Billy Campbell on the NBC disaster miniseries 'Meteor'
Posted by Lorrie Lynch Whether you’re a longtime fan of Billy Campbell’s from his big-screen star debut as The Rocketeer in 1991, or are more familiar with his stint on the family drama Once and Again, you’ll be happy to see Campbell back on TV in NBC’s two-part event miniseries Meteor, which premieres this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET and concludes next Sunday. A fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, Campbell — who just turned 50 on Tuesday — stars as an L.A. cop trying to track down a psychopath who’s threatening his family, although a bigger problem comes down the pipeline in the form of a giant asteroid screaming toward Earth. Check out a sneak preview below of the miniseries also starring Christopher Lloyd, Marla Sokoloff, Ernie Hudson and Stacy Keach, and click read more for our Brian Truitt’s Q&A earlier today with Campbell.
Photo by Eric McCandless
It doesn’t seem like you’ve done anything this action-packed in a while.
Not that I recall, no. It was a great deal of fun. It’s nonstop action, and I can’t remember the last thing that had that much action in it. It’s aways great fun. It’s play-acting. It’s been great fun since I was a baby.
What kind of roles do you look for these days? Do you look for big, epic things such as Meteor?
What I really for is good writing. In lieu of good writing, an interesting location or interesting people to work with. In lieu of that, money. In lieu of that, the simple fact of employment. There’s a whole host of priorities, and you can usually tick off one or two from a job.
Looking over your career, what works are you proudest of?
I don’t often use the word “proud” but I was pleased with quite a few things. I’m pretty much pleased with every job that I ever do because I have a good time with my work. Of the things that I was really really happy with the way they turned out, Rocketeer and Once and Again may be top of the heap.
I watched Rocketeer when I was a teenager, but kids are still being introduced to it now.
Rocketeer was awesome. It has a timeless quality. It makes sense to people in any era in a way, and I loved it for that reason. I was only 30 at the time, but I’d always loved period movies and was loving the notion of doing one.
I read that you’re a rugby lover. Do you still play a lot?
I do. I shouldn’t but I do. I’m too old. What I do most is trail running, but I do play some rugby and go to the gym.
Through the years, were you allowed to play rugby while working on projects?
No, I just did it anyway. [Laughs] I remember I was doing a TV series for Michael Mann, Crime Story, in the mid-‘80s, and at the time I was playing for the Chicago Lions because we were shooting in Chicago. We had had trials the night of the premiere of the pilot, and I came running down from Lincoln Park just muddy, bloody and sweaty. I ran up to the production office, I thought no one would be there and I was going to watch it on the TV. Sure enough, Michael Mann was sitting behind his desk. It surprised the hell out of me. He said, “What the hell have you been doing?” I couldn’t think quickly enough to make up a lie, and I told him I’d been playing rugby. He just said, “Oh. OK.” That was it, and as far as I was concerned, I had permission after that.
Comments (4)
if it was so stupid, Why did u keep watching it???? was it oh I don't know......stupidity?
I'm positive I am stupider for having watched this piece of crap movie. Did a 15-year-old who flunked basic science and psychology write this piece of crap? And what on earth does the entire "hospital" sideplot have to do with ANYTHING????
I can't even begin to figure out where to start with the horrible science of the movie? Only 24 hours before impact do they realize a planetoid is going to smack into the earth??? That is within the orbit of the moon for god's sake!!!!! And no one knows about the second piece?
Just how fast was this comet going that crashed into the asteroid that it could propel it from the main asteroid belt to the earth in only a couple of days?? What the H E double-hockey-sticks is going on here?????
Are there no phones in Mexico? Can someone please explain why astronomers have to DRIVE somewhere to deliver this apocalyptic news?? And no one believes them?
And in only one day, the entire human population is reduced to a feral, murderous lot, pillaging and raping the small portion of humanity that hasn't devolved into cavemen????
My GOD, this wasn't even funny-bad. It was so gut-wrenchingly horrible, that I was embarrassed for the actors involved in such a calamity.
I can't wait for Storm next week.
This is, by far, the worst made for TV (or otherwise) movie I have ever seen!! And, it is an insult by NBC to waste 4 hours of my obviously pathetic life in watching this tripe.
The worst acting, dialog, writing and directing I have ever witnessed!
Even though I am so bored that I would torture myself by tuning in to part 2 last night, I expect a complete apology from NBC. That is, unless I am completely confused.... Could this movie have possibly been a 'comedy' as my son described it? Is it possible that I should have howled, rolling on the floor in laughter?
C'mon NBC WTF?? Should we expect the same from future programming?
In all seriousness, not since Lee Majors in "Starflight One" has such a dismally stupid movie been made.
I thinl you are all a bunch of idiots. Why not make a movie that is a drama based on an actual potential occurence of a meteor strike rather than a melodrama. If Ozzue and Harriet and Jack Klugman were still alive, and if Lynda Day George was still alive, they would surely have been costars.
All the silly sideplots have been seen so many times before. I was going to write more, but I just realized how stupid it has been of me to even submit a complaint of lousy programming. WHy don't you hire decision makers who have a rudimentary understanding of reality including a modicum of respect for those of us making viewing choices?
I must admit, I will watch part 2; I have not seen anything so ridiculously funny since Lee Majors safely steered a 747 behind a space shuttle so that it would not be burned up while reentering the atmosphere.
It reminds me of the time I passed a police car going 300mph in my chevy pickup 20 illegal aliens holding on for dear life.