Q & A with Cliff Simon by Hanlie Koekemoer
1. Do you think you will ever return to South Africa?I AM SURE I WILL VISIT SOUTH AFRICA AND CERTAINLY HOPE TO WORK A LOT MORE OVER THERE BUT AS FAR AS MOVING BACK ,NO ,NO.
2. How different or similar is the acting world over there to here? WELL ,IT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALL GAME OVER HERE ,ITS EXTREMELY COMPETITIVE,IT'S A NON STOP FIGHT ALL THE WAY ,THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF VERY TALENTED ACTORS HERE AND ALL CAN DO THE JOB ,IT'S A MATTER OF TIMING ,LUCK AND KNOWING SOMEONE AND LOTS OF TALENT AND TRAINING AND KEEPING ON TOP OF YOUR GAME , I FOUND SA TO BE VERY SMALL AND IT WASN'T VERY HARD TO WORK ,SA HAS MANY TALENTED ACTORS ,BUT IT IS A MUCH SMALLER INDUSTRY AND THERE IS NOT AS MUCH RIDING ON GETTING THE JOB ,AS HERE ONE JOB ,THE RIGHT ONE CAN TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND.
3. What was it like to land the role of Lord Baal?
OK ,I READ FOR MGM CASTING BEFORE THE CHARACTER WAS CREATED ,IT WAS ABOUT 6 MONTHS AFTER THAT THAT BAAL WAS CREATED , IT WAS AMAZING TO GET THE CALL THAT NOW WAS THE TIME ,I HAD NO IDEA THAT SCI FI HAD SUCH A HUGE FOLLOWING AND IT WAS AMAZING HOW QUICKLY I BUILT A FANBASE ALL OVER THE WORLD ,AFTER 5 YEARS ON THE SHOW I AM STILL AMAZED ,BUT OBVIOUSLY VERY GRATEFUL.
4. What did you use as a reference for Lord Baal?
BEFORE I STARTED FILMING THEY SENT ME ALL THE MYTHOLOGY ON BAAL(BEELZEBUB) THE FALLEN ANGEL ,THE DEVIL.I RESEARCHED QUITE A BIT ON THE INTERNET .I STARTED TO DEVELOP THE CHARACTER THE WAY I WANTED HIM TO BE ,I BROUGHT A LOT MORE HUMOR TO HIM AND ALSO MORE OF A HUMAN FEEL .I WANTED HIM TO BE A 3 DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER AS OPPOSED TO A WOODEN 1 DIMENSIONAL CHARACTER WHO IS JUST BAD ALL THE TIME ,THAT GETS BORING . LUCKILY THE WRITERS WENT ALONG WITH THAT AND NOW WRITE FOR ME ,I THINK THAT IS WHY I AM STILL IN THE SHOW AND HE HAS BECOME THE BAD GUY EVERYONE LOVES TO HATE .
5. Do you love getting up in the morning and going to work on the Stargate set?
YES ,I CANT WAIT ,WHENEVER I FINISH AN EPISODE I WAIT ON TENDER HOOKS FOR THE CALL FOR THE NEXT EPISODE . ITS WHAT I WAS MEANT TO DO .(ACTING)
6. What is the Stargate set / folk / people like?
EVERYONE ON SET IS REALLY NICE AND VERY PROFESSIONAL TO WORK WITH ,THE CREW AND REGULAR CAST .THEY LOOK AFTER ME AND MY EVERY NEED IS TAKEN CARE OF (NOT IN A SPOILT WAY BUT PROFESSIONAL),WE DO LAUGH A LOT.
7. What is Richard Dean Anderson like? Who if we may ask is your favorite?
RICHARD WAS GREAT TO WORK WITH WHILE HE WAS ON THE SHOW ,HE FINISHED WITH THE SHOW A YEAR AGO BUT DOES MAKE APPEARANCES ON ATLANTIS AND SG1 ,I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE WORKED WITH HIM MORE.I DON'T REALLY HAVE A FAVORITE ,BUT AMANDA TAPPING (CARTER) IS VERY COOL TO WORK WITH.
8. Is Sci-Fi your genre of choice?
NO ,BUT IT IS FUN ,I NEVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT DOING SCI FI BUT ITS NOT REALLY IN OUR HANDS ,WHEN THERE IS WORK ,YOU WORK ,IT ALSO DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHAT GENRE YOU ARE IN AT THE MOMENT ,ITS WORK AND ITS GOOD.
9. How big are you in China? I would think that the Chinese and Japanese would be mad over you - are they?
I HAVE NO IDEA ,I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT THE FAR EAST ,MAYBE A CONVENTION OR SOMETHING ,BUT I AM SURE THE SHOW IS HUGELY POPULAR OVER THERE.
10. Where is Cliff Simon heading to?
THE TOP
11. What advice do you have for young aspiring actors in our country?
NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM ,YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE TOUGHEST CAREER ON EARTH ,BE BRAVE AND ALWAYS REMAIN TRUE TO YOURSELF,NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING ,FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT ,TAKE RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
Cliff adds: BEST WISHES TO ALL IN SOUTH AFRICA AND I REALLY HOPE I GET BACK THERE ,I AM PROUD TO HAVE AFRICA IN MY BLOOD AND WILL NEVER FORGET MY PEOPLE