LA Press: Five Questions with Anthony Edwards

LA Press: Five Questions with Anthony Edwards

Five Questions with Anthony Edwards: Live, from the `ER'
By LYNN ELBER

LOS ANGELES (AP) - So, Anthony Edwards, just whose bright idea was it to do the season's first episode of ``ER'' live?

``We're doing it live?'' Edwards replies. Some kidder. He and his co-stars on television's top-rated program will be performing without a net in front of tens of millions of viewers come Thursday, Sept. 25.

Edwards isn't complaining. He and George Clooney proposed the idea as a way to keep the series fresh and challenging in its fourth season. Both, Edwards says, also got a kick of hosting stints on ``Saturday Night Live.''

The ``ER'' storyline has a documentary film crew observing the emergency room doctors and nurses in action, with the audience seeing events through the crew's hand-held cameras.

Airing live in the eastern and central time zones, the NBC series will be seen on tape in mountain and western zones.

Life has been tough of late for Edwards' character, the gentle and sweet Dr. Mark Greene, who's faced a divorce, dating disasters and a brutal assault in the hospital.

In real life, Edwards, a married father of two, has the right to be upbeat. An actor since age 12, he's moved between theater, film (``Top Gun,'' ``Mr. North'') and TV series and movies (``Northern Exposure,'' ``In Cold Blood'').

He managed to squeeze in one of the small, independent films he favors during his summer break, shooting ``Us Begins with You'' in London. And he's clearly not trying to coast through the medical drama - or let any of his colleagues.

1) What's likely to be the biggest challenge in the live broadcast?

Edwards: We're going to have so many cameras going, and with every camera comes three people. You've got a lot of extra bodies in a kind of tight area. We're used to working out the ballet with one cameraman in our group of actors; now we're going to add more people and more hurdles to get over. We're taking what is probably a pas de deux and making it into a full `Swan Lake.'

2) Stage fright could mean forgotten lines. Will cue cards be used?

Edwards: There won't be cue cards. Every actor is going to be responsible for showing up and knowing their words. Everybody's going to have a lot of homework for (rehearsal) week, really learning their part for this 60-minute whirlwind we're going to go through. And I'm sure it's going to fly by. When we were doing `Saturday Night Live,' it was over and it was, `Wow, that was quick.' Your adrenaline is so high and pumping.

3) After much heartache, will Dr. Greene get a break this year?

Edwards: Where `ER' does that well is there are ups and downs and they're always different than what you expect them to be. Like in life, which is why I think you can relate to these characters. It doesn't tie up in a neat bow and it doesn't kill you. Life somehow exists between those two areas.

4) How could ``ER'' top going live?

Edwards: I guess you could do it without any script. Just improvise, not tell us what traumas people are coming in with. That would be our last episode.

5) When the live broadcast is over, how will the cast and crew celebrate?

Edwards: The way it's shaping up it seems to be almost a sporting event. There will be a press room and a Super Bowl `What do you think the big game's going to be like?' session and a briefing afterward. We'll be able to see the show when it comes on in California, be able to unwind and take a look at it. Which should be fun - or we'll all be crying in our trailers.

Copyright 1996 Associated Press.