PB_S2E15_CC_0502 ===

Sarah Wayne Callies: [00:00:00] Hello, Paul.

Paul Adelstein: Oh, hey Sarah. How are you?

Sarah Wayne Callies: Oh, hey, I didn't see you there. I didn't see you there.

Paul Adelstein: Uh, I just edited a couple of the ones where we do that. I think it's always really, really funny. Um, look, friends, we have a great, great guest today.

Sarah Wayne Callies: We have such a great guest today. Um, we love, we've got the great, it's funny, I always call him Billy William Ner, who is truly just one of the loveliest.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. And boy, what a career. It's still going, boy. What a man. What a what? A what a [00:01:00] like yeah, series of movies that is just keeps coming. Um,

Sarah Wayne Callies: it reminds me a little of the way we introduced Stacey, which is, you know, he's one of those folks who if you took prison break out of his resume, it's still an extraordinary resume.

I mean, like his, his work is just, and he is just so wonderful to work on. Um, but so. We wanna have a lot of time to talk to Billy. So should we just jump in and, and index? Let's do

Paul Adelstein: the index.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Locate everybody in time.

Paul Adelstein: Yes. So this is episode two 15.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Two 15.

Paul Adelstein: The message. The message first aired on January 29th, 2006 As and was directed by Bobby Roth, which is sort of surprising because Bobby also directed episode two 13, so he just kind of rolled right into prep, I would imagine.

Didn't leave Dallas? Uh, yeah, I think so. Yeah. So he went, yeah, right from Midseason finale into prep. Um, yeah, unusual. Zach Estrin, [00:02:00] Karen Usher co-wrote this episode, which maintained the. A trend of growing our audience to 9.9 million live viewers tuned in this week, a new high for the season. We were against the usual suspects in the 8:00 PM and nine, uh, 8:00 PM slot.

Sarah Wayne Callies: So recapping, briefly recap, uh, in Montana. I'm sorry.

Paul Adelstein: Nope, I was just. Yes. Recap. I said recap. Sorry.

Sarah Wayne Callies: I jumped, I jumped you. You didn't. We're recapping. In Montana, Michael Lincoln, Kellerman abduct a TV cameraman. They used him to tape and then broadcast a message about their innocence and the company and Oscar shales.

Um, there's also a coded message to Sarah. Dr. Sarah and Mahon goes to beek for help trying to decode it. Beek has had a very bad time of things in Fox River where he's incarcerated, but he agrees to help Mahon in exchange for a transfer to ad sex solitary to keep him safe from the dudes who are trying to, uh, do him dirty.

Yep. Um, elsewhere haywire. [00:03:00]

Paul Adelstein: Yay.

Sarah Wayne Callies: God. I have missed me some, Silas. Where Mitchell? Um. Haywire is finishing finishing his whimsical raft that will take him to Holland across the, oh, whimsical

Paul Adelstein: is a nice way of putting it.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Across the Great Lakes, which do not in fact connect to Holland, but that's fine. Um, he makes a friend and then he realizes that she's being abused by her father, and then he kills, uh, the father, which makes him just a little bit less whimsical.

I. Um, and then in Mexico we pick up a cra who was stranded in a small town on his way to reunite with Mary Cruz and Ixtapa. But, uh, a kindly widower takes him in. Hmm. They reenact some of the introduction to, um, Miz, beautifully. Uh oh. And then Klerman. Gets a call from someone who sounds a whole lot like President Caroline Reynolds.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Uh, in it looked like a sure thing, can't go wrong. News. On January 20th, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York launched [00:04:00] her bid for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. Seemed like a pretty safe bet until a little known freshman. Senator from Illinois named Barack Obama, got into the race, made some noise.

Also in New Voices who changed the game news on January 28th, Tika Titi premiered his feature film, directorial debut at Sundance. Shark versus Eagle Tika would go on to become a celebrated filmmaker, actor, writer of shows and films like what we do in the Shadows film, Jojo Rabbit, which was nominated for several Oscars.

And Ma Tika, who is Maori, one of the most influential Pacific Islander voices in modern storytelling.

Sarah Wayne Callies: And I have to say what it meant to all of us in Hawaii that were like, there is a Pacific Islander right now. Doing this work was massive. Mm-hmm. Uh, in further entertainment industry, changing news on January 16th, Netflix expanded its service from DVD by mail to include streaming media.

No one had ever done this before. It was a total innovation in content delivery that changed [00:05:00] everything. Everything. Um. Rethink. And can we just say that everyone was

Paul Adelstein: like, what are they doing? They have this amazing business model where they send you DVDs in the mail. These people are fucking crazy.

They're ruining it.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Why would they mess it up?

Paul Adelstein: Why would they mess it up? And

Sarah Wayne Callies: by the way, this was, this was just streaming. This wasn't original content. Their first original show, oh, uh, was House of Cards

Paul Adelstein: many years later, or a few years later,

Sarah Wayne Callies: many years later, because I was doing press for the first season of Walking Dead, and everyone was like, Netflix's trying to do original.

Oh my God, this is so sad. Yeah, we were all wrong. Um, and finally to wrap it up with sports, I don't watch news. This week in January, 2006, tiger Woods won his seventh consecutive PGA tour event. Longest winning streak since 1945. And over on the tennis side, Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open to claim her eighth Grand Slam victory.

Paul Adelstein: Setting her up for, we'll come right back. What is Oh yes.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Yeah. Like the most decorated. Tennis career in history. [00:06:00] Right?

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. And maybe, and most decorated probably individual sports person of history. And also let's, for, don't forget that when she won her, I think it was her last major, it was also the Australian Open and she was pregnant.

Sarah Wayne Callies: I knew none of that.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. Um, she won the Australian Open, like she's extraordinary five or six years ago. Pregnant. Uh, okay. We're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna come back

Sarah Wayne Callies: just in case you felt like you'd achieved anything today, correct?

Paul Adelstein: That's right. You haven't. That's right. You, you, you haven't.

Okay. We'll be right back.

So, uh,

Sarah Wayne Callies: we're gonna have Billy on shortly. Yes. We're back. Let's fly through a couple of little things first.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um, remind me before we intro Billy, I have to tell you a story about Billy and Walking Dead. Okay. Um, but you mentioned Leo Marks.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. So the cameraman that we take played the cameraman that we take, uh, prison.

Prisoner was one of those, uh, full circle kind of acting moments. I had met Leo doing, [00:07:00] uh, a play workshop in Ojai at the Oi Ojai Playwrights Conference. We were in the same workshop for 10 days or so, and then did a stage reading of this new play. We all stay up there in the dorms and it was the same play, uh, in which I met, uh, the woman who had become my wife.

And, uh, whoa. And the mother of your child. And the mother of my child. And the first time, I think like one of the first times I hung out with her outside the of the play and then when we got back to LA was with Leo, we would all get together.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Was it a love triangle? You were like, am I gonna date Leo? It was not.

Or am I gonna date this one? It was not.

Paul Adelstein: Leo was, uh, partnered up, I believe, and he's a wonderful actor and a, a wonderful guy. And so he's great

Sarah Wayne Callies: in the show. Great. Also in this episode. Was Kaylee Cuco. Yeah. Which is kind of wild because this must have been right before, um, big Bang Theory. Yeah. I wanna look that

Paul Adelstein: up.

As a matter of fact. Keep go, keep talking. She

Sarah Wayne Callies: was fantastic. I, I mean, I mentioned on the [00:08:00] rewatch, I have a tiny, I mean, it's a very tiny and silly story, but we were in the same, um, ballroom at, uh, San Diego Comic-Con, I think the first season of Walking Dead. We were just all, you know, art casts waiting to do different panels.

And she came up to me and, you know, their show had been on for a while. They were massive. Um, because they, I think she got it right after this because I remember her telling me that part of the show, part of the reason the show got so big, big Bang Theory was because they reran it during the strike, which was season three.

Um, in case came up to me and was like.

Paul Adelstein: Was September, it came out. So I don't know when they started shooting it, but it came out September, 2007, so that's exactly right during the strike. So

Sarah Wayne Callies: yeah. So 2006, she was shooting with us. Yep. Then they aired the show. They aired Big Bang Theory. It did. Okay. [00:09:00] Not amazing.

But then CBS had nothing else to put on. Hmm. CBS. Yeah. Whatever network it is. Yep. Had nothing else to put on during the strike. So they re aired the entire show and in the course of the strike it became like number one. Wow. And it was a really interesting, anyway, she came up to me at San Diego Comic-Con and she was like, Hey, um, just wanted to say congratulations on, you know, we were there for walking down the success of the show, blah, blah, blah.

It's been, I've been cheering you on since we met on prison break. Oh, that's nice. And I was like, we met on prison. You were on what? Mm-hmm. And she was like, oh, no, no. We just met in the trailer. Oh. We were never in any scenes together, and I don't think I'd seen them. I don't think I'd seen the episodes.

Like as we were watching this, I was like, no, this is not ringing much of a bell in terms of having watched it. And it was this really odd moment of this like. Hugely. Anyway, she couldn't have been sweeter, couldn't have been kinder. Um, and I felt like such a jerk and I was like, I need to run [00:10:00] into her again to be like, Hey, I genuinely didn't.

Anyway. Not that any of that matters. It does matter. This is just a love letter to Kaylee Quiver. Very nice. 'cause, very nice. She's a fantastic actress and she was so lovely in this episode. Um, um, and I'm glad that she then went on to like become a superstar because she deserves it. Yes. That's what I'm say.

Paul Adelstein: It's nice when good things happen to good people.

Sarah Wayne Callies: That's right. That's exactly right. Um, 'cause we've had a few times on the show that we've looked up somebody who's amazing and it's like, oh, their career didn't go where I feel like their career deserved to go. Sure. Do you know what I mean? Like, you watch someone's work, you're like, oh my God, they're so good.

Mm. And you're like, ah, you never had that huge blow up moment. Kaylee Cuco blew up.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um, oh, you told me something about a pen pal in Vietnam.

Paul Adelstein: Uh, I realize I got it wrong. The rewatch, uh, we were just talking about pen. It says pen pals. Uh, Mahon says, I wanna know Sarah 10 credit everybody she's ever talked to.

Everybody she's ever [00:11:00] had. Pen pal. You said pen pal. I remember, I think I had a pen pal. Right. And I remember that my sister told me, 'cause I was, I wasn't born yet, who's seven years older than I am that she remembers in the early seventies writing P-O-W-M-I-A. Letters. That's what it was. There was camp.

Wow. There were, there were campaigns to write, okay. To congressmen and to write to the state department about bringing home Vietnam, POW and finding out where all the ias were. Sure, sure, sure. Yep. So I kind of got it wrong, but I kind of got it right. It had to do with letter writing. You're

Sarah Wayne Callies: allowed to make mistakes, Paul.

We're all human.

Paul Adelstein: Okay. If you say so. We're all human. Even you, um, what is your all human, before we take a quick break and then introduce Bill, what is your bill? Walking Dead story. This is William Ner we're talking about when we say Bill.

Sarah Wayne Callies: So, uh, and I, I'm gonna have to make sure this is very anonymous, but we were doing, we were in the first season of Prison Break.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Early [00:12:00] episodes, uh, and Frank Debo, who wrote and directed it, uh, the pilot directed, um, who's I think one of the best filmmakers alive. Mm-hmm. He was a huge prison break fan. And he and his best friend, Stephen King, used to watch prison break and call each other and talk about it on the phone.

Paul Adelstein: Really.

Sarah Wayne Callies: And that's a big part of how I ended up on the show. Uh, it's a big part of how Rob Knepper ended up on, um, Frank's next show, which yeah. Uh, was called Mob City, and I don't know if that's the final title, but one day there was a role that was coming up in the show and Frank was like, I really want.

William Ner to play this role. Do you think he'd do it? And I was like, I, I don't know. I can ask. And he goes, you can ask. And I was like, yeah, I can just call him. Just like, you know, he goes, would you do that? And I was like, I don't know. You're Frank Remont. You gave me a great role. Like yeah, of course, of course I would do it.

I adore you. So on the way home from work, uh, I [00:13:00] called Billy. And I wish we'd had a chance to talk about this in the interview, but, um, I don't wanna put him on the spot. And the reception was going in and out. Oh, no. Because we were in the middle of nowhere in Georgia. Yeah. And he was like, you wa you want me to on a zo, you want me to play a zombie?

And I was like, no, no, no, not play a zombie on a zombie show. And he was like, why You're on a zombie show? And it was this like, kind of ridiculous comedy of errors. And I was like, listen, just read it. I think it's gonna be good. And he's like, I love you, but you're nuts. And he's like, zombies just aren't my whatever.

And I was like, okay, well I'll leave it between you and the agent. And the week or so later I was like, sorry Frank, I don't think I got anywhere. He's like, yeah, I heard from his reps, you know, this isn't his thing. And I think he had something else going on. Um, that's funny. And then when I saw him on, uh, when we got back together, 'cause he played my dad on, um, the company you keep.

Um, just a couple years ago and I was like, Hey, so about that, uh, you wanna be on the Walking Dead thing? He's like, don't start with me. And I [00:14:00] was like, okay. So we were almost three for three. Yeah. Together, me and Billy. Um, alright, let's take a

Paul Adelstein: quick break and then we will get to our wonderful guest, William Ner.

All right, we're back. We're back. Um.

Sarah Wayne Callies: We're gonna introduce him before he's on. Yes. Um, and we're gonna do that because, uh, because Bill's not the kind of guy who wants to hear you talk about how great he is. I think that's the buffalo in. Yeah, I think that's right. Um, I don't mean like the bit like a buffalo, I mean the town he's from. Yeah.

Buffalo, New York, which is a very like working class humble place where you don't like to hear how great you are. So. Uh, you wanna introduce our friend Billy here.

Paul Adelstein: Uh, bill joined Prison Reagan, season two as F-B-A-F-B-I. Agent Alexander Mahome. Don't say Mahomes, [00:15:00] uh, but also. Uh, we were all blown away when he joined the cast because we knew him from features such as quiz show, contact, Armageddon, perfect storm, black Hawk down, crash, heat, uh, I mean it goes on and on and on, on and on and on.

Uh, cold Brook, which he wrote, directed in Star in. Uh, and on the TV side a long career. Uh, he played a character named Kellerman, which I didn't know, a show called MDs. 79 episodes of As the World Turns Entourage, 85 episodes of Mom, um, which he was amazing on, and recently the company you keep where he played Sarah's dad as she just mentioned.

So ladies and gentlemen, welcome. Here's our interview with the one and only the one and only William Ner.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Hey, it is so good to see you. Thank you. It's good to see you too. I'm like, I am realizing that I missed you. We had a lot of fun the last time we got to work together. Yeah, we sure

William Fichtner: did.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Huh? That's, yeah, [00:16:00] man.

Good to see you. Good to see you. Thank you so much.

Paul Adelstein: When, when was that? When was that show? How long ago? Uh, five years,

William Fichtner: two years. Right before, two years. Two years ago. This spring.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Yeah, we wrapped right before the strike.

William Fichtner: Yeah.

Sarah Wayne Callies: And um, right before the strike.

Yeah, for so many reasons, we should still be doing it, but we're not.

But there are no accidents, so it is what it is.

No, and you know, it's funny, I posted a, uh, I sent out the word on the Instagram to say if any fans had questions for you, and we'll get to that in a bit, but one of them was like, PS Milot is my favorite character in television history. And I was like, I will pass that on.

So Paul, we played, uh, we played a family of con artists, right? The fun of the show was like just getting to do all these different characters. In one of our first episodes, uh, bill got to play a, a temperamental photographer named Milot. Oh, Fanta, I wanna see Milot. It was so much fun. It was like. It was, [00:17:00] there was nothing like bad scenery, chewy about it, but I spent the whole scene being like, bill is having more fun than I have ever seen.

I mean,

Paul Adelstein: Connor, you

Sarah Wayne Callies: are just like a scarf and the glasses and the hair and the whole kind of thing. It was great. Um, I love it. Well, let me, let me redirect us for a sec. Just when we say, Hey Billy, we're doing show about prison break. We're rewatching this thing and some of the episodes we've never seen before.

Like what? Pops into your head, what floats through your gut? What, like when someone says prison break, where do you go?

William Fichtner: Um, yeah. You know, that's, it's one of those things, well, first of all, let me say that when prison break came up for me mm-hmm. Uh, I always remember my agent calling me at the time and going, Hey, this is, this is actually, this is a true story.

It was a Monday. And my agent called me and said, listen, I'm gonna send you the [00:18:00] first two episodes of this show called Prison Break. Um, and I'm like, wait a minute. Wasn't that last year? Um, didn't, didn't they break out already? They got out and and she's like, yes, they did break out, but now

Paul Adelstein: you need to find them broke up.

William Fichtner: You need to Exactly. And this is what she said. She goes, so it's a Monday. She goes, listen, I want you to take the time. Read these two episodes. Now mind you, I moved into the house that I'm living in right now. Mm-hmm. And where I'm talking to you from on the Saturday. On the Saturday before that Monday. So the whole house is boxes Oh my God. And she said, I want you to take your time, but you need to get back to me by tomorrow. 'cause you'd have to travel on Wednesday to do wardrobe on Thursday. 'cause you shoot on Friday. And she hung up. Oh. And then before she hung up, she goes, oh, by the way, it's in Dallas. I'm like, what? What hello?

So I, that's such an

Sarah Wayne Callies: agency story. Yeah, I know.

William Fichtner: I told, [00:19:00] uh, I told Kimmy and Kimmy's like, ha. Yeah, right. And I read the two episodes and I, I went back up to her and she goes, did you read 'em? I'm like, yeah. And she goes, well, what do you think? Thinking, I'm like, I think I might be on a flight on Thursday or Wednesday.

Um, and she goes, I get it. I get it. So. That was it. And then I ended up being there and we did shoot on that Friday. Wow. Um, but you know, when I think about it, um, prison Break was said was an, was an odd thing. It's very odd to come into something that already has its rhythm that's already like rolling. Um, and I think what helped the whole experience or made it exciting for me was that the character of Mahomes was so just.

Completely in a world of his own stepping into this world, which is not only for the character, but for the actor. And, and I found all of that kind of appealing. Not to mention the first episode. He is, you know, [00:20:00] sitting, staring at a bird bath when the sun comes up, taking pills. I'm like, all right, I'm interested.

Um,

Sarah Wayne Callies: yeah, there's meat on this bone.

William Fichtner: There's something going on here. Yeah. And, uh, but it's, uh, it's. I, you know, I, I'm not one to watch a lot of things that I, that I, that I do. So I never really saw a lot of the show. But the experience was, uh, you know, I think you, you say, what do you think about, I think about right away, I think about, I think about Dallas.

I think about Dallas

Paul Adelstein: for two years. Mm-hmm.

William Fichtner: Sure. I think about characters and storyline. This was a big commitment to go. You know, especially as I said, just moving into this house and thank God that 22

Sarah Wayne Callies: episodes you had a little kid.

William Fichtner: Yeah. The Burbank airport had three nonstops a day from, from Dallas-Fort Worth airport to Burbank.

Yep. Yep. And I think that first season, if I, I think we shot the first season over like 36 weeks and I [00:21:00] commuted home 30. Wow. 30 weekends. Yeah,

Sarah Wayne Callies: that makes sense. And the

William Fichtner: only ones that I didn't were a couple of weekends when Kimmy came to Dallas, or I went to see Sam, who was, you know, younger, um mm-hmm. Up in New York City.

So, wow. I mean, there's so many things I, I, I, I, I think about, but, uh, it was a powerful experience period. And it

Sarah Wayne Callies: also, I mean, look, something else that we've talked about is like, it was also complicated. It was wonderful. It was such a gift. It was so well received, but it was complicated. There are parts of it that were really hard and I think about you were in a pretty unique situation almost, you know, almost with no one else kind of going through what you were going through.

No one else, which is that you were married, you had a kid. Well, Dom had kids, you know? Right, right. And I, I think he was, I think they were still married at this point, but, um. [00:22:00] You know, we could kind of move our families or whatever, you know, like Josh came with me and Paul was getting married during season two and flying back and forth.

But like, you know, Paul and I both now really know what it's like to be like, I'm earning a living. I'm doing the job I love, but this kid who's, my whole heart is half a country away. That's that's real. I remember never seeing you season two. Do you what I mean? Mm-hmm. I was like, 'cause you know, except we had like a scene or two together, but it was like, whoosh, you were gone because you had this whole other life and uh, and you were surrounded by a bunch of people who were just

Paul Adelstein: hanging out super

Sarah Wayne Callies: young, who'd just gotten super famous and like that's,

William Fichtner: that's hanging out.

Sarah Wayne Callies: That's real. Yeah.

William Fichtner: Yeah. It's, it, it sure was. Um, there's still a couple of people in Dallas that I, that I keep in touch with from that time.

Paul Adelstein: Hmm.

William Fichtner: People that, a couple of people that worked on the show and, um mm-hmm. Bobby and Props is, is still a crazy friend and Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, [00:23:00] um, yeah, Bobby, yeah, Bobby and a few other people, uh, uh, and some people that, that lived in the building that I lived in when I was there, where I was gonna ask, where did you live?

Do you remember? I, I lived in the, in the, in the, uh, place called the Ashton Uhhuh, uh, which was a, a very nice building, a couple of blocks from the American Airline Center. Yeah. So I had that.

Paul Adelstein: Yep.

William Fichtner: Okay. But it was, uh, it was really a place that was great if you were, I. Single and like 31.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah.

William Fichtner: Uh, it just would've been your scene.

Uh, but it was my scene for a couple of years, which was, which was cool. I, I wanted a place that, uh, uh, you know, I never had a car there. Uh mm-hmm. And I was a walk to the downtown YMCA, so I had my pool and, um, you're a swimmer and, you know, it was a quick cab ride out to the airport, so I mean, it fit all the bills and it was a brand new place that was really nice.

Sarah Wayne Callies: So you took the job with no information other than the [00:24:00] first two scripts?

William Fichtner: I'd never, I'd never, I never saw the first season. So I, you know, it was just how it was explained to me and what the show was about. Um, and, uh, and they didn't

Sarah Wayne Callies: give you anything on where he's going as a character, or did you have a chance to like, connect with Paul Shering or Matt Olmsted or anything?

William Fichtner: I, I, I do recall, not so much with Paul, but with Matt, um, I, I, I, I remember. Having conversations with, with Matt. I had a lot of conversations when I got there about with Matt. Um,

Paul Adelstein: okay. Did they tell you the shales, sorry, go ahead.

William Fichtner: No, I remember Matt said the first day that I went for like. Hair and makeup and everything.

And, and Matt stood by 'cause he, he wanted me to cut my hair so much. And I know you and your hair, Billy. I, I, you know, listen, it is like, don't, don't touch my hair. You could, you can do anything. Just don't leave my hair alone.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Yeah. Uh,

William Fichtner: micro

Sarah Wayne Callies: cuts,

William Fichtner: micro [00:25:00] minis. Uh, but. Yeah. I mean, it was, it was so much, but then again, in a way, I mean, as, as we all know, you know, because I was there solo, um, I had one thing to think about.

Mm-hmm. And that was like doing this job. Mm-hmm.

Paul Adelstein: You know, I

William Fichtner: went to the Y and I swam and went to a couple of local restaurants, true Luck and Coal Vines. And, and then I just spent my time, you know, looking at this and, and I had so much to do on the show. That it was, uh, uh, it really filled me up. Um,

Paul Adelstein: it did,

William Fichtner: it was a pretty, pretty satisfying experience.

Paul Adelstein: Did they, uh, give you the shales? They must have given you the full backstory on that. Obviously you must have known what was under your bird bath and all that when you started shooting it. Uh,

William Fichtner: yeah. I mean, uh, you know, little bits and pieces in that. Um, yes. Um, but you know, then again. You know, give me [00:26:00] enough information to put me on a road, but, uh.

You know, you don't have to gimme a million facts. Mm-hmm. Um, so that's kind of how we went, you know? But, you know, and also too, you know, as you guys know, prison Break was the sort of show that every time you open up the, the next episode that was written, which if you were starting a new episode on a Thursday, you usually got the next script on that Wednesday.

Yep. Mm-hmm. Um, so you had to dive into it right away.

Paul Adelstein: Yep.

William Fichtner: And you know, major characters. You know, died every, like fourth week.

Paul Adelstein: Yep.

William Fichtner: So it was like, uh, usually 'cause you killed

Sarah Wayne Callies: him. Yeah, yeah.

William Fichtner: You know, listen, there was, I was a very misunderstood guy, Sarah. Um, you've been staying up for 20 years though. Listen, listen.

I One true story about reading prison break scripts. It was season three, my second season. And, um. [00:27:00] We were in some warehouse location, and it was like, we were on episode 10 and I was reading episode 11 and it was, I had a break on set and I got a hard copy of the script and, and I'm reading it and I get to the final page and it's like, shots ring out, Mahon goes down.

I'm like.

Nobody told me this. Yeah. I like, I called up Kimmy. I'm like, you're not gonna believe this. And she's like, what? And I hear all this background noise and I'm like, where are you? And she goes, I'm over at the Grove. I'm like, get out of the mall.

Paul Adelstein: But you weren't dead. Stop

William Fichtner: spending money. I don't have a job anymore. You

Paul Adelstein: weren't, you weren't dead.

William Fichtner: No, I was, I wasn't dead. I was shot and shockingly by the end of episode 11, I was walking normally.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. Um, I mean, we just watched the episode where you come back to the FBI agent and, uh, in the previous episode, [00:28:00] you're leaving the hospital and they're like, sir, you can't leave.

And you're like, fuck off. And then you walk into the FBI, all of us sudden, they're like, how you, how you doing boss? You're like, I'm feeling much better. Fine.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Okay. That's good. That's great. There you go. That's healing on prison break. Yeah. But did you, as you're reading the episodes, as you're walking through the character and stuff, was there a point where you ever called, I.

Matt or had a conversation about like, Hey, I kind of would love to see this. I'd like to kind of go in this direction. I, you know, or did you just sort of put your hands, put yourself completely in the hands of the writers and go, I'm along for the ride? Like, did you wanna kind of co-create

William Fichtner: at all? No, no, no.

I, I, I don't believe, you know, I, I might've, but I, I. It's usually not my way anyway. Uh, I'm, I'm curious, you know, it's, it's, it's your show. Tell me what you're thinking about.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm. Um,

William Fichtner: I know that I would talk to Matt and I love talking to Matt and mm-hmm. And, uh, [00:29:00] ask him for clarification on something or fill in a little backstory for me.

Um, mm-hmm. But I never really, no, I, I always found it fairly fascinating. What, um, uh. What they were coming up with and what he shared with me, and I always just looked forward to it. But, you know, I, I'd be curious what Matt thought about that, but I, I, I honestly don't recall that I would like, well, I think it should kind of go like this.

Um, I never really had that. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Fair.

Paul Adelstein: Pro. Pro. Pro.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Well. I mean, you inhabit him so fully, you know what I mean? Like, he just felt like you, which is interesting because getting to know you, I was like, not at all like you. Um, like I, I think sometimes when somebody lands so fully in a character, you know, you sort of wonder like, oh, did they, did they kind of co-create this?

And I think it's. Sort of a testament to [00:30:00] the work you're doing that. Well, thank you answers that I, you know, and apart from saying nobody cut my fucking hair, which I know is a, is a,

Paul Adelstein: it's a very mahome thing to be, you know,

Sarah Wayne Callies: you and you and Carl Bailey in the hair chair. Oh, ah. Negotiating over micro cuts during season four.

I loved Carl so much. He was our head of hair department. I brought him on a colony years later. Um, but the two of you. It was, it was my favorite way to start the day because it was like a, it's like a sitcom between a barber and a guy who was like, you can cut this much from right here. And then you take your scissors and you walk away from me.

You walk away from me.

William Fichtner: I, I would, I would drive him nuts. I would gwinner and I'd say, listen, listen, we, we gotta trim a little bit, but no more than three sixteenths. Wow. I walk, I'm all over

Sarah Wayne Callies: like from right here, but don't touch the bottom and I wanna leave the top like you guys would. Oh, [00:31:00] it was so lovely.

It was So he looked forward to fighting with you about your hair more than anything else in his day. Yeah. He was like, go outside and have a cigarette afterwards and just be like, ah, my day is, my day is complete. It was wonderful. I like how those I. Go ahead.

Paul Adelstein: I like how those little things become like kind of comforting traditions of like, well, we're gonna fight about, we're we, we're gonna get into it about this.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Also every day. Every day. Like nobody else cut their hair every day. But Billy was like, no, I woke up and it's three 16 of an inch too long. Right above my right ear. Hey, whatever. Everything else is fine. Whatever you

Paul Adelstein: need to feel ready for the day. You know what I mean? Like whatever's gonna

William Fichtner: exactly

Paul Adelstein: make, give you permission.

I walked in

William Fichtner: this trailer once, it was a cold morning, and I, and I, and I walked in and I walked by Carl and he was sitting in the chair and I went. I'm cold and as I walked by my, I heard him under his breath go hearted. What? Cold hearted. I said, I walked [00:32:00] into the trailer and I said, I'm cold. And I heard Carl go hearted.

No. Like, you know, I heard that Carl. Yep. Yep. I love him. I love him.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Oh, there's no one better. No one better in the business. He was marvelous. Um. And you, speaking of people that you love dearly, you got, um, the wonderful Kim Coates to come on our show. I did for a few scenes. I did. That was fun to watch because point.

Yeah, it was really fun to watch that. I

Paul Adelstein: didn't know you guys were buddies. And then rewatching that scene, Sarah was saying, um, that you knew each other. And that scene is, I mean, pretty super close. He does a mini version of what you had to do on the show, which is, it's always hard to come into a show, like you said, it's up and running.

It has its own rhythms. It's even harder to come into a show. Yeah. When you have to also be a person of authority on camera because you feel like you have so little authority when there's series regulars and there's producers. Yeah, yeah. Like then to come out there and have that energy, you did it so beautifully, and then Kim did it above you in a way like that.

Establish that establishment of his [00:33:00] power was really palpable too, and very impressive. I thought.

William Fichtner: Well, I remember when I, Matt was telling me about, uh. I think his character's name was Sulin.

Paul Adelstein: I don't remember.

William Fichtner: I think it was possibly right. Yeah. I think it was Sulin and Matt was telling me about this character and when I got the, um, the script, Matt gave me something a little bit ahead of time about Sulin and I remember whatever he shared with me and I read.

I literally called him up and I said, Matt, listen, listen. Do yourself a favor. Don't go through the casting process. Just, just hire Kim Coates.

Paul Adelstein: Wow.

William Fichtner: I'm telling you. And Matt said to me, do you think he'll do it? And I said, oh, he'll do. I'll make him do it. I already told him, you're going to Dallas. I even said to Matt, listen.

You know, make him a respectable deal, but I'll save you money. I got a two bedroom place. He's not gonna stay in the hotel, he's gonna hang out with me anyway. [00:34:00]

Sarah Wayne Callies: You're just coming to have your friend in Dallas for a couple weeks.

William Fichtner: Exactly, and that's, and that's what happened. Coie moved in with me, um, and I'm so glad that it worked out.

He ended up doing it. That was great. It was great. And

Sarah Wayne Callies: this was before SOA then, right? It was before he was on Sons, yes. Right

William Fichtner: before this was right before, yeah. Okay.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Yeah, because I remember seeing him on our show and I wasn't familiar with his work. And then he was in my living room every week because my husband was such a huge fan of Sons of Anarchy.

Um, and uh, and then. I saw him in your movie, which I wanna talk about at some point. You can talk about it now if you want. Mm. Sure. But, you know, you wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a feature film called, I Believe Brook.

William Fichtner: Well Brook, um, well, I,

Sarah Wayne Callies: I and Kim did it with you too

William Fichtner: after I met, uh, Coates working on Hawk Down.

Uh, we were in Morocco together for five months and, um. [00:35:00] You're, you're either gonna never talk to that person again or be best friends with 'em, be best friends.

Paul Adelstein: So,

William Fichtner: I, I often say I met my best friend when I was 44 years old. And, um, uh, I was such a fan of his that after Black Hawk down a couple of years later, I went to another friend of mine, uh, came Devore and I said, listen, I got an idea for a story, and I, I, it really.

I wasn't driven by the idea wasn't driven by the idea, it was driven by the fact that I wanted to do something with Coach, with Kim. Aww. Which is, which is why, um, love that Jean and I worked on it and wrote it together so I could do it with him. That's amazing.

Sarah Wayne Callies: And when was the point where you decided to direct it?

William Fichtner: Uh, it was always, that was always gonna be the, the thing I wanted a, um. Which is also really interesting 'cause, you know, uh, you know, when you wear so many hats, uh, I, I know and I wore a lot more hats than you mentioned. I mean, in every way, you know, it's a small indie filmmaking, um,

Paul Adelstein: everything, you [00:36:00] know, craft service, I was

William Fichtner: craft service, I was everything.

I, I really didn't have the time. To watch every take. I didn't, I would just, right. As long as the framing was right, I was in the scene.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah. I

William Fichtner: knew what other actors were doing, you know, I just wanted to make sure it was in focus. I mean, every once in a while I would say to Kim, you know, how, how was that?

How did I did? How was I in that? And I remember one time he looked at me and he was like. Well, I don't know. And I'm like, you don't shut. I'm outta here. It was the last time I asked his opinion. Yeah, seriously. Give yourself another one. Did you, did you guys do, you

Paul Adelstein: wrote it together?

William Fichtner: Uh, I wrote it with another friend of mine.

Oh, a different friend, Devore. Oh, with candor. Okay. Coach produced a film. Yeah. And then, uh, I wanted to shoot it in, uh, my hometown of Buffalo and

Paul Adelstein: we did. Right, right.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Which, uh. Which is like right down the road from where my husband grew up too, which I think is very simple. Right down the road, you both, your accents change.

When you talk to each other, you get a little [00:37:00] bit more, a little bit more Western New York. Um, so wait, can, let me back up a second, because you've done some really long runs on some shows. Obviously your future career is insane. Um. And you mentioned that you, you tend to just sort of receive what it is the writers, you know, kind of wanna lay down.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

Sarah Wayne Callies: But when you're on a long run, have you ever been in a situation where they're taking you in a direction that you're like, E this doesn't feel good, this doesn't, like, what's that part of it like? Because, you know, when you're on something for 20, 40, 60, 80 episodes, I gotta imagine there are some scripts that you pick up and you're like, whew.

This was not in my Bingo card.

William Fichtner: Uh, I, I, I did, um, I did have an experience once on, on, on a show and, um, uh, it's gonna go nameless. Uh, it went, it went one season and, uh, [00:38:00] it was not, it was, it was not what was shared with me, um, of how it was gonna go. And, and I was. Right up front with that. After a few episodes in its first season, it was a big network show, and I was right up front about, wait, hold, hold, hold on a second.

What, where are you going with this right now? Because you told me this and now you're going in this direction and it's your show. But I also wanna remind you of the, of the deep conversations we had about this. Mm-hmm. Um, it did not end up being, uh, a, a pleasant thing and mm-hmm. You know what I, I remembered saying to my agent at the time that, uh, that the producers of this show and the creators of this show are very lucky.

'cause I'm not a phone in guy and I'll always put my best foot forward, Uhhuh. And that was a tough one. 'cause uh, I wanted to go and [00:39:00] the end of the story is that I remember the day that I was driving in a car with Kimmy. I got the phone call and the phone call was gonna be, this show got picked up or not, and I got the phone call and the phone call was like, they're not picking up the show.

I almost blew her eardrums out with the scream of joy. I was never so happy in my life. I was like, yes. Oh, there's a God

Paul Adelstein: and that and friend for all, all you, uh, civilians out there. Actors don't usually like having work. Stop. So that just, it just goes to show you that you needed out of it.

William Fichtner: That was not, uh, that was, that was a, a rare, a rare moment in my life.

Maybe, maybe the only one that I ever felt like that. So, you know, I've been fortunate enough that, that I, I haven't had that experience much. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, but a lot of times too, I mean, listen, it's, there's [00:40:00] so many. Great reasons to do a series and, and one of them is creatively. Mm-hmm. Um, but there's a lot of reasons that it's great to be on a show that, that works, that runs, um, there's a lot of benefits that come with that and, and you embrace that.

You know, you don't, you know? Mm-hmm. Listen, we all need to make money, but it's, you know, it's, it's much more than that. And when, when it all comes together and it works, it, it, it's a, it's a wonderful experience. And when it doesn't, you know, not, not crying about it, but it's, uh, mm-hmm. You know, if your heart's not there because it's, you know, uh, whatever makes that so then it isn't worth it.

And uh, and that was one example of just. Really one time in my life that I can honestly remember where I was Okay to, to not have it continue.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Let's be honest, this was the company you keep and you're like, if I have one more episode with Callie's, I am going to shoot my stuff.

William Fichtner: Listen,

Paul Adelstein: I didn't wanna say, I [00:41:00] didn't wanna say it.

William Fichtner: It's alright. Every, every time I'd read a show and it wasn't that show, but every time I'd listen that, that we know this and you and I talked about this, Sarah, but uh. You know, the company you keep really focused on a lot of different things and, and really what it needed to focus on was one family, and that was the heart of the show.

We had

Sarah Wayne Callies: so much fun. I don't think I've ever had as much fun. Doing, I mean, on a comedy maybe, but like, it was just, it was, it was such a, like fake nails, an accent, all that. It was just actor candy, the whole thing. Um, it was just,

William Fichtner: you know, that, that, which was fun, that whole setup with the, with the bar and us and the family dynamics.

Um, you know, and some of the, you know, some of the more memorable scenes that we had to do that season or things that I had to do with you and, um, and your daughter. And that was, uh. It was special and it's lovely when it happened.

Sarah Wayne Callies: The sound

William Fichtner: language was so that, I gotta tell you, that was, uh, I, I'm not [00:42:00] surprised often in this business, but I was surprised when that show did not go his second season.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Hmm. Interesting.

William Fichtner: I was, yeah, the strike didn't

Sarah Wayne Callies: help. Um, I say I, I'm surprised all the time in this business when I was talking to Milo and he was like, yeah, they cast our dad. No, you were cast first. So Milo calls me and goes, Hey, we've been looking to cast my sister for the last two months. You know, would you come?

What do you think? And I was like, it took you two months to pick up the phone and call me. I was like, what? Uh oh, actors, you're saying something to actors, what I'm hearing. And, and so we went through the process and ended up doing it and I was like, who else is in this thing? He goes, well, Billy's playing our dad.

And I was like. Ner. He goes, yeah. And I was like, I thought we were the same age. And it was a funny moment for me. I think when you and I talked, I remember I got to LA to shoot the pilot. We had a phone call, [00:43:00] we had a conversation on the phone. Yeah. Um, I had no earthly, I mean like, because we're all kind of, I'm sure it didn't feel this way to you, but to me, on prison break, I was like, we're kind of all peers.

Do you know what I mean? Like, we're all showing up doing the same job. There was a moment in season four where I had a crush on you, calm down, we're fine, we're breathing. It's okay. And then I was like. He's old enough to be my what? And I did the math and it, um,

Paul Adelstein: on

William Fichtner: tv. Oh my God. I did on tv. And the math

Sarah Wayne Callies: worked out.

No, in life too. The math did work out. And what was funny is, I think every single day of the first four episodes, I came to work and pointed that out. I'd be like, good morning, Billy. You're old enough to be my dad. Good morning, Billy. You're old enough to be, it was just, it was so fun for me, a child. It was absolutely wonderful.

A child

Paul Adelstein: bride.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um.

William Fichtner: Yeah, there was, yeah, I just made

Sarah Wayne Callies: some bad decisions in college. That's all. Or some great decisions that resulted in a wonderful thing. Exactly. Um, okay, so we've covered the [00:44:00] writing bit question. So you've had a lot of directors and a lot of them have been some phenomenal directors.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah.

Yeah.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Do you have a favorite way that directors work with you? Do you like to be left alone? Do you like to. Because, you know, I mean obviously it's different in television and theater and film and stuff, but,

William Fichtner: uh, you know, it's funny, it's in, in, you know, in this more. In the last like, you know, five to 10 years when, when things have really, like is in independent film, has kind of, you know, disappeared a little bit.

It's, it's replaced by limited series. Mm-hmm. Or, you know, all of the new outlets for series come. Um mm-hmm. So, you know, I find that a lot of this newer stuff that, you know, and knock on wood, some things that I've been working on recently, um. It's kind of somewhere between like what a series used to feel like and what it feels like to work on a film.

Paul Adelstein: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

William Fichtner: Um, [00:45:00] and I'm never one, listen if, and I mean this, if, if a director has something inspiring to tell me, oh man, bring it on. Bring it on. And. And you know what? I'll, I'll listen to somebody tell me something. Even in working in television or film, and as soon as somebody gives me an inspiring thought, I'll, I, I usually say, great, can we just roll?

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

William Fichtner: Because, you know, we don't have to explain, let's, let's, we don't have to give it a name or a whole paragraph. Let's just get inspired and then roll the camera. Let's, let's shoot that.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

William Fichtner: But if a director never says anything to me, I. I'm fine, it's fine. I'm always gonna show up with, you know, something good.

I remember one of my first films, uh, I played a, a, a a blind scientist and, um, contact, I remember what's that

Paul Adelstein: contact? [00:46:00]

William Fichtner: Yeah. Contact. And I remember that someone said to me right before we started rolling someone in production said, uh, the day before we, we were filming, started filming, someone said, Hey, oh listen, tomorrow we have, uh, uh, this couple's coming in, uh, Millicent and Gary, and um, um.

Um, she's blind, he's cited, they're married, they're here to to, to work with you on this. And I remember thinking, did, did you really, you know, to myself, 'cause this was my first film, I didn't speak up. I was like, I just kept thinking, did you really think I was gonna show up tomorrow and not have a thought about, I'll do this, this the last two months.

Um, so. I, I, I'm, I love it when directors let you fly. Um, as soon as, uh, uh, it gets a little too much. Uh, I had a circumstance like that, um, in the last couple of years in a small indie film and a first [00:47:00] time director and, um. Man, I'll tell you, I got on set and, and this guy was just, he was such a kind guy and he was like, no, if you stand here, if you just turn, if you just say this and if you

Paul Adelstein: just

William Fichtner: did this, this, this.

And I finally, literally less than 20 minutes on set, looked at him and just politely said, I, I didn't realize this was paint by numbers. Yeah, right. Well said. And and that was the. That was the end of that. Um, now I'll give you a great example. I remember, um, and I'll never forget, one of my, one of the kindest people I've ever worked with was Ridley Scott on Black Hawk Down.

And Ridley would just, he'd look at you and he, he'd tell you a little bit about what he was doing. That and just let you go. And, um, and letting you go to me is where all. Wonderful things happen inside of myself.

Paul Adelstein: Bill, I, uh, I had a very small part in a, in uh, [00:48:00] Michael Mann movie in collateral. Um, and, uh, and you obviously have a great big juicy part in heat.

Um, and I watched Michael with certain people letting them go and with other people not letting boy, not letting them go. I mean, like to the point where you're like, oh boy, this is not, uh, can you walk across the room like a man This time we're gonna do that again. Like that, that shit. Over and over and over.

Amazing. And over and over. And you're just like, I hope he doesn't turn that shit on me. Edelstein. That's great, Frank. And you're like, okay, good, good. But how did you find Michael in particular, in that? Like, did, did he

William Fichtner: let you go? Well, I, I will tell you this. The first two days of principle photography on heat were the scenes with Van Zant, this character that I played.

Yeah. Now. He was like the third film that I [00:49:00] ever did and the second film that I ever did, I remember I was still living in New York and I, I took my buddy Max, we went to Broadway in 67th to go watch the movie in the movie theater. I. And I remember going to Max, Hey, hey, this part's coming up. And then it went right by it and the scene wasn't there and I'm like,

Paul Adelstein: oh

William Fichtner: no.

Oh no. Maybe they put it later on. Anyway, 90% of what I did in the film was cut out of it. Yeah. Oh, the next film that I did was heat, and I remember Joe Rice sent it to me, my agent at the time, and Joe said, listen. It's only five scenes in the film. And I read the script and I called in the back and I said, but it's five scenes you can't cut out of the movie.

That's right. And I, that's right. I've became very, very, that's a smart read scenario. And I've al, I've used the expression a lot since then. You know, I've read, I've read scripts since then and I, and I've called my agent or manager back and I said, I can [00:50:00] tell you right now, that part is inconsequential to the story, so I will pass.

'cause it probably won't make the story right. Yeah. Um. But with Michael, the first two days of photography were the Van Zant scenes. Now, I'm not quite sure on the timing of what time of the day, but I know it was, you know, we started shooting on a Monday. Yeah. And it was a morning call. All I know is that it was late.

Late that first night. First night. And. I remember that I was kind of nervous and I walked over to Michael, and Michael was super, super kind to me.

Paul Adelstein: Yeah.

William Fichtner: And I said, uh, uh, I said, Mr. Mann, and he said, call me Michael. And I said, Mr. Mann, um, uh, is there something else that you, you want me to try? And he goes, no, why?

Why? And I said, 'cause, well, it's just that we're on Take 26. He's like, no, no, no. I got it in the first couple. Let's, let's go again. Um, so I don't know, whatever he was looking for. Yeah. [00:51:00] Um,

Paul Adelstein: yeah,

William Fichtner: but he was, he was, he was very, very, very cool with me. Yeah. And then, you know, only a couple of times since then have I run into him and um, you know, he just, you know, I saw him 10 years ago and he was like, Hey Bill, how you doing?

Yeah. Um. Yeah.

Paul Adelstein: Time.

William Fichtner: Yeah.

Sarah Wayne Callies: That was amazing.

Paul Adelstein: I love it.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um, Paul, should we take just a couple seconds and fly through a couple of questions? Yeah, let's do couple, couple of fan questions. We gotta let you go and then

Paul Adelstein: Bill will let you go.

William Fichtner: Sure.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Also, I could do this all day.

Paul Adelstein: Same. Uh, okay. Uh, so our fans super fun.

Uh, we say who our guests are gonna be and then, uh, we get some questions. And when we said you were gonna be the guest, we got a lot of questions. So we did a little curating, um, and ooh. Um, here's a good one that you're not gonna wanna to answer, uh, at planet Sarah [00:52:00] 2024 asks If someone made a movie about your life, what actor would you want to play?

You? You don't have to say me or Sarah. Uh

William Fichtner: uh, the o the only person that would ever make a movie about my life is one of my sisters.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm.

William Fichtner: Um, so let's, uh, who would I want to play Me? I, I, why? I I can play me.

Sarah Wayne Callies: No, no. It's, that's the most years from now. That's the most

Paul Adelstein: actor answer I've ever heard. I can do it.

I can, I have that. I can do, I can do that. I can do

William Fichtner: that. I have the range.

Like Dustin Hoffman and Tootsie. I can be shorter. I can be shorter.

Paul Adelstein: I can be taller. I can be, we want somebody else.

William Fichtner: Who would I want to, to play me? Oh God. I mean, listen, I, I, I think I. Oh, I think Ryan Gosling's one of the, I think he'd best actor. He'd do you. Good one right now. I agree. I mean, he's just amazing.

Here's another that,

Paul Adelstein: here's [00:53:00] another good one at Sparkling, S-P-A-E-R-K-L-I-N-G asks, if you were not an actor, if you had not been an actor, what profession would you choose to do?

William Fichtner: I dunno. Well, you know, um, I, I, I have my bachelor's in criminal justice. Oh, I did not know that. Yeah, I was, um, I honestly think I, I, I, I wanted to go to college and I visited a college in, in, in Long Island, a place called, uh, SUNY Farmingdale.

Sure. And I was so blown away by, oh my God, you can live in this dorm. This is really cool. Uh, I had to pick a major and I think my father suggested, you know, criminal justice, and I'm like, yeah, criminal justice. Uh, I'm sure I was somewhere through my freshman year sitting in the dorm. Getting high, realizing I'm not gonna do this, but I was having such a good time.

I'm like, let's just let this go. Uh, so I'm not sure if that [00:54:00] would've been the path. Um, oh God, I don't know. I could see you as a judge. I could, I could see you as a like

Sarah Wayne Callies: young man or. Get outta my courtroom, like, oh yeah.

William Fichtner: I'm a, I'm a judge's assistant right now to my wife, so, I mean, I work in the court system.

Okay. Yeah.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um, okay. We, we really have to let you go. Yeah. I feel like I wanna throw one. Well, we

William Fichtner: got, we got five. We, we, we got a few more questions.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Well, let me, let's try this one 'cause I'm curious And I, uh, this is from an, uh, ANAM ta Hussein. I probably pronounced that wrong. Sorry bro. Um, and I'm gonna say, feel free to make this a prison break or not.

Prison break related question. Hardest scene you've found yourself doing. There's something that stands out and I, while you're thinking, I am gonna tell the fans that you developed a reputation, at least by season four, of being the hardest actor to light [00:55:00] on a set. Why you always wedge yourself against a wall in between?

Because Maho was going through a lot, and I remember season four, you had like wedge yourself against a wall between like a shelf and a filing cabinet. I remember Fernando Awais once. Being like, da, how am I supposed to light it? You know what I mean? And just, he was like, he does this every time. Every time I then there was, I know the scene he's

William Fichtner: talking about.

Really? I've seen where, yeah, I know I, where Dominic finds me and I'm, and I'm like hiding in a closet between a file cabinet, a wall, and I'm like, this isn't awesome place to be. Um, so that probably came from that. But, um, you know, the emotional aspect of scenes are. You know, sometimes you just, you want to retain all of, all of thoughts and, and whatever's running around inside of you.

And, you know, as we know, you know, it's a lot of concentration, but that's a wonderful thing. The only things that I, that I popped to mind first that [00:56:00] were difficult, um, were, uh, some, some physical things. Mm-hmm. Um, you know, that's, that's, that's can be ch you know, shooting Perfect storm. The storm sequence is at stage 16 at Warner Brothers.

When, mm-hmm. You know, we're in this replica of the Andrea Gallant, a 90 by 90 foot tank, 26 feet deep. They put on the water cannons, the, what do you call it? The, the fans. You're just getting smacked around and I mean, really getting bounced around. And that's, uh, that's, that was challenging, you know, you know, uh, yeah.

Some of the blackhawk down stuff and the conditions over in, uh, in Morocco were, were really hard. But, uh, you know, hey, there's, there's not a day that I, that I work on something and I'm not sitting in a chair on set that I'm not. Very grateful and, and happy. Yeah. Same. It's a place that I, I [00:57:00] love to be. Um,

Paul Adelstein: same

William Fichtner: genuinely.

So, you know, you always look at all of that and go, wow, okay. Mm-hmm. Cool. Um, it shows, I hope that answers it, that it does. You make

Sarah Wayne Callies: you, you make the sets. You're on better places. Um, let's let him, we gotta let you go. Let's let him go. Thank you,

Paul Adelstein: Billy. Thank you so much.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Thank you. Such a good, oh, I had

William Fichtner: a great time talking to you both.

Paul Adelstein: He

William Fichtner: is wonderful.

Paul Adelstein: Um, Sarah,

Sarah Wayne Callies: so thank you to everybody for listening. Yes, thank you everyone.

Paul Adelstein: Yes.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Um, as always, we invite you to check out, uh, the Watch Party episodes where you can watch us talk about the show while you listen to the show that's available on the link, wherever you're listening. Now, joining our Patreon community.

Mm-hmm. Um, or on the link in the Instagram bio at Prison Break podcast.

Paul Adelstein: Mm-hmm. Um, Sarah, oh. Sarah? Yeah. Uh, prison breaking. You know what? What?

Sarah Wayne Callies: Yeah, no, I think we're about to say the same thing. You wanna try and say it together? 3, 2, 1. [00:58:00] Prison breaking with Sarah and Paul is a caliber studio

Paul Adelstein: production. It never works.

Your host of an inmate catastrophe. Sarah Wayne Call and Paul Edelstein.

Sarah Wayne Callies: Our prison warden is Producer Ben Haber. The

Paul Adelstein: front man of our jailhouse rock band is Paul Adelstein, who made all of our music.

Sarah Wayne Callies: And our prison yard tattoo artist logo and brand designer is John Nunzio and Little big brands. Check 'em out at www.littlebigbrands.com.

Paul Adelstein: And I believe we can cut this out if it's not true. Our editor for this episode is my dear friend and surrogate little brother, Luke Lucian Singer, uh, prison Breaking with Sarah and Paul has been a caliber studio production. Thank you for [00:59:00] listening.