411mania Interviews: Christian Slater
Posted by Al Norton on 11.03.2009
411's Al Norton sits down for an exclusive interview with Christian Slater
Christian Slater has been one of Hollywood's most recognizable leading men for 20 years, with a resume that includes Heathers, Pump up the Volume, Untamed Heart, True Romance, Interview with a Vampire, and Murder in the First. He has starred on Broadway and in London's West End. His TV work includes noteworthy runs on The West Wing and Alias. Currently he is starring in the Jerry Bruckheimer produced the forgotten on ABC.
Al Norton: So clearly your experience on My Own Worst Enemy didn't turn you off to television.
Christian Slater: Yes, clearly. I loved the experience, actually. I was excited and nervous to dive into TV at the beginning but I found it to be great. I'd never taken on that level of responsibility before, being in that kind of position, doing the show week to week, working that many hours…It certainly was challenging but I responded well to it. I had a great time with it so when this opportunity came around I was very excited, and getting the opportunity to work with someone like Jerry Bruckheimer was equally as exciting.
Al Norton: Were you looking to do another series or did the forgotten just kind of fall in your lap?
Christian Slater: The project was up and running already and they made some changes and the role of Alex Donavon became available. I went and had a meeting with the executives at ABC, Jonathan Littman Lukas Reiter and Mark Friedman (producers of the series). They told me about the premise of the show, the idea of the show, the heart of the show, and it spoke to me. I really responded to the character. I liked this guy Alex Donovan, and it was certainly very different from what I did last year. This is a real human being, not a super hero by any means. He's a regular guy trying to do something very noble.
It's about a group of volunteers. They're not experts, they're not cops, they're just doing their best to specialize in a particular area and give closure to people who haven't been able to get any.
Al Norton: Was there an adjust period when you started filming since most of the cast had already done the original pilot together?
Christian Slater: Not really, no. I had a similar experience happen to me when I was doing The Glass Menagerie in New York. They had been rehearsing with an actor for about four weeks and then he had to leave and they called me up. I didn't really know the play that well or the part of Tom but I had about 9 days to open it up.
I like that kind of situation, where you have to jump in and don't have a lot of time to think about things, you have to just do. There is a lot of freedom in that.
Al Norton: Was part of the appeal of the show that this was more of an ensemble piece than My Own Worst Enemy?
Christian Slater: Definitely. It's definitely a we show, not a me show. It focuses on each of these people who are all equally valuable and all equally contributing factors to each and every episode. These are not experts; they're human beings trying to do something noble. I think it's incredibly charming that one is a telephone repair man, one is a school teacher, one's an office worker, and one's a med school dropout.
Al Norton: A telephone repairman with a little bit of an obsession with Sipowicz
Christian Slater: Exactly, that couldn't be more adorable.
Al Norton: Has the process with which you choose your parts changed at all over the years?
Christian Slater: I have a team of people that I communicate with, that I work with, and they're all very, very helpful. Honestly, the technique boils down to taking long hikes around Tomesco Canyon, stretching at the bottom of the hill, working it out and the top, and then coming to a decision back down at the bottom.
Al Norton: I wonder if I am the only person you talk to this week who mentions what a great job you did with your Saturday Night Live hosting duties.
Christian Slater: Thanks (laughing). I hope to some day get the opportunity to do that again. I got to do it twice and each time the cast was great. I'd kill to get another shot at it.
Al Norton: You had a very funny episode of My Name Is Earl, too, so I am wondering if you gave any thought to doing a sitcom.
Christian Slater: I've considered it, and I just did a spot on Curb Your Enthusiasm, which was fun. Not a lot of people would put me in the category of humor but I do tend to find life, when I'm not freaking out about it, quite funny (laughing).
Al Norton: This is straight out of Interview Questions 101 but if you could go back in time and give some advice to the teenage you, what would you say?
Christian Slater: Wow. I would probably just tell myself, "listen man, you're headed for a phenomenal adventure. There's going to be up's, there's going to be downs, you're going to be scared, you're going to be happy…Just enjoy the frickin' ride."
Al Norton: What was your reaction when you heard there was a plan to make a musical out of Heathers?
Christian Slater: My agent told me that a couple of weeks ago. I keep hearing all sorts of rumors. Right now my focus is all about 10:00, Tuesday nights.
Al Norton: A couple of weeks back we learned a lot more about Alex Donovan's history. How much more are we going to get over the rest of the season?
Christian Slater: A little bit is revealed as we cruise along. I'm really excited about the things that the writers are putting in, introducing the character of my ex-wife, and getting a lot more insight into who Alex is and what makes him tick. It makes him so much richer and more fun for me to play. We shot some scenes today that I think will be quite eye opening for the viewers.
Al Norton: There are a lot of crime based dramas on TV right now; for people who haven't watched the forgotten yet, what makes the show different?
Christian Slater: The thing that I think it is the most surprising in a lot of respects is the human element of the show. That people like you and me can actually participate in something like that, that there is a way to make contributions. There are organizations out there that actually do what we do on the show. There is an organization called Nameless.gov that has actually solved 11or 12 Jane or John Doe cases on their own. We've been trying to introduce that and I take my hat off to ABC for being willing to put some public service announcements out there. We ran some last week and that group doubled their website hits. I was incredibly happy when I heard that news, that we're not just making entertainment but actually something that could contribute in some way.
Don't miss the forgotten, Tuesdays at 10 pm on ABC.
