Interviews:

With Christopher

FACTS Q&A ~ October 17, 2009. FACTS Convention in Ghent, Belgium.

CJ: Indeed.

::cheering::

CJ: So nobody else ask me to say "Indeed". So you know what, let's get as many questions as we can. So let's just start, whoever has a question. Let's go. You?

Q: (As an actor you're trained in a wide range of emotions. Teal'c is very much in control, hardly displays any emotion at all, how do you prepare for that, it seems to me very hard to do….)

CJ: Yeah, that's, is actually hard to, not to be able to really show your emotions, and just hope that it reads off your face, however therefore I think about my ex-wife and that gets me to just to right where I should be.

Q: Do you know any Jaffa jokes?

CJ: How many kids are in here? Not many kids? Ok. ::tells an off color joke::

Q: Why did you choose acting as your profession?

CJ: Because I really have no other skills. And some people say I don't have that skill. No, I actually knew from the time I was a small child that I wanted to be an actor, I really never wanted to be anything else. So I was very fortunate that I knew at a very young age.

Q: Do you have any other plans besides Stargate in the future?

CJ: Yeah, actually, I don't know if any of you have heard of Rage of Angels, it was originally at MGM, MGM bought it when I first wrote it, and then as probably most of us know, there was a little financial trouble in the world last year, so Starz, the Starz Network, just bought it from MGM, and we just started, what is today, Saturday? so we just started on Tuesday [Oct 13th]. Rage of Angels is about Gabriel, who comes to Earth to herald the rest of his angels to begin Armageddon. But it's not, Stargate was a very family friendly show, you could get together with your kids and watch it, and Rage of Angels will not be like that. It'll will be on at 10 o'clock, and have a drink with you.

Q: If you were given the chance to play any role in a series or movies, can be past or present, or future, what role would you want to play?

CJ: Wonder Woman. ::laughter:: But I don't know if they'd ever be able to get me out of my wardrobe trailer. But on a serious note, a lot of the roles that I grew up on and wanted to play, have already been played. For the longest time I wanted to play Mohammed Ali. Obviously Will did a great job with that. I wanted to play Malcolm X, Denzel did a great job with that. There's one, kind of, left, and it's Hannibal. Hannibal's been in Hollywood for, on and off for 20, 25 years, and is just such a sweeping kind of epic, that for some reason or another the financing always falls through, somebody's schedule's not ready, but that's one of the roles I've never gotten to play.

Q: What do you think about the new series, Stargate: Universe?

CJ: It sucks. ::laughter:: No, I'm completely kidding. You know what, I haven't actually seen it. I went by the set just to say hi to everybody, just wish them good luck, and tell them don't screw it up, but they all seem like great people, and Brad and Cooper are great, so I'm sure it's going to be great, I just haven't had a chance to see it… What do you guys think of it? It's good? Is it better than Atlantis? No? So it's better than SG-1? I'm sure it's going to be great, they have a great cast, and I saw some of the sets, the sets are just amazing, so I'm sure it's going to be fantastic. And I wish them all the luck.

Q: If you didn't play Teal'c yourself, would you be a fan of him?

CJ: Um, would I be a fan of Teal'c… I guess I would but I'd still probably like Spock better. I think he's not as cool as Spock, but he's cooler than Worf. I think. No, but I yeah, I mean, Spock is still kind of, "the guy' when it comes to cool aliens, so… I'd be a fan, but not as big a fan as I am of Spock.

Q: So good morning, first I want to say I love you, very much.

CJ: Thank you. But not in a crazy, you want to kill me way? ::laughter::

Q: No, no. And then, where are your harem?

CJ: Where's my hair? My hair? ::CJ takes off his hat to show a shaved head:: Where is it?

Q: First of all in Stargate: Atlantis you've got very, a lot of hair. Where are they?

CJ: Well, you know, I complained so much about not having hair, when they finally let me grow my hair, I grew it for I dunno know, 3 or 4 years, without cutting it. And then I just got tired of it. It was just too much to have to you know, comb it, so it's funny, because we just had this discussion at, with Starz Network, and they want me to have long hair. So it'll be probably, I'll have to start growing it again, for probably for 6-7 months before we start shooting, and, but you know, I mean like it, I like long hair, but I just hate taking care of it. So that's why I cut it. So what do you guys think? Do you like it better with hair or without hair?

Audience: Without. With.

CJ: Ok, wait, who likes it without, say… ::CJ raises his hand:: Ok, who likes it with? And with wins! ::laughter::

Q: Hi.

CJ: Hi. How are you?

Q: Good.

CJ: Good.

Q: Just a question about Twitter. Why aren't you on Twitter yet?

CJ: Why aren't I on Twitter? Um…

Q: Amanda [Tapping] has one.

CJ: Is it really Amanda? How do you know? Hmmm…. Um, you know, the whole technological stuff, I'm old. So, it's like I still use my, my, I truly use my computer like a typewriter. It's, I don't really go on the internet at all, I've never really, it just, it came, and just kind of passed me by, and now it's just so intimidating, that, you know 'cause I see my kids on it, and they can do everything, I mean, look up anything, play games, they've got Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts, MySpace accounts, all kinds of stuff, and I have such an addictive personality, that that's kind of one of the reasons I've stayed away from the internet, 'cause I'd be one of those guys that'd lose my family, lose my job, just sit there and look up porn. ::laughter:: So I still wouldn't have a Twitter account, but… No, I just, you know truly, I just, it just kind of passed me by and I've seen some of my friends, everywhere we go, they're Twittering… we're playing golf, they're Twittering, you know, we're doing anything and they're Twittering, and I'd just be afraid that I'd get like that and just never get anything done. And there's tons of porn on the internet! I've heard.

Q: How is acting with Richard Dean Anderson?

CJ: You were acting with Richard Dean Anderson?

Q: How?

CJ: Oh, how… well, he's a crotchety old fart. No, it's strange, I absolutely adore him. But it took about 2.5 years to get to know him. Like truly, it was just [unintelligible] with Rick, Shanks, and myself; it was kind of, like Shanks and I hit it off right away, but with Rick, it was just kind of, you know how guys are, you gotta sniff around each other, you gotta figure out what all your boundaries are, your parameters, what jokes you can tell, what jokes you can't tell, and basically, what we really bonded over, was farting. He, Richard, is one of the great farters of Hollywood. No, truly, I'm not kidding. He's one of those dudes that can fart the ABCs and stuff like that, and so, I gotta tell this story, we used to have fart contests. So Rick was really good. So I would go home at night and I would, I actually changed my diet so that my farts would smell worse. No joke. So I would go home every night, and have a big bowl of Raisin Bran, and then you'd put, you guys know, you know what Benifiber, here? It's like, you know what fiber, FiberOne, or something like that… So it's like a ground up FiberOne. Then you put chocolate milk on it, and it just really upsets your stomach. So when I would go into work the next day, it would just be horrible. So no joke, we were in the control room, and Rick and I were having a great old time, and it stunk so bad, they had to clear out the control room for a half hour. This is no joke. So for half an hour, we had to stop shooting. The next day, there's a memo from MGM, saying "Bodily functions that cause timely production delays will no longer be tolerated." And that is the truth. Actually got a memo from MGM about our farting.

Q: How long did it take for you (to be approved for your role in SG-1)?

CJ: Well, in the beginning, well this actually never aired, but we shot some test stuff, like before you start a series, you do camera tests, so originally, well when I auditioned, you see how long my hair was when I did Atlantis? So my hair was longer than that when I auditioned for Teal'c, so they did drawings of the characters, they put them in uniform, but Teal'c originally had really long earlobes, about down to his shoulders, then he had the Egyptian thing that goes ::CJ indicates the false beard pharaohs wore:: like that, so initially, my make-up took about 3 hours. And then so obviously then all Jaffa would have to have that, we cut it down, we took this [the beard] off first, then they got rid of the ears. And then originally the tattoo was three pieces, was three different pieces that they had to stick on one at a time. And if you actually look at, I think it's The Enemy Within, my tattoo's actually upside down. And that, we weren't that used to it. But, so that still took about 40 minutes. And then by the end it was all one piece, and now they have the spray make-up, that comes, spray thing, so literally it was, literally like going to a car wash it was just like ::spray noises, pop as he mimes putting on the tattoo:: So by the end it took 5 minutes.

Q: What was your favorite moment in 10 years of Stargate?

CJ: My favorite moment?

Q: Like episode or in the episode?

CJ: My favorite moment… wow, there's so many of them. My fav, you know… Well, my, ok, my favorite episode is Heroes, 1 and 2. I just think that episode just got everything right. Got the humor, and it was poignant, and it really got how much we cared about each other, and cool palace scenes and stuff like that. The most fun I ever had was probably the 200th episode. Because, I mean, everyone was just silly and, it was incredibly hard on the crew, because they really jam packed a lot into that episode, and I mean some of our departments, like our wardrobe department, our set department, they worked 24 hours worth, they worked around the clock to get everything ready, and everyone still had a smile, everyone had a really great time, that's probably the most fun I ever had.

Q: I read in an interview that for your trainign diet you had only 800 to 1,000 calories a day. What was your guilty pleasure?

CJ: You know there's lots of porn on the internet. No, I, my Sundays, which I actually had to change to Saturdays because I would make myself so sick on Sundays that I would be sick Monday and Tuesday, so I changed my diet, one day a week was my cheat day, whicj became Saturday. So no matter what time we wrapped on Friday, I would stay up until midnight, so it was Saturday, I would start eating. And I would start with a large pizza and a couple burgers, and then I'd go to sleep, then have chocolate chip pancakes, and a couple burgers. And then at lunch I would have ribs, and some burgers. And then at dinner, whatever else I could eat. And I would be so incredibly sick the next day. But it was, it was torture living on 800 calories a day. But you know, you get used to it. Oh you said my favorite, um… it was either the pizza, burgers, or there was this thing called a chocolate turtle cake, and I would eat an entire chocolate turtle cake. So those were probably the favorites.

Q: Hi. Teal'c' is a really serious character to play…

CJ: No, no, no….

Q: … and the team of Stargate is known for bloopers and a very playful one. For you, what was the scene that was the most, I don't want to say difficult, hard for you to concentrate, bound to be serious, when everyone was laughing around you?

CJ: When Don DeLuise was there. 'Cause Dom DeLuise made it his mission to make me laugh. And no matter who he was talking to, he would always direct whatever he was saying at me. And make a funny face, or, I was trying to say my lines, he would literally step off camera and ::CJ makes faces:: and he, it was just his mission. And that's why I'm in that episode so little, is because I couldn't keep a straight face. So I'm there very little. That was the hardest one.

Q: Hello, what do you--

CJ: Hi. How come you're not standing up?

Q: I'm too lazy.

CJ: How come you're not standing up?

Q: I'm too lazy.

CJ: I'm too lazy to answer your question.

Q: ::lady stands up:: So again, what do you think of Belgium?

CJ: Nope, I'm still not going to answer. Ok, I flew in Thursday, today's Saturday, yeah, I flew in Thursday morning, so I slept for a few hours, and then I went on a five hour walk, through downtown, Ghent is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to, and I'm surprised that more people around the world don’t' know about it. I mean, it's absolutely stunning, no kidding, I think it's a fabulous city and the people are great.

Mod: Ok you have time for two more questions--

CJ: Well, I mean, the people are great, some are a little lazy….

Q: After 10 years of Stargate, do you believe in extraterrestrial life?

CJ: I believed it before I stepped foot on Stargate! I mean, I just think it's absolutely absurd to think that we're the only life form in these galaxies, these universi, these multiverses— I only know these terms because I watched this thing on Stephen Hawking this morning, no, I absolutely believed it before, I mean, I'm one of the people, seen a UFO, yeah, I truly have, but you know, to touch on that, you know the Air Force approves all of our scripts, did you know that? And for the first 5 years? 4 years? we weren't allowed to mention Area 51, at all. And then all of a sudden, they actually encouraged us to talk about Area 51, and I don't know if you know this, but in 19— before Stargate, I think it was 89, the government had actually started an exhibit of what artifacts were at Area 51. It was going to be like, you guys remember the King Tut exhibit that traveled around the world? Well, the United States government was going to do that with the alien artifacts in Area 51. Then at the last minute, somebody pulled the plug on it. So, I definitely think there's life, out there, indeed.

Q: Is there any role or character that you would absolutely refuse to play as an actor?

CJ: Is there a role I would refuse to play? ::looks over to the side:: Who? Captain Kirk? ::laughter:: Wow, um… I don't think so. I think I would play any role. I mean, what we're supposed to do as actors is be a mirror of life and of the world. So I don't think if you're really an actor, that you can pass judgment on a character. You don't have that luxury. I mean, you're job is to portray, give an honest portrayal of whatever character it is. So no, I don't think there is any character that I wouldn't play.

Blockbuster UK ~ August 2008. "Passion of the Chris: Christopher Judge Interview"

Film School Rejects ~ June 25, 2008. Stargate: Continuum Premiere.

TV Guide ~ February 15, 2008. "Christopher Judge Previews His Return to Stargate!"

GateWorld ~ March, 2008. "Judging Truth: Gate World talks to Christopher Judge"

Media Blvd Magazine ~ March 11, 2008

Sci Fi Pi ~ Australian site

Part One ~ May 31, 2008.

Part Two ~ June 18, 2008

TV Crush ~ Summer 2007. Mary McNamara talks with Christopher about Rage of Angels and Stargate SG-1.

Teaser ~ July 29, 2007

Part One ~ August 18, 2007

Part Two ~ August 20, 2007

SciFi.com's Sci Fi Weekly ~ August 20, 2007. Melissa Perenson talks with Christopher (and Michael and Amanda) about 10 years of Stargate SG-1.

Christopher Judge, Stargate SG-1, as a movie versus a television series: Could you tell the difference as an actor?

Judge: The biggest adjustment is the much slower pace. Because when you get used to working at a certain pace, working slow affects everything. It's much harder to not eat, it's much harder to ... In TV, you have enough time to shoot a master, some coverage, either you get it or you don't get it, and you move on. In this format, you can stay there till you get it. Especially for some of our stuff, when we had emotional stuff to do, to have to do it that many more times is very difficult. And that's all due to the lessening of the time constraints, the lessening of the money constraints.

The great thing about switching to a different format is that it's so different from the day-to-day grind of doing the series. And we've all had different time off, and it's not the rush-rush-rush series pace. Let's face it, we've been doing this for—this is our 11th year; none of us are spring chickens anymore. In fact, I don't think any of us were spring chickens when we started.

Do you think it was the right time to end the series?

Judge: Yeah. I think we told a lot of great stories. And I think it was time to end the series, to be able to move on to something else. And I think the goal for a very long time has been, not necessarily to end the series, but to move on to a two-hour format. I see a lot of scripts before they go to distribution—which means that everyone gets a copy—and there's some great stuff that has to be lost because of financial concerns, time concerns. If you saw our two-parter last year that had the dragon and Merlin—I forget the title of the episodes, because there are only 218 to remember—some concessions had to be made, just because of pure logistics. And I think that was frustrating to people. A great job was done within the parameters allowed. But with this whole new situation, you don't have to make those concessions anymore. I think that is alleviating a lot of frustrations as far as the writers, the directors, because now, if you think it, we truly can shoot it.

Looking back at the series as a whole, what have been the high points or favorite storylines for you, whether as an actor ...

Judge: God, that's hard to say. I always enjoyed the kids' stories, the ones where kids are involved. I think our definitive story was "Heroes." I think "Heroes" probably captured the true essence of what the show was about from the humorous aspect, from the human aspect; the battle scenes and stuff were just absolutely feature-quality, and the effects were feature-quality. You can't afford to do a show like that every week, but I think that so encapsulated everything that encompassed Stargate.

How much influence did you have as an actor have on shaping your character?

Judge: When we started, [the producers] didn't know what Teal'c was. In our screen tests, there were three Daniel Jacksons, three Sam Carters, three Gen. Hammonds, and there were 10 Teal'cs there. And they were all colors. They were not really sure what they wanted this character to be, so they allowed me a great deal of influence in the original shaping of the character. And it has continued through the arc of the show, from the way he talks and the pronunciation of "Ja-ffah" as opposed to "Jaffa," and "Go-a-oould" as opposed to "Goa'uld," and things like that. I mean, that was all stuff that when we originally did—and I would save certain words, you could see people go like that, and it actually sounds kind of cooler. It was nice to be involved that much in the building of the character, and [my involvement] continues to this day.

Ten years on the air, with the saga continuing next year: What do you attribute Stargate's success to?

Judge: Well, I think a lot of it was because we came along at the right time. A lot of science fiction has caught up with us, but in 1997, when we started, there was that new millennium looming over us and there was a lot of wonder, a lot of excitement; and, I think, there was a resurgence of science fiction at that point. We came along at a time where, not to be disparaging, but let's face it: the Star Trek franchise was dying out, X-Files had peaked and was on its way down, and we happened to come along where there was a gap in programming. There was the right formula, there was a movie that had been successful and that could be expanded on, and you have MacGyver and then three other mooks. And then you have a guy like [longtime writer and executive producer] Brad Wright, who already had success with The Outer Limits [running things], and all the pieces fit; the timing was right and it just all worked. And we were lucky enough to grab a fan base.

I think the creative possibilities of that are exciting now, because now people's ability to suspend disbelief is much greater; people are more willing to accept things that you see on the screen that years ago you'd be like, "Oh, that will never happen." Now it's just a matter of when it will happen.

What can you tell us about The Ark of Truth?

Judge: Nothing. It's the closure for the Ori storyline. And it's big, big, big. It's a great conclusion for that arc. In a series, it would have taken three or four episodes to tell that story, and we were able to do it in one contained movie. I think that's what's great about the [show's new] format.

How about the second movie, Continuum, and its time-travel story?

Judge: It was fun, it was fun. It was a fantastic story. But for us around here, fun is always job one. And a lot of it was the fact that Brad was actually on set every day. Over the years, no one's really gotten to know Coop and Brad, 'cause they've been the guys locked up in the tower writing the stories. But to have them actually on set, and for people to see that they're funny and engaging and human ...

Video Interview at The 3rd Annual Rogers Santa Clause Parade in Vancouver ~ November 19, 2006, hosted at the Stargate SG-1: The Official Video Community Site.

Beginning of the video - some Jaffa milling about

[I] So Chris, where are we today?

[CJ] Well, we are at the annual Vancouver Santa Claus parade and we are standing in front of the lovely Stargate float as you see, we are very honored that we were asked to be the Grand Marshals for the parade this year and we're looking forward to a lot of fun. Because generally that honor is bestowed upon politicians and other people of standing in the community so you can imagine our surprise when they came to us, but you hear the drums in the background, and I think you can catch a glimpse of people all gettin' all ready to go, and the wonderful Stargate SG-1 float so we are really looking forward to having a good time.

[I] Who's on the float with you today?

[CJ] Well, Gary Jones, the technician, Gary. And some guy Michael Shanks, I'm not exactly sure who he plays, but I've heard he's been on the show a couple times, and then a couple times not, and then a couple times. So. Yeah, so and his lovely wife Lexa Doig, and a whole menagerie of our children.

I, this Christmas, will probably be the bestower of many gifts, and the receiver of none. Which is a father's lot in life. But which is very enjoyable, I'm gonna spend a nice quiet Christmas with all (turns to his eldest daughter) how many kids, how many brothers and sisters do you have now, fifteen? (turns back to the interviewer, laughing) with all her brothers and sisters, my brother, my mom's coming up, my brother and his family, and my nephew, so it's going to be a very traditional family Christmas.

As you know my character, Teal'c, is a Jaffa, who defected, if you will, from his people to come to the aid of Stargate Command. And if you, if you just pan this way (Christopher points to his left, camera pans that way to show some Jaffa) you'll see that we've all kind of made up now. These are some fella who I recruited from Chulak to actually come and kind of guide the float down the parade route. So I think we're going to be in good hands, so, look forward to it.

Later, at about 3:11 in. Christopher is standing with his eldest son and daughter.

[CJ] Hi, we're just about ready to kick off the parade, but before we do I want to introduce my kids, this is Cameron and Katrina.

At 3:23 in.

[CJ] Hi, from the cast of Stargate SG-1 we'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and I'd like to wish you a Merry Christmas on behalf of the Jaffa Nation, because you know what... how famous the Jaffa are for honoring Earth traditions. So Merry Christmas!

The SciFi World ~ September 10, 2006. Christopher talks about SG-1's cancellation, episode 200, and his character, Teal'c.

MSNBC ~ August 20, 2006. Christopher talks about having to learn more lines in recent seasons, gaining weight between seasons, and the humor in the show.

IGN.com ~ July 11, 2006. Christopher talks about what the longest running sci-fi record means to him, what he hopes the future of the show is, and his personal feelings regarding Teal'c.

TV Zone Special #71 ~ July 2006. Excerpts of the interview hosted on Stargate SG-1 Solutions.

Radio Nostalgia Network ~ May 20th, 2006. Christopher talks about Slacktwaddle and Season Ten.

Stargate SG-1 Solutions ~ March/April 2006. Christopher talks to Sharon Gosling of Stargate SG-1 * Atlantis Official Magazine Yearbook. Excerpts of the interview published in the magazine.

TV Zone Special #67 ~ December 2005. Excerpts of the interview hosted on Stargate SG-1 Solutions.

Spacecast ~ October 26, 2005. A brief video interview where Christopher talks about how long the show could go on.

TV Zone Special #64 ~ July 2005. Excerpts of the interview hosted on Stargate SG-1 Solutions.

2005 Spacey Awards ~ May 29, 2005. Christopher accepts the Spacey Award for Favorite Canadian TV Series for Stargate, and talks to many of the cast and crew. Hosted on YouTube.

Gateworld ~ May, 2005. "Judgement Day". Christopher talks about how much fun he is having in Season Nine, his new cast mates, and why Teal'c won't become a wallflower. The interview is also available in MP3 format.

Behind the Scenes ~ January 17, 2005. I've place links to numerous clips with Christopher over on the new Videos page. They're short, many under a minute.

Gateworld ~ September, 2004. "The Judge Is In". Done at the Creation Convention in Chicago; Christopher talks about writing, his favorite Season Eight Teal'c episodes, and Teal'c's off base wardrobe.

Virgin.net ~ Sometime in early 2004. Christopher talks about 'Heros', Michael Shanks, and his favorite on screen partner.

BBC Wiltshire ~ January 29, 2004. Christopher was in Swindon with Michael Shanks when he spoke with the BBC. There is video of Christopher's interview and audio of Christopher and Michael's joint interview on that page, and Stargate SG-1 Solutions has a transcript of the joint interview.

Cult Times #96 ~ September 2003. Excerpts of the interview hosted on Stargate SG-1 Solutions.

Starlog #308 ~ March 2003. Excerpts of the interview hosted on Stargate SG-1 Solutions.

SciFi.com ~ 2003. Christopher answers questions from the online audience.

Yahoo TVGen Chat ~ September 9, 1998. Christopher answers questions from the online audience. Hosted on RDAnderson.com

About Christopher

David Hewlett - film ick - January 8, 2007

I had originally wanted a really nerdy loser for the date in the film and it was a tiny one scene role. After the first draft Jane suggested Chris Judge and then we just howled about how funny it would be if he was to play a loser who resorts to cheap internet dating websites to meet women. We just thought it was the funniest thing. When we did the reading he blew us all away. I sat down that night and wrote him two more scenes, he is a comedy God!

David Hewlett - Gateworld - July 17, 2006

[G] “A Dog’s Breakfast” features you and Paul McGillion, but I understand it features other “Stargate” actors as well. Who else can we expect to see?

[DH] Well, you can see the fabulously talented Chris Judge. When I originally wrote the part, it was a tiny part, an absolutely miniscule part that there was no way on earth I was gonna offer the role to anyone in “Stargate” because it just felt like an insult. And then Jane said, you know talk to Chris, because I'm sure Chris would do it, you know he loves this kinda stuff. So we talked to him, and he sounded interested. When we did the read through of the script, he did such an incredible job with the reading. I ended up multiplying his part by like 100. All of a sudden he had all these lines. It was quite humorous - suddenly he had to actually work! On “Stargate” he's got this very specific character, he's very stoic, that whole unemotional Spock-like thing. And in this, he’s playing a loser who can’t get a date! To me that was very, very funny. The idea that Chris Judge, of all people, couldn't get a date, and that he'd resorted to internet dating. And he seems to get a giggle out of it as well. So he's unbelievable, this is Chris like you've never seen him. And hopefully, you’ll see him like this a lot - the guy could have a sitcom you know, which is so funny, because in “Stargate” you think “very serious Chris”. I don’t know if you've gone to any of his conventions or that sort of thing but he's something of a joker!

David Hewlett - Eclipse Magazine - November 6, 2006

"I've never done an episode with Teal'c," Hewlett says. "I had to cast Chris Judge in my own movie in order to work with the damn guy. Because he's always stuck in a Stargate, or something!

"I don't know why I got such a giggle out of this. We were trying to cast this character who keeps getting stood up on dates and so we thought about all these different types of people, these sad little people, who we could cast in the role and then Jane, my girlfriend, who's also an old friend of Chris said, 'What about Chris?' I was like, 'Ah, you've got to be kidding me, come on. Like anyone's going to believe that guy can't get a date!' And then we started laughing about it and we asked him to see if he'd do it and he was just amazing. He is so funny, like too funny. And too charming, because my sister was all over him. It was really just embarrassing for all of us."

...there were more surprises to come, not least Chris Judge's comic abilities.

"Not to go on and on about it," Hewlett says, "but he has like three scenes in this movie and I wrote the second scene because in the read-throughs he was just so funny. So I ended up writing a whole extra scene because he's just hilarious.

David Hewlett - Stargate Information Archive - October 6, 2006

[DH] Then Chris Judge who, well I know the guy, I've not really worked with him that much on Stargate (SG-1) cause every time I show up, he's stuck in the gate or something. In fact there were rumors for a long time that Chris Judge and I are in fact the same person because we're never seen on film together.

[SIA] *sarcastically* Oh. You guys look just alike.

[DH] Yeah, we're very similar. I have the same kind of physical prowess as him. Just not quite as dark a tan. He was kind enough to come in and do the movie but I was a little nervous because he's an impressive guy, he's got a very big personality and then the crew said like "Well, he'll come in and need at least half an hour to say hello to the crew," and I'm like "Oh my god, we don't have half an hour," so we call him in early and he comes in and he's just this amazing presence that I've never--- we wanted somebody who was going to sort of stand out, who was going be like, this door opens and there's this guy. And Chris Judge just leapt to mind. But then you have to direct him. And you're like "Um... would you mind if uhh...?" He was just so--- well i didn't even have to direct him that much cause he pretty much hit it right off the bat. And him and Kate got along way too well. So I'm like, "Stop hitting on my sister. Stop flirting." It was quite amusing.

[SIA] What is his (Chris Judge) part in the movie?

[DH] This is the other thing that made me laugh. I wrote this part for a loser who can't get a date. The idea of Chris Judge playing a loser who can't get a date I found very funny. I mean I shouldn't say loser because he actually ends up being much cooler than certainly my character is, but he is just this guy who keeps getting stood up on dates. He's just very funny cause who the hell would stand Chris up on a date?