James Callis on Dreck: Behind the Scenes Video!

I've been meaning to write about Dreck, which is a British indie film project collecting donations on Kickstarter. Basically, they've filmed what they can in small bits when they gathered enough money, and now the filming is done. James plays a central role as the ominous-looking Todd Ambro.

Here's a video where we see a bit of Ambro, and James is interviewed about the role. He says the script is "brilliant" and that this is a movie you'll want to see more than once. Sounds exciting!

And Ambro is hella scary. The difference between the warm, amicable James talking in the interview and the stone-faced man whose face barely moves when he talks - I'm getting chills down my spine. We also see clips of James talking to the director, you can't hear what he says but he obviously has a lot of enthusiasm and passion.

The film is about a dystopian future where drugs have become legal. Ambro's parents were addicts, and he wants to "change the face of addiction", but is the world truly safer with legal drugs? It sounds like an intriguing film. They will be introducing it in Cannes and hopefully it will garner some interest. I'm already pretty stoked to see this, so I hope there will be some way.

You can donate to the project in the link. I sure would if I had the money.

James Callis on CSI, Part 3: Ozzy Frakking Osbourne!

OMG, there's a clip at CSI Files, down the page in this link. James is the interviewer talking to Ozzy, and he's a be a bit of a fanboy! Turns out Ozzy was his first interview ever, in 1986.

Ozzy: "Uh, I don't remember."
John Merchiston: "Me or the gig?"
Ozzy: "I don't remember 1986."
John laughs (it looks like a James laugh, he just bows his head down like "heeee").

That is so cute! Also, worlds colliding. I'm not really into Ozzy's music, but I did watch The Osbournes. Note that James is playing someone older than himself here; he was 15 in 1986. (Also, would they really let a fledgling beginner start on Black Sabbath? OK, I'm reading too much into it.) But he'd remember Black Sabbath's glory days. I'm not sure if he's into this sort of music (I know he likes Radiohead, which is a very different scene, but who says you can't like both?) I also recall that James talked very positively of Jack Osbourne in the Galactica Quorum interview (re: a show he did with "the recruits"):

I thought he showed a lot of grace looking after those children . And I was... I don't know how old he is, but he surprised me with his maturity and his leadership. So I was like glued to this thing. It was like, it was great drama. It was kind of like Lost, but I knew what's going on.

The interview (audio)
A full transcript of the interview.
My commentary on selected bits.
Just putting the links out there in case some of you tuned in recently.

PS. Oh, Ted Danson is the leading man of CSI nowadays? I thought he was just guest starring. I need to look things up better when I fangirl-blog. CSI isn't my scene, so I've only really looked for the info on James' episode.

James Callis on CSI, part 2: The Trailer

I'm a lot less excited after seeing this trailer, because it does have James - for a split second. But his name isn't mentioned, while Eric Roberts' is. Black Sabbath is mentioned. Also, I see a lot of Ted Danson.

I guess this is the difference between sci fi shows where people actually know who James is. But I still hope he's in more than one fleeting scene. I like the way he's standing and looking pensive in that tiny scene. Also, I like Eric Roberts', "I am a sinner", but I still don't have huge expectations for this episode. Are none of the original cast on this show anymore? Whatever happened to Gil Grissom and Sara Sidle?

Airing on Wednesday. Big woop. I'll try not to get my hopes up, because Arrow was such a letdown.

James Callis on CSI, Part 1: The Mustache, Always with the Mustache.

So we have pictures of James' CSI episode! And.. for frak's sake, is he ever going to play a non-mustachioed character again? He just tweeted a picture of himself on the set of the new BBC thing, and - mustache again. (Otherwise though - mrrowr!) He had a mustache for Austenland too. It's like "Oh James Callis? Let's slap on a mustache!"

OK, I'm sorry. I will try to withhold any mustachioed comments from here on out. I think my problem is that my Dad has a mustache, and he's decidedly unsexy to me and I don't want to associate James with him. At least James isn't fat or bald, so there's some difference between them.

Other than the facial hair, we have very nice hair and an all-around dapper look in a suit. James will play reporter John Merchiston, who comes to dig up dirt at the CSI, but also has his own secret. Also, he apparently gets to talk to Ozzy Osbourne! Worlds colliding. The photos also feature Ted Danson, which is another worlds colliding. When James plays opposite someone I've seen in other things, I always feel like it's so surreal and exciting. I know they all exist in the same universe, but still.

The episode will air on Wednesday May 15, and it's called "Skin in the Game".

Merchiston. Merchant, Merchandise.. That is the most complicated name he's had since Pursuit Delange.

I'm not a fan of the CSI franchise, but anything with a lot of James is bound to be entertaining, and unlike Arrow, this looks like he will have a fairly large role. We'll see!