"Xposé", Issue #8, March 1997

By James E Brooks

Eric Close, also known as John Loengard, the leading man in Dark Skies, abandons the 1960s to talk to James E Brooks.

THE HERO OF Dark Skies, John Loengard, has been leading a secret fight to reveal the truth about alien invasion. However, although the show has only been on air for a few months, it has given Eric Close the opportunity to explore many areas left untouched by the majority of prime time series, certainly elevating it above most other genre offerings.

"We go in a lot of different directions," he says. "We've touched on racial issues. We're using the stories and the characters to examine these types of things."

Eric Close was born in Staten Island, New York, but moved with his family first to Indiana and Michigan before ending up in San Diego, California before he had even turned eight years old. Though he had his first opportunity to act in elementary school plays, he abandoned performing throughout high school and college, preferring to concentrate on getting a BA in Communications from USC. While attending college, however, he did act in some student films as a favor to film student friends. His original intention was to direct, but performing in front of the camera began to recapture his interest.

After graduating, he supported himself by appearing in commercials until landing a role in the play Rat Songs at a small Los Angeles theater. The role led to getting an agent and Close continued to study acting, finally being cast in his first speaking part in Edward James Olmos's uncompromisingly gritty feature film, American Me.

Close's favorite role to date was in the play Thanksgiving Cries as a suicidal juvenile delinquent. TV jobs followed, including the character Sawyer Walker on the NBC daytime drama Santa Barbara and a regular role on McKenna. Perhaps his highest profile part was as a regular in the critically acclaimed series Sisters, in which he played a police officer. Close's career expanded to include the TV movies Tell Laura I Love Her, Stranger Beside Me, Keeping Secrets and Without Consent.

Close remembers how he became aware of Dark Skies and the John Loengard character.

"I was looking at a few scripts and once I read Dark Skies, I really liked it," he says. "It was probably the best script I read that season. So my agent set a meeting up for me with [show creator-producers] Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman. Over the course of two or three meetings we discussed just where the future of the show was going to go. I decided that I wanted to do it. We went to NBC and Bryce and Brent told the network that I was the guy they wanted for the role. At that point, I had to test twice for Loengard, the second time on film." The call to make the second test came under rushed circumstances. "I was actually on vacation - I was tracked down on a golf course and told that I needed to fly to LA within an hour. So I flew to Los Angeles, did the test, then flew back to where I was vacationing and found out a couple of days later that I'd gotten the part. That was pretty exciting."

Pilot season (the time of the year when producers begin casting and shooting the first episode which will hopefully sell their show to the network) for actors means going through many, many scripts of varying quality. In many cases, making a good choice ends up being a gamble. Close remembers that his own experience with the Dark Skies pilot script was decidedly different, offering a number of reasons to sign, above and beyond the quality of the script. "There were a number of factors. One, it was the script, but also the story the characters and where they were going with the characters. But it was also the level of commitment Bryce and Brent had to this project. I knew they were in this for the long run and that this was really important to them. Those are the kind of people you want to work with, people that really have a passion for what they're doing. On top of that, I really liked them; they're just great guys. I really connected to them and even today the dialogue we have about scripts and where things are going form a great working relationship."

The historical backdrop of Dark Skies creates a level of complexity seldom found in series television. In order to provide a blueprint for stories, Zabel and Friedman created a series concept/guide very different from the traditional show 'bible.' The result was a detailed timeline stretching thousands of years into the past and forward to the end of the second millennium, revealing the hidden alien catalyst behind the development of humanity. Close was given an early introduction to the framework for the series. "They actually gave me a copy of the history to look at. It was after the third meeting, once I'd said that I really wanted to be a part of the show. They gave me their book of the future, stories of the show, the whole plan, the back-history, to look at in order to get an idea of where we were going to go. It was the most amazing preproduction thing I'd seen - I don't even know how to describe it. The amount of time and research these guys put into it was amazing."

Faced with a concept as detailed and structured as Dark Skies would be daunting to any creative person working on such a show. Close quickly saw that things were not as regimented as they had at first appeared. "You know, they set a plan - where they wanted to go and where they saw the future of the show but nothing was really set in stone. Already in this season we've changed some characters, we've added new characters that weren't originally part of the plan. So these guys are very flexible to make the show work and to bring the best entertainment to the audience. "What's great is that with the historical aspect of the show we always have a place to go and something to work off of as far as the timeline goes. But within that framework, there are still enough openings to allow us to determine who comes in and out of the lives of the continuing characters. There's always room for creative license to serve the story."

Many series do not allow for much creative input from their actors, but Dark Skies is the exception to the rule. "I think they're open to ideas right now because it's such a heavy intensely busy schedule that most of the dialogue back and forth is about the script we're working on or maybe the next script ahead," Close relates. "As far as future stories... this season's pretty much mapped out; they've got the scripts pretty much done. As far as the next season, though, that's where I think that kind of creative dialogue can come up. Over the hiatus, we can talk about plans, storylines, story ideas. On a day-to-day basis, the producers have always been very receptive to dialogue about those kinds of issues. It's really great to be able to go to their office and say 'What about this?' Bryce and Brent have been extremely helpful and accommodating in making that kind of interaction work. I love the atmosphere I work in."

When reminded that some shows have a stricter policy regarding script changes, even lines of dialogue, Close says, "I think that's an ego thing. I can understand it if you're changing what the scene is about, but if you're changing a line to keep the same meaning, with the same point, but so it flows off your tongue better, I don't think that's a problem. Sometimes people get carried away with their words. Making film or TV is a collaborative process; we're all coming together to create something that's going to be the best entertainment for the audience. That's my opinion. "Then again, if they asked me to work in NYPD Blue and you're not allowed to change a line, then I could say, 'fine,"' he laughs.

As his last name suggests (Loengard, ie lone guard or sentinel), John Loengard serves a mythic purpose within the Dark Skies framework. As a vanguard of the new generation captivated by Jack Kennedy's Camelot, Loengard and his girlfriend Kimberly embody all the lofty ideals that fueled the Peace Corps. Realizing the position his character holds within the newly created myth, Close found models within another epic. "It was a series of guys, actually -the Apostles who followed Christ around. After he died and rose again, he spent 40 days with them, telling them about the Kingdom. But he also said, 'You're going to be persecuted. You're going to be cast out. All these bad things are going to happen to you and some of you will even be killed for my sake.' And these guys, after hearing all this, still believed and went forward against the odds, even to their deaths, guys like Peter and Paul. So when I look at that, I see the same thing in John Loengard as well. He knows the truth and he's willing to go all the way - even to his own death -to get the truth out. John believes, at least in the pilot episode, that John F Kennedy was the type of guy to emulate, a man of the people. John believes there is an innate goodness in people that allows them to rise above the odds and join together to fight this thing. He's very idealistic, but as the series goes on that idealism is beaten down a bit as his dreams are taken away from him."

Close also sees the show as metaphorical of the kind of moral struggle that goes on in present day life. "I see the aliens as the evil or darkness in the world," the actor says. "John and Kimberly - even Bach - are trying to fight that evil and darkness. They have different methods for going about it, but it's all for a common goal." But the rewards of that fight are ultimately fleeting. "The interesting thing is that even though they may win a battle, the ongoing threat is still there. It keeps you going."

The historical background so crucial to the show's concept is not its only retro element. The paranoia so prevalent in science fiction movies made during the 1950s is reflected in this series set a decade and more later. "I think there's a definite parallel. If the kinds of things we deal with in the show were actually going on, it would create a heightened awareness or paranoia in people that draws them to shows like ours, where they're getting a glimpse of what's going on. But it's also a reflection of their fears, their doubts about government. They can watch a show like ours and say, 'Yeah, that's the way I feel. This is what's really going on,"' Close concludes. "But it's also cyclical," he observes. "You get a big push for westerns; that'll go for a while and then the next cycle begins - medical or science fiction."

Like any new series, Dark Skies faces competition that will directly affect its survival. But Close feels optimistic, pleased with the course the show has taken thus far. "It takes a while for a show to get its 'legs,' especially one of this magnitude. You don't find the formula that works immediately. But I think we have a winning formula and it's just... we're taking risks and it's hard to succeed without taking risks."

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