Nick Lea - Sunday, May 10 Transcribed by Lucas Henry ================================= Hello. I really wanted to yell out "Hello, New York" really loud, but that'd be cheesy, and everybody else does it anyway. How's everybody doing? What's going on over there? Wait until you get to know me, then you won't feel that way. Thanks for coming out today. Is everybody enjoying themselves so far? Cool. It's actually a good day to be inside today, isn't it? It's a good Sunday to do this kind of thing. Boy, I need to tell you, I have had such a good time in this city, I tell, you, I have no desire to go home on Monday. But I have to. I don't like to get gooey on you, but it's such a great weekend for me. Yesterday, I had a lot of fun meeting everybody at the talk yesterday, and Friday I went to a play, and the energy of this city is so exciting; and it's something that I only sort of heard about as a kid and what I saw on movies and television shows, and it's been really exciting to me, and thank you for making it so welcoming for us, you know, and making us so comfortable for us. It's a little unnerving watching on stage in front of everybody, but you give us a really nice welcome and everything, it makes it really easy for us, so thanks, you guys. At a certain point, which will happen really quickly probably, we're going to have a little question and answer period, so you guys are welcome to get up in front of the microphone and ask any questions you want. I'll tell you right now - it's boxers AND briefs, so. Another point about last night - you guys watch soaps? What was his name? Joshua? Young guy. Yeah. I met him last night at the party, what a nice guy he is. We're going to hang out and play golf in Los Angeles. I don't know why I said that. You know, I had one of the most wonderful experiences of my life last night. And I'll tell you why I'm telling you this in a sec, but I was on Saturday Night Live last night. I'm not telling you that to sound cool; it was one of the most wonderful, literally one of the most wonderful nights of my entire life, and I met so many interesting, cool, talented people, and went to a great party, and had a wonderful, exciting time on the show, and was treated like gold at the Saturday Night Live studios, by all the people who worked there, the actors, the writers, ... everyone was so kind to me, and I was standing, waiting to go on stage, because our scene, of which I was a very small part of, was the first thing up, so it's this zoo - I don't know if you've ever been in a studio to watch the show, but it's like this zoo-like atmosphere, with people running everywhere, and costumes and sets being moved, and it's exactly what it must have been like in the fifties when they were doing live television. And I'm waiting to go - I've got three lines, you know - and I'm waiting to go on last night, and my heart is , and I hoped I wasn't going to hyperventilate and fall over. And I was standing there on the floor, and I was looking around at the ceiling, and at the lights, and at the audience, and at the crew members running around, and at the actors preparing to go on, and I thought to myself, you know, of all the things that this show - that the XF has brought into my life - you know, the pull, clout, whatever you want to call it within the industry that has helped me, that helped me get, you know, the way it's - I haven't been able to do another job other than acting, which is a really nice thing, and they're paying for it, which is cool; the ability to work with people like David and Gillian and Mitch and Chris Carter - thanks a lot, Chris - and Dean, and all the other people that you're meeting here today and all the other people behind the scenes; and it's allowed me to believe that I can become, as an actor, hopefully, I have the goods enough that I can be on camera with these people and hold my own. And all these things were rushing through my mind as I was waiting to go on, and I thought, I couldn't believe how lucky I was, the horseshoes that I had, because I was standing waiting to go on Saturday Night Live last night. I just felt, it was like such a magical moment for me, because I felt just so fortunate to be there, and to be a part of everything that has happened for me and this show - Saturday Night Live being sort of the by-prod uct of all this good fortune. So I guess then what I'm trying to say is that I'm just very very very very fortunate to be living out my childhood dream to be an actor and to be on a show like this, and to get the kind of opportunities like I did last night, and to be able to come here and do these things is really wonderful. So that's just what I wanted to say. Um, does anybody have a question? There's a microphone; nobody will be able to hear any questions unless you stand there. Hold on a second. Question: Nick: Yeah, I forgot that, one of the things I wanted to say - Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers here today, and Happy Mothers Day to my mother, who is in Vancouver. Question: Yeah, I have a question about Saturday Night Live last night. How did it feel to like ? Nick: ------ Ferrell, I, like, must have thanked him, must have been probably six or seven times, and at one point after, he was going *well, I don't know what I did*, but he's a great guy. I sort of liken it to maybe getting married, even though I've never been married, but what that must be like. It must happen so quickly, the experience must be so intense, that when it's finished you're going Did I just do that? Did it happen? Or what? So I can't even answer that question, because I don't even know, I was so excited, I kind of got lost in space when I was actually on stage, I just wanted to say the lines loud enough so people could hear me, and that's all I was focusing on. Hi. Question: How did you get started in the acting business? Nick: Um. How did I get started in the acting business? Ever since I've been a kid, I've been in love with movies and good stories, you know, actors and actresses, and I always wanted to be - when I was a kid, that's what I was saying before, it was the onset of my childhood dream, which I didn't come to understand until a couple of years ago, when I finally realized I was doing exactly what I wanted to do when I was a kid. But I always thought I wanted to be in the visual arts somehow. I was in art school for a couple of years; then played the band for about four and one half years; and I was working in a clothing store of all things, not really knowing what the hell I was doing, and a friend of mine had a meeting with an acting teacher and did I want to meet her, because he knew I was sort of interested in it, and I went and had a talk with her, which lasted about two and one half hours, and eventually, I went in, and I quit my job and I started studying, and I started eating a lot of Kraft dinners. This must be so boring in comparison with when Dean Hagland comes out, it's like *yadadadadada*; then I come out and say duh... Hi. Question: On the newest episode, I got really puzzled. I saw your character with one arm. Are you going to have one arm from now on? What are they doing with Krycek now? Nick: Well, I think you missed kind of missed a semi-important piece of plot development. Question: Well, I can't watch every single episode. Nick: Well, we did a two parter, takes place in Russia, where I mixed up with a resistance group, and I get held down and I get my arm cut off. I'd like to make just another point here; there's a little article about me in Entertainment Weekly this week, and it starts off by saying that I'm the most infamous one-armed character since the guy who played the one-armed guy in The Fugitive, and I thought that was really cool. I liked that. So, yeah, you know, it got cut off. Question: Are you and Mulder talking; you two looked like you're working together now. Nick: Well, you know, I never know what's going to happen until I pick up the script. When I read the first part of the last two-parter, Patient X, it seemed to me that Krycek was doing something that was very self-serving; that it was about regaining power, and leverage, and getting as much money as he could. Kind of selfish - I don't know if you saw this episode or not, but sewing up this kid's eyes, nose, mouth and ears and infecting him with the black oil. So in the very next episode, I go to Mulder's apartment, and I rough him up a little bit, and tell him that if he doesn't pull his head out of the sand, we may all be dead very shortly. So that didn't seem to be self-serving to me; that sort of seemed to be for the greater good. So, it's a little ambiguous as to what -- I'm again sort of as stupified as anybody when I read these scripts sometimes, cause I find some stuff I'm just not expecting, so Lord only knows. How's that for an answer? Hi. Question: Hi. I have two questions. Nick: Okay. Question: One - do you think that you are a good or a bad character; and two, do you resent being called "ratboy"? Nick: Only by you. What I like about this character is that he kind of slips in and out of the shadows, you know, he's kind of there and he's gone. One of the jobs that I try to fulfill in this role is, I want the audience to hate me sometimes, and I want ‘em to, as I was saying in an interview a minute ago, I want them to feel sympathy for me if they ca-- if it's possible. That's my aim; I don't know if I accomplish that, but I want to keep it ambiguous as to whether you should like him or hate him, or whether he's a good guy or a bad guy. I don't think he's exactly a good guy or a bad guy, frankly; I think he's done some shady things, but I think he's somewhere in the middle. You know, you've got the Cancerman, you've got Mulder and Scully; I think I'm somewhere in the middle. But I - I feel like I've accomplished my job if you don't know whether to hate the guy or feel sympathy or anything for him. My answer to the "ratboy" thing is - I'll be 36 in June, so the idea of being called "rat*boy*" is a little weird. Question: How did you get out of the missile silo when you were trapped with the UFO? Answer: It's a common question. And if you watch the episode back, and listen very carefully to the scene where David and Gill-- Mulder and Scully interview Krycek while he's sitting on top of a bunch of explosives, and I say that the militia crew who was being processed at that site that they're at, that they found me during a salvation search, they found me at the bottom of the silo. It's very quick and you have to listen very carefully, but the information is there. But it's not the first time I've been asked that question. Yes? Question: Off stage, do you believe in extra-terrestrial life, or do believe the government coverup? Nick: I - it's just that it's the romantic side of me, the dreamer side of me, that likes to think that there's something else going on outside, you know, our planet. I heard a stat the other day on the radio, on NPR, and they said that there are more planets in our galaxy than there are grains of sand on all the beaches of California. So if you put it in those terms, it's a little too much to grab, the probability of there being another life form out there is very, very high. Unfortunately, there's been no hard proof to make me fully believe. I'd like to see something to make me believe. When I was in England last year, we had a guy who was driving us around, we became good friends with Kevin, and toward the end of the trip, which lasted about two-three weeks, he said I want to tell you an experience that I had, but I didn't really have the guts to tell you earlier because you would have thought I was crazy, but he told me he was lying under the covers, hadn't been drinking, very straight-up guy, very honest. He said, I was lying in bed one night, I live in the country in England, and I was lying in bed, and I heard a really noise sort of a whizzing, metallic noise outside, and it started going loud, and my wife didn't wake up, and I went downstairs, and I went out to the yard, and he said there was a flying disk in the air about thirty meters above his head, about 100 feet above his head, with red, blue, and green and yellow lights on it. He said it came over his head, and stopped for a second, and took off. So that to me is like an unbelievable story, but this guy was talking with all the sincerity in the world, and he fully believed it. I've yet to see something like that, so I tend to - I'd like to think it's true. Hopefully there's something better than, you know, some of the things that are going on this planet. Yes? Question: Out of all of the people who have taken a shot at you, who do you think packs the best punch? Nick: Well, Skinner's pretty tough. Mulder's punched me so many times, and I keep on bouncing back, so I have to think that he's not as tough as he thinks he is. On the show for Saturday Night Live last night, I have a line where I say "See you later, Mulder" and my next line is supposed to be "You know, you're a bigger idiot than I thought." I got out "See you later, Mulder," and immediately, he jumped on my line, so I didn't get a chance to get that out. I want to personally and sort of publicly, I'm way off topic here, but I wanted to thank David for making that possible last night; it was all his idea, and without him, it would never have happened. Anyway, who packs the best wallop? Skinner much better experience . That was a sucker punch, I wasn't even looking that time - ah, bring them all on, I'm not afraid. Hello? Question: Are you going to have a part in the new movie, and if not, why? Nick: I'm not. I'm not in the movie. I was doing a series in Toronto at the time, another television series, and I couldn't get out of it for a day; and not only that, but when I talked to Chris about it, he said that they didn't have the time, the kind of time in the movie where they could develop too or even know the characters in the television show; they didn't have the kind of time to explain who everybody was. So, as far as I understand, they wrote like five scripts, and I was involved in a couple of them, and the one they chose, inevitably, was one of the ones I wasn't in. It was hard to swallow at the time, because I sort of felt like Krycek should have been a part of it, but I'm over that now. And Chris promised me that I'll be in the next one. Question: Hi. First of all, what do you want to happen to your character next season in the episodes you're going to be in? Nick: What I'd like to see most is I'd like to see - they certainly don't have to devote an episode to it, like they did with the Lone Gunmen or the Smoking Man, but I would, I'd like to see an episode that centers on where Krycek came from. There's somebody in the audience yesterday who gave me sort of a quick storyline when we were in Boston about the idea that they find Krycek, in, he's an officer in the Navy, and because of his particular abilities they sort of recruit him into the FBI and directly into the hands of the Cigarette Smoking Man. I'd like to see a little bit about why Krycek does what he does, and why he does it, and why is he good, and why is he bad, and what's he hate, and what's he love, you know, as opposed to showing up and doing the deeds that he does. Question: Okay. Also, what do you think of the Krycek/Mulder fanfiction out there? Nick: Somebody's got like too much time on their hands. Let me tell you right here and now that David and I are just, David and I are just we both enjoy the company of women. Question: I wanted to know if they were going to do a complete episode based solely on Krycek, and what he did according to Mulder? Nick: Did you just get here? Question: No Nick: So you're asking it again? Question: Do you *know* about anything? Nick: I don't know of anything, but that's what I would like to see. I would like to see where he came from, and why he does what he does. Thanks for coming. Question: Two questions. Whose idea was it for you to kiss Mulder, and what was the strangest fan experience you had? Nick: It was written into the script for me to kiss Mulder, I guess like, it was either Chris or Frank's idea. And we did it on the day - because of my one arm, and I was holding a gun, and I had to give him a piece of paper with some information on it, that it looked like we weren't going to be able to do it, because it was just getting too complicated. So on the day, we changed it. We sort of had a little meeting, and we decided that the kiss was probably funnier and more important than giving him the piece of paper. They worked it into the script later on. But, so, we said Christ you got to do it, it's too perfect and , so... What was your second part of the question? Question: What was your strangest fan experience? Nick: Well, Mitch and I were, doing a publicity tour in Europe last year, and we did an autograph signing session in a Virgin Megastore in Dublin. And about halfway through the signing, they had to stop it because people were crying and passing out, and getting jostled, and flowing all over the lineup it was, starting to get, people starting to lose control; so, the people who were running it were starting to lose control of the lineup, so they had to shut it down. And the people blocked off the front entrance and the back exit so we couldn't leave the building. And, so we waited for about an hour in their office: had a cup of tea, and hung out, and we couldn't leave - they were still there. So - God bless ‘em, and it was great. You should see the reaction that we get when we go over there; it's unbelievable, I mean in terms of the intensity. So - because they don't live in New York, they don't live in LA, they live in England, and England to them, to some of these people, Hollywood seems like a billion miles away, so when somebody comes there that's involved with a television show .. So we are waiting. And they say, okay - why don't you just go out this fire escape and go three buildings down, and go out the delivery door. So that's what we did. We get there, we're waiting, and the guy says okay, the door's going to open and you're going to be on the street. Don't worry about it. Just keep your heads down, walk out to the left, take another left, another left, there's going to be a red Mercedes, jump into it and everything's going to be fine. So the door opens, I keep my head down, make a left, another left, another left, and there's the red Mercedes, Mitch gets in, I'm just getting in, around the corner comes like 400 screaming kids. I jump in there, and I close the door, and they're like outside the window and they're banging on the door the car and trying to stuff things through the window, and it's like, I felt like - and please don't take this the wrong way - but I felt like we were like the Beatles. I was so amazed at the energy coming at you, it was just like unbelievable. And then we drive like two blocks, and we hit a r ed light. We had to drive around for about half an hour to lose them, to get back to our hotel. And on that very same trip, we were in Northern Ireland. This isn't a crazy story, but it's a heavy experience that I had. When you're in Northern Ireland, there's kind of a, there's sort of an atmosphere that's kind of like looming over the area, and because of that's going on there, there's a lot of people that really hate the IRA there, hate the oppression, that hate the war that's going on there. You know, our driver said to me, he said the only problem with the IRA graveyards is they're not full enough. So a lot of commoners hate the IRA. And it's sort of like this Star Wars thing, where there's like the evil empire hanging over - that's the way it feels, it's almost palpable, you can almost feel it in the air. And, so we're at this autog raph signing session, and this little boy hands me a note and he says can you give this to Mulder for me, and I open it, and it says "Hi, my name's David and I'm seven years old, and there's evil in Ireland, and the government keeps having problems, and the police can't do anything, and I wrote the Power Rangers, but they didn't write me back. Would you come to Ireland and help us?" And it was really touching, you know? Not only that, but it really really hit home the power of television, you know, when it comes into people's houses, what it does for people that are under certain situations. And I said this yesterday, but I really believe that there's a shortage of good storytelling going on in the media and television and radio and stuff like that, and if this show does anything, it involves the audience's imagination and creativity and asks them to think every week, and takes people out of their daily crap. And I think that's - you can't underestimate the power of that or the importance of that. It's like a good book. It keeps you away from what you're worried about, and that's an invaluable sort of thing. So, you know there's been some crazy ones, but there's also been some like real life-affirming kind of experiences with fans as well. Question: Best of luck to you. Nick: Yeah, you too. Thanks. Hi. Question: Hi, my name's Connie. Nick: I like that. I like to talk. Question: I wanted to compliment you on that very fine scene with the Uniblonder. Nick: The Uniblonder? Question: That's what they call Marita. Could you kind of give us a play by play of that? Nick: We talked about this yesterday. There was a moment, the way it happened was, in the script, I'd lock up the door, and she's standing there, and she looks at me and she says "You think you're going to get away with this, don't you?" And then she breaks into - this is in the script - she breaks into a big smile, and I grab her, and I say "They give me what I want, I'm going to rule the world." That to me was a giveaway. As soon as the audience saw her smile, you would know exactly what was going on. You didn't even need the kiss after that; that was just some titillation, you know what I mean? You didn't need to see the once you do that, because immediately at that point you know they're in cahoots. So I suggested, why don't we reveal it moment by moment, there's a lot of nice fast moments to that scene, but why don't we reveal it piece by piece to the audience. So when I, my feeling was that I wanted us now to see her, wanted it to be a very ambiguous moment as to what was their relationship. And as he walks toward her, quickly grabs her, is he gonna, is he a stranger to her, is he gonna kill her, what's gonna happen? And then throw her up against the wall, which was kind of sexy I thought but also kind of violent, you know. And then, finally, plants a kiss on her, which then, you know, up until that point I didn't want to give it away. And they all agreed that I was right, which made me feel kind of cool. And they were also going to shoot the scene over my shoulder and over her shoulder, which is usually the way they do scenes, and I said no, no, no, you want to shoot it like use a steadicam and carry the two characters across against the wall, and they did that, so I kind of was involved in the final making of that scene. So, I did say yesterday we knocked teeth on the first rehearsal, because we were so energetic. But you know we had to kind of stay in the moment in between scenes, in between filming, so we kind of just stood there and like necked a little bit, which was kind of fun. But, yeah, it was fun. I liked it. Yes? Question: Hi, I have kind of a quick question. I was watching like a late movie once, and you were in it; I don't remember what the type of movie was about, I don't know - at the end you wind up with the girl. I don't know. Do you know what movie this is? Nick: Yeah, I'm not going to tell you the title. That was my first opportunity to lead in a film, and that was a really really low budget romantic comedy. It was a great experience, I learned a lot, but you know, it's one of those things that you kind of try to keep under wraps, you know? Question: Can you tell me what year it came out in? Nick: Let me see. Like ‘80, ‘81. Question: And the other question is are you getting offered parts in like, I mean, are you getting scripts to do other stuff -- Nick: Yeah. Question: -- and if so what? Nick: Well, a lot of it is so bad, that I just say no immediately. You'd be amazed at how much bad material there is out there. It's frightening for an actor, you know. Especially for woman, because, you know, the kinds of roles that are available for women are, the good ones are so slim, it's frightening. But, just in general, you know, I have an audition on Wednesday, and I don't know if I'm jinxing myself by saying this, but it's directed and produced by - directed by the guy who did Ulee's Gold, and it's with Meryl Streep and Sam Neill, and it's to play the role of their son, so, I feel their age today, anyway, I digress. So, yeah, it's a really, really beautiful script and a lovely story, so it's exactly the kind of thing that makes me happy to be an actor so I hope I get it. Question: Lots of luck, and good luck Wednesday. Nick: Thank you very much. Two more questions? Question: Hi, there. Hey, Nick. Nick: You can call me almost anything you want. Question: I'm Nick: You're a voyeur? Question: Did it break up your role when you got laid? Nick: Did it break up my role? Question: Did you feel good about yourself? Nick: Did I feel - my character or me? Question: Both. Nick: Well, it was cool because it gave me an opportunity to do something a little bit different with the character, certainly we haven't gotten sexual that way before, which was good, and you know, Krycek -- Question: Did you feel superior? Nick: -- had a lot of pressures, so you know, Question: Did you feel superior because your character got laid in public? Nick: Not that public. Let me tell you a little story, I know we don't have much time here, but ... When people ask for my autograph or my picture, I don't understand it, because I don't think I'm interesting enough to have, to give an autograph or a picture away, don't ask any of my good friends, it's like, you know, they think it's hilarious, right? So - I don't judge anybody, who ever asks for an autograph, I, I've done it, but it's weird to put yourself in my shoes, and to hear somebody say "Can I have your autograph,"well, like, what do you want it for? But, again, it's not a judgment on anybody who asks me, so I want you to understand that. But I'm standing next to Jimmy Page last night, and I'm thinking all I want is a picture of me and Jimmy Page to put on my wall. And so, we're saying goodbye, and David is on my left, and Jimmy Page is on my right, and I was just like, I couldn't stop smiling. It was a great experience. He -- I've listened to him, I've loved him for so long. You meet a lot of people along the way, and there's a certain part of me that I guess is starstruck if you want to call it that, and it was like, oh, that's Jimmy Page. You know, so, it was really cool. Last question, and then I have to leave. Question: I have one more question. Do you think Krycek will have another romantic scene? Nick: I would like to. But my feeling is Question: And I have a comment Nick: I will do that. We have to - how's everybody in the lineup doing? Okay? Pretty cool. We have to keep this going, because we're sort of on a schedule today because Gillian gets here at a certain time, and it's all got to work at a particular timeslot, so I'm going to rush over there now, but again, I'll reiterate that I just wanted to say thanks so much for everybody's support, and thanks for coming out here this weekend. If you guys don't come out and there's nobody to hear us, it's pretty boring. So thanks for your support of the show, thanks for making me feel comfortable, and it's great to be in New York. Thank you very much. -- End --