Is Michelle Forbes amazing or ...
Question: Is
Michelle Forbes amazing or what? As much as I hated to see her go, her death scene (as Commander Cain) on
Battlestar Galactica was as interesting and unexpected as all her other work. I'm not sure how she pulled it off, but her face seemed to register anger, fear, defiance and resolution all in the space of about 20 seconds, and she suddenly made this detestable character sympathetic without having to say a word. As always, after watching Forbes, I thought, "Why hasn't someone made this woman a permanent presence on a major ensemble show?" After strong performances on everything from
Star Trek: The Next Generation to
Homicide: Life on the Street, from
24 to
Prison Break, it feels like Forbes is long overdue for success at the level of
Allison Janney or
Felicity Huffman. But it always seems like she's around for a short time and then — bang — she's gone again! What do you think, Matt? Any chance we'll see her land a regular series and a long-term role she can really dig into and make her own? Or should we just be happy, as we are now, watching her pop up for a short time in surprising places and intriguing parts on so many cool series?
Answer: I agree, she's great in whatever she does, and she was a marvelously formidable adversary on
Battlestar. It would be very cool to have her around on a sustained weekly basis on just about any show. If
CSI ever had the guts to build a show around a lead female investigator, she'd be among my first picks. But my gut tells me (and I don't know this for sure) that Forbes is the sort of actor who is more comfortable taking on a variety of new roles and not getting locked into a grind for years on end. (I remember being surprised when she left
Homicide after a relatively short time.) I'm wondering if she'd even accept a lead role if the
CSI factory offered it to her. But I'd love it if she did. She rocks.
