Dear friends,
I was forwarded your many emails regarding the fates of Clayton Webb on
JAG and Major Hayes on Enterprise. I have very much enjoyed reading everyone's
thoughts on these subjects.
The main thing that occurs to me is that I think I must have one of the best
jobs in the world. I can't tell you how gratifying it is for me to be able to
go out and do the thing I enjoy, and then, through some curious magic, have it
affect so many people in a positive way. I really appreciate your thoughts and
support, even from those of you who didn't like the "new' Webb. (or the
heretofore unseen facets of the "old" Webb) Thank you so much!
It was mentioned to me in one letter that there is a disagreement among some
fans regarding whether one can dislike Webb and still be a fan of yours truly.
Let me say that the fact that I have fans at all, of any kind, is delightful
to me. That there are fans who can dislike a character I'm playing while still
appreciating my work as an actor- well, that is a huge compliment!
Personally, playing the "new" Webb; from *an actor's* perspective, it's been
a fascinating journey. We can't expect everyone to go along with every twist
and turn, however I am very flattered that people still feel compelled to watch
even when they don't like what the character is doing.
As far as Enterprise goes, it was never expected that Major Hayes, or any of
the MACOs for that matter, would survive beyond this season and the end of the
Xindi arc. I did not know what the end of my story would be, but I had
imagined that a heroic death was a strong possibility. And to be fair to
Enterprise, when we shot the last episode the future of the entire show
was still uncertain: indeed, the feeling on the set was that it would almost
certainly be canceled. I can't speak for the writers and producers, but it
seemed to me the feeling was, "If we're going to go out, lets go out with a
bang," and Major Hayes' death was a "major" component in that. It gave the
climatic episodes an extra emotional punch that I thought was very effective.
Most of you know by now about Desperate Housewives, in which I play the
husband of Marcia Cross' character. I just finished my first week of shooting
and I must say I'm having a wonderful time. The writing, cast, crew are all
top-notch. The character is a little different from anything I've done on TV
up till now, so I hope you will all tune in. It will be premiering this
September on ABC, Sunday nights at 9:00.
You can still see me in the first two episodes of The West Wing this fall. I
was committed to them, and to at least one episode of another series I cannot
mention at this time, before Desperate Housewives came along, and the producers
of DH have been very cooperative in allowing me to fulfill my prior commitments.
After that, we'll see what happens. Because DH is an ensemble show, I predict I
wont be working everyday of every episode, but I would need the network's
permission to go out and do major recurring roles on other shows. (This is pro
forma for series regulars.) I'm hoping we can work out some kind of arrangement,
but its too early in the game to make any predictions. It'll be quite a change
for me to be doing only one role at a time!
(By the way, I should mention that I have not shot The West Wing episodes yet,
but all the parties involved say scheduling should not be a problem. I'm just
adding this little caveat just in case some glitch occurs down the line.)
I will not, sad to say, be reappearing on E.R. The storyline for Alex Kingston's
character has changed, and although she will be appearing in some early episodes
before she exits the series, her boyfriend Dave will not be. Too bad- I thoroughly
enjoyed my time there, brief as some of my appearances were, and thought Alex
was just delightful to work with.
The cast of Desperate Housewives will be appearing at Disney's California
Adventure on Saturday Sept 11. I don't have any more details at this time, but
I am planning on being there. I hope I can drop by the FanFest the following
weekend, but its too early to say, especially as publicity commitments for DH
keep popping up.
Once again, thank you all for being a terrific audience! I really do appreciate
all your feedback and continued support.
All the best to you,
Steven Culp.
********************
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THANKS!
