'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' at PaleyFest: 'This Is My Midlife Crisis'
It’s rare that a project in Hollywood is so successful spawns so few imitators. That’s all to the credit of the cast and creators who produced something so unique that it couldn’t be imitated. Seven years later, stars Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion attended a PaleyFest panel with co-creator Joss Whedon to celebrate the continuing fandom surrounding the web series known as Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. “This is my midlife crisis,” Whedon told the crowd. “Instead of a car, it’s an internet musical.”
On Why They Gotta Sing
Of course, Neil Patrick Harris (who has a Tony Award for Hedwig and the Angry Inch) grew up with musicals. “I listened to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Annie“ growing up, said the actor. “So when my brother was listening to A-Ha and Duran Duran, I was secretly Into the Woodsing it.” Day added, “I was a prostitute in Sweet Charity three times as a teen,” and Fillion remembered his Oklahoma days: “I was Will Parker in high school!”
On Why People Relate to Dr. Horrible
“Billy [Dr. Horrible] was you watching it,” said Harris. “You could see this yearning to want the girl and want to be noticed. And the idea that I would do anything to get her to notice me and to opt towards the dark side for that goal is something that people can respond to.” Whedon agreed: “The supervillians – they get to say the things we’re all thinking: the system is broken, it’s not fair, something is wrong. The hero is the authority figure, whether he’s the star of the movie or not.”
As for Fillion’s Captain Hammer, the actor understands why fans don’t root for him even if he is ostensibly the “good” guy. “If you think about it: If you were to grow up with super powers, you’d kind of end up to be a d–k too, right?” he said. “'Pretty invulnerable, pretty super strong, don’t have to work hard for anything at all ever. And great hair.’ That would twist a person up. Success has that effect on people.”
On Dr. Horrible’s Impact on Their Lives
“It’s why I still do everything the hard way, because it feels the right way,” said Day. “When I’m not trying to tear something down, it doesn’t feel right to me and that’s partially because of the amazing experience of Dr. Horrible in shoving it in the mainstream’s face that you can make something amazing without permission.” Harris said he enjoys the “purity” of what they did with the series. “The fact that it was Internet-only — at a time when it wasn’t quantifiable financially — made its success seem more authentic. And the fact that it didn’t create a lot of offshoots and a desire to profit from it. It just was what it was. I think there’s something kind of great about that.”
Not that the series itself wasn’t financially successful. Said Whedon, “I made more money off Dr. Horrible than I did off the first Avengers movie.”
