The Lincoln Logs: Talking With Seth Gabel Of FOX’s Fringe

This morning’s stop on our Vancouver tour took us to a location shoot for FOX’s Fringe, which airs at 9PM Fridays this year. Today, we spoke with Anna Torv (Olivia/”Bolivia”) and Seth Gabel (Lincoln Lee).

As there were several reporters on this trip, we’re only sharing some highlights of what they had to say about the series, which recently begun its fourth season. Today, we post some quotes from Seth Gabel, with Anna Torv, John Noble, and more to come.

See some images from tonight’s episode!

* What’s it like to now be a series regular and have two characters to play? “It’s amazing. It’s so much fun to get to go back and forth, too,” he says. “They’re each so different, and each represents such different aspects of my own personal psyche that it’s really fun to “man up” once a week and kind of like “nerd out” once a week. It’s very cathartic,” Seth adds.

* The Lincoln of the other universe seemed to carry a torch for Bolivia. Will things happen between this Lincoln and Olivia? “It seems to be happening again. I think initially when Lincoln met Olivia in our universe, I guess that the conditions were very intense in that his partner was just killed, but they immediately have a very good connection and became partners pretty quickly, and found that they really saw eye to eye. I think as we go along, we’ll see that relationship open up a little more, and those feelings seem to cross universes,” he says.

* Will things change when and if Peter (Joshua Jackson) returns, and what does that mean to Lincoln, who one might think has taken his place? “It’s been a big thing for me to have Lincoln never be a factor that is threatening to replace Peter. And obviously with the lack of Peter, that concept is threatened to the audience and to the world of Fringe, but I think the role that Lincoln has taken is very different than Peter. And Lincoln – his mindset is very different from Peter in that Lincoln wants to get the job done, and Peter is the real kind of ‘Indiana Jones.’ A bit of an anti-hero who reluctantly goes along and has perspective and is able to kind of comment on what’s happening as it’s happening. He’s kind of a voice that the show needs, and certainly can’t replaced, that’s there to kind of be above it all, and at the same time very much in it, and ultimately, I’m sure [he’s] the hero that will save it, as he did last season,” Seth says. “In terms of Lincoln and Peter coming back, I think there is obviously, definitely room for both of them to exist. I think – the one episode I had last season where Josh and I got to work together on our side, I thought there was a really good relationship and chemistry, the way that those two characters worked together, and I really hope we get to do a lot more of that this time, when he does ultimately return, if he does that,” he adds.

* The scene we saw being shot today involved a bus stop in the alt-universe. “There is some possible shapeshifter activity that we are investigating,” Gabel tells us. “Alt-Lincoln has never met a shapeshifter, and obviously it’s a mission of great importance for Lincoln because a shapeshifter killed his partner, and so he has a vendetta against them. I’m curious to see how that develops,” he adds.

* What is the alternate Lincoln called in the scripts? Gabel reveals that it is listed as “Alt-Lincoln.” “I want there to be like a really cool name, like Rock and Roll Lincoln. But there’s not,” he laments.

* Is there any chance we might see the two Lincolns interacting at any point? “There is a chance of that. There is a good chance of that,” he says, coyly. As for how the Lincolns would react to each other, “I think that the glasses-wearing Lincoln would be probably intimidated by the other one,” Seth explains. “I think Alt-Lincoln would be at first, probably initially dismissive of Lincoln, but there’s obviously a difference in intelligence between the two. And I think Lincoln on our side has a very real intelligence when it comes to book smarts and thinking outside the box, and I think Lincoln in the alt-universe has a lot of experience when it comes to doing and getting things done, and being pragmatic and practical. And also courageous and bold and self-confident. They both have a lot that they can learn from each other.”

* Is it job security for Seth, knowing that if they kill one of the Lincolns off, there’s a spare? “Yes. Yes, I have a backup,” Seth laughs. “It’s very good job security.”

A new Fringe airs tonight at 9PM on FOX! See some images

Disclaimer: KSiteTV’s set visits and accommodations to Vancouver were provided by Warner Bros. Television who arranged the trip.