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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Welcome everyone to Episode 25 of Dial the Gate. We’ve made it to one of my favorite numbers. I’m David Read:. Hope you’re having a great weekend. I have a friend of mine in the wings here, someone I consider to be very special, Mr. Jay Acovone. He’s going to be joining us in just a moment here. We’re going to be talking about some of his personal heroes, how he got started in this industry, and a little bit about… share some Stargate stories, definitely. So that’s what the plan is for today. We’re going to be bringing him in just a minute. Afterwards, I’ve got some Kawalsky Stargate art to show you. Then, I will be revealing who is going to be coming in next week as well as for the rest of the day. Before we get started here; if you like Stargate and want to see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you click that like button. It really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. If you want to get notified about future episodes, click the subscribe icon. Giving the bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops, and you’ll get notifications of any last-minute guest changes. This is key if you plan on watching live. Clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next several days and weeks on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. Without further ado, the man of the hour, Mr. – he’s taking a drink – Jay Acovone.

Jay Acovone:
Hi everybody. How’s it going, David? Nice to be with you again.

David Read:
My friend. It is good to be with you. You and I bumped into each other in Anaheim, I think in 2010. I was telling you about… I was working at Prop Works at the time, selling off the Stargate assets. I said, “You know what? I would love to interview you,” and you were like, “You know what? Here’s my cell phone number.” That had never happened to me before with an actor, and you have been so good over the past several years. Every time I call you, “you want to do something. All right, let’s do it. That’s fine. All right.”

Jay Acovone:
I stand out in the street with my, “Anybody want my cell phone number?” because nobody calls me.

David Read:
How is it, looking back on this journey that started in ’97, that you are still being called upon, at least by me, to participate in this fantastical world that Brad [Wright], Rob [C. Cooper], and Jonathan [Glassner] created? It is still being reborn, like I just said, coming on Netflix to this day.

Jay Acovone:
Well, here’s the thing, and you know, I can only speak for myself. When you’re involved in something, when you get hired to do a job as an actor, nobody anticipates it’s going to have legs like this. Nobody anticipates that it will be – what’s the word when something has long legs and it just keeps going and going and going? – A cult, I guess; a cult following. But this is, I think, larger than a cult. This is sci-fi really at its best, and people really seem to like it. I’m very happy that the show has gone on as long as it has, and people are now beginning to watch it again. Even the younger kids are liking it and watching it. There you go. I hope I’ve answered your question.

David Read:
No, absolutely. Brad Wright called it an evergreen series: it continues to get reinterpreted across generations. There’s something to be said for a piece of entertainment that continually gets renewed and rediscovered. In some cases, based on the episode that we’re talking about, reinterpreted based on the audience that’s watching it.

Jay Acovone:
The younger generation, as I said, is now watching it. The people my age that used to watch it still watch it. Honestly, I have not seen an episode of the show in a long time. Which means nothing, because my taste in television… I watch mostly documentaries because that’s what I really like. As a lot of people know, I’m a race car fan, so anything with a motor on it, I’m completely attracted to.

David Read:
Jay, what made you fall in… You know what, before I go there, I’d like to know a little bit about who you were as a young person and how it set your course toward your lifelong dream and profession.

Jay Acovone
Well, we had a tough break… First of all, I have a brother and a sister. I’m the baby. I’m 65 now, some baby; the baby is bald and old. My sister is now 70, and I have a brother who is 73. It’s Peter and Diane, then Jay. We had a tough break in 1958. My father passed away when he was 36 and I was three. My sister was, I’m gonna guess… I think, seven or eight, and my brother was like 11. I don’t wanna give you the poor man story, we were never poor, but my mother had to work, and we had to work as we got older. We had to work right away. It’s a small town in New York State, in Putnam County, just above Westchester. It’s a town called Mahopac. Hi to all my Mahopackians. What happened was I started to get an interest in cars and motorcycles, and I had an interest in cars and motorcycles from the time I was a youngster. I think my mother would have done anything to keep us out of trouble, as any parent would; out of trouble, off drugs, off the streets. I wasn’t a big fan of ball sports like football, basketball, [or] baseball. So, on Saturday nights, we used to go to stock car races, and the car thing grew from there. I was working in a gas station, this fella – I was probably 15 or 16 at this time – a kid named John Miller, who I went to high school with – so I was out of high school by this time… I was probably 18, and I was working in a Mobil station, and John had come in. and he said, “Hey. What’s going on? How have you been? Blah blah blah” We were just talking. He used to play the guitar and sing. He told me he was gigging in a couple of local clubs in Westchester and Putnam, and up in Dutchess… and he said he said, “I’m doing a play.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “We’re putting on a play in a local theater in Yorktown Heights, New York,” which is a town close to Mahopac. I knew nothing about theater or acting, or anything, you know. He said, “You should come down and try out for it. You should come down and audition.” I said, “Oh yeah. No, but thanks. Maybe I’ll come and see you in it, but I have no interest in that.” Two days later, I’m at the gas station, and the phone rings. It’s him. He said, “Where are you?” I said, “What do you mean? I’m at work.” He says, “No, you need to come down and meet the director and read for him.” They were doing a… I’ll never remember the name of the play… it’s a Henry Fonda movie in the Navy. I went down there, and read for the director, and I got the part. What the part guaranteed was… I was the shore patrolman who comes and gets the captain’s goat from the drunk sailors. We used a live goat on stage every night, and, of course, the goat would do strange things all the time. And it was guaranteed laughter every night. I said, “This is it, this is really cool.” People laugh with you, maybe at you, I don’t know. It was “Mr. Roberts” – the name of the play. My mother came to see the play, and in the playbook, the guys were asking me what I wanted to put in there. I said, “Just put down my name [as] Jay Jacoboni,” which is my actual last name, and put down that I worked in the local Mobil station. They said, “No, no, no, no. Its got to pertain to theater.” I said, “I don’t know, put down that I intend to attend some school.” And they said, “the American Academy of Dramatic Arts sounds bitchin on paper.” I said, “Great! Put down that I intend to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the fall.” So they did. My mom read this when she came to see the play and said, “What’s this?” I said, “No, no, no. That’s baloney. They just put that in there.” She said, “Well, if you want to go, I’ll pay for it.” I left skid marks out of town, and that was it. I got down to the city, I had to try out… auditioned for the school, and I got into the American Academy…

David Read:
Wow! Geez!

Jay Acovone:
…to the Strasberg Institute. Along the way, I had a few little jobs. I did a few extra jobs first, and then I did what we call “under-fives,” like, under five lines in soap operas. I think it was: “One Life to Live” and then definitely “All My Children.” And then I had my real big break which got me into [the] Screen Actors Guild, and that was the movie “Cruising” with Al Pacino. Yeah and there’s a story that goes along with that too, so.

David Read:
Well, go ahead and tell it, my friend. I want to hear it. When you line it up like that, I’m sorry!

Jay Acovone:
Well, you know… I teed it up for you, didn’t I? One of my big inspirations to be an actor is Al Pacino. I was sitting in the movie theater in, I think, 1972 or 1973, probably 1973, and I was watching this movie about a bank robbery. I was sitting with my friend Rick Leonard, and we got about halfway through the movie and I said, “You know what, I think I could do this.” He says, “What do you mean, rob banks?” I said, “No, you idiot. I think I could do what this fella is doing on screen.” So, he said, “Yeah, sure.” The credits were rolling at the end of the film, and I just sat there. He says, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m going to watch it again because this is great, and watching this guy is unbelievable to me.” So, Al Pacino was definitely a big influence on my… not necessarily my life, but my acting life. I’ve seen everything he’s ever done and followed him.

David Read:
So this profession was already rattling around inside your head long before you got hired at the gas station?

Jay Acovone:
Kind of, oh yeah, well yes.

David Read:
Did your friend who invited you to the audition know this story?

Jay Acovone:
I think so.

David Read:
OK.

Jay Acovone:
I think so. John Miller. His name is John Miller. He’s a lovely guy, lovely guy. I haven’t seen him in many, many years, but yeah.

David Read:
Well, you know, it’s the people who come into our lives… we can never truly know the ripples that they cause on us and on the people around us. So, you certainly were in the right place at the right time for that first audition.

Jay Acovone:
They say that timing is…

David Read:
…everything.

Jay Acovone:
Yeah. Timing is everything. It really is. Right time, right place.

David Read:
Absolutely. Jay, who are your professional heroes, but also who are your personal heroes? Who are the people who helped to shape you into the person you’ve become?

Jay Acovone
Oh, my mother definitely, and my brother and sister. My brother, sister, and I are very close. Of course, my mom was my hero. She died a few years back. She lived to be 94. She was just shy of her 95th birthday when she passed away. She was a huge hero of mine. I had an uncle on her side of the family, Uncle Leo, Leo Hayes. I used to call him for advice and talk to him an awful lot. Just advice in life, not necessarily on acting or anything like that. He was like a father figure for me, absolutely. I had several uncles that I would call on the phone and talk to. My personal hero, I guess, biggest hero was my mom, as far as my life goes and how it affected me. I still hear her voice in my ears sometimes.

David Read:
I have to agree. Seriously.

Jay Acovone:
No, I just got a little… you don;’t think of those things too much, and then all of a sudden when you start talking about them it puts a frog in your throat.

When you start talking about them, it puts a frog in your throat.

David Read:
Absolutely. How was it working with Pacino after idolizing him from his earlier works?

Jay Acovone:
It was just, well, you know, I had seen – as I just told you – in ‘73 in “Dog Day Afternoon” in the movie theater, and in ‘79 I was working with him. So, America is a great country, what are you gonna say? I got a great break with that. That was the director William Friedkin, the producer Jerry Weintraub, Al of course, and the casting director Lou DiGiaimo. These are people that were very kind to me, very kind to me indeed, because I had absolutely no experience: I was an extra, I did a couple of under fives on soap operas, and here I am working with an international film star. He had already done “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Serpico,” ”Godfather” – both of them. So, here I was working with this fella. It was pretty big for me, and it got me into SAG, which is now SAG-AFTRA. That was a big deal.

David Read:
Did you see Stargate in the theater?

Jay Acovone:
The movie?

David Read:
The feature film?

Jay Acovone:
Yes, in fact, there’s a story that goes with that, too. When I was working with Al Pacino in ‘79, do you know who his personal driver was?

David Read:
I don’t.

Jay Acovone:
Dean Devlin.

David Read:
Dean Devlin was his driver?

Jay Acovone:
Dean Devlin was Al Pacino’s driver on that movie. And, so, I’ve known Dean for 35, 40 years, whatever it is.

David Read:
You were in “Independence Day.”

Jay Acovone:
That’s correct.

David Read:
“Did you see that?” – that’s one of my favorite characters.

Jay Acovone:
“Oh my god! Can you see.. “

David Read:
“I can’t let you pass without clearance. You want to see my clearance?”

Jay Acovone:
“Yeah. I’ll give you clearance.”

David Read:
So you went and saw the movie knowing this was his project?

Jay Acovone:
Do that again. Say that [again].

David Read:
Did you go and see Stargate knowing that it was his film?

Jay Acovone:
I knew Dean… I think… I went just as a fan, and I went to the theater and saw it. I don’t think I went to any screening or anything like that. I thought it was very good. It was Kurt Russell and James Spader. I remember it was great. It was a good movie.

David Read:
Did you think at all that it could spawn a franchise of three television series and 400 episodes? Did it give you any sense that it had legs, the story-telling device?

Jay Acovone:
Not those kinds of legs, no. I had a feeling it was good enough to make part two, but I never anticipated they’d ever make a hit television series of it.

David Read:
Tell us the story of how you got involved in SG-1.

Jay Acovone:
My then manager was called by Mary Jo Slater, the mother of Christian Slater. She was the casting director on Stargate. She said, “We’d like Jay to come down and read for this thing.” They sent me up the sides, pages, and I looked at it and said, “Yeah, I’ll go in for this. This looks fun.” The beauty of sci-fi is that, when you read it, sometimes it can be… sometimes it can be, like, “oh my gog. This is far-fetched,” but if you commit to it, if you make it part of your world, if you really commit to it, it make[s] it real for everyone. That’s the hard part of sci-fi. That’s the really hard part of sci-fi. I’ve grown to enjoy that part of it – where we really go, “How is this going to work?” But if you bring it in internally and make yourself part of that world, it just works. If the writing is good, of course. The writing has to be good. In my case with Jonathan [Glassner] and Brad [Wright], they did a great job. They did a great job.

David Read:
This was a character that, I believe, John Diehl played in the feature film. Did you go back and look at the feature film again before?

Jay Acovone:
I did not. I didn’t do that, no. Probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

David Read:
Is that… I’m curious about that. I intend to ask people… like Torri Higginson when she was replacing Jessica Steen for a role. Is that a personal acting choice, to not examine someone else’s work, so you have your own fresh interpretation?

Jay Acovone:
I don’t like to, but to each his own. Especially, I think, in a case where you’re replacing someone, I don’t think it’s good to… what you want is the background and the history that has already occurred, so that you have all that background and history and you can create a back-life of things that have happened. But, for me, it’s not good to watch another actor and try to copy it. It doesn’t work for me.

David Read:
So, you did not audition for “Children of the Gods.” They offered it to you?

Jay Acovone:
Was “Children of the Gods” the pilot?

David Read:
Yep.

Jay Acovone:
I auditioned for that.

David Read:
You did? OK.

Jay Acovone:
Oh yeah. I had to go in and win that role. I auditioned for that, and once I got the pilot, we did the pilot, and then the first episode after the pilot is called?

David Read:
That’s called “The Enemy Within.”

Jay Acovone:
“The Enemy Within,” I didn’t have to audition for that.

David Read:
Right.

Jay Acovone:
We just rolled right into that. That was kind of nice.

David Read:
Did you know when you auditioned for the pilot that they were going to knock you off in episode two?

Jay Acovone:
I knew I wasn’t going to be part of the fire team. That I knew. They were very honest with me upfront. The scripts were already written, and it was written that Charlie Kawalsky expires in the second episode – the episode after the pilot. And it was explained to me that we can’t go back now and rewrite because it would mean getting network approval for all these other scripts. They said, “We’re just simply not going to do that.”

David Read:
Were they considering a rewrite to make you a part of the fight?

Jay Acovone:
I don’t think so. It would’ve been nice, but no.

David Read:
“Enemy Within” is such a wonderful… it really is, in many respects, a part two to “Children of the Gods” because we find out just how powerful these forces are, how powerful the species is that takes over people, and we lose a cherished character real quickly. It sets the stage for some real trouble, and that is largely attributed to your performance, sir, during that episode. It’s a really solid performance.

Jay Acovone:
Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. It’s one of the better episodes of television that has ever been written for me, and I appreciate you saying that. Thanks.

David Read:
Was it a struggle to be strapped to that table for hours and hours a day?

Jay Acovone:
Well, I was strapped to it. I can tell you that. They strapped me down pretty good. As I remember, please help me remember because, you know, it’s been a lot of years. Who directed that? Was that Mario Azzopardi, or was that… No, it was the French guy. He was a French fella. Very nice guy.

David Read:
Dennis Berry. Dennis Berry [French accent].

Jay Acovone:
Dennis Berry. Yeah. Dennis Berry [French accent]. Yes, he did a great job. He did a great job with that, and I don’t know whether they ever had him back. Did they ever have him back again? Did he direct more episodes? I have no idea.

David Read:
Really easy to check. Yeah, he came back. He was right there for “First Commandment” in the first season of the show as well. He did two. So, what was it like acting with the great Don S. Davis?

Jay Acovone:
[I] Miss Don, miss Don. He was a prankster, a joker, and when the director said action, he was all business and he never missed a beat. I got to tell you, the guy was a solid… solid as a rock actor. Just terrific. But, you know, off camera, when the cameras are at rest and everybody’s in between scenes, I’d say that he and Chris Judge were some of the funniest people I’ve ever worked with in my life. They are definitely pranksters and fun to be with.

David Read:
I was on the phone with you about two or three years ago. This is after we had shot for Dialing Home. I was contacting you about, I think, for approvals for a clip or something.

Jay Acovone:
OK.

David Read:
And you asked me, “are you still in touch with Chris [Judge]?” And I said, yes. And you said, “please tell him I love him.” And you know, that really struck a chord with me, how close all of you were. And how, you know, that’s just not the case for every film and TV set.

Jay Acovone:
You’re absolutely right. It’s not the case for most things. Look, I had a great time. You know, between Richard [Dean Anderson] and Michael [Shanks] and Amanda [Tapping] and just everybody, Christopher [Judge]. They were all lovely people. And we suffered the, what is it called, the GVRD together, which is

David Read:
Greater Vancouver Regional District. Yeah. Huge area.

Jay Acovone:
With pouring rain, freezing cold days. And we were all, I don’t want to say miserable, but I do. I will say miserable. It was a miserable time because you’re soaked through. Your clothes are just soaked through and you’re cold. And somehow, someway, we managed to laugh about it and just carry on. They’re great people. I still speak to every… well, I don’t speak to Richard that much. I see Richard once in a great while at a con or something. Christopher, I still speak to on the phone and sometimes Michael. Amanda, I see at different events and things like that. I see she’s doing extremely well…

David Read:
Better than ever.

Jay Acovone:
All of her good stuff that’s happening to her. She’s a lovely woman.

David Read:
She’s doing exactly what she always wanted to do. She always wanted to be a director. Now, as far as I am aware, she is one of the most sought-after directors in Canada.

Jay Acovone:
Isn’t that nice?!

David Read:
It couldn’t happen to a better person, to a nicer person. She’s given off good vibes. Everyone that I hear that’s talked with her has said they have nothing to complain about with her work. She is fantastic.

Jay Acovone:
She’s pretty doggone easy to work with. I gotta tell you. She’s up for everything all the time. She’s just fun. “Let’s go. I’m shooting.”

David Read:
You were brought back for several guest performances over the course of the years. Was it always a surprise to be called back?

Jay Acovone:
It was always pleasant, and whenever they called, I just said, “make it [happen].” I’d say to my agents, managers, if I was busy, I said, “make it happen. I want to go. Let’s go. Make it happen.” Because you know you’re going to have a good time. First of all, you’re going to be in Canada, in Vancouver, which is a great city to be in.

David Read:
Regardless of the rian.

Jay Acovone:
Regardless of the rain. And then you’re going to be working with wonderful people. So, you know, there’s no problems. Let’s go. And you’re going to make money. You’re going to make money acting – what’s better than that?

David Read:
Well, exactly right. If you enjoy the people you get to work with, why would you pass up a single opportunity for that? It may never come again. Life is fleeting that way.

Jay Acovone:
Doggone right, pal. Doggone right.

David Read:
I have a few fans waiting in on YouTube chat with questions for you.

Jay Acovone:
OK.

Jay Acovone:
I’m going to share them. R Radev says; would Jay mind telling us a moment he had on set when they laughed really hard at a funny joke, if anything? Everyone, please understand this has been years and years.

Jay Acovone:
It’s been 35 years. OK.

David Read:
If anything pops in.

Jay Acovone:
Has it been 35 or 30? I’m not even certain.

David Read:
It hasn’t been 30 years. It was 97, so it was 23. But still.

Jay Acovone:
23 years, so, making… funny story… OK. Making the pilot. We were out in the GVRD and they’re setting these charges in the ground. When they set these charges, they’re in a cylindrical tube, and they put the explosive in. Then on top of the explosive, I don’t know what they use, schmutz or peat moss, something very light, so if anybody gets hit with it, it’s not going to really hurt them. I had to come over this hill and shoot this gun, and they wanted me to be right in front of this cannon when it goes off. They yell action, I come up and I’m shooting, and I’m right it – I’m right over this cannon. The cannon goes off, and it’s like dirt in my face. Everything went black. And I thought, “I’m blind!” And, of course, I fell down and I said, “oh my God, I’m blind, I’m blind!” It wasn’t funny, it’s funny now, it wasn’t funny then. Of course, everybody made fun of me for the duration of the shoot.

David Read:
“I’m blind!”

Jay Acovone:
“I’m blind!” It’s just silly things like that that happen. Looking in retrospect, it’s funny now. There was a lot of stuff that went on. Some of the greatest stuff happens when the camera ‘s off. It’s true.

David Read:
A big part of Stargate is the explosions. I’ve always wondered, what process goes into that? When the Death Gliders are firing, they put bags of gasoline into the ground and they just charge them in sequence as if there’s a plane, a Glider flying over. When you’ve got ground ordnance going off, they have to make it look like it’s been buried in the earth, so they have to have all kinds of debris to throw up at you.

Jay Acovone:
Let me just say, the explosive experts on set, the guys doing all the pyros, they were terrific. It’s just I happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

David Read:
So you didn’t know you were right in front of it?

Jay Acovone:
Oh no, I think that’s the important part of the story that I left out. I did not hit my mark properly. I overstepped my mark and the cannon was basically in my mouth and… it went off. And that’s the way it goes. It was all good. It was fine. A funny story comes out of it. It’s worth it.

David Read:
God. Had to make it work, man. Bernd Backhaus [asks], how were you and Christopher [Judge] cast in “The Mentalist”? How did that come about? Or was that just happenstance?

Jay Acovone:
That was exactly right. I didn’t know I was going to be working with Christopher until the night before. I got the call sheet and it said Christopher Judge. I was like, “Woohoo! Look at this, man! How do you like this?” I didn’t call him. I waited until the next day because I saw we were both in at the same time. It worked out nice, and we had a scene together. He and I and Simon. We all had to rehearse [together]. It was good. It was great to see him, and as always, we had a great time.

David Read:
Well, that’s the thing. You and Christopher said the last time we met that the lead actor was probably not too thrilled with how the whole situation happened, but when you get two friends together who haven’t seen each other in a while… they probably didn’t know that.

Jay Acovone:
What’s it, Simon? Tell me his name. Yeah, lovely actor. I forget, is he Australian or English?

David Read:
Simon Baker. Yeah, he’s Australian.

Jay Acovone:
He did say, “You guys know each other?”

David Read:
“No, no. We just automatically get along like a house on fire.”

Jay Acovone:
Like a house on fire immediately. It was great to see him and it was great to do the show.

David Read:
Teresa McAllister [asks]; Jay, would you go through the Stargate if you had the chance?

Jay Acovone:
I’ve been asked that question before, and you know what… If I knew it was safe on the other side.

David Read:
If the world has been explored over there.

Jay Acovone:
Yeah, like, let’s make sure there’s no, you know. I think I would. I think I would, yeah. Look, we got people right now wanting to go to Mars and investigate this… the fellow who owns Tesla, what’s his name?

David Read:
Elon Musk.

Jay Acovone:
Yeah, he wants to go, man. Let’s go!

David Read:
He wants to die on Mars. Absolutely.

Jay Acovone:
I know. I think it’s kind of cool. He has much larger aspirations than I have. I’m looking for the bathroom, but… I think it’s really cool that people want to investigate these things, find new ways of life and new worlds, and all of that. I think it brings sci-fi a little closer.

David Read:
Do you think intelligent life exists out there?

Jay Acovone:
I think it would be naive to think that we’re alone. I do. And I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t think about it or talk about it every day, but I think it would definitely be naive to think that we’re alone. Think about the scope of everything.

David Read:
Jody Foster’s character in “Contact” says, “If it is just us, it’s a pretty big waste of space.”

Jay Acovone:
Gee, you think? Yeah. Absolutely. Yes. I believe there is other forms of life. Absolutely.

David Read:
Jeremy wants to know; as someone who loves motors and cars, I’m curious about your feelings on the instant torque and speeds of electric cars like the Tesla.

Jay Acovone:
OK, my buddy just actually leased a Tesla, and I went for a ride in it, Jeremy. I must tell you, that it’s a torque monster. We were… it was upstate California, we were in Lafayette, we were coming onto, I think, I-24. He said, “Watch this.” I’d never been in one of these electric cars before, I’d been in a hybrid, but not a full electric car. And he nailed the throttle – holy cow! The torque in this thing! We were going 90 like that. We were probably going 27-30 miles an hour on the ramp to get on the freeway. He nailed the throttle, and we were up to 90 in a lot less than a quarter mile, I can tell you that. It’s pretty impressive what they’ve done… what they’re doing with the torque on these electric cars. It’s crazy.

David Read:
The advancement with this technology is just extraordinary. Some people say the battery is not developing fast enough, but I think we’re getting there.

Jay Acovone:
The infrastructure too, having the superchargers where you need them.

David Read:
Exactly.

Jay Acovone:
I watched a really cool documentary… I don’t know how many of you all are into watching documentaries about motors and thins, but I just watched “The Long Way Up,” which is Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.

David Read:
Oh that’s his motorcycle [shop]. Yeah.

Jay Acovone:
They took electric motorcycles made by Harley Davidson, they were one-offs, they were prototypes at the time, they went from the tip of South America and came into Los Angeles. They went through all those countries. It was all about the trials and tribulations of charging the bikes: where are they gonna do it, and how are they gonna do it, and everything else. And they had a couple of chase trucks which were also electric, made by a company out in Minnesota. It’s a really cool thing, and there’s like 11 episodes. I push that on you. Go and see it. I loved it.

David Read:
My dad’s a huge engine fan, so we will definitely be watching this this fall when it comes out. So thank you. “The Long Way Up.” So, anyone who’s out there who digs vehicle mechanics… that technology is up and coming, so I think it’s worth watching one way or the other.

Jay Acovone:
There’s no doubt about it; it’s the future. It is the future. I don’t know whether gasoline is gonna be gone, certainly not in my lifetime, but it’s going to go away.

David Read:
Yeah. It’s just a matter of time. Marc8600 [asks], did you watch any of Stargate outside of the episodes you were in? Did you ever follow it?

Jay Acovone:
I don’t think so. I’m just being honest.

David Read:
That’s fair.

Jay Acovone:
I don’t think I did. No

David Read:
OK. Hey, it’s a job, you know.

Jay Acovone:
Sorry about that!

David Read:
You love the people you work with… I used to be surprised, I’m not surprised anymore, at the number of actors who don’t really watch much consumer television. It’s their day job. Why necessarily would they want to come home and do that for dinner?

Jay Acovone:
Well, I’m married to a TV baby. My wife watches television like, remote in hand like this [spaced out face]. You try to get her attention, and it’s like, “Baby, baby…”

David Read:
Oh my god! “…I’m here!” What does she like to watch?

Jay Acovone:
Well, I watch it with her. because, well… “The Crown.” We were addicted to a couple of shows I really liked, like, there was a show called “Banshee,” years back. Loved that. “Hell on Wheels,” another good show. Let’s see, what else.

David Read:
Was “Hell on Wheels” the train show?

Jay Acovone:
Recently; “The Crown,” I love… what’s the one with the very pretty couple, is it “Outlander”? Claire and Jamie?

David Read:
Is that the time travel one?

Jay Acovone:
Yes.

David Read:
That’s “Outlander.”

Jay Acovone:
I like that a lot. Good one.

David Read:
My parents are big into “Deadliest Catch.” They love all the…

Jay Acovone:
Oh, yeah. Catching fish and all that, and the big [inaudible].

David Read:
King crab in Alaska.

Jay Acovone:
Cold waters.

David Read:
So [it’s] a dangerous profession.

David Read:
barry barry [asks], Jay, do you have an all-time favorite film?

Jay Acovone:
I would have to say “Godfather” 1 and 2, and it’s a toss-up on which one I like more. Because, first of all, all the acting is wonderful in it, the scripts are wonderful, the directing and the production values… the whole brown sepia tones things – they just take you there, they bring you into that world. And I love those two films. Three, not so much. But one and two, absolutely.

David Read:
Everyone says that. I’ve seen the first one, and everyone’s like, “you nee to see the second one!” I’m like…

Jay Acovone:
The second one, to a lot of people, the second one is better than the first. The only thing it really lacks is not having Marlon Brando.

David Read:
Got it. What happened to the third to have it fall off so much?

Jay Acovone:
Well, you don’t have Robert Duvall, for one thing.

David Read:
Oh!

Jay Acovone:
Robert Duvall is not in the movie, and I think that was a… and listen, I’m not a critic, it’s just that to me it’s one and two, that’s all.

David Read:
OK.

Jay Acovone:
It’s one and two.

David Read:
Ian wants to know, what is one of your favorite roles or the favorite role you’ve done in theater, on television, film that sticks out with you over the years?

Jay Acovone:
I really enjoyed playing Joe Maxwell on “Beauty and the Beast,” I really enjoyed that. Working with Linda Hamilton [and] all the fine directors that I’ve worked with over there. Ron Koslow’s writing and George R.R. Martin’s writing.

David Read:
That’s right.

Jay Acovone:
We had a lot of nice writers on that show. We had… I’ll think of their names in a moment.

David Read:
The one wrapped too soon. I don’t think Linda was in the first and second season.

Jay Acovone:
It was Linda in the first and second season, and then the third season was Joe Anderson.

David Read:
Got it. That’s right. That show could have really had legs. It was one of those earlier, kind of like, supernatural-ish series.

Jay Acovone:
Fantasy something, yeah. Really good, though. I really enjoyed playing that. You know, there were small roles that I’ve played over the years that I’ve really enjoyed. I thought David Milch wrote some great episodes for me on “NYPD Blue” that I was very happy with.

David Read:
Ákos Tamás Nováki [asks], and we’re going to be patient with you here; what were the instructions – if any that you remember – to play the emotional range of the Goa’uld-possessed host, particularly when you were strapped to that table, and then after just going through… rampaged through the SGC?

Jay Acovone:
There was one part where I remember being – and I don’t whether this is in the first or the second, I think it’s in the second, meaning; the show after the pilot – where I’m kind of walking up the ramp to the Stargate and I’m standing with my hands out as if being pulled in. The director said, “What’s that? What are you doing?” I said, “Wouldn’t it be pulling me?” And he goes, “Yeah, I like it, leave it.” So, was there any specific direction? No, I don’t think so. You know, I think a director’s job is to guide you. I don’t think a director’s job is to necessarily give you, you know, direction on every single move you make. It’s up to the actor to create that, and if the director sees you going in the wrong direction – of not his vision – then I think it’s his job to put you back on track. I think that’s what a good director does.

David Read:
Brickitect Fan wanted to know, what your favorite episode was that you got to appear in?

Jay Acovone:
The second one after the pilot. The writing was sensational, and I really had a good time with it. You wouldn’t know it by watching it, but I did actually have a very good time. All the pain and suffering was fun.

David Read:
Especially if you’re surrounded by people you trust, at that point. You’ve already been thrown through the trenches, as it were, out in the GVRD to get all that that other stuff done.

Jay Acovone:
I got to shoot that SAW gun, which was incredible. I love that.

David Read:
[Miming Kawalsky and his machine gun]

Jay Acovone:
Oh my, God. I remember Michael Greenberg saying, “You’re going to shoot that,” I said, “Really? Really?” So it was, yeah, that was nice.

David Read:
Was that all in one trip in Vancouver, or did you head back down to…?

Jay Acovone:
Oh goodness no, that was, you know, up and back and up and back.

David Read:
Wow. OK.

Jay Acovone:
Yeah. Yeah. I was an international flyer there for a while.

David Read:
Accumulate those points!

Jay Acovone:
You got it. You got it.

David Read:
Marcia Middleton… hello Marcia.

Jay Acovone:
Hello Marcia.

David Read:
…as a fellow New Yorker, I adore your accent. Have you had to alter your accent for other roles or just for fun?

Jay Acovone:
I have an accent? Yes, let me see. There are times that I have to clean it up. There are times, definitely, that I have to clean it up, and people… bless you… there are times when a director or producer… I’d be in the room auditioning, and they’d say, “Can you take it out of New York?” And I say, “Sure,” because, you know, we’re doing Richard III, not Richard of Third Avenue. So if we can just take it out of New York, that would be great. Anyway…

David Read:
That’s funny, Jay!

Jay Acovone:
Yeah, I mean, I clean it up when I have to, but I don’t like to, because it’s me, and it’s what I do.

David Read:
That’s exactly right. There’s a certain… you know, I had some friends over yesterday who were… they brought in some friends, and as soon as they walked in, it was like the New York accent, it’s very, very clear. Like, you’re going to get people who speak their mind, straight to the point, no BS. And there’s something refreshing about New Yorkers. I’ve always loved that.

Jay Acovone:
We don’t dislike anyone, but don’t play games with us. Let’s just go. Get to the point. I don’t know how much of a New Yorker I am now because I’ve lived out here for, oh my God, I’ve been out here for 37 years or something.

David Read:
How often do you… well, before COVID, how often did you go home?

Jay Acovone:
Well, my brother and sister still live back there. My sister still lives in our hometown. She owns the house that we were raised in. And then my brother… she’s in Mahopac, and then my brother is in a town called Pleasant Valley, just outside of Poughkeepsie, a little bit north of my sister. And the question was, how often do I get back even before COVID? Once a year, safe to say once a year. That’s enough.

David Read:
Berna Bakhaus [asks], does it ever feel strange to play different characters on the same series, like; “Matlock” or “Murder She Wrote,” or are you just coming in and doing a job?

Jay Acovone:
Well, you have to understand, you’re a guest. When you get hired to do an episode, I’m thinking one episode, and I’ve been hired to play many, but when you’re coming… you’re a guest. You know that in eight more days, you don’t have a job anymore. So you come in, you be professional, you show up on time, sober, know your lines, and you never, never hold up production. Again, if the director sees you swerving, taking a hard left or a hard right, he’s going to say, “No, no. Let’s bring it over here because this is where we’re headed, this is the objective, and let’s go with that.” And you go, “OK, great. I was just trying something.” – “Well, OK, great. I’m glad you tried it. It didn’t work. Let’s go this way.”

David Read:
How receptive, on average, are directors to that kind of input, in testing something, trying something out from an actor?

Jay Acovone:
OK. Good question. Here’s something else we have to remember: directors are guests as well. On episodic television, directors are guests as well. Many shows use the same directors over and over, so while I’m shooting, you’re prepping. While you’re shooting, she’s prepping, and so they rotate in and out. If they have four or five directors they constantly use, those people know the bible to the show. They know the dos and the don’ts and all the characters’ backgrounds and histories. To me, that’s the smart way to go. To bring in a person… after a show has been on the air for four years, and to bring in somebody who really doesn’t know the show ust to direct an episode, you have to be careful. The backgrounds of those characters, and the background of the show and the bible of the show is not necessarily known by that person. So, yeah.

David Read:
That’s interesting. Everyone has to be conscious of their space and the space of those around them.

Jay Acovone:
Absolutely.

David Read:
There has to be, I imagine, a certain comfort level before you’re willing to go and try something out on the fly and make the director go, “Why did you do that?” – “Well, in the moment, it felt appropriate based on what my character was dealing with.”

Jay Acovone:
As I said to the principal of my high school when I got caught riding a motorcycle in the hallway, “It felt like the right thing to do at the time.”

David Read:
Did you really do that, Jay?

Jay Acovone:
Oh yeah.

David Read:
As a motorcycle rider, please tell this story.

Jay Acovone:
It was on a dare. It was just on a dare.

David Read:
Oh my god!

Jay Acovone:
It was on a dare, and I got caught, I got suspended. It was horrible. Let’s just say that my mother was not impressed, nor was she happy about the whole thing.

David Read:
Was this during school hours?

Jay Acovone:
Oh god, yeah. I got in a little trouble once in a while.

David Read:
Oh my god, there’s no way you could have gotten out of that without consequences, man.

Jay Acovone:
You know what, it’s more mischie.. I mean. I never hurt anybody, thank goodness, but it was fun growing up in our little town. We had a good time.

David Read:
The way I often look at things, and it seems like it stems from something like that situation, is: you know what, one way or another you’re giving yourself a story to tell for the rest of your life.

Jay Acovone:
You damn skippy, man. Yeah.

David Read:
Ziggy asks a follow-up question in regards to intelligent life; do you believe that we’ve been visited by intelligent life?

Jay Acovone:
Wow, Ziggy, you got me thinking now. OK, well, there are people that believe we’ve been visited. I’m not going to count it out. I’m not gonna discount it. I know there are people in Washington, D.C., that probably know a lot more than we know, people in Area 51. And they do their damnedest to keep it away from us and hide it from people. So you have to say to yourself, “What the hell are they hiding? If there’s nothing to hide, what are they hiding? Why are they so secretive? Why are they being so not forthcoming with this information?” There used to be a thing called Freedom Ridge where you could look down onto Area 51. Well, you can’t go up there anymore. No more of that property is available for anybody to go on. If you get caught up there, there are consequences.

David Read:
Yeah, and the fines are expensive, at the least. So what’s happening? Yeah.

Jay Acovone:
So, I’d like to say, yes, I do believe that maybe we have been visited once or twice, maybe more. Maybe they walk among us. Who the hell knows, Ziggy? I don’t know! I’ve met some strange people in my life, I don’t know about you, and you say to yourself, “Hm!”

David Read:
Have you seen “They Live”? It’s pretty, like, I mean, come on!

Jay Acovone:
I wonder where that young man came from.

David Read:
GateGabber says, Jay, you mentioned Richard III. Have you done any Shakespeare?

Jay Acovone:
No. Nobody’s ever going to pay to watch me do Shakespeare, I promise you.

David Read:
It may be interesting with your accent.

Jay Acovone:
I’m sure it would be. Yes, I don’t mind laughing with people. I just don’t want to be laughed at. I know my limitations. I know my limitations, and away we go.

David Read:
Jo Stallworth [asks], did you learn anything from playing Kawalsky?

Jay Acovone:
Wow.

David Read:
I know, that’s deep. Grinding halt there, I know.

Jay Acovone:
Well, no. It’s not a grinding halt. It’s just, what do you mean by that? I mean, not that I had never shot a gun before. I had shot a gun, but I never shot a gun like that before. A fully automatic, what they call a SAW gun is pretty cool, and you know…

David Read:
Got to be careful.

Jay Acovone:
It makes you feel bigger than you are, [it] makes you feel like you’re in a battle, and it’s a lot of fun to shoot. So I learned how to shoot that. But did I learn anything? I think I see what he means. No, I don’t think so.

David Read:
Even when you’re firing blanks, it’s still a dangerous process to be out there. And I imagine, at a certain point, if you allow yourself to get sucked into it, you can really feel like you’re at war. The intensity of the situation is apparent on some level, especially with the power of what it is that you’re holding in front of you.

Jay Acovone:
You have all these things around you to bring the reality to you as an actor. They have cannons going off that create big explosions all around you. You have this big automatic weapon that’s kicking brass out the side. Everybody else is shooting around you. You have these, what are they called? The bang sticks that the other… the electronic things that the other…

David Read:
Staff weapons. The “bang sticks.”

Jay Acovone:
Thank you. Staff weapons, thank you! There’s a lot of fans laughing right now, saying, “He doesn’t even know what the hell they are!”

David Read:
It’s OK. The “bang sticks.” I’m keeping that one, Jay.

Jay Acovone:
Well, like there you go, get your bang stick.

David Read:
Jeez! DR Essex [asks], when you were growing up, was theater something that was respected in your community?

Jay Acovone:
Yeah, I mean we didn’t have any large theater. We didn’t have like an Actor’s Equity Association theater. We didn’t have a theater that was sanctioned by Actor’s Equity, but you had to go down to Westchester for that, which is the next county down. But was it respected? Yeah, I mean people went to the theater. They went to Yorktown theater, they went to smaller theaters around. We had the Mahopac Playhouse or the Mahopac Farmhouse. It was a big old farm, and I think at one time it was like a Borden’s Dairy which, you know, and inside that they had a theater. And I worked there once for about four weeks. But was it taken seriously? No, I think it was more something to do on a Friday or Saturday night. I don’t think it was anything like, you know, going down county or going into the city and seeing Broadway or off-Broadway or anything like that.

David Read:
Jay, Brad Wright is trying to get a fourth Stargate series off the ground with MGM. Would you be up for returning?

Jay Acovone:
Absolutely. Tell them… you want my number?

David Read:
I can pass it along.

Jay Acovone:
Yes, I would. I would absolutely be up for it. Sure.

David Read:
My friend, it is a treat to have you on. I have really been looking forward to this for a while. You are one of the earlier bright spots in this franchise as a guest star, and you really set the tone in terms of the caliber of a lot of the people who they would bring in as day players and as guest stars. And it’s wonderful to have you be a part of our program.

Jay Acovone:
Thank you. David, it’s always a pleasure to be with you and talk to you. Thank you. You ask really fun questions, nice, and you have great people. So, thank you so very much.

David Read:
I really appreciate your time, my friend. I will be in touch with you soon, and you have a great holiday. OK?

Jay Acovone:
All the best. Bye everybody.

David Read:
Thanks man, you take care.

Jay Acovone:
Have a merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Go shopping!

David Read:
Bye Jay.

Jay Acovone:
Bye, you guys. Bye-bye.

David Read:
Jay Acovone, everyone, on Dial the Gate. Thanks so much for sticking with us. Later today, we have on with us; a trivia team. Darren and Ian are joining us at 1 PM Pacific time. If you are going to be sticking around for that live program, be sure to have a trivia question ready because Sommer is going to be asking us. Sommer, the moderator, is going to be in our ears, and you’ll be able to hear her as well, asking us some trivia questions as we wrap up that particular segment. Ian, Darren, and I have questions for each other, but your questions are going to help finish off that program and determine who’s going to be the new reigning trivia champion. So, I hope you stick around for that. Then at 3 p.m. Pacific time, we have Mr. David Nykl, Radek Zelenka. He’ll be joining us as well. Before I let you all go, though, I do have some Kawalsky art to show you. This is guest artist Flidget Jerome. Let me see here. Well, you know what, I’m wrong. This is the wrong one. This is the wedding art. Here we go, the correct art. I was like, this isn’t right. This is the wrong art. Guest artist Eilidh17, E-I-L-I-D-H-17. This is a widescreen wallpaper that was made from “The Enemy Within,” particularly cool combination of two or three different shots from this episode, Jay’s biggest show. So, if you want to submit your own original artwork, do so at [email protected]. And before I let you go, I do have an announcement to make. We will be revealing who won the concept art behind me in the next episode, for the trivia episode, just starting in about 55 minutes here. The trivia for the month of November, they’ll be getting the concept art that is from “Tin Man” here and then from “The Curse” here. I’ll be sending that to one lucky fan who submitted trivia for the month of November. But for the month of December, and potentially further on, we’re going to see how this works – we’re shaking it up a little bit – Dial the Gate has its first sponsor. Dial the Gate has partnered with 3D Tech Pro for the month of December to give you a chance to get your very own desktop Stargate and customized Ancient keychain. To enter to win these items, you need to use a desktop or laptop computer and visit dialthegate.com. Scroll down to submit trivia questions. Your trivia may be used in a future episode of Dial the Gate, either for our monthly trivia night or for a special guest to ask me in a round of trivia. There are three slots for trivia: one easy, one medium, and one hard. Only one needs to be filled in, but you’re more than welcome to submit up to three. Please note the submission form does not currently work on mobile devices. Your trivia must be received before January 1, 2021. If you’re the lucky winner, I’ll be notifying you via your email right after the start of the new year to get your address and what word you want for your Ancient keychain. Be sure to check out our partner’s website for more Stargate-related merchandise at 3Dtech.pro. That’s all I have for you in this particular episode. We’ll be back on in about 55 minutes with trivia, and then two hours after that, we will be bringing in Mr. David Nykl to discuss Radek Zelenka in Stargate Atlantis. My name is David Read. Thanks so much for tuning in. We’ll see you on the other side.