“Hi, I’m Wil, and I’ll be playing the part of the Orange X.”

Trying to think about something else for a moment …

I'm Wil. I'll be playing the part of the Orange X.

When we shoot a TV show or a movie, we often have to cheat our looks closer or farther away from the camera during our closeups.
Most of the time, the place we're supposed to look is marked with a piece of tape, like an orange X, for example. 

When we shot the "showdown" sequence on Leverage, Aldis and I both had to cheat our looks on most of the shots, so whoever was on camera played a lot of the scene looking at a piece of tape while the other actor stood behind the camera and delivered his lines. There was one set up, though, where I was able to stand just to the side of the camera for him and he could talk directly to me. We were feeling silly that day, so I grabbed some tape and put an orange X right on my forehead. You know, for continuity.  

"Hi, I'm Wil, and I'll be playing the part of the Orange X," I told him.
We all laughed, and I spent several minutes describing the different choices I make for different colors of tape.

 "Playing the Red X is very different from playing the Blue X, and though I've tried my best, I've never really been able to nail playing a Green X." 

My episode of Leverage, The 2 Live Crew Job, airs tonight on TNT.

I did a whole bunch of interviews last week to support tonight's show. If you'd like to read them all, here is a huge list that TNT publicity just sent me. Some of these links include video, too.

(Thanks to Marc Roskin, who took this picture with his iPhone and e-mailed it to me.)

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34 thoughts on ““Hi, I’m Wil, and I’ll be playing the part of the Orange X.””

  1. “Loved Wil Wheaton in Leverage. He could have gone with the stereotypical orange X we see on every other TV show, but he infused his character with breathtaking 3-dimensionality. His best work since portraying a single pixel in The Guild.”

  4. I love that you were referred to as ‘our favorite O.G. (Original Geek)’.
    Looking forward to viewing the episode tonight.

  5. Just watched the showdown clip. AWESOMESAUCE! I’m so ready to watch this episode tonight! I hate that I have to wait a week to see you in The Guild 🙁

  8. Hey Wil, thought I’d let you know I’m giving you credit for Leverage becoming my new favourite show… actually hadn’t heard of it till you got the gig and blogged it as it’s on pay over here… Found the DVDs in store and am watching season One and I LOVE it!! Gonna be some time before I get to see a legit copy of your episode here in OZ but will sneak a look online. Can’t wait!

  14. I agree 100%! Great job, Wil! *applauds*
    Now, I just need to find the episodes featuring Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes 🙂

  16. Since I’m being a good boy and waiting for the show to be posted on the TNT website, it will be a week before I can see it, but I’m looking forward to it, Wil.

  17. Wil,
    Just watched Leverage for the first time, and only because of you. Great acting. And you were a computer nerd–just like in real life. And there in the T-Mobile commercial was Guinan. WOW! Wesley and Guinan together again.
    Live long and prosper. \\ // _
    Freeman

  18. Wil:
    WOW great to see you on the screen again. I miss ‘In Digital’ and other WebTV things you did with the old Screen Savers people.
    Hope you see you in more things!!
    Lee

  20. I really enjoyed the episode tonight, and I loved the showdown scene!
    Possible Spoiler Alert!
    Did anyone else notice the gravestone at the end said Sophie Devereaux instead of Catherine? (Katherine?) I found a plot hole!

  22. We adore Leverage and I was stoked to see this episode. You did a fantastic job, and I always love seeing you on the screen! After reading your earlier posts, though, I was really surprised to see that the episode was set in Boston. I’m disappointed that filming was done in Portland instead of Boston. I get that it was probably a cost issue, but as a native Southern Oregonian, I’ve spent my adult life hearing about how great Portland is and how the rest of the world doesn’t realize that there are great folks in the rest of Oregon, too, so it always strikes a nerve when the focus is on Portland.

  24. Like I said on twitter, you were GREAT on Leverage tonight. And yes, the wardrobe looked completely natural, right down to the shoes. My wife and I were both slightly giddy when you first appeared, but when they said that you were the Kobayashi Maru, I sorta came unglued. My wife looked at me with that “did I miss something?” look. I said “Star Trek” the same time as the show, and she gave me the “it figures” look.
    Since you were the baddest of the bad guys, I suppose that means your character will not be reappearing?

  25. Hey Wil, loved the episode! It really nailed the 60’s heist movie vibe that the show does so well, and Chaos’s showdown and double cross were a huge part of that. You should be proud man, a job well done!

  26. I suppose the name change was made so that the symbolism works better? Or maybe to make it more obvious for mainstream TV viewers? I think they could have written that scene so that it would have worked with a Catherine gravestone and still gotten the point across.

  27. Wonderful job! The only thing… You’re kinda getting typecast as the bad guy aren’t you? 😉
    I’ve started watching Leverage cause I knew you were going to be on it. After watching the past two episodes, and then your episode, I’m not touching that entry on my DVR.
    Hope to see your wonderful work again soon!

  28. If you like this season, you’ll LOVE season one. It’s on Netflix on-demand, as well as regular old DVD.

  30. Loved you in tonight’s episode of Leverage. The Kobayashi Maru reference really made me laugh, and that showdown scene-wonderful! It’s good to see you on the tube again.

  34. Hi Wil!
    I’m one of the writers who interviewed you for this episode. (The piece is here.) And I wanted to make a point of dropping by your blog to say thank you.
    You see, when I mentioned that some of us knew you from Star Trek, what I meant was I knew you from Star Trek. I grew up with TNG, and I appreciated you as a part of that show and as part of my childhood. When that show went off the air, my love of sci-fi seemed to go with it, and to this day I look to it as an important part of my youth. It was a real pleasure to interview you, and I wish I could have actually remembered to phrase that somehow.
    Speaking to you really made me re-embrace and feel better about those geeky parts of me and my past. I still have my comic books and action figures, and I do understand the difficulties of growing up like that and not fitting in; I never did except for among a small group of friends, all of whom have since passed. I’ve started, thanks to you, to look back on those memories for the first time in a long while and to re-embrace the creativity and the dorkiness of who I used to be, instead of running away from it.
    So, thank you. It wasn’t just a great interview, it was great for me personally. And I appreciate it. If we ever run into each other, remind me to buy you a drink.
    Best,
    Brittany Frederick
    brittanyw @ thetwocentscorp dot com

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