The always congenial, enthusiastic and extremely talented David Blue. Photo copyright of Pinnacle Public Relations.
Are you familiar with the saying, "Too smart for your own good?" Well, Stargate Universe's "math boy" Eli Wallace certainly is. The pizza-loving, video game playing M.I.T. dropout had no idea how much his life would change when he solved what he thought was just another mathematical problem in one of his Sci-Fi video games.
Before Eli knew it, he was whisked away by Stargate Command to another planet, which eventually led to him being stranded millions of light years from Earth and onboard the Ancients spaceship Destiny. Unable to control their course, Eli and his fellow reluctant travelers had to do whatever they could to secure such basic needs as clean air, food and water. Just as it looked as if they had gotten a foothold on their survival, our heroes were faced with their first outside threat as well as internal turmoil between civilians and the military in Universe's mid-season two-parter Space and Divided. For actor David Blue, who plays Eli, it proved to be another eye-opener in his character's ongoing outer space odyssey.
"Every day is kind of a big change in my opinion for Eli because it's such a new experience for him," says Blue. "It's a brand new, for lack of a better cheesy term, 'universe.' Eli didn't know that this world existed, so every time he discovers or learn something new, it directly affects who he is as a person. For example, he's getting better at using the ship's computers as well as reading Ancient and figuring out how to best apply himself to what's happening around him and the other characters.
Eli Wallace (David Blue) tries to make sense of this unfamiliar "universe" he has been thrust into. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
"On top of that, his relationships are changing. The one person Eli believed he was going to be romantically involved with has been taken away from him by someone who my character has come to call his friend. So for Eli, it's a matter of trying to grow from and learn how to deal with that type of situation. Then there's the question of how much he should not only trust but also look up to Dr. Rush [Robert Carlyle]. He's also not 100 % sure about putting his life into Colonel Young's [Louis Ferreira] hands and is the colonel worthy of such a trust? And then the more close calls with death that Eli has, the more he starts to realize that he has to start taking responsibility for his own life as well as those of his friends.
"As far as SGU's mid-season episodes, it was the first time that our characters really had a huge outside influence to deal with, and not just the little creatures that were trying to kill them [in the episode Water], but something that was a real threat. At that point, it felt like the show changed. And to be totally honest, it kind of frustrates me because some fans think,' Oh, they [the producers] listened to us, so the series is different now,' and that's not the case. What you see in the second half of the season is what was planned for the show all along, but it's just that people watched the episodes after they were filmed.
"So, yeah, the game changed because of a new outside influence coming in and we realize that we're not alone. It now becomes a matter of having to trust each other, even though some of us are tempted to, let's say, toss Rush out of an airlock because of the whole wanting to go home situation, but realizing we can't do that. It's really no longer about, 'Oh, we're here, this stinks,' but rather, 'OK, guys, so what are we going to do in the meantime,' and moving forward."
Eli and Chloe (Elyse Levesque). Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
As Blue pointed out, a potential romantic entanglement for his character has fizzled out since our characters' arrival on Destiny, while Eli's relationship with Dr. Rush continues its rollercoaster ride. "With Chloe [Elyse Levesque], it began with what my character saw as a mutual attraction, and then he was surprised to find out that it was more of a friendship, and he's now had to change that relationship," explains the actor.
"Eli is not a child, and he's not a puppy dog who always falls in love with the girl across the room. He's been in relationships before, and in this case he's had to morph the one he has with Chloe into a close friendship. That's important, too, as far as Eli's relationship with Lt. Scott [Brian J. Smith], whose character Chloe is now involved with. I mean, it would be ridiculous for my character to hold a grudge against someone like Scott, who he connected with pretty much right off the bat.
"With Eli and Rush, they have this strange relationship where I don't think they could get on each other's nerves more than they do right now. But the truth is they both feel a kinship with each other because, in a way, I think Eli is a young un-jaded Rush. He's incredibly talented, possibly even more than Rush. Eli has a great deal of potential but he's never really put it to use, and Eli is so much better than Rush at speaking with people and having interpersonal relationships.
Dueling brainiacs - Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Eli. Photo by Art Streiber and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
"So it's this weird type of respect, envy and hate all wrapped up in one, and it continues to grow in all different directions as the first season progresses. Rush will do something and Eli will think, 'That's amazing, that floors me. I want to be like you.' Then, however, he'll hear about something that Rush did, or Rush will do something that is obviously threatening the entire crew and suddenly my character will be like, 'Who are you? You're a madman. You deserve to be punished.' These are just some of the things that, thanks to the brilliance of our writers, were set up when we went into the show and that have kept on growing and evolving.
"Besides Chloe and Rush, I love the moments that the writers touch upon between Eli and the other characters, especially the ones that take place with him and people like Volker, Brody and Park. I like that they go into this bizarre interaction whenever Eli is around. They're all scientists and they've got these little underlying resentments and/or other feelings because Eli is an outsider who got pushed into their inner circle whether or not they wanted it. I hope to explore more of that going forward. And I've got to say, too, that we have so many unsung heroes of this show, like Patrick Gilmore [Volker], Peter Kelamis [Brody], Jen Spence [Park] and Julia Benson [Sergeant Vanessa James]. You sometimes don't see them as much because their characters are recurring, but when they're on the screen they bring so much to the storytelling."
In the season one Universe episode Human, Rush is forced to relive events leading up to his wife's tragic death when he volunteers to connect himself to an Ancients neural interface chair. As his condition is monitored, Destiny drops out of FTL (faster-than-light) drive and Lt. Scott leads an off-world mission through the Stargate. He subsequently becomes trapped in an underground labyrinth of tunnels together with Chloe, Eli and Sergeant Greer (Jamil Walker Smith).
Eli goes off-world! Photo by Gregory Peters and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
"That was a great story to work on," says Blue. "We all knew going into it that it was going to be a beautiful episode for Robert Carlyle and it was interesting to see the acting choices he made in that one. He always impresses me, though. When I read the script for Air I felt that Rush was a rat-bag. I thought everything he did was questionable. I was like, 'This guy is evil; how come no one can see it?' But then I watched Air for the first time and saw how tender Rush was with Chloe after her father passed away. I thought, 'Oh, my God, I feel bad for him. I think Rush is convincing me, and I know what he's up to.'
"It's really interesting to see how things translate to the screen. I mean, some of my favorite SGU characters have become my favorites much to my surprise, like T.J. [Alaina Huffman]. A lot of what I love about her have been moments throughout the season, and the thing is I've been in scenes with Alaina and thought, 'Wow, she's good,' but then I've watched the episodes cut together and she is absolutely brilliant and floors me every time. That's why, selfishly, it's so much fun to go to work every day. Everyone is open to playing and trying new things, and when you do a scene, you know that they're going to be respectful of what you bring to the table. More than that, though, you're going to be pleasantly surprised at what someone else brings to the scene.
"As for Human, when we shot that we were nearing mid-to-late-mid-season and we weren't quite sure if we were coming back for season two, and if we were coming back, we weren't quite sure who was coming back. So I was a little freaked out to discover that Eli wouldn't be getting back to the ship right away. I was like, 'Uh, oh. Well, it was nice working with you guys. See you around,'" jokes the actor. "Seriously, I thought it was an exciting story and a cool choice not to have us return too quickly to the Destiny."
Chloe, Eli and Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) in "Lost." Photo by Carole Segal ad copyright of the Syfy Channel.
While Greer is presumed dead and reluctantly left behind by the others in Human, Eli, Scott and Chloe try to catch up to Destiny by using the Stargate network to travel to other planets in the following episode, Lost. "I was hoping that we'd be going to lots of different locations for this story," says Blue, "but, unfortunately, because this is a TV show, it doesn't have the budget to do something like that. However, I really enjoyed watching how they created all these neat looking planets on-set.
"The sandstorm planet was nuts, and I can't remember what they used, but that wasn't CGI [computer-generated imaging]. They were blowing stuff at us and we had to yell in order to hear each other. I don't want to ruin the illusion, but some of those scenes were shot on the same sound stage that we've filmed as other planets. I think it was the one that we shot Time on, so they were able to take a forest planet and turn it into other planets including a beautiful, pristine snow-covered world that was so serene that I felt like I was standing outside a log cabin in the middle of Whistler [British Columbia]. It's so cool that you can walk onto the same stage that you've worked on for a year and constantly be transported like that to a completely different place."
Eli and the others finally make it back to the Destiny in Sabotage, just in time for all of them, except Eli, to fall under the deadly influence of an alien tick's hallucinogenic venom in Pain. Blue was a bit disappointed that his character missed out on such an experience, in a totally creative way, of course.
Lt. Scott and Eli - romantic rivals but still good friends. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
"At the time I was a little jealous as an actor," he recalls. "I thought, 'Oh, man, why couldn't I do that.' I wasn't around for some of the scenes, but the [hallucination] stuff they shot was really well done. Brian Smith has some incredible moments in it, and so does Elyse Levesque. Also, some of the guest-cast from SGU,specifically Patrick Gilmore and Julie Benson, have received Leo Award nominations for their work in Pain [Benson subsequently won a Leo]. They're great in it. I enjoyed everyone's work in this episode, especially because the ones that follow, Subversion and the two-part Incursion, are so action-packed, crazy and have so much happening. It's nice that this story focuses on the characters and solid performances."
In the aforementioned Incursion, the Lucian Alliance, whose attack on Icarus Base in Universe's pilot Air stranded Eli and the others onboard Destiny, return and cause more problems for our heroes. Filming the finale was bittersweet for Blue and the rest of the show's cast.
"The two-parter was interesting to shoot because, again, so much goes on," notes the actor. "Also, we all knew that the season was coming to an end and didn't want to deal with that. Everyone on SGU is so happy and proud of the show. We didn't want to say anything until it was official, but we all hoped there would be a second season. So no one said goodbye, but, instead, we ended things with a, 'I'll see you in a couple of months,' sort of feeling.
Eli wonders what season two of Stargate Universe has in store for him. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel.
"Even more than that, we truly have become friends as well as family, which sounds like a cell phone company commercial," says Blue with a chuckle, "and we all hang out, which we did during the hiatus. So it didn't feel like the end, but a continuation. The last thing we actually shot were the last few Kino [the spherical cameras used onboard Destiny] episodes for the MGM website. They had a lot of random characters in them who didn't actually influence the season finale, so it was a little surreal. Funnily enough, I was in the first shot of the season and the last shot. That's kind of a cool little bookend for me and I'm very proud of that."
Universe was, in fact, renewed for a second season, and the cameras began rolling again back in March at Bridge Studios in Burnaby, B.C. Needless to say, Blue was thrilled when he initially received the news. "Do the words 'Woo hoo' mean anything to you?" he asks. "It was like when you know someone is throwing you a surprise birthday party but you don't want to say anything until it happens. That's how I felt about the renewal. Again, we had all talked about it, but were waiting for that official word, so it was great.
"And the episodes we've done so far as some of my favorites. As an actor, when you get to do the first season of a TV show, there are some episodes that are your favorites. Well, with every episode of season two I've been like, 'Wow, this one is awesome, and that one is awesome, too, but in a totally different way.' I asked the other guys on-set the other day, 'Do you feel like all the episodes have been really cool,' and everyone agreed. We're seven episodes in [as of mid-May 2010] and each one has been fun and interesting character-wise as well as awesome action/Sci-Fi wise.
"I am loving my own show," enthuses the actor, "and I'm also antsy like you wouldn't believe because I haven't watched any of season two yet, I've just acted in them. So I'm dying to get my hands on the rough cuts of episodes to see how they're looking."
Steve Eramo
As noted above, David Blue photo courtesy of/copyright of Pinnacle PR, while Stargate Universe photos by Carole Segal, Gregory Peters or Art Streiber and copyright of the Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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