During the church scene in Deliverance: Was the slide across the floor (after DM shoves Methos away) real?

Peter laughed, rubbing his back... and said that it was. He spoke of how he and Adrian really do get into the story and, unless really necessary, prefer to keep the flow of a scene uninterrupted by stunt people or complicating the scene by utilizing camera tricks. They prefer to just go at it... and that's what happened when Adrian threw him backwards and he slammed into the bottom step!

On Season Six

Peter admitted that he hadn't seen too much of Season Six although he had seen some footage on the spin-off girls in the edit suite. His view of Season Six was that it had been made very difficult because of the complications of reduced budget, unavailability of guest stars, Adrian's desire for a reduced role, the constraints of having to write the stories around the spin-off girls... so Season Six was an experiment of sorts. After five years with Adrian Paul as the major focus, the series was now forced to go in a different direction.

At the end of Season Five, there was serious consideration given to taking it 20 years into the future, with flashback to the present. Peter revealed what has been whispered about for over a year - that there was indeed a tag done to Archangel (I knew there had been because I saw the slides from it when I was in LA last year... so I found the denials somewhat amusing!). The tag scene filmed depicted Duncan in a self-imposed exile. He is visited by Methos and a much older Joe. Peter related how Methos was in a costume that he likened to "something from Star Trek." Both Joe and Methos try to get Duncan to take up his responsibilities - that the world has descended into chaos because of Ahriman being given a free reign because of Duncan's withdrawal from everything and everyone. However, this futuristic scenario was scrapped - too expensive.

He thought Season Six had a feel of trying things and finding interesting things to explore. He felt that the way to go might have been with the focus more on the Watchers, perhaps with Methos telling Joe different stories... an anchor to the world, so to speak. However practicalities won out and USA wanted a female lead.

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On whether Methos' back story had always been planned

Peter's view was that it had not been. Originally he had only been supposed to be in three episodes. Peter said that, despite rumors, he never saw a script where Methos was to be killed in Finale.

The character of Methos was so multi-layered that Methos took on a life of his own... and literally grew on screen and took shape before our eyes. He said that it was a reciprocal relationship in that ideas in the script would lead to interpretations by Peter which in turn would give the writers new ideas. Occasionally things that Peter is interested in as an actor and a person resonated with the writers and producers and led to developments. The writers would watch the rushes, see how the actors improvise and interact and work together and this would influence their writing. In short, Peter feels that there has been a synchronicity between what he is interested in as an actor and as a person and with the writers and the producers.

On whether the interaction between Methos & Joe in Indiscretions was based on Peter's and Jim Byrnes' relationship

(With a smile...) "It's... based on truth." Peter clearly had a ball with Indiscretions and spoke a number of times about what a terrific relationship he has with Jim. He kept calling Indiscretions their "...road movie..."

Indeed, at HLDU1, he told us about how he had been Jim's roadie a few times. Peter's view was that we see such great chemistry on screen between the characters because it is mirroring terrific relationships off-screen. "We like each other..."

On the final scene in Archangel and whether there was a feeling of finality on the set.

Peter groaned as he recalled that day. Apparently filming started at 8.00am and it was around 4.00am (yes, 20 hours later!) when that final scene was filmed. According to Peter everyone was fraught and tense. It was very emotional for everyone and they were all very tired. The script called for Jim Byrnes to cry and Peter remembered thinking that that probably wouldn't be a problem for Jim at that point in time. The final scene was filmed in one take, and Peter said that by that stage there was no way that any of them would have re-done anything so the pressure was on to get it right the first time. Peter remembers having concerns that it was all there - and usable. If it was wrong or incomplete, there'd be no going back. - then everyone went their separate ways, to collapse.

Peter said that after Richie was killed people were in tears and very tense. They had no idea that Adrian was going to do the Lakota chant, or use his glove in that way... it was all improvised amidst the emotion of the moment. But there was no sense that everything was over and that the Series had come to an end, particularly as they filmed the futuristic tag scene which was going to be the bridge into Season Six.  

For Peter, the really emotional wrench in terms of the Series being really over was Indiscretions, which was the actual last episode filmed. By that time, Adrian hadn't been around for weeks, having filmed Not To Be in early November. For a while, as cast members had filmed their last scenes, someone would announce "Ladies and gentlemen, that was XXX's final scene" and people would applaud. "After the final scene was shot, we all went out. Everyone was around except Adrian. Everyone had a meal and a drink and then the sun rose..." followed by a wrap party the following night.

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Was there a sense of mourning when Adrian Paul lost the ponytail? (general laughter)

Peter laughed and revealed that Adrian had been desperate to cut his hair for years. The joke was that he rushed away and cut it off too early and there was still the final scene for Archangel to be done so they had to find him a wig! " He shaved his head and we hadn't finished!"

On his funniest times with Adrian Paul

Peter seemed to be having trouble deciding which incidents to reveal... but said that it would probably be when Adrian was directing because he can become very intense and incomprehensible. " He heads off into some dark corner of his brain and no-one wants to go with him!..." He did recall the famous nose painting scene however as a typical funny Adrian moment. Peter was a scream in retelling this. He got very theatrical, along the lines of... "Yeah, sure, what a hoot... NOT... " as if recalling an incident with a naughty child. Adrian thought that ad-lib was hilarious and had apparently intended tweaking Peter's nose. Adrian only did the nose painting once - on the very last cut. Peter: "Ha, ha, very funny. Ha ha. My expression now is probably what I felt then." <general laughter>

Peter was asked to comment on how he prepares for an emotional scene. What does he think about when showing fear, for example?

He said that he finds that music is the best way for him to prepare for emotional scenes as it evokes memories. "So if you see me with a Walkman it means Methos has a big scene coming up!" He went on to comment that this is an instance where working on film is an advantage over working on stage because when acting on stage, an actor is required to call up those emotions every single night.

Getting into the character and love of music

Peter spoke of using music that is particularly meaningful for him in order to emote himself into a scene ... of Revelations 6:8. Loves flute and sax but hasn't played for a long time. When asked if we would ever see a Methos/Joe jam session, he said that he love to jam with Jim Byrnes' band one day. He's done some 'roadie' work for Jim, carrying equipment etc, and loved it. Jim is an extremely good musician and Peter was particularly complimentary of Jim's bass player - "awesome". Peter said he'd be too embarrassed to jam with him and would need two years to prepare himself. He reminded us that the saxophone is particularly "hotel room unfriendly" and since he's only been home about two months in the last twelve months, he doesn't get much time to practice. His wish is for a sound-proof room!

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On the influences in his life - who are his heroes?

He thought long and hard on this and it was probably a full minute before he answered. He said, with some emotion, that one dominant influence would certainly be his grandmother, who died in 1991 aged 92, "... she was a huge inspiration..." His grandparents sold vegetables and like all in that particular generation, lived through incredible changes and tough times. But his grandmother always kept her spirit and love of life...

He said that leaving medical school to become an actor was the defining step for him. "When you do something like that, it polarizes your friends." Some were very supportive, others not. Clearly it had been a time when Peter had decided to stand up and be counted in terms of what he wanted to do with his life and he gave me the impression that he had still been surprised at the scale of the reactions... particularly from past friends who rejected him for this decision. "...some were very supportive... others wouldn't tell you the time... "

He said that he doesn't have a hero who he tries to emulate. "...the people who really touch me come from my family and friends. "He told me in private conversation that it is his family who keep him grounded... throw a tea towel at him...

On his script

Last year Peter told us about a script that he is working on so I wanted to know where he was at with it. He reassured us that he is still working on it....and then he became very thoughtful - almost intense. I find it amazing that he speaks to a room of strangers as if we were all intimate friends. He said that he is struggling with the story because it relates and touches something very deep inside himself related to running marathons... in which people are quite alone, but at the same time, joined as one group. He didn't actually say this but my impression was that he was dealing with concepts around Donne's "No man is an island... " and the gestalt... that the sum is greater than the individual parts, but that there would be no sum without those individual parts... He liked the feeling of being together in that one large like minded marathon sea of humanity. It is this that he is trying to focus into a particular story. It is paralleled in his script by a story of a premature baby struggling to start life.

On whether there are guidelines on doing Quickenings

(smile) There are no guidelines. No choreography. "You've got to go there yourself." Peter spoke about the Q in Indiscretions and how he had learned not to tense his muscles too much by then (unlike when he had filmed the Rev 6:8 Q which left him sore for days... Adrian finally told him the trick...stay loose...). For the Indiscretions Q, the effects people had rigged enormous fire pots behind him which were sending out huge bursts of fireworks. He was very disappointed that they didn't have any cameras actually at his level because he said it was quite spectacular... great towers of flame... but because the scene was filmed from below and the firepots were angled backward, this fact is almost entirely hidden on the final footage. He also revealed something that Adrian has commented on frequently...that it is very scary being in the middle of so many explosives and that Peter himself got a bad burn on the face during the filming of the Indiscretions Q.

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On Richie's disco quickening

Peter started laughing and tried to avoid the question by telling us all what a genuinely terrific guy Stan is. "...and while it may be unfashionable to say so, he has earnestness." Peter added that Stan is a "great guy". He said that they were all in stitches, including Stan, when they were watching the edits... and that the post production crew had added some disco music for fun. (I'm thinking now that this is the clip they showed at Anaheim, with Richie superimposed on a surfing scene!)

On how Peter prepares for a scene

On a normal day, he goes through the lines over and over and planning out in his mind. It's always different - some scenes are easy to plan and understand, others are not. "...Draw on your own experiences to get it right. You have to be clear about the territory you're in. Then it doesn't matter if the lines aren't completely right. Highlander gives a great deal of freedom in this respect... ". He further commented that this really was a joy in Highlander - that many shows gave you no freedom to improvise or ad lib at all... they virtually have the lawyers standing around... in Highlander, they talk about the characters, the context of the scene, so that by the time you come to do it you are very familiar with what is being looked for... so you can go along with the flow far more easily.

On which of the acting disciplines is the hardest

Peter didn't hesitate on this: "Live theatre!". He hasn't been on stage for five years, but is now feeling restless and wonders whether the time mightn't be right to return to the theatre for a while. "What matters in theatre is to keep the work alive which is hard to do when you do the same story over and over. You have to find new inspiration all the time." He added with a laugh that just now, this might be good for him. But what also came through strongly over the two days was that he demands constant challenge and invigoration and my impression was that he worries about getting bored. He said on more than one occasion that Highlander and Methos have spoiled him - in their complexity and artistic freedom.

He used the analogy of being at a party, and you tell the group of people surrounding you something exciting that has just happened to you... and then telling it again and again and again... on the stage you have to find something different each time, from deep inside you. " He said that there was snobbery involved in actors being labeled TV actors and movie actors and that he felt this was incorrect: "great actors can do anything, big or small..."

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Noah's Ark?

Peter said "...it was OK. But it died for me after I had finished creating the part..." Peter admitted that he gets bored too easily and that he has to fight this tendency. This is also why he loves the Methos character so much, because he offers such exciting possibilities and you never really know what Methos is going to come up with, week after week. It makes for exciting and challenging acting experiences.

On Methos:

Peter waxed lyrical about playing Methos: "...he has such a breadth...you can make anything work because you don't know if he's telling the truth. Even I don't believe everything he says. To play a 5,000 year old man you have to let the facts just be out here and hope people will accept them. "He quoted the incident from Methos, where Methos tells MacLeod that he's been on stage with Caesar and the Rolling Stones... he said that he'd decided to play Methos in a very casual, very straightforward way. "This happened. That's fine. You want to believe it, good. If not, then that's OK too." Peter wanted to give the impression that there was a lot going on in Methos' mind - or, maybe there wasn't!

On the weather in Paris and Ken Gord's coats!

I'm always amazed at the many layers Adrian in particular wears in the Paris episodes. Peter related a story from his first night of filming on Highlander. The scene was the one under the bridge, where Methos offers his head to MacLeod. Paris gets unbelievably cold and this night, Peter, who was soaking wet because Methos has fallen in the river with Kalas, was huddled in a thick coat, but still freezing when Ken Gord approached him wearing a similar coat. KG was enthusing about how lovely and warm these coats were. "We designed these!" he proudly told a shivering Peter.

If he could be/play anyone in history, who would he choose?

After a brief pause (and with a smile) Peter answered "Methos would like to be Cleopatra... he's very vain... and she had such enormous vanity and liked to be adored. She was cat-like and independent... just like Methos, who will come when he's good and ready... And as Cleopatra, you would get to wear nice frocks," he laughed. He is also very interested in Chinese history.

Peter also commented that Methos would like to go into space - to the moon, at least!

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On his skill with a sword

Like many British actors, Peter studied stage fighting at drama school - but never used it. "...Then one day this job turns up as an immortal who doesn't fight! What is this show all about! (I still don't know...)" The fight with Kalas was shot in one take due to time constraints. It was getting dark.

On future work

Peter commented that it was proving difficult to get work in Canada due to restrictions imposed by the Canadian Actors Union. The CAU demands that Canadian actors must get parts wherever possible in preference to foreign actors, and since he had been offered work while in Canada he had technically 'looked' for work. As a result, the CUA are refusing him a permit. Peter said he understood their position and that they were concerned mainly with protecting Canadian actors against the influx of Americans, however he was feeling the backlash. As a result, he probably wouldn't be working in Canada for a while.

With Highlander there hadn't been a problem, because he had been cast while out of the country, and once he was established as the actor who was Methos, then no-one else could play him, so using a non-Canadian actor for Methos never became an issue.

Peter commented that there is no clear answer to this - no guidelines. Methos speaks more often about the things he doesn't believe in. Methos takes philosophies we all take for granted and throws them into different context. To Methos, a person feeling good about themselves just because they follow the rules isn't good enough because one can follow the rules, but still be dishonest. Being honest about yourself is important to Methos. Methos likes to expose hypocrisy and point out the logical results of what different belief systems will cause to happen.

On whether Peter is good at chess

No, he isn't. "I don't play chess!"

On whether the rumor of a 'male bonding' exercise before Rev 6:8 was true

(laugh) We told Peter about Valentine Pelka's story at Chronicles '98 about the famous bonding exercise Adrian put them through. Valentine said that Adrian had all the Horsemen come to his hotel room and they spent hours going through the script, discussing motivations etc etc... and that it was terrific and had never happened to him before in a film or television and that it really paid off because up until then the Horsemen were individual actors but that when they came onto the set the next day they were the four Horsemen - a team. Peter said the recollection was certainly based on truth - but that maybe the bonding took a slightly different tack than their all being well behaved for six hours in the hotel room -and that most of the bonding took place on the pub crawl afterwards! . He continued. There was indeed a Sunday spent rehearsing in a hotel in Bordeaux, going through the script, developing personalities. Adrian had the idea of the Horsemen being a team, so they did the script, then a few drinks, then a nightclub, more drinks... Peter gave up at about 1.00am with Valentine Pelka and Richard Ridings and went to an Irish pub to drink Guinness. Later they ran into Marcus Testory who was still going strong. "...Marcus can literally go without sleep. No drugs needed - he just does it...For all I know, he's still clubbing." (laughter)

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Is there a difference when Adrian Paul directs?

Yes. Peter enjoys working with Adrian when he directs. "...It's his show, his commitments and passion. Adrian cares very deeply. As the director he puts in a lot to get the best from everyone else... " He went on to say that Adrian's episodes are very different in feel to others. Modern Prometheus, for instance, was shot partly on film, partly on video which was very effective. Some of it is very lush while there is a gradual breakdown of quality of film as Byron disintegrates. "...Adrian has a lot of power on the show and can demand to direct it in such detail if he wishes... if it goes into overtime what are they going to do? They're stuck with it. It's his show. .He's one of my favorite directors." He commented that he felt that he'd done some of his best acting work under Adrian's direction. "..He puts in a lot to get the best from everyone else...sometimes to his own detriment... "

He also recounted what it can be like when Adrian gets too intense... how he'll sit there starting off looking at Adrian while Adrian gets passionate about what he sees for the upcoming scene..and how as Adrian becomes more and more obscure Peter starts looking further and further at the floor, thinking to himself that Adrian has gone off again "...into one of the little visited places in his mind..." and that Peter will just do the scene as he thinks best... "Adrian doesn't go to those places in his mind very often either!"

On whether he would think twice about being in a genre show, given that genre shows sometimes draw the more intensive fans

(laugh) "If only I'd known." (general laughter) When Peter joined Highlander, it wasn't a big show in the UK, so it wasn't a consideration. Now? "Would I reject such a proposition because it's got a big following? Not at all." Some shows he would do for nothing. And then there are shows you only do for the money because it gives him the freedom to work on those shows he really wants to. "That's why I have an agent: to make sure I eat." Highlander is great to work on because each episode is a bit different for the character.

On being honest for Methos: how do you approach each episode?

He said that this depends completely on the script and that it was difficult when the script appeared to make no sense of the character's history. For example, through Methuselah's Gift and Through A Glass Darkly, Methos has an intense relationship with a dying woman, then in 'Til Death one line turned up that had no reference to that story but had Methos making a flippant comment about having 68 wives. He didn't like that line because he thought it devalued the Alexa relationship. But then he mused that, in other ways, as he'd thought about it further, it probably was something that Methos might say...and that you could never believe Methos anyway... Sometimes you fight with the producers to cut a line or change a scene: yes and no. Some moments only acquire importance later. It's a variable business.

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Would he join in on an Amanda and Methos show?

Peter spoke about the fun that was had in the now famous blooper scene from FOUT when "We were very naughty that day. Lizzy couldn't manage one take without laughing. And the one time she did do it straight, my shoulders were jiggling." As to the spin-off series: this is still up in the air a bit. The idea at the moment is that Amanda will have a mortal cop as boyfriend. Peter and Jim Byrnes might be in it on the same basis as now. Peter thought that this would be good as he would have something to do each time, that Methos would have some impact on each story he featured in, rather than just hanging about as a sidekick or as part of the scenery. There is little appeal in just "making conversation" on screen. He is very attracted to the scope for a Chronicles type approach, a la Indiscretions.

On his favorite episode

He has several for different reasons. In Timeless, the director was great to work with, as was Ocean Hellman. The director would whisper notes to both actors so that the other couldn't hear. As a result, neither actor ever knew quite what to expect in the next take. Peter felt that this worked very well and their scenes were done in a very focused way.

"...Come a Horseman and Revelations were great. The scripts were tremendous. The scope of these episodes was huge. They could have been a movie... " Although he went on to say that if it had been done as a one-off movie he would never have got the part because he would have had to admit he can't ride! When he needed to ride in HL, he could tell them because they could hardly get another Methos. (laugh)

Peter had been filming in Vancouver when the scripts for CaH appeared. One of the crew asked him if he had seen it. "Guess what! You're one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse!" He said that this was what he loved about Highlander - you never knew what was going to happen, who you were going to be... and this gave enormous creative scope and excitement. My strong impression was that Peter was finding this aspect hard to let go of and that it was a tough benchmark in relation to any new roles.

Peter also revealed that CaH and Rev 6:8 are being put together as a movie, with extra bits, including a flashback to Methos' and Kronos' break up - when Methos trapped Kronos in a pit for a thousand years.

Indiscretions was a lot of fun to do and one of Peter's favorites. Peter enjoyed the Joe and Methos "road show".

On the difference between his FB costume & make up and that of the other horsemen

In the Horsemen flashbacks, Methos looks different. He was clad in white but was still doing awful things. Peter thought this was intended by the designers who studied lots of books to find just the right facial markings. There had been a lot of discussion on just how bad Methos could be and still maintain audience sympathy. Peter would have liked the scenes with Cassandra to be much more brutal and unpleasant, but there had been concerns that that would alienate the audience. The whole point, though, as far as Peter was concerned was the Horsemen issue, the fact that things were different 2000 years ago and that one can't get upset now about something that happened back then. When someone commented on the 'two-faced' nature of the blue paint, Peter commented that he thought the blue face was kind of odd.

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On his work in The Sentinel

Peter played an Australian, a character who hardly spoke at all. He did lots of shooting of people, jumped off a building and para-glided to the beach. "Got into a fight with a girl from Melbourne."

Because Peter was in Canada at the time, he was technically not allowed to audition. Lots of Canadian actors tried for the role, then Peter had to speak to an American producer by phone in an Australian accent. (The audience smiled quietly to itself - like an American producer would know) As research, Peter watched a few minutes of Crocodile Dundee 2, tried unsuccessfully to hire Bryan Brown's 'FX' and ended up listening to a radio talk by an Australian diver who had headed an expedition to the Titanic.

Naturally, a demonstration of said accent was requested. "I knew this would come up." Peter winced, then screwed his courage to the sticking place and gave us a few lines from the episode -

"Get in the car." "Afternoon.' "We're from the EPA." "...then I shot someone... " Actually we gave him quite a good mark. Maybe that American producer knew more than we'd given him credit for.

On working with other cast members

"We genuinely enjoy each other's company. It's great. A year ago we were in Northern Italy with Adrian's family." They like each other and respect each other's talents. Peter referred to bits in the blooper tape as evidence of this. They spend time together when they are not filming. When working, they will sometimes improvise and turn up something interesting - but sometimes they just have to stop and start again.

On Methos' relationships

With Methos it's always personal. He didn't like Kristen, Peter informed us, so he killed her. In the Horsemen days, things are not so clear about how he saw the world. The relationship with Cassandra sowed the seeds of change in him. With her he goes from hedonism to discovery of attachment and feeling for her. It's his personal growth.

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Is the sprawl Methos or Peter Wingfield?

(laugh) It was written into the script initially - but comes naturally to Peter who proceeded to sprawl even more."... it was written in that way so I guess it's him. Of course it could be me, too."

On reading that book in Rev 6:8

Peter was told of various interpretations of his actions in the scene in the submarine base, when he was off to the side reading and Caspian and Silas started arguing and Kronos came in and joined all their hands. Peter was told that there were some viewers who interpreted Peter's putting of the sword on the book as a very Christian symbol. Peter said that this was never intended - that the book wasn't a bible but a book of Shakespeare printed in 1910 that had belonged to his grandfather.

On the sword fight in Deliverance

Peter was asked about the day into night sword fights in Methos and in Deliverance (with Kalas and with Duncan and Sean)... he laughed and said that they just took a lot longer to film than intended... or perhaps they were just very very long sword fights.

Which sword fight was the most demanding: Chivalry or CaH?

He said that without a doubt the Chivalry scene was the most demanding because it was all done in one take. Ironically, actors can be made to look skilful when the fight is filmed in little bits and put together afterwards. "...You can only do fights in one take when you have skilful swordsmen. When you go wide with filming, the fighters have to be good. The fight with Silas was done in little chunks...". With Adrian he had to learn the entire fight...it was technically demanding and they must have done at least twelve times... it was exhausting as well as being an emotionally demanding scene.

On whether he would work in Australia

"Absolutely!" He went on to speak about how stunned he was looking at the landscape and the color of the earth from the plane window - the sheer the immensity of the land - the sunburnt nature of the red soil and how the country changes from forest to open areas and on the great weather. Maybe he was just being nice but he said that he would welcome a reason to return!

He was genial, humorous, engaging, intelligent, and we all had a ball.

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