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Inside the SyFy World of 'Stargate Universe' with Actor David Blue
by Troy Rogers
In the new Stargate Universe series making its
debut on the SyFy airwaves on October 2, former
Ugly Betty actor David Blue plays slacker, Eli
Wallace, a math and computer "jack of all trades"
genius who suddenly gets a visit from Robert Carlyle's
Dr. Nicholas Rush and the military after inadvertently
cracking a near impossible code to a mysterious
gate. When enlisted by the military for his mathematical
expertise, Blue’s character, Eli, soon finds himself
aboard an ancient unmanned spaceship named Destiny
unable to return to Earth but can travel to other
planets via the Stargate.
In Stargate Universe, headed up by cast mate
Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips plus Justin
Louis, Brian J. Smith, Jamil Walker Smith, Alaina
Huffman, Elyse Levesque and Ming-Na, David Blue
brings his unique brand of geeky humor to the
next chapter in the Stargate universe to compliment
some of the show's more serious, harrowing,
emotional and dramatic missions.
Ahead of the October 2 premiere of Stargate Universe, we caught up with David Blue on a recent conference call to learn more about Stargate Universe, what Blue likes most about playing Eli, working with longtime Stargate actor Richard Dean Anderson, and how he's been handling the transition from Ugly Betty to working with green screen.
THE DEADBOLT: What do you enjoy about playing Eli?
 DAVID
BLUE: Oh, that's a rough one. What do I
enjoy about it? There's really not a lot that
I don't. It's very challenging. There have been
many times that I didn't quite know how to approach
something and that's what really excites me
about acting, is having to figure things out.
Then I get to work with some amazing talent out there nowadays. I mean, not just Robert Carlyle who is a great guy and an amazing actor but Ming Na and Louis Ferreira and Brian J. Smith and Elyse Levesque. They really are some of the top people at their game right now. It's amazing to work on a show where you show up and you don't have to worry about if somebody else is going to be prepared and bring something to the table. All you have to worry about is your part, and are you going to be able to live up to it? It's exciting and that's what's great about it; that's what's challenging about it, you know?
THE DEADBOLT: I thought the pilot was great.
BLUE: Man, all you guys have seen the pilot; I'm beginning to wonder if there's anyone left who hasn't.
THE DEADBOLT: [laughs] During the first couple scenes, was that little voice in your head saying, "I'm talking to MacGyver right now."?
BLUE: Little voice in my head? It was a screaming, blaring bull horn. Yeah, actually, because I think we were set up to do hair and makeup, and all that stuff, a little bit further away from the location where we were shooting, so we both had to ride in the van together to get to the set. And the whole time I'm sitting here talking to him and I'm just like, "Oh yeah, so, Richard, people call you RDA. Did you come up with that?" And like I'm asking him all these mundane questions about his life just wanting to be like, "Dude, I know exactly who you are." You know, trying to play it cool. I think he believed me because he hasn't mentioned it since.
THE DEADBOLT: As opposed to your work on Ugly Betty, what's it like to work with all the green screen?
 BLUE:
You know, as opposed to Ugly Betty, it's completely
different. But the truth is, because somebody
asked me recently, I think a fan asked me like,
"What's harder, doing the green screen stuff
or the emotional stuff?" And they're both challenging
in their own way.
In a way, anything with green screen to me is like playing in a sandbox, because I've always been a child at heart and imagining things, pretending to be things, pretending to be a ninja or what have you. It's not much different than staring at a huge green screen trying to imagine a planet or staring into space trying to pretend like there's a 3D holographic projection screen in front of you.
And the truth is, [it's a] testament to Mark and all the special effects guys, because it's never as cool as it ends up being when I see it on screen. Like what I imagine in my head is $1 million less than what they put up there.
It's fun, it's nice. It's an extra challenge more than just when you're being emotional and at the same time having to interact with something floating next to you that isn't actually there. It's even more challenging; it makes you feel like you're doing Shakespeare all the time. I love it.
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