Fringe and Lord Of The Rings star John Noble has long been a favourite at Geeky Girl HQ, so we were very excited to sit down for a chat with the actor at this year's MCM Expo in London.
We joined bloggers from Geek Syndicate, Comic News Insider, and Tripwire for a chat about TV's most loveable loony Walter Bishop, get a few season three spoilers and quiz him on those rumours of a Fringe / Bones crossover.
People still haven't quite figured out what to make of Fringe. When you first got the script, what did you think?
"I didn't know where it was going. I heard all this talk about X Files, but I think it's natural for people to look for a comparison. That was a great honour frankly, The X Files was a magnificent show. But we're not X Files, we have very little similarity really and I believe we've got past that now. Hopefully we're creating a unique show. The key is the relationships that exist between the characters and that's kind of unique in procedurals. The relationships could belong to any drama."
Walter Bishop is beloved by fans - how do you maintain that over two seasons?
"The root material was there from the beginning. I understand Walter Bishop. I understand his emotions. There's an incredible sense of loss in the man. As his memory comes back, what he remembers is horrific - what's he's done. There's an overload of shame and guilt but at the same time he's incredibly excited to be back in life. When he's focussed on something he forgets everything, which is why he can be in the middle of an autopsy eating a lolly and he's so happy - nothing else enters his mind. He's gross when he's like that really."
You've played almost three versions of the same character - how did you find that?
"It's an interesting thing to do as an actor. When you're doing your preparation you do base preparation on a character, the history or whatever you want to call it. So it was funny going back 25 years. All I had to do was take off layers. I had to specifically take off layers from the old man. I had to take off the mental instability and give him back a vocal and physical rhythm that was 25 years younger. He spoke with more energy, he ran like a young man but he was still essentially the same guy. The other fella, Walternate, was the angered father on the other side who says 'Well fuck you, I'll get you' and than turns you into an incredibly dangerous man. I can understand him too. Walternate is a warrior, he looks taller, slimmer, sharper. He hasn't got the weight of the world on his shoulders."
What's been the most fun episode to film?
"The most fun was Peter, because that was going back and doing all the pre-aging stuff, and it was only me because I was the principle character. It was really hard, but I love that. It was huge fun."
How much improvisation are you allowed to do on set?
"I'll improvise the blocking on set and if the director doesn't like it he'll change it. We'll also improvise the emotional beats that exist between characters. But we don't play around with the script very much. Occasionally we'll change a word or a line, but normally we'll have to get authority format the writers, and I think that's fair enough. Quite an interesting line came up at the end of the Peter episode, in the final scene Walter was with Olivia and said: 'I created all this damage…' and then he said 'You have no idea what it's like to lose a child'. That wasn't that line, but I was conscious of the profound effect losing a child could have, so I asked for permission to change it because I felt that was absolutely what Walter meant."
Will there be a direction change for season three?
"This I can't answer specifically because I don't know. It's absolutely evident that because we've left Olivia on the other side, we have to go and get her. There's no doubt about that. I believe that for the first third of season three a considerable amount of time will be spent in the alternate universe. And having created these wonderful other characters for Olivia and Walter and Broils and Astrid it would be a terrible shame not to go back there. The stakes are huge if you're leading lady is on the other side. They've got to know, don't they? They'll see the tattoo or something. They'll know it's not her."
Might we see an entire episode set in the alternate universe?
"I think so. I can't promise it, but I think there's a whole series on the other side and believe me, that's been talked about. These people that write these shows are truly gifted. Their imaginations astound me. They've created a situation where, instead of closing down their options, which happens with a lot of other television shows, they keep opening more up. Anything is possible."
Do you feel that, as the show gets more complicated, resolving it might be difficult if the series is axed?
"That's a really good question. I think that if we had legs, and with network television you never know, we'll make the same decision as Lost did - to say this will not run beyond this time. That way, all of the strings can be brought in and tied up. Even if they told us we had to finish this year, that'd give us enough time. If they drop the axe, what can you do? We care about it. I would certainly be disappointed if we didn't resolve it."
How involved is J.J Abrams in the show these days?
"Let me be honest, J.J does not involve himself in the day-to-day of the show beyond the launch of the show. We all dodge around this, but he doesn't. He's only been on the set about three times. It's no embarrassment. What he does is come up with these incredible creative ideas and then he gives it away to people to do. But, if anything goes wrong, he's where it stops."
There have been rumours that Fox is considering a crossover between Fringe and Bones. How do you feel about that?
"That'd be cool. I love those guys. I love that. I'd get on well with Bones, she's really cool. And I can imaging Olivia and David's character getting on well too. I don't know what Peter would do. That's interesting because Bones and Fringe have been paired together as a partnership that works on Fox. It'd be good to do a crossover."Check out our picks from the MCM Expo on Facebook - including a cheeky, not-so-flattering snap of us with the man himself! We have no shame.
