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It is impossible to imagine the “Stargate” franchise without Dr. Daniel Jackson, the brilliant archaeologist who made intergalactic trips through Stargates possible. In “Stargate” by Roland Emmerich, James Spader played Jackson as a explorer with tender curiosity, the type of person bravely sufficiently to do the right thing in the face of evil. This endearing courage is also an integral part of Jackson’s character in “Stargate SG-1” and parts of “Stargate Atlantis”, brought to the life of Michael Shanks. Although Shanks initially imitated some of Spader’s peculiarities to make his version of Jackson feel punished, his incredibly remote performance gradually helped to record the portrait of an increasingly complex protagonist. After all, Shanks Jackson takes many ways in the “Stargate” shows, from Doppelgangers in alternative realities to manipulated vessels for antagonistic beings. In each iteration, the dynamic performance of Shanks shines.
Things, however, were not always pink in the “Stargate SG-1” set. Rumors about creative differences began to circulate when Shanks left the show in season 5 after his character was brutally killed in an impressive turn of events. However, the actor returned a year later, becoming a regular series of season 7 onwards. Shanks opened on his temporary departure years later, stating that writers had a very different idea about Jackson’s arch than him. Although Shanks’s decision to leave was his, he had severely underestimated the popularity of his characters and how irreplaceable Jackson was as a member of the Stargate SG-1 crew. Given how strongly the franchise fans about the absence of Daniel Jackson felt, Shanks’s return was inevitable, and “SG-1” is better because of that.
That said, even the most satisfactory performance experiences can be marked with frustrations, which Shanks shared in an interview with Gateworld. This is what I had to say about it.
Stargate’s approach in the plot at the cost of the character annoys Michael Shanks
When “Stargate SG-1” was green, nobody had a crystalline idea about the future of the franchise. Emmerich’s 1994 film was not a commercial success, and plans for a trilogy failed. The Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner shows had based the “Stargate” premise of Emmerich, but depended on them to develop a world that could be sustained in more than one season. And they developed, but the approach would often change to the fantastic plot and larger than life during script rewriting, which reduced or erased the subtle dynamics of integral characters to the premise. In Gateworld’s interview previously linked, Shanks expressed his frustration for the developments of great plot often eclipseing the depth of the character or the progression in “Stargate SG-1:”
“In ‘SG-1’, (emphasis on the dynamics of the characters) it was something that our writers always discussed. We would get a draft of scripts, and there would be a scene in which two characters join on something. And then the next draft would come out and that would have gone. And we would go, ‘Why was that?’ And we would hear ‘we cannot fit because we have to reach such and such by act two and such and such for act three’ “.
Shanks mentions “Stargate Universe” as a contrast, stating that the “became closer” program to defend a story that prioritizes the dynamics of the characters without excess withdrawal in the strong and dramatic rhythms of stories. The actor also talked about the supernatural medical drama CTV “Saving Hope”, in which he played Dr. Charles Harris, and why the program works because From your focus on interpersonal relationships:
“It is much more about the relationships and the characters than most of the programs that I have filmed before. That is the only thing, I have noticed prominently, with the reception of the audience of it and the creation of it. When we do not get our characters and our right relationships, those scenes simply do not work (…) the scenes when you are doing an action show. Craves to make the scenes like that.”
This makes sense, since “saving hope” is much more based on the “Stargate” universe and needs to trust these human relationships to evoke sympathy or raise bets. Although programs such as “SG-1” can mask some of their moments of little cooked characters with great space explosions, these lost opportunities seem more evident with each season of passes.
