Jason Behr Talks About Roswell

God rest ye merry gentlebeings, it's time for an otherworldly holiday episode on "Roswell.''

"It's called 'A Roswell Christmas Carol,''' says Jason Behr, who stars as the alien leader Max Evans on the resurgent sci-fi series. "Max witnesses a horrible accident, and is forced to decide very quickly whether or not he should save this man (former soap-opera star John Littlefield) without anyone seeing him.

"His decision not to save the man starts to get the best of him,'' the actor continues, "and his conscience and the ghost of the man he let die come to haunt him. Basically, it's about the fact that his power to heal is this huge onus unto itself.

"If there is a master plan, is Max disturbing it? Or is Max a part of that master plan? Either way, is he taking it upon himself to play God? So his guilt over his decision drives him to question his own ethics.''

The episode, which WB will air on Dec. 18, represents a bit of a throwback to the first season of "Roswell.'' Last year's shows were paced leisurely and touched on personal issues more often than has been the case in such full-throttle second-season entries as "Skin & Bones,'' "Harvest,'' "Wipe Out!'' and the recent "Dupes'' duo, which blasted through stories about the Skins, Congresswoman Whitaker, Nasedo and Courtney.

"We've been doing a lot of sci-fi episodes, shows that have been based on the alien mythology,'' Behr says by telephone from his trailer on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood. "Every so often we do one that has much more of a heartbeat to it, that's more about the human side of the aliens. Granted, Max has this special gift that he's still not sure is a blessing or a curse, but I don't think this is so esoteric that people won't relate to it.''

While the ratings are up significantly, some loyal fans don't love the show's makeover. Born a romantic drama with a sci-fi element, "Roswell'' is now a sci-fi/action series with a romantic element.

Behr, for one, says he welcomed the changes.

"When you're trying to find the right balance for a show, you're really given the opportunity to somewhat reinvent the show,'' he says. "We took all of the characters and let them grow and got to know them over the course of an entire year. Now we can put them in extreme situations, and hopefully people will care about what happens to them.

"Also, we can sort of break the rules and break the mold,'' he adds. "I think you get to know someone's true character and integrity by the choices that they make in certain circumstances. Sometimes our characters don't make the decisions that you might think they would. So it kind of keeps you interested and keeps you guessing.''

Any way you dissect it, whether it's Max romancing his beloved Liz (Shiri Appleby) or Max, a/k/a Zan, giving fellow ETs Isabel (Katherine Heigl), Michael (Brendan Fehr) and Tess (Emilie de Ravin) their marching orders, Max remains "Roswell's'' main man, the guy with the weight of the entire universe on his shoulders.

Likewise, one might assume, Behr is called upon to carry the show. But the actor disagrees.

"I don't look at it as being a huge responsibility,'' he says. "They give me the scripts, tell me where to stand and what to say, and I just get in there and do it.

"If the show were to go away tomorrow,'' he adds, "it wouldn't be the end of the world for me, and I don't think it would be the end of the world for any of the other actors on the show. They are all very talented and have futures ahead of them as well.

"But I don't think 'Roswell' will ever be a job,'' Behr hastens to add. "As soon as what I do becomes a job and it's no longer fun, I might as well just give up. If you're not having fun, it's just not worth it.''