A Conversation with Jeremy Roberts

Jeremy Roberts has appeared several times on Hercules and Xena. I had the privilege of speaking with him in January of 2000. He was getting over a serious cold that had plagued him for several weeks, but he was in good spirits despite the fatigue that was evident in his voice.

Let's start with the obvious. How did you get started in theatrical work?

The first thing I ever did, you mean, or why it happened?

Both, I guess.

I took an acting class in high school, and we did a play called Our Town. I was a gravedigger and had no real lines. I even fell in the grave during one performance. I never tried again, until... I don't know how many years ago, I was twenty-three or four. After Vietnam, we came back, worked. Some girl was doing a Laugh-In production. You know, the old sixties show...?

Yeah.

[It was for the] stage, and they said they lost this guy who was supposed to do the [Jeremy puts on a bad Indian accent] "And I can see... we are very very... I work at seven-eleven." And I... I just knew I could do it. He was sick, so she said, "Please do it, just this once." I did it once, and they laughed, and I was suckered from then on. I went to Valley College out here to learn how to act. Then applied to the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. I got accepted there, stayed four years, did repertory work, and then decided to go to L.A. about twelve years ago. I've been working ever since.

Sounds great.

Knock wood. [Laughs]

I know what you mean getting hooked on it. I do theatrical work myself. I got hooked in high school; I did a production of Big River, and the standing ovation sucked me in.

I love the songs in Big River.

It's a wonderful show.

I always wanted to do musicals more than anything else, which is funny. I'd be doing this repertory work, you know, Macbeth, and the whole death, ugly thing. Then I'd be, usually, on my days off, going to the Vomitorium and just laying there and watching, you know, Mame, and [Laughs] wanting to be dancing.

It sounds like it was a great experience.

Yeah.

So, how did you get... the first thing you did with Renaissance Pictures was A Fistful of Dinars -- a Xena episode.

Xena... yeah, Josh [Becker] directed it.

How did you get involved with them to start off with?

Well, you audition, you get the job, and you go out there. The main thing is to hope you're liked. And not stinking as an actor would be pretty good too. But if you're liked, you do the job well and you don't have two hundred takes, usually you're an asset... hopefully. And they ask you back, cause you're not a bad guy... or actually ask you back because you are a bad guy. [Laughs]

You've made a career out of playing bad guys, haven't you?

Yeah. It's not so bad. [Laughs] Not so bad... comedy! It's actually really good to be bad.

Your performance in Fistful of Dinars is still regarded as one of the biggest scene-stealers in the show.

You've got to be over the top.

One critic referred to it as a "humorously sinister, Peter Lorre" performance. Just in terms of the amount of scenery you chewed in that one. You upstaged almost everybody.

I loved Peter Lorre.

Is that how you met Josh Becker?

Yeah. That's how it happened.

You went on to do that film with him, what was the name of it? He directed, with Bruce Campbell?

The... oh... oh geez... in my game room... it's huge. It's a poster... [Laughs]. Oh you can't say I don't remember! I could run in to look at it...

Running Time!

Yeah, Running Time. There was originally another name for it, that's why I was thrown. I should apologize to Josh if it gets out... [Laughs]. Best time I had on that. It was wonderful. I love Bruce.

Bruce is fabulous. He's got his own show again. [Jack of All Trades]

I see it, and we talk on the internet, and he keeps saying they're going to bring me there, and I'm waiting to play a peg-legged, Jamaican pirate of some sort.

So there's an offer to come down and work on Jack of all Trades with him?

He's saying they want me to come down, but you know, they hope. That's the truth. Wait until you get on the plane.

Yeah.

Or Cleopatra [2525]. Cleopatra, whatever that is, it doesn't sound so bad either, playing with three or four women.

Both of those shows premiered a week or two ago.

They're already on?

They just started up. The response has been favorable, for the most part. So you did A Fistful of Dinars, and apparently you were liked well enough that they asked you back to do Mercenary where you played Dirk with Kevin Sorbo.

Yeah, that was Hercules. And then I came back and did one for Rob Tapert. He directed... what was it called?

Paradise Found.

Yeah, I shaved my head for that one. And then the fourth was Hercules again.

Be Deviled.

Yeah, that was totally fun.

It looked like a massive make-up job.

I loved that.

Great experiences working down there?

It's the place to live. It's where I want to live. Not just because I'd be working there, but I love the people, the city. L.A., ehhh. I was born here so, you know, ehh. All they have to offer is gangs. I'd rather live in New Zealand.

I've heard that it's absolutely beautiful down there. Many Xena fans dream of going down and checking the places out, walk along the beaches and so forth.

They should have a Xena Fest, or a... what do they call that thing, Sarah McLaughlin does it.

Lilith Faire?

Yeah. They should do a Xenith Faire. Everybody join together and... [Laughs]. I hear she's had a baby. I have to call and say congratulations.

If they called you up and said, "We've got a part for you down here," you'd jump at it?

Oh god. To live there? Definitely. To live there would... nothing against America, god bless it, but five years in New Zealand would be wonderful.

I can well imagine. Okay, my readers probably would never forgive me if I didn't ask you. What's it really like working with Lucy Lawless?

Oh boy. [Laughs] How would you say that? How could you...? You can't, because she's married and with child, so... that's all gone. That infatuation.

Right.

I'm actually... I'm close enough to her -- she wasn't married at the time. I'm thinking, how could I possibly? No... [Laughs]. And then I realize, who am I playing? This disgusting character. Yeah, you've got a shot. [Laughs] So then it just turned out to be very fun, and she was a wonderful person, and you know, you throw it out of your mind. What every guy's... I mean, wow. Six feet tall.

Pretty impressive, huh?

Yeah, very beautiful. But she's a great person too.

And how was it working with Rob Tapert as a director on that episode later on?

Oh, that was great. You know, I say that about every director. I don't have a problem with most. Any of the directors, anywhere I've worked. So I'm lucky that way. I can't say I've had... I had worse times when I was in school. The directors that I had when I was at ACT in San Francisco, doing summer rep, they seemed to be a little harder to get along with. But not in TV and film. I just haven't been lucky enough to meet up with the real big A-hole. [Laughs] Not me.

It sounds like you've had a great career so far.

You can't beat it. I go around, I kill people. I beat them. I assault them. I totally destroy people's lives, and then we all get up, shake hands, and go out and have a beer. I don't have to do it in real life, or get in those situations like at McDonald's or anything.

You get it all out of your system in a constructive environment?

Exactly. "What did you do today honey?" "Well I killed a family of four. I got away with it, but then they caught me at the hotel. I was shot hideously... but hello..."

"What's for dinner?"

Let's have dinner. Exactly. And there'll be no police at the door.

That's always a good thing. So do you have any other projects lined up for the near future, or are you still recuperating?

No, I audition. But I usually sound like I've got a big cold. It's tough to hold a bad guy when your nose is all clogged up.

It's tough to take a villain seriously if he's always blowing his nose.

Yeah. I figure it's just something God does. "That's okay, you need the time to rest. I won't let you go out and audition." I just finished an episode of The Invisible Man. That should air in March sometime. I've done another Pretender, also out in March. Other than that, I'm just painting the house, landscaping -- which is fun to do.

Sounds like you don't have anything to complain about.

No. Other than, you know, my mind. I'd like to put a bullet through it because I've been sick this long. I don't really mean that, but you want to scream. "Stop this! I'm so sick of coughing, and blowing my nose." Who invented it all?

[Laughing] I don't know.

But it seems to be gone now.

That's good to hear. I'm sure the fans send their best wishes.

They actually do. It's great, I love to hear that. It's wonderful.

I have a question that a friend of mine made me promise to ask you. It was about that first episode you did with Lucy and Renee. She says that one of her favorite scenes was when the bridge collapses, and you and Renee were hanging on to it. You basically climbed up over her back. She says she laughs her head off every time she sees that scene. It looks like after you guys get up that some of what you guys did in terms of smacking each other around was improvised. Is that accurate?

Probably, yeah. There were a couple of scenes like that, just because it just seemed natural, you know. And then we did it again and again, and I just kept saying, "Go ahead and do that. When you get to the top continue. Slap me."

Spur of the moment stuff, huh?

Yeah. That's usually the best.

What one role would you sell your soul to play?

God. I don't know. It would be tough because there would be so many you'd want because they did it so well. But then they did it so well, how could I possibly do it better? I always liked Lee Marvin in The Killers. I always wanted to do that again. It's thirty years later, time to do it again.

That big remake kick Hollywood is on right now.

They always seem to be, because you know you can't write anything new. Although we're trying. My wife and I have three or four series we're trying to get through and talk to Rob about, see if he'll jump on one or two.

So your wife helps you out with your projects?

Yeah, I come up with an idea, or she does. We put it into a treatment and send it into our agent. Mail it out, and hope that somebody will go, "Great idea! Let's make that!" Just keep doing that until somebody says yes, hopefully.

Tough business.

Oh yeah.

Well, I've come to the end of my list here.

Well I don't have any questions for you. [Laughs]

The Superbowl is on. Who's your pick?

You know, I should care, but I'm a Dallas fan. Maybe San Francisco, a couple other teams. But the Tennessee Titans? Sorry, I've never heard of you. The other team? Maybe it's kind of cool because the Rams used to be in L.A. But I wouldn't watch it, so I decided to bet on it. That's the only way I ever get into a game if I don't care about them at all. I'll put a hundred bucks down it and go, "Well now I feel like I can root for someone." [Laughs] If anything it's fun that way then.

Well it sounds like you'll come out ahead. They were winning at halftime.

I've got to go wake up my daughter now. She's had a nap since two o'clock... it's five thirty. If she gets up now, she'll be up until ten. That's all right, though.

So what's in store for the future?

Hopefully I'll do one more Xena and then jump on Jack of all Trades.

That would be fabulous. It's always noticed when you show up. You do a good job. You're what a friend of mine refers to as a "that guy" actor. Nobody recognizes your name, but when they see you on a show or in a movie they say, "Oh yeah, it's that guy!"

Yeah. I did a Profiler recently, and people just couldn't figure out who I was, because I was playing this disgusting, autistic, homeless freak. Some screamer on the downtown LA streets. I don't normally look like that. [Laughs] But they say, "Aren't you the guy...?" I've always been "the guy." But that's okay.

You can build a career out of being "the guy".

A handsome guy would be good. [Laughs] Anyway, back to the Rams.

Right. Thanks a lot for taking the time to talk with me.

It was a pleasure. Have yourself a good evening. I'll see you at the conventions.

I hope so.

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