So two years ago, I wrote about Michael O'Hare's passing.
As I mentioned in the above blog entry, Michael played Jeffrey Sinclair for the first season of Babylon 5 before his character was written out. He returned to the role a few times over the next two seasons before completing Sinclair's arc in the season three two parter War Without End, where it was revealed that he was, in fact, the Minbari holy figure Valen.
However, the reasons for why his character being written out were unclear. All that was known was that it was a decision mutually decided upon by O'Hare and JMS, B5's creator and main writer.
At least, they were until the Phoenix Convention in 2013.
There, JMS revealed exactly why Michael O'Hare left the show.
He had started having paranoid delusions, which progressively got worse and worse during the first half of filming. It had become harder for him to work, as his behaviour was affected. Michael sought treatment but he was afraid that, since he was the main character, an extended medical leave would result in Babylon 5's cancellation. JMS offered to suspend production, but O'Hare refused. He didn't want to put so many people's jobs at risk.
JMS agreed to keep his secret to protect his career and, in return, O'Hare completed the first season but was written out of the second so he could seek treatments. Though they were partially successful, he was never truly cured.
When he returned for appearances in B5, JMS promised that he would keep O'Hare's secret to the grave. O'Hare instead made him promise to keep it to his grave. He felt that the fans of the show deserved to know the truth and hoped it would raise awareness for people suffering from mental health issues.
On the 25th of May at the Phoenix Comicon and eight months after O'Hare's death, JMS fullfilled that promise.
Why am I mentioning this? For one reason, it's almost a year since that occurred. For another, I had neglected to mention it at the time I found out because I was still struggling to cope with balancing my social life and my work load. The third and main reason is this.
I was looking through my blog and read my entry about O'Hare. I was horrified to realise I hadn't updated it. So I decided to correct that mistake and the article you've been reading is the result of that.
Live Long and Prosper
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