Anyone whos familiar with my writing will know that I have a great love of under-appreciated actors.
Michael Biehn, for my money, is the most under-appreciated actor of them all.
And with that, I set about asking several decades worth of questions, while fulfilling a lifetime ambition…
I mean, it was huge, you know?
But I was intimidated by the whole process of the paparazzi.
Will you sign these?
Will you sign these?
and going to these big red carpet events.
I thought that [she was] just good casting.
I think it all tripped off about the 70s, early 80s.
What was it that drew you to make that movie?
An Officer And A Gentleman.So my agent had a little bit of pull at Paramount.
[Sharp intake of breath], and they said, Thank you very much.
I actually did a lot of research at that time.
I grew up in Alabama.
It was one of my favourite roles.
Now, youve gotta remember, at that time, everybody was a Southern racist!
Id forgotten that your link with them went that far back, as youve obviously been inThe TerminatorandNavy Sealstogether.
And at a certain moment, I had to jump in the car and leave.
I went into the audition and basically said, Hi, Im Michael Biehn.
And I said, Oh geez, you know what happened?
and explained the situation.
I went back in and read for Jim again, and the rest is kind of history.
I read with a couple of other girls.
And at what point did it hit you personally, how big it was going to be?
Ohh about the time they released T2!
[I laugh especially loudly, which just makes him laugh more.]
But that same year, 1984 I believe,Karate Kidcame out and made ninety million dollars, okay?
[Hes right, its not!]
So it was a hit, but it had been a slow build.
And he only had two lines in the movie!
[The success] didnt hit like that.
It wasnt like that movie came out and [people thought] Oh Michael Biehns a star!
Hes getting offered stuff right and left!
It just didnt happen that way.
It just came out slowly, and so I didnt realise it was going to be anything until…
I dont even know when!
When my agents called me about it, they said, Well weve got this script.
I said, Whats it about?
Im like [dully] Oh, that sounds real interesting.
They said, Well, Arnold Schwarzeneggers playing the robot!
And at that time, like I said, Arnold was not like the Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So I asked whos directing it.
A guy named Jim Cameron.
I said, Whats he done before?
Well, he worked onPiranha 2, but he got fired from it.
And I go, Oh boy!
Geez, this is really something, whos producing it?
And whats she done before?
She works for Roger Corman.
Well, okay, Ill go in, Ill meet them.
And as it turns out, they were all immensely talented people.
Gale, Arnold, Jim probably most of all.
A lot of movies I did twenty-five years ago, I havent mentioned for twenty-five years!
[After a few beats] No.
[I laugh]
I watched Salvationwas the last one they did?
But first of all, I didnt see three.
Then this is the fourth, one with Christian Bale?
I cant even watch it, man.
And Im usually a person that can sit through almost any movie.
I sat and watched Red the other night all the way through.
ButSalvation, I just couldnt do it.I just wasnt interested in it, you know?
I dont think you were alone in that!
Is it important to you?
People say, Oh Michael Biehn, I love him!
They dont know me.
I dont know…
Where it came from?
It was a huge mistake.
It didnt make any sense to me.
I thought it was just a guy with a confusing script!
[Laughs]
I dont really think of myself as anybody with necessarily a fan base.
Ive got some fans on IMDb, the IMDb page, on the discussion boards.
I think Ive got thirty or forty people that are always talking amongst themselves.
You know, fan bases, or fans and so forth…
I said yes, and I was shooting Monday morning.
I really didnt want to do that.
So I just jumped in there and did it.
I didnt really appreciate that!
But yeah, I came in late, but I enjoyed it.
Yes, yes it was.
I mean, I had real trouble with movies likeMementoandIrreversible, and the flashbacks, stuff like that.
That was a mistake, that I didnt doNear Dark.
Michael Biehn, thank you very much!
