More con news so soon! James will appear at the F.A.C.T.S. convention in Belgium, October 20-21! :)
Info on the con here, and James also announced this today on his Twitter! It's a smaller con, so there might not be as many updates as with say Dragon*Con, but we had some good stuff from Italy and Germany, so I'm hopeful.
The guests are listed here. James gets first billing! :)
Oh, I'm gonna be con-high all fall now! Eeeeeeee!!!
And in case I forget to say this later, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has shared pictures, videos, and reports. Us who can't go to cons really really appreciate it. You guys rock!
Tuesday, 11th of September: The ultimate BSG photoshoot!
There's a big gallery of photos here from the BSG photoshoot of cosplayers at Dragon*Con. James, as we know, joined in and took a bunch of photos with them. This is awesome!
I particularly love the Chief/Cally/Nicky cosplayers. Also, Roslin apparently got quite emotional at seeing Gaius again - but the feelings weren't altogether warm!
Monday, 10th of September: Tardy but HUGE update!
Wow, long break! I had a couple days of really frantic con update-searching, and then I had to take a few days off to stay sane. Because James is, frankly, gorgeous and amazing and there were just too many good updates. I haven't been this fan-gleeful since... I don't know when. I actually couldn't sleep one night because I was just so GLEEFUL.
I think I'll make another post with transcripts of what James says in the videos. Look below, nearly the full panels are on YouTube by now (eeeeeeeee!!!!). I might even include what all the others are saying. But since I'm doing transcripts for a living now, I have to prioritize that. (Sigh.)
Nicole's getting her report together, here's the squeeful day one with the first James meeting. Awww, James! *totally lives vicariously through Nicole and thus avoids a terrible fit of jealousy* Also, LOL at the drink. It looks so cute. That link also contains many details about the first BSG panel James was not in, esp. with Jamie Bamber. And here's day two, with the second BSG panel! This post, too, contains many things that were left out of the James-centric report she gave me (see last Tuesday's update), so be sure to check it if you're a BSG enthusiast!
Bamber also talked about excitement of getting new scripts, and then inevitably getting furious about something and needing to call Ron so he'd talk them down or even change something. (Totally noticed James grinning/nodding in agreement here.
Have made a decision that BSG actor personality-wise, JamesCallisis my favorite. (Hogan is a close runner-up.)
Lots of new photos at Flickr! OMG that grey shirt is so... it's so... *stares*
A couple of fan photos from Twitter, here and here. I get additional glee every time a fan kinda looks like me.
A fan's photo with James and Jamie. There's been some discussion about James' choice of scarf. I'm going to say that this time, all of the outfits I've seen so far, I've liked. I love that scarf, or handkerchief, or whatever. I think it's a beautiful color and it just looks really good on him. Maybe I'm biased to see all his clothes as good because his hair is so dreamy. He looks like, this is like best case scenario James in terms of hair and stubble and... everything. Swooon!!!!
Three hot men and a lady. This one's taken at the bar, and it seems they were good sports about having pictures taken on their off time too. Jesus that shirt! The evil cap amuses me still. If it's the same one as in 2006, James has taken good care of it.
JamieBamberNews has a lot of really good panel videos, featuring James, and there are also several Monday panel ones! Awesome, awesome, awesome! So I'm going to link to them all at once here. Again, transcript with commentary is coming. James and Jamie look tired in this panel, like they partied all night every night (and apparently they did!).
A long video with the first 24 minutes of Sunday's panel! :) Good quality, though it cuts off in the middle. With all these panel videos, it's almost like I was there myself. I haven't even watched them all yet, I'm savoring. James! *gets goosebumps*
And one of those slightly messy con videos where you can see James interacting with someone and being very interested in their tattoos. But you can't really hear most of the conversation. It's kind of "did he know he's being filmed". But you know, James' hair and smoking and the evil cap! Too cute to not link to.
Wednesday, 5th of September
There's a link here to BIG galleries of all the BSG panels. With massive thanks to eserei27!
I'm seeing quite a few photos and quotes floating around Tumblr, so shall we agree I'm reblogging those to the Fuckyeah James Callis tumblr?
Just a couple of my favorite quotes from Nicole's report yesterday, and some comments:
A woman asked both James and Michael Trucco what it was like to be in the 'milky substance', i.e. tub of Cylon goo (Sam with the Hybrid tub and Baltar with his dream sequence of resurrecting). James said he thinks it's the same stuff they make McDonald's milkshakes with. He didn't understand why there was a person there with a hose, he thought it was gonna slide right off him - nooo. He said he got this "biblical" idea into his head where he wanted it to be like a baptism and come out of the water (oh James), so he stupidly put his head under, at a time when he had a thick beard. XD Tricia and Grace had tried to warn him but couldn't prepare him, he was still washing it off after multiple showers.
:D :D :D He did look really immersed in the goo in the episode, and full of sticky material all over. BUT, since Tricia had to dunk his head under, he would have gotten it on his beard anyway, right? Or did they ad lib that dunking because they figured he was already gooey? Either way, too cute. Also, I'm not sure I'll eat a McDonald's shake ever again.
Another random moment, someone sneezed in the audience and James pointedly went "God bless you" at them in a Church of Baltar-y way. And I *think* Aaron tried to correct him as 'gods', and James corrected him back that Baltar's thing was the One True God. Just a bit of didn't-you-watch-the-show? joking.
He was asked about filming the occasional parts of HeadSix scenes where she wasn't actually there and he was just with air, and he said that was hard at first. "Tricia was my life and my crutch" through the series (OMG AWWW) and so he was "lost without her". Especially early on, if he was pretending to be kissing no one, he felt very exposed, and plus there are 20-25 crew people around.
Oh, Jamie Bamber had mentioned James' wife Neha at one point while talking about his own wife, and how both of them were part of the BSG family.
Awww, nothing to add, just a huge awww on both counts. <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">
He said that he notices in different places people respond to different aspects of the show - Germans like the military themes, Italians the sex & women. XD For him the politics is his favorite thing, and the idea of a civilization going from its "halcyon days" to dealing with limited resources, which may happen in our lifetime. So smart.
Ah, that's fascinating! For me, it's probably the psychological aspects of guilt, hiding who you truly are, and not being able to trust others. Which probably comes from my own issues, but it's how I initially got into Baltar. Also the women on the show tend to be strong, even if it's not a perfectly feminist portrayal. I have no idea what the average Finnish person would like. Tho I saw someone saying how Baltar's "tedious play with Six is luckily left with less attention" in season 2 or was it 3, and I was like OMG STFU. So I hope that's just one Finn.
That bit happened that you saw the video of where neither James or Katee could remember the Kara/Baltar bathroom scene (but he did remember the Felix one). Actually my favorite line was cut off from the end of that -- after they'd been through this whole thing about not remembering it, Michael Trucco joked: "The cast of Battlestar Galactica will be out here shortly." XD
:D :D! I still can't believe neither of them remembered it! I remember it perfectly well, even if my rewatch of season 4 has been lacklustre, so I've seen most episodes only once. They were actually THERE! I wonder if James remembers the Felix scene because it was such a hugely emotional Baltar moment, and also quite early on in the series (some of the first episodes where he interacted a lot with AJ, was it?) It was also a calmer scene - the one with Felix was just crazy and silly, and maybe he appreciates that sort of humor. I could imagine.
So you've also seen the DIRK BENEDICT/MARS GOD OF WAR ON VIOLINS STORY. Oh my god, dying. And my other favorite part (also on the video) was talking about the opera house scene as a Baltar/HeadSix wedding, because that's how I always read it. :))
It's just the funniest thing ever, I can't! :D I think the wedding idea is lovely, and one I've also thought of. It's also sort of poignant how they just find the baby there - Six doesn't give birth to it, it's just miraculously there and then they kiss forever, OMG. Imagine that with Mars Bringer of War and the violin... O.o I wonder what sort of fan videos we'd have of that.
He does think Baltar was pretty much just out for himself and using the idea of the 'greater good' to just get what he wanted. He gave this weird, funny analogy about a guy he once saw on a set who was complaining to catering like, "I don't really care, but a lot of people are upset there was no apple crumble." And obviously that guy did care, he was the one who really wanted the apple crumble, but he was acting like it wasn't about him. So that's how he sees Baltar, lol. Though he did mention the scene in S4 when he's beaten up in the hallway and then makes the whole "love yourself"/you're all perfect speech as a moment where he hit on something sincere. But other than that he was usually - I quote - "a self-serving douche."
But what about Gina?! Someone needs to ask him how that ties in with all of it because that was the first moment I saw him as empathetic. Of course, it was someone who looked like his love (lust?) Caprica, and it was also a situation he ruined by almost raping her and giving her the nuclear warhead.. So I guess he did have some self-servation issues there.
Geez, this is a deep topic. It's hard to tell, even with the cult, because he seemed to have some genuine compassion, and he did go on that guilty monologue about how he despises the women in the cult when they've given him everything. I dunno really. Very interesting.
And LOL at the apple crumble! :D (I'll put that on my list of 'foods James has mentioned'. Milkshakes, apple crumble.. OMG I just realized something: he is not drinking Coke in any of the photos O.o Has he abandoned our dark master?!)
They weren't there at the same time - James was earlier - but Jamie had known of him from his reputation, he was considered one of the stars of his class. James said his favorite memories about theater school were people yelling backstage about glitter and JAZZ HANDS! (He did jazz hands!! while imitating this, it was adorable.)
<3 -="-" also="also" bro="bro" complimenting="complimenting" god.="god." james="james" jamie="jamie" love="love" my="my" nbsp="nbsp" p="p">
Nicole had this to add on Twitter:
OH I THOUGHT OF SOMETHING ELSE, I'd completely forgotten until just now. In the bit about Jamie/James and the theater school, James talked about how the movie "Speed" had come out while he was there and everyone was obsessed with Keanu Reeves. They'd be doing Shakespeare and backstage they were all *makes gun with his hands, does Keanu Reeves voice* "You have a hair trigger aimed at your head, what do you do?!"
LMAO!!! :D I guess this happened again when I was a teenager, with The Matrix. OMG I hope someone puts this video up! I want to see his jazz hands and Keanu impression.
So he talked a bit about 'the crying' and that he wanted to show that he felt compassion, and also maybe he just thought it would make the audience care about him. Baltar was sometimes written in a more smooth and weaselly way but he didn't want to play a character like that. He added that he doesn't see much of Gaius' weakness in himself, in real life he tries to stand up for things he believes in. (I think he quoted this old saying, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything".) But he also mentioned the "not on anybody's side" line in the miniseries and tied that in somehow, that that gave him power in a way?
I think you can see in his Twitter conversations that he doesn't shy away from conflict. You know where you stand with him, and he manages to be kind without sucking up to people. I wish I were more like that.
Does the crying make the audience care more about Gaius? I think he's right in that. In general, I'd say that characters who cry get my sympathy more easily than ones who don't. But then I'm a very touchy-feely person. (Maybe James is too?)
Michael Trucco went on a big crowd-pleasing rant about the Syfy channel at one point and when he mentioned the name change to S-Y-F-Y, James visibly rolled his eyes. XD
Didn't we all. Or "so say we all"? Honestly, SYFY. It looks so ugly to a Finn because of the way we pronounce Y. *shudders* Tuesday, 4th of September "I suppose I'm quite hairy". :D :D :D Nicole Anell, longtime James aficionado and a friend of mine, sent me an awesome panel-quickie-report, and promised I can use it on the blog. (She also had some great experiences of meeting him on the Walk of Fame, but she'll write her own report later in her own blog, so I'll link to that then. Short version: he was a total sweetheart eee fan glee!)
I can't do all the details justice right now because I'm in a hurry to work more, but I KNOW RIGHT about the shirt. And he has been asked about crying before - I think in the MegaCon new and old BSG panel - but he clearly appreciates how you had thought a bit further on it. Also, "I suppose I'm quite hairy" goes on my hall of fame, favorite self-deprecating quotes EVER. (Although I recall a conversation with M where she linked to a picture of Hogan's furry chest and belly, and pointed out James has no hair whatsoever on his belly, so he's not THAT hairy.) And I love how he just DOVE into the resurrection goo head first.
And he loved doing Portlandia! I loved Portlandia! OMG. Too much joy.
Actually someone wrote the tanning quote from Aaron on Tumblr. Here it is. (Hee! It must be a British thing, like "The sun is shining for once, let us rejoice.")
So here's some awesome details from Nicole!
Friday: James was not on the BSG panel but the Eureka one instead. I didn't take any notes because I was SO INCREDIBLY DISTRACTED by the thin shirt and chest hair situation that was going on... I assume you've seen pictures. He didn't talk much though.
Saturday: Ha, I forgot about the "University Challenge" line until I saw it on your blog. Apparently that's a British quiz show, and I forget what the question was, but the joke was that they were all whispering among themselves trying to figure out what to say or maybe remember something they'd forgotten, the way contestants on that show work out problems in a group.
Katee didn't show up to this panel (a snafu with her not getting the schedule or something) and Aaron crashed it, so it was James, Jamie, Trucco, Richard Hatch, Aaron Douglas. This was James' first BSG panel of the con and he got a TON of questions, to the point where he was being all self-deprecating about how much he was talking and going "Now someone ask someone else a question." <3 div="div">
He was asked about the various roles he played in the fleet and which he liked best. (I feel his answer to this has changed a lot depending on when he's asked, he was sort of thinking it over at the moment.) He said the politics storyline, he liked the seriousness of it and the question it raised about rigging the election.
He also talked about the cult and I really liked what he had to say. He asked RDM at one point early in that story, like, "Does Gaius really believe this? Do you really believe it?" And Ron's answer was not really, not always, but he might find some conviction through it. (Like a lot of things with Baltar? Which fits my view of that arc.)
A woman asked both James and Michael Trucco what it was like to be in the 'milky substance', i.e. tub of Cylon goo (Sam with the Hybrid tub and Baltar with his dream sequence of resurrecting). James said he thinks it's the same stuff they make McDonald's milkshakes with. He didn't understand why there was a person there with a hose, he thought it was gonna slide right off him - nooo. He said he got this "biblical" idea into his head where he wanted it to be like a baptism and come out of the water (oh James), so he stupidly put his head under, at a time when he had a thick beard. XD Tricia and Grace had tried to warn him but couldn't prepare him, he was still washing it off after multiple showers. I think - if my notes are correct - he also briefly brought up the attempted eye-clamp thing from "Taking a Break" that he's talked about before, on the theme of suffering for his art. Edward James Olmos wanted him to put these steel things in his eyes, and he was like "You know what? I'll act that." LOL.
Someone asked him about the Jesus beard and how long it took him to grow it, and he said in this sheepish voice - I quote - "I suppose I'm quite hairy." It didn't take him long to grow at all. I feel like he's talked about this before maybe, but he was saying how it was something he really wanted and pushed for with the character, even from the beginning he wanted him more stubble-y. The late Harvey Frand in particular was against it because he was worried about it causing continuity problems (like if they had to reshoot a scene and it was a different length). But it was right around the time Saddam Hussein had been found in that foxhole with the beard -- the audience laughed here for a second but he was like "No, I'm serious" -- he felt it showed a lot about Baltar having been tortured and exiled and "how far he'd gone from himself."
At some point, I forget how it came up, but Aaron Douglas was teasing James about how he was always outside tanning and he was too tan to be on a spaceship.
Another random moment, someone sneezed in the audience and James pointedly went "God bless you" at them in a Church of Baltar-y way. And I *think* Aaron tried to correct him as 'gods', and James corrected him back that Baltar's thing was the One True God. Just a bit of didn't-you-watch-the-show? joking.
He talked about doing Portlandia! :) He thought Ron Moore was the funniest, acting like this guy who'd never seen the show. EJO might have actually scared them with his deadpan glaring thing. XD It was a lot of fun, even the cameramen were trying not to crack up as they were filming it.
He was asked about filming the occasional parts of HeadSix scenes where she wasn't actually there and he was just with air, and he said that was hard at first. "Tricia was my life and my crutch" through the series (OMG AWWW) and so he was "lost without her". Especially early on, if he was pretending to be kissing no one, he felt very exposed, and plus there are 20-25 crew people around.
Oh, Jamie Bamber had mentioned James' wife Neha at one point while talking about his own wife, and how both of them were part of the BSG family.
I *think* this was the panel, I might be wrong, the moderator asked James a question about the sex on BSG. He said it was an adult show, and - as I've seen quoted a lot on twitter - he ended with a joke about how sex is great, "I hope you all get to experience it one day." (Which btw, I didn't take as a joke about all the con-goers being virgins, more like some of them were.)
Richard Hatch while defending Zarek said something half-jokingly like "Baltar killed millions of people, and I just did this one little thing..." and James interjected "It's not a competition, Richard." *g*
Sunday: This is the panel that you saw mentioned on twitter with his resources comment. (It was a question they all really liked about what they thought the most "enduring themes" of BSG would be.) He said that he notices in different places people respond to different aspects of the show - Germans like the military themes, Italians the sex & women. XD For him the politics is his favorite thing, and the idea of a civilization going from its "halcyon days" to dealing with limited resources, which may happen in our lifetime. So smart.
That bit happened that you saw the video of where neither James or Katee could remember the Kara/Baltar bathroom scene (but he did remember the Felix one). Actually my favorite line was cut off from the end of that -- after they'd been through this whole thing about not remembering it, Michael Trucco joked: "The cast of Battlestar Galactica will be out here shortly." XD
(This isn't specifically about James, but that moment actually came up again later on in the panel. They were talking about how, as they get further away from the show, there are sometimes episodes or scenes they catch on TV that they'd totally forgotten about, they can't even remember that they shot them. Jamie Bamber was saying there are things they get asked about all the time so they're used to telling the stories about them, and that's what they end up remembering the most. It helps when they're on a group panel together and can bounce off each other and remind each other of things. So then of course Katee and James were like, "Do you remember the bathroom scene?")
So you've also seen the DIRK BENEDICT/MARS GOD OF WAR ON VIOLINS STORY. Oh my god, dying. And my other favorite part (also on the video) was talking about the opera house scene as a Baltar/HeadSix wedding, because that's how I always read it. :))
And the thing about how he'd wanted Gaius to die, yeah. I did like and write down the part about how it was "cruel in a way [RDM] didn't want to write" and the darkness to show the light, etc.
Monday: There should be videos of this one coming soon because I know two people who were filming it. This was Callis, Bamber, Trucco, and Richard Hatch. They all talked about celebrities they'd met and been 'starstruck' by, but I missed James' answer to this since I was lining up for my own question.
I basically got up and said that Baltar cried more than any other character on the show (that got a laugh from the audience and panel *g*) and as an actor he was ironically fearless in portraying a not very brave or strong character, conjuring up those kind of emotions. (I meant to add something in there about it being rare for a male actor/character specifically, but I think I forgot to hit that point.) It's... apparently something he hadn't been asked about before, 'cause he was like "I never thought of it that way." *thinks about answer* So he talked a bit about 'the crying' and that he wanted to show that he felt compassion, and also maybe he just thought it would make the audience care about him. Baltar was sometimes written in a more smooth and weaselly way but he didn't want to play a character like that. He added that he doesn't see much of Gaius' weakness in himself, in real life he tries to stand up for things he believes in. (I think he quoted this old saying, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything".) But he also mentioned the "not on anybody's side" line in the miniseries and tied that in somehow, that that gave him power in a way?
Of course I wrote this down, I think in context of praising the writing on the show - "What's Baltar without Number Six? Not very much, not very interesting."
Jamie and James were asked about being at the same theater school (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art), and there was a lot of great stuff talking about that. They weren't there at the same time - James was earlier - but Jamie had known of him from his reputation, he was considered one of the stars of his class. James said his favorite memories about theater school were people yelling backstage about glitter and JAZZ HANDS! (He did jazz hands!! while imitating this, it was adorable.) They also talked again about meeting while both playing characters who died on the Scarlet Pimpernel (Jamie: "Except I had about six lines, James had 600 lines." James: "That's not true." Hee.) but became really close friends while doing BSG, Jamie called him one of his best friends I think.
There were actually multiple times at this panel Jamie complimented James, it was sweet. He said he was surprised to find out he was playing Baltar and (out of the rest of the cast) he was probably the furthest away from how the writers originally imagined his character and adapted it to him, the humor he brought to it and how that humanized him.
They talked on a few panels about how collaborative the show was and the input they gave the writers. At one point there was some joking about things they pitched to the writers. Jamie Bamber was like "I suggested space. It was originally going to be in Colorado." Then James did his joke about how he wanted it to be "Baltarstar Galactica" but they didn't go for it. (Big laugh from audience.)
Someone asked James about how Baltar was a selfish character but always ended up in these serving-the-people roles -- scientist, president, religious leader -- so was there an altruistic part of him that really did care about the greater good or was it all to advance himself? He gave an interesting answer in that I don't totally agree with it. ;) He does think Baltar was pretty much just out for himself and using the idea of the 'greater good' to just get what he wanted. He gave this weird, funny analogy about a guy he once saw on a set who was complaining to catering like, "I don't really care, but a lot of people are upset there was no apple crumble." And obviously that guy did care, he was the one who really wanted the apple crumble, but he was acting like it wasn't about him. So that's how he sees Baltar, lol. Though he did mention the scene in S4 when he's beaten up in the hallway and then makes the whole "love yourself"/you're all perfect speech as a moment where he hit on something sincere. But other than that he was usually - I quote - "a self-serving douche."
He was asked about the torture scenes in "Taking a Break" and covered stuff he's said before - about knowing in the current wars there really are people being tortured, but also all the funny stories about Edward James Olmos wanting a shark in the tank. :)
Michael Trucco went on a big crowd-pleasing rant about the Syfy channel at one point and when he mentioned the name change to S-Y-F-Y, James visibly rolled his eyes. XD Monday, 3rd of September (Quick update at night):
There's another BSG panel happening soon, but I'm not sure if James is there or not. Either way, lots of awesome panel fun already :) The con videos are all behind this link, if you want to watch on Youtube. Part 3: James can't remember the scene.
LOL! Asked about the bathroom scene where Kara starts to talk to Baltar, James doesn't remember it happened. Oh James. I remember instantly! This is the funny part about seeing BSG cast interviews, because it seems like for a fan, the scenes are burned into our memory, and then someone who was frakking there doesn't remember. But he does remember the much older scene with Felix Gaeta in the bathroom. Hee!
Of general interest: Katee talks about what Kara was (she doesn't know), while James strokes his hair and does many other cute thinking poses.
Again thanks to quackytelly, whose videos are really good quality too. You can really see them. I know this depends on the seats and equipment used, but still, thank you so much!
And another pic from the BSG cosplay thing - Gaius with Six and.. Three? Or two Sixes? And a slightly different sexy pose here. James seems to have no trouble coming up with several slightly different but equally sexy poses. Maybe that comes with being an actor. I'm not sure I could pull off a whole day of photo ops. Part 2: God playing electric guitar, Gaius on the lead violin.
OMG, OMG. This is a hilarious must see thing. They were going to have the Opera house scenes with God playing electric guitar and James as Gaius playing lead violin on "Mars Bringer of War". LOLOLOL! I'm so glad he said no to that! This is actually something completely new, as well. I never heard this particular anecdote before. The audience is in stitches, as am I. Jesus.
And here on the desired alternate ending; James wanted Gaius to die. I always wanted him to have redemption though, it's interesting that James' sense of justice says he must die and suffer. Of course, he caused a lot of evil but really he was just a pawn, have mercy on him James.
Actually, I recently had this dream where James was interviewed about Gaius, and it was an alternate reality where Baltar died. And James was told his character is going to die, and he said, "Oh god yes! I've been waiting for this so long!" So maybe that dream meant he was going to say this in a panel. Because if I'm going to have dreams that predict the future, they're bound to predict James' future statements about BSG. (Or maybe it's because I'd seen him say something like this before, but what's more BSG than a premonition?)
Again with thanks to quackytelly!
Part 1: LOL, Eddie. Hilarious video from the last BSG panel. Eddie was very excited about the idea of sleep deprivation and murder/suicides. OMG. Jamie does a great Eddie impression. Thanks to quackytelly!
James is apparently wearing a blue scarf under the white shirt. Maybe he was cold when no one else was? I love the color blue, so I take this as a sign that we're twins separated at birth, etc.
JamesCallis is incredibly well-spoken and thoughtful. He thinks the most enduring theme of BSG is mankind living with fewer resources.
Ah! Actually that makes a lot of sense. I'd be curious to hear the full quote.
Sunday, 2nd of September Part 3: One more for the road.
I'm probably off to bed soon, but the BSG panel is probably only ending now, so I'm expecting to find more info tomorrow when I get up! In the meantime, Michael Trucco posted a photo of James and Jamie in the panel:
Oo, and this! James, Jamie Bamber and Michael Trucco. Hot City, population three. VERY sexy pose from James there.
It was a good day for updates, even if the con is still going on. I'm a very happy little bunny! Part 2: A very Baltar pose.
OMG, this is too cute! Apparently there was a cosplaying photoshoot for BSG, and James just walks up there and poses very Baltar-like.
Awesome, awesome, awesome. Also yay for the open-necked white shirt with rolled up sleeves. Love.
Also, a couple of shots of the autograph table! Touching his shirt - too cute. I dunno why James touching his clothes is always so cute to me, but it is. Also writing an autograph, which is a very serious business, judging by his expression. Part 1: Awww!
Kevin Grazier has generously provided this photo of James on Facebook. Thanks, Kevin! But why does James look so sad? That is too cute. Comes close to a sad Baltar moment. He seems to be sporting a sideburns-beard, which on him looks good, even if I'm not always a fan of this style. Look how luscious his hair is, too. Longer than I thought from the other pictures. Awesome.
And another cute panel shot here, James looking pondersome or relaxed. They say hands behind your head and leaning back signals confidence, but what does scratching your bearded chin signal?
A panel report tells us James took on quite many questions, but it doesn't sound like there were any new tidbits for a die-hard fan(tm). That's to be expected of course, and I'll still enjoy it if we get to see him answer the questions.
And speaking of panel videos, a video from the Eureka panel! James talks at about 0:22-0:49. I'm having some trouble hearing it, but it's about Niall Matter having some gadget, and James was disappointed that it didn't actually go up to the sky for real. The props guy told him, "You're on a TV show. No, it doesn't go up." :D Aww, James the big kid.
There was also a link I saw, but stupidly closed, and now I can't find it anymore. But it discussed James greeting the audience before the Eureka panel and letting people take pictures with him, which is so sweet.
Ah, con times, you are good times. Everybody loves our boy. Saturday, 1st of September
part 2: It's still Saturday in Atlanta.
It's actually Sunday in Finland now, but Finland is just too ahead of its time, so let's put this under Saturday. You had me at python. Too cute. The python looks huge, so it's quite a commitment, carrying that around all day. No wonder it caught James' eye!
Gaius with several ladies. He's looking quite tanned, as was expected after India. His shirt shows a nice array of chest hair, but it's really loose on him. Maybe that's intentional. I just hope he doesn't have a parasite again. But the white shirt looks smaller, so maybe he's just going for the "stare at my chest hair, ladies" effect. Which I must say I like, a lot.
James is currently doing a BSG panel, and I'm quite intrigued to hear what was said. A little bite:
JamesCallis just compared a question they got to University Challenge.
I don't know what University Challenge is, but I can imagine it's a tough question!
And in the below link, I think James is in the middle, in the white shirt.. Again, a picture from afar, but I'm fairly confident we'll have close-ups and possibly video of the panels later. It's just good to know he was there. Also, I'm hoping for some Aaron/James bro-love. And James/Jamie bro-love, coming to think of it.
BSGpanel. @theaarondouglas showed up to add comic mayhem as always. :-)
part 1: Feeling hot hot hot
OMG sexy sandwich picture! OMG look at them! I would sleep with all of these people and I don't care if that's inappropriate to say.
Observations: James is wearing a lovely loose shirt that shows off the chest hair, so I'm guessing he knows what the fans like to see. His hair is... wow. His cheekbones and stubble.. guh. Also, is that a new coat? That is one sexy coat.
A slightly blurrier photo here, but more chest hair! It bugs me that I can't see what the thing on his shirt is, but I'm sure it's nothing important. He looks a bit tireder here, but his hair looks fluffier.
I really didn't think I'd be this excited, now that I've seen him on Twitter and talked to him and all that, but OMG my fan heart, it beats like a drum. Life is good. More later! Friday, 31st of August 2012 part 2: possibly James talking, maybe.
I think what we have here is a picture of James talking in the Eureka panel. I'm guessing by facial shapes and general posture. Unfortunately you can't see anyone's face too well, but see it might be James talking, and I am excited.
Confusingly, here's another picture with James possibly listening to someone. But his shirt looks the opposite color from the other picture, and in fact if he had a beard, the second guy from the left might be James. But again, going by shape and posture, I'd say James is on the far right.
More mysterious photos and logic puzzles later.
part 1: Um, I suppose that's James...
I should remember that it's still early in the States and nothing's probably happened yet, but I was sort of expecting to find something. Well, here's what I found: a blurry photo of what appears to be a short slender man carrying a mug of coffee. The man doesn't know he's being photographed. He looks, based on his physique and hair, like James Callis, but without seeing his face from upclose, even I can't be sure if it's him.
EDIT: There's a bigger version here, and yeah, that's him alright. It's his expression. Still, a rather amusing photo. I wonder what it would be like if people took photos of me carrying my coffee and musing to myself.
James was apparently in the Eureka panel, as tweeted by both himself and Jamie Paglia. There are no notes about the Eureka panel anywhere as far as I can tell.
In a not entirely proud moment, I had to provide a captcha for Google, because "we've detected unusual traffic from your computer". Maybe I should stop refreshing my "James Callis+Dragon*Con" search for now, and go to sleep. Ahem.
Thursday, 30th of August, 2012
So it's that time of the year again! As usual, I'll be your friendly con report gatherer, and this will be the post to bookmark. The official Dragon*Con page is here. For some reason, I'm having trouble finding the schedule on there, but it seems like there will be at least photo ops on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And a panel at least on Sunday? Ah, great! Um, I already lost that link in the Tumblr Dragon*Con tag which is blowing up right now. But I'll use my mad Google skillz to find the best linkz.
So, the con begins tomorrow, and James tweeted earlier today that he was flying to the US. So we'll probably get some reports starting tomorrow. This year, I have a life, so I won't be checking for updates every five minutes. *frantically checks for the schedule all over* Um, or I might be caught by the con bug again. We'll see!
Other BSG guests this year include James' BFF Jamie Bamber, as well as Katee Sackhoff, Michael Trucco, and Richard Hatch. Other Eureka guests are Colin Ferguson, Tembi Locke and Niall Matter.
So James Callis' role on the fifth season of Eureka was limited to the finale. I'm not that surprised, considering James tweeted to Colin Ferguson on Twitter about coming, and that was around the time they were tweeting about the finale wrap party and all that. So I assumed he was in one episode, but I had hoped his scenes would last more than two minutes (and not even two consecutive minutes!). Well, what's done is done, and Eureka is done with this episode. EDIT: OK, it has come to my attention that James only had 48 hours, including travel time, to do this episode because he was working on a movie in the UK (Austenland? That might explain the moustache). This is from Jamie Paglia in this article. (WTF, "Henry Grant"? I saw that in a couple of posts and I don't get it. Do your research if you haven't watched the show!)
I'm sorry for not being sentimental, I never was a big fan. It's almost my cup of tea, yet not quite. Still, it's a delightful show; watching it makes you feel cozy and warm, and the actors look like they had fun shooting it. I got a lot of good moments out of this show, and many fine screencaps with James' facial expressions. So I'm not exactly griping. I ended up loving this role, after all.
I felt a bit strange when I saw the trailer for this, and also when I first watched the episode. James kind of.. doesn't look like himself. I couldn't put my finger on it earlier, but I think it's a very simple matter of hair, on his head and his face. He's had a mustache and short hair, and beard and long hair, but I've never before seen him with a mustache and long hair. (He's also thinner, not that I pay attention to such things.) He's wearing a new suit, a black one this time, with a considerably more modern air, but he still has the hat and he's still wearing it the same way. So you recognize him right away, even with the slight style difference.
Predictably, people are going on about his accent again - saying it's worse than ever, at that - but I must say it didn't bug me. Maybe it's because I'm not American and have an accent myself (I'm told I sound European, but I'm not sure what that means). Maybe it's because I've heard James do a number of accents - London, Yorkshire, Southern, Italian, and in this case 40's American. Maybe I'm such a fangirl that birdsong and angel chanting fills my ears whenever he speaks, but the accent just doesn't distract me at all. James himself didn't seem at all bugged by this criticism, so perhaps he overdid it on purpose. In fact, given his sense of humor, maybe he really overdid it here to give people something to talk about. Hmmm. OK, but that's my final word on his accent, and moving on.
The new head of GD is Henry. What I like best about this scene is Grant's tender look at him. They were good pals before, so it was nice to see a callback to that. Henry's look at his wife, and her eager and proud look back at him, were also utterly sweet.
And as Henry accepts, Grant is SO proud of him. Awww!
The music in this scene reminded me of BSG for a moment. Then I remembered that Bear McCreary, who scored BSG, also did the music for Eureka. A nice reminder.
And then they all celebrate and hug - Jack and Grant even hug. (I've seen bromance fanfic about them, so I imagine this will inspire even more of that).
Like ZOMG so hot, their gona b a copule and Grant wil have Jacks baby!!11 ..Um, there are no slashfic writers here, right? I'm just saying, some fanfic is... weird. Seriously speaking, that's a lovely bear hug Jack gives Grant. Probably has a lot to do with the actors' camaraderie. Always nice to see that.
And.. scene. That's about all. There are two more silent scenes: James working a jukebox - hey, I've never seen him use one before, have I? I'm not super excited abut these firsts anymore, but then I've been a fan for four years now, and am all seasoned and jaded. It's still cute though.
Finally, we see him waving and getting into a car as people cheer, and it reminds me of his con appearances, so I guess I never saw him do that in a role either. This kinda was exciting, because everyone's cheering at James, look at our man being the town hero.
That's a pretty grand way of ending your role on a show. I'm glad he didn't just visit the town randomly, but there was a larger meaning for it. Like he mattered for the show and just had to be in the finale. I'm not sure how non-fans approached his character, but it's nice to see the writers at least saw him as important enough to bring back. They could have done more with him, but all in all, Grant was loveable and I will remember him fondly. It was, after all, James' second-longest-standing role on TV.
Farewell, Trevor Grant. You were a fun character, and we'll miss you.
Sport.
James has a couple of messages for aliens, and they're found here.
This is part of a project that will be sent into space. Will anyone ever watch it? If so, will they respond? Mind-blowing idea.
Either way, it's exciting they wanted James in this project, and his videos are very James indeed. I.e. funny and gorgeous and just damn silly. There's something very touching about him sitting on that tiny trampoline (his kids'?). I love when he does his Very Serious Voice (tm). Also, he still has a bone to pick with the Barnet council, due to their weird parking payment rules. LOL! I hope the aliens have a good sense of humor.
His hair looks like a mix between curly and ruffled and it's big and luscious and I feel.. I.. *drool*.. I can talk about this reasonably and scientifically, it's just that... I... *drool* yes... asdfjjag.
Good news everyone: James Callis has been announced as a guest for this year's Dragon*Con! The con is held in Atlanta, Georgia on August 31-Sep 3, 2012. The official website for the con is here. (It still says Jamie Bamber instead of James, but they've announced the news on Twitter, so it should be on the site shortly.) Other BSG guests are Katee Sackhoff and Richard Hatch. James attended Dragon*Con in 2006 and 2008, both times taking part in panels, so I hope he's also doing some this time.
As usual, I will provide a post with all the photo and report links as best I can. Cons are always a window into meeting James, even if I won't be going. The official grand post will be up probably September 1st. Watch this space!
Um, I actually don't have anything very special planned. I was going to and then I was swamped with work and my friend got her PhD and I had to party. You know, life got in the way. I'm sure he doesn't mind that I'm not doing a big celebration here or something, but I feel a bit disappointed in myself. So I'm going to at least spam the fans with some lovely photos of Jamesness.
But a flat and ordinary greeting is better than a faux-witty and desperate one, so I gave him the Michael Scott classic "I hope the only downsizing that happens to you is that someone downsizes your age", which I then had to explain because some people didn't remember it and... Well, James has this amazing memory I'm told, so maybe he does. But in case he doesn't, I have explained myself so hopefully he won't be all offended that I said he's old.
So that sort of awkward little opening there. Um. But I hope he's out there enjoying his birthday and not sitting around reading my tweets.
So a little happy birthday card!! We love you James :* :* Hope you enjoyed your day. Lots and lots of love, joy, and prosperity and many decades more!
(um, it's a surprise birthday party with balloons who adore him, or something. I'm weird, but who cares.)
And now for the fans.. A Re-Uniting the Rubins picspam! Also note that this answers the "James Callis barefoot" search I had recently, LOL.
Since Blogger is being absolutely hopeless today with photos, the party is at my Tumblr, Fuck Yeah James Callis! Enjoy. :)
Hey, I found an interview with James on Eureka! And it's DUBBED IN GERMAN ARGH. Now I know German, so I could technically listen to the dubbing and make a transcript if people want one, but note that it would NOT be a transcript really, it'd be a translation of a translation of what he actually said. So the chances of changing the content are about as good as with the Bible.
He appears to be talking about time machines, how there was an Einsten-Rosen bridge, but on the show it's an Einsten-Grant bridge. (Wait, this is a real thing? I should google it). He mentions how you could technically make a time machine with your phone (?!!), or something. And he's read on alternate realities that can exist in a black hole and be 90 % dark matter - he seems fascinated by this and then says "Something like that, anyway", like he got caught up in that and forgot what he was talking about. Too cute!
There are a couple of other videos, this one seems particularly cute.
"I don't exactly get my violin out, oh comedy is so hard!.. It's tough."
That's because it's your gift to do comedy, silly billy. :D Give yourself some credit, you're just so good.
(WTF, why did one image say it's too big for the canvas and the other just... uh.. Well you GET THE PICTURE, he looked cute.) (This blog would probably look better if I could be arsed to work on the technical stuff but I mean, whatever.)
He does admit that "being lighter" is difficult, like appearing brave and strong can be hard, it's just different. Probably true, but I missed out a lot of that because of the dubbing. What's wrong with subtitles? Do middle Europeans not know how to read? Finnish shows never ever dub unless it's for children. Sorry for ranting, but this really grinds my gears. And I have to admit, we're dealing with such deep topics here that my German vocabulary might actually fail me. German fans?
The difference between Eureka and BSG is that Eureka is a hopeful show, BSG is not.
Also: "I don't know why they didn't give him a different surname as well.. They had a lot on their minds."
Too cute! :D His expressions, I could just do a hundred screenshots per interview and get a hundred different expressions. I haven't watched a whole lot of actor interviews, maybe this is normal for them? Or is it something James does particularly well? Either way, love it!
These interviews were obviously made before season 4 aired, but for some reason they were released in January, when Germany was going to get the fourth season. Well, it's always nice to get interviews, even if they're late for the party. And soon he'll be back for season 5!
I thought I'd make a little post without a cause, because I've been silent on this blog for so long. Still here, still fangirling. It's been a bit quieter with James, so you could say I've taken some time off and thought about other things for a change. Like my new transcribing job which I like much better than my old phone survey job. And playing Subeta, which is highly addictive and cutesy. One of these things is mature and shows development in personal responsibility.
I've changed my Facebook name to Willow Jordan, which has a nice ring to it. I might in fact keep that name and stop using Deniselle, because I just don't "feel" Deniselle anymore. I hope it's not too confusing. My identity is an ever-changing, flooding stream, and other emo bullshit.
I might as well take the Twitter feed off the sidebar, because I mostly write about political issues - fat acceptance, queer stuff - lately. It has nothing to do with James Callis, so maybe the Twitter has turned into my own personal thing and isn't a part of the site anymore. However, James' own Twitter comes highly recommended. Kindness, silly stuff, ponderings and dashes. He doesn't post that often, but I'm not complaining; you can tell it's him and it's genuine, not just some PA linking to the latest news articles. (Or what do I know? Maybe he has a PA who knows how to write exactly like him.)
I'm getting lots and lots of "James Callis shirtless" and "James Callis wife" searches, and I really can't help you beyond what I've already posted on these topics. If you wish to see more, maybe you should ask James for some candid photography? If you're unfamiliar with my Tumblr, you can see some shirtless photos in this tag. It strikes me that he hasn't been shirtless on TV since 2008. Four years of shirts! Maybe we need a petition or something about this.
Speaking of Twitter, let me know if you want to start a hashtag trend like "James Callis is our hero" or "We will never leave him" or "James' chest hair lights up the world like a beacon", or something like that. I see these nearly every day with Justin Bieber and the Jonas brothers. I guess the difference is that James fans are mostly in their 30's and 40's, while the fans of the aforementioned young men are, well, young. Actually, it makes the fandom look pretty immature, so maybe we shouldn't.
Apart from Eureka, I have no idea what James is up to next. I guess we'll be waiting for Austenland, and it looks like it might be fun, at least judging by this image with Jennifer Coolidge. I'd like to point out that Keri Russell stars in Austenland, and Keri was one of my first girl actor crushes when she appeared in the sitcom Daddy's Girls back in the 1990's. I also watched Felicity religiously for a while. Jennifer Coolidge, on the other hand, played the horrible mother in Terry Gilliam's Tideland, as well as Stifler's Mom in American Pie. What's more, Austenland also stars Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords, which I love. It's like, worlds are colliding because James is working with these people I know from elsewhere. In some odd way, I think of James as "our boy" as opposed to other actors, like he's my neighbor or cousin who got famous. Fandom is odd.
Bridget Jones 3 is still on the level of rumor, and I don't know if James will be on it. I'm not really that excited to see this film, because all I've read is that Bridget will be "fatter than ever". I worry about mean fat jokes and general misrepresentation (is that even a word?). But it would be a chance to see James on the big screen, maybe. Frankly I think he's above token gay roles now, but maybe he doesn't see it that way. He's a down to earth guy, but I wouldn't complain if he turned down BJD3.
Last night I dreamt I went into a con where Stephen Fry was giving the sermon in some kind of church, and it was very irreverent and blasphemous and funny. The con was in London, and I went into the grocery store and caught a glimpse of James, wearing his Gabriel McDow clothes and looking so very sad. I didn't dare go up to him, lest he wanted to be left alone. I only saw the humorous side of the outfit when I woke up. He doesn't seem like the vainest of actors, but I'm fairly sure he wouldn't go out in that outfit if he didn't absolutely have to! If you can't remember what outfit this is, let me refresh your memory:
Coming attractions on this blog:
-I might actually finally write a review of 17th Precinct. I've seen it ages ago, it was a leak from someone in the industry and wasn't meant to be a public thing, but then someone (possibly the person him/herself) put it on Vimeo. Now everyone and their mother have seen it. I tried to keep quiet, in case I'd get the person in trouble, but I guess there's no risk now. I hope. Short review: loved James, James/Jamie and Tricia/Eamonn. Not so sure on the rest. It's not as solid as BSG, and looks surprisingly low-budget, but it could have been a good show. The best part was seeing James interrogate a suspect and be all tough cop. That was something new and it worked so well. My biggest disappointment is that they had taken out James' affair with Jamie's wife. It's been a while since we've seen him as a love interest.
-A review on Reuniting the Rubins, which I have seen and enjoyed very much. Nice family comedy, not super funny but not too sappy either. Quite heartwarming. There are some political underpinnings and it's clear we're meant to agree with the activist (which I loved), but James' super-capitalist business man is not depicted as evil either (which makes it even better). Great work from James, Rhona Mitra and Timothy Spall. Also, if you're a gentile and completely ignorant on Jewish ways, like myself, you can find a lot of new information in the film.
-Who knows what the future will bring? I sure don't, but I can promise you there will be some VERY SILLY POSTS from time to time.
So, Eureka has begun its fifth season, and James Callis will be on it! We don't know which episode(s), maybe just the finale. But it's coming! Dr. Grant will be back.
Here's a video with some cast and crew, including James (albeit briefly, at 2:35) talking about season five:
I'm glad. I'm not super excited, or "literally over the moon" (heee) like James said he is. I know Eureka and how the show operates; it's going to be fairly simplistic but fun. They probably won't touch upon any real issues of time travel or how a man from 1947 would really fare in today's society (dated gender roles? Homophobia? and so forth). But I'm going to put my analysis glasses aside and just enjoy the ride.
May I just point out what a total sweetheart James is to be all humble and grateful to be asked back? He's probably the biggest star of the show. He also looks curiously in between hairstyles and mustache/no mustache. And in the clip he says, "I prefer Dr Trent Rockwell". What?! O.o Well, I'm looking forward to seeing an explanation for that.
And Jaime Paglia praises James in this lengthy Q&A (if you're interested in Eureka, it's a must see. Includes Colin Ferguson. If you only want the scoop on J.C., this quote will do):
Yes, … James was great to work with. He’s – one of the many unbelievably lovely people that we have been fortunate to have on our show and our guest cast, just a great human being as well as obviously a phenomenally talented actor. So I – we always had hope that we would – we were going to have a lot more of Trevor Grant in season six, so I think that you might keep your eyes open for him, maybe potentially showing up somewhere along the way in season five.
He's trying hard not to spoil it, but the video already gave it away. :P I'll keep my eyes open and report when he's on the show. All you have to do is look for complaints about his accent and you know he's back on. ;)
PS: I know this post is super late, but I actually have an almost full time job now. Sorry.
I'm trying to be calm about this, but honestly now. James plays two completely different guys, manages to make them really different, AND be adorable in the process. This was brilliant.
Toby's sweet and bumbling. (The tongue!!) He gets along with everyone and tries to do well, but ends up making a lot of mistakes. It's implied that he isn't very smart, but I'm not so sure.
Julian is arrogant and pretty awful. He's cold to pretty much everyone, family included, but seems to have a way with the ladies (which we sadly don't get to see).
But it's not all so simple as good/evil twin. I'm wondering how to discuss the episode without spoiling too much. I think I'll make a general post here, on the themes etc, and then continue on LiveJournal, behind an LJ cut, so you can read if you've seen it/want to be spoiled. I don't know how to spoiler cut on Blogspot. It is a whodunit, so there's a big reveal at the end. A brief countdown of the basic plot: the family's uncle Ben dies oddly, and Toby sees a headless rider riding away. Other mysterious murders appear, always preceded by the headless driver pointing at the person. Is it supernatural? If not, whodunit?!
The appearance diferences are done with pretty traditional, minimal ways: slick-back hair for Julian and adorably flowy for Toby; Toby has glasses but Julian doesn't (maybe he wears contacts?). James does a lot with his voice: Julian gets the gruffier "bad guy" voice - not as gruffy as Haman or Merlin, but not quite his natural voice. Toby gets the "gentle" voice, high-pitched and quiet. His mannerisms are more awkward and shy, while Julian walks around like he owns the whole country. Later we find out that Julian used to bully Toby as a child, and there's quite some anger in Toby over that. I thought that was a nice touch. In fact, one might say Julian is still bullying Toby - ordering him around, rolling his eyes at everything Toby says, and so forth.
I do think it's possible that Toby is a little simple while Julian is not; Toby could have had a lack of oxygen in his brain in the birth, or something similar, that lead to mental retardation. I know the "completely different identical twins" thing can be an annoying trope, but it can also really happen. I had identical twins in my class growing up, and they were different. Hanna was more serious and less outgoing, while Maija always had a smile on her face. The lines of their faces were different, even as children. I think James is doing this pretty well, even if one might ask if they would be the exact same at age 40 - would they have different lines on their faces, would one be thinner than the other, etc.? But it's TV, it doesn't have to be 100 % accurate, and I think they did as much as they could here. Awesome acting either way.
There are a couple of scenes with both together, but mostly they get around it by having one brother's back to the camera, like here:
..and indeed you can barely even see Toby there, as Simon is covering him. I wonder if it was really obvious that was a stunt double.
Here, they manage it with a perspective view. It's not very noticeable in the episode, but I think you can tell more clearly in the snapshot that they were filmed at different times.
Julian is a ladies man who has many children around town, but none with his wife Diana. She's a very lonely character, trapped in a loveless marriage, living with a hateful mother-in-law. There's a brief scene between her and Julian that implies there is something warm between them, but this isn't fleshed out too far. I felt quite sorry for Diana, even if she can be as cool as Julian.
Toby's wife Betty is a different story. She's a very domineering personality who practically runs the house, and even the mother-in-law Lady Isobel has to agree to her will sometimes. Betty's looks are, in Lady Isobel's view, not up to scratch, and she taunts Betty with quips like "oh look, it's Ugly Betty." I was slightly uncomfortable when I first saw that Toby has the "plain" wife - TV plain that is, a chubby and pretty woman, so "fat and ugly" because she isn't skinny and gorgeous. I was worried they might imply that Toby couldn't do better than Betty, who's smart and kind but not beautiful, or that Betty couldn't do better than Toby, who is handsome and kind but not smart. I was relieved to find that they do love each other and Toby is in fact quite worried about losing her. Oftentimes the "plain" wife is cheated on or discarded for someone much hotter. I should keep in mind that it's a British show where sometimes, average-looking people can find love and happiness. I can't help always identifying with the chubbier characters, so it felt kinda cathartic to see James be totally tender with her. There were no sex scenes, but they were warm and close.
awwww <3 <3 <3 <3
Toby also has a son from a previous marriage, Simon. This is pretty brilliant casting, as this boy could be James' son. His name is.. James Clay? Wow, that's awfully close to James Callis too. I felt slightly incredulous at first because James' own children are aged 8 to 2, but yes, he could have a son who's now 21, provided that he started pretty young.
Simon is mute due to emotional trauma: he saw his mother die in a horse-riding accident. Toby is sweet and protective of his son, but Julian dismisses him as a "moron". Simon seems like a kind and helpful soul, like his father.
Interestingly, when Julian calls Simon "moron", Toby says "don't call him that!" But when Julian counters with, "What else am I supposed to call him?" (obvious answer: SIMON), Toby is quiet and just feebly stares at him. That says so much about their dynamic as brothers.
Another example of this behavior: when Toby's mother tells Betty to lose weight, Toby doesn't say a word, but is obviously deeply embarrassed and upset by his mother's behavior:
It's not that he agrees with his mother; his status in the family is just so low that he can't speak up. Apart from a murder mystery, this is a depiction of a loveless, inbred British upper class family.
Both Julian's arrogance and Toby's bumbling insecurity remind me of Baltar in some ways, but I got a total Gabriel McDow flashback (forward?) from Toby. He's not autistic, and the mannerisms aren't exactly the same, but James employs some of the same body language (head tilt?) and voice style here. Maybe there's something slightly childlike about Toby, as there is about Gabriel. Julian oddly reminds me of Grant. Maybe they have the same gruffish voice, or maybe it's the hair..?
However, these roles are not really like anything he's done before. Every time you see him in a new show, it's like meeting him for the first time - hello, who are you? You look like someone I know, yet not. It makes me feel awe, like he (and the director and costume people, etc.) can make a new person out of nothing. I know it's James, but it doesn't sound or act or even walk like him. I wish he got a long-standing role again, but on the other hand, this fresh encounter every time is exciting. He does different roles so well, and I'm proud of him.
There are some new visual aspects of James here, but I can't show them without spoiling. Well, here's a non-spoilery one: James driving a horse and buggy!
Nice hat! The show is set in modern times, but their manor offers "old-timey experiences" of some sort, and the buggy driver is one of them. (Julian gives a rather bumpy ride and is nonchalant with he customers.)
And: James with a big dog! The dog is rather stronger than him, it might appear. (it could be acting or maybe not.) Very cute either way!
Oh, and from the civil war re-enactment:
He's no in soldier garb sadly, but the civil war thing gave some nice visuals. I didn't really get this part because apparently I don't know English history well enough, but there's a bet for the winner, and they lose some piece of land if they don't win. (Upper class problems.)
All in all: highly recommended. The ep is one and a half hours, and James has a lot of screen time. And is oh so handsome. *sigh* Awww, Toby. <3
