Stargate: Ronon Dex in the house

July 28, 2005

Ronon Dex in the house

Now, I don’t know how many of you are religious out there, but can you imagine sitting around, brainstorming, thinking about races and aliens and then coming up with an interesting idea and POOF! Making it happen… Just like that?

Well, the writers aren’t gods, but they do have that power…

And you’re wondering now what the process is, aren’t you? Well, firstly, you should know that all the writers were in agreement that the Atlantis team needed a new element, but they was no consensus about what that new element would be. Brad Wright wanted a military guy. Robert Cooper was leaning toward an alien. Now, I wasn’t privy to the conversations, but a little bird told me the discussions actually got quite heated, as often happens when two strong creative minds conflict.

Luckily for them, there was a compromise… and thus you have: Ronon Dex, the alien with a military background! The best of both worlds.

So they began casting, and they were very much looking for someone with great physical presence and athleticism. I saw many of the casting tapes, and I can tell you that this is no joke: as soon as the writers saw Jason Momoa’s audition, it was pretty obvious he would be offered the part.

And that’s pretty funny, considering he almost died the night before the audition. Jason told me the story… he was staying at a friend’s house the night before the taping and there was a gas leak… He didn’t really think twice about it – curled up on his buddy’s couch, and actually slept in the room with the gas leak for several hours before his buddies woke him up and they all got the hell out of there. So on the day of his audition he was woozy and kind of out of it.

And by the way, Jason is a hugely athletic dude. Look at the flashback scene tomorrow night in Runner and see how fast he is running. He actually outran the motorized camera dolly on that shot. And if you’re looking for funny little inconsistencies, watch the Wraith running after him. Does it look like the Wraith has any real chance of catching him? Didn’t to me.

So that’s it, really. That’s all the dirt I’ve got on Jason. Oh, actually, I made a list of the bumper stickers on his old school Toyota Landcruiser:

North Shore Cartel
Russ K Custom Surfboards
Hawaii Longboard Surfing Association
Eddie Would Go (in memory of Eddie Aikou)
Water Warrior
Where the Wind Flies (Nepal)
Treehugging Dirt Worshipper
Free Tibet
Vote for Pedro

And another little tidbit. All the other actors are in new school trailers. Jason chills in an old silver Airstream that he owns, with a big Buddha inside it.

ATL

Posted by Alex Levine at July 28, 2005 11:08 PM