Nerd’s Eye View by Paul Simpson
The Troika will go down in history as nasty ol’ Warren, nerdy Jonathan, and… the other one. And now, in Season Seven, after the First Evil’s machinations, only ‘the other one’ is left. Tom Lenk discusses Andrew’s incredible progress from bad boy to Scooby ally!

If anyone had been asked to bet on which of the evil nerd Troika would be the sole survivor, chances are Andrew wouldn’t have been the first choice. Or probably even the second. Somehow, the comic book devotee has managed to avoid Willow’s vengeance, and the First’s attempts to use him against Buffy and her friends.
    For actor Tom Lenk, returning to the seventh season of Buffy has been a great deal of fun. At the end of the sixth year, Andrew and Jonathan were seen heading for Mexico, desperate to be as far away from Sunnydale as they possibly could, and the actor was hopeful that he might make a guest appearance in the series’ seventh year. He did not anticipate Andrew’s presence would be felt in all but seven of the season’s twenty two-episodes – or that he would start turning into a member of the Scooby Gang. Indeed, had the show continued, Andrew (and therefore Tom) would have been promoted to series regular, taking the spot of the now mature Xander. At least that was the plan.
    Buffy Magazine caught up with Tom as he exited the make-up trailer heading for another confrontation with Season Seven evil…

Originally, you weren’t expecting to be in much of Season Seven, if at all, and suddenly you’re there in nearly every episode. When did you find out that it was going to be such a heavy commitment?
After I sent the bribes in! No, seriously, it was after Adam, Danny and I came back and did episode seven and then episode nine and I don’t know if anyone was too sure what direction the season was heading in. I was thinking that both Adam and Danny were dead now, and any minute it could be my time. I was expected to get killed off right away. I’m not ruling it out now! I’m not sure – it could happen at any time. But after the first few episodes, it became obvious that they were going to keep me around.

Has the direction of the Seventh Season surprised you? It’s been more about an apocalypse in the making, rather than just fighting one villain.
I like it better than having to go, ‘Who’s the villain this week? How are we going to solve the mystery?’ This season has a good through-line and it’s given opportunities for more characters to come in to every episode. People can die, and then return. It’s an interesting direction that the show’s going in and I like it.

How much did the producers tell you about what was going on? Did you know that Warren was part of the First when you shot those scenes where he got Andrew to kill Jonathan?
At that point, I didn’t know what was happening overall. We knew from the script that it wasn’t the ‘real ‘ Warren, that it was the First. We had to know about that, because we had to know the frame of reference for what he was, and so Adam knew how to approach the character. We knew about that a little but, but as far as knowing about what’s going to happen? We don’t know anything until we get the script – and even then they change it on us! We’re never too sure about anything!

You’re getting a chance to interact with the main cast a lot more this time around. How are you fitting in?
As far as the characters and Andrew are concerned, he’s still totally an outsider. They don’t know what to do with him. They’re stuck with him. They had no intention of making him part of the group. I love that one of my lines last season to the others was ‘Maybe we’ll join her gang and hang out at her house’ – and now that’s exactly what I’m doing! I was tied up for a while, true, but, as far as Andrew goes, all he wants is to be part of the gang! They’re trying not to let him, but I think that he’ll get there.
    As far as the actors and me, being on the outskirts is not even an issue. They’re really cool and welcoming, which I thought was odd. They’ve been together for such a long time that I thought they’d find someone coming in hard to accept, but they were all such a great cast to work with.

What’s the worst bit of this season been for you? Doing a lot of scenes tied up?
Yes! Being tied up got to be a little aggravating, but… whatever! That’s part of the job.

Does the character ever grate on you? You’ve had a lot of nerdish lines…
They’re funny. That’s also part of my job, so I can’t complain. That’s the whole reason I’m there. I love the moments when I geek out, then Xander chimes in with something and then he tries to cover it up. That’s really funny. But I guess the character has to keep doing what he’s been doing since the beginning. I’ve got some really cool scenes – particularly in ‘Showtime,’ which aired over here recently. Normally, I hate watching myself, I really cringe at it, but I was so excited during the week before it aired, looking forward to watching the scene between Andrew and Dawn. I turned it on, and I thought, ‘That’s great’. I’m really proud of it. I’m getting so much great material to work with, and I’m trying my hardest to think of the funniest way to approach the scenes.

Are you getting much input into the comedy? Or does it all come from the scriptwriters, showing their nerdish side?
They supply me with all the factoid jokes that I don’t get sometimes. I wonder sometimes if I should study them, and then I’d grow as an actor! There have been a couple of lines and they’ve actually kept them in the final episode. Sometimes there are awkward moments of silence and I’ll add to it, and they’ve kept it, which is rare on a show like this. There’s not really time for improvisation, but the directors are very good about letting it in when they can. Normally you’ve got to do exactly what’s on the page, but there are these small moments when they’ve let me run with it, which is really cool.. It’s so much fun to get to add to this amazing writing. Not that I ever change anything that they’ve written, but I’ve added a little line here and there.

You’ve not had many scenes with Adam and Danny as a trio, but are the three of you still getting a chance to hang out socially?
Definitely. We still see each other all the time. It’s been quieter recently because Adam’s been out of town for a while doing stuff with his band. But I do miss them being here on the set, and I’m so sad that they’re gone – but at the same time I guess I wouldn’t be here if they were. I’m  just surprised that I’m the one who’s still alive.

What would you like to see happen to Andrew? Do you think he should become a fully-fledged Scooby?
Sure, but I doubt that’s ever going to happen. That would be fun, though. Or if he had his own show: that’s what I want to happen: ‘Andrew! Tune in Tuesdays at 9!’ No, what I’d like to do is keep working on the shows that I like, with great material. That’s all I can ask for, and I’m getting it.

What’s the reaction been like when you’re out in public?
During last season it was odd. A lot of people were coming up to me at the grocery store. It died down between seasons, because people weren’t watching the show too much. To begin with, it was funny when people came up to me and they actually knew my name, because I would just assume people would most of the time see me and be, like, “Hey, it’s what’s-his-name from Buffy“. They’d think I was the other guy from the Trio. Because none of the characters on the show could remember my name, I expected the audience to be the same. I did a play between seasons and someone who came to see it was like, “Oh my God, I didn’t recognise you at first, but it’s so great t o see Tom Lenk in a show.” I think it’s really just so funny and nice that people take time to look at the credits.

Do you watch Buffy now? Had you watched it before?
I watched it during the fifth year because my first scene on the show was at the very beginning of that season, so I watched through that season. I wasn’t watching a whole lot of TV at that point because I was so busy, but I tried to watch it whenever I could. I finally got TiVo last year which changed my life. Now I watch all the reruns on FX and wherever they’re on. Now I have to say that I’m definitely hooked. I’ll be watching with my entire family and my poor grandma says, “It’s really violent, but I enjoy you on the show so I’ll continue to watch.” It’s funny: my mom’s been saying “You can’t work on too many shows because I get stuck hooked on watching all these shows. I don’t have the time to devote my life to all this TV.” But I really enjoy watching it.
    Many of my friends and the industry people that I’m friends with love it. I don’t think the creators have got enough of the critical acclaim that they deserve. All the writers in town watch Buffy because it has such great writing, and it’s really nice to be on a show like that.