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Maggie Egan Chat at TNT on March 29, 2000
moderated by Sandra
Bruckner & T.E.D. Andrick
Maggie Egan: Hi there.
moderator_tnt1: Folks! get ready to welcome Maggie
Egan, and start sending your questions in.
moderator_tnt1: Maggie Egan is best known to Babylon 5
fans as the ISN Anchor, bringing us news from EarthDome. She is more than just an actress,
she is also a singer and a Mom.
moderator_tnt1: ...And so it begins...
gilada1 asks: How did you get your role on Babylon
5?
Maggie Egan: Christian Slater's mother, Mary Jo
Slater, called me in for an audition. It turns out that I had worked for the director Jim
Johnston before on a commercial. And so I got hired.
jbonetati asks: Welcome, Maggie. What's your
favorite B5 memory?
Maggie Egan: Hi Sue
Maggie Egan: The first time I was on the set with
Bruce I reminded him that I had been in a movie of the week with him before that. It was a
murder-mystery movie. He played a detective and I played a hooker. And I told him that
they had me in so much make-up that I made achoice as an actor that I was actually a
transvestite hooker.
jbonetati asks: Tell us about your singing. Any
albums we should look for?
Maggie Egan: I have a CD name "Out of this
World".
Maggie Egan: It is a collection of jazz standards all
with celestial titles.
Maggie Egan: And my character, Jane, (no last name
said with an Italian accent), does a news flash introducing each sone.
Maggie Egan: song.
Maggie Egan: It's a whole new genre I created called
Sci-Fi Swing Music.
captainjack_06716 asks: How is the next CD coming
along?
Maggie Egan: I'm still formulating an idea for the
next one. Right now my efforts are in getting this one distributed.
Maggie Egan: Warner Bros. are you paying attention?
Hint, hint.
Maggie Egan: You can currently listen to samples of my
CD via http://www.newbeacon.com/
or http://www.mp3.com/
Maggie Egan: under Maggie Egan.
dude_on_the_moon asks: what was the hardest thing
to do in babylon 5?
Maggie Egan: Go home when it was over. I loved it so
much that I hated to leave when it was done. And the other hard thing was, I would usually
get the calls at 6am.
Maggie Egan: They would shoot my scenes early most of
the time and then they would go on with the rest of the scenes for the day.
benny_hanna asks: What is your acting background?
Maggie Egan: I started performing in my parent's
backyard when I was a kid. It was a little like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, you know
where they say, hey my Dad has a barn, let's put on a show.
Maggie Egan: Well my parents not only had a barn, they
had an abandoned chicken coop. It was the perfect playhouse.
Maggie Egan: We would invite neighbors over and we'd
put on plays.
Maggie Egan: One of my first performances was doing
our rendition of Romeo and Juliet. I played Juliet, my sister Tracey -- a news anchor --
in Albany, NY (yes, I just play her on TV)
Maggie Egan: played Romeo. We were a big hit. I stayed
involved in theatre all through elementary school, junior high, high school and college.
Maggie Egan: I moved to Houston, Texas from upstate NY
where I grew up and started a professional acting career there.
sueharke asks: How do you like doing conventions?
Maggie Egan: The answer is that I really love doing
them. I really enjoy meeting people. I love traveling. I love getting a chance to spend
time with some of my actor pals.
Maggie Egan: The only downside is that it takes time
away from my family. But I love that it gives me an opportunity to shake hands with the
fans and I love the chance to sing for them.
Chris_in_VA_98 asks: Are you a sci-fi fan?
Maggie Egan: I never thought I was but when I took a
look back at all the TV shows and movies I love to watch over the years, I realize that I
am.
Maggie Egan: I love the original Star Trek, never miss
an episode. I loved Twilight Zone. I was really inspired by CLose Encounters of the Third
Kind and the Star Wars movies.
Maggie Egan: So when I took a look at all the shows I
really loved, I realized I am a sci-fi fan.
monkey_max_wax asks: Is this the first time you've
worked in Sci fi
Maggie Egan: No, if you consider Quantum Leap, Alien
Nation (TV show) and a movie about UFOs called Communion with Christopher Walken -- if you
consider those sci-fi shows, then no B5 is not my first.
Maggie Egan: And hopefully not my last!!!!
Maggie Egan: In fact, I have been cast in an upcoming
movie called "Psy-Ops" where I play a high-ranking government official who
assigns special agents to dangerous missions.
Maggie Egan: I'll announce when the movie will begin
shooting on my website so please keep tuning in to http://www.isnanchor.com/
Maggie Egan: This reminds me to let you all know that
I have a free on-line fan club. You can contact me via my website or e-mail me at maggie@isnanchor.com.
taoism19 asks: what was it like the first time in
the studio with all those freaky costume around you
Maggie Egan: The freakiest costumes around me at the
ISN News Desk were the crew's jeans and t-shirts. So it wasn't too freaky!
Maggie Egan: But occasionally I would be there when
other scenes were preparing to shoot and it was like jumping into another world.
benny_hanna asks: Do you think that science fiction
tv is a good forum for acting?
Maggie Egan: Yes. I do. Because the TV sci-fi shows
really offer in-depth looks at the characters. I think you really see them evolve and
change. And have relationships and fall out of relationships.
Maggie Egan: So it's the same acting tools you need
for any genre.
Kodachromian asks: What sort of lead time was there
from the time you first arrived at the studio, were fitted for your costume and then
finally finished your last scene?
Maggie Egan: To start with, you have a wardrobe
fitting a couple of days prior to your actual shoot date. But a typical shoot date for me.
I would arrive on the set around 6 in the morning,
Maggie Egan: get to have a yummy breakfast off the
roach-coach, get into hair and make-up, put on wardrobe and probably be called to the set
by 8.
Maggie Egan: Depending on how many news reports or
scenes I had to do, I would generally be out of there by 9.
Maggie Egan: This made them very happy -- not meaning
that they were happy to see me go, but they were happy that I could get the words out and
allow them to get onto the next scene.
samally_14tc asks: Do you have a role model to look
up to?
Maggie Egan: As I mentioned, my sister Tracy Egan is a
news anchor. So I certainly learned from watching her and Katie Couric, Jane Pauley, Ann
Curry, Diane Sawyer. These are the ones I can think of.
Maggie Egan: I think of them as the best. I think they
deliver the news with a sense of compassion about the reports they are giving.
Maggie Egan: I always get turned off when I see news
anchors talking one moment about a horrible tragedy and then switch to a big broad smile
in the next second. It's disconcerting.
Maggie Egan: It's as if they really didn't hear what
they just reported or as if it just doesn't matter.
Maggie Egan: And I think the women I mentioned have
never fallen into that trap.
sueharke asks: Do you have any romantic roles
coming up in the future?
Maggie Egan: No, but I did just audition for a movie
starring Mel Gibson and I do get to flirt with his character.
Maggie Egan: The scene was about being a secretary in
an office. Mel Gibson is a boss.
captainjack_06716 asks: Have you done any
commercial work since Crusade?
Maggie Egan: Yes, quite a few. Please watch for these
commercials. You all can be my watchdogs and e-mail me when you see my spots running,
because we have no real way of knowing how often our commercials are aired.
Maggie Egan: Unless people like you say, hey I saw
your commercial last night. It's important to make note of the date, the time, the channel
(as in what network) and TV show.
Maggie Egan: Watch for a Delta commercial, where I am
standing around the baggage claim carousel with a bunch of other people.
Maggie Egan: Also I'm in a CBSMARKETWATCH.COM. It's a
funny one about a stock that deals in hair growth products. And I pass through the scene
saying "Clinical testing? Through the roof."
Maggie Egan: Also a comedy spot for hagglezone.com
where I'm standing in line with a grocery store watching a women haggle over the price of
groceries.
Maggie Egan: I'm also in a Gateway commercial. It's a
cast of hundreds, but I look like an out-of-towner standing there with my family, looking
stunned at all the commotion going on down in Venice Beach, CA.
jrgreenmd asks: It seems actors in scifi, b5, have
more scifi jobs after, often together. Is this just a spurious thing I percieve by
watching too much scifi?
Maggie Egan: It wouldn't surprise me if you see sci-fi
actors work together more than once. For example, I worked on the movie Communion and so
did Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then I worked on Alien Nation and sitting
next to me in the make-up chair was Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then I went to work on Babylon 5 and I
looked over the cast list and who do I see but Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then when I worked on a movie called
Executive Decision starring Kurt Russell and Stephen Siegel, who should be there playing
the bad guy, but Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Also after Babylon 5 and before Crusade,
David Eagle, a B5 director who had hired me twice, brought me in to play, guess what??? a news reporter on the TV show, Sliders.
Maggie Egan: It was supposed
tobe a tabloid world where everything that appears in tabloids was supposed to be the
"REALLY important news.
Maggie Egan: So my job was to
ask the President of the United States really important questions like "Mr.
President. Is it true. Do you sleep in the nude?" While matters of war go unnoticed.
Maggie Egan: And who should play
the president but, no Andreas, but Eric Pierpoint who I worked with on Alien Nation.
Maggie Egan: So we do bump into each other quite
often.
Maggie Egan: And I love that you watch too much
sci-fi.
eggie428 asks: How can we get your new CD, Maggie?
Maggie Egan: You can write to me -- Maggie Egan, PMB
105, 1014 South Westlake Blvd., Suite 14, Westlake Village, CA 91361 and send $15 plus $4
shipping and handling.
Maggie Egan: Or your can order it through my website http://www.isnanchor.com/
Maggie Egan: Or download it off off http://www.newbeacon.com/
Maggie Egan: Or see me at a convention and I'll sell
you directly. Check my website for my convention dates.
Maggie Egan: I thank all of you for tuning in and for
this incredible on-going support you show to me and to the cast of Babylon 5 and Crusade.
Maggie Egan: What sets doing sci-fi apart from any
other style of acting is that we get the benefit of having the greatest, most supportive
fans in the world. And I thank you for that.
Maggie Egan: Hope to see you at a convention real
soon.
Maggie Egan: Good night.
moderator_tnt1: Thanks, Maggie Egan!
moderator_tnt1: Folks, thanks for participating
tonight, and for all the great questions.
moderator_tnt1: For a transcript, check
tnt.turner.com/babylon5
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