Part 1 of 2 Q&A conducted via speakerphone with Clancy Brown during the Earth 2 Fifth Anniversary Party July 1999 Transcribed by Beth Blighton

E25A Audience: First question is... what is the project you're currently working on and most of us wanna know do you die or not?

Clancy: I don't die... (Audience cheers loudly!) But I don't do much either... (chuckles.) It's called "The Boss of Bosses", based on a book that two FBI agents wrote about their work trying to capture Paul Castellano. They worked on that C-16 Unit of the FBI, which Duggan wrote a show about, I think, called "C-16", for a little while. And their names are Joe O'Brien and Andris "Andy" Kurins, and I'm Andy Kurins who doesnÕt figures as heartily as Joe O'Brien, but somebody had to make some money in my family (chuckles), so I went and did it. Let's see... who's playing Paul Castellano...? Chazz Palmenteri is playing Paul Castellano and Jay O'Sanders is my associate Joe O'Brien and I'm Andris Kurins, and there's a famous guy -- he's the guy who looked like Rod Steiger on "Murder One" -- he has an Italian name but I don't know what it is. Sorry I can't help you out that way...

E25A: I wanted to know, when you're at home rehearsing for any kind of project, do you ever set up a video camera just to sort of study your performance or anything?

Clancy: No, but that's a good idea! I'll have to do that. I think that sounds like a good idea. I'll try that next time.

E25A: Clancy, I hesitate to ask this... We know what you felt about the final finished product of "Female Perversions", but you've gotta admit it's not the kind of role that you usually do...

Clancy: That's for sure.

E25A: I'm just curious how you got that role in the first place?

Clancy: Just auditioned... like usual. I went in and met the director, then read with Tilda. And I actually liked the script a whole lot when I first read it. It was a real interesting kind of smart script. Unfortunately it was just directed by somebody who needed to direct a few more movies before she tackled something like that. She wrote it, and she's a very smart woman, and she wrote a very smart script, but directing is a very different kind of game and she didn't really have a clear vision of it. So she kinda painted herself into this corner of... soft-core pornography is kind of how I characterize it (chuckles).

E25A: Hi Clancy, my name's Doug and I've been a longtime fan of Earth 2.

Clancy: Thank you very much. Thanks for coming to the Reunion.

E25A: I've got a question for you. You've always seemed like a very creative man, you've always seemed very well read, and I've always wondered if there's any particular project out -- science fiction or otherwise -- that you really wish you could do or wish somebody would come up with and, if so, would you go out of your way to try to get it made? Are you into the "movie getting made" business at all or do you just like to be an actor and let the roles come to you and let whoever else is out there writing them....?

Clancy: Yeah, yeah, exactly! That's about right! I don't know much about getting movies made and that's a whole different game. There's a project going around, actually, it's being shot now... I think they're coming up to Toronto pretty soon... and it's "X-Men". I went and read for that but I wasn't good enough for that one, but I know that thing had been in development for years, for years! Like a decade. Finally this lady, Lauren Schuler-Donner, got a hold of it... Well, now she's like the only one who could probably get that made because she has a number of things under her belt. When I went in and read for it I looked at the artwork on the wall and, yeah, I know a little bit about the X-Men, cuz I used to read that when I got my hair cut back in Urbana, Ohio, as a little kid. You know, when they all wore the yellow the gold and blue suits and I think there were four -- there was the Thing, and the Doctor. No... there were five, right? The Thing, the Doctor, Johnny Flame or whatever, the invisible Girl and, uh.... is that it? Maybe that's it. (Lot's of suggestions being thrown back and forth between the audience and Clancy.) There were five original. Then again it had it's second wind with Wolverine and the Beast and all that, and that was pretty creative too. I sort of was killing time in some regional theater and kinda got into reading the comic books cuz there was nothing else to do. So anyway, I saw the artwork, and they were editing it tremendously. They were getting rid of the Beast and they were getting rid of the Cyclops guy -- or they were changing the Cyclops guy. They were just doing all this movie editing. Sort of the same thing they're doing with this movie. I find that very frustrating. If I was to be a producer, I would be fired because I would say "No, no, no... you can't have Frankenstein be a nice guy. You can't have the creature be nice, but he does have to be very articulate. He canÕt be grunting and groaning. He has to learn the language and master it." And all I need is to get into an argument with somebody who has produced a movie before, then I would be fired, see? So... I don't think that's my thing, because I would get a little too wrapped up in the way I think it should be. For example, I couldnÕt develop "Starship Troopers" because I would still be trying to figure out a way to make the power suits work. I couldn't ever get my head around just not using them and turning it into a World War II metaphor movie or a war metaphor movie. I would sort of be too wrapped up in what I would think would be my vision of it, so thatÕs for people like... producers. ThatÕs for people who really donÕt give a damn about stuff like that.

E25A: Did you ever read a really good book and think "God, I wish somebody would make that into a movie!"?

Clancy: Oh, there's tons of 'em! What are ya talking about? Just in sci-fi alone... I know "Stranger in a Strange Land" has been optioned since it was first written and trying to be developed. I don't know who has it now. I know that "Forever War" had been optioned as soon as it was written. I know "Enders Game" is currently being developed somehow. I know there's just a ton of these things floating around out there, but itÕs a different kind of thing to get it really going. YouÕve gotta sell a very simple concept, cuz youÕre gonna want a lot of money finally for -- especially with the capacity of visual effects these days, and they cost. That's expensive, so you've gotta sell a pretty great concept, and then either not spend money on the stars or spend money on stars and spend less money on the effects. That's just a juggling show that I'd rather not do. I would rather have it in my hand and say, "Okay, how do I sneak in this thematic that I saw in the book that seems to be ignored in the script?" That's not my cup of tea yet.

E25A: Hi Clancy, had a follow-up to your comment on "Starship Troopers"... I don't think we've heard from you much since it came out. What were your thoughts on the final screen version?

Clancy: I really liked it. I thought it was great. I thought it was, you know... it was what it was, and I didn't think it deserved quite the rip that it got from all the critics. I mean, some of the critics didn't even see it! I read this review by Ebert where it was clear that the guy didn't even watch the movie. I mean, people kinda make up their minds about stuff sometimes, and they make up their minds a lot about stuff Paul Verhoeven does. Plus there was the debate just among fans of the book about whether it was any good or not. That was something I sort of got into a little bit and said, "Listen, if you wanna see anything approximating the classic science fiction produced, support this movie. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" had nothing to do with "Blade Runner", you know what I mean? I mean, "Blade Runner" was not a true telling of that short story. The thematics in "Starship Troopers" I thought were pretty well laid out, although informed by three decades since it was first published and everything we've gone through since then. Yeah, but everybodyÕs an expert, so... (chuckles) But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it because I thought it was enough of the book to be interesting and it was also more interesting because of the particular spin on it -- Paul's spin, which is uniquely VerhoevenÕs point of view. I love the fact that they just took all these gorgeous kids and maimed them! It was such a hilarious kind of comedy.

E25A: Did we see online that they are gonna go ahead with the cartoon?

Clancy: Oh, yeah. They are making a cartoon. I donÕt even know if it's strictly a cartoon... it's computer animation and I'm doing Sgt. Zim on that one, every now and then. But that really has nothing to do with the book. That's really a spin-off of the movie. Dizzy's an ongoing character and all these other guys, so that is really just about humans fighting bugs. It has issues in it, sort of the same kind of issues I guess that are reflected in Heinlein. Greg... (whatÕs-his-name?), who was also behind "Godzilla" and "Ghostbusters", heÕs the guy leading this for Sony. HeÕs really doing a good job but letÕs not fool ourselves... I mean, it's a cartoon thatÕs meant to be its own thing. ItÕs just taking a lot of the conventions of the book and the movie -- more the movie, actually. The design of the movie is the design of the cartoon and itÕs pretty spectacular computer animation. I've never quite seen... It's the next level. It's the next generation. ItÕs pretty great! But itÕs less like the book than the movie was, even. And I liked the movie... But I also liked "Dune", ya know? (laughter all around)

E25A: Clancy, if they did let you do it your way, would you like to direct and what type of movie would you like to direct?

Clancy: Oh, jeez... I don't know. I would probably be most comfortable -- if I directed something -- I would be most comfortable directing a human story. Just a nice close drama, probably. Like a family drama, a family story. I just saw today "Eyes Wide Shut" and anybody could have directed that, but nobody could have directed that the way Kubrick did. The story is not really that compelling, but the way he shot it, the way he put it together, the music, the whole sort of operatic experience of it was kind of great. I would not be that kind of director. I would be very straight ahead and... First of all, I would not hire Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, but somebody you never saw before and try to turn in the performance of their lives. If I was doing some sci-fi thing? I dunno... There are a couple of Philip Dick short stories that are pretty good, a couple of William Gibson ones, but I don't think I could do anything like "The Matrix". I couldn't hold that all in my head. Neither of those guys held it completely in their heads, there was the combination of the brothersÕ brains that did the "Matrix". They had their own vision of that and they were a couple of geeks, a couple of anime-geeks... That's what they wanted to do and that's what they did. But I would be more at home directing "Hedda Gabler" than "Stranger in a Strange Land".

E25A: Hi Clancy, this is Anne. I have a cartoon question for you. I got to see earlier in the year a preview of "SpongeBob SquarePants". It was really a cute cartoon. Could you do the character's voice from the show? Could you give us a sample?

Clancy: Oh, oh... I donÕt know. (chuckles) I kinda go into a zone in front of a mike when I do Mr. Krabs... But he's just kinda a pirate guy. You know, (slips into Mr. Krabs voice) "Ahoy... You're a great fry cook! Yo-ho-ho..." and that type of thing. "Ar-har-har-har-har..." That's it. (Audience applause) Cheers....

E25A: Clancy, hi, IÕm Cheryl, IÕm from Montreal...

Clancy: Hey, Cheryl.

E25A: There was some discussion today about business in Hollywood going to Canada. Obviously you're there now... I was just wondering if you had any particular opinion on that, how you feel about it? Good thing? Bad thing?

Clancy: It's fine with me.

E25A: All rent for you? Just more rent in your pocket?

Clancy: No, no... Actually I don't make as much money up here because of your Canadian laws, your tax laws, or whatever. I mean, honestly. But, ya know, when I did "Shoot to Kill" about ten years ago, a little more than ten years ago, there was the same beef going on, and while I was up here I heard somebody -- like the president of the Directors Guild of Canada go on, and he was refuting some statistic that the Directors Guild of America had laid out, or somebody out had laid out, saying that the American economy has lost nine billion dollars or some stupid amount of money by flight to Canada. And this Canadian guy, very wisely and calmly, the way most Canadians conduct their arguments with Americans, said that's kind of an inflated figure, plus the dollars are international dollars. They're not American dollars that are leaving. These things are financed by multi-national corporations and you have an awful lot of Americans up here doing them and, on top of that, it all depends on the exchange rate of the dollar. If the Canadian dollar starts rising against the American dollar, guess where theyÕre gonna shoot the movies? It's a purely international economic thing. He said he canÕt help it if itÕs cheaper to shoot up here because [the Canadian] dollar is cheaper, but the fact is [the Canadian] talent is just as good as that in America, and if it costs you fifty cents to get what you get for seventy-five cents in America, then you're gonna go to Canada. And I agree with that. I just wish that they didn't take 15% of my paycheck without even asking me. That's the only thing. That's amazing... I don't quite get that. I don't know how you guys put up with that...

E25A: Free Medicare.

Clancy: Yeah... and that's doin' great, isn't it? (laughter) Goodness... that used to be the big deal, right? That used to be what everybody pointed to and said, "Look, Canada's doing it right." And every day there's stories in the Globe and Mail about how it's falling apart. So maybe it was good for a while but you gotta find another system up here, I think.

E25A: Clancy, this is Kathy again. I didnÕt introduce myself the first time.

Clancy: That's okay, Kath...

E25A: Since you're doing voices... We've heard your Irish brogue, can you do a Scottish?

Clancy: I haven't done it in a movie yet... No... (laughter), I don't wanna do voices... (more laughter) I have to have a character.

E25A: Hi Clancy, this is Alice from Vermont...

Clancy: Hi Alice.

E25A: I wanted to know, if there was one thing that you would want your fans to know about you, what is it?

Clancy: That I would want my fans to know about me? I would just apologize for not being as responsive as perhaps everybody thinks I should be. But maybe you should just know that IÕm very lazy and I donÕt even write my mother back. (laughter) There's a lady thatÕs been emailing me and IM-ing me who I donÕt recognize, and if I don't recognize an IM or an email, I just don't answer it. It doesn't matter if I've met you before, if I don't recognize that then I just donÕt answer it. I would say that that's a failing that I have, and I donÕt mean it to be rude. It's just that I could be online all night talking to people, I think, and writing emails to people every day. So IÕm not selectively not answering, I'm just... And Beth, you can like back me up on this...

E25A: Oh, yes... I can.

Clancy: It takes forever and it has to be urgent.

E25A: When you're busy, sometimes yes, sometimes no... It depends what you're doing.

Clancy: And it has to be urgent, too, for me to...

E25A: Yeah, yeah, you have to hear that panic....

Clancy: Takes lots of exclamation points. (chuckles) "Right now, I am walking out the door..."

E25A: (laughs) I was literally walking out the door...

Clancy: IÕm so sorry, I apologize for that.

E25A: So, aside from an apology, thereÕs really nothing else youÕd want us to know... or not know?

Clancy: You got something in mind? (laughter all around)

E25A: Hello, Clancy... This is Tracy, and I want to know if there was one piece of information that youÕve been given in your life that youÕve taken onboard and made your own? Like advice...?

Clancy: Oh, yeah, that's a good question. My dad is full of aphorisms, he's always telling me stuff. Sometimes I don't remember it til much later, but... I dunno... The one thing that has stuck out, the one thing I can say for sure... hmmm... I'll have to think about that. Nothing that springs to mind, obviously.

E25A: Hello, Clancy, this is Doug again. Going back to reading, I was just wondering who's your favorite author or what book had influenced you?

Clancy: My favorite author? Oh, goodness... There's so many... There's so many good ones out there. I go on these jags where I decide I like a writer and I'll start reading him til I'm sick of him. I did that with Nelson DeMille for a while. I really liked everything that he wrote, but then I got so sick and tired of him. And I did it with Michael Crichton, but he's kinda easier, cuz he's like reading a comic book, very easy to get through. I can't remember her name, the lady who wrote... her last name is Roy [Arundhati Roy, author of "The God of Small Things"] She really impressed me. It was a pretty great book about an Indian woman and her family. It was a best seller recently and now, of course, I can't remember it. But she can turn a phrase. Of course, I read the book this ["The Boss of Bosses"]is based on now. WhoÕs my favorite author...? I think I've read just about everything Herbert has written, I'll probably pick up another Heinlein one of these days. Orson Scott Card has got a new book out that I'm dyin' to read. But I didn't buy it cuz itÕs in hard back and that just takes up too much room in my suitcase. Right now, I've been reading sorta the classic childrenÕs books to Rose, so I've been reading "The Wind in the Willows" and I just bought "Bambi" for her, so I'm gonna read that. IÕve read her a lot of Roald Dahl stuff, reading the stuff aloud to her. Right now that's the jag I'm going on. "The Little Prince"... I read her "The Little Prince", of course, and she was falling asleep and I was bawling... (laughter)

E25A: How's she doing?

Clancy: She's doing good. They're coming up Wednesday.

CONTINUED IN PART II