Moviestuff Q & A, Part III
Series

The first series you starred in as one of the main characters and not as 'guest star' was "Days of Our Lives", a soap series still running today. How did you get this part and how do you now look back on those two years in a 'soap'?

A casting director gave me a shot at it, I read for the part and got it. Working on a soap was, at that time, very demanding (probably still is). A new script every day is a bit of a trial. It's also hard, in a soap situation, to deal honestly with the character.

The writing is geared to an audience that doesn't tune in every day, so there is a great deal of repetition from day to day and one has to figure out how to make it "fresh". There was also a problem for me in that everything is so down and hyper-dramatic. I like to think there is always an opportunity for a smile or a sense of humor no matter how lousy things might be, but the producers and writers didn't agree with me.

The thing I remember most is the fact that when I signed on they weren't sure how the character would work out so didn't want to sign me to a contract. I worked day to day. Then, when the character caught on they decided they wanted me under contract, but by that time I had realized I didn't want to be trapped there if something else came up, so turned them down and kept working day to day. At the end of the second year a man wrote a part in a pilot film for a new prime-time series called "The Interns". In conversation with the casting director he told her that he had written the part with me in mind and was sorry that I was on a soap and not available. "Oh," she said, "but he is. He's not under contract to them." So, through a lucky conversation, I was able to leave and do the pilot for "The Interns".

"Days" was followed by "The Interns", a series about young doctors. What do you remember about this show?

Had a wonderful time in my first starring role in a prime-time series. It was also an education to work with a pro like Broderick Crawford. It only lasted one year, but that was fine with me as there were other things waiting in the wings.

Some people who look back on your career and see the parts you played say: "he was destined to play BJ in MASH". I guess this comes from the parts you played such as a war-surgeon in an episode of "Bonanza", this series [Interns], a 'doctor' in "Questor Tapes" and so on. What do you yourself think of people making such links and do you believe in 'destiny' the way it seems to have been adding up in your career?

I know I got a lot of roles as men in uniform when I began. I guess people thought I was the "military" type. It's a function of being a certain age, I suppose, and a certain type. As far as "destiny" is concerned, I'm not sure, but I do feel that there's a kind of guiding hand out there somewhere which has been very good to me. It might be as simple as intuition, it might be luck, it might be a force that is watching out, or perhaps destiny. I'm not prepared to say. I do think that what you put out comes back to you, so that may have something to do with it as well.

After "Interns" you starred in "The Man And The City" with Anthony Quinn. I don't know that much about the series, but I would like to ask you what it was like working with a world famous actor (he used to be one of my favs for a long time when I was a teen). Were you impressed with who he was, or at least the status the media gave to him?

I was thrilled with the opportunity to work with Tony Quinn, who was a movie star of the first caliber and whose work I admired. I didn't believe there was a chance he'd be content to stay for long in a series situation, so took the job with the belief that it wouldn't tie me up for very long either. (Those were the days when I said I couldn't imagine wanting to play the same character for more than three years or so.) It involved signing a contract with Universal Pictures, but I figured they wouldn't want to keep paying me once the series went off, so took the chance.

The show depicted Tony as the mayor of "a small southwestern city" in America. The model was Albuquerque, New Mexico, but we didn't call it that. I was his chief aide and we went around solving problems. It was a fairly typical series at that point in time, but it was a fabulous school for me. He is such a vital force and such a powerful one that it was a delight to be able to spend time with and learn from him.

You played Jerry Robinson in "The Questor Tapes", a pilot for a possible series. If this film had been made in a series, what do you think your chances of ever being part of MASH would have been?

If the show had gone on to become a series I probably wouldn't have been available to do MASH. Thinking about that is one of the elements that takes me back to the "guiding hand" idea. I can't explain the luck involved in what I've been able to do, but am very grateful for it.

What do you think your career would have looked like without MASH?

Even if the show (Questor) had been very successful I can't help but think my career and my life would have been poorer in the spiritual sense, poorer in the experiential sense and poorer in just about every sense I can think of.

I had a good time doing "Questor" and enjoyed getting to know Bob Foxworth. I also was very flattered by Gene Roddenberry's kind words about my performance. But oh, god, am I glad the series didn't happen!

How did you go about developing BJ from a character on paper with not much of a background, to the BJ we saw, got to know and love throughout the years?

All they knew about BJ was that he was going to be married and a committed husband and father, to differentiate him from Hawkeye and Trapper. The rest came about from what they gave me on paper and what they learned from me as we came to know one another.

What do you think happened with BJ after the war or what would you've liked to happen to him?

I figure he went home to Peg and Erin and began practicing medicine in Mill Valley. And I figure he's still there, somewhere (maybe in Stinson Beach by now), plying his trade very happily.

The show "Providence" has not even aired yet, but there are already speculations about what part you play in it and how big that part is. Could you please enlighten us a bit on what this show is about and tell a bit more about the character you play?

Jim Hansen is a veterinarian who has, in the pilot, a wife, two daughters and one son. All the children are adults and the oldest, Sydney (played by Melina Kanakaredes), has become a physician and moved to the west coast, gotten into the fast lane, specialized in cosmetic surgery and is living a flashy life.

The second daughter, Joanie (played by Paula Cale) is a bit of a self-described loser who can't get her life in gear. The youngest, the son, Robbie (played by Seth Peterson), is a young hustler who doesn't know where his life is going but wants it to get there without any work being done by him. The wife, Lynda (played by Concetta Tomei), is a very assertive, aggressive woman with an agenda for success, but who never seems satisfied with their relatively small-town existence in Providence, Rhode Island.

Jim has made the decision to back off and is most comfortable with the animals he treats. He doesn't communicate well with either his wife or his kids, feels that he doesn't measure up to his wife's expectations and has settled for less than he deserves.

This is the premise, essentially. From the pilot (or first episode) forward, everything changes (don't want to give too much away) and Sydney has to come home. From there, everything is new and the family is forced to try to figure out how to live a real life.

I think the show has real possibilities. It's sweet, sometimes very dramatic and sometimes very funny. I hope people watch.

As far as what I have to do, I'm in every episode, sometimes a lot and sometimes a little. I'm the dad and the vet and the stuff I have to do is fun. I'm also, as the "older guy", kind of the old pro on the set. I keep thinking that I am, in a way, to this gang kind of what Harry Morgan was to those of us in the MASH cast.

Melina is the star of the show. She's a beautiful, very talented and wonderfully warm young woman who I think deserves all the attention she's got coming. Paula is also a beauty and has a comedic ability that makes her a stand-out. Seth is a great-looking and terrific young man who will, I suspect, become the heart-throb of many young women out there. The three of them are very professional, very nice and very good at what they do, so I'm a happy guy. It's a good show, I think, that has a chance of catching on with the audience. I think all of the kids (as I think of them) have the looks, brains, talent and heart to "break out" and become very big stars, so it will be fun to watch. It is thrilling to me to see that they are each very nice people as well as very dedicated and talented actors. As I suspect you know, that's not always the case in this business.

It's been several years since you starred in a series on TV (leaving out the guest appearances of course). You haven't been in once since MASH. Why? Were there no offers (hard to believe that) or was the material offered not what you were looking for?

There have actually been many offers. I simply wasn't interested in doing another series. MASH to me was the end-all and be-all and I didn't see the point in being part of something that would be less than that. There was one movie I did that was to be a pilot for a series (the one about the psychiatrist with Kelly McGillis), but I didn't figure that would work out and I was right.

Why did you decide to be part of "Providence"? What attracted you?

The intelligence of the script and the combination of drama and comedy were very compelling. I had a meeting with the creator and some of the production team and liked them very much and felt, after talking to them, that this might be something special. Again, it was a pilot, so there was no guarantee that it would ever become a series, so I decided to take the chance. It turned out to be a great experience, so when I heard that NBC had picked it up I figured the forces out there were telling me it was time.

What is it like being committed to a series again?

So far it's been great.

Have you already any idea if this series will have a next season?

None at all. The word is that NBC loves what they're seeing, but a lot will depend upon how the audience responds.

Looking back on your career as actor so far, what would you say were the highlights of your career and what the not so successful moments?

There have been many not-so-successful moments, but none that trouble me much. The highlights have been many, but the most prominent in my mind and heart have been doing MASH and producing "Dominick and Eugene".

Looking back at an earlier question....What do you think all the things you did so far (not only in the film industry) will lead up to?

I don't really think they'll "lead up to" anything, except possibly more work. My sense is that if I do my job well there will be other opportunities that will come my way down the line.

To put it more simple....how do you see your career in the future?

More of the same. I hope to direct again and will write more, but acting, at least at this point, seems to be the mainstay. I certainly will produce another picture or two. Or three.

Will we see more of Mike Farrell in the film industry?

I hope so.

And on a political/activist level?

Absolutely.