Stephen Furst on auditioning for the role of Vir

paramaline:

“I had never heard of Babylon 5. I go into the audition and there are 10 guys sitting around the room with their hair up like Patti LaBelle. So I’m sitting there looking at them…they knew something that I didn’t, and I was petrified. So I’m going, ‘Hell, I’ve gotta put my hair up.’ So I went to the men’s room and took out my pocket comb, and I’m trying to put my hair up. It’s not standing up, so I’m putting water on it, trying to make a peak, and that’s not working. So I go to the soap dispenser and I put soap on it. The soap gets in my eye, my eye is tearing, I’ve got hair that looks horrible, and they call my name to come in. 

So I go into the audition and I say, ‘Before I start the audition I just want to let you know I—I didn’t know anything about the hair. I went into the bathroom and put soap on it and I got soap in my eye,’ and they say, ‘Oh my God, it’s Vir.’”