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X-Mentor
It's a bizarre coincidence even Fox Mulder might have trouble believing. Years ago, long before he achieved pop cultural immortality as The X-Files' notorious Cigarette Smoking Man, actor William B. Davis was, among other things, an acting teacher. He became Artistic Director of the William Davis Centre for Actors' Studies in Vancouver and taught hundreds of aspiring young performers.
Among his many students was... you guessed it. "I owe Bill so much," says Lucy Lawless, who remembers those early, uncertain years with great fondness. "He was really a formative part of my life. He assembled this wonderful team of teachers... and he is a great teacher who really spoke to me. It was such a wonderful school. As a matter of fact, I recently wrote a little blurb for his students that was printed in a school pamphlet."
Davis (the B. stands for Bruce) has appeared in countless films and TV programs over the years. He periodically shifts into teaching mode when the impulse strikes him, then just as easily slips back into acting. "I auditioned for The X-Files at age 55," he reveals. "I had no sense that the character would grow, so I didn't give up my day job." That day job was founder and administrator of his popular acting school, which he still owns but no longer runs.
Perhaps someday, producers Chris Carter and Rob Tapert will concoct the ultimate TV series crossover event -The X-Files meets Xena - and these two pop culture icons will finally be reunited. Let's see now... the Cigarette Smoking Man forms an uneasy alliance with Ares to plunge the world into even greater chaos. Scully is suspicious of Xena's motives, while Gabrielle, who reminds Mulder of his long lost sister Samantha, finds herself falling in love with the distracted FBI agent. Meanwhile, Joxer decides to join the agency himself, much to the growing annoyance of Assistant Director Walter S. Skinner.
Have I mentioned this is supposed to be a comedy?
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