Nelson Machin, Hallmark ChannelBruce Boxleitner
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Married to former Screen Actors Guild president Melissa Gilbert and author of the science fiction novel "Frontier Earth," actor Bruce Boxleitner was an established leading man on the small screen before moving into the next phase of his career: father of the leading man. He can be seen 9 p.m. Saturday in the Hallmark Channel's ode to romance, "Falling in Love With the Girl Next Door."
Q. How do you feel about going from romantic leading man to romantic lead's father?
Yeah, there you go. Well, I guess that's life -- the progression of life. I enjoyed it. This was more of a comical spin, and the cast was a total joy -- Shelley Long, Patrick Duffy and Patty Duke -- that was the experience. Between the four of us there was about 100-some years of experience [laughs]. To answer your question, I'm relieved playing the dad now. I don't need to get the girl anymore. Patrick and I lived our characters. We played the old dads, who just wanted to go to the country club to drink beer and play golf, and that's exactly what Patrick and I did. We shot at the Catalina Country Club in Avalon [Catalina Island, Calif.], and so we got carte blanche there.
Q. In your off-screen life as the father and stepfather of so many boys, do you feel connected to what's going on in their lives?
Yes, I do absolutely. I am very proud of my sons. I mean that's why I can segue into this movie. It felt very natural. My oldest son is turning 26, but fact and fiction were blended [in the movie], and I felt very able to play the father on screen. My boys range from 26 to 10. My stepson is 16. I keep saying to myself I don't think I want to be their age. I'm concerned because they want to be in show business, and I know how tough it is. It isn't any easier being in it a long time or just starting. There are challenges at every age.
Q. Are you content with your career?
I've been in a lot of living rooms for a lot of years. You know, hey, if that [superstardom] would have come, that would have been fine. That would have been that. But to tell you the truth, this kid from Illinois, this was my initial dream. When I used to sit and watch TV I would say I want to do that, and I've done it. I mean I can't complain at all, Patricia, I have a wonderful career. Yeah, you say I wish I was a lot bigger or something like that because better roles would come, but you know what? I've had some fantastic roles. When I was a young actor, first starting out here, yes it was blind ambition almost. You know? You have to have that to establish yourself, to compete, to get there. That kind of life, also the big stardom thing, does not appeal to me whatsoever. I had a taste of that when I was younger. I like a life where you can still go to the shopping center. Celebrity is so ephemeral and so not what it's all about to me.
Q. It's been more about the journey for you?
You know, it has. It's the journey. And that's what I think I've learned about my life. It's not that end result; it's the journey getting there. You make the most out of it.
Q. How did you and Melissa Gilbert meet?
Melissa, oh God, 13 years ago or more. We both had gone through first marriages. Melissa more recently than me. I had been single for some time. We were introduced through my ex-wife [Kathryn Holcomb]. [Laughs.] All she said was, "You ought to call Melissa." My ex-wife knew her, and I kept picturing this pigtailed, bucktoothed little girl (from her probably best-remembered role as a child actor in TV's "Little House on the Prairie"), and I'm going, "Why? What?" I had been going through some, uh, questionable relationships -- all the wrong women, I always say. We started dating, and it was a rocky road. But here we are, we've been married 11 years and still going strong.
Q. Why do so many Hollywood marriages end up on the rocks?
Well, I'm sure Melissa would be the first to say it was rocky to begin with, because we had both been there, and she had been through a couple of high-profile things with Rob Lowe and all that when she was younger. All that glare of publicity.
Q. So, the glare makes the difference?
Oh, tremendously so. I think it's very hard to live in that fishbowl. Today, I think we have professional celebrities. It's not about talent anymore, I mean to a degree. I mean, come on -- Paris Hilton? What? Because you've got a name and we care? I'm old school. You've got to achieve something. You've got to have moved people and made something as a actor to deserve that kind of celebrity. Some marriages can't handle it. I mean lately these breakups. Nick Lachey and what's her name [Jessica Simpson]? Oh I lie awake nights and worry for those people [laughing]. I wished you'd been out on the set with Patrick and me.
Q. Are you still writing science fiction?
No, you know, the muse has kind of left me in that. But I want to again. I will. I've just got to find a story I want to tell. I've always been into the science fiction genre and Westerns. That's why I combined the two in "Frontier Earth."
Q. That's how L. Ron Hubbard started.
[Laughing] Exactly! But I don't intend to start a religion with this. Maybe you'd better talk to Tom Cruise. But life is good. There are those people who say, "Oh my God, you get old," but I think you've got to have fun with it.
First Published: January 30, 2006, 5:00 a.m.
