Michael Shanks and Anna-Louise Plowman Q&A
SFX The Event, Sunday 18th May 2003

The following transcript is verbatim where possible, but in parts is a synopsis of what was said.  As recording equipment was not permitted in the hall, this record was compiled from the notes of a number of those who attended.  We've done our level best to give a flavour of the event for those who were unable to attend.

The Saturday Q&A was slowed considerably by a number of people requesting hugs from Michael Shanks, none of whom were refused, including one sorry individual who abused the privilege much to the disgust of fellow fans.

The session started with an introduction from the organisers, welcoming the beautiful Anna-Louise Plowman and the charming Michael Shanks.  Michael Shanks then greeted the crowd and chatted through the first few minutes on stage as he and Anna were photographed.

Q:  What is your favourite Daniel Jackson quote?

MS:  [pulls face, trying to think] The best answer I can give you is actually a quote – ‘I have no idea.’

Q:  What position do you play in hockey?  If you could play any position, what would you play?

MS: I play defence, and if I played another position – I would probably be the man who sharpens the skates.

Q:  Are you any more sympathetic to the writers now that you are one of them?  Could you describe the writing process?

MS:  I would say, yeah, definitely.  Not so much sympathetic for the process because everyone has their own process, but in television the nature of writing is so collaborative that although your name appears on the script it’s been channelled through a lot of different mechanisms kind of like an assembly line. It starts out being one thing and gets twisted through the process so that whatever the writer intended isn’t necessarily what comes out. So when you criticise something, for example Peter De Luise and Chris Judge are on the lower rung of writers on the show, and when we confront them about something they’ll say ‘I don’t know, I didn’t write that, ask someone else.’

As for the process.   Take some Quaaludes, drink a bottle of Scotch and bang your head against the wall.  That’s as far as I have got so far. but I’m sure I’ll start writing something for the show very soon.

Q:  You have said that you felt the character had become wallpaper.  Is this still the same, or are you able to develop the character more?

MS:  You guys always like to see all four characters are on the screen together, but often only one or two of the characters have a strong part to play in the story. and so the others do a lot of standing around in the background [moves over behind Anna-Louise and does an impression of Daniel as wallpaper]

And, yeah, that can be frustrating as an actor. This year we’ve expedited the process so that when the characters are there, they are active in the storyline, giving the actors more to do.   The fans who like to see the team on screen all the time might be disappointed, but there will be more of the characters in pairs, for us as actors we have a lot more patience with the process.

Q:  In Full Circle, was the part with Rick adlibbed?   [The lift scene]

MS:   Most of it was scripted. Rick has a lot of tail notes he likes to put on the end of lines, so we did play off some of that. Rick would lead and I’d follow.

Q:    At a previous convention, there was an auction of body parts.  Would either of you auction off body parts, and if so, on behalf of which charity?

MS:  Let me write it down and I’ll slip a note to you later. Actually I can’t answer that as I know I’ll be held accountable for what I say right now.

ALP:  Amnesty International and I would give my legs or a little bit of them.

Q:   What was your most embarrassing moment and your proudest on Stargate?

ALP:  [re Summit/Last Stand]    We had to eat those disgusting things in that vat. They were revolting.  They were blue jelly things which tasted foul.  There was a sick bucket at the side to spit them into.  That was the most unglamorous moment.

MS added – they were wrapped in that edible paper.

ALP: Disgusting!

MS:  Mine happened this year.   In Heroes, I was running towards a fallen soldier.  There was a creek we were filming over the top of, and in order to disguise this small running path they put plywood sheets over it, which they then masked with grass and dirt.   As luck would have it, as I was running I slipped on the board, I surfed across the creek and landed right on top of the fallen soldier, who was acting his heart out.

ALP:  [To MS]  Except for when I strangled you and you fainted.

MS: [indignant]  I passed out! Passed out!

ALP: Fainted!

MS:  I did not faint! [laughs].

ALP:  Proudest?  Getting through the first day. Our very first day that we were working together we were in a park – it was the funeral [in the Curse]. I was really glad to get through that.

MS:  The two-parter “Heroes” is the proudest I have ever been of the show.

Q:  How did you get called the Three Amigos and how did the Charlie’s Angels shot come about?

MS:   The Three Amigos was something that Christopher Judge spontaneously combusted over; he came up with that.   That three shot – the stills photographer came on set one day and we were just dicking around behind the camera. That was just one of the various poses we happened to come up with and now it’s splashed everywhere!  Be careful what you do is the lesson there.

Q:   In Nemesis we got to see your appendix scar. Can we see it again please?

MS: [complaining, teasing] You always want me to take my shirt off!

[MS stands and catches the audience by surprise, displaying his 5” long appendectomy scar to much appreciation and photography.]

It starts here and it goes all the way to there. For some reason there’s a scar here too [MS points to a central point just below his waist band].   I think the surgeon was just stabbing around trying to decide where to start.

At this point a fan apologized to MS for the inappropriate behaviour of someone the previous day.  The audience reacted with a sustained round of applause.
 

Q:   What do you think a good fan would be?

ALP:  It’s always incredibly flattering when someone can be very specific about your work and tell you what they have enjoyed because that shows they’ve really watched you.  Things you might not be aware of.  Or perhaps you might have been trying to achieve something in a particular episode and they tell you that’s what you’ve done. Lovely letters are great!  There has to be a level of respect for each other.   We have to respect the fans too – that’s very important.  Without you, we would not be here.

MS:  Honesty and sincerity to the point of being constructive and not being destructive.  Everybody has ideas about the show, which way it should go.  There’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and they shouldn’t feel they have to follow [the show] absolutely and not have opinions about things. Long-term fans of the show particularly know the different routes we’ve gone down on the show. You don’t have to necessarily respect each individual route, but the important thing is to respect where it's come from, to respect where the writers are coming from, to respect where the actors are coming from.  If someone just says, “It’s crap, I don’t like it,” that’s not constructive criticism.

Q:  Do you think a good fan is aware of boundaries?

MS:  We are here to do a job, to meet you guys.  But, yes, there is a boundary that has to be set. You might think that you know us but we don’t know you, absolutely.  We would like to get to know you, to get to know you better, but it’s important to respect the boundaries. The licence can’t automatically be overcome. Because we have to smile or nod when you grab our ass doesn’t necessarily mean that we like it. Respecting the boundaries like you would with anyone sitting beside you if they’re a stranger.

Q. Can you reproduce the Charlie’s Angel pose for us?

MS: Don’t you need three for that? Come on up!

[MS, ALP and the fan go into a huddle to set up the pose, then spring into action to the delight of the crowd]

Q:  What are you going to do with your acre of moon?   [A gift from a fan]

MS:   I am going to sell it to some sap in Vancouver who believes that it’s a real purchase.

Q:  Have you ever been on an archaeological dig?   Is there an archaeological consultant on the show? If not can I apply for the job?

MS: I’ve been to dig sites but never to a specific dig. I have been to places that are being excavated but not sat and asked questions or anything like that.  We don’t have an archaeological consultant, but we do have an Ancient Egyptian expert at UCLA who deal with anything that’s up for grabs – particularly the language, the ancient Egyptian, which very few people know what it sounds like.

As for the job – sure, write on in.

Q: Anna, what can you tell us about working on Cambridge Spies?

ALP: I don’t know if many of you know about Cambridge Spies. It’s a BBC drama about Philby, Burgess, Blunt and Maclean who spied for the Russians while working for MI5. I had a fantastic time working on it. I played Linda Maclean who is in fact still alive and living in New York. It was a tremendous experience, not only because I got to work with my husband, which was great, but also it had a fantastic cast and I was working in England. It’s lovely to go to Vancouver and work on Stargate, but it’s also nice to come home at the end of the day.

Q:  What is your favourite piece of Goa’uld technology?

ALP:  What’s it called? I can’t remember. The hand zapper because I get to use it against Michael. [the audience appreciates this sentiment]  I can have him under my control.

MS:   I would have to say both my least favourite and most favourite is the zat.   It’s my least favourite because - you guys all know what it looks like, right?   [we do] And it’s a lot dumber to hold than to just look at. But the fact is who wouldn’t want one of those at home?  One zat stuns, two kills and three disappears the body. Can you imagine - “You arguing with me?” [Raises eyebrows at invisible protagonist] “Think about it!”

One thing that annoys me is that we haven’t yet figured out what the time duration is before the second shot kills.   It’s like – I was shot an hour ago so am I now dead? We haven’t established that yet.  I want that addressed, dammit!  [laughs]

Q:  Have you met James Spader or Kurt Russell?

MS:  I haven’t met James Spader.  I met Kurt Russell when he came on set.  He was very nice. He turned up for a day when we were shooting and RDA was around so there was Jack O’Neill and Jack O’Neill, only Kurt Russell was dressed up like Elvis so that was weird.  James Spader has not been by.  Doesn’t call, doesn’t write [pouts!]

Q:  Have you seen Star Trek: Nemesis?  What did you think?

MS:  I saw it on the plane on the way over!  I fell asleep. I have an excuse though, I’d been up for a while. I guess you know I read for Shinza, but I thought Tom did a good job.  But I fell asleep.

Q:  I recently saw your movie Suddenly Naked.   Do you have any desires to do comedy?

MS:  Suddenly Naked was a lot of fun.  It was an independent film in Canada I did a year and a half ago.   The character I played was a very unlikeable, weasely type.   Yes, I would like to do brazen comedy.

Q:  What did you think of the Canucks performance in the play-offs?

MS: [sighs heavily] Do you guys get the play-offs here? The Canucks are my favourite hockey team and they beat St Louis 7 to 1, 3 games to ? or whatever. Then they played Minnesota and they were up 3:1. Actually I haven’t run across Richard because he’s from Minnesota and so had taken their side, and so they were down three games to one but came back and beat the Canucks. So, I don’t know, it’s hard to be too critical. They had a great year and they’re a young team, but it’s hard to get the sour taste out after that one.

Q:  In Andromeda, you played evil and psychopathic really well.

MS:  That was a lot of fun.  Going into someone else’s living room like that, even though  Lexa works on that show, can sometimes be awkward – especially with a character like that where you have to take matters into your own hands and just affirm yourself with the regular cast of the show.  With those guys, with Lexa being there, and with Chris and JR, it was like a homecoming. To play that character was so far out of the realm of what I normally do was great.  They do a lot of wire work on the show. They have a whole team of stunt men who have honed themselves for that craft. Given the time parameters for a TV show, if you don’t do it well it just gets cut out, but they do it really well.  Lexa used to be a gymnast so she does a lot of her own stuff, so to watch her – that was fantastic.  I had a great time doing that.

Q:  What is the greatest thing you learned while you were away from Stargate?

MS:  [muses philosophically] The greatest thing I've learned in my life.  I got a lot of rest and it was good to take a break.   So often you can get caught up in stuff, when you’re at a job all the time, you can lose a bit of perspective. So learning patience to cope with all the downtime. Of course this year we’re not having any down-time though so it’s hard to take that lesson into practice, but I learned that it’s a necessary part of the survival process.

Q:  Jacqueline Samuda claims you eat dog biscuits on the set.  Which ones do you recommend for a healthy coat?

MS:   [laughing]   The ones with bone marrow are good.   Bone marrow is good for you – gives you a healthy coat. The reason we started it is that, well, actually they’re filled with a lot of good things. You know there are always lots of snacks around on set, things like chips and bread and stuff that are high in sugars and carbohydrates, but very few things that are nutrional protein-rich snacks. And so there are always a lot of dogs around on the set.  And one day there was Rick and he was munching on one and I was like ‘Jesus, dude, what are you doing?“  And he said ‘Try it.’ So being the moron that I am – I did. I tried it and it was fine.  Really, there’s nothing wrong with them except they’re in the shape of a dog bone and they’re meant for dogs.  You should try cat food, really, go ahead. Open up a tin and tell me if it tastes like paté. Go on. [the audience seemed unconvinced] Try it!

Q: Anna can you tell us about working on Shanghai Knights with Jackie Chan?

ALP: Oh, yes. Jackie Chan was hilarious. In one scene I was corseted and I had to do a backflip over him and he was really worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. ‘She’s so tall!’ But I told him it’ll be fine – I’m bendy. I’ll be fine. What I was worried about was that when I flipped over I’d be coming out of the corset. I was quite pleased that didn’t happen. So, yes, it was great fun.

Q:  What book, film, music and favourite food would you take with you to a desert island?

ALP:  I’d be really boring and take The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
MS: The Fountainhead [by Ayn Rand]

MS:  Movie – [drawls with considerable enjoyment] Aliens.
ALP:  Gone with the Wind, because I haven’t seen it and I hear it’s epic.

ALP: Music? Type of music? My favourite show tunes [looks embarrassed] - because I can't sing and I could practice! [laughs]
MS: Music – Brittany Spears, to encourage me to get off the island [laughter and applause from audience]

MS:  Sushi.
ALP:  Banoffee Pie.  I love it.

Q:  How did you decide to be an actor?

MS:  I watched too much TV as a kid.  I lived in small towns, so I used my imagination a great deal, and that’s how I started playing ‘up’. I started in school plays and it progressed from there.   I ducked out of a business career and went into my true love and haven’t looked back.

ALP: I grew up in Hong Kong so there wasn’t that much to watch. But on Saturday afternoons they had B movies on TV – musicals – and they were so beautiful so that made me want to be an actress when I was about seven or eight. My first acting job was when I was ten and I played a rat.

Q:  Did you miss Stargate?  What have you been doing?

MS:  What have I being doing? I was holed up in a crack house. [laughs] Yes, I did miss it.  You don’t really realise it’s going to go on without you. Bastards! [jokingly muttered to one side] I did a few episodics and I was down for the pilot season in LA.  Did a couple of movies, and finished the year with more episodes of SG-1, and Andromeda.

Q:  Do you have any plans for any conventions in the US?

MS: Yes, in three weeks, in Culver City.  Other than that, nothing on the horizon immediately.

Q: Anna have you been in any other movies?

ALP: [entertainingly reluctant to admit this out loud] Yes, I did a Steven Segal film last year. Don’t go and rent it! And at the moment I’m negotiating for something here, but that’s television.

Q:   Do the Stargate actors have any problem with obsessive fans?

MS:  Not in Vancouver, though Rick gets some left-overs from MacGyver. Every now and again they turn up and they can’t come within 30 feet of the set, because they have a restraining orders against them and things like that. The girls get letters that are a bit frightening from people in prison who say they can’t wait to get out and meet them. So yes, we get strange letters but no – nothing in particular.

Q:  Has Chris Judge retaliated for the bear incident?

MS:  No, he hasn’t. Has he been saying he did?  He’s full of it, he never did anything!  I told you about the Turd Burglar right? Well, if that’s what he means, then he can have it. [laughs]

Q:  Which world would you go to?

MS: I was going to say Uranus, I was all prepared for that.  Don’t you want to go there, just for once?!   That’s not an easy question…

ALP: He’d come to my [Osiris] world of course.

MS: That one in Brief Candle, with the beaches and the chicks and stuff.

Q:  [From a little boy, aged about 8]   Did you argue with the producers when they said you had to die in the series?

MS:   [starts to laugh, can't stop, has to get up and stand with his back to the audience while he - and we - laugh hysterically]

Oh - out of the mouths of babes . . . !   [After oh so carefully clarifying with the little boy whether he meant how they decided Daniel should leave]   It was what we decided on a while back, that the character had to go, and that’s how it was agreed to do it.

[One of the event organisers then brought on a gift of an X-Box for the little boy, which Michael presented to him for “The best question of the convention”]

Q: What was your experience of working on Highlander like?

MS: Very brief! I had a day of shooting. It was my second job. Adrian was fantastic. He’s very giving as an actor, and it was a lot of fun.

Q:  Are we going to see the Furlings and if so what do they look like?

MS:  I don’t know. They sound like Ewoks or Tribbles, don’t they?  As far as I know there are no plans, they’ve certainly not been in the episodes we have done. But they are the Fifth Race so maybe at some point we’ll see them.

Q:  I heard that there was a scene between Daniel and Sam when they meet in Full Circle which was cut.   Will this be addressed in S7?

MS:  Yes. There is a lot of pathos in Fallen and Homecoming.  There is an intense scene between Sam and Daniel, more coming from Sam’s side of things.  Daniel doesn’t remember much at this stage, but it demonstrates the depth of their relationship.   So we will see some recompense for that lack of emotion in that scene in Full Circle.

Q: Anna, will we see Osiris actually get Daniel? You’ve let the wimpy archaeologist get away twice now!

ALP [laughs and agrees emphatically] I know!  I’ll do my best! I really am trying.

MS: [MS has Issues with this] Wimpy archaeologist?! Wimpy!  [pretends to be hurt, but is laughing.]

Conclusion

MS: That seems to be the wrap on us. I just want to say I’ve had a fantastic time here. I hope we’ll be able to check base again and take care!

ALP: Thank you very much for my first time here. I’ve had a great time.

And the crowd goes wild....
 

Saturday Q&A :: Sunday Q&A :: Michael Shanks and Anna-Louise Plowman Gallery :: Michael Shanks Gallery

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