TCA Press Tour: Nimoy a cool customer on 'Fringe'
Leonard Nimoy, who made a much-buzzed-about cameo in the first-season finale of Fox's "Fringe," will return to the science-based thriller next season.
Nimoy will reprise his role as William Bell, the former partner of eccentric scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) and the founder of the mysterious Massive Dynamics firm in at least one episode, and producers are hoping he'll be back for more.
"We want him back as much as he wants to come back," said executive Jeff Pinkner.
Filming of that episode happened in Vancouver in temperatures that were well above 100 degrees, but Nimoy, who is most famous as Mr. Spock on "Star Trek," didn't seem bothered by the intense heat.
Said Pinkner, "He was doing pages and pages of dialogue, and he handled it like a pro." Added co-star Joshua Jackson, "His wife said he practices biofeedback, so he knows how to control his body temperature."
Bell will again deal with FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who in the finale meets up with the mogul inside the World Trade Center, which exists in a parallel universe. That shocking climax was one of the show's most effective moments
"It was an honest way to represent a world with a New York where different choices were made," Pinker said.
-- Greg Braxton
Photo: Joshua Jackson, from left, John Noble and Anna Torv. Credit: Fox
