Letting Them Talk with Will Harris - Ep. 08 - Billy Campbell (Star Trek: The Next Generation / Rocketeer / Tales of the City / Cardinal)

This time, I'm letting Billy Campbell talk.

Billy is someone whose career arc has taken him from Dynasty to Dracula to Star Trek: The Next Generation, if not necessarily in that order. He’s starred in a plethora of period pieces that have found him in the midst of the Civil War, Los Angeles in the late 1930s, and Chicago in the early 1960s.

But, of course, it’s important to keep in mind that Billy basically hasn’t stopped working since kicking off his acting career in the ‘80s, and when you’re working more or less constantly, it puts you in a position where you find yourself working in all sorts of projects and with all sorts of people. For instance, once again, we have another guest who once worked with former podcast guest Paget Brewster, who referred to Billy as “dreamy,” to which he replied, “She’s pretty dreamy herself." 

Of course, we talk about that project - a TV movie called Max Q - during the course of our conversation, and we hit on a pretty huge collection of other works from his back catalog, including the aforementioned projects, plus the ones I casually referenced by their location and era, like Crime Story, The Rocketeer, and the one-two punch of Gettysburg and Gods and Generals. Probably my favorite story is his remembrances of working on the various Tales of the City miniseries, although when I later asked him to tell me his definitive “Hollywood” story, he told me one that went in a direction that was different from the way most people answer the question, and that’s even knowing the reputation of the actor who features in the story. Suffice it to say that the reputation in question is definitively cemented by story's end. 

Even though he’s originally from Virginia, he now lives in Norway, although he maintains a residence in Canada as well, thanks to working there on such projects as The Killing and Cardinal. But, of course, he still works in the US pretty regularly, including on an upcoming film called A Better Place, which he filmed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and he’ll be back in Gettysburg next year for a special event that will provide him with the opportunity that’ll give him the chance to do another performance as - you guessed it - Abraham Lincoln. 

Oh, and did I mention that I made him cry? I just wanted to talk about how awesome Alan Arkin is, I swear! 

Anyway, that’s probably enough to secure your listenership for the remainder of the proceedings. It's time to let Billy Campbell talk.