Our Mistake

Beware of SPOILERS up through the third season Atlantis episode “Vengeance” in this interview!

With five appearances under his belt, the character of Michael has become one of the most popular (and controversial) of satellite characters on Stargate Atlantis. With questions raised from the treatment of prisoners to genetic manipulation, the Wraith-human hybrid is a gold mine of potential Stargate stories.

Thus, during a recent visit to Los Angeles GateWorld was invited into the backyard of Connor Trinneer to discuss the character, and the career of the actor who plays him. Connor talks openly about the cancelled Star Trek: Enterprise, in a time that would have been the show’s seventh season, and how that experience has changed his life.

Connor also addresses his feelings toward the character of Michael and how he personally is rooting for the renegade, and clues us in on his future sci-fi plans … not to mention his priorities since becoming a father.

Our conversation with Connor is just under 40 minutes long. The full interview is also available in audio format, and is transcribed in its entirety below!

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GateWorld: For GateWorld.net, I am David Read, and I am here with Connor Trinneer in his lovely back yard. [Laughter] Thank you so much, Connor.

Connor Trinneer: My pleasure!

GW: I’m going to be honest with you here. When I called you this morning, I had to resist the urge to say “Engine room, report!”

CT: [Laughter] I don’t know what I would’ve come up with! [Laughter]

GW: Do you get any of that while walking down the street?

CT: Not specifically anybody walking up or using any dialogue or catchphrases. But, yeah, I get people walking up. L.A.’s not a big town for that. There’s so many actors. In this neighborhood there’s so many actors. If you go to that market right down the road, stay there for a half an hour, somebody’s going to walk in that you recognize. So it’s usually in airports. I shouldn’t say “usually in airports.” Airports are a lot. Funny enough, more so in Europe. And then any other town but this one [Los Angeles], people will walk up, generally, and say something.

GW: OK. So just everyone here is so — they’re involved in it to begin with.

CT: Yeah! The varnish is wiped off. This is a job for most people here, and nobody really cares. You do sometimes sense, though, that somebody does know and might want to say something but they just don’t.

GW: So you just smile and say “Hi.”

CT: Yeah. Yeah. Break the ice. Say “hello.”

GW: But when you get recognized, is it mostly for Tucker?

CT: Yeah. Yeah, because well … People would start with that. If you’re a sci fi fan you probably would’ve seen both Atlantis and Enterprise.

GW: So Stargate has triggered a reaction at some point.

CT: Oh yeah! Some people prefer that character over Trip. It’s great. They’re so radically different. And they come from such different places.

GW: Bad-ass.

CT: Yeah. It’s a compliment.

GW: You were born in Washington, correct?

CT: Born and raised, yeah.

GW: I notice you don’t have a southern accent now.

CT: No.

GW: And when Michael was human he kind of had a southern accent.

CT: Well they had him from Texas.

GW: Right. Is there a particular reason? Do you enjoy that or is it what they asked in both cases?

CT: That’s what they asked for in both cases. When I had gotten the part of Michael, I had seen it in the breakdowns. Every morning the breakdowns come out. You can get them online if you know somebody. It’s a character breakdown of every show’s needs that week, or a movie or what have you. I saw it on there and I didn’t want to do a sci fi gig right out of the gate. My tune has changed on that. Work is work and that’s really all that matters. But I called my agent and I said “I’d like to read for this.” And then they called back and said “It’s yours if you want it.” And he just happened to be a southern guy.

GW: Oh, OK. So he was already established that he was southern.

CT: Already. I come from a small town in Washington and hicks have a certain way of talking. So … It’s really not hard to fall into. My family’s also from the south. My Mom’s side. They’re all from “Missurah.”

GW: OK. “Missurah?” You’re definitely from Missouri if you say “Missurah.”

CT: Yeah. Well I went through a graduate school in Kansas City too, so, if you say “Missouri” and you’re spending time there they know you’re a foreigner.

GW: I know. It’s like “Illinois” in the east. It’s like “The S is silent, stupid.”

CT: Yeah. I love it when people come and say “I was in Portland Ore-gone” recently,” and you’re like “Oh, my God, you’ve never been to Oregon, have you?”

GW: [Laughter] Or if you were you weren’t there for very long!

CT: “Ore-gen!” “Ore-gen!”

GW: In a perfect world, Enterprise would’ve started shooting it’s seventh season this year, and probably likely its final season. How do you feel about the show, looking back on it three years after cancellation? You’ve had some time to think and reflect.

CT: Yeah. It still remains the most remarkable experience I have had thus far in my professional career. I should say in front of a camera. Not on stage. They’re different animals. So looking back on it I cut my teeth on that show. I really learned and felt like, and now feel like when I go in front of anywhere, on any set, I’m not uncomfortable. I know what I’m doing, and I feel that I’ve got something to give. Whereas before I was on Enterprise, there’s always a sense of fear that’s not there anymore. Of the unknown. Now nothing’s really unknown to me anymore. There’s just a camera, there’s you and there’s somebody that you’re talking to. I learned that. And I’m awfully proud of it. I look back on it. I catch episodes occasionally. I think history will be kinder to our show than it was in present time. I do.

GW: You said “fear.” You mean the position that you’re in? Not accustomed to asking for things when you really want them? That sort of thing?

CT: Yeah! Just feeling unsteady.

GW: Can you give us an example?

CT: Yeah! You just said “asking for things that you need” and feeling as though …

GW: … a little bit of clout?

CT: Yeah! Well you’re going on as a — just internally, people just want you to go there and do a great job and not have to worry about it. They want to go to the next scene. I think that that general wash of confidence is what I mean. As an example of that, one of the shows I did really early on, Touched by an Angel. I had a monologue, about a three page monologue, to do. I wish I’d felt really grounded, but I don’t think there was any way I could’ve because it was one of my first jobs on TV. But it’s all a learning process. It’s trying to apply your craft in an alien environment that you are trying to make not. The more you can familiarize yourself with your process … They all kind of generally work the same. Once you get used to that process they’re doing … your best work comes when you’re comfortable.

GW: Talk about people being comfortable and people being delicate around you: I heard stories about “Unexpected,” where people were delicate around you. Either that was a rumor or that actually happened, where people would open doors for you, things like that!

CT: Yeah! They kind of ran with the joke on that one. We did add a scene or two where he’s unable to manage his emotions. His anger and that kind of stuff. But yeah, people, it was, what was it, our third episode of the series?

GW: It was early on! I think it was the first ten.

CT: Yeah. People were — how often are you going to have a guy walking around pregnant? So people were taking their shots. [Laughter]

GW: Dubious distinction.

CT: Yeah, I’m one of the few.

GW: One of the images that still hits me to this day, and I’m not even sure if you’ve seen it, is the one of you and Scott [Bakula] right after shooting. Finishing the show, embracing each other, which I think really says it all. The look in your face just registers how much you were going to miss working with that guy. Did ending the series then, in a way, feel wrong on an emotional level. The undertone? The vibe?

CT: The episode that was made, or the feeling of the whole thing together ending too soon?

GW: The whole thing together. Yeah.

CT: Well you have to understand, this was hanging over our heads at the end of season three.

GW: Yeah. Barely got it for four.

CT: Barely got it. The reason was because they wanted to get in or around a hundred episodes for syndication. We knew that if they were going to go five, they’d go seven, because there was no reason to go five. So having said that, it had been in our consciousness for a while. The thing that I guess was frustrating was the other series in the franchise, they didn’t get any better ratings than we did besides Next Generation. The climate had changed. We didn’t have, I think, the internal fan base at the studio. I think that the network was, well, they folded. They became the CW. A lot of stuff was happing that had nothing to do with us.

GW: So it wasn’t Enterprise. It was just that Star Trek itself just became a little bit too expensive for what they were getting back?

CT: Could be. Honestly it could be Enterprise. They could’ve said “We don’t like this.” They’d gone to the well and this one didn’t work. But [I], honestly, don’t feel that way. So when it ended it did end. How do you prepare for it? It’s kind of like the last day of high school. The last day of college. People you’ve spent so much time with that you’ve really gotten to know. You’re most likely not going to see very much anymore, if at all. It took a while. It took a couple of weeks to get your feelings all in order.

GW: “I’m not working anymore!”

CT: Yeah! Yeah, exactly. But, yeah. To be frank about it, it sucked. And we all — not to anybody’s detriment — we were told when we started it was going seven years and we were like, literally it felt like “I just got the golden ticket.” And at the same time, four years and syndicated, that’s amazing. That doesn’t happen very often. There’s a handful of shows in the pantheon of television that have done that. We will live on in perpetuity.

GW: But in a way, ending the series when it did allowed you to get your personal life on a roll a little bit more too.

CT: Yeah. Well, yeah. It would’ve been a whole lot easier to get my personal life on a roll with seven years of cash. [Laughter]

GW: That’s true. But more time as a father and husband.

CT: That show, during the time that the show was running, I developed into what I think is a man. I got a family. I got married. We have a child, and I found myself an adult when the thing was over. I didn’t feel like that in the beginning. Yeah, definitely. It was a perfect time for me to get that.

GW: How has Stargate treated you in comparison to Enterprise, production-wise? I mean you’re a big boy now, you know your stuff, they wanted you, and you got in there.

CT: Yeah. Yeah. They treat me extraordinarily well, with the exception of slapping a whole bunch of prosthetic on me. [Laughter] I don’t think it was an insult, but it’s uncomfortable at times.

GW: It is. You’re not a fan of the prosthetics?

CT: Well I don’t think anybody is. The thing that’s probably, and I haven’t had to do it in the last few of them, is the teeth and the eyes.

GW: I think they changed him a little bit around at some point, didn’t they?

CT: They eyes or the teeth?

GW: Both.

CT: At this point I’m not wearing the teeth anymore because of his inability to completely evolve back into a Wraith. The prosthetic, last time I was on, was I think as light as it had been.

GW: Good. So in terms of making him not completely Wraith but not completely human did you chime in and say “Let’s lose the teeth in the eyes.”

CT: I didn’t really have any say in that.

GW: Good — well at least you got what you wanted.

CT: Yeah, fortunately. Well I think it’s difficult. You’ve got to loop a lot of stuff. You’ve got to do ADR. You’re a lisping Wraith, which is not the baddest ass in the world.

GW: Andee’s [Frizzell] talked about that too.

CT: Really? No, they treat me very well up there. It’s nice to feel that they respect me. Which I do feel when I’m there. That I am a part of the process in crafting this guy. Because he’s different than the rest of them.

GW: Right, exactly. I’d like to go back to Enterprise for just one more question. In retrospect, has its cancellation been better or worse for Connor Trinneer the actor and Connor Trinneer the person?

CT: Well, I think that its cancellation had nothing to do with Connor Trinneer the person. We got the four years. We got syndicated. I do have, not a huge level of comfort but I’ve got a level of comfort that I didn’t have before in a profession that doesn’t generally give you that. And then professionally, I get in a few more rooms now. Atlantis is an example of a couple of other things that have occurred. I’m out there more. I’m in their consciousness, I guess, a bit more. I have more fans in the business than I had before. So it’s benefited me in that way. I did think, when I left, that it was going to pigeonhole me as a sci fi actor. But I have to say that work, is work, is work, and it doesn’t matter.

GW: So you’re not being typecast at all?

CT: No. Honestly, I don’t think that — and if I was — typecasting means you’re getting work. If it’s in one genre, so be it. But it hasn’t happened and I don’t expect it to happen. I think in television it’s more difficult to get typecast in that regard. I think it’s more prevalent in films. Having said that, at the end of the day I’m not typecast, and I’m just hitting the pavement like the rest of them.

GW: Have you done any theater in the past three years? Gotten back to the stage at all?

CT: No. Our son’s 17 months old. I really thought I’d give it a couple of years for me to decide to go do some theater. I would do it here in town. I don’t think I’d leave town, but if the right part got offered to me. I haven’t put it as my primary focus.

GW: It’s daddy time now.

CT: It is daddy time, and it’s also — you can’t make a living in the theater here in this town. It’s impossible. You just can’t do it. As an example, in equity waver 99-seat theater stuff in L.A., you get paid seven bucks a performance. You don’t get paid for rehearsal. But again, that’s the way it is. People do tons of theater here, and I will do theater again here. I was a bit more focusing on trying to pay the mortgage and buy food.

GW: Right. And once you’ve got those bases covered, do the stuff you love.

CT: Yeah. Totally. And I will get back on stage. I miss it desperately. I haven’t spoken any of Shakespeare’s words for quite a while, so that would be nice.

GW: Alright, great. You did a lot of Stargate this year. Three episodes in this one past season, Season Three, which is more than can be said for many of the satellite actors, which brings you to a grand total of five including “Allies,” in which you offered your voice. How do you feel about the development of the character so far? He’s been one of the most controversial in the franchise.

CT: It has. No, I know. I’ve looked it up a couple of times. People love it and people hate it. I would’ve said that he is a specific thing in the show had the last episode I shot that hasn’t aired not been so different.

CT: For lack of a better way to put this, he now has a whole bunch more power than he had before. He now has a way in which he can affect change as opposed to change affecting him.

GW: He has an army now.

CT: He has an army now, and he has a way to reproduce them. I’m curious as to what might be the next step. He created an army, as far as I’m concerned, to protect himself.

GW: Really? Not to conquer or anything like that, but just as defense?

CT: Well, you know, once he figured a couple of things out he figured he could do a few things, and that might be one of his MO’s. But initially he was so a man without a country, and was so worked on by everybody, that I think, out of desperation and using his wits and intelligence that he was able to do this. My question would be I wonder what the next move is. Is this army going to move? Are they going to go attack the humans or the Wraith, or is he still pissed off? I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m curious to find out. Because I really think that the storyline has legs on it. It’s got a lot. It can offer a lot.

GW: It’s not linear. Anything can happen next!

CT: Right. And the work on him … He’s neither human or Wraith anymore. He’s a true hybrid. Is that going to be OK with him? He seems to have a little bit of choice now that he didn’t have previously. I wonder if they’ll utilize that in his development.

GW: It all depends on how good he is willing to be. Because everything that has happened to him — it’s interesting, we’ve pushed this guy into a corner. Everything that has happened to him is our fault!

CT: Yep! Yep. Exactly. He said it to them point blank, over and over again. “You did this to me. Bear in mind, everything I’m doing is because of what you did.”

GW: “And why should I trust you?” [Laughter]

CT: “Ever?” Right. “Ever?” So I’m curious. I haven’t heard from them but after having shot the last episode it’s more up in the air than it ever was.

GW: What has been your favorite episode out of the five so far? We’ve got you on a planet in one. We’ve got you amassing armies in another. We’ve got an enigmatic episode.

CT: The first one. The first one and something about the last one I liked a lot. The first one, I think, because it was a real acting challenge.

GW: Two levels.

CT: Yeah. I was really out there creating a character for myself, and that’s always so much fun. To be able to do that. And the last one, like I said, the character made a significant evolvement [sic] as far as I was concerned. That was also nice to do. Yeah, the first and the last so far.

GW: OK, good. So you don’t like the makeup job.

CT: Oh, no no. It’s a phenomenal job. They do an amazing job. I’m talking Connor Trinneer’s comfort level.

GW: So it’s not pleasant to wear?

CT: My skin doesn’t handle the removal product very well. So yeah, I don’t think there’s ever going to be a situation where that will be great. I go home and my face is beat red and I have to put it in ice cold water for as long as I can, because it’s angry. I do that for a few days in a row. But it’s just the way it is. By no means am I trying to complain here. I’m simply stating the fact that my type of skin, mostly for the removal process, is kind of a nightmare. We’ve tried a few things that felt like acid on my face, to try to calm it down. Best thing is just cold water. Ice cold water. But I have to say, I look at myself in the mirror when it’s all done and I’m like “Hey, man, absolutely.”

GW: When you’re ready to go on stage?

CT: Yeah. You don’t feel like the part, just look in the mirror. It’ll set you right in there.

GW: And the that time you have to sit there, does it help to become that person?

CT: No. It’s such a process and the gal who’s done it the most for me, Celine, we get along so well. We just wind up chatting for three hours. By the time it’s all ready to go I get back into my trailer, and I put the costume on, which also helps a great deal. Look at my stuff a bit, and then I’ll spend some time in front of the mirror, and let it sink in.

GW: So you say three hours, it takes to get it on?

CT: Generally, yeah.

GW: Is that quicker than it used to be?

CT: No, it’s kind of always been about that. I mean, I think it’s partly the stuff has to dry properly. You have to then powder it. So it’s not how much you’re laying on to a person as the whole process takes that long.

GW: Alright. I asked Andee Frizzell this question — the Wraith Queen — all the Wraith females. And now I’m going to ask you, because I think Michael has a really interesting perspective. Are the Wraith evil?

CT: Well, if you’re a human they are. No. They’re like anybody else. It just so happens that human beings are their food source. So there it is. They’re a thorn in their side. Are they evil? No, they are an empire trying to expand like any other empire is trying to expand. In history, are the Romans evil? If you dig deeply enough, at certain points and certain places and to certain people. Generally they were considered a great society.

GW: It just happens that the Wraith aren’t?

CT: Well it just so happens it’s the point you look through. It’s the lens you’re looking through. Are they inherently evil? I think “inherently evil” stuff is kind of boring. There has to be … you could be evil but the more important thing about you is “What are you going for?” Evil is one-dimensional.

GW: Michael’s not evil.

CT: No. He’s not evil! In fact we have yet to see what he really is. He’s merely defending himself at this point. I’m curious to see what may turn out if he does feel as though he has some strength and power, enough to make a move on anything, how he does that. Is he going to torture people?

GW: Do you think he’d be receptive to Teyla? Well I guess, now that I think about it he tried to do something to Teyla the last time we saw him. You think he’d be willing —

CT: — he tried to kill her.

GW: You think he’d be willing to listen to her?

CT: I think he has a connection to her which makes it a little curious as to why he’d kill her. I mean, was he going to kill her? It kind of seemed like it.

GW: Yeah. Maybe not! Make her his queen.

CT: Yeah! I honestly think that the connection that he has with her is based on some deep-seeded … she’s got some Wraith in her. I think that there’s a connection there that, as opposed to Ronon’s quality, is so much about anger, and she tends to be a little more willing to understand what he’s doing. Is that enough to create a dynamic? They already have one, so yeah, I’d be curious. I’d also be curious to see how he showed up with the queen again, if he saw her again. She wasn’t very nice to him. In fact, none of them are because he’s the bastard stepchild. He’s the one whose not them and he’s not anybody, but he keeps hanging out and wanting help.

GW: Right. Do you yourself sympathize with the chain of events he’s been put through? You kind of vying for him? “Try and do something good the next time around! Come on!”

CT: I’m pulling for him. And I’m pulling, not just because I’m playing him, but I’m pulling because I think that it’s an interesting situation they put him in. The question is — we deal with this a lot now. What responsibility to you bear your enemy? How are you meant to treat somebody? Not to say that the Geneva Convention gets played out in space and stuff, but in a sense it does. And the idea of how we, as human beings, are responsible for the treatment of others, be them friend or foe, says a lot about you as a society. Hell, we’re dealing with this right now. So I think that there’s a lot to look at there. It’s being played out in a science fiction, fantastical way. But these are issues that we think about and deal with and hear about on an almost daily basis.

GW: One of the most interesting episodes, perhaps didn’t do fantastic in ratings, but I thought was really good, was “Allies,” where the Wraith have come to Atlantis to ask to do the exact same thing that they did to Michael. But there was never a scene that explained how he felt about that. He just kind of went along and did it. How do you think he felt when his hive chose to put their enemies through the same process the Atlantians put him through?

CT: I think at that point in time he was hoping he can keep his ass safe. I really do. His MO is merely “I need to be able to keep myself from getting attacked, or ostracized.”

GW: Right. Because hew as the messenger, and once there was a treaty established he was like, “I need to get out of here! They’re going to kill me!”

CT: Right! It’s never been a good day on the hive ship since he had his medication. [Laughter]

GW: Bottom line, do you believe the Atlantians are justified in genetically mutilating their enemies? Would you have done the same thing if [you] were in their position?

CT: If I had come across a technique or drugs to neutralize the life-sucking alien enemies that I have, yeah, I mean I think so. I don’t think you have a choice not to. Do you use the bomb if you have it?

GW: Yeah. When it’s either that or all-out annihilation?

CT: Yeah. There’s not been a great deal of philosophy played out through it though. That “here is why.” That would be interesting to see. Here is why. How do you rationalize it for yourself? Are you just a militaristic people who will use the best, newest technologies to eliminate your foe? Again, we hearken back to this, but do you bear any responsibility to your enemy? If not, that’s one thing. If you do, that’s another thing entirely.

GW: But what do you become afterwards?

CT: Yeah, exactly. What is the legacy of what you’re doing?

GW: Were you given any homework regarding the iratus bugs before “Vengeance?”

CT: I showed up and they gave me three episodes that they thought I should see.

GW: OK. I was watching it and I knew that they were trying not to make it look phony. With the prosthetic people and the creatures, and keeping them all in the dark. You think they achieved that well?

CT: I think that like with anything, when you’re using a big foam alien-style-stuff, you always get better at it. You get better at it. Yeah, if they’re going to use these guys they’re going to have to see them in action.

GW: Better be prepared for it.

CT: Yeah, and it’d better work. Nothing is worse than watching it and going “Augh… The monsters suck!” You don’t want the monsters to suck. You want to believe them.

GW: Who among this cast have you enjoyed working with the most?

CT: Well I really liked working with Paul! [Laughter] But having said that, though, a lot of my scens were with Rachel and she’s a ream to work with. She’s awesome. I have to say, working with that cast up there has been nothing but a great deal of fun. They’re all actors. They all have a good time. It reminded me of our own show in a sense that everybody’s going to work, they’re working hard, but they’re having fun doing it.

GW: They don’t have to.

CT: They don’t have to. And I’ve been around sets where people aren’t having any fun. And it sucks. And there’s no need for it, frankly. Nobody seems to be, in my experience, grandstanding or anything like that. I have a great time working with those guys. Like I said, most of my stuff has been with Rachel and a lot of it was with Paul. I did a lot with Joe in the last one. But I’ve gone out with them afterwards before, and they’re just great folks. They’re great folks.

GW: What would you like to see become of this character in the future?

CT: More of him.

GW: This is good. [Laughter] This is good! Where would you like us to run into him again?

CT: Well see, that’s a good question. Here’s what I wonder. I wonder how do you get him back into the fold? At this point in time he’s got an army and he has ways in which to jump from location to location. What is the thing that has him cross paths with them again. Does he become the dread pirate scott? Is he out there robbing people? Does he have a bone to pick still? I don’t know.

GW: One of the things I was wondering is what would happen if the genetic boat that they put him in started being debilitating, started to kill him?

CT: Fantastic. He needs help again.

GW: Yeah. Would he become more of a wild animal and just blockade himself behind these guys until he’s dead or will he actively seek their help because “I hate you, but you’re the only ones who know what you did!”

CT: Not only that, but he’s a smart-enough man — err, being — that he knows that he’s on to something really hot. And he can develop an army. Now, if he’s got designs on control, territory, they’ll do his bidding. They’ll attack Wraith. I’m sure they will. They’ll sure as hell attack humans. We know that. He might become Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness.” He might create a scenario where he can affect change without having an empire. Is he Hannibal? Does he take his elephants over the Alps and attack Rome? I don’t know! Maybe!

GW: What do you think his legacy’s going to be? Before he goes? If he goes?

CT: Well he’s going to be a mistake to them. He’s going to be a big mistake to them. In the long run he’ll be a mistake. One that they may continue to try to rectify, but he’s a mistake right now, and he knows he’s a mistake. He may be a very powerful agent for his own MO. It has come back to haunt them. It might just get worse. Because they didn’t know what they had. Especially when they said in the last episode that he was a scientist who was smart enough to figure out how to manipulate and modify what they did to him for his own benefit.

GW: You think he’d be a key chess piece in the final battle between getting the Wraith out of the Pegasus Galaxy [or] not?

CT: Yeah. Or the wraith can use him. He’s a great wild card. He can be used by anybody. And that might be a great way in which they can bring him back into the fold because they need him. Both of them might need him.

GW: Well their genetic history has always been so important and here we’ve got this guy who is kind of a symbol of that. What about Michael and Ronon finally duking it out?

CT: Well that would be fun, because Jason’s a good fighter and I’m a good fighter. [Laughter] Yeah! I think, though, that that would — this is my personal feeling. I’m sort of riffing on this. I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of one-on-one. He’s much too important now and has far too many nasty, nasty things behind his back. Unless he finds himself in a strange situation. Which could happen! It’d be a lot of fun. The look in their eyes at each other, they’re just begging for it. “Man ..”

GW: “Let’s just go into a room and finish it!”

CT: “Me and you. Me and you.” [Laughter]

GW: What about you, Connor? What are your plans? Do you have any projects coming out? Any on the horizon? Or is it just Jasper?

CT: I’ve got to work. I did a pilot as a recurring part for this Showtime show called Manchild that hasn’t been given an airdate, so I don’t know anything about that yet. I shot that a couple of months ago. My writing partners and I are developing a couple of stories that we’re going to take to SCI FI and see what they have to say. I can’t let the cat out of the bag but we’ve got a meeting. It’s all you can really ask for. Other than that, I tested for a pilot a couple of days ago. Just keep on keeping on.

GW: About these projects that you’re talking about, I think everyone wants for just good-quality TV. Is that a goal in mind for you?

CT: Yeah. I think I’ve got a good eye for what’s good, and my writing partners definitely do. They are entrenched in what it means to be a science fiction fan. They’ve got a good eye for that. I’m not the writing guy.

GW: Would you star and executive produce?

CT: Yeah, I would star in it. Here’s the thing. Yeah, I would star in it, but I would also just like to get them done. Whether or not they thought that I was ultimately right for it really wouldn’t matter to me as much. I would like to get into that part of the game, of creating a good show. So we’re working hard at that. That’s the thing that’s on the burner right now. And then the rest of it is grist for the mill, man. The way this thing works is it ebbs and it flows. You’re hot for a minute and then nothing happens. Hopefully you can keep enough of those things going that it strung together that you develop a career out of it.

GW: Right. It’s so rare to have the Enterprise come along where you’re good and solid, a steady stream. Other than that [stop-start-stop-start].

CT: Yeah. You have to swallow that pill. It’s the way it is. I’m not a plumber, and I’m not a teacher. I’m an actor, and the actor’s life is “catch as catch can.” For a great deal of it. And I’m fine with it. I love being an actor. I can’t imagine being anything else. And I didn’t set myself up for any other thing to fall back on, so … It’s all I got.