Science fiction show today

Just so you know (and, chances are, you probably never knew you wanted to), the Chewbacca of "Star Wars" fame speaks more than just fluent Wookiee.

As for his second language — that curiously pervasive standard English most of the characters spoke a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away — it sounds strikingly … British.

Even stranger: Furry bilingual alien warriors, it turns out, aren't put out to pasture when the war against the galactic evil empire is won. They live in suburban Texas, when they're not on tour in places such as Greenville doing sci-fi conventions.

At least, this Wookiee does.

Thanks to the loyal disciples of the "Star Wars" mythos, Peter Mayhew has made a lifelong career out of his role as the lovable-but-mighty Chewbacca.

The 7-foot-3, British-born actor appeared in the original three "Star Wars" movies in the 1970s and '80s and will return as Chewbacca in the May 2005 final installment of the "Star Wars" prequels, "Episode III."

This evening, he will be at the Palmetto Expo Center as part of the "Shock & Awe Sci-Fi Road Show," a traveling band of former sci-fi stars and one cosmic voyager who actually has traveled in a space ship, Rick Searfoss, commander of the late space shuttle Columbia and pilot of Atlantis.

Mayhew, 59, took time this week to talk by phone about his role as the growling co-pilot of the Millenium Falcon.

A gag order imposed by creator/director George Lucas keeps Mayhew from saying too much about "Episode III," but he freely shares his experience behind the mask:

News: Which of the five "Stars Wars" movies thus far meant the most to you personally?

Mayhew: "The Empire Strikes Back," because Chewy was involved in the original "Star Wars," but he had a lot bigger part in "Empire" than he was ever expected to because of the reaction of the fans.

News: What about the newer films, like "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack Of The Clones?" How do they measure up?

Mayhew: I think they're getting better. When you look at the first one ("Phantom"), it's the first chapter of a book. You've got to introduce a lot of characters. The second one was far, far better than the first one. From what I've seen, the third one is going to be really good.

News: Chewbacca's voice is a bunch of baying and growling. The voice in the movie is dubbed, but have you mastered it yourself?

Mayhew: I can do an impersonation, but I'm not going to. Usually at the Q&A, someone will come up and say, "Either me or my friend do a good impersonation." I listen to that and give them back what I think is an impersonation. So it works both ways.

News: How do you bring to life a character who is played from behind a furry suit and whose lines you don't speak?

Mayhew: You've got four actors on the set. I just react. Chewy reacts. The only thing he can't do is talk. He's like an actor that's not got any lines at all, so he has to express himself in concern with what's going on around him. Chewy's reaction is, "Hmmm, I can hear this, I can understand it. What am I going to do about it?"

News: It helps to have Harrison Ford to bounce off of, right? He was the only one who really understood the Wookiee language.

Mayhew: We had a very good working relationship, which shows in the movies.

News: You must have some funny stories from filming that no one saw. What's one that you haven't told a million times?

Mayhew: When we were in Norway doing the Hoth scenes, I was the warmest person out there. They asked me to roll around in the snow. I'm covered in snow, I've got a costume on still, with no way of getting out, and it starts melting. You can imagine it's very nasty and messy.

News: A lot of hair and snow.

Mayhew: There's a lot of hair and a lot of snow. I said, "Unzip this damn suit, because it's starting to leak." I dropped it and it looked like a cat coming out of a washing machine, sitting on the floor."

News: Not too majestic for a brave warrior, huh?

Mayhew: Not like Chewy was a few minutes before. This thing looked like a drowned rat.

News: OK, how about "Return Of The Jedi"?

Mayhew: We filmed the Ewok scenes in Oregon. I was told not to leave the set in costume. I didn't realize that that part of Oregon is where Bigfoot was believed to be. I didn't want some hunter with a double-barrel shotgun taking potshots at me. I wore a red T-shirt and a blue pair of jeans just so I could be recognized. It seemed strange that I was restricted where other people could go, but I realized the Chewy costume looks a lot like a Bigfoot. That was one thing that I obeyed to the letter.

News: What's up with the fans? What do you think makes them so loyal to you?

Mayhew: We've got fans from 2 to 70 years old. They identify with it. Some people say Chewbacca was a teddy bear. Some people enjoy the mime part of it.

Everybody has always come up and said, "I enjoyed your work." What they mean by that, I don't know. I always try to pin them down: What did you really mean by that? You, say, get 12 people together, everybody's got a different view of which character is their favorite.

News: How about this whole sci-fi thing? Why do fans who attend these shows seem to go more crazy over a fictional space traveler than a real astronaut like Rick Searfoss?

Mayhew: That's something I never really thought about. You take your guy who goes up in a rocket. It's something I wouldn't do. Playing a character in a movie comes naturally to me. Everybody has their own job they can enjoy. Every fan has their own heroes, whether they be actual sporting heroes, space heroes or movie heroes. There's so many different versions of heroes. If everybody were interested in the same thing, life would be boring.

The dinosaur behind the perpetual smile

He loves you, and according to the song, you love him.

Why exactly, who knows? Barney the educational, extremely friendly dinosaur is largely an enigma.

His inveterate smile, seemingly unambiguous, in fact serves further to confound.

There is little room for interpretation in Barney's tightly controlled world, a world of hugs, only polite dissent and simultaneous-knee-bend choreography.

But underneath the purple haze is a Barney we adults know little about. A Barney craving to narrow the gap with the adults who criticize him. An elderly fellow young at heart who claims to be 200 million years old, a purported survivor of the "Big Asteroid" that wiped out the dinosaurs 62 million years ago.

In preparation for his live-show tour, "Barney's Colorful World," which comes to the Bi-Lo Center Friday and Saturday, the purple one took some time over the phone to talk about his family life, political aspirations and the NBA finals.

Like, for real. Like, the real Barney. No joke.

The News: Whereabouts do you live?

Barney: I live in your imagination … and I shoot my show in Dallas.

N: The "I Love You, You Love Me" song. So resonant after more than a decade. What inspired you?

B: I don't know. I just felt it in my heart.

N: You don't wear shoes, but Baby Bop and BJ do. Is it a back-to-basics '60s thing — as in 60 million B.C.?

B: It's actually kind of hard to fit me. Sometimes I go into Foot Locker and I scare off those people. They run away. But I have worn some tap shoes recently.

N: How do you think you've been able to survive the metaphorical cataclysmic asteroid of a fickle pre-school audience?

B: I guess if I can survive the real asteroid, I can survive anything.

N: How have you kept your youth for so long? Botox? Is that why your smile is frozen?

B: Botox does come in handy sometimes. I think it's all the dancing, just all the jumping around. Although my stomach, I don't know what's up with that. It's growing.

N: You seem to have been battling your weight over the years? Are you a carnivore, an Atkins diet loyalist?

B: No, I pretty much eat what I want. Sometimes I'll go into a restaurant, and they'll hand me the menu, and I'll say, "Yes, thank you."

N: Do you ever frown, at least on the inside?

B: I've never actually thought about it. I don't think anything's ever made me sad. Usually, a little sad thing starts to come in, and I kick it out with a big smile. Always be happy, I say.

N: A good many adults don't seem to get you, what with sitcoms and skits poking fun at you? Do you just laugh it off?

B: I don't really notice that. I'm so busy on my tour and my TV show. Do they really make fun of me?

N: Yeah, some of the Saturday Night Live stuff.

B: Oh, you're kidding. What do they say? What's that old thing, about impersonating people …?

N: The sincerest form of flattery?

B: That's it! I'm trying to get on "The Tonight Show." Now I know Jay Leno makes a lot of jokes about me, and I've got some of my own for him.

N: How hard is it to fight the stereotype of the "mean dinosaur" like those portrayed in "Jurassic Park"?

B: It's funny to me, because I've never seen it. There's always scary things, but I'm not. How can you be purple and really scary? Maybe if those T-Rexes had smiled a little, people wouldn't have run.

N: If you ran for president, and the voting age was set at age 18 maximum, how do you think you'd fare?

B: Oh, I don't know. I've had some ideas, like maybe calling it the Purple House instead of the White House. I think I would do pretty well.

N: You might have some problems with the teens, but you'd definitely win the preschool set, right?

B: Oh, I don't know. You know, those teens have grown up watching me, hopefully. Maybe they could find it in their heart to vote for me.

N: Those trans-dimensional journeys you do from the Land of Make Believe, do they take a toll on you?

B: You notice when I come to life on the set there, I kind of jump, like, "Whoaaaa!" I've landed on roller skates before. I've actually been inside a box. It's kind of like those old "Quantum Leap" shows: You never know where you're going to end up.

N: Is there a special someone in your life that we should know about?

B: Just all the kids. They make me so happy.

N: You spend so much time with others' children. Any plans for some of your own?

B: Ha, ha, ha. No. You're a funny one.

N: How did the death of Mr. Rogers, a true neighbor to us all, hit you?

B: Mr. Rogers was a great man. He will be deeply missed. He was an inspiration to all. He was such a kind man who did so many wonderful things for children.

N: Any plans for a Barney/Wiggles musical collaboration? The convergence of two such forces would be unstoppable.

B: That would be a great idea. I was thinking of taking my road tour to Broadway, so why not go the next step and make a movie? But you know what? I would have to direct.

N: Who do you like in the NBA finals? Or would you prefer that everybody win?

B: If whoever wins wins, then they were meant to win. How's that? I don't really care, just as long as they're happy when they're playing.

N: So it's the spirit of enjoyment of the competition?

B: And teamwork. Any team that has purple — yes. Who is purple?

N: The Lakers.

B: Oh, excellent. Go Lakers!

Hulkamania running wild all over again

The World Wrestling Federation is no more. The WWF is now the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment, thanks to a legal challenge by the World Wildlife Fund.

But while names change, some things never really do in the WWF, er, E, which will make another trip to the Bi-Lo Center Tuesday for a taping of "SmackDown!" that will appear on UPN June 13.

In this time of rebirth, the wrestler instrumental in lifting pro wrestling from regional, smoke-filled auditoriums to the grandest of worldwide stages is reborn himself.

Hulkamania is back in full effect after a long absence, and the Hulkster took a little time to talk to The Greenville News about the phenomenon. Like the colorful headband covering his balding blond head says, "Hulk Still Rules."

At 48, Hollywood Hulk Hogan (real name Terry Gene Bollea) has come full circle from when he and WWE owner Vince McMahon, beginning in the 1980s, turned wrestling into a mainstream entertainment medium.

From "Rocky III" to the cover of Sports Illustrated to his very own Saturday-morning cartoon, Hogan's role as all-American hero in the 1980s and early '90s was unparalleled. By the mid-'90s, however, fans began to tire of the 26-inch pythons and the wholesome protagonist act, and the hero unthinkably turned villain.

All those years he trained, he took his vitamins, he said his prayers … but (gasp!) he did it all for the money!

No, not really, as it turns out.

These days, fans crave that ideological Hogan of old, lately giving him the rousing, heartfelt ovations from venue to venue that he experienced during the Reagan and elder Bush years.

Out with the black tights of the evil New World Order; in with the red and yellow. Out with the cynical, money-grubbing megalomaniac; in with the hands cupped to the ears to amplify the cheers that rally the Hulkster's superhuman abilities.

The rebirth even meant an unexpected run recently as WWE champion, his sixth title reign. But what gives? Hogan seems to be well past his prime physically, and until recently, was considered more a relic than anything else.

Perhaps it's that the world needs heroes again, Hogan says in a phone interview.

"After the Sept. 11 crap with all the hatred and the death, and the Jerry Springer shock TV we've seen over the past 10 years, I think the people are ready for Chevrolets and McDonald's – and Hulk Hogan fits in there somewhere," Hogan says.

The turnabout is nothing if not unexpected, at least in Hogan's eyes.

At Wrestlemania X8 in March, he was set to battle The Rock in a match where the icon of old passes the torch to the new generation, much as Andre the Giant did for Hogan in 1987.

When facing The Rock, Hogan did everything he could to make the fans hate him, but the faithful refused. The cynical boos of the past decade had turned once again to adoration. It was, Hogan says, his shining moment as a wrestler, even though The Rock prevailed.

"He won the match, which was, of course, predetermined, but I won my fans back," Hogan says. "Hearing those fans say, `Dammit, we still remember you, we still believe and we love you.' They've always known that I'm a good person, and that I was just trying to play a character."

Now, Hogan feels right again in his own skin. No more hissing at the fans who hang over the rail wanting an autograph or a high-five.

"When you're the bad guy, you're supposed to be mean to everybody," he says. "It just doesn't sit right with me. It doesn't make my heart feel good to do it."

It seems fitting for a dad who, when home in Clearwater, Fla., gets up extra early to work out before driving his kids, 12-year-old Nick and 14-year-old Brooke, to school.

If you think being a wrestler is tough, try raising teen-agers, he says.

"It's a teen-age whirlwind, brother. They beat me up. When I go wrestle in the WWE, that's my day off now."

So how many more psuedo-vacations will the fans get to see the Hulkster take?

"I'm not going to question it. It's all bonus time for me. Whether it makes sense again for me to be the champion, only time will tell. I wasn't supposed to be around this long. I just thank God that this is happening, because it didn't have to be this way."