Extra! Extra! Read All About Herb Sommerfeld (Part 2)

Written by Karrie Baughman – 16/04/2010

In our continuing efforts to bring the fans of Stargate Universe as many facets of the show as we can, we are excited to share an interview with Herb Sommerfeld. Many of you may remember him from the Hiatus Project Chats. Herb is an extra on many shows as well as a writer. We are bringing this interview to you in two parts, as Herb has wonderful insights as to his life and where his career is heading.

Karrie: How do you go about preparing for a role?  For example on SGU do you have access to a script, please explain the process. Herb: Extras do not need to prepare for roles as extras. Stay relaxed and listen to the Assistant Directors directions. That is all you need to do. This is one of the major differences between actors and extras. Some extras are delusional and think extra work is synonymous with acting, but in truth, anyone can walk onto set and be an extra. Almost nobody can walk onto set and act (and if they can, they are anomalies, glitches in the fabric of time and space, not the norm). Don’t get me wrong here: there are some extras who are brilliant actors! I work with many extras that you have seen as cast members and guest stars in all sorts of films and TV shows. Some people do extra work because they are bored with all the vacations their millions of dollars afford them. A friend of mine is a PhD at UBC and does extra work in the summer months. Karrie: What are your thoughts about twitter?  Facebook? Do you feel they have increased your fan base? Those that follow you appreciate the work you do, for without your profession the show could not go on. Herb: Thank you for your kind words. I don’t consider my twitter followers as personal fans, but fans of the shows I am in. Yes, the movies need extras, and I appreciate your appreciation. I love twitter though, and facebook. I love talking with all the fans of the shows that I too am a fan of. I typically only post the days where I work on shows that I love to work on. Karrie: Family is very important. Does your family support your work? Herb: My Dad supports everything I have chosen to do, and would my Mother if she were still alive. In fact, my dad paid my rent for most of the first year I did extra work until I built up enough momentum to pay the bills myself. It is still a week to week, pay-check to pay-check sort of job though. My nieces and nephews (I think there are almost 10 of them) all love what I do, as do my 3 sisters. Karrie: You have tweeted before about movies you have watched and books you have read. Is there a specific type of movie or book you truly enjoy? Herb: Any movie with spaceships or dragons. I love reading Star Wars books. I still read some philosophy and theology books, but not as much as I did in the good old days. Most of my time is spent listening to Creative Screenwriting Podcasts (feel free to follow @yogoldsmith, his tweets are always entertaining…and tell him I sent ya), or reading books on acting or screenwriting. I am obsessed with screenwriting at the moment. I remember, about 2 years ago I decided to write an episode of Stargate Atlantis. Ok, it was more like 3 pages and then a synopsis of what the rest of the episode would be like. I asked Joe Mallozzi (http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/) where I could submit it thinking they would read it and hire me on the spot. Fortunately for me they can’t take unsolicited submissions. It would be embarrassing for me if they actually read the nonsense I gave them. The story was great, but as a script, it was just wrong wrong wrong. Ok, I’ll tell you what it was about. Basically Carter finds some sort of static feedback in the gate witch leads her to an ancient code which leads her to find “The First Gate”. They travel to the place where the ancients had built their first gate. They find a Wraith laboratory with prisoners from almost every known species including the Asgard. At the start of the episode Ronen is found teaching Rodney martial arts in return for Rodney’s teaching Ronen some science stuff. At the end of the episode, after using modified super warrior armor from SG-1 to do an above-atmosphere jump down to the planet (almost exactly like the one we saw in the Star Trek movie…although I had the idea a year before), where we have yet another fantastic 4 reference…Rodney in flames flying through the atmosphere…Rodney gets taken prisoner and escapes using the moves Ronen taught him, and Ronen manages to free the prisoners, but in the end reverses the satellites (like they had in the one episode where Daniel Jackson takes over the earth), and sets them against the NaQuada rich planet and blows it up (though not quite as bad as Rodney blowing up a solar system). In the end Rodney vows to never be the action hero, and Ronen sticks to kicking butt. Karrie: What are your hobbies? Herb: I read comics, watch TV, go for walks, smoke cigars, read Star Wars novels, and go to the gym. I can play a tiny bit of guitar as well. And, I drink a lot of Guinness. Karrie: You have commented about Hiatus Project and your enjoyment of it. What was the best part for you? Herb: The best part was getting to chat with Brian and Patrick. Those guys are awesome. I don’t get a lot of time to talk with them when we are on set because it is work work work. Too much talking on set and things get chaotic. When we’re not on set it is tough to talk to the actors because they are busy getting prepared memorizing lines etc, for upcoming scenes. Also, it is super sweet to be able to hang out online with fellow Stargate fans.