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Corin Nemec’s TV work goes back to his days as Nicky Papadapolis on Webster, and as the star of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. Now, as the alien Jonas Quinn, Nemec joins the Stargate team in the sixth (and reportedly final) season of Stargate SG-1. Nemec recently spoke with PREVUE about his new role and the twists and turns of his career.

PREVUE: For people that are just discovering Stargate SG-1 because of its move to the Sci Fi channel, can you tell us how Jonas Quinn came to Stargate?

NEMEC: Initially on his planet he’s sort of a presidential advisor and a liaison between the Stargate team and his planet. He was in a pretty powerful position for such a young age, and he got in that position because he has a great ability to absorb a lot of information at a very fast rate. It’s a skill that assists him once he gets on the SG-1 team to play catch up. It allows him to follow along with the work that Dr. Daniel Jackson was doing. He has started to figure out what it was that Daniel Jackson was trying to accomplish, and how he could come in and help to finish that job.

PREVUE: How does he deal with the death of Daniel Jackson?

NEMEC: He needs to take responsibility for his part in Daniel Jackson’s death, because he was in directly involved with it. He decides to assist SG-1 with a request they have made, but because of that he won’t be able to return to his home planet, because he will be considered a traitor. That’s how he gets stuck on Earth.

PREVUE: What is his relationship with the members of the Stargate team?

NEMEC: There’s definitely a connection with Teal'c, because he doesn’t have the same emotional make-up that humans do. There also is a connection with Samantha Carter, because she warms up to Quinn. There is some conflict with O'Neill. He holds Quinn partly responsible for Daniel Jackson’s death, because he had warned me about what they were getting involved in. I like that. I think it is realistic and creates a nice dynamic within the storylines.

PREVUE: So, how is it joining a series in its sixth season?

NEMEC: I’m very comfortable on the set. I was really blown away by the production design, the use of the effects. The cast is just great. That is what really sold me on wanting to get involved with the show. They’ve developed a real tight family here. Everybody is real laid back, they really know their jobs, and everybody is very giving. Doing the final episode of last season was difficult, because as the final episode, everybody was saying goodbye and getting ready to go on vacation. Plus, it was Michael Shanks' last episode, so that created a certain dynamic. The start this year has been really wonderful and I’m having a great time here.

PREVUE: This is reportedly the final season.

NEMEC: That’s the big question. Even if does turn out to be the final season, and nothing more happens beyond this, I knew I was coming on for the last season, and I’m just going to enjoy it for what it is.

PREVUE: You have been on television since you were a kid, is it tough to transition to adult roles?

NEMEC: For me, there hasn’t been much of a transition. One of the things I’ve maintained is my theatre work, I’m in the American Repertory Company. I’ve been in a theatre company for about six years, and that is where my roots start. That’s how I started. I was in Center Stage L.A., a highly regarded children’s theatre company when I was eleven.

PREVUE: You began your career on the sitcom Webster.

NEMEC: That was sort of my agent selling me short. I did that when I was about fourteen. The first big project I did was the movie Tucker: The Man and His Dream. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and was the film that put Christian Slater on the map. I got a lot of offers for feature films when the offer for Webster came through. When they told me what I would be earning, I never dreamed that at fourteen I would be getting that kind of money. That was the deciding factor me then, but I learned shortly after production started that I wasn’t happy creatively, so I learned a big lesson, which I’ve taken with me.

PREVUE: What brought you into acting?

NEMEC: My mom and dad both met at the University of Arkansas. My dad was studying architecture and my mother was studying graphic arts. When they separated, we ended up moving to Atlanta where she worked designing the posters for plays coming to town and doing album covers. I ended up going back stage and meeting the actors. My father moved to L.A. and got involved in set design. Now, he’s a very successful production designer. I would visit him and go to the sets he was working on. I was always going to be involved in the arts in some way, but it was acting that first caught my attention.

PREVUE: How did you first get into a theatre company?

NEMEC: I met a kid who went to my junior high school, who played Waldo in Van Halen’s Hot For Teacher video. He was involved in the children’s theatre company and I asked him if I could come in and audition for the teacher. I went in and auditioned and got in. About five months later we did our first showcase for agents and managers, and I ended up getting signed a couple of days after the showcase. I went on my first audition a week later. I got the job and haven’t looked back since.

PREVUE: What brought you from playing a supporting role to being the star of your own show?

NEMEC: I did this TV special with Eddie Murphy called What’s Alan Watching?. It was shot as a pilot but ended up airing as a TV special. That was the first thing besides Tucker that I was really blown away by, as it was really well written. During the filming I got the miniseries I Know My First Name is Steven, which got me an Emmy nomination when I was sixteen. I got Parker Lewis Can’t Lose because of What’s Alan Watching?. I turned it down at first because I was in the sci-fi film Solar Crisis, which everyone thought was going to be a big success. It ended up tanking and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose ended up being the best choice for me anyway.

PREVUE: Parker Lewis Can’t Lose put you into the center of the ring as the star, how do you feel about having a supporting role on Stargate?

NEMEC: I had such a great time doing Parker Lewis. It was really ground breaking and was just a fantastic show. The writing and the cinematography were just top notch. However, I didn’t become an actor to be the star of a show, I became an actor because it is what I love to do. I’ve been involved in plenty of work that has been ensemble work, and for me it is very exciting, because you really have to create a character that stands out. It’s a challenge, but it also takes some of the pressure off, because you can enjoy the work and all eyes aren’t on you. For me, it’s what can I bring of myself to this role. This is the kind of character that in some ways is very much like me. He’s a very enthusiastic character, and I believe I have that quality as well. His development is going to happen over six or eight episodes, because he is from another planet and everything is so new for him.

PREVUE: How much did you have to get up to speed with the Stargate universe?

NEMEC: That is what’s exciting, as I don’t have to know it all today. It’s not solely up to me to get up to speed, as we’ve got such great writers. I’ve been continuing to watch a lot of episodes, so I’m not confused as to what things are.

PREVUE: You have been involved in writing a number of scripts. How did that come about?

NEMEC: I wrote my first script freehand, and had someone transcribe it into its finished form. When I finished that, I realized that I could actually write stuff too. I grabbed a laptop and started doing my own writing. I’ve only recently started shopping anything. The main thing was to first learn how to write and to enjoy it. When I finished my fifth script, I decided it was time to start getting them out there. It’s not the easiest thing in this business to get considered as a writer-actor. You have to get out there and prove yourself.

PREVUE: You also have an interest in working on the other side of the camera.

NEMEC: I started wanting to direct when I was doing Parker Lewis. I saw the magic you can do with the camera.

PREVUE: What are your interests outside of acting?

NEMEC: Poetry. I’ve been writing poetry since elementary school. On a whim, I entered a poetry contest and ended up getting into a book called The Best Poets of the Year 2000. It made me realize that it’s not just me, but people really connect to my poems.

--Mark Raddle

© 2002 PREVUE Magazine. All rights reserved. Photos: © 2002 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. All rights reserved.