Sean Maher Interview - Cast&Crew

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January 21 2010

Sean Maher Interview. Sean talks about becoming an actor and his early career, the Firefly experience, and auditioning for Dollhouse.

misnomer | Cast&Crew | 01:52 CET | 25 comments total | tags: dollhouse, serenity, firefly, sean maher

Interesting. I didn't know that he'd auditioned for victor. He would have made a great doll.

mortimer | January 21, 02:07 CET

So I thought "hm, he would have made a good doll, too bad he didn't get the part." Then I read it was Victor, and I was glad he didn't. Then I thought about replacing anybody else on Dollhouse, and well, my first thought should have really been "too bad they didn't make a role just for him".

CaptainB | January 21, 02:10 CET

There don't seem to be a lot of interviews with Sean out there, so this was most welcome. Good questions, thoughtful answers.

And apparently the guy can sing. Wonder if this puts him on the radar for the next Dr. H?

Tin Ear Tom | January 21, 02:43 CET

Yes, what a weird little trivia fact. I wonder if it ever gets awkward turning down people you previously worked with to hire someone else? It's cool that Sean was good about it.

I'm so glad we have Enver now. But seeing Sean as "Golf" or "Beta" would have been neat as well. But not as Victor. Must maintain Victopher. ;)

I was thinking the same thing, Tin Ear Tom. :)

korkster | January 21, 02:51 CET

Testing against Enver could not have been easy. I mean, I like Sean, but Enver is The Perfect Active. Would love to hear Sean's singing though. Dr. Horrible 2..?

jcs | January 21, 02:53 CET

This is a pretty great interview actually; thanks for sharing it! I haven't read quite as many with Sean Maher. Lots of Firefly shinyness. :)

CellarDoor | January 21, 02:59 CET

Terrific, in-depth, informative interview.

Pointy | January 21, 03:04 CET

Into the Woods and Waiting for Guffman: the man clearly has excellent taste.

ManEnoughToAdmitIt | January 21, 05:21 CET

I always wanted Sean to play a Doll! It's a shame he didn't get A part, but it's good we got to see Enver. I'm shocked Joss didn't get him a role somewhere within the Dollverse. Hmm.

Fred_Sonja | January 21, 06:49 CET

Maybe Joss and Sean can hook up on FX :)

UnderTheDark | January 21, 06:58 CET

^ That's a great idea.

So what's new with Epic Lunch Watch?

kazzmere | January 21, 07:03 CET

Oh man, I love Sean, but Enver is so incredible on Dollhouse, I can't imagine anyone else playing Victor.

Green Queen | January 21, 13:49 CET

I wonder whether, knowing that they would occasionally download a known personality into a doll (such as Topher in Victor), they asked for that type of mimicry during casting.

baxter | January 21, 13:55 CET

What a great interview, insightful questions and interesting, thoughtful answers. I watch both the shows he's guesting on so avoided the spoilers (separate sections are definitely the way to go - are you listening internets ?) but it'll be good to see Sean onscreen again.

(not sure about its legs, the tone's still settling down and it seems fairly episodic but 'Human Target' has been pretty watchable so far I reckon, Tricia Helfer was great in the pilot)

Saje | January 21, 14:50 CET

That must've been an interesting audition, though, Enver and Sean up against each other. I can imagine being somewhat nervous, going up against a guy who knows the creator you're auditioning for quite well and did great work on - quite possibly - his favorite show.

Then again, it's probably also difficult to be the well-known, guy, as I can imagine Joss and co. wanting to limit the number of well-known faces to a minimum. Still, would've loved to see Sean pop up on Dollhouse in some other role. Haven't seen enough of him since Firefly.

GVH | January 21, 17:39 CET

Awww, now with the thought that maybe he could show up as another Doll makes me even sadder that Dollhouse was cancelled. =/

And he can sing!!!
Here's hoping any of the Whedons read this thread and hear our pleas: Please cast Sean in Dr. Horrible 2!!! =)

maxsummers | January 21, 20:44 CET

That must've been an interesting audition, though, Enver and Sean up against each other.

I picture it as exactly like Superman III where Clark fights Evil Supes. Except neither of them are evil. And it's not in a scrapyard. OK, maybe not exactly. Or like.

Saje | January 22, 00:10 CET

I haven't seen Human Target nor have I caught up on The Mentalist, but I'm glad to know there'll be more chances to see him.
I think Enver is a great addition to the w-verse so I'm happy he was cast but I would've like to have seen Sean pop up somewhere. maybe as a doll of the DC dollhouse?

[ edited by okelay on 2010-01-22 01:20 ]

okelay | January 22, 01:20 CET

Sean played sleazy really well on one of the few episodes of CSI: Miami that I've caught (the year was 2003, Firefly had just been canned around the end of 2002, and Firefly actors were guesting all over the place--I was obsessed, I watched all guest appearances. Luckily didn't have to go far for Gina Torres and Nathan Fillion's big recurring guest spots). I'd think of him as a doll first, but could easily see him as one of the slimier clients too.

Sean Maher interviews are rare, but he gives some of the best.

Wanna hear him sing.

Still haven't seen Brian's Song (the original, or Sean's). Nor Living 'Til The End. More incentive to check out Human Target eventually (as if Mark Valley/Keen Eddie wasn't enough).

Kris | January 22, 01:33 CET

Ooh, have Sean be a doll that Summer's character (forget her name atm) uses like Adelle used Victor. Only instead of as a lover, she uses him as an endearing and doting brother. :)

LOUiE | January 22, 02:03 CET

KEEN EDDIE ! That's where I know that guy from. Didn't want to "cheat" and check IMDB. Luckily I can just copy Kris's work ;).

(and Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley - not a bad cast at all)

Saje | January 22, 08:08 CET

I would like to see Sean play the lead in an adaptation of Rex Mundi.

Simon | January 22, 08:27 CET

Yes, Chi McBride is also good. I forgot "Rorshach" was in it too.

I'm not sure if Saje is poking at me for always consulting the IMDB and saying so on here, or the more obvious interpretation of making an analogy to schoolwork. Either way, I remembered Mark Valley and IMDB is our friend almost all the time.

Kris | January 22, 09:17 CET

Oh no, not having a go in any way Kris, well remembered. What I meant was, I know I can just look it up on IMDB but sometimes it's more fun for me (I should probably get out more ;) to try and remember cos other connections pop up on the journey. He was familiar to me but I was letting Mark Valley simmer on my mental back-burner to see if it just came to me.

(the "copy your work" thing was indeed a school reference though - if you give me the answer then i'm not going to deliberately not look at it, that'd just be daft ;)

Saje | January 22, 11:33 CET

Cool. :) I wasn't in danger of feeling offended, was just fishing for clarification over a harmless comment.

Kris | January 22, 22:17 CET

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