“I’m a Genius” is the title of an interview that Stargate star David Hewlett had with the French fansite “David Hewlett – FR”. It’s a special day in France as today (July 1) is the release day for Hewlett’s A Dog’s Breakfast!
The lengthy interview covers nearly all aspects of Hewlett’s “genius”-ness in the world of television and movie production. From writing, to acting, to directing, to producing, the versatile and talented actor continues to endear himself to his fans by remaining down-to-earth and accessible.
You’ll need to visit the webpage (where the audio interview is available for download and is transcribed in both English and French) to get the full picture of what Hewlett’s doing, but here are some of the highlights that might interest Stargate fans:
First up, Stargate star Christopher Judge’s appearance in A Dog’s Breakfast:
The part of Christopher Judge in your movie is excellent, how did you come up to have him on the board?
Chris Judge…I always say about Chris Judge that there is a type of actor that has, for want of a better word, a “light”, like there’s something about him when he walks into a room you can’t help, you always look at him, you always pay attention to him. And he doesn’t have to do anything, he’s just standing here silently and he becomes the centre of attention, he’s just like this almost magical beast. He is incredibly funny, he has done Stargate for God-knows how long and he rarely has anything to do on Stargate, you never really see him say many lines and he was just so funny and so completely wrong for the part that it seemed right to give it to him. It was actually Jane’s idea, I had originally thought he should be, you know, he was a guy that couldn’t get a date, he should look like somebody who can’t get a date and she actually said: “Wouldn’t it be funnier if it was Chris Judge because it’s so silly to think that Chris Judge couldn’t get a date if he wanted one”. So at first I thought that she was crazy, but we did the read-through, we all sat down and read it, and he was so funny in this one little scene that I had written for him that I ended up extending the part, probably to three times the size and I wish I had put him in it more because he was so much fun to work with and the day he was in was just my favourite day, it was the only day that I really sort of relaxed because he just puts you at ease and he’s just the most ridiculously inappropriate and funny man you’ve ever come across and every time I sit down to write something there is always and there will always be a part for Christopher Judge in my stuff because he’s just…he’s a movie star! There’s nothing else you can say about him. Christopher Judge is a movie star, I just keep waiting for him to get his big break in that regard.
Then, there’s the filming of the “Starcrossed” scenes for the movie on Stargate‘s Daedalus set with Atlantis’ Paul McGillion and Rachel Luttrell:
So how is doing the production of “Starcrossed”?
Ha-ha. Well “Starcrossed” was the last thing we shot, we shot for one Saturday on the Stargate set, and we were told that we were allowed to use as long as it didn’t look like a Stargate set. Of course the Stargate fans all know it right away, but if you don’t know Stargate then I suppose that you might be impressed by how big the sets were. It was really, really funny because Rachel… lovely Rachel, the poor woman, I basically cast her as Teyla again, and I apologized to her for it, but I did say that they made her look beautiful in it, and I think she looks fantastic. And again, she’s got a great sense of humour. I actually just read a script that she has written, a sort of short film that she’s written, which is very, very funny and it’s exciting, there’s a lot of action and stuff too…
Having her and Paul McGillion and the whole crew around, and Michael Lenic, it was that much more amusing because we were in the middle of shooting Stargate so all of Starcrossed suddenly seemed very sort of close to home because it was a bit like “Galaxy Quest”, it amusingly mirrors our experiences shooting Stargate sometimes. It’s obviously sillier but I think there’s a very funny side to shooting Sci-fi. Sci-fi is all very serious and stuff but watching it being shot is very amusing so…We actually have a show that we are working on now called “Starcrossed” which is a behind-the-scenes comedy about making Sci-fi because we were just so taken with that part of the film. And the fans really liked that part of the film as well.
And there’s more…the first Stargate Atlantis movie, currently titled Stargate: Extinction, and perhaps working with Amanda Tapping once again in Sanctuary:
About Atlantis, have you seen the scenario of the movie or are you totally out of the loop?
Totally out of the loop, the actors are always the last to know of these things. I’ve heard rumours that we’re going to do a movie, I’ve heard rumours that we’re not going to do a movie. I basically just wait, that’s it, that’s all you can do, just hope for the best. Stargate was just the best job I’ve ever had, it was just fantastic, amazing people to work with, and just a great experience and I miss it terribly. And also as a sci-fi nerd I was a part of the sci-fi entertainment industry, which is just fantastic, to be there, to do ComicCon every year and to do all that kind of stuff. So I definitely miss it, I really, really enjoyed my time on that show. What is nice about not being on a show everyday is that you’ve got time to pursue your own stuff, which is basically what I’ve been doing. That’s the hope. I mean there’s definitely keeping an eye out for acting jobs as well, but basically just focussing on getting my own stuff made.
Amanda Tapping is an inspiration to me on that, because she’s just on such a fantastic job of transitioning from the Stargate franchise into her own franchise with Sanctuary so I think she’s a great example of alternate means of distribution and how that can succeed. I mean, she ended up with a TV series, it’s fantastic! What they’re doing over there is incredibly inspiring and she is a very smart one so I look forward to battle with her again.
Yes, I’ve seen this series. Are you planning to work with her again in Sanctuary?
Yes, I would love to. Unfortunately I got a call about possibly doing some stuff with them again but the schedule didn’t work out, as always. Unfortunately I was busy when they were doing it. But I hope so, yeah, a lot of those guys are from the Stargate days and obviously working with Amanda is such a treat so I’m hoping that another opportunity will come up in that regard.
Even the new Stargate Universe got a mention:
Back to the Stargate franchise, what is your point of view on Stargate Universe?
You know, I’ve got no point of view. I haven’t seen it so…it’s one of those weird things, as an actor who is no longer doing the show it’s that sort of weird bittersweet thing. I think it’s fantastic the franchise is continuing and I’m curious to see what they are going to do with it but at the same time I think “How could they possibly do a show without me?!?”.
You’re not going to play a part in the season premiere or a small appearance?
Nope. No. They are already shooting and I have not been a part of it thus far. They’ve talked about really trying to move it in a different direction so I think it’s difficult to do that if you have all the same characters. I know there are some crossovers and there have definitely been some crossovers with the SG-1 characters and such… I don’t know what happened there, I mean I would obviously love to be a part of it, and I’d loved to have been a part of it but I understand they have to have their own lives, they have to do their own things. So you know, it’s not really my call. Hey, if I had my way I’d be in every episode of every show ever! So, you know, we’d get pretty bored watching television so it’s probably good somebody else is running things.
Right now I’ve been trying to work on my own little science-fiction thing so we will see how that sorts out.
Most assuredly, there’s much, much more, so visit David Hewlett FR: I’m a Genius!
[Thanks to SGAngeL for the screencaps from A Dog’s Breakfast. Stargate images from MGM and Sci Fi (Syfy).]