Dreamwatch issue #38 - October 1997: Interview by John S Hall

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Joshua Cox shared "the pit" in C&C with Marianne Robertson in Babylon 5's first season and by the start of the second, he had become Tech 1, finally gaining name and rank - Lt David Corwin - in And Now For A Word. Now the station has become a launch-pad for a burgeoning career.

Dreamwatch: How long have you been acting?

Joshua Cox: Well, I've always had this ability to mimic people's accents, and then I just wandered into a play audition in high school once. I ended up getting the part and have just kept at it ever since then. I got involved with Fisher Stevens - he's a kid I went to high school with - who had a manager at the time and I started going out on commercial auditions with them. Then I ended up going to college at the Sate University of New York; there was a professional training programme at the time called the League Auditions. Not long after I graduated, I got a gig on [the soap opera] One Life To Live and was on there for about 7 months. I was in the dreaded position of having things done to [my character] rather than doing to [other characters], which in a soap opera is really where you want to be for it to be any fun, and to have any character life. After that, I came out to Los Angeles and made various and sundry guest appearances: 21 Jump St, Quantum Leap - most recently Sliders and The Burning Zone - and some small parts in movies like Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs. I played a cop in that, and originally the role was larger, but as is the case sometimes, a lot ended up on the cutting room floor.

Dreamwatch: What about The Runestone?

Joshua Cox: That was another small, briefly lived policeman. There's been a certain predilection towards these parts…this one in particular was killed quite handily by the resident beastie. I'm thrown up against a wall and there's a nice shot of my head falling back into frame with a little drop of blood coming out of my mouth.

Dreamwatch: I see you have a production credit in the movie Freaked as well…

Joshua Cox: I worked on the crew, believe it or not, with a guy named Bill Nearhood on building the machine that manufactured the freak Juice, I believe. I haven't seen the movie and I don't think I even read the whole script, but I'm pretty sure that's what out little project was all about.

Dreamwatch: What memories do you have of your Quantum Leap episode, Star Light, Star Bright?

Joshua Cox: That was really fun actually. Scott Bakula was a really nice guy. He made a point of saying "Hi, how are you?" and making people feel comfortable.

Dreamwatch: How did you wind up on Babylon 5 as Lt Corwin?

Joshua Cox: Well Mary Joe Slater is a Los Angeles casting director, and she knows my work; she cast me on One Life To Live. Basically, she gave me my first-ever gig in the acting world. She happened to be casting Babylon 5, I was submitted for it, and since she saw my name, she called me in. I ended up getting the part and thought it was just going to be a one-day gig, that I'd be there for a day and gone.

Joe Straczinski and Josh Copeland certainly appreciate a job well done a job; apparently they'd had some other people doing tech roles that either didn't click with them or the material, so they brought me back because they liked what I did. And kept brining me back, much to my surprise! Before I knew it, my fellow actors like Claudia Christian and Bruce Boxleitner were shouting, "When are we going to get Josh a name?" I have them to thank for that, and I'm certainly grateful for Claudia and Bruce opening their big mouths. It's the camaraderie and the help of others that has leant me the ability to be where I am in regards to the show.

Dreamwatch: Were you ever given any background to the character, or was he just "the guy in the pit"?

Joshua Cox: There was no background, really: basically it was a "create it yourself if you want to" kind of thing. It was simply this guy delivering information, who spoke when spoken to and didn't need to be called a name.

Dreamwatch: It sounds like Corwin's development took everyone by surprise.

Joshua Cox: They hadn't planned for me at all; I was this afterthought, this "who knew he was coming along?" I had no contract - and still don't - so I never knew what the deal was. These guys had a clear idea of where they were going and what was happening, and yet Joe went along with some of the opinions and decided to give my character a little bit of a personality. It's been very generous out there, considering that there was no room for me in the beginning, really. It's gone well beyond the "deliverer of pertinent information." I mean the fact that I've made it this far on the show really says a lot about the people who are working on it and creating it.

Dreamwatch: What's your favourite episode so far?

Joshua Cox: Well, of course it's the one with Claudia [Exogenisis]. I really got to be the most human that I've ever gotten to be on the show. When I was looking cautiously over my shoulder at her in And Now For A Word…there was definitely the first inkling of a personality for my character, we got to see a little bit of who Corwin was. I liked Z'ha'dum as well, because I got to show sadness and wonderment at the possible death of Garibaldi.

Dreamwatch: Have you done any episodes in Season 4?

Joshua Cox: Yes. So far I've been in 2 episodes: The beginning of The Hour Of The Wolf, and no Surrender No Retreat. I will be seen, but not nearly as much as I was in earlier seasons. I'll also be in Thridspace, the second cablefilm for TNT.

Dreamwatch: If you'd had the chance to play a different character on Babylon 5, who or what do you think you would've been?

Joshua Cox: You know, it would have been nice to play someone who got to traipse around a little bit more. I actually like my character, I really do. I like Corwin a lot. He's very naïve in a lot of ways, but he's a worthy fellow, and it would've been nice to see a bit more action, more involved in some way, perhaps in some subterfuge or the piloting of a fighter or leading a squadron or even a Ranger or something.

Dreamwatch: How was it to appear in Sliders?

Joshua Cox: That was fun to do. I played an Amish enforcer; they slide into this land where the Amish thing had gone crazy. I was this guy's right hand man and I ended up beating up Jerry O'Connell in the beginning, then he beats me up and I run away with my tail between my legs.

Dreamwatch: And the Burning Zone?

Joshua Cox: I basically blew my head off to start an episode called St Michael's Nightmare, I believe. In the other one I was the final straw that breaks the back of this priest. He can't convince me not to go ahead and shoot myself. It's very quick and its really unfortunate; we spent a fair amount of time and the director was very good, very involved. The directors on both those episodes were really good; they knew how to talk to actors pretty well, but that's TV, though. There's really no time for embellishment.

Dreamwatch: What is it about Babylon 5 that most appeals to you?

Joshua Cox: Well part of it is that I grew up watching Star Trek. I spent many a night around midnight or so, whenever those re-runs were on. My sisters and I and my friends would watch Star Trek and it's kind of a kick to be there in sort of a new incarnation of the same thing. It's definitely a lark.

Dreamwatch: I'm surprised that you haven't appeared in any episodes of the Star treks yet.

Joshua Cox: I've auditioned for a couple of guest spots - a Klingon here, a something-or-other there - and I've met the producers. I actually auditioned for one episode that LeVar Burton was directing, and I mentioned to him that I spent a part of my childhood with him. He said "Did we go to school together?", and I said "No, Roots". I'm not quite sure how he took it. I don't know if he cares to remember that pert of his career because everybody else does for him. I have yet to get in on The X-Files and Millennium and those types of shows, but I'm working on it.

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