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Patrick Bauchau: Xposé Pg. 3

The chase is on... Patrick Bauchau, aka psychiatrist Sydney, is desperately seeking The Pretender.

From Xposé no. 26 -- September 1998
by David Richardson (continued from Page 2)

Born in Brussels and raised in Belgium, England, and Switzerland, Bauchau studied modern languages at Oxford University, and is fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. A gifted performer with countless film and TV credits in the USA and Europe, Bauchau has played the godfather of the immortals in Kindred: The Embraced, had a recurring role in Earth 2, and has starred in the features A View to a Kill, Clear and Present Danger, The Rapture and Blood Ties.

Given that the actor began his career in French New Wave cinema, how does he compare making European art films to working in Hollywood?

"I guess there's more of a consciousness of the global project in America than in Europe," he muses. "In a certain way California is the last outpost -- it has a kind of militaristic structure to it. When you work for studio you immediately spot that -- the watchdogs do outnumber the creative people. American projects are better organized."

"When you are in a blockbuster movie, you tend to execute a pre-established program and seem to be part of a giant battleship. In the art films, it's more of a guerilla style and less structured. In some ways, TV and art movies have more in common, because you discover what's to be done, and then you can be more creative. I've worked a lot with Wim Wenders [the acclaimed director of Wings of Desire and Faraway, So Close!], and as often as not we shoot without a script."

It's obvious that Bauchau is enjoying his time on The Pretender, and he admits that part of this can be attributed to the on-set camaraderie.

"Unlike many shows this has a very interesting group of people... we all get on well with each other. It's got a very good team going."

Ironically, Bauchau rarely sees the show's leading man, Michael T. Weiss, with Jarod sharing little screen time with Sydney and Miss Parker, so the actors tend to work on different sets and on different days. "You can co-exist like that in the same series without ever meeting," claims Bauchau. "In the first year we had [a few] scenes together.

"He's on all the time. If you play the lead in this sort of show, you spend more time being Jarod than being Michael Weiss. I've done it once on a series in Canada, at the end of three months nobody remembers your name -- everyone always refers to you by your character's name. Of course, it's totally natural for you to answer that way. When the alarm clock rings that morning, it is to drag you to the set to be not Michael T. Weiss but Jarod. So it is an interesting experience. It's one of those weird things about doing a TV serial.

"Thank God I've got the great job of being on only three days an episode. It allows me to be myself, and be the character for only three days!"

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