maneth
Regular
Five questions with Claudia Christian
The site's in German, but just scroll down for the English version of the interview.
The site's in German, but just scroll down for the English version of the interview.
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Short but sweet Claudia Christian interview
- Thread starter maneth
- Start date
Truth_Seeker
Regular
Does this mean that there's some friction between her and JMS or she just does not believe that there will be a B5 movie with her character in it anymore.
vacantlook
Super Moderator
I would say that "some friction" would be an understatement.
Truth_Seeker
Regular
So it's not just my impression, VL.JMS could be upset with her because she left the show but weren't those morons her managers responsible for this.At least that's what I've heard.
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vacantlook
Super Moderator
It's a really long story that essentially boils down to this: money. Claudia wanted time off from the fifth season to do some film. jms and the other executive producers had no problem with that; they'd done similar things for others on the show before. The problem came in Claudia wanting the time off to be written into her contract such that she would only be appearing in 18 episodes but still be paid as if she were appearing in all 22 episodes of the season. Legally, if they did this, it would trigger a part of all the other actors' contracts that would enable them to renegotiate their contracts. They just couldn't treat Claudia differently than the other actors.
There was a deadline date that occurred during a convention in England that any of the actors who wanted to be in the fifth season had to sign their contracts by. Claudia didn't sign hers.
The extent of this story is much longer than what I type here; it can be found much more fully described by jms in the 11th scriptbook. But what it came down to was that Claudia tried to get paid more than what her option from her original contract said she could be paid, and if the producers went along with what she wanted, it would trigger a part of all the other actors' contracts enabling them to renegotiate, which would have increased the budget for season five beyond that which TNT and WB would allow for production. It would have prevented season five from happening at all, and studio pressures led to season five barely happening as it was.
Truth_Seeker
Regular
I see.Thanks Vacantlook.Helpful as always.The conclusion is: "Greed can destroy you" or in this case "greed can end your career".
hypatia
Regular
Are you sure? She probably got paid better for doing film work (no matter how horrible the film) than she would have on B5. I'm fairly sure the new stories aren't gong to make any of the actors rich.
I thought the real problem wasn't the contract dispute, but the apparant lieing that went out publicly to save face when fans were understandably upset at her sudden departure. The impression I got was that JMS didn't see the contract dispute as the problem, but the public blame game that went on afterwards, with Claudia's side apparantly out-right lieing about events that had occured.
That would royally piss off anyone, I think. Especially if those lies cast you and your project in a very bad light.
I thought the real problem wasn't the contract dispute, but the apparant lieing that went out publicly to save face when fans were understandably upset at her sudden departure. The impression I got was that JMS didn't see the contract dispute as the problem, but the public blame game that went on afterwards, with Claudia's side apparantly out-right lieing about events that had occured.
That would royally piss off anyone, I think. Especially if those lies cast you and your project in a very bad light.
GaribaldisHair
Regular
JMS has form where it comes to re-casting actors who have hacked him off. He was royally peeved at Robert Foxworth for dropping out of Severed Dreams at the last minute because his agent had double booked him with DS9, but that didn't stop him from casting him as the President in a few episode of Jeremiah because he was the right actor for the job.
If a B5 project comes along for which Ivanova is a necessary character, I don't think JMS would have a problem asking.
If a B5 project comes along for which Ivanova is a necessary character, I don't think JMS would have a problem asking.
Garovorkin
Regular
And what has Claudia Christian done of significants since her days in B5 ? not much, I think she was supposed to get the lead role in the Ill faded Highlander series Highlander the Raven which went to Aamanda Grayson. She's had a few bit parts in movies and I think she was the narrator charter in a video game and a voice actor in the Disney Movie disappointment Alantis.
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KoshN
Super Moderator
The REAL PROBLEM was that her little stunt of wanting to do 18 episodes but get paid for all 22, would have brought Season 5 down, preventing Season 5 happening for EVERYBODY. She would have been the Jenga block that brought the whole thing crashing down, and she didn't see a problem with that, walking out of Blackpool like that, and then her agent calling back on July 28th, two weeks after the deadline had passed, asking if they were ready to negotiate now.
doesn't quite cover it.for the one
Regular
How very said.The REAL PROBLEM was that her little stunt of wanting to do 18 episodes but get paid for all 22, would have brought Season 5 down, preventing Season 5 happening for EVERYBODY. She would have been the Jenga block that brought the whole thing crashing down, and she didn't see a problem with that, walking out of Blackpool like that, and then her agent calling back on July 28th, two weeks after the deadline had passed, asking if they were ready to negotiate now.
*** Off subject, I actually met her once about 10 years ago at the Meydenbuer Center in Washington State, for a Sci Fi Convention. Oddly enough she was all by herself at the time, while some actor was up on stage. I went over to talk to her. I don't know if it was just me but it seemed like she was hitting on me. :alienblush: I was engaged at the time so I chose to ignore it and just conversed with her. She was a very cool person. :thumbsup: It's to bad she had such a falling out with the shows creator JMS.
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FaceOfGkar
Member
Ouch, she won't even watch the lost tales? I guess she never really liked babylon 5, huh? Just a job.. oh well.
Republibot 3.0
Regular
No doubt. I remember an interview around that time saying that she was making less money on B5 than she did back on The Colbys. Remember, the per-episode budget of B5 was a bit under a million bucks, and most of that ended up on screen. I don't think there were any huge salaries there.
