Peter Weller interview on 'White Tulip', Fringe, & Science Fiction

Last edited by Elliot on Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:53 am; edited 1 time in total

Peter Weller Talks Fringe and Science Fiction
(slight spoilers in interview)

Quote :: In the episode, Weller plays a …. spoiler alert …. time traveler who is
trying to undo a past mistake. Coming back to television wasn't
something Weller took lightly. "I have to tell you honestly I’m very
discerning about prime time television guest stars [roles], a lot of it
is entertaining but sort of hamstrung stuff. Fringe is unique. Fringe
is the best that science fiction can be. It’s fantastic, and it’s
entertaining, but at the same time it has a humanist theme to it of
people, places, things, and relationships." Weller told a gathering of
reporters on a conference call held this morning.

Quote :: In Weller's opinion, it is Fringe's handling of the affairs of the
heart that brings the series above the fold in the genre. "The reason
why I love Fringe is that it goes past the surface adventure of science
and sort of plumbs the responsibility and accountability of science
fiction. Where the human being goes with it, what he has to suffer, and
what joy and also misery that he pulls out of messing with fate, or
destiny as the Greeks say, or choice, or the order of the natural
world. That’s what Fringe does, it takes you a little bit deeper – or
in my opinion, a lot deeper – than the usual science fiction program.
It’s all entertainment, but Fringe has an inquiry into what it means to
be human along with all of this."

more in the article.

And more from that interview, from another source: more detailed, with the 2nd half to come tomorrow.

Peter Weller Talks About Guest Starring on Fringe: Part I

Quote :: Speaking of wife, it seems that we owe her for getting Peter Weller to look into the offer to guest star in an episode of Fringe. Peter Weller wasn't really a Fringe fan before his involvement with the series. He watched it at times, but not regularly, and definitely not as avidly as his wife, who is a
Fringie. And so, while Weller at first wasn't too sure about this offer — he is a little discerning about anything that has to do with prime time television guest stars — he decided to give it a chance.
Two factors weighed heavily on his decision. First is, of course, his wife. Second is the fact that Fringe is, in Weller's own words, "the best that sci-fi can be; not only is it well thought out and makes science geeks happy, but it also brings a heavy human factor into the equation."
What sealed the deal was the script for "White Tulip."

If you only read one of these interviews, let it be this one. It's a bit more spoilery, but it is very expressive, Mr. Weller sounds an extremely interesting man, and though I am not given to saying this a lot about interviews...WOW. Go read the whole thing.

Peter Weller on Fringe’s time travel episode and the new Robocop
By: Fred Topel
http://tinyurl.com/y2rmrq6

Quote :: The Fringe team certainly supported Weller’s acting
techniques too. Sharing scenes with Noble, you’ll recognize the Peter
Weller-isms he adds to his scenes. “John and I got to invent and John’s
a very inventive actor. John is a workhorse. John has been around the
block. He’s done theater and everything. John is so in tune to a
physical space and movement within a room, so one of the things that I
am good at is physically inventing in a room. Some people say I’m prop
heavy but I don’t call those things props. I call them physical life.
The director really gave me a lot of leeway to work with stuff.”

We haven’t seen Weller for a while because he’s been busy working on a PhD in Italian Renaissance History. Fringe called
him while he was studying. “It’s the usual stuff. They called my agent
and said, ‘We’d really like him to do this.’ I’d seen a little bit of
the show. My wife’s a big fan of it so I said, ‘Listen, honey, we’ve
got this offer. What do you think?’ I have to tell you honestly I’m
very discerning about prime time television guest stars. A lot of it is
entertaining but hamstrung stuff. Fringe is unique. It’s the
best that science fiction can be. It’s fantastic and entertaining but
has a humanist thing to it of people, places and things and
relationships. My wife said, ‘I think this is brilliant.’ So I read it
and it was brilliant. So I said, ‘I’m in. I don’t care what the money
is, it’s fantastic.’”

Quote :: Weller plays a …. spoiler alert …. time traveler

Very hard to guess Peter Weller interview on 'White Tulip', Fringe, & Science Fiction 815536

It will be nice to see him again.

It's so nice to see Fringe's story writing get mention for its serious stuff (and not the mythology stuff). I came for the eye-candy and stayed for the people & their stories, this is the best hour on tv as far as I am concerned.

» 2x17 "White Tulip" - Spoilers
» Joshua Jackson interview: Where Do Peter's Loyalties Lie?
» 2x17 "White Tulip"
» JJ Abrams interview: Fringe, the Star Trek Sequel, more
» Interview - Jasika Nicole