RDA talks Shanks Departure

[ShelbyS]

This month's issue of Cult Times magazine (Issue 75) features an article with an interview with RDA. In it he talks about Micahel Shanks' departure.

The Cult Times website has an exerpt up:

http://www.visimag.com/culttimes/c75_display.htm

One of the most difficult challenges a journalist can face is to get Richard Dean Anderson to sit down long enough to chat sensibly about Stargate SG-1. Packed off to Vancouver by the Ed and told to come back with some juicy goss from the Stargate set, I'm met by Mr Anderson, who duly does his best to make sure I don't complete the task.

"Have I told you about my new sleeping bag?" he asks, as if that had any relevance to the show. "It's kind of a mid-green colour – I think they call it ‘wheatgrass.’" An innocent response about the less than palatable qualities of the wheatgrass health drink somehow leads the actor onto the subject of enemas, bowels and a blow by blow, gloriously technicolor, detailed account of his youthful experience with a suppository, a nun and a bed pan...

Moving swiftly on, he's threatened on pain of exposure in the tabloids to offer some words of wisdom on the biggest change in Stargate SG-1's history, namely the departure of Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). The request to hear these comments initially from Richard Dean Anderson and then from Jack O'Neill brings a hoot of derision from the man. "I can't talk in character. Have you got a script for me?" Reminded that he is a very accomplished actor and therefore should be able to improvise, Anderson solemnly swears, "No! No! I'm very strict about the words that are written for this show. I've even said several of them this year."

Eventually, he relents enough to offer his opinion. "Daniel Jackson is dying – he's going away, but you know what? It's our sixth season of Stargate SG-1 and as in all good things there's an evolution hopefully, creatively and personnel-wise and we've reached the point where something had to change. Something bigger had to happen – at least from my perspective, knowing I will definitely be leaving the show after year six.

"To be quite honest, Michael leaving is a product of the respective parties making decisions based on what their projected needs are going to be in the long term. Michael indicated that he wanted to move on, which is quite a natural reaction after five long years of the rigours of this show. He is also an actor who's young and has a lot to do with his career. I think he knew that going in and what we've done is address the issue. It is a massive, big, big change but I support his decision wholeheartedly."

Switching from his own view to that of Jack O'Neill, the actor admits, "O'Neill has looked to Daniel for the greatest camaraderie and certainly he and I have had a lot of fun with the banter for which we've become famous. As actors we do have fun in the little snippets of scenes that Michael and I have been able to play with. He's very quick and I enjoy that. But for O'Neill, it will have to be life as normal without him. Life goes on."

As for getting on with it – this man is famed for his notoriously short attention span – what on Earth possessed him to sign up for another season of Stargate? "Excellent question!" he beams. "Next!" Looking around the trailer as if in search of an answer, he sighs. "I'm not quite sure. I talked to Brad Wright quite a bit about the future and how we should proceed with the franchise. The thought was that after the fifth year we could possibly have developed a feature film. Brad approached MGM about that but they dragged their heels and weren't real forthcoming because what they ultimately wanted was a sixth season of the TV series in order to raise as much capital as possible and then they would consider it." Now the actor hopes MGM will have, as he quotes, "The balls to give us the go-ahead to develop a franchise of features, which I'd be very interested in taking forward..."
Thomasina Gibson

You'll have to buy the mag to find out what else he said.

Thanks go out to Skydiver for the link.

 

[squire]

Yeah, I was gonna buy it on Saturday, but it was like $13.95!

 

[jsc]

Hey ShelbyS and Skydiver,
Thanks for the heads up ladies!

 

[Anni]

Yes thanks for that. But reading it....as I did standing in a newspaper shop, why oh why does this man always sound like a child? He has the attention span of a three year old.

"Okay bored with this now..... what shall I do mommy? I'm bored!"

A lot of us are bored with working. We do jobs we don't particularly want to do and dream of doing something a lot more interesting. The grass on the other side is always greener. But we know that realistically, we have to still do it. Mortgages to pay, food to buy, clothing utilities boring stuff like that.

RDA has been very lucky in that he hasn't had to live like that. I wonder why he doesn't just give up the acting world altogether and go do something a bit more meaningful, if he's that bored with it all. He could go and save a few rivers in Peru or something.

Or more to the point, work towards those disadvantaged people in his OWN country getting better lives.

This guys picks and chooses what he does and then gets bored. And it shows.... it has shown through very clearly in the Season 5 episodes so far in the way little things like continuity have now completely gone down the tube!

Wake up RDA, there are still lots of very supportive fans out there and your obvious boredom will not make them comfortable at all.

This man definitely grips my sh**t. (Now there's a good British military expression for you, but it says exactly what I feel about him! )

 

[spookypumpkin]

Originally posted by squire
Yeah, I was gonna buy it on Saturday, but it was like $13.95!

omg!!
it cost me £3.50,


that's about $5.50??

 

[ShelbyS]

Yeah, they're really expensive here in Aus cos they have to import them. The TV Zone mags are like $18.95. It's shocking!

 

[jsc]

Well, Remember what Daniel said in "Menace"... the attention span of a child and they all looked at RDA..... seems as if you are not the only one who thinks so....

 

[ShelbyS]

I think it's nice that he's so childish. It shows that he's having fun. He doesn't take himself so seriously like most actors. I think that it's one of his finest qualities.

 

[CynVision]

Originally posted by ShelbyS
I think it's nice that he's so childish. It shows that he's having fun. He doesn't take himself so seriously like most actors. I think that it's one of his finest qualities.

Actually, from going to Gatecon and seeing a major part of current and past supporting cast and regulars from both the TV and the movie, I think most don't take themselves seriously. Really, they all seem rather grounded to a healthy extent.

Some are floored by how seriously we took them in a role that didn't seem that much of a big deal in a SF flick that's only a small part of their c.v. I got that feeling from the panel with Erick Avari. From that panel I got the sense he's man with a great deal of experience in several different televison and movie production cultures in several countries. Very calm and poised fielding questions.

The whole "(s)he's an actor. must be stuck up, shy or nuts" I think has been fed us because of a few movies showing them that way. Or maybe from child stars with problems.

 

[CynVision]

Originally posted by Anni
This guys picks and chooses what he does and then gets bored. And it shows....

I've heard a rumorous joke about daytime soap opera stars. Their short term memory is shot to h-e- double hockey sticks from having to constantly memorize new scripts.

After twenty-odd years of doing the same thing on a weekly basis, he's got to be in the same boat. It can't help matters to have to doubletime with character and fielding production matters. RDA's mercurial nature is the product of his enviroment.

It's a bit condensending of me but sometimes you just got to feel bad for the man. At 52 he's not mastered the whole conservative America, stable, long-term relationship thing. On the other hand, might just be a guy born ahead of his times...

Ask around. You won't find too many people who've kept the same job or side-interests for 35 years like some of my parent's peers had. Longest I kept the same job was seven years. The one I just left was 2 3/4 years.

 

[CynVision]

Originally posted by Anni
This man definitely grips my sh**t. (Now there's a good British military expression for you, but it says exactly what I feel about him! )

Oh and then I note that the article byline is Thomasina Gibson. She's one folk they just love to let interview them.She's a buddy of sorts. IIRC, she's a sort of a studio insider turned to writing interviews. At least that's the bit I heard waiting outside the Gatecon panels. I hung around listening to her talk to fans of her book and that's just my take on her. Just a tad envious of her one way or the other.

I can't help think that part of the "tone" surrounding RDA in that article is wholy hers. Not that anyone accuses her of being biased. But the little I heard about the coveted "Bible" she wrote was that there was a slant to the accounting about what goes on over at Bridge. But for the life of me I can't say if it was waxing poetic towards MS or RDA. So keep that in mind.

**wondering that if they sent a average journalist type-person there, if there'd be a different take on the man....**

 

[Anni]

I see all of your points Cyn.... but there is a huge part of me thinks that the whole thing is like a little exclusive club. I can't put these people on any kind of pedestal because I don't for one moment believe that they are wonderful or any kind of saint. I know that you are not saying they are by any means, but plenty of the fans do think this and I am quite tired of it. It's tedious.

These people are actors.... nothing more than that. RDA takes a dump, drools on his pillow, farts, burps and gets irritated like anyone else... and so do the rest of them. But even when they DO do something just like the rest of us, it's turned into something awe inspiring.... like the snippet that CJ likes to let huge farts rip.... All of a sudden, something which many people find extremely offensive and disgusting becomes almost worthy of a mention in the six o clock news and trumpeting out from all four corners of the earth. Fans wax enthusiastically about how funny it is, as though this guy actually invented the first fart ever. CJ can blow it out through his a**s. Wow!

RDA and his ecology kick. He rafts down a damn river, bleats on about saving a waterway and all of a sudden he's this saintly creature who's only and main cause in life is to save the environment and a nice guy to boot. i don't know him, so I don't know if he's a nice guy or not. But we'll just ignore all of those people like the folk from Green Peace who put everything on the line to try to save the environment and don't receive any kind of awed accolades. The guy has the attention span of a gnat. And quite frankly I don't feel bad for someone who has never HAD to actually grow up and take responsibility for anything.

I remember talking to someone and discovering that Amanda Tapping smokes and being amazed at the horror this evinced from this person. AT smokes? Holy Hannah, not Saint Sam of Cheyenne Mountain who doesn't pollute her body with anything, including a member of the opposite sex! All of a sudden AT has dropped in this person's estimation because she puts the noxious weed in her mouth and lights up? Like a normal human being. God rot her soul.... how dare she act like a normal human being. The next thing you know, she'll be having sex with her husband!!! Perish the thought!

Another who actually does behave fairly normally as per his age is MS..... and he gets kicked around the forums and boards for daring to be human, poor little blighter. Even so, this man has reached the dizzy heights of unofficial deity to many of the Stargate fans... all of them female, all of them denying hotly and repeatedly that they have the hots for him. "Oh but he's a WONDERFUL actor!" They chirrup excitedly, whilst imagining deep inside what it might be like to actually be alone with the guy. No wonder the poor bugger is cutting and running. Damn sure I would if I were him.

I saw Thomasina Gibson strutting around the hallowed halls of the Best Western Richmond Inn. She nearly knocked me over so busy was she waltzing past and not looking where she was going. The phrase up her own a**hole....... springs to mind!

God kiddies... I don't know. For me, these actors are just people. Nothing special. Being in a show doesn't make them special. I can't feel that way about them. Maybe when RDA solves world hunger or finds a cure for cancer I'll feel differently, but right now I don't think I'll hold my breath. Nor is my life any lighter because they occupy the same part of the universe as me.

I fight for Gulf War veterans to get the right to have fair treatment and the truth told. I have done lecture tours across the US to the DAV, American Legion, even standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the exact same spot that Martin Luther King said "I have a dream...." and spoken to assembled veterans on Memorial Day along with many other very sick veterans, American, Australian, Canadian and British. I and other British veterans have lobbied Parliament. I even belong to the Military Professions Group of Amnesty International, as do many other volunteers. We don't just play at it. The battle is real. We receive no honours and no accolades. Nobody even knows we do it. We don't have anyone with any kind of public profile or clout on our side. Maybe if we were a doomed river, or condemned beauty spot in BC it would be different. But we don't, so the battle goes on.

I will now get down off my soapbox. Put it down to having chemo, being afraid and it coming up to the anniversary of a dear friend who died of cancer a year ago....

 

[CynVision]

I know. I'm the choir here on the matter of actors being real people. I've done shows with sick actors. Ended a show because a chronic nosebleed. Done shows with kid actors that forget their lines.... Does anyone listen to Green Peace? The Internet explosion didn't help established causes, it increased the background noise for them to struggle to over come. I think everyone that bleats does their part. So brownie points for RDA using some of that fame for something not involved with a camera, eh? I think the Earth is pretty much doomed while the human species is on it. I'm a good little Outer Limits watcher.

And I'd love to pay someone to run my daily life, too. Ain't gonna happen anytime soon. I'd pay for someone to take care of my five foot tall stack of laundry right about now. Is that your main beef with RDA?

MS works with the poster child example of what happens to an actor when good fans go bad. RDA. Running out and doing stage work has knighted a few people and they're wonderful character actors into their eighties and get drawn to projects like LOTR. Let MS hit the boards. Let's talk again in oh... 2043 and see where he is then professionally.

ooops. Forgot you were in Vancouver for Gatecon. I loved those hallways at the hotel. I had fun practicing my 'Jack walk' down them! Hope I didn't run you down. Aren't I a sick puppy? I wear Old Navy BDUs everywhere. But I think I know the danger of being a superstar in your own mind. I got this thing about thinking my websites are hot sh**t and then I check my stats. Always check your stats.

AT. Poor kid. Another year before she can have sex without worry...<eg> I get with you on the whole MS leaving thing. Would fans have quite as strong reaction to AT departing? Prolly not. I was in the Gatecon panel where JR Bourne had the guys stand up. He counted 15 guys to 450 women? Well, you might get J/S shippers howling... and maybe theres a lesbian contingent I haven't seen... And its sort of silly to think MS's replacement will be 'wrong' for the show. A replacement for AT would be judged 'wrong' too. That's the trouble with places letting loose the spoilers. Replacements will be 'different.' I can't think what TPTB are afraid of. Its the nature of SF to be a bit cultish. And if they go the way of Dr. Who when they picked a new Doctor that didn't hit the mark, so what? I'm just guessing they want to make a stellar showing on SciFi channel from the get-go. Someone "Big" might have bought ad time... But ask: What really is the point of the show? I read something over at Stargate Hyperspeed that was a beautiful review of Threshold that said it was touching the original premise of SG like nothing else in a long while. That got me thinking. You're right, Anni. Who's driving? Who's watching the white line on the roadside?

I'll disagree a tad with you, Anni. I feel they do something special. Every blessed man and woman on the payroll. But it's a special talent to evoke something that's imaginary. Everytime I sit down and write a fic I know what they do is hard work. They live for it.

Anni, you sound like a person who appreciates action and motivation and results of a worldly nature. I think there's a need for days where you march out and support causes. Then, there are days where you curl up and watch a show that's heroic and suspensful and ends successfully 47 minutes later. That the culture I grew up in. I think the trouble with the cold-war kids like myself is we never expected to turn 30. The world was going to blow up sometime in 1998 according to all the stuff fed us in grade school. Kids today know there's a future and statisitcally they're being shown to be more involved in RL causes.

 

[Texane]

Y'all give me such food for thought, as I write my oral argument for the court on a brief pertaining to constitutional law . . .

My admiration to you, Anni, for keeping your soapbox wherever you go. Veteran's rights are near and dear to my heart and my family.

I was the odd-man-out when AT grew her hair longer to look more feminine (see Divide and Conquer), and then cut it when some know-it-all walked by her and said "not regulation." There were many threads and posts arguing if this was right or wrong, women vs. men in the military, AT's clout on th show . . . geez, you guys (I told them). IT'S JUST A T.V. SHOW!!!

For some of us who love scifi, it's for varying reasons. For the sheer entertainment of someone dreaming up new worlds and species. For the fun of it. And for the humor. And sometimes because, in a hopeful way, it lets us believe that someone somewhere did much better with all the gifts they've been given than we have. And it's just pure fun. And I like seeing what the special effects people come up with.

Actors are just workers who get paid too much. But truthfully, looking at all that is expected of them, I don't think I would want their job.

Do I really care if MS is leaving? Only if someone lousy takes his place. Quite frankly, the season 5 epys so far stink (I may be alone in that opinion, but I feel pretty strongly about the **** we've been fed this season). If the writers put forth new, fresh ideas, and they go back to reaching for the stars through the Stargate, which holds my attention, I don't care who replaces him. And I wish MS the best in his career. I just hope he doesn't end up like Denise Crosby. And if he plans to hit the Boards, he better start looking for a cheaper place to live, plan to live on much less sleep, and realise that 1/2 of the world barely knows what the Tony's are (shame on them).

RDA? The arrogance has been around a long time. On the other hand, perhaps if you've worked hard, successfully, for a long time, you may have earned it (the Pete Rose Syndrome: you're an as*, but you've got the stats to back it up). And although I don't think he's more important because he supports causes, I am thankful for those who do. Yourself included.

The Stargate people, ALL of them, not just the ones we see on the screen, have given a great effort in fun, and funny, scifi. I look forward to better things to come.

In short, it's just a t.v. show.

 

[Texane]

Hey! Anni!

What's your favorite place/memorial you've spoken at/attended?

I will never forget the first time I saw the Lincoln Monument. As large as he is, the statue is set back into the monument. You walk up all those many, many, small, marble stairs and it's not until you get to the second stair to the top that you start to see Lincoln . . . and he is just . . . everything I expected him to be. Everything I wanted him to be.

I've gone back to the monument many times, but nothing has ever been like the first time I stood there looking at the man who had little education, and so much integrity and courage. His words, chiseled into the walls surrounding him, make us stop and think, even now.