On Sunday 19th June 2011 (NZ time), Caleb Ross (LEX) appeared for a live cast chat on The Tribe’s official Facebook page, here are the answers we saved from the session.
In just over an hour, Caleb answered at least 100 questions, and also spoke to two fans after the live chat who were picked randomly from those attending the live chat.
Thanks to Caleb once more for taking the time to appearing, the Tribe (Official) Facebook team of typists – and thanks to each and every single Tribe fan who was part of the live event, which was joined by fans from countries all around the world, many of whom stayed up late into the night in their timezones.
So without further ado, here’s the questions – and Caleb’s answers…
Q Caleb… Currently, what three things in your life are the most important to you?
^ probably my friends and family, my music, and I guess the job I’ve been doing the last 3 or 4 years has been pretty important too (my experience in Canada with animal conservation, the Eskimo dog)
Q Will you marry me? about a minute ago
^ Hehehe, sure! 🙂
Q Hey Caleb, what was your least favourite costume you had to wear?
^ Hi… it had a mesh front with a leather cross on it, I didn’t particularly like that one!
Q Hi Caleb, which were your favourite scene to do in the tribe?
^ Hi Ida, the gladiator scene was a lot of fun
Q What was it like being in the tribe? 21 seconds ago
^ Hi Kelly, it was one of the best experiences of my life, incredible to work with such talented and wonderful people both cast and crew
Q Heey caleb what was your fav series on the show =)
^ Series 1 I think
Q What have you been doing since the Tribe ended?
^ Hey, I guess the last 4 years really I’ve been in Canada and helping a man try and save the Canadian Eskimo dog and there’s a documentary coming out soon called The Last Dogs of Winter
Q Hi caleb! which countries would you like to travel? that you haven’t been to yet.
^ Hi Mirabella – I’ve always wanted to travel to Israel… India… they are the two main ones (been to many others)
Q Who where the best kisser out of every girl you kissed on the show? 😉
^ ooooo, Tai San (Michelle Ang)!
Q I just wanted to say the tribe is amazing and for your character to have lasted so long how did your character not get killed or deleted?
^ Hi Douglas, blind luck, hehe! Thank Raymond Thompson for that one! 😀
Q Hey Caleb glad you can make it! OOoh big question Do you have a favorite dog (with the Canadian Eskimo dogs you were working with) and are you going back to work with them more?
^ I did actually yes, a female that was out of one of the dog yards, her name was GIRL, she was very friendly towards me and she used to chase the polar bears away while we were working outside, she was a great guard dog
Q Hiya Caleb! If you could be any other person in the Tribe, who would you be? 😀
^ Hi Emma, ooo tough one. Probably Slade I think, a good character
Q If you could choose who lex should be with (other than Siva, zandra, and taisan) who would you choose?
^ Hi Holly, hehe I think Tai San was best for him probably
Q So… Is it safe to say you are more of a dog person than a cat person?
^ Hi Caitlin, yep I think I am
Q If the viras that happened in the tribe happened today what would you do?
^ now I’d be dead, hehehe!
Q heey caleb, which was the most awkward scene to film? ♥
^ Hi, that would be season 1 there was the rape scene with Zandra, the most awkward to do
Q Your long hair was famous on The Tribe. Frankly, many fans found it to be very attractive. What are your feelings toward your style of hair now? I know that you cut it short and then even had your head shaved for a certain period of time. Do you miss you long hair?
^ I had it long quite recently and just short again now, if you see the documentary I had long hair for a lot of that
Q Caleb, do like living in Canada?
^ I love living in Canada, yep! 🙂
Q Hi Caleb! – Loved you on the show. How did/or did you in some way relate to your character? 🙂
^ Yes, I think every character you play you put a little bit of yourself in there somewhere so there’s aspects of my personality in Lex
Q Hi Caleb What your pet hate?
^ untidyness I think or not being organized
Q What was it like filming with a group of kids as well as young men and women? if you had the chance would you do it all again the same or different
^ Filming with young kids posed some problems I guess, they don’t hold their attention was long as adults but it was great, like a real family. Sarah Major who played Patsy was almost like a younger sister to me and we were all so close, it was a lot of fun. And yes I’d do it all again, I have no regrets!
Q Caleb if you win one million dollar what would you do with it??? 😀
^ I would first help out my friends and family and then I would probably invest, I’m a bit of an investor now
Q Hi Caleb 😀 Just wondering. If there had been a series 6, do you think Lex would be as big a part of it as he has 1,2,3,4 and 5? We norwegians think you ́re awesome 😀
^ yes
Q I don’t need an answer to my question. Instead, can I just get a hello? ^^ I know there are alot of questions here, I hope you see this one…it’s alot to read and take in….^^
^ Hello, yes there’s a lot of questions! 🙂
Q Are you currently working on anymore music?x
^ I’ve been playing a lot over in Canada with a good friend of mine and I’ve been writing as I travel, thoroughly enjoy it
Q PLEASE ANSWER CALEB I LOVE YOU what are your biggest insperations from the tribe?
^ It gave me a lot of confidence, inspiration wise it helped me to work with other people I guess, everyone on that show was an inspiration in one way or another
Q I love yyour song Abadeo, so I wonder if it was fun to do the Abe Messiah album? 🙂
^ the album was a lot of fun, we had a blast on that
Q Hi Caleb, a big hello from the Netherlands! I wanted to know: What’s one of your guilty pleasures? (Dwayne said chocolate, Calen said Jilly Cooper novels, so what’s yours?)
^ Chocolate for sure, hehehe
Q Its amazing how many people love the show after all these years. Given the chance at being in a spin off series would you do it? I bet you would have mini lexs running around by now!!! Do you keep in contact with any other cast members?
^ Yes of course, the fans are still there which is incredible and The Tribe has the potential to go in lots of directions
Q Do you like Coca Cola zero?
^ Only if it’s out of a glass bottle
Q What scene moved you or altered your perception of the world in a positive way? Thx
^ That’s a tough one, the whole show evolved my perception rather than just one scene re life and what’s important, all the scenes were pretty strong scenes that we had to deal with and all those scenes really helped me
Q How does it feel to think that people around the world have ur face on their, walls, ipod ect.. well i duno about other people but i sure do 😀
^ hehe, it blows my mind actually!
Q Question I am getting married next May would you come to my wedding as a guest!? 🙂
^ Hehehe, I’d love to if I could but I’ll be travelling a lot and filming 🙂
Q Not sure if it’s been asked yet but, what was your favorite music video to shoot ?
^ Hehehe, This is the place I think
Q What your favorite video games?
^ I was playing a lot of Halo Reach but also I guess the Fallout games are pretty good and almost run a parallel to The Tribe, a post apocalyptic world
Q Hey Caleb 🙂 My daughter is only 12 so she’s not allowed a facebook, so i’m asking her question for her. Her name is Dakota, she wants to know – What was your best blooper?
^ Hi, um I remember some boxes falling on someone’s head, I think Meryl’s. Seems like such a long time ago!
Q Did you think The Tribe would last this long? (I mean, It’s eight years since Tribe ended and it’s still a lot of fans out there) 🙂
^ Hi, no I didn’t, it’s incredible!
Q Would u tour again with all the character from the tribe ?
^ I’d love to!
Q Hey Caleb, did you ever think that fans who were watching in their teens would still be major fans in their late 20’s/ early 30’s?
^ not at all, it really blows my mind, I love it!
Q Did it take a long time to record This Is The Place? ♥
^ From memory the sessions were over a few days vocally, a good few days
Q Hi Caleb love The Tribe (and you!) Ive spent the last few years watching it non- stop. So my question is: if you were asked to be involved in a Tribe movie as Lex, would you take the part?
^ yes, otherwise I don’t know who they’d get to play it! I can still look quite young!
Q Caleb ♥ What is it like to be known as a “Sex Symbol” in The Tribe?? 😛
^ hehehe, is that what I was? ^^ I dunno, it’s a funny thing for me
Q Whats the funniest rumour youve heard about yourself?
^ oooo…. I have no idea, hehe, don’t have an answer I am afraid
Q what is the natural color of your hair?
^ Brown
Q HEY! :D. Would you ever come to Australia to visit your fans?
^ Yes I’d love to go again, I’ve been before and really enjoy it! 🙂
Q How many languages do you speak?
^ no, just English, I’ve been meaning to learn Spanish for years now but no time to sit down
Q What is something that you haven’t let go of since the tribe? It doesn’t have to be materialistic.
^ I guess I havent let go of my friendships
Q Caleb Hi 🙂 Thanks for Chatting with us 🙂 My question is: Do you have like.. a twitter, so you can interact with ur fans more?
^ No I don’t 🙁
Q Hi Caleb. Do you get hit on a lot? You’re really good looking. :p
^ hehehehe! Thank you very much! But not as often maybe I’d like!
Q Hi Caleb ♥ Greetings from Germany ^^ What is your favorite TV Serie/Show? I hope you can answer me ^^ ♥
^ I’m really enjoying Game of Thrones on HBO, with Sean Bean, the production quality is unreal
Q Do you miss doing the tribe
^ I do, it was such a big part of my life so yes I miss being on set, being with those people and making something like that, we had a very good run of it
Q Would you consider coming to Sweden? 😀
^ I love Sweden I’ve been before and would love to go back, I started up north where the ice hotel was and then made my way south to Stockholm, a beautiful country
Q are u ever coming to germany????
^ I’d love to go back there as well, another country I really enjoyed, I have a friend who moved to Germany and am sure I will visit again!
Q When you played Lex, did you want that role and was it easy?
^ Yes I wanted that role and for the most part if was relatively easy, there were challenging scenes and hard work but it was good, easy enough I guess, I got through it! 🙂
Q When it comes to your music you write what is your theme exp country rock ect…
^ I guess I play a lot of acoustic stuff, acoustic rock
Q did you ever wonder what lex’s last name was (or any of the other characters)
^ I hadn’t until now! 🙂
Q do you like to read? if so what’s your favorite book
^ I love to read and am reading a book now called the Kingfile Legacy
Q Caleb just to let you know you do look a lot like Heath Ledger it’s crazy.
^ Thank you!
Q Who did you get along with the best out of the whole cast of the tribe?
^ Ooo we all got along well, it’s tough to pick a single person we were all so close like a family
Q How often do you come to the United States?
^ Not very often, I pass through a lot with travel through LA and try and get off and have a look around but not as much time as I would like to
Q Do you think Lex would still be with Zandra if she wouldn’t have died?
^ She would have had a kid so yes I think Lex would have stayed with her and become responsible eventually
Q How long would you be filming for a day??
^ longer than 10 hours usually, long days
Q ♥you!
^ thank you ♥ you too!
Q apart from lex who was your favourite character in the tribe?
^ Slade I think
Q how are you? 🙂
^ I am good thank you, how are you
Q last year was the FIFA worldcup….which soccer team to u really love….and did u saw the worldcup last year?
^ I do like it and played when I was a kid, I don’t really follow it that much lately
Q How does living in Canada compare to living in New Zealand? Have you gone back to visit NZ often? Do you have family still in NZ?
^ Where I lived in Canada is different to most of Canada, it was a small remote community but I liked it a lot, the people and country are similar to NZ but on a bigger scale, it’s a very homely feeling to me
Q Did you enjoy your time in the UK ?
^ Yes I did, wish I had more time there
Q what was it like to film so many ”goodbye” scenes? (funerals for so many characters)
^ They were fine, it was always sad and the crew would quieten down and everyone would get serious, they were as fine as funeral scenes could be I guess
Q Nice to have you here. 2 questions 😀 What was your most memorable day?
^ A day I have always remembered was the day we found out we were going on our first promotional tour, I was sitting in a cafe with Ray Thompson, Dwayne – and we were told we were going on a tour, it was incredible!
Q Caleb have you become a Hockey fan in your time in Canada? if so what team do you like?
^ The Senators, I do like Ice hockey!
Q I know you’re very into your music, so my question is; what is your favourite band/musician ?
^ Um…. tough one… you know what recently I like a lot of Mumford & Sons recently, an English band
Q How did you react when you found out bob died? 🙁
^ That was sad 🙁 He was a special dog
Q On behalf of the staff and members of Tribe Universe, we would really like to thank Caleb for doing this!!!
^ thank you to everyone for sticking with the show!
Q Was it fun to play the scene with Meryl in the cage in the first series?
^ yes that was fun, heheheh
Q What type of tribe would you be in if the virus struck? Would you stay alone?
^ I think relatively alone if I wasn’t with close friends
Q Caleb this is my very first Tribe Chat and im having so much fun I LOVE you
^ Thank you and to everyone!
Q: Hi Caleb 🙂 I’ve heard other cast members say you as a person are the least like your character. Did find it difficult to play a character who was often nasty?
A: I didn’t find it that hard, found it quite fun to play someone with a personality like that. I don’t think I’m nasty myself (much!). 😉
Q: My question for you is out of all of the women Lex was with, who was your favourite to work/act with and why?
A: They were all great, I couldn’t really pick a favourite!
Q: Did you have a crush on any of the cast members?
A: I had a little crush on Beth (Amber)!
Q: How did you feel when you found out season 6 was canceled?
A: I was quite sad, I was looking forward to it. Like the fans, I wanted to see what would happen next.
Q: Who were you most closest with out of all the cast members?
A: All of them pretty much, still keep in touch with most of them now. I’m pretty close with Fleur (Ruby).
Q: Which series did u like playing Lex in the best
A: I think season one, I had more fun playing him when he was more nasty. 😉
Q: Were you always content about the plans for Lex what he had to act? Did you ever want to disagree with the script?
A: Yeah, most of the time. I was a bit sad when he started to become nicer as the series went on (it’s fun to act like that) but I understand why he did for the story.
Q: Just wondered if you gained any nicknames by cast or crew during the making of The Tribe
A: No, not really. I got used to being called Lex.
Q: I was just wondering if the storyline had continued with Zandra and the baby, do you think that Lex would have mellowed and been a more stable tribe mate with a baby to take care of, or blown a gasket with the pressure?
A: I think he would have started off fairly angry (you know Lex) with the baby, but he would have become much nicer and a good father as the show went on.
Q: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A: I wanted to be a geologist.
Q: If you could have lunch with any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?
A: I’d love to have lunch with Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Q: What luxury item would you take on a desert island?
A: My Guitar!
Q: How did you find out about the subject of the dogs?
A: Random chance, I saw a poster asking for help, and I applied for the job!
Q: What was the most challenging thing about shooting?
A: Really just getting the story right, and getting the infomation from people. Also, all the hard weather conditions (and Polar Bears!).
Q: As for questions regarding The Tribe, way back when there was hints that you were writing a book. What happened to that? And are you still writing?
A: It was put on hold when I went to Canada, but I’m quite a way through it. I’d like to finish one day!
Q: Also any inspiration for a recent college graduate trying to make her way into the industry both as a filmmaker and writer that you could share would be fantastic and mean a lot to me.
A: Keep at it! It’s not easy, you have to be able to deal with many hardships, but stay strong and focused!
Q: how has The Tribe changed your life?
A: It think it helped to form much of my personality, especially through all the people I met.
Q: just wondering if you’re planning a trip to the uk any time soon?
A: I actually just got back from the UK, I was in Manchester and the Lake District. Might be going to Scotland soon!
Q: What do you like to do on your free time and what is your favorite food?
A: I’ve been playing my Guitar 🙂 Food would be… Peas. Also the Canadian dish of French Fires and Cheese!
Q: What is your favorite memory on set of Tribe?
A: Got many memories of hanging out with the cast between scenes. The paint fight was also memorable.
Q: Where you scared when Lex got the Virus, or did you know everything was going to be ok?
A: I knew that he would live! 😉
Q: How did you get into acting
A: I did a lot of musicals and stage shows when I was young, my parents got me an agent and I got into movies and shows.
Q: Have you been working on the last dogs documentry the whole time you have been in America , or did you do other projects over there to ?
A: Just ‘The Last Dogs of Winter’, it’s quite a lot of work!
Q: What happens now your in New Zealand in regards to your work in Canada , with the wild dogs and bears ?
A: I’ve been working a bit in post-production on it. The Dogs themselves are quite fine, they have a few people over there still working with them.
Q: What was the most difficult part about your character?
A: I found it hard to play him when he became an Alcoholic, as I’ve never been one myself. Also, as nice as it was to play a nasty character, I found some scenes like the rape scene very hard.
Q: Are you planning any other film/TV work in the US any time?
A: Not at the moment, just the Dog docu. 🙂
Q: Did you audition for Lexfrom the beginning or a different character?
A: I auditioned for him from the beginning, I don’t think I did a good job at it though, but Cloud 9 liked it!
Q: You did work on The Tribe spin-off The New Tomorrow, how did you find working on that series?
A: It was quite funny and weird seeing the kids doing what we did! Interesting seeing the similarities between the characters in the shows.
Q: What was the weirdest you’ve read about yourself, which was untrue?
A: I remember reading an interview in a German magazine, but I didn’t actually do the interview!
Q: I was just wondering if you could tell us about any projects you’ve got got lined up,
A: The documentary I’ve been filming is the main one I’ve been doing lately, it should be out later this year. Not sure what I’m going to do after!
Q: Whats your favorite savory food out of lasagna, macaroni and cheese or a hotdog?
A: Lasagna
Q: Whats your favorite desert out of chocolate, ice cream sundae and custard?
A: Custard
Q: Whats your favorite movie and why?
A: Hard question! Recent would be Inception, found it well written.
Q: i wanted to know what was one of the greatest opportunities youve gotten to experience from being on the tribe?
A: The Tribe tours were great fun!
Q: Also, have you seen the Dreamkeepers scripts? and if so, do you like how they have tried to continue the story of the Mallrats?
A: I haven’t seen them, but I’d love to.
Q: So my question is, if the virus really happened, would you act as your character Lex did, or if not, how would you act?A: I think I would try to find a close group of people, friends, who had different skills and we’d try to make it work.
Q: What do the words Keep The Dream Alive Mean to you?
A: Don’t give up on what you believe in, always strive to be the best you can, enjoy life. 🙂
Q: Lex did a lot of crazy (both good and bad) things throughout the series. Was the something that actually made you think “Oh no!” while reading the script?
A: I enjoyed all the crazy stuff Lex did. 🙂
Q: when will your movie “the last dogs of winter” will be released??
A: Not too sure, but we’re hoping around September in festivals and things. Hopefully someone will pick up and you guys will be able to see it. 😀
Q: So my question are, is there any chance to write you fanpost? what is the adress?
A: I can’t give out an address, but I appreciate all the support! I love you guys.