Aaron Douglas – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

A) I did a movie last year called The Monster that just came out a couple weeks ago on DirectTV in the US and is going into theaters I believe on November 9^th. I did “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” over the summer. I just wrapped on Monday my part for an upcoming show for Bravo called “My So Called Wife.” I believe that starts sometime in the new year.

Q) How was your character Gordon Rimmer on “Dirk Gently” originally described to you?

A) The character was originally described as soul swapping madman. He has this machine and is able to take the souls of creatures and swap them around. He can take a person who is dying and throw them into a dog. So, the human body dies and their soul stays inside the dog until they can find another body to swap them into. For the audition, they said he was a rock star and a cult comes in to punish him by putting him into a shlubby zoo worker’s body so now he is Gordon Rimmer instead of “Lux Dejour” (the rock star). So, the audition was that I was this rock star guy that hates the body he is in. That’s how I auditioned and then they started describing him after they realized he wasn’t a rock star and just a shlubby loser just trying to get through life. I started playing him that way and things went from there.

Q) What did you add to the character after he was finally fleshed out?

A) Originally, I thought this guy was a rock star so I played him like a rock star. Then, I got a script and realized I wasn’t playing a rock star. Then, I realized after reading the script that it wasn’t this guy that they described. I started asking all the writers and producers who this guy was and they said, “Well, this is who he is. He’s this shlubby guy who doesn’t care about his appearance and doesn’t care about his health. He’s this rock star that just hates his body.” I said, “Well, you have to dress him in this really crappy clothes and he needs to be like a super loser.” They agreed and so I thought about it. I thought about it and gave him a voice, a walk and a talk – all things I’ve never done before with things before. I’ve never made really character-y choices. I thought this would be fine because I finally get to see what all these great actors get to do. I don’t think I’m a great actor, but there are great actors that you don’t even see them in the character because you just get lost in the role. I thought, “I’m going to try this.” So, day one I showed up on set and said, “This is what I thought for this guy.” I showed them a walk and a talk and they all loved it! So, for a day and a half I kept getting emails that said, “We love it! We love it!” Gordon Rimmer was born from there, essentially.

Q) Were you familiar with any of your costars before starting the series?

A) Obviously, I was aware of Elijah [Wood] and then I didn’t know anyone else outside of Michael Eklund. He plays one of “The Rowdy Three” and Michael Adamthwaite who plays one of the men in the machine. Michael Eklund and Adamthwaite are friendly whenever we see each other. Michael was also in the pilot of “Battlestar Galactica” so he and I go to back to 2003. I didn’t know anybody else at all. Gordon doesn’t have scenes with too many people so there were a lot of the actors that I never even met. That’s the way TV works.

Q) Since you didn’t work with many people, is there someone you would have liked to have had a scene with?

A) I would like to have met Richard Schiff. I’m a big fan and I really think he is a tremendous actor. Then, other than that I don’t care. I show up and do my work. That’s about it.

Q) You often take on comedic roles within dramatic series. Is there something about these characters that really attracts you?

A) I think I get hired because I do what I do. I don’t think it is the way the other way around. Whatever my agent puts in front of me I’ll put on tape or I’ll have a conversation with a writer or producer. Then, I get chosen because of what I bring to the table. It’s not me going to find these things. It’s also a product of what shoots in Vancouver right now. I shoot all around the world, but the last few years it’s been a lot of what is in Vancouver. That genre seems to get shot here a lot.

Q) What were some of your most memorable behind the scenes moments from filming?

A) The thing about shooting the show was that we were left to our own devices. There weren’t a lot of writers and producers around. The actors, First AD and whatever director we had at the time would figure it out as we go. It jumps, has flashbacks and there is time travel – all this weird stuff. So, we’d say, “We don’t’ understand where we are coming from or where we are going. Is this present day or back to…” In episode seven it flashes back to episode three. So, we would be confused and worried we weren’t wearing the right clothes. The wardrobe people would be freaking out saying, “Are you sure he’s in the right shirt? I think it’s the wrong shirt.” The thing is that it is one of those shows where it is a challenge to make, but we’re all really close because of that – because we had all that turmoil and adversity. The cast and the crew that worked on it kind of have that knowing nod where if we see each other in twenty-five years we’ll have that knowing nod of “Dirk Gently. Remember that? Oh my God, that was amazing!” So, I think that is sort of the takeaway. I went right from that to “My So Called Wife.” The first AD that worked on “Dirk” did the last block of the series and then started on the second block of “My So Called Wife.” He become really close with me pretty much because of our shared experience on “Dirk.” We still talk about it and it has been a couple of months. So, I think the behind the scenes moment is all of us sitting around saying, “What the hell is happening? What am I doing?” That’s my favorite moments and the giggles. We had fun, but it was a strange fun.

Q) You are a part of social media. What kind of fan feedback have you received to “Dirk Gently?”

A) To be honest with you, I don’t follow any of that stuff. “Dirk Gently” is an incredibly weird show from an incredibly weird man. Max Landis is crazy in all the right ways. I have no idea what it is going to be and what it looks like. I haven’t seen it. I have friends who have seen it and think it is brilliant. I have friends that worked on the show that have seen a lot of the episodes and they think it is brilliant. Every time I would come in to do ADR the post guys think it is one of the best things I’ve worked on. So, I’m hoping for everyone’s sake that it does really well. I think it will be much more watchable and effective on Netflix than it is on week to week on BBCAmerica. After episode one, I have a feeling people are going to go, “What the fuck did I just watch?” Then, if after episode two it doesn’t make a little bit more sense they are going to go, “Okay. Well, I’m done.” Holding an audience for eight weeks with seven days in between is going to be a difficult thing, just because it is. It is an eight hour movie and it sort of needs to…You won’t really start to get things until episode four. So, holding people for that month is going to be a challenge. I hope everyone checks it out and stays with it. Try it again when it comes out on Netflix and just watch it all the way through. I think watching it head to tale is probably going to be much more effective and will hold your interest a little bit more.

Q) What do you think it is about the show that will eventually capture viewers?

A) I think the smart viewers (the sci-fi and fantasy viewers – in my opinion – are the smartest of the bunch) will see all of the Easter eggs and what connects back to what. I think that so much of it goes back to other times and other moments and other episodes and other characters – they aren’t jumps, but bits that pay off. I think people are going to get hooked into that. Once the characters sort of get flushed out…It’s not so much of a “Who done it,” but a “What the hell is going on?” It’s in a fun way and I think exploring the mystery of what is going on, who is connected to who and how it relates is going to be the thing that is going to captivate people. I hope people like Gordon Rimmer. The post-production guys say they really like him. Netflix has called and said, “We love Gordon Rimmer!” So, I’m thrilled about that. He is unlike anything I have ever done. I hope people will like him, but I know for sure that a significant portion of my fans that go, “I hate your show! And I hate that character!” I guess that’s one of those you can’t win them all!

Q) What can you tease is ahead for Gordon this season?

A) Episode one he gets driven by and almost runover in the street. Also, for Gordon, everything is about that dog. It is his only thing in life. The dog comes and goes in his life and when he has the dog he is kind of happy. He is trying to take over the world and not be such a dick about it, but when he doesn’t have his dog he is a raging maniac! By episode four you will really see who Gordon Rimmer is and you will really get a sense of how he fits into the story and just what a kind of a complete asshole he can be – which is really, really fun!

Q) You frequently attend conventions on behalf of the work you did on “Battlestar Galactica.” Why is it so important for you to make appearances at them?

A) I love going to conventions because I love hanging out with the fans. I love talking with people from all different walks of life and about how the show has impacted them, how life impacts them and what they do and where they are from. You basically get to travel on someone else’s dime to cities I would probably never go to in my life because I’d have no reason to. You’re a demigod for the weekend and you don’t have to pay for beers. The fans are just so lovely and so often you just get “thank you for coming.” I’m like, “Are you kidding me? Thank you for having me!” It is such an honor to go and be with the people who follow you week to week and keep your career going and write letters to studios saying, “I want more of Aaron Douglas on my TV.” I love it and the fans are great and super bright people. You get to find out so much about things you normally wouldn’t explore or understand. I just really enjoy it. It is a fun getaway for me over the weekend. I get to turn my brain off and just talk about a show that I genuinely love. I see so many of these actors at cons that don’t care about the show they were on and are just going to cons on the weekends to make money. That would suck. If I hated “Battlestar Galactica” I definitely wouldn’t go. To go and talk about “Battlestar Galactica,” a show that has meaning lo these many years later, is a real thrill and an honor to get to do.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you! From the bottom of my heart, thank you! We do this work and at times it can be tough, but in reality I’m being shot by a camera. So, it’s not really, really that big of a deal. Talk about first world problems…Then, everywhere you go you get to talk about what you do and there is very few jobs in the world where people are patting you on the back and wanting to talk to you about what you do and what it meant to them. That’s just a really, really cool thing. I have no other discernable skills so if everybody turns their TV off and stops watching me I might as well leave the planet because there is nothing else that I can do in this life. So, please keep me on your TV and thank you for doing it. If you ever see me out and about, please don’t be afraid to walk up and say hi. Some people will tweet me and say, “I saw you at a restaurant and I didn’t want to bother you.” You’re not bothering me. Please, come up and say hi! Let me buy you a beer and sit and talk about whatever is going on. I love talking about sports. I’m a sports guy. I’ll talk about your election in the USA as your northern neighbor. I love talking about what I’m doing and I’m honored and thrilled to be able to talk about what I do and to give back. People really like to hear “the inside baseball” of the shows, how to works, who is a dick and who is really nice. I like it! So, thank you.