Michael Shanks, "Rage of Angels"

[foxmonkey]

Shanks details Rage of Angels
Wednesday - May 9, 2007 | by Darren Sumner

Life in the entertainment world goes on for the cast of Stargate SG-1 after the decade-old television series wrapped for the final time. Though two SG-1 movies are now in production (with the hope of more to come), actors Christopher Judge ("Teal'c") and Michael Shanks ("Daniel Jackson") have something new in the works: a TV series pilot called Rage of Angels.

Shanks talked about the project in a new interview with iF Magazine.

"Christopher Judge has written a script called Rage of Angels, that he told me late in the game that I was attached to it! MGM is going to produce the pilot and we're going to make it a series. Brad Turner from 24 fame is on tap to direct."

Turner has previously directed the pair in several SG-1 episodes, including "Thor's Hammer," "The Tok'ra," "Touchstone," and "Beachhead." Judge and Shanks will both appear in the pilot.

"Chris's character is basically Gabriel, who has come to Earth find the angel Michael, who has disappeared. And he's basically fed up with the rules of heaven preventing interaction on any level. He casts away the rules of heaven and decides to go look for Michael, and in the process hunt down whatever Lucifer brings to the table.

"And oddly enough I'll be playing Lucifer," Shanks laughed. "It'll be an interesting dynamic there. I'll be playing a misunderstood guy -- someone with daddy issues."

"Hopefully, we'll shoot it by late fall and we'll see where that goes," Shanks said.

Read the full interview now at iF Magazine! Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum are expected to be released on DVD in North America this fall. Also catch Michael Shanks in a recurring role Monday nights on FOX's 24.

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DVD Exclusive: MICHAEL SHANKS TALKS 'STARGATE:SG1' DVD MOVIES AND THE RETURN OF RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON

The actor also has a project where he plays Lucifer in the works with fellow SG1 star Christopher Judge

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By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor
Published 5/9/2007

STARGATE: SG1 is coming to end after ten seasons, but according to Michael Shanks who plays Doctor Daniel Jackson, the story doesn’t end there. In the works are two STARGATE: SG1 DVD movies that will wrap up the Season 10 Ori storyline, and then there will be a new stand alone adventure featuring the return of Richard Dean Anderson. Shanks also told iF MAGAZINE in an exclusive interview what his journey as Daniel has been like, and about the new series he is going to do with fellow STARGATE alum Christopher Judge.

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iF MAGAZINE: How do you feel about SG1 ending?

MICHAEL SHANKS: I’ve been asked that question a lot. I gauged it by my gut reaction to the news that we had gotten cancelled, and that’s usually a huge telling sign if you are lying to yourself about certain things or trying to convince yourself of other things. When we got the news my initial reaction instead of being upset or angry was “whew” and I thought what was that? I waited for the aftermath of “Wow” or “oh Jesus” or something and it was just a feeling of, that’s it and we did it and it was due. It wasn’t because it didn’t feel like we had more to do, but now was a good time. It’s been awhile and we’ve had a long run than most people expected and we’ve lasted longer than most people expected. There’s very little that we didn’t get a chance to do on that show, that we could afford to do, so there’s not a feeling of bad endings. I think when I left the show for a couple of seasons I had feelings of unfulfilled business, which is one of the reasons I came back because there was still a pull or a draw for me. This time I don’t really feel that way. I think maybe its time to close the book.

iF: In the latest episodes Daniel has been undergoing some changes. Are you back to normal yet?

SHANKS: I believe last Friday was my only night in latex. [Laughs] And, how often do you say that? So after that we’ll see Daniel make a return to normal.

iF: So how was it being covered in latex?

SHANKS: Absolute shite! Absolute shite. I had done prosthetics before for days during the second season of the show and I didn’t particularly enjoy it then because you’re six hours in a make-up chair getting it applied. Usually you’re up at 4 in the morning and then after you’re done you still have a full day of work ahead of you. You also have to wear this cumbersome stuff and it limits your facial reactions and you look in the mirror and you don’t even recognize yourself. Oddly enough, that has a tremendous physiological effect. I remember when I was playing this old man in the first season of the show, that over the course of six days wearing it for a full twelve to fourteen hour day; you realize when you look in the mirror how much it effects your psyche. You start to take on this new personality that you are seeing. What was even stranger is people start treating you like that, even though I was a 27-year-old man who was quite virile and spunky, I found myself hobbling to set and people were holding doors for me. [Laughs] The make-up we did for Daniel as the Prior, it’s not monster makeup but it does make you look a bit ghoulish and people are freaked out by you. In terms of actually doing it, it wasn’t a nice thing. With every seven-day shoot we did for that, everyday I had to wear it and also everyday we would have a turn over where I was normal. So, I either started the day without the make-up and I changed into it, or I started with the heavy make-up and then scrubbed it all off. Then I put on regular make-up for the character. As much as that doesn’t sound like a strange thing, the tearing off and re-applying of the makeups is hell on the skin. It’s like a facial every time they tear it off because it feels like it takes a layer or two of skin with it. That’s fine for one day, because you think your skin looks great, but by day seven you’re close to bone. [Laughs] So I remember on the last day my face was so red and raw, that if you watch the last scenes of the episode you can see the redness of my skin under the normal makeup; my skin was screaming in pain under the base makeup. I don’t want to say that it’s like burns, but when you’re tearing off layers of skin, the stuff underneath is vulnerable and then you apply make-up to it. That’s not the best recipe for your skin.

iF: Describe to me in your own words the journey or arc that Daniel has been on from the starting point of the series until now?

SHANKS: Where Daniel started and the way his character was created in the feature film, here was a guy who was an orphan, raised by foster parents, and in the mind of his colleagues he was a bit of a crackpot because of his strange theories on aliens. Therefore he was sort of cast out of his community and with the discovery of the Stargate was sort of brought into and realized his dreams. He’s like the little boy, who being alone for a lot of his life was searching for something; whether it be family or some sense of belonging and I think that led for him to a huge search outwards. In the course of his connect and his place with this group he found a family, but in his own mind was searching for something out there; almost as if it were answers to everything or a metaphoric search for God. The quest for our own origination is a quest for our own sense of where we came from and that leads upwards and the Stargate is part of that search. Dealing with Gods on this show, when we discovered the ancients I believe that was the equation for searching for the secret of the birth of our race which would in turn lead to what our idea of what our Gods are. Once, Daniel died in season five the notion was, in his own mind that was what he was looking for all of the time and going though and letting go was another journey and another discovery that was completely in character for him to want to do because it might’ve held the answers to everything else. As is the nature of science fiction, when we discover that is not all it is cracked up to be and that they are just another omnipotent alien race, there’s no big picture or grand answers. Then, when Daniel came back to the show he realizes that wasn’t the answer he was looking for, and since returning in Season Seven it has been a casting away of those aspersions looking for outside answers and outside help, and instead looking for his inside strengths and finding his answers from within his own power as opposed to looking for someone to do it for him. So, I think that’s the best way to define that.

iF: What are the plots of the upcoming DVD movies going to be?

SHANKS: I just wrapped filming the first one, THE ARC OF TRUTH. There are two planned, we’re filming the second one up until mid to late June and then they’ll cut them together and package them up and see where they go from there. As far as I know they’re in talks with different companies for airing them. I don’t think SCI FI Channel in specific is involved in airing them, I don’t really know the business side of that. They might just be straight to DVD and MGM might be relying on Fox distribution to handle that. Sales of our DVDs have been so good that I think they’re hoping to do this themselves and see how they do.

iF: Are these stand alone movies that a casual fan can watch and understand?

SHANKS: One of them is, the second one is. Brad Wright’s script CONTINUUM is a definitive stand-alone that will even have Richard Dean Anderson returning for portions of the film. The first one, THE ARC OF TRUTH, is basically a pun kind of title for the resolution for the arc of the last two seasons of the show. The last two years there was the creation of the Ori storyline and when we end Season 10 we don’t resolve that at all or even begin to start resolving it, and this is supposed to tie up that story.

iF: Beyond the STARGATE DVD movies what do you have coming up?

SHANKS: I think it’s OK to talk about it is, Christopher Judge has written a script called RAGE OF ANGELS, that he told me late in the game that I was attached to it. [Laughs] MGM is going to produce the pilot for and we’re going to make it a series. Brad Turner from 24 fame is on taps to direct. I’m actually in Los Angeles right now and that’s what we’re here about. Hopefully, we’ll shoot it by late fall and we’ll see where that goes. Chris’ character is basically Gabriel, who has come to Earth find the Angel Michael who has disappeared and he’s basically fed up with the rules of heaven preventing interaction on any level. He casts away the rules of heaven and decides to go look for Michael and in the process hunt down whatever Lucifer brings to the table, and oddly enough I’ll be playing Lucifer. [Laughs] It’ll be an interesting dynamic there. I’ll be playing a misunderstood guy; someone with daddy issues.