:: accueil général :: fanfic :: comics :: interviews :: vrac ::

:: ALIEN VOICES ::

From books to TV series, Laura J Burns and Melinda Metz talk about shaping the lives of the teens at Roswell High.

* * * * * * * *

IN 1947, Roswell, New Mexico, became famous around the world after reports that a UFO supposedly crashed in the desert on the outskirts of town. It was later stated that the US government removed all evidence of the ship and its alien occupants in a conspiracy designed to keep the public in the dark. Fact or fiction? Either way, visitors flocked to Roswell and its locals began a booming tourist trade that capitalized on the extraterrestrial visitation.

Over 50 years later, the town gained further notoriety as the setting for the Science Fiction TV series Roswell. It's the story of three teenagers, Max, his sister Isabel, and their friend Michael, who also happen to be aliens. Growing up, they managed to keep their origins a secret, even from the families who adopted them. However, one day Max uses his healing powers to save high school classmate Liz after she is shot. Love blossoms and adventure follows. The show is based on a series of books called Roswell High, which were created by Laura J Burns and written by Melinda Metz.

"At the time I was working for a book production company called Daniel Weiss Associates," recalls Burns. "This type of firm operates in very much the same way as a television production company. They come up with an idea for a series of books, including the characters, plot, etc. The company then hires the writers to write the books and then edits them. Next, they enter into a deal with a major publishing house that prints, distributes and advertises the books. So it ends up being very much a publishing partnership.

"Pocket Books approached Daniel Weiss with an idea for a series of books called Roswell High. They wanted something set in a high school, not too heavy on the Science Fiction, and felt that Roswell played an important part in the mix. To me Roswell, although I've never been there, evokes all sorts of images of campy alien paraphernalia, from alien lollipops to alien head balloons. I thought it would be fun to playoff that atmosphere with our high school kids and use the town more or less as a backdrop.

"I came up with the different characters for the Roswell High series and the basic relationships between them as well as how we wanted to plot out the first six books. I'd met Melinda Metz when the two of us were working at Parachute Publishing. She eventually left to become a full-time freelance writer so I was able to hire her to write the books."

In the first Roswell High book, The Outsider, Max Evans and Liz Ortecho become involved after an incident at the Crashdown Café during which Liz nearly dies. It doesn't take long for Liz and her best friends, Maria and Alex, to learn that Max, Isabel and Michael are from another planet. A bond of friendship and trust develops between the teens and their lives are changed forever. Believe it or not, Metz had only three weeks in which to write this story.

"It was a pretty tight schedule," she laughs. "You know what, though, I didn't care because I was just so psyched to get the job. I loved the concept of Roswell High and what Laura had come up with, so I was really thrilled about the prospect of writing the books."

Adds Burns. "The characters in The Outsider were so well-defined that the TV rights sold on the strength of Melinda's first manuscript alone. She did a great job of establishing just who these kids were and what their basic emotional cores would be."

Of the 10 Roswell High books she penned, Metz has a difficult time deciding on her favourite. "It's always hard for me to choose one book over another because I'm so attached to all of them," says the writer. "In many ways I'm especially fond of the first and last ones. The Outsider was interesting from a creative standpoint because I was making a number of decisions about each of the characters' backgrounds that would be carried over into future stories. As for The Salvation, I knew it was going to be the last one so I really wanted to deliver for the fans who'd been with us since the beginning.

"It was a challenge to come up with what would be the ultimate Liz and Max finale. Because they're such the hyperromantic couple their happy ending needed to be something extra-special. What do you do? What could possibly be that special? That's when I came up with the idea of having of their molecules fly apart and then come back together again because of their sheer love for each other. Everyone seemed to be pleased with this concept."

ALTHOUGH THE RIGHTS for the Roswell TV series had been sold early on, it took some time before the green light was given for production of the pilot. "We didn't want to get our hopes up that the show would actually get on the air because it's always such a gamble," notes Burns, "Melinda and I weren't involved in the TV side of things at all. We were still busy working on the books while this sort of alternate Roswell concept was being developed for TV. For us, it was just interesting to know all this was going on and we became more and more anxious as we waited for things to come to fruition."

Says Metz. "The initial publicity for the series was a bit surreal. For example, I'd see a bus pass by on the street and on the side of it there would be a sign advertising the show. It's not something you expect when you're writing mass-market stories for teenagers. Usually your book goes out on the shelves for a couple of months, there's some interest, hopefully a lot, and then things quiet down. This was something quite different but at the same time exciting to see."

Plans for the Roswell TV show began to solidify after Jason Katims had been chosen as creator and executive producer for the project. Burns and Metz were familiar with Katims' work from the series My So-Called Life and agreed he was the right person to bring their characters to life on the small screen. One of the first orders of business was casting the series.

"I remember seeing the actors' headshots before the Roswell pilot was even filmed," says Burns. "I was looking through them with one of the editors at Pocket Books and thinking, 'Wow, these are going to be our characters!' I could feel the sparks even then. I was especially pleased that William Sadler had been cast as Sheriff Valenti because he's such a talented actor. In the books, our Sheriff Valenti is quite the bad guy, which is how the producers portrayed him in first half of the show's first season. Bill Sadler can play bad, he can play good - he can play anything. So we were delighted to have him as part of the cast.

"Melinda and I both watched the pilot together right after the show had been picked up for a full season. We thought the chemistry between Jason Behr [Max] and Shiri Appleby [Liz] was just wonderful. Every time they looked at each other we couldn't imagine a better attraction between two characters. It was exactly what we'd always wanted for Max and Liz. The best part of all is that the characters have only gotten better as the show has gone on."

According to Metz, "the characters we saw on the screen were more or less like the ones in the books. However, the actors brought out other qualities in them that made you instantly fall in love with their versions. I was really impressed with how Jason Katims had adapted The Outsider for the pilot. He wrote some additional material, including a re-creation of the crash that left Max and the others stranded on Earth. You could see the expressions on the aliens' faces and knew how much this tragedy had affected them. I thought, 'What a terrific idea! Why didn't I think of that?' So I was extremely happy with and the tiniest bit jealous of how the pilot turned out."

MANY OF ROSWELL'S first season episodes are devoted to exploring the relationships between the show's main protagonists. There is also a great deal of focus on Sheriff Valenti's and the US government's efforts as they try to figure out exactly who Max, Isabel (Katherine Heigl) and Michael (Brendan Fehr) really are. The show's second season features more complicated story lines with plenty of Science Fiction elements. Unfortunately, this change in direction proved to be unpopular with many of its fans.

"Season Two had a lot of multi-episode story arcs that got a little bit too heavy for the show to really support," explains Burns. "Some of the stories also went overboard with the Science Fiction. As a result, you had to watch the show each and every week otherwise you'd be lost. Viewers, in particular casual ones who didn't tune in regularly, were finding it hard to come into a situation like that. This [third] season we've been trying to come up with more self-contained episodes within the larger story arc. This way if you miss a week you won't feel as if you're completely out of the loop, you know?"

At the start of Roswell's third season, Burns and Metz were finally hired as staff writers for the show. Both women embraced this new opportunity with open arms. "I really loved writing the books, but sitting in my apartment all day with just my dog for company could get to me sometimes," chuckles Metz. "As staff writers we usually plot out the general beats of each story as a group or in a few smaller groups. Whoever is writing that particular episode will then take what everyone has come up with and go off and write the outline of the script. So it's a collaborative process in that we're all involved in initially breaking the story."

The first script Burns and Metz wrote for this season was the New Year's Eve episode A Tale of Two Parties. "It's basically a story in which the characters can catch their breath and take stock of where they are and where they're going," says Burns. "Some of our teens have these small resolutions they want to make, while others are having minor crises thinking about what they want," she laughs. "So it should be an interesting episode in more ways than one."

While they could not discuss specific plot points, the writers could talk in general about what fans can look forward to as Roswell's third season continues to unfold. "At the moment, the writing staff is focused on finding a good story for Maria [Majandra Delfino]," says Burns. "Up to now, she's generally been involved in other peoples' lives in that she's Liz's best friend, Michael's girlfriend, etc. As a character, Maria has been very supportive of those around her, but now it's time for her to figure out what she wants for herself. Once we have a direction to go in it should be fairly easy to write the story because Majandra brings so much to her character.

"Sheriff Valenti is in an awkward position right now because he's lost his job. There's somewhat of a role reversal going on at the start of the season with him and his son Kyle [Nick Wechsler]. Valenti is trying to decide what he's going to do with his life and what he wants to be. So he's getting back into some of his earlier loves such as playing the guitar. Meanwhile, Kyle is trying to pay the bills by working after school as a mechanic. Bill Sadler and Nick Wechsler are so good together and they bring out several layers of sub text within their characters' storylines. It's a pleasure to write for them."

Adds Metz. "We're also going to be looking at Kyle's love life. Everyone else on the show is paired up, so we're starting to think about Kyle's single status and the adventures that lie ahead. Needless to say Laura and I along with all the other writers are having a lot of fun this season."

After two years on the WB Network, Roswell found a new home this season on UPN. Despite its loyal fan base, the series has had a difficult time in the ratings. UPN recently upped its initial order of 13 episodes to 19, which is still three episodes shy of a full season. Burns and Metz are hopeful that the show's refocusing on character development and relationships will help secure a future for it on UPN.

"We've always believed that the real heart of Roswell is the emotional connection between our characters," says Burns. "Again, they're aliens but they're also teenagers, and truth be told at one time or another we've all felt like an alien. It's just that Max and the others have a secret that they can't share with anyone except their close friends or lovers. This creates a strong bond between them which is what I feel appeals to viewers and makes them care about what happens to these people they're watching."

Metz concurs. "Even though these kids' lives are so strange and far more complicated that the average person, the emotions they feel are ones we can all relate to. Fans are going to see this more than ever this year and we think that'll keep them coming back."

:: retour à l'index des interviews ::