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Nick Wechsler - Roswell's joker - Kyle Valenti

Sheriff�s boy
  Can you tell us a bit about your character?

Well, the little that I know.

He�s the son of the sheriff, now ex sheriff. His grandfather, my dad�s dad was also a sheriff. [He was] laughed at and mocked until he went crazy because of the whole UFO alien thing, and everybody was afraid the same thing was going to happen to my dad.

He�s gotten into trouble doing things to help the kids. It�s got to have some effect on Kyle - actually that�s why I�m in this outfit [blue overalls]. This is his wardrobe for a while, because he�s had to take on a job to pay the bills because his dad is without a job. It�s affected him a lot.

I can do better than that.
  Tell us how you got started in the business?

I hate when I have to tell this story because I feel like a contrived anus but the truth is I went and saw a play in high school, and I didn�t think anybody was very good.

I still feel this same way - people in general but actors [especially], if you just think you�re great and you start taking bows for something that wasn�t even that great to begin with then it gets me mad. It�s never about how much you deserve it.

You know, like the standing ovation is totally meaningless now. There was a time when that meant something, [but now people] do this really mediocre or crappy to mediocre job and afterwards they�re like "Yes, thank you thank you".

I find that so obnoxious and I felt "I�m not even an actor and I can do that, I could do so much better." It came from wanting to prove to them how arrogant it was of them to think they were something special, when even though I�m nothing I can do that. I can do that, that�s easy, I can do better than that and I�m not even that good.

So that�s how I got started and then when I did it, it was really fun. I mean I always liked to sit around and make my friends laugh anyway. It�s not that I love being centre of attention or anything, it was just fun to act.

Audition nightmare
  Tell us about the audition.

It was a lot of going over and over it. You�d get the fax material, the sides they call them, and you just study it over and over and over and then go on the audition.

Every time I thought "There�s no way I�ll get it," so after, I would actually get angry because I felt "I�m not going to get this, why do they keep wasting my time? Why do they keep calling me back because I�m not going to get it."

But they keep calling me back and the closer I got the more convinced I was that I wouldn�t get it, because I felt "There�s no way it�s going to be me. What are the odds? I�ve never gotten a job like this."

I don�t know. I think I slept with Jason, to be honest.

Second chances
  What�s the best thing about being on Roswell?

I don�t feel really satisfied a lot with whatever I�ve done.

I feel I�m not ready to do [movies], even though I would like to, obviously, most actors would. I don�t feel like I�m ready for it.

I feel lucky to be doing TV right now because I get another chance every day. If I don�t like what I did I go, "Damn, well just go back tomorrow and you have a few more days left to finish this episode, just work harder to not blow it for the next few days."

I like that I get so many chances. If I don�t like what I�m doing at the beginning of the season I have to the end of the season to get my crap together.

Honestly, I have a good time, and I wouldn�t know what to do if I weren�t here. I mean I�d hang out with friends and stuff but I would spend all my money eventually. It�s good that I�m making money and hanging out with people who are very nice.

I like Bill Sadler who is amazing. It�s a great treat to work with him.

Learning from dad
  How do you feel you�ve learnt from William Sadler, who plays Valenti?

I like to watch him and I feel lucky [to work with him].

Seriously, the first time I met him I was like "I just want to tell you that [The] Shawshank [Redemption] is one of my favourite movies." He said "It�s one of mine too."

He�s this guy I�ve seen work before, and he does very good work and he somehow seems so much more professional than us. He always has his stuff together, it�s really impressive.

Best moments
  Can you tell us a little about your favourite episodes?

The things that were my favourite things to do were not necessarily the best episodes. They were something that really felt good at the time. Honestly, sometimes I watch [what I�ve done] and end up going "Okay it didn�t work as well as it felt it did."

I was particularly fond of, keeping in mind this is the way if felt to do it at the time, a scene with Shiri (Appleby - Liz) in bed. We were trying to piss Max off, and it worked. We were just laying there - actually I liked it before they cut it, because they had to cut all my stuff out.

Then there�s another thing, which actually they cut also, from the Christmas episode. It was the first time I�d felt I did an okay job. I almost did what I had in mind. Usually I aim for something and I fall short and get disappointed, but that time I felt "There are a few little things where I did almost what I aimed to do." [It felt] pretty darn good.

Hanging out
  In your spare time what do you get up to?

I haven�t hung out with the others outside of work a whole lot. Bill I�ve seen more than any.

It's not for any reason in particular, it just hasn�t happened.

I think I�ve hung out with each of them at some point or another individually, but it�s so infrequent that I wouldn�t really say "I hang out with them."

I go to movies and concerts and stuff - that�s why I think all my money would be gone if I weren�t working because I just keep spending it, on that, and CDs, and I don�t know.

A different side of Kyle
  Do you have any ideas about what should happen to Kyle?

I don�t know. I just let them write it.

There were a couple of things that I did come up with on my own, but then they approached me with some ideas and on that list was my idea, even though I hadn�t mentioned it to anyone. I thought "That�s cool" and so I responded pretty well to it because it was something I�d already thought of.

I said "Well, I don�t know if it�s even the best idea of the bunch, maybe some of your other ideas are better but that one stands out to me because I�d already thought of it." I think they�re going to go with it.

Just because it�s my own weakness - I have a lot of tricks that I fall back on, and I get disappointed in myself for doing that - so I would like to avoid situations where I�m told "Do it that way that Kyle always does it". [It might be] that�s something I did accidentally and I was never happy with.

I want to do it better, and so if I seem a little different this season, that�s good. But I�m afraid they�re going to say "You�re doing it different."

Good and bad fans
  What�s the fan reaction to you like?

It�s been pretty immense, not for me, just overall.

The [fans have] all been really cool. I�ve had little funny things happen. Some kid sent me a [letter saying] "I want to say hello, and thanks and keep up the good workm" and then included in the envelope was this booklet about god. I appreciate it, kid but I�ll never read it.

I�ve gotten a few frightening ones actually, which is not fun. I think those people are threatening to ruin it for everyone. Personally, I don�t go and seek contact with fans, but if they happen to find me somewhere I�ll say hello and speak to them for a while. But [those guys] are threatening to make it [so I have to be] a recluse so I don�t have to worry about feeling threatened.