Occasionally, an actor will step onto the screen and into the guise of a very bad man, so convincingly – so unnervingly – audience members are left to wonder: was it acting, or did the eerie verisimilitude stem from a secreted demon locked deep within his brow? Yet, we rarely pause to wonder when an actor resonates as a resoundingly good character. Who doesn’t imagine Morgan Freeman sipping his morning tea, patio side, quietly optimistically, mulling the world, benevolence unwavering? Whose instinct – after seeing him tottering around as a bumble bee, and forlorn with love in Continental Divide – isn’t to suspect there’s more to the story or outright misquotation when we’re informed Gilda Radner was stonewalled a larger sweep on SNL because John Belushi firmly believe women aren’t funny? Allowing oneself to be washed over with good vibes of an actor, just because he portrayed a swell guy is about as foolhardy as crushing on a fellow because of the bittersweet melody he played on his guitar.
And yet…
… and yet, I cannot imagine Andy Hallett as anything short of extraordinarily wonderful. There is a certainty awake in my heart that his acquaintance would have been an absolute joy.
When a character is well-received, it is often said that viewers “fell in love”. There are any number of characters I could personally say it of. Most of them, however, clearly exist only within their allotted fiction. Once the book is closed, or the show ends, I’ll fondly reminisce, but rarely am I moved to wonder where a character might fit into other stories. The television series Angel was on top of its game when the final curtains were drawn. Amid the pangs of an end to the weekly dose of Buffyverse, was a small glimmer of hope: Lorne.
Deep within the dregs of L.A. stood Caritas, a cozy karaoke bar run by The Host. Green flesh, red eyes and petite horns aside, The Host was the vision of swank. Always tailored in colorful suits and dapper neckerchief, The Host did more than sling the Cosmopolitans – he could peek into the futures and hearts of patrons… but only if they sang. A natural master of ceremonies, The Host was a marvelous creation.
It was only during a four episode, season ending excursion, that The Host’s back story and name were revealed. Krevlorneswath of the Death Wok Clan (Lorne, for short) hailed from another dimension – a drab, violent, song-less world. Growing up, Lorne heard music in his head, which invited little more than ridicule from his brutish relatives. Longing for a land where people were free to be themselves, Lorne fled through a porthole to our world, and ended up opening a karaoke bar upon the very spot where he landed.
A character so grand, it’s easy to salivate for more. Clamor, the fans did. Lorne went from a two or three spot gig to a frequent guest, until he was finally bumped up to bonafide regular. Perhaps due to years of familiarity with the demon dressings of the Buffyverse, the deep crimson eyes and speckled green flesh didn’t really seem so out of place. Andy Hallett was simply, astonishingly, at ease in it. So much life breathed into the role, in fact, it is a pity Lorne doesn’t actually exist, a thousand miles from here, a demon with mad pipes, burning up the stage at a back alley bar. I doubt there are very many Angel viewers who, at some point along the series, didn’t experience risk or confusion in their lives and wish – just a little – they could drop in to Caritas for a swig and some divine direction.
The legend of Lorne’s true origins has long been: Joss Whedon chanced into a blues revue, saw Hallett singing, and was inspired with the idea of Lorne. Somewhat true, but the reality is a bit more involved. In an interview with Israel’s TVE, Hallett revealed he came to Los Angeles with a friend, who happened to be a relative of Whedon. The group of friends frequented dodgy karaoke bars – and Whedon did see singing there, and the blues revue, and was inspired with Hallett towards the character of Lorne, but only offered an audition. As Whedon told him, flatly, “I was inspired by you – but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get it.” Luckily, Hallett brought an irrepressible charm to the character, and made it through.
Lorne wasn’t one to let the world get him down. Perhaps this world isn’t entirely a space where one is free to express themselves – but there is room in it for places which cater to such freedoms. Lorne’s little dive was one of them. One needn’t be a member of the Deathwok Clan to tire of peers passing judgment. Not all of us are bold enough to thrust out our chin, tell the system to bend itself sideways, tie on a glimmering neckerchief and do what makes us happy. Andy Hallett might have stopped a bit short of the deep purple suits, but he did take a chance that changed his life...
Also one with music in his head, Hallett fancied the idea of singing. His voice is grand, but the nasal slant he spanked onto words is hardly traditional, and so, he found himself falling folly to the locals. Too many naysayers and his courage to step onto the stage was fractured… until a fortuitous night at a Patti LaBelle show. The illustrious lass beckoned some young men onto the stage to join her in Lady Marmalade, Hallett among them. Standing beside and idol and before a teeming crowd, the secret wannabe chanced opening his mouth. LaBelle marveled, “Now there’s a white boy with soul!” After the show, people approached him for pictures and autographs. The yeses finally beat out the nos, and Hallett, like his green future, slipped through a portal to L.A.
He’s said, of his favorite aspect of Lorne, “... you know how when Angel turned to Angelus and he got really mean to everybody? Well, he never had that much mean stuff to say to Lorne, and that was when I was finally realizing this is kind of cool. Lorne doesn’t have that much to pick on him. He’s like "yeah, I am what I am, and I don’t go out and fight battles, but you can’t say more than that". I like the fact that he usually gets along with everybody. Like in one of the episodes recently, Spike was like really pissing everybody off, and Lorne was like "Alright, see you later, Spike". You know, not drawing judgment upon anybody, because he’s from this planet Pylea, on which - you know - he got picked on by everybody. So he hated Pylea because he heard music and nobody else did, and they thought he was insane. So he came to LA where everybody is supposed to be accepted, and I think he’d be the last one to put a judgment on anybody, because he’s been judged so much.”
Thing is, everyone watching certainly judged Lorne. We judged, and we more than approved. The charisma of Lorne, whether singing, narrating, or chuckling at his own wit, resonated as a sort of inborn empathy. Of course the character was a psychic, but that aura of commiseration wasn’t fueled through vibes from the otherworld, rather, humble experience. Directors, writers – they create shells, and the actor becomes the filling, the mortar that either fortifies the foundation, or sends it all tumbling down.
One of the very first scenes with Hallett on Angel, he’s in the green get-up, upon the smoky stage of Caritas, and launches into a sober rendition of “I Will Survive”. The song quickly segues into a spoken summation of life in the City of Angels. So confidently delivering the punch of his prose, it was remarkable, at the time, to hear that he’d never acted before. As co-star Charisma Carpenter put it, “This is his first real job ever. Isn't it sad, how long it takes some of us to get into it, and he's there, and it's like he's been there for 10 years. Hallelujah! He's the bomb."
Lorne wasn’t one to start fights. This dimension, to Lorne, was a place to be reveled. Yet, through acquaintance with warriors against the dark, he inevitably became wound up in fighting. In his very last appearance on Angel, he was called upon to perform the darkest of tasks. It went against his nature, his desires, and everything he had come to love of this world – yet, he did it, because the world he loved was more than worth saving. There is a nod, between Angel and Lorne, and scant dialogue. We knew he had a task, but when Lorne says of it, “I’ll do it. But… then I’m out” the foreshadow hardly does the shocking act much credence. He does what was asked, and then, presumably, gets out of dodge. Angel and his compadres began a fight they weren’t likely to win, insurmountable odds only trained warriors should really dare. And that was that. No sixth season… but they knew that, going in. It was a proper ending. So Lorne was left, out there in the world, war-weary and eager to make a fresh start. Buffy, incidentally, was left wide open (WIDE open – hundreds of slayer stories to choose from). I wondered if the two opportunities might meet, somewhere down the road. Another bar, perhaps, another town with a slayer in need of guidance and to let assault a karaoke machine with her caterwaul…
Hallett had to spend over two to three hours in the makeup chair for every dressing. That alone might have turned some people off of acting, entirely. He’d come to be a presence on the sci-fi convention circuit – in pictures from the gigs, he looks like he was having a ball with the fans. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If a fellow gets a job on a show, and becomes outrageously popular with the core group of fans… why wouldn’t he take advantage of convention money after the show’s end? … and yet, nothing Dean Stockwell has done was half as popular as his stint as Al on Quantum Leap. But fan stories paint a picture of a snarly little man driven nearly nauseous by their well wishing. After scouring the net, I can safely report no such complaints exist of Andy Hallett.
According to the fans who have met him, he was, in fact, a joy to be around.
In an interview with the Official UK Angel Magazine, Hallett was asked if he missed playing Lorne. He beamed, in response, "No, because I don't feel like I've stopped, really. There was a lot of me in that character, and I'm still being me." An utter exuberance is felt throughout every interview with him. He was quick to point out everything he adored of his co-stars and co-workers, laughing at every opportunity – enjoying every moment. What we learn from Hallett and his horned alter-ego, is while there are moments to fight – remember to pop a paper umbrella in the rest, and enjoy it.
There were rumors for a bit, that Hallett was going to release a cd under the same name as Lorne did in Angel. “Songs for the Love-Lorne”. I really wish he had. There’s a lovely memoriam on YouTube, featuring Hallett doing a downright sexy version of “It Ain’t Easy Being Green” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn--FjBYCV8 as was included the Angel soundtrack. As I said, it’s smoldering, more smooth than one could hope of a song intended for Kermit the Frog. How frustrating there isn’t more. Lorne isn’t the only one I’d want more of. That slightly hammy, Teflon voice of Hallett’s could soothe my eardrums for hours.
Lorne unamused by a relative's ludicrous dance of joy. (A relative played by incognito Joss Whedon)
… and then, there’s the reason he hadn’t done more since the demise of Angel.
A filling fell out of a cavity, but it wasn’t bothering him. Within months of Angel’s end, the tooth became infected, but without any inflammation in the area, Hallett was unaware. The infection spread, feeding directly to his heart, and launching a nasty case of congestive heart failure. His heart was irreparably weakened, leading to multiple hospitalizations of the last five years. He finally succumbed to congestive heart failure on March 29th.
Thirty three years was far too short a stay for such a delectable man, but for all of us who have music in our heads, he remains an inspiration.
In closing, here is a scene from Hallett’s favorite episode of Angel, in which Lorne has an act in V-E-G-A-S (a dream come true for Hallett):
Whedonesque.com is putting out the word regarding tributes in the memory of Andy Hallett.
Simon from Whedonesque, explains: "Andy's agent writes to say what the family wants donation wise in lieu of flowers. "When Andy was in high school his best friend lost his brother so the two boys put together a scholarship fund. Andy continued to raise money til his death for this". The address for the fund is as follows.
The Jason A Fedele Memorial Scholarship 141 Winding Cove Road Marstons Mills, MA 02648
