BACKTOFRANKBLACK EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MALCOLM STEWART SPEAKS!


Malcolm Stewart is a licensed pilot, has a teenage daughter and is a citizen of three countries. Recently, he was honoured to be the only actor in three films at the prestigious 2009 Sundance Film Festival, "Moon" with Sam Rockwell, "Grace" a psychological thriller and "Helen" with Ashley Judd. To Millennium fans he will always be remembered for his appearance in 'Loin Like a Hunting Flame' and, most notably, for occupying the notorious position of inciting the civil unrest between the 'Owls' and 'Roosters' as the shadowy 'Gordon Johnston'. Malcolm took the time to speak to BacktoFrankBlack recently and we are indebted to him for his kindness and generosity.

BACKTOFRANKBLACK: You have made two appearances in Millennium, in 'Owls' and in 'Loin Like A Hunting Flame' and a number of appearances in Millennium's sister franchise, "The X-Files". How do you rate your time on both shows and do you have a particular preference with regards to what you gleaned the most satisfaction from working on?

MALCOLM STEWART:
With all due respect to "Millennium" I enjoyed working on the X-Files from "literally" the first day of shooting. There was something different about the mood on the set, as if we were all wondering what the whole thing was about.

I remem
ber Gillian being quite nervous and rightly so. She had done very little before X-Files and a lot was riding on her performance. David on the other hand had come from feature films and was complaining about how fast everything was. My favourite part was Dr. Sachs, had he not been killed by the crawly things I think he would have been an interesting character to explore.

BTFB: I know you have mentioned that you have never seen the second season episode of "Millennium" that you starred in, is this true of 'Loin Like a Hunting Flame' as well? Is this merely because of circumstance or because you tend not to revisit your work on screen?

MS: I never saw either episode of Millennium, in fact I have never seen one of the episodes of X-Files (the one after the pilot about Vampires) [the Season Two episode "3".] There are two reasons. Firstly, unless it is specifically written into your contract, you are not sent a copy. Even then, producers very often forget to honor it. Usually, it is just the stars that get a first look. The other reason is that when I was just starting out in New York doing soap operas and commercials I tended to watch everything I was in. The fact is, and not to sound arrogant, it became too difficult after a while or in some cases It just wasn't important to me.

With that being said there are some projects that come along where I have to see it and have a copy because of how I feel about it.


BTFB: Johnston's death scene was a very memorable part of 'Owls' and a classic hallmark of Morgan and Wong to depict such a scene against a gentle music track, in this case, America's "A Horse with No Name." I know Glen Morgan was frustrated by the amount of cuts that were demanded for that particular scene, could you tell us what you recall of filming and what we, as viewers, should have seen?

MS: As I have never seen it, I am not sure what was eventually aired by the network. I do know this: sometime after filming someone on the production staff informed me that the network thought the footage was too gruesome and realistic for prime time television and decided to cut it drastically. Here is what I do remember.

We shot in the middle of the night (par for the course with Millennium) and I spent a good deal of the night on my back pretending to be drowning from a hose stuck down my throat that was supposed to
be gasoline. The crew and director were constantly worried that I was really in trouble which I was not.

I have always been comfortable under water or faking that sort of stuff...so I guess I "Sold" it well. I was once in a scene where this fellow had to drown me in a fish tank. I said look, "put my hands behind my back, push my head down into the tank and I will pretend I am drowning. When I run out of air I w
ill squeeze your hand and you pull me up." It all went "swimmingly" fine except for the fact that I was able to do that for close to a minute and nobody told some young female production assistant who actually thought I was drowning...consequently, she became rather hysterical and ruined the first take.

BTFB: In the first scene you starred in, your character has the job of providing for the viewers all sorts of complicated info to fill them in on the mandate of the 'Owls' faction of the "Millennium Group" alongside Terry O'Quinn. Another actor explained to me that guest stars are rarely clued in as to what the bigger picture is with regards to the content of the episode they are in. Is this correct in all cases and do you ever find yourself wondering what on earth your character is talking about?

MS: The answer to this question is yes...sometimes, even when you read the whole script. But this is mostly in sci-fi. Actually, I do not remember that particular scene (too long ago) but I have remained friends with Terry O' Quinn. We guest starred together a few years ago on "Master's of Science Fiction"

BTFB: Looking at your career you have featured in an incredible number of genre productions including Battlestar Gallactica, The Bionic Woman, Stargate and countless more besides. Are you attracted to that particular type of role or is it attracted to you? Looking back over those roles are there any you are particularly proud of in terms of personal satisfaction with your performance?

MS: To be perfectly honest I think it has to do more with location. I live and work predominantly out of Vancouver, Canada although I do film in London, New York and LA occasionally. The fact is Sci-Fi is not a sure bet and generally not for one of the four major US networks so the producers look for shooting locations that are less expensive than the major centers. Consequently, I get offered these parts because I am located where they are shooting.

BTFB: I read recently that you were the only actor to star in three films at the prestigious 2009 Sundance Film Festival. "Moon" with Sam Rockwell, "Grace" a psychological thriller and "Helen" with Ashley Judd. That's a fantastic achievement, are you proud of your work in those films?

MS: Yes, I feel honoured to have enjoyed that distinction. Ironically, I had made a decision a couple of years ago to look for more interesting and different roles outside the mainstream film and television industry and in so doing almost turned down each one of the films that ended up at Sundance. "Grace" because of the subject matter and the initial script. "Helen" because of the type of role and "Moon" because of the size of the part. Ultimately, I did all three and was stunned at the result!

BTFB: You have had an incredibly full career to date, what can admirers of your work keep their eyes open for with regards to the continuing career of Malcolm Stewart?

MS: Who knows! However, l am enjoying writing for film and would like to go back to Broadway someday.

BTFB: And now for a little fun....

MALCOLM STEWART'S MILLENNIUM GROUP INITIATION TEST!

Heaven is
... good health
People who know me think... I 'm fun to be around
My last meal... would be something I cooked served with a good wine
I must confess... I like expensive clothes

BTFB: Our thanks to you for taking the time to talk to us!

MS: Good luck and keep me posted.

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE: HAUNTEDHOUSE.COM JOIN THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL!

Thanks to the phenomenon that is twitter, I had the pleasure of discovering HauntedHouse.com and it's wonderful webmaster Christopher. Like us, Christopher is a Millennium aficionado and was happy to share with us his thoughts and feelings on one show that left an indelible
impression upon him. Imagine our delight when he extended his friendship to us and offered to support the campaign by way of an interview with yours truly.

Hauntedhouse.com really has to be experienced to be truly appreciated. If you lean towards all things horror and Halloween, as I do, then this website is a veritable goldmine of information and goodies and what's more it is the work a fan of the show and, more recently, an appreciator of the campaign, what further impetus do you need to check it out?

I could not in all honesty do justice to the impressive content the site has on offer. If you are seeking the best in horror podcasts, haunted house locations, Halloween related goods, the meaning of life (well, evidently not the latter but it has to be the only thing this site doesn't have) then head on over and get lost in the content. I did and a happy hour went by in the blink of an eye.

To read the resulting interview visit here and ensure you check the site out in the process. Our tremendous thanks to Christopher for the warmth and kindness he has extended to us.

Avatar Vision Proudly Presents; IN GEHENNA THE WRETCHED WILL BURN!

Time for our weekly jaunt to Cinema Apocalypto for yet another visual feast courtesy of Josef, the campaign's very own Scorsese (or should that be Carter?), Josef has created another storming video montage using selected clips from the episode "Gehenna" and music from Nine Inch Nails - The Wretched. I am sure you will agree the results are awesome as Josef edges ever nearer to his goal of one montage for every episode of the show.

Now there you are, watching the video and wondering why these are so important to us? Youtube is an undeniably powerful way to promote yourself and entertain others in the process. A few minutes, a fun video and one more Millennium fan could very well find out about this campaign who didn't know of it before and this is exactly what is happening since Josef came on board with this fantastic project.



Let's face it, we aren't preaching to the converted, we need as many people as we can muster and that's where you come in. Videos, photographs, letters and emails are important ways of demonstrating the love that exists for Millennium and providing us with the bits and bobs we can use to get the word out there.

So grab that popcorn and settle down for another instalment of Avatar Vision. Don't forget, let Josef know what you think of his efforts in our comments section.

Free podcast! Millennium Group Sessions #6 - Keegan Connor Tracey Interviewed!

BacktoFrankBlack: The Millennium Group Sessions, hosted by Troy Foreman and co-hosted by Jim McLean is now available for free download via our website AND on ITunes!

Please download our free podcast to support the campaign and the guests who have graciously contributed their time to the campaign!

To
download from BacktoFrankBlack.com

To download from ITUNES
  • To subscribe to the Itunes podcast, simply load up the Itunes store on your Itunes application, search for BacktoFrankBlack and wait for the podcast to pop onto the list. Then click "subscribe" - you will need to sign up to a free Itunes account to do this - but Itunes does run a great service for podcasts of all types (including our friends ThaDarkSideVibe and Spooktalkular)

BacktoFrankBlack: Millennium Group Sessions 06 - Omerta Pt 1

In the sixth episode in the Millennium Group Sessions series, Troy and Jim speak to Omerta guest star Keegan Connor Tracey (Battlestar Galactica, Final Destination, Supernatural) and take a deeper look at Omerta. Expect the usual news, updates and informal chat in the first of the two part Omerta special that concludes next week with an interview with actor Jon Polito.

This free podcast is available on a fortnightly basis via ITUNES and BacktoFrankBlack.com. We'll naturally update you all on information on the podcast from this blog as well.

With ITUNES, anyone who has an Itunes friendly account will be able to subscribe easily and download the podcasts as they are released. We recommend the ITUNES friendly enhanced podcast because each episode will have its unique set of images to accompany the chatter!