The Watcher's Guide Volume Two

Watcher's Guide: Could you tell us your career from the start? What was your first job, on up to here?
Bailey Chase: Okay, a very brief bio is, I graduated from Duke in '95, moved to Los Angles. I was out here for close to a year and realized I didn't know anything about acting, so I decided to go back to school and study it. So I moved to London for a year, and I studied over there and learned all about Shakespeare, and it was just an amazing experience. I learned a little bit about acting, and I came back and started working in independent films and had something get into Sundance, and that was really exciting. It was called Cosmo's Tale (1998).

WG: Who directed it?
BC: Adam Shankman. It was his directorial debut. Did some guest spots in television, and did a couple of plays and then I got here.

WG: So what is it like being on Buffy for you?
BC: It's great. It's by far the most fun that I've had working in television. I mean, the crew and the cast, they get along really well and it's a really creative show and we just have a lot of fun. So, it's great.

WG: How did you try out for the role?"
BC: I auditioned for it. They put out a breakdown, my agent submitted me, and I got an appointment and I came in and I pre-read with Amy Britt and her assistant, and then they brought me back for the producers.

WG: What is something that you've gotten to do in this role that you haven't gotten to do before? Anything new?
BC: What's really fun is all the Commando stuff. I mean, by day, I'm just a college guy, and a student and we're guys and we hang out, but that's just our cover. And the fun stuff is, you know, our Commando [lives] and our high-tech rifles and weaponry, and that's what's really cool.

WG: What would you like the producers to know that you can do that you haven't gotten to show?
BC: Well, it's funny. This is the first thing that popped into my head. I can speak. Graham, he doesn't have a whole lot of lines. He's the strong, silent type. But I have a little bit of dialogue tonight, so I guess after tonight they'll know that.

I was---actually, the other guys were making fun of me. I was making fun of myself the other night because we had this scene, and I didn't have any dialogue. I was the only tired actor that didn't have any dialogue. And I think Joss overheard the whole thing and felt bad, so he threw me two lines. He's like 'Nah, just go in there and say, like, 'Come on' or 'Let's go,' something like that.

I don't know if he overheard what we were saying. But then Marc just said they cut that scene out, but it's okay. It's okay. I speak other times, just not very often.

You have no idea what their ideas are, but it's a great show. I would be very happy if they developed the character more because then I could continue to work on the show. Unfortunately, you know, actors in my position have to take what comes along a lot of the time, and then they get locked in to these long TV deals and they do it because they have to. Whereas, this is a show that I enjoy working on.

WG: So, would you consider being on Buffy a good break?
BC: Oh, yeah, it's great. Yeah, I'm proud. I'm proud to work on Buffy, whereas there's some other shows that I've just done for the money that I don't put on my resume or, you know, I don't tell people, 'Yo, you gotta watch this show this night.'

WG: What was you very, very first job that you got paid for?
BC: Married...with Children. I was Speedo-clad lifeguard. It was a spring break episode, so they were all in Florida. We were on a set, but it was really funny and they hired a bunch of former Playmates to do a bikini contest in their bikinis. I, of course, was the lifeguard without any lines.

WG: What was your next job?
BC: It was Baywatch.

WG: Do you want to be a comedic actor or a dramatic actor or character actor or leading man?
BC: I want to do it all. I want to more theater, I'd like to do more film, and TV is---There's a lot of great television being done right now.

WG: Where were you born?
BC: I was born in Chicago, raised in Florida.

WG: Do you have any brothers or sisters?
BC: An older brother.

WG: Any pets?
BC: Gauge. He's a yellow Lab. I've had him since college. I had to go in and get lint-brushed earlier because Gauge had slept on my jacket, which is the one lying over there. And I had yellow hair everywhere.

WG: Well, we want to thank you so much for talking to us.
BC: Oh, it was a pleasure.

WG: You're going to be in a book.
BC: I'm going to be in a book. Yah! I made it.