Boston College pg2

Boston College Lecture Transcript - page 2

MOD:
Thank you.   I'd like to open it up for the audience now--just have them ask a few questions before we let you go. Anyone who's interested can come right up to the mike right here, or you can just scream from your seats and we'll hear you.   Right over here.....

Q):   I was just wondering what the process is as far as getting an agent?

Ans): DJE:
This is how I did it.   Because I started in Toronto, it was easier to get an agent. I had a job.   I started in the theater, and so I didn't need an agent to get me a job in the theater.   I imagine it would be the same here.   The Equity puts out a magazine that lets you know where the auditions are.   In fact, I became a member of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival company, which is the largest classical repertory theater in North America--I crashed that audition.   I heard where it was.   I went in and sat in the room, and when somebody didn't show up, I offered to go in and audition, and I got the job. I got an agent that way. And then when I got a job, we came to Hollywood in a much gentler way.   You're never going to get an agent (pause).....   I don't know of anybody who has ever gotten an agent by sending their picture and resume' in to these agencies.   I've been at the agencies, and I've seen the stack of people who've sent in their picture and their resume', and I've seen the person at the front desk shredding them.   You'll just never do it.   You've gotta know somebody.   You've gotta get in somehow.   You've gotta use your imagination.   You've gotta hang out at the beginning.   You've gotta shmooze.   You gotta find somebody who can get you in that room, so you can sell yourself.   You gotta have a friend who has an agent.   So that would be my advice to you--get a job. Then the agent can come and see you in the play.

Q):   I have an unusual question. First of all, we love your show. I love the show because I'm retired Navy--a naval aviator. My question is, have you ever had a chance to fly in an F-14?

Ans): DJE:
I never went in a 14. I went in an 18 with the Blue Angels, and I've been offered to go with them again, and also I was offered a couple of chances to go in a 16. It's a little rough on your lower back. I remember crawling out of there and couldn't stand up straight for awhile, because the G-forces really compress the spine. So my hat's off to you. You flew F-14's?
(Questioner Answers - I flew F-4's)
DJE: Wow, ok! They're pretty fast too.
(Questioner Answers - Thank you)
DJE: Sure (Smiling)

Q):   My Mom wanted me to ask you.....(Strong laughter!!)
DJE: (Big smile) Well, I'm married..... (Big smile) (Strong laughter!!)
(Questioner Continues - She's a big fan of your show, and she just wanted me to ask you, how you could leave without getting together with Mac? (Strong laughter!!)
DJE: You haven't seen the last episode yet.

MOD:
Any other questions?

Q):   How was it when you direct and you're acting, and how often did you do it?

Ans): DJE:
I did it a couple of times. You know, it was tricky, but I didn't mind it. I think I liked it.   We had playback, so someone would tape the shot, and then I'd go watch it.   If I felt (pause)..... Generally, at this point after 10 years, I'd know when I'm on or when I'm off. It was difficult to split my focus. What I found when I was acting was, it was harder not be watching what the other players were doing, than to just try and be in the moment--that was the difficulty. But I think I managed to pull that off.   But if there was ever any question, I could go and look at the playback and decide if we needed another take or not.   It was also being concerned about the camera, because I couldn't watch what the camera was doing, and I'd have to trust the cameraman and where he'd be.

Q):   I'm a _________ student and also a die-hard fan of JAG.   And I was wondering how you adapted to the kind of a washed up culture, so to speak, of Hollywood, and how you fit in basically?

Ans):DJE:
(David has been leaning down, looking her way, listening intently) That's assuming that I do fit in. (laughter) How do you mean, fit in?
(Questioner Answers - Because often I've heard people being interviewed about how they just get crushed in all the Hollywood hustle and bustle--you know--when they're in a show....)
DJE:
You know, I think I know what you're asking, and again I go back to having started in a smaller arena before I went out there.   So I got to make my mistakes on a smaller scale and learn, without it being the end--without your first mistake being your last mistake--there was still a second chance.   That's another reason to start small before you go into the big town.   Luckily, and I guess thankfully, my success came later. I had success--certainly always made a living acting--but my greatest success came after a long period of great understanding of the business.

Q): Would you ever consider doing a season of Stratford again?   (AN - couldn't here the question very well)

Ans): DJE
I was considering that just before I got JAG--or no, just before I got The Untouchables. It would be wonderful to be able to do that, but who knows..... One of my best pals is at Shaw right now--been there for 6 years.   I was talking to him and he wants to come to Hollywood--he's over it now.   But it would certainly be fun to do some theater again.

Q): I'm always curious why actors and actresses leave long-running TV shows.   I know you had 2 other co-stars before Mac-- can't remember the character's names. Did they leave voluntarily or were they asked to leave?

Ans): DJE:
No, their option wasn't picked up, which is odd. One of the unique things about the show was we were on NBC--on another network--for a year before we went to CBS and went on for another 9 years, and what NBC and everything they put up against the show, they threw away.   But on the pilot I was with Andy Parker, who they (NBC) said they didn't want on the show, and then they offered her, her own show on the same network immediately after dropping her from JAG.   Then Meg, I guess, was the other character the first season, and CBS didn't want her.   So that's how it happened.

Q): Two questions.   One is--Is there any show on now, since you both write, that you're a fan of the writing? And the Second is--For the ABC pilot, do you have any timetable for it?

ANS): DJE:
It's really up in the air.   We may present our ideas and they may go "You know what, these suck and we're not interested". They probably won't say they suck, but they could say "Really wonderful work, guys, but we're thinkin'.....No". (laughter)
What was the other question?
(Questioner repeats 'writing' question)
DJE:
I really like Boston Legal.   It's a good show--I love it.
JJT:
I like Scrubs. (laughter)
DJE:
I like Scrubs, too. (smiles) It's difficult, first off, when you're working--it's hard to watch anything regularly. When is is on--Boston Legal? (someone says and he repeats) 10 o'clock Sunday night--never did get to be home 10 o'clock Sunday nights.
(Someone asks): What about ________?
DJE:
I've never seen that one. I hear it's doing well--it's an ABC show.

Q): What was it like to working with your wife on the show for a period of time?

Ans): DJE:
You know, it was..uh..it was uh..you know..... You know, if I wanted to help, I had to watch how I approached helping--because it could be painful later on (laughter), and then if I didn't do anything, that could be painful later on.    So it was tricky but it was interesting.   But when she did really well...in the ... Well, now, wait a minute, she always did well (strong laughter!) (David laughs).   You had to ask the question, didn't you (strong laughter!) You know what, it could be wonderful usually.   It was always wonderful--sometimes it was more wonderful than others (laughter) (David laughs).

MOD:
Anything else? Over here....

Q): I was going to say, what were your biggest challenges on JAG? Moving networks, you had different actors and actresses--what do you think were the biggest challenges on the series?

Ans): DJE:
The first season--realizing what it was going to take to make this work and the scope of what the job entailed. You get into it and then suddenly, especially the first season, when it had a lot of media interest and there were cameras in your face, you had to learn how to deal with media.   So you weren't just (pause)..... It wasn't enough just to act in the piece.    You had to continually sell it.   I had to learn the art of the sound byte and how to stay interesting for 3 seconds--keep your answers succinct and interesting.   It was difficult. It was hard for me because it was new, and I'd never done it before.   Wasn't something that I'm really, like, all about--the publicity. That's another way--I guess that I found a way for me to survive--which was more about the work all week with me. I know some people, it's more about the publicity.   They're more interested in seeing their picture and their name in print.   That was something I felt was part and parcel of the job, and I realized it was something >I paid to have happen, and it wasn't an arbitrary decision of someone else.   It was something I propagated or my people did.   So again, that--and every day you had to be "on".   It was a difficult transition to go from not working steadily to suddenly being the main person and the responsibility that came with that. It's a tough job.   It was something that (pause)..... I tell you, I just ran the Boston Marathon yesterday, and I run a bunch of marathons, and I love those type of endurance sports.   I always made those about how to succeed in life.   If I could complete that, than I could see my way through to this.   I always tried to see everything through to the end and could never give up. So that's a little bit of zen code of the mind that I live with--is finish the job. So it was a giant mountain I had to climb.   So to answer your question, the first season of the show was the hardest.

Q):   I read an article once where you talked about the movie Dodson's Journey, and that you weren't exactly happy with it, and there were some things about it you would have changed.   I loved the movie, so I was wondering what you would have changed, that you would have wished different?

Ans): DJE:
There were a lot of things that went on behind the scenes that were not as tasteful as I had hoped.   Nothing that I would really want to get into here--things that I had to go through.   It was a great learning experience, and I learned a huge lesson very quickly.   Leave it at that.   And you know, I find it's difficult to watch the show (JAG).   I watch it on USA.   I rarely watched an episode after it was shot, because I was too close to it at that point.   I needed some distance to forget what it took to get a take, and where my favorite takes were.   When I would watch an episode immediately after finishing shooting, I would remember every minute of every day--I didn't like the way I looked, I didn't like the way it was lit (etc., etc.)   I can look at stuff from 5 years ago, and I find I can view it a lot easier.   Question over there?

Q):   What I'm wondering it this--what factors do you think fit together to make JAG so popular for so amazingly long?

ANS): DJE:
That's a question I was asked often, and I'm not sure I can answer it.   It had a loyal fan base in the beginning.   That which burns brightest, burns quickest--In the media it never took off. It was never a media hit.   It grew by word of mouth.   The loyal fan base grew, and they always hung in.   And people who liked the show, loved it--they were all about it. Initially the show started before there was a time of war, and it was during the Clinton years and they were downsizing. Nobody was really interested in the military, and it had been years since the military had been in the news like it is again. So it was interesting that the show took off at all.   Also on another level, it was a show that had a lot of--I used to call it "the whole ball of wax" show.   It had some comedy, it had some action, had some intrigue and some mystery, it had some human stories--it had a little bit of everything--and relationships.

Ans): JJT:
Well, I have my own theory on why JAG stood out amongst everything else.   Most things you see on TV are cops, people killing each other, CSI crime scene investigations, people getting sick in hospitals. It very, very (pause).....    I think it's the only show that actually represents America.    And I like to call it a John Wayne type of show, where there's heroism, there is virtue, and there is all the good things that this country is, represented in that show.   And there are a lot of people in this country who identify with that.   And I always thought that it was like (pause).....   It's not about the military. It's about people going out and standing up for their country.   I don't mean to get all patriotic here or anything like that, but I just think it's a--I don't want to say like 40's or 50's either--it's like the John Wayne days when people wanted a hero and there aren't too many heroes left altogether in cops and robbers and doctors and anybody you guys can think of.

MOD:
We'll have time for one more question.   So we'll go up here....

Q): I'm interested in the reaction you had of actual military personnel, especially JAG's and lawyers had.....

Ans): DJE:
The writers spoke with JAG personnel for every script they wrote.   Every script went to the Navy and they would hand in notes on it.   On the set everyday we had a technical adviser who was a 22-year veteran of the Marine Corps, and there were a lot of ex-military people working on the sets.   But basically, we ran everything through the Navy and through JAG lawyers.   Whoever was represented in the story--the real people in those positions--had a voice and were allowed to voice their concerns and give notes. However, our first job is to entertain.   So occasionally we'd have to tell the military, "Look guys--it may not be technically absolutely correct.   However, it would be a dreadful bore if this was a training film (laughter), and we're trying to make some money here, too." So we did our best.   One of the things that people loved about the show is that technically it was about as accurate as you can get in all of it. We made great efforts to be that whenever we could.

Q): Do you have a reaction to those people in the military at all?

Ans): DJE:
Oh absolutely! I have an enormous respect for the military and what they do and the sacrifice they make. Thank God for us in this country that we have such a powerful military and guys who take that position really seriously.   It's wonderful to have that, because we wouldn't be sitting here like this today.

MOD:
And I'd just like to wrap up with a couple of things--
First of all, John Jetsyn Tache', 227 episodes--and in doing some research on tonight, I saw that co-executive producer Charles Johnson, referred to Jagathon as one of his top 3 favorites of all time.   So I think that's something that is pretty amazing to have your first--was that your first? (JJT nods Yes)--to make such an impact on one of the top people. And David James Elliott, thank you for 10 years and 227 episodes. That's a pretty amazing feat in modern television for a television drama.   So thank you very much.   (Loud Applause!)