Following Adam Savage’s panel in Room 220BC at Silicon Valley Comic Con 2018 on Saturday, April 7 was Jewel Staite, who spoke about her experiences on Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis, and more!
When asked of all the characters she’s played, who she admires most, Jewel struggled to decide on an answer, but ultimately she answered Kaylee (from Firefly) because she always finds the good in people, and because Kaylee holds a special place in her heart. As for which character she’s most like? “No one.” She went on to say, “You don’t want to play anyone who’s just like you. That’s boring.”
Jewel would like to do a period piece, “though I bet I would regret it on day one” (depending on the period), saying, “if it involved a corset, I bet you I would rethink that whole proposition.” However, she misses doing sci-fi, and would like to go back and do more sci-fi.
One role that seemed so far out in left field, but actually turned out to be really great was Firefly. In fact, Jewel revealed that Morenna Baccarin (who played Inara) had initially turned down the audition because it was too weird for her! Fortunately, the role eventually found its way back to her. Jewel said that sometimes someone’s vision is so abstract that it’s hard to wrap your brain around it, but she learned to trust Joss Whedon because he’s really smart, and knows how to get his vision from page to screen. She recalled that everyone’s meeting with Joss was very positive and he was very passionate, and he believed in it so much, that they all felt like it was going to be something special.
The moderator asked which three characters she has played that she would bring with her if she were trapped on a desert island, but Jewel had trouble coming up with an answer, saying, “I’ve played a lot of screw ups.” She did say that she would have to bring Kaylee, just for morale’s sake, but beyond that, she hadn’t played any characters with survival instincts.
Jewel’s hidden talent? She can do Disney princess imitations. She’s the best at Ariel. In fact, her go to karaoke song is Part of Your World.
Jewel confessed that growing up, she was a weird kid, and was really into musical theater. So much so, that her favorite fictional character was Jean Valjean (from Les Miserables). She admitted that she’s seen that musical so many times, she can probably perform the whole thing.
The panel was also opened up for audience questions.
One audience member asked Jewel what her favorite Kaylee moment was. Jewel pointed out that there were a lot of great Kaylee moments, but one her favorites was in Out of Gas when they’re all crowded around Mal in the infirmary, and Kaylee tells him, “You fixed the ship. Good work.”
What Jewel loved about Kaylee was that she wasn’t just one thing, she was lots of things. She was a mechanic, but she was very girly, she loved love, and wore her heart on her sleeve and wasn’t ashamed about it. “She had needs. She talked about them.” Jewel shared a story about the scene in Serenity with the line “twixt my nethers.” In the first take, she whispered it, but Joss said it was not something for her to be embarrassed about or apologize for, and directed her to say it loud and proud. Jewel said that she loved Kaylee’s honesty. The flashback scene in Out of Gas came as a surprise to her, and she wishes she had known about it sooner, because she would have played Kaylee’s flirtation with Simon a little more confidently, rather than shyly.
One of the questions Jewel gets a lot is what was improvised on Firefly. However, she said hardly anything was, and almost all of what you see on screen is what was written on the page.
Jewel was also asked about working with David Hewlett on Stargate: Atlantis. She said she loved working with him, and that he is “such a clown.” The two work similarly in that they don’t take themselves too seriously. She thinks that the writers saw that they had a natural chemistry.
She talked about Space Cases, a Nickelodeon show that she had only appeared on for the first season. For some reason, Nickelodeon hadn’t had them under contract, while Disney did have them under a several year contract for Flash Forward if it got picked up to series. Both shows got picked up, and Jewel had to leave Space Cases. While on Flash Forward, her co-star was Ben Foster, who became her first boyfriend and her first love.
Jewel said she learned a lot as a child actor, where she worked 12+ hour days and the crew became her family. Jewel recalled that it was strange being surrounded by “yes” people, which she opined caused some people’s egos to get too big, while her own parents were stricter and told her “no” a lot, which she thought was a good thing. She learned to be on time and be kind to everyone, especially the crew, and that just because you’re in front of the camera, it doesn’t make you any more important than anyone else working on the show.
One of the worst acting experiences Jewel has ever had was when she appeared on a movie filmed in Costa Rica. They shot during the rainy season, and had to stop every time it rained, so instead of taking 3 weeks, it took 2 months. Many things in the course of filming were not up to code, so they had to fly a union rep down. She ended up losing 15 pounds due to a virus, and was covered in bug bites. At that point in her career, she was saying yes to everything, because she was afraid of never acting again. But after that experience, she learned that it’s okay to say no sometimes.
Although Silicon Valley Comic Con’s policy is that it does not allow video recording during its panels, that rule was waived for one particular question, which was when a young man asked Jewel to go to prom with him. He had asked her earlier at her autograph booth, but she told him to come to the panel and ask again, because he had said his friends wouldn’t believe him. Her answer was, “Were I unwed, I would take you.” You can click here to watch the video. Jewel herself never went to prom. She just had a tutor on set.
Regarding Nathan Fillion, Jewel said, “Nathan is like my brother. My older, older brother.” One thing she learned from Nathan is how to treat people on set. She said that when you’re the “Number One” on a show, your energy trickles down to everyone else. Nathan always made sure to learn each person’s name and something about them — even though they had a crew of over 100. He’s also a “total goof” and is never serious, which she loves about him. “He’ll do anything for a cheap laugh,” she said. Additionally, he’s a very generous person. For example, he flew up to Vancouver for her baby shower, and gave her numerous onesies for the baby. Also, when she appeared on an episode of Castle, her told her not to stay at a hotel, but to come stay at his house with her husband and baby. He even took care of the baby in the morning so that she could have some “me time.”
As for good guy versus bad guy characters, Jewel said that she prefers playing the bad guy because it’s more fun. She likes playing complicated, misguided characters, such as her character on The L.A. Complex. Indeed, Adam Baldwin (who played Jayne on Firefly) told her that bad guys don’t think they’re bad guys — they think that what they’re doing is right.
Jewel pointed out that it tends to happen to her a lot that she’ll be on a show that gets cancelled after one season. So one piece of advice she would give herself is “Don’t get too attached,” because if she allows herself to get too attached, she’ll end up heartbroken if it doesn’t pan out.
She revealed that she wouldn’t want to be the Number One on a show, and that she prefers to be the Four or Five. Why? “They work less.” She enjoyed being Number Six or so on Stargate because she would only have to come in one or two days a week, then could leave!
And so ended our time in Room 220BC for the day. It was about 6pm at this point, and the Exhibit Hall floor was open until 7pm, so we decided to go walk the floor since we hadn’t been there yet. Click here to see our photos from the show floor!
You can view more of our photos of Jewel Staite at Silicon Valley Comic Con 2018 below:
