“Major Paul Davis” returns to Dial the Gate to update us on his world, take fan questions, and explore his darker half as King Vortigern in the Pendragon Cycle.

Share This Video ► https://youtube.com/live/CYloLqqBI28

Visit DialtheGate ► https://www.dialthegate.com
on Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/dialthegate/
on Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/dialthegate
on Instagram ► https://instagram.com/dialthegateshow
on Twitter ► https://twitter.com/dial_the_gate
on Bluesky ► https://bsky.app/profile/dialthegate.bsky.social
Visit Wormhole X-Tremists ► https://www.youtube.com/WormholeXTremists

Visit The Daily Gate ► https://www.youtube.com/@thedailygate

MERCHANDISE!
https://www.dialthegate.com/merch

SUBSCRIBE!
https://youtube.com/dialthegate/

Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
0:43 – Opening Credits
1:11 – Welcome
2:02 – Guest Introduction
2:59 – Submit Questions in the Chat
3:28 – Colin’s in Sicily
3:58 – Colin’s Working in Europe Right Now (A.M.I.)
5:22 – Working with Mads Mikkelsen & Diane Kruger (A.M.I.)
8:12 – Colin’s New Project Is a Survival Sci-Fi (A.M.I.)
9:04 – Colin’s Performances Can Be Terrifying
10:27 – The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin
11:50 – How Colin Joined The Pendragon Cycle
12:56 – Creating Vortigern with Jeff Dawn (The Pendragon Cycle)
15:23 – Colin Was Directed by Jesse V. Johnson (The Pendragon Cycle)
15:46 – Swinging Swords is Exhausting (The Pendragon Cycle)
16:25 – Colin Lost His Sword in One Take (The Pendragon Cycle)
17:04 – There Were No Great Expectations (The Pendragon Cycle)
17:35 – The Initial Reaction in London Was Excellent (The Pendragon Cycle)
18:52 – Hollywood Ignored It (The Pendragon Cycle)
19:32 – It Blew Up on Prime Video (The Pendragon Cycle)
20:37 – Why The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of Merlin Is So Cool
21:44 – It’s Violent and Horrible (The Pendragon Cycle)
22:41 – Tom Sharpe as Merlin (The Pendragon Cycle)
24:28 – It’s Full of Nuance & Authenticity (The Pendragon Cycle)
26:01 – An Unknown Cast of Incredible Actors (The Pendragon Cycle)
26:46 – It Was a Delightful Project to Work On (The Pendragon Cycle)
28:30 – Hollywood Is in Trouble
28:53 – Everything Has to Be Controversial These Days
29:55 – Colin’s Love for Angels with Dirty Faces
31:12 – Everything Gets a Political Label These Days
32:45 – Two Keys in Art: “Sucks” & “Doesn’t Suck”
33:36 – Stunt Work on The Pendragon Cycle
34:19 – The Cowboy Switch Explained (The Pendragon Cycle)
35:19 – Acting Is a Team Effort (The Pendragon Cycle)
36:26 – Major Davis Wasn’t in Love with Carter, But Colin Was
37:50 – Amanda Directed Colin in The Magicians
38:49 – Directing Is Terryifng
40:19 – All Performing Arts Can Be Scary
41:52 – People Are Afraid of Embarrasing Themselves
43:15 – Following Your Heart
44:50 – Colin Has Followed His Calling
46:56 – Following a Dream Comes at a Cost
49:25 – The Importance of Staying Grounded
51:39 – Colin’s Episode Recommendations for The Pendragon Cycle
53:16 – Auditioning for Dean Devlin’s Projects (The Librarians)
54:03 – Hollywood Committed Suicide
55:26 – Colin Looks Great
56:52 – Where Is Major Davis Now?
57:40 – What’s Next for Colin?
58:35 – The Pendragon Cycle Is Doing Great
1:00:20 – Colin’s Upcoming Projects
1:02:34 – Thank You, Colin
1:03:59 – Colin’s Poem
1:05:33 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:13:37 – End Credits

***
“Stargate,” “Stargate SG-1,” “Stargate Atlantis,” “Stargate Universe,” and all related materials are owned by Amazon MGM Studios.

#SaveStargate
#Stargate
#DialtheGate
#turtletimeline
#wxtremists

#Stargate
#DialtheGate
#TurtleTimeline

TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. I get to bring these episodes to you guys every couple of weeks here. And I’m operating on the fly because I left one little thing out here. But every once in a while, I get to talk with people who are important to me and people that I care about and are important also to the mythology. And one of those people certainly, in this case, is Mr. Colin Cunningham. And I am thrilled, always thrilled to have him on. Sir, how are you doing? How are things going in your world?

Colin Cunningham:
I’m doing well, David. Thank you, and hello, everyone out there. But you made me laugh ’cause you said people who are important to me …

David Read:
Important to me.

Colin Cunningham:
… but also within the Stargate vibe. And I thought if you had a proctologist who was a huge Stargate fan, would you be interviewing him, David?

David Read:
I would eventually get around to him. Yes. He wouldn’t be number one on the list, but he would be somewhere down there, if you know what I mean.

Colin Cunningham:
I’m happy to be here, man. It’s amazing how many years you’ve been doing this and that you and I have known each other. And it’s a delight. It’s funny ’cause when I see you now, to tell you, to be perfectly honest, I don’t think Stargate. I just think David.

David Read:
That’s it, man. Thank you, Gatecon. Thank you, an extraordinary Stargate family. So, it is the gift that keeps on giving. Folks, we are live now. I know it’s early for a lot of you Pacific folks who are probably joining us with a cup of coffee. I really appreciate you being here. But the YouTube chat is filled with a bunch of dedicated fans who are modding this episode. And if you submit questions to Colin or to myself, if you would like to, go ahead and do that. Put a little question mark on the front of it so it gets their attention, and then ask your question. Colin, where are you in the world, Carmen Sandiego?

Colin Cunningham:
I’m in Sicily.

David Read:
You’re in Sicily.

Colin Cunningham:
In a little town, beautiful little medieval village called Ortigia, Sicily. And I decided to come out here. I was blessed to get the chance to work out in Bulgaria. Finished up a film with Mads Mikkelsen and Diane Kruger. And I thought, “OK, Sicily’s close,” and I wanted to see it. So, I’ve been hanging out here for a couple of months now. It’s a real delight, man. It’s a beautiful place.

David Read:
Tell me about working with Mads Mikkelsen.

Colin Cunningham:
That was really cool. I was in Europe. It’s amazing ’cause all this ultimately circles back to Pendragon, which I’d love …

David Read:
We’re gonna get to it.

Colin Cunningham:
… to talk about, man. If anything, I’m so tired right now because I’ve been in a state of euphoria and celebration, and there’s such a wonderful story behind it. But anyway, I happened to be here. And Jesse V. Johnson, who directed many episodes of Pendragon, sent me a text and said, “Where are you?” And I said, “I’m in Europe.” And then he said, “Can you come out to Bulgaria?” And I said, “Yeah. What’s up?” And he said, “You wanna do something opposite Mads Mikkelsen?” And I said, “Yeah.” I don’t wanna talk too much about it because, I don’t know. You never know how the cut’s gonna go. They’re still in post, and you can be whittled down to one line or not at all. But I will say this, it was an absolute joy to work with Mads. It’s nice to work with actors that get it. It becomes really easy. It’s like throwing a ball with someone who knows how to catch one, and then they throw it back and you catch it, and it can be very relaxed and very, very cool. And it’s about the work, and it was super fun.

David Read:
Do you ever become–This is probably gonna speak more to your character than to anything else. And I think I know how you’re gonna respond–But do you ever get self-conscious when you’re rubbing against a pro like that guy? It’s like, “I don’t know about my serve on this one. Maybe I need to polish this a little bit more.”

Colin Cunningham:
Let me say this. So, self-conscious, no. But there were a couple of moments when I saw how good he was, which means I wasn’t, say, in the moment. Now I look like the character, I sound like the character, but what I’m thinking is, “God, you’re good.” He was so good, I don’t wanna say I broke character, but I’m thinking, “Wow.” It’s amazing what he’s been able to pare down his performance to thought. Sometimes depending on the character I’ll gesticulate, I’ll whatever, and you move. Whereas Mads is able to …

David Read:
He’s subtle

Colin Cunningham:
… bring it here.

David Read:
He’s right here.

Colin Cunningham:
So subtle. In fact, I thought, “Wow.” ‘Cause I knew he wasn’t doing anything. He was allowing himself to think. You feel the energy. It’s micro. I couldn’t even tell you what was different about his face at that particular beat, but it was amazing how much can be read in a performance simply by thinking. ‘Cause he wasn’t doing anything. So, it was really, really cool ’cause it’s master class stuff, and it’s great. It’s always better to play ping pong with someone who’s better than you. You get better. And it kinda hones things down and refines it, and it was a joy, an absolute joy.

David Read:
And you mentioned the actress’s name. Diana, was it?

Colin Cunningham:
Diane Kruger.

David Read:
Diane Kruger. Tell me about her.

Colin Cunningham:
So, in good company. We had barely a scene together. But super nice. Most all my stuff was essentially with Mads. But I don’t wanna jinx it by saying anything, but look, I was blessed to go out, and it’s like you’re playing baseball with Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth on a Sunday. If anything ever comes from it, you really don’t even care. You hope, but you got to play.

David Read:
You got to get into the field.

Colin Cunningham:
It was really, really cool. So, I had a great time. It was tons of fun. And I got to work with somebody like Mads, and who can complain? It was great.

David Read:
Are we a year out? Are we six months out? Have they given you any kind of a timeframe tentatively?

Colin Cunningham:
No. I’m gonna say it won’t be more than six months.

David Read:
What’s it called?

Colin Cunningham:
It’s called AMI, A-M-I, automated something intelligence. It’s a …

David Read:
Ooh, sci-fi.

Colin Cunningham:
… sci-fi, absolutely. But it’s sort of a survival flick. It’s mostly Mads, and then flashbacks: what happened on the ship, how did he end up in this situation? But he has this relationship with an AI who’s guiding him through his survival process and what to do and how to do it, and all the different spectrum of emotions and everything that goes with it. But it’s very, very cool. I was very happy to do it.

David Read:
Interesting. All right. That’s exciting for us. I’ll keep my eyes open for that. You and I have been talking for a really long while here. Let me configure this so you can see what I’m showing everyone here. You and I have been talking a really long while about the Pendragon Cycle. And this guy right here.

Colin Cunningham:
How fun is that, huh, David?

David Read:
I have talked–

Colin Cunningham:
Rawr.

David Read:
Fun for you, perhaps. I have talked about how you have terrified me in person at events when you were on stage. I didn’t even realize until the nightmares that came to me the night after. You get into people’s bones. You hit something on a species level with your characters when you are blessed to have a character with that range. And what I have seen of this character, you do that again in terms of playing something that is, “Ooh, this guy, that’s an interesting dude.” Tell me about creating the Pendragon Cycle.

Colin Cunningham:
I’ll give you a little bit of a backstory.

David Read:
Please. Can you tilt the laptop up just a tad?

Colin Cunningham:
Totally.

David Read:
Perfect. Thank you.

Colin Cunningham:
All is well.

David Read:
Hello. Hello, ceiling.

Colin Cunningham:
There we go.

David Read:
That’s great. You have a ceiling. Very good. Very good. God.

Colin Cunningham:
Basically there are a series of novels called The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin, and they were immensely popular and really, really cool. And essentially the story is, it’s Arthurian. It’s King Arthur, Knights of the Round Table stuff. But what makes Pendragon Cycle different is that it’s before Arthur’s even born. So, it primarily tells the story of Merlin. You hear about Merlin the wizard in the King Arthur stories. He’s an old man and–

David Read:
He’s in Stargate.

Colin Cunningham:
All that kinda stuff. Whereas this, we start from his birth. So, we get to know him and the stories of his parents and Atlantis and the druids and all the folklore, the legend, all this kinda stuff. So, the books fill in before we get to Arthur. And I’d heard about it. I knew a few people that were working on it, some folks that I did some charity work with. Total independent production. Fully, completely, totally independent. No Hollywood system, no nothing. And I said, “God, I’d love to take a swing at this.” So, I reached out to them. Long story short, I end up flying to Budapest, where they shot a good chunk of it. They shot Italy, Budapest. They were all over the place. But again, it being independent, it wasn’t a big Hollywood thing. Long story shorter, to begin another story, I get to Budapest. You don’t really know much about the story, you don’t know what the show is. Look, you’ve got the script. You know the material’s fantastic. I’m like, “This looks great.” But until you get there, you don’t know a whole lot. It’s like, what’s the feel? What’s the vibe? What kind of a thing are we doing here? ‘Cause they’d already been shooting for a couple of months before I got there. But the blessing for me was that Jeff Dawn, who is an Academy Award-winning makeup artist, he won an Academy Award for Terminator, and he’s unbelievable. He’s so good. You can come to Jeff with ideas. He wants to hear your ideas, ’cause it’s a dance. It’s a collaboration. And I’ve known Jeff for decades and worked on a number of different projects with him. It’s nice, ’cause I show up, it’s not like I’m a good-looking guy, and you put on the pancake and I look like me. I’m always shifting and changing things around.

David Read:
Character actor.

Colin Cunningham:
So I asked him, I said, “What’s the vibe of the show?” He said, “Da, da, da, da, da.” And I said, “Look, the other men in the show, are they all super good-looking, handsome, muscular, ripped, fit as hell, and everybody coming off sexy like Viggo Mortensen?” And he said, “Yeah.” And I said, “Give me cancer.” Literally, I said, “Let’s make Vortigern a sickly king.” There’s no vitamin D. There’s no sunlight. You’re eating crappy food even if you’re the head of your kingdom. And his knees are burnt, and he’s a warlord. The actual guy was a badass. He was not a good guy. He was a warlord. He was ruthless. He shed a lot of blood. And I reimagined him a little bit as someone who’s at the end of his life. Or at least he can feel the end coming soon. The kingdom’s falling. He’s trying to hang on to it, and he’s having some second guesses. He’s looking back and thinking, “I did my best. I did what I had to do.” But he knows the end has come, and he knows that when Merlin appears, he knows the legend. He knows– He’s heard of Merlin.

David Read:
That’s it.

Colin Cunningham:
He trusts this guy’s word even though they may be at odds. He knows that Merlin can see things that he cannot. So, I saw it as really, really complex and different. He’s a bad guy, but of course I don’t have to play him that way. I thought I’d play him as a guy who’s approaching his death. He’s still got some fire in him. He’s got one more battle to knock off, and play with that and see what happens. And the blessing when I got there was Jesse V. Johnson, our director. Man, I can’t say enough about this guy and the way he works, how you can be so structured and yet be so fluid and so flexible and so on the fly. ‘Cause if he sees something– There’s a scene– We rehearsed for a long, long time for these battle sequences, ’cause they’re real swords. They’re blunted. They’re not sharp, but they’re heavy as hell.

David Read:
They’ll hurt if you hit someone with them.

Colin Cunningham:
And the way the stunt team works, they’re not faking it. You have to make contact. If you’re gonna kick somebody 10 feet back, you have to physically kick them and move them. So it was exhausting, and I mean exhausting. Obviously you’re not in a real battle, but man, you’re swinging swords. And we did all this choreography, and you gotta keep it safe and all that kinda stuff, ’cause the stunt teams, they’re legendary guys. They’ve done some incredible work. Anyway, there was one where I’m in the middle of this battle, and such and such is supposed to happen. And on camera it happened. I lost my sword. It came out of my hand and it got caught on something. And so I put up my hands, ’cause I don’t know what to do. And then it was, OK, I don’t know what to do. Cut. ‘Cause the scene’s supposed to continue. Everything that was supposed to come after that, Jesse threw out the window. He says, “No. It’s perfect. We’re gonna do this now. Now you’re a king without a sword.” The metaphor’s insane. It was this beautiful discovery of things. Anyway, all that said, it was made by a talking head website company. And to be perfectly honest, none of us had any grand expectation for it, because they were doing something– Even if you know what you’re doing, you’re not gonna attempt The Lord of the Rings. You’re not gonna do it. The caliber of where you need to be is so high. And it was a real trip, because when we finally, X amount of months, a year and a half later, whatever it was, I was invited out to London. Jeremy Boreing invited me out. And I thought, “Oh, great.” To screen the first, I think it was the first three episodes, in a movie theater. And I missed the guys, and I wanted to see the rest of the cast, Tom Sharp and these incredible people that I’d worked with. And so we went out to see it. But we’re like, “OK, here we go.” And everybody was like– You couldn’t even look at it. It didn’t– You had no idea what you were seeing, because it looked so–

David Read:
Did you not perceive that on the page?

Colin Cunningham:
Yeah, maybe in your mind …

David Read:
But here it is.

Colin Cunningham:
… but it transcended that. The score was a real score. It wasn’t this drone bottom end. It was an actual authentic orchestrated score. And how it was shot and the locations, it was staggering to look at. And it was… I couldn’t even say if I liked it or not, ’cause I couldn’t even look at it. It was, “Wow, what the heck is this?” Anyway, I’m getting lost in a tangent. The wonderful story, and God, I’m so happy. It’s such a thing to celebrate. Because it was a little nothing, and because it was produced independently, Hollywood completely ignored it. And the reviewers, nobody reviewed it. If anything, it was blackballed or shadow-banned, and who the hell do these guys think that they are, and all this kind of stuff.

David Read:
How dare they.

Colin Cunningham:
Anyway, nothing. And granted, on the website you had to subscribe to the website, 30 bucks a month, whatever it was, to watch the show. But it wasn’t a huge platform like Netflix or Amazon or anything like that. Long story short, they put it onto Amazon. And it was so strange, David, because there was no marketing, there was no advertising for it. It didn’t show up in the menu. It wasn’t even in the menu. There was no banner. You had to search for it, and if you didn’t know the name of it, you never saw it. So, if you’re sitting at home saying, “Oh, what do you wanna watch tonight?” “I don’t know, put on Amazon. Let’s scroll through and we’ll see what looks good.” It wasn’t even there. Within 24 hours it was number three in Italy, I think number five or number seven in Spain or Portugal, and then it went to number one in England and Ireland. And Amazon was like, “What the hell is this thing?” There was still very little info on it, and then they thought, “Let’s get it into the US and Canada and see how…” And it’s gone number one. It’s the number one fantasy show on the planet right now streaming on Prime Video. And it’s great, because the story, it’s the movies we grew up with. It’s druids and swords and magic, it’s Excalibur and horses and wizards. And it’s really cool. And there’s no agenda to it. It’s just a story about people. It’s valor and courage and dignity and honor, and trying to have faith when all the odds are against you, and how you create a country? And that’s essentially what the story is. ‘Cause Rome, I think, has only fallen, it’s only been maybe gone 100 years, 50 years, and you still have all these competing tribes and …

David Read:
Picking up the pieces.

Colin Cunningham:
… clans, and the druids and the Atlanteans would worship Baal, and you had the upspring of Christianity in its very, very early forms. And you got this wizardry, and it’s really, really cool. The one thing I did not expect, and I don’t know if this is necessarily a plug for the show. For me it is. And I wanna say this in a way that doesn’t sound like a negative, but it’s violent. It’s violent. There’s no… Sometimes people say, “It’s the guy who made it, Jeremy Boreing, and he’s a Christian.” And just ’cause you got an “I Love Jesus” bumper sticker doesn’t mean it’s four white people sitting around a dinner table, eating Twinkies and drinking Tab cola. This thing is badass, man. It’s like Braveheart on steroids. So, they pulled no punches, and war is war. At that time, at any time, it’s horrible. It’s horror. It’s awful. And I also loved the message, the multiple messages, the character development of Merlin, played by Tom Sharp. He’s an amazing actor, man. He has so much weight on his shoulders, and he pulled this thing off like nobody else could. The character of Merlin is incredibly powerful. Really, really powerful. And he’s aware of this, and because he’s human, but he’s part Atlantean, part mortal, but he realizes that he has this power, and what do you do with it? What do you do with it? And there’s a couple of amazing, amazing scenes where that power is unleashed, and it scares the living shit out of him, because it should, because the consequence is catastrophic and real and portentous. It carries massive, massive weight. And so he’s got a question of conscience, of what does he do? So, it’s a little different from your typical superhero or I-have-magic-powers kinda thing, because he realizes as a human being, he’s flawed, and yet he’s got his finger on this button that can make things go the way he wants. And that may not be the right thing to do, ’cause who is he to wield this power? He has it in his possession, but it doesn’t come from him. So, there’s such complexity, and there’s some beautiful nuance to it, and I think there’s a little bit of something in there for everybody. But if you’ve heard it’s a Christian thing, be careful. When you go to church on Sunday, you may not wanna let your kids anywhere near the TV. It can be pretty brutal too. They pull no punches.

David Read:
They do not.

Colin Cunningham:
If anything, I tip my hat to Jeremy and Jonathan Hay and Jesse V. Johnson and all the guys that put this thing together, because they really were truthful to the book. It’s not like they added or said, “We’re gonna do this or do that.” They just told the books.

David Read:
You’re a fan of the material.

Colin Cunningham:
And that might even be a legitimate criticism because they were so true to the books, sometimes—and they jump around in time—so it can sometimes be a little bit difficult to follow. But I think it’s a testament to the authenticity of bringing these stories to life. And I gotta say, I was so happy to do it. It was so nice to do something that was based on sacrifice and courage and conscience and what do you do and how do you do it, and fear, and how to press forward in your darkest hour. Classic movie stuff.

David Read:
Come on. You like to run around in the mud.

Colin Cunningham:
Man, the shoot was brutal. Anyway, I’m so proud of these guys because– I’ve said this and I’ll say it again. I’ll forever say this. I think this is the greatest collection of unknown actors that’s ever been put on film. Every single actor in this, you’ve probably never seen or heard of them before. And not like I’m walking around with any giant star above my head, but I don’t know where they found them. There’s so many actors in this. There’s so many characters, and everybody kills. Rose Reid, and it’s just unbelievable. So, I’m so happy and proud to be in good company, and to do a story that’s cool and that’s entertainment. It’s not this or that, or somebody shoving something down your face. It’s about people trying to make decisions and trying to do the best they can. And if you’re into fantasy or Lord of the Rings or the Braveheart-y kinda stuff, I think you’re gonna love it. That’s a great thing. So, again, with no fanfare, no marketing, no advertising, nothing, this thing’s whoosh. It’s taken off like a rocket and it’s pure word of mouth. And I think people are hungry for something different that’s not what they’ve been getting. And I’m so proud of it, and I’m so proud of Jeremy, and I’m so grateful to have been invited to come out and play. Because another thing, it being an independent production, there was no money. It’s amazing what they pulled off with nothing. But look, we’re getting two crackers and a Diet Coke as our salary. But what that also does is everybody that’s there, they’re there ’cause they wanna be there. Nobody’s there for the paycheck. They’re there because this is an opportunity to step up, to play a part you would not be given in Hollywood, ’cause it would go to whoever is gonna go on the Happy Meal and whoever’s already a brand or what have you. So, it’s actors showing up to tell this story. And God, it’s such a delight as an actor to be able to work and not be told to do this, stand on the piece of tape, make sure you look cool, and look at the girl ’cause she’s gonna be taking off her top or whatever the hell it is, whatever bullshit you gotta do. Or they’re clocking every little comma and the time because they gotta cut to a Mazda commercial or selling paper towels. And this goes. There’s no stopping.

David Read:
I fear for Hollywood. They appear to have very little idea of anything that’s coming for them in terms of–

Colin Cunningham:
Look, it’s sad. It’s weird.

David Read:
I’m not just talking about AI, but everything is moving everywhere else.

Colin Cunningham:
No, and everything, it’s so strange, man. Somebody was asking me about the controversy. When did swords, druids, wizards and horses become controversial? Controversial? It’s such a silly, stupid thing. And I guess nowadays maybe it’s a marketing way to get seen. We’ve got, “Hey, did you hear about that new toothpaste? It’s very controversial.” “Oh, what is it? What’s going on?” You can’t believe any of this shit anyway. It’s all so stupid.

David Read:
Gives a Nazi salute when it comes out of the tube.

Colin Cunningham:
My God. It’s so dumb. But what was I gonna say? I remember one of my favorite films growing up was a film called Angels with Dirty Faces, and it was Jimmy Cagney, James Cagney and Pat O’Brien. I think it was 1938. And great–

David Read:
It sounds like something I’d watch home alone.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s a great movie, great old black-and-white movie. But it’s about– Jimmy Cagney plays the mobster, the gangster, and he’s a mean, mean son of a bitch. He’s a killer. He is. And Pat O’Brien plays a priest, but they know each other because they grew up on the same street as kids. And they were best friends. And one took this path and the other took the other path. Anyway, they’re living in Hell’s Kitchen in New York, and all the kids, all the young boys idolize Jimmy Cagney. He’s Michael Jordan. He’s the greatest of the greatest, and they all wanna be him. And Pat O’Brien is trying to tell him, “Look, they’re gonna go down the wrong road because they idolize you.” “Well, so what if they do idolize me?” Anyway, it’s a great movie ’cause you have these two characters that represent these two ideas, and they love each other. They’d never dare hurt each other, but they’re also at odds with each other. It’s like, “Don’t be telling me what to do. I’m not telling you what to do.” And the answer’s no. You do your thing, I do my thing, and that’s that. Today they would call that, I don’t know, right-wing Christian propaganda. But when I was growing up, we called it Warner Brothers. We called it a movie. It was a movie about two friends and trying to do something right. So, I don’t understand it. I don’t get this. These labels get put out, and I’m scratching my head. It’s so disingenuous and it’s not honest and it’s unfair. Someone’s gonna say, “It’s Christian propaganda, Pendragon.” “So what? The movie Ali with Will Smith was a Muslim movie?” It’s so stupid.

David Read:
It’s a story about a human being.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s so stupid. It really, really is. I don’t get it. So, what, Maverick, Mission Impossible, this is Scientology movie? What? What are you talking about? It’s so dumb. It’s so stupid. It’s a movie about people.

David Read:
That’s it.

Colin Cunningham:
That’s what it is. I can watch Ali and think, “Man, that’s my guy.”

David Read:
But don’t play it backwards. You’re gonna get sucked into the faith.

Colin Cunningham:
I’m saying, the guy became a Muslim, whatever, but that’s not how I’m looking at it. I’m looking at a guy that had to put up with a lot of shit and still became the greatest fighter champion. He’s an icon of anybody, of everybody. So, I don’t get all this label crap. If you can peg something, I guess you have a measure of control over it or something. I don’t understand any of it. I think, is it a good story? Does the movie suck or not suck? That’s it.

David Read:
Is it worth your time?

Colin Cunningham:
This guy asked me when I was learning how to play saxophone. He said, “How many keys are there?” And I said, “There’s 12.” And he said, “No.” I said, “No?” And he said, “No, there’s two.” I said, “There’s two?” And he said, “Sucks and doesn’t suck.” So, if you’re playing music, play the keys that don’t suck. That’s all you gotta do. Don’t worry about having 12. There’s only two you gotta worry about. There’s one sounds good and the other one sounds like crap. Play the one that sounds good, and that’s it.

David Read:
Marcia wanted to know, as Vortigern in Pendragon, how much of your own stunt work did you do, and was that you falling into the pit in the big battle?

Colin Cunningham:
First off, great question. And why that question’s so great, ’cause it is a testament to how good these guys are. That’s what’s called a cowboy switch. You’ve seen it a thousand times. You’ve seen it so much you might even be, “Ah, cowboy switch,” ’cause it’s got a name. It was so good. It was so good what those guys did. It was invisible. No, that was not me that got hit by a horse and fell into the pit.

David Read:
So, you have to describe the cowboy switch. You have to set that up then now.

Colin Cunningham:
So, basically what they do is a stunt actor, and forgive me for not remembering the man’s name ’cause a lot of the guys were Hungarian. But he’s dressed as me. He’s got the whole nine yards, and in a wide shot, there’s a pit. The camera looks over the pit, and on the other side of the pit, Vortigern with the sword goes charging at Aurelius, who’s coming on horseback. And the horse clocks this guy, man. Hits him. Legitimately hits him. Knocks his ass down into the pit. I’m in the pit waiting, and I’m watching all this, looking up. Boom, he hits. Boom, he’s down. One, two, three. Crown comes up on the dirt, so now we’re close to the camera. And then I pull myself out of the pit. It looks great. It looks absolutely fantastic, and then I take it from there. Again, this is a nice way to reflect or to look at acting: it’s not just me. He’s playing me, and then I continue from the work that he did. There’s all these people that are coming together so that I can come out of the pit and then put my crown back on, then pull my sword and go back into the fight. So many pieces and things that these amazing artists are there so that I can take the credit for it. I’m always aware of how difficult it is and how everybody needs to come together, and the talent. This dude takes a hard hit. Check it out, ’cause that horse knocks his ass right …

David Read:
Wow

Colin Cunningham:
… into the pit. And he’s gotta fall. There’s a mat down there, but it’s not that thick. He is still gonna ..

David Read:
Still gonna hurt.

Colin Cunningham:
… fall. He can still come down on his neck. He’s gotta …

David Read:
You’re in your costume

Colin Cunningham:
… clock himself going down.

David Read:
Exactly.

Colin Cunningham:
And he’s holding a sword. He can get impaled. All sorts of nasty shit can happen. But anyway, I think I answered the question.

David Read:
I think you did too. Can I ask a Stargate question? AaronStarkLinux …

Colin Cunningham:
Hit me.

David Read:
… wants to know if you thought Major Davis was in love with Carter the whole time. Was there ever any kind of– ‘Cause they spent some time together. Was that ever considered by you? Because when you’re an actor, actors are always like business. You can play when you’ve got a scene between takes.

Colin Cunningham:
I’ve got an answer for that.

David Read:
And what comes out?

Colin Cunningham:
No, I’ve got an answer for that. Did Major Davis–

David Read:
Who doesn’t love Amanda Tapping?

Colin Cunningham:
Hang on. Did Major Davis have any feelings for Carter? No. But Colin Cunningham, the actor playing Major Davis, certainly did. She’s gorgeous, intelligent. She’s got incredible presence. She’s so kind and generous, and she’s awesome. Come on. Look, it’s hard to not notice an attractive, beautiful, intelligent, articulate person. But I remember there were maybe more than one occasion where we’re acting and we’re doing stuff, and Major Davis may be talking, but Colin is going, “God, you’re beautiful.”

David Read:
Did Amanda ever direct you?

Colin Cunningham:
Yes.

David Read:
What’s that like?

Colin Cunningham:
I don’t think it was Stargate, though. What was the show she directed? I’m trying to think of it, though.

David Read:
She’s directed so much.

Colin Cunningham:
No, absolutely. In fact, I think she requested me, too, which was also beautiful, and it was, ah, awesome. No, she’s great, and she’s no different behind the camera, ’cause look, when you’re behind the camera, you’re in a pressure cooker. It’s like you’re doing summer stock in an iron lung. There’s a lot going on, and often–

David Read:
The Magicians. She directed you in The Magicians.

Colin Cunningham:
That’s right. And often it’s not fun, but she was always very cool, I wouldn’t say civil, pleasant and warm, and she was Amanda. But it was also great to see her take that position because you can’t play that position. The shoes have to fit, and they most certainly fit her.

David Read:
Does directing scare you?

Colin Cunningham:
It should if you’re doing it right. It should scare the living crap out of you. The best, this is gonna sound nuts. I’ll explain it if it doesn’t make sense, ’cause it kinda doesn’t. The best directors I’ve ever worked with have no idea what they’re doing. What I mean by that is they’re always looking to do something that’s never been done, and so there is no template for it. They’re trying to find something. They’re trying to get something. They’re trying to create something, and it hasn’t been done before, and they have enough faith, courage, stupidity to attempt it. Because if you fail, the consequences are dire. It’s not good professionally. So, you’ve gotta really watch your ass, and if you’re gonna take a chance, you better pull it off, or if you fail, it better not cost too much. But I think that’s James Cameron, I think that’s Ridley Scott. I think that’s the directors. And you’ll even find them in television, too. It’s a dangerous game because you may be super skilled, super confident, but for this, anybody who’s really good is gonna be terrified. A gymnast who’s gonna pull something off that’s never been done before at the Olympic Games with 50,000 watching, with the cameras rolling, and you’re gonna attempt something that no one has ever even tried, you’re going with the universe. You’re going with God. You’re letting it go ’cause you have no idea what’s gonna happen. And if you’re lucky, if all the cards line up, the stars align, you do that flip and you stick it, and your feet hit that mat, and boom. And then you wake up ’cause everybody’s screaming and going nuts in the stands ’cause you did something that no human being’s ever done before. I’m exaggerating it, but I think there’s always that element of having no idea what’s going on. But that can also fuel you. It’s like any actor that walks out on stage and you get so nervous you can’t remember any of your lines, but you still walk out there, and you pray and hope that the first one comes to you. And it does, or it doesn’t. But you need to cross that threshold with, again, either stupidity, faith, whatever’s gonna get you across that line. But you have to do it or you go home and never try again.

David Read:
I think that’s the takeaway from knowing you, is that the “never try again,” at least I’ve seen, never comes to you. And the willingness to put all the chips on the table and say, “OK, I’m all in on this. I’m gonna go move to another country because I’m not gonna settle.” I think that the apathy for so many people now is, don’t try because you might truly embarrass yourself. So, I’m not going to do that. I’m gonna shroud myself in vagueness and navel-gaze, and if I ever get bothered by the fact that I’m doing this, I can say, “This is safer because it’s really tumultuous out there, and this really is better at the end of the day.” But in the final analysis, are you where you are because it’s where you wanna be, or are you where you are because you haven’t been brave? We’re here for a blip and then it’s over. And for someone like you, my takeaway has always been, look to Colin if you wanna be like, “What’s next?” Because you’re always like, “You know what? If I’m following my heart, I’m not gonna end up on the street. Something will manifest itself.”

Colin Cunningham:
That’s true. I sometimes think if you’ve only got 20 bucks in your pocket and that’s all the money you’ve got, in your pocket, go to dinner. Go to dinner.

David Read:
Who knows who you’ll meet.

Colin Cunningham:
What I’m saying is that now it’s 19 and 18, 17, 16, 15. You’re gonna whittle yourself down a buck at a time for what? Chewing gum and what? Instead, why don’t you go out and have a nice dinner, and then get your ass up in the morning, ’cause is that really gonna be the last 20 bucks you ever make in your life? Really? No. So, try not to think about that stuff too much. And try not to think, “I can’t quit this job. No way, I couldn’t.” Whatever. But every time you close a door, another opens. But look, even if you accomplish your dream, whatever that might be, there’s a cost. There’s a cost to things. Look, I can get by ’cause I’m one guy. So, the lean times or whatever, if I have to, I can sleep in my car for three, four, five days. That’s not a problem at all. No problem. I wouldn’t even think about it. But if I had a wife and two kids, you think they’re gonna be sleeping in the back of my Honda Civic? Hell no.

David Read:
That’s the other thing.

Colin Cunningham:
I’d be the first one to put on a name tag that says, “Colin, hi.” ” Hi, my name’s Colin. How can I help you?” I’ll be working at Lowe’s, Starbucks, whatever. And ain’t nothing wrong with that, because you’re no longer necessarily doing something for yourself. You’re doing something even bigger than standing on a piece of tape and jumping through a star hole and shooting laser beams at invisible aliens on a green screen.

David Read:
They’ll be there later. I have faith.

Colin Cunningham:
They’ll be there.

David Read:
Hopefully they’ll look good.

Colin Cunningham:
I’ve been able to do certain things because I haven’t done, if anything, perhaps what I should have done, which is get married, have some kids, and do something truly meaningful. I think I told you this story before, David. I was doing a play at the Hale in Salt Lake City, and the actors were just– What an amazing theater that place is. Anyway, but I’m sitting with all the actors and we’re chilling out, and I’m listening to them talk. And this one’s talking about their little girl just graduated, and the other one’s saying, “My little boy’s playing a prince in the Christmas show.” And the other one says, “My sister just graduated from university, and my son’s going on to medical school,” whatever the hell it was, and they’re doting on their beautiful kids. And I’m saying, “I was on Stargate.” And again, not to diminish it. But you can’t compare them. You can’t. So, in many ways, and again, I don’t regret it, ’cause I think it was my calling and this was the path that I took and that I needed to take, but it can be a very superficial, selfish thing. And I look at my resu–

David Read:
I want to plumb that for a second. Does settling down bore you, or—

Colin Cunningham:
No, I didn’t say–

David Read:
No, let me finish. Does the idea of it bore you or terrify you? What are you gonna leave behind?

Colin Cunningham:
A resume with The Commish on it. That’s the negative. Let me put it a different way. It’s not settling down. I’ve done what I wanted to do ’cause I needed to do it. I had to do it. I didn’t have much of a choice. If I had a choice, I would’ve stopped a hell of a long time ago, ’cause it’s not worth it. You have to be mentally ill to continue doing this kind of stuff. But you just can’t compare, as great as you wanna make it, to having a child, raising a child. It’s a cycle of life to instill love and responsibility, and to, if anything, overextend yourself. How am I gonna do this? And your life is no longer about you. It’s about them, the family, all the things that come with it. And I’ll never see my kid make it to second base. I’ll never see my little girl play a fairy princess or a snowball in the Christmas pageant.

David Read:
You sound awfully sure about that for someone who’s not that old.

Colin Cunningham:
Look, it may still happen, but what I’m saying is you can’t compare that to having a guest shot on Law & Order. You just can’t, man. You can’t. I don’t kid myself. There’s a cost. There’s a cost. And that’s another thing. Let’s say you have a dream of being whatever, the greatest ballerina, you wanna be a rock star, you wanna blah, blah, blah, blah. Trust me, when you get there, you think you’re gonna get there without a scratch? You don’t think it’s gonna cost you some relationships? Sure, you made it. You made it. You’re there. And you got no one else to share it with, man. You’re at the top of the world by yourself. The view’s great, but it’s cold as a bitch, and you can’t trust anybody around you ’cause they’re all sycophants or they all bought into the same bullshit that you did. Everything comes with a grain of salt. But that’s good. If anything, I’m glad whatever success I may have today, I didn’t have early on, ’cause I think it can play tricks on your brain. If anything, I’ve been unemployed and I’ve had to bust my ass, and I’ve dealt with agents and all this crap. So, I’m a little more grounded, which is great. Because when something does hit, you don’t believe it. You don’t believe it. They’re imposters. When you’re down and you think you’re crap, it’s a lie. Whoever’s talking to you in your mind is a liar. And if you get to the top of the mountain and the same voice is saying how amazing you are, don’t believe it either. It’s all bullshit. They’re both liars.

David Read:
I love everyone saying, “Follow your heart.” The heart lies.

Colin Cunningham:
It certainly does.

David Read:
It’s all emotion. It tells you what it’s feeling in the moment. Then you get back with that person and it’s like, “That’s why I left them.”

Colin Cunningham:
Just because you feel it doesn’t mean it’s good. It may be. It may not. And because it feels bad may not mean it’s bad. There’s many different spirits at play, and they’ll use the things that you love or you think are virtuous, when in fact it may be another crutch, …

David Read:
That’s it.

Colin Cunningham:
… another prison to lock yourself into.

David Read:
Thank you for walking down that path with me for a minute. Unravelfilm says–

Colin Cunningham:
Look, remember when you were vomiting that night because you drank four bottles of tequila and I was holding your head above the toilet?

David Read:
Yes.

Colin Cunningham:
And I took that great photo with you with the shaving cream all over your head?

David Read:
No.

Colin Cunningham:
And the little bowel movement.

David Read:
It was strawberry jelly.

Colin Cunningham:
That’s right, it was. And when you had the little pink tutu, and I said, “Sing that song, David.”

David Read:
We agreed to never talk about that one. The pink tutu. It was salmon.

Colin Cunningham:
You had bad salmon. That’s right. You had some bad salmon that night.

David Read:
No. The color of the tutu, Colin. Anyway, I don’t know what he’s talking about. Unravelfilm: if we look at the Pendragon Cycle, we wanna see your highlight episode in order to get into this thing, or just to see you. If we’re gonna watch one hour of it, which one do you recommend? I know which one you recommended to me, because you wanted me to get the full breadth of the experience of it. But I wanna know which one is– If you wanna sell someone on this by picking one of the ones where you’re most present, which one would you suggest to go watch?

Colin Cunningham:
I will say, I’m gonna recommend two episodes. If your preference is more Braveheart drama battle, go with Episode Three, which is the introduction of Tom Sharp, Merlin’s character, and the introduction of Vortigern, which is my character. Episode Three. “A Fatherless Child,” I believe, is the episode’s title. If you’re more inclined to go down a fantasy route, Atlantis and that type of fantasy stuff, still ballsy and cool, I’d go with Episode One, the very first episode of Pendragon. They’re both a little bit different, ’cause the show has different types of flavor and vibes to it. So, Episode One is more indicative of a fantasy, but still rooted. Whereas Episode Three certainly is fantasy with Merlin and all that kind of stuff, but it’s got a lot more grit to it.

David Read:
TeleEditing wanted to know, have you auditioned for any of Dean Devlin’s work over the years, Librarians, The Next Chapter, The Ark, considering his indirect involvement in SG-1? Any interest there?

Colin Cunningham:
Librarians? Yeah. I didn’t do Librarians, but I’ve certainly had a couple of auditions for Librarians. And I can’t think of the other shows on his roster right now, but I have little doubt that I have. At least I hope I have.

David Read:
The Ark is airing right now.

Colin Cunningham:
The Ark, no. Definitely not The Ark. I’ve not had a look through that.

David Read:
There’s so much of this work that’s being done overseas now, and it’s extraordinary the breadth of talent that it’s bringing in from across the world.

Colin Cunningham:
Look, Hollywood, I don’t know. They committed suicide. Before everybody would flood into LA, into California, ’cause it was the greatest thing ever. And if you heard them talking about leaving California, you’d be like, “What? Where is that?”

David Read:
Warner Bros. is considering coming to Nashville, here. It’s a California institute. It can’t come here. It has no place.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s not.

David Read:
It would be great for this economy.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s taxes.

David Read:
But come on. It’s not where it’s supposed to be.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s madness.

David Read:
It’s wild.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s absolute madness. And the sad thing is when you look at the legacy of Hollywood and what they’ve gifted the world. They’ve inspired so many. It’s staggering, the debt that we owe the entity that is Hollywood. But there’s some different people piloting the ship now, and I’m pretty sure it’s on the Warner Bros. lot. It might be Fox. But a lot of the sound stages have been torn down and they’re putting up apartment buildings. They’re breaking down–

David Read:
Oh my God. To make ends meet.

Colin Cunningham:
They’re selling off the land and they’re building apartments and condos on what used to be the back lot over at Paramount.

David Read:
I’m sorry. That’s a shame. Come on. Gosh. Gatetravelers: “What cream do you use, Colin? If you put your Stargate suit on now as Major Davis, the only difference is your beard and mustache.”

Colin Cunningham:
What cream do I use?

David Read:
Cat’s out of the bag. iamnotanuggetblackhart: “Dude, have you not aged a day?” There’s another one in here, “This guy looks gorgeous. What is it? What is your secret?”

Colin Cunningham:
I’ll tell you.

David Read:
Is it vitamins?

Colin Cunningham:
Here’s what you wanna do. You wanna move to Canada. Vancouver, Canada, where for eight months out of the year it’s like being in a wet closet. There’s no sun, nothing. You never see the light of day. Had I stayed in California with the beautiful sunshine, I don’t know if I’d be looking the way I do, and thank you for the compliment. But it’s the only thing I can think of, is I spent 30 years in Canada, which is the equivalent to 15 years in California. So, had I stayed in California, that would’ve been 30 years in California, whereas instead going 30 years in Canada is equivalent to 15 years in California.

David Read:
So, you’re 15 years younger …

Colin Cunningham:
It’s not as much sun.

David Read:
… than you look. That sounds about right.

Colin Cunningham:
I’ll tell you. You know what? No, go ahead.

David Read:
No, seriously.

Colin Cunningham:
No, I forgot.

David Read:
Lockwatcher, “Do you think Paul Davis would still be in at this stage, or do you think he would be retired and moved on to something else?” With your pulse on that guy, how long could he have flown the desk at the Pentagon that he did?

Colin Cunningham:
The way things are now with celebrities and people in politics, he’d probably be working for CNN or ABC, or as a consultant for Goldman Sachs, or working for BlackRock. That’s what he’d be doing. He’d be working for BlackRock as a consultant.

David Read:
Geez. God sakes.

Colin Cunningham:
Hang on one second.

David Read:
What’s on the horizon for you? What should we expect next? What should we not expect next? I never know what I’m going to get with you when I check in with you to see you come up for air and talk. It’s like, I’m in Syria, and I’m on the back of a camel whose name is Charlie Brown.

Colin Cunningham:
I’m opening up, I’m making falafels.

David Read:
Excuse me. The falafels. I hear they’re good in Syria.

Colin Cunningham:
I’m making falafels, David. Stargate falafels. Star-lafels. But all the falafels are in little Goa’uld balls with a circle of hummus, a Gate of hummus around it.

David Read:
Actually, it doesn’t sound half bad. What’s the next challenge? What’s the next thing that’s scary to do that’s like, “I’m going there?”

Colin Cunningham:
Look, if anything right now, I’m so happy that Pendragon is going. I think it’s gonna be something to be reckoned with. And it’s so nice to have something new out there, and the subject matter and the whole wizard Merlin sword is badass, man. It’s great. So, I’m so happy to be on this ride because, again, it was like the little, what do you call it? The black sheep, the ugly duckling, the thing that people, “Get away, you’re nothing. You’ll never be anything. That show’s not gonna be anything. You guys have no idea what you’re doing. It’ll suck.” And we got bad press before it even came out. “This is gonna suck. It’s gonna suck. It’s gonna suck.” Nobody even saw it, and they were saying how much it sucked. Nobody’s even seen it. They hear more echoey bullshit from some other parrot somewhere, and they be, “Blah, blah, blah.” And that’s finally not happening because it’s got nothing to do with advertising, nothing to do with marketing. It’s people watching it now. And that’s really, really cool and rewarding. And there’s even talk of Season Two. Amazon, they’re looking at the numbers, and I think it was number two. We’re number one fantasy, but I think we’re number two overall in the USA as of today, which is …

David Read:
I’m getting tingles.

Colin Cunningham:
… pretty amazing.

David Read:
‘Cause when you know how it ends and it ends there, then that makes perfect sense. I didn’t even consider that. Wow.

Colin Cunningham:
The rumor mill is swirling there. I’m looking forward to AMI coming out. I hope I’m in it. What else? I don’t even know the title of the film, but I’m actually gonna fly back, it looks like late October, to Utah to shoot a movie for kids, which is cool. So, that’ll be fun. For those that have seen Curse of Crom, Crom 2 finally came out, and it’s doing fantastic. It’s on Prime Video. And I’m blessed, man. I really can’t complain. And I’m here in Sicily, and I can walk to the beach and skip a rock across the Mediterranean. I really have nothing to complain about. I don’t have enough money to eat, but I can do that in the Mediterranean.

David Read:
But you’re happy.

Colin Cunningham:
Interesting word. I’m free still to pursue the things… If anything, look, I’m blessed with everything, but I still have just enough contempt to complain.

David Read:
That’s an interesting answer.

Colin Cunningham:
So, I get to work on that every day too.

David Read:
People ask me, “How you doing?” And I don’t know where I read it, “Though the terrors persist, so do I.”

Colin Cunningham:
Look, we’re all bad. Look, be as grateful as you can. I am. There’s always gonna be something missing. But that’s also a blessing. Somebody once told me, and I thought, “That’s really cool.” I never forgot it. But he says it’s called the missing tile syndrome. If you redo your kitchen, you got all the tiles, and they’re all white and gorgeous, and you see an empty space, that’s where your eye’s gonna go to every single time. It’s human nature.

David Read:
It’s true.

Colin Cunningham:
But a buddy of mine said, “Imagine your life as one of those little boards where you move the little panels around with numbers.”

David Read:
You need an empty one.

Colin Cunningham:
He said, “If there wasn’t an empty space, you wouldn’t be able to move.” I thought, “Ah, that’s cool, man. You’d be set.” Now there’s no moving at all. There’s no choice. The empty space gives you room to make a different decision, gives you an option. You can back up, go to the left, move forward. But that empty thing gives you the motivation. It gives you the possibility of tomorrow, which is cool.

David Read:
Colin Cunningham. My friend.

Colin Cunningham:
David, after the podcast, can you loan me 20 bucks or something?

David Read:
I’m gonna have to find my wallet. We’ll see. I more than owe you for all of the wonderful thoughts that you’ve shared, not just this episode, but over the years. And I am privileged to call you a friend. I am always thrilled when I get a text message from you, and it’s, “Where is he on the…” It’s like Carmen Sandiego, man. It’s, “Where is he on the map today?” I wish you–

Colin Cunningham:
Where’s Waldo?

David Read:
Not Waldo.

Colin Cunningham:
Where is …

David Read:
You’re not that social.

Colin Cunningham:
… Paul Davo?

David Read:
I wish you contentment.

Colin Cunningham:
Thank you. Just not too much, David. Then you never leave the house.

David Read:
No. But in here, not just out here, but also, you’re someone who will never settle, and that is a blessing and a curse.

Colin Cunningham:
Thank you.

David Read:
As so much of what you haven’t said today is as interesting as what you said. And thank you for always supporting me because it means more than I can say.

Colin Cunningham:
David, may I end our talk with a poem?

David Read:
No. Go ahead.

Colin Cunningham:
It’s interest– No, I actually remember going through a box of old photographs, but it applies to so much more than that. But I’m here and there and here and there all the time. So, I wrote this, and it’s kinda cool. And real short. “Once upon was I once here. A here, no longer there. The now, in years so long ago, is now today, but where? Befuddled then finds lost the me in time as time would steal and trade the days that never were for memories twice as real. And yet arise tomorrow me, a me no longer so. To sleep again tomorrow me with yesterday in tow. But here I am again, again. Another here, not there. Tomorrow thinks I’ll be here still. Another here, but where?” Thanks, buddy.

David Read:
You wrote that.

Colin Cunningham:
I did, unfortunately.

David Read:
What’s it called?

Colin Cunningham:
Hell if I know.

David Read:
It just exists.

Colin Cunningham:
Once upon. Once upon was I once here.

David Read:
That’s, wow. Thanks, man.

Colin Cunningham:
Thank you, brother.

David Read:
I appreciate you.

Colin Cunningham:
Love you, man.

David Read:
Love you, man. You be well. We’ll speak soon. I’m gonna wrap this up on that note.

Colin Cunningham:
Running off. Bye, everybody. Thank you for the questions. We’ll catch you later.

David Read:
Colin Cunningham, everyone. Major Paul Davis.

Colin Cunningham:
Someone turn this damn thing off.

David Read:
That’s your problem, not mine. Paul Davis in Stargate SG-1. I’m gonna leave him as he is and let you unwind his thoughts. A lot of what we try to do with the program is open your mind a little bit to– I’m not necessarily asking– I am asking him a lot of these questions, but I’m also asking them to you. You will never be able to duplicate the lottery likelihood of getting yourself here. I’m not talking about this time and place. I mean getting yourself born. You were the fastest swimmer. Colin is one of the few people that I know who have truly embraced his why. If you’re a Simon Sinek fan, you know what that means. You owe it to yourself to figure out what that is and to go and do it with gleeful abandon. Don’t shroud yourself in vagueness and say, “Maybe tomorrow.” Find out why you’re here and go and fulfill it. Give yourself enough respect to do that, and never take enough for enough. Always see if you can grow to something more tomorrow because that dude certainly can. My name is David Re– Or ignore all of that because I’m talking shit. My name is David Read. You’re watching The Stargate Oral History Project. If you enjoy Stargate and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, click the Like button. If you think that we had something worth sharing with others, share this with a Stargate friend. If you have something to say, YouTube really respects engagement and promotes it more than even clicking Like. So, put something in the comments below that reflects on something that we said today. It really does help promote the channel and will help us get our reach further. I can’t do the show without your help anymore, and I’m so tremendously thankful to all of these people who continue to make that happen every month. I am so blessed. I hit a roadblock earlier this year. I’ve done the show for free for five or six years at this point, and it was a lot of money in terms of bringing folks on. It wasn’t just tech and my own time and everything else. There was a lot of paying for guests because it’s like baseball card collecting. You look at the people that you’ve had on, it’s like, “I want to add this. I want to fill these spots in a little bit.” There’s still a few missing holes. But I’m so thankful for every one of my patrons for pulling this off. And I can’t thank enough Antony Rowling, who’s steering this ship. He’s the one behind the wheel, really. Dance, monkey, dance. Helping me pull this show off. Lockwatcher, Marcia, Raj. I am so thankful to my mods, Jakub, Enigma, Steven. And there’s Lord Thoth. There’s so many folks there that help me pull this thing off. I’m so thankful. Matt “EagleSG” Wilson for his beautiful opening sequences along with Venture Pictures. Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb for keeping dialthegate.com up and running. Michael Shanks and I have announced A Full Circle. It was 3:00 in the morning Pacific Time. I don’t know where he is right now. He’s probably doing a convention somewhere. And he was in the gym. Instead of pumping iron, he was texting, and we were going back and forth about this project. And there is so much coming down the pike in that regard that I’m tremendously excited. In this particular situation, there was a piece of information that came out that he was watching on Dial the Gate. He said, “This is completely wrong.” And I said, “Really?” He said, “Yes. They’re completely misremembering. We weren’t filming that early. That wasn’t possible. This happened and then this happened and this happened, and they’re completely wrong about that.” And I’m like, “Oh.” That’s the problem with an oral history. People misremember. And I don’t believe that this person was embellishing or anything. I think they were genuinely misremembering. He’s like, “We’re gonna start this show. We’re gonna do our own podcast, and I’m gonna set the record straight on a few of these things.” His memory is so good. And I think this is a great time to put Daniel Jackson’s thoughts down on paper, as it were, because while Michael’s memory is still good, this is the time to be doing that kind of thing. And the years ahead for Stargate fans in terms of learning about new stories from the 214 episodes that SG-1 did, the 354-some-odd episodes of live action that were shot up there, they’re gonna be really tremendous. The guest stars and writers and producers, the people behind the scenes and in front of the camera that we’re going to pull in to present this thing are really going to be exceptional. I’m really excited about it. Afullcirclepodcast.com. There’s a little message from me and Michael over there. There’s always something on my agenda that I’m missing here. And I think I’m good. There’s gonna be a bit of tr– I’m gonna try and do an episode this coming weekend, but I’m not entirely sure. I’ve had one kicking around in the hard drive for a little while here that takes a lot of editing. Jethro Randall has done a tremendous first pass at it. I just need to tighten some things. I got Matthew Bennett, who was Jared Kane in SG-1. He was Aaron Doral, the Cylon in Battlestar Galactica, opposite Peter Williams, who played Apophis. And Matt gave Peter this amazing photo shoot. And it’s this hour-and-a-half thing of him recording Peter and then sitting down and talking about his process in Photoshop. And I really want to go over this thing with a fine-tooth comb and present it to you guys. I’ll have that full-length version available to you, but I’m going to give a trimmed version to everyone else up front that’s got some music in it and everything else. So, there’ll be two different versions of that. And I need to sit down and work on it. But I haven’t had a chance to get to that quite yet. So, my apologies to all of those guys for that, including Jethro, because he’s done a great job. So, it’s a question of when I’m going to get to it. That’s enough from me. I appreciate y’all tuning in. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I will see you on the other side.