Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501310105
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: IAN SPELLING
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Having played leading and supporting roles in more than 40 movies - including ``Silverado'' (1985), ``Backfire'' (1987) and ``The Lawnmower Man'' (1992) - the 37-year-old New York native considered himself a film actor.
Then something changed his mind: He was offered a TV role that was hard to refuse.
On Tuesday, Fahey's first prime-time TV series, ``The Marshal,'' will debut on ABC (at 10 p.m. on WSET-Channel 13). He plays the title character, a witty, cocky and respected deputy U.S. marshal named Winston MacBride. Each week MacBride will travel to a different location to track down fugitives from the law.
``It was a very big decision [to do ``The Marshal''],'' Fahey said during a telephone interview from his manager's office in Los Angeles.
``I had no desire to do a series. I work all the time in film and I've gotten to go in every possible direction in the films I've done. So I was worried about getting locked into something that wouldn't allow me that latitude.''
His fears were allayed after he met with executive producers Don Johnson (of ``Miami Vice'' fame), Dan Pyne, Aaron Lipstadt and John Mankiewicz, who assured him that he would be able to help develop the character.
Fahey was also drawn to the show's mix of drama, action and comedy and the high quality of its scripts.
``And it's not as if I'm leaving film,'' he says, ``because I can do both the show and films during breaks from the show.''
In the pilot for ``Marshal'' (which will air Tuesday with the series assuming its regular Saturday-evening time slot Feb. 4), MacBride attempts to bring to justice a 1970s radical who is running from a murder charge.
One of the things that makes the series interesting is the diversity of its plots, Fahey says.
``One show will deal with the Russian Mafia in Little Odessa, Brooklyn. There's another show where MacBride has to become as illogical as the character he's chasing.
``The whole attitude is that he has to become the prey, that he's more of a thinker than a shooter.
``We're trying to show the realism, the dirt of it, if you will, without making the audience feel they're getting dirty.''
To help flesh out the MacBride character, Fahey has met with real U.S. marshals to learn about the job and to study their personalities and work styles. During breaks on the ``Marshal'' set, he can often be found on the telephone, collecting additional information from his role models.
He is looking forward to a planned trip to Washington, D.C., where he will accompany several marshals to a congressional dinner.
``Marshals are a real group of cowboys, very different from the guys at the other [law-enforcement] agencies,'' Fahey says. ``I don't want to say they're all cocky, but, certainly, the guys I've met all have a sense of humor that allows them to survive in the trenches.
``It's not an easy job.''
Born in Olean, N.Y., and reared in Buffalo, Fahey ``hit the road'' at 17 and spent a number of years traveling the world, even working at a kibbutz in Israel for a while.
When he returned to New York, he began working as a dancer, then decided to try acting, which he hoped would provide him with the same sort of freedom and adventure he'd experienced while exploring different cultures.
Following some stage and soap-opera work in New York, Fahey made his film debut in Lawrence Kasdan's ensemble western, ``Silverado.'' He counts among his other film credits ``Psycho III'' (1986), ``Body Parts'' (1991) and the cable movie ``The Sketch Artist'' (1992).
Fahey says he looks at every project he's been involved with as a learning experience.
``Some that come to mind, which I've learned more from than others, are `White Hunter, Black Heart,' which I did with Clint [Eastwood],'' he says, referring to the critically acclaimed but little-seen 1990 dramatization of the making of ``The African Queen.''
``I did a live teleplay called `The Execution of Raymond Graham,' and the cast of that included Morgan Freeman, Kate Reid and Laurie Metcalf. I think about that one all the time.
``The two films I did with Larry Kasdan and Kevin [Costner], `Silverado' and `Wyatt Earp,' were very important to me. The ones I remember most were not necessarily great commercial successes.
``The only commercial success I've been in at this point was `Lawnmower Man,' which I had a wonderful time on, mostly because of the freedom that [director] Brett Leonard let me have to create the character.
``One could say, `You've made the wrong choices on this film or that film,' or `That was a great film; too bad it didn't work out commercially,''' he explains. ``But that's for other people to discuss.
``Everything I've done I did for a specific reason, and I couldn't be happier. I'm a working actor who's always working, so what more could I ask for?''
Ian Spelling is a New York-based free-lance writer.
by CNB