A Q-and-A with David Blue

Doug Mann snags an interview with the Vancouver-based Stargate actor during FanExpo 2010.

David Blue is an affable and enthusiastic young man who I interviewed at the Space booth - kudos to Space's publicist Michelle Lomack, who got me ten minutes with David thanks to the secret Western alumni handshake. David is best known as a regular cast member on Stargate Universe, a darker, more serious continuation of the Stargate frachise of science-fiction TV shows - Stargate: SG1 and Stargate: Atlantis - all three of them filmed in Vancouver. David, who clearly loves what he does, plays the lovelorn tech-head and computer whiz Eli Wallace on the show.

SGU has caused some controversy among Stargate fans, who are more used to the good-natured bonhomie among the major characters in Stargate: SG1, the longest-lasting SFTV show ever made in North America, on the air from 1997-2007. SGU dispenses with much of this bonhomie, substituting paranoia and friction between the human voyagers stuck onboard the alien ship Destiny. It also stars Robert Carlyle as the enigmatic Dr. Rush and Louis Ferreira as the world-weary commanding officer Colonel Young.

DB: Hi, I'm David Blue!!

DM: Hi David. Where were you born? Where are you from?

DB: I was born in Long Island, NY, went to an arts college in Florida, lived in LA, now in Vancouver.

DM: Simple question, what's the biggest difference moving up to Canada that you noticed, other than the weather, which is usually what people say?

DB: I'd say it's the people. It's a nice change, actually. In LA everyone's very active, but in Vancouver there's this great mentality - in Canada in general, actually - that believes that if it's an nice day you have to go out and experience it, whereas I can't tell you the nice days I've let pass by [in LA]. You take advantage of them.

DM: I saw your panel with Ryan Robbins and the Space people, and one thing that struck me listening to you guys is how different the shows are [SGU and Sanctuary] in terms of the realism. They're both nominally SF/fantasy shows - yours definitely is - but for one thing, you guys really go for the realism, the darkness. When I watch SGU I always have the sense that somebody's going to die.

DB: (Laughs) Nobody's safe!

DM: It's like Battlestar. To follow up the question I asked you guys in the room, do you think that some of the criticisms of SGU are unfair given the fact that there are so many Stargate fans out there - especially in Canada - that maybe...

DB: I don't think they're unfair! They're certainly [well] founded. Scifi fans are the most passionate and intelligent fans around. I'm not kissing butt - that's true. And I'm not saying that because I am one. And because of that, they're going to be more vocal, they're going to have their opinions, and they're more than welcome to express them. I said at the beginning, if anyone watches the show then you've already done more than I can ask. If you like it if you don't like it, I just appreciate people watching it. And you're always going to have things that you enjoy more than others. I was more a fan of Next Generation than of Deep Space Nine [Star Trek shows]... I wasn't a huge fan of Voyager. I prefer Next Generation. You have the things that you connect with. And that's going to happen even in this mythology. But as a fan of SG1 and Atlantis, I love SGU as well. It's completely different, I feel like it's pushing the envelope and trying new things, but I like it for what it is on its own.

DM: And what year did you first get an inkling that you'd be getting the part? Was it two years ago?

DB: Ah, I remember that I got a call while I was at the Emmys, or the Golden Globes, and it was Brad Wright and Robert Cooper wanting to talk to me about the character, and I kind of had a feeling that I maybe would be getting it at that point. But it was a long process, between audition and actually booking the job it was probably three months.

DM: And did Brad Wright - the executive producer on it - make you guys sit down and watch the old Stargate: SG1 DVDs?

DB: No, they gave it to everybody, but I had seen it all... Everyone had seen the movie of course, most everyone had seen select episodes, and then a lot of people sat down and watched them all, or at least were given a list of ones that we should definitely watch selected ones from each season to really get an idea that...

DM: Was there one Stargate episode that really stands out in your mind as maybe giving a link or a bridge into SGU?

DB: Well, the whole thing really. I've always viewed the fans of the previous shows as kind of having a leg up on new fans. You can watch the show from both perspectives. It's just the fans from the previous shows can get these little Easter eggs, or they'll hear a name mentioned and they'll know what that name is. They'll hear an alien race, or they'll refer to an episode, and that's kind of like "Yeah! I know what you're talking about." But if you don't know, you don't miss anything. It... works for both sides of the coin.

DM: A different track - favourite and least favourite character from Next Generation?

DB: From Next Gen? Least favourite?

DM: I won't tell, despite the fact that Michael Dorn's here.

DB: Least favourite, wow...

DM: I'll tell you my least favourite, and you can comment on this. The Counsellor [Troi] - she sort of irked me at times.

DB: Well, but I read the books - the Imazdi books - I know it's stupid, because it's not really the same world, but it kind of redeemed her a little bit for me.

DM: Actually, my favourite character is Worf.

DB: So you’re talking about main characters – I was thinking about random guest stars and what have you…

DM: And favourite episode while we’re at it. Mine’s "Best of Both Worlds" [in which the Borg attack the Enterprise and kidnap Captain Picard].

DB: I feel like that’s the easy one for me to pick though… the Moriarty one.

DM: Favourite character?

DB: I don’t think there is a worst. My favourite was always Riker, because I identified with Riker. I wanted to be him. I wanted to be tall with a goatee. We always joke, people always like to call Eli “Wesley” [the angst-ridden whiz kid on Star Trek: The Next Generation], but he’s not though. He’s not! Wil Wheaton and I are not the same person!

DM: No, that’s pretty clear. So, first scene you ever did with Robert Carlyle were you a little bit… tuned out or afraid or anything like that?

DB: No, I had met him… he’s a really genuine guy, so I had actually sat down with drinks with him beforehand. But even more than that, the first scene with Robert Carlyle was the first scene ever shot of SGU. I just meet him on the bridge of the ship… the Hammond. That was the first scene ever shot, and it was cool, it was fun, it was playtime. At the same time, even Andy Mikita [the director] said, “it felt different from the previous shows”. It kinda felt like we were doing something new.

DM: And do all the Stargate directors, Martin Wood, Andy Mikita, work on SGU?

DB: They rotate out. Andy Mikita’s been back, Peter DeLuise has been back a bunch, Will Waring has been back, we’ve got new people like Alex Chapelle…

DM: One thing about Peter DeLuise that comes across on the DVDs is that he seems like he’s a constant joker… can he do that, I mean on screen?

DB: It’s funny, we joke with each other about it before take, “ha ha ha ha”, ACTION! “I think you need to know…” It just changes the tone entirely, and DeLuise is usually the instigator.

DM: Is Martin Wood from London, Ontario?

DB: He’s not on our show anymore.

DM: One last question… in the entire history of science-fiction television, other than Next Generation, which maybe is your obvious answer, what’s the one show that you think sneakily influenced SGU, other than the obvious Stargate ones?

DB: I’m going to change the question a little bit, and say that it’s sneakily influenced television – Lost changed the game entirely. As an actor it changed the game because just because you’re a regular doesn’t mean you’re going to survive, which kind of sucks, because you used to have job security, which doesn’t exist any more. But on top of that it brought scifi to the mainstream more. People were watching a scifi show and didn’t realize it.

DM: Not X-Files?

DB: That’s still people… A lot people watched Lost and thought “I hate scifi… I gotta go home to watch Lost tonight.” And no one ever did that with X-Files. If you watched it, you know you liked scifi. It was kind of like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It changed the rules, it opened up this world where we can have shows like Fringe and people don’t realize they’re watching scifi. And Flashforward, same thing. And Battlestar, “oh, it’s a character drama!” It’s a scifi drama!

DM: Is Carlyle toning his accent down on the show? I can’t tell.

DB: You know that he actually does, from the beginning? His real accent is way thicker than that.

DM: Because I’ve seen him do a Northumbrian accent, and I just don’t know what the hell he’s saying.

DB: When he first met us, when I first took him out for drinks, I couldn’t understand [him]. You just smile and nod, “Oh I can’t believe that happened!” and he’s talking about a dead baby. You just can’t make it out. He toned it down for the show and for us.

DM: OK thanks a lot.