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Forbes March S2 DVD Extras
Forbes March: Jesse comes from a wealthy background, but I think he’s rejected that. I used to compare him with these kids from middle-class families that go off and join the Peace Corps kind of deal. I think he’s looking for something a little more in his life than what that had to offer. And I think he’s rejected the values that he came from, and I think he’s trying to make amends for certain things. And I think he’s trying to do that through Mutant X. And I think he’s also looking for a sense of family, and I think he finds that here. I think that gives him a certain inner conflict in any moment because there’s who he is and who he wants to be. And that’s a lot of fun to play. I guess Adam is a father figure in the way that teenagers try to find father figures because they resented their daddy, and try to replace him with the man they would like to be. I think Adam represents a bit of that, although Jesse is now begun to rebel against Adam as well. I think he’s very protective of Emma. He’s quick to defend Emma. I think Brennan is that new alpha male on the scene, you know? It was all Jesse’s game until Brennan turned up. But at the same time, I think he likes Brennan a lot, and he’d like to be a bit more like Brennan. But there’s that rivalry there. And Shalimar is kind of that really hot auntie, you know, that you just, oh, if she was just the auntie on the other side, you know, or the uncle’s girlfriend, maybe you could get in there, but you can’t.
The original piece for Jesse called for Jesse to split into three different characters. And initially I passed on the audition, never mind the job. And I had 4 other auditions the same day and it was mayhem in the middle of casting season. The season when every new pilot season, when every new pilot is looking for their actors, and there’s just a plethora of auditions every day. And this was, basically, it was three auditions in one, but you had to play all three parts at the same time. The character’s sitting in a chair, and splits into three and I’d have to have a conversation between myself: How are you? I’m fine. Are you sure? I’m okay. Yah-dah-di-di-di-dah. One was effeminate, one was bitter, one was happy, it was just this whole mess. Meh. But my coach yelled at me, and I went to it anyway. And got called back in LA, went and auditioned in LA. Victor and I had been out a few times previous weeks, and we played that up. And here we are.
I think they’ve toned it down, at least for me, a bit this year. I got pretty beat up last year. I was all gung ho at the start of the season until my back, neck, knee, ankle, elbow went out. But it’s been a lot of fun. Our stunt coordinator, Paul Ropovski, is very good. He’s the world champion stunt guy, and we’re always goofing around. The wirework is just, you know, it’s like flying. It’s fantastic when you get the chance to get onto some of that stuff. But it’s good, I didn’t expect it. I mean, I gave up sports. I was in arts as a kid, and then I went into sports when girls came into the scene, and then out of sports and went back into arts. I never expected all of that to come back, but I did some martial arts when I was a kid. I played football in university and du-du-du-du-du, so I guess it’s had it’s play after all. But it’s a lot of fun. Shakes things up. It’s nice. Drama, drama, drama, drama, drama, it gets a little heavy after a while, so it’s fun to come in and have a good day of just busting balls for a day. It’s fun.
I really like the direction they’ve gone with him. I would like to see the father come back. I would like to see all the characters become more human. I think last year was very plot driven, and I think this year they’ve realized that it’s important to develop the characters a little more. I’d like to see more of Jesse’s conflict come out, the whole rich guy rejecting the rich guy bit. I’d like to see them explore the father thing more, and I think they’re going to. And I’d like to see his relationship with Brennan developed more. There’re a lot of hints at it; a lot of it is just stuff that Victor and I had put in there, little jabs and little one-liners we throw at each other. And it played well, so hopefully they’ll continue that route.
Usually when you’re working on a show, you find somebody who you get along well with. And you guys go off and do your thing. And it quickly separates into teams and it becomes very rivalry, and all this kind of politics crap. And everybody says, “Oh, we all get along,” and they’re full of crap. But we go out a lot since day one. Lauren and I took an acting class together when we were first starting off ten years ago, and Victor and I have been out partying before. And Vicky’s just fun. John’s MAD! He has this very competitive salt thing, you know, very THEATER. I’M FROM NEW YORK THEATER is that and the other thing on camera. And you take him out, he’s a ARGHH!
The girl who sent me my first piece of fanmail, I still write back and forth to. When I was on a soap, I had on my wall in my dressing room all the photos of everybody who asked for a photo. I’d say, “All right, but you’ve got to send me a photo.” I had this whole wall of them, it was great. ‘Cause it’s easy when you’re in this to forget why you’re doing it. You even forget that it’s on tv. You’re just kind of going in, punching in, punching out, going home. And the fanmail really helps you to remember why you go into it and why you’re here and who it’s for. Keeps you excited about it to know that people are getting a smile out of it.
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