James Callis on Numb3rs, Part 4

JAMES YOU ARE AMAZING HOW DO YOU DO THIS.

OK, I just saw Numb3rs with James. Wow. Just... wow.

He looks, talks and acts nothing like James at all. It's nothing like Gaius Baltar, nothing like Guy Curran, nothing like Tom, nothing like Mark Feinman. It's another person.

I was worried the character would be really black and white, someone you're meant to hate. Maybe it is, but somehow I felt he brought depth into the role. It's just the one episode, so there was no real time to build up his backstory, and a lot of it is done by others talking about him - "IQ of 155, educated himself in prison", etc. But the way he himself talks and acts is somehow... three-dimensional. I wanted to learn more about Mason Duryea. I can't say I liked him or even felt for him, but there's something fascinating about his madness. And he is very, very creepy.

Off character, I've never seen James be anything but kind and warm; he's cheerful most of the time, and you can usually hear the laughter in his voice even when he's not joking (tho he mostly is). Where does he get this darkness? How does he go into a character like this? I think this was the first time I was disgusted to see James kiss a beautiful woman! I felt like slapping him and spitting in his face too. It's a new experience. Yet, when they shot at him, I immediately went into "Don't you shoot MY JAMES" mode. In some scenes, I think his eyes look sensitive and tortured; I'm not sure if that's James showing through or a part of Duryea. It's so weird to see him like this.

The accent: It's nothing at all like his regular American accent; it's Oklahoma, and I don't have a lot of knowledge of that area, so I can't really judge it. It felt fake at first, but as I watched the character unfold, I kinda forgot all about it and just believed it was real. I think that's a really good sign.

The look: He looks horrid in the prison scenes, but actually not all that bad in the scenes with the tribe. He's such a hideous character that it's hard to find him appealing here, though. Some fans are wild about the wild man look, but I guess I like my James a little more groomed and, well, sane. :D His cheek hollows look more pronounced; I wonder if he lost a few pounds just to look more psycho and tortured.

I do like Numb3rs. It's a cop show, and I generally don't like those. I don't think I've ever sat through a whole episode of CSI, for instance. But this show introduces all these mathematical and computer science things that make it a bit more interesting. The cops act a bit too macho; it's a bit dramatic, a bit overdone, a bit too easy - would they really figure it all out so fast? - but it's still good TV, and it was enjoyable to watch. I'm happy and proud that James got to do an episode of this.

Merlin and the Book of Beasts Trailer!

I probably won't see this movie, but I'll keep an eye out for any reviews or recaps, and will post about them here.

Numb3rs, Fan Fiction, And Donuts

Numb3rs

I'm going to see the Numb3rs episode next week, so I'll be blogging about it then. See kixxa's beautiful photos of the...well, I can't say beautiful but certainly fascinating Mason Duryea. He looks NOTHING like James at all, just... haggard and crazy and weird. I hear James is doing an Oklahoma accent on the show. This should be interesting!

Another interview with James about the role!

TVGuide.com: Have you ever been this hirsute?
Callis: I think I have been hairier, possibly, in a few other gigs. But half of that was mine and half was borrowed. I bet you could tell which half was which! [The producers and I] were of the same mindset that I wanted to be as disguised as possible. The wig we used for when I was in prison, we called the "Jim Morrison look."

So that's this. This has got to be the scariest and least recognizable James picture ever! They really did a good job of masking him.

Heh heh, "hirsute". Too bad he doesn't go deeper into the hirsutism issues, like his chest hair.

You'd be frightened as f—k if this guy sat down to dinner with you, because he's a time bomb. You don't know when he's going to go off.

I'm frightened just seeing him. Strangely, I had another nightmare about Beginner's Luck, where Alex tried to steal my mobile phone. I'm blaming Duryea, although it might be that seeing BL was just such a traumatic event.

A little pointer to people searching for the episode: Gaius Baltar did not appear on Numb3rs. James Callis does not equal Gaius Baltar. And Duryea is a lunatic who kills people, and Gaius isn't. Yes, they both have a harem; they both pose as religious cult leaders; but that doesn't mean they're exactly the same OMG James Callis has been typecast. There is a difference. Seriously.

A bit about the final scene (edit: of BSG, not Numb3rs):

...at the time I wasn't totally sure what that scene meant. A lot of people actually thought we shot it in New York. I was like, "Sadly, no."

Does he know what it means now? I'd love to hear his views on that scene.

Fan Fiction

Gaius Baltar is probably the most difficultBSG character to write about (and I'd argue that's even true of the show writers, since James had to constantly tell them he doesn't want Gaius to be evil). Some of the fan fiction has made him out to be a complete bad guy, which always annoys me. Here are links to two fics that depict Baltar as a more multi-faceted character.

BSG: The Simple Life by Wolfen Moondaughter (who made the awesome Gaius painting for MegaCon) is set a few years after the finale. It discusses some of my favorite themes: Baltar's guilt, redemption and starting over. As Hera faces danger, Gaius has to face death and his guilt eye to eye again. There's also a follow-up on Baltar's cult (still there, much to his dismay), Helo and Athena, as well as Lee and Kara, who didn't get much of a goodbye in the finale. Kara appears as an angel guiding Lee here, which is a nice touch. Baltar is depicted as an in-depth, complex character, growing to reconcile his past and the future on the new planet. And there's Caprica-Gaius love, which is always good.

Ask Me No Questions And I'll Tell You No Lies by kixxa is written from Aaron Doral's point of view. Set on New Caprica, the story features a brief but heated conversation between Doral and Baltar, exploring the morals and life philosophy of both characters. I'd never really thought of Doral's point of view (or even of him having one, as we usually see that model in groups rather than as individuals), so it's very interesting. Baltar shows courage, speaking his mind to the cylon who's in the position to make his life very difficult, or indeed end it.

It's interesting about the element of courage in both stories. Throughout most of the show, Baltar was a coward, but he certainly had moments of bravery and even heroism (especially in the very end). Both of these fics could be seen as backtalk to the negative image most BSG fans have of Baltar: he can be a hero when he sets his mind to it, and despite his negative qualities, he's not a bad man.

Donuts (yes, still. Shut up.)

Kixxa sent me a lovely present - The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne Du Maurier, read by James Callis. I really enjoy listening to his soft voice, and the story is very compelling so far. I might blog about it later (I still haven't written about any of his old projects other than BL, so I'll see when I get around to it - probably a James drought coming soon, so I can work on it then).

She also included a couple of old-style post cards. I've gotten a lot of donut-teasing jokes thrown at me lately, but this is the best one so far:



Heeee! :D :D
(I'm sorry about the low quality of photography. My webcam is at a breaking point, and it's very hard to aim.)

And I've finally found a picture that kinda-sorta shows it - on page 47 of a James Callis picture search, after such relevant items as Alexander Siddig and myself, there it was. Behold: the donut gut! It's pressing against Tricia, but it's there and it looks so soft. Just beautiful.

Here's my own attempt at fan fiction. *blush* I'm sure you'll all hate it and it's really inferior to the stuff I just linked to, but *blush* I'll just post some of it anyway *blush and giggles*

As the sweet, greasy pastry filled his mouth, James groaned to himself. He knew he shouldn't have another donut, especially since it was his tenth one that day, but the siren song of the frosting was too strong.

Even as the washed down the moist, soft goo with the pulsating nectar of life - sugary Coca-Cola -, he could feel the fat lodging drowsily onto his expanding waist. 'Oh well,' he thought. 'I get to do bed scenes with Tricia Helfer - life isn't so bad.' He gave his hirsute chest a ruffle and decided to go ask for an extra rehearsal. He didn't even notice how his hand reached for another luscious morsel of fat and carbs...

I'm thinking of expanding this into a 200+ page novel. If James doesn't allow the use of his name, I could always use a fake one - like Ames Phallus or something. Who's playing... Baius Galtar in... Cattlestar... well, I'll work that out later.

James Callis on Numb3rs, Part 3 / James on the Finale, Part 2

Long title again, but whatever - there's a new interview that covers both topics:
"Frakkin' Gaius Baltar talks to IGN".

Hey, [Saul Tigh voice] it's Gaius Frakkin' Baltar! Frakkin' civilians never get things right! [/Tigh voice]

Seriously though, IGN has done some great interviews in the past (see sidebar, "James Callis interviews"), and this one's no exception. I feel like I could quote the entire interview, but I hope I won't.

About Mason Duryea:

We bat these words around today like "psychotic" and "sociopath" - and maybe you could use them for this kind of person when you don't really know what he is. He's totally self-educated. He's read a lot of books in prison and he's definitely quite smart on some level.

I'm glad he mentions that the words are overused, because it bugged me that so many people used them for Gaius. I don't think he was really either, and I think these words have become a catch-all for any mentally deranged or narcissistic person. However, they might actually describe this particular character. I'm also glad that he mentions that Gaius is a "different kettle of fish" - is this a British phrase? Very cute.

Question: Has James ever played a character who was not smart? Could he even do that? I feel like there's so much wisdom in his eyes that he might not be very convincing as a dumb character. But maybe I'm wrong. It'd be interesting to see him try that.

You know, the thing that really got to me was this line where he says (In Duryea's voice) "Is a coyote insane because it eats your poodle?" I was like, Christ, that's a very frightening man.

I hope I'll be able to watch this episode, because I'm stil not quite over "You are my binary messenger". And I actually had a nightmare where I was watching Beginner's Luck, and there was this whole horror sequence added. They were in the cabin in Edinburgh, and Jason found a radio that said things like "You're going to die" in a really creepy voice, and it strikes me now that it must have been the Duryea voice.

James apparently used music to prepare for the role:

Actually at the time I was listening to David Gilmore's album On an Island. There was an instrumental track on there that just screamed to me…like the silence and the desolation of the plains.

Very interesting. I've heard of this method before with actors, but I didn't know James uses it too.

The Numb3rs episode airs tonight US time and tomorrow Europe/Australia time. I'll blog more about it later.

Then a bit more on Gaius Baltar's end. I'm glad they asked about this, because now that the finale has aired, he can freely talk about it. Obviously stop reading now if you haven't seen the finale and don't want to be spoiled.

Basically, James thought Baltar would die. He had mentioned that in many older interviews, so I'm not that surprised to hear this, but. It would have been so anticlimactic for us who love Baltar, I think, to see him just killed for everything he's done. I don't think he deserves to die. I think, like Caprica, that he redeemed himself in the end and became someone you can be proud of. But maybe it's true that that happened mainly within the finale itself.

So when I actually got to live through it, and had, as it were this realization, this sadness. This relief. The line "I know about farming" isn't exactly the most poetic line in the whole world, but it really did something.

That's what I felt too, watching it. Actually, my "worst case scenario" for the finale was that Gaius would enter the fight, die within five minutes, and never be spoken of again. I was SO relieved that he was in the final scenes.

I'm sorry IGN, but I will quote this whole quote, OK? Still talking about the farming line:

It really touched me. I've tried to explain at some conventions that it's like…this man feels so guilty and part of that guilt is shame. When you are so ashamed of who you've been and the things you've done. There's just no way you can make it up. It was crying for a lot of things. It opened something up. I think that's an amazing thing that Ron (Moore) has done. It allowed Baltar to make his peace and it really threw a curveball on the whole scene. This shouldn't be the man that you feel something for. But you do. It was brilliant.

Sniff. What can I add? It's a beautiful scene, it's a very defining moment for Gaius, and it's an acting triumph for James. It's touching to hear him talk about the scene like this. I'm still torn on some of the issues in the finale, but every time I think of the end of Gaius Baltar, I'm filled with this sense of catharsis and gratitude. That was so well done.

James Callis on Numb3rs, Part 2

...OK, that's really creepy. I am going to have nightmares about James saying, "You are my binary messenger" in that creepy voice. He really does sound insane.

And... he kinda looks hot here. I'm not nearly as bugged by the wig as I was in the promo pictures. A couple of fans actually went wild over the "wild man" look, so opinions were divided on whether or not it's hot. I think I might end up drooling over Mason Duryea (not Druydea like I initially wrote - sorry about that). Either way, he creeps me out. A lot.

The episode is called Angels and Devils and it airs this Friday US time (and Saturday European time). Exciting! Kixxa has promised to make some spine-chilling screenshots of the show. Looking forward to that!

Edit: And there's a different clip here, but it doesn't work for me.

Updates on the Rubins!

Some updates on Re-Uniting the Rubins! It's filming now for five more weeks, mostly in London.

Update: There are pictures of James on set in this post - and the news that he's had the baby a few days ago! So exciting! I'm ready to squee and gush at the baby news, but I want to wait to see if James posts something himself first. (I'm already squeeing and gushing though, but only off the record.) He's looking gorgeous! And kind of strange in business attire. :D Don't think I've seen him like that before - the bluetooth in his ear is something new.

Views of Teamwak has some location pictures:

James' offices in the film

James' house in the film

Martin, who works as a location manager for the film, reports:

There has been some quality acting going on with James, Tim Spall, and Rhona Mitra all bouncing brilliantly off each other. Ad libs and all sorts going on :)

Awesome! You know, this film is beginning to sound really good.

Also, I never gave any thought to the work involved in parking the stars' trailers and all that stuff. Someone has to be there at 4:45 AM so that the shoot can begin at 7 AM.

And a little article here, which reveals a bit about the plot:

Lenny Rubin, played by Spall, is about to retire and take a cruise around the world when he is roped in to fulfilling his mother's last wish to heal the rift between her squabbling children who are made up of a megalomaniac businessman, an eco warrior, a rabbi and a Buddhist.

Judging by the Teamwak reports, James plays the businessman. His character's name is Danny Rubin.

I haven't, truth be told, liked even one of James' films (including Beginner's Luck), but I might actually like this one. It sounds like a good kind of indie (=original and more free for ad libs), but not the bad kind of indie (=way too little budget and skill from the makers). Eagerly awaiting more info!

James Callis at FedCon Germany

Last updated on Monday, 18th May, at 10:20 PM Finnish time.
(Obviously check back for updates, but I'm tired of putting that in the title)


(click for larger size)

Latest updates:

Caprica-City has a paraphrase of James' Saturday panel up. If you know German, you can read it here. If not, here's a free translation of the key points. Thanks to Caprica-City for the detailed report and Artemis_Neith for translation help! (I've left out the things I already covered from earlier reports.)

-James was asked what happened with Baltar's harem. He had to admit he doesn't have any idea. He feels that Baltar always knew his religious talk was fake and never truly believed in it.

-What kind of person would be inspired by Baltar? James said that maybe he doesn't want to know, but possibly someone who wants to start their own religion. Hee!

-Asked about the height difference between him and Tricia, and also who was cast first: James said they were both cast at the same time, and the casting directors wanted to see which two actors had the best chemistry. He added that Six, while very feminine, also had masculine qualities, while Baltar embodied some feminine qualities. (True, and something fans have often pointed out. It's quite brave of James to play a character that's sort of androgynous. I know some fans find Baltar annoying precisely because he's "not manly enough", while some others like myself find him all the more compelling and sexy because of that.)

-Whole scenes were never improvised during filming, but there were added bits. For instance, the scene in season three (Taking a Break From All Your Worries) where Gaeta attacks Baltar was changed. Alessandro Juliani wasn't happy with just attacking him for no apparent reason, so he came up with the idea of Baltar whispering something into his ear. (Very interesting, and not the first time I've heard of AJ adding to the role - the homoerotic vibes were his idea too. I wish we'd seen more of Gaeta throughout the show.)

-For a long time, James had no idea who the final cylon would be. He had someone in mind, but was very surprised about who it was, and liked the choice. He was also happy it wasn't Baltar. (I wonder who he had in mind then?)

-Asked about the naked scenes on the baseship... I'm not sure what this answer is supposed to mean, and Artemis_Neith wasn't sure either, so it's not just my German. He apparently said there was a lot of green screen, and when people had to be added later, they put a microphone stand with a tennis ball on top there, so it was better than that at any rate. (????)

-Someone asked if he wishes he had played Baltar differently in some scenes. James said that's not the case; he always wanted to make Baltar as three-dimensional and human as possible.

-Is Baltar evil? James feels that things simply happen to Baltar, who, while not moral, is not evil. Asked about the scene where Lee tells him he's never done anything unselfish, James says the scene was originally shot with Head Six there, so it might seem like Gaius is shaking his head etc., but it's not at Lee. ARGH WHY IS HEAD SIX ALWAYS REMOVED?! It ruins the rhythm of the scene!! Grr I'm angry. Um, sorry. Back to James, he said Baltar doesn't need Lee to tell him who he is, and that some of his acts weren't completely egoistical. (I'm so glad he mentioned that.)

-He was also asked about the project he had to leave for, but unfortunately couldn't reveal more than that it's a comedy about a family. (Aww, too bad. I'm very curious about the project, but we'll just have to wait and see!)

Sunday updates:

Aha - found an explanation for the "in bed with the cylons" magazine cover behind James in the panel pictures! Apparently this guy had made those covers, and James really liked his!

Nonetheless, he's the one responsible for the title of this post - he seemed really impressed by my work (resulting in his words on his signature - I never got a thank you on one of those before ;) ). "I will take that home with me, that's some great work - thank you very much!" PRIDE! :)

:) That's great! James is an appreciative guy! *gush* I was a bit confused about that cover, because it says "James Callis" at the bottom, so I was wondering if James himself wrote it - it does seem like that kind of humor. It's got that Baltar flavor, somehow. Great work!

And a couple more photos at flickr! The Q&A:
A dizzy view, a sly look, the suit looks white again, dammit, and can't think of what to call this one, it's just a very James smile.

Plus a cute jamming picture from the opening. Hee!

Thursday update:

Pedda of Caprica-City has posted photo galleries, including one of James' Q&A! He looks adorable! :) He's pretty thin right now, but you can tell in some of the pictures that he has a tiny belly, and it's driving me insane. Soft and juicy!

Wednesday updates:

A forum thread with lots of photo op pictures of James (see all pages). He's looking very cute but kinda tired - just like in the Starfury photo op pictures. Maybe the con days are very tiring for the stars, meeting so many people. And to be quite honest, the boy next door shirt and the coat together - not a particularly good combination. Typical James! :D

And yes, he doesn't seem to mind hugging perfect strangers, and yes, I did imagine myself there, once again. *fantasy cuddle*!

Tuesday update:

A picture gallery here with photos of James from the opening ceremony and the Q&A. I won't link individually to each of them, because there are quite many. A cute crazy-eyes look here though. And I love when he rubs his feet (perhaps without noticing?) like this while talking. It's very boyish. (In one shot at the In the Moment gallery, link below, he actually touches the sole of his shoe, which is a bit gross, but also really cute.)

Sunday updates:

A gorgeous series of Q&A photos at In the Moment. It's clearly a professional photographer's site, and he's captured a lot of hilarious James expressions. Beautiful!

"I had a farm in Africa" actually wasn't James' own idea - I'm surprised, that sounds like a very James autograph:

Could you write down
"I had a farm in Africa"
for us?
At first he didn't seem to catch it,
but then he went"You know, it's a pretty funny joke"
Then he laughed, and I could have colapsed XDD

Hee! :D So cute.

A picture from the autograph session! Yay for Coke! I was wondering why there weren't any pictures with Coke bottles this time around. (Don't abandon our dark master, James!) I wonder what's in the bigger bottles. A good array of pens will come in handy when you're signing, too. OK, it's a really cute picture of James smiling too, but I tend to get distracted with this "objects related to James" fetish. In the bigger picture, there seems to be some chocolate... Edited: I'm not sure if that's chocolate now, maybe it's actually a... hard case of something... :P That's a real puzzle.
There's also a cell phone, earphones... (OK, I think I can just publish the post and continue obsessing to myself at this point.)

Two new photos from the Q&A's at Flickr! Here and here. One of these links refers to a piece of news that was not given by James himself. It seems like this shouldn't have gotten out yet, so I will not comment on it until we hear from James. I am very happy though, and anxiously waiting for the news.

I'm going to buy the BSG DVD from FedCon, but it sounds like it won't come out until sometime in October. So look forward to my Q&A transcripts then. The reports seem to be dwindling down; there will probably still be some updates to this post though.

Saturday updates:

Nicole (flyergrafix@web.de) has given me permission to use the beautiful James pictures above.
She also shared her meeting story:

Even though I was not an explicit Baltar Fan to begin with, James was such a nice guy, I think I'll rethink.
When I showed him the painting, he was speechless. "That's brilliant" he said... and such a beautiful smile! The autograph reads: Nicole - there is no black and white, just shades of grey. You've captured that beautifully. Lots of love to you, James Callis."

Awww! :) I'm always glad to hear when someone sees how nice James is and decides to like Baltar a little. And have I mentioned how much I love his personalized autographs?

A cute little story from Caprica-City:

James Callis hab ich vor dem Zigarettenautomaten an der Garderobe gesehen, der wusste leider nicht wie man so ein Ding bedient, ein anderer Besucher schon u ich konnte English. Sah fetzig aus in weiss aber Mönsch ...ist der klein!

Translation with some help from Artemis_Neith: "I saw James in front of the cigarette machine in the wardrobe. Unfortunately he didn't know how to use it, but another guest did, and I knew English. He looked handsome in white, but man - is he ever small!"

White? I thought the suit was beige, aagh! But seriously, it's very cute. Artemis_Neith wants to point out that German cigarette machines have specifically been made difficult to use, so that children wouldn't be able to buy cigarettes. Somehow the idea of James fumbling with a machine like that sounds very comical to me though. I wonder why he didn't bring more cigarettes with him (are there limitations for that, or did he end up smoking more than he was planning to? And did he buy Marlboro or some other brand? Why does this fascinate me so much?)? Questions abound.


Thursday updates:

Plus a picture from the opening ceremony from the same blog.

And a review of Saturday in German, with some details (but no photos) of the James panel:

Auf die Frage welche Rolle er außer seiner gerne gespielt hätte war die Antwort, dass er gerne die Sechs gespielt hätte, dann hätte er sich den ganzen Tag irgendwo eingeschlossen und mit sich selbst gespielt - hehe. Ein Fan fragte dann noch, wo denn Baltars Harem hinverschwunden sei plötzlich. Das wusste er auch nicht so genau, aber er meinte eventuell sei ja ein SpinnOff mit dem Titel “Baltars Lovecult” geplant.

He was asked which other roll he would have liked to play, and he answered that he would have liked to be Six, because then he could have played with himself the whole day. Hee :D

A fan asked where Baltar's cult disappeared so suddenly, and he said he doesn't know himself, but there will be a spin-off with the title Batlar's Lovecult. :D :D

A report in French about one of the Q&A's. Lots of beautiful pictures, and some fun details! I'll translate a few bits that I understood:

Hop, une petite question à propos de Bridget Jones et des hôtesses de l'air. Oui, James est toujours reconnu par les hôtesses de l'air pour son rôle dans le Journal de Bridget Jones. Alors il se demande si regarder le Journal de Bridget Jones, ce n'est pas une condition obligatoire pour devenir hôtesse de l'air.

James said he's always recognized by stewardesses from her role in Bridget Jones' Diary, and he wonders if seeing the film is an obligatory requirement for becoming a stewardess. Hee! He also mentioned having fun with the other actors who played Bridget's friends and Renee Zellweger who played Bridget. (And something about Renée that I didn't understand.)

James was very charming. (Well, of course! :D) He did his Aerilon accent for the audience. It was apparently inspired by a visit to Northern England, where he couldn't understand anything the people said. I always thought those accents were insanely hard to get, but I didn't know even British people felt the same way!

J'ai bien aimé sa réponse à la question d'une jeune fille qui lui demandait quels conseils il donnerait à des jeunes acteurs débutants... pour lui, on est tous plus ou moins acteurs, même dans la vie. Et il suffit de puiser dans les situations où on se met en scène pour y trouver la bonne recette. D'ailleurs, il imite une californienne avec ses stilettos et son mini-chien et c'est très drôle !

He imitated a Californian woman with her stiletto heels and little dog. Hee! :D I'm not sure why he did - I think it's in connection to a question about how to become an actor, and he said we're all actors in our lives. But my French fails me at that point.

Oh, and apparently the same writer just commented on this post that the suit is definitely beige. So now we know. :D

Wednesday updates:

There haven't been any transcripts or videos from the Q&A's, so I'll mention now that I'm planning on purchasing the FedCon BSG DVD and transcribing from there. (It might take a while though.) But if any readers have photos or stories they'd like to share, please leave a comment or email me.

I love his personalized autographs - "I had a farm in Africa"! And another photo op picture! He looks more animated in the Q&A photos, but there's something endearing about these fan photo ops. I'm glad he got to do at least one of them.

A collage with a picture of James here - looking kind of adorably tired. Long day signing? :)

More photos from the opening and discussion in French here. Now the suit looks grey. Oh, dear! I think some of the fans are saying that James isn't as stylish as he was in France, but he's adorable anyway. :D

The first photo op picture here - James is looking very intense! And wearing the coat over the boy next door shirt! And the coat looks sorta white again - maybe we should agree it's off white, or some such shade. It's very confusing!

And James signing here, with some text in French. I think it says he was irresistable with his samll t-shirt and his hair "dans tout les sens" - not sure what that last bit means.

And a picture from the Q&A here.

That's about all for today!

Tuesday updates:

Another picture from the opening.

And a report from the con with a mention of James and a picture of the stars signing autographs, here! Apparently they gave the actors something called "stroopwafels", so maybe that's what James has next to his coffee cup in that one picture. (I almost wrote "God" instead of "James". Ahem. Well, I have the flu, so that explains it, right?)

Thanks to Airings for uploading them and Nicole for the link, there are tons of pictures at this LJ! He looks gorgeous! Sounds like he talked again about the torture scene where EJO wanted him to wear the eye clips:

And then James did an impersonation of Eddie, going all "No. You've gotta do the pins. It doesn't make sense without the pins" and James said "..I don't want to go blind for Battlestar Galactica". BUT THE IMPERSONATION, YOU GUYS. I DIED.

Also:

He said he had to be in London at 7am the next morning to film a movie! That's some dedication right there.

Just as I thought - Rubins calls! I'm glad he got to do two days of the con anyway.

The shirt is totally adorable and he looks so cute and tiny and fluffy-haired! I know I've been obsessing over the donut gut thing lately (and still am), and I can't decide if I prefer him chubby or skinny. Either way, he's really adorable.

These pictures come from Caprica City, where unfortunately most photos are members only. The reports have been mostly of Sunday so far, but I will keep an eye on them and post some translations where applicable.

A picture from the opening night. It's odd how the suit that looks beige in other photos looks white in others. So what color was it really?

And here, an adorable picture from upclose, while James is signing. Chest hair! Arm hair! His hair upclose! And - is that candy he's got next to the coffee cup? You know, I'm becoming vaguely obsessed with that shirt. Boy next door shirt!

Monday updates:

A picture from the Q&A's! What say we on the shirt? It's amusing because it looks like the kind of shirt I've seen on so many guys. I'm used to seeing James in costume, I guess, so it's always odd when he's wearing text. :D

And a brief but amusing tweet:

Got literally overrun by James Callis at the Friday night party and wrote on my autograph the next day: lots of love, gotta run.

Heee! :D That's so James!

That's about it for now. James was at FedCon for Friday and Saturday, but not Sunday. At least one photo op was cancelled. Views of Teamwak reports that the shooting for Re-Uniting the Rubins started yesterday, so he probably wanted to get to London in time for that. There may not be as much stuff this time because of that.

Saturday updates:
The con is still going on, so there won't be a lot to report at this point, but there are a couple of photos at flickr.

James with Eddie, Hogan, Richard and Nichelle Nichols here.
...the microphone here.
...Mark, Richard and Michael here.
...Mark, Richard, Michael and Eddie here.
Richard in light, James in the shadow here.
James waving here.

The hair is still fluffy! I'm glad he keeps it like that, instead of the slick-back he sometimes does. And I love how small he looks inside that suit. Our little man!

More later. The reports will probably be mostly in German, so I will be providing English translations where necessary, and Artemis_Neith has offered to help in case of need.

Merlin and the Book of Beasts on May 30th!

Brook Durham, the screenwriter of the movie Merlin and the Book of Beasts, has emailed me to let me know that the TV movie is scheduled to be aired on Sci Fi (or SyFy) on May 30th.

The Sci Fi site has a picture of James looking very intense indeed in the Merlin garb, on this page. (It's currently under the "7" link, but that seems to vary. Flash required.)

I will have no chance to watch this movie for now, but I am open to a guest post if any US fans wish to write a review. I am quite curious about this film.

I don't really have any other new info so far, so I refer to my earlier post on the movie.

James Callis at the Jules Verne Festival

Last updated on Saturday, 2nd May, at 7:05 PM Finnish time.

Photo by Benelie at 3xcusemyfrench. Click for larger size and see more pictures in the link. He is gorgeous!

Latest updates:

The press conference is online at 3xcusemyfrench! Great quality video with English subtitles for Jamie, thank you so much for that. Transcripts later.

Press photos at Cinema-France.

Photos, videos from the event and a transcript of the main event interview in French here.

And lots of more videos at my Youtube - I haven't made a playlist yet, they're all in my favorites so far, and there may be duplicates. There are also other videos, which are more like paparazzi stuff: James by the car, looking uncomfortable and wanting to leave as people push cameras in his face. I will not link to videos like that. I know it was in a public place and lots of people had cameras, but if it's obvious that someone doesn't want to be filmed, leave him alone. James is a nice guy and he wasn't rude in any of the videos, but you could sense that he wasn't comfortable with this. Not cool.

Thursday's photos:

More photos by Aurelianne!

Another picture at flickr.

And even more photos by Benelie at her gallery.

Transcripts of the Q&A bits that aren't transcribed below (see the bottom of the post - there really wasn't much missing).

Part 2 at the French site:
The question is what resources they used as actors, because the characters are so versatile: "Sometimes we think they are heroes, and sometimes there are so many weaknesses - (at James) especially you." (all the actors laugh)

Mary says it's on the page, in the writing, and since the actors were so incredible, it's not hard to lift yourself (se lever) on their level.

James starts in French: "Et moi, je n'ai pas des resources. Je me leve, je suis Gaius." (And I was able to parse this with a little help from Daniela. We're good!) I think it means: "As for me, I don't have any resources. I lift myself, I am Gaius." The audience applauds and laughs until James gestures them to quiet down. He looks happy with the reaction, though. I knew he knows some French! You can also tell he understands what Jamie says.

"What I would say is that.. to agree with Mary, it was on the page. But also, to extend also on what Jamie said, the family element of when we were working on the set. I've never had so much fun or been so supported by so many people. And the resources that we're drawing on, it's not just the script, it's the directors, it's the producers, it's your other actors, who are constantly wanting you to play your A-game and wanting you to get there. And the set and design and the CGI too, weave us into the fabric of the world. We have been buoyed up on air by a wonderful cast and generous wonderful people. That's all the resources, I think, that we have drawn on."

In the same vein, part 4, they are talking about how the cast became so close to each other:

"I must say I agree with Jamie, and the words of Henry the fifth echo in my mind about, "we band of brothers". The thing is, I think, initally as well, that when we set out to do this thing, I think a lot of people in America and perhaps around the world thought that BSG and the remake of it was a bit of a joke. Which we certainly didn't feel. But we were removed from the rest of the world, we were in Vancouver. And also we weren't doing it for the rest of the world, on some level we were doing it for ourselves, we acted with each other in this hermetically sealed set. And I don't think we necessarily knew that there was going to be a future of the show afterwards. But there was. And we are connected to each other in a very special way, because it's like now, being part of Galactica is a badge of honor, but we were all there from the beginning. And we were all there for each other from the beginning. It's just a tremendous [boom?]...and as they say [?something in French?] like the rest of the world has enjoyed the agonies and the extacies that we put ourselves thru, a special bond. I can only say like Jamie said, it's like soldiers coming home from the war, we'll be close to each other in a way forever."

It's funny to think of Galactica as war (even if the show was very much about war), but it does seem like the cast became unusually close to each other. It's a beautiful idea that they still like each other so much. Sometimes you hear of those shows where the cast really dislike each other and have to pretend to be in love and stuff. All of the friendships and especially couples on the show had great chemistry together, and I think that kind of thing comes only from the actors liking each other as people. It's impossible to fake something like that, and I believe it's part of the reason that fans also get that warm family feel and want to return to the show and its world, even if it's so bleak in many other ways.

Tuesday's updates part 2:

On this page, "Gonzo" has a few notes on the press conference. Mary apparently said that she saw James and Jamie become fathers to five children altogether, and she feels like the kids' grandmother.

James Callis rit et Jamie lui dit : "You told us in the miniserie that we must start making babies!"

"James Callis laughed and Jamie told him..." Hee :D

Out of the Jules Verne characters, James prefers Captain Nemo. There's something about Nemo being the son of an Indian raja, and James made some joke about that it seems, but I don't really get the French there. I also think it says that James can't keep serious for more than two minutes at a time. Hee!

More pictures here.

First Tuesday updates:
A photo with James, Jamie and his wife (whose name is actually Kerry, not Kelly), with a fan, here.

This French site has videos of the entire Q&A (complete with French translations) and their arrival and departure on the red carpet. I'll be transcribing more this evening, there are some more quotes from James. I won't be transcribing Mary and Jamie this time, especially since Jamie speaks French throughout, and mine is a bit rusty. (See at the end of the post for the transcripts so far.)

In the first video, which is their departure, James comes out and signs some autographs. The handlers are rushing him to go, so he finally agrees to, but then shouts to the people, "Pardon! You're not gonna cry?" looking genuinely worried and sorry. Awww, our soft-hearted boy!

Some photos here, along with a blog post in French. I think it says they were very sympathetic, Jamie's French was great, and they offered some nice insights to the show.

Some photos on this forum page, again in French. They were very friendly, greeted everyone and signed quite a lot of autographs.

A huge picture and some more discussion in French here. Some stuff on James:

James Callis a ésquivé deux trois fois le micro. J'avais l'impression d'avoir le Gaius Baltar du début de la série. Sinon trés sympa et un peu fatigué.

Tout les trois ont recu un prix et ont posé pour tout le monde. Ensuite chacun a fait un ptit discour. James Callis a été interrompu par la traductrice qui ne suivait pas. Il avait l'air énervé d'avoir été coupé par la traductrice lol. Mais pas facile pour elle je pense donc quand meme chapeau a elle meme si j'ai pas saisi le message de James a la fin (qui avait l'air interressant).

My high school French fails me, but I think it says that James seemed annoyed to have to pause for the interpreter. You can tell in some of the below videos that it really didn't go seamlessly with that. James had to re-read the last line of his quote in the acceptance speech. I think he seemed unused to being interpreted and wasn't really sure how much to say at once, or was a bit nervous about the speech anyway and it threw him off. I don't think he was annoyed to be intrepreted per se.

Original post from Monday:

This past weekend, James Callis received the Jules Verne award for his work on Battlestar Galactica. Some time ago, James told us about this in a post at the Unofficial website forum, and he sounded genuinely delighted and excited. Mary McDonnell and Jamie Bamber were also awarded at the same event.

And James looked so damn gorgeous. His hair! It's fluffy again! And he's scruffy! Eeee! *jumps at James and licks him* Sorry. I just spent the weekend with my cousin and her very friendly and enthusiastic dog, so I've learned bad manners there. But I know there's been a collective heat wave on the fandom at twitter at least, so it's not just me.

So, before we go deeper into what he said, some photos to prove my point above!

James arriving at the festival on Friday, the 24th:
Pictures at Zimbio: here, here, here , here and here.
Photo at Flickr.

Photos from the press conference with James, Mary and Jamie.

There will be longer videos of the press conference, but there are two short ones here.
Thanks to Daniela and M for finding some links while I was out! :)

OK, then for the deeper stuff: there are already some videos up on Youtube. They are from the actual event on Sunday. You can check my channel for briefer clips, but I'll transcribe the James bits in the longer ones. His comments are very touching, and I (almost) forgot about his gorgeous hair while listening to them. I'm so proud of him for getting this award, and for his work in BSG, and most of all for his humanity. *sniffle*

This video shows them enter the stage, and some of the Q&A session.

"Myself, I'd just arrived... [There's a problem with the microphone or sth?] Somebody out there doesn't like me. (laughter) I'd just arrived in Los Angeles, and I received a script, and my manager said, 'You would be perfect to play Gaius Baltar.' And I was like, I don't know if he knows me very well, cos that guy is like a real douchebag. (laughter) So I kind... of resisted it, and then went to lots and lots of auditions. I was cast and... that's my story."

That's the short version at least - he's told the story many times, in many ways, so I pretty much know it by heart by now. Maybe he's a bit tired of telling it, as he cut it so short. Also in this video: Jamie Bamber speaks really good French. I'm impressed, and James and Mary look like they are too. I thought James knew a little French - he seems to sprinkle it here and there in his posts online - but apparently it's either not good enough or he's not confident enough to actually speak it in this setting. My French is a bit rusty, but I can tell Jamie's talking about the relationship between father and son.

"From the sublime to the ridiculous... Probably the most harrowing moment for me was taking somebody's knickers, I just can't remember whose they were. (laughter) No, that's a joke. The whole thing for Gaius has been... he's been through the mill, he's been through like, I don't know, an emotional, psychological obstacle course or missile course. I couldn't particularly draw out one moment in time that was more harrowing than the last. But I would also echo Jamie in saying that... The ending of the man, he finally became something that he had so wanted to be.

And also as acotrs, it was... I was discussing this just yesterday, we were finishing the show, and it was goodbye, and when I was standing in that field saying, you know, goodbye... It really hit me thru the head like a brick, and... The acting was, I don't know if that was acting, cos I just burst into tears, cos I was so upset to leave... leave this incredible thing that had enhanced and changed my life in so many ways."

If he's referring to the moment in the field when Gaius says, "You know, I know about farming" and Six just comforts him - best. Crying scene. Ever. Hands down. I'm not too surprised to hear it was genuine, because that was so beautifully done, subtle, and really felt real. It was one of the most touching and defining Baltar moments. And I also love that he became the man he wanted to be - a brave, respected, forgiven and loved man; a man who wasn't alone anymore.

In another video, James describes Gaius:

"I was just going to say, Gaius Baltar has an album coming out soon, (laughter) it's a remake, it's called Oh Lords of Kobol, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. (laughter, applause) You know, he's the wrong gaius at the wrong time in the wrong place. (laughter) And how would you describe this man? He.. (Mary whispers something in his ear) he starts... Thanks, Mary. (laughs)

He starts out with... Because he's so selfish, with very little idea of anybody else that, you know, doesn't hold up the mirror to his own reflection, cos he's so desperately narcissistic. And through his banality and his mistakes, he actually goes on an extreme learning curve and tries to find some of that humanity that, I don't know, the arrogance in his head could have obliterated beforehand. So he's in denial, he's scared, he's ashamed. He hasn't had the greatest time aboard the Galactica. And... I suppose he is constantly in search of some small kernel of redemption or salvation. If he could only turn back time, but he can't. Thank you." (applause)

I suppose he's said all of these things before, but I always feel like, when he describes Gaius, something new comes out, like a new angle to it or at least a new way of saying things. He captivates me, I want to listen and learn from his way of thinking and seeing the character. There's also the challenge of transcribing someone who uses pretty complex English. I really enjoy piecing together what he's saying. His accent and word choices constantly challenge me, and I think it's good for me especially now that I don't have a translating job to work on.

This video shows them receiving the statues, and some answers to questions.

"As far as I'm aware, I think that we're the only species on the planet that alters the environment to suit us. Every other species adapts themselves to the environment. So this is a problem that we have, a problem of our own ingenuity, and I think I said this yesterday, the problem with our progress... Basically, you know, on a really basic level, as far as I'm concerned, the only thing I can ever depend on is another human being, really. That's it. All we have is each other. And we have these discussions, as we did on the show for so long, that you know, governments all around the world are spending billions and billions of dollars making weapons, to protect ourselves from each other. This is raving mad. What could that money be used for? How can we [??] our lives [?] We've only got each other. Let's cut through the differences and let's find the similarities. And that's our future, hopefully."

Sniff! Sorry about the question marks - he sounds like he's very moved here, and perhaps some words become garbled because of that.

I'm always very moved myself to hear James talk about humanity: how we need each other and need to understand each other. It seems to be a very important theme for him; I remember he's brought it up many times before. He has a diplomatic outlook on life, and that's something I admire very much. I think fanaticism and trying to force everyone to think and live like you are things that breed war and oppression. On the other hand, trying to understand others and see our similarities as human beings will breed peace and tolerance. This is also, at least in my view, a very central theme on BSG.

James' acceptance speech:

"I thought I'd write something down. I'm actually gonna quote somebody else, cos I can't be trusted to be too serious for too long. So this ties in with our show and the extraordinary Jules Verne Film Festival, and what it sets out to do: on some level, to change the consciousness of the world. So I'm going to quote to you something from Robert Kennedy.

Each time a man stands up for an idea or acts to improve the lot of others
or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.
And crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring,
Those ripples build up a current
Which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

He's self-deprecating, as always, but I think he can be very serious and very deep, and usually is. He has a beautiful mind, and he thinks about things on a very deep level, and you can tell that in basically all interviews. Maybe BSG has been one of the things that has broadened his thinking and opened new horizons.

Sniff. I'm just so proud of him.

James Callis on Numb3rs, Part 1

(Parts 2 etc. will follow when I've seen the episode.)

How to make James Callis look unattractive? Still two days ago, I would have said: impossible.

But apparently not so, as the Numb3rs pictures have him in an obvious black wig and beard that covers his entire frakking face! Argh.

The picture and more info on the character here:

“He played an incredible character. An incredibly scary, Charles Manson, eat-you-alive type psycho,” says Alimi Ballard (Agent Sinclair).

Wow. Some people are saying he's been typecast after the "villainous" Gaius Baltar, but that sounds nothing like Gaius. Gaius has empathy and guilt, and besides, he's a coward. If you met him in a dark alley, he'd run and hide from you, even if you were a little girl. This sounds a lot more like Haman in One Night With the King, who was a genocidal maniac. But he was a sexy genocidal maniac, so somehow it's more OK, even if the role was pretty black and white and they had him talk in a weird throaty voice.

Another picture here. It looks odd to see James restrained by the police. And he really does look mad in that photo!

And the character's name is Mason Duryea. What a name. We get it, THIS MAN IS A BAD MAN. PLEASE HATE HIM BEFORE YOU'VE EVEN SEEN THE EPISODE.

I do like Numb3rs, which is an unusually intelligent cop show, and will hopefully like the episode. But I'm a bit bugged that James has to play such a heinous role. I hope it's not all black and white. If he looked his usual hot self, I wouldn't mind so much. I actually have Don't Mess With My Man playing in my head right now.