Christian Slater Q&A
Oct. 10 -- On NBC's 'My Own Worst Enemy' (premieres Mon., Oct. 13 at 10 PM EST), Christian Slater plays Henry Spivey, a suburban husband and father of two with a normal job, a dog and a minivan. He's also Edward Albright, a secret operative who can speak 13 languages and is trained to kill. When these two very different sides collide, things get interesting.
The star of such cult classics as 'Heathers,' 'Pump Up the Volume' and 'True Romance' talked to us about making what feels like a mini-movie for TV each week, being the Captain Kirk to his male co-star's Spock and his movie roles that he'd love to revisit. -- By Maggie Furlong
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1. Your co-star, 'Mike O'Malley,' has compared you two to Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble -- which classic duo do you think you two are most like?
[Laughs] Fred and Barney, I like that! But I like Kirk and Spock -- we actually did a scene today together and, as we walked away, I said, "Nice job, Spock." That's how I kind of see it.
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2. O'Malley's background is mostly comedy -- with 'Yes, Dear' and a guest stint on 'My Name Is Earl' -- what's it like working with him?
He's awesome. And this show is the first time he ever did a fight scene, and he's a total badass. You should see him in his tactical gear the guy looks gorgeous and sexy and ... [laughs] yeah, he is a total badass.
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3. What made you decide to do TV?
I read this pilot and went "Wow" -- I thought that if I'm gonna do something on TV, this would be it. I would've been nuts to not do it. To show up and get to do this show -- I mean, I am genuinely having a great time. It's really fun, and it doesn't get boring. What the writers have done ... it feels like they're kind of unleashed. They're just being as creative and as wild and crazy as they can possibly be.
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4. It's so action-packed -- does that make it feel like making little movies?
It does -- that's actually what [NBC co-chairman] Ben Silverman said he was gonna do with this particular show, is put a movie on TV every week. And as far as I can tell, that's what we're doing -- the characters are just getting richer and more interesting as we go along. It's fun to go there and play these two characters.
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5. There are always rumors about a possible 'Heathers' sequel -- would you be up for that?
Yeah, sometimes I see Winona [Ryder] and she's like, "Are you ready to do 'Heathers 2'?" And I'm like, "Sure!" I would do it in a heartbeat. I would totally love to do that character again -- J.D. We'd have to have a scene in there where's he's watching 'The Shining' or something, you know? We'd have to see that he's collected all of Nicholson's movies. Just to really make sense of it all. [Laughs] That would be like a dream come true for me. So we'll see -- if they want to put something together, I'd be thrilled.
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6. Any other characters you wouldn't mind revisiting?
I liked Happy Harry Hard-On [from 'Pump Up the Volume'] -- I thought he was great. A character who was well-written, entertaining and a fun guy to do ... and heartfelt. I think I always identify with that sort of character, who is secretly wild and crazy and publicly very shy and closed off. I like that kind of double identity and personality, like a Superman thing.
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7. And kind of like 'My Own Worst Enemy' ...
[Laughs] Like 'My Own Worst Enemy.' It does all tie together ...
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Reader Comments (3)
Carla at 9:06PM on Nov 13th 2008
http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/my-own-worst-enemy-petition-nbc-to-keep-the-christian-slater-tv-show-on-the-air/
Sign the petition to keep the show from being cancelled.
Dallas Rodgers at 9:30PM on Nov 28th 2008
Please keep My Own Worst Enemy on the air. This is an exceptionally well written and even better acted show. Christian is outstanding in this unique role. I was really surprised to hear of your decision to cancel the show. Please reconsider. This is one of the best series I've ever watched.
John F at 7:15AM on Nov 29th 2008
I really look forward to watching My Own Worst Enemy, on NBC. It is one of my favorites right now. Please reconsider cancelling the show. It is intelligent, well written amd just a lot of fun.