Is Joshua Jackson the next George Clooney?

That's the burning question around these here parts. We raise it yet again because of what Debbie Chang had to say upon meeting Josh:

"Oh yeah, I did talk to Joshua Jackson as well. You know, even though, I am ostensibly a professional writer, I couldn't shake my fangirl-ness around him. He looks a lot taller and less round-cheeked in person." -- Debbie Chang, BuddyTV

For some reason we can't quite put our finger on, Debbie's description of Josh really piques our interest. There's just something curious about it. Something telling? Like she's trying to communicate something more. Maybe even something like: Joshua Jackson IS the next George Clooney?

Sci Fi Wire on the Set of Fringe with Joshua Jackson

Sci Fi Wire on the set of Fringe interviews Joshua Jackson who gets a bit spoilerish with his answers.

Click here to read the edited, spoiler-free version of the article.

Fringe's Jackson Spills All

When we last saw Joshua Jackson on regular series television, he was resigned to staying in Capeside forever, even though Joey decided to choose him over Dawson.

That was more than five years ago, in the finale to the sixth season of Jackson's breakthrough series, Dawson's Creek.

But hold on to your rowboat: Pacey's back.

"I think he's finally going to leave the Creek after this season," said J.J. Abrams. "Really, all I love to do is make Pacey jokes."

Jackson is a regular on Abrams' upcoming Fox SF series Fringe, and he tells SCI FI Wire that it took Abrams to lure him back to the grind of an hourlong drama.

"It was something I have been hesitant about for the last five years, since Dawson's Creek ended," Jackson said in an exclusive interview on the show's set in New York on Aug. 26. "And, you know, the time commitment and the being-in-one-place of it all is a massive life shift, and I had a really great five years of not being on TV. But I don't know, the stars sort of aligned for this, and J.J.'s a great guy."

Jackson added: "Beyond the lifestyle choices of working on a television show, the thing that had kept me from doing TV was knowing how hard it is to tell good shows, good stories, over a long period of time. And he ... and his group--he works with the same people over and over again--have a track record of being able to do that. And that was the thing that sort of tipped it to the other side for me."

Jackson spoke during a break in shooting on Fringe, in which he plays Peter Bishop, the smart but damaged son of brilliant but eccentric scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble). Peter finds himself reunited with his estranged father at the urging of FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) as they investigate strange cases on the "fringe of science": cases that hint at a nefarious conspiracy underlying strange phenomena across the globe.

Below is an excerpt of SCI FI Wire's interview in which he discusses his character--and why he made a trip to the emergency room.

Tell me about your character, Peter.

Jackson: Yeah, well, ... Peter is just sort of discovering he's part of this world right now. Because when he's initially brought in, in the pilot, it's completely against his will, and he's only brought in because Olivia needs him to serve a function and get access to my father. But then, like anybody who's got a bit of curiosity, he sees this wild world and the access that he has through being a part of this world, and it sort of draws him in.

The character sort of functions in a couple of different ways, in addition to the father-son dynamic. On the one hand, you're sort of the voice of skepticism, on the other hand you're sort of interpreting what Walter's saying. And then you're like the Greek chorus that gets to make jokes.

Jackson: A little bit, yeah. ... I think the Greek chorus, the peanut gallery and the skeptic part come together. Because the person who stands one step removed is usually the one who is most capable of pooh-poohing. But just as an archetype, every show like this--every show, period--needs to have somebody who sort of stands at a remove and says, "Doesn't anybody else think this is ridiculous?" And Olivia is a sort of very straight ahead, trying to fix things. She's just a very hard-nosed, go, go, go type of girl. So that's great. I get that character who gets to sort of release the tension every once in a while.

Co-creator Roberto Orci said that, for him, the show is about the family you choose.

Jackson: The family you choose, and then-- ... I don't believe in fate--but people whose paths you're fated to cross. ... There's obviously [a] broken dynamic between me and my father. But then you throw this Olivia character into the mix here, and we become this sort of dysfunctional family unit by necessity. But you throw people in high-pressure situations like this, and they just sort of naturally come together and bond. ... If you take it off the television and put it in real life, that's how you get to know people, seeing them in action.

Tell me about some of the crazier stuff you've had to do so far.

[spoilers removed]

Can you talk about working with Anna and John?

Jackson: Yeah, she is terrific. J.J. has this, I don't know, like, uncanny knack for casting women. It's crazy. And ... they're two Aussies, but they're both sort of dedicated, lovely people, which is why I say the drama all stays on camera. There is so far--and I don't see why it would change--this feeling of "Well, we're all here, and we're in it, and we're doing it together, and we take our jobs just seriously enough that everybody shows up ready to work, but not so seriously that it's, you know, the end of the world if something goes wrong."

[spoiler removed]

John told me he actually gets to milk the cow.

Jackson: He did milk the cow. I enjoyed the fruits of his labors. I did not actually milk the cow myself.

Anything else about Fringe?

Jackson: Fringe, it's the hardest show on TV to talk about.

...or read the full, unedited article at Fringe Spoilers.

Nylon: Fringe Fashion With Jackson and Torv

Pop culture and fashion magazine Nylon featured an article on Fringe's Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv.

* Thanks to Jo at JoshuaJackson.org for the scan!

Click here to read full article

JOSHUA JACKSON AND ANNA TORV
FRINGE, FOX
NEW SHOW
Fringe is a triple-whammy: a show that is certain to catch the attention of Lost lovers, Dawson Creek devotees, and X-Files fanatics alike. Created by J.J. Abrams, the producer behind Lost and Alias, Fringe is a sci-fi drama starring Joshua Jackson (best known, of course as Pacey on Dawson's Creek) and Australian actress Anna Torv. The show gives equal weight to the eerie , paranormal experiences that beset each episode, and the muddled relationships between the trio of main characters - an institutionalized scientist, his son (Jackson), and the female FBI agent dispatched to look after them (Torv).

For Jackson, at least, it's the former of this combination that has him excited about the project. "Dawson's Creek was much more of a soap opera and less up my alley," Jackson says, "because growing up, I didn't watch 90210, I watched The X-Files. To be working on something in that genre is really cool,"

Fringe is Torv's introduction to America audiences, though she is a familiar face on Australian projects. Like Jackson, she is excited about the show's foray into the unknown. "Most of the work I've done, in TV particularly, was about romance and like,. sittiing down and having lots of coffees with people and talking about stuff," she says. "But this is action-packed: I get to run and I get to fire a gun." KW
PHOTOGRAPHED BY THOM LOHR
stylist: elle werhn. hair: seiji at the wall group. makeup: hung vanngo at the wall group. shot at eve nyc studio, new york. from left: blazer, shirt, and pants by gucci. shoes by converse, jacket by converse by john varvato, shirt by ralph lauren collection, shoes by olivia morris, earrings and ring by stephen webster silver collection.

AP Interview: John Noble, Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv

J.J. Abrams on the 'Fringe' with new show

The Associated Press interviewed John Noble, Joshua Jackson, and Anna Torv about their Fringe characters.

* Thanks to SpoilerTV

NYPost Video: Red Carpet Interviews From The Fringe Premiere Party in Manhattan

The New York Post's Jackie Strause talks to Fringe's cast and creators including Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and JJ Abrams.

Fringe Promotional Photos: Episode 1.01 - Pilot

Fox released these "episodic photos" from the Pilot episode of FRINGE, which premiers Tuesday, Sept. 9 (8:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

* Thanks to SpoilerTV. Photo credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/FOX

Total Sci-Fi: Joshua Jackson Interview

Total Sci Fi has an interview with Joshua Jackson, in which he discussed the extreme security involved in TV and movies nowadays:

I have never dealt with so much security. My script has my name printed on it, they have to change the letters inside the script to serialize them so they know who leaked it in case it gets out. I also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for when I get my script every week.
...
For the X-Files movie, I went to meet [producer/director/writer] Chris Carter and asked if I could read the script. He said, “There is only one script and it is in a vault in my desk in my office. There are no pages to read.” I’m like “Okaaaay…”

Click here to read the full interview

Joshua Jackson: Beyond the Fringe

From ice-hockey-playing child star to Dawson’s Creek pin-up, Joshua Jackson has walked the streets of Hollywood in a back-to-front fashion. From movies to TV and theatre, and then back to movies, in recent years he has managed to avoid the mainstream hysteria courted by other actors of his age and caliber. But that could all be about to change. The 30-year-old Canadian is embarking on a TV series journey that could be the making of him, all over again. As the star of J.J. Abrams’ new pilot show, Fringe, he should be preparing for a media circus. Bryan Cairns caught up with him to find out how he got involved…

These days, most of your credits are for feature films. What attracted you to the TV series Fringe?

Very simply, the appeal is good work with good people. The script is excellent and the character is Indiana Jones-ish. The whole piece is slightly darker than that but the character is adventuresome and smart. Usually on TV, you can be the smart guy but you have to wear glasses and sit in the car or you can be the adventuresome guy and look like Superman and be a lunkhead. This is a nice change.

You can’t really get any better than J.J. Abrams as a producer on television or film. Alias was pretty damn good, Lost is excellent, and Felicity was good as well. He’s definitely made his mark on television. That is the difficulty of television, maintaining quality and being able to keep cranking these things out. That is the thing that has held me back over the last few years from working in television, is knowing the amount of work that goes into it and how difficult it is to keep something good, fresh and interesting for the audience.

Had you auditioned for a J.J. Abrams project before?

I had auditioned for Star Trek, which I think was sort of my audition for the series. Nobody will say that but I think that is the truth. As much as I am enjoying working for J.J. and Bad Robot right now, he is like a hunted man. Everything that he does or writes down, people are trying to get on the internet. I have never dealt with so much security. My script has my name printed on it, they have to change the letters inside the script to serialize them so they know who leaked it in case it gets out. I also had to sign a non-disclosure agreement for when I get my script every week.

Lost has certainly struggled to keep that top secret element as well.

In a perfect world, hopefully Fringe is that good and obviously that is a high water mark with the Bad Robot people. J.J. promotes from within his own company and the guys at Lost are brilliant. Everything they’ve done with that show is brilliant and the hardcore fanbase is rapid and probably a little unhealthy [laughs]. That being the case, when you can get people that engaged in a show, it just allows you a certain freedom. Most of TV is pretty thin but Lost is incredibly detailed because they know people appreciate it.

Can you talk about how your character, Peter, gets sucked into this paranormal world on Fringe?

He is drawn in because of his father [a research scientist who’s in a mental institution, played by John Noble]. Fringe isn’t like The X-Files, which dealt with the paranormal. The basis for this show is hard science but taken to a sci-fi level. So at some point earlier in Peter’s father’s life, before he had been institutionalised, he had been conducting these far-out fringe science experiments. His experiments [are now of interest to the FBI] and they need access to him. I get drawn in to break him out of his shell.

J.J. always weaves these complicated and intriguing relationships. How does Peter get along with his team mates?

Well, you just hit the nail on the head. The relationships are very multi-faceted and complicated. Usually, on a TV show, you get the geek, the jock and the hot girl. On this show, each one of these characters is allowed to have many of those facets inside of themselves so the relationships are constantly changing depending on the situation…They’re unusually deep and rich for a TV show or a film actually.

So is Fringe the new X-Files or Lost?

Lost is a thing unto itself. I don’t know if there will ever be a TV show like that again. Even if Fringe has that success or level of engagement with the audience, this isn’t a mystery show. When it comes to Lost, people are obsessed with peeling away the layers and trying to get one step ahead. While there are mysteries inside our show and will certainly be ongoing elements, I don’t know if it replicates the intrigue Lost has.

If you remember at the beginning of X-Files, it was all about Mulder having to find his sister. That was the driving force and then there was all these strange paranormal things happening around them. This isn’t that show. Because it’s science based, taken to the level of science fiction, there will never be the werewolf episode, we will never have a Jigsaw Man unless there is a scientific explanation, which would be a bit of a stretch.

You read for the role of Batman that ultimately went to Christian Bale. Did you also meet the producers for the upcoming Justice League movie?

No, I wasn’t in Los Angeles and in the crazy world we live in with all the Harry Knowles [type journalism] the script could never leave the office. For the X-Files movie, I went to meet [producer/director/writer] Chris Carter and asked if I could read the script. He said, “There is only one script and it is in a vault in my desk in my office. There are no pages to read.” I’m like “Okaaaay…”

Fringe begins on 9 September 2008 on FOX.

New Fringe Promotional Photos

Fox released a large batch of promotional photos featuring the Fringe cast. There's this creepy ghostly image, some glyph/equation shots, the standard mugshots. In the Glyph photos, it's interesting to note that the women are all with the leaf glyph, and the men are all with the hand glyph - except for Joshua Jackson who is with the apple. One other thing about Jackson's photo - check out what's displayed on his screen. It's not the standard mathematical equations like in the other photos, but a screen shot of the '80s video game Tempest.

Fringe Report on Fox News Interview

FoxNews.com has a video about FRINGE, with interviews from J.J. Abrams, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson.

Fringe Publicity Photo Shoot Video

Here is video from a Fringe Publicity Shoot for Fox, with photographer George Holtz, Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, Blair Brown, Mark Valley, and Kirk Acevedo.

By the time you watch this video, Peter Bishop may already be dead ;)

Also, check out the FOX Fall preview commercial, with clips from all the new fall shows, including Fringe, which is described as "So Engaging" and "So Fearless".

Fringe Interviews: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson; John Noble,

Anna Torv talks about her character FBI agent Olivia Dunham on Fringe.


Joshua Jackson talks about his character Peter Bishop on FRINGE
"A really dumb, smart guy"


John Noble talks about his character Walter Bishop on FRINGE.

G4 Interview: Fringe at Comic-Con

G4's Attack of the Show interviewed J.J. Abrams, Joshua Jackson, and John Nobel about Fringe at Comic-Con.

Fringe Behind The Scenes Video and Photos

Entertainment Tonight has this exclusive behind-the-scenes video from the set of Fringe (thanks to WatchFringe for finding this).

INF Daily and Filming In Brooklyn have behind the scenes Fringe photos of Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv.