John Noble's Q&A Reveals Some 'Fringe' Secrets

It’s been over two years since Fringe was last on the air, but it will forever be a fan favorite. John Noble, who played Dr. Walter Bishop, recently chatted with fans on Facebook about the series and his role on it. The sci-fi drama's intricately woven plots spanned five seasons and followed the fictional Fringe department at the FBI, which investigated mysterious and unexplained occurrences, all of which were eventually traced back to a parallel universe. Though I wasn’t a Fringe super fan, I'm a huge drama serial lover, so a twisty show with a sci-fi spin is right up my alley.

While I was thrilled to see the delectable Joshua Jackson outside of the Creek , it was Noble’s character, Dr. Walter Bishop, who really became the glue that made the series work so well. What the quirky mad scientist lacked in social cues he made up for in smarts. Throughout the series, he struggled to connect with his family and friends, but in the end, he received the second chance that he always hoped for.

Despite being relocated to the dreaded Friday evening time slot, Fox gave Fringe the opportunity to wrap things up when they rounded out the series with a 13-episode final season. Though we can go back and rewatch all of Fringe’s episodes, it's even more fun to get insider info straight from the source.

Here are the 10 best quotes from John Noble's Facebook Q&A:

On Having the Chance To Tie Up Loose Ends

"Were so lucky that Fox and Warner Bros. gave us a fifth season. We wanted to finish our story off. 13 episodes is the perfect arc. How do we tie all the loose ends? The writers did a remarkable job. They really had to do what they did given what we had done with the previous 4 years. It wasn't sentimental, but it was pretty heart-breaking."

Networks seldom give shows the opportunity to wrap things up neatly after canceling them.

Describing Walter Bishop in Three Words

"Awesome, outrageous, and lovable!"

Walter was certainly lovable, even though he refused to get Astrid's name right.

Favorite Part About Playing Walter Bishop

"It was the liberation I had to play all facets of the human experience. That's almost unheard of for an actor. It was like having 1,000 roles put into one. I had the best time possible doing it!"

Playing both Walter and Walternate was no easy feat, and took a huge amount of preparation on Noble's part.

On Preparing to Play Walter

"No not at all. I shared an apartment with a fellow who was very similar to Walter. He was an artist and quite crazy. I loved him. He gave me an awful lot of clues of how to play him. A study of genius which I believe is very hard to do. In my research I did that. Particularly the study of genius. They are often socially limited." [sic]

The fact that Walter had no filter is what made him so extraordinary.

On Walter and Peter Noble's Relationship

"The best thing was I think the slow growth of the relationship Josh Jackson and I worked on very carefully, we took it very seriously. To have 5 seasons to develop that relationship was great." [sic]

Peter replaced the son that Walter lost long ago.

On Walter and Olivia Dunham's Relationship

"You know, there's a beautiful scene where Olivia was a little bit drunk and Walter made her breakfast, and she put her head on his shoulder. It was such a great memory of the bond between Anna [Torv] and I." [sic]

The pudding joke was hilarious.

On Walter As a Father

"He was not a good father. Not initially. Many exceptionally gifted people are not necessarily good parents because they don't have the time. But when he was given the second chance he became a great parent"

When you lack social skills, it's often very difficult to reach out to others.

Not Actually Liking Sweets

"I don't actually eat sweets at all. A lot of the other crazy things I did eat, it was fun at times! Sweets are such a huge part of Walter's life, but I couldn't do it."

Walter vs. Walternate

"Just in terms of being without boundaries, Walter was [more fun to play]. But, to be able to play that other man, and did a superb job of protecting this people, it was so much fun. Walter was just amazing to play." [sic]

Noble even changed the way that he stood when moving between Walter and Walternate.

The Plot That Surprised Him Most

"The one that surprised me most was where Peter disappeared from our timeline. That REALLY surprised me. In a sense, it served to highlight what his absence meant to the characters. That therefore serves the rest of the series. Also, The whole alternate universe wasn't discussed in season one! Suddenly there was this new reality. It was so exciting, but took a while to grasp." [sic]

OK, time to rewatch this entire series from start to finish.

Images: FOX; Giphy (1)