USFC Interview with Jerry O'Connell

USFC: What is your favorite episode?
Jerry: My favorite episode is an episode last season where we slid into a world where 90% of the men have died because of a virus that was spread through the world. The remaining men are used for breeding purposes only (Love Gods). I would have to say that was my favorite episode. Mostly because of the ratio of girls to guys. Anybody can get a date on that world.

USFC: All of the episode have been quite different.
JERRY: Exactly! That's the nice thing about Sliders, it's constantly changing. What I can tell you, as someone who works in television, it's really one of the most boring jobs in the world. Because you're doing pretty much the same thing everyday. As an actor, you're constantly wanting to change your character and findd yourself indifferent situations and with Sliders you get the best of all worlds. No pun intended.

USFC: (Laughs)
USFC: How do you feel looking back at the early part of your career with Stand By Me and seeing yourself, and how have you changed as an actor since then?
JERRY: It's pretty weird. It's been a crazy trip. I never really expected to work in this business. No one in my family is in this business. Stand By Me was what really got me in. I grew up in New York, so you're really in the theater world, so you're surrounded by drama. SBM was a cattle call for 500 kida. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was such a special film, it opened a lot of doors and again I never expected it to last. I went to film school at NYU and saw all my friends graduating and going out and getting real jobs; it kind of frightened me. When I fist got back to acting, I decided I wanted to do a TV show. As an acotr, your agent sends you about 100 pilots. Sliders was the only one I went out on. I didn't want to get trapped in a show I wouldn't really find interesting. Sliders, after reading the pilot, it really got my imagination running. I thought after I completed it, oh wow, it can be 'the seris'- you can go here and go there and do this, and I thought 'All right, this is definately the show I want to be part of.' I was fortunate anoug to land it.

USFC: Is there a certain kind of music that you listen to, or have any hobbies?
JERRY: I like the whole gambit of music. I listen to all kinds. There aren't enough memory buttons in my car to plug in all the stations I listen to.

USFC: Hobbies?
JERRY: I fence, I was the captain of the NYU saber team. My brother was the captain of the fencing team. My brother was my boss. In general, just a lot of atletic stiff. Sliders tkes up a lot of time. Sixteen hours a day. It's pretty rigorous, but you try to get out and do as much as you can.

USFC: Do you have any pets?
JERRY: I have a dog. Just hit twelve.

USFC: Not a cat named Schroedinger?
JERRY: No, I don't have one ofthose. Sabrina has two cats. I can't really go to her house much, because I'm allergic. I start sneezing like crazy. When I stayed with her for a week when I first got out here, it was one of the most painful weeks of my life. You realize how essential breathing really is!

USFC: Do you have any plans for writing or directing in the future?
JERRY: I wrote and Episode of the Sliders comic book. I sent in a bunch of ideas for the show. I think they are a little too dark for the show. They get a little afraid. The stuff I was writing was a little darker than what we like to put on, because it's an 8pm(EST) show, the comic book guys were more than willing. I think I'll go back and write a couple more of those.

USFC: Well, that would be terrific.
USFC: Is there something you would like to see done with the show. Do you want to see it go darker?
JERRY: Yeah, I think darker is always more fun. It's the nice thing with science fiction. I think it should be a parallel of our society. It should make statements and judgements of our own society without commenting on it. If you look back on the best science fiction, Rod Serling's The Twighlight Zone, every episdoe paralleled some sort of contemporary social problem or a problem that he saw. A lot of it was about McCarthyism or the Red Scare, a lot was about the Cold War; her really tapped into that and he go past all the sensors because he called it science fiction, and they really couldn't pin anything on it. I think that is what a science fiction show should be and that;s what makes it so special. It should be a little more intellectual. There are a lot of TV shows out there that don't have the oppurtunity to be as outspoken as sci-fi can, so you have to tap into that.
USFC: Do you watch Sliders?
JERRY: I don't. I don't like to watch my own stuff.

USFC: True.
USFC: What do you watch?
JERRY: I watch a lot of X-Files and I watch too much MTV.

USFC: How have you personally developed your character? Gone from the college genius to now having to save worlds.
JERRY: Oh yeah!

USFC: Well, thank you for your time, Mr. O'Connell.
JERRY: My pleasure, Jason.