Why Raymond Lee Thinks Of Quantum Leap As An 'Actor's Dream'
There are a number of reasons to become an actor. Sure, there's always the possibility of fame and fortune, but most actors are probably (hopefully) in it because they love storytelling. Or maybe they love embodying different characters. They might even look at acting as an escape into other worlds when the real world gets to be too much sometimes. No matter what the reason is, actors are constantly on the lookout for the perfect part that gives them everything that they're looking for in a role.
For example, you likely want something that is creatively fulfilling. It could also be culturally significant. The job should be exciting and never monotonous. And maybe there's a heartfelt message or some kind of lesson for the audience to take away. But it's very seldom that a role in film or television has all of the above. However, it looks like Raymond Lee found the gig that gives him all that and more when he signed on for the revival of "Quantum Leap."
The time of your life
While speaking to Nerd Reactor about the reboot of the seminal sci-fi series that originally starred Scott Bakula as the time-and-body jumping Dr. Samuel Beckett, Lee shared that playing Dr. Ben Song in the continuation has been a dream come true. The former "Kevin Can F*** Himself" star basically said in the interview that there's never a dull moment on the NBC show from an acting perspective because of how much it changes from episode to episode:
"It's an actor's dream. The scenery never is the same, and it's just very exciting to have that kind of turnover, right? After 7-10 days of work, you have a brand new wardrobe, you're in a brand new time period. Yeah, the cars that you're seeing, props — everything changes. For me, it's never the same, so it's very exciting. Historically, it jumps in so many different times, and so it's important for us to keep track of those things too. What was relevant during what time period, how people spoke, how people talk, what was important to people at that time, and who was the president at that time? These are all important things to keep track of. All of that is just very stimulating and exciting."
I love to hear him say this because it just shows how much more hyper-aware time travelers of color need to be. Back in 2016, "Timeless" covered how much more difficult it can be for anyone other than cishet white males to travel through time because of the various troubles they could encounter. Based on Lee's comments, it sounds like this show will explore elements of that, which is great since it really should be talked about more in the genre.
"Quantum Leap" airs on NBC every Monday at 10:00pm EST.