Interview with Misha Collins
I think most Supernatural fans will agree that Misha Collins' arrival in the
show is one of the biggest things to happen since John Winchester went to hell.
Misha was kind enough to take a few minutes from his very busy schedule to talk
to Winchester Journals.
Feel free to link to this interview, but DO NOT copy it anywhere else on the
web without express permission.
General Questions
You've appeared in many of the most popular current TV shows. Are there
any in particular, past or present, that you would like to work on?
Boston Legal is a great show. I would love to get on that. And.... South Park
would be fun. Matt Stone and Trey Parker would be so fun to work with. Oh. I
like Damages too and Flight of the Concords.
Your first TV appearance was in an episode of "Legacy". How did
you get started acting?
My first acting gig was non-paying. I was 4 years old and my mother was in
a play. The play was 3 hours long and we performed in this tiny theater at U-Mass
Amherst. I had one line, "Yes I can, I can believe it because it's true."
I'm not sure what I could believe, but I know I said the line with gusto every
night.
I started acting seriously after college when I was living in Washington, DC.
I had just finished an internship at the White House and a job working at National
Public Radio and I had started a non-profit summer program for urban teens and
I was President of an internet start-up that was making educational software
and I was building furniture and making documentaries and getting ready to go
to Law School--this was all within a year of graduating from college, it was
an incredibly productive and busy time for me, but clearly I wasn't very focused.
At the same time I thought I would test the waters of acting because it had
long been something I was interested in and my very first professional audition
was for Barry Levinson for his film Liberty Heights and I got a part and then
I got a part in Legacy right after that and then Girl Interrupted after that
and so I decided to set everything else aside and move to LA and pursue acting
full time. I still build furniture, but not for other people, just for myself.
If you weren't an actor, what would you be doing?
Well, if I hadn't gone into acting I think I would have gone into politics.
But I'm happy I didn't . I think if I stopped acting now, I would probably become
a sculpture or a pan handler.
You starred in "Karla" as the serial killer Paul Bernardo. How
difficult was it to get into such a difficult role?
Well, it was surprisingly easy to get into that role. When they cast me I thought,
these guys are crazy. I can't play a violent serial killer. I've never even
been in a fight. I was pretty sure they were going to fire me on day one. But
then when we started shooting, an incredibly violent, dark side came out in
me and I was pretty shocked by it. I remember while we were shooting I was dreaming
Paul Bernardo's dreams. That was scary. I was afraid I might stay haunted by
him. Fortunately, as soon as we wrapped I stopped having those dreams. He's
not really the kind of guy you want hanging around in your head.
If you could work with any actor, living or deceased, who would it be?
You know who I think is awesome? Kate Winslet. I think she's great. I love
the movies she chooses to be in. She seems really smart. I also love Tommy Lee
Jones. Believe it or not, they are my two favorite actors. Others... The late
Paul Newman, Judi Dench, John Turturro, Jeff Bridges, Brando, Sasha Baron Cohen...
I could go on and on.
Supernatural Questions
Your character on Supernatural, Castiel, has become a huge hit with the
fans. Did you anticipate his effect on the fans when you took on the role?
No. If I had had any idea and I'm glad Ididn't, I think it would have made
me self-conscious.
Jared and Jensen are renowned for their practical jokes on set. Have you
had any experience of this?
No. And frankly, I feel left out.
How much were you told about Castiel at the beginning?
Originally I got audition materials for the role of a demon. I went in and
did what I thought was a damn good demon. Then Eric Kripke, who was in the room,
said, "okay. That was pretty good, but this character is actually an angel.
We didn't want the fans to know we were adding an angel, so we're keeping it
under wraps." Then he said, "This angel hasn't been around humans
for two thousand years, so he has a curiosity about these human beings and their
strange behavior." That is all I was told at the beginning.
Do you believe in Angels?
I think that ordinary perception, and everything that perception entails, getting
lost at the mall, eating lasagne, watching television, that's just scratching
the outermost surface of what's really out there. I think we normally only perceive
a tiny fragment of what's really going on around us and in the vast, multi-dimensional
soup that makes up our universe, I think there is plenty of room for angels.
I think there are forces of good and presences that move amongst us that could
well be angels. I have never seen anyone with wings--angel or otherwise, but
stranger things have happened
Thank you very much to Misha for agreeing to this interview.
Feel free to link to this interview, but DO NOT copy it anywhere else on
the web without express permission.
This interview was done in November 2008.
