[Anthony thanked the Scaper who recommended the Signature
restaurant.]
[Lani thanked the kind people who watched his clone in
the bar last night. He had a few jello shots, got a little out of control...]
Audience: If you could be a different character,
which would you choose?
Lani: [absolutely deadpan] Grayza.
David: Admiral Braca.
Wayne: Wouldn't want to be a puppet, gets pretty
lonely. I suppose it would be nice to be out of the suit...ooooooohhhhhh...I'll give it
some thought.
Jonathan: Uh, are there other characters on
Farscape? Don't worry Kate, if you come to Sydney again, I promise not to bite you in
quite the same place.
Anthony: Maybe one of those bikini babes who runs
around with Harvey...I always wanted to get my hands on a really good rack!
Audience: We can arrange that!
Wayne: I wouldn't want to be in makeup, cause I'm
a lazy bastard. The Grunschlick character [DIE ME DICHOTOMY] looked like he was having
fun...
Audience: How about Chiana?
Wayne: Not particularly. [...] Okay, okay, I've
got it - Kent McCord!
Audience: Favorite Scene, Favorite Person?
David: For me it would have to be the scene on the
9th floor [referring to a party that took place the previous night at ScaperCon].
Anthony: for me it would be the scene with the
bikini babes on the beach [CRICHTON KICKS] --
Wayne: They're mine, they're mine!
Anthony: -- It was a thrill just working with the
guest actors, because they just bring so much energy and new ideas, new perspective and
creativity to keep our work fresh. I hoped I was being open enough to let them influence
me.
Lani: When the ship is exploding [INTO THE LION'S
DEN] and there is this wonderful shot -- and they had only one chance to shoot it -- of
Wayne walking up the stairs.
Anthony: It's not just the water that made that a
great shot, it's the angle that you get to see Wayne's ass!
Wayne: It was the end of the season, and my boots
were really worn down, there was just no tread. There was a moment where there was a
little slippage -- if you watch that scene carefully, there's just a moment when I look
down -- that's where I almost lost it.
Jonathan: The scene Ben did with his son [LOOK AT
THE PRINCESS] - that was just the most beautiful scene. I couldn't say who I liked most
working with, because most of the time they weren't there. If I had to say what I wanted
to do, I think one of those animals, with Anthony as the back legs...
Wayne: Doing the scenes with Ben. I sort of miss
the one-on-one work from the first three seasons. I liked getting a line in among everyone
else, and just listening.
Jonathan: In that episode with the blue monkeys
[I-YENSCH, YOU-YENSCH] -- I liked the moment when I was finally helping you [Wayne].
Wayne: Something was attacking us...
Jonathan: Yeah, some really terrible acting.
Audience: Was the food in the diner edible?
Wayne: Yeah, the props boys always had to work
that way. It was based on seaweed or something.
Audience: Anthony, did you develop a different
voice for the 'Dandy D'Argo' [SCRATCH 'N SNIFF]?
Anthony: Yeah, it was something a little more
breathy, but it didn't work, so we went back. It was all appearances, and really not that
interesting, so I dropped it. The crew is saying, 'tell Anthony that we're having trouble
tracking D'Argo', when it's really just a crap voice I'm doing!
Jonathan: I've always admired your bottom [pitch].
I tried to do D'Argo's voice once, and I couldn't, because Anthony is eight feet taller
than me and the air is different up there.
Audience: Any comments about the scene with the
I-yensch bracelets [I-YENSCH, YOU-YENSCH]?
Anthony: That was horrible, that was actually not
fun. What the writers didn't understand is that D'Argo can't lie down, because of the way
the rig worked - as soon as you lay down, the seam would pop open. So I had to lie down
but still hold my head and shoulders up, which was really exhausting.
David: The stupid things kept falling apart, they
wouldn't stay on!
Anthony: They didn't make them big enough to go
around D'Argo's arm.
My other memory is that I was really pushed up against
doing another episode. That period of time was the worst period we've ever been backed up
[in production], there were so many B-shoot days. We were just so far behind. That's the
only time we scheduled an entire week of B-unit - we had to knock off five days and get
things get cleaned up. You can notice a bit of the shine coming off then; the shots get
much simpler.
Audience: Do you have any favorite convention
stories? What do you think of ScaperCon?
Anthony: I think it's absolutely brilliant! We get
to meet everyone, and everyone is very respectful of our personal space, but not distant.
This is the perfect blend of both. I've been able to interact with you all, get to meet
you, and that's been brilliant, and yet I can still go off and do my own touristing.
We don't know what it's like to have fans. It's normal
people doing a normal job, and then we go have this really weird weekend. I'm taking
photos to show my friends, and my friends think I'm this bullshit artist. No kidding,
people want to get my photo and autographs! It's that distant from our real lives.
Lani: I have to add to that -- there are two
ladies that should be mentioned, and that is Heather [aka WarriorWoman] and Theresa [aka
Smushybutt].
[enthusiastic & appreciative applause from audience]
David: It's been absolutely seamless. The
organization has been great, and everyone's been so cooperative. The warmth and the
friendship, and this bizarre extended family you guys have (I thought my family at home
was weird!). The volunteers, as Lani said -- I'm just blown away.
Wayne: I love the sense of the community that you
guys have. I'm sure people will get married, and have babies, and call them Aeryn.
Audience: We have!
Wayne: There are production companies that, but
here everyone has a good time There are companies that do sci-fi conventions and people
walk away unsatisfied, they're just so cold. Here, this is just so warm -- everyone has a
good time!
Lani: I wore this today and it says 'ScaperCon
Survivor' --
Audience: -- It's not 5 o'clock yet!
Lani: I feel like I'm at an AA meeting! 'Hi, my
name is Lani, I've been without a Con for 50 days now, and I just wanted to share that
with you...'
Jonathan: I think the great thing is that you all
know what Farscape IS! I've been at cons where we're treated like a commodity, and you get
very tired of being treated like a commodity. We went to this one convention where we had
to sign everything in sight, and people who had never heard of Farscape were bringing up
toilet paper for us to sign. People had no idea who we were, but we were obviously signing
something, so we must be important. And here, despite our best efforts, you all know who
we are -- don't let it get out! Thank you, it's been wonderful.
Audience: Anthony, when you played Gary Ragel [in
WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN], was that you, playing D'Argo, playing Anthony?
[Some merriment ensues where it comes out that Anthony
didn't remember that that was his character's name.]
Anthony: Oh, was that my name? Yeah, car - good,
kissing - good, sleep-sleep-sleep - good. Those episodes where I got to be stupid and
crazy, that's meant to be my very bad impersonation of Andy Dick. Andy Dick as D'Argo.
David: Who's Andy Dick?
Anthony: He's the funniest fucking guy in America!
[missed a question here]
Anthony: We're thinking about printing a couple
hundred DVDs of this film I shot with Jonathan and Gigi, it's called 'DragonCon'.
[Jonathan riffed at length about getting people to sign
up so that Anthony could send everyone a copy personally.]
Audience: I wanted to know if I could have another
kiss -
Wayne: Oh, I suppose so...
Audience: -- with the hat off!
[laughter as Wayne complies, pulling off his black ski
cap]
Audience: I'm supposed to ask about the tollbooth
in Texas story.
[general laughter as Lani looks humorously embarrassed]
Lani: Yes. So I'm barreling down the road, with
Jean as the designated driver, when we pull up to this tollbooth. We had to put in four
coins, not paper money. So what happened was you saw this person getting out of his car in
traffic, and running from toll booth to toll booth trying to change money.
The lady saw me in the mirror, and just automatically
reached out to exchange money. I turn around to go back to the car, and I see this long
line of traffic backing up, and I realize, it's because of me!
So I run back to the car, and for some reason I go around
to the front of the car, and hear Honnnnk! Honnnnk! And I'm yelling, 'It's okay, I'm from
Australia!'
David: I just want you guys to think, this is the
man who was a captain of a Command Carrier...
Audience: What makes each of you bad boys?
Lani: You don't want to go down there, you'll
never get back.
Anthony: I'll just say, that I've slept with more
famous people than any [other] tall white guys with a gut that I know.
Lani: I have a title [via his Polynesian
ancestry], it means basically lord, and when it's broken down it means 'fighting amongst
the villagers'. That's my title; it comes with the package.
David: We just don't take ourselves too seriously
...
Jonathan: I'm from New Zealand, and we do take
ourselves seriously, and we never have fun -- and we have great respect for our animals.
As opposed to Lani, who has many knees, being a Polynesian. My family crest is 'Danger I
Caught'.
David: I don't play a bad boy! [laughter]
Everything else I've been bad -- maybe with time.
Audience: What do you miss most about Farscape
being over...for now?
Wayne: Getting the mask off! That's one of the
great feelings in life, getting that bloody rubber head off. [...] And the checks, for
god's sake!
Anthony: I had two girls take my full array off...
Just the workmates. It's a great job, but it's just a job, and you're surrounded by a
couple hundred workmates. . Over the years you get close to your workmates; once the show
finishes, your jobs take you in different directions, different jobs, and you miss those
relationships. That's what I miss the most, just the great mates I made at work.
Jonathan: An actor has to be inured to saying
goodbye, because most of our work has an ending to it. We spend our lives in a sort of
series of shipboard romances because of the nature of our work -- we form intense
relationships, become very close to one another, and then suddenly it stops and you have
to go and remake yourself, and that's a very weird thing that actors go through.
Audience: Is it tough to work in the suit?
Wayne: They built the suit when I was a skinny
guy, and I'd put on some weight. They had to put more holes in the leather straps to let
them out; they changed it on the day they shot the beach scene, and a week later had to go
to an inch larger hole. It was very tight, and I got sore back and shoulders, but
basically it was the heat.
Lani: In the 4th season I played the Ogre [in JOHN
QUIXOTE], and I had nothing but admiration for Wayne and Anthony. I was in the suit for 5
minutes and it was already really, really difficult. We were working that morning quite
heavily, doing the fight sequence, and I got a shocking headache; I worked until it was so
painful I thought my head was going to burst. I had to go up to the first AD [assistant
director] and say, 'I'm sorry, I just have to stop'.
I cooled off off-stage for half an hour and took some
meds I was getting some headache tablets and ice, and I asked Wayne if he ever got
headaches, and he said yes, all the time. I don't have the greatest patience putting on
prosthetics, and never will. Once I worked on the Ogre, I was reminded that I had tested
for [the role of] D'Argo, and I'm just so glad I didn't get it.
Jonathan: Think about the guy playing the mad
scientist [NamTar, DNA MAD SCIENTIST]. His legs had to bend two ways, and he was basically
kneeling on stilts. That's part of being an actor.
I was doing a play where every night I got shot in the
side of the head with a gun firing blanks. Every night you had to prepare yourself in case
the wadding didn't protect the side of your head. That's just part of being an actor.
Actors are low on the pecking order in Oz, so it's great
to come over here and find that our work really meant something -- we're very grateful for
this time when we can meet and you can tell us how much you appreciate it.
Audience: I have a question for Jonathan -
Jonathan: I was never there!
Audience: But I have pictures!
Jonathan: No, that is the famous other New
Zealand sheep story. [relates joke about ventriloquist who makes a farmer believe the
animals are speaking to him -- the farmer is quick to insist that 'the sheep lies!']
Audience: It's going to be hard to top that...
Jonathan: Oh, I wouldn't...it's a very wooly tale.
Audience: Those creative vegetable pictures: where
did you get them, and why haven't you been arrested yet?
Jonathan: Uh, yes. Well, they haven't been peeled!
They were sent to me by an Arab who did a lot of work for us when I was directing an
opera, and he's very good about acupressure. I'm on his joke list, and he sent them to me.
Anthony: And you bloody forwarded them on to me,
and I can't stand all that rubbish in my Inbox ...
Jonathan: That's the first time I've ever heard
you complain about that kind of picture!
[someone made a reference to the Official Farscape
Convention]
David: I'd like to go.
Jonathan: To where?
David: To Burbank.
Jonathan: Oh, them.
David: I've never been.
Lani: You don't want to go.
Audience: What would you have liked your character
to do that they didn't?
Wayne: There's only a few things that I look back
on and have been dissatisfied with. I should have crushed the flower [INCUBATOR]. I was
happy with the way things ended with Sikozu on my knee [BAD TIMING], and she was not
having a good time.
Anthony: We were laying some long-term groundwork
for D'Argo -- he was going to be the single liberator of his planet. I won't say more than
that the spaceship, Lo'La, was supposed to be like the Sword in the Stone. The ship was
destined for D'Argo alone, and D'Argo was supposed to pick up all the skills he would need
over time - I would have liked to do that.
Jonathan: I thought Rygel was a better Captain.
Lani: I would have liked to come back with Talyn
and just rock the planet. You know, have kids, and go shopping...for a new jacket! I'm
wearing this jacket for four years, and I don't even have a change of clothes?!?
David: Very simple: KING OF THE WORLD!
Audience: You've seen what we collect - what
memorabilia do you have or collect from the show?
Lani: Nothing, because we threw all that away. I'd
love to have my jacket, so I could get a new one. That's one of the things I was ringing
up about, and we were put on hold, and then told that we couldn't get anything.
David: Braca's outfit was very skintight, so I had
to wear these special undies, and one day I wore them home - the wardrobe people called me
up and asked me to bring them back, so I have nothing. I have to say, the Scorpius
codpiece was very good...
Wayne: Well, I had my boots, and I liked them.
Everyone likes to be in [the rock band] Kiss for a day.
Anthony: I have that big bus-stop poster of
D'Argo, and I have one cell of the animation. I was the only person given clearance by the
director to shoot behind the scenes, and I have 20 hours of mini-DV footage. Shot legally,
and I'm not allowed to show it to anyone.
Audience: [show it to us and] We won't tell!
Audience: Would you really like to go to Burbank?
Because if you would, there are people here who can make that happen. Just say the word.
Wayne: We were promised that if we went back they
would bring the band. That's the package we were promised, so if we go, we want that deal.
Lani: Isn't it called the *Official* Farscape
Convention? You've got more of us HERE! So... [makes a thumbs up gesture]
Jonathan: Jean organizes all these things for us,
and she does it magnificently. Yes, we would like to go, so if anyone can make that
happen, talk to Jean, we'd love to do it, I've never been to Burbank.
Audience: Have the prosthetics R&D progressed
to where you can move?
Anthony: That was season one. My rig changed each
season, and about every few weeks in season two he gt a new one. Damian Martin is an
absolute prosthetics genius (he actually was responsible for the development of Hot Flesh,
although not credited for it).
It's an excellent question. In season one, I couldn't
turn my head at all. My rig changed the most in season two. I had a new rig every two or
three eps, and Daniel Martin was instrumental in making sure that the D'Argo wig could
actually move. He's a genius, and is doing the entire prosthetics for a new Sony film
that's an adaptation of a Marvel comic.
Wayne: I was the first person to wear the
Hotflesh. Limitations are sometimes your greatest tool, sometimes they became a character
trait. The Hotflesh, if they did it right, you could see the blush through the material;
the light penetrates, so it was translucent like skin, three dimensional, like real flesh,
versus old prosthetics which just reflected the light back completely.
Jonathan: For me, the issue of prosthetics is
something private between me and my medical practitioner.
