TSW Team: You played a lot of different characters, wich one did you enjoy the most?
Tony Amendola: I enjoy Stargate a lot because it is given me so much work. And it's such an interesting character.
I love working with Christopher judge, who is a fellow actor and a great friend. He has been very kind to me, he has written stuff for me, he has helped me in so many ways, so Stargate is 'Special' for me.
I also like doing films where you get to play different people like Zorro where i lived in a different century and Blow with Johny Depp which is always very intersting. I like to travel and film, and television is giving me the opportunity to travel, but I also get a lot of strength from acting on a stage too.

TSW Team: You're playing in the season 9 of Stargate, what can you tell us about that?
Tony Amendola: Well, I don't stud until the ninth or tenth episode. I'm not in the beginning because they have the new characters like Beau Bridges and Ben Browder acting in. So they bring me in in the nine and I haven't read the script yet.
It's gonna be the way the problem is they were in conflict for the first eight seasons and now the jaffa are free, now, it's how do we make peace, you know when there is competition, when there is power at plays, before we were united against the common ennemy, and now we have to make peace among ourselves.

TSW Team: Producers and directors made lots of appearances on the set. Do you know if it was scheduled or if it was more, like 'Oh, we need someone, you, you play the guard'?
Tony Amendola: Oh no, it was the producers, the people that have made appearences, that was always planned, it's ... you know, like Alfred Hitchcock, he always make an appearance in his films and, I think it's fun to bring on the producers and directors. Peter Deluise appeared in a number of them, yeah, sometimes, he's the guy in the back, sometimes, he's doing different things, sometimes, it's really funny.

Tony Amendola in Paris

TSW Team: Who is the guy on the set who is always trying to make you laugh, or to break up your concentration? Doug told us that was Chris Judge, do you agree?
Listen to the answer of Tony by clicking here (MP3 file)
Tony Amendola: Without questions, he's the biggest cut-up, because he play the most serious character in the show, and someway he is in this very closed shot except he's not that way at all, he's always trying to crack the people off, and he's always trying to have fun because we work long hours, you know, when I shoot, they pick me up 6 o'clock in the morning, and they bring me home at 0:30 at night, so you have to have fun.

TSW Team: Did you ever played a role for money?
Tony Amendola: Of course, we all have, as you get old and more established, then you have more choices, and you can say no. I have said no to some things, and some auditions because I didn't particulary liked it, but other times, you just have to say yes, because you're beginning, you need a job, it varies.

TSW Team: You like theater, which play would you like to appear in?
Tony Amendola: About three years ago, I got to do the last role that I really really wanted to do, and that was Cyrano, I got to do that. Now, as I get older, the other a big big role that would be important for me to do is King Lear. I'm still a little young, just a little young, but Stargate give me practice because I'm 130 years old, he's only, 90~85, you know, so...

TSW Team: Did you played in french plays?
Tony Amendola: yes, I did some french plays, I said about Cyrano, I did Misanthrope and Learning ladies (Molière), what else ?

TSW Team: Did you played Tartuffe ?
Tony Amendola: No, I never acted in it, but I know Tartuffe very well.
There is a wonderful french director I would love to work with named Ariane Mnouchkine, she has a company outside of Paris, and she directed a TV thing about 8 or 9 episodes called Molière, and she's a great, great director.
So, the french are really wonderful writers and have a great history of theater and acting...

TSW Team: Did you like sci-fi movies and sci-fi shows before acting in some of them?
Listen to the answer of Tony by clicking here (MP3 file)
Tony Amendola: Before I did Stargate, my favorite sci'fi movie was Blade Runner. It's a great one. And i also like the starwars, aliens, I would watch tose things, but now, with Stargate, I made a lot of friends who do sci'fi, and now i watch more, battlestar galactica, of course, atlantis, I have friends that were in Deep Space 9, StarTrek new generation, you know, people like Robert Picardo [EMH, StarTrek Voyager], Andrew Robinson [Garak, StarTrek DS9], Armin Shimerman [Quark, StarTrek DS9], there are people that were my friends before they did sci'fi or i did sci'fi.

TSW Team: Three things you may bring in a desert island?
Tony Amendola: The complete works of shakespeare, some good red wine and cheese, and my wife.

TSW Team: In Stargate, the Turkey sandwiches appears often, is it a private joke?
Tony Amendola: I don't know much about it, but Turkey, in america, and i don't know if it's the case here, have a double connotation. it means, turkey, as in the bird, but you can say oh, he's a turkey, meaning, he's not good or this play is a turkey, so maybe it could be that, I don't know, I've never been on when the turkey issue came up.