RE"V"LECTIONS WITH DAVID PACKER, PART 2

What follows is the second part of an interview Visitors Among Us Editor Edward Gross conducted with David Packer back in the late 1980s. Packer, of course, played Daniel Bernstein in both "V" and "V": The Final Battle.

VISITORS AMONG US: Originally Ken Johnson wanted to do several "V" TV movies a year.

DAVID PACKER: Right, which would have been a great idea. And it would have been a good idea for us, because we really could have done something with our characters, many of which had originally been interesting. 

VISITORS AMONG US: I've always felt that Daniel was a strong character.

DAVID PACKER: I did, too. But I've got to tell you, I got some real interesting letters. I got a letter from one guy who said, "I don't blame you. I would do the same thing if I had the opportunity." I was on the subway in New York once, and a guy came up to me and said, "They're taking the water, huh?" I thought he was kidding, but he was serious. He said, "I really liked it when you shot that old lady. She deserved it, because she lied."

VISITORS AMONG US: Oh, man.

DAVID PACKER: I asked this guy what he did for a living, and he was a subpoena server in New York. This is a guy who knocks on your door to give you a subpoena, and he thinks this stuff is real. But I thought the character of Daniel was really interesting and it was perfect for me at the time, because growing up in high school I wasn't a very popular kid, because I didn't play sports or anything like that. So it was really easy to get into that victimized frame of mind. The way I saw it was here's this guy whose parents probably had high expectations for him that he never lived up to, and suddenly here's an opportunity to have all this power. I really got involved with the abuse of power theme, and in that way I could justify everything I did. People would actually get into arguments on the set. Michael Ironside was a good one for that when he came on. He likes to tell you what to do, which is good because it would get you into these arguments, and maybe you would question some things and it would affect your approach to the character. 

VISITORS AMONG US: Daniel was an effective example of someone being corrupted by power.

DAVID PACKER: But they never did anything with it.

VISITORS AMONG US: Well, they did in the first miniseries.

DAVID PACKER: Right, but in the second one they didn't when they should have. I thought it was a perfect set up for this real abuse of power thing, because the last time you saw this guy he walked out of the house with his tail tucked between his legs, and then all of a sudden, the next time  you see him, he's pulling up at command headquarters saying bullshit like, "I always knew I wanted to be around people like this."

VISITORS AMONG US: What did you think of Daniel's original death?

DAVID PACKER: Where they say he'll be on a serving platter?

VISITORS AMONG US: No, originally when the ships were leaving earth at the ending, all of the townspeople began approaching Daniel with murder in their eyes.

DAVID PACKER: Are you serious? Now that's cool! I didn't know that. That would have been great, because that falls more in line with Ken's thinking, which is more on the implied side. Kind of, like, "What are the consequences of your actions?" The thinking on the sequel was more towards the horrific things. The thought of all of those people in cocoons is a real chilling thing, rather than in the second one where they had to show you someone in the cocoon. 

VISITORS AMONG US: What would you say were the problems with the sequel?

DAVID PACKER: I wouldn't say everyone hated each other, but they disliked each other. You see, nobody wanted to do the sequel, but when we did the pilot and the numbers came in, we were ecstatic. We thought, "You don't get a fifty plus share and not get picked up," but then we didn't That took it all out of us.

VISITORS AMONG US: But did you think a series would work?

DAVID PACKER: I didn't think so, until we saw the numbers, because we didn't know what the response would be. We thought a series could work in terms of making it a high class espionage thriller, with real stuff going on. We'd get more into the political side of things. But I've started to think that "V" was not destined to go, and I'm surprised that it went on as long as it did. It's kind of like a bad tooth that you never have removed. First you fill the cavity, then you have root canal and finally it rots and you have to have it pulled. If we could have gone straight into series from the miniseries, it would have been great because the energy was terrific. None of us wanted to stop. It would have been nice to do "V" as a series, but only if Kenny was doing it. I have tremendous respect for him and everyone did. For us he was a great playground. In the morning we could go to him and say, "If the Visitors really...", and you could fictionalize an entire story and Kenny would say, "Yeah, but..." It was like the world really existed. We were We were totally involved with it.

VISITORS AMONG US: He made it real for you.

DAVID PACKER: Right, and as a result it was real for the public. You couldn't handle "V" like it was a television show, you had to handle it like it was real life. Then, unfortunately, on the sequel they made it look like a TV show, which, of course, is why it didn't work. But who knows. Maybe one day I'll be 80 ears old and I'll be watching it like I now watch I Love Lucy. I'll be able to call you and say [in an aged voice], "Hey, Ed, it's David, and I think I change my mind. It' snot as bad as I thought. I was much younger then."

Comments

[Brian O.]

Ed,
Great stuff you're posting. I really love the discovery of Daniel's original fate. How many other nuggets of information do you have regarding V: TFB's original story? It would be interesting to see Kenneth Johnson novelize his version of V: TFB.

Best,
Brian O.

[Ed Gross]

Hey Brian,

Back in the late '80s I had written some "V" "File" magazines, and one of the things I had done was a pretty detailed synopsis of Ken's original version of "V":TFB. Over the next few weeks I hope to clean that up and repost it.

Glad you're enjoying the site. Please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested.

Ed

[Nick]

Hey Ed, thanks for posting these, I remember this interview from the V files.

Can I ask you about those? how many more do you think there would have been if the publisher hadn't gone under? were you contracted to do any past volume 6? if so could you perhaps tell us about that material and if it will ever see the light of day? (perhaps here?)

Thanks for your time.