Oh, how nice is this man? Read what he said to Ology mag below!
Playing a highly revered role is a mountainous task in any respect, but the stars of Once Upon A Timetake control of classic Disney tales and make modern day magic. Here, Raphael Sbarge talks withTerron R. Moore about the enchantments of playing Jiminy Cricket.
OLOGY: Do you think there’s a risk in telling a new story with some pretty highly respected storybook characters? Is there a fear in that?
RAPHAEL SBARGE: I think anyone, at least initially, would be a little nervous. From an acting point of view, I can tell you that when I began to research about Jiminy Cricket, [I realized] they’re big shoes to step into. So I certainly felt the pressure of, holy smokes, how do you actually take that on in a way and give honor to both character and origin and do it justice and make it smart enough so that it doesn’t seem like this hackneyed version of something that was done better once ago. That said, I think we’ve been able to do something that is very fresh and inspired.
Nearly everyone in your cast is responsible for playing a fabled Disney character. What was it up like, stepping up that plate and handling the entire story of Jiminy Cricket?
It was daunting. We all felt a little bit of the same unspoken pressure of the mantle of a Disney icon and hoping not to fall on our faces in doing so. But what I can say is I feel really supported by the writing. I read the script of Jiminy Cricket and it actually made me cry. I’ve got no shame in saying so. It’s a very sad story of this character kind of evolved into the conscience. It is or was both ultimately daunting and incredibly exciting to be walking into such a cleverly designed story.
You play both Archie, Henry’s therapist, and Jiminy Cricket in two different timelines. As we go on, do they cross, do they intertwine?
You know, some of that I’m not allowed to say, obviously because I’m not allowed to leak the episodes I’ve been in. But what I can tell you is that they are continuing to set up the cast of characters, and what I can tell you, and this is my opinion and my opinion alone, because I don’t have any evidence to say that this is the case: You know, the way they work, they don’t tell you what to expect. We get the script and people run and can’t wait to find out what happens next. Everyone runs to read it and we find out what the next big turn or twist is going to be. But, that said, my opinion is that clearly what they’re doing is setting up a sort of battle line for what is going to be Operation: Cobra. That is, this clearly obvious battle, a grand battle between good and evil. Archie and Henry, his client and sort of his dad, I guess, are clearly part of this core who are going to try and take this on.
What else are you watching this TV season?
Well, I’m probably one of those actors, like other actors I’m sure, that doesn’t watch as much TV as I should. But I do still love Mad Men, Homeland was obviously a really interesting and catching show on an amazing network. Very excited about Luck, which is the new HBO show. I mean I would fancy that… it seems like people’s interest in reality television is starting to wane, praise God.
I would agree with that.
Yeah, yeah, and I’m so happy about that. I mean we’ve been hoping for a change for a long time. And well, obviously reality is here to stay, it’s not going to go away. But it won’t dominate the dialect quite so much.
