STAR RIDER
A profile of B5's luminous John Vickery

by JC Williamson

Babylon 5 inspires flights of fantasy, above and beyond the plots and characters it presents. Minbar, Mars Colony and Centauri Prime virtually materialize in active imaginations. The enigmatic, outlined cultures of Narns and Vorlons become fully envisioned. The images of even one-time characters remain indelible, long beyond their brief appearances -- and it's a bright galaxy of guest-stars that illuminates this station's long, dark night.

Occasionally, one of these stellar visitors steals the show. We anxiously wait for his return. And when he returns in an entirely separate character incarnation, that's significant -- certainly to the creative skill of the actor, whether or not his incognito double-duty means anything to B5's renowned story arc.

Alyt Neroon -- Minbari warrior-with-an-attitude -- carved his indelible image onto B5 in the first season episode, "Legacies". So much so, he got a promotion: Satai Neroon now exalts on the Gray Council, replacing his ostensible rival, Delenn.

But no one on B5 is quite who they seem. And nothing ever stays the same in this universe.

Ask John Vickery, the very human soul beneath Neroon's jagged crest. His vivid and compelling portrayal of the imperious Alyt lead to encounters of a different kind, and the actor now returns to star in B5's second-season finale -- surprisingly, as a new character. And he's human this time around. For the actor, who never anticipated a return-trip to Babylon in any form, things are spinning nicely.

Regarding the return of Neroon, Vickery notes the luck of timing. "... there was a footnote on the script that said it would be great if we could get the same actor to play Neroon. Meaning if they couldn't get me, they'd get somebody else. But it would work out great if they got met because then there would be this continuing familiarity."

Modesty aside, the B5 team clearly saw Vickery as greater than the sum of his parts when they chose him to play a completely different character for their highly anticipated season finale -- and perhaps beyond.

"That's interesting, to play different roles on the same show. I was just offered this one and didn't audition for it. Apparently I come from an Earth diplomatic corps and I'm attached to some diplomat who comes to B5 from Earth. But I seem to have my own nefarious sort of plot going that they haven't explained to me yet. As far as I know, I'm an Earther. It says in the script that he's a bit of a wolf, which is the only character description that I've seen."

Vickery's human character won't echo his Minbari guise and even his voice won't give the actor away. "My intention is to play it closer to myself and not do an accent ... not do all the things I was doing with Neroon."

Neroon's distinctive tones help demonstrate this very American, native Californian's theatrical skills. On that point, he chides, "It's just mid-Atlantic good speech." Even so, "The aliens are sort of well-spoken Englishmen. Not only something slightly exotic, but something classy. After all, these people are supposed to be diplomats and fairly sophisticated aliens. They've been around the universe. I was asked to come in with an English accent, I think for the same reason that Patrick Stewart was picked as Jean-Luc Picard -- he can just stand still and talk and be effective. In some ways, since both of those shows are so highly theatrical, a theatrical background (which is sometimes a drawback in other areas of television and film) can be a plus."

As a veteran guest-star of both Babylon 5 and Star Trek/The Next Generation ["Night Terrors"] Vickery has traveled a few universes, encountering a daunting array of special effects. He observes that such scenes invariably come out differently that the actors envision. "B5 uses a lot of computer graphics and Star Trek used a lot of blue screen. I've always said that it's like a different acting talent, because you've got to stare at nothing and react to it. And literally, sometimes it's nothing. You have to ... in your imagination, see what they've written in the script or what the director tells you you're looking at."

The very real impact of Minbari makeup and attire affects performance as well. "Hearing is a little difficult at times, unless someone's standing in front of me and speaking fairly loudly. That may be one reason why my character's so angry -- I'm being loud so I can hear myself! But also the costume forces you, because of the big robes -- they're fairly heavy -- to be tall and heavy and grand. Little naturalistic gestures don't mean much of anything in a costume like that."

The long hours spent in alien makeup application offered one surprising dividend: That's were the actor gleaned the information that helped honed his alien character. "In general, the tips I got were from the casting director and, oddly enough, from the makeup person. Because I'd be sitting there for three hours .... so I generally pump them. I know very well the first thing I'm going to do on the set is start pumping the makeup guy about: what's going on with Earth? And who are these Vorlons? They're there day to day, they know what's going on with the broader storyline. And B5, as opposed to Star Trek, has this huge arc of stories -- its like "Dungeons and Dragons" if you're thrown into the middle of it."

As mysterious as it seems, Vickery doesn't doubt it all adds up. Regarding B5's creator, J.M.Straczynski, he observes, "He has a very big masterplan and its flexible to the extent that when something works he'll want to continue it and when something proves to be a dead end they'll cut it off. I'm sure they have the ability to take little curves and changes."

Wherever his new character goes, portraying an Earther may be relatively easy. "There's always a problem when you're playing an alien. You're going, well, I'm an alien now -- what sort of culture does this being have?" Even so, he notes, "B5 sometimes has a race which they try to make so alien you don't even know what motivates them. But as alien as aliens get, most of the regulars on the show have a culture that can be understood. They're not that far out. The Minbari and the Narn ... they're humanoid. They have two arms and two legs -- and they speak English! So you don't have to go to far with it."

Vickery explains Neroon's motivations simply. "His discovery that the war was called off for what he considered very stupid reasons ... he's angry. And he continues to be angry." As to whether that means the character will go towards the darkness or the light, he observes, "Even when there may be a long arc to the character, you still have to play moment by moment. And in a way, it's sort of positive not to know where the character's going -- because nobody knows where they're going in life. You can plan all you want, but you don't know, from day to day, what's going to happen to you. And in fact, Neroon doesn't know for certain (as much as he's planning) any more than anybody else does. So in that sense it helps not to know." Besides, "I used to plan things out ... then I realized that none of this makes any sense because when I get on the set it's all going to change. The best you can do is learn your lines and try to learn some sort of emotional line through it."

He also learned from his "Legacies" co-star, Mira Furlan. "The first show, I was on with Mira. She and I just got along well and I asked her a lot of questions about the Minbari and what was going on with the story. I admire her. I think she does a very good job on the show." It's a mutual respect. Furlan has described Vickery as an excellent actor, noting that he was fun to work with -- and fun for Delenn to order around!

Working ad-hoc with the established B5 ensemble cast presents no problems for this seasoned theater professional. Some of them, he's worked with before. He laughs, "Bruce Boxleitner -- years ago I did a mini-series, it was horrible. Bruce and I were rivals. I married Courtney Cox and he took her away from me." Vickery just completed a Los Angeles theater production of the comedic "Same Time Next Year," starring with Ambassador Londo's remaining wife, Jane "Timov" Carr and B5's own John Iacovelli designed their theater set.

Vickery also enthusiastically recalls Andreas Katsulas' comic performance in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" back in 1980 when the two were both performing in Central Park productions. "You talk about me being dark! I think he generally plays villains. But I've seen him be extremely funny."

That appreciation for versatility might be part of what draws Vickery back to B5, where characters aren't all one-sided. "That's what I like about it " he confirms. "Everybody has positive and negative."

Primarily a theater actor, Vickery made his youthful stage debut when reluctantly cast in his high school's production of "Twelfth Night." There, the self-described shy youth immediately found he could fly. "I was just taken with the excitement of it and the fact that I could make audiences laugh. It got me!"

But not until he'd nearly obtained a mathematical degree from University of California, Berkeley. Luckily for B5 audiences, he never became (to quote Londo Molari) a "victim of mathematics."

"I did plays for fun." He recalls. Then, gradually, Berkeley's 60's-era experimental theater claimed the actor's soul. Vickery still occasionally ponders completing that degree, and does not consider his left and right brain interests opposed. "My interest in math was in the more artistic side of it ... the more abstract side." It remains an abiding combination of interests. "The character I would love to play, and haven't had a chance to, is a scientist. A Robert Oppenheimer ... or even Einstein! Who no one would ever make a film about, yet they were very fascinating people."

Science fiction claims his interest as well. "I miss the old Twilight Zone. It was a seminal growing up experience." Television aside, Vickery is well read in the genre, opting for, "The hard science kind of science fiction that has to do with spaceships and time warps and time travel. Ones where the author has some sort of explanation about how it works. But I also like the literary side of it -- I like a writer who knows how to write a sentence. They have a science fiction imagination but it's scientifically grounded in some way. They also have good technique as writers. I love it when I come across somebody I've never even heard of before and they've written some fascinating novel."

Among his choices, William Gibson's cyber-novels get high marks and Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" is a favorite. He recalls attending one of B5 consultant Harlan Ellison's lectures, years ago. "He was very intelligent, there were sparks flying out of his head. He's so irascible!" And B5's innumerable, fan-pleasing allusions and salutes to classic science fiction don't surprise him. "I presume all these guys are fans. I mean why else would they make a show like this?"

As for more high-tech realities, Vickery jokingly refers to himself as, "fairly out of it." Unlike B5's omni-connected creator and devoted online following, he doesn't yet surf the internet. "Now if I knew more about computers ... I would know more about B5. I think I'm just one of those people that's just so ... so overwhelmed by the onslaught of it all, I just prefer to go home and be quiet."

The impact of B5's groundswell popularity hasn't hit him yet. He recalls meeting James Doohan, in the dry years between the last Original Star Trek episode and the first ST movie, working conventions from an old motorhome. For any actor, that's a powerful image -- but Vickery is open to the possibilities that B5's burgeoning fandom may offer.

That is, when he isn't preparing for another theatrical production. He recently completed a California production of "The Misanthrope" and will soon begin rehearsals for "The Cherry Orchard." Although Vickery has exercised his skill with playwriting and directing, the actor prefers to act. "I'd rather participate. That goes full circle, all the way back to the kid who enjoyed being in the play on opening night." Although B5 taps his darker side, and he's frequently cast in dramatic roles, the actor eschews that limitation. "Drama and comedy are both just acting. If the script is full of comedy, then that's what you're acting. If the script is full of drama, then that's what you're acting."

It's an apt philosophy for a stage and screen career that touches everything from Shakespeare to soap operas. Vickery recalls his brief tenure, "ages ago," with the daytime drama "One Life To Live," as a mixed blessing of good pay -- and artistic emptiness. When asked which was the more alien, B5 or OLTL, he laughs, "OLTL is more alien than B5 -- to answer the obvious question!" Then hastens to add, "I've lost my snootiness... I'm doing more television and film ... And god knows I would love to do more. But I have to do some sort of major role in theater every couple of years. This production I just did, "The Misanthrope," was tremendously empowering. You get the luxuries of time in theater. It's a process of discovery."

Whatever the venue, Vickery keeps busy in an industry where a small percentage make it as full-time actors. Even so, he laughs, "Talk to any actor in the world and they'll tell you they're not as busy as they'd like to be." He just missed a starring spot in the new show "Legend" that ironically went to Star Trek's John de Lancie -- an actor with whom he has worked and to whom he is often compared. Occasionally, a confused fan thinks he IS de Lancie -- or, even more often, Kyle [Dune; Twin Peaks] McLachlan. "People say I look just like Kyle. He looks like me -- I'm older." He laughs. "I've actually signed his autograph a couple times. We do look incredibly alike. Which is strange, in the same business."

Whether or not there's a series waiting out there with Vickery, McLachlan and de Lancie as brothers, the B5 audience has not seen the last of John Vickery nor the myriad characters he so deftly brings to life. Perhaps souls do return, in one form or another, again and again.

Whatever form John Vickery chooses next, be glad.

Interview copyright JC Williamson and should not be reproduced without permission.