As a child in England, David Hewlett was a big fan of Doctor Who. A young man, he became a self-taught computer whiz, happy to nut away at his PC in Perl and play with dancing one's and zero's. These days he attends sci-fi conventions around the globe, attracting legions of fans who clamour for his autograph. In his rare down-time, he writes screenplays, less Perl.
You see, Hewlett has joined the pantheon of his childhood heroes, taking on the role of brilliant ‘and he knows it’ astrophysicist Rodney McKay, a cult favourite on Stargate: Atlantis. The show, a spin-off of America's longest running sci-fi series Stargate: SG-1, is winding up a third season, with Hewlett a major drawcard for its surging popularity.
But the actor’s otherworldly success was borne of a hard slog familiar to most practitioners.
After leaving school to pursue his love of acting, Hewlett logged over a decade worth of impressive miles on the North American independent film scene, teaming with highly-regarded Canadian directors like Vincenzo Natali and William Phillips along the way. Some of his best-known work includes playing 'code-monkey' Grant Janksy on the Canadian series Traders, and ‘architect’ anti-hero David Worth in Natali’s mind-bendingly original Cube.
Now, a new role beckons. On hiatus from shooting Stargate in Vancouver, Hewlett wrote and directed his first feature film with the aid of producer and real-life fiancée, Jane Loughman. A Dog’s Breakfast was shot on HD for under a million dollars and stars Hewlett, his actress sister Kate, Stargate: Atlantis alumni Rachel Luttrell and Paul McGillion, and Stargate: SG-1 veteran Christopher Judge. It also stars his dog Mars, who gives the film its title, and provided -- in a roundabout sort of way -- the inspiration for the project.
“Ahh yes, from mutt to screen,” Hewlett chuckles, recalling his first encounter with the infamous pooch. "Jane and I had arrived in Vancouver and were starting to feel settled. We had some free time so we thought maybe we should go and do something for someone, somewhere. And we heard that alot of the pounds needed dog walkers, foolhardy people to take their dogs around in the elements just to give them a chance to get out of their cages once in a while."
"So we show up at the pound, and we arrive in time for Mars to come barreling out of this horrendous rain storm, dragging this poor volunteer behind him. She's covered in mud and he's just going crazy. He actually ran straight up to us, then sat on my feet and ignored me. I was completely smitten."
Mars was about to be euthanised because of a problem with his hips, so Hewlett and Loughman intervened and adopted the precocious pup.
Meanwhile, the actor was toying with script ideas for an independent film.
"I think I ended up writing about three scripts before we got there; totally different tones,” he says. “There was a horror, a psychological drama... and Jane, ever the pragmatist, would take a look at each and say, 'that's great -- if we had a million dollars.' So we thought, let’s make a list of things we don’t have to pay for. Give me the elements and we'll build a story around that. And there's nothing cheaper than Hewlett's."
The end result was a "good old-fashioned, family murder", in which Mars figures prominently. Hewlett plays Patrick - hapless, but happy with a life that revolves around his dog and the gentle torment of his little sister Marilyn. Then sis' brings home her new fiancé Ryan -- the "sky-jockey" heartthrob of sci-fi soap opera Starcrossed (in one of several affectionate winks to Stargate fans) -- and Patrick snaps. Ridding his life of Ryan becomes an obsession, and if Mars can be unwitting accomplice, so much the better. Only trouble is, Patrick was never very good at life, so how will he fare with death?
For his part, the marked mutt rose to the challenge. "Mars was the quintessential star," writes Loughman online.
Venessa Paech Venessa Paech - Editor & Founder. Venessa holds a BFA from NYU. She has done the arts to death, and has been in love with the web since she "discovered" it at a CyberCafe in NYC in '93. She wants to be a podcaster when she grows up.
Doctor Who is a long-running award-winning British science fiction television programme (and a 1996 television film) produced by the BBC. The series shows the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as "the Doctor", who explores time and space in his TARDIS time ship with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs.
Perl is a cross-platform scripted programming languge
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Venessa Paech - Editor & Founder. Venessa holds a BFA from NYU. She has done the arts to death, and has been in love with the web since she "discovered" it at a CyberCafe in NYC in '93. She wants to be a podcaster when she grows up.
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