Dancing Warlock
El Chacho
http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?28975
If It's a 'Buffy' Apocalypse, It Must Be Giles
Mon, Nov 18, 2002 01:23 PM PDT
by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Anthony Stewart Head is happily ensconced in a guesthouse in Santa Monica, Calif. -- or maybe not.
Asked during a telephone interview if he is at home, he says, "No, I'm in the UK. No, that's in England. God, where am I? I'm in Santa Monica."
If he's a bit lost geographically, Head is also running to catch up with this year's storylines on UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which so far appear to involve murdered potential Slayers, a vampire with a soul (no, not that one -- Spike), visits from the dead, and the slouching toward Sunnydale of the biggest Big Bad of all.
And if Evil and its minions are about to sweep across the face of the Earth, it's time to call on Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) British Watcher, mentor and substitute dad, Rupert Giles.
"At the moment, I'm shooting episode 10, I believe," says Head, who has played Giles since the series pilot. "I've lost the plot, honestly, of where we were in terms of the storyline. But actually, I haven't ... It's a very complex sort of storyline as we weave this tale."
"It's difficult sometimes to know exactly where you are, but it's very, very cool. But, as always, the writers and Joss [Whedon, the show's creator] have got a really cool theme."
As always, Giles fulfills his main duty -- imparting the details of impending doom, embellished with tongue-twisting demon names, obscure incantations and lots and lots of exposition.
"Absolutely," he says. "My first big scene up was five pages of me telling everybody what was going on. I am the Englishman who says the big words. But that's cool. A couple of guys on the show said, 'Thank God you're back. I don't have to say the words anymore.'"
"I think it's that the English accent does make it supposedly sound intelligent. Not if you're an Englishman, because if you're an Englishman, you're surrounded by Englishmen, and we don't make anything more intelligent than anybody else."
Throughout the run of "Buffy," Head maintained his residence in England with long-time love Sarah Fisher and their two daughters. Over the last couple of seasons, the role of Giles has been scaled back to guest-star appearances, so Head could spend more family time. But every so often -- especially when things are going very badly -- Giles is sorely needed as the voice of caution and somber warning.
"Absolutely," Head says, "which dynamically works very well, because you put it in amongst the excitability of the rest of the gang. That's partially why he was always an important part of the equation, and that's why that's why Joss originally made her Watcher not Puerto Rican."
"Also, initially his concept of life was so at odds with Buffy's and then, progressively, with everyone else in the gang. It's the fact that she really didn't want any of this thing, and all he could see was the enormous honor of it."
Head has been trying to catch up on the episodes of "Buffy" so far this year, but that plan was derailed when his daughters hijacked the tapes for an early-morning viewing session during a family holiday in Santa Monica around Halloween, then decamped back to England with them.
"I've got to get them back," Head says.
At this point, Giles is intended to appear in a total of 10 episodes. "That's the plan," Head says. "I don't think we're counting them down, going, 'Right, that's another one out of the way, only five left.' Basically, at the moment, it's as needed. Whatever comes up, I'm doing. We're trying to see at the moment whether I'm in episodes 12 and 13, but I'm not sure."
"They had a meeting with Joss yesterday to talk about how the story arc was going, and it has to be said, he was taking that meeting while he was directing an episode of 'Firefly.'"
Also waiting on a final decision is "Ripper," the current title for the proposed "Buffy" spin-off series on BBC2 that would follow Giles and a new team of acolytes as they solve dark, twisted paranormal mysteries in England.
But, with Whedon busy with "Buffy," The WB's "Angel" (which has had a turnover in show-runners this year) and the struggling FOX series "Firefly," "Ripper" has been put on the back burner -- but the heat's still on.
"It's still there, it hasn't gone away," says Head, who can currently be seen on BBC America in the racy comedy series "Manchild." "I had lunch with [BBC2 head] Jane Root just before I came back. We were talking about 'Manchild.' The next eight, I guess, will be coming in the spring on BBC America, and they're funnier and slightly changed. I also couldn't resist the opportunity to say, had she heard anything about 'Ripper' and what were her feelings."
"She said she basically knew as much as I did, which was that Joss is just up against it. With these three balls up in the air, there's absolutely no point in throwing another one up there. I guess one would fall, and there's no need for that."
"Ultimately, along the line, everything can find its place and its time and succeed. Jane thinks we're still going to do it. I haven't even bothered to talk to Joss about it. The last he said, he really wants to do it. He's got three or four scripts he's got in progress with Jane Espenson."
If It's a 'Buffy' Apocalypse, It Must Be Giles
Mon, Nov 18, 2002 01:23 PM PDT
by Kate O'Hare
Zap2it
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Anthony Stewart Head is happily ensconced in a guesthouse in Santa Monica, Calif. -- or maybe not.
Asked during a telephone interview if he is at home, he says, "No, I'm in the UK. No, that's in England. God, where am I? I'm in Santa Monica."
If he's a bit lost geographically, Head is also running to catch up with this year's storylines on UPN's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which so far appear to involve murdered potential Slayers, a vampire with a soul (no, not that one -- Spike), visits from the dead, and the slouching toward Sunnydale of the biggest Big Bad of all.
And if Evil and its minions are about to sweep across the face of the Earth, it's time to call on Buffy's (Sarah Michelle Gellar) British Watcher, mentor and substitute dad, Rupert Giles.
"At the moment, I'm shooting episode 10, I believe," says Head, who has played Giles since the series pilot. "I've lost the plot, honestly, of where we were in terms of the storyline. But actually, I haven't ... It's a very complex sort of storyline as we weave this tale."
"It's difficult sometimes to know exactly where you are, but it's very, very cool. But, as always, the writers and Joss [Whedon, the show's creator] have got a really cool theme."
As always, Giles fulfills his main duty -- imparting the details of impending doom, embellished with tongue-twisting demon names, obscure incantations and lots and lots of exposition.
"Absolutely," he says. "My first big scene up was five pages of me telling everybody what was going on. I am the Englishman who says the big words. But that's cool. A couple of guys on the show said, 'Thank God you're back. I don't have to say the words anymore.'"
"I think it's that the English accent does make it supposedly sound intelligent. Not if you're an Englishman, because if you're an Englishman, you're surrounded by Englishmen, and we don't make anything more intelligent than anybody else."
Throughout the run of "Buffy," Head maintained his residence in England with long-time love Sarah Fisher and their two daughters. Over the last couple of seasons, the role of Giles has been scaled back to guest-star appearances, so Head could spend more family time. But every so often -- especially when things are going very badly -- Giles is sorely needed as the voice of caution and somber warning.
"Absolutely," Head says, "which dynamically works very well, because you put it in amongst the excitability of the rest of the gang. That's partially why he was always an important part of the equation, and that's why that's why Joss originally made her Watcher not Puerto Rican."
"Also, initially his concept of life was so at odds with Buffy's and then, progressively, with everyone else in the gang. It's the fact that she really didn't want any of this thing, and all he could see was the enormous honor of it."
Head has been trying to catch up on the episodes of "Buffy" so far this year, but that plan was derailed when his daughters hijacked the tapes for an early-morning viewing session during a family holiday in Santa Monica around Halloween, then decamped back to England with them.
"I've got to get them back," Head says.
At this point, Giles is intended to appear in a total of 10 episodes. "That's the plan," Head says. "I don't think we're counting them down, going, 'Right, that's another one out of the way, only five left.' Basically, at the moment, it's as needed. Whatever comes up, I'm doing. We're trying to see at the moment whether I'm in episodes 12 and 13, but I'm not sure."
"They had a meeting with Joss yesterday to talk about how the story arc was going, and it has to be said, he was taking that meeting while he was directing an episode of 'Firefly.'"
Also waiting on a final decision is "Ripper," the current title for the proposed "Buffy" spin-off series on BBC2 that would follow Giles and a new team of acolytes as they solve dark, twisted paranormal mysteries in England.
But, with Whedon busy with "Buffy," The WB's "Angel" (which has had a turnover in show-runners this year) and the struggling FOX series "Firefly," "Ripper" has been put on the back burner -- but the heat's still on.
"It's still there, it hasn't gone away," says Head, who can currently be seen on BBC America in the racy comedy series "Manchild." "I had lunch with [BBC2 head] Jane Root just before I came back. We were talking about 'Manchild.' The next eight, I guess, will be coming in the spring on BBC America, and they're funnier and slightly changed. I also couldn't resist the opportunity to say, had she heard anything about 'Ripper' and what were her feelings."
"She said she basically knew as much as I did, which was that Joss is just up against it. With these three balls up in the air, there's absolutely no point in throwing another one up there. I guess one would fall, and there's no need for that."
"Ultimately, along the line, everything can find its place and its time and succeed. Jane thinks we're still going to do it. I haven't even bothered to talk to Joss about it. The last he said, he really wants to do it. He's got three or four scripts he's got in progress with Jane Espenson."