Post by GraceBe on Jun 18, 2008 13:48:23 GMT
Deep Soap: Interview With Soap Star Texas Battle
By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast .com
Don’t Mess With Texas
With a name like Texas Battle (he swears it’s real), the daytime newcomer who plays Marcus on The Bold & The Beautiful seems like he was destined for soap stardom. Marcus has shaken things up from the moment he showed up at the Forrester’s door. The handsome African-American Marcus gave the WASPY Donna Logan Forrester the surprise of her life when he announced her was the son she gave up for adoption years ago. Now Marcus is keeping his identity a secret while working at Forrester Creations – and getting very friendly with Steffi Forrester. The enthusiastic Battle chatted with me about joining the B&B family.
On his pre B&B career: I was working on the [upcoming film] Dragonball.
Battle’s credits also include guest-starring on One Tree Hill, HBO series 12 Miles of Bad Road with Lily Tomlin and roles in the movies Coach Carter and Final Destination 3.
On winning the part on B&B: My agent told me there was a part [being cast] on The Bold & The Beautiful. We had no idea what it was, but I was excited because my Mom watches B&B and I knew that it was not only one of the top shows in America, but #1 worldwide. I met with the casting director. [She] had me read a scene from a previous episode. The character was a guy named Brandon. Then I came back and met with [headwriter and Executive Producer] Brad Bell and [Supervising Producer] Rhonda Friedman. That was when I found out that I was going to play a son looking for his mother. I was very excited that B&B was developing a storyline for an African-American character. At the screen test I met Jennifer Gareis [Donna.] I was surprised because I had assumed that [Marcus’s] Mom would be African-American. I was like, you mean this beautiful blue eyed blonde is going to be my Mom?! I knew that this storyline was going to be a trip. Let the drama begin!
On who he’d cast to play Marcus’s so far unknown father: Shemar Moore (ex-Malcolm Y&R) or Kristoff St. John (Neil Y&R). I think the fans would go crazy if one of [their characters] turned out to be the father.
On his co-stars: From my first day there, everyone accepted me. It’s like family. I can’t say that anybody stands out because I like working with everybody. On the weekends, I enjoy the time off but part of me wants to get back to work. And a lot of that is because I want to see my friends.
On Marcus and Steffi’s relationship: He likes Steffi. He’s attracted to her. But she’s a Forrester. Marcus is kind of stuck in the middle – between his Mom [and the family.] Things are starting to get warm. It’s going to turn into fire!
On how the Forresters will react when they find out Marcus is Donna’s son: When Steffi Forrester finds out Marcus is Donna’s son, there’s not just going to be fireworks. There’s going to be eruptions. There’s going to be hot, molten lava. Marcus is a nice guy. But you don’t violate a man’s privacy. Marcus is going to snap a little bit. Marcus and Pam, they’ll [become] rivals. Ridge is going to have a strong reaction to the situation. Marcus hadn’t understood why Donna wants to keep [his existence] a big secret. But seeing how these Forresters act, that they’re spoiled, bitter people, he starts to understand.
On whether Marcus wants a piece of the Forrester pie: Marcus came to L.A. with only one thing on his mind – to find his birth Mom. He doesn’t care that she’s wealthy. His original intention was to find her then go back to Texas.
On Brad Bell and the writers: They’ve used a lot of my history [in developing the character.] I was a basketball player in college. I got injured. They worked that into the storyline. That’s mind-boggling to me. That sort of thing doesn’t happen too much. It shows that Brad is taking an interest in this character. He wants to make sure I’m comfortable with the situation. Every Tuesday morning we talk about my character, we talk about my storyline.
On his favorite non B&B Entertainment: Two-And-A-Half Men, comedies and horror movies – the Final Destination series.
On the future of B&B: I want B&B to overtake Y&R [and become] the #1 soap [in the U.S]. We have the cast to compete with Y&R. We’re already #1 worldwide.
On his personal life: Texas Battle is single and looking for love! Come holla at me on MySpace: www .myspace .com/texasbattle
By Sara A. Bibel
Fancast .com
Don’t Mess With Texas
With a name like Texas Battle (he swears it’s real), the daytime newcomer who plays Marcus on The Bold & The Beautiful seems like he was destined for soap stardom. Marcus has shaken things up from the moment he showed up at the Forrester’s door. The handsome African-American Marcus gave the WASPY Donna Logan Forrester the surprise of her life when he announced her was the son she gave up for adoption years ago. Now Marcus is keeping his identity a secret while working at Forrester Creations – and getting very friendly with Steffi Forrester. The enthusiastic Battle chatted with me about joining the B&B family.
On his pre B&B career: I was working on the [upcoming film] Dragonball.
Battle’s credits also include guest-starring on One Tree Hill, HBO series 12 Miles of Bad Road with Lily Tomlin and roles in the movies Coach Carter and Final Destination 3.
On winning the part on B&B: My agent told me there was a part [being cast] on The Bold & The Beautiful. We had no idea what it was, but I was excited because my Mom watches B&B and I knew that it was not only one of the top shows in America, but #1 worldwide. I met with the casting director. [She] had me read a scene from a previous episode. The character was a guy named Brandon. Then I came back and met with [headwriter and Executive Producer] Brad Bell and [Supervising Producer] Rhonda Friedman. That was when I found out that I was going to play a son looking for his mother. I was very excited that B&B was developing a storyline for an African-American character. At the screen test I met Jennifer Gareis [Donna.] I was surprised because I had assumed that [Marcus’s] Mom would be African-American. I was like, you mean this beautiful blue eyed blonde is going to be my Mom?! I knew that this storyline was going to be a trip. Let the drama begin!
On who he’d cast to play Marcus’s so far unknown father: Shemar Moore (ex-Malcolm Y&R) or Kristoff St. John (Neil Y&R). I think the fans would go crazy if one of [their characters] turned out to be the father.
On his co-stars: From my first day there, everyone accepted me. It’s like family. I can’t say that anybody stands out because I like working with everybody. On the weekends, I enjoy the time off but part of me wants to get back to work. And a lot of that is because I want to see my friends.
On Marcus and Steffi’s relationship: He likes Steffi. He’s attracted to her. But she’s a Forrester. Marcus is kind of stuck in the middle – between his Mom [and the family.] Things are starting to get warm. It’s going to turn into fire!
On how the Forresters will react when they find out Marcus is Donna’s son: When Steffi Forrester finds out Marcus is Donna’s son, there’s not just going to be fireworks. There’s going to be eruptions. There’s going to be hot, molten lava. Marcus is a nice guy. But you don’t violate a man’s privacy. Marcus is going to snap a little bit. Marcus and Pam, they’ll [become] rivals. Ridge is going to have a strong reaction to the situation. Marcus hadn’t understood why Donna wants to keep [his existence] a big secret. But seeing how these Forresters act, that they’re spoiled, bitter people, he starts to understand.
On whether Marcus wants a piece of the Forrester pie: Marcus came to L.A. with only one thing on his mind – to find his birth Mom. He doesn’t care that she’s wealthy. His original intention was to find her then go back to Texas.
On Brad Bell and the writers: They’ve used a lot of my history [in developing the character.] I was a basketball player in college. I got injured. They worked that into the storyline. That’s mind-boggling to me. That sort of thing doesn’t happen too much. It shows that Brad is taking an interest in this character. He wants to make sure I’m comfortable with the situation. Every Tuesday morning we talk about my character, we talk about my storyline.
On his favorite non B&B Entertainment: Two-And-A-Half Men, comedies and horror movies – the Final Destination series.
On the future of B&B: I want B&B to overtake Y&R [and become] the #1 soap [in the U.S]. We have the cast to compete with Y&R. We’re already #1 worldwide.
On his personal life: Texas Battle is single and looking for love! Come holla at me on MySpace: www .myspace .com/texasbattle
He seems like a nice guy.
