Standard disclaimers apply-these
all are excerpts from David Orth's interview with X-Pose magazine. I made up the "questions" that were answered.
Ned Malone, the war correspondent turned reporter, was
not always a brave man, but a few years after the war, he volunteered for Challenger's expedition to the Amazon. He hoped
to impress the woman he loved and come back with a great story, but ended up in something even more amazing than he had dreamed.
Ned's alter ego, David Orth, is a native of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He made his acting debut in an eighth grade musical,
and though while in college he studied other things, he ultimately went back to acting. He got his break with a part in a
Canadian police TV series called Night Heat, then went on with several made-for-TV movies and guest roles
in such programs as The Hitchhiker, Friday the 13th, Robocop, and Traders. He wasn't in
the TLW pilot, but boy are we glad he made it into the series!
How did you get started in acting?
I was an eighth-grader when I made my acting debut in a school
musical. I had a ball and it[acting] seemed to come naturally to me.
How did you hear of The Lost World?
I read for the part and then went home and forgot all about
it, which is what you have to do with most auditions. I had always thought that in order to get a role on a series you had
to go through at least eight auditions, take a blood test and know your grandmother's maiden name.. :) [With TLW]
I auditioned just once, and I must have done something right that day because I got the job. Talk about a lucky break.
Do you have any thought on working as an ensemble?
It's different[than a guest spot]...because then the weight
rests on you. You're the one they're aiming the cameras at and are worried about making look good. So it was overwhelming
and pretty mind-blowing at first, but at the same time exciting. As an actor, you're just aching for a regular gig to develop
your craft as well as put some money in the bank, which can be a rare thing for most of us in this profession.
How was Ned in the beginning as compared to now?
For the first two seasons of The Lost World,
Ned Malone was the guy who got hit on the head a lot and was always making statements without coming to any conclusions. [Now]
Malone has gone from being a guy who never made conclusions to someone who's finally starting to evaluate situations. He's
become 'deeper'...Malone has grown and matured. He's more aware than ever of his capabilities as well as his weaknesses and
is learning to live with them.
What is Ned's relationship to the others?
Initially, the writers were toying with the idea of a romance
between Malone and Veronica. However, that's turned into more of a friendship with just a hint of sexual tension, which I
like. With Challenger and Malone it's very much a father/son relationship. Both men are fairly analytical, but where my character
is more emotional and tries to get to the heart of things, Challenger is first and foremost interested in the facts. Malone
thinks of Roxton as a big brother and deep down longs to be more like him insofar as being a man of action. This season, we've
seen a greater level of respect between them and they're on more of an equal footing in their relationship.
Marguerite is a mystery in almost every sense of the
word and Malone never knows quite how to take her. Their relationship was fairly volatile during the first year-and-a-half
because he didn't understand that she acted out of a sense of self-preservation as opposed to maliciousness. They've since
become friends and Malone is actually learning a lot from her. Marguerite is cagey and she thinks ahead, which is something
Malone should try to do as well. [laughs] As for Summerlee, he was a friend and kindly grandfather figure to my character
as well as a real shoulder to lean on.
Do you have a funny moment to relate?
I remember this one scene when Jennifer and Michael were
having this wonderful conversation on the patio of the treehouse, and Will, Rachel and I were standing in the background.
It was five o'clock on Friday afternoon and we were all tired and silly. We were desperately trying not to ruin the scene,
but if you look closely at the three of us you'll see we have tears running down our faces because we're laughing so hard
for some utterly foolish reason.
So why did Ned go?
Now, there are rules set up by the acting unions in every
country, and in Australia they have on that states you're only allowed to use one foreign actor for 22 episodes of a TV show
per season. Jennifer is American, so she did 15, and I did seven.
Would you come back?
Absolutely. After such a fulfilling third season, I'd hate
to leave the character in 'limbo.' I'd love to come back and see if I could round out Malone a bit more.
A final thought for us, please?
About acting, I say, 'Maybe there's some sort of creative
urge in me that's far more important to satisfy than simple sustenance and owning a house with a white picket fence.
Thanks so much for the interview, David, and for Steven
Eramo, who reported it in X-Pose.
