INTERVIEW: Aaron Douglas: Seriously a Funny Guy

Aaron Douglas: Seriously a Funny Guy
By: Evan Kayne
Date: May 2012 (Issue 103)
Source: GayCalgary and Edmonton Magazine

 

 

 

 

Forced to wear an L.A. Kings jersey due to the loss of a bet with Wil Wheaton, Aaron Douglas – best known for his role as Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica and Frank Leo on The Bridge – was in attendance at this year’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

Aaron should get a job as the poster boy for our ideal straight man. He’s easy on the eyes, funny, relaxed around gay guys, and a bit of a goof (but in a funny, good way). While he hasn’t found any big gigs at the moment, he’s still keeping busy renovating his house and doing a videogame for Ubisoft in Montreal which he says “I’m very excited about – but that’s ALL I’m allowed to say.”

Like many actors, he’s hoping to hear back on possible jobs; as well he’s developing his own projects. “I’m waiting to hear on a few things, and if I get ’em, it’ll be awesome. I’m doing a lot of writing – I’ve been pitching some shows and movies that I’ve written, and they’re starting to get a lot of traction. It’s a here’s hoping right now.” As he puts it, he’s in a nebulous zone where everything could either come crashing down, or fall exactly into place.

He is not worried that he might be pigeonholed as a genre actor. “Work is work is work…people in L.A. don’t really look at Battlestar as a sci-fi genre and you as a sci-fi actor. They loved it for the drama that it was and the great show it was. They just see you as a good actor that’s pretty versatile. The only thing they don’t see me as is funny….I have a hard time getting into auditions for sit-coms and things like that…hopefully I’ll break through that door because that’s something I’d really like to do.”

Being at conventions, I asked him if he gets star-struck meeting some of the other talent. “I don’t really go fan girl on celebrities. I fan girl on hockey players…mostly goalies,” he said. He does appreciate meeting some of the other actors and artists, but not without some reservations. “It’s really nice to meet some of the people, and people that I really, really admire and appreciate. The problem with it is, sometimes somebody who is an actor or a celebrity that you really admire and you love their work, you meet them and they’re a douchebag.”

This usually destroys any joy you might have had in the actor’s body of work, so Aaron usually inquires beforehand about the actor’s attitude, and makes sure he himself tries to stay humble and easygoing.

That easy going attitude comes naturally to him in Calgary, as he, like Erin Gray, loves the city. “There’s something about people that are from the prairies. They’re just so much more real. There’s no pretence, there’s no bullshit, there’s none of that stuff.” This is in comparison to the behaviour on the coast – which he describes as a “weird, guarded, clique-y thing.”

Hopefully, Aaron continues to spread the news about Calgary and hopefully he discovers he has fans in high places who decide “yes, let’s give this guy a go on a sit-com.”

 

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