On-Line Chat ~TVGEN/Yahoo July 1998
Mira Furlan

TVGEN: Welcome to the TVGEN/Yahoo! Chat Auditorium. Our special guest tonight is Babylon 5's Mira Furlan. She has played Delenn on the series since the very beginning. Babylon 5 continues its exclusive run on TNT with the premiere, on July 19, of Thirdspace: A Babylon 5 Adventure, the second feature-length B5 film created for TNT. Welcome, Mira.

Mira Furlan: Hello and welcome!

Andrew_Nexus: Can you give a sneak peek as to what's happening in the final episodes?

Furlan: You know very well that if I do that I would be killed! So I won't do it.

LordRobert_: How much did your change, when you came out of the cocoon, have to do with wanting to?

Furlan: I do not think that it is easy to influence Joe Straczynski's decisions. It was his concept from the beginning. But fortunately, it coincided with my wishes.

Rodspi: Mira, will there ever be a B5 movie?

Furlan: I'm not the one to ask that question. I would love that, but of course, I have nothing to do with decisions like that.

Joates2: Will you appear in any of the "Crusade" episodes?

Furlan: I have no idea!

Toddj: Hi, Mira! Just ordered your CD! Very original idea for it! Do you have any particular tracks on the CD you like the most?

Furlan: I think one of the tracks that I sang the best is "50 Names of Marbuk." I also like "Travelling."

Satai_Leo: Mira, what scene did you read when you auditioned for the role of Delenn?

Furlan: I read the scene from the pilot. I can't remember exactly the lines or words, but I know that it was happening in the Zen Garden between Delenn and Sinclair.

TameranSilverclaw_: Was doing Thirdspace any different from doing an episode of the series?

Furlan: It wasn't really. It was the same director, the same crew, the same stage, the same cast. After a while, all the episodes begin to seem like one huge, long episode. And you, the fans, know much more about details of every single episode than we the actors do.

Moyra_J_Bligh: Mira, where in the world would you like to travel, that you have not already been?

Furlan: I'd like to travel to Africa. I would love to go to South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania or Zimbabwe. I'd love to see the culture and, of course, the animals in the wild.

ServoMT: Good Evening, Mira. I was wondering: Was it difficult going into making this season of B5 knowing 1) that the show was coming to an end and 2) that you already knew what the end was gonna be, as "Sleeping in Light" was already in the can?

Furlan: It was a nice surprise for all of us to get the fifth season, so the attitude was extremely positive toward going to work. The fact that we had already shot the last episode actually made it easier to see the whole arc of the season. On the other hand, there was the sad certainty of the end.

Rabid_Guy: Did you expect B5 to become so successful?

Furlan: No. First of all, I was not familiar with the whole world of science fiction/fandom etc. I was living in Europe, where it didn't really cross over to such an extent. So for me, discovering the existence of that parallel world was a major and wonderful surprise. Also, Babylon is a project that has been developing and moving forward, qualitywise, since the beginning.

StarFortress: Who have been your favorite guest stars, and why?

Furlan: I loved working with Reiner Schone, Theodore Bikel and Brad Douriff; these people brought new energy and new spirit to the show.

LaRubin: Will there be More Songs From Movies That Have Never Been Made? Or something completely different?

Furlan: That depends on how the first batch of Songs From Movies that Have Never Been Made is received. If you like it, I'm ready to sing again.

Rabid_Guy: How long does it take to put on those prosthetics?

Furlan: I've been answering this question again and again over the years. But I'm happy to answer it again. It takes around three hours to get it all done, with both the old and the new makeup.

Adidas_hunnie98: Hi! My names Kristie. My dad is really the fan, but he doesn't like to get on the Internet so I'll ask for him: Are there plans to extend B5 past its original five-year run?

Furlan: No. There are no such plans. The series is finished. Is that too cruel a statement for you? Kristie, can your dad stand it?

Toddj: Mira, have you seen the final episode "Sleeping in Light" yet? If so, what did you think, without giving anything away? Sad? Happy?

Furlan: No, I haven't seen it, but I was very moved while we were shooting it. It is very emotional material.

Rabid_Guy: Do writing or directing interest you?

Furlan: I've never attempted to direct. I have attempted to write. The future will show us if any of those realms is possible.

DieSchatten: I very much liked your husband's recent directon of a B5 episode. How did you two meet?

Furlan: I thought that you were going to ask me how we were going to work together. This is not the first time that we have been working together. We met when I was singing with a band in the former Yugoslavia, and Goran, who was the main music-video director at that time, came to do a music video (which, by the way, never happened). Instead we got together.

But after that we made a movie together called Dear Video just before we left Yugoslavia and the war started. After that we worked on an adaption of Sophocles' Antigone in L.A. The episode of Bablyon 5 was our third collaboration. I love working with him, and it's always easy because we know each other and we understand each other. And also he's just fun to work with and be around.

Bildy98: Are you computer-literate? If so, what is your favorite web page?

Furlan: Well, I don't know if I'm computer-literate. I'm somewhere on the edge of literacy. I can send an e-mail and type and write. Other than that, I'm pretty bad. But I'm trying. I haven't come up to the level of evaluating web pages.

One_of_a_pair: It must be quite different here from your home country. Any comments on either culture? Also, is sci-fi popular in Europe?

Furlan: Yes, the differences are extremely huge. And to even begin talking about them seems like a major task. That definitely exceeds the frame of this conversation. Sci-fi is popular in Europe, especially in England, where B5 is one of the most popular shows on TV, and in Germany.

Gail_pittsburgh: Thanks for five great years. What is the one thing you will miss most about B5?

Furlan: I think the people: the cast and the crew, because it was an extraordinary group of individuals. With some of them I know I will stay in contact, but I will miss the others.

Lynn675: What is it with the hair? What made them decide to let you have hair in the show after all?

Furlan: If you watched Babylon you know it is a part of the storyline that the idea of hair is the idea of being human. Delenn wanted to be a bridge between human and Minbari, so that's where the hair element comes in.

Satai_Leo: Other than Goran (of course) who was your favorite director to work with on B5?

Furlan: I liked working with Mike Vejar. He's a very gentle person who knows exactly what he's doing. I also liked working with Jesus Trevino.

Lightning_Wizard: What sort of work did Harlan Ellison do as the creative consultant? Did you ever work with him directly?

Furlan: No. I never have. I think it's more of a relationship between Joe and Harlan. The exchange of ideas, the feedback. Harlan created the idea for an episode that Joe wrote and it was wonderful. It deals with a whole new angle from which we see events on Babylon.

Marjie929: Mira, Thank you for such a great show as Bablyon 5! What is your favorite part about playing the character of Delenn?

Furlan: I loved the complexity of the character, which is very unusual with female characters all over the world. Delenn had all these different traits. She could be tough but also vulnerable. She can be extremely militaristic but also gentle and emotional. She's wise and spiritual but can be funny. In one word, she's a complex being. And that's a wonderful gift from Joe to me.

Meg_63: I think Delenn is my favorite science fiction heroine. She's strong, intelligent, wise and compassionate. What would you say is her greatest personal struggle?

Furlan: I would say her greatest struggle was to overcome the chasm between her Minbari and human parts. In order to become a real bridge between those two races, she had to struggle within herself and that was what made it so interesting to play.

B5_Lyta: It's an honor to talk to you now. I've always wondered; what's it been like to wear those elaborate Minbari crests on the show?

Furlan: It's not the most comfortable feeling in the world and I'm always amazed when I see people at conventions putting it on just for the fun of it. But of course, I can only feel honored when I see that.

Steffen_2: Hello, Mira. Will you be at any convention in Europe this summer ?

Furlan: I'm traveling to England. I will be doing a couple of signings in London and maybe I'll even pop by the Wolf convention in London, where Bruce and Jerry are going to be the guests. I'm taking a little break from professional activities, because I want to have time and peace of mind to reinvent my life. I need to do that, I feel, at this point. So, I hope to see you and hear from you, and I hope you will be interested in checking out Songs From Movies that Have Never Been Made. And watching Thirdspace.

TVGEN: Thanks for joining us tonight, Mira, it was great to have you as our guest this evening.

Furlan: Thank you so much for chatting with me. Take care.

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