Eric McCormack Q&A

Question: Are you a fan of sci-fi as a genre?

Eric McCormack: Well I am not a huge fan of watching it but I have done a lot of it - or sci fi related stuff - over the years. So it is like a sub genre for me.

Question: So what was the appeal of The Andromeda Strain?

Eric McCormack: It is a great script and I think it was right for re- making. I think the idea of a killer disease - particularly one that is manufactured by the government - is totally now. It is not even science fiction now it is much closer to science fact. There are people with tuberculosis getting on international flights and whole countries and continents dying of Aids. So the idea that a disease Could spread that rapidly and cause that level of destruction is not So far fetched. And also, unlike the original film, this one really Plays up behind the scenes - who is really the bad guy aspect of it, the espionage and the government secret stuff. That is what makes this script really current and really exciting.

Question: For research or preparation did you go back to Michael? Crichton's original novel or the Robert Wise film?

Eric McCormack: I didn't really. I remember the film from a long, long time ago. I think it was really a product of its time in terms of the way science fiction was being done at the time. Whereas this script really stood on its own as a real look at what goes on. Everything in this script is very informed by our post Watergate and Bush sentiments of the moment - we just don't trust who is pulling the strings.

Question: How significant for you was the involvement of sci-fi legend Sir Ridley Scott in this drama? Was he one of the reasons why you accepted the part of Jack Nash in The Andromeda Strain?

Eric McCormack: That made it really exciting but I didn't expect that we would meet him. In fact I didn't even meet him until the thing was finished. But just the fact that he had his stamp on it - he and Tony Scott [Ridley's brother] - was enough. I am really proud of this and I think that with Ridley, Tony and our director Mikael Soloman there are some real quality people behind the camera.

Question: Talking of people behind the camera, Ridley Scott was Executive Producer on The Andromeda Strain - does that sort of role appeal to you or do you see yourself staying firmly in front of the camera?

Eric McCormack: Well I have been doing some producing over the last two years here in America. Myself and a partner produced a comedy show for Lifetime. I have explored that and as a writer/director I have a few things that I am developing. So I absolutely do have plans on the other side of the camera. I think I have realised that I am more attracted to the writing/directing side than I am to the producing side. Nobody fully appreciates what a producer does and how long they have to be committed to a project to make it real. It is an incredible dedication.

Question: What kind of material is stirring your creative juices as a writer/director?

Eric McCormack: I have a lot of ideas and some of them are dramatic, some are comedic. For the most part they are film ideas. I spent two years after Will & Grace developing ideas for television and I think that takes a specific kind of mind set - the idea of creating characters in a situation that could possibly go on for years and years. My ideas tend to be a bit more finite. So I have been working on a few scripts that would definitely be small, independent films.

Question: You mentioned Will & Grace - a classic TV situation comedy. How many doors has that success opened for you?

Eric McCormack: In many ways at the same time that there are doors that a sit-com, in particular a gay sit-com, can close slightly. As an actor it is my job now to get out there with a piece like The Andromeda Strain or whatever to make choices that are very definitely not Will Truman. So as I said, as many doors can open as can close. But I think that generally the show - despite the fact that it was a crazy sit-com - had a tremendous amount of respect within the industry. So it generally works in my favour. It is certainly something that I am extremely proud of.

Question: In the UK your fans are most familiar with your role as Will in Will & Grace. How do you feel about all the attention that you receive from fans for playing Will?

Eric McCormack: It is an on-going issue. There are a lot of actors out there and fans don't need all actors to be all things. I have always loved that tradition in the English theatre that actors play a variety of parts. You don't have that so much here; they pigeon hole you quickly - you are a comedy actor, you are a film actor, you are a television actor. I am someone who wants to show my versatility and have variety in my career. So you are constantly going against the grain and trying to prove to people that there is more to you than the main thing that they know you as.

Question: You have played in the London stage on the West End. Have you any plans of returning there?

Eric McCormack: I get a number of offers from the theatre in London. I would love to go to the West End; I would love to return to Broadway. But that is a big commitment - I have a family and it is a hard thing to suddenly uproot them for six months or a year. But we are actually coming to London at the end of June for the Elton John White Tie Tiara Ball.

Question: You are an old school mate of Elton's partner, David Furnish?

Eric McCormack: Yes David and I went to high school together. He is a terrific guy and they [David and Elton] are an amazing team together.

Question: When you are in Britain are there special things that you like to do, things that you don't get in the States or Canada that you enjoy over here?

Eric McCormack: Where does one start…I just love the feel of London. I am a city boy - I am from Toronto - and I love going to the theatre in London. Canada is a real meld of English culture and American culture. We still have the Queen on our money and we still very much have an English sensibility - so London feels like home.

Question: Can you go into an English pub and just melt into the background?

Eric McCormack: Well nobody wants to melt into the background! That depends on the day. Certainly in LA I am just a regular person. We will see when we get there [to London] I guess.

Question: [i]When you do a sci fi drama like The Andromeda Strain is there a lot of complex jargon that you have to learn so that it looks like you know what you are talking about?

Eric McCormack: I agree that can happen. This particular mini series is like three little movies in one. In one the doctors are trying to solve the disease and they do have reams of jargon. Then there is the whole political and military aspect of it and then my story as a reporter trying to break the story. So I did not have as much jargon. For me the challenge was just living in my own little third of the film and trusting that it would all meld together. I really only have one bit with Benjamin Bratt where we on the phone together and yet it is our relationship that is kind of integral. He knows that the only chance of this getting out to the rest of the world is by communicating with me and the only chance I have of getting the scoop is if I can somehow get to him. I think that forms the real bond of the film.


The Andromeda Strain is out to own on DVD from 19th May courtesy of Universal Pictures.

© 2008 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.