Sunday, March 8, 1998
Transcribed by Lucas Henry
Hello! How’d you like that? Krycek finally gets some. About time.
How’s everybody doing? I’ve got to tell you, man, when I was asked to go to San Francisco to do this thing, I said yes so quickly I don’t think they even got the question out. I love this place so much. Yesterday we did this and So, you know, pretty much, you know I’m going to answer your questions and stuff that you guys have. I’ll start quickly by saying - boy is it quiet So, the long and the short of it is I’m lucky to work on the show, and I’m lucky to be here to day in front of you guys, and I’m happy to answer any questions that you’ve got, unless they’re a little too personal.
When’s my birthday? My birthday is June 22... 1979. Q: I wanted to know if when you started on The X-Files, when you first appeared A: No; I had no idea. I knew So, I knew I got the role, and my girlfriend at the time was working in a gym down the street, and I ran down the street about four blocks - her name was Melinda McGraw, by the way; she played Melissa Scully - and I ran into the gym, and it’s like, a lot of people are working out there, and I run down to the bottom of the stairs, and she’s up at the top on a bicycle, and I go But it was originally three episodes, and originally scripted that there would be a big blowout fight between myself and Mulder, and my character would sort of evaporate. What happened was that that didn’t happen, they rewrote it, and I ended up just disappearing. No phone line, no - everything that was me, was gone, and I was really disappointed, because I thought that’s it, that’s not a good end to the show, and I thought they Q: How do you feel about being called “Ratboy”?
A: Well, I’m thirty-five, you know, and Ratboy may be a bit misleading. But do I like it? I live with it, you know what I mean? I think it’s funny actually; I get a kick out of it.
Q: Do you know, or have you kept track of, how many times Mulder has kicked your ass? A: I think it’s a hundred and seventeen. I think I’d like to have “Everlast” across the top of my forehead. But, you know, watch the show tonight, that’s all I can say. Q: A: What was it like, working on The Commish? It wasn’t a grand position(?), to be honest with you, but that was the place where I - it was a great training ground for me, because I didn’t have a really important role on the show, but I was there kind of as a peripheral character, and it gave me the chance to be in a real special situation, on a job, working with other actors, working with other people on the set; it was a great way for me to start working as an actor, yet not be known as a bogus one. So I was really grateful for the situation, for the experience, you know?
Q: Just to get away from The X-Files for a very little, are you going to do any more characters on Highlander?
A: It’s funny you should say that, they called about a week ago, and said that they were interested - they wanted to write me into an another episode. And I kind of don’t have the time for it right now, and I’m sort of trying to cultivate - taking the situation I found on The X-Files, working on a really critically and Q: I was just wondering, if they move the show to LA, will you guys all have to stop wearing dark overcoats? A: Well, that’s a good question. I think that, frankly, I think the show will lose something. First of all, it worked for three years - five years - to accumulate the crew they got now, and it’s like a well-oiled machine: you know, people have fun, but the job gets done, and it does get done. But I think Vancouver - as Chris has said in the past, Vancouver is a place which is a perfect location for the show because of the rain, because of the way that the sun’s angle hits at particular times of the year, you know, and there’s forest, and there’s Chinatown, and you know, there’s mountains, there’s prairie area outside of town, so it can really double as almost anyplace. So I completely and utterly support David and Gillian’s decision to go to Los Angeles, but I think that Vancouver is the perfect location for the show. But, you know, it’s a give and take, right?
Q: I must say, I love your character A: Well, my character doesn’t work for anybody anymore; I mean, I worked for the FBI when I first started, and then, you know, as far as I was concerned, I was sort of handpicked by the Cigarette Smoking Man to do the job that I ended up doing. But I think that now he’s just too much of a rogue character, who’s out there on his own, trying to look out for himself.
Q: A: Q: I was wondering if when you first appeared back in "Genderbender," in your first role as Krycek, did you have any idea that you’d go on so long with this role?
A: When I was in "Genderbender," I actually wasn’t Krycek, that was like the eleventh episode of the first season, and Q: Well, congratulations on your success.
A: Well, thanks. You know, success is kind of a relative thing, and I’m a little impatient. I want it all, you know. I want to keep working for sure. But thank you.
Q: I was wondering, did you already speak Russian, or did you study it for the role?
A: No. I don’t speak Russian at all. This is really the second time that I’ve had to speak it. If it continues, I’m probably going to have going to have to try to learn at least the fundamentals of the language. I don’t speak it at all right now, so what I have to do is learn it - what’s the word I’m looking for?
Everyone: Phonetically
A: Phonetically.
Q: Well, you have a great accent, I study Russian.
A. Thanks a lot. I think that somebody who really speaks the language is going to notice immediately that I’m not Russian, but my hope is that the majority of the people who watch the show will feel that it’s authentic. But it’s really hard, you know? Because what I’m basically doing is learning the thing phonetically, and it’s a real exercise in right brain/left brain, because one side is the logical side, and that’s the learning from memory, how to speak it properly, and the other side is the creative side, where you’re acting, where that comes from, so you’re kind of balancing the two in the same moment, and it’s a real challenge.
Q: Let me know if you need a tutor, ok? A: Thank you.
Q: I was wondering what a typical day is like on the set.
A: A typical day on the set? I eat a little breakfast. Q: Congratulations on all your success, and I heard you do a lot of your own stunts, and I was wondering if you had a favorite, or a close call?
A: You know, I have - one of my best friends - whenever I do a stunt like that, I always ask him to come along, and I always tell him that he can have my Q: Did you have a net?
A: Without a net. I was telling the story yesterday, I got there, and they said what we’re going to do is put a platform underneath you, and we’re just going to shoot you only down to your knees, right? So they’re going to shoot at an angle like that so it looks like I’m hanging, but you can’t see that my feet are on the platform. So I said, “Well isn’t it more interesting that you take the platform away, and you see my feet dangling, and you really get the perspective on the ground, and me, and it really looks like I’m dangling?” And they said, yeaahhh, well, that’s kind of what we’re after. So I said well, maybe that’s what we should do. So they took it away, and it was FRIGHTENING. Like, I was really cool before that; I would sort of Q: Do you have a book out?
A: A book out? No. What would I talk about? I don’t think I’m that interesting.
Q: If you could play any other male character on the show, who would it be? And if you could play any other female character on the show?
A: Okay. You know, I’d probably play Marita Covarrubias, cause she gets to make out with Krycek. Everyone: Yes.
A: You know, all the men should do something for the women today. A: You know what I did before I came here? I went to - you guys know The Pines?
Fans: The Church?
A: Yeah. The Church. I’m not a big Churchgoer, but I did go this morning, and man, was that great. Like the gospel singers and stuff? Unbelievable.
Q: You have been acting for ten years or so; and in your future, which do you think you will prefer? Acting or directing, being behind the scenes more? (Paraphrased)
A: Well, I - do I want to direct eventually? All actors want to direct. But I think that I will continue to act because that’s how I - I’ve discovered that that’s how I’m kind of figuring out who I am and what it is maybe I can bring to the world, if anything, so I’m going to discover myself through acting, but by the same token, I know when I’m on the set, I never shut up, and I always have ideas, so I think there’s a director in there somewhere trying to get out, but that’ll be a ways down the road for sure.
Q: First of all, on behalf of all the fans, thanks so much for showing up. You’re one of our favorite characters A: I’ll tell you right now, you don’t need to thank me at all, because I’m probably one of the happiest people in the room right now. When they asked me to come here, I was like “Yeah!” It’s an easy thing for me, and a lot of fun.
Q: Well, I guess that answers my second question. There’s been a lot in print about how the two leading characters are afraid about being typecast and always remembered as “Fox” and “Dana.” Are you worried about that?
A: Not at all. I don’t think it matters. I don’t think, as an actor, you should be - I think that, at a certain point, perhaps, if you’re “MacGyver,” you should be concerned about it. Q: I’d like to ask a two part question. First part. Are you working with an actual prosthetic arm now, or is just make-up?
A: Well, the story behind that was - our first day on set with a fake arm, well, it wasn’t a fake arm, they bought a glove, a prosthetic, I said yesterday it looked like something you’d, like a part of a Frankenstein outfit picked up from Thrifty’s Q: Have you gotten lots of film offers from the show, from film companies?
A: I’m getting offers to do things, but you know, it’s the old, there’s not an overwhelming amount of interesting things in the theater or on television. So I’m trying to - you know, the only power an actor has is his willingness to say “no” to things. So, I’m trying to fashion my career to get to a place where I’m doing things that I think are going to be of value, and as I was saying yesterday, I think this show is because I think there’s a real lack of good storytelling these days. Whether it’s on television, or films or whatever - there’s just really no more good storytelling to speak of. And I think this show really does that. And I think every week it takes people to a new place, and it really exercises your imagination. When I was in Europe last year, doing a PR tour, I met a lot of fans of the show. And it was amazing what it does for people. We’re all pretty affluent, we’re all basically middle class for the most part. You go to Northern Ireland, where, you know, life is not easy, life is pretty tough, living with the IRA and things like that, and watching - people’s reaction to television - it takes them out of their everyday existence and shows them something unusual and exciting every week. It’s the power of television really bringing it home to me now, and it’s really exciting to be a part of that, you know. And that’s what I want to continue to do. Whether it’s films like Philadelphia or whatever, I want to do things that people really react to when they watch, maybe they learn something or maybe feel happier or worse or whatever, but it affects them somehow instead of just the 99.9% of garble on television that I refuse to do.
Q: Did you have to learn a lot of the stage combat that you do on the show, I mean I think of all the - what’s it like to have your character get beat up all the time?
A: Well, let me put it this way - I think I have a knack for it. Q: I have a question. How is your reaction to the people - I mean everybody here says to me, it’s not just a show - that, oh, good, The X-Files is on; it’s got to be: OH GOOD! X-FILES IS ON!! Do you think we all need, like mental health A: Do you want me to be honest with you?
Audience: Yes.
A: I, my feelings are - and, again, I’m being honest with you about this - my feelings about this are - there’s a lot of - I would love to see everybody here take a third of that energy and put it into their family, or their community, or people along the street that need their help. You know, if you walk around this city, man, there’s a lot of people asking for money, and some of them really need it, you know what I mean? So I think that everything in moderation.
Q: And my second question is - you were talking to another guy earlier about the fact that we don’t really know why Krycek does what he does, like for Cancerman, whom he’s working for. Do you think that there is something that, like Mulder’s searching everywhere for Samantha - do you think that Krycek has a similar incident that is driving him to do all this, or does he just do it out of lack of knowing what else to do with his life?
A: It’s a good question. When I first got into the role and read the first script, there was really no past history on my character; there never really has been. You only see what he’s doing in the moment; you’re never sure why, what drives him. But I kind of built a bit of a biography for this fellow, and I picked a few things from my own life that drive me, etc.; and I don’t really talk about it much because it’s kind of like a little secret I like to keep. But there’s certainly in my mind things that make this character tick and make him do what he does. But, then again, I’m sorry, but I kinda Q: Thank you.
A: Good question. Thank you. Apparently we only have about five minutes.
Q: How’re you doing?
A: I’m doing pretty good.
Q: A: When I picked up the script, I went WHAT? Q: I read somewhere that you were part of a band, and after I saw it, I was wondering very much what you played or sang?
A: I sang, yes. I sang and I played a little bit of keyboard. And occasionally, fake playing guitar. I’d get up on stage and get one of the guitars, and get one of the guitarists to stand backstage and play, and I’d play; you know, somebody came out one day and pulled the plug out and I didn’t know, and I was walking around... Yeah, I was in a band for about five years, and Q: Hi, I really enjoyed Once a Thief, and what was it like working with John Woo?
A: John is a real gentleman; very quiet, very reserved; very warm and kind and thoughtful, yet his movies are like, you know, Q: (child) What happened to your arm?
A: What happened to my arm? It got cut off. Did you see the clip?
Q: Do you watch the show, other than the episodes you are in?
A: Oh yeah, sure.
Q: Do you have a favorite episode?
A: I liked the one the week before last. Q: I think you do a really great job with your character. Does it bother you so many people look forward to seeing him die a messy death? A: Can we get Security over here? Audience: NO! A: Does that answer your question?
A: We have time for one more question, and that’s it. Sorry.
Q: What’s your favorite episode that you’re in?
A: My favorite ep - well, I love "Piper Maru"; I loved that two-parter, actually, the one