The star of ‘Fringe’ is perfect as mad scientist

NEW YORK (AP) — Dr. Walter Bishop follows in a long line of mad scientists. An unbalanced genius like Bishop going at it in his lab is a pop-culture staple. Or even, some would say, a cliché.

But in the hands of John Noble, who stars on Fox’s sci-fi thriller “Fringe,” Bishop comes to life. He is both comical and tragic, nutty as a fruitcake yet totally relatable. This is a living, breathing portrayal.

Bishop is a scientist of Einsteinian proportions who for decades was deemed insane and, until “Fringe” started last fall, institutionalized.

Then his long-estranged son, Peter (played by Joshua Jackson), reluctantly agreed to provide the supervision that Dad required to re-enter society.

Rounding out the show’s odd threesome is FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv). She needed Bishop and his filial caretaker to help her track down perpetrators of “fringe science” (stuff like mind control, teleportation, astral projection and genetic engineering) who threaten national security and, possibly, the human race.

For Bishop’s character to work, you have to buy into everything he says, no matter how unhinged; feel for the guy, no matter how inappropriate his behavior; care about him, even when he acts ridiculous.

Noble makes it work.

“I understand Walter,” Noble said. “I can understand his childish enthusiasm quite well. I understand his loneliness, and his attempts to re-establish contact with his son.”

The Australian-born, 61-year-old Noble is a theater veteran who for a decade was artistic director of the Stage Company of South Australia. His extensive film work includes two of the “Lord of the Rings” fantasies, playing Denethor.

He calls his “Fringe” role “a huge gift. It enables me to use a range of skills developed over so many years and grow a character over a long period of time.”

Just how long may be in doubt. In this, its second season, “Fringe” has struggled for viewers. Airing Thursday at 8 p.m. CST, it shares one of TV’s most competitive time slots: with rivals that include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “CSI” and the duo of “The Office” paired with “30 Rock.”

This makes Bishop’s added service as comic relief all the more welcome.

Elbow-deep into an autopsy, he might direct his lab assistant to fire up a Bunsen burner and start preparing some custard.

Then he giggles and, in his Brahmin-seasoned accent, says in wonderment, “It’s funny: I love custard ... but I hate flan!”

Meanwhile, it falls to Bishop to voice a lot of complex scientific exposition (plus loopy-sounding theories).

A cinch, insists Noble.

“I certainly have no trouble articulating those concepts when I’m performing a scene. A lot of the science that we delve into is not new to me — it’s fascinated me for a very long time.”

What Nobel didn’t know so much about was starring in a network TV series.

“Ignorance is bliss,” he said. “What I thought was, basically: I love the show, and I love going out and playing my character.

“The technical demands of television are far more subtle than they are on stage, and I love that. And the pace of television doesn’t worry me. You know that saying: Your first instinct is your best instinct. In television it HAS to be, because that’s the only one you’re gonna get. So you say, ‘Oh, well, here goes!’ But that suits my personality.”

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