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Xander Harris Q 'n' A
Q'N'A courtesy of Buffy the vampire slayer UK magazine.
Nicholas Brendon
Buffy magazine: You've had the opportunity to do something most people only dream about, so I have to ask: back in the first season "Nightmares" episode, How did it feel to hit a clown?
Nicholas Brendon: Oh, I've always wanted to.
BM: Do you hate clowns?
NB: No I love them. I like to hit things I love.
BM: That's twisted.
NB: Well, he was chasing me with a knife. I think anyone chasing me with a knife, I'm gonna whack on the nose. Whether it's a clown or a shark. I've been chased by two sharks with knives.
BM: Lets take it back to the beginning. What was your Buffy auditioning like?
NB: It was the end of pilots season, so I was kind of on a roll, and I just went in and met with Marcia Shulman, our former casting director, who's now head of casting over at Fox. She said to come back at four o'clock to meet Joss. That was the first time I heard his name. That was a Thursday, and at about seven o'clock on Thursday I found out that I was gonna go to Fox and test. Friday night I found out that I was going to the WB on Monday and then at eleven o'clock on Tuesday morning I found out that I had the part of Xander Harris. It was pretty cool.
BM: Did the cast bond pretty quickly?
NB: Definitely. We were all for one and one for all, joss included. Once we saw the show was really good, it was easy. It was weird because it was all of our first prime-time series experience. Tony Head had VR5 or something, but this was the first one that was really good, since Joss is here and he's the god.
BM: Do you like working with Joss?
NB: He's an amazing writer and an awesome person. I don't know what actor wouldn't want to work with somebody who can write as well as him.
BM: How do you feel about Xander now? Are you happy with where he's come?
NB: Yeah. He's a part of me. I've helped to develop his character. He's gone through a lot of growth and some change. It's nice because it's been like real life. It's slowly evolved. Not like a soap opera, where all of a sudden I have a goatee and three earrings. He's definitely very sweet, and I'm really happy that he's been part of my life for the last four years.
BM: What's your favourite Xander moment? Do you have one?
NB: No, not really, because they're all equally as important. "The Zeppo" was the best, because it showed a big range. When I first read the script, was at Starbucks and I cried at the end, because he was changing a bi. He was accepting, becoming more of a man. It's weird, because even though it's my face and my body that portray him, I have no idea what I look like. I know what you look like more than you do, you know?
BM: Where do you see Xzander in Five years?
NB: I don't know. Probably working the door at some nudie bar.
BM: There are worse jobs in the world. I understand you used to work as a waiter. Are you a good tipper now because of that?
NB: Yeah, but I think I was a good tipper before that. I did it for seven years, when I wasn't acting. I realised that once I left the house, I needed to eat and somehow pay the rent, and that was the easiest way to do it. I had a lot of odd jobs. I went to school while I was doing that, and just worked all over - as a plumber's assistant, a script delivery guy. There's a lot of stuff that I did.
BM: Have you retained any of your plumbing skills?
NB: No, I was literally just kind of picking up toilets. I was doing the dirty work, so I tend to stay away from the dirty work as much as I can now.
BM: Anything involving toilets is dirty work, period.
NB: Even putting a clean toilet into a new house is dirty, because you know what's about to happen to that little porcelain pot.
BM: I know you have a twin brother, too. Do you ever pull the ol' switcheroo?
NB: Sometimes if I'm really sick, he'll come into work for me. No, he's worked on- set before, so people get freaked out if I'm working and then all of a sudden, I'm in civvie clothes and a beard. It's like, "Who pulled the wool over my eyes?" But no, we haven't done that. I respect what I way too much, and the project itself. When you're in junior high, it's a different story. I think I can get fired for that, because I think it's a breach of contract. My lawyers couldn't save me to save the world, and they could actually save the world a lot easier than they could save my job.
BM: Which of the cast members is the most fun to hang out with?
NB: They're all horrible. [LAUGHS] You get the generic answer; they're all fun for different reasons, and it's hard to say. We all hang out together for different reasons. That's an impossible question to answer. Me. I am. I love hanging out with me.
BM: We talked to John Ritter and he said that you guys used to exchange nasty answering machine messages.
NB: I love John Ritter. I haven't talked to John for about a year or so, and I really miss him. I need to try and find his number again, somehow get it. "Hi, I'm Nicholas Brendon and I'm looking for John Ritter's number?" Click. I went through a break-up and a move, so in that bustle of caca, I lost the number. I love that man. But I'm definitely willing to exchange nasty messages again. Have him call me.
BM: How do you feel about FAME?
NB: I wasn't really a big fan of the show. The movie was awesome. Fame L.A. kind of dropped the ball. [SERIOUSLY] It's fun and it's not fun. You don't really think about it when you start, and there are degrees of it. I like to act, so I didn't do it for that reason. Maybe when I was fourteen and I was playing baseball, I said, "Wow, it'd be really cool to have your own show so you can meet that girl and you can do that." Now I enjoy doing the work, and if it's a by-product because of that, then that's cool and I accept it. People coming up to me and asking for an autograph or asking for a picture, I think it's great, because you're doing something right.
BM: What's the weirdest experience you've had? Have you met anyone famous that you've always wanted to meet?
NB: It's weird, because you're inundated with it. You kinda get an overload of who you meet or where you are. Sometimes you have to take a step outside of yourself and say "Wow, this is kinda cool." But then it's your life, though, so you're still living an everyday life and you can't really get too caught up in it. There are a lot, but not a single one stands out. I was in an elevator last weekend with Evander Holyfield. That's the last one that comes to mind. I was at an All-Stars game in San Francisco. I met a lot of nice people there, but I met a lot of not-nice people too. That's actually the disappointing aspect of it, because you meet certain actors and they're just not nice, and you wonder why. It's insecurity, but it's like, "What's going on with you? You should be very grateful and thank God every day."
BM: You were going towards playing baseball for a while.
NB: Yeah, and I just kinda lost the passion to play. I still love it immensely and I still play, but I wanted to do something else. I do that; I'll be doing something that's a passion and I'll make a change. Hopefully that won't happen with acting.
BM: Who's your team?
NB: The Dodgers, tragically, right now. They're gonna rebuild.
BM: Just like the Cubs.
NB: Right, yeah. Hope floats, doesn't it? Hope runs eternal.
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