 
GW: Is there anything that you would have changed when you first came in. According to what you know now? Things that you took for granted in your life? Or things that you took for granted about the job?
BB: No, I don't think so. I'm not gifted with clairvoyance. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. And judging what you would do differently ...The things that I think that I would do different in my life are things where I have a regret about how I have acted. And there's nothing in regards to my business life that I have a regret about how I have acted, or how I've conducted myself with other people. At least not off the top of my head. If I sat down and tortured myself about it, or really thought ...
But to a certain degree, there's a funny thing that happens when you have kids. It's that you forget stuff. I can't really remember what it was like before I had kids. To a certain degree, I don't remember what it was like when they were small. Life propels you forward, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of it all.
Ben signs autographs at Comic-Con 2008. | |
And then you have a revelation. "Oh! I remember when I did that!" I'd have to think about it and I'm sure I could come up with a laundry list of regrets. But most days, I wake up pretty happy with where I am and who I'm with. What's to complain about?
GW: Exactly! Do you consider yourself successful?
BB: I consider myself lucky.
GW: Lucky? Are you at the point in your life where you want to be?
BB: I wouldn't change places with anyone.
GW: Good. That's great.
BB: I just wouldn't. Which thread are you going to pull from the tapestry of your life to watch it fall apart? No, I like my life. I love my family. I wake up and I'm here and it's beautiful. You can't have everything.
GW: Right. Not all at once, certainly.
BB: Well, no. The typical thing -- you want to be working. But when I'm working ... say I'm working in Vancouver. Even when I was working on Farscape, I was living at home with my family ... when I was working on Stargate and I was away from my family, the number of things that I missed. So yes, I want to be working. But I know once I'm working I'm going to miss something else. There's always a trade-off in everything you do in life. You can't be in all places.
Really, if they could just clone me, like six or seven of me running around ... there's a lot of things I'd like to do with my life. But I wouldn't trade where I am right now for those other six or seven things.
GW: You've always said the most important job in your life is being a parent. Do you see more of yourself in them as they get older?
BB: I don't know if I see more of myself in them. Maybe I just am incapable of seeing myself. I see aspects of members of my family. I certainly see aspects of my wife in them. But not being a terribly introspective individual, I don't spend a lot of time examining myself. Or at least try not to.
You go to the dermatologist and he does the inspection for you. "You've got this little mole back here. I want to take it off." "Really, but that's part of me!" "Yeah, we don't like it." "Why?" "Well, it just looks suspicious."
You've got other people to pick me apart. If I want to be picked apart, I can go on the internet.
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Browder with Richard Dean Anderson at the U.S.S. Midway premiere of Continuum. |
GW: Oh, no kidding! Exactly. I know how that is too.
BB: I can find out where my shortcomings are. Or I can just talk to someone who knows me well enough. "What do I need to fix?" They'll have suggestions. Self-examination and introspection, not necessary. I got lots of external input. [Laughter]
David, you want to fix yourself? Talk to your parents. They'll have lots of ideas. "What you need to do is this. OK? You should." I'm taking it all onboard. Send me an e-mail. How to be a better interviewer. Ben, you really should just focus in. Look into the lens a little more.
GW: Talk to me, Ben ...
BB: Connect with the audience just a little more. Okay, got it. Good. I'm focusing. No blinking. [Laughter]
GW: So, Continuum? ...
BB: Why did he have his hat on backwards?
GW: We couldn't see his face!
BB: We couldn't see his face! He put his hat on backwards. Why is he wearing Canucks? Is that like a "Michael Shanks" thing going on? It's a homage to Michael Shanks! That's what it is! I'm trying to confuse the audience. Quick, give us some glasses! [Laughter]
GW: OK. Point taken!
Tame Farrar: Have you ever thought of a comic routine? [Laughter]
BB: It's all scripted.
GW: But Continuum. Stargate Continuum came out late July of this year, around Comic-Con. We saw each other on the [U.S.S.] Midway. Got to see the movie again.
BB: It was like a date. You, me and a few thousand people on the Midway together. It was romantic. I always go to an aircraft carrier when I want a romantic evening out. It would have been a good first date, though, wouldn't it?
GW: Hey, you want to go to an aircraft carrier?
BB: Wouldn't it have been good? You want to impress a girl? "You want to go to an aircraft carrier ...and watch a movie?"
GW: You know, they have proms on the Midway.
" The next time you go to an aircraft carrier for the premiere of a movie, take a date."
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BB: I'm just going to sit in this F-4. We're going to pull it up. Watch real close. That would impress a girl. The next time you go to an aircraft carrier for the premiere of a movie, take a date.
GW: That's exactly right.
BB: "Look! I know Richard Dean Anderson!" [Laughter] "Come over here and talk to me!" "David, how are you? Good to see you." "Wow!"
GW: [Laughter] So what are you doing tomorrow night? You went to the arctic.
BB: Yeah.
GW: Now I know you've talked about this a hundred thousand times.
BB: Yeah.
GW: I'd like to make it a hundred thousand and one, because we've never specifically talked to you about it.
BB: "The Arctic Ad Nauseum" by Ben Browder. Just one more time. I actually have a PowerPoint presentation. I do.
GW: You really do?!
BB: I have a PowerPoint presentation. I taught a science class, a seventh grade science class in middle school and gave a talk about the Arctic. My experience in the Arctic. So I have a PowerPoint. I should have brought it along with me. A little visual aid.
GW: I'll be darned. I'd love to see it.
BB: Yeah, uh-huh ... The kids liked it. The favorite part that the kids always loved is the bit about going to the bathroom in the Arctic.
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