The Gordon Michael Woolvett email interview

[SadGeezer]

here it is guys! thank you for being so patient.

hello Andrew!
i would like to thank you again for setting up this email interview. and many thanks to Gordon for agreeing to it.
Gordons replies will be in bold

first of all Hollydays has a few questions for Gordon.

Does he like his new outfits better than his
old?

—>I like a lot of the new wardrobe for everybody. It looks a little more appropriate for the year. I was partial to the Hawaiian shirts in the beginning, but I did think if there were still Hawaiian shirts around they would probably be in vacuum sealed low light glass enclosures built for preservation of historical artifacts. Harper spilling his beer and coffee all over such to-be-cherished artifacts really is just plain disrespect to
the ancient ‘surferdom.’

Would he like Harper to be even tougher in the future or more well adjusted?

—> Harper is tough dammit! He could kick Tyr’s ass if he wanted to he just decides not to. (Keith isn’t going to be reading this right?) I like the fact that he is not well adjusted. My favorite obstacle for a character is his own personality. The most interesting characters have aspects of
themselves to overcome. It’s fun to watch Superman kick ass. But it’s more fun to watch Lex Luthor struggle with his greed, which ultimately undermines his own great intelligence.

Is it difficult to balance his home life with his busy work schedule?

—> The hours can be long and when you work you work hard. Luckily Harper is a character who is not required to be there in every scene so I do get time off to be with my new family. With the birth of our son Rogan, I don’t think I could be in a better position for balancing work, family and play.
My favorite characters to play are always the second or third in terms of lead. You don’t have the pressure of carrying the whole story on you.

Does he personally enjoy Sci-fi. If so what genres?

–> I do enjoy Sci-fi. Like any true Sci-fi buff I like it when it’s good and I like it when it’s bad. Two of my top bad examples (which I love) are “Omega Man” with Charleton Heston and “Zardoz” with Sean Connery. Zardoz is a little more fantasy than Sci-Fi. I highly recommend not renting them unless you enjoy laughing through pain, in which case watch them over and over again like I do. I like to try to make my friends watch them with me but they never seem to make it through. My all time favorite genre movie (more horror than Sci-Fi) is “Army of Darkness.” BIG Bruce Campbell fan here. Still crossing my fingers for him to guest star next season.
…Oops! Those genre movies are second only to “The Bride of Chucky,” of course: but that goes without saying.

Keith Hamilton Cobb has admitted to feeling self conscious in his metal shirt (and asking his “crewmates” if he looks all right). I would feel self concious and work out more if I was on a T.V. show (esp if I was a man on a show with Keith and “Hercules”). How does it affect Gordon?

–>Keith’s metal shirt doesn’t affect me at all. Unless he brushes against me at the craft table and scratches me with it. Then I stomp my feet and call my agent, who advises me to stop working out because the other men on the show are feeling self conscious next to me and that’s probably why they are trying to intimidate me with their metal shirts.

He apparently does exercise, so what does he enjoy doing?

–> Eating pretzels and drinking beer. I need my carbs doncha’ know. I get my exercise on the ocean (and in the air when I am lucky). It’s called Kitesurfing. Or Kiteboarding. You ride the wind with a kite and skim across the ocean on a surfboard. I haven’t started getting any major air yet: I
have rarely made it to the ocean since Rogan was born. Lately I’ve been getting all my exercise in a rut I’ve worn into the living room floor pacing back and forth with Rogan on my shoulder.

Would his wife ever like to be a character on the show?

–> I am going to have to smite you for this question. Michele (Morand) already appeared on the show in “Last Call at the Broken Hammer.” She was visibly pregnant with our son (we did not know he was a boy yet) and played “Jadis,” a pregnant miner’s wife (she was pregnant, not the miner).
So Rogan made it into the show too– albeit as a fetus. You will be hearing from my wife’s agent (heh heh). And if you omit this question I’ll tell everybody you are a chicken.

hehehe no chicken here!

Sadgeezer would like to know…
“How much fun was it to do Harper 2.0?” he also added “Personally I thought it was probably the best show of the season and Gordon’s portrayal of the character(s) was magnificent. I wonder if he found it difficult to do?”

—> Thanks Sadgeezer! And I love your site. Harper 2.0 was a blast because I love working at a high intensity. It was difficult to get out all those words and maintain a high energy but it improves your concentration, makes for speedy passage of time and satisfies an actor’s creative hunger like a big old fat steak. My only regret for that episode was the song “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain” in various languages. I made up a number of different versions inspired from basic language construction guidelines I found on the net. But on the day they gave me a stack of props and wanted me to put them together at the same time. The words disappeared from my head, I got frustrated and the damn hoses wouldn’t fit onto the freakin’ plane I was building. The old “chew gum and walk at the same time” trick and on that tiring 3rd day, I crashed and burned. We managed to get the
scene but it was nowhere near as good as I wanted it to be (and anyway it ended up playing more in the background while the crew watched on a view screen). I think Harper should get an upgrade every season.

LexxLurker would like to add…
Heh this guy is a pretty cool character. Last episode revealed a lot about his past on Earth. I dont have any questions for em, just add that I think he does a great job. The show has gotten a lot better this season.

–> Thanks! I hope it keeps getting even better. I can’t wait to see what is in store for season three. We start shooting again in a few weeks. I still have my fingers crossed for Harper’s magnetic feet (I could do a cross-over on Mutant X as ‘Magfeeto’).

and my questions would be…
what does Harper think about the secrets that Trance is keeping from him? Does he have an idea about what kind of creature she is? without spoilers of course.

–> He used to be at ease with what she withheld; he always knew it was for the better good of them all. But now, who knows what secrets she is keeping and why? She has already lived once through one version of our future. I think Harper is beginning to realize she is probably a lot more powerful
than he thought which can be kind of scary since he has such strong feelings for her. I would say he is probably in a bit of a current state of confusion and is inwardly being forced to confront just how much Trance
means to him. And of course he knows what kind of creature she is. And as a special Sadgeezer treat I will tell you. Yes, I am going to let the cat out of the bag right here at Sadgeezer.com (I hope they don’t fire me): she’s an alien! Duh…?

one thing i would like to know is how he got the job of playing Harper? what was the audition like? did he audition for the role or did someone have him in mind for the role and possibly even make the character of Harper as a vehicle for Gordon? if he did
audition who else was up for the role?

–>Piece of cake. I walked in with a can of Sparky cola and whipped up an android with some Lego and a dismantled toaster. They decided I was right for the role. Seriously though, it was a lot of fun. I don’t approach auditions with the mindset that you have to try to give them what they are looking for; instead I look at a part, decide how I would play it to the best of my ability and show them that. There is no point trying to be something you are not and draw on resources you don’t have. Then if I don’t get a part, I at least know it wasn’t because of failure. They just weren’t looking for what I have to offer. With Harper I thought rapid fire delivery with few breaths would be one of the things that could work well for the character. If you find the rhythm in words you can go for seemingly long stretches. By ‘rapid-fire’ I don’t mean speedy racing, I mean paced with
few or no pauses. I am not sure who else was up for the role but I know they were looking for quite some time. I originally passed on it a few months earlier because we had just gotten settled in L.A. and I wasn’t ready to turn around and pack it up to go back to Canada for such a long time (plus we were on our honeymoon during that first round). But a few months later they did another round in L.A. because they still couldn’t decide on somebody. I was available and pilot season was over so my agent sent me part of a script. That changed everything. I really liked Harper right off the bat. I put him on like an old dirty shirt that should have
been thrown out years ago but is just too comfortable– even if it kind of smells.
I auditioned for Seth Howard, Vice-President of Programming at Tribune and one of Andromeda’s creative guiding forces. I did the first scene, threw in a few adlibs and he said “thank you very much.” I asked about the second scene I had prepared and he said not to bother– I found out later it was because he thought I had nailed the first scene and didn’t need to see anymore. But I thought he had already decided against me, and ‘I wasn’t going to go down without fighting.’ (I’m a little headstrong that way). I insisted on doing the second scene and he politely sat through it. Thankfully I didn’t screw it up and blow a part I already had, which can happen all the time.

on the subject of spoilers is there anything you can tell us about the upcoming episodes that won’t get you in trouble? if not we totally understand.

–>Absolutely not. Oh there is one thing: Snuffelupagus shows up but only I can see him. Nobody else believes he is there. Oh, and I lose my pet gerbil in the finale.

i want to thank you guys again for taking the time to answer our questions! we really appreciate it!
mary beth, Sadgeezer, Hollydays, Lexxlurker and all the other fans at Sadgeezer.com.

–> My pleasure. Thanks for showing the interest. Please excuse my smart Alec nature. It’s my parents fault (Remember that kiddies: next time you get in trouble from the folks, just say “I’m a product of my
environment”). I’ll be continuing to check out Sadgeezer when I’m surfing at 3 am with the baby on my shoulder. Don’t forget to tell your fans to stop byhttp://www.gordonmichaelwoolvett.com and say hi on the board. Andrew works hard over there.
yes he does!

i edited this post to format it to fit the Sad BB.

[ 27-03-2002: Message edited by: mary beth ]

[Hollydays]

Thanks!!!!!
I think if there ever is another episode like Harper 2.0, the song should not be “She’ll be coming around the mtn” but that nasty song from the “Pirates of Penzance” (spelling, can’t do). “I am the very model of a modern major general”

[Hollydays]

Thanks!!!!!
I think if there ever is another episode like Harper 2.0, the song should not be “She’ll be coming around the mtn” but that nasty song from the “Pirates of Penzance” (spelling, can’t do). “I am the very model of a modern major general”

[Anonymous]

COOL!

Well done MaryBeth!

I guess we should set up an Andromeda Interviews section!

[Anonymous]

COOL!

Well done MaryBeth!

I guess we should set up an Andromeda Interviews section!

[Anonymous]

thanks MaryBeth! Some of his comments were pretty funny especially the one about Tyr’s shirt at the craft tables.

[Anonymous]

thanks MaryBeth! Some of his comments were pretty funny especially the one about Tyr’s shirt at the craft tables.

[Anonymous]

i would like to add a WELCOME to the members of
Gordon Michael Woolvette.com[/url] BB
who are visiting here to read the email interview. thanks for coming by and if you have a minute or two please feel free to check us out. and if you would like to post something please do! it is not necessary to register on this BB in order to post.

[ 02-04-2002: Message edited by: mary beth ]

[Anonymous]

i would like to add a WELCOME to the members of
Gordon Michael Woolvette.com[/url] BB
who are visiting here to read the email interview. thanks for coming by and if you have a minute or two please feel free to check us out. and if you would like to post something please do! it is not necessary to register on this BB in order to post.

[ 02-04-2002: Message edited by: mary beth ]

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