Blastr.com - David Hewlett (2013)

Source : Blastr.com

Title : David Hewlett: My secret plans for a Stargate Atlantis movie + more

Greetings again, people of Earth.  Hewlett here … and it’s Blastr time! 

I’ve been doing my usual flapping around the globe of late. From sun drenched California, to flood soaked Warwickshire UK, I’m now settling into life in snow struck Toronto, Canada … and, as per usual, I’ve been complaining all the way. Someone with a ZPM really must invent a better way to travel!

Very sad to tell you all that we’ve said farewell to my remarkable father-in-law, the consummate gentleman and storyteller, Mr. Don Loughman. He can be seen in the background of Stargate Atlantis’ "The Game," playing a village elder and looking as wise, knowledgable and full of enthusiasm as he was throughout his incredible life. We miss and love you very much, Don … your grandson speaks of you often and asked us just the other day to check the paper in the hopes of seeing more “famous” photos of you. Don would be very happy and proud to know that his daughter and I are finally making another movie together.

Yes, after almost two years of meetings, development, nail-biting, hair-tearing and script writing, we began shooting our feature film Debug last week ... so I’m back here directing a film in the Great White North ... well, at Pinewood Studios, Toronto ... the city where I grew up and got into this whole film and television mess in the first place.

Here's the synopsis:

Six young computer hackers, sent to work on a derelict space freighter, are forced to match wits with a vengeful artificial intelligence that would kill to be human.

You’ll all notice that there is a distinct lack of primates involved in this project ... well, at least, so far.

My father took me and my about-to-be-traumatized friends to Stanley Kubrick's 2001 for my 10th birthday party. I still find it equally haunting, interminable and impossible to understand … just as I still love sipping cream soda through red twizzlers. That said, ever since I sat in that theatre wishing I’d taken my father’s advice to pee during intermission, I have been fantasizing about what would have happened if artificial intelligence HAL had been the victor in his murderous attack on Dave. The result of this somewhat twisted train of thought is Debug, a film where I have been able to have some fun exploring things from the computer’s perspective ... and in true, miserable, antisocial Hewlett fashion, I'm siding with the computer over our attractive band of humans.  

We have an amazing cast, some of whom will be familiar to you … all of whom I'm sure will be household names before too long. (Whom is my new favourite word.) If you want to hear random reports from the Debug set then hop onto Twitter and you’ll be the first to know everything … or nothing, if I’m too tired to think of anything interesting to tell you.

So before I disappear once again into the weird, wild and wonderful world of writing and directing a movie, I thought I'd take a second or two to answer some of your burning questions:

Are you secretly planning on shooting the Stargate Atlantis movie?

Darn right! Just as soon as I get the thing cast ... which involves completing my set of Stargate action figures and decorating my toilet to look like the Atlantis stargate ... after that it'll be all chevrons locked with the iPhone ready to roll! ;-)

How could the character I played on Stargate Atlantis (Mckay, Doctor Rodney Mckay) ever have ended up with Dr. Keller played by the beautiful and ever-evil Jewel Staite?

Doctor Beckett had already exploded.

I follow you on Twitter and you never reply to me, how come?

Because of all the people following me, it's you I actively dislike and am plotting against by ignoring your tweets.

Did you gain weight for your role on Stargate Atlantis?

No, I gained weight while playing the role of Rodney Mckay on Stargate Atlantis ... breakfast burritos and a near endless supply of donuts ... thanks for pointing that out, maybe you could mention all the hair I've lost as well ... actually, now you don't even have to do that as I've just done it for you.

Are you really related to Kate Hewlett?

Hard to believe, but yes … she's my much older sister … who’s actually 10 years younger than me. ;-)

Why don't we see Mars on film anymore?

Mars the wondermutt was the star of our first film A Dog's Breakfast and has since become an eccentric, Brando-like recluse who shuns the spotlight ... plus he tends to teeter around on three legs now, which may have something to do with his unhealthy affection for potent Ontario poochwater.

Are you really Canadian and allergic to lemon?

Yes, I am Canadian, having sailed here from England on a Russian boat called the Alexander Pushkin when I was the ripe old age of 4. No, I am not allergic to lemon, though fresh pineapple can pose problems … I get the lips like Jagger (but, sadly, not the moves)!

Speak of me well and talk of me often ... I'll see you on the other side with tales of space and debugging!

All the best, from the best,

Hewlett!

A venir...