The Deadbolt Exclusive - Exploring the New 'Stargate Universe' with Lou Diamond Phillips

Exploring the New 'Stargate Universe' with Lou Diamond Phillips
by Reg Seeton

Lou Diamond Phillips has played a variety of interesting and unique characters in a career that saw the now veteran actor rise to fame in such memorable films as La Bamba, Stand and Deliver, Young Guns, and Courage Under Fire before heading to the small screen for roles in 24, Numb3rs, Law & Order: SVU, Psych, and more. Fresh off of an appearance in the acclaimed Steven Soderbergh directed film, Che, and a lighthearted "King of the Jungle" victory on the reality series, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Lou Diamond Phillips is drawing upon his sci-fi experience in such projects as Supernova and the 2005 miniseries The Triangle to step into the shoes of the supremely confident and highly skilled Colonel Telford in the October 2 premiere of Stargate Universe on SyFy.

Joining a new Stargate cast headed by Robert Carlyle, Lou falls in line with the Stargate Universe crew as a stubborn but skilled F-302 fighter pilot alongside actors Louis Ferreira, Ming-Na, David Blue, Brian J. Smith, Elyse Levesque, and Jamil Walker Smith. Phillips and his Colonel Telford character, along with Robert Carlyle's Dr. Nicholas Rush, make up a collective of soldiers, scientists and civilians who find themselves on their own after being attacked and forced through a Stargate. Lou Diamond and his new Stargate Universe cast mates soon learn they're onboard and ancient ship with a locked course for parts unknown and unable to return to Earth, which thrusts the new castaways into desperate quest to unlock the secrets of the ship's Stargate for their own survival.

Ahead of the October 2 premiere of Stargate Universe, we jumped through our own Stargate wormhole phone where we found Lou Diamond Phillips who gave us fresh one-on-one insight into Stargate Universe. In our recent Stargate Universe exclusive, Lou shared his thoughts on what it was like to join the Stargate franchise, his character, working with Robert Carlyle, how he approaches science fiction, filling a void after Battlestar Galactica, and if he'll eventually step behind the Stargate camera.

THE DEADBOLT: You look pretty cool inside the cockpit of a fighter.

LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS: [laughs] Well, you know, the uniform and all.

THE DEADBOLT: What type of feelings did you have stepping into a franchise with such an established history?

PHILLIPS: I absolutely love this film. I'm very, very grateful to Richard Dean Anderson for having created such a success from the beginning, and obviously Brad [Wright] and Robert [C. Cooper] continued with Atlantis. So I had a lot of confidence in the beginning. To be part of something that had that kind of legacy, there’s already a level of quality to it. There’s a level of respect for the success that’s come before. But at the same time, coming into it, I knew that they wanted to do something different and I found that exciting.

So what’s interesting is - for lack of a better way of putting it - the "baggage" of a show that came before it and myself, who’s been around for God knows how long and a resume on IMDB as long as my arm, I’ve got baggage, too! It’s interesting. There's also a need on the show to have somebody who’s a veteran. It’s a big nod to be in the same boat as Robert Carlyle. But at the same time, we’re a little outside of the box from what people might have expected for Stargate.

THE DEADBOLT: Was there any pressure on the set given the success of Battlestar Galactica in terms of filling a void? I mean, pressure knowing there was a void on the network with Galactica gone?

PHILLIPS: No, I don’t think there was any pressure whatsoever in respect that Stargate Universe was not predicated on the success of Battlestar. I think that Stargate Universe simply came out of a need for Brad and Rob to continue doing what they’re doing and continue the journey. It’s not like they went, "Battlestar Galactica was such a big success, let’s do something just like it." I think this was in the works for them for a long time. I think with Battlestar’s success, both with the audience and with the critics, it has expanded what some might expect from their series. And so, what I would say is that it probably prompted Brad and Rob to put their thinking caps on and go, "We’re not going to do what we did before." The slate is kind of wiped here and we can do almost anything we want and know there’s an audience out there for it.

THE DEADBOLT: What was it about the SG-U script and the Colonel Telford character that spoke to you?

PHILLIPS: Well, I’ve said this before: The original two-hour pilot and the episode that follows it, very few people with my resume would go, "Oh, my gosh! This is something I’ve got to do." I don’t have a lot to do early on with the series. But it was in conversations with Brad and Rob that led me to take a leap of faith. This guy’s going somewhere. He’s going to be a player and will contribute to a very interesting ensemble and a lot of very interesting interpersonal dynamics between the characters. And knowing that I get to work with Robert [Carlyle], you’re upping your game.

Chris MacDonald is an old buddy of mine, so it was a real pleasant surprise having him there. Meeting the new cast, like Dave [Blue] and Louis [Ferreira] - Louis Ferreira was in a film with Keifer Sutherland and myself called Renegades way back when. Suddenly it was it was old home week. And Brian J. Smith and Elyse Levesque, Alaina Huffman, were very exciting to work with because they brought such enthusiasm and such talent. We really have a cast that comes from across the board and everybody is very unique and individual in what they do. It’s created a great atmosphere on set and it’s one I’m really proud to be a part of.

THE DEADBOLT: What elements of the series tap into the science fiction that you might have wondered about as a kid in regard to the universe and beyond?

PHILLIPS: I’ve been a fan of it for a long time. It’s funny, you know? My wife is a geek She could tell you the opening scroll of any one of the Star Wars films. We’re both fans of fantasy. It’s definitely a genre that I absolutely adore. Blade Runner is one of my favorite films of all time; probably one of my top three. I see that they’re re-making Outlander, too. I was a Star Trek Fan. I really think sci-fi in general quite often can be like what the Westerns were in the '50s, sort of this "other world". Questions of what’s right and wrong, good and evil, all of the big human traits of character and morality and ideals. So when it works, you’ve got this fantastical arena where very human drama plays out. When you’re creating a life and death situations constantly, it allows you to throw things off and not sound too precocious about it.

THE DEADBOLT: After roles in Supernova and The Triangle, how do you approach a sci-fi project? Do they require something different from you from an acting standpoint?

PHILLIPS: In many respects, doing sci-fi calls upon acting muscles that you don’t have to use normally. It’s wonderful to sit down across the table from Robert Carlyle and just create this drama where the acting is pretty fantastic. Not to say that that’s easy, but that’s what you went to acting school for. What’s difficult is standing in front of a blue screen imagining a battle going on in front of you or a field of stars, or all the stuff that’s really not there and committing to it in making it real, because if there’s doubt in your eyes, the audience doesn’t buy it. It one-hundred percent requires you to commit, to trust and go for it.

I’ve worked with some amazing actors - Eddie Olmos, Harrison Ford and Denzel and Meg - and that’s what just clicks. It’s not work. It’s magic. It is one-hundred percent incumbent upon you to create that world. Stepping onto the Stargate set for the very first time, you walk in and you look at the set they’ve built and you go, "All right! I’ve got to support you, man." It ain’t cheap. We’re really swinging for the fences here.

THE DEADBOLT: After so many years removed from La Bamba, it’s interesting that you and Esai [Morales] are both on SyFy in sci-fi shows. Have you guys crossed paths and talked about it?

PHILLIPS: No. You know, it’s part and parcel of what’s going on out there. The biggest films are the films that show up at Comic Con. They’re comic books and sci-fi, fantasy, action adventure. I really think that sci-fi has moved away from the fringe. There are a lot of people who enjoy it. It’s not a real surprise that people in my generation are popping up in space and whatnot. It’ll probably be a real landmark when somebody like Sean Penn shows up. [laughs].

THE DEADBOLT: Has there been any talk about you hopping in the Stargate director’s chair?

PHILLIPS: A couple of people have talked to me. We’ll have to see what happens coming up in the next season. We’ll have to see if it gets picked up for a second season, if I get picked up, how much they’re interested. I’ve directed episodes of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits up in Vancouver. They’re all vouching for me. It’s not out of the question. I’m actually talking to some people about directing something on the hiatus that’s coming up before the second season. The director’s chair is something I’m eyeing a lot more these days. Plus I’m doing a lot of writing these days. I’m actually writing a sci-fi idea. It was actually my wife’s idea. She’s the geek with the ideas. You know, she really came up with a great idea and I’ll exploit her for it.

-- Reg Seeton