Angel

Looking back on this past season, how do you feel you were able to stretch as an actor? Did any of the episodes present any kind of unique challenge?

All of them were challenging to me. There’s always something in each episode that spins me in a certain direction, makes me think about how am I going to play Angel here, how do I make sure his personality comes through, how can you play bad when you wand to make it a little bit more complex. It’s a tough question. All the episodes were really fulfilling for me this year. There were maybe some spots I didn’t enjoy, but more or less it was pretty good.

You get to play Angelus again. Is that fun for you as an actor? Is it a nice change of pace to play the dark side of the character, instead of being so heroic all the time?

Oh yeah. Everybody loves the dark side. I think I have such a complex lifestyle myself, so maybe a lot of that just feeds into Angelus. There’s so much going on in your world that you find avenues to exorcise that. I’m not saying that I’m a vicious psychopathic killer, but I just mean in general your frame of mind helps. You can over-exaggerate that and heighten it and explore it and make it real, put something behind it...

That must save you on therapy bills then?

I do still go to therapy. Therapy itself helps bring up tons of stuff and then you can just take that and say, ’Alright, I’ll use this...’

What was it like for you to go back to appear in the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series finale?

It was fun. It was a reunion of sorts between Sarah and I and some of the cast people that were still there and the crew members. It was stepping back into those shoes and seeing those two characters together again, which I’m sure the fans will really like. It’s good to give them that which they’ve been asking for quite some time now. We had a good time. It was pretty painless.

Did you and Sarah Michelle Gellar fall into your old rapport?

We pretty much did. That’s what’s so great about her and the rapport that the two of us have. We just stepped back into those shoes and had some fun. All I can say is that the fans saw those characters where they wanted to see them. Again, it’s probably going to be an open ending, but hey, that’s life [laughs]...

How do you think Buffy’s departure from the air will affect Angel?

I don’t think the end of their show would affect our show. I think that it maybe would help it. Maybe more viewers would come watch us.

It’s interesting that you chose to work in the genre during your hiatus. What made you want to sign on to do the next installment in the Crow franchise?

I read the script and I was instantly attached to the themes going on and the rhythm of the script and the dialogue. It’s really wicked and juicy, sarcastic and extremely out there. Again, here’s an almost four-dimensional character which I get to play. He’s evil, and then he’s really evil and then he’s like the anti-Christ. He travels in a group of four, and he’s the head of the gang. Dennis Hopper turns him into the devil, basically, which is really cool. The opportunity to work with Dennis, and then also the director [Lance Mungia] was new and fresh. The last film he did [1998’s Six-String Samurai] was, I felt, really cutting-edge and had a really cool vision to it the way he shot it. I think it’s a perfect fit for the Crow franchise.

How does working with someone like Dennis Hopper affect your own acting style?

It takes it up a couple of notches. In the case of Dennis Hopper, he’s a screen legend. He’s an idol. He’s been in the business for 49 years. He’s worked on films like Giant. He worked with James Dean. When you work with someone like that, you watch, you learn, you observe and that energy gets into you. It’s very contagious in a good way. You try different things because he enlightens you. Unconsciously or consciously, whether you know it or not...

Are you taking anything away from this experience that you think you’ll be able to use on Angel next season?

Oh yeah. Every season with the show has been a great learning experience for me. You set the bar at a very high level, which I’ve been doing every season and continue to do because it challenges me as an actor and keeps things interesting. You don’t really want to fall into the routine of it because then it becomes boring. Then you don’t want to do it. Here, you get the chance to set the bar even higher and challenge yourself scene after scene, as long and as tedious as that can be. As long as I can keep pinpointing where I want to push myself in certain areas, emotionally and physically, I know that I’m in the right direction.

You mention the idea of playing one character for so long. How do you keep that interesting and are you looking forward to changing things at all next season?

People ask me that question a lot, and I’m looking at somebody who’s about 248 years old, just as far as the character description is concerned. So, this character inhabits a lot of genres. He works in a dark genre, but he’s action adventure, he’s romantic, he’s sarcastic comedy, which I’ve enjoyed playing and pulling out of him. I think more of that will come this year with the way they’ve set the show up. I think Joss [Whedon]’s plan is to have more standalone shows and have more fun with it. I really enjoy that aspect of Angel, putting him in awkward situations and having tht kind of sarcastic comedy come out of him. The show’s never been boring for me. I’ve never found it to be that way.

There’s been a lot of talk that Joss Whedon will be more hands on with Angel now that Buffy has concluded. How would you describe his role with regard to the next season of Angel?

He has been very hands on from the beginning of the show. Last year, he had Firefly, he had Buffy and Angel, three major shows to run, which took a lot of his time and energy. But he did oversee every show that was on the air and looked at every script that Angel had, and he’s been doing that since day one with the show. I think his level of envolvement personally will be a tad bit higher. I know that he’s going to be directing some. I know there are other things that are on his plate that he wants to develop, but first and foremost, there’s Angel. I think the energy level will be a little bit higher, but I don’t think it’s going to be that drastic a change. I saw the development of the stories and the scripts last year and they’re all Joss Whedon’s moves and changes and transitions. James Marsters is going to become a regular on the show, too. That seems sure to create an interesting dynamic. That’s what I heard. It is an interesting dynamic. I can see how it can work, and I question how it could work. That’s something for the master writers to come up with. I can see where the connection can work and happen. I’m also kind of confused about how it can happen, but I’m sure that will all be answered in the months to come.

Do you have any plans to step behind the camera next season?

I know I’ll be directing episode seven, which will be interesting and a lot of fun. To be able to step behind the camera and direct since I’m in every damn scene, I’ll really use a lot of help from people around me. I directed a lot of scenes last year, so now I’m actually going to direct an episode. I look forward to doing that, to a whole kind of new beginning. The way we left the show on the season finale really opened the door. It was kind of a pilot shot for the next season the way Tim [Minear] did it. He did such a great job with it. That’s really what the show has been about - to have fun with it.

Can you reveal anything about the episode you’re going to be directing?

I probably won’t know anything about it until two days before it starts shooting [laughs]. That’s generally the way that it works! I think that this season will tend to be more standalone shows. I don’t think the arcs will be as heavy. The humour level’s going to be way up there. I think it’s going to be even different types of humour, and we’re going to see each character that’s involved in the show expand on their horizons and their potential, rather than being stuck in a hotel. It’s going to thrive on humour as well as standalone shows that won’t be so muddled and thick with exposition and plot. It’s going to be fun. Hopefully [laughs].