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Toronto SFX 2005! Adam Baldwin, Friday 8/26/05 Transcript by Melina at lifesashow.com |
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Stuff in [square brackets] is paraphrased. [...] means I couldn't make it out at all.
[Missed the first question or so...] AB: After I finished serenity... I finished Angel, then I had some time off to go ride my bike and lift some weights for a little while before I got to play Jayne, and then I got to go to South Africa to do a remake of the Poseidon Adventure, which I think NBC's going to air, this coming [...]. And then, Tim called me up while I was down there, Tim Minear called me up while I was down in South Africa, and said "I've got this little cop show. Play, uh, Danny Love?" [laughter] Yeah. So we did 13 [...], and it'll be coming to your DVD box soon. Uh.. anyone wearing a hat have a question? Q: [With the success that seems to be coming with the movie ... any word about what'll happen from there? Such as resurrecting the TV series?] AB: Well, I doubt it will ever become a series with the same cast, in its former incarnation. I just don't see that happening. We'll all be too old. [laughs] 58-year-old Jayne... Not gonna be there. But, hopefully we'll get two more, and I'm sure you're all pretty well aware of how important the opening weekend is, as with most movies, so... please tell your friends! Q: [Does the movie offer closure?] AB: Does the movie offer closure. You mean from the whole story arc? Well, it certainly stands on its own. Who's seen it? Anyone seen it? [yes's from the audience] So, a few people have seen it, and... no spoilers, on punishment of Joss. "Hey Joss, how come I'm not in the sequel?" [laughter]. It stands on its own. And it certainly offers a lot of, uh, completion... well, not completion, but it fill in a lot of blanks from the series – questions that you may have had from there. And Joss intended it to stand on its own, and it does. Q: [something about The Cape] AB: Ah, The Cape. The Cape was a syndicated show I did... Is there any more room for some of those people in the back? Can any more of those guys squeeze in here? Is that unsafe? Is there room? I feel so bad! I didn't book the room! [...] The cape was, yeah... we did twenty-two – It was surrounding... it was originally sold as Baywatch, at Cape Canaveral. "We're gonna have sexy astronauts, playing volleyball." So I was down there, and I got very enthralled by the whole space program, and a lot of the dedicated men and women working there, so... I fought tooth and nail not to make it that soap opera thing that some of the guys tried to make it. I think there were about six or seven really good episodes, there's two great episodes, and the rest are just kinda mediocre television. But it was really cool, I got to see four launches from standing on top of the vehicle assembly building. [...] Q: [something about Jayne babysitting Zoe and Wash's child...] AB: Babies! I would've embraced that wholehartedly. I think that would have been great for Jayne to have to change poopy diapers. [In Jayne voice] "Eugh... Inara!" Can you imagine? That's hysterical. Next? Q: Does Jayne know he's in love with Kaylee? AB: Jayne's not in love with Kaylee. Jayne's in love with Inara. It's funny - that's an inside joke on the Serenity set, because, when I was breaking down the script, when I got the script – some of us like to employ the services of a coach, just to help break it down, it helps you to have a second voice there. I have a good coach there in LA, and we were going through the script, and we sort of, through discovery, decided – "Oh, well, Jayne's subtext is that he loves Inara." It's not spoilery at all, because nothing happens, trust me. The inside joke is that – everyone's going "He's giving it away!" The inside joke was that Joss was constantly telling me "No, you do not have a crush on Inara!" "But I've gotta play that beat baby! Come on!" So in a lot of the looping. You know, you have this... what do you call it, ADR, what is it, alternate dialog recording, or... automatic dialog recording? Whatever. The stuff you record that you didn't get too good [...]. I would do my line, and then I would throw in "And where's Inara?" [...] "So can we use that as an alternate?" So that was always fun. [...] No, Kaylee's more like like a little sister. Protect little sister, that's the way I looked at it. Q: How did you enjoy your final battle scene with Angel? AB: Oh well, again, that was right before I started, like I said, Serenity, and Joss was kind enough to give me another job! He was so sorry for us poor Firefly castaways. Great final battle scene. Terrific stunt people. A lot of wire work for David... well, David's stunt double – He doesn't fly on wires a lot. They hung David up for a few minutes. Great fun! Q: Can you tell us about your experiences on the X-files?] AB: The X-files came to me... oddly enough I think I would give the X-files a lot of credit for allowing me to find my way to Joss, because it... Yeah, I basically went in and auditioned for the role, and I had auditioned for Robert Patrick's role earlier, but they said "I'm sorry, you're too tall." But I guess I had done a good enough job for them to bring me back for this alternate role, and I think that helped me in the eyes of the Fox people, and that made it easier for Joss to say, when I went in and met on that and he liked it, that he was able to say "Ok, you can come". [in funny voice] Plus I came in with this voice... But the experience on X-files was terrific – I was part of television history. I was in... well I was in the last two seasons, but I was in the very final episode, so besides making a mistake as a super-soldier rarely does by not bringing my magnetite-detector with me, and I bumped into that great big mountain of magnetite – Oops! And then that kinda... thing on my neck. I had a great time! And like I said, it was a honor to be a part of TV history there. Q: Can you tell us about Full Metal Jacket? AB: Full Metal Jacket was shot in London, England, believe it or not, 20 years ago this summer. We started 20 years ago this summer – I was brought there, contracted to work til Christmas, and I ended up working through May. People had warned me – "well, Stanley Kubrick likes to take a lot of time, shooting take after take after take, but you'll be out of there by Christams." No. My experience was... at first intimated by Stanley Kubrick, the film icon, and then over time you grew to love him as... you love your father [laughter]. Well no, I mean, we were there so many months, a bunch of young men together, over a long period of time, getting cranky at times, and having exhilarating times... highs and lows – it was very much like a family - disfunctional family! - thing we had going. The one thing I would like to say about Full Metal Jacket – and I try to hold this truth forward, and I took care to do that with Firefly and Serenity – is that my one regret from Full Metal Jacket was not appreciating it for what it was when I was there. Because I was 23, I was a young, brave, cock-sure guy, and I was thinking "Ah, this is what all movies are going to be like!" Come back home, crash and burn. It's just the nature of the beast. So, when you get a job that is wonderful, I now recognize it, I think, and I certainly did with this... And, it opens September... Audience: 30th! AB: Again, yeah, live for today. Appreciate what you have. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this room right now. The love you're throwing my way, I can't... You know, it means a lot to me. [Awww's from the audience] I'm throwing it right back! Q: What was it like the first day of shooting when you walked into the sound stage and saw Serenity again, and you got to walk onto the set? AB: What was the first day back like. I had never given up hope. So it wasn't as suprising, or as shocking, as you might expect, because Joss never gave up. And until he did, I wasn't going to. So it just seemed like a natural progression, a natural flow, when we got there. Sure, they were bigger and fancier sets, and we were on the gigantic sound stages of Universal. And it was exciting for us all to get back together, and start reading through the script, and becoming the characters again. But, it seemed right, it seemed real, it didn't seem like "Oh, I can't believe this is happening." No, I always felt that this would happen. I never gave up hope. And I know that many of you out there who raised your hand really didn't too, and again, it all [...]. It's all part of this one special project, so... I know Joss is doing a happy dance! [...] But no. [In Jayne voice] "Hey... I'm Jayne..." Q: What do you have next? AB: What do I have next? A lot of promotion for this. I've just come off the Inside, and it's been going into promotion for this, and I took a little vacation time, traveled up north, took a road trip... I am north. I didn't even come this far north! From LA north. Coast of California, visited some friends, and uh... there are a few things in the offing, but... you know, I'm enjoying the rest right now. I think there are some things that'll happen, but nothing in stone... that's ok, I'm cool with that, I'm getting kind of tired. [laughter][...] Q: [Something about My Bodyguard] AB: Well, this is 1979, when I auditioned for My Bodyguard. It was between... it was like the end of the year of my junior year of highschool. And that's who I was. The guy you see in that movie, is pretty much me. I was a messed up kid. So, I like to think that that movie rescued me from who knows what. I don't know! I mean I had been in drama class since 5th grade, what is that 9, 10, 11 years old, and it's just something I loved doing, but never thought of it as a career, and I certainly don't think that -- I've gotten better! [...] Or at least more confident, I think, in standing there. Q: [could have gone a different direction?] AB: I have no idea where it could have gone. There are idealistic things I could say, "gosh, I wish I could have done this, whish I could" but I can't look back. All I can say is that gave me a direction, and I embraced it, and off I went. I don't look at life as ups and downs, I look at life as like zigs and zags. You know we're all going forward... I'm going kind of [...] Well, the same plane at least. Because in Hollywood, you can get caught up in, at least when you're younger, I think you can get caught up in "They're there, and I'm not," and I feel resentful, "Oh, now I'm more important!" and you get caught up in that, and it doesn't work. Doesn't work spritually, doesn't work emotionally. Doesn't work financially – certainly doesn't work financially! You get caught [..] of the game. So, it's, you know, you have diversions. You have little detours. Forks in the road, what do you do? So I was at a fork, and I had a path, a door that opened, and I walked through so I got lucky. Q: [what was your favorite role on Justice League?] AB: [not remembering his roles] The mayor! I think I've probably done two of them... Q: You had three: the clown, the cowboy -- AB: Oh, the cowboy guy, I loved the cowboy! Q: The general. AB: The general! God, you're good. You know, I couldn't tell you. I mean I know those people, I can visualize their face in the studio recording it, but I couldn't tell you even the story line of those. Again, when you only do three episodes, it doesn't really get into your soul, like say Serenity and Firefly does, or when you do an X-files or you do an Angel, when you're actually there and creating a character. If you're just doing voice... I mean I was on Jacky Chan, I know my character from Jacky Chan. I did four seasons on that, so I can tell you all about but... Again, doing a guest spot... my brain is clouded. Q: [something about action figures] AB: [reaching into his shirt pocket and pulling out a deck of trading cards] I was just unburdening myself of these trading cards I happen to have... I got these for free... What is it like being an action figure? Hey, I got one with a stogie, one without... immortalized in plastic? I mean... Very humbling. [...] Q: Are they a choking hazard? AB: [...] I'm sorry, the child in the back is not going to be able to play with my action figure. [lots of laughter]...any voluntees? Q: Is Jayne a reference to [...] Also a guy with a girl's name? AB: No, I think Joss was just trying to come up with a girl's name for this guy, on the boy named sue theme. And it's revenge towards me! Jayne ain't a girl... Q: [Have you ever been through something like all this excitement, red carpet, etc] AB: Well I've been on the red carpet before. Not with something that I felt so strongly about... Full Metal Jacket would be the closest thing. I've had an eclectic career, and... Look. Firefly and Serenity is to me, is just one of the most special jobs and life experiences I've ever been a part of, so for it to have finally manifested itself as this gigantic movie, with this wonderful groundswell of people that are supporting it... You know, I can't predict what box offices are going to happen, and I think we all in this room hope it does very well... [...] But it will have... it's right. It's right. I'm not out there selling something I don't believe in, or that I feel phony about. This is, I think, one of the most fun movies, terrific movies, with a cast of characters that I love, and a guy who's a great writer. And to be out there in front of that, is just, not a problem. I don't feel any phonies. Not a good liar. Good interpreter... Q: [Opinion on why firefly ended early?] AB: You know... we didn't get ratings. Bottom line. We didn't get an audience that was large enough for the network to justify keeping it on. And the business has changed, whereas say ten years ago... there's so many chanels now, there's so much competition, that they had to make a business decision. And I don't know all the ins and outs, and meetings that went on behind the scenes, but I don't look at it as a negative. I think that... We were broken-hearted at the time, but here we are now. And I think that this story, thanks to Joss - Joss's determination and Universal – and you have to give Fox credit too, because they didn't have to release the DVD. They could've blocked it, and they didn't have to agree to Universal making the movie. They could have said no. So I give them a lot of credit for that, and I think we should all look forward and think of it that way. Is it too bad that we don't see us every week? Yeah, but that happens to a lot of shows, there are a lot of shows you could say that about, so I don't look at the negative at all. I don't think that serves any purpose, any more. Although in the immediate aftermath, there was a lot of [vodka?]! Q: [Favorite firefly episode, Jayne quote? Can you say it for us, or sing it?] AB: I made a promise to Joss I wasn't going to sing that song anymore in public. Why don't you sing it to me? Ok, so my favorite episode of Firefly, I think, has to be the movie Serenity [laughter] because I want you to go see it... I take the original pilot named Serenity, I put that in a separate category. I think that's a stand-alone thing, and I would put all the other favorite episodes below that one, because that intrododuces them all, and it's a movie on its own. But my favorite fun episodes... I think would be Out of Gas, and War Stories, and Ariel, and [...] Our Mrs. Reynolds is great... Jayne's town is surprisingly enough is further down the list. I'm not as thrilled with that one as you might think. There were some time pressures that we had in that mud town... there were a few beats that I wish I'd played differently. But that's beside the point. I'll tell you which my least favorite episode was! No. They're all great. In the back on the left. Q: Do you think – AB: No not you, you had a turn! Q: We're all going to see the movie, but how many times do you advise we see it? AB: I've seen in five now. Q: So at least five. AB: At least five. Well, again, I think it's important that you help your friends bring their friends... Everybody in here pretty much knows how important it is, for repeat business, for sucess. It's also not a secret that the benchmark has kind of been set out at 80 million worldwide, for us to get an order for two more. I think that's quite acheivable, and I think we're all pretty optimistic we're going to get there. Q: [Jayne's motivations?] AB: Well in the episode out of gas, it explains his motivation pretty clearly. It's a single room, with food, and Inara [laughter]. I don't know, he's a practical guy! But I think over time he grows to truly respect Mal. He just can't figure out why the hell they're keeping these fugitives on board and bringing the Alliance down on them! I think he's got a good gig, but these two fugitives are confusing the issue for him. Yeah. He's practical. [...] Q: [Anything you can tell us about Book?] AB: About Book? Ah, Shepard Book. He's ah... Boy, I better not. I better not. Needless to say, his story has not been completely told yet. Accent on the word yet. Q: Have you read the three-issue comic series that Joss wrote? AB: I saw issue 1. I know 2 is out. I haven't seen 2. Is 3 out too? I've seen issue 1, and I love it. [someone holds it up] There it is! Yeah, baby. Good artwork! Nice... [pecs?]. Aud: It's a very big gun. AB: It's my very favorite big gun. Q: [if they knew the meaning of the chinese?] AB: Well, they gave us translations. My favorite, and it's not one of mine, is "the explosive diarhea of an elephant." I thought that was wonderful. I can't say the chinese. I don't do the chinese very well, but we had translations, and then we would have our chinese consultant give us an audiotape and we would listen to that for the phonetic pronounciation. Then we'd go on from there. It was all looking for creative ways to swear. Q: Do you know anything about blue sun? AB: Blue sun? Well blue sun was, uh...... hmmm... how do I say this carefully. How can I lead you in a way that you'll ask another question? Do you notice what blue sun was on in the series? Where you would see it appearing? Like on products and things? Cans of food...? So you can extrapolate from there. But again, you know, that would be telling, and Joss would... kill Jayne! I think uh... I can't say anything more. I can't be spoilery, I can't do that. Q: [Character on The Inside.] AB: My character? We didn't have a lot of time to develop Danny Love on The Inside. There just wasn't enough time. We had to get the main three triangle up and running first, and it just didn't manifest itself in ratings, so we're dead. But Tim promised me he was going to give me a couple main story arc episodes, in season 4... Q: Are you able to watch and enjoy the shows once they're completed? AB: Am I able to enjoy the shows? Yeah! There's some shows I've done, that the answer is "No!", but on Firefly I felt very cared for, and, you know, I had no problem watching Firefly. It was fun to watch. Every friday, we would go – my wife kids – would go to our friends' and their wife and kids, and we'd have a little picnic, and we'd turn on the show, and the them song "take my love, take my land, doo doo doo." We'd just sit there enthralled – it was an event for our families. This was just great theater, and we were watching it for the show. Yeah, it's great, Dad's on it, great, Adam's on it, great, terrific. But the show was so wonderful that I didn't even see me in there. I was like, that's Jayne. [To Eminem's tune] I lost myself in the music, the moment, [..] you only get one shot, do not miss your... Q: [something about Jayne's hat] AB: You mean the knitted orange hat that's in my vault at home? You know the original original hat that Jayne had was in The Train Job. They had this [...] someone stole it. But I do have... there were two of those that were made. And those are wonderful, wondeful copies [referring to the hats some people in the audience were wearing]. Audience: They're for sale at the fan table upstairs. AB: The woman in the office who knitted it was one of the producer's assitants. She just knitted two hats. And that's what Jayne wore, it was great. So I have one. I kept the hat, I kept the boots, I kept Binky the knife, I kept a couple of the cards from the card game, I forget the name of that thing, [...] is all I remember. And what else did I keep... all the t- shirts. Oh and I also have all the scripts signed by everybody. I thought that might be a nice heirloom sometime down the road. Q: Does the hat make an appearance in the movie? AB: Jayne has a hat. It's not featured. Q: [something about the hat signifying Canadian ancestry for Jayne]?? AB: Ok... you're talking about tuques? Q: [...] AB: Oh, no, what wasn't featured in that scene when the hat gets revealed, is that... I had brought in a picture of my mom holding me when I was three. Holding me like this. It was this old picture. We aged it down, sepia toned it, and then included it with the letter that I read: "Dear Jayne, blah blah blah" I can't remember what I said. "This is from your mother and here is a hat and your brother has the damn [...]." Anyway, I brought a picture, and had the art department age it down, and put it in there with that, because I wanted to maybe get a shot of it, and we were running late, and the show had been cancelled by then. We were doing the last episode, it was the last few days, so they were running low on time but the DP David Boyd said "That is so cool, I'm gonna get a shot of that." So David Boyd, the DP, just picked up a camera and and said "Ok, gimme a little china ball light over here and I wanna get a shot of that photo". So he rolled film on it, and I wish they'd included a little reverse, of that's what I was looking at, but you know... we were cancelled. Priorities! Q: If we were to meet Jayne's mom, who do you imagine playing her? AB: Who would I imagine playing Jayne Cobb's mom? Mrs. Cobb... Hmm.... Well, how about [...]? I imagine a very diminutive but feisty. Yeah, someone very feisty. What was I reading the other day, I was reading something about how...I think maybe it was in Newsweek or Time, one of the major news magazines. There was an article about how teenagers' relationships with their parents works. Just one little thought – how interesting it is when you're a teenage boy and you're standing in your kitchen looking down at this little woman who's ordering you around. And you don't know how to deal with that. I didn't have that, my mom was six feet tall. My dad was the short one. Q: [are receipts for previews included in box office?] AB: I believe they will include the receipts from the first screenings in the box office, but, as fas as I know, we're not talking about that many tickets, so it won't make much of a dent. I think what I think it might do is help with the per screen average, which is an important number in the industry. It might help create some industry buzz. Yes it will be included but I don't think it's going to be that significant. Q: Does Jayne name all his weapons? AB: I tried to, I tried to feature... I tried to give a shout out to a late friend in the movie. It just didn't play out. You don't see Vera, but there is another weapon you'll see that I had intended, and tried to have named in a certain way, after a guy named [...], and it didn't work, for the movie. The intention was there, the love was there, but... yeah, kind of. Sort of. If you name your little knife... he doesn't name is name clippers. They get confiscated at airports."Well sir, you can go back down and put them in your checked luggage." Yeah, right. Q: What were the beats in Jayne's town that you would have done differently? AB: I wanted to try, espcially the speech, to the Mudders, I wanted to try a little less emotional. I wanted to play a little harder. And I just got convinced not to. And the last beat on the landing in the ship, as we're leaving. Again, a little less emotional, a little more... cold, I think. Just a little more um... you know "What the hell these people doing, putting up these idols..." I just think it might've played a little more... anyway. But Joss totally disagrees with me, and there are couple other beats that I played, where he says "Oh no no no, it's emotional, it's good." But I disagree. Q: [Jayne and the Inside role are similar. Afraid of being typecast?] AB: Am I afraid of being typecast? [sarcastically] My Bodyguard was in 1979. That guy looks like Jayne too. No, I'm a big guy, I'm this guy, and I embrace that. And you know... Eddie Murphy did... Just as an aside story, I saw Eddie Murphy was trying to break into drama, and it didn't really work out, and he said "You know, [...] comedy" I'm hapy with my sort of, niche. Comfort zone. But, there's a movie called Kinky Boots, that I wish I'd been in. Because I think I could pull off a transvestite. I think that would be a great challenge. Sweet transvestite, Yeah. Q: [Would you do a golf movie?] AB: Golf? A good walk spoiled. No... I played golf for quite a while, and I got fed up with it, so no, I renounced my golf clubs. Broken in half and thrown in a lake. Cold turkey. Golf, done. Well, yeah, if they hired me to do a golf movie, sure, I'd be the guy – I'd be the bartender. An integral part of golf. Q: Since we've revisited pretty much all your other guest starring roles, what was working on Stargate like? Because you're character was very popular, and we're all kind of sad that you haven't gotten to come back. AB: My character on Stargate was popular? I was only on there for one episode. Was it two? But it was a two-parter, [...] I was actually asked to go back, and then The Inside came along. So, he may return – I don't know what their schedule is, or are they done? I had been a friend with Richard Anderson for quite a number of years, and they asked me to come, and it was great. Yeah, it was fun. Q: [Something about Sean Maher upside down in a promo clip on a battlestar galactica CD] AB: He was upside down? Q: Yeah, there was some sort of harness around his knees, and they were laughing very hard... AB: Well he does yoga. I don't know, we had some wire... I don't recall that though. Probably something Nathan said. Nathan's the jokester, he's the funniest guy. Q: What was the funniest mistake that happened on the set? AB: My mistake? A mistake that ended up on camera? That ended up in the finished product? Q: A blooper AB: Oh, a blooper. [thinking...] My funniest thing... it's not me... I try to avoid those. I get distracted very easily when I'm working on the set, so if I start getting the giggles, I'm done for the day, and it's not good. So I kind of go in this little shell if I'm losing concentration. But Nathan, he had a picture of Joss's face on his crotch when he was doing, what was it, Trash, where he gets left out naked. So, I gotta give most of the scripts to Nathan. Let me just say a word about Nathan, because, you probably all can tell by whatever you've seen of him, but he was truly our leader, and I'm sorry he's not here, but... for a guy to have all that on his shoulders, he kept our spirits really high, he was always there for a laugh. He has a much better gift of gab that I do, and we all appreciated that. He was one of the main reasons we held together so firmly as a family, is because of his... just his humor. You had a question? Q: [Other filmmakers he'd like to work with?] AB: I really like the Cohen brothers, you know... their movies are really just great. Of course Terry Gilliam, would be, you know, a dream come true. Scorcese, any of those. I mean, pick the top guys, they're doing amazing stuff, and it would be a dream for me to get involved in there. How are we doing on time? We're ok, we've got plenty of time. Q: Last year at Dragoncon, the second day when they moved you into the big room, we all stood up and gave Nathan the finger for Jewel... Who is in the lead right now? And can you explain how that happened? What was going on between the two of them? AB: They just started giving the finger on the set to each other, and it just snowball. I forget what the immediate episode that preceeded that one, that caused Jewel to get that revenge, but uh... we were at dinner the other night in Edinborough, and...I don't know the origin. I'll find out. I'll post it online. Anybody know a website that would be handy...? We were at dinner in Edinborough, and we were having dinner in this little cave kind of restaurant, and it was supposed to be haunted. And halfway through dinner, Nathan sneaks up behind Jewel, and "Aaah!" [mimicking scaring Jewel]. "You're so mean..." He did that three times. So, I'm sure there's some revenge coming... Q: Did you get to see any of Edinborough? AB: Walked up to the castle up on High St – didn't do a lot of crawling that time. They have this thing called a pub crawl, or .... just kind of go in a circle. But didn't do that this time. I was there twenty years ago, and [laughs]. It's a beautiful city, no doubt about it. Q: [something about guns... why he didn't use the big one in a particular scene...] AB: Well, two reasons. I mean, the real reason, is that the stunt guy didn't want to unload that gun in those tight quarters, because that guy just led off a lot of steam, and firepower. The other one is was, well, you don't wanna blow through the hull... Q: [something about a dancing video] AB: [To some people who were leaving] Bye guys, see you later! Thanks, pal. You had to bring up the dance video. That was a favor I did for friends of mine, because they were starting up a dance school. And, you know, Jamie Lee Curtis... she twisted my arm, so... [There was a little bit more, but I didn't get it... sorry!] |