Chevron 7.4: Suanne Braun aka Hathor

Before I begin the next installment of Chevron 7.4: An Idiot's Guide, I will just recount an incident which unfortunately is becoming more common place in todays society, an eyesore which should be irradicated with immediate effect...While signing in at the computer center I had to wait in line, the young lass in front of me had a brief conversation with a member of staff who complimented her on an edgy new hairstyle and she then bent to sign the attendence register, at which point several of us folk in the queue stiffled giggles as the young ladies ill-fitting jeans (note: any trouser based garment designed for ladies appear to have a similar defect) failed to do their job of covering her plentiful derriaire, flashing a large portion of pale butt cheeks and crack...sigh, somethings are just meant not to be seen by others and the oblivious girl just carried on reguardless, you'd think she'd at least feel a draft....ie 'In the unlikely senario that someone is jet blasting icy cold air down my trousers I guess I'd better check whether I'm attired appropriately while in this half bent position....Oops'...alas not, seriously some kind of law should be passed against this kind of thing...and don't even get me started on teenage boys style choice of 'jeans hanging low, arse hanging out', one of these days I'm going to start wreching the damn things up when such a display walks passed me...and if they happen to incur a wedgie at the same time, so be it!

Ahem...moving on....

Guest Talk with Suanne Braun

Her character certainly has some staying power considering she was in only a handful of episodes, though it's impossible to forget Hathor, that episode was funny and a little creepy and apparently has remained in the top 5 of favourite episodes.  But what has this lovely lady been up to since then....she's been in a stage production of Caberet playing a nasty piece of work and a touch of stand up in the US...very versitile. She loves the instant reaction of stage work

She was involved in a British, camp sci-fi comedy series called Starhyke where she played a robot.  Also in the series Claudia Christian (Ivanova off of Babylon 5) Danny John Jules (Cat off of Red Dwarf) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett off of Star Wars).  It's in the same kitsch vein as Krod Mandoon & the Flaming Sword of fire, admittedly an acquired taste, and seems to have disappeared off screen as quickly also.

The character of Hathor was origiannly offered to Sharon Stone, who chose a very different role on some movie called Basic Instinct....her loss.

She didn't know the sound of the Go'ald when she was filming the part and apparently several versions were tried with Suanne putting on various voices, of which she then put on  a couple of gruff, grunty, frog in throat sounds...glad they went with sound effects, else SG:1 could also have gone the way of Krod Mandoon.  Her mother watched the episode, back in South Africa, and went from proud mum to 'Here you are on the TV in the US....and you sound terrible'...hehe, trust mothers for an honest critique of your work.

Speaking of South Africa, Suanne started out working on TV in her homeland, presenting, doing a travel show called Bon Voyage (which she really enjoyed) and appearing in the SA version of Who's Line is it Anyway ( for those not in the know this was an improvisational comedy series...I used to watch the UK series all the time and grew strangely attracted to the bean-pole of a comedian Ryan Stiles...ahem....moving on)

Asked who her favourite person to work with on SG:1 was Suanne diplomatically said 'all were lovely' before adding that she got to 'smooch all the boys'...now that truely must've been a hard day at work...though apparently one actor playing a certain Jaffa had a habit of breaking wind during a take to make the other actors laugh...Yeah, Judge I'm lookin' at you ;-)

And on the subject of pranks the inverable 'boy toilet humour' seems to be a common trend in a day in the life on the SG:1 set.  At one point poor Suanne was filming a take of sitting in the Go'ald birthing tank and found some prankster had poured in bubble bath (Outtakes...anyone).

Suanne wasn't too keen on the costume of Hathor...I'm guessing it would've been pretty uncomfortable...nor was she a big fan of sitting in the tank full of 'plastic shrimp' aka the technical term for baby Go'ald.  After a while the heat from the lights would cause the...er...'shrimp' to melt and often left her smelling of melted plastic for the remainder of the day...cut to awkward looks from strangers in lifts.

She didn't realise when she took on the role, that Hathor was a real figure in Ancient Egyptian Mythology and was surprised when visiting the country exclaiming 'Oh, look...I'm everywhere'

In terms of her future career, Suanne would like to play Lady Macbeth on stage and would like a challenging or action role in TV/film.  Currently she's working on a romantic comedy in Prague and has her own show back in South Africa...which led to some discussion about possible names 'Braunfree' and 'To the Manor Braun' were a couple of the suggestions....hmmm, I suggest to think on about that.

So, there's all the guest talks done, don't think I've fogotton anyone....*counts off guests in head*...yep, all done...moving on...Oh, wait....I supposed there was that Hewlett bloke, he said....stuff.

Chevron 7.4 Guest Talks: Bam Bam, Brian J Smith and a Stunt Demo

First off I'm a grumpy Brit today, the murk outside my window has turned to sleet, the t-shirts I ordered have arrived after 3 weeks but I have to fork out £15 to collect them, there's nothing remotely exciting on my calender for the next...well..ever....and the monster munch I ate for lunch are giving me a case of roast beef burps.  So, best that I go into nostalgic recollection mode and continue with my convention report:

Bam Bam & Brian J Smith

Once again another Stargate alumni was having his convention cherry popped, the lovely Brian J Smith wasn't sure what to expect from the whole convention experience, but this didn't stop him joining us fan girls on the dance floor the night before, rocking and belting out a medley of 80's and 90's rock tunes.  By the time it came to the Q & A he seemed comfortable and relaxed, even with Bam Bam's occasional baiting of 'take your shirt off'...and no, unfortunately all of his togs stayed on.  The chap does find the whole convention thing a tad surreal since a little over a year ago he was working as a bar tender.

Brian J Smith looking pretty

Bam Bam is another guest who I've met at a previous con, he is a chatty bloke and spends a lot of his time with the fans and trying to copy accents...best not to give up you day job Bam Bam ;-)  He played Gambit in X-Men 2 and spent a day of shooting playing poker as well as fight scene and stunt work, but his scenes were deleted...boo, hiss.

Brian was asked about his fellow cast mates on SG:U and he mentioned having a lot of respect for Robert Carlyle referring to him as 'A sweet, cool guy' who has a lot of time for the cast and crew and is always there to assist with any acting queries Brian may have. (How much would I love to meet Robert Carlyle at a convention....*stretches arms until shoulders pop from sockets*....this much)

Talking about the stunt work Bam Bam said that he keeps the fight scenes looking 'sloppy' in keeping with the raw, realistic theme of SG:U.  More of a pub brawl affair, which in turn leans towards the 'real people' feel and effects of their unplanned situation.  Bam Bam is also giong 'bionic' since injury has led the poor chap to need a double hip replacement, hence why he is co-ordinator of stunts.  From memory I think it was caused by repeatedly having to dive onto frozen ground.

Not entirely sure what Brian is saying to gain this reaction from Bam Bam...answers on a postcard...

He talked about the dangers of working with actors and them doing stunts...at this point I was sure David Hewlett would come up as apparently his compatability with even the most basic of stunt meet with some kind of injury...though he actually mentioned an incident on the set of The Eye/The Storm.  The lovely Erin Chambers (Sora) had never done any fight training but was keen to have a go, Robert Davi (Koyla) was also keen to strut his stuff but unfortunately got a little gung-ho during the stick fight.  Erin ended up with a fairly decent smack on the noggin and was a bit shocked and upset and retreated to her trailer.  Bam Bam followed with words of support 'Suck it up'.....or something a tad more sympathetic....and the scene, which looks great btw, was completed.

Bam Bam recounts Davi-Gate...

Brain spoke about filming the episode Air Pt 3, the one on the desert planet, which presented a challenge as it was 'understandably hot and sandy'.  117 degrees with no cover and one air conditioned tent for the actors to cool off in, which then became a smoking tent...kind of defeating the objective there I guess.  He said although it was a challenge it was his favourite to film.

I'm guessing Brian is aware of the conflicting reviews of SG:U, he genuinely wanted to hear our opinons when chatting and said that the next season will address many of the concerns.  He said the show is best watched on DVD (due to being able to watch without annoying ad breaks)...at which point Bam Bam interjected with 'freeze frame for sex scenes' (something which Bam Bam was constantly ribbing Brain about during the weekend)

Bam Bam insists that his nickname was due to a foreign director's inability to get his name right on set which ended up sticking....and 'has nothing to do with porn'

He also once played Simon Cowell...yes you read that right...Simon Cowell in one of those abomination Scary Movies films...where someone machine guns the opinionated tosser down (possibly 3, but I won't be watching to find out, soz Bam Bam)

They both talked about Twitter and how it's a great way to keep in touch with fans and keep up to date with developments on the series.  Although fellow cast mate David Blue (Eli) is apparently addicted and wanders round set asking how many followers  Brain and Bam Bam have...'How long would you like to stay concious'...is generally Bam Bam's reply. 

Brian has a, occasionally bossed eyed, King Charles dog called Cassie, who he was looking after for someone else, but missed her too much when it was time to let her go...aw, Brian you big sap you. 

Brian's amazingly infectious smile...

Bam Bam was asked about which actors were easiest and hardest to work with when doing the stunts...now this time David did get a mention, though not that he was hard to work with, but during the scene where he was high on Wraith juice they bascially went with David's own flappy fighting style which 'keeps it real' as McKay.  Rachel Luttrell was easy to work with, her background in dance apparently a beneift to stunt choreogrphy and Jason 'Frickin' Conan' Mamoa who apparently 'brings his own energy...and forehead'.  Apparently his de-dreading during the hiatus of one season led to some trouble (slapped wrist for Mamoa) as the wig he subsequently had to wear would routinely fall off during fight scenes (outtakes please).  Ben Browder is a natural at beating himself up 'Whumping I think you call it.....And he likes it' (okay then).  Joe Flanigan was apparently the person least likely to reherse, he's 'a great athelete' but preferred to play golf, surf or play guitar than reherse a fight scene (slapped wrist for Flanigan).  Bam Bam did a impression of how a day would go with the stunt guys kicking ass...think multiple cartoon ninjas 'hiiii-ya' and other such fighty noises, then as Joe Flanigan stepping in, karate chop 'wah-pah' wipes brow 'we got him'.

On the Sunday Bam Bam did a stunt demo on stage.  He brought on Sharon and they went through getting into the rhythm of using sticks, which I might add was awesome to watch.  Bam Bam said that working with Sharon was great as she does everything he tells her to do, once while training he told her to take off her shirt...which she then nearly went on to do...bless her, and naughty Bam Bam.  He also spoke about how important the practice is as while training Rachel once made an error in which one of the sticks wasn't protecting her face during a fast run though of a fight and he smacked her cheekbone, she was fine but the subsequent bruise led the make-up girl, his then girlfriend, to chew him out on set.

Mates Tina and Philippa were brought up on stage to assist Bam Bam while he was running through a fight routine with Sharon, his dodgy hips means he finds it difficult to kneel and the girls aided the 'old man' onto his knees and back up again....though luckily Tina didn't have to 'Turn left' (those puzzled should look up P4's stunt demo).

Bam Bam also did a routine with Sharon, Ryan and two stunt guys (James Embree, who's worked on Sherlock Holmes, Merlin and the new Robin Hood film and a guy who was Hugh Jackman's double in the X-Men movies)  He set up two fight scenes which were to be performed simultaneously....'that means at the same time' to Sharon when she forgot to practice while watching Ryan's routine.

One thing Bam Bam loves to do is micking taking and joshing and there was alot of this during the demo....there was much messing with the 'floppy' knife, mentioning of protecting 'twig and berries' and bemoaning the 'actors'...before the final run through of the 'fight'...which I happened to capture on film.....Shhh.



This one one of my favourite parts of the convention and I hope if Bam Bam visits again this will become a recurring event.  It certainly brings home the art of the stunt performer...two very enthusiatic thumbs up :D