Xposé. September, 1999
By Thomasina Gibson
Xposé. September, 1999
By Thomasina Gibson
[Selections from the complete article, used with permission.] In an interview with Thomasina Gibson, Richard Dean Anderson shared his enthusiasm for the wry humor and the attention to quality that have made Stargate SG-1 such an international success.
"I'm a great lover of British-type humor," he reveals. "Since I was a child I've admired the 'masters' like Terry Thomas, Sir Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. My own sense of humor is very similar and I try to incorporate that whenever I can."
"It's been like a runaway express train," says an enthusiastic Anderson. "The distribution side of things is tremendously successful and creatively we are constantly in a growing and explorative position. It's like, 'What can we do next?' We are only limited by our imaginations."
In terms of an international audience, Anderson suggests the way the show is being presented is not going to change astronomically to accommodate the various countries' differences. "Our stories and the planets visited by SG-1 team reflect the fact that all the peoples we encounter are born of Earth's history so in a way we already have an international flavor. We create our own languages but we tap into all cultures from Ancient Greek to Old Egypt to Christianity. I think we're pretty diverse." Although he quips, "We've done an episode on a snow-scaped environment, had a think and don't feel there's much more we can do to adapt to the Icelandic population."
Humor is not the only thing that Anderson shares with his character, Jack O'Neill. His natural curiosity and love of adventure have also led him to pursue such passions as cycling, hockey, sky-diving, race car driving, and extreme skiing.
Don S. Davis (General Hammond) suggests, "If Richard had been born into another time, another era, then he would most probably have been an adventurer. His inquisitive nature, his hunger for knowledge, his love of danger and the unknown would certainly have pointed him in that direction. He takes risks that not many people would care to contemplate in the so-called 'safety conscious' society of today. I admire him greatly for that."
Anderson has also earned a fair amount of admiration for the amount of charity work he supports. Although characteristically modest about his achievements, the actor has been honored several times for his outstanding contributions to a variety of worthy causes ranging from fundraising for an inner city building project to making dreams come true for terminally ill youngsters. Amongst the myriad trophies he's won for acting and sports success, a personal favorite from a different quarter came from the Make a Wish Foundation who named him Celebrity of the Year.
What is on the horizon for season three?
O'Neill and Major Carter (Amanda Tapping) get together in the most unexpected of circumstances in an episode entitled Point of View and in Learning Curve O'Neill takes it upon himself to help a young alien reclaim her childhood. What the actor will divulge is that it will all be accomplished with his trademark "tongue-in-cheek, dead-pan delivery but with a little touch of humanity for good measure."
To read more of this article, visit Xposé.
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Gibson, Thomasina. "Universal Soldier." Xposé. September, 1999: p. 44-47.
