Why Michael O'Hare actually left Babylon 5

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

Interviews, interviews, interviews

So it's been a while since I posted, and that is my fault. Real life stuff got in the way for a while and so things got put on the side and, unfortunately, forgotten for a good long while. 

But instead of telling everyone about that, I'm going to talk about my day today and why it means I'm going to return to semi-regular blogging.

For the last month or so, I've been part of one program or another to get me back into work. The first was Workable, which deals with people who have disabilities and works to get them back into work. It was good, I met some excellent people who I will never see again (lol) and generally honed some skills and discovered some new ones. 

Then my advisor put me onto another, week-long course. It was also intended to get people into work, but it works with local employers to get them into work. They also give you training, which includes a mock interview and then give you at least one interview with employers. 

Today, I had two.

The first was an event manager assistant at Victoria Hall, which is literally a ten minute bus ride away from home. I met with two people, who asked me questions. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and we all actually had something of a laugh as we spoke. Personally, I feel it went very well. 

The second was for a position with Locally Grown. It's another government run project that deals with local people to get small business up and running. As with the events manager, I was early and made sure to go over some answers I'd considered and chatted with the other workers there.

Both interviews went well, but I think I did better at Victoria Hall. I got a bit flustered at my second interview, which I think was because it was at the end of my day. However, I shall find out on Tuesday what they thought about me and whether or not I actually got a job, or will be put into a talent pool.

That's all. Update done. How are you all?

Live Long and Prosper