We are so excited to welcome the return of Tony Amendola LIVE to Dial the Gate! Having recently completed “Rough Magic” in which he plays William Shakespeare, we can’t wait to discuss this role with him along with delving back into everyone’s favorite Jaffa master.

Share This Video ► https://youtube.com/live/-T2vIJaNLhI
Watch “Rough Magic: Exit Shakespeare” ► https://tubitv.com/movies/100020767/

Visit DialtheGate ► http://www.dialthegate.com
on Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/dialthegate
on Instagram ► https://instagram.com/dialthegateshow
on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/dial_the_gate
Visit Wormhole X-Tremists ► https://www.youtube.com/WormholeXTremists

SUBSCRIBE!
https://youtube.com/dialthegate/

Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
00:20 – Opening Credits
00:52 – Welcome
01:05 – Guest Introduction
02:00 – Playing Shakespeare in “Rough Magic: Exit Shakespeare”
05:00 – The Plague: Comparisons Then and Now
07:42 – Shakespeare’s Chaos
11:50 – The True Author of Shakespeare’s Plays
14:12 – Fathers and Daughters
15:07 – Shakespeare: An Unknown Quantity
16:14 – Staying Out of Politics
17:50 – Judy Dench’s Book
18:43 – When Is Tony Done with Acting?
22:41 – Actors Used to be Hungry for Knowledge
23:30 – Down the Road of Nihilism
25:04 – Internet Auditions
26:56 – How You Get Cast In a Role
28:54 – Casting is Subjective
30:34 – Wait, We’re Live?!
31:06 – Tony Returns in Jedi Survivor
34:33 – An Actor’s Cheat Sheet
36:54 – Bra’tac’s Love Interest
38:08 – “Threshold”
39:53 – Six Characters Want Their Story Told
41:40 – A Part Tony Regretted Turning Down
43:30 – Taking Things Home from the Stargate Set
44:40 – Thank You, Tony!
45:55 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
50:17 – Go Watch Rough Magic! (Link Below)
50:51 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

#Stargate
#DialtheGate
#turtletimeline
#wxtremists

TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Good day, everyone, and welcome to Episode 269 of Dial the Gate. The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. Thank you for joining me for this episode. I am privileged to welcome back, Mr. Tony Amendola. Master Bra’tac of Stargate SG-1. And recently… Well, it was filmed a couple of years ago but just off of Rough Magic: Exit Shakespeare, which is available now on tubi.tv I believe. Do I have that right Tony?

Tony Amendola:
That is correct, yes.

David Read:
Wow. I just watched it. It is free for viewers in the US and Canada. I don’t believe it’s available outside of the US. I had some friends who just tried to check it but that was a really awesome one man show. How do you feel about that performance and how did it feel to get into the… Because you’ve done Shakespeare but now you’ve actually…done Shakespeare.

Tony Amendola:
That’s right.

David Read:
What was the feeling behind it? And congratulations.

Tony Amendola:
Thank you very much. I have done a fair amount of Shakespeare. It’s how I started acting, oddly. I literally stumbled into an audition for The Tempest many, many years ago. And cut to many years later, I have a friend whose name is Andy Wolk, who’s the director and co-writer of the piece. And we’ve been friends for a long time, and it was COVID. And we both really, really… And to do something to make use of the time. How do we do that? Andy had another childhood friend, named Elliot Krieger, who had an idea. He had a concept for a piece about Shakespeare late in his life. And it was developed over probably several months. Stuff was put in, stuff was cut, but it was all done actively on Zoom. Often, they would write in the morning, and I’d get together with them in the afternoon, and we’d read and play and say, “OK. That works really well. But that doesn’t. What if we used that?” So, it was great. And it’s also touched on so many things. Obviously, Shakespeare. But also, the notion of an actor and his relationship of how his persona is shared by the public and his family in a kind of way. How can he be [at] two places at once? How can you create and yet still be there for your wife [and] for your children? In this case, Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet, plays a very big part in the piece. And I don’t wanna spoil anything for people but to me that was my entrance in. That ambivalence that many people feel, many actors and other[s], directors, and anyone who works in this field where sometimes you just aren’t there. Your work takes you out of town, and life goes on, and in this particular case, the re-entry. Can you go back, you know, Thomas Wolfe, “Can you go back home?”

David Read:
I think… And you set the stage so to speak so I won’t spoil it further. My favorite line of Shakespeare is in the one in which he references his son, and I won’t go any more into that, but I think it’s one of the most beautiful lines in English. Much of the frame of the play that I thought was fascinating was the plague. He’s reeling from a situation, and so were we at the time.

Tony Amendola:
Exactly.

David Read:
And it’s a chance to connect with him on a level of being separated and… Because for a couple, few years they didn’t work either. It was destructive.

Tony Amendola:
Absolutely. And that’s why we get the sonnets, and we get some of his other poetry. Because of that. It was a parallel universe. And that was the other, “Oh, this is fantastic. We can…” We try… No one can hear, in the middle of when we shot… It was the plague years. And not in the middle of pandemic, think[ing], “Oh yeah. We know what that is.” So, it was really wonderful experience. It was hard but ultimately really rewarding. And the other great thing is, there’s a record of it. Because working in the theater is sculpture in ice. On a given night, in front of a certain group of people, this happened. And then guess what, it becomes a memory. Then it becomes a memory and with the memory comes inflation and all these… With film, it’s there, take it or leave it. And oddly, film changes depending on your mood. I’ve always been amazed [by it].

David Read:
Your chemicals. What you eat and everything. How you take it in.

Tony Amendola:
Yes. Right. So, it was truly wonderful experience. It saved me… It kept me going during the pandemic in terms of [being] actively involved [and] creative etc. So that’s the story of Rough Magic, and I couldn’t be more thrilled that people will have the opportunity to see it. It’s shown at various festivals, and it’s shown actually here. There’s an art house in town called Laemmle’s which is a really wonderful theater and cinema. And we had a screening there [which] ran for a week. So, it’s still there and it’s making the rounds and I’m so happy it’s on Tubi now.

David Read:
Absolutely. We, non-theater folk, are the ones who aren’t in the privilege to be in those spots [and] get to see it. I’m curious… When you go and watch this folks, it’s very chaotic. He’s reeling from a number of different things and so it’s almost, like, his stream of consciousness. It’s almost as if he were to take a nap and his subconscious were to take over. Because it washes over you again and again, almost like on the beaches of Prospero Island, which is another hint to what’s going on here. How much input did you have in terms of the things that were added to it? Did you get to have any saying? Because he quotes from a number of pieces of his body of work, including the sonnets.

Tony Amendola:
Absolutely. They were very open. It was very collective. Obviously, they are the writers of the piece. But, for instance, we had one thing and might have had one piece and then I remembered there’s a great, perhaps what you’re referencing, there’s a great piece from King John[‘s] Constance about her son and the relation… And that’s the piece we need for the memory of that. And also, the thing that’s so great is, you think that Shakespeare wrote, and it was always accepted and lauded. Well, no. It wasn’t. And the notion of the period we chose to set it in [is], he’s struggling. And he’s struggling with the romances. He’s gone through his early comedies, histories, which were very successful, the Henry’s and the Richard III and everything, moves into more mature tragedies and comedies, and then he’s ready for a change. He’s done his Hamlet, he’s done his Othello’s, he’s done his Scottish play, he’s done… Which one am I leaving out? Othello. [inaudible] And now he’s trying to find a new form. He’s, on some level, “I’ve done that already. Now I’m looking for something new.” And that’s when he starts getting into the romances. And the early romances, Cymbeline [or] Pericles, they’re experimental. He hasn’t figured it out yet. So, if you imagine yourself in the business world, his shareholders, because the great thing is his company’s made up of shareholders, they’re saying, “Yeah. It’s all great. Those are cute. Can you make us some money? We’re losing money. Can you write us hence… Give me another Hamlet.”

David Read:
“But shorter.”

Tony Amendola:
“Give me another…” So, he’s struggling with that. So, you also have the artist looking for a kind of form. And over the course of the evening, he… And it is. It’s sort of a crucible. It’s an evening where everything is coming on him because he’s been… He’s estranged now from his business partners, who are actors, which is really wonderful because it was a kind of corporation that he worked with. Shareholders they were called. As a matter of fact, the theater Antaeus that we created in Los Angeles was loosely based on that form. Actors as decision makers and participants. Gradually, that always changes as an organization gets bigger. So, there was so many things with him. Again, he’s in a bit of a pickle. He’s doubting himself as a writer, “Can I do it anymore? Can I do it?” And it’s almost, like, he’s trying to will this last play. Simultaneous to that.

David Read:
He’s begging things from God.

Tony Amendola:
Exactly.

David Read:
He is conscious of this, I apologize for pausing you, that in his belief system and in his world these things come down to him.

Tony Amendola:
Absolutely.

David Read:
He doesn’t just invent them. There is some kind of collaboration going on at work in an ethereal layer.

Tony Amendola:
Which gets us to, in a strange kind of way, all the debate about whether he wrote the plays or not which I find really silly for two reasons. One, any American who thinks that, it’s an outrageously undemocratic way to think that you have to be of the upper class to write great. If our history has taught us anything, if you think of all those immigrants that were coming over in the turn of the century that wrote great music and great other things, they didn’t have [any] formal education. There was a kind of 2001 moment that they were channeling from the obelisk, I’ll give you that. And secondly, the reason I never have felt that it was possible, and it’s a very practical reason, is, I’ve been [an] actor for a long, long time. Actors talk. If we are in a rehearsal room with a playwright, asking questions about the text, we will eventually begin to suspect that this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he could never have written these plays. And consequently, that whole question didn’t come up for a hundred years until after Shakespeare was dead. I don’t believe it could have not even had a rumor that maybe Shakespeare wasn’t Shakespeare. And there is no rumor of that in his own period. But anyway, getting back to the piece, he’s doubting his own ability as we all do. Again, that’s a very human thing. When is it time to move on? I deal with it all the time. [I’ve] been doing this a long time, it’s been great, [but] do I continue until I’m not able to do the work as well as I would like to do the work? Or do I say, “OK. It’s time to let go and go back to the family, go back to other interests?” “There is a world elsewhere,” to quote Coriolanus. The world is a big place, you don’t have to live just in this, let’s say, on the roadway of acting, and Shakespeare, and art. You could live very easily on a roadway of cultural experience, “Oh, I know. I’m gonna spend the last 10 years of my life doing something else.” The last thing I wanna say, and this is to me, [it] struck[s] me as very interesting, Shakespeare had a problematic… He had two daughters. And one was the good daughter, if you will. Her name was Susanna, and he got along very well with her and everything. But he had a problematic daughter named Judith, which I related to because my wife’s name was Judith. And the reason I’m bringing it up is, in all of the romances, it’s fathers and daughters. They’re trying to get together. They’re reunited. There’s been a crime or something has happened, then they finally… There’s forgiveness and redemption. He didn’t have it yet when he was writing those plays. And it may not have even happened. It was, again, something he was wishing. Something. And I find that really interesting.

David Read:
The amount of information that we have on him is very little. We don’t know if he traveled between London [and] Stratford. We don’t know… We have six signatures of him and a lot of these are legal documents. Two or three are from his will, and there’s very little else.

Tony Amendola:
And he spelled his name wrong in every one. He spelled his name differently.

David Read:
It’s, like, “Who are you?” That feeds the dragon of myth. But I love your interpretation of this. I love that the play… I love that your piece alludes to, for instance, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” He was writing to a man. And what was the other thing that I wanted to bring up that you guys touched on? There was something else and it was, like, “I’m glad that they’re pointing these things out,” that yes, he was not a stereotypical, you know, what you might think of him. He was… The earring and everything else. Bohemian. He was on the edge.

Tony Amendola:
Yes, he was.

David Read:
I think you cracked it.

Tony Amendola:
There’s a lot of puzzles about it because he’s one of the few writers in Elizabethan England that didn’t end up in jail some time or the other. [He] didn’t get into political troubles. He was able… You read Shakespeare’s work, [and] this is other interesting thing, particularly within the theater, which is a very liberal world, [and] you tell me whether Shakespeare was a liberal or a conservative. You tell me who he sides with. For instance, in Julius Caesar, where you think “Democracy”, and then Cassius and Brutus being… The ideal take[s] over. What does it create? Chaos. And there was a transition of power in his time. You tell me… You read Coriolanus and tell me that he was for the common people, and he had trust in… It’s a very… You can’t put your finger on it. He’s everything for all people.

David Read:
He speaks for all of us.

Tony Amendola:
And it’s really wonderful. Yes, he really does. I was very lucky because it was the first words I ever uttered on stage, in college, [and] I didn’t do anything, were from The Tempest. And I’ll never forget it because they’re so perfect for an actor’s life. My lines, which were said, mind you, in the dark with lightning flashes, literally in the dark, were, “All is lost. To prayers, to prayers, all is lost,” and the ship is sinking. And that was start of that for my career. Every time you hit a lull, you think, “All is lost.” He’s been very kind to me. Judy Dench has a book out right now. It’s called Shakespeare: The Man Who Paid Our Rent, or The Man Who Pays the Rent. That’s what it’s literally called.

David Read:
Oh, I’m totally getting this. Came out last October.

Tony Amendola:
It’s a wonderful book and she talks about her approach to various roles. But she talks about, for many, many years, doing Shakespeare literally paid a rent. And as actors, if you came up through regional theater… [18:25] I had two years at Colorado, two years at Utah Shakes[peare], two years at Oregon Shakes[peare], four or five years at Cal Shakes[peare] [and] two years at The Old Globe, which is Shakespeare’s first festival. So, he literally paid my rent, too.

David Read:
There are milestones for all of us in our lives, and you touched on this briefly, and I wanna ask you pretty directly about this. Because you were just mentioning, how long does one go on? Because we all have our own idea of when, “OK. I’m finished. This has been a great run. I’m gonna end up on a high note,” or “I’m gonna do it until I’m dead.” Tony, where do you fall currently in your opinion on this? Because you’re not a spring chicken anymore. What do you plan to do with the rest of your life? What’s your intent?

Tony Amendola:
I’ll be completely honest with you. I’m ambivalent about it. I do believe that actors don’t retire. They just die. I do believe that, meaning that even if you go away for a while, it’s not to say you can’t come back if something… I don’t believe you have to just close the door. But I will say that other things interest me now. And time is limited. You have to accept that. You could say, “OK. Maybe I’ll get lucky. Maybe I’ll be the 1 percent and live to a 100. The 1 percent. What shape are you in?” Those are not the same 25-30 years that you’re talking about between 50 and 80, or 45 and 75. Those years are very, very different. So that becomes the other thing, to do what you can. Also, the theater has changed so much in many ways. People are writing plays that are much more generational in tact. What I mean by this, most classical theater was written with a company in mind. So, there was an ingénue, young leading man, a leading man, a leading woman, character people who were older, so it was generational, those plays. If you look at Chekhov, in particularly, you’ll see you could literally grow up in a company and start playing Treplev in The Seagull, and eventually play Firs in The Cherry Orchard, who’s 90 something. There was a place for you. If you look at plays now, they’re smaller, so there isn’t… I think it’s harder for older actors right now than it used to be. That was my thought when I came to LA, because I had a feeling that, “OK. I’m an actor in the 20th-21st century. I have to taste film and television. I’d be foolish [not to].” I had no arrogance. Many actors have arrogance about TV and film, who are frankly… Not having done it, I have to call them rather immature, and rather prejudicial.

David Read:
Because they look down on it.

Tony Amendola:
Because you look down on it without having done it. And they don’t understand the challenges of it, they don’t understand… And they’re not, to my mind, part of this century. Not part of their own world. And what did Hamlet say? You have to reflect the world back to us. That’s what actors do. And if you’re not dealing in the 20th or 21st century, you’re not doing that. But when I came to LA, I thought, “Good. I’ll test it out. I’ll get it out of my system. I won’t be an actor in my 80s or something, thinking, ‘If I only had gone to LA and New York.’ I won’t be doing that. And I’ll see. And then I go back to the theater in…” Right about now. I’d go back to the Bay Area, go back to New York or where[ever]. That theater doesn’t exist anymore what I’m talking about. A regional theater where there are companies and you’re doing classic plays that are generational, and there’s work for you, and you become, in a kind of way, like, the actor emeritus, or the grandfather [or] the grandmother [or] the mentor. That doesn’t exist. I find it… And what’s also sad to me is, I feel there’s such a change that many young actors aren’t really interested in our experience any longer, which I find really interesting. Because, again, when I was young and I’ve mentioned this to many actors who were sort of in my age range, we were hungry for what the older actors had to say. Any kind of weigh in, any kind of tidbit of information, any kind of aid. And the history. Because the only reason you become a stage [actor], [and] one of the reasons I continue to be a stage actor, is the direct lineage from Thespis, 2500 years ago, to an actor on opening night tonight. And I find that fascinating.

David Read:
Sensibilities have changed for better or for worse. I think we are far more narcissistic as people now. And I think, to our peril, we think that we have it figured out and don’t need to as often seek those with greater experience. Because look at the world that they left us.

Tony Amendola:
That’s true.

David Read:
I think that down that road lies nihilism. I don’t think you can throw the baby out with the bath water.

Tony Amendola:
You’re right. I had never quite thought of it that way but you’re absolutely right about both points. One is the suspicion, because of the situation the world is in right now, and the endgame of that is not exactly bright.

David Read:
But I think that our past leads to our future whether we like it or not and that we have an opportunity to learn if we accept the fact that we don’t know everything.

Tony Amendola:
I’m always amazed. As actors, that’s the other interesting thing. As an actor you’re always [re-]inventing the wheel. You think that great experience would give you greater confidence. Sometimes it does but as often it can be, “Oh my God,” particularly if you think, “I was lauded in the last thing I did. It got wonderful reviews. I have to match that.” So, you’re always re-inventing the wheel.

David Read:
I’ve been having some honest conversations lately with talent about the regrettable process that is the Zoom interview. More specifically submitting tapes, and not having access to a casting director who has encapsulated the director’s vision, or the director in the room as well, taking on interpretation [out] of a million that you might have, and sending that one out, and hoping that it’s the right interpretation that they’re looking for, not being able to take direction and take a note and pivot. Where do you think this is going?

Tony Amendola:
I don’t think it’s gonna change any time soon, unfortunately. There is so many reasons for it. We have to… Again, looking on the bright side, it was a lifesaver during the pandemic that we were able to do that. So, let’s get that out of the way. But it defies the very personal nature of the business. We all have a kind of energy in a room that… Because they look at hundreds of tapes, or they do hundreds of auditions, and then they cut it down to about 10 or 12 people. And when you walk into that room, I always think six, seven, eight… Because I know the people in the waiting room. I’ve worked with them, and they know me. Any of us could do the job. So, the question becomes now, is… Literally the chemical reaction between you and the director, you and the writer, you and the producer, to see, “We’re gonna do this job. It’s gonna be a lot of fun and we’re gonna have a great time and we’re gonna create something.” Does that energy exist in a kind of way? And I think that’s how they choose. But casting, David, is a very peculiar thing. I’ll tell you a very brief story. I know we don’t have that much time.

David Read:
Please go ahead.

Tony Amendola:
I had a friend who went out for a movie, and he did the audition, it’s all great, for a casting person in the office, on tape. He went away [and] didn’t hear anything. It was a big movie. Three months later he got a call, [and] he got a job. Celebrated with his wife. And the next day he was nervous, “What did I do? How did I do it? I don’t remember.” So, he calls his agent, the agent calls the casting person, [and] the casting person says, “Crazy actors. Crazy actors. Have him come in. We still have the tape. Have him watch it, it’ll put him at ease.” So, he goes in, watches it, says, “Oh, I remember. No big deal.” But all the finalists were on this reel. All the people they were considering. There were about 12 people. They had been called from the hundreds. And he thought, “Well, I’m here,” so he starts watching. He watches one, he says, “Yeah, that guy was pretty good.” He watches another, he says, “Nah, I never would have gone there.” He watches a third and says, “My God, that guy was great.” So, anyway, he watches them all, he does the job, and his last day he walks out, says goodbye to the director, which is always a wise thing to do, and he said, “Hey, it’s been great working with you. A quick question. It was so long between the audition and when you hired me, I went back and looked at the tape, and I watched them all. Some of them were terrific. Why did you choose me?” And the director started laughing and says, “Well, you remind me of my uncle.” So, actors go home and are ready to put a gun to their head, and the difference in that audition was that you looked similarly to the guy’s uncle. This is how much out of our control it is.

David Read:
Casting is purely subjective.

Tony Amendola:
It’s purely subjective. And he was, like… And it’s a great lesson. I think about it all the time that there… But getting back to your point about the other thing is, that’s very, very hard and I believe this is true of casting directors [that] it’s not important to them, the frame or the environment, as long as you do the work, and they can see the actor. In my heart of hearts, I believe that is true about them. I do not believe it is true about directors and producers. They are interested completely in, “OK. Can this guy literally do it tomorrow?” Because guess what, it might happen tomorrow. So, all the little lighting things, and all the little [things]. The way you frame it, and if it’s done professionally, all of these are affecting them subconsciously. So, consequently, actors sometimes now having to go out, spend hundreds of dollars for equipment and literally going somewhere else to get it, which is not sustainable. The union is trying to put in safeguards, but we’ll see.

David Read:
OK. I think that something’s gotta evolve out from this because it worked for us in a time when we needed it, and now… There is an alchemy there that comes about when you bring a group together. It either works or it doesn’t. It doesn’t always work. I have a feeling a lot of this will work itself out.

Tony Amendola:
I hope so. I think we’ll find a middle ground which is what we need to do.

David Read:
I have some fan questions for you. Jeremy Heiner…

Tony Amendola:
I thought… Wait a minute. I just thought it was just the two of us. You mean people have been eavesdropping this entire time?

David Read:
Yeah.

Tony Amendola:
Oh, good.

David Read:
I thought we talked about this being live.

Tony Amendola:
No, I’m joking.

David Read:
OK. I was gonna say. Because I accidentally failed to tell someone once, and they were, like, “That was live?” So, Tony, I’m a little on edge about that.

Tony Amendola:
No, no, no, no. I’m completely joking.

David Read:
That’s funny.

Tony Amendola:
I’ve done your show.

David Read:
Jedi Survivor. Jereme Heiner wanted to know. And I’ve only just started playing it so no big spoilers, Tony. But I’m so excited that you are back as Master Cordova. What was it like getting the call? Did you anticipate that? Like, “Oh no, it’s one and done. He’s gotta be dead. BD-1 is with him now.” Did you expect that? Were you surprised and what was the process like? I’m so excited to see you in it.

Tony Amendola:
First of all, when you audition for one of those things, the ironic thing is, you don’t know what it is. You don’t know what it is. You do the audition, but gradually, if the audition process goes on long enough, you find out. So, by the very end, when I knew I was contention, I knew that I was in contention for… But no time during the audition, no time during anything was “Jedi” written [or] was there any reference to Star Wars at all. But when it happened, it was so delicious. I thought it’s alliterative, from Jaffa to Jedi. I thought I had to do this. And I had a great time. I had a terrific time. The people were great. And mo-cap is, again, you have to… I really like it quite a bit. [As a] matter of fact, I can’t tell you what the project is, but I’m going up to finish in… Next Sunday I leave. And I’m finishing… It’s not Star Wars. I can tell you that.

David Read:
But it is a game?

Tony Amendola:
It is a game. And it so much fun because you create everything. You’re in these… It’s, like, being reduced to being a kid again. Because all these… we’re all in leotards, essentially, with helmets and this… It’s very technical but we’re all… And nothing is real. Nothing.

David Read:
Don’t you feel a little like a marionette?

Tony Amendola:
No, no.

David Read:
I guess you’re not being pulled but you’re being reduced to information. I guess we always are but it’s very different.

Tony Amendola:
But you can see on TV and film, too.

David Read:
It’s true, too.

Tony Amendola:
It’s digital. But there are certain… When you do a video game, there are certain things you have to assume at the beginning and the end of the frame, called… One is a “T” and you do different shapes. And you’re “ROMmed” in, et cetera. But what’s so interesting, when you see… When you look at what’s around you, which is generally cardboard and naked wood, raw wood, unfinished wood, then you see the game and you’re thinking, “My God.” And all these hundreds of cameras. It’s like a Brave New World in a kind of way. And for me it was just… I hadn’t done it. I hadn’t done voice work until about maybe six-eight years ago. I forget. And I thought, “You know what I need to do? I need to diversify. You’re crazy not to diversify.” And so, I started, and luckily my first audition was World of Warcraft.

David Read:
Khadgar.

Tony Amendola:
Which I’m still doing, mind you, on and off. Whenever they need me. Whenever comes up. And so, it’s incredible but I love it. And I was doing a game, and actors learning their lines is very quick. The lines get changed, “OK.” So, before you roll, as it were, often you look at your lines and you’re running them. So, I was looking at my lines and just rolling, and I was in the process of putting them away, and the camera guy said, “You know, you can leave them on the table. You don’t have to put them away.” I said, “What?” He said, “We won’t see them. They’re not marked.”

David Read:
But you’ll know.

Tony Amendola:
I’ll know. But some actors like that. I have to put it away. Some actors [are] just glancing down. There’s nothing we love more than being a judge or being a lawyer where, if you’re old and you’re having any trouble, you can have the security of your script [being] in front of you. Many people do it. But you’re right, as often as not you don’t, of course. You have it memorized.

David Read:
You’ve worked to get this done. You’ve worked to internalize it and to articulate it and be prepared to regurgitate it, and “Oh, by the way, you can keep it in front of you.” Part of me would be, like, “Come on, man. I’m an actor. I’m an actress.”

Tony Amendola:
“I’m an actor,” right. But there’s a whole different take to that. You know why Marlo Brando didn’t… He claimed he didn’t learn his lines?

David Read:
Wasn’t it just… No, not for sure.

Tony Amendola:
He claimed he didn’t learn his lines because he wanted them fresh. The memorization took away from his spontaneity. So, consequently, he would either have an earpiece with someone just flatly reading his lines… It’s not to say he didn’t learn any of them but there’s a great photo, and I can send it to you, David, if you’d like.

David Read:
Please.

Tony Amendola:
I have it somewhere. It’s James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Marlon Brando, talking on the set of The Godfather. And they’re having an actor conversation, except, if you look, Robert Duvall has got a plaque around his neck with Marlon Brando’s lines. I’m not kidding.

David Read:
I’ve never known.

Tony Amendola:
So that works for him.

David Read:
It sure does.

Tony Amendola:
Clearly.

David Read:
Wow. However, to get the work done and create one of the greatest movies and motion pictures. So, there you go.

Tony Amendola:
Exactly. Obviously, there’s… And you need Marlon Brando to allow them for you to do that.

David Read:
Allan Scollick, “Massive praise for Tony and his voice work as…” Is it Khadgar? Am I pronouncing that right?

Tony Amendola:
Khadgar. Correct.

David Read:
“In World of Warcraft.” But Allan also wants to know, “Since…” Teal’c [and] his background with the ladies was thoroughly explored. “Was it ever pitched for Bra’tac to have a love interest?” Was there any kind of anchor for him other than the warriors he taught? It’s never occurred to me, really, because he was always teaching, teaching, leading armies, teaching. It would have been nice if Bra’tac had some romance.

Tony Amendola:
I’m getting vibrations of spin-off. I hear spin-off.

David Read:
Christopher, where are you? Are you watching?

Tony Amendola:
I always thought, particularly because Bra’tac was teaching and there was occasionally… He could be stirring, he could be gentle. I always just imagined that in the middle of one of these training sessions, this voice, female voice, came, “Bra’tac!” And you think, “Ooh.” And that was the family he left. That was the relationship he left. I think there would have been room for it. It would have been a wonderful, wonderful thing.

David Read:
One of the most resonant lines from, as far as I’m concerned is one of the greatest episodes of the show, Threshold, he says, “Apophis’ will can be made to bent. But not always. There are things I’ve done for which I cannot forgive even myself.” And I think somewhere… I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about the damn line. It’s such a good episode. I think somewhere there is a family involved, and he may be referencing that.

Tony Amendola:
Exactly. I can tell you that’s what I was thinking about when… It was a mixture of things [and] that was part of it. And also, sometimes you have to assume the position so sometimes he probably had to kill, sometimes to maintain this thing. But no, absolutely. That was in the snow. That scene when he reveals himself in the snow, is that where that line [is from?]

David Read:
No. The snow scene is him testing whether or not he can trust Teal’c with the truth of the matter. “Who’s gonna stop me from killing you right now? Apophis? You think he’s all-seeing? You think he’s all-knowing?” That camera shot of DeLuise pulling that camera up and the two of you knocking each other around and you whip his ass, that is one of the top five-ten shots of the show. That scene is top five-ten scenes of the show.

Tony Amendola:
I agree. That episode is my favorite episode which I’ve said before. Because it’s in a nutshell the whole story. But you’re absolutely right. It’s interesting. There are, like, parallel lives you need to think of. Or we can call them roads not explored. Pirandello, since we’re talking about the theater, wrote this play called Six Characters in Search of an Author. And what it is, the rehearsing, it’s this group of actors rehearsing a play. And who shows up? This entire family shows up and they want their story told. And it’s a Sicilian Italian sort of thing. It’s a classic of the theater, very hard to do, about the reality that’s presented on the theater. And when I was in school, I played The Father. And the whole thing is, there’s something The Father did with a stepdaughter. And in this play, they only put that scene in. And the father’s livid, because the totality of his life is only seen in this one scene, this one mistake that he made. And he’s arguing, hence six characters in search of an author, to present his entire life, to present the totality. I say this because in Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have as full a life to be written about as Stoppard did as Hamlet. It’s just that in that view, in that play, Hamlet is, like, one prism. It’s only one facet of a diamond. It’s not the totality. So, all characters are always saying, and actors, “What about…?” So, I look at it that way with Bra’tac that it’s a facet of the diamond, a reflection that we didn’t get to. But it was always there. It had to be there. Otherwise, what filled that moment that got to you wouldn’t have been there.

David Read:
Do we have time for two more questions?

Tony Amendola:
Sure.

David Read:
Antony, “Was there ever a part that you turned down that you ultimately regretted turning down?” We’re talking about roads not taken. I’m curious. Maybe there’s nothing.

Tony Amendola:
There were a couple of times where there were conflicts. I had the opportunity to play Titus Andronicus twice, and I couldn’t do it. And sometimes you think, “It’ll come around again.” [King] Lear came around again. I had a chance to play Lear when I was younger, and I thought I was just too young. And probably was a little bit afraid. I didn’t feel like I had the life experience to [do it]. But that did come around. I got a chance to [do it] and I’m so happy I did. It’s like a mountain. You feel, like, “OK. I got there.” I didn’t mean you scale the mountain every night. Some nights I died, like, really low. Other night I died middle of the mountain. But occasionally, with the audience, not just me, with the audience, I felt, like, I got very close to the top.

David Read:
You can’t take a helicopter up there, man.

Tony Amendola:
You can’t.

David Read:
You gotta climb.

Tony Amendola:
So, there was that. But there were a couple of auditions [for] projects that ended up being very, very big projects that I just couldn’t get to, and I wish… I regret not having… It’s bad enough when you do the audition, you don’t get it, and it turns into something big. But when you can’t even do the audition, for the right reason… You’re busy. You’re on set. You can’t. At that time, they weren’t remote taping that much and plus they were long days to learn the script etc. But yes, there are some.

David Read:
Last question. Little bit of a lighter note. And David… My first David that I’ve come across. Hello David. “Tony, did you ever get to take anything home from set? One of your head medallions [or] a staff weapon?” Do you have any memorabilia? I’ve never asked you this.

Tony Amendola:
Yeah. I have a couple of the head medallions. Because they would re-do them. They weren’t permanent. Although people ask how do my… My favorite answer for how did they… What kind of adhesive or anything did they use, then I always say, “Nail gun.” That’s what I say.

David Read:
Well, you’ve got a very expressive forehead.

Tony Amendola:
That’s right.

David Read:
And after long days of being out there, especially in the [Greater Vancouver Regional District], God knows… Jan Newman, makeup key: “You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

Tony Amendola:
Exactly. I remember that.

David Read:
I remember that.

Tony Amendola:
But the other one… The great one about this is that they take great care of you and Jan, she puts, like, a washcloth on your neck because it’s very hot out there in December. It was quite hot, and she took great care of me as did the other people. And they put sunscreen, but I can’t tell you the number of times I take my thing off and there’d be a pale patch because I’d been in the sun for a week. But it’s great talking to you again.

David Read:
You’ve been a blessing.

Tony Amendola:
And it’s great touching base with the fans so I appreciate it.

David Read:
I appreciate it.

Tony Amendola:
I haven’t forgotten you, guys.

David Read:
No, you haven’t. I’m glad… The last time we tried to reach out, it was during the strikes and everything else. And you’ve always been good to me and good to all of us as an audience. We love this character, and we know that you love him. And it means the world to have you whenever we can.

Tony Amendola:
I appreciate it.

David Read:
I appreciate you. Thank you, Tony.

Tony Amendola:
Take care. Be well.

David Read:
I’m gonna wrap up the show. Be well.

Tony Amendola:
OK. Take care.

David Read:
Take care. Tony Amendola, everyone. Master Bra’tac, the Jaffa master in Stargate SG-1. I always get excited when we have this gentleman on. He is one of the coolest and he’s done everything. There are actors that you watch that… You continually see them and the couple of reasons is… Well, I mean, look at that face. That face can be anything in any time period in history so he’s awesome to just look at. But also, you know the ones who are doing the work well because if you’re not, you don’t get invited back. And Tony is definitely one of the ones who deserves every single accolade that he gets. I really appreciate you tuning in. It’s been a busy weekend with shows. I’m getting ready to take a bit of a break in July, though we are gonna have some pre-recorded shows for you as well. This coming Wednesday, this was a last minute… I’ll give you guys a little secret. I send out… I go a few weeks off with sending out requests for the show. Very often I go, like, two or three weeks in between sending out six, seven, eight requests to talent and behind the scenes folks. And generally, one in four is usually what we get in terms of yeses to no’s, or to no response at all in terms of people coming on the show, agreeing to do the show. But this past couple of weeks, it’s pretty much been a yes to everything that I’ve sent out. So, we’re really getting number of these shows in before I head out of town for a little while. So, this was another last minute one. Neil Jackson, who played Khalek in SG-1, and the Punk Wraith in Atlantis [episode] Vegas. So, this was Prototype and Vegas. He is gonna be joining us this coming Wednesday, July the 3rd at 9 a.m. PT so that’s gonna be a rare mid-week live show. Then July the 6th, Craig Van Den Biggelaar, visual effects supervisor for SG-1, SGA, and SGU. He was instrumental in creating the original replicators and we’ll have a big replicator story to tell. You may be seeing that replicator story early on GateWorld by the by. We’ll be discussing Heimdall as well, from Revelations, and a number of other things as well. This guy was fascinating. We talked for an hour about creating some of the coolest visual effects for SG-1. And I cannot overstate that enough to go ahead and tune in [to] check that one out. You’re gonna be seeing my Stargate collection here from my house July the 7th 12 noon PT. And the following Sunday July 14th, Robert C. Cooper and I discuss Seasons Nine and 10 of Stargate SG-1. And then July 21st, I’ll be back live for a special interview with Tor Valenza. We’re gonna catch up on his early seasons in SG-1, finish the second half of the interview that I started with him last season. And then July 27th, Torri Higginson. This is an archive interview that I did with Torri when I was over doing Dialing Home with Christopher Judge. And this is an episode that was shot for Season Two but was never released. It is almost two hours long, of just one-on-one between me and [her]. This is why I haven’t had her on. We already covered this stuff in Dialing Home. So, I’m gonna start airing that next month here on Dial the Gate as well because might as well air it, if other websites aren’t. That’s what I have for you. My profound thanks to my moderating team, Tracy, Antony, Jeremy, Marcia and Summer. [These] guys, can’t do the show without them. My producer, Linda GateGabber Fury, see you next month at San Diego Comic Con. And Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb who keeps dialthegate.com up and running. So, check it out for all of our upcoming episodes. We got a number of great shows heading your way. If you enjoyed this episode, please click the Like button, it does make a difference with the show and helps us continue to grow our audience. Please also consider sharing this video with the Stargate friend, and if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click Subscribe, and giving the bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes. And clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks, on both the DialtheGate and GateWorldDotNet YouTube channels. It’s pretty much all I have for you here. There’s a lot coming up to be excited for. This past week’s interviews have been fantastic. Some really great stories in there so I do encourage you to check them out at your leisure if you have not seen them yet. At this point in the show, I’m always, like, “Is there something I’m missing? Is there something…?” Especially when we’re about to go on a bit of a long break but I think we’ve covered pretty much everything. Oh, yes! Rough Magic. The link is in the description below so do check it out. If you are at the United States or Canada, it is available to you for free, and that website is tubitv.com. So that is something that I… It was great. It is 37 minutes long, and Tony’s fantastic as Shakespeare. I cannot recommend that enough. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you tuning in and I will see you on the other side.