We had a chance earlier this week to get in on a conference call with Peter Weller, who is guest starring on tonight’s episode of Fringe, on FOX at 9/8c. Peter is cousin to Fred Weller, who plays Marshall on In Plain Sight on USA! (Sorry, just an interesting tidbit for me. lol) Check out what Peter had to say, then catch the new episode of Fringe tonight!
How did this opportunity come about for you?
P. Weller – Well, you know they just called my… it’s the usual stuff. They called my agent and said we’d really like him to do this and I’d seen a little bit of the show. I’ve been finishing a PhD at UCLA, so I didn’t get a lot of time to watch primetime television. But, I’d seen a little bit of the show and my wife’s a big fan of it, so I said, “Listen honey, we got this offer and what do you think?” I have to tell you honestly; I’m very discerning about primetime television, you know, guest stars. A lot of it’s entertaining, but sort of hamstrung stuff, but Fringe is unique. Fringe is the best that science fiction can be. It’s fantastic and it’s entertaining, but at the same time has a humanist theme to it of people, places and things and relationships. So my wife said, “I think this is brilliant.” I said, really? Okay, so I read it and it was brilliant. So I said I’m in.
I don’t care what the money is, it’s fantastic. Sometimes, whether it’s a lot of money or a little money, Robert Mitchum always said he looked at the money and then he looked to where he’s going to shoot it; those are good criterion. But I always look at the script and look at the director, too. I thought it’s fantastic. It’s just rare. I’ve just got to say Josh; it’s rare that you see episodic television that has like a four page acting scene. It’s usually a lot of guns and cars these days or a lot of police work, but this is different, man. This is unique and wonderful.
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