(I post this one first because it
was the tougher of the two to write.)
Damn my luck, Joe Straczynski was
giving another talk on Saturday. This time,
still in the bowels of the Javits Center (though in a larger room). The
most striking part of the conversation came when someone asked a question
regarding Michael O’Hare, (for simplicity sake) the original Captain of Babylon
5, who, as legend had it, was written off the show because he was too difficult
of an actor to work with (the classic story was in Claudia Christian's book, in which he came on to her by describing the size of his balls, or something to that effect).
Being in the back of the room, I
didn’t hear the exact question, but it was in reference to a story that JMS
told at a Phoenix Convention a few weeks prior. I hadn’t heard anything about
what he’d said, and was floored by the story that Straczynski subsequently told
(I tried to faithfully quote him, but it was… difficult).
He started by saying “You all
know what delusional behavior is, right? Seeing imaginary things… thinking the
government is out to get you… well I guess that’s just a reality these days...”
This prompted a laugh from the
audience. As for myself, knowing the stories about O’Hare, I thought JMS was
joking.
But Straczynski paused,
slowly choosing his words. The wise-cracking writer with the no-nonsense
attitude was getting serious.
“Michael was having those
problems. He was barreling toward a nervous breakdown.”
He said that everyone was in
agreement to suspend the show so that Michael could get the treatment he needed,
but that he simply wouldn’t let them. As bad off as he was, Straczynski said, he
didn’t want all those people to lose their jobs because of his problems.
Ultimately, and with difficulties
that none of us can imagine, O’Hare finished the season and JMS wrote his
character off the show. O’Hare then got the got treatment he so desperately
needed. JMS mentioned how difficult of a process it was, finding first the right
drugs and then the right dosage. O’Hare did the Convention circuit that year,
and when people saw how sickly he was becoming, it prompted rumors of drug
abuse.
“Well yeah, it was because of
drugs, but not the way you think,” Straczynski said, referring to O’Hare’s
treatment.
As all of this was going on,
Straczynski reassured O’Hare that his health issues would never come to light.
“I told him that his secret was
safe with me. That I would take it to my grave. And he just looked at me and
said, “No. Don’t take it to your grave; take it to mine.”
O’Hare just knew that Joe was
going to outlive him, and the reason he said that was because after he was
gone, O’Hare wanted “the fans to know that they helped sustain me.” That was why
Straczynski recounted the story at the Phoenix Con - so fans would know how
much they meant to a sick man.
Michael seemed to pull through,
well enough to do a two part episode to close out the character’s story, though
that was essentially the end of his career. He had a few good years, got
married, had a child.
And then, Joe said, he stopped
his meds. And when that happens, often times it’s simply too difficult to get
back on them.
Joe Straczynski, the frank and forward man,
stopped and thought.
“And then, just about a year ago,
we lost him.”
He stopped again, fighting back
the memories.
“He was my friend. And it was
unfair. And that’s all I want to say about that.”
