Adam/AJ #3 - AdamRoss.Edu

AJ Buckley
Thursday 8 March 2012

On a recent visit home to Dublin, CSI: NY star AJ Buckley chatted with Suzanne Byrne about living his childhood dream and how he plans to mark his dad's passing.

AJ Buckely returned home to Dublin recently
We thought the Guinness Storehouse would be the perfect location to meet AJ Buckley, star of worldwide hit CSI: NY; so he could enjoy the views of his home city while we chatted on his short trip home to Ireland. Typically, it was the foggiest day of the year, and the view, well that was non-existent. However, AJ took it all in good humour, and was just happy to be back in his homeland. The 34-year-old actor has had a tumultuous few months, and is happy to be seeking solace in the place that he was born.

Last October, the 15th to be exact, he got the devastating news that his father had pancreatic cancer. On December 1, his dad passed away. "My dad was my best friend by far. He was such a huge influence on my life. And his death just happened so quickly. It was such a huge shock. The thing about pancreatic cancer is that you never really find out you have it until it is too late, and that, is very, very frustrating."

Despite the crippling loss that AJ tells me he is still feeling, he is determined to find ways to help other families avoid going through what he has experienced. "I find it very difficult to grasp that in this day and age there is no test to find out if you have pancreatic cancer. I was blown away when I hear that. It's diagnosed mostly by a process of elimination, or if you go to the doctor about something else and they just happen upon it."

This summer, AJ plans to return to Ireland to spread his dad's ashes while he cycles the coast of Ireland, something he plans to make an annual event. "The ride this summer I know is going to be a very personal thing, but I want it to be the beginning of a foundation that will raise money to help identify a person or a group that are searching for a test. If you know you have pancreatic cancer at an earlier stage, there are alternative routes you can take. I wish my dad had that chance. When your number is up, your number is up and that is the reality, but at least if there is a way to help or prolong life . . . so once a year I plan on coming here with as many recognisable faces, cycle around this beautiful country and do what we can to help find a test."

AJ lived in Donnybrook in Dublin until the age of six and clearly remembers running up and down alongside the Dodder as a child. "My imagination really began when I lived in Ireland. I had a fun childhood - it was simple. What I loved most was that there was always people calling around to the house and I've tried to keep that sense of staying in touch with people throughout my life. And I love the pace of life here. I love coming back, going to one pub and staying there for eight hours. We are content with conversation, which I think is sometimes lost with people who are always rushing around, looking for the next big thing. Then someone breaks out into song, or starts dancing and that richness is missing for sure in other parts of the world."

The Buckley family moved to Vancouver in Canada when AJ was six and while sport played a big part in AJ's early life - his dad was his soccer coach - he knew that acting was something he would always end up doing. "My mum has me on videotape when I was about seven saying I wanted to be an actress! My dad was like 'huh - here's a soccer ball son'. I started doing plays right after high school, although I think the teachers just graduated me to get me out of the school."

Hollywood beckoned, and AJ was quick to land on his feet; his first feature film and first paying job came in 1998, starring in teen sci-fi thriller Disturbing Behaviour alongside Katie Holmes and James Marsden. It should have been the launch pad he needed, but the offers did not come rolling in. "There have definitely been ups and downs in my career - that's for sure. There was a time I went through when I couldn't get any work and it was tough. You have to be careful at times like that because under the table jobs are very enticing, but you couldn't risk losing your working visa. It actually came to the stage that I was living in my car. That isn't an exaggeration - I had no money. And it wasn't because my friends or my family weren't there for me; I just decided I didn't want to take anything from anyone. I wanted to do this on my own and I had to find myself as a man. I wanted every dollar I made to be my own."

In fact, AJ went from having no money and no job in 2005, to being in demand for two CSI franchises. CSI: Miami offered him a part initially, but when CSI: NY heard this, they called his agent, asked him to pass on the job and to come and work with them. "When I arrived on set they handed me the script and I had four lines. I knew these were the most important four lines of my career to date, but because I knew everything was riding on it, I got very nervous and started mumbling and came over all jumpy. I couldn't control it because I needed the job so badly. But the writers actually loved it and from that day on they wrote the part of Adam Ross, the geeky lab tech as a bumbling, nervous science whizz."

While AJ may have what it takes to join one of the biggest TV franchises in the world, learning his character's scientific dialogue was a bit of a problem. "I had dyslexia as a kid and I still have trouble reading and writing. So it is a constant battle to deliver some of the jargon that Adam has to say. Sometimes I have to put the words in really big font on the computers on the set so I can see them during the scene, or have people hold them up on big boards for me. And then to make matters worse, my Irish-Canadian accent doesn't always help when they want me to sound American!"

We may be just now reaching the mid-point on Season eight of CSI: NY on RTÉ Two, but AJ wrapped filming in February, and he isn't very forthcoming about whether Adam, or the show itself, will be returning for a ninth season. "I don't know to be honest if it's time for the lights to go out, on the show or for me personally. But it has been one hell of a ride to get to this point and I will always be grateful to CSI for changing my life forever. When my dad died this year, they were very good to me and let me go home to be with him, so I am missing for a couple of episodes in season eight, but then I come back and I think it is time for the evolution of Adam. So if we return for a ninth season, I would really like to see him come out of the lab and come into his own. Give him a gun I say - he's good at this crime-fighting business!"

While CSI is on hiatus in the US, Adam has several things lined up. First off is this trip to Ireland with his girlfriend Abby to attend the IFTAs and to show her the street he grew up on. It's their first trip to his homeland together and he says she is very excited to see all the places from the photographs they have hanging in their home.

Next, he will start pre-production on a movie he is both starring in and producing. "I play the bad guy so I am growing my hair and beard, which Abby is not too happy about! It is such a departure from Adam. I love the drama and I love the dialogue-driven script."
Then of course he will be back in Ireland in the summer for his cycle trip in honour of his father. "I feel in a way I'll be bringing my dad home. He made me promise I would take this trip with or without him, so I am going to do this for him. And if we can bring something good from it, then all the better."

Suzanne Byrne
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source: http://www.rte.ie/ten/2012/0308/buckleyaj.html
 
David Paetkau of Flashpoint tweeted this back in May. (pic at the link)

My buddy @AjohnBuckley is guest starring on #Flashpoint! Only 4 Eps left, I wonder who else we'll get on the show?
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If I've got my numbers right it might be the episode that airs on CTV on Thursday night. (We have to wait another month for it on ION).
 
blackflag said:
David Paetkau of Flashpoint tweeted this back in May. (pic at the link)

My buddy @AjohnBuckley is guest starring on #Flashpoint! Only 4 Eps left, I wonder who else we'll get on the show?
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If I've got my numbers right it might be the episode that airs on CTV on Thursday night. (We have to wait another month for it on ION).
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I hope you don't mind giving us a reminder, I might forget.

I wonder if AJ will even tweet about it.
 
How did I miss this delightful thread? What can I say about sweet Adama? We need more of him;)

He is by far my favorite character. And he has come a long way.:cool:

I just saw flips of Christmas Mail it looks so cute. I am going to have to sit down and watch it.
 
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Mac&Adam Fan said:
I hope you don't mind giving us a reminder, I might forget.

I wonder if AJ will even tweet about it.
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The episode title is "Fit for Duty", it's episode 11. It airs on CTV on November 29th. We won't get it in the US until, I think the last Tuesday of December.

An emotionally disturbed man (AJ Buckley, CSI: NY) boards a city ferry with a shotgun and a suspicious package. Fearing the worst, Team One speeds to the scene, and discovers the delusional man is in fact a gifted pianist, and the package is a baby.”
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ION tv - "Fit for Duty"
 
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If you're in the US ION has changed what episode of Flashpoint they're airing this week (probably because of what happened in Connecticut). They are now airing the episode starring AJ tomorrow Dec. 18th at 11pm. (They're usually rerun on Wed at noon & Friday at 11pm) The title of it is 'Fit For Duty', it's a really good episode (seen it online :)). His character is really different from Adam and he's really good in it.
 
blackflag said:
If you're in the US ION has changed what episode of Flashpoint they're airing this week (probably because of what happened in Connecticut). They are now airing the episode starring AJ tomorrow Dec. 18th at 11pm. (They're usually rerun on Wed at noon & Friday at 11pm) The title of it is 'Fit For Duty', it's a really good episode (seen it online :)). His character is really different from Adam and he's really good in it.
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DVR is showing a different episode.
 
Mac&Adam Fan said:
DVR is showing a different episode.
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You probably had 'Lawmen' listed which is about gun runners (& features a song called "Men with Guns") and ION didn't want to air it because of what happened in Connecticut last Friday so they decided to skip an episode.

mulder42 said:
Did AJ's episode air yesterday? I usually catch the repeats on Friday at 11pm ET/10pm CT.
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Yup. Watched it 2 times already and I'll be watching it on Friday too. :lol:

I think the folks at CSI: NY should ask AJ's good buddy David Paetkau to guest star on CSI: NY now. :p
 
blackflag said:
Mac&Adam Fan said:
DVR is showing a different episode.
Click to expand...
You probably had 'Lawmen' listed which is about gun runners (& features a song called "Men with Guns") and ION didn't want to air it because of what happened in Connecticut last Friday so they decided to skip an episode.

mulder42 said:
Did AJ's episode air yesterday? I usually catch the repeats on Friday at 11pm ET/10pm CT.
Click to expand...
Yup. Watched it 2 times already and I'll be watching it on Friday too. :lol:

I think the folks at CSI: NY should ask AJ's good buddy David Paetkau to guest star on CSI: NY now. :p
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Okay, it now shows on the DVR that it's on Friday. :)

I bet AJ won't tweet about this... :lol:
 
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