News > 4400's Campbell is a changed man
August 18, 2006
Via: TV.com
The third-season finale of The 4400 approaches, and Billy Campbell, who returned to the show as the mysterious tycoon Jordan Collier, sat down for a conference call yesterday alongside executive producer and show runner Ira Steven Behr. The 4400 is a science-fiction series that tells the story of 4,400 different people who vanished from the Earth over a span of 50 years and then returned all at once.
In June, Campbell himself returned from a year-plus ocean voyage delivering medical supplies to remote locations around the world. He says his experience had a profound effect on him.
"There will be ramifications in me that I am as yet unaware of," the actor said. "But so far, what I am most aware of is that having spent that much time in such a small space with a group of people is, you learn things about yourself. At least I did."
Has it made him a better actor?
"I have no idea," he laughed.
Behr says that Collier, who was killed last season, is back in a big way and is pivotal to the storyline.
"It's easier to write when Jordan's around. Collier has a rather striking mojo," he said. "And that just seems to have increased with the event he's been forced to live and die through."
He refrained from explaining exactly what happened to Collier, or why he was able to cheat death.
"I am not going to sit here and say who or what Collier represents," the producer said. "Whenever I do that, three quarters of the audience gets angry!"
Campbell says he has stopped trying to figure Collier out and is happy to just go along for the ride.
"I wonder [who Jordan is] as much, if not more than, the audience. But I've given up trying to figure it out!" he joked. "I don't even care anymore where the character goes, it's just so much fun!"
Behr couldn't confirm yet if the show was returning for another season, but said he has plans for the future.
"We have at least two more seasons planned. If we were forced to go on, I think we could figure it out," he chuckled.
