wraithfodder | Stargate Atlantis: SciFi.com interviews David Hewlett & Amanda Tapping re season 4 (Reply)

SciFi.com has put up a six-minute interview, conducted at COMIC CON (July 2007), with David Hewlett and Amanda Tapping, which can be viewed at http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=156459

Below is a transcript of that video, along with some screencaps.

Amanda and David are clowning around, giggling (AT) and laughing throughout. Very tongue-in-cheek.

AT: David, what was it like to have Amanda Tapping on your show?

DH: It’s great. Sometimes she kisses me on the side of the face and I get warm and fuzzy on the inside (AT giggles at that)

Q: Do they have any scientific/medical/engineering background that helps with the role?

AT: I actually won the science award in high school.

DH: Did you?

AT: Yup. My parents were ‘go science, go science’ and of course I became an actor but a scientist actor so I fulfilled their craziest fantasies, but David Hewlett, not so much.

DH: I failed out of high school

AT: Faker.

DH: Failed. Failed. Yeah, I failed drama in high school, actually. [shows clip from “Lifeline” with Rodney and Zelenka] I made a plant growth simulator, no, stimulator, that was it. It would makes noises and apparently it would make the plants grow but I cheated and I traded the plants out to make them look bigger. So I cheated on my science experiment. Yeah, sorry. Guess I just lost that B. [clip from “Lifeline” with Rodney and Ronon] God forbid we change anything, because all of a sudden, it’s like that galaxy doesn’t exist anymore. If you screw up the technobabble, you kind of lost the show. [clip of Sam and Jack from SG1]

AT: Entire races die without you even knowing it.

DH: You make stuff up, people get hurt. [clip from “Lifeline” with Rodney and Sheppard]. You know, especially when it comes to astrophysics, phsy…

AT: Spell it! Spell it! Spell it!

DH: I’ve never had to say it. It’s my job. [clip of Sam and Rodney from SG1 “The Road Not Taken”]

Q: Will McKay become the second tier of scientist on Atlantis now that Carter is there?

DH: I think there will be plenty of tier climbing back and forth I think throughout season four. There’s plenty of staggering up and down the tiers, I think.

AT: I think it’s all good. All good.

DH: Yup. [clip from season 4 episode with Rodney and Ronon in Mess]

Q: How will leadership change Carter’s character?

DH: I’ll do my questioning look.

AT: Oh, that’s a good look… my role has changed dramatically. She went in with a lot of trepidation about how to handle the situation and how to handle the fact that they were losing a leader who was much loved and so she stepped back on her game a lot… in terms of her scientific knowledge, she defers to McKay and allows him to shine, she defers to Sheppard in terms of the military knowledge of the Wraith. I feel like I’m playing an entirely different character in a lot of ways. And I think she’s more in love with McKay than ever.

DH: I know McKay is.

AT: I don’t want anyone to ever actually hear that, so (to camera man) don’t role on that one.

DH: Camera, right, Amanda?

AT: And that red light means…?

DH: Means go. (Amanda giggles) [clip of Rodney and Carter from SG1 “The Road Not Taken”]

Q: Will Carter and McKay get together? (romantically)

DH: Well, in my dreams, we’ve already had an episode where that’s practically happened.

AT: Yes, we did.

DH: Of course McKay’s fantasy happens under 4,000 feet of water with giant whales swimming around so…

AT: And I’m wearing a blue bra kissing you.

DH: Sweet!

AT: Sweet? [clip of Rodney and Carter from “Grace Under Pressure”] He’s desperately in love with her. He knows that she’s way, way, way smarter than he is and that turns him on, basically.

DH: All I heard was ‘turns him on.” (AT giggles) It’s a slightly rocky road that we’ve had.

AT: It is a rocky road. They’re both incredibly intelligent people and that intelligence breeds a certain amount of ego and in the case of McKay, if I may say, that ego is WAY out of control. … There’s almost a sibling rivalry between the two of them and…

DH: Except for the ‘turns him on’ part.

AT: Except for the ‘turns him on’ part…siblings with at twist.

DH: (Laughs) Oh no…. A whole new gate has opened! … We work against each other very well. Yes.

AT: Very well. Friction abounds!

DH: We’re like yin and yang of sci-fi.

AT: Yeah (going into cockney accent), like the yin and yang, yeah, yeah.

DH: Only not British.

AT: Sorry

DH: Why did you go British?

AT: Its easy. [couldn’t decipher a few words]… I’m British so I can say that.

DH: I’m British, too.

[they both turn to each other in almost Valley girl type speak]

DH: Oh my god!

AT: Suddenly I like him. … Will our characters ever really get together?

DH: Not a chance in hell. When that happens, it’s like hell freezes over.

AT: Yeah.

DH: But wait for it cuz it could happen

AT: Shut down the franchise.

DH: If that’s what you’re looking for. Yes. If not, then no. You decide (the viewer) That’s the good thing about scifi is you can do anything.

Q: Does Amanda feel pressure to prove herself?

AT: I have a huge amount of pressure to prove myself to the Atlantis fans. Huge.

DH: And I point it out to her every time. So we start every day and I go ‘hey, are you going to let the fans down today? I hope not.’

AT: ‘I hope you don’t let the die-hard Atlantis fans down today, Amanda,’ says the entire cast and I say ‘I hope not either. Okay I’ll step up my game. Stargate Atlantis survived perfectly well for three years without my intervention, thank you very much, and I was happy on Stargate SG-1 and I’m thrilled to have moved over.

DH: Yeah, now we got her.

AT: I love the cast, and I love the crew and I love the atmosphere there and honestly it’s a great move for me personally and for my character but I am painfully aware that I have a lot to prove.

Q: What will “A Dog’s Breakfast” be about?

DH: ‘Dog’s Breakfast’ is the first film that I’ve written and directed and acted in. It is a sort of a ‘Fish Called Wanda’ style comedy about a guy who hates his sister’s fiancé so much that he decides that he’s got to kill him. And one of the reasons he hates him so much because he’s a cheesy sci-fi actor. You know you can’t trust them, right, Amanda?

AT: Ever. Don’t ever trust a cheesy sci-fi actor. (makes hand gesture)

DH: Yeah, exactly. I know what that means. Time-out. I think she wants time out.