Save Daniel Jackson | Michael Shanks Daniel Jackson

We believe in the original spirit of Stargate SG-1 as the single most important endeavour in the history of mankind: the peaceful exploration of ancient Earth and alien cultures seeded throughout the galaxy, our team reaching out on behalf of us all in the true spirit of humanity.

MICHAEL SHANKS TV Zone #134 interview, Jan 2001 (extracts posted with permission from Visimag)

Michael Shanks Daniel Jackson

Michael Shanks has had plenty to keep him busy as Daniel Jackson. After four years as a member of the SG-1 team, Daniel has lost some of his wide-eyed innocence, but he remains as passionate as ever about exploring. According to Shanks, this season was a little disappointing in terms of how his character was, or was not, used.

“Our writers dream up some great ideas when it comes to writing Daniel stories, and I’ve had some excellent ones this year. I relish those episodes as they allow me to spread my wings as an actor,” says Shanks. “Unfortunately, in group situations they’re still not quite sure what to do with my character. I think that’s been a common theme since the series began. Daniel is a bit of a loner and an outsider and, to top it off, he’s not a soldier. So when the fighting starts what do we do with him? We have him crouch behind a rock and leave him out of the action or we don’t have him in the scene at all."

“I found this happened more and more this year, especially since the creation of this red-herring relationship between Jack O’Neill and Sam Carter [Amanda Tapping]. The series has gone in a direction that I did not expect, and, believe me, I'm not saying that’s a bad thing at all. I'm just saying I think Daniel has been slightly limited this year in his actual interaction with the team. Again, stories where he has been the focus have been wonderful, but they sort of wind up excluding the rest of SG-1. So, if anything, my wish for next season would be for my character to be worked a little more into the group dynamic."

When asked to choose a favourite from Season Four, Shanks is quick to respond with 'The First Ones'. That's a terrific one just in terms of the sense of humour and irony that Brad Wright and Peter DeLuise brought out in my character. Daniel was in his element. He spent the entire episode trying to be compassionate and communicative towards this Unas (Dion Johnstone), which, I feel, is where my character’s strengths truly lie. It was a pleasure to work with my pal Dion, who I had performed with on stage before in Hamlet. He is a consummate actor who worked hard to bring his character to life and, in doing so, made it easy for me to work off him.

Peter DeLuise also directed that episode, which made the shoot all the more enjoyable, continues the actor. "Peter is the ultimate peacemaker. He's also an actor and understands what his fellow actors need to guide them through a scene...He's an excellent actor's director. Technically, he's also a great storyteller."

[Re the episode Watergate, guest starring Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation]

"As for Daniel's role in the story, this is one of those times where he's just along for the ride. Fortunately there were some humourous scenes inside the minisub with marina, Amanda and myself. That's another facet of my character I'd love to see the writers explore more. I have a very dry, sort of subtle sneak up on you sense of humour that I think would suit Daniel in the appropriate situations."

Longtime Stargate SG-1 viewers know that sometimes Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson disagree on how to deal with the aliens. In 'Scorched Earth' they butt heads trying to help two cultures settle a dispute over who has a right to colonize a planet. Jack is forced to come up with a military solution that will result in the death of one group. Naturally, Daniel is against this and risks his life to execute a plan of his own that he hopes will result in a peaceful solution. Shanks was fascinated by what viewers had to say.

“I read some fans’ responses on the Internet about Jack’s point of view,” he says. “They felt he was a bit hasty when it came to his decision to wipe out the Gad-Meer people, and I disagree. That’s totally in character for O’Neill to take an approach like that, especially if Daniel’s option failed. Something had to be done. It’s easy to look back now that we know Daniel succeeded and ask 'why was Jack so eager to blow them up?'. Let's say my character failed. What would these same fans say then? Probably 'Why didn't Jack do something?'. I love it when our writers take two characters with such opposing views, like Jack and Daniel, and pit them against each other. It not only makes for interesting drama but also a neat moral debate topic for the viewers.”

Michael Shanks interviewed by Steve Eramo

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