Dear supporters,
You have asked and we have delivered! Here, for your enjoyment, is a full transcript of Lance's recent appearance on Fangoria Radio. Check out our previous post for details on how you can download a podcast of this event but, for those of you who prefer to read the words of the great man, we hope you enjoy the following. As always, our thanks, again, to Lance for his dedication, support, and warmth and to all the team at Fangoria who have been so receptive to our efforts. Our thanks!
TRANSCRIPT - LANCE HENRIKSEN - FANGORIA RADIO - 30/01/09
DEE SNIDER: Without any further ado, please welcome back to Fangoria Radio, once again, Lance Henriksen. Lance, how are you?
LANCE HENRIKSEN: How are you doing buddy? I'm good.
DS: Good, I'm Dee Snider, Debbie Rochon's here, Tony Timpone for Fangoria Magazine...
TONY TIMPONE: Hi Lance.
LH: Heya Tony.
TT: How's it going?
LH: Brilliant, man. How's your show going tonight?
TT: Excellent, it's even better now that you're on.
DS: We're all big fans of your work, Lance, and before we get to the whole ‘Millennium’ thing which we definitely have you here to talk about. Earlier in the show, and this is no conversation about John Travolta's situation the poor guy, this is, just, came up in conversation. Somebody referenced the movie, 'Bubble Boy' as not the high point in John's career, one of those movies he, y'know, made at a time when he didn't have a lot of choices. We realize that as entertainers we've all had our 'Bubble Boy' moments. After 'Twisted Sister' I put together a cover band....
LH: I call mine alimony.
DS: Give us a good example of your 'Bubble Boy' movie?
LH: Oh man, here 'ya go. OK. I did, er, let's see, 'The Visitor'....
TT: But you got to act with John Huston, Henry Fonda...?
LH: Yeah, all of those guys, Shelley Winters...
DS: Yes, it's this really wild Italian horror movie. Y'know, we said, we asked you because Debbie has this movie called 'Santa Claws' spelt C.L.A.W.S.
DEBBIE ROCHON: Oh yes, yeah, it's a 'Bubble Bubble Boy', 'Double Bubble Boy'....
DS: But we actually pointed out that these little 'Bubble Boy' moments have there own silver linings in a way. I had some great shows that little side band did. Obviously you acted with some incredible actors on that movie?
LH: Yeah I remember John Houston said, "Actually I don’t want to come back and loop so let's do this scene over again right now and then he pointed at me to go. So the sound man, ‘OK roll it‘, and he pointed at me and I didn't do anything. He said, ‘What's going on, man?’ and I said, ‘I just got my first direction from John Houston - so I froze up!’
DS: (Laughing) Let's do this again, I don't wanna loop it.
DR: I have to ask, Lance, a couple of gentlemen were on the DVD ‘42nd Street Forever’ that they were doing a commentary on. The know everything about every movie ever made and they said to mention to you to talk about the 'Bubble Boy' idea and to mention to you 'Mansion of Doom'?
TT: 'Mansion of the Doomed'!
LH: Ah yeah with Richard Basehart and Gloria Graham.
DR: Yeah! Does that feel like a Bubble Boy err...?
LH: Yeah, pretty much. It's one of those back in the day numbers. Stan Winston did the makeup on that one. It was early in his career too so we were all in good company. They gouge my eyes out to give 'em to my girlfriend who is the daughter of the doctor and it's always the first one to get their eyes pulled out.
DS: Hey, we've got to pay my alimony!
LH: Absolutely!
DS: I've got kids in college! (laughs)
LH: (laughs) That's right!
DS: So Lance, let's talk about this movement that the fans have started to get 'Millennium'...?
LH: I know, it's kicking off, they're amazing, they are.., they called me from London and said they're getting overwhelmed with emails and people are writing in to [20th Century] Fox and all this stuff, and, pretty amazing stuff. That show just will not go away, I mean, anytime I go to Eastern Europe, Europe, anywhere in Europe, they all ask about it. When is it, when's it gonna happen? Is it gonna happen? It just goes on and on, it has a life of its own.
DS: Are you amazed when you go overseas and hear a show you did, I mean, you appear in the states, you can relate to it watching in the states, then you go overseas to other countries and they're turned on to it and so aware of your work on the show. Isn’t that incredible?
LH: Oh yeah, man, I remember getting of the plane in Bucharest, Romania, and there was a whole lobby full of people, hundreds of people and I thought, someone's coming in here man and I looked behind me to see who it was, cos I get off on first class too, and they were waiting for me (laughs).
DS: I've done the same thing, seen a whole mob of people and turned around and go, who's coming? It's you!
LH: (Laughing) There's a sucker here, it must be you! It's pretty, it's kinda wonderful.
DS: At what point did you decide, err, the group's website, by the way, is BackToFrankBlack.com. I mean obviously you like the character that you played, Frank Black. At what point did you decide to become actively involved with these people's cause?
LH: Well, y'know, Chris Carter and Spotnitz and those guys who produced it, I guess they're in a 'wait and see' mode. I decided, look, I'll do interviews about it, I'll talk about, these fans deserve something and so I got involved and I said, yeah, what do you want me to do, I'll do it. Because if it happens it would be something I always thought would be phenomenal because it would have more language in it and it would be able to do more things than sanitized television if you know what I mean? So it would be pretty good.
DS: Well, looking at this movie, you were nominated for three Golden Globes for Best Lead Actor...
LH: Every year, yeah it was weird. I was hoping I wouldn't get it so I'd have to get up there and talk, then in the end I didn't get it so that wasn't a very good strategy I guess.
DS: You could have done a Micky Rourke and thanked your dogs, do it that way?
LH: Yeah (laughs) I carry a couple of dogs on the stage with me.
TT: Hey Lance, what is it about 'Millennium' that's connected with this group and this cult following and the show lives on after ten years?
LH: There was a lot of stuff going about this guy, Frank Black, was never judging anybody. he just felt, y'know, a phenomenon, these bad guys and these bad situations and was like a chess player. I never thought him as a psychic at all, I thought him like a guy who could put all the fragmented loose ends together and it was, there was intelligence behind it. Chris had never thought of it as a psychic, it was more a guy who could unravel facts that other people couldn't see or put together. So I loved that idea, I mean it just…, and I think people relate to it for that reason he was a kinda non-judgmental instrument in some way.
DS: We're talking with Lance Henriksen by the way about the show 'Millennium' and, finally,
Fox Entertainment has just released the first season on DVD is that a coincidence?
LH: It was already out, they had all three seasons out. I think the only other thing they could do is do it Blu-Ray. And the next technology that comes in, they'll keep releasing it but, it's a good set it really is, no commercials and you kinda can stay in it.
TT: Lance you were never satisfied with the season finale of 'Millennium'. Were you satisfied with the X-Files crossover you did with the character?
LH: That was kinda fun, y'know, the crossover, but the odd thing was I remember waiting till the last minute to get the script because Chris kept saying 'this is gonna be like a kind of closure for Millennium' and when I got the script I was wrestling zombies in a cellar (laughs). And I thought, ‘what's this got to do with it?’ Hey look, it takes a lot to come up with a script no matter what. Anyway, there's no disappointment in any of this, it just is what it is. I don't look at life that way, there's very few disappointments.
DS: It's precisely that, that many people are excited about it that if a movie happens, of course that's the bonus, but just that fact that there's that kind of outpouring does that make you feel incredible as an actor?
LH: Oh it does, sure I can continue my, really need to start calling it my Obama. I just continue my rap about what it all is, what the acting thing is, how you do it and all that stuff, so, it's a good thing I'm doing my Obama.
DS: Debbie's got an email for Lance over there?
DR: Yeah I, yes I do. OK Lance, Ghoulish Gary from Pittsburgh writes…‘Hi, can you ask Lance why in season three of 'Millennium', Frank Black would button up his coat the whole way when he entered a crime scene?’
LH: Well that's interesting he caught that. I did that early on and I did it because of DNA. I thought, I don't want anything on my body to fall into the crime scene. That's interesting he picked up on that.
DS: That's great, that's a subtly there. I always zip my fly all the way before I go on stage.
LH: Me too!
DS: DNA! I don't wanna leave any DNA on the audience.
LH: Just 'cos they work you like a horse doesn't mean you have to look like one.
DS: Hung like one! (Pause) Lance, if people listening to Fangoria Radio right now, and we're on Sirius 102 and XM now, want to get involved in this movement how can they help the cause?
LH: You've got the email address for that right? DS: Yeah, BackToFrankBlack.com is the website.
LH: Yeah, that's the one, just get on that and start talking. 'Cos people will answer you, it's a great website.
DR: Has there been a script written for this by anybody at this point or..…?
LH: I don't know what Chris is doing, he might be surfing for all I know but I'm sure he's got ideas and I know Spotnitz will hear 'em so if [20th Century] Fox gets excited and these guys get excited this will happen. They can do it, there's no doubt about it. It's not too passe, a lot of stuff happened after 'Millennium', a lot of the CSI's and all that stuff and it started going really full blown with that kinda thing but I think we would come up with something of our own.
TT: Hey Lance, I saw a screener of a new movie, a documentary that you narrated called, 'Nightmares in Red, White and Blue' which was excellent, excellent. Could you talk about that and maybe some of the other movies you have coming out like, ‘Dark Reel?’
LH: Yeah, I did a movie called 'Cyrus' which I really enjoyed. It's about a couple of guys that are living in the Midwest, y'know like in Michigan on a farm and they, one's an enabler and the other is a straight up killer y'know and so it's a real thriller. By the time you get to the end you go 'oh man I really just wanna go home, pull the covers over my head.' It was really great to do, it's called 'Cyrus' and in April I'm doing a movie called 'Beautiful Wave' which is nothing about murder in any way, it's a great independent film and I love the script so I'm gonna be surfing down in Mexico somewhere.
TT: With Chris Carter?
LH: That'd be funny, 'Hey, how are you doing buddy? Are you writing or directing on a laptop on your surfboard?'
DS: Lance Henriksen, thanks so much for calling in to Fangoria Radio and good luck, you know our listeners would love to see 'Millennium' brought to the screen and you to bring back Frank Black the character, he's a great character and we love everything you do man. You're a great character actor and I'm a big fan.
LH: Thank you buddy, there's a whole thing…Fangoria's been behind all of our work for years so I really appreciate you guys too.
DS: Thanks for that. Lance Henriksen everybody!
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