Carmen Argenziano kindly agreed to an interview at the recent Wolf SG6 event, with thanks to Carmen and Wolf events...

Having a good time? It’s been wonderful, Teryl and I have been to this incredible pub that was 700 years old,
I’ve been to the theatre and seen the Price of Millington price and ah walked about London, these fans are amazing. They're sweet innocent people and they are just wonderful they are so genuine in their affection and it’s been very pleasant.

What have you enjoyed about the convention?

It just amazes me, the following this show has and the adulation is a little overwhelming. But it’s all great fun, the camaraderie with seeing my old friends Don and some of the people on the show and getting away from my own family for a few days, it’s kinda nice.
I’ll go back a better Papa, much more appreciative and loving and tolerant for the first week or so and then I’ll be my own mean self again! It’s just nice to get away for a while.

I noticed that in your talk yesterday that you said you had three kids, is that what you are mostly involved in between acting?

Yes, I’m a stay at home pop, you know I got married at a later age in life so I got a lot of the foolishness out of the way, a lot of the running about and chasing the skirts so that’s gone.
When you get to my age, the career obsession somehow isn’t quite as strong as the younger man so I’m not out there and I’m somewhat established and so I don’t have to pursue the career as much as I once did, which enables me to stay home more and spend time with my family.
Most of my friends are quite amazed that I finally got married because I was a
Warren Beatty wanna be, you know? I was never quite in his league, I was a Peter Pan run about… flitting from one to another to another, whenever they’d have me, I guess I was a jerk.

Talking Stargate, what’s your most memorable moment?

I’ve mentioned it before I think, my very first show, I hadn’t worked in a while, I think it was secrets, it was a scene I had with Amanda, it was the first scene I’d come to tell her that I had cancer.
I was the new kid on the block and you are always a bit nervous on the first day of a new show and I was struggling a bit. I remember one take, just before the take, Amanda very gently and warmly took my hand and just reassuringly just held my hand for a bit and looked at me and suddenly I was comfortable and I felt the love from her and the support and that was such a genuine, she’s a very generous, wonderful actress and wonderful person.

She’s always there you know, Amanda’s like the rock of Gibraltar, she hides a lot of the stuff she goes through because she’s very supportive of everyone she works with.
In the scene in the next episode, when I’m about to take on a Tok’ra, I’m somewhat ambivalent about becoming and even though this snake will save me, I have a scene with her where, before I make this decision, I tell her how proud of her I am of her and for some reason during the take I put my hands on her face and said I’ll always be proud of you and she just welled up.
We had a beautiful moment, and it’s on both of our demo reels, actors have demo reels, you know we try to get a job people want to see our work.
And it’s still on my demo reel and from what I hear from Amanda, its still on hers.
Those little moments are so rare you know, when you work as an actor, most of the work you do is not up to standard as far as you are concerned we’re very critical of our own work, I love that moment with Amanda…

Yesterday you answered a question from a fan about having to take a symbiote yourself if you were ill, who would you choose to share your body with?

Uhm… Ashley Judd, Charlize Theron… if I had to share my body with another person I think it would be one of those two, Charlize Theron, she’s quite attractive, that would be fun.

For the attraction reason?

(laughing) Well on a purely physical reason, on an evolved level, gosh, I don’t know someone brilliant, who speaks seven languages, and is a road scholar and a black belt karate expert and a ladies man, one of those, that’s who I would want to be.

Thinking about all those films and shows you’ve been on, which ones really stick in your mind?
Of all the work as an actor which stands out?

Oh God, a lot of them hasn’t been seen, a lot of them were kinda independent, what as quality?
You know, I’m most recognised for that silly thing I did on Blue Streak, people come up and wanna to shake my hand and I say, “You’re sure?” and my kids saw that as well, its not something you’re proud of but if that’s your shinning moment as an actor...
But people stop me in markets and places and its either Stargate, which is quite often or that silly scene in Blue Streak.

So that’s not your most memorable, but what you are most remembered for?

I had a god awful death scene that was so over wrought that people see that and they remember that terrible, terrible moment and I don’t think I want to mention this or someone might got out and buy it or rent it. So I might not reveal that.

I am... It's Bella Mafia for those inquiring minds!
You’ve worked in some pretty big productions, like West Wing and Jag which ones really stand out in your mind comparing it to say, Stargate?

There maybe a possibility of a recurring thing in the District I was one of the regulars father in one of the episodes of that, as far as TV what stands out, I wish I had my resume...

(grinning) I have it...

Oh you do?

(grinning)Oh yeah! Full of good and embarrasing stuff... Seriously, I have all the things you have been in that people recognise like Chicago Hope…

OK… uhmmm…let me think … television that … (he thinks, tapping his ciggie)
There was something just recently with Jaquie Vaset... Dancing in the Harvest Moon… I enjoyed that.
I would be hard pressed to pick something that was truly memorable... the first series I had was with Kate Mulgrew (Cpt Janeway – Voyager) it was called Heartbeat. That was my first real nice TV role, The Accused, Stand and Deliver, then I went onto Booker.
Then I did a short lived series with John Tenney called Crime and Punishment, a Dick Wolf series, the only one that never really was successful…and something I talked about yesterday, I recently worked with Terri Hatcher which was a lot of fun, on something called Momentum it was on the SciFi Channel back in the States. I don’t think its aired yet in the UK.
Lou Gossett, Terri and myself played FBI partners, it was a lot of fun… I found her to be a lot of fun, and that’s not bad, that was rather nice.

The work I’ve done in Stargate actually, even the recent episodes I’ve done I’m most proud of, which haven’t been seen yet, Evolution part 1 and 2, an episode called Death Knell and an episode… has that aired yet?

No, well, the first part of Evolution has been shown in the States, but not over here yet.

Why would they show the first part and then not the second part next week?

Something that the fans keep whinging on in the forums about…

I can understand that! (laughing)

Yea, they leave it a few months off before they show the next part...

So their using that as a cliff hanger?

Yes…

Because I am anxious to see that and another wonderful opportunity to work with Amanda when we did an episode called Grace, which was basically her episode and that was fun.
I think the work I have done in Stargate is to me the most meaningful and the best work I have done in television.

If you could play any role in any TV book or series what would it be?

At age 60 it’s somewhat limited now I guess I certainly can’t do the action heroes anymore…

(I laugh)Harrison Ford does I guess?

Well there’s difference between Harrison Ford and Carmen Argenziano..

(smirking)How do you know?

(Lots of laughter) Well something in my fantasy world it would be a lot of the roles he plays and Nicholson plays recently and all those wonderful roles.
And I recently got back and I am working at the actors studio again with Mark Rydell and Lee Grant.
I’ve been a member of the actors studio for like ten years and I work with Lee Strostberg and I, at this age, find myself going back to school to act.
Acting is an ongoing process you learn everyday and I find that really helps me when I go back to class, class is important, cos you never stop learning.
It’s rejuvenating me at this time because raising a family and all that stuff, took me away from it, and because my whole life had been tunnel vision, I’ve been in an acting class and scene study class for 25/30 years then I finally got married.
I discovered family life and being out doors and playing with children and not wanting to go to class on a Saturday morning, wanting to spend more time with my children, but now they have reached an age where they are somewhat independent and well not really, I mean they are still children but they don’t need me around as much.
I enjoy going to class a couple of times a week and working on scenes and plays and that stimulates me.

Do you do theatre quite a bit?

I have been, not the last few years, most of my energy has been directed to the family, but I’ve done a lot of theatre in Los Angeles.

Do you prefer that to TV?

Yeah I love theatre, for an actor, it makes sense, it’s a constant… the rehearsal process is so precious that you get six weeks to build a character.
To get really solid with the lines, with the concept, what you are doing. To have that interplay every night… and to change it, to tinker and tweak and to come in each night with a different idea and different slant on the scene...
It's wonderful. You can at the end of a run, really have created something.
On a set, if it’s not shot chronologically you really have to choose emotional peaks and where you want to go and beats and it doesn’t require that kind of work.
I love film work, more than TV you have the luxury of taking time its a, a so much more creative process, whereas TV is all timed, you have to have a certain product at the end of the day and sometimes your work is compromised by the time schedule.

Do you do anything behind the scenes, producing, directing writing?

No, I’m strictly an actor, whatever writing I’ve done is purely for me. I may direct some things at the studio, but there’s a directors unit I eventually want to be involved with, but right now my focus is acting…

Do you have a message for your fans?

No…(smiles) Well yes, I do, no and yes, these conventions have reminded me how important they are and what I represent to them.
I am very flattered by the attention and of the knowledge of what I have done and how they in some ways appreciate my work and my contribution to Stargate and I’m humbled by it.
I can only thank them from the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate their devotion.

Carmen was a lovely chap to interview and has an inate sense of humour that you don't see too often in his roles. When we were taking pictures after the interview...
Which you won't see as the camera broke, while we were trying to fix it, Carmen actually acted out his death scene in Bella Mafia. Though he will probably never talk to me again, he did an excellent rendition of the Claw!

With Thanks to Wolfevents and Simon Grant (my photographer).

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