Bruce Harwood Interview
  (interview by "Lala", archived with her permission)

LaLa-There's been a lot of talk (even in a figure skating newsgroup) concerning your "training in figure skating".  What's the real story behind this?

Bruce-"The skating thing came up because a few years ago an interviewer for Entertainment Weekly magazine asked me, "What about you would most surprise people?  "Well, the true answer is, nothing, but I had to say something, so figure skating is what came out.  I studied figure skating back when I was in elementary school, for a couple of years, I don't remember how many, until I finally gave it up in grade six or seven.  My sister was also a figure skater, and she pursued it up to the lower levels of competition.  I remember deciding to give up figure skating the day some boys my age made fun of my 'faggy' skates.  I skated recreationally a few times afterwards, and tried on hockey skates once in university, for an outing with friends.  (Fell down and nearly killed myself.)  But I hadn't touched skates for twelve years or more when the Lone Gunmen 'skating episode' came along."

LaLa- Since a career in figure skating was a no-go, what inspired you to explore theater/acting?

Bruce-"I have no idea what interested me in theater and acting.  I've always been interested as long as I can remember.  When I was planning my career through school, I always thought in terms of 'what else can I do?'  In high school, I considered law.  In university, I was going to try a B. A. in either film production or in English.  Through a number of circumstances too to long to describe here, a place in the B.F.A. (Acting) program at the University of British Columbia was handed to me, and I took it."

LaLa- Who was your most influential teacher/professor and why? (your wife does not count....although from a wife's perspective....that *would* be a good answer!)

Bruce-"I had a couple of teachers I admired very much in high school and my first year of college, but they were language teachers.  (So now I know a little bit of French and a little bit of German.)  A man named Arne Zaslove taught the bulk of the B.F.A. program in its first two years.  We students always measured ourselves against his standards.  I graduated in 1986, but even now it's a source of embarrassment to me that I never became the success in theatre that he would have wanted.  As for my wife's influence, she did direct me in my best performance ever."

LaLa-A few  short answer questions to give you a rest.
Do you have any current/future projects happening/in the works?

Bruce-"As of the current date (November 28, 1998), the only future project I have in store is another appearance on the X-Files, sometime in December.  I don't know what the script is about yet."

LaLa- What type of music do you prefer?  A favorite song (current and/or all time)?

Bruce-"I like all kinds of music, except for most mainstream rock and pop music, and country (though I like bluegrass).  I have a built-in snob attitude, i.e., if everybody likes it, then I don't.  Most of my CD collection is classical and jazz."

LaLa- Would you describe yourself as a cat person, dog person, or other?

Bruce-"I'm a cat person.  I grew up with cats.  I own a cat.  She's bugging me right now."

LaLa- What's your idea of a dream vacation?

Bruce-"My dream vacation... I've never had a chance to travel much, not the way many of my friends have.  I prefer cool weather, so I would stay away from places like Hawaii or Fiji.  For some reason I've always wanted to go to Iceland (?)  I was in New York for two days this year and would love to go back.  But I think my true dream vacation would be a literary tour of Europe.  I'd like to see the places Dante, Dickens, Joyce, Goethe, Ibsen, Brecht, Sophocles, Cervantes, Yeats, Kafka, ect., lived and worked.

LaLa-I've 'heard' you have performed live theater. My mother did a lot of summer stock when she was young.  The very nature of live work creates a unique panorama of problems as well pranks and amusements.  I'm sure you know what I mean (i.e. alum in the drink during rehearsal "thang").  Please relate a particularly memorable live role as an anecdote.

Bruce-"Indeed I have performed live theatre; it is my first love.  It's taken me ten years to learn to enjoy working in TV the same way I love doing theatre.  I prefer the ephemeral nature of theatre.  I like the interaction of a live audience.  It's been over two years since I performed any live theatre and I miss it.  One role I remember was the part of Tom in an Irish play called 'Conversations on a Homecoming.'  I won't give you the plot--the important thing is that the play takes place in a bar, and all the characters drink heavily during the course of the play.  

Now the way it's written, all the actors except one get a bathroom break during the course of the play.  This is a necessity when you're consuming pint after pint of cold tea faked up to look like beer.  The actor who didn't get a bathroom break (and this play had no intermission, either) played a character named Michael.  The problem was, in order to get to the bathroom, you had to exit one side of the set, cross around behind (crouching low to avoid being seen through a set window), go out a backstage door, up a flight of steps, along a hallway, up two flights of stairs, along another hallway, and around the corner.  

Everybody else had plenty of time, but the play gave me all of three minutes to do this.  In rehearsal, I was sure it was impossible.  So for the first three nights of performance, Michael and I would be acting our hearts out for an hour and a half, while our bladders slowly filled to bursting.  On opening night we could barely bow during the curtain call, it was so painful.  Then, as soon as we  were off stage, Michael and I had to sprint (zing! like cartoon characters) for the bathroom, out the door, up the steps, along the hall, up the stairs, along the hall, and around the corner, footsteps pounding.  There were two washrooms, but opening night Michael got stopped at the door by a friendly old lady who wanted to know how the play had gone.  Eventually, I discovered I had time after all during my designated break, so the only actor who suffered during the whole run was Michael.