SPOTLIGHT
Q: Ashley, how did Legend Quest come about?
A: I was 34 years old and had just published my second book when I got a call from a very flamboyant agent in LA.“ We’ ve seen you and we think your great, would you travel to Costa Rica to cast for a new show called Legend Quest?” I was on top of the world; this was it my big break, every boy’ s dream! I flew there and upon arriving I discovered they had cast 164 people for the part and had shortlisted 16 of us for this last casting shoot.
Two weeks after the shoot our agents called us all up and said the show has been trashed, the budget had been pulled and the show was cancelled all together. What a disappointment and complete waste of time. Then three months later I got a call out of the blue saying we’ ve got three weeks to film the first episode. We shot the episode in cathedrals and churches in Palermo and France and the network loved. So off I went for a year of my life filming all over the world.
After we filmed the show a post-production team was chosen by SyFy and they twisted and bent the stories into more story than fact, more action than thought provoking TV. These out-of-the-blue calls aren’ t always great though. One summer I got a call from Mr. Robert Watts, the Associate producer of the Empire Strikes Back. He called me and paid me a massive compliment, that I was a real life version of the person Indiana Jones was based on. He wanted to buy a movie option for my latest book. There I was thinking this is about as big as you can get, here is Robert Watts telling me he loved my stuff. Then, several weeks had passed with no replies to my emails and I never heard from him again. I found out some years later after meeting other researches in my fields that he had gone all over Scotland telling everyone in the business the same thing. What a pr ** k. Blowing young people up like balloons, and pricking them with a needle, is not cool
Q: Were you ever a protégé to someone or did you have someone who inspired you along the way?
Photo by Carlo Sanchez
A: When I was 22 I met Niven Sinclair, Head Sponsor of the Clan Sinclair. I set up a historical research team with Niven and he commissioned me to study paintings, and artefacts pertaining to the clan Sinclair. We took helicopter rides over castles and sacred sites in Scotland. I spent an entire year of my life studying Rosslyn Chapel and he was very supportive. I measured the church architecture, and reverse engineered it all the way to the foundations. The crypt at Rosslyn Chapel was sealed in the 18th century. Sir Walter Scott recorded that 20 Templar Knights were sealed inside the crypt. A mysterious painting which had been kept in the Dalhousie family’ s private collection for over 150 years recently surfaced at an auction in Edinburgh. The painting was titled,“ Templar Knight at Rosslyn Chapel”, by R. T. McPherson circa 1836. Niven Sinclair commissioned me to study and analyze the Masonic and Templar symbols in it. The painting reveals a staircase that is no longer in the chapel today. Perhaps this was artistic flair or interpretation on behalf of the artist, or perhaps this could be the entrance to the crypt which was sealed in the 18th century. It’ s not so easy to get into these secret chambers, believe me I’ ve tried.
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Fall 2016 1961 Magazine