BILL BIXY TELLS WHAT IT'S LIKE TO PLAY TV'S DAVID BANNER!

MARVEL:How did you become an actor?

Bixby: I was always interested in acting. It always held a fascination for me, but I really had no intention of getting into it seriously, until I was working in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the Rockefeller Company. they had no entertainment, so I helped organize it and performed there for three summers. A man named Raynond C. Lillie had been watching me over that three year period of time, and he offered me a job in the executive branch of hotel management--- which is great when your in college and you don't really know what you want to do. During the course of our conversation, I told him, "Y'know I've been thinking about acting, and I can't even tell you why. I have nothing specific in mind, but I'd like to find out what the business is all about." His answer probably changed my whole life. He said, "Bill do what you want to do with your life, be honest with yourself, and everything else will come." This from a man who was trying to hire me, remember. "If it doesn't work out for you, theres always an opening for you here," he offered, "but it is better to make an attempt to do what you want with your life first." /And I have learned that there is no way to succeed in anything unless you are willing to try--- and trying means you run the risk of failure. Theres nothing wrong with failure unless you have not tried at all, and fail because of your lack of attempt.

MARVEL:What was your first TV role?

BIXBY:A part in the Doby gillis series in the very early sixties. Then I did a guest shot on The Danny Thomas Show. The night it aired Joey Bishop saw it, and since they were reorganizing their show in mid-season, he hired me to appear immediately on The Joey Bishop Show, and I was on for the rest of that season. Then My Favorite Martian came up so I left to do that for 3 years which then led to The Courtship Of Eddie's Father. After that, most recently I was The Magician. And now of course I'm Dr. Banner in The Incredible Hulk. Also I had a part in Rich Man, Poor Man for which I received my second Emmy nomination (the first was for the Courtship Of Eddie's Father). I also received an Emmy nomination for a part I played in The Streets Of San Francisco.

MARVEL:How did you get the part of Dr. Banner in The Incredible Hulk?

BIXBY:I was a freelance actor and Universal offered it to me. Kenny Johnson was the executive producer of the show, and I had heard good things about him. I am terribly proud of that first movie, the origin of the Hulk, which was produced, written and directed by Kenny Johnson. I believe that in the long run the original movie itself will become a classic. i really do believe that. When I read the script I realized that I had the oppurtunity of doing a series in the genre of the"creature films" of the forties that featured Frankenstein and Wolfman, Jekyll and Hyde. But all of those characters were evil and the Hulk was not evil. He is the personification of anger. He is anger brought to a physical sense. Power. Something we wish that we all had, all of us who had having sand kicked in our face by the bully, wish that we could turn into the Hulk to defend ourselves. To me, anger is a very interesting thing to explore. It is a passion and it exists in all of us. In our show the anger is only directed at that which has made the Hulk angry. We differ from the comic book version, obviously because at Marvel the Hulk fights super heroes and super villians and is totally science fisction oriented. We didn't go for that, because within the limitations of a weekly TV series we couldn't handle the production and costuming and the special effects. It's impossible. But both Kenny Johnson and I felt that the Hulk could be thrown into situations that are justifiable, where he is allowed to strike back at evil or at anyone who would threaten a normal existence, then he represented a good image to the American public. Ergo the Hulk was born on television. The super hero side of the character is not done by me, of course, it is done by Lou Ferrigno, thats the way it should be, I should be a real human being. Remember as Banner I don't know what the Hulk does; I have no consciousness as to his actions. I know when I change into the Hulk but I am totally unaware of what happens when I am the Hulk, and that will remain constant. It's more dramatic for me, psychologically, not to consciously know what he did. The same applies to the Hulk who has no knowledge of me. He does know he's motivated toward an object, because it has transferred itself from my conscious mind to his conscious mind, but the awareness of my existence in his mind is not there at all. And after all the confusion and anger is over he finds himself like a fish out of water. He looks around and doesn't understand at all why he is where he is. you want to talk about a minority group, the Hulk is a minority group of one!

MARVEL: How does the show compare to the others you've done?

BIXBY:When I first did My Favorite Martian there was no question that it was different, and we started a seige of shows. I Dream Of Jeanie, Bewitched and on and on. Everyone got into the fantasy thing. But to do it at the time that we did was very courageous. The Courtship Of Eddie's Father was originally thought to be a very soft show, that sort of no one would be interested in. Funny thing, it lasted for three years, and has never been off the air in this country since we stopped shooting. It must have been important to a lot of people and we treated the show honestly and fairly. My next show, The Magician was entertaining and very exotic. Possible, but still fantasy. We hadn't seen anything like that on television. We thought we might lose with it but felt that we had to take the chance. To be different means that you're going to suffer negative criticism by those who don't understand, but I would rather reach those who do understand, and are willing to lend themselves to fantasy. And thats also the way that I feel about The Incredible Hulk. It's an Entertaiment show, but it is certainly a show made for adults, that children are also allowed to watch. As opposed to being childish and making a program that would not appeal to adults, we said, "Lets not be condescending. Lets go for real drama." I believe we're the first ones to really do it, and I know we're a hit. The Hulk is a great psychological symbol. the show is really saying, "Take a look, folks, this is what anger can be-- so that when you get angry remember that there is a green giant in you... if you choose to let him out. But if you do, remember that you have such awesome anger in your power that you can hurt a lot of people, don't hurt people and try not to hurt yourself. We were aware that, for about sixteen years the Hulk has been a folk hero, probably the most popular character to ever come out of comics, we knew that people would watch to see what we were about, and we felt that if we treated the Hulk honestly, they would stay with us.  But if we ever made fun of the Hulk, we'd lose them because fans of the Hulk are terrible loyal.

MARVEL:What kind of reactions have you gotten?

BIXBY:I have yet to receive one negative letter. I have however read a number of interesting reviews putting the show down because of what it is, and I feel sorry for the critics who wrote them, because as far as I'm concerned they've forsaken the child in themselves. They are so busy proving that they are adults that they have no time to really enjoy a fantasy experience. How sad and how crippling to their real life this must be.

MARVEL:What differences did you fell were necessary in portraying Banner in the medium of TV?

BIXBY:I read the Incredible Hulk comic and feel that from your side the Hulk comes with tremendous credentials and those of credibiliy and believibility which I've established over a period of time with the work I've done on Televison. I felt that to portray Dr. Banner not too dissimilarly to what you are doing, except that I am not so exotic in my language. And I don't talk to myself which is a cardinal rule of the show. In the comic you have to do it, to show what he's thinking, or what motivates him. But I do it emotionally. Either you see it on my face or you get it from the circumstances--- but I do not tell the audience to go through it and experience it with me. Last week we were shooting very late and the whole crew stayed to watch the rushes of the show and when I started getting thrown into the walls and getting hurt they forgot to a man that they were the crew and started screaming, "C'mon Hulk!" I sat behind them and saw these full grown men frozen to the televison set, screaming for the Hulk. And when the Hulk finally came out and did justice to the bad guys everyone applauded. Thats what its all about getting involved getting excited, suspending disbelief long enough to allow yourself to be caught up in a fantasy.

MARVEL:It's unusual that the crew would get so deeply involved.

BIXBY:I cannot tell you how astounded I was because they weren't even seeing the finished product! The Hulk as a folk hero has that kind of effect on most people. For instance when they were filing the scene where the Hulk runs down times square, he broke out of a cab and ran down the street for real. He was really in the middle of New York, in 40 degree weather running half-naked right down the middle of Broadway! And I'll give you a true story about the reactions of the people to the fact that he was really there, because there reactions are what make the Hulk so important. The police department got a call from a lady who said, "I have just been attacked by the Hulk." She didn't say it was a man in green, right? She said the Hulk. They said, "what do you mean lady?" She said, "The Hulk stopped in front of me, growled menacingly," and let me interrupt here to say that Lou Ferrigno tried to calm her down by reaching out to let her know it was ok-- but her last accusation was, "He got green on my fur coat and then he ran away!" The police department actually got that call. The point is not so much the event itself as the fact that she said The Hulk. Thats how strong the Hulk is, how strong an impression he makes. People were chasing Lou down the street screaming, "It's the Hulk, it's the Hulk!" And they were not afraid of him and loved him. Thats very encouraging to me, because face it, otherwise when you see a green amn the size of Lou running at you in New York, you've got to go, "wait a minute!"

MARVEL:How do you feel about televison adaptations of comic book heroes in general?

BIXBY:In general, I do not watch them, because they are campy, they make fun of an idea. In the Hulk we saw an idea that had tremendous capacity. Psychologically I'm sure that Dr. Carl Gustav Jung would have adored it, because it makes us look at ourselves and at anger as a manifestation that maybe we cannot confront. With The Incredible Hulk we put it on the screen, and I'm terribly pleased with that. Rather than criticizing any of the other super-hero series on Television I would have to say that our approach is different. One of the most moving moments that has been done so far is, I feel in the original Hulk movie, when he carries Susan Sullivan into the forest and away from the fire, to help save her life, but she's already dying. She knows that Banner is inside the creature, but she also knows that he cannot hear her. Still she tells the creature how she has always loved him, meaning Dr. Banner. The creature looks at her and cannot respond, but he lays her down on the ground as she finishes her soliloquy, closes her eyes, and dyes. Then the Hulk for some unknown reason in his psyche raises his head to heaven and bellows out in anguishing pain. The sensitivity of the Hulk is as important as his strength. In fact a great deal of his strength may be the fact that he is sensitive as well as strong. Our approach was to drop the "camp" and go for the "real." The public obviously loves it and wants it because the ratings have just been so high. They didn't just come and look at us, they stayed with us loyally. What it means to me is not so much that I have a hit series, but more importantly that the audience sees what I saw in it, and I am proud that the public seems to enjoy the idea we beleived in originally. Thats quite a thrill , and if theres any reward in doing the Incredible Hulk, thats it.

MARVEL:Could you tell us about the next season's shows?

BIXBY:We are going to get into more emotional stories. We want the audience not to know from week to week what to expect. We want the Hulk to fight against everyday events that annoy every human being. For instance, in the premiere show of the first season the very first time I hulk out its against an automobile, and the Hulk winds up beating the automobile to scrap. I cannot imagine one driver who has not wanted to kick his car to oblivion. Another time I have trouble with Ma Bell. I call information, get put on hold, and when I finally get to an operatior to say, "This is an emergency, you've got to get me the police," she answers, "I'm not equipped to do that." I get more and more angry, until I become the Hulk who freaks out during the course of having trouble with Ma Bell. Someone may be being murdered, and they will not help, so I change into the Hulk and he rips out of the phone booth and destroys the intire phone booth.

MARVEL:You mentioned the phrase, "Hulk out."

BIXBY: Thats when I become the Hulk, I Hulk out. Or if you walked into a room and saw it totally destroyed, in our language you'd say that the room had been Hulked out. It came from the writing probably from Kenny Johnson, and it works very well for us. When we say "it's a Hulk out" on the set that means theres going to be a lot of action going on. There are so many ways of Hulking Out. It's a perfect phrase.

MARVEL:Could you briefly outling a days shooting schedule?

BIXBY:Normally I'm up at 5:30 AM, This last week for example we were shooting on location in the Angeles forest, and it takes an hour and 15 minutes to get there. So I have to leave by 6 or 6:30 depending on my call, and on the way to work, I memorize the days dialogue. When I arrive I go straight into make-up and wardrobe. As soon as I'm made up I step straight in front of the camera, and its not uncommon to keep going until 11:00 at night. That means I don't see my family at all during that time, because I left before they were awake and I get back after they're asleep. Thats the job. My wife is an actress and she understands the demands. I hope my son does. He's three. It's rough, in the same sense that all people need attention, not just children. And when you haven't got the time to give them the attention they deserve, you are shorting your family. Incidentally, my wife and I don't let Christoper watch The Incredible Hulk right now, for a very specific reason. I am his father and if he looks at the screen and sees me go through the transformation into the Hulk, I have no idea how he might interpret it psychologically. I cannot allow him to see his father go through that transformation until he is old enough to distinguish between entertainment and reality. Soon he'll be moving into his peer group and they'll be talking about the Hulk, but by then I'll have him prepared . I bring him into work with me every now and then and let him see what goes on, so that he knows I'm an actor and he knows that I go to work. The next thing will be for him to see me go through make-up for the transforamtion-- see how it is applied and see how we shoot the scene. Hopefully I'll be able to educate him as to what the role of the Hulk is, that its only fantasy and not his father freaking out.

MARVEL:Speaking of the transformation, how is it filmed?

BIXBY:It is done in a series of stages, obviously once I get into the appliance work. First the contact lenses go in, and I go before the camera. Then they add a forehead peice and change the color of my skin; it takes about an hour and a half in the makeup chair for that. After I've been filmed that way, they peel everything off, and start from scratch again. The third sequence of the transformation is where my hair is turning green and the color of my skin is getting even more green. That whole affair takes another two hours to put together. Finally Lou takes over as the Hulk. His make up takes two and a half hours a day to put on, and when its all over he must get into a shower and scrub it off his entire body. Most people don't think about that, but it's rough.

MARVEL:How do you and Lou work together?

BIXBY:Fine--when we see each other (laughter). You have to remember, when he's working, I'm not, and when I'm working, he's not. But we get along just fine, the man has certainly earned his credentials. We never compare notes however because it is better for me as an actor to not know what Lou has done. Remember the character that I portray does not know what the Hulk has done.  If I were to watch him then I would know what Lou has done, and I would probably relate to it. And the whole trick for me is to not relate to what he did. But rather to look at the surroundings and make an assumption about what I've done. Thats better for me, and as an actor, just as Lou doesn't watch what I do.

MARVEL:We heard you lost 18 pounds last week while on location.

BIXBY:I have always been a hard worker. No question about it, show business is my mistress! I was scheduled to direct three episodes of The Incredible Hulk, myself, but I had to turn down the first two, simply because of exhaustion. We've already lost a third of our crew because of sickness or sheer exhaustion. Thats the kind of effort it takes to make The Incredible Hulk. Doing an hour long action and adventure series is the hardest form of television on everybody. It's so much easier to do a hald hour comedy, where you rehearse for four days, and you sit down in front of 4 cameras and you do it. You have normal working hours, you get home on time for dinner, your family knows where you are. But working on an hour action show demands all of your time. We are constantly on the road with all of our location shooting. We're like gypsies, we have no place to settle down. We don't even have a sound stage of our own! It's like The Fugitive I'm on the road all the time, and this will continue through next season, because we've got a lot of places we want to go. We want the Hulk to move around.

MARVEL:Do you have any closing comments?

BIXBY:Yes. It's awesome to find out how many people not only love the Hulk, but are really curious to know more about him. And I am speaking mostly about adults, now, because the Hulk was created sixteen years ago, when many of them were kids. Now, they have kids of their own, who are watching our show along with them. The Hulk is not a joke to these people, and none of those who I've spoke to on the street have ever critisized me for it. They immediately discuss the subject matter, the theme, and that is a compliment to Marvel Comics. And it should be. Marvel created a character in an art form in a way which was extremely platable to the adult mind. It is an honor and a privilege to be part of an original idea that is already an American classic---and was before I ever became involved with it. When I see the way people are reacting to the subject, my belief in the original idea has paid off more than I can ever tell you. People come up to me and they say that they love the Hulk, and they're not condescending about the show or the character. I'm involved with a character that the people want to see, and thats the perfect marriage---the perfect merger---for one hour of the viewers television time every week. It's a way of making love.