Lock and Load: An interview with Aleks Paunovic

I guess you'll be a familiar face to a lot of TV SF fans from your work in shows such as 'The Dead Zone', 'Stargate SG1', 'Eureka', Battlestar Galactica' and now 'Bionic Woman'. You seem to be doing the rounds of fans fave shows, are there any recent genre shows filmed in Canada you haven't been in?
Well one that I wish I was in was DEAD LIKE ME, loved that show.

For those that don't know you, could you give us an insight into how you got into acting?
I got into acting by fluke, I was playing in a band in my home town, was a sell out Saturday night and a nice looking woman came up to me and asked if I wanted to audition for a role In a movie, I thought, mm, interesting pick up line but ok, I'll go with it. I ended up at this audition for a HBO film called HEADS with Jon Cryer and Ed Asner. But you have too remember, I'm all about music and my band so I was just there for the experience. Ended up I booked the role, got on set and thought, wow, this is what I want too do. Everyone was great. I started to take classes and really get educated with the art, and loving every sec of it, and me being 6 foot 5 was asked to get involved in stunts. So any movie that came through my town of Winnipeg Manitoba I was on, either helping, stunt fighting and falling, or acting. Was a great was to get on set experience. Then I moved to Vancouver and started working here. Now I split my time between l.a. and Vancouver.

If you hadn't been actor, what direction do you think your life would have taken?
I would have loved to teach. I've been boxing since I was a kid, my dad and grandfather were boxers, so I really learned the science of boxing, and showing that to kids or actors and watching them get it, I really get a kick out of. One of my fav experiences was training Edward Olmos from battlestar gallactica and he's already a great athlete but when I was showing him a combo the light went off and he got it on the 4th try. I really like seeing that. Plus I put my time into kids programs and I love helping out that way.

Who do you respect, or look up to, in the acting community?
I have an enormous amount of respect for actors that put the time in and challenge themselves in different. Tom Hanks, Benicio Del Toro, Christian Bale. Actors that are about telling the story, too the best of their ability. When I see that, I have to kick myself in the ass to work harder. A great Teacher of mine, Larry Moss really made me see that it was all about telling the story.

I want to offer congratulations for your recent 'Best Actor' award at Destination Funny Shorts film festival for 'The Hitchhiker'. How do you feel about that?
Are you kidding me?? I was like a massive kid, very happy. But with great humility. Everyone that puts themselves up there too be judged and you get an award like that feels amazing. I think the best was telling my mom I won. The joy in her voice was better then an Oscar.

You seem to have worn a lot of different hats within the industry: writer, director, actor, even stuntman. Any preference?
I love the acting process, the industry can be very unforgiving but I think that why I like it so much, the challenge. I can't wait to direct my first feature. That's my short term goal. My long term goal…… mmmm, just doing this and supporting myself and my loved ones for as long as I live.

You were the boxing coordinator on BG episode and in the movie 'Framed' with Sam Neil. How did you get involved with coordinating the fights?
I come from 3 generations of boxers; my dad was a champion fighter along with my grandfather. I boxed in the pan American pre games on the way to the Olympics before I ripped my rotor cuff out of the socket, I still train, and love to box but I'm really starting to love the teaching aspect of boxing. My great friend Tahmoh Penikett from BSG suggested to Michael Riemer the director of the mini series of bsg that I would be great with training some of the cast, they were great and they picked it up easily. Sam Neill was a great student also, probably the hardest working actor too really tries to get the boxing science of the art. Never before did he box and he picked it up in no time. Great man.

'Bionic Woman' is what people will have most recently seen you in. Did you know much about the new show going in?
Ya, I know what was going on with the show as its shot on the same lot as BSG and David Ike was behind it, with what David did with bsg, I knew that it was gonna be a smartly written show that people are gonna want to watch.

We hear a lot of the Battlestar Galactica' crew worked on the PIlot episode of 'Bionic Woman', are they still involved, and if so, did you enjoy the familiarity that that brought to the job?
For sure, I saw almost everyone from BSG there. Oh man, love those guys. Hairs, makeup, grips, love all of them.

Have you ever seen the original show, with Lindsay Wagner?
Um… yes.. and yes.. I had a crush on Lindsay.. lets move on. lol.

We saw you all too briefly as Assault Team Leader Curtis in the BW episode 'Sisterhood'. Were there any more scenes you were in, that we didn't get to see?
I was in quite a few scenes but the pacing and the way they did reshoots didn't get my storyline across, they are on different producers now and are really getting their legs under them. I'm really hoping to return too the show. I loved working with Miguel Ferrer we had a few scenes together, and too work with a legend like that would be a blessing

The main scene had you in the conference room with several of the other regulars. How did you find the actors, bearing in mind the shows were only a couple episodes in when you were appeared? Was the scene rehearsed, did you get a lot of lead time. There were reports of improvisation on-set to keep things spontaneous.
There wasn't any improve, we had an amazing director in Steve Boyum, one of the best directors I have worked with, and he knows how to throw a great kick to the head. Long story. Lol. All the actors were great, when everyone has their lines down makes it very easy to work out the blocking and scene.

When Sarah and Jaime meet, you and your SWAT team arrive but we barely saw you. Was there anymore to that scene?
Yes, there was a lot more to the scene but again I think it was a pacing and timing issue.

We've heard a great deal about the changes of the writers/producers on the show, the days you worked did you get the feeling that things were pretty settled/normal on-set or were there a lot of last minute changes/re-writes coming through? Did this seem to bother anyone or is it par for the
Course on a weekly show?
I can't say if it did, while I was on the show it ran smooth, everyone was in great spirits and there wasn't any panic for rewrites. I just saw everyone having a great time.

Fans were looking forward to seeing you in 2 episodes, can you tell us about the scenes you had in the other episode that we didn't see? Were the scenes dropped during editing, or as part of the re-tooling of the show/storylines?
I was looking forward too seeing me also. Lol. I totally understand where they are at and I'm hoping to come back to the show to see my new and old friends.

Any chance we might see more of Team Leader Curtis?
Again, I'm hoping to come back, I'm pretty busy in my life and my career but I really love the vision on bionic, I think David ike is one of the most creative men in si fi and I know Curtis would be a great asset to the show.

You've recently starred in the movie 'Taming Tammy', an adaptation of 'Taming of the Shrew'. What were the differences against guest roles in weekly shows and being the lead in a motion picture? What do you see the positives, and the challenges for both?
Well a lead in a feature is a lot of play time, I'll make it really simple, and the more time on camera to play and have fun and develop a character the better life is. Lol. I love the guest stars that I get on si fi, its fun and I wouldn't change it for the world, but to sink your teeth into a feature as a lead is an amazing experience.

Speaking of 'Taming Tammy', can people expect to see it at anymore festival events or are there plans for a larger release?
We are doing more fests and are on the brink too of selling it. Don't jinx it. lol.

You're in the vampire/horror movie 'Blood; A Butcher's Tale' with BG regular Aaron Douglas. Coincidence?
Ya, totally a coincidence, I know Arron from just acting around town, became closer friends on BSG and when we found out we both got the film we were pretty cool with it.

You can visit Aleks' official site and check out various clips and photo's from his career at www.alekspaunovic.com

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