Interview: Dylan Neal Dylan Neal has something to prove. Or rather, his alter ego, Captain David Martel, does. As the commander of the Liandra, Martel isn't your typical starship captain. Though a dedicated Ranger, he has a something of a rebellious streak; his crew calls him by his first name, even as he aptly guides them through the most harrowing of experiences. Neal, an up-and-coming leading man in Hollywood, has appeared in more than 40 films and television projects, including an early series that Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski worked on extensively, Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. A native of Ontario, Canada, he first became famous as a soap star on The Bold and the Beautiful, and went on to become a regular on Dawson's Creek and Hyperion Bay. We spoke with him in May on the Vancouver set of Rangers. Q: Tell me about the scene you're filming today. A: Well, today we're covering all of the early stages of getting this cursed ship, the Liandra, up and running. We're under the gun, we have a time limit to get the crew and the ship ready, and we're trying not to give the impression that we don't know what we're doing. So we're frantically running around, finding problems right, left and center, and at the same time we're trying to put on this brave face that everything's great. It's chaos right now, in the early stages. Q: Tell us about Captain David Martel, who starts out by going against the Ranger establishment by saving the crew of his earlier ship, rather than fighting to the end. A: He's unpredictable. The Ranger High Council can't automatically assume David is going to do this or that. They just don't know. He's been a given a second chance with the Liandra to prove himself once again. He's a well-rounded character, but he's definitely flawed; you're going to see mistakes made. And I think that's a different take on a Ranger. Q: Does David have a particular style of command? He certainly seems more laid-back and easy-going than other captains we've seen. A: I think it's by the seat of the pants. He goes with his gut feelings — but he's the first one to say he doesn't have all the answers, and he relies on the people he's assembled around him. At the very beginning, he tells them all, "Some of you I've worked with before, others I've observed, and welcome aboard. Let's see if we can do this together." And that's what makes him a really good leader — that he does rely on everyone. He's not pretending to know something that he doesn't. There will be occasions where no one really has the answer, and he'll just sort of wing it and see where that takes him. Q: Did J. Michael Straczynski give you much direction on how to play the character? A: Very little, actually. I think Joe is the kind of executive producer who likes to see what you bring to the table. He has in his own mind what he's looking for; if he gets fortunate enough to find an actor that represents it, then he leaves it up to the actor to take it from there. Joe will see weaknesses and strengths in the actor, and write to that — not trying to eliminate all of the weaknesses, but to discover the character along with you, and then together you'll take it to wherever it goes. Q: How does David interact with his crew? A: He's not a one-man show. He's brought together a crew where each person has their own particular talents and expertise, and he's going to utilize them to their full ability. David has a tight-knit crew, which also represents a surrogate family that I'm sure is very meaningful for him. He has a bit of a mysterious background — he lost his parents at an early age, and though we don't know why, I'm sure we'll find out. Q: Were you wary of the martial-arts sequence that the script called on you to do? A: I have no martial-arts training. My only experience as an actor with fighting was your typical barroom brawl kind of thing; it's a couple of punches thrown, and it's over with. Marital-arts sequences can get quite lengthy and involved, because it's a real dance with a lot of choreography. Fortunately, this project was not heavily laden with martial arts, in comparison to another one I'd done in the last year, a pilot for CBS called The President's Man. This one has some fight sequences, but after the last experience I'm not worried in the least [about doing them]. I've learned that regardless of my inability to really do anything, they edit very well, and they always get really good stunt doubles [laughs]. Fortunately, my double is a five-time world champion Wu Shu artist, so I think I'm in good hands. Q: Do the detailed sets help you get into the character? A: Absolutely, but it's not something that's unique to sci-fi. For me, the clothes are really important to feeling comfortable in what this character is doing. If it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right — and it has to, for me, anyway. It's great that the sets are really cool and detailed, because it makes us believe that we're doing a quality project. If you're walking onto a cheesy set, it's like, "Oh, great, we're doing a really cheap project here." The sets also help with the reality, too, of course, too — it's easy to immerse yourself in the world when it all looks very real. The degree to which they've taken the sets and the costuming here shows how committed everyone involved really is to making this a home-run kind of show. Q: How did working on this movie differ from other things you've worked on? A: Sci-fi is totally different from other things I've done. I like a certain amount of action; it's fun to play as an actor — you're essentially being like a little kid running around with guns and killing off the bad guys. I've done brief periods of that, but it would be fun to do ir in a series. Joe has said that the original Babylon 5 was more of a drama with a little bit of action; I think this would flip a bit more, with more action and less heavy drama.