blowing the creatures not just creating the insects, it was creating away." an entire ecosystem to accommodate them. The director claims that despite his The New York that you see there is not the

vision he is not a \ isionary. per se. with no normal New York; I had to take New York ulterior motives to cram a message down one notch up into a sort of hyper-reality New- anyone's throat. "I have an agenda yes. a York. We do that with sound, we do that message, no! Fm unfortunately not the mes- with images. For example, we got organic

siah. so I don't have anything to say in that sounds for the subways. I did some breath-

sense. In this movie, the only thing I want to ing on the microphone, and then we grabbed

say is whatever endeavor we take on as that breathing and enhanced it and lowered it

humans, it w ould be nice if we take it with a down. We had rooms that we called breath-

little humility. I wanted to say that man usu- ing rooms. That disquiets you; you don't

ally acts and then thinks about the conse- realize it when you're watching it, but you're quences. Look, in the '40s we split the atom hearing a room breathing. Then. I took a and we spent 40 years thinking about how to heartbeat, slowed it down and that [became] with the waste and the [ramifications another atmosphere in the room. I had the Mimic takes some daring narrative deal is just teaching a sound of an aortic vein next to the fetal sac risl

'Mimi€ is lust teaehing a lesson to a pair o§ €0€liy people

projects, John Sayles. who wrote Brother science is almost obscene—we don't give a < creatures myself; I did it with the back of my from Another Planet. Piranha and Alligator. damn about nature. But I'm not trying to throat, and I enhanced that up with the real | in the film], "It v\'as very smooth. We had a great first preach and say. 'Well, this is my movie spoons [like Goodwin does | sound harder. draft that I was very much in love with.'' about genetics." That would be a laugh; it treated digitally to make them ; en\ isioned would be like saying that The Rock is a That was the voice of the mimic. We notes Del Toro, who at one point ; Mimic as a short film that would be part of movie about the fall of our institutions. It's designed the soundscape of the movie to

an anthology. '"The second draft was almost not. This particular movie was designed to i have a reality that complemented this world." for filming. Then, John came in and be poisoned popcorn, just popcorn with bit- To crank up the impact of the mimics. ready ; re-cre- ter almonds or cyanide. Del Toro dipped sparingly into the CGI and gave some special suggestions. John — ; cop. ""That's what's important for me.'' Del puppet/creature wells. "That was a creative ated the character of Leonard, the MTA ;

He perfected the 'alibi.' you might say, of Toro continues. "That the people who come i and budgetary decision. What I tried to do

the biological weapon to control the out of that hole are not the same people that ! was create as good a picture as possible,

movie's i toss it shadows. You can get eas- plague—the Judas Breed. That ga\'e it the went in. You have two people at the then in the

i creatures. whole genetics angle. It was an excellent beginning who are so sure about their sci- ily accustomed to seeing the The His con- ence that they go and play God and are movie has violence, but very little gore. I idea. He was really a collaborator. ; tributions were very good. They brought a absolutely happy about it. Then, you drag wanted to go for the impact of the attack but

i with new perspective to the film. I had seen them through absolute hell—and believe not show the walls splattered blood.

Alligator, but you know what's funny'? The me, there is pleasure in dragging Yuppies : Implication is actually much more violent Mimic scenes in the sewer and in the water through hell—and they pop out at the other than showing it. For example, when I show processing plant were there before John end as quivering, \ering masses of emo- the death of the kids, I just show a mouth violent! I go to a came in. It's ironic because people think tional distress clinging to each other for dear screaming. But it's Then, John did that, and he didn't." life. They're finally more alive than in the really wide shot— it stimulates the imagina- Script in hand. Del Toro then set about beginning, and now they are an imperfect tion more. casting his film. The key role was that of family. They're just two parental units with "What I do is take notes and draw pic- Susan Tyler, a rare action heroine. Sorvino an autistic kid. I find that mo\'ing. In a tures into what I call my Diary of Ideas. It's had just won her Oscar for the Miramax film human way, it's not a happy ending; it's an full of drawings and notes," he says, unzip- proudly .\'Iight}- .Aphrodite and was looking for a ending that makes me feel emotionally satis- ping the leather-bound book and change of pace. Del Toro quickly realized fied."" displaying its contents. "You can see the that she would be right for the role. '"Your shapes of the creatures, the colors, and to what I have in the gut tells you who w ill be best for the story. I Serious Scripting they're pretty close the color palette had to knew it would be important for the woman Armed with a script and cast, Del Toro movie. Yoix can see are colors to be heroic, but it was more important to me began filming Mimic, mostly in Toronto, be limited. Why? There common how she was heroic," the writer/director which doubled for . He had to the insects, like yellow and amber and explains. "I wanted her to be heroic in a w ay numerous ideas, one of which was to imbue green and blue." he adds. "'Being a drafts- that's not conventional in this type of mo\ ie. the bues and even the Manhattan locales. man and a painter, it v\ as \ ery important to — —

religious elements "were probably is so much one of 'show-me." The ; me that the design of the frame, the compo- and audiences ]

', in in Del sitions in the frame, were as beautiful as You know, the "Fm going to sit down here more clear Cronos than Mimic." sophisticated by 100 \'ears of Toro continues. "I don't want to sound pre- possible. Usually, this kind of movie is done and Fm so ;

: it's associate w ithout much care from the creator. The^' go mo\ ies and 24 hours of MTV. that F m cocky tentious, but for me fun to believe you"re not going to do Catholicism v.ith hon'or. The creatures are for the scare, not beauty. I wanted both."" enough to ] Those who pay close attention to trends what you say you're going to do." Then, you like the locusts taking over humankind. It's ; little private joke revenge on within SF-horror films like Mimic know all do it; then they are afraid."' my —my ;

movie little • too well that filmmakers also often go for Further—and skip the next few para- Catholicism. The has many

evident, not. But they're : the easy laugh, the self- or genre-referential graphs if you haven't yet seen the film asides, some some pregnant not made for someone to draw a conclusion. in-joke. Del Toro mercifully doesn't dig into Sorvino doesn't suddenly become ; the in the film's that tiresome bag of tricks, "ril tell you at the end. either by her husband or a horny [Regarding Judas Breed for Judas stayed with ' something. SF-horror is already not a very insect, and there's no bring-on-the-sequel beginning, example], years and then prestigious genre, so I was extremely clear teaser at the very end. no renegade roach Jesus Christ for three him. In the movie, the Judas wait w ith my actors and my crew that I was seri- scampering away, ready to set the stage for betrayed ous about MimicT the director asserts. "I Mimic 2. Del Toro smiles, then addresses three years to come back." wanted the movie to be fun and accessible, each point in detail. "There was never any If but I also wanted it to be serious. 1 wanted to pressure about breaking the rules or not. Dealing Deviltry for Del Toro is Mephisto's see the audience jump and I wanted to elicit we had all the scenes in the movie, there Next up Bridge, which Del Toro himself adapted the scares, but I wanted the story treated would have been a couple that addressed with respect and passion. So often, people Mira not being pregnant. You saw that Susan from the Christopher Fowler novel Spanl

distracted it," Del Toro explains. "With the into the movie, they don"t know who the\ want to win. John is extremely smart, but he humility,' little boy. I tried to assume that people on understood certain thinas. like that he imi- has a glint in his eyes that"s not completely sane. There's a malicious glint in his eyes.

after that I'll back world that doesn't exi^t "My hopes are that go with creatures that to Mexico and do The Devil's Backbone. It's of an 11 -year-old kid at the turn of don't exist. It was not a story Re^'olution. an easy movie to make, the century during the Mexican hap- and only for that rea- He comes to a place where a legend about breaking the Devil's back. son, because it's easier pened God mountain, and e\ery to make fun and wink The Devil becomes a and nudge, and then hundred years they have a fight for the soul you're always going to of man—and they choose one person to ha\ e be smarter than the that fight over. It's being done by Mike material you're doing, Medavoy and Phoenix Features. Mike, like has personal slant on the always. What is the Miramax, a pretty risk, then'? The risk of studio business." after Mephisto 's Bridge"! "\ have tw o this one was: I want to And possibilities. One of them is Monte Crista. take it totally .serious, Western [based on and try to deliver a which would be a Gothic scary, creepy, moody, The Count of Monte Cristo]. Alexander atmospheric film that Dumas created a yam like the 1001 Nights. it was pleases me in every sin- But everything I saw based on gle aspect." Masterpiece Theater, pompous and stift". I Del Toro tempted said, 'How can we capture the excitement of "I'm always of what 1 do," Del Toro explains as proud I thought. fate with several of his what Dumas was trying to do?' Josh Brolin investigates, "but I'm never pleased. You 'We'll make a Gothic Western in which the creative decisions. Kids always get a percentage of what you want and no more.' that he die horrible deaths in Count has a golden mechanical hand

religion is has constructed in Florence so that he can be Mimic, and " tweaked se\'eral times, "About the kids." tated the creatures with his spoons. I like the the fastest gunslinger around.' have last says Del Toro. "the audience has to realize at idea of people having a conversation by the Does Guillermo Del Toro any on Mimic, the movie that put his some point that you're (lor joking. I compare fridge, where they say. "Why didn't the crea- thoughts interesting to this with a hostage situation. If you say. tures...?' The kid didn't sweat and he didn't name on the map? 'T found it a story, if you will, of 'Gixe me a car and money, or I'll kill one of get scared until the very end. The moment do just Frankenstein begin- he hostages.' and then the police say. "Why the kid becomes human and starts being two people who are too proud in the through the and should we?' Then, you come out with a nun scared, then he becomes a target. I had no ning, they're dragged mud and you blow her head off—they'll give you problem killing the other kids. Miramax is a through hell, and they end up much more "1 That's the the money. Audiences are so aggressive place where I said, want to kill kids." and humble—but much more ali\e. " '^ " rw adavs; the rapport betw een a filmmaker thev said. 'Yeali'.' basic journey of Mimic''

SYAKUOG/Octoher 1997 39

Australian director Alex Proyas Proyas relates his interest in this theme to made a splash with his first big- Alex Preyas "my own personal examination of memo- budget studio movie. The Crow. imagines a land ries and the fact that memories are these Besides being Brandon Lee's swan song, images and feelings we have in our heads the movie made a strong impression on of always-night and in our hearts that really have no reali- both audiences and the industry thanks to ty to them—they're a little bit like films in Proyas' original, vibrant style. What he in Dark Empire. some way, our own little personal films created on screen was a dark netherworld By DAN YAKIR that we carry around with us—and it's a so complete in its nightmarish imagery very fragile thing. I was drawn by it it's everyone can and noir urban iconography that it proved because something the filmmaker's ability to cope with any relate to: the fact that they're fragile and visual challenge, however complex and therefore they could be altered or they necessarily even be real, which is fragile it might be. may not His follow-up. Dark Empire, also fea- what the film is basically about. tures a haunting nocturnal universe. "I've "But," he goes on. "it was more of an made a lot of jokes lately, saying, 'This emotional appeal than an intellectual one. will be the last movie I shoot that's set at and sitting down and trying to work out night!' " says Proyas with a chuckle. "It's what it meant in terms of the state of the a very exhausting process to go through. world—you could probably make all sorts The next film will definitely be shot in the of parallels to the fact that the world dayume, in the sunlight. To me, this film seems to be run more and more by com- was really around for much longer than puters and artificial intelligences that are our own humanity and I guess The Crow—it was an idea that I had many swamping years ago, and I worked on all the way there's that parallel, too." in during its filming, and really the success Similarly, the movement the film of TJie Crow allowed me to make this film, from darkness to light—as well as the are for the which I consider a lot more adventurous affirmation of one's identity— narratively than The Crow. This is quite a "This will be the last movie I shoot filmmaker an emotional rather than an set at night," laughs director complex and, hopefully, a thought-pro- that's intellectual statement. "To me,'" he Alex Proyas, unaccountably seated in voking film. explains. "I want the film to be positive, to sunlight. "To a certain extent." he continues. have some uplifting aspect to it; I don't "The Crow was a rehearsal for Dark gone wrong with him. His identity has not want to make a film that's totally depress- Empire, which is far more ambitious and been set up correctly so he's a man with- ing—though I'm drawn to dark imagery ideas, I at end of much closer to the films that I wanted to out any memories; and through that, he and dark don't want the leave the theater feeling com- make. I'm proud of The Crow, but it was discovers the larger story." the day to very simplistic, more of a revenge action The idea for Dark Empire (due out pletely morbid. To me. Dark Empire is trying to say that you are the master of film—and I don't see myself as an action next month) came to the 36-year-old film- director. Although Dark Empire has com- maker gradually, over a period of some your own fate and you have the power to ponents of action, it's a more cerebral, years. "The germ of the idea was a noir rise above everything, because you're a philosophical film. It's really the sort of movie where you had a detective on a case human being, and it's your individuality power. stuff SF is great at doing in literature, that doesn't matter, but he puts the facts that actually gives you that a very which is to open up people's minds to together and unearths a cosmic mystery. "So. I think the movie bears very big concepts, where you can sit back The detective [William Hurt] is still a positive message within the context of this and examine your life on this planet in a character in the story, but the focus shifted very grim world—but that's the way I see way that maybe you never thought about away from him and fell upon the guy he's life generally: We live in a fairly grim

before. That's what I was trying to do with pursuing [Rufus Sewell]. It has become world, but it's not all depression and neg- Dark Empire" more of an ensemble story with several ativity. I believe individuals do have the characters intertwined." Kiefer Sutherland power to change things, but you must Night Wares plays the inscrutable Dr. Schreber. who fight to make those changes. That's the According to Proyas. "The story is helps the hero stay a step ahead of his parallel the film is making to this world." about an experiment conducted on the res- adversaries while piecing together the Still, despite its uplifting message. idents of a whole city whose memories are puzzle of his past. Jennifer Connelly Dark Empire is disturbing—and Proyas being manipulated and whose lives are (STARLOG#242) plays his estranged relishes that. "I enjoy disturbing films like being altered in order to understand what wife Emma, for whom he keeps yearning. this one.'' he offers, "which is not to say makes them human, all by a race of beings The loss of identity theme that is at the I'm uninterested in other genres—I would that need to have that information for their film's core is a monumental one in mod- like to make a comedy next, a complete I repeat own survival. One character is the focus, em literature, and one that the filmmaker departure. don't want to myself. the film's protagonist, and something has shares with the likes of Franz Kafka. This film seems to be a progression from —

In a role designed with him in mind. Rocky Horror's Richard O'Brien plays IWr. Hand.

The Crow, but the next one I do will be a In Dark Empire. Proyas seems to fulfill films that I personally don't like are the ones complete step away." what he espouses—having created a night- where I leave the theater and completely Whether he tackles other genres with the marish world that would take many hun- forget the movie in three minutes. The best same style and passion remains to be seen. dreds of pages to describe in detail. It is movies stay with you and entice you to dis- But in the meantime. SF remains his staple. strikingly—and uniquely—visual. cuss them with your friends, to unravel

"I like SF and I grew up reading a lot of it." he "I hope so." he responds modestly. "To some of the complexities within."

recalls, "and the films that were most influen- me. it doesn't make sense to make films that

tial to me were probably SF mo\'ies. 200J: A show stories you've seen before or even Night Scares Space Odyssey was one of the first films that feelings you've necessarily experienced Shoofing Dark Empire is a case in point.

I saw as a kid. around eight, and even though before. That's a hard thing to do. but that's Not only was the project (which he budgets

I may not have understood it at all at that age. what I aspire to—doing something different. in the low S30 millions) too consuming pro-

I found it such a unique experience—there I know I'm bored with many films, and I get fessionally, but it took over his personal life

was just no other film like it. and for that rea- a sense that audiences are also bored by as well. ""I turned into a vampire!" he

son it really affected me very deeply. I've them. Most Hollywood movies these days laughs. "You have no personal life as a always hoped to capture some kind of an are predictable: everyone knows where the director sometimes. I have a very under- experience like that in my own films. 2001 story is going to go, and to be able to do standing wife, and all my friends know thai

had something that was purely cinematic something different is very exciting." I disappear off the face of the Earth while there's no other medium that could really The filmmaker would like Dark Empire I'm making a film, and they just know express what that film expressed; you could- spectators to have "a thrilling emotional they're not going to see me for 12 months."

n't do it on the written page or with musical experience pushing them into areas they Beyond that, a filmmaker is affected b\

instruments. It was breathtakingly unique. SF haven't experienced a lot in films. But also, the dark ambience he creates in front of the

is a wonderful medium for films, because if there is any potential to look at the world camera. "You become immersed in it." films are such an expression of the imagina- a little differently when they come out of it. Proyas agrees. "In any film, you become tion. SF films have only really scratched the in the most subtle way, then I consider it a immersed in the world you're creadng. just surface of w hat the}' can do." very satisfying and positive experience. The as the actors do—they have to become those

42 STARLOG/Oc;o/7e/- 1997 —

characters to a certain extent. I've been liv- it's evolving and growing and changing, pany on the movie hyped this in order to ing inside this film for 18 months solid which was a ven' difficult sequence to create. make themselves seem like they were per- miracles. It that's all I really had. You have to make sure "We did that with a lot of CGI work, forming angered me, because that you like the world you're creating, to a computer images, in order to evolve things. they were really taking away from Bran-

certain extent, in order to live in it so much." We also had moving sets. There's a certain don's work. There's no gimmickry there; In this case, however, the film's universe sequence where people are crushed between that's Brandon's performance in that movie. was extensively reliant on special FX. two buildings that are moving together, and The only thing we did is stuff you do on any "Everything in the film is sets," he explains. we actually built full-size buildings that normal film—quite often you use a close-up "We didn't have a single location. In some could move on wheels to bring them togeth- of a particular actor by taking it from anoth- scenes, there are shots that are elements of er. It was a mixture of mechanical sets that er scene, and sometimes your editing makes

the real world, but it's essenfially 100 per- could actually move, also integrated with it seems like it was shot for that scene. cent constructed. So. we had to use a lot of CGI. because mechanical sets have limited That's really all we did on The Crow. And

FX. miniatures and matte paintings and so movement, whereas I wanted the buildings there were one or two shots where we did on to extend sets. There's one element in the in the film to become almost fluid, like liq- rotoscoping. in which we traced around film where the bad guys alter the city—as uid mercury, which obviously you can't Brandon's head to marry him onto a new they alter people's lives, they also alter the achieve mechanically." background, which is completely untechni- environment. The thing they do is called But before you label Proyas the genius of cal and very straightforward—but it was 'tuning.' and when they do this, they make CGI. he hastens to remind that what was made to seem like we had built this perfor- buildings grow and move and change and accomplished on The Crow after Brandon mance technically. become other buildings so they can house Lee's death has been an exaggeration. "That "I agree with those who predict that in them with the people that they've repro- has actually been hyped out of all propor- the future, we'll be able to make completeh grammed. That was quite a complex thing to tion." he insists. "In reality. Brandon had digitized performances of people, but right achieve. There's also a chase scene that completed most of the film: with one com- now I don't think that's possible. There's no involves people running through the city as ponent remaining to be done. The FX com- question that, with the way things are devel-

William Hurt Is Bumstead, the The project went through several titles detective unraveling a cosmic (Dark City, Dark World) before settling mystery that leads to the bizarre on Dark Empire. "But I'll always think secrets of this land of always-night. of it as Dark City," Proyas notes.

I -1 More than 100 sets were built (and some purposefully destroyed)—all to realize Proyas' dark vision. Proyas calls Dark '* 9 , Empire "a cerebral,

, * philosophical film." 'Av It's definitely surreal.

on into secret to his identity. If you have a familiar oping, in 10, 20 years' time—maybe earlier, universe by pushing what you draw people have a hard time we'll be seeing completely digital charac- a new sphere. I mean, the whole world of face in that role, They'll say. 'We know you're ters in films. What we do as directors is the Strangers, the bad guys in the movie buying that. don't yoiiT It sounds stu- stand on a set and direct the actors, and the who manipulate the city and the people in it. , why feel about it. Rufus has actors bring their own influences to what's is a decaying, oppressive subterranean envi- pid, but that's how I hardest thing to everything it takes to be a star. It was brave happening. 1 give the actors a guide, and ronment—and that was the the studio to let me have my way here and then for me the exciting thing is sitting back come up with a new look that we hadn't of of people and experiencing what they're doing. The seen in any film before. 'We worked very then support him with a group recognizable names and add to the characters come alive in front of you and hard to do something different. Patrick who are this film's commercial prospects. you feel like an audience with some control Patopoulos, a producfion designer on depth." Proyas continues. over what's happening. It's a very different film, did a terrific job coming up with some- "Rufus has for the film. I got to approach when you're sitting behind the thing new.'' "When I was casting almost all the new computer screen and basically meet "alter people's lives, hot actors that every- sculpting clay, which is what As the Strangers alter the environment," be the animating computer characters they also one says will evolving the cityscape. _ new batch of stars, and is like. I've had some experi- to me Rufus stood ence with it and it's frustrating apart because he's not a and intriguing at the same time. kid—he's a man; he But I believe there will always has maturity—while be traditional filmmaking—just most of today's stars like there'll always be theater.'' seem to not even be Night Lairs shaving yet. He thoughts The universe imagined by brought in his and emotions, in addi- the filmmaker for Dark Empire tion to having this had its own unusual design magical quality that antecedents. "Initially,'' Proyas can't be described in recalls, "we looked at woodcuts words. by Gustav Dore, an artist from "Kiefer Sutherland the late 19th century. He creat- is an extremely popular ed wonderful, intricate black- impossible for me to go and-white illustrations mainly for Dark Empire was shot in Sydney. Aus- actor- and it was with him without books—very moody works which often tralia, mainly for budgetary reasons. "It's a out and have a coffee pushed upon by groups of depicted cities of that era, London. Paris. little cheaper than LA," says Proyas. "We being constantly honest, he was not the first They're always set at night, depicting a built almost 100 sets for the film, and it was people. To be part and he knows that. He's world alive with people, very congested, but really a way of keeping the cost down. But I choice for his I ever thought I would also very sinister and dark. also wanted to do it there because that's my much younger than I wrote this guy thinking "Another, very strange influence, was home and this is where the producer lives, cast this character: Kingsley. So to turn Weegee. who started off as a police photog- and after trekking around the world and liv- about someone hke Ben Kiefer was a real stretch for rapher in the '40s. He would photograph ing out of a suitcase, you reach a point around and cast him. an crime scenes and he would also have this where you crave spending time at home. me. but there was something about exciting for this very strange series of photos of people The film was designed from the ground up: energy which I found really inovie. delivered something completely asleep in the city—he was obsessed with there was no real location work, so we fig- He it unique: in fact, many people who saw the that. He went and photographed people in ured that if we ha\'e to build everything, early didn't even know it was him. bus shelters, cinemas and late-night diners. doesn't matter where in the worid we are, so film on adopted a mannerism that's There's this wonderful stillness and empti- why not build it in Sydney'?" because he has unlike hiin. Kiefer has really ness to his images that we used as inspira- The film's lead was given to relative completely as an actor here. tion. unknown Rufus Sewell. Explains Proyas. "I stretched himself it was incredibly "But you draw from many inspirations, didn't want to cast a big name and a recog- "As to WilUam Hurt, the exciting to be working with someone like and the trick is not to be too literal about any nizable face in that role, because charac- him, someone I've admired as an actor for a of them, not to let it cross over into plagia- ter is someone we spend a lot of time not incredible craftsman, and rism, and to really try and create your own knowing who he is. trying to discover the lona time. He's an

44 STARLOG/Oc/o/7f^/- J 997: — —

his understanding of the story, on a deep

intellectual le\ el. was astounding. He under-

stood it. was passionately excited by it. and we collaborated well beyond just being an actor and director. William is not the easiest actor to work with on the set—he's very demanding—but in a way that enhanced and contributed to the film. He respected the script and challenged me to come up with some of the best moments.

•Richard O'Brien was someone that I

visualized in terms of that character when I

wrote the script. I wasn't even thinking of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the character he plays there—in fact, I saw him in an interview dressed in '40s style, shaved bald, and with an eerie, ethereal manner, so he was in the back of my mind for many

years when I was writing Mr. Hand, who he

ended up playing in the film. I hadn't seen Richard act in a film since Rocky Horror, so

1 didn't know if he was capable of anything

other than that crazy Riff-Raff stuff, so I met

him in London and it was as if his character simply jumped off the page. He is one of the most wonderful people in the world to work with; an incredibly entertaining character." Night Dares Proyas considers writing his favorite part

of the filmmaking process, '"because it's the

most creative. Filmmaking has its rewards

but it's a very tough process. When you're

on the set. it's usually a series of disappoint-

ments. I tend to think things through very

clearly before I start, and for me the tough-

est part of it is to sit there and go. "OK. it's

not really what I wanted,' but to be able to sit back and try not to be a control and

examine it and see whether it's any better

because often it is. The toughest thing is to

loosen the reigns a little bit and let it evolve,

rather than trying to push it exactly where I

want it to go. Sometimes films can feel very

stilted as a result of that. I consider Stanley Kubrick my god—he's the ultimate film- gross hundreds of millions of dollars, and story set in an unspecified future, and it's maker, and his approach tends to be very still be able to retain some le\ el of unique- this guy and his sister, both a little looney. structured and thought-out. but then his ness to them, something really fresh and dif- The guy is an inventor who's obsessed with films also have this incredible spontaneity to ferent." airplanes and building a flying machine

them, and I don't quite know how he Proyas. who was born in Egypt and emi- all the technology has been lost in this post-

achieves that." grated Down Under when still a child, holocaust world, so he's starting from Proyas clearly loves the cinema. "Films became aware that filmmaking was his des- scratch. He's also crippled because he broke

combine the best of all forms of art," he tiny at a very young age. ""I went from want- his back while trying to build a flying

says. "'I know that I'm driven to be creative ing to be an astronaut to wanting to be a machine. Into this situation comes this wan- in some way. and that's an insfinctive thing filmmaker." he recalls, "which was probably derer who's a fugitive pursued by the law

and I haven't deciphered it yet. I don't know just as bizarre a concept as wanting to fly a you never really find out what he's guilty

that I'm necessarily driven to make movies; spaceship. I was about 10 or 11 when I got of—and together they build this machine to

I just think I was drawn to make movies my first second-hand super-8 camera that I try to get them out of there." because they seem to combine all the best convinced my dad to buy me, and started Despite his desire to move on to a sunny things from design, painting, music and making films. I now say that I've had 26 comedy next, the director can't say for cer- drama—everything seems to be rolled into years of filmmaking experience." tain what his upcoming project will be. He's one there. That's what attracts me about the He started his career with the low-budget cun'ently working on another SF film, one

medium; I'm drawn to it because I feel independent Australian feature Spirits. Shot based on Nigel Kneale's 1956 genre classic

there's much more you can do with it. Films in 1987 in 16mm. '"it was one of those situa- The Ouatermass X-periment (also known as

are not as rich as they could be; and it's part- tions where I would be pushing the dolly The Creeping Unknown), written by David

ly driven by commercial need—films are so with the camera on it while I was saying Goyer. And he himself is at the computer

expensive to make and they have to appeal "Acfion!' It was a very small project set in scripting a low-budget comedy about a band

to such a wide audience to become a prof- the desert, where our set was one little house of bumbling, no-good musicians. Alex

itable commodity. But I would like to be we constructed in the sand. The whole film Proyas laughs when he discusses the project,

able to make films that do not necessarilv cost about S200.000. It's a post-holocaust "I'm having a areat time on it." I STKRhOC/Octoher 1997 45 Once again, Robert Zemeckis directs a warm fantasy concerned with affairs of the heart and mind.

Ithough it would be "great to know if " there's other life in the universe Zemeckis doesn't hunger for that knowledge the way Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) does. Contact

NegotiatorBy IAN SPELLING

Fantasy filmmaker Robert Zemeckis takes alien encounters close to heart.

would be really cool to have that knowledge, really great to know if Itthere's other life in the universe," Robert Zemeckis says. "But I would be just fine if I didn't know those things." Why then did the acclaimed director of the trilogy, , Death Becomes Her and, of course, the Oscar-winning , devote two-plus years of his Hfe to bringing Carl Sagan's novel

Contact to the big screen as an $85 million mega-picture? "I feel the movie is about us, not about an alien life form," he replies. "That's why I had to make it. What happens is that a gigantic event occurs and we get to explore what happens to us on Earth. That's why I thought this was so cool."

By now. exen one knows the story of Contact. EUie Arroway during the latter parts of the film. "That's exact-

Arroway (Jodie Foster), a brilliant, driven scientist with a ly it," Zemeckis says. "To make that leap into the fantasy, deep belief in the notion that there's something out there, into the surreal world, you had to have been completely one day picks up a radio message from the far-off star invested in the reality world. It was difficult to achieve

Vega. There is something out there, after all. The amazing that, because it was difficult to create believability about

discovery sets in motion all sorts of people and events, as things that don't exist. It's tough to do from a visual pro- money and politics, science and religion, humanity and duction standpoint." aliens weigh in on the prospect that we are not alone, that Fortunately, the filmmaker had Foster and the rest of we could be just a self-deluded, microscopic blip on the his top-notch cast there to put a human, credible face on intergalactic radar screen. The film also stars Matthew the proceedings. Foster had been attached to the project McConaughey as Palmer Joss, a religious leader, advisor for a long while, back even when George {Mad Max)

to President Clinton and the would-be love of Arroway's Miller planned to direct it. The actress stayed on board

life; James Woods as unsympathetic National Security after Miller departed. "When I was presented with the

Advisor Michael Kitz: Tom Skerritt as David Drumlin. screenplay, I was told. 'By the way. Jodie Foster would

Arroway's one-time mentor, who. for a while, wins the like to be Ellie.' I thought that would be great, that she

right to man the spacecraft built by humans based on alien would be perfect for it." Zemeckis recalls. "So. it was that schematics: John JJurt as eccentric billionaire S.R. Had- kind of melding thing, an all-the-planets-lining-up situa- den; and Bassett as Rachel Constantine. a presi- tion. Jodie was right for the role because she's playing an

dential advisor as supportive of Arroway as Kitz is intelligent woman scientist [and] playing it completely unsupporti\e. real from a human standpoint. She doesn't lose her humanity. She doesn't play any of those cliches. It's a

Galactic Signals very difficult role. I don't know of any other current

If Contact succeeds as a moviegoing experience, it actress who could have pulled off the role. In the old days,

does so because it's grounded in reality from the outset. it's something Katharine Hepburn might have done. Thus, audiences willingly take the journey into space with "Working with Jodie is a complete joy. She's fantastic

STARLOG/Ocfofcer 1997 47 because she's such a talented actress and a professional. You can't ask for more than that. She can make anything you ask her to do work, and she can do it believably. I've ne\er worked with an actor who's so completely consistent, just take after take, nailing h. Jodie also does the little things. During our rehearsal period with little Jena [Malone. who plays the young Ellie Arroway]. Jodie noticed that Jena had this nervous thing of running her fingers through her hair. Jodie just logged that away and made that part of her character She ran her fingers through her hair all through the film. The rest of the actors, that's just a matter of casting, of finding the right people for the roles."

One key role in Contact is the President of the United States. In the end. Zemeckis dipped into his Forrest Gump bag of tricks to incorporate into the action. Sure, ' Would Zemeckis step into a pod and head into the unknown like Ellie Arroway? don't there's the crafty use of a body double here

think I would," the director replies. and there, not to mention some snappy editing and quick camera moves, but otherwise it President.' I didn't ask for anyone's permission. looks as if Clinton spent a few weeks before the camera, emoting have to use the real lot his stuff is taken from his press con- exclusively for Zemeckis. Great as it looks now, casting the Presi- they said no? A of possibility of life on Mars." dent presented all sorts of dilemmas for Zemeckis, who at one point ference after all the news about the Zemeckis says he personally was reportedly set to hire Sidney Poitier for the role. "There are Of all the characters in Contact. to Hadden. "T'm probably closer to only two movie-cliche ways of doing it. One." he notes, "is to just relates most to Arroway and Zemeckis laughs. "I always ha\'e the President in the other office, where you ne\'er real- Hadden because I like to control things." passionate about things I believe in. ly see him. Everybody else has lines of dialogue like. 'I just spoke resemble Ellie in that I'm so notes, he would never step to the President and he wants us to do this and this and this..." Or you And I'm as driven." Still. Zemeckis don't think I would." he can have an actor pretend to be the President. alone into a pod headed for the unknown. "I again. I asked "Neither one of those options felt right. Poitier was never offi- says. "I would be too afraid to never see my family question he said. -Absolutely.' He didn't cially cast. We were talking about it, because of Colin Powell. We Carl Sagan that same and hesitate. I'm not as committed to finding out that knowledge as thought it would be the near future, that it would be OK to have a even are. to risk life." black President. Then. I finally said. 'You know what? I think we Ellie or Carl my

48 STARLOG/October 1997 "Working with Jodie is a complete joy/' Zemeci

Ultimately. Zemeckis reports, he got the movie he wanted. "I'm happy with it," he says, "very happy with it." He was able to bal- ance the film, so that it entertains without preaching and presents its story without tak- ing sides. "You try to balance it," he explains. "You never want to be accused of preaching, of being irresponsible. 1 hope I'm always entertaining people first and, if the movie inspires some young people to go check out Carl Sagan, that would be great, too." Earthly Omens Speaking of Sagan, who co-produced Contact with his wife, Ann Druyan, Zemeck-

is, Steve [Forrest Gump) Starkey and execu- tive producers Joan (Alien Nation) Bradshav. and Lynda (The Fisher King) Obst, the scientist and author was the movie without an image of EUie," he asserts. "That wouldn't deeply involved with the film right up to his death in December have felt right. I'm comfortable with the scene with her father. That 1996, about two-thirds of the way through production. Just three scene was in the novel. That's got to be there. You can't change that." it's other matters for weeks before he died of cancer, in fact, Sagan conducted a memo- With Contact now in theaters, on to favorite interviewed in rable tutorial for the Contact cast and crew, during which time he Zemeckis, a STARLOG reader frequently of the few directors answered any and all questions about space, Contact and the very these pages (#85, #99, #150, #185), He's one Rabbit, religious and scientific points the film addresses. "I couldn't go to ever to grace the magazine's cover (arm-in-arm with Roger framed and displayed on his office wall. that because I was off shooting the young EUie scenes," notes #134), a cover proudly Zemeckis, who pays tribute to Sagan with an on-screen dedication, After years of hesitation, there will be a prequel to Who Framed fast track. "They're going to do "l don't get to do any of that fun stuff. 1 actually first met Carl way Roger Rabbit, now on Disney's read a script. I probably won't do back when Contact [the novel] was coming out. I was in New York. that," Zemeckis says. "I haven't a Back to the Future IV. either. But what But I found out about Carl from Cosmos, when I started watching it." Don't count on follow-up'? "If there's a good screen- that on T"V. It was great working with Carl on the film. Carl was of a Forrest Gump screenplay, and if a fan of Back to the Future. He believed Back to the Future play, and I mean a really good Tom I consider it," was the best, most scientifically correct speculation of how [Hanks] is interested in doing it, would "I've never read the second book. I time travel would work. He thought it was really well done. the director says. one, though." that Harry Hou- That felt great." didn't like the first And "I'm In crafting Contact for the silver screen, Zemeckis and the dini film Zemeckis was reported to be helming? interested in that film's writers. James V. (Bram Stoker's Dracula) Hart and not going to do that. I've always been me." -Michael (Bed of Roses) Goldenberg. condensed the source story," he says, ''but it just isn't feeling right for produc- material and put much more focus on Arroway than on And what can moviegoers expect from the new and some of the other characters. However, Zemeckis tion company headed by Zemeckis, Starkey "I youTl be and his scribes stuck with Sagan's denouement, in Jack Rapke, ImageMovers? hope which Arroway encounters the image of her seeing very diverse, major, mainstream, big father (David Morse) upon arriving in the alien's Hollywood entertainments." takes on world. The alien then explains that the patriar- Whatever project Zemeckis year before chal image would be more acceptable to her next will have to wait at least a begins thinking seriously about it. senses than its actual form. It's pointed out to he even a film, Zemeckis Zemeckis that such a simplistic idea has been As usual after completing with family. put forth countless times, in everything from will take some time off his The Martian Chronicles and The Twilight Zone Then, it'll be back to business. And what, in the for all the director's to numerous other genre outings. Some who the end, is payoff have seen Contact think the film might have efforts? The actual production? The finished The critical and audience been better served by ending it with the scene in product? w hich Bassett reveals to Woods the top secret response? The box office receipts? The "It's all very rewarding. I love tidbit that while Arroway apparently spent mere Oscars? whole of making a film. seconds in the spacecraft her video device the process having play for the very recorded 18 hours of static, thereby validating But a movie public preview, see- her interpretation of the events. first time in a Zemeckis, without sounding too defen- ing your film communicate ideas to audience or seeing the sive, refuses to buy into either argument. "I the audience feel something, that," don't think it would have been right to end concludes Robert Zemeckis, "is the According to Zemeckis, greatness of having done the about us, not Contact"\s whole thing.'' about an alien ^ life form." Glen A. Larson is a television A. Larson, veteran famous for such hit Glen shows as Quincy. McCloud,

Magnum. P.I. and The Fall Guy. but to SF and produc- creator of fans he is best known as creator er of . This fall, he taps into the genre once again with NightMan. a countless TV yndicated series based on the Malibu Comics superhero. The series, like the comic book, follows shows, unveils the adventures of Johnny Dominoe. a jazz musician at San Francisco's House of Souls, who is caught up in a "cosmic accident" NightMan. which leaves him with the ability to read the phrase e\ il thoughts of others. Larson's short in describing the series is "Batman meets The X-Files!" Ov as Patrick Macnee put it in By DOUGLAS SNAUFFER a presentation film used to sell the series to local stations, it's about a man "in tune with the frequency of e\'il." At first. NightMan may seem an unusual candidate as the latest Hollywood incarna- tion of a comics superhero. Unlike Super- man. Batman and the Phantom, each of whom has thrilled readers for more than half a century. NightMan was created in 1990 by writer Steve Englehait and didn't make his debut until 1993. But Tribune Entertainment, the company behind the project, and execu- tive producer Larson were taken with the concept.

"I thought it had the ingredients to be a

big hit." explains Larson, sitting in his trailer outside the com'erted San Diego warehouse where the series is being filmed. "It was unique for what's going on in television. It brings together new technologies and story- Far from the Galactica, telling which are very popular with audi- TV veteran Glen A. ences. NightMan is an edgy character, unlike Larson returns to the the superheroes shot in early tele\ision who

the comics- , genre with had that sort of flat, often silly look. Today, NightMan. spawned computer-generated imagery allows you to really starl to emulate the kind of action heroes seen in comics, heroes drawn with a much darker edge.'' TELEVISION Larson hopes the series can succeed where shows like The Flash and M.A.N.TI.S. didn't. "If you think in terms of movies with a droll sense of humor that have great adult appeal." he says, "then add music, beautiful women, great-looking men. a car like the Plymouth Prowler and genuinely entertain- ing scripts, you're beginning to approach a formula that has an awful lot going for it." He also hopes NightMan will provide viewers with those elements which other comic book adaptations have not. "There are things in our show that make it sophisticated

and adult and give it more of a chance to be MAIM very theatrical." Larson insists. "The CGI chance at beating the odds." The word '"outrageous" doesn't begin to describe some of the fantasy adventure's

plotlines. "We have an episode [where] J. Edgar Hoo^'er had flash-frozen three of his worst adversaries. A slightly demented grandson of Hoover's finds the opportunity to get them out of their cryogenics chamber and [re\'ive them] in this day and age. There's

.Al Capone. John Dillinger and Bonnie Park-

er, who falls in love with Johnn}'. Later, she goes to case a bank with Dillinger, who immediately dismisses bank-robbing as impractical because of all the newfangled inventions, so Bonnie decides to prove she

can do it on her own, and draws Johnny into her scheme. "We have another episode we're talking about Little Richard doing,'' Larson adds, "called "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On.' about someone planting charges in the San Andreas fault and creating something San Francisco doesn't need—earthquakes. All the shows have an edge, they have interesting devices. Some of them cross over into what [Malibu] comic books call the Ultraverse, storytelling with more of a science-fiction edge." Developing NightMan from the comic guys we ha\'e also do Hercules and Xena. so falls short of actually letting him fly. He also book was similar to the challenge Larson our effects should be very movie-oriented. In wears a suit made of a special cloth designed faced back in 1973 when he was asked to Matt McColm, we have a lead who's charm- by the defense department that protects like turn author Martin Caidin's novel Cyborg ing as hell, and if my instincts are even close armor. into a viable TV series. A pilot movie had to being right, he can be a breakout. So. you "'The tools he uses are all bom of these already been shot and rejected by ABC, but put all those equations together, and this young engineers." Larson explains. "They Universal, believing in the project, asked show has an awful lot of spin." have been working for the government when Larson to step in and resuscitate it. "'I don't suddenly their projects are cancelled, so think ABC thought it was commercial." Lar- Men of Night these guys begin looking for civilian uses son recalls. "They didn't quite realize the McColm is a former stuntman who dou- [for their inventions], then discover that [show's] potential. I took all the source mate- bled for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Clint East- someone is selling their stuff to foreign buy- rial to see what I could do with it. I added to wood and even Da\ id Hasselhoff in Larson's ers. They blow the whistle on their company, Steve Austin's capabilities, enhancing what Knight Rider before turning to acting. Larson but then they become targets and Johnny was already there and at the same time always thought McColm would make a good becomes involved in helping to save them. As grounding it more in reality. I did two 90- series lead, so when NigliiMan provided the they start being killed one by one. they real- minute movies and then after that, we sold opportunity, he hired him. ""Matt has a real ize that survival means sticking together with the series [as The Six Million Dollar Man]. warmth," Larson says about his casting someone like Johnny, so they give him some ''Cyborg was a wonderful book, but we choice, "an ingratiating quality, and he's of their tools—that's the genesis of our had to adapt it for television. In the same enormously physical. Before he starting story.'' regard, we've taken elements of the Night making movies, he had been one of the most But Larson is quick to add that NightMan Man comic, embellished them and tried to physical guys out there in the business, and is not indestructible. ""You can kill him." he bring greater credibility to some of the tools when you see him do his fights and things, reveals. "But he'll know you're thinking and to explain why they're there or why he that's him. He has great moves." about it before you do and he'll have a great would do this or that. It's all to make the Larson feels NightMan brings out the whole thing more acceptable hero in Johnny Dominoe. There's really no to the larger audience,'' secret why Johnny has elected to use his Larson says. "'They powers for good. "'The comic book took the can take short cuts in position that he had little or no choice." Lar- comic books, but we son says. "He considers it as much a as have to have a better a blessing and an opportunity. But as I see it. reason for things. once you are put in the middle of danger and It's taking what's dark intentions, especially when it involves your friends, lo\"ed ones and things you care about, you have little or no choice but to act and try to prevent all those bad things from "NightMan is an happening." edgy character," The character's telepathy won't be his says Larson, who cast stuntman- only weapon in crime fighting. He'll also turned-actor iVIatt have at his disposal a variety of scientific iVIcColm as jazz gadgets supplied by a group of young im'en- musician-turned- tors encountered in the first episode. Among superhero Johnny the devices are an anti-gravity belt that Dominoe. allows NightMan to lift off the ground, but

STARLOG/Oc/o/;er 1997 51 Galaclica Photo: Copyright 1978 Universal City Studios

from a race of evil automatons called Cylons. desperately searching for their last hope of refuge, the legendari' plan- et Earth. The most ambitious T'V

series of its day, the show was an Battlestar immediate hit but was cancelled after Galactica, one season, mostly due to its astro- beloved b nomical expense. fans, is a There's little question that Galacti- favorite of ca has been a personal highlight of creator Larson's Larson's career. "I don't know if I as well. "It has a the show I'm proudest special place in would say it's place in my lieart," tie of. but it has a special my says. heart." he states. "It was an enormous undertaking, and we did so much and so well at a time when it was really hard to do those things. Today with CGI, we could do them very easily. But

at that time it was bloodletting to make that show."' Cancelling Galatica after only a single season was a mistake, one that Larson feels in 1973, Larson that ABC learned the hard way. "The net- helped fashion work, in retrospect, felt maybe they should Martin Caidin's more time. They were Cyborg into have given us a little The Six Million so spoiled at that time because eveiytixing Dollar Man (Lee was a 50 share. We were on Sunday night Majors). against some pretty tough competition, but

we still finished the season near the top 20. .ABC moved Mark & Mindy into our time slot thinking now they were going to kick butt, and they didn't. They crashed and burned." ABC quickly commissioned a follow- up series, which Larson set 20 years later with a mostly new cast when he was unable to reassemble all the origi- nal actors. But was a critical and ratings disaster that has been widely disavowed. One of T regret doing that," Larson con-

Larson's fesses, "but it was an innocent mistake. greatest We loved Battlestar Galactica so successes was much we were looking for an excuse to Knigtit Rider redo it, and with Galactica 1980, they starring David give us a shot. But then Hasselhoff and were willing to Practices killed us that talking car. Standards & K.l.T.T. because we had a 7 p.m. time slot. They dictated such awful terms that it became a cartoon. It wasn't what should have been, except for one episode, 'The Return of Starbuck,' where Starbuck crashes on a planet and makes friends with a wrecked Cylon by rebuilding Knight Rider Photo: Copyright 1989 H/ICA TV him. I loved that episode; it was my favorite." of the show are dif- producing the show. His fondest memoiies there and helping it grow and explaining a he was tears long relationship with ficult. "It's hard when there are so many few things that they don't bother to explain, It was the start of a getting on the air Television that would make Larson at the end. But I guess just like why the cape? I believe it's better to Universal all these major suppliers of episodic televi- and getting on the cover of steep the show in as much reality as we can." one of the major People, and to have peo- sion during the . At one point, he had magazines. US and the Emmys that year saying, 'My kids Men of Space more than a half-dozen series in production ple on Tlie Hardy aren't watching me, they're home watching entertainment career began in simultaneously, including Larson's have Mysteries. B.J. and the Battlestar Galactica —h was fun to the late 1950s as a singer and songwriter for Boys/Nancy Drew Switch. that rush." the popular musical group the Four Preps, for Bear and has taken several its way into the- Since Galactica, Larson which he wrote three gold records. When the After Star Wars blasted Rogers was finally able to stabs at the SF genre. There was Buck was on the road, in his spare time, Lar- aters in 1977. Larson group producer Galactica on television, a in the 25th Centiin: which he and son would pull out a portable typewriter and launch Battlestar been trying unsuc- Leslie (The Outer Limits) Stevens developed write spec scripts for his favorite T'V shows. concept he says he had suc- the late 1960s (and into a successful film and moderately managed to sell stories to The Fugitive cessfullv to sell since He loyaldes #36). It cessful T'V series. But Larson's and Twelve O'clock High. In 1968. he wrote which he discussed in STARLOG the time, and he Greene as the commander of a w^ere still with Galactica at It Takes A Tliief and was offered a staiTcd Lorne a script for movie, he fleeing through space admits that after the Buck Rogers job as a story editor. By the end of the season, ras-taa fleet of humans

52 STARLOG/October 1997 —

be on the shelf right now. but these you. they can't like you. Now with Night- had little invoh'ement with the project. are things that humans could develop." Man, we have 22 episodes, which gives us a His greatest success was Knight Rider. real chance to develop the show and let peo- which put Hasselhoff behind the wheel of Men of Tomorrow ple find it." K.I.T.T., a Pontiac Trans Am with a mind of NBC revised Knight Rider several years And how does he feel about the direction its own. But others—namely Manimal ago in the TV movie pilot Kniglit Rider 2000, that television has taken during his three Simon MacCorkindale transforming him- but Larson (who wasn't involved) was disap- decades in the business? Larson believes it ielf into other species): Automat! (computer pointed by the results. "They missed the isn't a question of whether television has got- nerd Desi Arnaz Jr. invents living holograph- point." he observes. "I don"t think they ten better or worse, but rather a question of ic crime fighter Chuck Wagner) and Tlie understood the series or what made it work in how the networks view their audiences.

Highwayman (futuristic cops Sam J. Jones the first place. They went off in the wrong ""There are still a lot of good shows, but the and Jacko patrol the nation's highways) direction. The audience was there, but the networks have lost track of the fact that they

\\ ere unable to find an audience. movie didn't appeal to them." The property is have a huge audience and spend a great deal of time catering to the splinter groups as if they're cable networks. There just aren't enough shows that have pure entertainment. There's a huge gap between real hard-edged shows of the Steven Bochco type and sit- coms. What's in between? There aren't any Mavericks or Magnum. P.I.s or any of the shows that have their tongue in their cheek

but are still real.'' But with NightMan, Glen Larson hopes to bring a little of that old-fashioned story- telling back to television. He feels that where Batman works in theaters, NightMan can Kiiiglit Rider appealed to Larson because being reprised anew this fall as Team Kniglit conquer the small screen. Not that he it fulfilled a part of him that enjoys science Rider, and Larson hopes they do a better job believes that all such adaptations are com- fiction, particularly when it becomes science this time. mercially feasible: "'You know what's impor- fact. ""K.I.T.T. was the first car in America With The Highwayman, Larson took an tant in our business—execution. How you that had L.E.D. readouts on the dashboard." approach that he feels may have been a little execute the idea. Many people have been dis- he notes proudly. "And it could also steer and ahead of its time. "I have to say that from a appointed by some comics that went to tele- brake itself. Now we're looking at automo- storytelling point-of-view, Highwayman was vision and really couldn't capture the biles that have radar-activated brakes and a show in which I wanted to do edgy stories, original's spirit. A great artist can sit down steering. So it's fun to contemplate where we and in fact the first one we put on the air w as and draw some really incredible things, but can go. Many of the things we developed for about an alien, so it's exactly what they're now you have to try to articulate those things K.I.T.T. were done by young designers who doing on The X-Files." he maintains. "I don't on a television schedule given whatever tools did work for Mattel and others. We didn't go know if NBC was quite ready for it yet, but you have at your disposal. It's not always to the usual Hollywood shops to design an we didn't have enough episodes to let the going to be as fantastic or dynamic. But interior. It's fun to stretch the envelope a bit. audience know what we were doing. We when you have the kind of people that I think and we're doing that with Night- Man, taking were up against a blockbuster line-up and we we have, you can make it as good and. in him beyond what has been done. It may not didn't get a sampling. And if they don't see some cases, better."

STAKLOG/October 1997 53 ythological Mayhem"

I is my middle name now." notes composer Joseph LoDuca with pride, and it's a name be able to 1 he won't shake off any time soon. He believes the odds are very good that he'll soon be scoring yet another mythic series. , a prequel to Her- cules: The Legendary Journeys. That's in addition to providing the music for all the episodes of Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess for at least two more full seasons. "Young Hercules is a direct-to-video release [scheduled for January 1998] that also serves as a pilot for a new series," he reveals. "The buzz is that it has been ver\ well-received. "We didn't want to lose the epic quality and that sense of adventure, so

the orchestra is still there. We tried to exploit the epic music with a "pop' quality and with different ways of treating the humor and romance. So, it"s really Hercules 90210: Rockin'in BabylonV "While the score for Young Hercules still

retains all the dramatic elements he has established over the last three years, the composer feels that the producers are now trying to target a younger audience for the proposed half-hour series. Its action sequences are powered by a driving percus- sion beat; there are e\'en melodies played on electric guitars. in the orchestra. It's all Like the actors and crew. LoDuca works If all this sounds too bizarre to work, contract any viohns Hollywood. "I'm based in Michigan. maybe you weren't paying attention these violas and below. It was a conscious effort to outside as sound for a woman I write all the music here and commute last few seasons. Half the fun on the two create the most powerful needed. When you think about it. it affects ongoing series is derived from their eclectic that we could. Rob Tapert was the music. I'll be having a conversation with mix of styles. "'For Hercules, we originally •Actually, our producer and we were talk- across the international date- wanted to go more ethnic and exotic." says aware of this kind of music singing and. Eastern music early on. It line about a music cue she'll be LoDuca. "Here is so good and true, so much ing about Middle In the first at the same time, if I ha\ e an orchestra date in the traditional hero, that the ethnic approach was a pretty broad discussion. and the Utah, I'm e-mailing my last cue to the copy- really didn't work unless the situation around two-hour movie, Hercules it will hired some gospel singers to ist so when I amve for the date, be on him specifically called for it. Here is the Women, we had the Eastern European in the stands. I can also send my music o\ er main event, the entree, and we put the exotic do some stuff that was as the Bulgar- phone lines directly to the stage at spice around him. In general, the music on intent, but it wasn't as specific the studio."" his series tends to be more conventional. ian style." That's what the action and humor requires. Mythological Melodies This was a precedent we established in the The scoring process is rather simple. four two-hour movies." "Basically. I have a week between shows,"" he Hercules was always a character with a explains, "but very often there are two-show strong heart and good intentions; Xena, on weeks. That's how the schedule works out: the other hand, definitely was not. "With a sometimes during the peak periods the shows dark, evil past always nipping at the heels of tend to bunch up. her leather boots. LoDuca found he needed to "I very rarely start with a script, unless develop a completely different style. "Xena there"s a need for music to shoot to. For was totally invented from the ground up. example, in the episode 'Ulysses,' Xena When she was introduced at the end of the meets up with Ulysses [John D' Aquino] on first season of Hercules, the first time she's his way back home to Ithaca, and the Sirens on-screen, we hear these Bulgarian women attempt to woo the mariner. He's about to singing with the orchestra." ship and Xena has to outsing the Sirens. While Bulgarian seems an odd language jump That had to be written ahead of time." to choose for vocal effects on a series about a LoDuca admits, however, it doesn't usu- Greek warrior, the composer believes the ally work that way. In an early Xena. for decision was justified. "Bulgarian was a example. Lawless performed a song for a match made in hea\'en for Xena. We wanted funeral sequence. "The story of that song. to create a powerful image and I know of no Over the past 14 years, LoDuca has also Burial" is very interesting. That came from a other singing that's more powerful than that teamed with and Rob Tapert to films, , third generation audiocassette. We were style. It's from the chest, it doesn't go very score their American Gothic. aware from the beginning that Lucy could hiah. For that first music for Xena. I didn't the M.A.N.T.I.S. pilot and

54 ST.\RLOG/Octoher 1997 sing and Rob was looking for a wdy to sion schedule, you can't find a good daduke LoDuca is provid- involve that in the show. This was a song that, player at 2 a.m.! I've always been a hands-on ing an orchestral as I imderstand. she invented. The idea was person, too. score to Hercules that this was to become a melody e\ ery time ""There's so much music for each episode, & Xena: The Battle you had a holy burial pyre scene. They first about 36 minutes for a 45-minute program. for Olympus, an animated direct-to- tried to record it on the set. Then, they took We use more music than any show I'm aware adventure her into a studio after a long day of shooting. of. Everybody has the rhythm down and, in video due out in October. It turned out the best performance we had some ways, the pressure's off me. but not off was on this cassette. So. I did everything I the writers, who really have to keep it all could, audio-wise, to clean it up. That's fresh. In turn, they inspire me to new w hat's on the soundtrack album. It was really approaches to the music. You get into a mode a small miracle it all worked out. but that was where you're comfortable experimenting." the best performance ws had at that time. She Composing themes for each character not sang it again, live on set. for Serena's [Sam only offers LoDuca a time-saving shortcut, Jenkins] funeral on that Hercules episode, but some genuine creative fun. "'Especially "Judgment Day." We scored the music behind with characters like Bruce CampbelTs it that time." Autolycus. and Falaffell, the fast food vision- When the time comes to record the under- ary [Paul Norell]." LoDuca admits. "We score. LoDuca has the freedom to stretch his also wrote an actual song for Jo.xer. played budget dollars as creati\ely as possible. by Ted Raimi. I brought in an all-male "Obviously, for the [ratings period] sweep chorus on "For Him the Bell Tolls" to shows, the big effects shows. it"ll require an sing the original \ersion of "Joxer the ' ' orchestra date. I'll then need to fly out to Mighty.' Those things really help Utah and produce. Our orchestra is huge for take the burden off. Every once in a television, about 55 players. Sometimes the while, though, there are episodes score will be a hybrid, incorporating singers with situations you've never seen and ethnic players into the soundtrack. Other before—or a new dilemma or tor-

times, it'll be completed with synthesizers ment they're putting our heroes I and I'll produce that out of one of my studios through—and you must start from here in Michigan. We've accumulated a scratch. library of custom sampled sounds and instru- ""In some ways, the lack of time ments. I now own dozens of instruments and is very liberating." he adds. ""You play many of them on the Young Hercules can't get too . You have to soundtrack. In the past. I've used master go with your first impulse and sfick players, but sometimes, because of a televi- by it. That can result in really great ""The longer you work with some- Music for Hercules "tends to be body, the more you develop more conventional" because a common language," LoDuca Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) is "sc explains. "You build a rapport and much the traditional hero de\'elop a shorthand way of com- municating. We discussed where we wanted to go initially with things, but it can work against Hercules, but it has evolved to you. too. The only regret I have is where I know what it needs. If I that sometimes I write some won- have questions, I try to ask them derful cues and think. "This would up front. I don't cross certain sound so great with an orchestra. lines. You've never heard a note Too bad I have to use electronics played on a piano on Hercules or this week.' It's the reality of mod- Xena. and you probably never em television." will. It just seems totally wrong. Heroic Harmonies We've done so many of these shows that the music editor Prodded to reveal his favorite Phillip Tallman and I spot most of episode. LoDuca can only groan. them ourselves, deciding where to "Boy. that's hard to say. We're put the music. We pretty much now looking at about 64 episodes. know what's required. That's a This past season there was "Des- different situation than on any tiny; the episode where Xena fell other series." in love with, and was jilted by, Growing up in Michigan. Julius Caesar [Karl Urban]. That LoDuca exhibited a natural talent was different in tone and very nice for music early on. "It was some- in particular." thing I was just born with." he On both series, the composer ""something for which I admits he must pay extra close says, showed an aptitude. I pursued it attention to his handling of the on-and-off until my second year comedy. '"It occasionally reaches of college. I decided I really was the level of ," he not going to be happy unless I gave notes. "I've tried to take the high accompanied music a shot. I had pursued music without road musically, not play against it. but also not have her big, sexy entrance prejudice, always looking for good music of not to "Mickey Mouse' it. by beach music? You really must play on the joke. any kind. I was getting ready to be a film play it like a cartoon. I those things. Let the audience in on did dance composer without really knowing it. play across it and let the This past season with Xena. we ""Then. I was approached by a producer music put the whole thing club music for the den of the Bacci vampires the was in\olved in raising money for Evil in an intelligent context. in "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." and who Sam's first feature. So. he introduced ""However, if they get 'Miss Amphipolis' beauty contest was a trib- Dead. Rob and we hit it off. I was real goofy and cross the ute to loimge music. Comedy is an essential me to Sam and very with their wacky chutzpah line, then I've just got theme in both series, but in terms of inside impressed I suppose, were impressed with how to get in on the act jokes, the humor has these shows becoming and they. I could get the music within my limit- too! When Aphrodite the Rock}- and Bullw inkle of their time!" strange [Alexandra Tydings] Like all visual FX-heavy shows, LoDuca ed resources. Michigan," LoDuca appears out of occasionally finds himself faced with the ""This all happened in were all local boys who that seashell and dreaded "Visual FX to Follow" black title continues. ""They making this cult hit. I stayed starts wind surfing, card. "In some ways, we've gotten past that. I made good by put together some how can you had this whole three-or-four minute scene in behind in Michigan and I to work an early episode where the titles read "Bird jazz groups until the moment went Picks Xena Up,' "Bird Picks at Xena's...' you for them full time. I also did a lot of writing years because the know, whatever! It was all cards and the occa- for commercials over the big adver- sional live shot of a claw holding Lucy. All car companies are here, so there's a enabled to they really needed to tell me is there's this big tising industry in town. That me an arsenal of equipment and stay in the scary bird—OK. I got it! Sometimes, it's nice amass not to see the final result because you can field, occasionally working for Rob and Sam going, or on other really let your imagination take you there." when they had something LoDuca's creative freedom owes as projects, films and documentaries." with Raimi and much to his talent as it does to a long- LoDuca recalls his work standing relationship with producers others. ""After Evil Dead'.' he says. ""I did The Tapert and Raimi (and even actor XYZ Murders with them. It was a comedy Campbell) that goes back 16 years. eventually released as Crimewave. I did big

band music for it. Then, I did Moontrap for which starred Bruce Lawless sings as the animated Xena, Shapiro Glickenhaus. Lunatics: A Love although LoDuca didn't write the video's and Walter Koenig. and with songs (which are by Michele Brourman Stoiy. with Bmce and Ted. I did a film a and Amanda McBroom). young French director named Christophe

LOC/Octoher 1997 Gans, Necronomicon, which is out The dark past of Xena (Lucy on video. It's a trilogy of H.P. Love- Lawless) is recalled through craft short stories—a very romantic vocal effects by Bulgarian mini-opera because there's very Ht- female singers. "Bulgarian tle dialogue. He called me because was a match made In heaven he was a big fan of for Xena," LoDuca says. pictures."

Stylish Symphonies Many compositions for Goth- As Raimi and Tapert stretched ic were in the Evil Dead vein, but their creative wings in Hollywood, without the humor. LoDuca LoDuca missed out on several pro- found himself creating depraved, jects. For Darkman. they turned to twisted lullabies, like the theme Danny Elfman. but eventually the for Sutpen the Junkman, or the duo brought LoDuca back for the horrific death prayer of the Pota- third chapter in the Evil Dead trilo- to Boy. So important was the gy. . '"I'm not music to American Gothic that, really sure what happened on Army right until the final episode, the ofDarknessT LoDuca says, failing music budget wasn't skimped on. to recall why Elfman had composed LoDuca was able to assemble a only the ''March of the Dead'' chorus and orchestrate a "Carmi- theme. "I think that sequence was a na Burana"-style cue. montage Sam had already created. Sometime during this season He and Danny are friends and Sam of Hercules and Xena, he's plan- asked Danny to write that particu- ning to make a trip with the fam- lar scene. That was before I was ily to the New Zealand location.

contracted to do the picture, so "I may have an opportunity, it

that's the way it stayed." sounds serious, to do a musical

LoDuca was then quickly episode of Xena. I would proba- pressed into service to score bly have to go down there and M.A.N.T.I.S., a TV movie pilot co- direct the singers, but I'm plan- written by Raimi with Batman ning to take the family regardless.

scripter Sam Hamm. "I did that in about 10 weren't involved after the pilot. So therefore, It's just so beautiful seeing that footage week days. Sam was off directing The Quick and everything went by the wayside.'" after week. Amazing, gorgeous waterfalls and

the Dead [scored by Alan Silvestri], and Rob After the Hercules TV movies racked up those forests. I will go!" was off developing Hercules. There was no high ratings, the studio quickly opted for a LoDuca is amused when he finds that spotting session to discuss the music in detail. weekly series, and Xena soon followed. For "while children embrace Hercules and Xena Music was an afterthought on that pilot, they LoDuca, the pressure was really on, because wholeheartedly, some adults admit they're a just handed it to me. There wasn't enough he had also cominitted to scoring another TV guilty pleasure. The fans are very intense. I time to crystallize the concepts. It was evident series involving Raimi. "That season, though wasn't aware of the audience we were reach- that you had to cover the superhero aspect and very grueling, was also great because of Amer- ing until Sam invited me to a FANGORIA

you could put in some African reflection or ican Gothic. I was doing all three series simul- convention.''

black culture references. That was impor- taneously, all with 36 minutes of music. It was More recently, LoDuca finished scoring tant," LoDuca notes. "There was a supposed very intense, but Gothic was a way to explore another spin-off, the animated musical adven-

to be a gang fight and when I scored it with that X-Files minimalism, even though it was ture Hercules & Xena: The Battle for Mount heavy rap music, they said, 'No!' That defi- all over the map. It was a wild ride. Too bad Olympus (an October direct-to-video nitely was not wanted. It made it all seem too that show didn't survive for another season." release). "Lucy's singing at least one of the real. For whatever reason. Rob and Sam American Gothic called upon LoDuca to three songs. Universal Animation worked dig deep into his bag of musical tricks. "A lot with a particular songwriter beforehand, and

depended on how we were treating the bad they had to be recorded way up front, so I

guy, the evil sheriff, that week. Bad things wasn't involved with them. My score is sfill

would happen, but you never actually saw him orchestral, but I wanted to see what I could do

doing them. The music was, at times, very to make it more interesting.

understated, but toward the season's end, it "This whole side trip to Middle Eastern blew up to Gothic proportions of good vs. evil. music has gone from a hobby to a passion.

I had to play that whole range. It's all set in the Hercules and Xena aren't like anything else

South, so 1 had that Southern twang, the Chris- out there, although there are some TV series

tian music references, contemporary scoring that have tried to copy our fomiat. It's still a

and sound design techniques. I built up a lot of great ride and I'm glad I'm on it. The shows

strange sounds that 1 now use on Hercules and are contracted through the middle of 1999.

Xena. There were some real terrifying and I intend to stick this out. I've learned the moments." plot arc for this season, and they're going to find some new and interesting ways to tor- Recurring characters like Autoiycus, the ment and torture our heroes. And." says King of Thieves (Bruce Campbeli), get Joseph LoDuca. "that means more interesting their own musical themes. music for me to write."

'V" portraj'ed a subtle invasion of Earth The by lizards hiding beneath human masks. Richard Herd: A charbroil mankind by leveling Rather than veteran actor cities with laser beams, the aliens opted for nown for his psychological subteifuge. They posed as the work as a regular

Visitors, highly advanced extrateiTestrials in r. J. Hooker as who promised to share their wealth with well as numerous humans as long as the Earthlings followed uest star stints. simple rules. Once divided and defenseless, the humans would then learn the lizards" real motives: Collect humans as slaves and livestock. As John converts humans with his benevolent manner, a suspicious reporter (Marc Singer) desperately tries to expose the fiendish alien plot. '"You never play a bad guy like a bad guy."" Herd asserts. "You play him like a good guy. The bad things that he's doing are reflected by his actions and motives. They're not necessarily reflected by the gnashing of teeth and grimacing. It's always more shocking when evil comes from a pleasant source. Under John's facade was a practical agenda: The aliens' planet is in trouble. They need not only all of Earth's water, but humans, who make a very pleas- ant snack for the lizards. So, they put the humans into giant meat lockers and fly them back home, where they'll be all ready as a fresh preserved meal."" Underneath this ghoulish goulash were parallels that Herd found particularly provocative when it came to underscoring man"s own nature. "'For instance. I don't hunt anymore."' he explains. "I don't believe in it. It's one thing to kill animals for food.

It's another to kill them for sport. And in

'V,' the aliens weren"t killing for sport. They were killing out of necessity. This was a highly advanced race taking what they needed from Earth to supply their own pop- ulation with food, just as humanity has done with the farm animals we eat. Now. obvi- ously. I disagree with the aliens' philcsophy. but as an actor, you must understand their As an added effect, the peel-back was a challenge. It was a very good script."" motivation so that your character will be revealed the alien's lizard eye. "A special One of the subtexts on "V" was how truthful and believable." optician devised a contact lens that covered easily the Visitors seduced many Earthlings the entire eye,'" Herd reveals. '"And when into betraying their own kind. "'Throughout My Lizard Skin Faye starts to rip at my face, they stopped history, whenever you had an invasion, you One important key to making the viewers filming and she froze into place so they had collaborators with the enemy,'" Herd believe that Herd was a cold-blooded alien could pop in my lizard lens. Then, they says. "These were people who took advan- w as the wondert'uUy textured lizard makeup started cranking the camera again, and as tage of their neighbors by squealing on residing under his own skin. The big revela- my face peeled back, there's my lizard skin them or fabricating stories about them so tion occurs when a female Earth rebel (Faye and lizard eye." they could gel rid of them and possess their Grant) straggles with Herd. But the scariest moment for Herd was goods or get even w ith them. There was a "The makeup man. Werner Keppler, off-set. when he wandered into the makeup kind of Joe McCarthy witch-hunt theme in made a mold of my head for the big rip-off room and came face-to-face with. ..his face. "V" —of people blowing the whistle on inno- scene, where my skin pulls back to reveal "On the table was the mold of my head that cent people. That subtext helped to make I w ho I really am. I spent three hours in the they had made of me. It was just sitting the story's dramatic structure very real. makeup chair as Werner glued lizard skin there, not moving. The face was very realis- say, 'Who would cast the first stone?" I onto one half of my face. Then, he had to re- tic, staring at me. To walk in like that and mean, who is not guilty of that kind of create half of my human face and apply that bump into your ow n face was very chilling." behavior? Which of us at one time have not o\er the lizard makeup. Then, he placed a When he was offered the role of John. done a bad. evil or con'upt thing? It"s a sad

\'ery small crack on it so that Faye would Herd recalled his favorite SF productions, commentary, but there used to be so much have something to pull when she rips off my including The Day the Earth Stood Still. hope in this country. Now it has boiled human disguise. So, my makeup took three Things to Come and Orson Welles" radio down to "Every man for himself." And that, hours, the scene took four hours to set up, presentation of War of the Worlds. "I had more or less, was in 'V.' Kenny Johnson and we took the shot in one take with three also read a lot of H.G. Wells as a young captured a lot of that." cameras. If my latex skin hadn"t ripped off man. and listened to radio shows like Inner The mini-series was also effective in correctly to reveal the lizard skin, we would Sanctum and watched The Twilight Zone on exposing the lizards as arrogant carnivores.

have had to do it all over aaain.'" TV. 'V was an interesting idea and the role "It's interesting how a race this "benevolent' Although there have been rumors of a comes down, in goodness and mercy, and Star Trek didn't have the budget or the capa- actor categorizes that as we're hoping they'll bring a cure for cancer bility to do the FX we do today, so they had "V" update, the bridge now. There had and make people's lives better. Then, it's character-driven stories. Today, films are "water under the and I think it slowly revealed who these people really are. done through digital FX. but unless you been talk of doing a feature have a would have been a success. They really It's like politics today. We only see the face have a good story, you're not gonna .you've got Indepen- of the mask because madness and corrup- hit. 'V was a film of content. It was about goofed because, look.. is more or less the same tion don't have a certain face. It's not specif- relationships between people, about greed dence Day, which hell of a movie." ically a dark-haired or blonde person, it's and the Seven Deadly Sins. But it also had a idea. That was one as a lizard. Herd guest- the guy next door. And we're always sur- hell of a good look. It was cast beautifully After his days various shows; The Greatest prised, after peeling back that human mask, with some fine actors who were a pleasure stan-ed in genre Hero. The Adventures of Brisco to find out someone is either the biggest to work with." American President Grover Cleveland) drug dealer in America or a totally corrupt It's a cast that Herd still keeps track of. County Jr. (as Leap (as an old- politician. So, when you peel back a human both personally and professionally. and most notably Quantum T'V on "Future Boy"). "That face to reveal a lizard underneath, it's like "Andrew Prine [John's alien colleague] and time space hero television part. I played revealing layers of coiTuption found in soci- I were in a touring company of the stage was my favorite

20 's. Captain Galaxy, star of a children's SF ety. 'What's different about people coming play Mr. Roberts when we were in our loving and so from another world taking advantage of After 'V.' we started going to charitable show. He was vulnerable, there was interest in people on Earth, as opposed to people with- events together and playing tennis. He's a human. For a while, Captain Galaxy as a weekly series. I in our own country v,'ho. for all intents and wonderful fellow and a fine actor. He was on doing that, I loved that purposes, are smiling next-door would have loved Galaxy did neighbors who would tum around character. Captain return briefly to the series when and kill you for two cents? That Bellisario wrote me corruption of emotion and soul had producer Don " into the final episode, •Mirror many levels in 'V'; Image.' I played a Slavic coal My Alien Soul miner, but every time Scott Bakula looked at me, he saw flashes of The first mini-series was a huge success, spawning a 1984 follow- Captain Galaxy." Captain Galaxy was loosely up, where John and some of the Captain 'Video, the heroic other aliens are destroyed. "I had based on star the 1950s T'V series. "As a no idea that 'V was going to be so of Boston. I watched a popular," he says. "The ratings young actor in episodes of Captain Video. I were incredible and there was all few stock with kinds of media coverage. Toward even worked in summer Captain Video actors, the end of the second mini-series, some of the Stanley Cobleigh. a won- [the producers] talked to me about including derful character actor. So, I did doing a weekly version. I was Video when I did interested, except my character think of Captain Captain Galaxy, but I didn't pattern had been killed off. They said. role after him." "This is SF. Anything can happen. my Al Hodge played Cap- We hope we can bring you back.' The late tain Video, and later found himself Personally, I thought they should never have made another mini-series typecast as the spaceman. "T but typecasting hap- instead. That was the show's met Al Hodge, actor in this business. I strength. That way you spend more pens to any 25 -year career in New York, time to develop characters." had a than 150 plays before The weekly series picked up and did more Hollywood. I had also where the second mini-series left coming out to of comedy, but once I got off, with Singer, Grant and done a lot Syndrome [the Michael Ironside leading the the role in The China power plant drama human resistance against two 1979 nuclear Fonda], I was suddenh lizard leaders (Jane Badler and staiTing Jane being cast as the heavy, the killer, the June Chadwick). It barely eked out C.E.O.. the commander, the general the 1984-85 TV season. The mask of arrogant benevolence: As John, leader of Visitors, Herd promised mankind great gifts, but and the president. I had been locked "NBC had such a huge hit with the delivered only evil. into playing these authority figures. the two mini-series that it seemed

natural to make it a weekly series."

Herd says. "But I wasn't involved. My char- acter had been extinguished in space." you peel back a humai mini-series' hi-tech spe- "When For the fans, the cial FX were noteworthy, especially the 'Vis-

itors ' saucers hovering over the various neathj it's like revealing layers o cities around the world. "The FX were very well done, although since then, the advances people don't see you breaking out of in effects have gone at warp speed! But the T'V's Weird Science and was in Gettysburg. Many I " living in .Australia. that image. They forget that we're actors. thing I liked about 'V was that the actors Jane Badler is maiTied and certain roles and people would say. were the stars and the FX were laid in after- [Willie, the friendly alien] would do do that.' Well, that's v/ard," Herd says. "In most films now, the did well as in the Nightmare T didn't know you could what actors do! FX are the stars and actors have became the on Elm Street films. Frank Ashmore [Martin] "In fact, the thing that turned around supporting players. It used to be a character- owns the theater where my wife Patricia and career was the T'V series I driven situation in SF. Lost in Space and I did Death of a Salesman last year." 's The visage of true heroism: A coal miner in the last Quantum Leap, Herd recalled his earlier memorable turn as Captain Galaxy.

The look of honor: As LKor, Herd played a Next Generation character who did with him. TJ. Hooker [the crime was initially intended to be 's father. drama, where Herd played Captain Sheri- Arnold dan]. Shatner had been strongly associated There was also that wardrobe: heavy, long Hercuies in New York [1970]. "I with Star Trek. T.J. Hooker helped him robes and capes and long hair. But I had Schwarzenegger's first film." says Herd. had break out of that. The show also helped turn such a good time that I would love to do played a Johnny Carson kind of guy and 's career around. Leonard another Star Trek.'' Arnold on my show for a big weightlifting did a guest shot on TJ. and later directed a He also had a recun'ing role in seaQuest. contest. Arnold's character had been sent segment. That got him set up to direct the "Tommy Thompson, who wrote the 'Future from the gods down to Earth and found him- City. a wonderful Trek features. It's wonderful that they were Boy' episode of Quantum Leap, was self in New York We had both so fortunate. Many actors aren't." seaOuest's executive producer and he rec- cast: Louis Zorich. Taina Elg. . ommended me for the role of Admiral . And Arnold Schwarzenegger wonderful They dubbed his My Klingon Face William Noyce in the first episode. I was was a man. Herd had his own brush with the Star Roy Scheider's on the show. I audi- voice and gave him the name of Arnold Trek Universe when he guest-starred in tioned and had to be approved by Steven Strong. Somebody bought the film years "Birthright." a two-part Ne.xt Generation Spielberg and , who directed later, as Arnold was becoming popular, and it. What Arnold episode. Worf (Michael Dorn) is investigat- the seaQuest pilot. I enjoyed doing that; it made a fortune re-releasing quite ing reports that his father might be held pris- was a very human role." has achieved since then has been oner on a prison camp. He finds a Herd looks back to his beginnings as an remarkable." Klingon named L'Kor (Herd), who had vio- actor: "In grade school I had an extraordi- Herd also co-stan'ed in Trancers. a 1985 sent lated his oath of honor not only by being nary feeling whenever I saw stage musicals. thriller about a man (Tim Thomerson) taken captive, but also by becoming friends Shortly afterward. I started taking drum back in time to prevent a totalitarian take- to work with the Roniulans. lessons." While at the Boston English High over of Earth. '"Tim was wonderful Wolf's father turns out to have died long School, he and his friends played for wed- with and since then, they've gone to do sev- ago. but Herd reveals, "In the original script. dings, dances and political rallies. Herd later eral successful sequels.'' actor has also been a recurring char- / was "Worf 's father. That was their initial acted in WJDA radio plays out of Quincy. The thought, but then [the producers] decided that Massachusetts and got an apprenticeship at acter on as Wilhelm, "and it has great to play a fun guy who has some would be too complicated. But it was won- tlie Boston Summit Theater, run by comic been It has given the opportunity to derful to work with Michael, and that part strip legends Al (W i Abner) Capp and Lee problems. me break awaj' from the roles that people usual- ly associate me with." His two upcoming films are Terminal Force 2 (as Richard face to reveal a lizard under- Moll's dad) and Snide and Prejudice, direct- ed by . corruption found in society." And yet Richard Herd is still remem- bered by fans as one of the green-skinned, human-eating lizards from outer space. He gratified by the saga's ongoing pop- allowed me to use my classical training. I was {Tlw Pliantom) Falk. "I had my union card remains "I've been invited to first Euro- able to express the nobility of this Klingon by the time I got out of high school." ularity. my Star warrior who has found hirnself compromised The actor also unveils a suiprise genre pean "V" convention. It has become like 'V ' replaying on the Sci-Fi Chan- in this situation with the . credit. One of his earliest films was lensed Trek. With huge "The part required a heavy, three-hour while he was living in New York, and starred nel and on video, there has been a 12-14 hours a a professional bodybuilder who would later resurgence of interest. People are still fasci- makeup job and we worked " after all these years, by 'V'.' day. which made it a bit claustrophobic. scale the heights of movie fame. "It was nated, 5

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STARLOG/October 1997 67 (La Forge);

"Boy, really. Ten years. Well, I'll tell you. Jonathan Frakes (Riker): You know, I don't know what to say. I don't know that I have anything to say. That repre- "As I've always said, Star Trek has been very sents half of my professional career. The involve- good to me. Directing First Contact, of time that I spent with Star Trek, my course, was the highlight of my Star Trek ment with Star Trek, represents half the time no question. It experience. I remember my very first day on I've been doing this. There's very, very positive The Next Generation set. I met Patrick Stew- has impacted my life in a art and he and I were talking about the mer- way. Absolutely."

its of baseball versus cricket and tea versus

coffee. It's a very strong memory, walking

into the first day of makeup tests and meet- ing for the first time all these people who are

now life-long friends. I also remember the sad day when, in Generations, we blew up the Bridge set that we had worked on for nearly eight years, and how emotional that

was. I think Next Generation is a deep-seat- ed part of all our lives. We can't deny that. I'm proud and humbled that it has been a decade since we started. We've all done many different jobs in our alleged careers, and to have this one turn into part of a cul-

ture, as it has, is quite a privilege."

Marina Sirtis (Troi):

"I have to tell you, in many ways, it feels

like we did it yesterday. I know we did 178 episodes and two movies, so 10 years have to

have passed. Intellectually. I know that. But

it flies. I spoke with Michael Dom the other

day. He said. 'I can't believe I have to go back to work again already [on D59].' I said, 'But Michael, you know it's going to race by.

It always does.' I know we'll be doing the next movie soon enough. So, it really feels like yesterday that we started and tomorrow that we'll start again." Brent Spiner (Data):

"Our approach to the phenomenon is very different from the fans' approach. For me

personally, it has been a very good job and a very positive experience. But I am an

actor who's here doing it. The fans only see

the final product. I was here for seven years on the series, and 10 years if you include the

movies. So, I know what goes on, in terms

of creadng it. As a result, it doesn't have the same magic for me as a final product that it does for the fans. When I think about it, I think about the work. It has been a wonder-

ful experience and I am very pleased that the fans appreciate what we've done."

68 STARLOG/Ocroter 1997 Gates McFadden (Crusher):

"It's funny. I still get a lot of mail asking me all sorts of questions about Star Trek, about

Dr. Cnisher, about being a doctor. And I still run into Star Trek fans just about everywhere

1 go. I remember when I was doing Marker in Hawaii. I wasn't feeling well and they said, 'You have acute appendicitis.' They were talking about me having the surgery that leaves you with a big, long . Having been the doctor on Next Generation, I thought maybe they could do microscopic surgery, which would leave a much smaller scar. There was only one doctor anywhere nearby who could do it. I found him and when he came out to see me, he said, 'Oh, my God, Dr. Crusher! Dr. Crusher is my patient!' He ended up sharing every detail about the surgery, more than I ever wanted to know about my body, as if I were a real doc- tor. I'm just glad he liked me. As you know,

I met our troops in Bosnia, and that was spe- cial. It was wonderful to see how much the troops appreciated the work of Gene Rod- denberry, our crew and the actors. It's incredible to run into people who are fans, whose lives Star Trek has touched." Diana Muldaur (Pulaski):

"You should mirror what you believe in, and not take advantage of fans, of audiences.

Your responsibility to them is just to be the

very best you can be. I want them to have a

positive impression, but that's why I love Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that's

one of the reasons why I did it, because it has a positive approach to the future."

Denise Crosby (Yar):

"I definitely think it feels like 10 years. It

almost feels as if 1 did not even do Next Gen-

eration, so much has happened to me since it

began. I would like to think I left something

of a mark on the show. Tasha is a well-loved

character. People always say to me, 'I wish

you didn't die on the show,' or, 'I stopped

watching after you left.' I get that kind of thing constantly. Obviously, Tasha struck a

chord with people, which is very satisfying as an actor."

STARLOG/Ocro/^er 1997 69 Michael Porn (Worf):

"It really doesn't feel like 10 years. It's a strange thing to even say the words 10 years. That's a lifetime, practically. And for an

actor, especially, it can be a lifetime. Look, Star Trek has been a very important part of my life. It has been a lot of fun. I've worked with some great people, gotten to play all these facets of one character over that period

of time. I couldn't ask for much more from the experience."

WiL Wheaton (Wesley):

"The Next Generation played an enor- mous part in the whole phenomenon and in the growth of SF. Without The Next Generation, there's no X-Files, no Baby- lon 5, no Voyager, no DS9 and, obviously, no Next Generation movies. The Next Generation showed everybody that SF on television could be popular again, that it could be profitable for the studios and exciting for the audiences. I think Wesley was an important part of what was new and different about The Next Generation. On the original Star Trek series, there was no young character who saw the Star Trek Universe through the eyes of a child. Wes- ley was someone who could look adults in

the eye, say, 'I think you're wrong,' and be respected. So, I think Wesley and, by

extension, I, played a very important role in helping to broaden the audience."

Patrick Stewart (Picard):

"It's not a big decision to keep playing Picard. It's a very easy one. Contrary to pop- ular belief, I have a long-term investment in this series, although I feel that two years between movies is a little unseemly haste. I

don't think it has ever quite existed before, whereby we can create a $50-60 million movie like Generations and the day after its premiere sit down and talk about what worked, what didn't and where we're going to go from here with another $60-70 million movie. The James Bond films have had their sequels, but not on this scale and not with our kind of audience. It's an interesting situ- ation that we can be looking at The Next Generation in the long-term, of taking this adventure for years."

»141) Quotes: Raj Manoharan, Ian Spelling, Bill Warren (Muldaur, STARLOG Design & Layout: Mike Stewart

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,se enter my name in the It you do not want to cut out coupon, we will accept Your Signature far!loo/Plavmates Sweeostakes. written orders. Please allow 4 to fi weeks for delivery. tattoo Feeling like Goofy, Robert Beltran ^ ponders the once of 1/o/ager fame.

By IAN SPELLING & MARC SHAPIRO

Robert Beltran never had big expectations about starring as Chakotay on Star Trek: Voyager. "To be honest. I've never gone

into anx TV project thinking it was going to be a fulfilling expe-

rience. For me."' Beltran explains, "TV just doesn 't offer that, or it

rarely, rarely does. I will say this, though; Voyager has been fulfilling, Chakotay and I and I wasn't expecting it to be at all. I enjoy playing like the character. It's a quality production company, all the way around. We have a great crew and a fantastic cast I work with every well- day, all very talented actors. And most of the stories are good, written stories that are fun to do. So, Voyager has been at a much high- er quality level than any other TV program in which I've been

involved. In that sense, it has more than fulfilled what I was expecting because, to be honest, I wasn't expecting anything." Since Vo\ager debuted on UPN almost four years ago, much has unfolded. However, the more fervent fans of the oft-stoic Chakotay and soft-spoken Beltran might argue it has been much ado about nothing. The ballyhooed Starfleet-Maquis friction quickly gave way to a unified crew, while the exploration of Chakotay's indigenous American roots and customs all but vanished by the second season's end. Even the potential-laden Chakotay-Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) storyline has received only token attention. Bottom line: Do Chakotay and Beltran get enough to do on Voyager? "Oh. I think Chakotay gets enough to do." Beltran responds without hesitation. "In comparison to all the other characters, that's the case. It's always more fun when you're the featured character so you get much more to do and are not standing around the set doing nothing. But we all have our episodes, our moments where they focus the camera in on us. As an actor, I'm not

greedy that way. I don't need to be the focal point of every episode. We have a big cast and we all get our turn. I just try to do the best I can whenever the focus does turn to me." Since Beltran's most recent conversation about the series with STARLOG (for VOYAGER MAGAZINE #7). the camera has. in fact, honed in on Chakotay, forehead tattoo and all, several times. "You're going way back, aren't you?" Beltran says, laughing when told the second season outing "Alhances" will serve as the starting point of a Chakotay-focused episode review. "That had a few interest- ing moments between the Captain and Chakotay. I was trying to con- vince her to think more like a Maquis. That was really a show, seemed very and I never liked the Kazon as an antagonist. They never formidable or smart or technologically advanced, but we always had problems defeating them. They were supposed to be primitive, but they

72 STARLOG/Octofter 1997 —

kept giving us so much trouble, which never Co-star Robert Duncan made sense. McNeill has already "I don't think any of us miss the Kazon at directed two Voyagers. all. I find the Borg. the and, of Robert Beltran doesn't course, Species 8472 much more formidable have such career foes. The Vidiians still have great possibili- aspirations. "Right now, ties. They were a culture trying desperately I don't need to do it," to save themselves. So. they kidnapped peo- he says. ple and procured body parts from them. That's a desperate foe, which makes them formidable. It'll be very interesting to see Beltran likes the tension where we go with the aliens during the developing between fourth season." Chakotay and Janeway, but he's equally eager to Past Maneuvers explore the possibility In "Resolutions," Chakotay and Janeway of romance. retreat to a tiny planet after contracting a deadly disease caused by an insect bite. Many Trekkers consider this episode a huge tease, as it hinted at a possible romance between the two, a plot thread subsequently undeveloped. "I enjoyed that show very much. It did hint at a lot of stuff and it did tease the audience," Beltran acknowledges.

"'More importantly, though, it established something of a deeper relationship between Chakotay and Janeway. which did carry over into other episodes. Chakotay made himself very vulnerable, emotionally, to Janeway.

That's the way it stands. I would like to see us pursue it a little further. "I love to work with Kate and play scenes with her. and going into their relationship would give me the opportunity to do that more often. Plus, it would be interesting for the show to have a powerful, mature relation- ship. We could investigate many issues if we did, like male-female issues and Captain- First Officer issues. They're almost like the mother and father to the crew. Janeway and Chakotay. So. there's stuff there worth look- ing at. Whether or not we'll do it. I don't know, especially given the major disagree- ment they have in '.' "I enjoyed "Tattoo," " Beltran continues,

"because it so effectively filled out my char- acter's background and we learned so much episode was designed as a character study. greater than what he was personally able to more about him. 1 don't know if you ever "'Those were just fun shows to shoot and to overcome. It was a nice little situation, and truly nail anything at the speed at which Star watch." the actor says. "They did very well in the kind you don't normally see Chakotay in.

Trek goes, but I was proud of it." the ratings, so I guess the fans liked them." I liked that we left people wondering whether The ""Basics" two-parter concluded sea- However. Chakotay was the central char- or not he slept with the woman. Did he? With son two and launched season three. Those acter in "'Unity." the Voyager crew' i first con- that telepathic communication those Borg episodes found the Kazon. aided by Chako- frontation with the Borg. Advance publicity have, you can do any damn thing you want."' tay's former flame. Seska (Martha Hackett). for the episode trumpeted the Borg and their As season three came to an end. Chakotay hijacking the Voyager. "They were two very inherent menace, but rather than offer up played a vital role in three episodes, adventurous episodes," Beltran states, "epic vicious. First Contact-slyle Borg drones. beginning with "Distant Origin," in which and big. Unfortunately, the Kazon were ""Unity" delivered a colony of reflective, ex- the scientist Gegen (Henry Woronicz) takes involved. Still, those shows wrapped up the Borg. '"Unity" would have been better served Chakotay hostage in order to prove that the

Seska subplot and the whole Kazon thing, had it not been so heavily promoted as a Voy- Voth race originated on Earth. "It was an too. It was nice to go out on location to Lone flger-meets-Borg episode. "That's probably interesting idea and a good episode," Beltran

Pine and set it in this huge landscape. Martha true.'" Beltran agrees. ""It was a unique way to says. "Henry was very good and I was very was very good in the shows." use the Borg. very creative, I thought, but it happy we had Concetta Tomei with us [as the ""Basics" wasn't the only episode where was not what people were expecting. Voth leader. Minister Odala].'' Beltran locked horns with his villainous love. ""1 enjoyed the episode maybe the most of In ""Worst Case Scenario," an incomplete

""I also liked "Maneuvers' because it became any we've done. The story was compelling holonovel game devised by Tuvok and tam- a kind of chess match between Seska and a good, thought-provoking story. It showed pered with by Seska before her death threat- Chakotay. That one came along at a time many of Chakotay's strengths without ens the ship. As part of the game, a player when I was starting to feel confident within putting him in so obvious a heroic situation assumes the role of a security officer my character and the science-fiction style." where he must rise to the occasion to over- approached by Chakotay to join in an immi-

While Chakotay figured in the action come something. He was very vulnerable, nent mutiny". ""I always liked my scenes with of the "'Future's End" two-parter. neither practically dying. The circumstances were Seska and I like Martha a areat deal." Beltran

STARLOG/Ocfofcer 7997 73 says. "It was a great idea to bring her back and they did it in a way that was very surpris- ing and entertaining." Present Roles The season's final episode, "'Scorpion.

Part I," found the Voyager crew forming an alliance with the Borg in a last-ditch effort to fend off Species 8472. Chakotay vehemently disagreed with Janeway's decision to negoti- ate with the Borg, creating a rift that might have long-term effects. "It's another very good show and I think it has us heading in the right direction for season four. I like the ten- sion they have going between Chakotay and Janeway." Beltran notes. "I think, in general, the quality of the writing has gotten more compelling, and you can see that in the later shows. Our writing staff is really fleshing out the characters. "The new vision for the show is working.

Yes. we're still trying to get home. But on the way back, we're going to enjoy this adven-

ture and really experience it. rather than just constantly focusing on trying to get home. That has been put in the back of the charac- ters' minds much more so than it had been in the first two years. [Executive producer] Jeri

Taylor felt it was a necessary step and I agree. Let's inhabit this world we're in, stop bitching about our fate and just enjoy our- selves as we embark on the adventures we're compelled to be on because of circum- stances." Add up all those episodes, scenes and moments, Beltran says, and one realizes that Chakotay is a very complex character. "I pre- ferred the sense of his mystery early on

because I believe in not revealing too much at the beginning. It gave me time to think about the character. Consequently. I was able to establish him firmly in my own mind. Now. you sort of know how he's going to react on most issues and during most circumstances," the actor argues. "On some issues, he's just implacable and will not swerve. We know why Chakotay reacts the way he does. We have much more of a sense of his leadership capabilities and his great well of emofion. The writers are making him a well-rounded character who has his strengths and weak- nesses, one who is very human.'' "I liken Star Trek to working for But Beltran points out that science fiction

is still new to him. "It's a genre I wasn't don't have much kill myself, sure. I'll end the problems of this familiar with, but am more comfortable with stage experiences, "you have to take all of life, but who knows what problems I'll be now. To find the style and texture of a science time to perfect scenes. You training and concen- getting into? Everyone has these profound fiction show takes a while. Much of it has your imagination and time frame. My moments where you don't know what to do. been just a matter of getting comfortable trate it into a very limited living, which has made it easy You have a mandate to go on with the language, with speaking 25th-centu- training and previous work under those pres- comes either from a belief in God or the nat- ry English. When we were halfway through for me to li\'e comfortably there's the intel- that are unique to TV. Playing a char- ural survival instinct. Then, our second season, I can honestly say I found sures say, 'What's the point? acter on Star Trek is probably a lot tougher lectual side that may it getting easier. I wanted to not only make living for.' In some ways, it There's nothing to go on the character work, but to make him work than playing Shakespeare. gives you so much face that at some time in our lives, and it's within the science fiction context." actually is. Shakespeare you really brilliantiy explored in Hamlet. I'm exhausted Beltran feels more confident now, and and Star Trek is something where from doing it. but I had to do it." used time between seasons of Voyager to have to search for the subtext." the Voyager believes that everyone has a lit- Right now. Beltran is back on breathe life into one of history's most intrigu- The actor cast "We've all ques- set and there are changes aplenty as the ing characters. Hamlet, in a Los Angeles tie Hamlet within them. living. And should shoots the first batch of shows for the series' stage production of the Shakespeare classic. tioned the need to go on will what's in store for fourth year. (Jennifer Lien)—who "The pace of TV in a dramatic series is gru- we decide to go on living, is will be worse. If I return for the season's first two episodes— eling," Beltran says, contrasting T'V to his us?" he asks. "Maybe it

74 STARLOG/Ocfofce;- 1997 "I don't think any of us miss the Kazon at all," Beltran admits, glad that the series has bid farewell to their unformidable enemies.

While Voyager has made Chakotay 's

name well known. Beltran is still cool on the Star Trek phenomenon. "That's the consen- sus from the other cast members, that I'm the most reluctant recipient of all the craziness surrounding Star Trek. "I liken Star Trek to working for Disney-

land and being Goofy. In a way. it almost doesn't matter who's playing the roles. If you're Goofy, they're going to love you just

for being Goofy. I always want to do the best work possible—the other stuff comes as a by-product of the work. I've done a few con- ventions and many interviews. The fan mail

and the exposure you get from Star Trek is

phenomenal. It has more of an up side than a down side. I'm just trying to keep the work in Star Trek the most important thing and " keep all the other stuff on the periphery. Future Ideas

Asked if Voyager, as some fans term it, is "politically correct Star Trek," Beltran responds forcefully. "To call something politically correct because the cast has a wide range of ethnic backgrounds just

shows us we're living in.'' he says.

"It's insulting because it makes me feel like I'm the token Latino or the token Indian. I've never been a token anything. I've gotten everything I've gotten on my own merit. People who say that are putting their foot in their mouth because they're not willing to

accept the world as it truly exists today. They see a black, a Mexican and an Asian and they think we're staking the deck for a wider demographic audience. If you look at Friends. Seinfeld and a few other big shows, you get the impression that there are only

white people in the world. I always wonder, where do these shows take place? They're

not in any city I know. It's bull and it's offensive to me that people are so color- blind they can only see white and that every- thing else is tokenism and politically correct. They don't see the glaring stupidity of an all-white show." While Beltran doesn't worry too much about the day-to-day development of exiting. In lier place will be the half- to hearing us, but it would feel strange for me Chakotay, he also doesn't have an idea in human/half-Borg character . to walk in and say. 'I would like Chakotay to mind for where he would like to see Chako-

While Beltran is intrigued by what the com- do this, be involved in that.' I would rather let tay, personally and professionally, end up as ing season may bring, he's not one to force the writers come up with stuff and then go a character whenever Voyager airs its final an issue, to make demands of the show's out and play it." episode. "It's an interesting thought, but I writers and producers. "Honestly, I don't Directing is also a place where Beltran can't answer it because I have no idea where think in those terms. I don't." he notes. "I let feels no yearning, yet. "I don't have any plans we're going to end the show." Robert Bel- the writers do their job and I do mine. I com- to do it any time soon." he admits. "It's not a tran says. "I don't know if we're ever going mend the actors who want to get actively real dying concern of mine. I may at some to get back home. All I have is the immedi- involved in the storylines of their characters point, though. You really have to put time in. ate, what we're doing now. Actually, all I and how they develop. But that's not some- You have to attend the meetings, learn the have is what happened before and at the thing I really have the time to do or want to details. To do it right you must have the time moment, which sums up who Chakotay is do. I don't care what happens because I know to devote to it and a really strong need to do it. right now. I can't project more than a few it will be good. Maybe now that I've got a play under my belt episodes into the future because I really

"I trust these writers and producers and again and I've gotten that fulfilled in me. I'll don't know what's going to happen. I like it their product speaks for itself. If I do have a want to turn my energies to directing TV. that way because Chakotay himself doesn't problem. I can voice it. The writers are open Right now. I don't need to do it." know, does he'?"

STAm.OG/October]997 75 PUP guess it"s one of those unexplained things, reflects Aron Eisenberg. "As my life limai goes in a different direction, so does m 's." The actor is discussing paral- lels between himself and the ambitious young Ferengi character he has been playing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for the past five seasons. "In many ways. Nog is a lot like me. like the way he goes after Starfleet with such tenacity, much the same way I went after my acting career when I started out." Originally created as a pal for Commander Sisko's son Jake, Nog has continued to develop as the series evolved, first joining , and more recently, return- ing on assignment to Deep Space Nine. Eisenberg is delighted that the Ferengi. and his character in particu-

lar, have touched a chord among DS9

viewers. "Think about it this way: If that

wasn't true. 1 would work less, so I'm ecstatic that people like the Ferengi." Eisenberg says. "They used to stereotype them, but you should give people credit for who they are and accept them. "It's like Sisko learning how to accept the Fer- engi. He was against Jake and Nog being friends, but then he saw how good that was and changed his mind. When Jake started saying, T don't know if I could be

friends with him,' it was his dad who said, 'That's not what you told me before. I think you should go and talk to Nog.' It shows a lot of counterbalance between the cultures, and also the fact that each

culture is not exactly what people think it is."

it and saying, 'I hope it Funny Ferengi know v.'hat I was doing. I was just winging and did best, and if they liked One possible reason for the success of DS9's Ferengi characters works.' I went in on the audition my that, that's what I've got to stick with. is that the wily, avaricious aliens are such perfect foils for comedic OK. into the second season, but storytelling. "What's neat about that is it's not comedy so much as "I was still a litde insecure going comfortable, thinking, 'This character is who we are as people," the actor admits. "It's Nog's earnestness and then I started getting more while.' I get nervous, and still want naivete to get something that he wants [that takes him] to Sisko at going to be ai-ound for a still character where it is. When I went in to loop the wrong time. He asks Sisko to help him join the Red to keep the of the episodes this last season. I started to lose Squad [in "Homefront"] while Sisko is worried about one Aron the Ferenginess because I was talking so casually 'Oh my God, how I am going to deal with the with Sisko. and you get so comfortable that you shapeshifters and all these problems on Earth?' Eisenberg forget you have to keep that voice going." It's not the right time, and yet Nog is so inno- \ Eisenberg credits Armin Shimerman (who cent and naive that Sisko can't say no, and profits from his \ plays Nog's uncle, and DSP's resident bar- that's where the humor comes in. It's human keep ) and Max Grodenchik (Rom, humor. It's not because we're funny-looking role as the \ Nog's good-hearted but slightly dense father) Ferengi and we're goofy. It's about a young helping attain perfect Ferenginess. boy who doesn't know when the right time is youngest Fereng with him "Armin is really comfortable in his character. to ask for something, but he's such a nice guy on Deep Space * really worry about knows it, doesn't and so earnest that you really can't say no." He and he characters / it. Max and I both worry about our Looking back at Nog's earliest appearances Nine. more. never seems to have a good time, and on DS9, Eisenberg is amazed at how much the Max He was my acting character has changed over the years. "In those first BY JOE NAZZARO he's such a wonderful actor. coach on Voyager, and the three of us always episodes, I played it that he and Jake were the best of together, but is more, 'I don't know if this friends, and were always trying to do the best they could to rehearsed Max while is, 'This is what it is.' Once Armin have fun or get whatever they wanted. I remember being very inse- works for me!' Armin decision, sticks with it and doesn't question it anymore. cure in the first season thinking. "I'm never going to come back!" makes a he to always question it," Eisenberg says. "Not that especially after I did the first two episodes. They didn't call me back "Max seems just wants to do the best that he can and he never for six months, and I kept thinking. 'I screwed up!' because I didn't he's insecure, he

76 STARLOG/October 1997 Eisenberg takes a paternal view of Max Grodenchik, who plays his father Rom: "He's such a wonderful actor. If he only believed that he was." Deep Space Nine has played a pivotal role in Aran Eisenberg's personal life. He proposed to his wife via a Tre/f comic he wrote. feels that he's doing the best, but he's always great. He's such a wonderful actor. If he only believed that he was. Honestly, I think he does, but when you sit there and question yourself, you keep your- self on your toes. I tend to do that too, but I'm trying to get to the point where I know something is good enough and just leave it be. Spontaneity isn't in Max. He likes everything to be ready and set. and likes to have some real control over everything, and I don't always think that's possible. It's good to be prepared, but spontane- ity is very important—just to let yourself go and let it be whatever it is."

The down side to playing a Ferengi is that the characters are often used in an episode to provide a lighter "B'' plot, as opposed to the serious main storyline. ''Almost all the episodes I've been in have been really good ones," says Eisenberg, "but I remember read- ing bad reviews of 'Facets' and 'Heart of Stone,' and it's funny, because all they did was concentrate on the 'A' story. They didn't look at the "B' story and say. 'But it was really awesome to see Nog so desirous of Starfleet.' I really enjoyed that, and was heartfelt to see Nog want something so badly and work so hard to get it."

As Deep Space Nine continued into its fourth season. Nog's Nog's friendship with Jake (Cirroc Lo. . pened and desire to attend Starfleet Academy meant that his appearances were grown since the series' inception. often more serious in nature. "I did some great episodes in the fourth season," claims the actor, citing '"The 'Visitor'' and "Little Green Men" in particular. " 'The Visitor' was one of the best I've ever seen. Tony Todd, Avery Brooks and Cirroc Lofton were won- derful. I didn't know what was going to happen, and I started to cry at the end. I think the fans started really coming back to the show, because they're seeing really good stuff." Fighting Ferengi Eisenberg also got the chance to appear in an episode of £)59's sister series, Star Trek: Voyager, playing a Kazon youth undergoing a rite of passage in "Initiations." "I actually had to audition for it,"' he admits, "which I was so thankful for. but [executive producer]

Rick Berman was really thankful that I did it, because they were having a hard time finding someone to play it. It wasn't like they said, 'Let's use somebody we know.' They didn't just give me the part. I had to audition. I worked very hard, and Max was there to help me. I had a blast working on that episode, and they were really happy with it. I always wanted to play a character like that one, so I was fortunate to get that part. Robert Beltran and I really goofed around a lot before the scenes: when I had the phaser. we would run around playing Charlie's Angels.'' Nog's enrollment in Starfleet meant the character was absent

"The Visitor," one of DSffs most acclaimed episodes, gave Eisenberg the chance to play an older, wiser Nog.

ST\RLOC/October 1997 77 Goofing around, making wisecracl

from Deep Space Nine for much of season five's early episodes. When he returned to the station on assignment in "The Ascent," found himself rooming with a very different Ferengi. being "What I had the most difficulty with was Nog's change; how in Starfleet for a year has changed him. I really had difficulty at first actor says. because I hadn't worked on the show for a while," the shoes again. "So, it was a matter of fitting back into the character's changed so It was even more difficult this time because Nog had much—someone on the Internet called him 'anal-retentive." but I don't think that's true. His behavior has changed because he's a cadet in the military corps and that's the way they are. "I had a friend who was a Marine, who explained to me how they would sit or stand or talk to a superior officer. He told me that every cadet tries to do everything perfectly because they want to impress he all the officers. Nog has that same motivation, but sometimes overcompensates and tries to do as much as he can. I think Nog walks differently now. Even when he's not on duty, and I had him standing straight and walking straight and not using his hands as and much as he used to. I toned down some of his body movement, his attitude has also changed. He's a lot more serious now, so all of

that was really difficult: it felt like I was starting over again. Not many people go through that kind of character change." Although Eisenberg's next few appearances were relatively small, he could still see a gradual evolution in his character. "In 'The Darkness and the Light,' I only had one scene, where I was helping out in Ops. and in '' I was part of the crew on the Defiant, as they went after Eddington. That was really cool, natural because I became a supporting character. It's all part of the

cause of the Roswell incident." ent priorities now, so "The Visitor" "The thing I that started to come was worried about was playing into play. It's funny Eisenberg recalls some Aron an older version of Nog, with that in 'The Ascent,' of Nog's finer Ferengi only two scenes to show that; Sisko is backing Nog moments from the last few sea- as a commander and a captain, up and wishing Jake sons of Deep Space Nine. and to show that in two scenes was more like him, "Heart of Stone" "To me, was very difficult. Tony Todd is and Rom was saying, that episode was the one where such a nice man. and worked so 'I wish Nog was I was sustaining the whole hard to get the nuances of Cir- more like Jake,' show. That was Nog wanting roc Lofton. He did a great job which was a com- something, and everybody sup- as the young and then older plete turn-around porting him. It was a change to Jake." from the first season me, giving Nog something to "Homefront/Paradise when they wanted to go for. and I gave my all in that Lost" "I really enjoyed what separate us." episode. I loved that scene with they gave me, but I wanted "Soldiers of the Avery Brooks, because he just more because they only gave Empire" "I thought looks in your eyes and gives me three scenes in each it came out all right, you everything you need. That episode. Now that they're start- although I wasn't Little Green Men" demonstrates the episode helped to bond the two ing to use me as a supporting that happy with my differences between Ferengi: Quark characters, and the relationship character, it makes me feel performance. I (Armin Shimerman), Nog really blossomed after that." Rom (Grodenchik). more like part of the team. It's thought the first (Eisenberg) and "Little Green Men" "When not just a 'B' story involving scene was very you watch this episode, you me, they also use me to accent funny. It was short, together." really see the differences the other actors. They were still but it set up the whole thing for "Blaze of " "In the between Quark, Rom and Nog. throwing in lines about my own when I meet later in scene where Jake and Nog are Each of them is different, and his desires, but I love doing scenes 'Blaze of Glory.' I gain in the bar, looking at the Klin- that's good, because you think with Avery, because I feel that respect in 'Blaze of Glory,' and gons, and Nog is saying, 'Oh, all Ferengi are the same, but my scenes with him are really now that we're having this fight they're mine. I'm going to get then you watch that episode and good." with the and Martok them this time,' I was rocking see all their own little idiosyn- "The Ascent" "It was neat is on our side, I wonder if I'll back and forth on the chair, and crasies and personalities. The to do a scene with Cirroc again. have any scenes with him. That they had to hook a chain to my humor in 'Little Green Men' is have a He was still my best friend but would be interesting—to foot and drill it to the table, that these three Ferengi you our characters both had differ- Klingon and a Ferengi working because I was too short for the know and love are actually the

78 STARLOG/Octoi>er 1997 Throughout the series, the character has evolved from mischievous delinquent to eager cadet, the first Ferengi in Starfleet

Why does Eisenberg look so nervous in this scene? To allow him to rock back and forth in that chair, they chained his foot to the table.

progression, where they wrote him into Starfleet Academy and Comics at the time, and asked him why he never wrote Nog into any they're sticking to that. Now he's doing what he would be doing, of his comics. " which is being a part of something. He has gone back to Deep Space "He said, 'Why don't you write one?' So, I said, 'OK,' Eisen- Nine because he knows Sisko and looks up to him." berg relates. "At that same time, I was plaiming on proposing to Jes- As Nog was maturing as a character, Eisenberg also found him- sica at Christmas-time, so when the comic came up and they asked self experiencing a number of major changes in his own life. For me what to put in my biography, I thought, 'This is perfect! Why one, he finally married his fiancee Jessica, who he actually pro- don't we say, "Jessica, I want to take this time to ask if you'll marry posed to in the pages of a Star Trek comic book that he wrote. "I me." ' I took her to where we had our first date and said, 'Look, I got went to a convention in where I met the editor of Malibu the comic book!' I think she knew what was going on, because she

went right to the end of the biography, and started to cry, so it was a really special day." I think Andy Robinson and By the end of Deep Space Nine's fifth season. Nog began to did a really good show up more frequently, appearing in five of the last six episodes. job. Andy is cool, and I love "I've seen some comments on the Internet from people who want to what he has done with the see Nog be as precocious as he used to be, but you don't want to see changes in his character. It was the same thing over and over again. The way he has grown up and a blast for me to be able to walk where he's at now is such a great storyline. You have such a won- around with a phaser rifle in derful background to where he is with Starfleet, and that he's trying this haunting, spooky environ- to do his best, and I don't think he'll always . I ment." don't think he has the right answers for everything." "" "[Director] Nonetheless, it's obvious that Nog is doing his best to live up to Michael Dom and I had a few his newfound responsibilities as a Starfleet cadet. Case in point: His disagreements, but one thing I dilemma in "Blaze of Glory," where a security assignment forces really respected about him was him to stand up to a group of unruly (and very large) in that he took me aside personal- Quark's Bar. "For me to stand up to Martok," Eisenberg says, "and ly and talked to me. I thought the way I stood up to him—not trying to buy him out of it or make that was commendable, because an offer like a Ferengi but to do it as Starfleet does, was very coura- a lot of directors wouldn't take geous for Nog. It showed a different side to the Ferengi and that the time to do that. I saw things Nog is not a coward. He'll be afraid, but it won't deter him from his a little differently, especially objective." being a Ferengi. I had my own With the end of season five, one would think Eisenberg might ideas about how to do some- enjoy some well-deserved downtime, but that didn't happen. The thing, and his idea was differ- night of DSP's wrap party, Eisenberg and his wife were getting ent, so it was hard for me to ready to leave when she went into labor, and delivered their son table to lean back. My center of change that idea." Lawrence. "I knew we were going to have the baby just as I was fin- gravity was too low, and I "CaU to Arms" "I didn't ishing this season," he explains, "and I wasn't getting any sleep couldn't push back as far as the have a whole lot to do. We have while I was working on Star Trek, so I thought, 'I had better get used director wanted, so my foot was the wedding of Rom and Leeta, to it, because I'm not going to get any sleep after this!' which turned actually pirmed to the table by a the war is coming on, and then out to be true. It was awesome that I got to work so much just before chain." the evacuation; almost every our baby was bom." "" "I had a actor who works on the show With Deep Space Nine ready to begin its sixth season, the future good time working on it, and was in it. It was a really cool looks bright for cadet Nog and Aron Eisenberg. "Everything is got some nice compliments cliffhanger to what's going to going really well, so I'm really fortunate," says the contented actor about that episode. There was a happen this season." "I know I'm always saying that, but there's no other way to describe lot of hard work put into it, and —Joe Nazzaro what's happening!"

STARLOG/Octoier 1997 79 As Men in Biach's Bad Bu^, Vincent D'Onofrio ^ets under your skin.

By IAN SPELLING

dazzling special FX Despiteand dead-on performances by and , it's Vincent D'Onofrio, as the comically creepy Edgar, who steals the show in director Barry Sonneneld's zippy SF-comedy Men in Black. Edgar, of course, is really no longer Edgar, but the universe's nastiest alien, who permanent- ly borrows the human's ill-fitting and deteriorating skin. D'Onofrio instantly credits makeup maestro Rick Baker for helping him pull off the role so convincingly. "I met with Rick five weeks before we started," recalls D'Onofrio, whom audiences best recog- nize for his work in , Strange Days, JFK, Ed Wood (as an uncanny Orson Welles) and, most recent- ly, r/ie Whole Wide World, which he also produced (and discussed in STARLOG #238). "We would go to Rick's place where he does all of his stuff about three or four times a week and, together, we fig- ured out what we wanted to do. He's just amazing. He used all this stuff he hadn't used before on my skin, so it would look flapped around." The actor then goes into some detail about the Frankenstein-esque walk he himself devised for the character. "The walk was mine. At first, I had sports knees and ankles Acting awfully braces locked off on my couldn't bend properly and I alienated, thanks so that I to that posture," he says. "I to Rick Baker's could get used contained. After a makeup, Vincent wanted him to look the posture that I D'Onofrio faces while, I got used to wanted I stopped wearing the braces the Men in Black. and for the more physical stuff. It was too dangerous to not be able to move right"

directed by John {Blue Five Years Ago Thunder) Badham. Produc- Becoming overly involved in draw- ing will be Michael Dou- fandom pursuits has its see people frit- Elas, who will also star as an backs. "I would away talent, people who I 20 Years Ago in extraterrestrial on Earth. tering thought had just as much writing STARLOG would never Taking over as the new Doctor ability as I did. They "I'm now ready to cop to the fact because they Who following Tom Baker was a publish anything I'm an elitist, and I don't think time writing challenge. "I was given a com- would spend their - it's a dirty term! I know I'm week, or argue on a pletely blank page to do with as I 25 letters a people ter than 90 percent of the bulletin board over liked, but at the same time, I did- computer higher aver- I meet, probably a was the n't have the advantage I would w hether age than that. I'm smarter, quick- Batman." have with another part when I right guy to play er, cleverer. The dreams I dream McCrumb, writer. can create the character's [back- JlSharyn will still be here 200 years after the Gene Pool ground]. So, I thought about Zombies of those people are dust." interview: Paul Dellinger, #182 what the other Doctors had done Years Ago —Harlan Ellison 10 picked up ideas." the It's Interview: Howard Zimmerman, #8 and "Our goal with Masters of "Details won't make a movie. Peter Davison — Universe was to make a movie the storyline that's important." Interview: David Hirsch, #62 15 Years Ago and not to sell toys." —director Pressman, producer Interview: Kim Howard Jolinson, #182 Medialog: The Star Man will be —Edward interview: Marc Stiapiro, #122 STAY TUNED: Hellvision

"I was about six, so very small at the time, and war [WWII] was all

I knew or could remember. To watch the skies [in Holland] every night and see Allied bombers overhead. Or to later see German V-1 and V-2 rockets fly over our house. As a kid, it all seemed so remote in a way, so

unreal. It was like watching the cinema." —Paul 'Verhoeven Interview: Eric Niderost, #122

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