GateWorld: Between your roles as Pallan on SG-1 in the episode that you did there, and as both Todd and Halling on Atlantis, what would you say has, in your opinion, led to the longevity of the franchise as a whole? What keeps viewers coming back? What brings fans to conventions like this?
Christopher Heyerdahl: I think what brings fans — there’s two sides to that question. What brings fans to conventions like this is a passion for a story that I think is very clear. The good guys are the good guys, the bad guys are the bad guys, and they don’t cross over — the consistency of that.
There’s a consistency of disappearing into these amazing stories, it’s living a fantasy life and there’s something that’s wonderful. We can escape into all these stories and live these fantasies just like the actors get to do, just like the characters get to do. The fans get to come along, and the passion of sharing that with like-minded people, I think, is what really brings people to conventions like this.
I think the actors are almost a secondary or tertiary aspect. It’s really everyone getting together and talking about what they are so passionate about. And I think if you stick a few actors into that — who love, of course, talking about themselves and the work that they do — I think everyone’s happy.
GW: Have you seen the new series? Because you’ve brought up the whole “good is good, bad is bad, there’s no black and white” — have you seen Universe at all?
CH: Yes, I’ve done my YouTubing.
GW: Have you noticed that there are the shades of gray there now, guys that you don’t know where their priorities are and what their end-game is going to be.
CH: Yeah, what are they, we’re four episodes in or something? I’m not sure. But it seemed to be very difficult to follow, in all honesty. I’m have a hard time following that series. I don’t know what the guys are doing, from a standpoint of somebody trying to watch a series. I’m having a hell of a hard time following this series. It’s hard to find and then there’s a big hiatus. It seems that so many series are doing this, which I don’t understand it from a standpoint of trying to get viewers to sit in seats and stick around for the advertising.
GW: I think it comes from Syfy’s desire to have original programming all year throughout. So by splitting up the seasons, throwing a different show in there for a few months and then coming back with something else later, they’re able to maintain something original and new throughout the year, as opposed to having months where all the programming that they have [is repeats].
CH: Am I supposed to like that? It sounds pretty logical, but I’m supposed to like it? [Laughter] Come on! I don’t like it, yeah. I don’t like it myself, I find it very frustrating.
I’d rather see a story, watch the arc. Because what I tend to want to do because of that, as a viewer, is I don’t watch it on the television at all. I just wait for it. It’s that deferred gratification. I wait for it to come out on DVD and then I can watch it at my leisure. I don’t have Tivo and things like that; I don’t have that ability so I just wait and watch it on DVD. That’s the way, uh-huh.
GW: Let’s go back to Sanctuary for a little bit. You were talking about maybe some longer story arcs. Are we talking anything specifically in regards to the John Druitt character or to the entire cast as a whole?
CH: Well, it gives the opportunity for everyone — to go and do backstory on Henry, to do more the Five, or at least a few of the Five. I’m not sure if we’re ever going to meet the Invisible Man, but who knows.
GW: Can we expect to see more backstory on Magnus herself?
CH: I think inherent in all those stories, Magnus is the constant, so I think you’re guaranteed to always, always get more of Magnus. If you go back with Henry, you’re going to back with Magnus. If you’re going to go back with the Five, you’re going to go back with Magnus. She’s the constant.
If you’re even going to go back with Will now, the way that the writers have gone with the television version of Sanctuary versus the online version, then you’re going to go back again with Magnus, as well. She had a hand in saving his life and bringing him, eventually, to the Sanctuary.
GW: Druitt himself, over the course of the series’ run thus far, has had some personality shifts — from in the pilot where you’re homicidal, to where you’re helping out for a good chunk, and then here at the end of Season Two we don’t know where things are going to lie again, with regards to the energy creature taking hold.
CH: Well, that’s going to be an interesting thing to see, where he goes. As of now, I have no idea. The telltale sign is I have hair, so I’m definitely not playing Druitt right now. The idea is that he’s going to be coming back and when he does, we’re going to find out where he’s gone.
The last moment that we left Druitt on, the last thing he said was, “I have no destination in mind.” And it was set up that if he didn’t have a destination in mind, he could go into that wall and rematerialize and that would be the end of him. So in a way, he was trying to commit suicide and kill this creature off in order to save the woman he loves. So who knows how they’re going to bring him back?
I can’t imagine that we’re going to go back to Druitt as the so-called “nice guy” that’s inside. He’s much more interesting when you’re really looking over your back.
NEXT: Ashley Magnus, the make-up chair, and the Sanctuary family
he was also in Highlander :)
Love Chris. He hit the nail on the head as to why the ratings are down for Universe – it’s hard to follow because you’re not always sure when it’s on. They’re either on hiatus or they change the nights. I know if it wasn’t for the Internet, I probably would be just as confused about when it’s on as Chris is. They need to air the season in August, run right through all 20 episodes and be done with it until next season, maybe taking a break for major sporting events or holidays here and there. I loved it… Read more »
I’m sure there are a lot of things that go into deciding how a season runs its course. Things like making an episode form start to finish (writing the script, it being okayed by standards and practices, actors reading through it, it being acted out, multiple takes, cutting, editing, etc), actors needing a break, probably a lot of exec room BS. That said though I wish the breaks weren’t so long (at least they aren’t BS:G long).
@Browncoat1984 – He said it was hard to follow several times before mentioning the scheduling issues and he said he did his youtubing when asked about watching it. He wasn’t saying that the scheduling was the main cause, he was simply focusing on that aspect as his career and any option of being in future Stargate works requires him to tread lightly on production choices.
Great interview! I really enjoy Chris and his incredibly wide variety of roles. Glad he is happy working on Sanctuary with “family.”
Great interview! I love Chris. I had the pleasure of seeing him in person in August at a con in Chicago, and he’s every bit as charming in person as you would imagine. I’m looking forward to Sanctuary bringing back Druitt and seeing what they do with his character.
Thanks for interview – love when you can download and listen. Feels it’s been a while since there were audio interviews. Chris seems to be a very nice person and he is a great actor. Hmm I better check back on the interview page again – maybe I have just missed the audio interviews… Have a good weekend!
the podcast junkie – aka daxmaryrussel :)
This guy is just awesome.
GO Chris! He is a brilliant actor, even in New Moon!