STARGATE UNIVERSE - ABBAS KARIMJEE'S WEBLOG: Brian J. Smith Interview
July 15, 2011
by Abbas Karimjee
Actor Brian J. Smith has been leading a prominent career as an American actor, having just finished his first prominent role as the character of Lieutenant Matthew Scott on Syfy’s Stargate Universe for the show’s two seasons. The actor also recently featured on Syfy’s recent movie, Red Faction Origins, which is based on the actual video game franchise as the character of Jake Mason. This particular movie took place after the events of Guerrilla and before the events of the upcoming Armageddon game.
With SGU having concluded its run just a couple of months ago and Smith being kind enough to participate in an interview with us, we discuss the actor’s experience in portraying the character of Matthew Scott, his frank perspective on the factors which resulted in SGU’s cancellation as well as Smith’s thoughts on the suitability of Gauntlet as a series finale to SGU. The actor also reflects on the development of his young Lieutenant Scott and the slightly different hopes which he had for the extent of his character’s development.
Smith also discusses how working on the show influenced his acting career as well as his professional life, reflects on some of his favourite moments working on SGU, and his final message to fans, with the show having drawn to a close.
The actor also reflects on his experience working on Red Factions Origins and contrasts the experience of working on the Red Faction franchise to the Stargate franchise...
... AK: You starred as the character of Jake on Syfy’s Red Faction Origin aired on Syfy last month. Could you please describe how the role of Jake was different from your previous roles, such as that of Lt Scott? Also,in terms of production, how would you compare working on a TV show of an established franchise, such as Stargate to working on a movie, such as Red Factions ,which is also a part of a great franchise? Which do you prefer?
BJS: "Well, SGU had the disadvantage of fan expectation. The only expectation regarding Red Faction was that it would suck. So people were actually surprised that some thought went into Red Faction and that we tried to tell a good story and not just blow stuff up. That being said, Stargate had lots of financial heft behind it, and I guess that’s the benefit of coming out of an established franchise. But Red Faction was an experiment and we shot that film on a very tight budget. Michael Nankin is the single best director I’ve ever worked with, and watching him create what he created with very little resources was a real lesson in directing. Directing is easy when you get unlimited takes, months of prep time, millions of dollars for special effects. Spielberg would have had a nervous breakdown. Michael Bay would have cried. The challenges he had to overcome were unbelievable. There was a medic on set who gave him the Bulgarian equivalent of Thera-Flu when he was getting a cold and he was actually fighting to stay awake all day. He somehow got through it, but that should give you some idea of what he was up against. And he also approached the story in an emotional way every single day, he was fully invested, which really isn’t easy to do when the set is falling apart and one of your actors is so ill that they can’t work and you’re running on five hours of sleep and the set medic has basically drugged you. He’s a real-life bad-ass. He taught me that who you choose to be when you’re faced with the impossible defines you..."
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