Interview with Roy Dupuis
USA Network, December 2000
INTERVIEWER
The chemistry between you and Peta.

ROY DUPUIS
Mm-hmm.

INTERVIEWER
Was that something that was instant, or was that something that you feel like that developed over time?

ROY DUPUIS
Uh, that was instant, I think. No, I pretty much know. [LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER
Okay.

ROY DUPUIS
Yeah. That's not really something you can work on, I think.

INTERVIEWER
When you were shooting "Four Light Years Farther" and everybody thought that the series was over, what was the mood like on the set at that point?

ROY DUPUIS
Well, it's, um...it was moving. For me it was moving.. I wouldn't say I was sad but, it was moving, it's four years of my life. It was also the fact that I met some great people over here, and, uh, so I made friends and...that was, uh, moving, to say goodbye.

INTERVIEWER
Now, rumor has it, --and I don't think it's really a rumor -- that you're directing an episode, that you have directed an episode; in fact, you're cutting it now, I believe....

ROY DUPUIS
Yeah.

INTERVIEWER
So, which one?

ROY DUPUIS
It's, um, 506.

INTERVIEWER
Okay. And is this your directorial debut?

ROY DUPUIS
Yeah, it is.

INTERVIEWER
Are you excited?

ROY DUPUIS
Uh, I....it's done. [LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER
It's done. Well, are you excited to have it air?

ROY DUPUIS
What? Excited to have it aired? Uh, Not really. It's not....I don't see it.... I did it by curiosity, 'cause I've always....Since a couple of years they've been asking me if I wanted to direct an episode. This time since I was[n't] in all of them, I said, why not. By curiosity, and I had a lot of fun doing it, 'cause  it's another point of view [LAUGHS] on that. And there's a lot of thinking and, I like to solve all those little details.....

INTERVIEWER
Do you plan on doing more?

ROY DUPUIS
Maybe, I don't know. We'll see if I miss it. I was always a bit interested in that anyway. So, uh,I didn't come into it, like, with the weight that any other director....that a director would have. It was mostly by curiosity and I knew all the people and  it was fun to do, also, because of them.

INTERVIEWER
Okay. Here's a question I've seen asked a tremendous amount on the  boards about La Femme Nikita. Why did Michael cut himself under the eye in that last episode of season, "Four Light Years Farther"?

ROY DUPUIS
[LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER
What is that about?

ROY DUPUIS
It's an image, first of all. It's a tear of blood, you see, and Michael doesn't have tears anymore, or whatever.

INTERVIEWER
Do you believe Nikita never really loved Michael?

ROY DUPUIS
Well, I think I shouldn't answer that. I think these next eight episodes will probably answer...all those questions. This is what the show's all about. Trying to...um... trying to see the invisible.

INTERVIEWER
I've seen you go hand-to-hand with Peta. Um, is that something that's, uh, strange to do? I mean, you guys worked together every day and maybe it's not but, you know.... Is there any part of you that's going, Mom said never hit girls, you know. I mean is there anything, you know....What do you think about those scenes?

ROY DUPUIS
Well, that's actually another side of the show. It's the, the other.... um....All the moral issues are kind of swept away. It's, uh....I like to say it's the other side of the mirror. The other side of society. We learn in Section -- well, in life you learn to try to trust people and try not to lie and try not to kill [LAUGHS] and try not to...all those. In Section you learn the opposite, actually. You should try not....You learn not to trust anyone and learn how to kill and learn how to lie. So to hit a woman... [PAUSE] And you know, those fights for me as an actor, it's like dancing. It's the same thing as learning a dance. So that's what it is for me, so it's fun to do as...as a choreography. It's like dancing. You have to look like...uh, the steps have to be well-done, it's the same thing with choreographed fights.

INTERVIEWER
Do you really ride motorcycles?

ROY DUPUIS
Yeah.

INTERVIEWER
What kind do you own?

ROY DUPUIS
I own a Harley.

INTERVIEWER
Okay. Just sort of another...acting, you know, there's a scene where, you know, Nikita has plastic surgery and looks like Quinn and she comes back into Section and Michael finally figures it out.

ROY DUPUIS
Mm-hmm.

INTERVIEWER
Was it strange to play that scene, with that actress, the woman who plays Quinn, but you're playing it to Nikita. Was that strange?

ROY DUPUIS
Um, strange. There's a lotta strange things in that show. [LAUGHS]I  wouldn't say, no, it's, um... [PAUSE] No, it was just like, um, teamwork, you know? 'Cause I knew, maybe a little bit more  about Nikita than the actress did so we worked it out together.

INTERVIEWER
Was Peta on the set when you did that scene?

ROY DUPUIS
Uh, no. It would've been fun but that, that's what I say -- it would've been fun to do it with Peta once, and have, uh, Cindy watch. So we could try to get....you know.

INTERVIEWER
But they didn't go for it....

ROY DUPUIS
But, uh, no, we couldn't get Peta on that day, so....

INTERVIEWER
There was another episode where you did....Michael had a, you know, complete change of behavior; he had been drugged and he didn't remember anything and....

ROY DUPUIS
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He came back. Yeah, yeah.

INTERVIEWER
Did you....How was that for you, I mean that's a very....that's a very different take on the Michael character.

ROY DUPUIS
Yeah.

INTERVIEWER
Um, a tremendous amount of innocence. What was that like for you?

ROY DUPUIS
It was fun. It was fun, it's also, um....It was fun and interesting. It was interesting to see, to make the choice how am I going to....I decided to go on the naive side, kind of more pure and innocent and.... [LAUGHS]

INTERVIEWER
Is it hard to shift gears like that with a character you know so well?

ROY DUPUIS
No, as long as you build, uh, you build your storyline behind it. You just create kind of, almost another character. But by remembering it -- not remembering but, keeping it -- [PAUSE] It's a question of gauging, you know, how far can I go this way, without, um... .To make it still believable that he could be still Michael, you know.

INTERVIEWER
Right. Like....

ROY DUPUIS
So it's all, uh....You gotta gauge it and see, 'cause there's thousands.... there could've been thousands of possibilities, to play that character. How to play him. Just gotta make a choice and build your storyline behind that, then jump in that one and then switch to the other one.

INTERVIEWER
How do you think the character has changed over the last five seasons?

ROY DUPUIS
Oh. Well, that's one thing with Michael, he hasn't changed.

INTERVIEWER
[PAUSE] Okay.

ROY DUPUIS
Michael is, uh, is pretty much what he was when we started the show. That's what's....That's the idea of ,pretty much, the character. Of course we learn more about him... through the show. But the character itself, hasn't changed that much I'd say.