When the MOVIE-SHOP in Stuttgart announced an autograph session with Mira Furlan, the actress who plays Delenn on Babylon 5, we decided to seize the opportunity. The shop owner Jens Reinheimer was so kind to arrange an interview with the actress who had come with her husband Goran Gajic and her eight month old son Marko.

SV:  First of all welcome to Germany ! What is the actual reason for your visit ?
MF: It’s a mixture of business and pleasure trip. I was on a Convention in England and I thought it would be nice to come here and do this.

Mira takes a look at an old SPACE VIEW issue and sees that there’s a picture of Bruce Boxleitner  who was a guest at the FedCon this year.

SV: When will you be a guest at a Convention in Germany again ? ( She was at the FedCon ’97 in Bonn)
MF: I don’t know! If you invite me- I’ll come. I had really a wonderful time at the FedCon two years ago. They took real good care of me and the whole place… It was a wonderful experience. I would come back anytime !  (laughs)

SV: What are your plans now that Babylon 5 is finished ?
MF: Alright, I had a baby boy, I took a break and only wanted to have rest for a while to be there for the baby. I have to say “Babylon” is hard work. It was just the perfect timing for me and my “energy level”. And I wanted a total change. And then that with the baby happened and I enjoy it very much. But it’s time to go on and there are a few things: a theater project and other plans… But nothing of it is for sure yet. But when those things become official I’ll let you know! (laughs)

SV: We hope to see you again soon in any case ! That leads to my next topic: Your films. One is “The Beauty of Sin”…
MF: Yeah, this film was distributed in Germany as well and I came to Germany for a publicity tour and it was really nice. Goran accompanied me… But that was years ago! (laughs) I still lived in Yugoslavia at that time. Yes, it was an interesting movie, I know that.

SV: And you got an award for it…
MF: Yes, that’s right- the most important film award in former Yugoslavia. The “Golden Arena”. But unfortunately I have to say that it didn’t help me much in America! America is only interested in itself. All the European accomplishments one has, everything one has done, theater etc. – it just doesn’t count! And that’s terribly frustrating for me. But that’s how it is. When we immigrated to America we didn’t think much about our work and our careers. It was far more important to free our senses from all the hate and horror in Yugoslavia. So everything that happened was a nice surprise for me. Even when I’m frustrated I have to remember how we came and why we came.

SV: Do you plan to go there again ?
MF: No, but I was just very close. We went from Germany to Austria which is very close to the Slovenian border but we didn’t cross it. It was really a very strange feeling because the streets are full of Croatian and Slovenian names and one feels very much at home. Everything is well known and incredible familiar and it feels as if you have never left home. The whole American life seemed to be unreal somehow. But we didn’t go there, we decided against it.