Συνέντευξη του J.G. Hertzler

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Spock
Fleet Admiral
ΔημοσιεύσειςCOLON 422
ΕγγραφήCOLON 27 Αύγ 2013, 16:15
ΤοποθεσίαCOLON Θεσσαλονίκη

Συνέντευξη του J.G. Hertzler

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Με μεγάλο ενθουσιασμό σας παρουσιάζουμε σήμερα μία νέα συνέντευξη. Μετά από αρκετές συνεντεύξεις από παραγωγούς του Star Trek, σήμερα έχουμε την χαρά να δημοσιεύσουμε και την πρώτη συνέντευξη του φόρουμ μας από έναν ηθοποιό της αγαπημένης μας σειράς. Γνωστός κυρίως για τον ρόλο του Κλίνγκον Στρατηγού Martok, ο J.G. Hertzler έπαιξε επίσης πολυάριθμους άλλους ρόλους στο Star Trek και έχει πολλά να μας πει τόσο γι’αυτό, όσο και για πολλά άλλα θέματα. Χωρίς περισσότερα λόγια, σας ευχόμαστε καλή απόλαυση!


Συνέντευξη του J.G. Hertzler στον Δημήτρη Ψαθά και τον Γιώργο Γιαγλή για το Star Trek Greece


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You are most widely known in the world of Star Trek for your portrayal of the Klingon General Martok. However, you have also played numerous other characters. You are, in fact, one of very few actors that have played seven or more different characters in Star Trek. Was it your intention to audition for and play that many parts, or was it the production that called you all those times? How did Martok, specifically, come along?

Actors in Hollywood... not stars, not hot young newbies in Hollywood, but character actors in Hollywood usually audition for perhaps 20 or 30 roles in a week or two. The average of booking a job to the number of auditions... was approximately 100 to 1. 100 auditions or interviews and usually 1 job came out of it. But it’s the performing arts, it’s show biz and we actors accept that horrible ratio. That’s what we signed up for. Regarding Martok, I was already on the Paramount studio lot auditioning for some other show, I cannot recall what it was. The casting director for DS9 walked by and and handed me a script and suggested I take a look at General Martok. Basically I am a big guy, football build with a big voice so if I could act at all he figured I would have a decent chance at getting cast. I went in... got angrier in my frustration about Hollywood, my life, my acting ability, the world tensions, no money etc. etc. etc. I threw a chair into a plaster wall where it stuck, ripped off part of my thumbnail, bled on the rug and got the role. If they wanted blood, they got it. And I got it. Martok was supposed to be a one show part, but they liked the character with me inside him and so they brought him back as a major Klingon in the history of Klingons on Star Trek. I was very lucky. Its very very rare that an actor gets to audition for a role that totally fits him or her. But sometimes ya get lucky.


In many ways, Martok was not your typical Klingon. He wasn’t so violent all the time, he was more considerate, more sophisticated. Was that your personal input on the character or something the writers wanted for the part?

I brought myself to the role. Once the writers noticed who Martok was through me... they began to write for THAT character, not some other generic Klingon warrior among a battalion of warriors.


Was the Klingon makeup, and an one-eyed one at that, an obstacle to acting?

When they brought Martok back from his torturing by the Jem’Hadar, either on their planet or some enormous starship... I only had one eye left from the brutality. The producers wanted to give me an “artificial” eye but I refused that in the name of KLINGON wisdom... and insisted the scars be left as they are... that no Klingon would accept an artificial eye or lose this battle scars that bespeak his history. They okayed it so that’s how Martok ended up with one eye.


What about the Klingon language? Was difficult to speak? Was it any fun for you saying those lines?

A lot of fun to speak and to sing! Love the songs. Impossibly difficult to learn. I cannot believe that many fans have dedicated their time to actually learning the language, the structures and the vocabulary. That is stunning... I wish I had that kind of patience.


Is playing an alien more difficult than playing a human? How do you immerse yourself in such a part?

I’m a character actor. My whole career is playing aliens. Sometimes they are Kings of England, I even played Jason in the Greek play MEDEA, and Pentheus in THE BACCHAE, the hardest plays to do are the GREEK plays... incredibly demanding and they go so deep into human nature and the corruption thereof that actors rarely successfully plumb the depths of the GREEKS. By the way in THE BACCHAE, my mother AGAVE was played by IRENE PAPPAS and we were directed by MICHAEL CACOYANNIS. What a wonder it was to play with Irene Pappas! That’s an actor’s life. We have soooo many incredible moments but we also have those deep valleys of despair when everything goes straight to hell. But... we learn to deal with it. That is the artist’s life.


You have done a lot of Shakespeare. In fact, many Star Trek actors are Shakespearian trained and, as we understand, you were even having Shakespeare seminars at the Paramount lot. Do you feel there is a connection? Is Star Trek (or life itself!) a large Shakespearian play?

Shakespeare dealt with Human Frailty, love... hate... betrayal... courage... fear... truth and beauty, ugliness and lies. Important things. So does Roddenberry. All of his scripts dealt with human drama... issues that were ripping societies apart. But all in a Sci Fi context which allowed us all to watch and learn but still at a distance. I am teaching Shakespeare right now as a matter of fact, in upstate New York. I love it. At Paramount Pictures, Sir Patrick Stewart held a Shakespeare workshop every Saturday for about 6 hours for about 15 of us... a tremendously fascinating group of actors from all over Hollywood. I was lucky to be there. It was a remarkable time... as I was just saying about an actor’s life... extraordinary moments!


Aside from acting yourself, you also teach acting at Cornell University. Is teaching a rewarding experience for you? Is the role of the teacher as much important as acting is to you?

I love teaching more than I love acting. Oddly, I really don’t like being the one on stage that everyone is looking at. I much prefer helping others execute their roles to most effective way possible... bring out the absolute best in an actor and help them over rough spots. Not teaching regularly at Cornell University, right now... but holding private classes on Shakespeare. Just finished first term and readying for a second.


You co-wrote The Left Hand of Destiny novel diptych with Jeffrey Lang, in which we see the continuation of Martok's story. What was your motivation? Was it a commercial move or a personal need? Did you somehow feel connected to the character and wanted to continue his story? If yes, do you still feel that kind of connection, or is it something that belongs to the past?

The Title is mine and the outline of the story is mine and I wrote all of the first book and some of the second. Jeffery came aboard and did an amazing job at improving everything that I had done and adding his own talent and creativity into the mix especially in the second book. Totally commercial job... Simon and Schuster came to me to see if I were interested in writing a book and I said ofcourse. They wanted a Arthurian legend kind of tale so that’s what Jeffery and I did. We had a great editor named Marco Palmieri who kept us on track and suggested valuable ideas throughout. It was a great experience. I wish it were made into an AUDIO BOOK or a mini series on TV.


You were going to play a character in Star Trek: Renegades, but you were elected to the Town Council of Ulysses, NY. What prompted you to get actively involved in politics?

They have nothing to do with each other. Renegades was scheduled to shoot in the Summer when I was available to come back from the East Coast and do the film. Then they changed to the Fall and since my daughter was just starting High School... it was more important for me to be here with her than doing Renegades. I think it was better for the film also... they found a great actor and huge man to play the role, did a fantastic job, I understand.


What do you think about the Federation society of Star Trek? Could this ever be a possible future for humanity? What do you think Star Trek’s social message is?

It’s the only hope for Mankind... otherwise we will keep fighting internecine wars for the rest of our days and it will all come to an end. Basically, I think that was Roddenberry’s thought as well... I think he would be disheartened but not surprised by all the wars in progress, all the debates and denials that are going on today. All the hate and violence is so very sad.


Are there currently any projects you’re working on or any plans for the immediate future?

Several. Teaching Shakespeare and developing a production of Shakespeare in the immediate future. I have three screenplays out there circulating. The first is DANCING WITH SANCHO PANZA, about the 1936 Spanish Civil War... It’s so near going to production it hurts me! So NEAR but not BEGUN... YET! The second is REPUBLIC, about the immediate future of America if we don’t move toward the Roddenberry hope for the future... and the third is HEARTLAND about the destruction of American small towns by big BOX STORES like Walmart. They are not comedies. But they have a lot of humor. Every drama should. We’ll see.
"That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebulae, but charting the unknown possibilities... of existence." - Q to Picard, All good things...
karatasiospa
ΔημοσιεύσειςCOLON 298
ΕγγραφήCOLON 28 Αύγ 2013, 21:41
ΤοποθεσίαCOLON Thessaloniki, Greece

Re: Συνέντευξη του J.G. Hertzler

Δημοσίευση από karatasiospa »

ο Μαρτοκ ειναι ο μονος κλιγκον που πραγματικα μου αρεσε (του worf εξαιροθμενου βεβαια) και ο συγκεκριμενος ηθοποιος τον επαιξε πολυ καλα.
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