The moment when you find out when you shoot the pilot - getting the pilot is a small victory. You shoot the pilot, and when you get picked up, that's a huge victory right there.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
It is cool to make a pilot because you get to do all the fun stuff, and then you get to leave when all the tough stuff starts.
The obviously inexperienced pilot is the game the scientific air-fighter goes after, and the majority of victories are won that way. But, on the other hand, it is the novice usually who gets the famous ace by doing at some moment the unexpected thing.
The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business is to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down.
For the last four or five years, I had been in the position where I didn't have to take a pilot. I took this one because the script and the people were terrific. It never frightened me. As we were doing the pilot, I could tell that it was working.
Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don't do, you don't believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane.
The pilot is a sales tool; it introduces you to the characters and might set the template for what the show is meant to be, but there's so many boxes you have to check off on a pilot that it can sort of hurt the storytelling in a way.
Every pilot thinks they're the best pilot in the world. I think I'm the best pilot.
The funny thing is that making a pilot is sort of an audition, at least for me. There's something psychological there, where you're sort of asking for the job while you're acting. And then when it's been picked up, it's a completely different psychological dynamic.
Pilots, to a large degree, are like salesmen. They have to be confident to be good at their jobs. They have to practice relentlessly and plan out all the scenarios of the things that could happen when they're out there. Nothing is more important than preparation. They are also mighty competitive, both as individuals and as squadrons.
A pilot is like the most extensive dress rehearsal you can ever imagine, because the writers are learning about the actors, the actors are learning about the characters.