Brand new Tim Dunigan Interview

[MrT]

Really excited to have just had an online chat with Tim Dunigan who of course played face in the pilot episode of the A-Team.

It was fascinating to find out about his time on set and what he really felt about being replaced.

I'm just writing it up to post on my A-Team facebook page and will then drop it here for you to read as well

[MrT]

Here you go!  Was so cool to be able to chat with Tim about his time on the show.  Loved his honestly regarding watching the programme.

Dean from ‘Everything A-Team’ recently had the pleasure of chatting to the original Faceman, Mr Tim Dunigan about his brief time on the show.
Timothy Duggan was an American actor best known perhaps for playing the lead role of Captain Jonathan Power in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.

We of course know him as Con man 1st Lt. Templeton ‘The Face-man’ Peck in the pilot for The A-Team.
Tim also had parts in shows such as Davy Crockett, Cheers, Murder She Wrote, Beverly Hills 90210 and Jag, before quitting acting in 2002.

Everything A-Team:  Hey Tim, It’s great to talk to you. Appreciating you are done with acting we are very grateful for you taking time out to answer

a few questions for us about your time on the show. Can you remember walking onto set for the first shoot?

Tim Dunigan:  Yes…we shot the scene where George was wearing the monster suit and T and I pick him up in the car. I was scared to death to tell you the truth,

I didn’t sleep for two nights knowing I would be working with George Peppard. I was a huge fan of his, and also Mr.T’s….It was as exciting as it gets for a young actor.

Everything A-Team:  Ha, I can only imagine how scary and exciting that must have been all at the same time. Who was the first actor

you had any conversation with off camera?

Tim Dunigan:  Mr.T. We were in that car together for a few hours and we both hit it off right away, and we both were so excited to be in the show. 

I can’t speak higher of anyone than T. He was and is a wonderful man.

Everything A-Team:  So how long did filming of the pilot episode actually take?

Tim Dunigan:  I’m not really sure….I’m guessing a good 3 weeks at least. We shot here and then down in Acapulco so it took a while.

Everything A-Team:  Have you ever actually sat and watched a full episode of the show including your pilot or any others?

Tim Dunigan:  The only episode I’ve seen from beginning to end is the pilot. Not for any other reason than it hurt me deeply being replaced

and it was just too hard for me to watch. The show was fantastic of course and Dirk was brilliant in the role, as he always was.

They made the right decision for what was best for the show but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt me….But……water under the bridge now.

Everything A-Team:  Thank you for a clearly very honest answer. Must have been incredibly hard to have seen the show carry on without you.

So when you are not working hard what do you currently like to do in your downtime?

Tim Dunigan:  I spend most of my time working I’m afraid, but I do enjoy going up to Yosemite every year with my girlfriend and her family.

Love watching movies and I’m a huge St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. I spend most of the summer months following them.

Everything A-Team:  Fantastic, fingers crossed next season is a good one for you then. Tim, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to talk to us.

Tim Dunigan:  I hope those responses are enjoyable for you and all fans of the show. I am so grateful and blessed to have been a small part of such an iconic

show as The A-Team and really only have wonderful and joyful memories of my short time with that great cast and all the talented people who made it happen.

I’ll always be the original Face……and you gotta love THAT right?

Everything A-Team:  Definitely! Not something many people can say! Thank you again Tim and make sure you take some more of those breaks.

If you find yourself in the U.K I owe you and yours a drink.

Tim Dunigan:   Thanks again to all the great fans of the show for always being so kind to me and remembering my work. All the best to you

[sidney]

Thank you very much for sharing that.

My only disappointment is that it wasn't longer. I have so many questions I'd like to ask. Any chance he might agree to do another interview with you?
Oh, I wish he'd log on here for a day or two and answer our questions. We have SO many...

[amyk]

Well, I feel really guilty now for demeaning him as "Fake Face" so much! He seems to be such a gracious man. Maybe I better start calling him "Original Face" or something. I thought that he was very nice about Dirk Benedict!

[MrT]

Yeah he was incredibly genuine and gracious for his time and respectful of the rest of the cast. I'm more than happy to try and arrange another interview with him. if you would like to add any questions on here I will see if he would be willing to give me another ten minutes of his time.

haha yeah I think The original face is far cooler than fake face

[sidney]

Just off the top of my mind (and there will be more...)
How was he hired?
Did he know Dirk was who StephenJCannell wanted and wrote the part for? Did he feel sabatoged?
What was his audition like, and who was it for?
He said he got along with T the best, does he ever still talk to him?
He comforted Dwight when Dwight was fired. Did Dwight offer him any words when he left?
Did he witness any of the uncomfortable relationship between Melinda and any of the guys, or was that something that developed as the show went on?
Was the calling the radio station to communicate about a case to the guys something that was supposed to continue?
Did he think Murdock was really crazy or faking?
Where did the beer come from at the end?


You totally need to find Melinda and Tawnia, too. Oh, I'd LOVE to talk to Melinda. I think I'd like to talk to her moreso than anyone else, actually.

[sidney]

Oooh, did they think flipping the shot of the plane looked as bad as we did? Were they bothered with it?
Did he think Face was suave or bumbling?
Did he think Face was stressed out about Hannibal's recklessness?
Did he play Face really religious? What did he think about Face's connection to the Father?
How soon after the pilot was finished did he get replaced?
Was he paid well for the pilot? Does he get any money from it being reaired or anything like that? Is his monetary connection with The A Team completely over?
Would he ever do a con with the other two?
Was he approached for comment when BRING BACK THE ATEAM was produced?

[MrT]

Thanks for all of those. I will try my best to see if Tim is willing to answer a few more for you. Funnily enough I am indeed in touch with Melinda and am trying to sort something out as we speak.... fingers and toes crossed.

[sidney]

WHAT!?!?!?!?! You're in touch with Melinda?!?!?! That is so awesome.

Please tell her how much I love her.
I think she was wonderful and classy and her character was an asset to the team! I've always thought so.

[kellie]

That was a really good interview. I’m still surprised he’s never watched any other episodes, just to see what it was like. It’s never stopped playing, so it’s hard to miss it really.

[kellie]

Oct 13, 2017 5:27:36 GMT -5 sidney said:

Oooh, did they think flipping the shot of the plane looked as bad as we did? Were they bothered with it?
Did he think Face was suave or bumbling?
Did he think Face was stressed out about Hannibal's recklessness?
Did he play Face really religious? What did he think about Face's connection to the Father?
How soon after the pilot was finished did he get replaced?
Was he paid well for the pilot? Does he get any money from it being reaired or anything like that? Is his monetary connection with The A Team completely over?
Would he ever do a con with the other two?
Was he approached for comment when BRING BACK THE ATEAM was produced?

Did you see the Bring Back the A Team show then? I thought it was only shown over here.  I was very disappointed Mr.T didn’t show up to the reunion, he made the effort to do the interview, I thought he would love to meet up with Dwight & Dirk. On a Dutch show they they said they was disappointed he didn’t show. In interviews I’ve seen of him he always says how much he loves it and loved making it., I thought he’d like to do some stuff with the others. 

[kellie]

I really don’t like Amy, never had. There always seems no point to her in any episode. She didn’t do anything. If she hadn’t been there she wouldn’t have been missed. From what the guys have said she was a bit of a pain, always wanting to do more, instead of just doing the job she was chosen for.
I wasn’t a big fan of Tawnia, but at preferred her to Amy, at least she played the ‘girly’ role she was meant to. I would’ve preferred no women to be part of the team at all to be honest, girls just weren’t needed in that way in my opinion. I think George was right about the girls, albeit he could’ve been a bit more diplomatic about it.

[sidney]

That is a popular opinion.
It is not mine.

I honestly feel that if she had been there all along - all five years, that no one would be saying 'we didn't need a girl on the team'. Just like if Original(!)Face would have stayed, we never would have even fathomed another actor in the role.

Most of the show didn't have Amy. She was gone early. As her temporary replacement, Tawnia was very much a secondary character and not important to the narratives and was a simplistic plot device most of the time. That is why people feel that Amy didn't belong. It wasn't what we became used to.

If Amy would have stayed, we would all be immensely proud of how she was one of the first female action heroes on the small screen. A trailblazer!

Amy, and Melinda, were tough. They were classy. And they didn't put up with crap. From anyone.

Amy was strong. She was smart. And that goes the same for Melinda. Melinda was only a 'pain' because she wanted equality. She was there from the start. She was very important to the pilot. She was there for the entire first season. If George, Dirk, and others behind the show weren't so misogynistic, then perhaps she would have been successful in being an incredible role model for 80s young girls.

The same sort of thing happened to Susanne Somers at the time. Heaven forbid she asked for the same money as John Ritter (whom I loved. I'm not saying anything bad about him.) But she stepped out of line as a woman. She was eliminated and then made to look like a manipulative, greedy, irrational woman. She was painted in a horrible light after that.

And Melinda was painted in a similarly poor light.

Melinda is not on record trash talking any of the guys or the show. But George, Dirk, T, and yes, even Dwight, have said not-so-nice things about how it was the ideal job for an actress and she should have just kept her mouth shut and looked pretty. That she ruined it by demanding more of a role.

She looks bad because the guys have spoken about her that way. Those comments were detrimental. But to be honest, even without those comments, people would have jumped to similar conclusions about her and her nature. She became a victim of a double standard. If a man demanded a better role, and more things to do, he's be respected. If he wasn't successful, it wouldn't be a big deal. Melinda is ridiculed.

You can have your opinion. That is fine. Like I said, yours is shared by many people. I have my opinion, and that is Amy was a great character. I do agree that blackmailing her way on the team was not a great storyline (but there were many poor storylines), but I think she was incredible. I'm glad she wasn't the 'girly' character that the men preferred, and apparently you. I would never in a million years want her reduced to that. She had substance. She was not one of the two-dimensional female parts... She was groundbreaking.

I stand beside Melinda in regards to the whole thing. I think she did nothing wrong. She was up against a patriarchal institution where women were meant to be objects and nothing more. She was trying to win one for all of us.

I don't think George was right at all. I think it was an archaic, misogynistic opinion from someone who had declared himself to be 'not a very nice man'. He used his power in an inappropriate fashion and got rid of a strong female character because he didn't want a strong female around. He wanted breasts and curves and a pretty face around, to fall all over him and make him look like more of a man. But he did not want one to have substance.


I was thinking about something else you said: 'instead of just doing the job she was chosen for'.

The Amy character was part of the original concept for the show. She was in the pilot. She was in the first season, and more. And the character was always smart and feisty. She was always wanting to help constructively. She was always fearless. It would have been natural for her to evolve into doing more with the team if she spent so much time with them. And you know what? If the guys refused to teach her self defense or any combat, she was definitely the type of woman to take things into her own hands and take classes on her own - to learn to fight. (One of the things Melinda was working towards was to fight the bad guys too.) I argue that the job Melinda was chosen for was A LOT MORE than being pretty and smiling in the background. Her character was never like that.

You know, I'm sitting here having LITERALLY just dealt with two men being extremely condescending to me. Treating me with no respect, and acting as though I don't know what I'm talking about. And it was about something very small. Melinda was trying to do something big. It didn't work out. But good on her for trying and not backing down. I won't talk bad about her, and I will always stand up for her when people call her out for being a 'pain'.

[sidney]

I saw this wonderful Maya Angelou quote this morning on Facebook and it really resonated with me:

[kellie]

I’ll admit I didn’t like Amy at all, she did absolutely nothing in the show, so pointless. She wouldn’t have been missed if she hadn’t been there at all, but to be honest I don’t like women in any sort of action roles, it’s just not realistic and not very believable. Women can’t do what men can do and men are so much better at action roles than women. Things like Angelina Jolie as in Tomb Raider, they just look stupid, no woman can over come a bunch of guys like that, for a start they’re nowhere near as strong.
Amy looked like she was just stuffed in there for the sake of it, just hanging around the guys. All she did was follow them around all the time.
I don’t think she was that important to the pilot, anyone could’ve done what she did. She should’ve just hired them and then left.
It may not have been as popular if she’d stayed in it, it’s probably good they got rid of her when they did.
Thing is with. Melinda though, she knew what the role was when she got the part, she knew she wasn’t an actual member of the A-Team and wasn’t going to be shooting guns and fighting like the guys, so I don’t know why she complained about it once she started filming it. She should have just got on with the role she was given and been happy.
Tawnia was a bit non eventful aswell, but at least she played the kinda bimbo role she was supposed to, I guess that didn’t really work out either though.

I’m not really a believer in all this equality business. There’s just some things men are better at than women, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just human nature. I’d rather have something that works well with all men in than have something that doesn’t work so well with women in there just for the sake of it, in any walk of life. Just to have a woman in something simply because she’s a woman isn’t very fair on men either.