Since he came onto the scene during Roswell, New Mexico Season 3, preacher and alien extraordinaire Dallas has become a fan favorite.
There’s something about the kindhearted man who gives timely advice and always has a quick retort at the ready that people connect with. And star Quentin Plair is even more affable and charming than his on-screen character.
Quentin is a class act with a deep respect for his craft, and it was a pleasure to speak with him about Dallas’s journey, that cliffhanger ending of Roswell, New Mexico Season 4 Episode 7, and so much more.
This interview features such brilliant insight and so much laughter. Grab a little snack and enjoy this one!
I wanted to talk about Dallas’s journey. So, when we meet him in season three, he finds out he’s an alien, then he’s immediately thrust into this situation with Jones, and he almost dies, and he sees his father, and all these things are happening to him right away.
And then we see him in season four, and it feels like he is in a better place. And he’s trying to find his way within the group as well as looking into the past and stuff. So can you speak to his journey from the man we met to the guy we’re seeing now in season four?
Yeah. I think the thing for me coming into the show, ’cause obviously, I watched it, and when I knew I was cast, I watched it to catch up on all season one and season two that was out at that time.
And I think you have to be aware that when you’re getting dropped into a show that already has all those things formulated, and people have found their rhythm, you have to find a place for yourself. I got lucky that I feel like in season three, Dallas got dropped right in the middle of everything happening.
Then it just very quickly facilitated the story continuing. So as Dallas, as the actor going through it, I think when I first got there in season three, a lot of it was the discovery of all this new stuff. You know, he’s been a preacher his whole life.
And even though he’s had weird things happen to him when he’s around water, when he’s around the thing that had haunted his dreams and all that stuff. He knew something was slightly off, but for the most part, he was just a regular guy called to the faith and called to help people and all that kind of stuff.
And he just thought that he could hear prayers or was doing what he was called to. And then, obviously, as things go on, he finds out more and more about why that’s the case.
So I think the most fun thing for me was just playing all those discoveries, and like I said, being dropped into the thick of it and figuring out all these things and really figuring it out on screen.
And it was great because as I was actually getting to know the cast in real life, I also got to know them on screen. So I didn’t have to, you know, do too much quote, unquote acting. It was like, oh yeah, I don’t know Michael Vlamis in real life. And I also don’t know Michael on screen, so boom, right there.
I think that was great in season three.
Then when coming back in season four, I was excited to just kind of dive deeper into what makes up Dallas and kind of some of the holes that he had growing up, with not having his father around and not really knowing where he came from and kind of getting to explore that and try to find those answers in season four.
This episode, in particular, episode seven, it’s a really big episode for Dallas. And I love how we explored and saw more of his childhood through these memories with Theo.
Can you walk us through where Dallas’s head space was at kind of throughout this hour as he’s going through these memories and trying to figure out what it is that his father wants him to find?
Yeah. I mean, I think it’s the same thing. It was all really just a place of exploration, a lot of excitement because it was like, I think anybody alien or not, when you don’t have your parents around, that’s something that’s always kind of a deep want or a deep need to kind of figure out.
Like I think all of us have this need to know where we came from. And so I felt like for so much of this season, it was frustration over getting so many more questions than actual answers.
And I think this episode, in particular, was a bit of a turning point where all of those questions that I’ve been getting in the beginning of the season start to get answered.
So, there’s like an excitement with that and a drive to find more, and also all this other stuff is going on. That’s not just like, oh, find out about my dad. Great. It’s like, oh no, I need to find this out to help Maria, to help Max, and to figure out all this.
I think that all that just turned into an intense drive to find this stuff out with the inner part of it. Really connecting with my father, my past, my personal history, my connection with water, my power, like all those things.
I feel like that was on a personal note, and it helped that it also helps the whole pod squad, the whole group, further what they were going through as well.
There were a lot of really cool moments, too, like the separating of the water and the whole ending with the quicksand.
Yeah. Cool, cool. Or cool to see, not necessarily as cool to film. But yes, the quicksand. It was a very cold night. I’ll tell you that.
Was it? Aw.
[laughs] Yeah, yeah.
With that ending and without giving anything away, is there anything you can tease for us about where we’ll see Dallas’s story go next?
Let’s see. Where can I tease? I can say you will see Dallas again. I can say that we’re not just gone. I’m trying to see…what I can tease is that there’s definitely more for Dallas to find out. The exploration will continue.
Okay. I like it. So, you touched on this a little bit before, but I was curious, coming onto a series that’s already established and joining in season three, how did you find that experience of joining a new show? Were you nervous, excited? A bit of both?
I mean, definitely nervous. Anytime I join anything new, I’m nervous about it cause you don’t want to be bad. You know what I mean? But one thing I will say, from the very first day, Jeanine was incredible to me. And I really think most shows in general, how number one is, that’s how the rest of the show kind of goes.
So how number one is towards people, treats people, is towards the crew. All those kinds of things, what attitude they had. It kind of trickles down for the most part. And that was true of this show.
I will say they’re very cryptic even from the audition process into the show. So I truly had no idea I was coming in to be an alien until I got there, and then Chris Hollier sat me down and had a conversation, was like, hey, this is where we’re going.
And I was like, oh, I thought I was coming in to be Isobel’s love interest, that has no idea that aliens existed. Like the way the audition was written up, that’s what I thought I was going to be.
But yeah. Once I got there, I remember how nice Jeanine was to me. And then how genuine Michael was to me just initially off meeting everybody and Nathan was great and meeting everybody was great.
And actually, I think the first day that I was filming, and it was a guy, he was only there for a couple of episodes. He played a police officer who ended up dying and was kind of like a bad guy cop. In season three early, I think we had only one episode we were in together.
But he was just so great. So great to talk to. We just had such a great conversation initially.
The whole cast was just very welcoming, and people were welcoming. You could tell it was just a good crew, a good environment to be in. And as far as like story-wise, I knew one thing that I wanted to do, or at least wanted to try, was to just bring in something different.
Something that the show was, I don’t want to say, lacking, but I wanted to provide something different to the show. I feel like they had written up Dallas to be about the coolest preacher I would’ve ever met. You know what I mean?
I’m nowhere near that cool in real life. So I was trying to bring that out on camera, and yeah, just provide a different angle that people can relate to.
Somebody reached out to me over Instagram, and he was a black guy, and he was like, I just wanted to thank you because I’ve never seen a black alien on TV.
Wow.
And yeah! It was just like super cool to have somebody say that to me. And it clearly meant something to him. So I just really wanted to, I guess, bring me to the show and try to help facilitate the show continuing in a way.
That’s amazing. You know, when I said that I was going to be speaking with you on Twitter if people had questions. And people said, ” Oh my God, tell him, we love Dallas. Just tell him we love Dallas.” I was like, that’s not a question, but I will definitely tell him. [laughs]
[laughs] Yeah. Well, that’s super great. I really appreciate reading all the stuff people write and what they care about. And obviously, all the people that miss Alex, we miss Alex too. I promise you. But yeah. I really appreciate all of it.
How pleased have you been with the reception for your character and the show?
You know, I feel like people have really accepted Dallas and very quickly. When you’ve got an established show that’s got multiple seasons and multiple people that are connected to different characters and different connections and relationships, all that kind of stuff, sometimes when you come in, you can get washed out of the fray of that.
But I don’t feel like that. I feel like people were very accepting of Dallas and who he was. Even in the beginning, when people were like, wait, who is this guy now all of sudden part of the triad, what is this? I feel like, for the most part, people were just on board and receptive.
And I’ve appreciated the way that people have accepted him and me into their homes via television. I’ve really appreciated it.
Do you have a favorite Dallas scene from the series that we’ve seen? If we haven’t seen it yet, then…
Let me see. Yeah. I know, right? If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t comment. [laughs]
I’m trying to go back because I think some of the season three stuff really stuck out. And maybe it’s because it was all new then. I know in, I think, in episode 10 when I’m standing there, and I’m about to see my father for the first time, and we’re in Michael’s lab.
Something about that: I feel like that’s kind of when it hit me that I was there on the show on a personal note as Quentin. I think it was very transformative for Dallas. That’s when he had, I think, accepted that, oh wow, this is the alien thing. I’m meeting my father—all this kind of stuff.
And then in this season, as it’s gone on, just all the stuff I have with Michael, to be honest. I feel like the two of us just had so much fun filming together. And the scene where he passes out because he’s sick. Like he just really went for it.
And there were a few times I like had to actually kind of half catch him. I’m like, bro, you are going to hit the wall and the real set stuff. Like, relax.
But yeah, me and him, I don’t know. I felt like when we were on set together, and you could kind of see it in season three in that episode when we’re at the dock and connecting there, but we hit a new level of friendship in real life on this season.
We play Smash Brothers together all the time, and the way we were playing Smash Bros and talking trash is the way we kind of took it on scene or onto the screen. It’s just fun to film with your friends, and it’s even more fun when you get to just be friends with them on screen as well.
I think all my stuff with him. I just really loved filming with him all season.
He actually mentioned you in my interview with him. He said you were really good at Smash Brothers. [laughs]
[laughs] Exactly, exactly. I mean, he’s better than I am, but yeah, we had a lot of fun.
That’s good! Well, that is my time with you. Thank you so much. This was really fun.
Yeah, it really was. And I really appreciate you and some of the things you’ve written, so I was very glad to talk to you today. So, thank you so much.
Thank you, Quentin!
Roswell, New Mexico airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.
*** This interview has been edited for length and clarity.***
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.