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| Interview by Tara DiLullo |
| From the moment Lindsey McDonald stepped into frame challenging Angel during the serie's pilot, "City Of", Christian Kane captured the hearts of fans with his portrayal of the ambitious but morally conflicted Wolfram and Heart lawyer audiences loved to hate. Over two seasons, Lindsey became an increasingly more powerful antagonist for Angel, clashing with the souled vampire over everything from nefarious business deals to wining the heart of Darla. By the end of the second season, a disillusioned Lindsey left the evil law-firm for parts unknown. It took two long seasons, but Lindsey finally returned to the series in the fifth season episode, "Destiny." Sporting a sexy new look, replete with long hair and runic tatoos, Lindsey craftily snuck his way back into town, setting in motion his mysterious plans that utilized an ununwitting Angel and Spike as pawns for his ultimate goal. Together with his liaison-to-the-senior-partners girlfriend, Eve, Lindsey played a clever game of cat and mouse with the good guys, until his ultimate plan to take over the law-firm was revealed in the final episodes of the series. Concitering the shocking cancelation of the series this spring, Christian reveals he was doubly greatful to be able to return to the show so that closure could be given to his character. Not long after the series final, Christian took some time out to talk to Angel Magazine... |
| Angel Magazine: When Lindsey exited the show back in season two, did series creator Joss Whedon let you know they might want you to come back some day? Christian Kane: No, it was a done deal. I was leaving the show. I had no idea. How was it that Lindsey came back into the mix after three seasons? Like I've said before, (David) Boreanaz and me are really close. We werer close before I was even on the show, so we had talked about it all the time. We'd have a couple of beers and talked about me coming back. I think David put a litle plug in htere. Joss told me the (writers) were sitting around asking "Who are we going to make in charge of all this? Who is in control of Eve and responsible for bringing Spike back?" It wasn't even me at first, but Joss went "How about Lindsey?" and supposedly the table kind of erupted "Oh, that's perfect!" You've been busy doing films in the meantime. So how did they get you to come back? I was in New York filming Taxi at the time and Joss called me and said, "Do you have any interest in coming back, because I'd love to have you back." I said, "Absolutely!" You just say yes when it's Joss because he's so creative and you always want to work with him when he gives you a call. I told him though, and I made it really specifically clear, that I did not want to wear that suit and I wanted nothing to do with that (false) hand anymore. (Laughs) Were you unhappy playing Lindsey when you left the show? No, but the major point that I wanted to stress to Joss was that I was tired of getting beat up by every girl on the show. It started getting boring. Joss said, "No, it's a different Lindsey! he's going to kick a lot of butt." So I said, "Okay." I remember sitting ince with former Angel executive producer Tim Minear, who is one of my favorite writers, and I asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm writing the next episode. It's so awesome!" I just looked at him and said, "Just kill me, man." The hand was just too much. (Laughs) A show full of superheros and here I was with no powers whatsoever. I was just a punching bag for these cats so that everybody on the show could look great. When Joss said I could come back and kick some butt, I was like, "I'm in!" Well, I was in before, but I was happier. Did they fill you in on their plan about exactly what Lindsey would be up to? They gave me a little hint. When I was in New York, Joss told me a little bit about it and I trusted him. The first full episode I came back ("Soul Purpose"), there is a scene of Spike and me and of course Spike's slamming me up against the wall. I was like "It's starting again!" But Joss reassured me that there was a plan. It scared me a little bit, but I was really happy with what they did. They gave me a lot of redemption and that was really cool. Your exit from the series was very imbigous and your return in "Destiny" was very much shrouded in secrecy. Did they give you any clues on how to play this Lindsey? No, I couldn't even get anything from the directors. Matter of fact, that episode with Spike and I, David directed and I was like, "D, what is my moivation here? What am I doing?" He said, "I have no idea!" (Laughs) When I initiall came back, I walked into a very private set with just a skeleton crew to keep it away from all the leaks on Joss' crew. Was it fun to trick everyone shooting that secret scene? It was fun. I showed up at six in the morning and no one was there yet from the first unit crew. It was second unit with Skip Schoolnik directing. It was very much a compliment. I felt very privileged to be able to come back to a show like this and then be so secretive. It obviously worked because fans went crazy when you were revealed. I heard three or four message boards crashed. It was very nice. Lindsey's relationship with Eve this season showed a softer side of Lindsey we hadn't seen since Darla. How was it working with Sarah Thompson? It was very nice to walk into that first scene because I've known Sarah for a couple of years, so that made it easier and I think we started playing off that immediately as a couple. What did their relationship signify to you? I think it signifies the only little bit of heart he had left.I think he loved her and used her as an outlet to still have a heart. Otherwise, he is just evil. It helped me out a lot because it let me show that I didn't come back totally evil - the old Lindsey is there. It was smart on Joss' part because you can still see a little bit of his heart but you don't know what side of the fence he is going to fall on. Was it odd to come back three seasons later, having gone on to do different projects only to return to this familiar character and set? I've known James (Marsters, Spike) for a while and he is one of the nicest people I've ever met. I knew Alexis (Denisof, Wesley) and Andy (Hallett, Lorne). J. August Richards (Gunn) is one of my dear friends. The only person I really didn't know was Amy Acker (Fred). They were so warm when I came back. It's a different kind of crew there and it's also a really different kind of cast. We are pretty much a family and we all stick together. It's really rare. It's the fifth season of a show, and when we get done with a scene everybody still looks at the person that was covered and says, "Great job!" That is really rare because it gets to be a machine after a while. Lindsey factored heavily in the 100th episode, which really focused on the history of the show - including Charisma Carpenter's return and a reference to Glen Quinn. Was it important for you to be part of that episode? That episode was very important to me. You kind of figured out where things were at that point before it switched again for the final episodes. It was a blessing to come back and see all the press and all the fans still behind us after a long time. It was very dear to me, and something that nobody can ever take away from us. Was there anything in particular you were looking forward to exploring with Lindsey this time around? In "Your Welcome" I walked in and they said there would be a fight scene. At the time, they didn't know if it would be me and James or me and David. I had talked to Joss and told him I had just gotten done with Secondhand Lions and that I had gone through two and a half months of sword training with Anthony DeLongis, who is one of the best sword teachers out there. Joss actually took that to heart and put it in the episode with David and I doing swordplay. This was very much an honor for me. Joss already has a path that he is on, so for him to take time and let me play with a new skill that I had learned was a big compliment. I really felf like it was Joss saying he wanted me back and that was so great. What were the highlights and the lowlights of season five for you? The scene where I was getting interrogated in "Power Play" and I say, "You gona beat it out of me?" and Spike and I stand up to eachother wasn't really scripted at all. I talked to James and I said, "Look, man, you've never gotten any redemption for me playing you like a violin. I can't believe this thing is going to end without you and me going at it!" I was supposed to be me just sitting there and J. goes "No" and he steps back, but I know a lot of people on the websites were waiting for us to fight.I really wanted to do and I know James did too because he really wanted some redemption. So I was like "Let's just stand up and give them a little hint of what it might be like." James Contner was totally into it and he let us do it. Ithink it added a lot to the scene and it was cool because it was our idea. I can tell you I didn't like the episode where I was in hell ("Undewrneath"). I didn't feel comfortable with it all. He was a nice guy and it was very awkward for me to play a good guy. (Director) Skip Schoolnik called me after he edited the episode and said what a great job I did and that was really important. It's very rare that a director calls you, but I was scared I didn't do a good job being this passive-agressive guy. I saw the episode and I was really happy with it, so I'm glad I got to do it now. It was very scary at first because I had to be this really nice guy, but I'm still Lindsey, you know? If it had been a script for another movie, I could have gotten into that character, but to still be Lindsey and do that was very weird. Were you on the set when the cancellation was announced? It was me, David, James and J. August. We were actually in the dungeon scene. It was very dark and there was a lot of torture stuff around and my (prosthetic) hearts were all over the floor, no pun intended. They walked in and told us. Idon't think it would have been easier in a lighted room with cake and flowers, but we were in a dungeon so it was a very morbid afternoon. It was like taking the rap for something you didn't do. The show was doing really well, getting really great numbers and everyone was tuned in and it just doesn't make sense. All the storylines were getting ready to take a turn and hopefully, they would have kept me in for another season. I went over to David's trailer right after we got the news to make sure he was all right. He was in good spirits and I know he was upsat about the show getting cancealed, but he wasn't down in the mouth. He was ok about it. Around the same time, you got a part in a film in Japan that you had to leave for. How did that factor into what happened to Lindsey for the rest of the season? Nobody told me, because I never get the word until the last minute, but I was actually scheduled to finsh out the season. I had to take off, so Joss wrote my last scenes and then I filmed them. What really made it tough on me was that I had to read my lines and hope that I had got them right because I actually filmed my parts for the last episode months before they filmed the finale. David and I just had to go with it. We knew it was our last scene together and it's a long, intricate, wordy scene in the boardroom, but it was fun. Lindsey shockingly meets his end at the hands of Lorne. By way of Angel's order. Were you happy with Lindsey's fate? Yes and no. Joss was very nice in the fact that he killed me. I got to go in and kick some butt and then he takes me out. I'm not happy because the show has ended, so I don't think anybody is going to be happy with the way their character ends. How important has the fan support been to you both personally and professionally during your run on Angel? I've got a lot of fans from Angel and some of them have converted over to my films. Honestly, I don't exist without them. I really don't, so it's very important for me to keep in touch with them. I like doing it and it reminds me that I am doing something very cool that not a lot of people are fortunate enough to do. Anytime you spen five years beating up thew lead character that everybody loves and you still have people come up to you that are just as big fans of David's, then it lets me know that I am doing something right. (Laughs) Christian Kane, Thank You very much! |
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