Between 11th-20th February 2005 I asked fans to submit a question to be put forward to Gil for him to answer. So a very big thank you to all those who took part and also a very big thank you to Gil for kindly agreeing to this interview.

The Interview: Questions as asked by the fans

: Regarding Buck : Regarding Conventions :

Q. Why did you choose to quit a safe job for the quite risky movie business?
Olivier Coulon. France.
A. The basic answer is that I wasn't happy or fulfilled by the job I had and I wanted my life to mean something to me, so I searched my life experience and realized that acting and performing were activities that I enjoyed all aspects of. At that point the decision was easy.

Q. If you had to do it all over again would you pursue acting again or would you have kept the promising business job. And how would you like your fans to remember you?
Eileen Finnegan. New Jersey, USA.
A. I wouldn't trade the experiences I've had over the past 36 years for anything.

The best way to answer your question is to relate something that occurred when I was approached by a fan who told me that he just wanted to thank me for providing him and his family with great entertainment. He went on to say that whenever he saw my name attached to a project he knew that it would be something that the entire family would be able to watch and enjoy.

This touched me very deeply.

Q.Are you involved in writing, either personally or commercially?
Tom Paris. Australia.
A. Yes, both.

Q. Do you follow Football, Baseball etc?
Terry Anderson. Pennsylvania, USA.
A. I follow football (Go Steelers!!!), basketball, tennis, soccer (Man United. I know I'm going to hear from some English fans...do I hear a cheer for Arsenal?) and Golf.

Q. Which type of acting do you prefer to do; Television, Movies, or Theater?
Raol Kloss. Nevada USA.
A. The kind that pays the rent.

Q. What Sci-Fi series of the last five years do you enjoy?
Dave Taylor. Wolverhampton England.
A. I really don't watch any Sci-Fi Series.

Q. Gil, are you currently working on any acting projects and if so what are they or are there any in the works?
Melody. Illinois, USA.
A. Not presently. I'm taking a bit of a vacation for a while, after which I'll begin pursuing gigs again.

Q. What is your favorite episode of Buck Rogers?
John, Mary Jo and Nicholas Tenuto. Illinois, USA.
A. The Movie and the episode entitled "The Satyr".

Q. Did you have any part in the creative process of your role? How the character should be developing, story lines, etc., and if so, how did you prepare for a role such as this?
Stephen DeCesare. RI, USA.
A. I worked very hard to see that the series stayed true to the sense of humor and character of "Buck" as portrayed in the motion picture.

I made the character as much of myself as I could.

Q. Gil, with all the new fan dangled special effects we have today, have you thought about getting involved with or directing a new Buck Rogers series, just like they have done already with Battlestar Galactica?
Tom Stagg. UK.
A. No.

Q. If Universal Studios makes a remake of Buck Rogers, with the character of Hawk added in the Second Season, would you want to help produce or direct it as you may have ideas on the character developments of Buck Rogers, Wilma Deering, Hawk, etc?
Teresa Spanics. Canada.
A. I haven't given this any thought and I doubt that Universal would have anything to do with a remake since they no longer own the rights.

Q. When all was said and done in promoting the changes in the second season of Buck Rogers (which I did like, btw), Hawk was underutilized, Wilma was a downsized version and Buck's background was totally abandoned (except in the next to last episode)....what would you have liked to have seen happen in the third season?
Sue Kite. Tennessee, USA.
A. From the beginning, I would like to have seen "Buck" stay on Earth and try to find something he could relate to from his own time. In this way he would have been our surrogate in another time and place.

Q. If you were to produce a new Buck Rogers movie/TV series, which actor would you choose to be the new Buck?
Shirley Bate. Coseley, England.
A. I honestly haven't given it a thought.

Q. Whenever there's a Draconian presence detected or some threat to Earth, the Directorate suddenly became very serious. So to break up the concern, what can you remember was the funniest moment when filming?
Andy.
A. There were so many it's hard to pin down just one.

Q. In retrospect, would you have liked to have portrayed Buck's reaction to the fact that he was so 'misplaced in time' more seriously with more references to his past, or are you happy with how 'Buck' handled the situation?
Rebecca Evans. Wolverhampton, England.
A. As I touched upon in another answer to a similar question, I would have liked for "Buck" to remain on Earth and to travel the Earth in search of himself. By that I mean, he would be driven to find something that he could put his hands on that would be familiar to him from his own time.

Of course, in the process of this "Journey of Self Discovery" he would have all kinds of adventures with the various inhabitants of the Earth remaining from the time of the "Holocaust".

Q. I'm wondering if you are doing any conventions this year and if Canada is one of the countries?
Monika Borner. Canada.
A. The only remaining cons I'll be appearing at will be one in the Netherlands and one in London.

If you, the fans would like to see me at a particular Con. I would suggest that you e-mail the web site of the con and specifically request my presence. This has proven to be a great help in the past.

I would like to return to Canada, however, at present, I'm not scheduled to appear there.

Q. Mr. Gerard, you have been taking part in conventions all over the world. Which one was the most memorable to you and why?
Marc Stille. Germany.
A. Fed-Con in Bonn was quite impressive and memorable. However I must say that most of the Cons are memorable in that I am constantly amazed by the enthusiasm of the fans and their continuing interest in things "Buck".

An Interview with Gil and Erin by Dennis Pellegrom took place September 23rd 2005 in Netherlands (while they were there attending Screen Heroes Convention). Thanks Dennis and well done for getting an interview!