“Everyone chooses their own destiny. And I choose to help my friends!” – Wesley Collins
In February of 2001, Haim Saban’s Power Rangers franchise entered its ninth season with a glimpse into the future as the season Power Rangers Time Force began. In this season, rangers from the year 3000 travel to the past to the year 2001, following a mutant criminal that escaped their custody after killing one of their own. To help aid them in their quest they find a local resident, an ancestor to their fallen friend who becomes their fifth member, their new Red Time Force Ranger.
Chicago native, Jason Faunt starred in Power Rangers Time Force, playing both Red Time Force Rangers; Alex in the year 3000 and Wesley Collins in the year 2001. While attending this year’s Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), we were able to meet several actors from Power Rangers, including Jason Faunt, who graciously allowed us an interview.
Being a Chicago native now living in California as well as having attended college at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, we couldn’t resist starting our interview with a few Windy City related questions to see what roots are still holding strong.
Cubs or Sox? Cubs (Megan- My whole family are cubs fans but my uncle married a sox fan and I don’t know how that happened) Oh gosh, That marriage won’t last.
Deep dish or thin crust pizza? Deep dish by far. Although, I’m still Giordano’s or Gino’s East, to be determined. We still have to hit that up this weekend.
What about ketchup on a hot dog? Absolutely You might be turning into an LA boy. I got a little LA washed. I could tell by your face, you went like…(a little surprised and confused was the look for Megan, Alex gave him a strange look but agreed since he doesn’t like mustard)
Soda or pop? Ah, man. It was pop my entire life, but I went to college in the south and that’s when the transition started happening so it’s now soda.
Sears or Willis Tower? Sears, sears. I’m not even sure Willis Tower, what it is. (Alex- Yeah, do any of us?)
After discovering Jason has held strong to his Chicago roots, despite breaking the unofficial law of Chicago and liking ketchup on a hot dog, we dove into learning about his audition process, some on set memories, latest projects, and answers to a few other fun questions.
Did you audition for the red ranger? Yes, many, many times. The audition process for Power Rangers is very, very involved. It’s actually been the longest process I’ve had so it was I want to say five auditions within three months. So no other film or project has been that intensive. And I auditioned for Galaxy two years previous, Lightspeed the year before and then Time Force. Third try, finally got it.
When you auditioned it was straight for red ranger or just audition in general? Yes it was, nope it was red ranger. Now if you could choose any other color, what would it be? In any season? Any season. I gotta go with Tommy, right? Green ranger.
The bleach blonde highlights on Wes, was that a show choice or a thing of the time? That was a show choice because they wanted a little bit more contrast between the light hair of Wes, cause I have lighter hair, but they wanted light, they wanted it more contrast. They literally sent me to a salon to get my hair highlighted two or three times throughout the year I was on the show.
Were you a Power Ranger fan going into this before the auditions? I was very familiar with the show. I started at twenty-seven so I wasn’t as familiar cause I was already in high school when it started.So I was very familiar with the show, but I hadn’t seen a ton. (Megan- I was 7. Alex- I wasn’t even born yet) Oh wow and now look at you coming and doing this kind of stuff, It’s amazing, The show is absolutely amazing.
Favorite set memory? I think my favorite one; I think filming at the Universal lot. Filming at Universal Studios, they have all those trams that come by so it was pretty cool to be on set. So just filming at the universal property.
Were there any cast members that you really clicked with. Anyone super fun to be with, joke around with, anyone pull pranks? Ton of pranks. I would say Michael Copon (Lucas Kendall, Blue Time Force Ranger) and I always hit it off really well. We’re very close to this day and Edward Albert (Albert Collins, Wes’ father) He was great. He taught me so much. That guy was just like, he had so much screen experience by the time he got to us. LIke he was the guy that taught me.
Favorite fan memory? Best experience meeting a fan. Make a wish used to bring kids and kids that were terminally ill, their last wish. So would come I feel like weekly we’d have someone come to set. You know, you’d see this little 7, 8, 10 year olds that are going through something terminal, it’s a heartbreak. Not really the best memory, but you always remember all of them. How big of a moment that was that these kids were flying from some random city as part of their last dying wish so I always remember all those trips. Oh, and Robert De Niro’s kids came to set, that’s a positive. His twins came to set. They wanted to meet us so we spent a day, hanging with them, showing them around.
Flip side to that, Have you had any fan encounters that were incredibly awkward? A lot (Alex – This one right here.) No no, you guys are awesome. A lot, a lot of different encounters over the years, but at the end of the day, everybody, the ranger fan base is so big, it’s one big community so any fan encounter; even if there’s been some crazy ones, have always been out of love. So there’s never been anything that was…so always good.
So, fantasy football, instead of that, how about fantasy rangers? Oh wow. You’ve gotta pick the original five Power Rangers (red, blue, black, yellow, pink) any season. Who would be your five, plus a bonus Power Ranger. Okay, well I can pick me, right so I would be the red ranger and the bonus ranger would have to be Tommy, right I can make him that. So now we’re on to blue. I’ll tell you what, I love my Time Force people, but I’ll try and deviate from that, umm. ( Megan- We won’t tell Michael Copon) Um, boy. How do I not take my Time Force cast? Those guys, I’m the closest to them. I gotta take Time Force throughout and Tommy as our sixth. So, Quantum Ranger’s out. Sorry, Dan. (Daniel Southworth plays Eric Myers the Quantum Ranger.)
What would you do if you weren’t acting? I probably would be working for a sports franchise.I think I would try, I would have dove into an executive probably in the NFL.
What was your favorite memory living and going to school in North Carolina? Uh, so many memories playing baseball so something surrounding the sports world. Playing ball was cool against some of the guys that played high level baseball, watching them go on to succeed, so I think the memories of playing ball.
Last Two questions, Anything about The Order that you can tell us? The Order, no. You know, that’s a Karan Ashley question. I know that they had some stuff go on and she wants to get that done, but I have not heard any plans. They’re trying to get that done.
Any future projects you want to talk about? Yes, I’ve got a few things coming out. Legend of the White Dragon, we’re going to restart the kickstarter March 20th. And I just got done filming a series called For Nothing based on the six part novel For Nothing. And then there’s a movie called Honeymoon in Paradise which hopefully comes out this year.
We would like to thank Jason for taking some time to talk to us.
Alex with Jason Faunt 
Megan with Jason Faunt
Time Force fans you can also be on the lookout this fall for a Power Rangers Time Force Sequel, a graphic novel featuring Wes and his fellow ranger and love interest from the future, Jen. The graphic novel, titled Power Rangers: Sins of the Future will be out October 2020.
For more information on Power Rangers: Sins of the Future, check out the instagram page for Boom! Studios: @boom_studios
You can also check out Legend of the White Dragon on Instagram, keep up to date with the kickstarter campaign: @lotwhitedragon
If you’d like to go back and rewatch or even watch for the first time, You can check out Power Rangers Time Force on Netflix!
And be sure and follow Jason Faunt on his Instagram page @jasonfaunt and check out his website www.jasonfaunt.com for all his upcoming appearances.
