Jim Beaver

———————————————-
.:. Life’s That Way .:.
———————————————-

01. Less of a question and more of a shout out. You have lived through a terrible ordeal with grace and honour. Thank you for sharing this touching story through your book, it is a great help to know how others cope with this kind of loss. You are a giant among men. So, how are you? [Niki]

Jim Beaver : Thank you for the kind words. I guess I’m fine, pretty much. I have a great life with a beautiful child and a terrific job working with people I love. My losses still ache, but my life is splendid.

02. How long did it take you to write that wonderful book ? [Jen]

JB : Well, in a sense, it took me exactly a year to write the book. That’s because Life’s That Way is a compendium of emails I wrote every night for a year. Of course, there was a great deal more work afterwards, because there was too much material for a single book. There was the necessity of editing out large portions and smoothing the transitions. So there was the year of actual writing, and then probably a year of scattered work preparing it for publication. But those couple of years took place between 2003-2009.

03. Do you intend to write another one ? [Jen]

JB : I don’t have any plans for another book of this nature. This was such a singular experience, and it is dealt with so all encompassingly in Life’s That Way, that I’m not sure how I would follow up with another similar book. But I’ve been writing books most of my adult life. (I just haven’t finished many of them!) I’ve been working on a biography of 1950s TV Superman actor George Reeves for a long, long time, and I also have a crime novel I’m about a third the way through. I’ve got other projects lying about, but none of these are imminent.

04. How did the idea of writing a book come up in your head ? [Jen]

JB : I didn’t intend Life’s That Way to be a book, at first. It was just a way of keeping family and friends updated on the circumstances of my family during a time of great difficulty. It sort of unexpectedly transformed itself into a journal of the experience, and only after that year was over did I give serious thought to turning it into a book. That was mainly a result of the response of many of the people who followed my original emails. They were quite vocal in their encouragement for me to publish the material. The positive effect it had on many of them seemed to mandate that I share my story with more people. I was nervous about that—afraid of the hubris of self-importance. But it seems from the response the book has gotten that I made the right choice.

———————————————-
.:. Acting Performances .:.
———————————————-

01. I saw you in the ‘X-Files’ {Season 06} ! When you got the part in SN, did you make the connection b/w SN and The X-Files or was it just another job for you ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : Supernatural, when I first got the role of Bobby, was just another job to me. I didn’t know the show. I knew executive producer Robert Singer from having worked for him years earlier on Midnight Caller and Reasonable Doubts. And I discovered I knew Kim Manners from X-Files. I’d really enjoyed working with Kim on that show and was happy to see him on the Supernatural set. Little did I know that he would become one of my closest friends.

02. What are your favourite types of movies-dramas, horrors, commedies ? And for that matter, what’s harder to play ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : I like all kinds of movies, both as a viewer and as a performer. I confess, though, that I’m not a particular fan of horror movies. There are a few I really, really like, but in general I’m not a follower of the genre. I love Westerns, to see and to make, probably above most other forms. But a good story is a good story, whether it’s a genre piece or a drama or a comedy or anything else. Good stories and good characters are what’s fun to see and what’s fun to play. I don’t find any of them inherently harder to play. Some are harder to shoot, because of technical demands. Horror and sf are much tougher because of special effects.

03. how do you want SN to end ? With happily ever after or with all of them going down in a blaze of glory ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : I don’t really care how SN ends, as long as it ends with the kind of powerful resolution that Eric and his staff are so capable of. My wife used to say that my favorite movies were the ones where the audience spends hours getting to love characters and then they all die. Well, that’s not exactly true, but I certainly don’t object to that kind of story. I doubt seriously, though, that SN will end that way. Redemption has been so much at the core of the show, I can’t imagine Eric letting it end on anything but a reinforcement of that theme.

04. Would you like to direct and/or write an episode ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : I used to write television, and while I love having written it, I don’t have much ambition in that field. It’s hard work and I generally prefer to write things that grow out of my own interests and concerns rather than to contribute to someone else’s vision as a writer. I would certainly attempt it if I had a great idea for an episode, but so far I haven’t had one of those. I never cared to direct, either, at least not as a career ambition. Directors work far too hard for me to want to be one of them consistently. I just directed my first film, Night Riders, a short based on a play of mine. It was a wonderful experience, but it was far, far easier than what’s necessary to direct a TV episode or a feature film. Right now, I have a minuscule ambition to direct a couple of other short films, but that’s about it. Supernatural, I’m afraid, will have to live without my stupendous directing skills.

05. Would you like Bobby to have a Supernatural power ? and if yes, what should it be ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : No, I like Bobby being just a human guy with human abilities. He’s much more interesting to me that way. (I started to say I’d like Bobby to have X-ray vision, but actually, I really only want me to have X-ray vision. I don’t care about Bobby.)

06. What’s your favourite SN Monsters ? [LolaJohnston]

JB : I hate to be boring, but I don’t really have a “favorite” monster on the show. The show, to me, is so much more about human relationships than it is about the monsters, and Bobby hasn’t dealt with all that many monsters face-to-face anyway. I kind of liked Bobby’s zombie wife jumping on him, but maybe that was because the stuntwoman was pretty.

07. We know Bobby is a real ‘Surrogate-father’ for the Winchester boys… What about your “Real-Life” relationship with these guys ? [Jen]

JB : My relationship with Jared and Jensen is far different from Bobby’s with the Winchester brothers. Bobby obviously knows more and understands more than Sam and Dean, and he’s not just a surrogate father, he’s also a teacher. I don’t have any of that going on with Jared and Jensen. We’re simply fellow actors and friends. I daresay they’ve given me more career advice than I’ve ever given them, nor do I feel I have much to offer them that they don’t already possess. I genuinely love them. We don’t hang out together off the set much at all—hardly ever. But on the set, I feel such warmth for them both, and I enjoy being in their presence. Colleagues and kid brothers is how I really think of them. I’m quite blessed to work with them.

08. What can you tell us about the cast ? [Jen]

JB : There’s not much about the cast I can say that I haven’t said. I really enjoy them all. Mischa and I have probably had more interaction at conventions than we have on the set, and even that’s not much. I love his sense of humor, and I get a kick out of being around him, and I hope there are more opportunities actually to work in scenes together. The rest of the cast, meaning mainly recurring actors, I rarely see. Some of the popular characters over the five seasons are played by actors I’ve never met (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, for example) or have only met at conventions (Chad Lindberg, Travis and A.J., etc.).

09. What’s next on your agenda ? [Jen]

JB : At present, Supernatural has most of my attention. It’s looking to be a heavy season for me on the show, and I don’t have anything else on the calendar (though I’m hoping to do a play later this fall). We’ve just submitted my short film to the Sundance Festival, and I have lots of activities related to the publication of the paperback edition of my book scheduled. And I have a lot of international convention appearances scheduled for next spring.

———————————————-
.:. Season 05 .:.
———————————————-

01. How did Bobby end up possessed in the Season Premiere ? Will this be revealed in time or will this remain a great ‘Supernatural’ mystery ? [Niki]

JB : How Bobby got possessed is a mystery to me, and apparently it’s a mystery to a lot of fans, because I get asked about that a lot! It’s been suggested that Bobby should have been better protected against such things, but I haven’t heard an explanation of why he wasn’t. Whether Eric has an explanation or not, I don’t know. Whether he intends to address the question, I don’t know either.

02. How much of Bobby will we see this season ? [Niki]

JB : Even at his most frequent, Bobby has never been in more than seven episodes in a season. I expect to break that record pretty handily in season five. I’ve already filmed four episodes, and am booked for two more very soon, which will bring me to six long before the mid-point of the shooting schedule. With all that’s happening to Bobby this year so far, I can’t imagine there won’t be a lot of further exploration.

03. Will Bobby meet Chuck ? [Niki]

JB : Bobby hasn’t met Chuck yet, and I only know what I’ve done so far. They don’t tell me much at all about the future. Bobby could be dead in a couple of episodes, he could be a demon or an angel, or he could be a pixie or an elf. I don’t have any idea at all what’s coming.

04. Will Bobby need to be a negotiator between the boys and other hunters ? [Niki]

JB : Again, I can’t answer because I don’t know. It’s certainly possible, maybe even likely, given the current dynamics of the story. But I’d be guessing if I said so.

05. What’s THE big episode ? [RivalHunter]

JB : I guess the “big” episode depends on your viewpoint. I think episode 7 is one of the biggest, simply because it deeply involves Bobby and brings some development and insight into his current situation. People who play other characters might have a different idea about what makes a “big” episode.

06. How many deaths could we expect ? [RivalHunter]

JB : Again, I can only know what’s in the scripts I’ve seen thus far. I do not get notice from the writers what’s going to happen on this show. That said, I have a feeling nasty things are afoot for somebody.

07. What do you anticipate for Season 5 ? [RivalHunter]

JB : I anticipate that season 5 will be powerful, far beyond anything that SN fans have yet seen, both in terms of cataclysmic events and of personal drama. I know what happens in less than half the season, but I’d bet on those things ending up being true.

08. Could you spoil us a bit about the Season 05 ? [Jen]

JB : Aside from the fact that I don’t know much beyond episode 7 at this point, I wouldn’t ruin it for the fans for anything. And, as I often say, I like my job and don’t want to lose it by having loose lips. I can say that even in light of the Apocalypse exploding all around the characters, there’s some very funny stuff coming up soon !

09. Will Bobby Ever Walk Again ?! [RivalHunter]

JB : That remains to be seen. I have no idea what the writers have planned for this. And I probably wouldn’t say if I did !