{"id":9535,"date":"2010-04-12T09:20:28","date_gmt":"2010-04-12T08:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=9535"},"modified":"2010-04-12T15:19:24","modified_gmt":"2010-04-12T14:19:24","slug":"stargate-universe-interview-%e2%80%93-brian-j-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/interviews\/stargate-universe-interview-%e2%80%93-brian-j-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Brian J Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smith_001\"Has the hiatus affected the show positively or negatively, in your opinion?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, it\u2019s definitely hard to keep people\u2019s interest when a show is airing, much less when the show is not airing for four or five months until the second half of its first season. It\u2019s tough, I understand the networks position to do it. If I was in their position I\u2019d probably do the same thing. It\u2019s very important these days to have continuous programming running all year, but for the fans of the show and certainly us who work on the show, it\u2019s tough, especially with SGU which is more like a twenty-scene film than a bunch of standalone episodes. That sense of continuity is really, really important, and I hope that people are ready to jump back on the wave.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

It must\u2019ve been a long time since you\u2019ve filmed those episodes, because you\u2019re shooting season two now, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, we are about to do three episodes, shooting-wise, into season two. So it\u2019s kind of odd, you know, going back to talking about Space. When people watch these episodes and have issues with them, it\u2019s hard because we\u2019re aware of a very large picture here. It\u2019s hard, sometimes, because a lot of the issues that people have with them are addressed later on in the series, so we kind of have to keep our mouths shut, and hopefully they\u2019ll stick with it, like it and get some kind of resolution.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about your character\u2019s development over the first season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pretty good. Again, with this show, it was very important for all of us to establish these characters from the beginning, to try and use friction, as well as the situations they\u2019re in \u2013 not to create action and adventure, things like that, but to try and feel who these people really were, to put them under a microscope and see how that kind of person will react. I think we did a really good job of establishing the fundaments of who [Matthew Scott] is. I think the second half of this season is, \u2018well let\u2019s see who these people are. Let\u2019s see who Scott is. You might start to see how all these things that weight on [the characters] start to have a toll, start to affect them. I don\u2019t want to say anything, but I\u2019m really surprised at what\u2019s coming up in season two. Really surprised\u2026<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t say anything about the content of season two yet, then? <\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Oh no. I love my job.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you enjoyed how Chloe and Scott\u2019s relationship has changed over the course of the first season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I did. That\u2019s actually a funny relationship, and for an actor, it\u2019s gold. I\u2019m really interested in the idea of these two people who look each other in the eye and see kind of a shared pain. Scott watched Chloe lose her father and Scott, more than anyone else on the ship, understands the meaning of loss, having lost his parents at a very early age. The relationship has always made sense to me, as an actor. It\u2019s psychological. I actually asked a psychologist about those kind of\u00a0 circumstances, and \u2018does this make sense?\u2019 And it was like, \u2018actually, it does.\u2019 It\u2019s psychologically sound. It gets the stamp of approval from a psychologist, so it works! I understand there are some people who have problems with the fact they got together too early, that it\u2019s just about sex, Scott is a man whore, that sort of stuff. I think that if people, again, stick with the show, they\u2019ll see that we\u2019ve never played Scott as a man whore. He\u2019s been very gentle and unhorndoggish. You know what I mean? I\u2019ve never seen Scott looking at some girl\u2019s ass in the show and going, \u2018Oh, man, yeah, let me \u2013\u2018. You know. It doesn\u2019t make sense to me when people start saying he\u2019s a sexaholic and stuff like that. He\u2019s a twentysomething guy and he\u2019s got urges just like anyone else. I think he gets less sex than most people, actually.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you think that relationship becomes more emotionally grounded over the second half of the first season?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe it does. I\u2019ll be really honest \u2013 the thing that\u2019s bothered me about the relationship between Scott and Chloe is that we never got to see them be friends. It\u2019s unfortunate that it got lost in the mix, because there are so many characters and so much that has to be covered, there was bound to be something that got lost in the mix. And one thing that got lost in the mix, that might\u2019ve ended up on the editing room floor, is that Scott and Chloe are friends. That they knew each other, that they have time together, that they have a special dynamic that Eli and Chloe do. It\u2019s sad, that viewers haven\u2019t got to see it, but oh well. It\u2019s certainly something I\u2019m going to be fighting for.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The show has had a mixed reception from fans and critics \u2013 have you let that affect you at all? Do you pay attention to it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, you don\u2019t let it affect you. You can\u2019t. I haven\u2019t been doing this as long as most people, but through my experiences at school and doing theatre in New York, as well as a couple of independent films, you get negative reactions and that\u2019s just the price you pay for being in that arena. It\u2019s just a fact of life. You don\u2019t focus on it, and reactions \u2013 positive or negative \u2013 have much more to do with the person who\u2019s reacting than the thing that they\u2019re reacting to. That\u2019s something I\u2019ve especially learned over the last five years. No, it doesn\u2019t bother me. You want everyone to love it and think it\u2019s as great as you do, because you spend a lot of time investing in it \u2013 but you wouldn\u2019t be doing your job if you didn\u2019t care. You get a thick skin. You just smile, move on and be lucky that you are working.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the Stargate name automatically puts the show under more scrutiny that it otherwise would be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, it does. Honestly, I do think that\u2019s kind of an issue, and I think that even sets up an expectation among critics. There\u2019s kind of a sense of, \u2018Wait a minute \u2013 you\u2019re Stargate. You don\u2019t tell stories like this. How dare you. This isn\u2019t what you do. You need to stick to your funny, sci-fi ways or schtick that you do and not try to take yourself seriously.\u2019 I get a lot of that attitude from certain critics and it\u2019s unfortunate, but you know, at the end of the day, what matters is a) enough people are watching it to keep the show on air and b) are we growing? Are we honestly trying to make the best show we can each week? The answer to both of those questions is yes.<\/p>\n

You have a theatrical background \u2013 how are you finding working on an ongoing TV series?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s frustrating in certain ways. I\u2019m not used to going in front of an audience without having four weeks\u2019 life with the dialogue and with the character. We go up, we rehearse the scene for maybe 20 minutes and then spend about an hour, an hour and a half shooting each scene. You just don\u2019t have the time to go as deep into things as you like to, but you just have to trust your instincts and hope they\u2019re going to put it together in editing. But you know, it\u2019s very important to me that I do get back to the stage at some point, whether it\u2019s even just doing a stage reading or something, because as an actor that\u2019s where you\u2019re really going to grow. I miss the stage. I spent most of my career on the boards and I\u2019m looking forward to going back.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the rapport like on-set?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s really good. A lot of people have been on the show from 5-10 years and they\u2019re some of the most professional \u2013 they\u2019re really good at what they do. It\u2019s such a well-oiled machine. Guest stars are always amazed at how well-oiled the machine is and how the kinks have been worked out over time. There\u2019s tons of laughs, people pulling pranks on each other and play poker together \u2013 it\u2019s very fun, and my favourite thing about the show, honestly. Going to work in the morning is fantastic.<\/p>\n

Stargate entries tend to go on for 5-10 years \u2013 do you anticipate being on the show for that long? Do you think that far ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I really don\u2019t think far ahead. I don\u2019t know, with this show, how long you can be lost in space. It\u2019s the same thing with Battlestar. I\u2019m a huge fan of BSG \u2013 I think it might be my favourite TV show ever, but I think it ended right when it was supposed to. I would hope that with SGU, people don\u2019t look back when it\u2019s ended and think \u2018they went on a little bit too long. It got a little bit tired and storylines started falling apart\u2026\u2019 As long as we\u2019re all on the same page here, and we\u2019re creating the kind of TV we want to create, it\u2019d be great for us to be on air, but if we start slacking off and running out of juice that\u2019d be the time to end.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Did Battlestar encourage you to audition, then? Did you have the feeling this might be a similar type of project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know about Battlestar until after I got the job. I\u2019d heard so much about the show. When I talked to producers, Battlestar never even came up. The shows that were mentioned were Friday Night Lights and The Shield. Those are the kind of shows they were going for and of course, I\u2019d heard there was another show out there that had done somewhat of the same thing, and so I started watching Battlestar and thought \u2018this is amazing\u2019. But it\u2019s very hard to compare the two shows. Battlestar, for me, was very politically and philosophically related to what\u2019s going on in the world today. We\u2019re not so much interested in that on SGU. The stories are much more pointed towards the action in each episode and making philosophical statements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We chat to SGU’s Matthew Scott about the evolution of his character, relationships on the show and more. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":9536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[7,140],"tags":[1400,1401,605],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/smith_001.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}