Issue date: May 9, 1999

In this article:
JAG lingo

Interview: David James Elliott

By Jennifer Mendelsohn

f you were to cross Tom Cruise in Top Gun with Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men, you just might come up with Lieutenant Commander Harmon Rabb Jr., the fictional pilot-turned-Navy lawyer of CBS's JAG. Now in its fourth season (and on its second network), the show has become television's little engine that could, defying conventional wisdom by regularly gaining viewers and quietly creeping up into the top 20. JAG's stealth weapon just may be its dashingly hunky star, David James Elliott, 38, who cut his TV teeth on shows like Melrose Place and Knots' Landing. For the Canadian-born (and classically trained) Elliott, the show's mix of action, drama, mystery and comedy keeps it fresh. "I would imagine on shows like Law and Order that after a while the actors just go, 'God! It's just the same thing every day, over and over,'" he confides. Some thoughts from Elliott on everything from conspiracy theorists to good haircuts.

A Cold War childhood was perfect training to play Harm Rabb: "I grew up playing war ... [My buddies and I] threw dirt and rocks at each other. We'd lead attacks. We'd break up into squads. It became a neighborhood thing for a while, our neighborhood against the other neighborhood. There was always a war breaking out somewhere."

Elliott's own military aspirations were short-lived: "I tried to join the Marine Corps at one point, but it was going to take too long. They said, 'Well it should take about a year,' and I said, 'Well, I'll come up with a new plan by then. You can have me right now.' And so I became an actor instead. It's the next step down."

A hidden downside to those dapper military uniforms: "You can't put your hands in your pockets! That's not allowed. [The show's technical adviser] says, 'Noooo. No hands in the pockets. Ever!' So whenever we're in civilian clothes, the first thing I do, the hands are IN the pockets. I'm so bored with it. I can put my hands on my hips, or cross them in front or behind. But you can't fold your arms in front of a superior officer. I'm going, 'This is ridiculous!' "

Shhhh! Don't tell: "That 'regulation' haircut comes courtesy of a chi-chi LA salon, not a military barber. Everyone else who works on the show comes in and gets their head buzzed. My argument was, 'I'm the star of the show. I should have a decent haircut.' I'll have it short, but I'll have it so I can at least do something neat with it."

You've been doing a lot of controversial, ripped-from-the-headlines storylines like the Tailwind controversy: "We take great pains to be as realistic and topical as we can be, but our first objective is to entertain. We're not making training films, so we take a little artistic license. I don't think the show is out to assault the military, but at the same time, I don't think it's out just to champion the military either. There's good and bad people everywhere."

Something he really envies about his TV alter-ego: "I think one of the cool things about [Harm] ... is that he gives orders and they're followed. That doesn't happen in my life. I ask and generally get some kind of sideways version of what I requested."

On getting the rock-star treatment from real military personnel:" We threw a party for the real head of JAG, who was retiring. My God! I literally could not even pause to take a drink. It was smiling, photo sessions, autograph, photo, autograph, autograph, photo. It went on-and-on and on-and-on. It was unbelievable. It went on for like two hours. It was exhausting."

Just for the record, he's only seen Top Gun and A Few Good Men once: "I bought them to watch again and I couldn't bring myself to do it. ... Our show is far more accurate than those two, so for me to watch those now would be kind of disturbing to me. [I'd be thinking,] 'He can get away with putting his hands in his pockets and I have to adhere to correct protocol. Damn him!' "

Elliott's real-life experience flying simulated dogfights with a magazine reporter was not exactly something out of Top Gun: "I was petrified. God! It was so scary. You're supposed to do eight fights. We did three and I said, "Can...we, like, ...go...back?" ... I was so afraid, but I was trying to hold it together so he wouldn't annihilate me in the press. It would be so embarrassing."

Why is JAG doing so well amidst a sea of Friends-clones? "Maybe we've just been bombarded with the cool 20somethings and the hairdos. Maybe people are starting to get interested in things worldly. Maybe the news is getting to people. Maybe it's just time for a change... Maybe our young people are not as vacuous as we would like to lead ourselves to believe -- that all they're interested in is hairdos and looking at other beautiful people. Maybe they're interested in learning something."

What's in the mail Elliott gets from people who think he can help them fight the government? "Please send this on to the Pentagon --' I'm sure you have connections there. They were injecting me with truth serum and brainwashing me in a small underground room below the Pentagon for 12 years.' And, I once got a letter from a woman who told me she was 90. She said if she were 30 years younger, I would have had to watch out. I guess 60 seems really young when you're 90. She said she would eat me with a spoon."

Speaking of conspiracy theories, are you frightened about the end of millennium? "I think it's just going to be business as usual. I think nothing's really going to change. I don't even think this problem with the computers [the so-called Y2K bug] is going to be as big as everyone says. Everyone is so into alarmist theories. They're looking for some great change, for the millennium to make some kind of difference spiritually. ... We'll wake up and it's just going to be another day. I remember when 1984 was the big thing. '84 came and nothing happened. I think it's going to more of the same."

JAG lingo

JAG corps: Judge Advocate General's corps, the legal wing of the Navy

Black ops: Secret operations

Friendlies: Allies

Punch out: Eject from an aircraft

Angels: Altitude in thousands of feet

UA: Unauthorized absence, the naval equivalent of AWOL

Go to top