CHARACTERS/ACTORS
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CHARACTERS/ACTORS
GUIDE
Bruce A Young
Bruce A Young is no starting actor, he appeared in over 40 films and TV shows over the years, including Phenomenon, Lethal Weapon 2, Basic Instinct and the highlander TV show. His favorite role remains Jackie in Risky Business, "I think everybody else came in to the audition dressed up; I didn't. I was riding my bike, I came in in shorts and a t-shirt with a beard, and I said, 'I can play this role.' I knew what I was auditioning for, but I wasn't going to come dressed up as a girl! I looked at all the other guys sitting there, like, oh my God." And he is proud of his work over the years, "I've never had to compromise what I wanted to do - I think that's something nice to be proud of. I can provide a living for my family doing this."
Bruce's real passion is to the theater, especially the major Shakespearean roles, and after already playing Othello and Richard III, Bruce still comes back to it whenever he can, "Unfortunately, it's the nature of our culture that you can't make a living doing live theater - I still get back, I remain loyal to the stage and whenever I get a chance I do a play. Any Shakespeare I've done has always been my favorite. That's sort of my passion."
Bruce got his roll as Captain Simon Banks without an audition based on his previous work with producer Danny Bilson on his series Viper. Claiming that the first thing that appealed about Simon Banks was the fact that he was a black man in a position of authority (a rare thing to his opinion) and to be able to pull off that dynamic and have it be realistic, he now admits that it's his costars that keep his interest in the show,"As we went on, I realized that the chemistry of the actors was so strong, and our backgrounds were similar in the way we worked and how we approached things - that became more of a driving force in what interested me in keeping the show going."
Like his costars, the cancellation of the show after it's third season came as a shock to him since it was the networks top rated show, "We did a cliffhanger, of course that was supposed to mean we were coming back on! We had an arc to complete, simply because that was a two-part episode."
But then the fans got into action and the show was brought back to 8 more episodes, "It's very touching to realize that people do care, and they care to an extent that they're actually willing to take out ads, and look at the number of sites on the net. I'm glad they were there! " And like his fellow sentinel crew, Bruce was also surprised from the fact that most of the show's fan were women, "It just wasn't what you would think for a cop action-adventure show; it was quite amazing to realize that most of our fans were women. They like the dynamics of our characters. It's character-driven, it usually does have something to do with the relationships and how the guys are acting."
When asked about his roll as Captain Simon Banks while still filming the show, Bruce admitted that he likes the way that the show is heading, "I'm confident with where my character is going; I'd just like to continue a logical progression. I really believe our strength is bringing out the sides of the characters that people want to see, given the scripts that they give us. I find it more interesting and fun to try to add that story on top of whatever tale they're trying to tell. It's more challenging as an actor, and I think that's what makes us a different type of cop show, because you see two or three sides of our characters. I just hope we keep getting good scripts, good plots, some nice villains, and let us play around with that."
Bruce also has his own production company, "but that's very time-consuming - some things you have to let go of. I pproduced and directed, and it was a lot of work. I'm not saying I wouldn't go back and do that again. In ten years I'd like to be retired, running my own theater company. Dream big!"
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