Q: You’re dark on “Alias”…
MICHAEL: You know, the thing about “Alias” that makes me laugh, is they told me last year, “you’re character’s going to be a lot darker this year.” And I went, “oh good, great.” But basically to them my character being darker is, a scene happens and there’s a little director’s note at the bottom that says, “Vaughn stares off with a brooding stare.” That’s not being darker. I want to have a complete psychological melt down and be an alcoholic or a drug addict or kill someone and go to jail…something that would be a very hard thing to experience rather than just, is my father alive or is he dead?
Q: Why don’t they write darker material?
MICHAEL: I think they have their hands tied, J.J. (Abrams) has a lot of say, and though the writers are the creative element behind the show, I think the network listens very much to the board, the website boards, what people say and what people want. And that’s the downside to network TV, you can’t say “f**k,” you can’t say things that are too dark or too out there, for now.