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"I particularly appreciate that because my character is an alien coming into a new world and a new situation. He's dealing with new surroundings and people. It's great that I don't have to be [a stranger] to this place in one episode, then completely at home an episode later. It's the same with the other characters. We're not all best friends after a few episodes. I'm ecstatic about that." Judge is far more friendly and talkative than his formidable character--a former Jaffa slave allied with the SG-1 team, hoping day to free his people from their bondage to their parasitic "gods" the Goa'uld. He's ecstatic about Stargate's syndicated success. SF fans can find new, second season episodes airing Friday nights on Showtime, and can also watch last season's shows as they air mostly on Fox affiliates, at different times in different cities.
"Syndication has been great for us," Judge says. "It has made the show available to a lot more people. When I came back to LA [from Vancouver, British Columbia, where the series lenses], around Christmas and New Year's, it was just amazing to me to see how many people watched the show. It was frightening. Everyone seems to love it. It really seems to have caught on, so much so that I grew hair and a goatee because people were recongnizing me so much."
Teal'c continues to evolve as a character, and Judge is permitted to maitain an unusally liberal hand in forming his enigmatic, bald-pated alter-ego. "My concern with Teal'c was a unique one. I had been given such freedom in the character, for his development. Many of the discussions I had with the writers and producers at the beginning were about how vocal Teal'c should be. I always want him to be less vocal. I want him to have some mystery and to have a lot of what he's feeling [come out] through his facial expressions. I didn't think an alien entering a situation like the one Teal'c has come into would be overly vocal. The writers agreed with me, but it was a risky way to go. I realized that people might say, 'Hey, how come the big guy doesn't ever say anything?' But what I'm doing seems to be working for us and for my character. People understand Teal'c, what he's about, and I'm obviously very happy about that. I remember talking to Michael Shanks before out first episode even aired on Showtime. I said, 'What if nobody gets it?' Fortunately, the audience is getting it."
To date, viewers have learned a great deal about Teal'c and his people, as well as his struggle to accept the physical and psychological sway the Goa'ulds hold over the Jaffa. They've met Teal'c's loved one in Bloodlines and Family, seen the SG-1 team "captured" by Teal'c's Jaffa mentor, Bra'Tac (Tony Amendola), in Serpent's Lair, watched as Teal'c nearly became a guinea pig for creating biological weapons from insect venom in Bane and looked on as he helped Daniel Jackson (Shanks) rescue his wife in Secrets. They've also seen Teal'c slowly grow closer to Jackson, Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Dr. Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and General Hammond (Don S. Davis).
"We're seeing all those things, but I think they have to continue to evolve and explore. I still don't know if the slavery angle has been touched on enough," Judge notes. "What do the Goa'uld mean to the Jaffa, and vice-versa? How truly symbiotic is the relationship between them? I've actually come up with a story arc that I'm going to be pitching soon. If they go with it, it will really spice up the Jaffa-Goa'uld connection. I've hinted at it in passing and the writers seemed interested. So, we'll see. I think SF is about being able to intermingle elements of science, religion and mythology--to put them into one pot. SF lets you talk about things other shows can't, or it lets you talk about things in ways other shows can't. The science-fiction universe is unlimited. So, my [proposed] arc is about how the Goa'uld perceive the Jaffa and, if we do the episode, it'l be a little bit different from what you've seen so far. In terms of Teal'c's relationships with the other SG-1 team members, the relationship between Teal'c and O'Neill is probably the most fleshed-out. That's just because they have so much in common. They're both warriors. They've both had families. They're both single-minded about doing what's right, O'Neill from a military standpoint and Teal'c from a moralistic standpoint--I'm not even sure that Teal'c is more moralistic that O'Neill. They just have different frames of reference. I would love to see more of Teal'c and Daniel's relationship. There's an episode we did [Secrets] in which Daniel finds his wife, Sha're, and he and Teal'c were actually together when that happened. I loved how that was written. The interplay between Teal'c and Daniel was great. There's much more to be explored in that relationship. Teal'c and Daniel are inherently very similar, especially give what Daniel has gone through. There's a lot of common ground there."
Back in Stargate's early days, Judge expressed his fears about playing a slave. He was seriously concerned about the reaction of, among other people, his close friends. But two years later, Judge no longer sounds worried. "They didn't give me any flak," he explains. "They've actually gotten the bigger picture. I was nervous about it. But it has surprised me how much people understand that Teal'c is a liberator. I hate to draw parallels between a real person and a fictional alien, but Teal'c is very much like Martin Luther King, George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. In the fictional world of Jaffa, he's trying to end his people's enslavement. My friends, down to the last one, have really gotten that. That makes me feel good. My friends look for opportunities to needle me and give me the business. If they get it, then I'm pretty sure that everybody watching Stargate SG-1 gets it, too." On series TV, a character often begins life as the writer's creation, then becomes the actor's property. That wasn't quite Judge's experience. "When they conceptualized Teal'c, they really weren't sure what they wanted. I was one of the last guys who read for Teal'c. By the time I came in, I think they were actually starting to stray from the idea of having Teal'c be black. I don't tink that they had met anyone who was definitely Teal'c for them, and I'm not sure they knew what that was anyway," Judge laughs.
"So, from Day one I would say, 'What do you want? What do you want here or there?' They would say, 'We don't know. That's kind of why we hired you, because to us, you are Teal'c. What you did in the audition, just keep on doing it.' So, from the beginning, I've had the freedom to change lines. They've always been very receptive to me saying, 'I don't think this really works here' or 'He's saying too much here.' They just didn't have a concrete idea of who Teal' was, so they have me that leeway." During the hiatus between the first and second season, Judge made an effort to generate his own projects. If everything works out, look for both a feature film and an SF series to carry Judge's credit as producer. "I have to be closed-lipped about both of these thing for now," he says. "I'm going to be busy with Stargate SG-1 for a while, but the show is one that I would like to guest star on. And, given the way the show is set up, that could work. Many of the characters are interchangable. We haven't approached any network with the show yet, in terms of where it would run. But a large company has bought the idea. So, many avenues will be open to us. For years, I had no desire to direct, simply because I don't like actors. But I'm rethinking that, too."
Directing features and some of Judge's other aspirations will, no doubt, have to wait until he finishes his commitment to Stargate SG-1. And that won't happen any time soon. He's contracted to the series for four more years, and Showtime has already committed to at least one more full season. "It's a long, long time, but it means I've got a job. It's great knowing where I'm going to be, who I'm going to be with, what I'm going to be doing. There is a real camaraderie here," he enthuses. "We're all very close as people, and that makes us close as a cast. You can see that on the screen. It's also great to know that I have input into character development. I can't lie, though, and say there weren't things that I had an opportunity to do that I had to turn down because I was here. But when it's all said and done, there will hopefully be more doors open at the end of Stargate SG-1, so I don't have to worry about the doors I've had to walk by while doing the show."
As the talk ends, Judge contemplates his future--and Teal'c's future. Where does Judge envision Teal'c will be in the very last episode? "I don't know. I really don't like to plot out where he's going. If where he goes is not where I think he's going, then I can't give as honest a portrayal as I would like to. It would be more contrived. So," Christopher Judge concludes, "I'm evolving my performance as Teal'c evolves. One thing I would like to see is him integrating with humans more, with the people who've become his friends. At the same time, I want him to maintain his uniqueness. It has been established that Teal'c is of human ancestory, which is interesting. I would like to see him deal more with his emotions. He has lived 97 years without ever being able to voice his opinion or show any kind of emotion. I can guaran tee you, you'll see more of that."
