Michael O'Hare

[Raw Shark]

Thanks! I looked up Michael O'Hare's bio on Wikipedia, and it mentions the stress of playing a character with his own mental issues as being overwhelming for him, and in turn making O'Hare's own problems worse. I suppose that would be a real danger for an actor immersing himself in a challenging role, getting sucked in too deep. It's sad that it cost him on such a personal level, in terms of his own career and stability. Again, I wonder how often this happens? He cannot have been the only one who experienced this. Heath Ledger springs to mind, but I don't know that much about the events leading up to his death.

Raw Shark

"Get out of my way, or by God I'll throw you out the nearest airlock."
Cmdr. Sinclair

[Jan]

Wow, I seriously disagree with "Halfway through filming, his hallucinations worsened and the stress of playing a character who was suffering from a similar mental illness was becoming overwhelming." *What* similar mental illness? PTST (Sinclair) isn't generally equated with paranoid delusions (O'Hare). In addition, in both his recent interview and in Phoenix, JMS didn't offer "... to suspend the show for several months to accommodate O'Hare's treatment for mental disease;..." He offered to shut down the show-full stop.

Jan

[Springer]

I agree, the description on Wikipedia almost makes it sound like O'Hare became ill, or that his illness was made worse, partly because of the character he was playing but I don't recall JMS ever saying that.

Did Sinclair have PTSD? He certainly had survivor's guilt, which is pretty much what Garibaldi implies at the end of 'Infection', and is also hinted at with his memories of Mitchell in 'And the Sky Full of Stars'. He was haunted by the events on the line and his missing 24 hours. But people suffering PTSD also experience paranoia, anxiety, depression, flashbacks, withdrawal and a lack of confidence. I never saw any of that in Sinclair and we never saw Franklin discussing it with him. Sinclair was very confident, very sure of his abilities and his decision-making, never became flustered or hesitant. He didn't have a problem getting back into a Starfury and going back into battle or of working with Minbari. It does make me wonder a little bit if people are conflating Sinclair with O'Hare's illness, of which we do not know the details.

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by KoshN

I always liked O'Hare's performance except for his scenes with Blaire Baron (in The Gathering), with whom he had zero chemistry. That scene, discussing The Battle of the Line was filled with bad acting, by both of them. It was just a bad scene. They should've done it a few more times and had good direction.

They probably intended to do retakes after principle photography was done,, then were told it was being trimmed way back. in the preliminary edit. Or, conversely, the trimmed version we got might have been an attempt to salvage something from a scene that just wasn't working.

[Republibot 3.0]

Originally Posted by Springer

It does make me wonder a little bit if people are conflating Sinclair with O'Hare's illness, of which we do not know the details.

Agreed. Easy to do, certainly under the circumstances.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but O'Hare was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, wasn't he?

[Republibot 3.0]

I can only point to a few really bad scenes (The bar scene in "Born to the Purple" is cringingly awful), and some occasionally odd line readings, but I think the problem is that Stage acting and Screen acting are different animals. On state you're playing for the cheap seats in the back, and tend to be a little exaggerated in nuance. Screen is more intimate, the perormances more measured and restrained. (Example: "The Producers" broadway musical, which is pretty good, versus the movie version of "the Producers" musical, which is terrible [Though the John Barrowman part cracks me up])

I think O'Hare was primarily a stage actor, and he didn't really have time to find the sweet spot between the two mediums. As a result, I think he might have played the stoicism "too big," if that makes sense. He over-sold it. I can see how this would make people think he's merely wooden, and not give him the second chance he deserved.

On the other hand, in his "Achiles sulking in his tent" scenes, his over-selling it just totally rocks and is amazing.

[Jan]

Originally Posted by Springer

I agree, the description on Wikipedia almost makes it sound like O'Hare became ill, or that his illness was made worse, partly because of the character he was playing but I don't recall JMS ever saying that.

Did Sinclair have PTSD? He certainly had survivor's guilt, which is pretty much what Garibaldi implies at the end of 'Infection', and is also hinted at with his memories of Mitchell in 'And the Sky Full of Stars'.

You may be correct. My comment was based on the (few, thank goodness) people I've known with post-combat PTSD who were prone to flashbacks. Which Sinclair definitely seemed to have, even without the Knight's machine. However, he definitely had survivor's guilt.

Originally Posted by Republibot 3.0

Correct me if I'm wrong, but O'Hare was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, wasn't he?

It sounds like it, but JMS never mentioned any actual diagnosis. BTW, if you haven't seen it yet, there's a *long* interview with JMS at http://www.emmytvlegends.org/intervi...l-straczynski# and a link to a clip where he talks about Michael just a short time before he did so at Phoenix Comic-Con. In the clip, the discussion of Michael's illness starts shortly after the 46:00 mark.

Jan

[JoeD80]

Originally Posted by Republibot 3.0

They probably intended to do retakes after principle photography was done,, then were told it was being trimmed way back. in the preliminary edit. Or, conversely, the trimmed version we got might have been an attempt to salvage something from a scene that just wasn't working.

um that scene was cut in the original pilot. the full scene was there in the "special edition.". Personally I think o'hare is awesome in that scene.

[Springer]

Thank you for posting a link to that video Jan. I haven't had chance to watch all three hours yet but I viewed the part where he talks about Rick Biggs and MIchael O'Hare. Very sad, and the respect he had for those actors is clear to see.

[Raw Shark]

There was a fair amount of emotion on display in Phoenix. I loved the stories about Jerry Doyle living with Andreas Katsulas, and the free ham he was obsessed with getting his hands on. And that part about several of the cast watching Galaxy Quest together one night was very funny.

But my favorite part was Tracy Scoggins' defense of her friend Jeff Conaway's reputation. Prior to his death, they had been friends for many years. After years of dancing and performing on Broadway and elsewhere, he had (I think) several injuries to his back and elsewhere, and got hooked on prescription painkillers. That's how a lot of addicts start out, and after sustaining my own injuries I've become keenly aware of this trend over the last few years. She was really unhappy with the way he was portrayed on the reality series Celebrity Rehab, which I'm guessing was along the lines of a self-absorbed, overly dramatic trainwreck. I haven't seen the show, I hate reality tv with all my heart, but that's what she was implying. She said he was not like he appeared on the rehab show, but was instead a good friend and a good man. It didn't quite fit with the other topics being discussed, but she needed to say it, and I thought it was pretty damn cool. Count me as a Tracy Scoggins fan.

Raw Shark

"Perhaps everyone is wrong."
Kalain