Montecito
10-23-2009, 10:39 AM
Joshua Jackson feels pretty comfortable on the 'Fringe,' Fox's sci-fi action thriller
By DAVID MARTINDALE
Special to the Star-Telegram
When it comes to radical, beyond-the-norm sci-fi ideas, Joshua Jackson of Fringe is partial to concepts that get, in a word, "fringy."
"What defies my imagination," Jackson says, "is that there would be nothing out there that would defy my imagination."
That makes him an ideal fit for Fox’s creepy action thriller, in which the FBI’s Fringe Division investigates cases involving weird, experimental science run amok.
"If we don’t have a new crazy thing [happening in every episode]," Jackson says, "something’s gone horribly wrong."
Peter Bishop, Jackson’s character, isn’t just a key member of the Fringe team. He’s also a future case file: It so happens that Peter was stolen as a child from a parallel universe after the Peter from this universe died.
Fans were blown away when that bombshell dropped at the end of Season 1. But the plot development didn’t faze Jackson.
"Maybe it’s my West Coast, liberal upbringing, but the idea of parallel universes doesn’t strike me as being too far out there," he says. "After the ’60s and all the psychedelia and The Doors of Perception and what-have-you, I don’t think it’s really all that far out.
"The only justifiable position a human can have in 2009 is humility in the face of the universe. It’s like that Carl Sagan saying about the candle in the dark: Every time the candle gets a little bit brighter, it only serves to illuminate how much we still don’t know."
Or maybe it’s just a lifelong love of sci-fi that opened Jackson’s mind.
"It’s a ton of fun for a guy who loves science fiction to be working on a science-fiction show," the former Dawson’s Creek teen idol says. "None of the concepts raised on this show is entirely foreign to me, but I’ve never worked on a show before where we get to actually explore those ideas."
The show is an X-Files for this generation, but with one key difference.
"The X-Files, by design, dealt with things that were supposed to be part of the paranormal," Jackson says. "What Fringe is trying to say is that these things that we would normally classify as fantastical are actually part of the normal. They all have legitimate explanations in the scientific world."
Fringe, for example, has given us an alternate universe in which New York’s World Trade Center is still standing.
"I love our show for that," Jackson says. "It should keep on pushing boundaries like that."
Meanwhile, fans are still eagerly awaiting the fallout that will come when Peter finds out what Walter, his mad-scientist dad (played by John Noble), did to keep the family together.
"What I love so much about that, beyond the ain’t-it-cool factor, is now the audience knows something about Peter, something crucial, that he doesn’t know about himself," Jackson says. "We come to find out that this is a large part of the guilt that Walter carries around, that he baby-snatched Peter as a young boy. Inevitably that information had to come out.
"So while I don’t know the particulars much further than the episode I’m shooting right now, I do think that has to come to a head, and it will lead to a conflict between the two. Eventually he’s going to find out that this horrible thing happened to him as a child, and that’s going to blow up his relationship with Walter."
Sci-fi action plots and the dynamic of a family drama. No wonder Jackson loves his work on Fringe so much. For an actor, it’s the best of both worlds.
It’s almost enough, in fact, for Jackson not to envy co-star Anna Torv, who plays agent Olivia Dunham.
Dunham’s adventures in the alternate universe have meant doing scenes opposite iconic Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek’s original Mr. Spock.
"I’ve been shafted so far," Jackson jokes.
"In fact, I’m going to lodge a formal complaint. While I did get to meet him, and that’s cool, I have yet to be able to do a scene with him, and I think that’s uncool."
Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1682199.html#tvg
By DAVID MARTINDALE
Special to the Star-Telegram
When it comes to radical, beyond-the-norm sci-fi ideas, Joshua Jackson of Fringe is partial to concepts that get, in a word, "fringy."
"What defies my imagination," Jackson says, "is that there would be nothing out there that would defy my imagination."
That makes him an ideal fit for Fox’s creepy action thriller, in which the FBI’s Fringe Division investigates cases involving weird, experimental science run amok.
"If we don’t have a new crazy thing [happening in every episode]," Jackson says, "something’s gone horribly wrong."
Peter Bishop, Jackson’s character, isn’t just a key member of the Fringe team. He’s also a future case file: It so happens that Peter was stolen as a child from a parallel universe after the Peter from this universe died.
Fans were blown away when that bombshell dropped at the end of Season 1. But the plot development didn’t faze Jackson.
"Maybe it’s my West Coast, liberal upbringing, but the idea of parallel universes doesn’t strike me as being too far out there," he says. "After the ’60s and all the psychedelia and The Doors of Perception and what-have-you, I don’t think it’s really all that far out.
"The only justifiable position a human can have in 2009 is humility in the face of the universe. It’s like that Carl Sagan saying about the candle in the dark: Every time the candle gets a little bit brighter, it only serves to illuminate how much we still don’t know."
Or maybe it’s just a lifelong love of sci-fi that opened Jackson’s mind.
"It’s a ton of fun for a guy who loves science fiction to be working on a science-fiction show," the former Dawson’s Creek teen idol says. "None of the concepts raised on this show is entirely foreign to me, but I’ve never worked on a show before where we get to actually explore those ideas."
The show is an X-Files for this generation, but with one key difference.
"The X-Files, by design, dealt with things that were supposed to be part of the paranormal," Jackson says. "What Fringe is trying to say is that these things that we would normally classify as fantastical are actually part of the normal. They all have legitimate explanations in the scientific world."
Fringe, for example, has given us an alternate universe in which New York’s World Trade Center is still standing.
"I love our show for that," Jackson says. "It should keep on pushing boundaries like that."
Meanwhile, fans are still eagerly awaiting the fallout that will come when Peter finds out what Walter, his mad-scientist dad (played by John Noble), did to keep the family together.
"What I love so much about that, beyond the ain’t-it-cool factor, is now the audience knows something about Peter, something crucial, that he doesn’t know about himself," Jackson says. "We come to find out that this is a large part of the guilt that Walter carries around, that he baby-snatched Peter as a young boy. Inevitably that information had to come out.
"So while I don’t know the particulars much further than the episode I’m shooting right now, I do think that has to come to a head, and it will lead to a conflict between the two. Eventually he’s going to find out that this horrible thing happened to him as a child, and that’s going to blow up his relationship with Walter."
Sci-fi action plots and the dynamic of a family drama. No wonder Jackson loves his work on Fringe so much. For an actor, it’s the best of both worlds.
It’s almost enough, in fact, for Jackson not to envy co-star Anna Torv, who plays agent Olivia Dunham.
Dunham’s adventures in the alternate universe have meant doing scenes opposite iconic Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek’s original Mr. Spock.
"I’ve been shafted so far," Jackson jokes.
"In fact, I’m going to lodge a formal complaint. While I did get to meet him, and that’s cool, I have yet to be able to do a scene with him, and I think that’s uncool."
Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/living/story/1682199.html#tvg