I surface, very briefly, every so often to peek out the window and see if Spring has sprung and attempt something marginally more productive than guessing as to how many double entendre's Phil and Fern will produce during an episode of This Morning....answer more than 1 and less than 100.....just.
Today is one of those days:
Paul McGillion
Everyones favourite Doctor (unless you happen to be the worlds biggest Doctor Who fan of course) whose bedside manner, amongst other things, were the talk of the Pegasus Galaxy and as Bryan put it 'he's been dead, he's been alive, he's been a clone and now has to explain to his mum that he's still alive' Carson Beckett....aka Paul McGillion of course.
Paul is a very popular guest and seemed to be incredibly appreciative to the support he has had on SGA, like all the guests, he really relishes the chance to mingle and get feedback from the fans and is a natural at working the crowd....any sentence spoken in those Scottish tones causing the decibels of applause, whooping and cheers to virtual eardrum bursting levels.
He was asked about his favourite scenes he had filmed over the course of the series and spoke about the comical Puddle Jumper scenes in Irresistible with Joe Flanigan as being fun to film and that further scenes were omitted from the final product....apparently the Colonel assists the cuffed and blubbing Carson by holding up a tissue as the Doctor blows his nose. He also liked lines from the first episode such as 'lunch related' and 'we're in another Galaxy, how much more out can you get' .
Asked if he had played the character of Carson differently since he came back as a clone and it was something he had considered asking 'is he the 'evil' clone? does he have any special powers? is he a Ninja?.....is he better with the ladies?' (any or all of which would have been an interesting turn of events in terms of story/character development if you ask me....and Carson wasn't all that bad with the ladies....just you know.....Cadman/McKay, Hoffan plague and blown up by exploding tumors, hardly any fault of Carson) alas producers/writers/directors gave the negative to his queries.
As many will know, Paul was in the independent film A Dog's Breakfast....the hiatus project of one David Hewlett....which still incurs much admiration, speculation and discussion from us fans....especially certain cross-dressing sequences (I realise now some readers may be confused and slightly alarmed at the content of said film, but if you like dark comedy with a touch of slapstick then you may as well give it a go)....At the time of filming there was much discussion as to the look of the 'female' detective and Paul had a full costume and make-up test. As the processed started Paul said he didn't think he looked too bad (mimes pouting into a mirror) as the wig went on 'actually I look pretty hot' he continued 'The problem came when I put the bra on' (My mate Joey cut in with something along the lines of 'they're easy' to which and without missing a beat Paul came back with 'easy to get off'.....naughty boy). Once he was in full make-up, dress and heels (including the shaving ans subsequently cutting of the legs.....oh, Paul how I feel your pain) he realised that he actually looked like something which 'should be in the NFL' (That's the National Football League in case you were wondering)
Further to the ADB discussion apparently there was a woman whose job was to flick soap suds onto David Hewlett's naked butt (any takers?) in the scene where his character jumps out of the bathroom window. The sequence was also filmed during torrential rain (a season in itself in Vancouver) with Paul in full dress and make-up and his heels slowly sinking into the quagmire as he stood opposite a butt naked (bar the previously mentioned suds) David. 'I'm looking at my friend....naked....ass....and I turn to him and say....David, this better be funny.' After a roar of affirmatives, with a few wolf whistles thrown in, from the crowd Paul, in Scottish hilt, added 'You cheeky little buggers.'
Paul was asked about Carson's relationship with Ronan (the person asking the question likened it to the Lion with the thorn in it's paw.....which in my mind gave a rather bizarre image of Ronan with a full lions mane and whiskers....hmmmm).....'Jason's a big guy....I could kick his ass.....(much laughter from the audience) it's lucky he's about a 10 hour flight away.'
He starts to talk about the scene in Runner where Carson has to operate on Ronan. He has to asks the audience the name of the device his character was removing...referring to it as 'the metal thing'....then adopting a Little Britain's Andy 'Yer, I know' as the crowd shouts 'tracker'.
He went on to say that when he was first filming with Jason Mamoa he messed with the big fella a tad, using his Scottish accent only when the cameras started rolling....leaving the poor chap with a slightly befuddled expression....Paul also describes Jason as 'Marmaduke meets Chewbacca.....who gives you a hug and nearly breaks your ribs....a great lovable lummux' (awww....though perhaps a slight dent to Mr. Mamoa's street cred)
Many fans have heard about the hi jinx and prank pulling which occurred on set and were keen to hear of any which Paul could recall....one of his favourites was as he, David Hewlett and Joe Flanigan films on location in woodland. In the scene Paul and David are carrying an extra on a stretcher, the ground was rough and hilly. Joe had taken it upon himself to arrange the largest and heaviest extra be the one they carried and then between takes he would fill the rucksack Paul was carrying with rocks. By the end of filming the poor chap was exhausted, sweating bullets and having to put up with a whiny Hewlett and wondering why he was having such trouble....until the props guy told Paul that Joe had left something for him in his pack.
He was quite excited when he got to do a stunt in Duet (presumably before he'd got to the point in the script with THAT scene) upon realising that it was this particular episode Paul commented 'My God, this episode is haunting me.' The sequence, where Carson dives out the way of a crashing Dart, didn't exactly go according to plan whilst filming....as he fell over in the first couple of takes and then, during the third, he flashed his underwear to the entire crew (of which, one fast thinking props guy, apparently snapped a picture.....I'm thinking track it down for next years Charity Auction....and that Bam Bam's probably safe in terms of stunt work)
Finally Paul told a wonderful story about a signing he took part in over in Belfast. As he looked up between signing autographs he spied a little lad who would be grinning and giving him the thumbs up every time he looked at him. When the little boy reached the front of the queue he didn't actually have anything to sign, but instead had recently had a birthday and wanted to share with his favourite character, of his favourite show, a piece of his birthday cake. So, humbled by the little fella Paul gave him an autograph and posed for a picture, which probably made the little kids year....this kind of interaction obviously makes Pauls year also as he welled up a couple of times as he recounted the tale.
Other Paul related bits include:
His first convention was at a German con with Teryl Rothery where he was so nervous his legs stopped working
Things coming up for Paul include an independent film, the new Star Trek movie and 24
Paul's impression of Joe Flanigan mainly involves much squeaking of the word 'cool' and the raising of one eyebrow....so actually spot on
During the special reading of the audio book with Neil Roberts I'm fairly certain I heard Paul say the following.....'Lorne...take me up the Puddle Jumper'
And for your viewing pleasure:
3 comments:
Ah, I love a man in a kilt ;D
Yep, he was my favorite doctor (after David Tennant, of course!) And being such a rabid Browncoat, I feel a little guilty with how much I *didn't* like Jewel in that role.
Jewel was fab in Firefly...definately my fav role of hers to date...was difficult when she took on the keller role....i did quite like the Rodney/Keller relationship by the end though
Yes, I did like her and Rodney together, I just would have prefered her to be working *with* Carson instead of in his place. I know her character was supposed to be uber smart and graduated early, but it never made sense to me that they would have a 25 y/o as the chief medical officer of a major off-world opperation.
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