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Good. How are you?
Pretty good. So it 's really... it's not just Stargate, it's Stargate SG-1, isn't it?
Yeah.
Right.
You've had your hair cut obviously for the Hamlet bit.
It shows, doesn't it?
Well, it does, because you have long hair on the series.
Yeah.
Do they care about that or they...?
They do. They... I've never had so many people care about my appearance at one time.
I know what it is.
My parents didn't even... my mum loved the haircut but... the first thing, I got set down when meeting with the president of MGM... and he said: "So you're gonna grow your hair back, right?" and I said, "Okay...It's not something that... I really like it shorter, I like the low-maintenence kind of feel.
Yeah but... can't the guy, the character, like in 30 seconds get written in getting a haircut? I mean, how simple can it be?
That's what I thought. That's what I said, too but...
No, no, they wanted you to be a long-haired weirdo?
Yeah, they wanted me to be the freaky, hippyish kind of scientist, geek, kind of nerdy guy.
Yeah, kind of typecast, huh? (Laughs) So, do you have fans the same way that Star Trek does? Are they becoming legion?
Yes! Science fiction fans, I've always heard are like the craziest, the most obsessed...I've always heard that from other shows, and then I see it. Doing Hamlet in Vancouver right now I have people coming from Germany, Atlanta, and all these places all over the world.
How did they find out that you're in Hamlet?
The Internet.
Oh, right, of course.
The Internet. This wonderful device that science fiction fans take to like a fish to water and...the fans know every detail of my life...
Are there any here today?
I don't know.
Are you here today?... No, fine, we're free.
Just two shifty looking characters...
Those two shif... I think you know those shifty characters, don't you?... Are they friends or fans?
These guys are friends and have been my friends since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so...
Why would you, when you are booming along in this great career decide to do something so scary as Hamlet?
Um... I think for that reason, because I think with television...(Looks at his daughter) Hello, honey!
That's the new baby, we'll get to her. Cute. Cute.
I think that... television can be a very safe haven. And film can be a very safe haven. And you learn to walk this rope, you have the net beneath you all the time because you know, you can screw up, doesn't matter, you can do it again... and you fix it.
Except here.
Except for here. Yeah. But... theater is where I started in, theater is what I love. Shakespeare is what I love. It's very quick... you grow very rusty, very quickly with Shakespeare, and I found that... I didn't want to ever lose that aspect of it because I felt that the more time I spend away from it, the more I was used to screwing up and not having to worry about it, the less I was becoming interested, the more I was becoming afraid of getting back on the stage.
Yes.
And I just pushed myself and said don't wanna do that, I don't wanna be afraid to get on this stage.
And how afraid were you?
Oh, I'll tell you the first night, the first day that we had a matinee I was petrified. I was petrified.
Were you sort of hoping you'd get hit by a bus or something?
Well, yeah, you get those thoughts going through your head.
No kidding.
It's like... I've always thought this about doing theatre that you try so hard to get the big roles, you get the big roles, and then it's time to go on stage that night with people in front of you...
Why me?
Exactly. Why? I'm just the apprentice, I just wanna carry the furniture and just leave it alone. I don't wanna put myself out there but... it goes away very quick, so...
Yeah. And when you're carrying the furniture you think: "Why him?"
Exactly!
How come that schnook is getting the flowers at the end of the thing?!
Exactly.
That's right. You went to UBC, huh?
I did.
Take the theatre program there?
I did.
Were you... did you ever think that you'd have a sort of other kind of job or was it always acting?
Well... I did do tiers of a business degree...
Well, that's helpful for an actor, I must say.
It can be if one paid attention in class but one didn't, so that's why one became an actor (laughs)...I've done two years of a commerce degree. And I lived in Kamloops and I was planning going into business , but I always wanted to be an actor, it was something I wanted to do, I just never had the chance.
Did you grow up in Kamloops?
Yes I grew up in Kamloops.
Kamloops completely changed from the city you must've known as a kid. It's huge, it's like a big city.
Yeah, it' s grown. It used to be 52,000 people, it's gotten to about 85,000 people now, in just a few 4 years.
Yeah. Does your family still live there?
No, they live down the coast now. They follow me everywhere.
This TV series, when you got the job, it's how long now?
It's been... 2 years.
It must've... not only did it help out with the bank account situation, no doubt, because I know those American shows like... hit must be rich beyond doubt now, aren't you?
I get paid well, sure. I get paid very well.
Okay, it's better. It's better than the alternatives, like working at the "White Spot".
Absolutely.
Okay. But with that it's a lot of responsibility, not just fans and everything, but real people must come up to you on the streets, eh?
I don't get that.
I don't get that.
I wonder why that is, maybe because you wear glasses?
I wear glasses, I look different, the hair change. I can just have a day's worth of growth on my face, and my face completely changes. I'm very easily missed that way, which is... to me I like, because I'm a very shy person.
Really? I can see that. So, we'll probably take a clip now. I think this clip is from The Torment of Tontalus isn't it?
Oh, Tantalus.
Tantalus, Tantalus. TAN.
Time to look, yeah.
Okay, let's look at that, okay, I like this episode.
Yeah, you have to differentiate that because Stargate 's just a film.
Really?
I like that episode.
But, you know, episodes are similar.
Very... they can be.
Yeah, you go in there, you get something, you get out.
Yeah.
Or you go in there, you get in trouble, you get out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's always... if there's no danger and there is no peril, there's no point in doing it.
But the thrill is everybody wants to go through that thing.
Yeah.
And I think that's the great compelling thing about it. I knew the story, though, the minute I heard this one. That she would go and you would find the guy, and then I don't know what happens.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Do they all live happily ever after?
Sometimes. Most times but not always which is the one's that I like because it's different.
Is your part gotten bigger?
It started out being pretty big to begin with, I wouldn't say, well you get more leeway...
Is it getting smaller, Michael?
No, it's not getting smaller, it's not getting smaller! No, thank God, it's not getting smaller but it is... you have to earn your keep. A little bit. They hire you and then they say, "Okay, you'll show us what you can do." And you do have to earn your keep, because they wonder. And they listen to the fan response and all other kind of stuff and they really wonder, you know, how you're doing and they wonder what kind of an actor you are because they don't know you from, other than the audition. So they wait and see.
And so far so good.
So far so good.
Okay, we'll take a break and we'll be right back. Michael Shanks.
Roger Shank.
That's funny.
I know, there's not too many Shanks out there, but they always seem to sort of pop out of the woodwork.
They're everywhere. It's the all Shank all the time show!.... How 's Richard Dean Anderson, he's so cute, you sorta look alike.
Someone else said that, I've never gotten that...
Well, that's because the hair is gone and...
That must be what it is.
You could be brothers, long lost brothers or something.
Yeah.
Is he sort of the boss over there?
Yeah, he's the kingpin, he's, you know, not entitled but in... I mean, he runs the show.
Right. So he must know exactly what he wants.
Not all the time, but he knows what he doesn't want a lot of the time. I think, you know, he's more like the critic who just says, "Look, I'll do this, I won't do that," and it's a very normal thing, because he's got a long established career behind him and doesn't want to mock it up with anything silly and trivial.
But he knows what he is, what his character is, and what his place in the firmament is.
Absolutely. And he does know that he wants to have a good time, and that's all he wants to do. At this point of his career he's just interested in having fun.
I don't know. That's a good question.
You think he would like that?
Yeah.
You play hockey don't you?
Yeah.
What kind of hockey?
What kind of hockey?
You know, what kind of position?
What kind of position. I played defense what I would play it seriously, and now I play just about anything exept for goalie.
You don't wanna break that nose.
No. Well I did.
Oh, you did?!
Yeah. Can you see it right there (he raises his head, showing the fracture of his nose.)
Very attractive. I'm glad you showed me that.
You're welcome. That's whay I'm here for.
Oh actors, they'll do anything. So, you played hockey, but for money?
No. No, never for money. But I intended to, originally that was my early childhood dream, as I think every young boy in Canada's dream is to be a professional hockey player and...it never quite worked out that way.
Why do you think?
I think there's a lot of reasons. I think I just lost the sense of fun out of it. Once it gets to a certain level, when the parents are up in the stands fighting and they...
Oh, that's a scream that is.
The coach is raking you over the coals too hard. Especially in Canada, when you're 15 or 16 years old and you're just trying to establish the fun idea of it and you're being asked to go on the ice and fight and hurt people and stuff like that...
So you'd be instucted to do that?
Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes.
Kill, kill, kill.
Yeah, and it was...I mean the fun aspect of it got lost very quickly. And you start to hang on to your stick a little too hard when you worry about it, because you worry about screwing up. So you start to clutch that stick like it's...
Like a cane?
Yeah, like it's an axe! You're just afraid to let it go and after awhile you stop being able to play, because you're so worried about making a mistake that you can't perform anymore. So once I finished playing it seriously and started playing it for fun again, all of a sudden I found out I was a much better hockey player, because I enjoyed it again, and I was having fun when I was doing it.
Do you play hockey with Anderson?
Yeah.
And is he any good?
He is good but, you know, he's lost a little bit of a stride. He's lost a little bit of a step.
Well. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that.
Yeah. I'm sure he's gonna...I'm gonna hear about this!
But maybe he won't hear about this. Maybe he's actually busy.
I think he might be. I hope he might be!
Maybe he doesn't watch daytime TV. So there's a fanclub with your name on it?
Oh God. Yes. And actually the president of such is in town to see Hamlet from Connecticut.
Is that a she or he?
It's a she.
I don't think she's here today.
Right. Well, you didn't tell her I guess.
No, I didn't tell her.
You didn't tell anybody.
No, I didn't tell anybody, I like to keep a low-profile.
And how does one join the Michael Shanks Fan Club?
I think it's just a matter of applying over the internet, I don't know really...
You don't check it out once in awhile?
I do check it out because I have to go to sort of approve things...
Oh, I see. That's fair enough.
Yeah, it's good that way, that you have some say in it at least because a lot of things onthe internet you don't.
Yes I've heard that. You know, you can actually write things in there, you could...what?
We won't go into that!
Oh, okay, fine. No, but I know that there...a friend of mine got sort of slagged on his own website. You know, somebody wrote something in it and then it sort of became part of it. I don't know how that happens.
Yeah. There's no policing on the internet right now and anybody can put anything down there they wanna put down. I mean, it's difficult and I'm sure someday we'll get a reign on it, but for now it's carte blanche.
Do they have real audio with you? On the internet? Do they have you actually talk about everything?
From the show. They have video, audio...
But they don't have you doing like the Simpsons voices?
No, they don't have me doing the Simpsonsvoices.
What kind of...do you do Marge?
I don't do Marge. I do Smithers and Burns.
Who are they? Who's Burns George?
The old guy.
Carry on. You're gonna do the other one.
(Imitating Smithers): Excuse me but I...Your wife is much nicer then Homer's.
(Imitating Burns): Excellent. Release the hounds.
Very good, oh aren't they clever?...You do other voices, can you do Cary Grant?
I can't do Cary Grant. I've been working on Marlon Brando for a long time and I've been working on Jack Palance but...
Jack Palance, well, you can just...all you have to do is do a push-up with one hand.
(Imitating Palance): I just want you to know...I'm one guy.
Can you do the push-up with one hand?
I can't do the push-up with one hand.
Wouldn't it be fun to be invited to do the voices on the Simpsons, be one of the guests?
I tell you. Richard Dean Anderson, who of course is the idol of Marge's sisters, is dying to be on that show but they haven't asked him yet.
Well, why not?
I don't know. I can't figure it out.
Why don't you get somebody to phone them, to make sure they know.
I'll work on it. I think he's been trying to get somebody to phone them.
Oh, he has? Oh, I bet he has because he's got the power.
Oh yeah. An he loves that show. I love that show, too, it's my favorite show.
Now, how long does Hamlet run?
Oh, for heaven's sake...So 100 more...And then you get right off the stage and back into the frame.
Oh, there's a day off, there's Sunday.
There's Sunday?...And you have a new baby. Hi baby. Turn that baby around. Is this the cutest baby? Tatiana and mummy.
She's not having such a great time right now.
This is like that puppy I was doing some work with yesterday, who wouldn't perform. Anyway, thanks very much!
Thank you.
He's not that old! Why isn't he in a hockey film or TV series?
And is she here today?
It runs till the 20th of February.
Gabereau Live Interview Transcript
February 2, 1999
Thanks to my friend Kamil for providing the transcript :)
