AOL Chat Transcript

Jason Behr came by AOL Live to chat about the hit WB series Roswell. Jason discussed his sensational performance in the lead role as alien Max Evans, as well as his early career on the shows Dawson's Creek, 7th Heaven and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

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MrLiveGuy: Jason Behr will be right up -- keep sending in those great questions! Jason Behr is coming up now!

Jason Behr: ...Apparently some people have been sending individual packets, but it's been -- the support for the show from the viewers has been tremendously overwhelming, and everyone at the show is very grateful for it.

Matt Wagner: “If there is one thing you can change about yourself, what would it be? And what nationality are you?”

Jason Behr: Boy, oh boy. Well, I -- what I would change about myself? I think that -- I don't have an answer for that one. I think that everyone is flawed, and I think that sometimes the best things about somebody is their flaws. Otherwise, if everyone is perfect, it would be kind of boring. So I don't have an answer for that one. As far as -- what was the other part that of question?

Matt Wagner: What nationality?

Jason Behr: Wow. I'm a lot of different things. I'm like a Heinz 57.

Matt Wagner: So you're American. That's kind of what defines an American.

Jason Behr: Absolutely.

Matt Wagner: How did you get the part as Max Evans for "Roswell"?

Jason Behr: Well, I read the script for "Roswell" when I was in North Carolina working on "Dawson's Creek." I was having a great time there with everybody on the cast and the crew. And it was just one of those stories that you -- I was immediately drawn to, immediately affected by. And I just wanted to be a part of it.

Matt Wagner: What aspect of the story was it that you liked? Was it the alien aspect, the romance?

Jason Behr: I think it was everything. The script was rich with metaphor and irony that kept it a little light, but it was also very honest about relationship and about emotion, and just -- it was one of those things that had a bunch of different elements and a good story. It was very hard to say no to something like that. Themes like teen alienation and the search for self and your place in the world, I think that everybody can kind of associate with.

Matt Wagner: Right.

Question: Hi, Jason. I just want to say that you do an incredible job on "Roswell" every week, and I'm curious as to what your favorite scene has been during season one.

Jason Behr: Boy, I think my favorite scene on the show thus far has been -- everybody on the show is just great. Everyone has their own unique quirks and personalities and it's just -- I've been really lucky with the people that I've been working with, especially on "Roswell." But my favorite scene so far I think would probably have to be -- God, Katherine Heigl, she breaks my heart. She's a wonderful actress.

Jason Behr: And there was a scene in "The Toy House" where we were discussing whether or not to tell our mother to get her to try to help us because we were sort of stuck between disclosing the truth or asking her to stop asking questions. And there's a scene at the end where I had to tell her that I couldn't, and it was just -- it was just one of those things when you're doing a scene, it just felt very real.

Matt Wagner: Yeah, that's cool. Is that what you look for, to forget that you're acting and just be in the moment?

Jason Behr: Yeah, I think all the rest of the technical aspects of it, you learn along the way. But if you're not there and you're not feeling what you're supposed to be feeling, you're just kind of fabricating that, people see it. I mean there are certain tricks that actors use to make themselves appear to feel a certain way, but most of the people out there watching are a little more intelligent than that. And the camera picks that up. So if you're not really there and you're not really feeling it, it's just kind of fake.

Matt Wagner: You said everyone has their own little quirks, personality. “Out of the whole cast of "Roswell," who are you mostly close to? Love, Grace.”

Jason Behr: I'm glad your name isn't that, and it's Grace. Everybody on the show has been -- again, they're a unique group of individuals. But we all seem to get along in a way that is just special. Everybody is great to work with. And we all have fun when we should. Sometimes we mess around a little more than we should, and should probably remain a little more focused. But for the most part we just have a good time when we're supposed to, on and off the screen.

Matt Wagner: “What is going to happen with you and Liz? Any hints, please, please, pretty please?”

Jason Behr: I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen with Liz. We've been -- we've been exploring that relationship for, like, the first part of the year basically, just trying to -- any relationship you get into is complicated, especially that of what you think is supposed to be that true love, that one special person.

Matt Wagner: Right.

Jason Behr: And we've been slowly but surely allowing them to get closer and closer and closer. But just -- it's like Murphy's Law. When things start to get just at that moment of being perfect, something is going to happen. I don't know exactly what that is. But right now Liz and Max are very, very close and very much happy together, regardless of the circumstances they're in.

Matt Wagner: How far ahead do you know? I mean, do the producers, do they talk to you about, you know, your overall story arc? Or does it surprise you as it surprises viewers?

Jason Behr: It certainly surprises me. Sometimes you read a script and -- and, what the hell's that about? But I think that's the nice thing about it, is that the writers don't really divulge too much information to you. Because I think the whole story about "Roswell" is that -- is that moment of discovery, and as we discover, as a cast, and when we're reading the scripts, we -- if we have any idea of what is in store for the future, we might be foreshadowing without even knowing it. So they allow us certain information, but a lot is withheld because of that.

Matt Wagner: Sunspot says: What is tonight's "Roswell" about?

Jason Behr: Tonight's episode is called "[Tess,] Lies and Videotape," and this girl sets off red flags to everybody. Everybody new in their lives is considered a danger, is considered different and, therefore, everyone is paranoid just about everyone. So we suspect her to be a government spy. And she has -- Max is sort of -- he's oddly drawn to her in a way that he shouldn't be, because he's supposed to be completely in love with Liz. And he thinks that it has something to do with that she could be an FBI spy.

Jason Behr: And so the whole episode tonight is about trying to discover information about her without letting on that we're actually looking, because it's pretty dangerous, the way that they've built up this FBI special unit, how -- how elite they are and how dangerous they are, and that killing somebody is not really beyond their means. I mean, they -- they've been not too nice to a lot of people.

Matt Wagner: So the risks are high?

Jason Behr: Yes.

Matt Wagner: Grace is back. I'll just call her Grace: What was the craziest thing a fan ever did to get your attention?

Jason Behr: I don't have anything for that one either. The people for the most part have been just very gracious and very kind, and there hasn't been any incident that I can recall that has been anything that crosses lines. Everyone has been very respectful and incredibly -- just gracious is the best word I can use. They don't have to do this kind of stuff. I mean, you guys don't have to do this kind of stuff, and I know that I, myself, am very thankful for it, and I know that everyone at "Roswell" and all the support that we've gotten -- everyone is just very, very thankful.

Matt Wagner: Do you get stopped on the street by your fans?

Jason Behr: I've been working for like the past nine months. So I really haven't had an opportunity to go out and do much of anything else. But when they do stop and say something, it's just very -- it's very nice, and they don't try to draw too much attention. So far I haven't had a bad experience.

Matt Wagner: That's great. That's good. Luna says: Who is your biggest role model?

Jason Behr: My biggest role model? Definitely have to be my mother. She -- she was incredibly supportful of me in pursuing this and in doing this. Never -- never pushed me to do anything that I didn't want to do, just always said, “Whatever you want to do, Jason. If that makes you happy, then go for it. I believe in you.” She taught me a lot in my life.

Matt Wagner: That's good. That's lucky. I know a lot of actors have trouble with their parents sometimes, getting into the business, because it is such a risky business. So that's lucky. That's a good thing to have.

Jason Behr: I feel very lucky.

Matt Wagner: Pam says: What is the one place on the planet that you would like to visit or see?

Jason Behr: Place I'd like to see? I would love to go to -- to Europe. I haven't been -- the only place that I've really been outside the United States is Cancun, and that was for a senior trip of mine. And so I really -- I haven't had the chance to travel too much outside the United States. So I'd love to go to Europe. I'd love to go to Italy and Greece and England, France, Ireland, Scotland. I'd love to take the opportunity to go over there and just experience that culture, because there's so much history there. And pretty good food, too.

Matt Wagner: Maybe the show -- you know, the FBI will chase you guys across the world.

Jason Behr: We take it on the road. That wouldn't be a bad idea.

Matt Wagner: You could work and get your traveling done at the same time. Star says: Jason, do you have any secret crushes on movie stars?

Jason Behr: I was always a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn. I had the biggest crush on her when I was a kid. Just class. Elegant, graceful. Yeah.

Matt Wagner: Yeah, she was great. Angel says: Hi, Jason. I love the show. I was wondering what you like to do in your free time. If you have any.

Jason Behr: We just wrapped the show about three days ago, so I really haven't had much free time before that because -- you can break the season up into three parts. The beginning part of the season was kind of getting to know the characters and how they relate to each other, and as those relationships involve those changes, they've kind of paired off the characters. And then the second part was trying to find out what we do from there with moving the show forward.

Jason Behr: In the last six shows we have in the series, this first season, everything moves, everything changes, everything is constantly evolving. All this information that they've gathered about themselves and what they've thought to be true ends up not being what they really thought. And so we've been putting a lot of hard work in the last six episodes of the show, so I haven't had a lot of free time. But when I do get free time, I enjoy spending time with my family a lot. And watching movies. I have a lot of movies to catch up on. And I play basketball as much as I possibly can. And I love watching them. The Lakers and the Timberwolves, a big fan. So that's what I mostly do with my free time.

Matt Wagner: Cool. “Was it hard making the transition from ‘Dawson's Creek’ to ‘Roswell’? Because on ‘Dawson's Creek,’ you were more of a mean character.”

Jason Behr: That's very nice. Mean is probably the nicest way to put it. Chris Wolfe, the character I played on "Dawson's Creek," was like an unapologetic, fun character. He really didn't have any responsibilities, and he didn't care about stepping on anybody's toes. He just wanted to have a good time and enjoy himself. So he didn't really care too much about the consequences of his actions.

Jason Behr: On "Roswell," Max is kind of the polar opposite of that. He's sort of the antithesis to Chris Wolfe. Everything he does has consequences. I just have to get in the mind-set that everyone is watching, everybody knows what you're doing, and to make a move and to do anything in his life, he really has to think things out, which is -- it's kind of sad, in a way, to live your life like that, but that's the only choice you have.

Matt Wagner: Is it more fun to play someone with more abandon?

Jason Behr: Sometimes. Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, yes. But there's a limit to that, because a character like that -- on "Dawson's Creek," he was sort of limited to his character development. He couldn't change into the good guy. He couldn't realize he was making the wrong choices, because if he did, as soon as he did that, he wouldn't be Chris Wolfe, the wild guy. But I had a great time. He was a fun character to play. But I didn't see much longevity in him. But with Max, I mean, he's just kind of coming out of his shell a little bit and being able to live life a little more and spread his wings.

Matt Wagner: Lots of potential there.

Jason Behr: There's a lot of potential there.

Matt Wagner: How old were you when you first started acting?

Jason Behr: I was 5 years old. I did a season's greeting for a local station in Minneapolis. And I remember distinctly thinking that a guy who was -- who was driving a coach, a coach and buggy, it was a season's greeting affiliate tag for one of the stations. And the guy was driving the buggy looked like Abraham Lincoln. And I think at that time when I was 5 years old I knew that Abraham Lincoln was a president we had, but I didn't know he was dead. I thought, “How did they get him to drive this buggy?” -- so that was my first acting job.

Matt Wagner: Did you continue after that? Was it something you wanted to do since that time?

Jason Behr: Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. I got out of school, they gave me McDonald's Happy Meals, and I thought this is the life. So I think that was what first bit me. But since then I was doing some theater and some commercials and stuff, and I moved out here after high school and that's when I really pursued it.

Matt Wagner: Mandy would like to know: I noticed the Gopher hat. Still clinging to your Minnesota roots?

Jason Behr: Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Mandy. Most people ask me if it means Michigan or Mickey Mouse. Yeah, I've had it for a while. I go back to Minnesota as much as I possibly can. Lately it's been less, but usually twice a year. It's a beautiful city. It's something that eventually I'd love to have a place back there.

Matt Wagner: Do you like Los Angeles?

Jason Behr: I love Los Angeles. Los Angeles is -- culturally, it's open. There's so much here to learn, so much to experience. And you can go and do anything you want. I mean, one morning you can go surfing. You can wake up the next morning and drive to the mountains and go skiing or snowboarding. You can go hiking or fishing, or you can go to one of the clubs on the strip. You can do just about anything you want here. So I absolutely love it out here.

Matt Wagner: A real Roswell well says: Will you and/or the others in the cast ever come to visit the real Roswell, New Mexico? By the way, you are all incredible, and the show rocks.

Jason Behr: Thank you very much. Thank you. In the beginning, we thought that we might want to go travel, take like a class trip and all.

Matt Wagner: Research trip.

Jason Behr: Yeah. And all go down to Roswell and check it out. But things just happened too fast, we're never really allowed to. So I'm not sure if it -- it will be a wonderful, interesting experience to go down there now. Because apparently it's -- a lot of stuff in Roswell is like that in reality. Apparently they have a lot of the little UFO centers.

Matt Wagner: Do you guys get contacted by people from Roswell? I mean, do you get a lot of fan letters from people from there?

Jason Behr: I've gotten a few. I've gotten a few from Roswell. But everything's been really nice, all the stuff that I get.

Matt Wagner: Do you get contacted by aliens? Do they send you fan letters?

Jason Behr: Not that I know of.

Matt Wagner: Which leads me to the next question here. “Do you believe,” and I'm sure you've been asked this before, “Do you believe in aliens?”

Jason Behr: I have been asked that before, a couple times. But I don't know. You know, scientists say that it's mathematically impossible for us to be the only ones out there, and when you look up there, it's a pretty big space. And you have the sense of feeling really, really small with all that out there. But I don't think anyone's really going to truly believe until it's sitting right in front of you and talking to you. Because no one really wants to believe something like that until -- well, I shouldn't say no one, but most of the people out there are not going to really accept it until it's actual, tangible proof. And I think that that day could come in the next 10 years. It could come in the next 200 years. It may never come at all. But until that time, it's just pure speculation.

Matt Wagner: Jody wants to know: Hey, Jason. I'm dying to know, have you ever been victim to a practical joke or been part of a practical joke on the set? Who is the biggest goof on the set? Love you.

Jason Behr: Well, Jody, I think everyone has fallen victim to some sort of practical joke in their life. On the set of "Roswell," we have a few goof-offs.

Matt Wagner: And are you one of them?

Jason Behr: I think everybody has a good time. Everybody has a good time on the set. Nothing in particular that I could probably say right now happened. There are some alleged things, but for the most part it's just -- it's just noises and bodily functions. Sometimes people have a tendency to do that. But usually it's a camera operator -- Max, if you're out there, I'm sorry. Not the camera operator, but one of the camera assistants had a penchant for flatulation. And it wasn't so much a practical joke but a daily occurrence we sort of learned to live with.

Matt Wagner: So at first it was funny, and it just became....

Jason Behr: Yeah.

Matt Wagner: “We love you here in Australia. Do you ever plan to visit Australia to promote ‘Roswell’?”

Jason Behr: Thank you very much. Thank you. Australia. The girl who plays Tess is actually from Australia. And we have one of our crew ladies is from Australia, and they were both telling me that I have to go down there and see the country. And at some point, I would love to come down there, if they would have me, you know, to promote the show or just to take a vacation.

Matt Wagner: Sounds like they would have you. “Jason, ever coming back to North Carolina for a reunion on "’Dawson's Creek’? I live here and would love to see you.”

Jason Behr: I tried three times this year to get down there. One of the directors who was on "Dawson's Creek" -- and I became really good friends with him, and he came over and directed a few of the "Roswell" episodes. And we were trying to schedule a surprise visit, but nothing ever worked out. It was just kind of like, you know, we're working so much, and to get us to North Carolina from Los Angeles you have to take a plane to New York and then -- I'm sorry, a plane to Charlotte, and then you have to take a smaller plane to North Carolina to Wilmington. Or you can go to New York and then go back. Most of the time I stop in Charlotte. But it takes all day to get there.

Jason Behr: So if I were to get off work on a Friday night early enough, I'd get there on a Saturday night, I'd have to leave Sunday to be to work on Monday, so it never really worked out. But one of these days.

Matt Wagner: Pop singer 910 says: Hey, Jason, my name is Leslie. I heard that Howie of the Backstreet Boys is going to be a guest star; is that true? And when is the season finale?

Jason Behr: I guess you'll have to tune in to find out. The season finale, I don't even know exactly what the date is on that. I know that tonight is "Tess, Lies and Videotape." Then after that we have "Four Square," "Max to the Max," "The White Room" and then the finale. So in about six weeks you'll have to watch -- yeah. It's been rumored that that might happen.

Matt Wagner: “Love Jason,” it says. “Are you doing any movies soon? I heard about one that should be coming out soon. Thanks.”

Jason Behr: Right now, we just wrapped, like I said. We just wrapped, and I've been reading scripts trying to find just the right one to work on over the summer, because we only have three months between seasons. And I've read a few scripts out there, and some of it is very interesting. I'm just trying to find the right one that I feel that's the one I want to do, that one I really can have a good time on.

Matt Wagner: Well, that was our last question. Thank you so much for coming. A pleasure to have you here.

Jason Behr: Thank you.

Matt Wagner: Good luck on your break. Hope you find that script and get some rest. We'd love to have you back.

Jason Behr: Absolutely.

Matt Wagner: Thank you all for joining us here. I'm your host, Matt Wagner. See you next time on America Online!

MrLiveGuy: Thanks for all of your great questions for Jason Behr! Be sure to catch “Roswell”! Take care, and have a great evening.