Thanks to Janet for sending this in! LIFESTYLE ALIEN ENCOUNTER HE'S 26 AND A VETERAN NOW, BUT THE STAR OF TV'S ROSWELL GOT HIS ACTING START AT AGE 5 PLAYING - A SUNFLOWER. MELINA I. DE ROSE Staff Writer 07/17/2000 Sun-Sentinel Ft. Lauderdale Boca Raton Page 1D (Copyright 2000 by the Sun-Sentinel) Jason Behr has been practically everywhere on the WB map. Along a rising path of TV and movie roles, Behr made stops on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 7th Heaven and Dawson's Creek. Until, like his alien character, he landed on Roswell . Behr, 26, plays Max Evans, leader of the teen aliens left stranded on Earth after the legendary spaceship crash of 1947. The aliens and their show survived to see a second season this fall, backed by fans who flooded the WB network with bottles of Tabasco sauce, a spicy staple of the non-human diet. On television, Behr's character has stayed close to Roswell , N.M., the one place he knows as home. In real life, the Minneapolis native moved to Los Angeles at age 19 after graduating from high school. As Behr tells it, he got a call from a long-lost skateboarding buddy who invited him to the West Coast. "So I got on a plane like a week later and that was it," Behr says. "It was just something that I felt I needed to do." Behr makes it back to Minnesota only sporadically. But he had the opportunity to visit South Florida recently, appearing on Fort Lauderdale beach to sign autographs and pose for fan photos. Q. You're on the Monday night slot now [9 p.m., WBZL-Ch. 39] after 7th Heaven. Are you happy there? A. I didn't know how it was going to pan out because it's like the "God and Science Hour," you know? And they don't necessarily agree with each other -- it's sort of like the two-hour block of contradictions. But ... it really has been working out, and I'm glad that they decided to keep us there. Q. Roswell is based on the books by Melinda Metz. Have you read any of them? A. Yeah, when we first started the pilot, she only had three books out then, so I did, I read all three of them ... What those books did is they gave us a great idea and a great starting point. I mean, that basically laid out the stage for us to tell the story. Without the books, we wouldn't have a show. We've taken it in a much different direction, and we're going to continue to take it in that direction. . . Throughout the entire season, we were always trying to find that balance between relationships and characters, and action and suspense and mystery... And I think we found it towards the end of the season, and we're going to continue on with that darker, edgier, "X-Filian" tone. Q. Is there any risk of losing the relationships and the emotional aspects that have been so crucial this season? A. I hope not. I don't think it's going to happen. It wouldn't be the same show, and I know that a lot of people would not be happy... We're still going to have those relationships that we've developed in the first season. They're just going to become a little more complicated... At the end of the last season, we found out [the aliens] were actually engineered and they were put here on Earth for a specific purpose. ... I think the second season is going to be [Max's] struggle to either continue on with the life that he's built for himself in Roswell and the relationship with Liz (Shiri Appleby) and accepting his so-called destiny and responsibility, and let that take him where it leads him. So it'll be like the choice between being human or being alien. Q. What do you think of him as a person? A. I think generally he tries to be a good person and tries to make the right decisions, but I don't think he always does. What I like about him is that he does make mistakes, that he does sometimes leap before he really looks. That moment when he saves Liz in the CrashDown is a testament to how much he feels and cares about her, because if he'd stopped and thought about everybody who he would be putting at risk, that little hesitation might've cost her her life. Those little character choices speak louder than words sometimes. Q. Do you have a favorite episode? A. The last three episodes were my favorite of the season, for me as an actor... I really enjoyed this one that we did called "Max to the Max," where I got a chance to play what could've been a very uber- cheesy dual role (chuckling) -- by being this other shape-shifting alien who took on the guise of Max ... What I wanted to do was subtly give hints as to who they're watching, for people who are really paying attention, but not just give it away, not slam people over the head with it. So I gave [the other] Max a little different walk, he kind of prowled. He kind of had more of a sense of purpose in his walk, and [the real] Max was a little more tentative because he didn't really know what was going on... But my other favorite one was this one called "The White Room," where Max was captured by the FBI and tested and abused and tortured, and I thought that whole episode in and of itself was the strongest one because you're seeing somebody that you care about in pain and pretty much helpless. Q. Do you have a favorite character? A. I like everybody. ... I don't really have a specific character that I like more than others, but I really do enjoy watching Bill Sadler (Sheriff Jim Valenti) because in the beginning he was the antagonist. He was the one searching us out, but he had a reason, he was almost validated in his convictions. And so, to take a character like that, that people don't necessarily root for, and make him, not sympathetic but understandable in his actions, you understand why he's doing that. You really wish he didn't, it would be really nice if, uh, that mean, old sheriff would stop chasing around them three alien kids, but you understood why. Q. You got an early start in acting. Something like age 5? What kind of things did that entail? A. (Laughs) Not a lot of dialogue, that's for sure. I know that at age 5, I had done some theater. I don't know the name of the play, and neither does my mom, but I do know I played a sunflower. Q. That was your first role? A. Yeah, I remember just having like a green outfit on and a yellow headdress of some sort (laughs). But I continued to do theater pretty much up until I left for Los Angeles. Q. So, why acting? A. Why acting at that young age? I think my mom was trying to figure out something to do with me. Apparently I had a lot of childlike enthusiasm. Just a little. (Smiles) So she just wanted to focus my energies. Q. Would you eventually like to go back to theater? Or is the big screen your ultimate goal? A. I would love to do it all. If I had the opportunity to go back to either Minnesota or New York and do some theater, sure, I'd take that into consideration. I know a lot of people who are in my position do theater, I know a lot of people who have been in 20 different movies and still go back and do theater. And from a financial point of view, it's not smart for them because they're losing money by doing theater, but it's a passion. Q. What are some of the basics you look for in roles? A. First thing you look at is the story, are you telling a good story. Second thing is the people that you are involved with because you always want to work with interesting people and people who challenge you. And third is: Do I feel a connection with it? Do I feel some sort of affinity towards the story, towards the character? Q. Would you consider directing? A. Absolutely. I think it's a different responsibility, but the idea of being the ultimate storyteller, the ultimate decision-maker, and -- I should say the ultimate voice and hopefully the ultimate decision-maker -- is a challenge I would love to take on. . . You're the one with the paintbrush now, you're the guy with the paintbrush and the canvas, everybody else can add their color or multitudes of colors, but you're the guy holding the easel. Q. What was your most humbling experience as an actor? A. Probably just being an actor. Q. And perhaps you already answered what would be your proudest moment as an actor ... would it be "The White Room"? A. My finest moment as an actor was donning that sunflower outfit. I don't know why I'm still doing this, it must be just all downhill from there (laughs). Melina I. De Rose can be reached at mderose@sun-sentinel.com. |