Jewel Staite

If you like Jewel Staite as Kaylee from Firefly and Serenity and Dr. Jennifer Keller from Stargate: Atlantis, you’ll love the REAL Jewel Staite! That’s why we’re so pleased she’s agreed to join us regularly here at Blastr to answer your questions and share whatever happens to be on her mind.

Bonjour, dear Reader.

Yes, I know, it’s been longer than a month. But I’m still on Parisian time! My mind is muddled with excess, having just lived on copious amounts of champagne and cheese, meats stewed in lusciously decadent sauce, chocolate soufflés and salted caramels, and more champagne to wash it all down. The fact that I’m still breathing is impressive after the whirlwind trip I just had. Also impressive? I can still do up my pants. While lying down.

We started off in Ghent, Belgium, for FACTS, an annual pop-culture extravaganza where we bumped into some old friends (the hilarious Robert Picardo being one—j’adore!) and made some new ones (the lovely Kristanna Loken, and Pinhead himself, Doug Bradley, who is a lot better-looking than he is in that movie). We bonded like all actors do at these things and ended up capping the weekend off at an amazing restaurant on the river called Belga Queen, where we gorged ourselves on sea bass and shrimp croquettes and drank copious amounts of red wine. My apologies to the wait staff, who weren’t having as good of a time as we were. And to Joos the waiter in particular, who my husband kept trying to hug. I told you to cut him off, Joos.

Next stop was Paris for some R&R, which turned into more gorging and feasting. Luckily Paris is great for strolling, and we walked for hours every day, exploring each arrondissement for the perfect café to sit and watch the world go by. Man, do you French people have this whole living well thing down! No one bats an eye at you for drinking champagne in the middle of the afternoon! If anything, they encourage it, with a little side of duck confit! (My Pilates instructor is crying right now at the last year of work I’ve totally destroyed.) I won’t bore you with our culinary pleasures, but I will say that there was many a wine-fueled conversation on how to get our cocker spaniel shipped over to the City of Light so we never had to leave. Nothing’s cuter than a cocker spaniel in a beret! When you’re drunk!

But leave we did, for one of my favorite places in the world, London! Hallowhedon was happening that weekend, an all-things-Joss Halloween party, and I was fortunate enough to be invited. Once again, we ran into some old friends (Alan Tudyk, one of my very favorite people) and made some new ones (the beautiful Stephanie Romanov, the impossibly nice Anthony Stewart Head, and the devil himself, Robin Sachs, who made me laugh until I cried on an hourly basis). Every day was filled with Joss-themed events and parties, including a trivia game with crazy-hard questions even some of the biggest fans there couldn’t answer. "What’s on the poster in Badger’s office?" Seriously?? That’s like asking, "How many people has Inara slept with?" Um, insurmountable much??

Suffice to say, we had a fabulous time. Thank you to all who made the trip better than I could have ever imagined. My liver, however, hates your guts.

Okay, on to your questions, since you’ve been so patient:

#1: Dear Kaylee: Does it annoy you when people use your characters’ names to address you?

First off, adorable! And nope, doesn’t bother me at all. My favorite nickname, however, is Meryl Streep.

#2: What’s the one question you’ve always wished someone would ask, but no one ever has ... and how would you answer it?

Question: "Hey Jewel! Any chance you could star in this hit show that’s guaranteed to run for the next seven years?" Answer: "Is the Pope Catholic??"

#3: Did you do your own stunts as Elia the Wraith in Stargate: Atlantis?

Some, but not all. My first day of work on that show was the scene where Sheppard and I go toe-to-toe in the woods. We had to do this wrestling bit where I was on top of him (get your mind outta the gutter) and he’s basically trying his best to kill me. On one of the last takes, my face somehow connected with his fist, and at the end of the day when they took the prosthetics off, I had a wicked little cut and a bruise under my eye. The next morning I was due to fly out to LA for a publicity photo shoot for Serenity, which was just about to come out. So for the entire shoot, I had a little black eye, courtesy of Joe Flanigan. I never told him about it, since he obviously isn’t in the habit of punching girls in the face on purpose. But I never forgot it, either. Watch your back, Flani. Watch your back.

#4: Do you ever imagine yourself with a superpower?

Doesn’t everybody? Mine would be the power to heal, which isn’t all that funny or interesting. But I wouldn’t go around telling everybody about it. Just the people I liked. My husband has this bizarre fantasy of having the power to produce bacon out of his pockets. Which may heal the world in itself, really. Plus, how cool would it be to be able to tell people I was married to Bacon Boy?

#5: What would be your dream role? Steel Magnolias? Sigourney Weaver kick ass? Sigourney Weaver goes Steel Magnolias then kicks ass?

Hmm. How many times do you think that guy’s seen Alien? But to answer, I have a few, usually involving Johnny Depp in some capacity. Oh wait—you said dream ROLES!

Alright, enough outta me. Thanks for your questions, once again! Send them my way at www.twitter.com/jewelstaite for the next blog installment!

Until then, adieu.

XO J