Stargate SG-1 Solutions Interviews: Michael Shanks

BOBW 20 CON REPORT PART TWO
Canberra, Australia
Typed by Kelly, following shouted orders by DJ, Tricia and Lorrie.  : )

Sunday

The guests all came out onstage again for the Welcoming at 9:00.  Again, a bit too early for the late-night partiers, but we didn't see much complaining!  The actors adjourned to another room, and the audience members were called up by rows for their photography session.

On Sunday, it seemed that more people were getting pictures with all the guests, or with various guests in an interesting assortment of groups.   The atmosphere was relaxed and happy, the line moved fairly quickly, and there was lots of laughter.

The Talks:


Colonel Richard Searfoss

The focus on Sunday was the view of Australia from space, much to the delight of the native audience.  Rick said that Australia is the most beautiful continent, with the biggest variety of colors; very intense and breath-taking.  He pointed out various geological features in his slides, smiling as the audience corrected his pronunciation of landmarks' names.  When he quizzed the audience with tiny fragments of pictures of coastlines and mountain ranges, they knew exactly what each feature was.

After his presentation was over, he brought his wife Julie onstage with him, to answer questions about the life of the astronauts' families when they're in space.  When asked for a specific memory about her husband's readjustment to life on Earth after a trip out into space, she told the Plate Story.  Evidently, only hours after his return, Rick was helping to set the table when she asked him to get her something else.  Used to the weightlessness of space, he left the plates to linger in the air while he turned to retrieve that object.  The plates, of course, being on Earth did not linger, and fell to the ground with a crash.  She was so glad to have him home though, that she couldn't get angry.  This was Julie's first time onstage, and she did an excellent job.

After their talk, Richard and Julie presented Adele and her husband Brian with an autographed picture of the crew of Richard's last Columbia mission, along with an official patch which had been on the shuttle in space. This was in thanks for being made to feel so welcome as amongst other things he did that weekend was to be taken out to Tidtinbulla, the Australian tracking station that gets the first words and pictures from space.

Jan Newman:

Jan started her talk by correcting Michael’s statement of the day before and stating that RDA was not a brat, instead he's an eight-and-a-half year old boy who sometimes works towards thirteen.  In Brief Candle, the only way RDA would agree to sit still for the hours of make up was if they promised to make him look like his grandfather.  The make-up staff had three photos in front of them while they were working; RDA, his father and his grandfather.  When RDA's daughter Wylie saw her father in the make-up, she recognized him immediately by his eyes.  She also mentioned that RDA likes to get dirty, and if he's really dirty, then he's probably put on his own "dirt".

Amanda doesn't mind getting dirty when she has to; unlike many other actresses, she doesn't always want to be glamorous and beautiful all the time.   In Chimera though, she was very happy because she gets a boyfriend and is able to wear a cocktail dress and jewelry.

The military has strict regulations about hair and jewelry.  Jan has had e-mails from the Pentagon about some of the actors' hair.  Stephen Williams, when he showed up to guest star, had a lovely full beard.  Jan was forced to shave it off, but she let him keep the mustache.  She got complaints about that, so the next time he guest-starred, she had him shave it off.  Then she got e-mails from the producers complaining.  She joked that she just can't win.

Amanda gets her make-up done first, then moves on to hair.  Don and Chris are next.  RDA is last, because he can't sit still.

They don't use the Jaffa skull caps anymore, because they're difficult.  The frost that was seen on the first trip through the gate was also done away with for the same reason.  Easy is better.

The System Lords

We laughed, we cried, we can't remember a thing.   Okay, so we remember a few things.  But it was difficult!  It was like a three-ring circus trying to keep track of everything that Jacqueline, Doug and David said and did during their presentation, especially since Doug spent half his time walking around in the audience, wielding a mike.

Jacqueline Samuda entranced us all with her determination to eat Tim Tams and vegemite.  She entertained the audience with a long interactive discussion about the variations of eating them…through coffee, Bailey’s etc.  We corrected her pronunciation of Kookaburra. She does quite a good Australian accent when she tries.

All three of them consistently reiterated how much they loved being the baddy because it was so much fun making SG-1 do what they wanted. David talked about the differences between being Sokar and Anubis (he liked playing Sokar better than Anubis because he's not completely covered by his costume) and tried not to tell us any spoilers for The Lost City.

All three discussed the clothes they get to wear. Jacqueline was impressed that actual semi-precious stones were used in some of Nirrti's costumes.  She stated that Nirrti gets the best clothes AND shoes.

Doug said that the headdresses that the bad Goa'uld have to wear weigh over thirty pounds.  He seemed quite amused when David admitted that Anubis' cape covering is made out of chiffon.

David wasn’t THAT impressed with his costume and didn’t tell us what he wore under it (or was that just a question we WANTED to ask and weren’t brave enough to?)  He did share that only Anubis' First Primes ever found out what he wore under the robe...and then he had to kill them. :-)

 
Michael Shanks Sunday Q&A session
BOBW 20, Canberra Australia

Michael came in, wearing a baseball-style sleeveless blue shirt labeled AMERICAN 10 EAGLE, ripped jeans that fit ver-ry nicely and an FBI baseball cap.  He had stubble.  Obviously, it was the scruffy day!  He greeted the audience with a smile and a wave, then settled in.  Unlike the previous day, Glen, the BOBW MC, had a microphone and ran around the room so that the audience could ask questions.  This way, all the questions were heard, as well as the answers.  Glen did a great job covering the entire crowd, even if he did look a little tired by the end!

The questions below are from memory, prompted by Lorrie's excellent note-taking. They are not direct quotes, except in a few places, indicated by quotation marks.


Q:  What is your favorite episode?

MS:  "Heroes."   At a number of groans from the audience, he asked "What?  It doesn't have to be a happy episode to be a favorite".  Heroes has love, laughter, angst and is "a fine piece of work."

Q:  What was the thinking behind his leaving the show?

MS:  Pause, deep breath,  "...not a lot?"  He waited for the laughter to die down, then spoke about his conviction that it was the right thing for both him and the show at the time.  As was coming back.

Q:  Are there similarities between yourself and the characters you play?

MS:  Some.  Michael said that he reached into his own experiences to play characters on screen, and probably every piece of him has been shown.  Maybe not as many pieces of him as people would like...?

Q:  Why are you popular?  (the question was from a boy of about 12.  There was much amused laughter from the mostly female audience)

MS:  "I don't know!"    Then he spoke a bit about Daniel's enthusiasm, and how having a good character to portray certainly made a big difference.

Q:  Was it easy to take over from James Spader?

MS: " James Spader rocks, he's one of my favorite actors."  The first few times he portrayed Daniel was daunting, but now he's had time to make the character his own.

Q:  Would you change anything about Daniel?

MS:  "His wardrobe."  Michael was the one who came up with Daniel's fashion sense, which changed when he wore Hugo Boss in 2010.  The clothing felt and looked so good.  Around that time, he thought that if Daniel was going to be wearing Hugo in a few years, it was time to start improving what he wears now.

Q:  Which of the places you've visited would you like to go back and spend more time at?

MS:  "Las Vegas".  (said with a big grin).  At a little prompting from the audience, he added "Oh, and Australia!"  to a round of applause.

Q:  Do you have any idea how season 8 will end?

MS:  "Don't know."

Q:  What will you do when Stargate ends?

MS:   Since it looks like both shows will be wrapping up, Andromeda at the end of the fifth season, and Stargate at the end of the eighth, both Michael and his wife Lexa Doig will probably be moving to LA to "give it a go."

Q:  What do you think of actors becoming involved in politics?

MS:  Well obviously, he can only speak for himself, but he thinks actors should do their job and act.   He did say that some actors may decide to change careers and go into politics and do a perfectly good job; but that it wouldn't mix with acting so they would have to choose one or the other.  

Q:  How do you get into the mindset of characters when you have no experience?

MS:  He accesses some similar emotion in his own life, and tries to come up with a reason for a character's actions.  He told a funny story about the extremely nasty role he played in "Suspicious River", he had tried to give the character a back-story to explain his nastiness.  The director called him over and told him that he didn't need that much information; "sometimes an asshole is just an asshole." So that's how Michael played it.

Q:  What is his relationship with Jack O'Neill?  (There was a bit of confusion in this question, Michael asked for clarification: do you mean Jack or Rick?)

MS:  "Rick's a brat.  But that's okay, I'm a bit of a brat too".  He went on, comparing their relationship to one like brothers..."we fight and then we kiss and make up".  They get along well, and it shows on screen.

Q:  Why did you get writing credit for several episodes?

MS:  He wrote the script for Resurrection, so obviously he got credit for that.  In Evolution they used the concept from one of the stories he pitched, so he was given a story credit because he came up with the original idea.

Q:  Have you seen Pirates of the Caribbean, and would you like to play Jack?

MS:  "Yes.  Who wouldn't want to chew up the scenery as Jack Sparrow?"  He laughed and asked if there was there any scenery left standing at the end of the movie.

Q:  Will we ever see the cream sweater again?

MS:  "Not unless Daniel ass-ends again."

Q:  Who does he have the hots for on the set? (another question from the young male fan.)

MS:  "The woman I have the "hots" for has not appeared on the show...yet.  She's my wife."  (There were loud "awwws" from the audience, and Michael smiled, licked his finger, and marked up a score in the air.)  The producers are actually looking for something for Lexa to do on Stargate.

Q:  What can you tell us about Daniel's secret life as a ninja?

MS:  Michael showed us all how Daniel fights crime after dark in Colorado as Ninja Daniel.  He turned off an imaginary light.  "Good night, Jack.  No, no I'm fine.  I'm going to read for awhile..."  Then he strapped on an imaginary sword, opened an imaginary window, climbed an imaginary ladder (or maybe it was a drainpipe) and went on the prowl.  Very funny!

Q:  What was it like the first night before you started working?

MS:  He was very anxious.  He had stayed up until 3 a.m. before he realized that he had to be on the set at 5 a.m., he went to bed and got about 45 minutes of sleep.  It probably would have been better not to have slept at all.  It rained that day though, and they ended up not using any of the dailies.

Q:  Does Daniel have a theme song?

MS:  He grinned, then sang "Why do birds suddenly appear..."   (the first two lines of the song "Close to You".)

Q:  Can you show us the Puff & Ruffle and the Wounded Lamb?

MS:  "I'm going to kill Tapping for this!"  But he did it. The Puff & Ruffle is the guys' reaction to a new woman on the set; the Wounded Lamb the response of the ladies to the display.  It's obviously a fan favorite!

Q:  What are your favorite episodes?

MS:  Torment of Tantalus, Fifth Race and Heroes.

Q:  What were the hardest episodes to do?

MS:  Lifeboat and Legacy.

Q:  Is there a storyline you think is overused or that you dislike?

MS:  No... He then laughed and said if anyone had asked that question in the fifth season, his answer would have been the NID stuff, "but then I went and wrote one."

Q:  In an interview sometime this year, Lexa Doig said that she thought you'd look good in drag and that she'd like to see you in make up.  What do you think?

MS:  Michael laughed, then said that his wife Lexa says he has long eyelashes and long legs, and therefore he would look good in drag.  He doesn't really think so, but he might be willing to try it, for her.

Q: What is Daniel's relationship with Dr. Fraiser?

MS:  He and Teryl got sick of all the "Jack and Sam" stuff, so they decided to play with a potential "Daniel and Janet" thing in 2010.  The writers saw it and liked it, and put a bit more into Rite of Passage.

Q:  Do you like hats, or is it a bad hair day?

MS:  "Yes!" (with a grin and no elaboration)

Q:  Would you take your hat off?

MS:  "No!"  

Q:  Did you ever get your commerce degree?  

MS:  Michael said that he uses what he learned in figuring out his own finances, but he doesn't use the degree.  He does have a friend living in Norway  who did graduate, and has a highly successful and wonderful life as a business executive, so he knows what kind of life he could have had if he had pursued his education.

Q:  Why does Daniel, who is a linguist, pronounce "Goa'uld" as "goold"?

MS:  "Do you want the BS answer, or the real answer?"  The BS answer is that Daniel feels absolute contempt for the Goa'uld and what they've done, so he mangles their name deliberately.  The real answer is that Michael is lazy. <g>  "And nobody says "Goa'uld" as well as Chris, anyway."

Q:  Are you going to write any episodes for season 8?

MS:  He'd like to.  He has a couple ideas to pitch, and he might think about writing one with Chris.  He thinks they'd write well together because Michael is good at the "broad strokes" or  ideas and Chris is good at the details.

Q:  Who was Daniel calling on the red phone at the end of  Space Race?

MS:  "You noticed that?"  He and Amanda Tapping were playing around with the phone, imagining all kinds of things Daniel could have been calling.  He thought it might have been a phone sex number.

Afternoon and Evening

Michael's talk was followed by the autographing session.  The bulk of the guests were set up in the auditorium, with Michael in the autograph room.  Needless to say, almost everyone getting autographs wanted Michael's; his line was definitely the longest.   He was very sweet; talking to each person individually and writing a variety of phrases on various items. Because everything was so personalized, the autographing session lasted right up until it was time for the Wrap Party.

The Wrap Party

The guests mingled and chatted their way around the room. Enormous fun was had by all!  Michael showed up a little late, since the autographing had gone over.  He had on The Leather Jacket.  He walked around the room, visiting each table (the party was held in the hotel sports bar/restaurant) and chatted with everyone.  One fan was so shy; she seemed about to cry when he spoke to her.  He sat with her for a bit to calm her down.  After visiting the tables, Michael talked a bit with fans in the center of the bar.  In all, he stayed a couple hours before leaving; he had an early plane to catch!

Several people chatted with Michael and the other guests during the party.  Perhaps they'll share some of their personal observations with us over the next few days.

Then, much to our dismay, it was over.

Thanks go out to everyone involved in BOBW 20.  Michael, Richard and Julie Searfoss, Jan, Jacqueline, Doug and David, but also the con committee; Adele, Brian, Peter, Glen, Catherine, Gillian, Katie...the list goes on. We had a great time, and are all looking forward to getting together again, sometime at a future con!

Saturday Report  ::  Mon's BOBW Gallery  ::  Jen's BOBW Gallery