The Heights
The Indepentent Student Newspaper of Boston College
April 21, 2005


Mike Civille, film professor, moderated a discussion with David James Elliot, star of the CBS military drama JAG, and John Jetsyn Taché, one of the show´s script writers and BC ´84.

JAG star David James Elliot signed an autograph for Adam Bied, A&S ´08.

Alum and JAG Actor Offer Advice
by Dave Benoit

Think the military is hard work? Hollywood isn't much easier, according to members
of the longest running military drama in CBS history, JAG.

John Jetsyn Taché, one of the major writers of JAG and BC '84, visited campus Tuesday as part of the Master Class: Alumni in Residence series.

Accompanying him was lead actor David James Elliot, better known as Commander Harmon Rabb on JAG for the past 11 seasons.

The film department, and moderator Mike Civille, had invited the two to speak on "surviving the entertainment industry" and of their own experiences in the spotlight.

Taché spoke fondly of his years at BC, where he played football with Doug Flutie. "I often say that when I die I hope I get to go back to college, that's how much I loved BC," he said. "It's almost been a second home for me all through my life."

He discussed how he left his home in Salem, Mass. for Hollywood in 1986, thinking he was just going out to pitch a script idea. Unbeknownst to him at the time, he would never leave.

His career, like many others, started slow. He tried to pitch all the angles he could, and even resorted to living on a friend's patio for a time. It wasn't until he met Elliot in 1993 that he was able to successfully pitch his idea to a studio, and he has been writing for it ever since.

"I went to town with a couple of hundred bucks in my pocket ... You could be William Shakespeare, but it's about who you know and what you know," Taché told the room of aspiring actors and directors, as well as JAG fans.

Elliot's career began as a theater actor in Canada, where his small time success allowed him to get an agent and eventually interview for many jobs. Elliot wound up in Chicago starring in the short-lived show The Untouchables.

After that, his career began to takeoff, and he soon found himself on the set of JAG.

Each speaker talked extensively about the hardships of attempting to create a career in the world of show business. Civille asked each to discuss the best way to pitch a script. They emphasized the necessity to be creative, short, and, above all else, interesting. Elliot even relayed a story about how he and a few friends attempted to sell Merv Griffin a show, but spoke for 45 minutes instead of 10, and the deal didn't get done, even though he was close with Griffin.

Elliot, who was fresh off completing the Boston Marathon, also spoke about a time when he felt like he was lost in the world. During the two years between The Untouchables and the start of JAG, he could not find work.

"I went through a period where I lost my muse, and I forgot why I got into the business ... So we went to the Bahamas for two months and I remembered why I got into it in the first place," Elliot said. "I became an actor not because I wanted to be rich and famous but because I loved acting. And I loved the history of it, I loved the process, and when I remembered that I came back and I went into the room and I didn't care what [they] wanted. This is what I had to offer."

Most of all, though, the two tried to explain to all those going out there that they must have an idea and a plan.

"Don't go to town vulnerable," Taché said. "Go to town with a plan, go to town with a bank account, go to town with a place to stay, and, most of all, go to town with a suit of armor on, because what one person's opinion of your work on one side of town will be totally different on the other side of town."

Currently both are preparing for the end of the show's 11th and final season, and are in the process of pitching ideas to ABC for a new program in the future.