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NOCC: Adam Baldwin Q&A

Company: Wizard World
Product: New Orleans Comic Con 2012 Coverage

What can I say? It's freakin' awesome Adam Baldwin, for crying out loud! Adam came in with a smile on his face, thanking New Orleans for coming out and thanking the sponsors for having him. That's a real star for you, one who appreciates his fan base so much. He even brought a handful of copies of Chuck: Season 4 on Blu-ray and DVD to give out for those folks who asked the best questions.

Adam immediately opened the floor to questions from the fans and said how happy he was to get this time to reminisce with them about the work he has done. One fan asked if he had any kids and if he would want them to be actors. Adam's answer was, "Yes, I have three kids and no!" He chatted back and forth with the fan who asked the question, discussing her young child and the fact that his kids are older (their ages are 22, 19 and 15), although his 6' tall son still occasionally wants to be carried.

Another fan asked him what compelled him to want to play a character like John Casey (Chuck) and also, did he ever want to slap Chuck. Baldwin said he enjoyed that character a lot because he said Casey brought a dangerous stability to the show. Otherwise, the show was completely outside of the realm of possibility, a guy with a computer in his brain. So that was the fine line that the writers tried to walk with Casey, to keep him still in the realm of reality and so Baldwin tried to ground him as much as possible. "You know, like guns," Baldwin quipped. He then asked if Louisiana was a gun state and amid all of the "hell yeahs!" he said, "Oh, I love that! I live in California and it's really strict." He mentioned that Vera, his modified gun from Firefly, was really cool looking with lots of whistles and bells, but uncomfortable to hold because of all of the sharp edges. The studio offered him the chance to buy it when the show ended, but he didn't happen to have the extra $10K lying around, plus Vera didn't fire. Adam figured if he was going to pay $10K for a rifle, it ought to at least work.

Although Chuck ended with a lot of loose ends, Adam didn't think they'd come out with a movie, although he said you never know. One fan asked who would win in a cage match between Casey and Jayne, since both fighters have such different styles. Adam laughed and asked, "weapons or no weapons?" then admitted that Jayne would probably win since he was younger.


Another fan asked about John Casey's character development throughout the series, especially towards the end and how Baldwin felt about it, and she also wondered which Subway sandwich was his favorite. As for the sandwich, he said he likes plain turkey with lettuce, tomato and mayo... and maybe bacon. He stated that he did enjoy having the extra layers thrown in with Casey's character because he had been a robot up until that point. They also really loved Mekenna Melvin, the young woman that played Alex McHugh (Casey's daughter), so they expanded her character and had her become involved with Morgan. Baldwin said he was glad they didn't continue with it, having the pair marry and having Casey end up as Grandpa Casey, because then he would have wanted them to kill his character. He always appreciated it when they gave him a new weapon, though.

Going back to Firefly, one fan mentioned how the characters on the show were so dynamic and loved, but that Jayne (Cobb) was the most complex, what with his mercenary background, yet still sending money to his mom. And then there's the hat. He wanted to know what Adam's internal motivations were when playing Jayne. Joss and Adam went back and forth about Jayne's background and agreed that the audience should meet Jayne's mom eventually, which was probably the motivation for the letter from Jayne's mom. They agreed that Jayne had been raised in a typical middle class neighborhood, until things went south and then he took off to live out his Wild West fantasies. Jayne was educated, if not formally, but he did have some sort of decent upbringing.

He was asked what it was like to sleep through the last episode of Firefly and he said when it was explained to him, Joss was afraid that Jayne's character was such a bad ass, he'd have taken the guy out had he been awake. To make things more interesting, they crafted a wicked drool puddle for Jayne. The man doesn't snore, but he apparently drools.


Another fan asked about the filming of Serenity and whether the cast knew that Wash was going to die or whether that was something that was held until the end of the movie. He said they knew about it and it was a decision that was sort of made by a combination of people. He suggested asking Alan Tudyck about it, but agreed that it was a sad thing.

One young fan asked if Baldwin was a Browncoat and he immediately replied, "Yes Ma'am." Another fan asked about what happened to the Jayne statue in Firefly. Adam related that following shooting that day, a crowd of several hundred extras got it into their collective heads that they wanted him to "take the head!" and so he did. It was a difficult task, but he finally did it and the crowd went wild. Adam said he felt like he was living the dream, he was Jayne Cobb, and he took the head back home. He got a knock on his trailer door and they needed the head to shoot some second unit things. So if you look closely at the closeups, you'll see a crack in the head that wasn't there in the wide shots. He did eventually keep the head and the sign and they auctioned them off for Joss's charity, Equality Now.

When questioned about his favorite director that he's worked with and why, Adam said the most caring and communicative director he's worked with was Joss Whedon. "He just had such a vision for detail that I really appreciated," said Baldwin, and Joss let him experiment with props to see what would work best. He was always interested in improving things. He also mentioned Kubrick and Dick Donner, but then said, "It's a sci-fi convention, dammit. Joss Whedon!"

He was asked about his first movie, My Bodyguard and what his memories were on that project. He was struggling in high school at the time and had been in drama classes since 5th grade. On a whim, several of his classmates auditioned for a local agent because the movie had come to a handful of cities looking for kids in his age group. He auditioned and got called back a few times, did a screen test and then he got the part. In between the screen test and the time that he got the job, his Assistant Principal came up to him and gave him the "what are you going to do with your life" speech. When Adam said he thought he'd do this movie, the man said he couldn't rely on that and 30 years later, Adam is still proving him wrong. When asked about his voice work, whether he enjoyed it, and whether he was going to be doing any more of it, specifically would Kal'Reeger be returning in Mass Effect 3, he said yes, he will be doing more but he really couldn't talk specifically about Mass Effect 3 until it was released.


One fan asked why Baldwin was so awesome and how one could aspire to be more like him, and Adam jokingly asked the spelling of his name, pretending to start signing his autograph on a Chuck DVD. But seriously, he said, "The trick to being awesome is just be kind, if you can, and say a kind word." He says he doesn't always live up to that, but he tries and the older he gets, the harder he tries. His wife has a mantra that she recites to the kids that says it's better to be kind than to be right - of course, he says he finds a way to be both.

As for playing all bad ass roles, he was asked if he wanted to keep doing that or do some plain guy roles. He said that'd just be boring, but he'll see what comes because you never know what's next.

Someone else asked if he would rather work with Spielberg or Scorcese if given the opportunity, and he said he had worked with Spielberg, but his character was removed from the film, How to Make an American Quilt. On the upside, his character's picture remained on the mantel during filming, so he still got the residuals, so that was cool. As for Scorcese, if he said "jump," Adam would say, "how high?"

Baldwin was asked if there were any particular rituals he would do to get into character when playing John Casey or Jayne Cobb and he said he would always find the prop guy, his buddy, David "Kentucky" Coleman, and they would chat about what weapons he would be using or what other props they'd load the scene with. He'd try to be as organized as he could when doing scenes, like when he is going into the armory to load up with several guns and knives, it takes a little choreography for you to get it right every time. Since there's really no time to rehearse that, they tried to decide it all beforehand. That was it as far as rituals, except that the makeup lady was very sweet and she would always make him a nice cup of coffee in the morning. He said it was good coffee, even better coffee than his wife (who is not a coffee drinker).

Someone asked Baldwin that considering Chuck, Firefly, Serenity and The Patriot, which parts were the most fun and did you enjoy your fellow cast mates. His role in The Patriot was great because he was on a horse and everyone else was trudging through the mud. When lunch rolled around, everyone else had to get cleaned up and he just sat down to eat, rubbing it in. Baldwin said that when you look at a cast like Chuck or Firefly and they seem to be having fun on camera, they are generally having fun off camera as well. He felt that he was blessed with the casts he's worked with. He said he tries to get a lay of the land when he approaches a new role, staying back and seeing what's what. He likens it to a sniper, trying to figure out who he can target for friendship... or destruction, but if the casting has been done right, everything will mesh.

Adam was questioned about his role in Next of Kin, where he played a not-so-nice guy, and what it was like to work with Ben Stiller so early in his career. Adam replied, "I torched him, didn't I?" He's not sure he was appropriately cast in that role, since he wasn't quite as Italian as they wanted, but it was fun to work in Chicago.

Someone asked what it was like to work with Bill Maher and Mr. T in D.C. Cab. Baldwin said, "Mr. T was and remains one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He is a man of God and a force to be reckoned with. He's a kind and gentle soul." He likened Mr. T to a pro wrestler or professional fighter, saying that they have nothing to prove and are typically very gentle in real life, unless they are in kill mode. At the time, Mr. T was huge since The A Team was in its second season. They also had Gary Busey and these two huge body builders, the Barbarian Brothers, plus cranky Bill Maher, (who remains cranky, according to Adam). He says he'll never forget Gary Busey standing on top of a cab saying that he will never work on Elvis's birthday, January 8th, and then he started dancing.

He was asked which character was his favorite and which one is most like himself. Adam shared that Jayne is his inner kid coming out from the shoot-em-ups that his dad used to take him to see. He was able to channel actors Eli Wallach from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Warren Oates from The Wild Bunch. He always gravitated towards scruffy bad guys because they were fun to watch, even though they were doing evil things. Adam feels like Casey thinks a lot like he does and he figures he'll have to play "a lib" next.

He was asked what it was like to learn Chinese swear words and whether he remembered any of them. He doesn't remember the Chinese so much as the English translations, like "the exploding diarrhea of an elephant," which was one Alan Tudyck had to remember. Alan was very angsty about it, muttering the words over and over and insisting he would never get them right and Baldwin did a hysterical imitation of him, which the crowd loved.

One fan asked if Jayne had a chance to captain the Firefly, what kind of jobs would he make the crew do, and he replied, "Inara, Captain's feet hurt. Rub 'em!" and "Hey Wash, them heads (toilets) clean yet?"

When asked who can shoot better - Jayne, Casey or you, he laughed and said, "Well Casey, but Casey's me." Adam has some friends who are former Marines and he gets to train and go out to the range with them. He takes his kids out to train because it is important to know what you are doing, all except for his oldest daughter, who is nervous around guns. Adam quipped, "And you call yourself a Baldwin!"

Adam was asked about the open way that Firefly ended and whether they were told about what was to happen and he said no, because they wanted to flesh things out with the comics, although he doesn't keep up with the comics.

It was really fantastic to get to see Adam Baldwin in person and he's just as awesome in person as he is on TV, even more so. Here's hoping he returns to Louisiana for another appearance next year!



-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins

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