This is a chat from 2001 with Gregory Harrison
How did you like portraying Michael Sharpe?
I gotta tell you, Michael Sharpe was a real weird experience for me. I had just finished up Trapper John [a few] years before, so I was used to playing a good guy
He was a very nice guy I think! And then Michael Sharpe!
id you enjoy your time with the Fc cast?
Yes and no. There were a lot of problems because of Jane's health, and she was unhappy with the show, and things just weren't very positive backstage
But my relationships with the people were great.
And David [Selby] and I have run into each other on the theatre circuit
What did you personally think of the kind of relationship Michael had with his sister.?
I knew that was coming! Wendy and I never really understood it, to be honest, so I just tried to play it the way it was written
We had a team of writers that season that I understand were kinda new, and we never saw them, so there wasn't [much of a] chance to get explanations
Here we all feel the new writers didn't understand Falcon Crest
That must have been difficult...
Most fans tend to react negatively to those last few seasons,
.Because of the writer change. It was very strange!
Did you watch the show before you started playing Michael Sharpe
Believe me, we felt it. I can remember the oodles of fan mail that was just utterly crucifying us for what was happening, but what people didn't understand was that we were just there doing our jobs. We're actors, we're paid to perform the scripts we get.
I had watched it on occasion, but I wouldn't say I was a regular viewer. I watched about the last 10 episodes of the season before I started so I'd be familiar with characters and things
Was it hard to jump into a show that was so established, and where you were portraying the new 'bad guy' besides?
It was hard because there was such a feeling of negativity going on backstage, and here I was jumping into this boat and the show's heroine dies in the same episode.
The fan reaction to the show was the hardest
I can imagine - that was quite a tumultous time!
And especially when Susan Sullivan left. I never got much chance to work with Susan, but I understood real quick that the audience loved her
Okay. I only seem to catch you in 'baddie' roles. Do you prefer playing good or bad?
Bad is more fun artistically, I guess. Playing good all the time is boring. I was so glad when Trapper John went off the air
I was getting a little tired of playing Goody Gonzo.
But, to be honest, too much of one or the other is boring. I prefer, as an actor, to play roles that are a little meatier, that have some depth and substance
When did you get the rôle of Michael Sharpe? Did they hire you during the show was on hiatus after season 8? And who came up with the idea of your character?
And I'm working with Columbia Television on a new pilot for a courtroom drama we're hoping to shop to the networks
That sounds interesting. Will the pilot be airing this year in the U.S.?
Harrison I was hired before the season ended. When Warner Bros approached me, they told me they wanted a ruthless playboy with a heart of stone. I think that's what I gave them. The show with Columbia is still in pre-production. We haven't actually filmed the pilot yet.
How did you personally feel about Michael Sharpe? And how much of you did you put into his character?
Harrison If I just met Michael Sharpe, I certainly wouldn't want to have a beer with him, so I guess you could say I didn't much like him.
And I'd like to think that whatever I used from myself for the character is a part of me that is well hidden from the worldHow did you like the work with the FC-saff?
Like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed all of the cast. The people were great, but it was such a tough time because of all the backstage turmoil
When Lauren married Richard, do you believe Michael and Richard kissed and made up? Or would the hostilty still continue if there had been a season 10
Kissed and made up? No way. The way they wrote them, I couldn't see them being buddy buddy if there had been another season.
So the writers were trying to write some closure for Michael and Richard, I think
t was really a pleasure to have met you
- thank you It's been my pleasure.
