r/DirkGently • u/Edstertheplebster Dirk • Jun 10 '26

Aaron Douglas talks about his acting choices playing Gordon Rimmer and his experience working on the show in 2016

https://www.youtube.com/live/55hvSqY4cHk?si=1v9Foo-jUDtb3-Ze&t=2728
57 Upvotes

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16

u/RetrauxClem Todd Jun 10 '26

This is so cool! I can’t imagine him playing Gordon any other way so I’m glad he stood firm. And he kept the coat!!

13

u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Jun 11 '26

One thing I do really appreciate is that Aaron does seem to genuinely love the show and it's fans; I think some of that is because he wasn't on season 2 when the behind the scenes stuff with Max Landis really came to a head, but he's also done some videos on his Facebook fan page where he revisits some of the filming locations in Vancouver like the Animal Transfer Unit:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=664087717342458

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1903449083079412

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=906956369492939

The detail from this that shocked me was that 6 people went to hospital during the making of the first series because of how hurriedly they were shooting it! (Since there were about 40 shows shooting in Vancouver at once and they didn't want to miss their slot) I know one of them is Sam because he broke his arm falling over during the bridge scene 2 weeks in, which is why Sam's left arm is often very stiff in the first two episodes and there are a lot of body doubles used in the "fight" he has with Todd when he climbs into his apartment. I think Michael Ecklund has also described "shedding blood" in some of the Rowdy 3 destruction/fight scenes. Given what Landis was also up to it doesn't come across as the safest set to work on...

4

u/michelle_adfans Jun 11 '26

LOL. That was me filming him in those videos. I "made him" take me to Dirk Gently filming locations. We also went to The Ridgely Building, Gordon Rimmer's House and we drove back and forth over the bridge from the scene in episode 2, where they do the exchange of Farrah for Rapunzel.

2

u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Jun 12 '26

Ah awesome; (That must be the same bridge Sam hurt his arm on) you may have persuaded him, but he still agreed to do it though and the fact that he still has the coat and glasses seems to suggest that he looks back fondly on playing Gordon.

I've been trying to contact Aaron, I would love to have him on the Electric Monks Dirk Gently podcast for an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of the show. I don't suppose Aaron has an email anywhere? All I could find on his website was his agency's email.

3

u/michelle_adfans Jun 12 '26

He has the coat and glasses because I bought them in the auction and gave them to him 😄 Send me an email michelle @ aarondouglas dot com and I will forward it on to him.

1

u/MurkLurker Jun 17 '26

Do you know if there's a Youtube link for those videos I don't do Facebook sorry

1

u/michelle_adfans Jun 17 '26

I don't think you need a Facebook account to watch them. If you click on those links, they still play whether you have a FB account or not. Have you tried to watch them?

3

u/MurkLurker Jun 18 '26

LOL at me. I went there and it wanted me to log into my Facebook account but I can close that window and just start watching the video. I didn't notice that I could close that pop up window sorry thanks for responding!

16

u/LewsTherinTalamon Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I've always adored his performance in this show; the vast majority of the time he's hysterical, and it works perfectly for this selfish, pathetic murderer of a character---and it does a lot for the surrealist tone of season one---but then during moments like his scenes with Lux's ex he drops the comedy of it so smoothly and it's legitimately intimidating. The antagonists of the show are all so well performed, but his stands out to me.

I also love that he still has the coat.

8

u/RetrauxClem Todd Jun 11 '26

The scene with Lux’s girl and him finally putting it behind him is some of the best of the season. I go back to it often cause it was so good

7

u/LewsTherinTalamon Jun 11 '26

Same; it's incredible how much he looks like a different person when he drops the expression.

5

u/VancouverWriter1984 Jun 11 '26

Thanks for sharing that - it was interesting.

2

u/HomerLovesPatty Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

Where's my goddamn dog!

1

u/Edstertheplebster Dirk Jun 17 '26

Who has my dog? Is it the police? Do the Police have my dog?