Nimoy Talks Fringe Roll

Leonard Nimoy fresh off of working with JJ Abrams on Star Trek, has joined Fringe for a few episodes playing William Bell, for founder of Massive Dynamics and once partner to Walter Bishop. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he discusses the role.

You worked with J.J. on Trek. Is that how this role came about?
Yeah, he called me and said: "We have this character that's been referred to but never seen." He gave me some backstory on the guy and sent me some episodes to look at. I think the show's extremely well done. And there's enough intrigue about the guy to make it interesting.

There is a lot of intrigue surrounding William Bell. What can you tell us about him?
I can tell you that he's very intriguing.... [Laughs] He has a great sense of his place in the scheme of things. Profoundly successful, very smart.... What's going to be explored is the story of his relationship with [former lab partner Walter Bishop], what he wants with [special agent Olivia Dunham], what he is intending to do with all this money and power that he has, what are his idiosyncrasies. I think we managed to get some interesting touches into the brief scene with Anna [Torv, who plays Olivia]. We're going to have some fun with this guy. I think we're going to ring somebody's bell.... It's a blank canvas, and maybe a misleading blank canvas. Maybe there have been some clues about him that are misleading, and I think that's part of the fun of the show.

Are you open to doing more than three episodes?
Yes, I am, depending on how much fun we have. It's got to be fun for me these days, otherwise why bother? I had a terrific time doing what we already did, and I like [cocreators Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman] a lot. I like the possibility of this character. I'm excited for the first time in a long time.