Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

How is it you became a professional actor?

Well, you’ve started the interview with every actor’s nightmare question that taps into their paranoia that they’re not any good.. You didn’t ask, “How did you become a professional actor?” You asked, “How is it you became a professional actor?” Kind of like, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Or, “Of all the actors out there busting their asses to make it, how is it you became a professional actor?” Thanks. Thanks so much for outing me, Rob. Anyway, if you really must know, I was living in Toronto working in advertising as a copywriter and art director and one day I was sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper when I saw an ad for improv classes. A voice in my head said, “If you don’t do this you will regret it for the rest of your life.” (Take the improv classes, not use the toilet.) It was really me talking to myself but in my head my voice was deeper and I also had some kind of vaguely Gaelic accent. Regardless, I immediately knew what I had to do. I had to phone my friend Kevin and tell him to take the class with me because I was too scared to take it on my own. Granted, the voice in my head didn’t say, “If you don’t do this…with Kevin…you will regret it for the rest of your life,” but sometimes people who get the calling, also call someone else. A lot of people don’t know that when Jesus got the calling he called his carpenter buddy Barry to help him out but Jesus had to ditch him because God was convinced that no-one was going to get behind someone named Barry of Nazareth.

Where was I? Oh, yeah. So, I called Kevin and he was into it but not so much that he would send off his cheque right away like I did. If he didn’t join the class I’d be out a hundred bucks and that was becoming more important than following my “calling.” Finally, he sent in his cheque and I relaxed. I was on my way. We took the class together and shone like the bright, shiny things we were. The teacher told us to sign up for classes with Second City Improv Theatre. We did and once again, shone. We made it into the bonus round. Then I got offered a job with some people who were putting together a comedy troupe called “Rabid Transit.” We played in the dark corner of an Italian restaurant on Queen Street. There was no backstage, only some curtained-off stairs that led up to the accountant’s office. We changed costumes lying down on the stairs. I couldn’t help but feel superior to Kevin until Kevin got offered a job with Second City’s National Touring Company. I had just experienced my first true acting moment: even when you’re getting accolades, get jealous and petty as hell when one of your friends gets a better gig. But then, Kev got moved up to the main stage and his spot in the touring company opened up. I was offered the job so I marched straight into the ad agency owner’s office and suggested to him that he’d better get someone else to write and design those pamphlets on adult incontinence or gutter cleaning.

How did you first get your role on Stargate?

The same way Michael Corleone became The Godfather: manifest destiny, bro! I was born to play Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, albeit by sitting in the same chair and talking to a pane of glass for ten years. The role on Stargate began with an audition like any other although my agent did mention that they were considering “The Technician” a recurring character. When I got to the audition, as luck would have it, the director in the room had just directed me a few weeks back in an episode of Outer Limits. He really liked what I’d done on that show and so he thought I’d be perfect for Stargate. I had no idea of the tone of the show and the sides that I read from simply listed “Chevron One encoded, Chevron Two encoded…” and so on. It was like reading a shopping list. I had to shake it up and make sure they remembered me. I ended up reading “Chevron Seven locked,” like Jerry Lewis. Brad Wright says that he still has a copy of that audition. He and the other producers were thumping the table laughing. Obviously, that was nothing like the character turned out to be. “Major Carter? Hey, LA-A-A-A-A-ADY!!!!!!!”

Did you know your part was going to be as big as it was?

You might want to rephrase that question.