In the latest episode of Clone Wars airing this Friday, "Trespass", character actor Brian George plays Chairman Chi Cho, a greedy representative of the Pantoran people interested in staking claim on an inhabited ice planet.
George is a veteran of numerous television roles, and had previously lent his voice to The Clone Wars as the Toydarian monarch, King Katuunko. We asked George about his role as Chairman Cho, and of his most recognizable screen persona, Babu from classic episodes of Seinfeld:
How did you get involved with the Clone Wars project?
Very prosaically, I'm afraid. I read for the part at my agent's office. We were asked to listen to a demo recording of Chairman Cho done by someone who works at Lucasfilm -- a gentleman with a flat sounding voice and, what sounded to me like, a mild South African accent. I guess they liked something in the quality of his read and asked the actors auditioning for the role to see if they could incorporate it into their own interpretations. Since the character of Cho is a bit of a horror show, it wasn't too hard to draw, from recent history, on some of the uglier voices of the South African apartheid era and infuse him with the venom and hatred that we used to hear on the news every night.
Can you describe your experience working on "Trespass"?
An absolute pleasure. There's always something intoxicating and joyful about being in a roomful of talented people, no matter what the talent. This just happens to be a roomful of bright, funny and creative writers and actors. You laugh an awful lot. And yet work gets done.
Many fans might recognize you from your role on Seinfeld as Babu. Do you still get recognized on the street for this role?
Pretty much every day. What none of us who guested on the show fully realized -- until we saw the amazing amount of hoopla surrounding the final episode -- was that we hadn't just been part of an amazingly successful show, but of a cultural phenomenon. We were a part of the zeitgeist! And that's nothing to sneeze at.
Are their any historical figures you can liken Chairman Cho to? Any historical events you feel are similar to those that unfold in "Trespass"?
Not really one person, but there are any number of recent events that inform the episode. The ethnic cleansing that went on in the former Yugoslavia. The Rwandan genocide. Darfur. Unfortunately, the list goes on and on. Cho is one of those bullies that lead by inciting blood-lust and hatred of 'the outsider' rather than by any positive visionary message. There always seems to be a Cho lurking about, ready to bloody the water.
Was there ever a chance to redeem Cho?
I like that he doesn't learn anything! Not everyone does. We're so used to seeing characters, on TV especially, having some kind of epiphany. Some people are just blind, though, and never see anything but their own 'truth'.
