FarscapeWeekly Farscape Interview Ben Browder

Ask and Ye Shall Receive, version 2...
Joan Hedman ¤ June 2000, originally published on ThemeStream

Encouraged by the gracious reception granted me by Virginia Hey, I ventured forth another query for an e-interview with Farscape's lone American, Ben Browder. Hear what the charmingly engaging Mr. Browder has to say about life in Australia, Farscape's Season 2 studios, and more!

Ben Browder

Rather than go into all the biographical details you can find elsewhere on the Web, I'm going to skip it entirely and let you hear Ben in his own words. Rarely will you find such a beautifully expressive, humorous, and self-deprecating individual starring in television series that is poised to take the world by storm. And yet here we have Ben Browder, as usual, down-to-earth, just a real guy with a really, really cool job.

I encourage you to follow up the links below to Ben's other interviews and chat transcripts. You'll see that this isn't some fake personality he wears for media events. This is the real deal, a guy who loves his family and his work, and, happily for us, loves to talk about it.

I have it on good authority that he's fond of Diet Mountain Dew, too.

About Crichton...

Many articles have pointed out the similarities between Crichton's situation and Browder's. Living and working in Australia isn't quite the Uncharted Territories, but it's a far cry from "home". As the series progresses and we learn more backstory about Moya's crew, it appears we know less and less about Crichton. Sure, there have been a few tidbits thrown out here and there -- his mother's maiden name, and how he lost his virginity were revealed in That Old Black Magic. We also learned about a long-standing relationship and painful near-engagement in Rhapsody in Blue.

Beyond that, all we've got to go on is the rather sparse character bio: MIT PhD in "theoretical science" (as an MIT grad myself, I find the vagueness of that field highly amusing), working for IASA with his childhood friend DK (and it's no coincidence that those happen to be David Kemper's initials, too). Crichton is the son of an astronaut, with a strong but sometimes tension-filled relationship with his father. Is he a bit of a maverick, a rebel? How many astronauts go AWOL from pre-flight quarantine, as we saw Crichton do in the Premiere? The hints of Crichton's depths have been just that, hints. The best so far may have been the line in The Way We Weren't, when Crichton flatly states that all the crew has things in their past that they would rather not discuss.

Given that Crichton's past is pretty much wide open within that broad framework, the Farscape writers can and do come up with all sorts of stuff for Browder to put out there for us. The absolute strongest aspect of Farscape is its character development, and with Crichton as our touchstone, the lone "recognizable" being in the cast, there is always the danger of moving too quickly. Crichton has to remain anchored in our present, and the changes he goes through must be understandable and believable, or else they risk losing the viewers.

Crichton has been through a lot, and in several episodes at the beginning of Season 2, he seems nearly ready to come unhinged. There has been some negative fan reaction, mostly I think due to nervousness on the fans' part. Nobody wants to see Crichton crash completely, and he does seem to have settled down a little. But given the daring nature of the Farscape's writing, it wouldn't surpise me at all if we do get to see a full-fledged breakdown. I have great faith in the writers, and in their respect for the character. Just as Crichton didn't whine through the entire first season (just the first few episodes), any obvious break with reality is likely to be short-lived but long-remembered.

I also have faith that, whatever the writers throw at him, Browder will bring us a Crichton who retains his humanity while continuing to adapt to sometimes unbearable situations. So far he has handled the challenge beautifully, and the advance word on the remainder of Season 2's episodes promises even better to come.

The Interview

Note: Only extremely minor editing (italicizing episode titles, for example) has been applied to Ben's replies.

FSW: You're about to wrap up filming Season Two, and have been renewed for another twenty-two episodes. After forty-four episodes, is Australia starting to feel like "home", yet?

BB: "Home" will always be North Carolina.

Southern Boy... are my roots showin' yet?

My Mrs. informs me, Home is where ever she is... Like always she, of course, is right.

Sydney is a fantastic place to live and we are VERY well settled into life here. The city is gorgeous. The people are relaxed and friendly. I could go on... Having lived in London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, and led the generally itinerant life of an actor, I start to feel "at home" as soon as I know where to buy groceries and which local diner has good cheap grub. By those standards, Sydney is home. And two of my three surfboards are here.

FSW: How would you compare working on the Season 2 facilities with those you had for Season 1? Is there any significant difference for the cast and crew? From a fan perspective, the final product is of equally high quality!

BB: The Good...

Homebush Bay - site of the Y2K Olympic games - better known as the home of Farscape. We have space... lots and lots of space, which we did not have at FOX. This means the art department gets to go crazy, and they do. The sets built for some episodes this year are massive, I mean big... really BIG. We continued to expand into more warehouse spaces as the year progressed. Like a plague, the Farscape production spread across the Homebush Universe. We are also able to keep our sets longer, giving us flexibility. We have worked on up to five episodes concurrently, allowing us to make our tight shooting schedule.

The Bad...

Fox was 10 minutes from the house. Homebush is an hour. You do the math.

Fox had proper studios vs. Homebush's converted warehouses.

The Ugly...

Fox studios is booked out through next year, I hear. And whereas it was nice to be in Australia's Primo film facility... the way Farscape has grown in scale... I doubt a move back there is in the cards.

FSW: Your character, Crichton, has had many more "over the top" moments in Season Two, so far, anyway, in the first seven episodes. In fact, many fans have expressed concern about his mental health. Do you do anything special to get into character for those scenes? I imagine they could either be very difficult, or tremendously fun, perhaps a little of both. What's it like to take Crichton up to a fever pitch?

BB: Fun.

And more than a little scary.

Ian Watson, director of Crackers Don't Matter, a man who lives by the phrase "stillness is your Friend", approached me prior to the shooting of the "big moment" (the blasting of the Crackers) in Crackers Don't Matter and said, "This can be a tour de force, or you will (edited for family reading, rhymes with 'duck')." [Justin] Monjo's hysterical script called for some really big moments.

Now, for the record, I subscribe whole heartedly to the concept of "failing gloriously," so we went for it. I happen to love the notion of hanging our collective asses out there, not knowing if it will work. And I love Crackers Don't Matter. When Claudia perfectly delivered the line, "We are going to die", it pretty much sums up the sensation you feel many days shooting Farscape.

*** Point of clarification: Ian never said if I (rhymes with "ducked")***

As for preparing for those scenes... My preparation remains the same regardless of content: Try to learn the words. Think about the situation/the story. Try to have one "good" idea. Talk with the director and fellow cast (and/or puppeteers) about what we want to do. Block. Rehearse for the technical departments. Shoot and pray. Bottom line is always... the story, the story, and the story.

David Kemper and his merry band of writers give us the words. Ian "Good, Good" Watson, "Fearless" Tony Tilse, Andrew "the Man" Prowse, and "Rowie Baby" Woods call the shots. And hundreds of other people work relentless hours to bring life to what happens between "Action!" and "Cut." When a scene, when a show, when a series works... it is the collective blood of many souls. When it (ducks)... that was me.

FSW: Creation has announced that the entire cast will be at its convention in Burbank, CA. That's the home of The Tonight Show, too. Are there any plans for you to do the talk-show circuit while you're stateside? Along the same lines, do you have any film or TV projects lined up for the break? I'm sure you'll be re-acquainting yourself with your family after the long grueling weeks on FS, but die-hard Scapers^{^tm} everywhere will rejoice to hear any news on either of these fronts!

BB: Absolutely nothing is set in stone for this summer. My plans are to spend a lot of time with my family, do as much surfing as I can, and look for another gig. I would love to do something "new", but workwise, that is dependent on the kindness of strangers. Once we wrap, perhaps I can give it more thought... til then, I'm lost in the uncharted territories.

***

Ben Browder Links

Ben highly recommends his brother Neil's NASCAR website: http://www.neilbrowder.com

The Official Ben Browder bio at SciFi.com

On 11 May 1999, Browder has his own chat at SciFi.Com, and on 23 September 1999 , he crashed a chat with David Kemper.