Maggie Egan Chat at TNT on March 29, 2000


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moderated by Sandra Bruckner & T.E.D. Andrick

Maggie Egan: Hi there.
moderator_tnt1: Folks! get ready to welcome Maggie Egan, and start sending your questions in.
moderator_tnt1: Maggie Egan is best known to Babylon 5 fans as the ISN Anchor, bringing us news from EarthDome. She is more than just an actress, she is also a singer and a Mom.

moderator_tnt1: ...And so it begins...


gilada1 asks: How did you get your role on Babylon 5?
Maggie Egan: Christian Slater's mother, Mary Jo Slater, called me in for an audition. It turns out that I had worked for the director Jim Johnston before on a commercial. And so I got hired.


jbonetati asks: Welcome, Maggie. What's your favorite B5 memory?
Maggie Egan: Hi Sue
Maggie Egan: The first time I was on the set with Bruce I reminded him that I had been in a movie of the week with him before that. It was a murder-mystery movie. He played a detective and I played a hooker. And I told him that they had me in so much make-up that I made achoice as an actor that I was actually a transvestite hooker.


jbonetati asks: Tell us about your singing. Any albums we should look for?
Maggie Egan: I have a CD name "Out of this World".
Maggie Egan: It is a collection of jazz standards all with celestial titles.
Maggie Egan: And my character, Jane, (no last name said with an Italian accent), does a news flash introducing each sone.
Maggie Egan: song.
Maggie Egan: It's a whole new genre I created called Sci-Fi Swing Music.


captainjack_06716 asks: How is the next CD coming along?
Maggie Egan: I'm still formulating an idea for the next one. Right now my efforts are in getting this one distributed.
Maggie Egan: Warner Bros. are you paying attention? Hint, hint.
Maggie Egan: You can currently listen to samples of my CD via http://www.newbeacon.com/ or http://www.mp3.com/
Maggie Egan: under Maggie Egan.


dude_on_the_moon asks: what was the hardest thing to do in babylon 5?
Maggie Egan: Go home when it was over. I loved it so much that I hated to leave when it was done. And the other hard thing was, I would usually get the calls at 6am.
Maggie Egan: They would shoot my scenes early most of the time and then they would go on with the rest of the scenes for the day.


benny_hanna asks: What is your acting background?
Maggie Egan: I started performing in my parent's backyard when I was a kid. It was a little like Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, you know where they say, hey my Dad has a barn, let's put on a show.
Maggie Egan: Well my parents not only had a barn, they had an abandoned chicken coop. It was the perfect playhouse.
Maggie Egan: We would invite neighbors over and we'd put on plays.
Maggie Egan: One of my first performances was doing our rendition of Romeo and Juliet. I played Juliet, my sister Tracey -- a news anchor -- in Albany, NY (yes, I just play her on TV)
Maggie Egan: played Romeo. We were a big hit. I stayed involved in theatre all through elementary school, junior high, high school and college.
Maggie Egan: I moved to Houston, Texas from upstate NY where I grew up and started a professional acting career there.


sueharke asks: How do you like doing conventions?
Maggie Egan: The answer is that I really love doing them. I really enjoy meeting people. I love traveling. I love getting a chance to spend time with some of my actor pals.
Maggie Egan: The only downside is that it takes time away from my family. But I love that it gives me an opportunity to shake hands with the fans and I love the chance to sing for them.


Chris_in_VA_98 asks: Are you a sci-fi fan?
Maggie Egan: I never thought I was but when I took a look back at all the TV shows and movies I love to watch over the years, I realize that I am.
Maggie Egan: I love the original Star Trek, never miss an episode. I loved Twilight Zone. I was really inspired by CLose Encounters of the Third Kind and the Star Wars movies.
Maggie Egan: So when I took a look at all the shows I really loved, I realized I am a sci-fi fan.


monkey_max_wax asks: Is this the first time you've worked in Sci fi
Maggie Egan: No, if you consider Quantum Leap, Alien Nation (TV show) and a movie about UFOs called Communion with Christopher Walken -- if you consider those sci-fi shows, then no B5 is not my first.
Maggie Egan: And hopefully not my last!!!!
Maggie Egan: In fact, I have been cast in an upcoming movie called "Psy-Ops" where I play a high-ranking government official who assigns special agents to dangerous missions.
Maggie Egan: I'll announce when the movie will begin shooting on my website so please keep tuning in to http://www.isnanchor.com/
Maggie Egan: This reminds me to let you all know that I have a free on-line fan club. You can contact me via my website or e-mail me at maggie@isnanchor.com.


taoism19 asks: what was it like the first time in the studio with all those freaky costume around you
Maggie Egan: The freakiest costumes around me at the ISN News Desk were the crew's jeans and t-shirts. So it wasn't too freaky!
Maggie Egan: But occasionally I would be there when other scenes were preparing to shoot and it was like jumping into another world.


benny_hanna asks: Do you think that science fiction tv is a good forum for acting?
Maggie Egan: Yes. I do. Because the TV sci-fi shows really offer in-depth looks at the characters. I think you really see them evolve and change. And have relationships and fall out of relationships.
Maggie Egan: So it's the same acting tools you need for any genre.


Kodachromian asks: What sort of lead time was there from the time you first arrived at the studio, were fitted for your costume and then finally finished your last scene?
Maggie Egan: To start with, you have a wardrobe fitting a couple of days prior to your actual shoot date. But a typical shoot date for me. I would arrive on the set around 6 in the morning,
Maggie Egan: get to have a yummy breakfast off the roach-coach, get into hair and make-up, put on wardrobe and probably be called to the set by 8.
Maggie Egan: Depending on how many news reports or scenes I had to do, I would generally be out of there by 9.
Maggie Egan: This made them very happy -- not meaning that they were happy to see me go, but they were happy that I could get the words out and allow them to get onto the next scene.


samally_14tc asks: Do you have a role model to look up to?
Maggie Egan: As I mentioned, my sister Tracy Egan is a news anchor. So I certainly learned from watching her and Katie Couric, Jane Pauley, Ann Curry, Diane Sawyer. These are the ones I can think of.
Maggie Egan: I think of them as the best. I think they deliver the news with a sense of compassion about the reports they are giving.
Maggie Egan: I always get turned off when I see news anchors talking one moment about a horrible tragedy and then switch to a big broad smile in the next second. It's disconcerting.
Maggie Egan: It's as if they really didn't hear what they just reported or as if it just doesn't matter.
Maggie Egan: And I think the women I mentioned have never fallen into that trap.


sueharke asks: Do you have any romantic roles coming up in the future?
Maggie Egan: No, but I did just audition for a movie starring Mel Gibson and I do get to flirt with his character.
Maggie Egan: The scene was about being a secretary in an office. Mel Gibson is a boss.


captainjack_06716 asks: Have you done any commercial work since Crusade?
Maggie Egan: Yes, quite a few. Please watch for these commercials. You all can be my watchdogs and e-mail me when you see my spots running, because we have no real way of knowing how often our commercials are aired.
Maggie Egan: Unless people like you say, hey I saw your commercial last night. It's important to make note of the date, the time, the channel (as in what network) and TV show.
Maggie Egan: Watch for a Delta commercial, where I am standing around the baggage claim carousel with a bunch of other people.
Maggie Egan: Also I'm in a CBSMARKETWATCH.COM. It's a funny one about a stock that deals in hair growth products. And I pass through the scene saying "Clinical testing? Through the roof."
Maggie Egan: Also a comedy spot for hagglezone.com where I'm standing in line with a grocery store watching a women haggle over the price of groceries.
Maggie Egan: I'm also in a Gateway commercial. It's a cast of hundreds, but I look like an out-of-towner standing there with my family, looking stunned at all the commotion going on down in Venice Beach, CA.


jrgreenmd asks: It seems actors in scifi, b5, have more scifi jobs after, often together. Is this just a spurious thing I percieve by watching too much scifi?
Maggie Egan: It wouldn't surprise me if you see sci-fi actors work together more than once. For example, I worked on the movie Communion and so did Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then I worked on Alien Nation and sitting next to me in the make-up chair was Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then I went to work on Babylon 5 and I looked over the cast list and who do I see but Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Then when I worked on a movie called Executive Decision starring Kurt Russell and Stephen Siegel, who should be there playing the bad guy, but Andreas Katsulas.
Maggie Egan: Also after Babylon 5 and before Crusade, David Eagle, a B5 director who had hired me twice, brought me in to play, guess what??? a news reporter on the TV show, Sliders.
Maggie Egan: It was supposed tobe a tabloid world where everything that appears in tabloids was supposed to be the "REALLY important news.
Maggie Egan: So my job was to ask the President of the United States really important questions like "Mr. President. Is it true. Do you sleep in the nude?" While matters of war go unnoticed.
Maggie Egan: And who should play the president but, no Andreas, but Eric Pierpoint who I worked with on Alien Nation.
Maggie Egan: So we do bump into each other quite often.
Maggie Egan: And I love that you watch too much sci-fi.


eggie428 asks: How can we get your new CD, Maggie?
Maggie Egan: You can write to me -- Maggie Egan, PMB 105, 1014 South Westlake Blvd., Suite 14, Westlake Village, CA 91361 and send $15 plus $4 shipping and handling.
Maggie Egan: Or your can order it through my website http://www.isnanchor.com/
Maggie Egan: Or download it off off http://www.newbeacon.com/
Maggie Egan: Or see me at a convention and I'll sell you directly. Check my website for my convention dates.
Maggie Egan: I thank all of you for tuning in and for this incredible on-going support you show to me and to the cast of Babylon 5 and Crusade.
Maggie Egan: What sets doing sci-fi apart from any other style of acting is that we get the benefit of having the greatest, most supportive fans in the world. And I thank you for that.
Maggie Egan: Hope to see you at a convention real soon.
Maggie Egan: Good night.
moderator_tnt1: Thanks, Maggie Egan!
moderator_tnt1: Folks, thanks for participating tonight, and for all the great questions.
moderator_tnt1: For a transcript, check tnt.turner.com/babylon5


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