In Search of . . . Jon Voight

He’s been publicly visible as an advocate for aid for Vietnam veterans and the homeless--and privately immersed in spiritual study--but it’s been five years since Jon Voight made his last big-screen splash, his Oscar-nominated performance in “Runaway Train.”

“It was about time for me to get back to work,” acknowledges the actor, who’s now preparing to star as Dr. Robert Gale in Carolco’s “Final Warning: The Legacy of Chernobyl” for Turner Network Television. “This is a very worthwhile project to do it with. It’s an extremely important area for us to understand.”

For the past four years, Voight’s professional life has revolved around “Eternity,” the multi-period love story in which he co-stars with Armand Assante, Wilford Brimley and Eileen Davidson. Voight co-wrote the script, which delves into reincarnation, with director Steven Paul and executive-produced the project with Paul’s parents, Hank and Dorothy.

Voight says the film, which has foreign distribution deals but no U.S. distributor, is “almost completed.” But he expresses no frustration about its duration.

“It’s been an education and an adventure. I have a whole new understanding of filmmaking from the ground up. Steven Paul included me in every stage of the production, from working on the script to final editing and music.”

With “Final Warning” production set for a May 30 start in Russia, Voight is “trying to spend as much time as I possibly can” with Dr. Gale, the UCLA-based cancer specialist noted for his work with victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster.

“It’s a great responsibility” to take on such a role, says Voight, who’s interviewed Gale at home and spent time with him at work. He’s also been studying books on Judaism in an effort to better understand the devoutly-religious doctor, who speaks Hebrew at home with his Israeli-born wife.

Gale, who co-authored (with Thomas Hauser) the book, “Final Warning,” on which the two-hour movie is based, serves as a technical consultant on the film, which is set for shooting in Moscow and Kurchatov, where a nuclear reactor identical in design to the one at Chernobyl exists.

“(Gale) is a very strong and powerful presence with an outward characteristic of extreme poise,” Voight says. “It’s hard to conceive of the kind of suffering he has seen.”