GW: Fans were saddened earlier this summer to learn of Don S. Davis' passing. Over the last decade, you also have spent quite a bit of screen time ... and off-screen time with him.
TA: Yeah.
GW: Do you have a favorite memory of him? Something that sticks with you?
TA: You know, there's so much. We spent some time together in London on an event where we got to see a bunch of plays. What else? He dragged me to all of his favorite art book stores. He was always in search of something. And he had such a hunger for the artistic. It's an overused word, except with him, I think. Because, and the reason I say that is not only [that] he's an actor. But he painted, he sketched, he did woodwork. He was amazing.
GW: He was a true Renaissance man.
TA: Oh, really! Truly! And he seemed to have so many other lives, too. He was a teacher. He was in the military. He lived in the States. He was born and raised in the States. And then he landed [as an] immigrant in Canada. There were many, many, many fond things. We would always gravitate toward having lunch together when we were on set together. It was terrific. And to watch him, particularly when he met Ruby -- his wife, his current wife -- he changed. He changed. She had such a wonderful effect on him.
"We're not finished yet. There are many, many stories to be told."
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Now, previous to Ruby, Don was always such a romantic, you know? I always used to call him and we'd go to these events. [We'd] be in London [and] look at all the beautiful women. He was a true appreciator of women.
I don't have, like, a dead-out ... Well, I have one, but I really don't want to [say] that one. [Laughter] I should save it. He was just a great guy. And he was an unassuming actor. A lot of actors, [he] would just tell you "Oh, well, you know I'm not really an actor, and you guys are just lazy." And you go on stage, or on-screen, and he just cleans your clock. Because he is the real item.
There was something uniquely American about him. His experience. His look. His size. I don't know. There was just something that was just purely ... really, really truthful about what he presented on-screen and in life. So, he will be missed.
GW: Absolutely. You remain busy lately, with a few movies and episodes of both Dexter and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles under your belt. Any upcoming projects? I know you talked a little bit during the Q and A session [you did earlier] about Dollhouse.
TA: Yeah. Yeah. I'm doing an episode of Dollhouse. Today is Saturday, and I'll be doing it on Monday, which is exciting. Because I love Joss [Whedon] and his work. What else? I did an episode of Raising The Bar, which is a new [Stephen] Bochco series, and Lincoln Heights.
And I also did sort of an independent series which I hope takes off called 26 Miles. Which is sort of a family-type drama. It takes place on Catalina Island. So I spent the summer shooting there. We did six episodes.
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If a script calls for his return, Amendola will be ready to fight another day. |
It doesn't have a home yet. Which is remarkable. Seeing as how they went out and made them anyway. Generally, you go out, and you pitch, and you get all this money. And these guys just got the money from other independent sources and went out and made it. And now they're going around trying to sell it. But that was fun.
GW: If you could tell Stargate fans one thing, what would it be?
TA: We're not finished yet. [Laughter] There are many, many stories to be told. And you know, just to simply thank them for taking the bait of the show and staying with us and making us better. Their support was huge. To be able to go from Showtime to SCI FI. And when it was on SCI FI, it really exploded. Because those first couple years, it was almost more of a European phenomenon than it was [here]. It was much more popular in Europe.
GW: [Almost] thirty-three percent of reruns of the shows being part of the [SCI FI] programming [at one point] kind of helps, too.
TA: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! But the fans have been terrific, and it was really my first experience with fans. It was for this show.
- Chad Colvin
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