On-Line Chat ~Live on Beeb 1998
Mira Furlan

Mira Furlan is best known for her portrayal of the half-human Ambassador Delenn,
in the cult sci-fi series Babylon 5, a role that has endeared her to audiences all over the world.

Paul: "Do you ever feel nostalgic for your home country, Yugoslavia, and how do you feel about the political situation?"

Mira Furlan: "That's the hardest question..."

Mira Furlan: "Yes I do get nostalgic for my former home which I cannot even call Yugoslavia anymore because that country has been erased from the maps...and from people's consciousness..."

Mira Furlan: "I do get nostalgic for the seaside and the islands...for the scent of the Adriatic Sea..."

Mira Furlan: "Where do I start about my perspective about the problems?... I have been talking about this in many interviews...Before I left my country in the Autumn of 1991 (the very beginning of the war) I submitted an open letter to the press...and that letter somehow appeared on the Internet and became public knowledge...and even though that letter was written 7 years ago it captures the essence of my opinion and feelings in reference to the troubles..."

Mira Furlan: "I just could not make myself hate any group of people...I refused to become part of the madness, the hatred."

Marsha: "What is the biggest difference between the TV and Film industry in the USA, compared to Yugoslavia?"

Mira Furlan: "There is just one word - MONEY!!!!!....and of course, money means time..."

Mira Furlan: "In America there is a lot of money floating around, but no time for anything...In the former Yugoslavia it was exactly the opposite - we had all the time in the world, but no money. This resulted in a feeling of constant frustration and hopelessness...but it did mean that we had a much more relaxed way of life...our attitude to living and working was so different. Having no money meant having a certain degree of freedom."

Jemma: "What has the reaction to B5 been like in your home country?"

Mira Furlan: "Frankly, I have no idea. The reaction has not reached me. Although I know that Babylon 5 is being shown in Croatia and Slovenia...Also I must admit that I don't particularly care."

Lesley Wyatt asks: "Did you ever consider any other professions if your acting career didn’t take off?"

Mira Furlan: "When I was in high school I wanted to study languages, and I actually did it for 2 years together with my studies in acting...I studied English and French at the university...and my other choice was the profession of a simultaneous translator...I still think I could have done that in my life...but after a certain point you get hooked...and even if you want to get away you cannot. So I definitely consider myself an actor."

zoots: "Has the Minbari accent developed/derived from your own accent? "

Mira Furlan: "I guess so...I think Joe writes from observing his actors, and that I think is of great value."

Marcus D'amico asks: "Do you get recognised in the street, even though you look so different without makeup? Far more attractive if you don't mind me saying so!"

Mira Furlan: "I don't get recognised a lot...and in fact, that suits me very well..."

Mira Furlan: "A very strange thing happens in England though. There are so many people who escaped the war in my country and came to London, that I actually feel that I've come home when I'm walking through the streets of London...Once or twice people have recognised me - and those are people from my former life."

Billie May asks: "Do you feel that you have a certain responsibility to the public playing a character in a programme that has such a huge following?"

Mira Furlan: "I feel that I have a responsibility to do a good job, but that's all...I feel I have a general responsibility to be a decent human being, but that doesn't have anything to do with being an actor on Babylon 5."

Paul: "Do you consider B5 to be fantasy without any basis in reality, or futuristic drama with strong pathos to the stories and characters?"

Mira Furlan: "No...Babylon 5 is definitely not a fantasy..."

Mira Furlan: "It is a show that constantly refers to sociological, political, psychological facts of our present life, and it is that which makes it so valuable, I think."

JohnW: "Are you concerned that you might be typecast after the success of your role in Babylon 5?"

Mira Furlan: "Typecast as what? An alien?...That happens to be my legal status in America, so in my real life I'm already typecast..."

Mira Furlan: "I guess I can't escape being typecast as an alien, but I'm quite comfortable being in that position."

Mavric: "Would you go into space given the chance to do so?"

Mira Furlan: "I had trouble learning to drive in Los Angeles...Driving on freeways is still a problem...I really don't know how I would cope with driving a spaceship, though I imagine it would be easier than driving on LA freeways."

zoots: "Do you think that Delenn is a good role model for women?"

Mira Furlan: "Ambassador Delenn is an extraordinary character. She combines so many different traits...She's tough, but vulnerable...She's strong, but feminine...She's a pacifist, but can be militaristic...She has depth and spirituality, but can be funny and light at times...So yes, I think she's a great role model - not only for women - but for everyone."

Mavric: "How much of you is in Delenn?"

Mira Furlan: "I already said that Joe takes inspiration from his actors, so I think Ambassador Delenn has a lot of me in her...Also, any time an actress plays a role, she puts parts of herself into it, it cannot be done any other way."

Alex Jest asks: "Mira, don't you think that now you are more known as Delenn? Has anybody ever called you "Delenn" by mistake?"

Mira Furlan: "Fans used to sometimes call me Delenn, I have never approved of that attitude...I always appreciate it when people make a distinction between the character and the actor."

Freaky11: "Mira, I guess, not any 'alien' actor makes a breakthrough in the USA. How did you manage it? Was it thanks to Joe?"

Mira Furlan: "Babylon 5 happened in the most ordinary way for me...My first American agent sent me to a routine audition...It was one of my first auditions in America. I had no idea what I was entering at the time..."

Mira Furlan: "After four auditions I was finally offered the part...but I never expected it to last beyond a pilot TV movie, because I knew that 99 per cent of pilots in the US never become series..."

Mira Furlan: "I was pretty realistic, and also being an Eastern European I am pessimistic by nature...The reality proved me to be wrong. Thank God!!!"

zoots: "B5 has a number of different directors - is it a very different experience for each director, and do you ever end up directing the director?"

Mira Furlan: "Sometimes you have the feeling that you know more about your role than the director does...and it's actually quite logical - the directors come and go, and we stay...We had some directors who didn't even know how to pronounce the names of our races, which was quite embarrassing..."

Mira Furlan: "But the whole story of directors reminds me of the fact that tomorrow you can watch an episode called And All My Dreams Torn Asunder which was directed by my director-husband Goran Gajic...It's great - very good, and I loved working with him."

Louise Jessup asks: "Do you have any plans to direct any of the episodes like Stephen Furst?"

Mira Furlan: "I don't have any plans right now...I'm comfortable with being an actress...and I'm uncomfortable when I have to make decisions...Directing is, I think, just that - making decisions."

Ervin: "How much say do you have over the development of your character within the series? Have you ever disagreed over proposed story lines?"

Mira Furlan: "You can't really intrude into Joe's writing...He has a clear idea of what he wants to do, and you know in your heart that it would be insane to interfere with his plans..."

Mira Furlan: "However, I did it a couple of times...Sometimes he accepted my suggestions...Sometimes he convinced me that I was wrong, and that I have to open my mind and not stick to my rigid perception of my character...I always enjoyed discussing things with him - whatever the end result was."

Alex Jest asks: "In the show you sometimes speak in Minbari language. Who invented these words and was it hard to say it?"

Mira Furlan: "I don't have to say that Joe invented those words. We were playing with pronunciation, intonation and things like that - it was a lot of fun. Billy Mumy and I even allowed ourselves the freedom to improvise some dialogue...Sometimes we could not end what we started because of too much laughing."

Kris: "In the original series of B5 you had heavy prosthetic make-up. Were you thankful for Joe’s decision to make your character more humanoid? How did you then react when you had to don the make-up again for B5 TV movie? Did Joe have to bribe you?"

Mira Furlan: "I was very happy with the storyline that caused Ambassador Delenn to change her appearance...The make-up in the first year was quite uncomfortable...and I sometimes suffered at the end of the 16-hour-long day...It took three hours to apply the make-up each day..."

Mira Furlan: "As for putting it on again for the TV Movie, I was actually excited and glad to do it again, to revisit that old experience, and to find out how lucky I was that I didn't have to do it on a regular basis...Also it was fun for me to play ( as someone said) the Baby Delenn...to go back to that naive, childish, inexperienced part of myself."

David Burnett asks: "Mira, what did you think the first time you looked in a mirror wearing the original Delenn make- up?"

Mira Furlan: "When I did the pilot and saw myself in the mirror for the first time I have to say that I began doubting my decision to do it...It was just so scary...and in human terms just plain ugly...It was an exercise in abandoning all vanity...and it was hard to do, but finally with the whole development of the character and all the physical and psychological changes that I went through, I'm eternally happy that I accepted the job."

Grendel: "Have there been times when you, as an actress, thought you wouldn't be able to stay the distance for the full five years with B5?"

Mira Furlan: "Playing the character for such a long time is a completely new experience for me as an actress...Up until Babylon 5 I was so used to going in and out of jobs..."

Mira Furlan: "To do a job for such a long time, you need to develop a certain kind of discipline, otherwise you get either bored or crazy...There were moments where I thought "I did that already! I'm just repeating myself", but you just have to get over that feeling...I guess that discipline is what is called professionalism."

MartynD: "Now that B5 is drawing to a close, and I'm not exactly sure what involvement you have with Crusade and the films - what other projects are you pursuing?"

Mira Furlan: "I have no involvement in either of the TV movies or the new series...I want to do other things...but first of all I want to take a break and just live."

P Mcleish asks: "Where would you like to take your career after B5?"

Mira Furlan: "I'll take this opportunity to tell you about something that I've done, I released a CD called Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made...It is a multi-media project which includes (besides being an ordinary CD) CD Rom..."

Mira Furlan: "It's a project which plays with the concept of fiction and reality, imagination, dreams etc.,...It deals with imaginary movies and imaginary soundtracks from those movies, imaginary languages."

Moyra: "I'm really enjoying your CD "Songs from Movies that were Never Made. Are you considering doing another one? And If so will it be in the same style, or something completely different?"

Mira Furlan: "I would love to do "something completely different", everything always has to be "something completely different" as Monty Python has taught us."

jason: "I've got your album "Music from Movies" and I was wondering if the various styles on the album reflect the type of music you listen to?"

Mira Furlan: "I guess so...I'm very eclectic in my tastes...I go from blues to salsa in a second...from Africa to old American rock 'n roll, so I guess the album reflects that."

rkl: "Do you use the Internet regularly at home ?"

Mira Furlan: "My husband is the main Internet guy...I'm still on the level of being able to send an email, and am very proud of it...I also cannot be a part of chat rooms, especially not of Babylon 5, newsgroups and so on...Sometimes Goran invites me to see stuff that fans are posting...like long discussions about my possible future career...and I just run away from it, let other people worry about that. I'll read a book!"

Juliette Corrie asks: "What is the strangest thing a fan has ever sent you?"

Mira Furlan: "I got a beautiful worn blanket from a fan that I use a lot, it was a huge package that came, and I thought it was such a kind idea."

Adec: "I was just wondering Mira, what did you think the first time that you attended a convention? Did you think you were surrounded by crazy people?"

Mira Furlan: "I remember my first convention...It was right after I'd finished the pilot...I have to say I was in shock...I had no idea that the whole complicated rich world of science-fiction fandom even existed...but it was a beautiful surprise..."

Mira Furlan: "I think the sci-fi fans, generally speaking, are extremely educated, loyal, intelligent and kind...I never encountered anything that bothered or insulted me, which I cannot say about my former audience in my former life in my former very macho country..."

Mira Furlan: "I am very grateful to the fans...and whenever I feel professionally frustrated I remember the fact that they are the ones who follow, understand and appreciate my work. Thank you for that."

bobcat: "Will you continue to pursue your career in music?? If you could record with any other artist(s) today or from the past, who would it be?"

Mira Furlan: "I don't consider myself a singer, I'm not a musician, but I always throughout my life was around music, I made a record in the former Yugoslavia years ago with a very artsy rock and roll band..."

Mira Furlan: "I would love to do something else...and there is actually a project that a couple of people from Babylon 5 will be working on...I don't have enough confidence to mention any big musical names in combination with myself"

zoots: "Is there anything - apart from enjoyment - that you would hope that viewers will take away from the B5 experience?"

Mira Furlan: "I definitely think there is more...It's not only the enjoyment, it's the thoughts expressed in Joe's writing that are so valuable...the references to our world and to our life...It's definitely something that we can all learn from...I know that I have learnt many things from Babylon 5."

beeb_: "That's it I'm afraid. Here's Mira with a final word..."

Mira Furlan: "This chat was a pleasure...Thank you to all the people who logged in to speak to me, I hope I'll visit Europe again very soon because I still consider it to be my home...Thank you for being here...Be well...and goodbye!"

beeb_: "Thank you Mira! Sorry if your question didn't get through."

beeb_: "The winners of the two signed videos of Babylon 5: In The Beginning courtesy of Wolf359, are Alex Jest for his question on the Minbari language, and Zoots for all his top questions! Please contact us at forums@beeb.com with your details."

beeb_: "Next Wednesday, Jimmy Perry, the co-creator of Dad's Army will be taking your questions. You can post questions for any of our forthcoming guests now."

beeb_: "Keep an eye on http://www.chat.beeb.com/chats/comingup/ for details of future events. In the meantime, thanks for taking part!"

Originally appeared at beeb.com:
http://www.chat.beeb.com/chat/transcripts/980725_furlan/