SG1 - Chicago Tribune: Gary Jones Interview
From the Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-
tribtv,0,3694270.htmlstory#jonesy
or
http://tinyurl.com/a7mzj
(Please follow one of the above links for the complete interview.)
[On the cult surrounding the "Gate Guy"/"Chevron Guy," who's played
by Gary Jones] Chevron guy, there's a man with an intense following.
He's been around for eight years, I don't understand why they didn't
just put him in charge of SG-1. That was their first mistake.
Gary Jones ("Walter Harriman")
Speaking of Gate Guy, I got to fulfill a long-held wish by talking to
Gary Jones, who, for eight years (going on nine) has been the guy who
calls out "chevron one encoded, chevron two encoded" and so forth
every time the Stargate team goes through the gate. Jones is now a
featured played in the long-running show, and a hoot to talk to. Our
scheduled 15-minute chat went well over an hour, and this is the
result.
**snippity doo-dah**
To a noticeable degree, they started giving me more to do in Season
6. There was dialogue that was more reflective of a person than just
a string of information. They knew me on a personal level, and I
would joke around, so they started throwing in funny lines in my
little scenes. It's not like I'm going to make it about me. They
started trusting me and I've just had tons of great stuff. As much as
it's my impulse to be funny, it's a sci-fi action-adventure show. If
the show is a comedy, things can get lost in the shuffle, but if it's
predominantly dramatic, the comic relief can stand out.
[When Richard Dean Anderson left] there was this kind of "What do we
do now?" [feeling], it got to this critical point, and then it was
like, go big or go home. Bringing in Beau [Bridges], Ben [Browder],
Lou [Gossett Jr.]… But in the end, it's about the relationships, and
moving forward with that.
Now my character is a little like Radar O'Reilly [from "M*A*S*H"], he
knows how things run and he's handing [Beau Bridges' character] files
before he needs them and doing stuff for him before he knows he needs
it done. They gave me a promotion to Chief Master Sergeant, it's the
highest rank I think you can be without being an officer.
The rest of the "Stargate" crew -- everyone knows each other and it's
just fine-tuned now, this big machine just goes along. Everyone knows
what everyone else can do, it makes it easy for the leads to
parachute in and accomplish [what they need to do]. All respect is
due to Lou and Beau and all that but it's little bit like, "You're
part of our show, we respect you, but we're going to goof around, and
please be part of that." They totally rise to that. I've got no dirt
about the set. I would actually say that when RDA left, [his
character] was so sarcastic, he'd throw off so many funny lines, now
it's all spread around a little more, so that's kind of cool.
They've given me more to do, this season I have this long walk-and-
talk [scene] with Beau, where I'm carrying a massive stack of files.
The irony is, I haven't been through the gate [his character has gone
offworld, but not through the stargate]. The very first time they put
me offworld, I was at a computer sitting in a chair. Even when I'm in
a field on another planet, I still can't walk around [laughs]. No,
I'm sitting down.
[How we got on to this topic -- I really have no idea] ["Stargate"
director] Peter DeLuise will make me redo my lines as Shatner. He'll
be like, "Now do it as Brando! Now do it as Shatner!"
Jones added in a subsequent e-mail that he'll be appearing
on "Stargate Atlantis" this season, in an episode called "Critical
Mass." No word yet on whether he'll be in a chair the whole time.
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
|*|(*)|*|(*)|*|
Morjana
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-
tribtv,0,3694270.htmlstory#jonesy
or
http://tinyurl.com/a7mzj
(Please follow one of the above links for the complete interview.)
[On the cult surrounding the "Gate Guy"/"Chevron Guy," who's played
by Gary Jones] Chevron guy, there's a man with an intense following.
He's been around for eight years, I don't understand why they didn't
just put him in charge of SG-1. That was their first mistake.
Gary Jones ("Walter Harriman")
Speaking of Gate Guy, I got to fulfill a long-held wish by talking to
Gary Jones, who, for eight years (going on nine) has been the guy who
calls out "chevron one encoded, chevron two encoded" and so forth
every time the Stargate team goes through the gate. Jones is now a
featured played in the long-running show, and a hoot to talk to. Our
scheduled 15-minute chat went well over an hour, and this is the
result.
**snippity doo-dah**
To a noticeable degree, they started giving me more to do in Season
6. There was dialogue that was more reflective of a person than just
a string of information. They knew me on a personal level, and I
would joke around, so they started throwing in funny lines in my
little scenes. It's not like I'm going to make it about me. They
started trusting me and I've just had tons of great stuff. As much as
it's my impulse to be funny, it's a sci-fi action-adventure show. If
the show is a comedy, things can get lost in the shuffle, but if it's
predominantly dramatic, the comic relief can stand out.
[When Richard Dean Anderson left] there was this kind of "What do we
do now?" [feeling], it got to this critical point, and then it was
like, go big or go home. Bringing in Beau [Bridges], Ben [Browder],
Lou [Gossett Jr.]… But in the end, it's about the relationships, and
moving forward with that.
Now my character is a little like Radar O'Reilly [from "M*A*S*H"], he
knows how things run and he's handing [Beau Bridges' character] files
before he needs them and doing stuff for him before he knows he needs
it done. They gave me a promotion to Chief Master Sergeant, it's the
highest rank I think you can be without being an officer.
The rest of the "Stargate" crew -- everyone knows each other and it's
just fine-tuned now, this big machine just goes along. Everyone knows
what everyone else can do, it makes it easy for the leads to
parachute in and accomplish [what they need to do]. All respect is
due to Lou and Beau and all that but it's little bit like, "You're
part of our show, we respect you, but we're going to goof around, and
please be part of that." They totally rise to that. I've got no dirt
about the set. I would actually say that when RDA left, [his
character] was so sarcastic, he'd throw off so many funny lines, now
it's all spread around a little more, so that's kind of cool.
They've given me more to do, this season I have this long walk-and-
talk [scene] with Beau, where I'm carrying a massive stack of files.
The irony is, I haven't been through the gate [his character has gone
offworld, but not through the stargate]. The very first time they put
me offworld, I was at a computer sitting in a chair. Even when I'm in
a field on another planet, I still can't walk around [laughs]. No,
I'm sitting down.
[How we got on to this topic -- I really have no idea] ["Stargate"
director] Peter DeLuise will make me redo my lines as Shatner. He'll
be like, "Now do it as Brando! Now do it as Shatner!"
Jones added in a subsequent e-mail that he'll be appearing
on "Stargate Atlantis" this season, in an episode called "Critical
Mass." No word yet on whether he'll be in a chair the whole time.
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
|*|(*)|*|(*)|*|
Morjana
