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Don Davis Interview Transcript from Interstellar Transmissions

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Mr. Davis was interviewed over the telephone (Davis was in Vancouver, radio show is broadcasted out of Florida), and the interview started at 7:15 pm, concluded at approximately 7:40 pm.

JOEY: “Also via telephone from Vancouver, Canada – one of the most beautiful places on the planet – we have Don Davis from “Stargate SG-1.” Good evening sir and welcome to a broadcast of “Interstellar Transmissions.”

JOEY: “And now that we have you on the phone, let’s go ahead and have David give out the telephone numbers because strangely enough, we’ve got a lot of buzz about your appearance on tonight’s program. There are a lot of Stargate SG-1 fans that have been e-mailing us all interested and such. So, David, what are those phone numbers?

DAVID: “In Boca, Deerfield, Delray it’s 988-5470, everywhere else, all over the Americas at least, it’s 888-565-1470.”

ERICH: Well, I do, but here’s the thing. Even though you say “Stargate SG-1” fans, I’m ashamed to admit that on our panel tonight we have someone who has never watched an episode of “Stargate SG-1.” And so, I would ask Don Davis if he wouldn’t mind, tell us what it is that he does on this show, this excellent show that is broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel, basic cable channel, on Friday night at 9 o’clock and re-broadcasted at 11pm.”

DON: “I play the role of General George Hammond, who is the commander of the Stargate Command. I’m the guy that stays at home safely in my little tufted leather chair and tells these four people to go out through the Stargate and save the Universe.”

ERICH: “You know what, I meant to ask you about that. There are a lot of on location shoots. Do you ever get to go out with the rest of the cast? I think …”

DON: “Very seldom. There have been two or three…We’re in our sixth season now, but it’s only been two or three times that I’ve gotten to go anywhere. I’ve got the best job on TV. I get to work on every episode, but just a few days, and then spend the rest of my time painting and carving.”

ERICH: “And you get to work with Richard Dean Anderson, which can’t be that bad, either.”

DON: “That’s true, that’s true. He’s a good guy. I’ve worked with him since ‘MacGyver’, so…”

ERICH: “That’s right. This is not your only show; you’ve also been a part of lot of other shows. Mark, you want to rattle off a short list of other things that Don Davis has been a part of?”

MARK: “I’m ashamed to admit it, Don, but I haven’t seen your work on “Stargate SG-1.” I know you from some of your lesser-known works. Some you might want to remember, some you might want to forget…”

MARK: “Ranging anywhere from a couple of episodes of “MacGyver” that you did, and “21 Jump Street”, and going way, way back to an episode of “Joanie Loves Chachi.”

DON: “I’ve been very lucky. I’ve been doing this for a lot of years. I’ve met a lot of wonderful people and had a lot of people help me along. In fact, on our show – you mentioned “21 Jump Street” - Peter DeLuise, who was on “21 Jump Street” – he’s appeared himself as a character on our show, he’s one of our two main directors, and he’s written a lot of episodes.”

ERICH: “You’ve also been in the “X-Files”, which used to shoot up in Canada. And so I’m a little bit curious as to how you got involved in “Stargate SG-1” – was like “X-Files” shooting next door, and that’s how you came to play Scully’s dad, or what happened there?

DON: “No – you know, I’m a character actor, and character actors depend on creating a network of producers and directors that use them over and over again. And that’s what happened on the “X-Files.” There was a director named David Nutting, who had done a lot of the “X-Files” episodes and he specifically requested me for the role of Scully’s dad.”

ERICH: “If you take a look at the roles that he’s played, you’ll notice there are constant themes of authority, like “Cardinal, General, Colonel, Sheriff, Chief” – I think you’ve…”

DON: “That’s funny, because when I started out…I have a background in theater, and I did musical theater and comedy. But when I started out in film, for some reason, the early part of my career was predominantly scuzz ball killers, and really every once in a while I’d play a lawyer or a cop or something – usually the cops were dirty. But then “Twin Peaks” kind of changed all of that. Because Briggs was basically a good man, and, uh, so then I got stuck on the good guy side.”

ERICH: “Now, you were supposed to have appeared in the feature film version of “Twin Peaks”, correct?”

DON: “Yes, I was. But during that period, I was on a ten-week contract on a film called, “A League of Their Own”, that Penny Marshall directed. Which was just a wonderful experience. But unfortunately, those two films filmed concurrently. And we doing “A League of Their Own” in Indiana, and the “Twin Peaks” film was being filmed in Washington. So there was a conflict that couldn’t really be resolved there.”

DAVID: (this guy talked too fast) “In regards to “Twin Peaks”, back around 1989, did you take a look at the script obviously, it was intended as a motion picture, and it was, released as such at lot of film festivals in 1989. Did you, or anybody else, have an idea from this interesting line of David Lynch’s, to what everybody was getting themselves into?”

DON: “Not really. I wasn’t that familiar with David’s work at the time. In fact, the two things that I really knew about were “Dune” and “Elephant Man.” I had never seen “Eraserhead” or anything. And it wasn’t until I was doing “Twin Peaks”, that I saw “Blue Velvet.” But, just from meeting him, he was so creative, he’s a…you know, his films are dark, but he’s the opposite of that. He’s like a ray of light. I don’t know anybody that’s ever worked for him that wouldn’t do anything possible to work for him again. Because he’s such a calm and creative and unflappable individual. And yet you know, that somewhere in that head is…”

DON: “But talking to him, he’s like…it’s like talking to the most agreeable character that Jimmy Stewart ever played.”

DON: (chuckling) “No…no he doesn’t. You know, I’ve worked with him off and on basically for two and a half years during that period. And he’s the only person that I’ve ever worked with – and I’ve worked with some great directors – but you know directors are human, and they get, uh, to a point in any production where they’re really a juggler juggling one ball more than they can handle. And so, you know that at some point, you’re going to see them lose their temper or at least frown at somebody. And I never, ever, saw him come close to losing his temper. And we had disastrous things occur because we were shooting on tight schedules, with not necessarily too low a budget, but certainly not a high budget project. “Twin Peaks” was shot in a studio on Balboa Street in Reseda there, or in Van Nuys, which ever.”

ERICH: “Our guest tonight on “Interstellar Transmissions” is Don Davis. If you’d like to call in with your questions, the number is 1-888-565-1470. We’ve talked about movies that you’ve been a part of, I’m curious about movies that you might be involved in. Season Six of “Stargate SG-1” is about to wrap up and there’s rumors that there’s a “Stargate” movie in the works. I’m wondering what other scripts you might be taking a look at?”

DON: “Well, I…we haven’t been given the official word on whether they’re going to do the film or not, or if they’re going to…uh, you know there’s supposedly a spin-off series that they’re talking about. And the film would wrap up the “Stargate” series but leave it open for the possibility of future movie-of-the week or films on “Stargate”, just like the “Star Trek” franchise. But it was also, in part; supposed to introduce a spin-off series, which none of us, as far as I know, know about. So I don’t know what the deal is there. I’ve got some other projects – I’ve been approached about two other series. But I’ve been sworn not to start talking about them, because they’re in money raising negotiations.”

ERICH: “That groan you hear is our listeners complaining about that right now.”

DON: “One of them is hilarious. It’s a…it has something to do with a murder scene…”

JOEY: “I’m a little bit curious. Is it gratifying for you – your show is on right now on Showtime, it’s on Sci Fi, and it’s also syndicated – for us, it’s UPN Channel 34, and I think Channel 33 as well. So you’ve got your show on three - plus you’ve been the star of books that have been, well, your character, that has been based on the body of work you’ve done has been spun off into books as well.”

DON: “I’m the guy who doesn’t want “Stargate” to end. If I had my wish, and I’ve spoken to Hank Cohen, the head of MGM Television Entertainment, in fact jokingly got on my knees, and asked him, ‘Please, don’t end “Stargate”’. I love the series; I love the premise of the series. We’re people having to deal with today’s technology and knowledge, and even when we get new technologies, we’re like children with a toy. We can’t figure out the hell they work. And yet, through – just true grit, O’Neill and the gang manage not only to survive, but to foil these super villains that have every advantage. This is a show that is based on Human mythology. Our story lines are driven, basically at least, our bible is driven, from the mythologies that we’ve all grown up with. That’s what the villains come out of. This is something that I certainly don’t want to end, and I don’t want anybody else to want it to end.”

ERICH: “Words of praise for “Stargate SG-1” from Don S. Davis, who plays General George Hammond, our guest tonight on this broadcast of “Interstellar Transmissions.” We’ll take a short commercial break and be right back with more of your questions.”

Transcription by Morjana Coffman.

Any transcription errors are due to chocolate withdrawal cravings.

Please do NOT repost without requesting permission.

Interstellar Transmissions

http://www.interstellartransmissions.com/

Check this link in a couple of days for a download of this broadcast:

http://www.interstellartransmissions.com/pshow.html

Don S. Davis Interview - Part Two

Friday, July 12, 2002

Hosts: Joey Reynolds, David Durica, Mark Woda, and Erich Landstrom.

Mr. Davis was interviewed over the telephone (Davis was in Vancouver, radio show is broadcasted out of Florida), and the interview started at 7:15 pm, concluded at approximately 7:40 pm.

(A scene from "The Broca Divide" is played - where Hammond is on the phone, advising the President that Cheyenne Mountain be sealed off.)

JOEY: "Don Davis from "Stargate SG-1", which probably is having one of its great moments right now - it's on in syndication, I think it was running on Showtime for a bit, and now it's currently running Friday nights at 9pm on the Sci Fi Channel."

ERICH: "9 pm and re-broadcast at 11pm, which in between is "Farscape."

JOEY: "That's correct. Don Davis is joining us here on a live broadcast of "Interstellar Transmissions", and our conversation continues."

DON: "You know, "Farscape" is a great show itself."

DAVID: "I've caught a few episodes myself, and I really like it just for the effects. Because it's great to see Henson Creature Shop just doing anything other than muppets, because they always do really nice work."

DON: "They've got some nice actors on "Farscape." I've met some of them at these conventions we travel to. It's a great show."

ERICH: "You know I played that bumper clip at the beginning of the show - just to show you a guy who's not afraid. That was a season one episode. By the way, they're available on DVD, "Stargate SG-1", right now. I mean it's like the third episode, and he's prepared to kill off everybody else on the job…"

(cross chatter or buffering)

ERICH: "Actually, we got a question today over the internet from Philip Routledge (sp?) in England, who's listening to the show probably the world wide web. He met you at a convention in November, and his question was, 'Out of all the parts he's played, which has been his favorite? What types of characters do you like to play? Like cops, military types?'"

DON: "By the way, Philip, I've met several times, and he himself is a very promising writer and I wish him luck and I hope somebody has the sense to buy one of his scripts. My favorite character was a total slob, a private eye named Donald P. Carstairs, in a series that didn't last very long, called "Slick Air." [Note: This series was "Fly by Night" - 1991.] He dressed like Columbo, he drove a beat-up old car, and he carried with him a little tin of gasoline. He was such a bad private eye that he was like a 'Mike Hammer' character, you know. He would just fight his way through anything and anybody. But he was such a bad private eye, that he had to make his true living in repossession. He would knock on some door that he was supposed to repossess something from, if no one answered the door, and he thought someone might be in there, he would simply pour gasoline over the door and set it on fire…"

(all the radio hosts are chuckling in background now)

DON: "…and then beat up anybody who came out, and then go in and take out all their equipment. So that's my favorite character."

DAVID: "So how many episodes of that did you get to do?"

DON: "I did six. It only lasted thirteen. They did six in Canada and seven in France. I didn't get to go to France."

DAVID: "Did you attempt to burn down six doors or more than six?"

DON: "I burned down a couple of doors. I was blown up a couple of times. And I had an anatomically correct Hawaiian doll in a grass skirt."

(all the radio hosts chuckling again)

DAVID: "Man, this show had everything."

DON: "Yes, it was a wonderful show."

MARK: "What was the name of that show again?"

DON: "'Slick Air.' It starred by the way Shannon Tweed of "Playboy" fame and David Elliot of "JAG" fame."

ERICH: "If anybody has this on video, please give us a call. We wouldn't mind screening that."

DON: "I like comedy. I don't get to do much comedy. One of the things I love about "Stargate," is that Rick - Richard Dean Anderson - has a great sense of humor. And they work it into the show."

JOEY: "Let's go ahead and take some calls right now. We've got a call from California, Morjana; you're on a broadcast of "Interstellar Transmissions" with Don Davis. What's your question?"

MORJANA: "Good evening. Yes, I saw Mr. Davis in a wonderful Canadian film, "The Ranger, The Cook, and a Hole in the Sky", with Jerry O'Connell and Sam Elliott. And I was wondering if he had any anecdotes to share from that adventure?"

DON: "I think Sam Elliott is one of the greatest guys that I've ever met. You know he's a star of large standing. And just a typical story about Sam - when he got there - because he was so much a larger star - even though Jerry O'Connell has done well - the rest of us were all Canadians that, you know we're known up here, but we're not necessarily known across the border. And so Sam, as is normal enough, the biggest star gets the biggest dressing room, in this case a trailer. And then the next stars get lesser dressing rooms on down to those of you who are day players who get honey wagons. Sam refused his trailer. He said that he was there as part of a cast, he would have a dressing room the same size as the rest of the leads. He didn't want the fancy trailer. They said they couldn't budget the show and turn the trailer in. So he turned it over to the Teamsters. He's that kind of a guy. He's the same off screen as he is on, as you well know from the things you've seen him in. He's a gentleman of the old school."

"There's one other thing. One of the reasons I loved "Twin Peaks" - that same thing is true. In any film production, the lead gets a Winnebago, that's got all the bells and whistles on it. And then the next leads get what they call star wagons, which are smaller dressing rooms, down to the day players, who work in honey wagons. And on "Twin Peaks", everybody, except for Kyle [MacLachlan], who had his own, beat-up old Air Steam trailer that he brought to the set, which wasn't as nice as the honey wagon. All the rest of us, no matter even if you're talking about Piper Laurie or Richard Beemer, who ever you're talking about on "Twin Peaks", everybody simply when they arrived in the morning were given a honey wagon room, which is just a little 4 by 8 foot trailer space with a toilet. And we all sat out front and played guitars and kibitzed and just had a great time."

"So anyway, "Ranger, Cook, and Hole in the Sky" is the favorite film I've ever worked on."

DAVID: "Speaking of your film work, Don, you were in one of my favorite movies. I just want to ask your experiences were like working on that, "Best in Show."

DON: (laughing) "That's the funniest bunch of people in the world! And again, that's one of those groups of people - they have a blast. My god, what talent! You know, Fred Willard what he was playing, actually the counterpart of what Joe Garagiola does, on the Westminster Dog Show in New York, you know, he was the color guy. He ad-libbed for an entire day - (laughing) and it was hilarious. (cross chatter) …a true strolling minstrel, they're a reparatory company; there's not a weakness in that company. It was a great experience. You'll have to excuse me, I'm the guy who loves making films, and I don't have many dark stories to tell."

ERICH: (cross chatter) "…You have other great artistic talents. (cross chatter) …on the internet, open up another web browser, and take a look at http://www.wolfevents.co.uk/donsdavis/. Because there is some gorgeous art work - where did you learn how to…"

DON: "As a matter of fact, I was one of nine artists in a show - there's a wonderful resort spa up here in Canada called Harrison Hot Springs, about an hour and a half out of Vancouver. And this week is the Harrison Hot Springs Arts Festival. I filmed up there on Monday on a project called "Just Cause", which is a new lawyer show for the PAX Network, because we're on hiatus right now from "Stargate." My art show, myself and the other artists, opened on Sunday, we had the reception and everything. I sold a painting at the reception. So that was very nice."

ERICH: "Fantastic. The show, "Stargate SG-1", which is seen on the Sci Fi Channel on Friday nights at 9 pm and re-broadcast at 11 pm. Mr. Davis, is there any conventions that you'll be attending in the near future, where fans of "SG-1" can come and meet you?"

DON: "I'm supposedly going to be in Paris at a convention in the first week of November. Before that I'll be at GateCon here in Vancouver - that I believe is in September. I've got to go down to a "Twin Peaks" convention in Snoqualmie Falls, which was where the lodge was, in August, there's a convention down there. That's pretty much it; we're filming until the middle of October right now. I don't have a lot of time to do any more conventions. We've been off for two weeks from "Stargate", and we start filming again on Monday, and I'm in there filming on that."

JOEY: "Well, fans can go ahead and check out his website http://www.wolfevents.co.uk/donsdavis/, you can take a look at the man's talent, his incredible resume, and also take a look at the magnificent paintings that he's also taken care of - his magnificent, artistic talents. Don S. Davis, from "Stargate SG-1", thank you so much tonight for being on the broadcast of "Interstellar Transmission."

ERICH: "Thank you very much for coming on."

DON: "Thank you. I really appreciate it and I wish you luck. It sounds like that cruise is wonderful (referring to a commercial they were running during the show)!"

JOEY: "Oddly enough, it did sail out of Vancouver about a couple of years ago, and I understand that they're planning on doing that in a couple of years again. I'll be more than happy, if you'd like, to send you some information, if you care to, on that."

DON: "That would be wonderful."

JOEY: "Have yourself a great break and we look forward to seeing you on 'Stargate SG-1'."

DON: "Thanks a lot."

JOEY: "Take care."

DON: "Take care."

JOEY: "Bye-bye."

DON: "Bye-bye."

JOEY: "Don Davis, ladies and gentlemen."