Cosmic Doorman

Beware of SPOILERS for early Season Five of Stargate Atlantis in the interview below!

For nearly four years the air traffic controller of the Pegasus Galaxy has been Technician Chuck, played by Canadian actor Chuck Campbell. First introduced in Season One’s “The Brotherhood,” the role quickly become a favorite among fans. Now with doors closing on Atlantis the series, but about to open on Atlantis DVD movies, GateWorld sat down with the actor to discuss the recent news and his opinions on the matter.

Our video interview with Campbell was recorded at Creation’s Official Stargate Convention in Vancouver, where the show is filmed. In that segment, we talk about the introduction of a second technician, some of the more interesting episodes in the new season, and where Chuck would like to see his character journey before the end.

Please Note: The first page of this interview was conducted by telephone hours before its launch, and is only available in transcript form below. The following pages are from April’s video interview, which is embedded here.

GateWorld’s video interview with Chuck runs almost 10 minutes, and is also available in audio format. The full interview is also transcribed below!

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GateWorld: What are you shooting today?

Chuck Campbell: Today we are shooting Episode 520, which is the last episode of the … the last episode! Yeah.

GW: It’s the last episode of everything!

CC: I think they did get the green light to do a movie, which is good.

GW: Definitely. But this is the end of an era for you guys. How’s the atmosphere on set? Is it somber?

CC: It’s half and half, David. I think the somberness is partially due to a lot of people just [not knowing] what’s going to be next for them, which is part of this industry. That comes with it. Then it’s also five years of working with the same people, which you become kind of tight like any job would be if you were there for five years. They know in less than a month that they’ll be saying goodbye.

The way it usually works with this industry is you go where the work is, so chances are all of us being together once again, unfortunately, is slim. But that is the industry. It was enough time to make some good friendships. It’s always sad when you’ve got to say goodbye to that.

GW: How did you hear about cancellation?

CC: They just came down to the set, two of the producers, and just announced it after lunch. I think it was quite within the two hours they were told they came down and told us.

GW: OK. So after lunch everyone just threw up.

CC: Well, yeah it was just like, “Yikes.” The actors called their agents and the crew called their wives. [Laughter]

GW: “Baby, I’m coming home!”

CC: Yeah. So it’s one of those things. It happens. I mean, my goodness, you get five years with a TV show, nowadays that’s a nice run. Absolutely.

GW: What do you plan on doing next? Are you going to be spending more time auditioning? What’s the plan?

CC: Yeah, absolutely! Due to standing in full time on the show, the bonus of that is there is a check every Thursday, but unfortunately you can’t go out and audition. So I had the best of both worlds. For a couple of seasons there I had a small acting role, which always helps.

Now I don’t have to be here 60 hours a week, I can go back out on the market and start auditioning again. I’ve always been fortunate with one door closing, another one opens. So it’s a new chapter for me.

GW: Life is good that way, isn’t it?

CC: Yeah, I’ve been very blessed that way. And there’s absolutely no way I would’ve stayed with the show for five years if they were a**holes. Life is too short.

GW: Exactly. So are you ready for your next big adventure?

CC: Yeah! Who knows what will come about? I will say I kind of hope it won’t be science fiction. [Laughter] Just get a little bit of a change, but don’t get me wrong, if it is science fiction that’s what we’ll do. It seems quite popular here in British Columbia.

GW: You’d really want to do something else? “Let’s play this girl’s boyfriend and let’s go to the mall.”

CC: Sure! Yeah, I’d love to get a show with just me and a dog and a field. “Hey, this show’s about the tractor breaking down. ” It’ll be great. But you never know. We pretend for a living, so whatever comes your way that’s what you do.

NEXT: We pick up Chuck for the video portion of our conversation!