It's always great to talk to a performer who doesn't come off like he's spouting rehearsed lines, and no actor talks more candidly than Sam J. Jones. The star of the 1980s action-adventure film Flash Gordon is now the subject of a spirited documentary entitled Life After Flash and it's easy to see why he's become a favorite to fans around the globe. What started out as a 20-minute interview bloomed into a 45-minute conversation encompassing everything from discussing an idea Netflix should take him up on, the world's need for compassion, to recommending local things to do in the area I'm currently living in! It's true what the documentary says that Jones is completely without guile. Jones sat down to discuss a variety of topics that all show the different facets of what Life After Flash looks like.
What enticed you to work with Lisa [Downs] on this documentary about your life?
It's something I had to discuss with my wife and, of course, Lisa had to really, not necessarily, convince me. When someone approaches you and the statement is "We want to do a documentary on your life" it was a bit disconcerting because my first reaction was "Well there's a whole lot of life left in me!" But we wanted to make sure the camera crews weren't coming in as you're sound asleep in bed and they wake you up; what are you having for breakfast? Lisa assured us it wasn't going to be that way but basically day-to-day, family, friends, movies, personal appearances, comic conventions. So I agreed to it and my wife did, too. I'm glad we did it because even though it's primarily entertainment based you never know what you're gonna capture with a documentary because you can't write the script. As the questions started to roll in I realized, "Wait a minute, I'm really going to reach people and impact people no matter what age group they are. Then I really gotta be transparent." So other than being entertainment based and all that good stuff I look at it as a do's and dont's of life.
What was a typical filming day like for you?
A typical day was wherever I went. It wasn't everyday, it was over a period of 3 1/2, 4 years. If I was on a movie set the film crew would shadow me. If I was at a comic convention it was a great opportunity because there are a lot of other media there and people I've worked with for years. It was a great opportunity to gather other interviews. Lisa and Ash[ley Pugh] would say, "Okay, we're gonna do this today. We're gonna interview some other actors, you, and some other actors you know." They basically had two questions for everybody: How did the character of Flash Gordon impact your life growing up and, once the movie came out, how did Sam J. Jones who portrayed Flash Gordon impact you? It was brilliant because it impacted a lot of people which was amazing, all the different age demographics.
There's a moment in the film where you're on your other job of doing private security and going into Mexico. What was that like to film with a camera crew there?
It was fine. We were under the radar and it was something I'd been doing anyway. I had to make a big decision in my life about 16 years ago. I knew at that time the phone wasn't ringing for movies, so I had to figure out a different vocation to provide. Being a former Marine helped a great deal, but I'd already been in Mexico for a number of years by the time we were shooting the documentary, so I knew all the alleyways and all the places to avoid, especially with a film crew.
A good security professional will tell you they want to be under the radar. You want to be low profile. However, there are some jefes, bosses, VIPs, who love the show and sometimes you just can't help it. If you have a head of state or an ambassador you can't be under the radar. You got to go with a huge, multi-car motorcade, you have to have the long-guns out the window. You gotta have what we call force protection. If you see footage of Iraq or Afghanistan you'll see some contractors, and what we mean by force protection is the long rifles are slung over somebody's neck and their finger will be next to the trigger. That wasn't necessarily for us in Mexico, especially being private sector. We did that a few times when we were asked to liaison with a visiting head of state. It would transition from a low profile to high profile...but those were rare in the private sector in Mexico. All you're doing is drawing attention to yourself.
How has this not translated into a proper biopic because it sounds intense!
We actually shot a sizzle reel a couple years ago that I helped put together and I really loved it. We presented it to a couple networks and this was at the time where it just scared everybody to death. That's when traveling overseas was really dangerous, not that it's changed a lot now. It scared a lot of people. There should be very few VIPs who are going to want to be on-camera, but I did find a couple people. My first proposal was "Well, let's just film the back of the person and/or their feet" that way you don't have to expose who it is because you can't have a film crew following day-to-day, giving up sensitive information. It was called Hard Targets [because] you don't want to be a soft target anywhere in life.
Netflix now does so much it might be worthwhile to pitch it to them!
It's a good idea. I got a lot of security professionals on-board who were interviewed on-camera and they talked about the do's and dont's of safety and security. But it's all timing with anybody and anything. I don't know of anything on the air like this. There's a show on Netflix called Bodyguard that's pretty cool.
It's so amazing to watch the documentary because you're incredibly open about your flaws which doesn't happen a lot in Hollywood now. How do you look at modern-day celebrity?
If we thought before about vanity upon vanity now look what social media's done. I understand it. You want to get the hits, I get all that. Some of these people have, what, 80, 90 million followers? Business-wise it's understandable. When I do these comic book conventions there are a couple actors I hang out with. We'll have dinner afterwards or we'll go walking if we have a couple hours free. My God, it becomes "Hey, Sam, take a picture of me next to this statue of the former King of Holland." [Laughs] Okay. It's okay you want to stop here, you're in Berlin or wherever you are, and you want to take pictures of great statues, great history, beautiful cities. A twenty-minute walk let's stop once or twice, but we're actually stopping every 60 seconds so you can take a picture and post it, that's a bit much. It takes it from "Let's just sit down and talk without picking up our iPhones." We have five children and five grandchildren and we're adamant about our children too. When it's dinnertime, hey, let's put the phones down.
What was the biggest challenge for you during the filming? Were there limits to what you were willing to share with an audience?
I had that in the back of my mind but it wasn't like "Oh, God, I hope they don't ask me that." I had never talked about my brother before, publicly. Even the thought process behind it is like "Why not? What's the deep dark secret? It's a part of life." It's a life experience that happened. It was a bad experience, it was traumatic. But as you see in the film I had no idea that I was going to be asked that question. [Lisa] captured, on-camera, a real moment. And every moment should be real because you should be telling the truth. I'm glad I talked about it there. I think it was a healing for me and anybody else who was a part of that. I have two sisters; they're back East so they'll have an opportunity to see it and I believe it'll be a healing moment for them as well.
What was it like promoting this?
You have to promote it if you want people to see it. Being an old Southern boy and former Marine, I've very open-minded now but that took many years. Some of my old ways [were] if you have to force people to watch it, it's not right, and if people want to see it they'll see it anyway, but that's old, prehistoric thinking. This isn't just an cool little movie here...this story isn't only impactful to different people, but it could be - and I don't say this just to tickle people's ears - life-changing for the viewer, especially if they're going through something. Everybody can relate to this because at one time in the past or future where it's gonna be helpful [and they'll say] "Oh, yeah, I'm going through a tough time right now and I remember watching that documentary on Sam Jones....he did the same things but he snapped out of it." This goes beyond financial status. You could be a billionaire and be living in a state of emergency!
Have you noticed any changes in filmmaking between making Flash Gordon and doing something like Ted?
The big difference is we didn't have video back then. Flash Gordon was the old-fashioned Hollywood screen test. They brought in the small crews; you had a wardrobe department for a screen test! You can't just do "Let's shoot some tape on the guy." They had to bring in a camera crew, wardrobe/makeup/hair, costumers, and that's how we shot the screen test. And what else changed? The directing. We trained the technicians better back then.
Ted was my first big-budget movie at a big studio in about ten years. I walked on the set and I'm looking for the director. We rehearsed with Seth MacFarlane and he's wonderful by the way. His directorial debut. This man was completely prepared, very professional, and he created such a stress-free environment. We rehearse and he goes away, and there's the camera for my close-up. I had a few minutes and I'm like, "Where's the director?" They go, "Oh, he's in Video Village." He's in Video Village? In the old days the director stood next to the camera. Even in the late-'90s I did a TV series called Hollywood Safari and they had Video Village then but they always set it up close to the camera. It might as well be in Paris!
But that's the way it is so my argument is, other than the director's not there, but then I ask why do we even have Video Village? [They say] "Well, the director has to view the monitors?" For what reason? To make sure I'm framed and in focus? I didn't react this passionately but I thought, "Wait a minute? Aren't these camera operators and focus pullers trained to keep you in frame?" They didn't have this in the old days. You had the best technicians, the best camera operator, camera assistant, focus puller. That's what these guys are trained for. They never had to check a monitor. That was mind boggling to me.
What was your greatest takeaway from making this documentary and what do you hope fans take away from it?
Personally, it freed me up quite a bit. I know I'm gifted in this business; that's not an arrogant statement. The good Lord has put me here, it's my gift. I'm not just an actor but, for men, for me, more men relate to me because of the ups and downs and we're a bit hard-headed. What I took away from Flash Gordon is there are other things in life. Being hard-headed, being full of yourself, once I started to get over myself and start putting others first, that was the big change. I'm a working man and my job was to provide for my family and not to hold on to any other nonsense. If that can happen to me, coming to that realization, then that can happen to anyone else who watches this film, especially if we're walking in any bit of arrogance and vanity.
