[Note: I left out the beginning, where Leeshock explains a little about the show and his character. For a more detailed explaination, see the December 1998 Starlog Interview.]

A New Beginning

   While Liam essentially takes Boone's place in the show's new format, he is far more than just a copycat substitute for Earth: Final Conflict's origional central character. Not only does his arrival alter the show's existing relationships between the character's and advance its epic story arc, but it also introduces a further layer of mystery to the series, as Liam's nature and motivation initially seem unclear.
   "Liam is on a self-identity quest," Leeshock explains. "He's trying to figure out who he is and where he fits in. He has these special powers, but where should he direct them? As he's two-thirds human and one third alien, it would seem that two-thirds of him are inclined to side with Humanity, while a third of him has compassion for the Taelons.
   "His loyalties are kind of torn to begin with, but you will see Liam leaning slightly more to one side as the season progresses. There's a definate arc to the character. At the beginning, he goes through this Angst-ridden quest of trying to figure out who he is. He then relizes that the time has come for him to stop trying to figure out how he got here. He realizes that he's just got to be the man and take the reins. It's then that he can take a larger, clearer role in the battle between the Resistance and the Taelons."
   The introduction of Major Liam Kincaid is, of course, only one of a number of changes devised by Earth: Final Conflict's producers in an effort to build upon the show's already strong ratings. Although some feel these changes seem radical, Leeshock feels that they represent a natural evolution of Gene Roddenberry's origional premise. The actor also believes that the season as a whole successfully builds upon the strengths of the show's first year.
   "I think this year is as cerebral as the first season, but it's complemented with a bit more action," he states. "There are some very interesting and very imaginative stories at the beginning of the season; there's a cross-dimensional episode [Dimensions], a kind of Time travel story [A Stitch in Time], and other things like that which are a bit out there. Viewers also get to see the Jaridians in varying forms, which is pretty exciting, and there's a new character [Maiya] played by Montse Viader, who gets to do some great stuff.
   "The show is really solid for the first eight or nine episodes; I thought they were wonderful. After that, it gets more action-oriented. Personally, I'm a little at odds with that, but it will be interesting to see how viewers respond to it."

New Horizons

   Like Earth: Final Conflict, Robert Leeshock['s] life and career have witnessed some dramatic changes in recent years. A native of New Jersey, Leeshock gained an Engineering degree from New York's Cornell University before deciding to pursue an acting career. Prior to joining the SF drama show's cast last May, he had built an eclectic resumé which encompassed roles in the likes of Beverly Hills, 90210, Loving and All My Children, as well as the arthouse movies Trash, Murder and [Me and Veronica].
   "When I started my career, I thought I was a character actor," Leeshock recalls. "I wanted to be like Dustin Hoffman and play a wide range of interesting characters. So when I got offered leading man-type roles, I fought them.
   "That kind of went until October [1997], when I decided that I wanted to try to be a leading man in a series. I thought, 'What the hell, I'm just going to do it.' I first heard about Earth: Final Conflict around six months later, and everything went from there."

Sudden Impact

   Leeshock was somewhat surprised by his initial response to Earth: Final Conflict. Despite his previous indifference towards the Science Fiction genre, the actor instantly felt a strong response to his audition material, and was especially drawn to the character of Liam Kincaid.
   "Liam was presented as a hero with a dark edge, and I liked that range of characteristics," he explains. "I'd never been a Sci-Fi fan, but three or four months before the audition, I had attended a series of talks about how the mind works, and that actually gave me new insight into the genre. It allowed me to understand the material.
   "It wasn't until I was on the verge of getting the job that I saw the show," Leeshock admits. "I caught a re-run at about 1:30 in the morning, and I'm glad to say that I really liked it. Some Sci-Fi shows can be hard to get into, but I got this one right away. The stories were easy to follow and the idea wasn't so far out there. The Taelons looked pretty believable; I could buy it."
   Oncehe was cast, Leeshock took a crash course in Earth: Final Conflict and watched all 22 episodes of Season One back-to-back. While that intensive viewing session brought him up to speed with the show's story arc, Leeshock still faced the difficult challenge of accurately depicting his character as the first member of a whole new species.
   This topic leads the actor to the popular fascination with alien visitors. "It was very intimidating at first," he reveals. "My character has the genetic history of a million races - but where do you go from there? You could go anywhere. In some ways that's great, but you also need some form of structure. So I had to define the parameters of my character, in order to keep him in a viable framework. That was pretty difficult at first.
   "One of the things that has made it easier, though, is that there's such a good marriage between myself and the character. Liam's quest for identity actually started playing back on me, because I didn't realize what a mix and mutt I was with my own ethnic heritage until I started doing the show. When I was growing up, I always assumed that I was Polish, Czech, English, Irish and Italian. And then about a month ago, my mom told me that maybe I was Russian too.
   "A lot of the time now, I don't really feel like I'm playing at anything when I'm Liam. It feels like it's pretty integrated; like it's just me doing this or me doing that."

Assignment: Earth

   Besides the challenge of defining Liam's character, Leeshock also initially felt a little apprehensive about the prospect of replacing Kevin Kilner as Earth: Final Conflict's leading man, both in front of and behind the camera. Fortunately, all of his worries were swiftly dispelled thanks to the efforts of the show's cast and crew.
   "Right from my very first audition for the show, it was made clear to me that my character is completely new," he explains. "He's unlike anything we've ever seen before. That took the pressure off me in one sense, because it would have been much more difficult if they had wanted me to kind of duplicate Kevin's work in some way. But on the other hand, it also created its own new set of challenges.
   "As for joining the cast and crew, I never expected them to be so friendly. It's such a great group of people, and everyone has just been so welcoming. [Executive producers] Majel Barrett-Roddenberry and David Kirschner have assembled a group of personalities who really gel together, and every day I've spent on the set has been a joy."
   Although Leeshock didn't get to work with Kilner before his departure from Earth: Final Conflict, the two actors met for the first time a few months ago at a crewmember's wedding in Montreal. The show's new leading man is full of praise for his predecessor.
   "That guy is the nicest in the world," Leeshock enthuses. "He offered his congratulations and was just so kind. He was really nice, and it was kind of funny because there were similarities there. Like we both played lacrosse; he played for John Hopkins [University] and I played for Cornell."
   "When he left the wedding, Kevin came up to me again and he said, 'Have a really great time with these people. It's just a great crew.' And it's funny because the crew says the same thing about him."

Taelon Tutorials

   With the production of Earth: Final Conflict's second season now over half-way, Leeshock points to A Stitch in Time, Redemption, Sleepers, Fissures, Isabel and Moonscape as highlights of his time on the show so far. The actor strongly believes that the series excels when it combines the requisite action, adventure and drama with some kind of philosophical underpinnings.
   "At its best, the show explores the ramifications of what the Taelons offer to Humanity," he muses. "If they are a highly evolved race, then what do Humans have to learn from this enlightened species? Within the context of this show, there are some really interesting philosophical ideas to be explored, and they're an essential part of a good episode."

Tomorrow's World

   Looking beyond Earth: Final Conflict's second season, Leeshock intends to spend his hiatus working on an independent film before hopefully returning for the show's third year. Depending on his schedule, he would like to play a bigger role in its production next season, and is considering writing and/or directing episodes. Above all, Robert Leeshock is optimistic about the show's future, and plans to be with it for as long as Humanity's battle for survival continues.
   "I think that the show's going to go for the full five years, provided everyone wants it to go that long," he states. "And I certainly would like to be a part of that. Working on the show has already been so challenging and so rewarding, and it's also been a lot of fun... When we were filming the first episode, I remember there's this scene where I jump down and I'm shooting at somebody. I laughed afterwards and I thought, 'Look at me: I'm an action hero!' I got such a kick out of that.
   "I'm as excited about this today as I was at the beginning, and that's a good sign. So I'm just going to keep working and put that positive attitude on it for as long as I can."

Top of Page
Back to Robert Leeshock Homepage