Your questions answered: Tahmoh on his favorite guest role, Jack Nicholson & more!

So lots of you have been sending in questions for Tahmoh via the question post linked at the top of the page and I'm pleased to report that Tahmoh has begun to answer them! He'll be answering more questions as he has the time. So if you have something you've been wondering, ask it now here.

1. What has been your favorite guest role on a television series and why?

I think my favorite guest role on a television series was the character of Elias on the CTV series, Whistler. It was one of the first roles ever offered to me without audition and once I heard about the character and arc of the story I was sold. Other than acting school I'd never had the opportunity to play a character like Elias. Elias is an up and coming artist and sculptor who is a bit of a recluse, living in a small studio in the woods outside of Whistler.

What was so attractive about the role was that Elias was at one time a drug addict on the streets of Vancouver. He's a very private man and still holds a lot of anger and distrust for others. I have people close to me who've had similar experiences so the story is very much close to home. Once I got the script I wrote back story for hours. Starting with his childhood all the way up to what the writers had already given me. I also had the opportunity to work with Holly Dignard and we shared an immediate connection and delved into making our story as best as we could.

2. Which of your roles to date has been most like you, which has been least like you, and which of those two was more challenging?

I don't think I can say that any role has been most like me or not like me. I mean really as actors regardless of how well the character is written you are always bringing yourself to the role. I would like to think that I would be as brave and selfless as Helo has been in so many of the situations he's faced. I think that you can tell a lot about an actor through his performance. I think that's what's so brilliantly done by a talented actor, even when playing the antagonist you can't help but root for some actors because their charisma shines regardless of how evil of a character they play. Can anyone say Jack Nicholson?!

Then to counter that last point I think the best character actors can completely transform and regardless of how big of a celebrity they are you are lost in their performance and sometimes they can make you absolutely love or hate them. I'm constantly amazed at the emotion and conversation a great performance will provoke.