Christopher Judge has played the heroic Jaffa warrior Teal’c on Stargate SG:1 since the pilot episode in 1997. The actor chats to Bryan Cairns about the Season 10 finale, his on-set pranking and the possibility of Teal’c popping up on Stargate Atlantis.

What are your thoughts on the Stargate SG-1 series finale?

It was a great way to end the series. It boils down to the fact that it was a lot of fun to shoot that episode. So much of the collage scenes were just us screwing around. When there were cuts of us laughing, it’s real. The one they used of us all bursting out laughing, we were all talking about the new sexual phrases that they have because of the porn industry!

What has your blood pumping about the two Stargate movies?

The thing that was the most exciting was seeing the scripts. All the things we previously had to cut because of constraints - be it budgetary or time - we were now able to do. The writers were excited about the prospect of being able to write an episode and not have to immediately look at the financial reality of it and start dissecting it.

As someone who has written stuff, it is so freeing. It brings you up creatively to see their scripts and go, “Wow! They really took the ball and ran with it.”

Robert Cooper said if Stargate hadn’t been cancelled, the Orii story would have continued throughout season 11. Were you happy how they wrapped it all up in two hours instead?

I liked it because it was done correctly. Sometimes more isn’t better. If the story has to be watered down to make it last for 20 episodes, that is not good either. The Arc of Truth is such a bang but also logical. It is not a huge leap of faith that this happens in one contained story. Looking where we went with it, I’m not sure we could have sustained it, so I like the way it ended.

What was it like being Ba’al’s right hand man in the alternate reality for Continuum?

What is it like being a Ba’al supporter? [Laughs] It was very interesting to revisit where Teal’c initially started from. That is the good thing about the alternative reality aspect of it. You can be in the same situation but your reality can be altered. I really took enjoyment in finding little moments where Teal’c, as we know him, would have reacted in certain ways but this Teal’c, who is in the same predicament of being a slave to the Gou’ald, reacts completely differently.

I really liked that entire concept and let me tell you, the stuff they did in Continuum like going to the Arctic, is incredible. It is incredible that we were able to do the amount of things we are doing in 18 days. I really think our next step is to do features. Certainly, their imaginations are limitless when it comes to different avenues to take the show.

Are you open to carrying the character over to Atlantis now that Amanda Tapping is over there? Do you see any places Teal’c might fit?

There’s a stargate in this room and in the next room there’s a rumor mill. I’ve heard different things. We will wait to see what happens. I think I am going to do one or two episodes later this year. Everything is so up in the air with the writers’ strike looming.

How involved are you in the show in terms of creative participation?

Well, they’ve allowed me to write a number of episodes over the year. In the future, I’m really not sure. I’ve actually written a pilot that we are in negotiations with MGM for right now. As long as they want me, I would definitely come back and do anything SG-1.

But career wise, I’m definitely moving towards doing other things. I must give credit. [Writer/Producer] Brad Wright was the one who literally said, “I know you want to write, so write something”, and he allowed me to go a different route. Usually, you pitch a story, take it, and they break it down by scenes or beats. He allowed me to just pitch a story, go away, and write it. He allowed me to turn in a completed script, cultivated that part of me, and really encouraged me.

That speaks to how all these guys are, because I don’t know if I would be that giving when it comes to giving up one of my cheques. The fact they allowed me to do the story for four episodes was not only incredibly generous but it also encourages us to be more than just actors.

It looks like you still work out a lot.

Everyone in this business has a body perception disorder. You can only tell what you look like on camera and that is what you come to believe is what you see on the screen. Even when you look in the mirrors, it doesn’t register to you because you have a different image on the screen so you stop trusting what you look like in the mirror.

I look in the mirror and look at my arms and go, “That is ridiculous!” On screen, they didn’t look that big. It is really a difficult balance.

You are the notorious prankster on set. Any anecdotes from the two movies?

We haven’t spent a lot of time on set but when Rick came back, definitely. So I saw Rick and I ran to my trailer where I have boxes of Fiber One, Benafiber, and Slim Fast…Those together are quite an explosive combination. I literally go and make this heaping bowl. I feel my stomach gurgling and walk over to Rick and go BLEURGH! He was like, “Now I am home!”

With your passion for horror movies, do you have plans to write anything in that genre?

I am writing on a horror movie. It is called The Hole and is based on a true story. In Washington State, there is a hole that, by their estimates, is at least 10,000 feet deep. The stuff that is happening around this hole….. The U.S. government has taken over this area and made it like another Area 51.

Even from satellite imagery, they have obscured it. It is a very interesting story. Some of the stuff is unbelievable, but it is so well documented and so many people that have previously worked in government circles have come forward and talked about it.

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