SPEZIAL
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| GATEDAY 2002 – Ruesselsheim (Opel Live Conferencecenter) 25. January 2002 |
| Vielen Dank hier an dieser Stelle an Petra Kainhofer!
Feedback bitte an petra.kainhofer@aon.at
On first place I would like to say a big big THANK YOU to the organizers of this convention. I was really surprised about the good organization of LoGe Fanevents and their helpers. Everybody was friendly, relaxing and helpful. When I entered the whole event at around 11.00 a.m. I felt a bit uncomfortable as I came there all alone but it turned out to be a great day!!! I think I should start from the beginning. When I first heard about the Gateday with Michael Shanks I nearly fell from my chair! I live in Austria and normally I would not have gone 600 km from Austria to Germany to this event (a real MS-fan should do that – well probably I would have gone anyway…) but I happened to be working from 26th until 28th of January 2002 in Frankfurt at a huge trade fair with my company so I tried to fix an earlier flight – and that’s it! This was really a coincidence – but I am sure the organizers knew that *g*! Then finally 25th arrived – my day started at 4 a.m. in the morning with the flight from Linz to Frankfurt, then I checked in to my hotel room completely exhausted from running through the whole airport at Frankfurt to get my luggage – then I sought out the train to Ruesselsheim. The conference center was not very difficult to find. I did not have to wait for entering as all the people were already sitting in the big room and I came in right before they started with the first German episode “Enemies” of season 5. I managed to get a seat in row 5 (or 4 – I do not remember anymore…) so I was totally happy – and tired. The room was very big like a huge cinema with a big screen. If the programm were not that interesting and changing I would have slept away in my chair. After showing other episodes of season five (I think “Threshold” was the title and “Wormwhole Xtreme” in English), playing a quizz-game and showing some SG1-musicvideos, they also kept us busy with announcing that pictures of Michael could be bought upstares from Brian Cooney, the convention organizer. Mr. Shanks would grant us 2 autographs on such a pictures + 1 on something from ourselves. But I did not have anything with me that he could have signed so I tried to get some nice pics (I seemed not prepared compared to others who brought posters etc.). At that moment everybody seemed to have the same thougths. At around 3 p.m. Klaus-Peter Grapp appeared on the stage. The German voice of Michael Shanks told us something about his work and how disappointed he was when he heard that Michael quit the show. He complained that this man was not thinking of him at all (*g*). He also mentioned that Michael used to talk really really fast and this turned out to be quite difficult sometimes as German usually is “longer” than English. He explained that one “take” earns him 2,50 Euro – but not making any difference if he is having a lot to say or only breathing heavily when Daniel is running through the scene. He turned out to be very likeable and funny. The Q&A session started a bit embarassing as nobody seemed to have a question but then one after the other started to question him. Later on he interviewed Robert Vogel (stargate expert) who talked a bit about his experiences with the cast and crew of SG1 during his visits on the set. He also showed pictures from the last Gatecon in Vancouver where lots of people from the SG1-cast attended the Charity auction (Don S. Davis, Tery Rothery, Peter Williams, Jay Acovone, Eric Avari …..). He told us that this convention was entirely nuts as all the guys joked around like hell and did everything to entertain the people – Don S. Davis even wore the hair of Hathor (oh – he looked great lol). Next Brian Cooney gave us a report about the cons he organized (Voyager with Kate Melgrew …) and offered a clue about the next planned cons. For SG 5 he mentioned that there will be a guest who has never attended a convention until now – so we are all curious who this could be!!! He also asked us to tell the organizers of the Gateday that they did a good job as they had sleepless nights due to concerns if everything would work out well. An that’s the moment we have all been waiting for …… 6 p.m. ..... suddenly smoke was raising and filling the stage and the melody of Stargate was played. Then he was there!!! He appeared on the stage waving around to shoo the smoke away and greeted us “Hello. It’s a lots of smoke!!! There are a lot of people out there – OK! . I'm in Germany. There are a lot of cameras out there too.”. The whole audience was in turmoil and welcomed him with a loud and long applause. Then he sat down on his chair and started to tell us that he unfortunately does not speak German although he knew that there were a lot of Germans in the audience. He was not sure how to start, as such events were completely new to him so he suggested to simply start with the first question. He said that he was told that he is speaking very fast so he would try he best! Michael looked great, he wore a light blue jeans, a grey-green (I am not sure about that colour) pullover and the famous black long leather jacket – he look good! His hair seemed a bit longer and with that funny pony. He also had some facial hair about which I heard some complaints that they did not like it. But I like facial hair so that funny shaving brush was a difference which was great I think. The Q&A session I am not really sure about the chronological order and the exact words so I posted what came into my mind. But I am sure about the first question: Q: “Would you like to do more stage work?” A: He said that he would love to do more and he misses it a lot. He also felt doing stage work right at that moment. He mentioned Henry V and the 4th of King Lear as his favourit plays and characters. Q: “Do you like the character Daniel Jackson and what would you change?” A: “No, I think he is an annoying little creep!!” ‘laughter’. He said that he likes Daniels passion and his knowledge and he admires him. He would like to have some of Daniel’s nature. But he would definitely change his wardrobe! Q: One of the next questions was about a probable Stargate movie, the spin-off Atlantis and if he would be part of it. A:He said he doesn't know because nothing is fixed at all, it's also a big topic and everybody is hoping there will be. The spin-off „Atlantis“ seems still to be very unsure. But he said that he would of course love to play in the movie if there would be a decent role for his character. But nothing is fixed!!! Q: “Could you speak with a Canadian Accent?” A: He laughed – as he did the whole evening and after every question – and demonstrated us his Canadian accent which was very funny too. It is typical to raise the voice at the end of each sentence. He did great! Q: “How did you get your role as Daniel Jackson?” A: He explained that he did get it like any other normal role by an audition with many other actors. In his case he was lucky to get the part. Then there was my part. I asked him to do the Simpson voices as it is his favourite show (and mine too – after Stargate of course) and he did me that favour. He gave a performance of Smithers & Burns – which was quite difficult to recognize as we only know the German voices. But it was great anyway. He got a lot of applause and thumbs up for his performance. I noted when he did this for me he always looked in my direction and asked if I was ok with this. He really talked to the person from whom he got a question. That was very nice and personal. And that smile – oh God!! Q: “Do you understand anything of the scientific stuff Daniel is talking about?” A: “No!” ‘laughter’. He said that he is in a better position than Sam as he talks of things that happened one time and Sam is always talking about things that could or might happen. He said: “Do I understand it? – Yes. Do I really understand it? – NO!!!!” Q: “Can you read German?” A: “Can I read German? I can't read German speak German understand German but I know a lot of people here are German soo..." Well there he was right!!! A woman came on stage offering Michael a painted picture of him and Lexa „Rommie“ Doig. He looked quite good. By the way I found out that this girl came from Austria (so I was not the only „Oesi“ - as the Germans call us – there) She made some very nice pics – check out her website: http://members.telering.at/tanja/flavours/down.htm Suddenly there came a female voice through the microphone (after asking if the mic was working) „Is that me?“ – Michael: „No, she’s prettier than you!“ ‚laughter‘ „You will sleep on the couch, man!!!“. Then Michael presented his girlfiend Lexa Doig – who was sitting in the last row. She was greeted with heavy and friendly applause and after everybody had turned round to see her the Q&A session could continue. Q: „Did you like filming Andromeda?“ A: He said „yes“ and that it was very interesting and he liked to play that character very much, the character of Gabriel was very different. It was funny to watch as Andromeda was only in the first season while Stargate was already in the fourth. „And I met a wonderful person!“ Cute. Q: He was asked about the famous rumour about him watching RDA during filming MacGyver and if that was true. A: He said yes, that it was true. But he always wanted to become an actor and this incident kept his hopes up to become one one day. Q: A woman asked him if he liked Sci-Fi. A: He stated that he was a Sci-Fi even as a kid but lately he did not only watch it but practising it. He like Battlestar Galactica and Space 1999 when he was a kid. Q: “Is it difficult to work with special effects”. A: He said yes, that it makes acting a bit more difficult but “Acting is all about imaginating circumstances anyway” so when they tell you that there would be a big space ship flying around over your head you have to use your imagination but he said that sometimes they are given sketches for what they should look at and “basically it isn’t different than any acting”. Q: “Do you like anyone calling you Garrett?” A: He say “NO!” because his “father used to call me Garrett when I did something wrong as a kid”. So when he behaved his father called “Michael, come in! But when I pissed him off he screamed “GARRETT!!!!” He did this with a very loud voice – very funny! He told us that he did not like his middle-name anymore after that. Q: “What’s your favourite scene?” A: He was a big surprised by this question and fell back into his chair and sighning: “Heiei carramba Mammamia!” He said that we were kind of challenging him with the questions. He finally said that it was “the one in a little white room where I was going out of my mind” (something like that). He also stated that “it was fun to do although it did not look like that.” It was kind of an actor thing. One girl – I am not sure anymore if she was from the RDA-fanclub or not – said that it was her who run into him at Virgin Megastore! She hoped that he was not shocked that much. He said no, he wasn’t. He was quite surprised that they recognized him as he is not used to. Normally fans would not recognize him “without the glasses swimming in their soup!” So he was very friendly about that and he also mentioned that actors in Canada do have a better life as they are left alone. Q: “Could you sing “ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT” please?” A: He first laughed at this bidding and tried to get away without singing, but other people shouted “yes, please” so he said “OK, but you have to sing as well”. Then he started – and he did great. Many people joined him singing and he eyed us very sharply, commenting at the end to one girl “Hey, you are not singing!!!”. He has a very nice voice – nearly as nice as his talking voice! It was a great moment. And we thanked him with a big applause! Then a woman from the German RDA fanclub said that she had a present for me and he beckoned her on stage. Of course he kissed her and gave her a hug and thanked her for the present. It was a blue bag with a book about “Deutschland” (Germany – he proudly presented it) and a T-shirt saying “Looking for a German girl – applications accepted”. He laughed about it. Well why not! Q: The next question was about their first impression of the Stargate set. A: He said that they were all stunned when they first looked at the gate like kids saying “Wow, this is all for us!!??” Most of the peole asked their questions without a microphone as there was only a second or a third one available. Sometimes it happened that there was somebody talking with the mic which completely startled him – like “Mr. Shanks?” – MS: “Oh thank you” and he asked them to give a sighn where they are. One moment was hilarious. I think putting down a present when a female voice came through the mic saying “MICHAEL!!??” – he turned around completely startled and said “MOTHER?” – that was great. He immediately apologized for teasing her “Sorry for that – please wave!!”. Q: “Could you tell something about practial jokes on the set?” A: “Practical Jokes!” He said that during the last episode he did (must be “Meridian”) he was wrapped up in bandages and Chris had a very emotional scene talking to him. After the cut he told Michael how important he really was to him and later on Michael told him that it was not him in the bandages. Chris was a bit mad at him – but MS told him that it was him and everything was ok then. He also told the famous “Chris and the bear” story where they filmed outside in the woods and Michael did as if he heard a bear or saw movements under the trees. It happened that there was a guy in black bowing next to a tree – Michael demonstrated everything very detailed – the looks and the movement of the “bear”. When the figure was standing up Christopher Judge started running down the mountain completely frightened. But as he recognized that it was a joke from Michael he returned and “it was me who was running up the mountain”. He said that there are many more, but this popped into his mind. He is a hilarious storyteller – making all the gestures and mimics – absolutely entertaining. He would be a great in a sit-com. Q: “Do you believe in alien?” A: “In Calfornia, yes!!” and that “it would be arrogant to asume that we are alone” But he doesn't believe that they would knock on his door and asking for tea and sugars or something. Q: „Did you have a party after your last season?“ A: I think he did not understand the question very well and answered it generally – he said, yes they have parties at the end of each season. He was also asked about his current projects and he said that he was filming a movie before Christmas called „All around the town“ with Nastassja Kinski and Andrea Roth for Network (USA). When mentioning Nastassja Kinski most of the audience moaned „aaahhh“ (as she is a German actress) and he will do „pilot season“ in LA after he returns. Q: „Do you like Germany?“ A: He has been there not even a whole day and has not seen much but he liked „what I have seen so far.“ He wants to see more and „I will be back!“. That statement was greeted with lots of applause of course. I would have rather wanted him to say „I will come to Austria“, but that was another dream.... A woman asked him if it was a topic on the set that Romand Emmerich and Dean Devling were against the show in the first moment. Michael said that at the beginning they talked about it but the quickly overcame it. But he said that they sold their rights to MGM and were not in the position anymore to negotiate. Q: „Would you like to go through a real Stargate?“ A: „Oh yes, all the time!“ He believes that it is the real mystery of the show and the possibilites that lie behind that door. Q: „Did you take something with you from the set?“ A: „Yes, the Stargate!! Didn’t you know??? It’s in the garden behind my house!“ *g*. He took some SG1 badges but nothing important. Q: „Was it difficult to cry in „Need“? A: He didn't know what to say, after thinking about he said that it's an actor thing, you try to access some part of your own troubled past and bring it to the screen. It isn't always easy for him, on one day it works on the other it doesn’t but again, it was fun! Q: „Michael!“ A: „Yes?!“ Q: „Can you talk a bit slower please!“ He laughed about this comment.. Q: „What do you think about the other actors?“ He said that he saw them more as a family than colleagues during the last 5 years. At the end of the day when he was away from them he missed them. He obviously seemed to miss them already. Q: „Do you remember a scene that went really wrong?“ A: „That sounds like a tabloid headline.“ He mentioned one stunt that really went wront – one of the episode „Secrets“ in season 2 where a reporter was hit by a car and the stunt man was hurt very badly. Other stunts work out quite well but it mostly goes wrong when they are laughing. Q: „If you had 3 wishes – what would you wish for?“ A: „Oh, that’s a tough one!“ After shortly thinking he said with an innocent expression „Worldpeace?!“ – which reminded mit a bit of „Miss Undercover“ with Sandra Bullock. I got the impression most of the people did not understand that hint – which he recongnized as well. Secondly he wishes „for all children to grow up happy and healthy and with a chance“ and the third one – after one in the audience said „cookies“ he took this one as his 3rd wish – „yes, cookies!“ lol. Q: “Are you still in contact with RD Anderson?” A: He said that due to the fact that Richard lives in LA and he in Vancouver they will not come over to each other for a Saturday afternoon coffee but he thinks that they will still stay in contact. Q: “What’s your favourite joke?” A: “Favourite joke? Like “Knock knock joke” or something? .... No they are to dirty!” He didn’t wanted to tell us – geez! Q: “What’s your favourite song?” A: “Favourite song?ROW, ROW, ROW your boat! ... Well .. I heard it on the radio recently, it’s by the Five For Fighting and played at September 11th tribute for the fire fighters – it’s something with Superman ...” Then a girl from the audience shouted “Superman it’s not easy” – MS: “Yeah, that’s the one!” Now that’s an embarassing one: Q: “When will you marry Lexa?” A: A bit suprised by this questions but he managed to stay polite – it seemed that he must have attended a course for giving a polite answer to a very dumb question. Or it was simply Canadian. “Oh, you better should ask her!” The next question was also a bit embarassing – about slash (I think this is the right word about the realtionships ie. Jack and Daniel – I am not sure, but let’s call it „slash“). A girl mentioned a scene from season 4 – I think it was „Tangent“ where Jack and Jacob are waiting for Daniel in the elevator, while Daniel is putting his books in his backpacks before the leave offworld. When Daniel enters the elevator, Jack pushes Daniels glasses up his nose. Michael simply commented: „That’s one of these moments, isn’t it?!“. He explained that this scene was originally not in the script – originally Jack should have helped Daniel to put the books into the backpack after Daniel dropped them all on the floor. MS: „I found that this was very ... stereotypical. So I said, I am not gonna do this!!!!!“ So he refused to play that scene that way so Richard D. Anderson made that proposition and Michael said: „I don’t mind how we do it, but I won’t do that!!!“ He said that one very determined! He further explained that filming an episode normally take 7 day, but this can varie a bit, that depends on how many scenes he has to play. Another question was how long they get the scrips before shooting an episode. Michael said a week, they take a look at the script and 2 days before shooting they get the finished version, so generally they have enough time for preparing. He commented also that the relationship between Jack and Daniel is more a friendship or brotherhood. Later on a woman commented that she also does not see any homosexual realtionship between those two characters and that it is a bit ridiculous to do so as there is no evidence. I found that this remark was not needed – I think anybody is taking the „slash“-thing too serious, so why shouldn’t they use it for fanfics or other speculations. Q: „What kind of character would you like to play?“ A: „A really bad character!“ He wants to explain same darker characters as he does not get the chance that often to do it. Finally someone asked him why he quit the show. A: „Oh, I am surprised that this questions didn’t come up ealier!“ He explained that the whole show has changed after season 3 in a direction where his character wasn’t involved as it was before (although I think Daniel had some great moments in season 4). That one happened again in season 5. He talked to the producers but they told him that they could not involve him more at that moment – kind of. So he said „ok, then I go“ and pointed at an invisible door. He sat that it is their choice how to run the show and in what direction it should go. He was well aware that people would have problems with his decision, but it is a job! Q: Someone asked when he got the offer to do Thor’s voice. A: He said that Michael Greenburg asked him one day if he would do the voice and he said „Okay! Why not!“. Q: „Will Thor appear in season 6?“ A: He didn’t know and he also didn’t know if he would be doing the voice. „I don’t know!?“ He also said that he met his German voice Klaus-Peter Grapp and he obviously was told that he was talking too fast – as he mentioned at the beginning. Then we became witnesses of a hilarious acting scene performed by Michael. He was asked if he could do a scene from the show or probably something from Hamlet. He was very surprised about that questions and simply asked „What?“. He tried to get away without doing a scene „I can’t remember any of my lines!“ (oh, that was a poor excuse). „Oh boy, oh boy ... I,.. I’m not .. a puppy, I, I honestly ...“ (He started to stutter around which was very cute!) „If someone hand me a piece of paper with some on it – I’d like to do it but I cannot spontaneously think of anything that would be appropriate, so ..... what you wrote an episode together?“ Then someone from the audience said „I could give you a few lines.“ Oh, he was not prepared for that *g*! „I could give you a couple of lines. Could you now? Come up here!!!“ She was greeted with a hug and he introduced her. MS: „This is Blue and we’re gonna be acting some scene from ... The Nox ... Okay. And you are playing the part of...?“ Blue: „Carter, we need a Jack O’Neill!“ MS: „No, we don’t. I’ll play Jack O’Neill as well. No I’ll be Daniel but also Jack!“ Then the 2 turned round and discussed the dialogue – Michael listened carefully „Okay, be patient, that’s gonna take a while!“ So finally they finished their conversation and Michael took off his leather jacket (which was greeted with „woows“ and small applause from the audience. But he did not continue taking off more.... Michael and the girl lay down on the floor (that was when I made my last picture ... my films were finished geee!) – so they were gonna play the scene where SG1 wakes up in the Nox-tent after they were killed by Apophis .... this is for the background. Michael was the first to awake and set up a genuine face. Confused, sleepy, blinking – it was brilliant. We suddenly all recongized „Daniel“ in him. He set up and crawled to Carter (Blue) and tried to „wake“ her by saying in Jack’s voice „Carter!“. The dialog was nearly exactly the one from the episode. They finished it and received a lot of applause. He really is a brilliant actor I think even his voice changed a bit also when imitating Jack – „Daniel“ is so different from his own persona so that you really have to be a great actor to switch to that person every day. MS: „That’s the scene.“ Next Blue (the girl) took his microphone and asked us to guess now, which episode that was. We were all confused as they had already mentioned it again – some said „Nox?“ and it was okay. Michael seemed a bit confused as well, but then he said „Blue!“ and the girl returned to here seat while we gave them once again a heavy applause. He sat back down again and waited for the next questions. Q: „Whom will you miss most when you leave Stargate?“ Someone in the audience said ‚Jack‘ as far as I understood. He smirked and said A: „The faaaaaaans! And this is honest!“ (okay we believed him – sort of) Nearly at the end of the Q&A session one of the organizers come on stage and wanted to say something to Michael – he acted as if she was making some kind of dirty offer – put his hand over the microphone and made some funny looks. We never heard what she was telling him. One of the helpers came up with a girl in tow which was crying heavily – she was dressed like „Janet Frasier“ by the way. She seemed like 14-15 to me. So I think the helper explained Michael why this girl was crying and Michael was so generous and gave her a huge hug and a kiss – and additionally she got the chance of a picture together with him – although she was still crying heavily. It was kind of embarassing again, but Michael reacted very nice and I think also a bit suprised by such a fan reaction. Then the tumult on stage calmed down and he could continue. Q: „Did you like the glasses?“ A: He said „No!“ He explained that the glasses often reflected the cameras so he had to bend his head. Then he was asked about Double Jeopary – he commented that this episode was very heavy and it was too heavy for a newbie. It had blown his head off. It was kind of hard experience for him. Again one of the organizers talked to him on stage and after this he said „Ok, last question!“. Q: „How long did you need ot learn the German sentences in „1969“?“. A: He said that it was very difficult for him and that he was not satiesfied how it worked at the end. It was very difficult for him because the Germans rolle the „R“ which he does not so it was quite heavy. His German sucks! That was the last – then he quit the scene preparing for the autograph session. He took all his presents and left the stage. We applauded and cheered very heavy and one of the helpers pushed us to do louder so that he will return again. After some time applauding – I thought my hands would fell off every moment – Michael Shanks run back on stage, ducking under the big screen that was in his way and bowed for us under heavy applause. He waved again and then moved for the autograph session. Gee, it was over!!! So we sat in our chairs and discusses what just happened – and everybody had that Goofy-smile on their faces. He was really hilarious – I will never forget that day! But it was not finished yet. I have to say that I was not completely allone at that time anymore because the woman next to me – Sandra – and I started chatting a bit and we found out that she was here alone as well and that she only happened to be here as her husband had to work at the same fair as I had to – what a coincidence. It was very nice to have someone to talk to – and we are still in contact! Then we sat there waiting for the autographsession. Before one of the helpers said that the autograph session would take place in the VIP room so we should then go upstairs. So we did – Sandra and I thought – and when going upstairs we saw RTL2 (the German TV station) building up camera and light for an interview. When we were upstairs waiting for something to happen suddenly Michael Shanks and Lexa Doig passed us moving to the TV-people. And I didn’t see it the first time – arrghh!! We watched them being interviewed for some minutes and then they came back up – Sandra managed to take a picture and Michael simply said “Hi!”. So close he looked better and better!!! We were asked to go back downstairs again and they started showing us a movie about the ‘Children’s Charity’ for which they sold raffles and made an auction afterwards. They called out the first group (in ticket order of course) to go for the autograph session. I had no. 58 so I could go quite early. They told us that we should not ask for a picture – due to the flash light. I had 2 pictures waiting for Michael to sign them. So I finally came near him! He was very very friendly and kept smiling all the time – asking my name and wrote “Petra All the Best Michael Shanks” – and “Best wishes” on the second one. I asked him if he could still read his name and if he looks forward to go to London. He said “Yes, I can’t wait to see that city!”. I thanked him for coming and he said “It’s my pleasure!”. He really is one of the best looking men – let’s say beautiful – I have ever seen. I was not that huge MS-fan before – but I am now – yes definitely I AM!!!! I left the whole event at around 9 p.m. as I had a long and hard working day on Saturday at the Trade fair with my company. I tried to write down everything as long as I remembered his answers and comments. It was somehow being in another world or so – but the next day reality hit on the fair as I was fully stressed! Sandra visited me next day at our booth and told me about what happened after I left. The event lasted approx. until midnight – Michael had to take a break of 30 min. after half the people as he could not write anymore – I believe that!!! She was one of the last people and so she managed to get a picture arm in arm together with him – lucky girl!! She told me that he was also extremely nice and he also sighned her rucksack which he found was a good idea. So, wow, this turned out to be a really long long long report – but I wanted to include all the details as far as I could remember them. I hope I included everything – if something popps into my mind I will post it afterwards!! My reflections of that day will be very positive and I will surely attend GATEDAY 2002 in November if possible. I hope Michael will be there again – as he said he would love to come back. Well hopefully!!!! It was a wonderful evening with a brilliant, gorgeous and kind Michael Shanks. It was great to watch him visibly enjoying himself on stage – making jokes, jumping around, gesturing. He was hilarious – or as we Austrians would say “ES WOAR A WAHNSINN!!!” I will remember that evening as one of the best! I recommend everybody to visit such an event if there is the possibility! Petra |