Fringe - Attention Deficit Delirium: Joshua Jackson Interview

At Attention Deficit Delirium:

From The Mainstream To The Fringe: Part One

From The Mainstream To The Fringe: Part Two

(Please follow the links for the complete Attention Deficit Delirium interview.)



Many actors are lucky to become famous for one role. Joshua Jackson is fortunate to be known for three: As young, hotshot hockey skater Charlie Conway in The Mighty Ducks movie trilogy; as the lovable underachiever Pacey Witter in the long-running television series Dawson’s Creek; and now as enigmatic FBI consultant Peter Bishop on Fox’s hit show Fringe. He has also amassed a horror film resume that includes Urban Legend, Cursed and the remake of the creepy Thai ghost flick Shutter. It’s not easy to typecast Jackson, who is as comfortable in indie and studio films, on the small and silver screens.

When Jackson spoke recently to ADD, the focus was on his sci-fi, horror and comic book interests, and the conversation proved to be quite illuminating as it also shifted to the concept of being an artist, the adaptive nature of storytelling and the future of television. And you can read my recent story on him and Fringe for American Way here.



A brief excerpt:

The father of your Fringe alter ego, Walter Bishop, is this wonderfully bizarre character. How hard is it for you to keep a straight face when he’s doing something like performing an autopsy and directing Astrid to make custard, or investigating a death in a restaurant and commenting on the seemingly delicious soup where the victim’s head landed? How hard is it for you not burst out laughing?

The great news is you don’t have to. When Walter is having these delusions or these inappropriate moments, you don’t have to keep a straight face. The story allows for us to react as humans would, and particularly Peter a lot of times is in the position of being the audience member. To an extent he’s still the skeptic. I don’t think there’s a reason for us as actors playing these characters to react exactly as you would [in real life]. Even if you knew Walter, some of the things he says are funny and are just so absurd. Part of what is funny about that is the reaction that he elicits from people around them. This guy has no concept of the world.