The self proclaimed genius from Stargate Atlantis Dr Rodney McKay known in real life as David Hewlett has taken time out of his busy schedule to answer the questions of the French fan site David Hewlett FR.
During the interview David discusses his time on Stargate Atlantis, what he thinks of Stargate Universe and his feature length movie A Dogs Breakfast.
The interview is also available in audio format from the David Hewlett FR fan site which can be synced and enjoyed as a podcast.
So would you like to begin?
Of course, yes.
Okay. So the release date of “A Dog’s Breakfast†in France is scheduled for July the 1st, how do you feel about releasing the DVD of a movie that hasn’t been broadcasted in France?
You know, I have these very fond memories of France because we took “Cubeâ€, a movie I did years and years ago with one of my oldest friends Vincenzo Natali, to the Paris film festival and we had, like, the best time of our lives. I absolutely loved it. And the film did very, very well in France as well so we…we love the French! It’s also just a way of life as well, something about being in Paris and touring around France that really made it sort of a magical time for us so, you know, it’s always been a place I’ve been dying to get back to at each chance I get. In fact Vincenzo has just finished doing, I suppose it’s in post-production work, a film called “Splice†that I did with him, which is a film that Guillermo Del Toro executive-produced. I think it could be out at the end of this year so…So we’re never that far away from France it seems.
Yes, and don’t worry, the French love you too!
Ha! Well that’s great, good, I should…I kick myself because I wish if I spoke better French maybe I could actually do some of your good movies. Especially in Canada as well, the French-Canadian movies are just so much more superior it seems than the rest of the country stuff. They make these amazing, amazing films.
About Atlantis, have you seen the scenario of the movie or are you totally out of the loop?
Totally out of the loop, the actors are always the last to know of these things. I’ve heard rumours that we’re going to do a movie, I’ve heard rumours that we’re not going to do a movie. I basically just wait, that’s it, that’s all you can do, just hope for the best. Stargate was just the best job I’ve ever had, it was just fantastic, amazing people to work with, and just a great experience and I miss it terribly. And also as a sci-fi nerd I was a part of the sci-fi entertainment industry, which is just fantastic, to be there, to do ComicCon every year and to do all that kind of stuff. So I definitely miss it, I really, really enjoyed my time on that show. What is nice about not being on a show everyday is that you’ve got time to pursue your own stuff, which is basically what I’ve been doing. That’s the hope. I mean there’s definitely keeping an eye out for acting jobs as well, but basically just focussing on getting my own stuff made.
Amanda Tapping is an inspiration to me on that, because she’s just on such a fantastic job of transitioning from the Stargate franchise into her own franchise with Sanctuary so I think she’s a great example of alternate means of distribution and how that can succeed. I mean, she ended up with a TV series, it’s fantastic! What they’re doing over there is incredibly inspiring and she is a very smart one so I look forward to battle with her again.
Yes, I’ve seen this series. Are you planning to work with her again in Sanctuary?
Yes, I would love to. Unfortunately I got a call about possibly doing some stuff with them again but the schedule didn’t work out, as always. Unfortunately I was busy when they were doing it. But I hope so, yeah, a lot of those guys are from the Stargate days and obviously working with Amanda is such a treat so I’m hoping that another opportunity will come up in that regard.
I remember you were in the webseries Sanctuary, you were playing uh…
Yes, the psychotic. They ended up changing it for the televised version. I call them up and said: “What the?!? Well, great, I’m good enough for the Internet but not good enough for television!†.Martin [Wood] was actually very embarrassed about that and was explaining his reasons behind it which were all very solid. But yeah, I think it works out actually nicely because it means that I can do the television series basically, if it worked out, because I’m not established as a character already. And not established as such a creepy character. To me it was a fun little role though. It was one of the ones I definitely pushed for because it is so different from what I have been doing at the time.
I’m excited to see what will happen with that, the new season is coming up I think, they’re finishing up their second season, I’m not sure where they are but if people want to see true innovation in a television show then they are the guys to look at because they’ve gone about everything completely differently than anybody else and it has worked out really well for them so I’m very happy to see that happen.
Back to the Stargate franchise, what is your point of view on Stargate Universe?
You know, I’ve got no point of view. I haven’t seen it so…it’s one of those weird things, as an actor who is no longer doing the show it’s that sort of weird bittersweet thing. I think it’s fantastic the franchise is continuing and I’m curious to see what they are going to do with it but at the same time I think “How could they possibly do a show without me?!?â€.