Actor at ease with Flash Gordon past
Sam J. Jones says role in cult film ‘has been an absolute blessing’
As second acts go, the epic cameo by Sam J. Jones in the 2012 comedy Ted will likely go down in recent history as one of the most pleasantly surprising. And strange.
But it wasn’t the first time the actor paid indirect homage to his most famous role, the lead in the 1980 film Flash Gordon.
Five years before he donned a platinum wig to play a slightly warped version of himself opposite Mark Wahlberg, Jones was enlisted for a small role in the 2007 TVreboot centred on the iconic character.
Fans of not-so-good Canadian-shot sci-fi might remember the moment. He played Krebb, a prisoner who had spent 20 years in a dungeon thanks to some dealings he had in the past with the Gordon family.
“I thought he was a cool character,” Jones says. “I spent about four hours in makeup and hair every day, looking like this character who had actually lived in this dungeon. There were lesions on my face, long stringy hair. It was pretty cool.”
The cynical among us might assume the character’s predicament — 20 years hidden away from the world thanks to an association with Flash Gordon — might resonate deeply with Jones.
But unlike many actors whose public persona has been defined by one role, the 59-year-old seems perfectly at ease having Flash Gordon as his baggage.
“For me, personally, I went on to do 50 feature films and hundreds of hours of television,” he says quickly, when asked about typecasting. “It helped me a great deal and has been an absolute blessing.”
It probably helps that time has been kind to the 1980 film. Even before Jones helped boost its status as a fanboy favourite in Ted, Flash Gordon had safely travelled that route from boxoffice disappointment to bona fide cult film.
Jones, a former marine whose recent work has involved being a bodyguard for corporate executives in high-risk areas of Mexico, reportedly beat out both Kurt Russell and Arnold Schwarzenegger for the role of Flash Gordon, a New York Jets football player who eventually becomes “saviour of the universe.”
Producers pulled out all the stops in an attempt to turn it into a blockbuster on par with Star Wars. Sequels were planned before filming had begun. The budget was set at $30 million, an astronomical amount of money in 1980.
Maxvon Sydow, who played villain Ming the Merciless, was among the high-profile international actors brought in to class up the cast. Others included Brian Blessed, Chaim Topol and Timothy Dalton. All of which understandably put a good deal of pressure on Jones. Before Flash Gordon, the only film he had done was a small role in 10 opposite Bo Derek (as her befuddled groom).
“I probably thought about that a little too much at the beginning,” he says. “And then I think this voice inside me said ‘They cast you to do it. They obviously want you and nobody else. Just do the work.’ That’s what I kept telling myself: ‘Just focus on doing the work and don’t be distracted by all these multimillion-dollar sets and the big names attached.’”
The film did not do well in the U.S. But internationally it was a success and it eventually found new life on video.
Yet despite its sequel-baiting ending — we won’t spoil it for you here — future instalments were cancelled and Jones quickly moved on to the short-lived TV drama Code Red opposite Lorne Greene.
He followed it up with a number of guest roles on TV shows in the 1980s, including The A-Team and Riptide, but eventually switched careers and began working for a security firm as a bodyguard.
So he was as surprised as anyone when Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane gave him a call about Ted, a comedy he was working on about a man and his foul-mouthed Teddy Bear.
“He called me directly and I had never met him before,” Jones says. “He basically told me ‘Look, when I was nine years old I watched your movie and it changed my life.’ And I’m starting to get these calls now from these nine-year-olds who are now in their 30s and 40s saying ‘Hey I watched your film and now I’m doing this. I have this project and I would like to bring you in.’ It’s humorous and funny, but it definitely makes sense.
“(MacFarlane) told me he wanted me to play myself. So, of course, I asked him to send me a script and once I read the script I said ‘Seth, you have to understand this is not really me. It’s part of me doing a spoof or parody of me.’ He said, ‘That’s fine. Just give me part of you, then.’”
Jones says he is already in talks to appear in a sequel to Ted, although admits he has yet to see a script and doubts one even exists yet.
Should he be asked to make a cameo in a planned bigbudget reboot of Flash Gordon by 20th Century Fox, Jones said he would be happy to oblige.
As for his relationship with his most famous film, Jones said his fondness has grown over the years.
“I’ve probably only seen the movie, in the last 35 years, maybe seven, eight times and I’m just now starting to appreciate it,” he says.
At the time he was shooting, Jones said he didn’t really have the time to soak it in and appreciate it.
“I just had to get into the work and move on and they would just basically carry me away to the next location or next set,” he says. “And I watch it now, I say ‘Wow, look at that. That’s cool.’”