 
 Beware SPOILERS for Stargate: Continuum in the interview below!GateWorld owes a huge debt of gratitude to actor Peter Williams. He, along with writers Sonny Wareham and Daniel Stashower, brought to life a terrific cliffhanger in SG-1's Season Three episode "Jolinar's Memories," which sparked the idea of a Stargate Web site. That Web site ultimately grew into GateWorld. Not only has Williams portrayed the serpent god Apophis off and on for the past decade in various episodes and features (most recently Stargate: Continuum), but he is also praised by some of the core cast members as being a favorite bad guy to this day. GateWorld is privileged to finally sit down with the actor for our first interview! In this piece we discuss the growing phenomenon that Stargate has become since the feature film, the various deaths and resurrections of Apophis, Williams's most recent project, "A Winter Tale," and much more! GateWorld's video interview with Peter runs approximately 18 minutes, and requires QuickTime 7.0 or higher. The interview is also available at GateWorld Play!
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GateWorld: For GateWorld.net, I'm David Read and I'm here with Mr. Peter Williams.
Peter Williams: One in the same.
GW: Baddest badass in the galaxy.
PW: It's been said. [Laughter] It's been said, then they killed me dead. [Laughter]
GW: And then resurrect you again and again. You were the first villain for Stargate SG-1 to follow up Jay Davidson's performance as Ra in the feature film "Stargate." Amanda Tapping has said you are her favorite bad guy because you were the first.
After 13 years of Stargate franchise being on the air, how does this character strike you now, Apophis?
PW: He doesn't strike me as much as he gets struck [Laughter], as anyone who's seen the latest incarnation would attest to.
Apophis faces down General Hammond in the SG-1 pilot. | |
GW: And sliced.
PW: Trying to avoid all the spoilers, but that's cryptic. First of all, when I first got the part of Apophis in "Children of the Gods," I had the image of Jay Davison's character, Ra, in the movie in my head and I was a fan.
GW: Oh, you were?
PW: I was a fan of the movie and I sincerely doubted whether they could recreate "Stargate" for the small screen but it was a gig and I was lucky enough to get cast in this part, and 10 years later, 13 years later, I'm eating my words. The doubt faded long time ago and I'm convinced as to the staying power of the Stargate franchise.
GW: What were you impressions of "Children of the Gods" as a script when you first read it? Did you feel that it properly emulated "Stargate" as a "Stargate Part II" or were you kind of like, "Let's see if this works!"
PW: I thought it did properly emulate "Stargate," "Part II." In fact "Children of the Gods" remains one of my favorite episodes, for reasons that the fandom will already know because I've said many times on the convention circuit, working with Sha're [clears throat] was one of the highlights of my career.
GW: That's right, the nude scene! Oh man
PW: Do you know they're re shooting that two-part episode, "Children of The Gods?"
GW: Did Brad contact you?
PW: Yes, I've been into the studio to do some voice-over work to clean it up. I think pretty much everyone who was in it is doing that. They have said the finished product is going to be a lot crisper, a lost cleaner, a lot clearer and losing one of those pieces of scenes we're talking about. So, it might hold up as a DVD movie
GW: Right. Yeah, I know Fox is very interested. They're also going to trim a lot, according to Brad. They said a lot of dialogue was awkward
PW: That makes me nervous! [Laughter] That makes me nervous because they tend to like to trim the bad guys.
GW: No, it's all good!
PW: I already had to trim for that part. I had dreadlocks down to my shoulders when I got the part and I had to shave them all off to wear the headdress
GW: OK, wow. And I know at the end of Season Eight you were "out here" with hair. "Chronicles of Riddick" was about that same time and I think they gave you like a Tin Man cap to hide it all
PW: They built everything a couple sizes bigger and then they used pomade or brylecream or something to flatten my hair. You know, the stuff Christopher Judge wears. [Laughter] Just kidding, Chris!
They flattened it down and they stuck the plastic cap over and away we went. But anybody with a keen eye will notice that Apophis's head was slightly larger in those episodes.
GW: That's right.
PW: That's because of all the hair.
GW: They kept on bringing you back. Even though you were dead once, in Season Two, the biggest villain of the show actually dies and gets sent to Sokar, pardon the pun. Then you were obviously resurrected
PW: Sokar resurrected him to torture him.
GW: To torture him and kill him again and again.
PW: Which is what one does with one's dead foes.
GW: Did you think that that added a dynamic to the character? Did you expect that direction with "Jolinar's Memories" and "The Devil You Know?"
PW: I didn't expect it. I liked it script-wise, but I didn't particularly enjoy wearing those face plates .
GW: Yes.
PW: I did not enjoy that and I still find it hard to look at those images from that era of Stargate. Because, yes, I remind myself of one of those Borgs, or something I've seen in something else.
GW: Seven of Nine.
PW: Yes, exactly.
GW: Jeri Ryan, they just switched to the other eye.
PW: And two, I've got a good looking face. I really didn't want to cover it all up. Not to mention the fact that it was extremely excruciating and painful to wear. Not painful, but uncomfortable.
GW: They glue it on?
PW: It was glued on. They had a guy who won Emmys for his makeup for putting it on my face
GW: You should have won an award for patience
PW: I should have won an award for most time spent in makeup. [Laughter] Although I'm sure I've been surpassed because, you know, Stargate was heavy on the makeup for a lot of characters.
"I sincerely doubted whether they could recreate "Stargate" for the small screen ... thirteen years later, I'm eating my words."
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GW: Chris Judge wrote "The Changeling" in Season Six. Did he want you back for that or did they say, "You know, Chris, you should throw in Apophis." Was that his idea?
PW: Let me tell you something. Chris is the epitome of the gentle giant. And he's a gentleman as well, despite what we all know about his antics.
GW: And flatulence.
PW: And his flatulence. He'll forgive me for saying that. Chris has one of the biggest hearts around, and I think Chris deliberately put me in that episode to do me a favor and I'm forever grateful. I mean that sincerely.
GW: They kept on bringing you back.
PW: They kept on bringing me back.
GW: Were you surprised every year when they would do that? Cause like, eight out of 10 seasons you were there.
PW: You know what surprised me? Chris wrote more episodes after "The Changeling" and didn't bring me back. That surprised me. [Laughter]
GW: Well you know what they say about lighting and striking twice.
PW: Yes, I know, I know.
GW: I mean and now Stargate: Continuum, which was just released.
PW: Lighting did strike twice at the Olympics this weekend, by the way. I'm Jamaican. Lightning bolt broke the world record in the 100 and 200 and helped break the world record in the men's 4x100 relay, so lighting stuck three times in Beijing this weekend.
GW: Very cool.
PW: And I can't not mention that because we are going to be talking about that one for decades, guaranteed.
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