Random Googlebits, Part Trois

Firstly, a brand new article with the BSG cast. James on Baltar:

He's "kind of a sleazy version of Einstein," says Callis. "He is a bit scatty. He hasn't really thought about the consequences of anything. If he was capable of planning and mastering his own destiny, he would be monstrous."

"He does have a conscience. It's like drilling for oil: You will find it, eventually. Nobody has been more guilty or sad," Callis says.

I love when James mentions Gaius' conscience, especially since some fans seem to think he doesn't have one. I suspect many fans are unwilling to do the "oil-drilling" necessary to get to Gaius' good sides and would rather see him as a one-dimensional villain.

Found these a while ago: James has done a couple of audio books, two of them children's books that have short snippets online. He has a lovely, soothing voice, and he sounds so cute doing all the characters. The Kin sounds awfully savage to be a children's book, but I think I'd enjoy the other one.

Photo miscellanea:

kixxa has some beautiful new screenshots of BSG and Sex and Chips at her blog. I can't get over how sexy James is as The Wolf in the latter show. There's something animal about it. Maybe he should try having his hair like that again?

The Bear McCreary concert a year ago - Baltar's idea of heaven.
Presumably from the same event - Hi Caitlin! Hee :D He's doing the dreamy longing eyes here as well.

ComicCon - eee what a cute picture! Hadn't seen this one before.

Dragon*Con - correcting the suspender strap. I totally fetishize those suspenders.

Another photo from Starfury! I love his personalized autographs - "Will the real Gaius Baltar - please stand up?" I also love the dragon they have him hold. The full site is here, in a language I unfortunately don't know, but there are lots of Starfury photos.

One of my favorite autographs - "Dear Jessie - I've got a lot on my mind - namely a 6-foot blonde!" Heee :D (Hey, I just realized even his autographs are full of dashes!) I love his handwriting. I can't always decipher it, but it looks beautiful.

Farpoint 2008 - an awkwardly positioned photo, but he looks totally cute here also.
(I always write fartpoint at first. Unfortunate name for a con, that.)
Farpoint 2008 part 2. This is another hot pose.

Donuts, guts thereof, and sex scenes

A nice paraphrase of the 2006 BSG Burbank convention, James Callis/Tricia Helfer Q&A. I wish this were online in videos somewhere, but at least it's a good read.
Edit: OK, the link above apparently doesn't work, but try pasting this into your url field and you should be able to open it: http://galacticastation.com/Ragnar_Anchorage/lofiversion/index.php?t5546.html

This in particular made me happy:

- Helfer follows a very intensive and varied exercise regimen and will often go for a 5-mile run to keep in shape. Callis claimed the only real exercise he gets is trying to keep up with his two young children. Otherwise he prefers loaf around the set, smoke and eat donuts all day.

How much do I love this man and his gleefully unhealthy lifestyle? A lot. For those who don't know me: I love junk food, I love people who love junk food, and it makes me very happy that James apparently loves it too. And you can replace "junk food" in the above with "sedentary lifestyle" and get the second reason I liked this so much. I'd love to pig out with James in my favorite burger place sometime, then slouch home with him on the bus while snacking on candy. Well, I can always do it alone and think about him. Like I did today.

There's a slightly more detailed account - and beautiful photos - of the same Q&A here, but the site apparently has some kind of code loop problem, and it keeps cutting off halfway. If you reload it several times, it might show more text, but it's pretty frustrating. I was able to catch the donut paraphrase here though:

What do James and Tricia do to stay looking so great? James’ regular regime involves smoking and donuts. The only things that keep him fit are chasing after his children and looking at Tricia.

Gotta love his horny Tricia references. I also loved these bits:

When they came back to continue the scene for season 2, Tricia had to lie still on the freezing, filthy floor of the place in her skimpy costume with rats scrambling by her head, though James declared that it was actually Jamie she heard scurrying around next to her.
...
Baltar is also reminiscent of the tragic Greek Sisyphus, (James briefly had a Freudian slip with the word “syphilis”) who was doomed to always be trying to reach for something that always kept moving out of reach.

Hee, syphilis! Professor James brings up ancient myths, with a little subconscious idea that Baltar might have contracted STD. Lovely.

But here's something bizarre. This report about the same event is written in a very confusing way, and this bit in particular made me raise my eyebrows:

(such as the call for a pickup scene consisting merely of gauis taking off six's pants so they can have sex, and him doing everything he could to hide his doughnut-gut while simultaneously thinking, "every man dreams of getting a call where they 'have to' remove tricia helfer's knickers!")

Hide his donut WHAT now? Is this really what he said? Because if he has a gut, he's doing a really good job of hiding it. My body image isn't great either, but seriously. A little self esteem, James?

Edit: I got so fascinated about this that I searched for a little more info. It's apparently something he said about that specific reshoot. Courtesy of TWOP forums:

Callils told a funny story of always eating donuts so that by the end of the mini-series he had gained a few pounds. Then they asked him to come back and film the scene where he takes off Six's knickers so he kept trying to place Tricia's body in between him and the camera so it would not be obvious he had gained weight!

Heee! :D That's hilarious - and hot! I must admit I have a bit of a weight gain fetish, so this makes that scene so much hotter for me. The loop-challenged link above seems to contain more info on this, and it comes up in a google search, but when you load the page, it doesn't get that far:

James said he’d unfortunately been indulging in donuts lately,

...I am going to spend the rest of the day trying to reload that page.

I seem to remember him saying something very similar in the BBC Cult interview in 2004. Yup, there it is, in "What is it like to work with Tricia Helfer?":

The Americans have this, you know, ideal of buffness. Me, we don't, we're not like that! It's not so important, you know, if there's doner kebab to be had or Wimpy by the side of the road. It's a different.. you know, whatever. I'm next to mister... Miss Drop Dead Beautiful, gorgeous, and I have to take my clothes off. And I'm like, "What am I going to do? This is a bit exposing right now!" And I said to the camera crew, "When I take off all of this stuff and I'm standing here in this..." rather revolting flesh-coloured thong, for the viewers... I said, "Please try not to laugh at me, my physique, or the way I do, please don't..." And the camera looked at me and quite honestly went, "Do you honestly believe we're looking at you? We don't even know where you are in the scene. That's because Tricia is getting her clothes off, why would anybody be looking at you?" (laughs)

Hee! Some of us were looking at you, James - and we think you looked amazing.
He could be just saying he's too skinny for the ideal, yet he mentions the food again like it shows somehow. It's strange. I've never heard a fan complain that James is too fat, more the opposite. But nobody's happy with their own body (even if they're as hot as James). Sometimes it's healthy to be reminded of that.

My personal taste in men is limited to either fat or thin, so I love the way James looks now, and if he did grow a donut gut (hee!), I'd still love it. Either way, beefcake does nothing for me, so I'm glad he's not that athletic. (Now I'm really turned on, trying to imagine James with a donut gut. Mmmm.)

In the same bit, there's also this:

I had lunch after the miniseries with my mother and one of my mother's friends, who (laughs)... I thought this lady, you know, she's got some kids, a lady of the world... She just asked me, [in a very serious voice] "I always meant to ask. When you do the sex scenes, are you really making out?" [adorable smile] And I said, "I am. Yes, I am. I'm knackered by the end of the day. It's very, very difficult." I just can't believe what people only believe! It's telly, it's not real! It's like 70 people watching you with cameras.

Hee :D He sounds so amused at the question and the underlying assumption. I think sex scenes are one of those things that come with the job, but are hard to understand for someone outside that circle. Like how can you not be turned on when you're kissing Tricia Helfer?


James loves names

Am I the only one who feels like being a James fan is a constant first date with "me too" moments? It's not enough that he loves books and junk food and studied literature like me, he apparently also loves names. Also, this is a totally cute meeting story, and I love when people actually transcribe a conversation with the star. (Mind you, I don't expect everyone to, because it's a personal one-on-one conversation, but I really appreciate it when people do this.) I'll reproduce a large part of it, hoping the writer doesn't mind:

James: Well, I want to write something funny but I wouldn't want to offend you.
Me: Tell me.
James: I want to write "Randi, I am." Is that crude? Is that over the top?
Me, laughing: No, that's perfect.
James: What is Randi a short name for here?
Me: For me, it's Randeana.
James: That's beautiful! I love it! (while making a very sincere face. But then again, he IS an actor.)
Me: I think my mother was evil.
James: No no, I like it. Where does it come from? I've never heard that before. (later I learned he's really into names and name meanings, etc.)

"Is that crude? Is that over the top?" No way, it's just hilarious! But I love him for being a gentleman and asking. Randeana is very rare and, while I'll admit it weirded me out at first, actually very beautiful.

I'm personally quite intrigued by James' wife's name, because I had never seen it before (which might just show how little I know about Indian names). For others unfamiliar with it, here's how to pronounce Neha, which means "loving" in Sanskrit. Beautiful. I've been pronouncing it with an e like in "bed", because I seem to default to Finnish pronunciation rules when unsure.

In case you wonder, I don't want to post my real name here, because there are only 84 of us with this exact combination. Once I bumped into someone with the same name, and I felt like I'd seen a ghost. I'm sure James' experience is the exact opposite, as the world is full of Jameses, and he's not even the only James Callis out there. (By the way, Google, I have absolutely no need for James Callison's tractor supplies, so please stop suggesting it.)

So, I'll reveal under a link that my name is this hyphenated with this. I was named after my paternal grandmother, Margareta. And yes, there's a dash, which I'm sure James would appreciate.

Finally, speaking of dashes, I think I've figured out the reason for James' dash addiction. His psychological addiction to nicotine is simply so severe that he has to reproduce cigarettes in writing - and what better way to do that than by adding - - dashes here and there? The horizontal lines must soothe him mentally, and he can imagine smoke coming from them. A little link for James: The dash.