Step into
the cosy Amacord Restorante Italiano in the Yaletown district of downtown
Vancouver and pull up a chair because you’re about to have lunch with Amanda
Tapping, who plays Lt Col. Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1 and David
Hewlett, who plays Dr Rodney McKay in the successful spin-off Stargate:
Atlantis.
Their
astrophysicist characters originally crossed paths in the SG-1
episode ‘48 Hours’ where they immediately locked horns and
shared some
palpable sexual tension before saving the day. Despite their mutual
attraction, these crazy kids have never gotten
together on the show, so
SCI-FI invited the actors to connect for lunch to relax and chat about
their shared experiences as actors and friends working in the Stargate
Universe. (At the time of their meal a new season of SG-1 had not been
confirmed, but now it has been) Decidedly less fraught with danger than
in most of their meetings on screen, Tapping and Hewlett only had to face
the perils of the abundant northern-Italian-inspired menu and their own
saucy tongues over the course of the highly entertaining afternoon.
Seated in a
quite corner of the restaurant, the duo wasted no time in dishing.
On Whose Gate Is Best
David
Hewlett:
So neither of us have a clue what we’re going to eat.
Amanda
Tapping:
I just have no idea
DH:
Plus we’ve nothing to say to each other! We work on two different shows for Gods sake!
[Laughs]
AT:
We don’t even like each other!
DH:
Your gate is made out of plastic.
AT:
Hey ho, let’s not start the comparisons so early shall we? Beside our gate
actually spins.
DH:
I know and I always liked the spinning.
AT:
Yours just has little lighty-lights
DH:
Yeah, ours is like a bingo game.
On The Passage of Time
DH:
You know what I watched the other day? I watched the pilot of SG-1.
AT:
Oh, no way! Oh God, didn’t we all look young and innocent?
DH:
No, you guys don’t look that different and that’s kind of the weird thing. I
know if I were to go eight years I’d look a lot different.
I wouldn’t be
fitting through the gate. [Laughs]
AT:
See, I feel like I’ve aged tremendously.
DH:
Although there is a Polaroid I was shown by the director of the pilot…and
you look like you’re 12 years old! It’s the cutest photo
I’ve ever
seen. It’s you and Richard Dean Anderson and you have this look like
‘whoo-hoo! I’m in a movie. Somebody paid me to wear
this funny
hat!’
The waiter
enters to take their order.
AT:
I might go for pasta, because its lunch and I can. I’ve got to feed the
baby.
DH:
Oh right, you’re eating for two.
(Tapping
and her husband Alan Kovacs are 5 months pregnant with their first child)
AT:
[Chuckles] I’m eating for two. Of course the one person I’m eating
for is 8 ounces right now…
DH:
And you’re going to eat a steak…
AT:
…that is larger than my baby
DH:
‘A 10 ounce steak please, for my 8 ounce child’
On Their
Sexual Attraction
With
steaming plates full of Italian cuisine, the pair dive into their food and
the nitty-gritty about their shows.
AT:
David, who is smarter, Sam or Rodney?
DH:
I don’t want to answer that. I don’t want to make you look bad.
AT:
Because I’m smarter.
DH:
I think the problem with that question is, if the truth were ever known, it
would crush Rodney either way.
AT:
Yes [Laughs] Is he still sexually attracted to Sam?
DH:
Oh of course! Come on!
AT:
OK, good, good, good.
DH:
Are you still pining?
AT: I’m pining terribly, but you know when we sent you off to Russia
that was a little ‘ha-ha’, but at least I knew you’d come back at
some point.
Then we sent you off to the place of no return and, sadly, I think I was
supposed to be part of your season opener next year.
On Keeping
It Fresh
DH:
So having seen the pilot of SG-1 and watching a number of episodes, I
wondered how are you still keeping it fresh and positive? I mean, it’s been
8 years!
AT:
It’s something we’re really lucky to have. Right away [snapping her
fingers] we had this instant chemistry and that carries us through when
things get really stupid or we get bored or tired or ask what the hell are
we still doing here? Then we remember we’re having so much fun. I think the
hard one was year 5 because I was trying to find a new way to make my
character interesting to find a new way into her physicality and keep it
interesting but then the writers sort of do that job for you by introducing
new relationships, new characters and changing the dynamic of things. In
season 7 we lost Dr Fraiser (Teryl Rothery), and that shook things up. Plus,
introducing a love interest for my character.
DH:
Yeah, all of your relationships are doomed, but that’s the nature of the
show too. It’s the unrequited that’s the interesting thing to people.
On Mutual
Admiration
AT:
OK, what do you most admire about SG-1?
DH:
Well, obviously you admire me in Atlantis and I admire you in SG-1
AT:
Yeah, that pretty much seals that one [Chuckles]
DH:
Well, what do you like most about SG-1?
AT:
The cast chemistry and the mythology. We’ve been going at this for years
creating the rich tapestry that is our show. I can’t even
read the lexicon
now, it’s huge! What do you most admire about Atlantis?
DH:
The sense of humour. Without the sense of humour I think straight sci-fi can
be very alienating to people who aren’t into science fiction, and I think
what’s nice about SG-1 and Atlantis is the humour.
On Surviving
Stunts
AT:
Do you do your own stunts?
DH: I
would love to say I did, but no, we’ve got a great bunch of stunt guys who
do anything that could be construed as dangerous. I got
to do a couple
of falls the other day.
AT:
I actually do do a lot of my own stunts, just so you know.
DH:
Do you? Shut up!
AT:
Yeah! And then we always question whether I should do it again.
DH:
[clears throat] Of course I do my own stunts.
AT:
Ha-ha, you lie like a rug
DH:
I can’t walk down the stairs without hurting myself [Laughs]
AT:
See, this is the amazing thing about me, I’m a complete spaz! Our stunt
co-ordinator Dan Shane often has me doing my own
stunts, and
then I always get hurt. And then we always question whether I should do it
again. And then he says, well it’s not that hard
do you want to
do this one? And I always want to.
DH:
Oh that’s nice. [He smiles]
On Running
While Pregnant
AT:
I never did sports a lot either as a kid. I did loner sports.
DH:
Really? The loneliness of the long distance runner.
AT:
The loneliness of the long distance runner
DH:
Did you run?
AT:
I did. I was actually, before I got pregnant, talking to my trainer about
training for the New York Marathon
DH:
Really?
AT: And then I got pregnant and it was brilliant. ‘Cause I said, you
know what, I really can’t do the New York Marathon.
On Stargate
Surprises
AT:
What was the biggest surprise for you working on the shows?
DH:
I would say the biggest surprise was the fact that that they actually
invited me back after that first episode!
AT:
Um, for me it was killing Martouf (JR Bourne) I was totally shocked by that
DH:
Did they ever hide anything from you in the script? Did they ever go ‘Nope,
can’t tell you’
AT:
No…
DH:
Well why wont they tell me what’s going on?
AT:
‘Cause they don’t trust you [She smiles evilly]
On Becoming
Their Characters
DH:
This is what I wanted to ask you, actually. How much of Amanda is Samantha?
AT:
We’re a hugely symbiotic relationship now. It sues to be a lot more of
Samantha in Samantha and now there’s a lot more of
Amanda in Samantha. She’s
warmer. She has a better sense of humour. She’s a little lighter and I think
that’s because of me. But I
also think there’s a lot of Samantha in me. I’m
a little bit stronger now and a little bit more able-to-stand-up-for-myself-ish,
because
that’s a
terrible thing. I’m terrible about that…
DH:
But when you normally act… I know that when I act I look for things in me
that I could bring to other things. Do you do the same thing?
AT:
Absolutely. You draw on what you know and use parts of yourself.
DH:
There are times when it’s just hard to be sad. When someone’s just fallen
off a ladder and you’re laughing at them, and they’re
being taken
away in a stretcher and you’re laughing, now suppose you have a crying
scene-
AT:
Well that’s because you’re cruel. You cruel, cruel, vicious man. [Laughs]
How much of David is in Rodney?
DH:
I like to think I’m a slightly nicer person than Rodney. I definitely find
myself being a lot more snarky, a lot more, a lot more sarcastic and grumpy
than I used to be. It’s so much fun, like, just having an excuse to be in a
bad mood all the time. Which I kind of like, you know, ‘cause I
think crotchety is where I’m going to go with my old age.
AT:
You’re beginning to become crotchety?
DH:
I’ve made a commitment to crotchety, yeah!
On Making
Movies
AT:
I think if we don’t some back (for renewal) it’ll be like when you’ve
graduated high school, and September rolls around and you feel like you
should be somewhere.
DH:
Right. It’s the time you’re supposed to be going back to school and you’re
not and then very rapidly you forget that. They’ve talked about other
things, right?
AT:
Yeah, we’ve talked about films for years now. There’s talk of miniseries,
there’s talk of movies of the week, there’s talk of features. I think, like,
the Stargate miniseries idea is a great idea.
DH:
Well, it’s the best of both worlds, isn’t it, in a way? You know, you’ve got
work and you’ve also got time for kids. How long have you wanted kids?
AT:
Well, the timing is pretty perfect because I was just starting to show at
the end of the season, so it sort of worked out great.
DH:
I started showing at the end of the season too, but it was more about craft
services than anything else. [They laugh] OK, now tell me what you’re
doing when you’re not shooting SG-1.
On Stargate
Conventions
DH:
What about these conventions?
AT:
I’ve done a few…
DH:
So you’re a media whore, I guess is what I’m saying [snickers]
AT:
I’m not a media whore, thank you…you bastard.
DH:
And that’s when the lunch turns [he smiles]
AT:
[Laughing] Honestly, that’s when the lunch turned nasty, pasta flying
everywhere! [She jokes] You crossed a line McKay! See! I’m continuing
to think you’re Rodney…
DH:
I know! I was caught the other day and I still don’t believe I did it, but
apparently I snapped and pointed at my girlfriend to do something.
AT:
Like Rodney?
DH:
I did that [snaps fingers] and fortunately she just said, ‘I’m going
to forgive you because you’re half an hour after set, so you have an hour to
get rid of him’. [Laughs] You must find that, too?
AT:
Yes, I’m giving orders now…
DH:
But I cut you off with my media whore comment. Continue…
AT:
Well I honestly think [conventions] and this is going to sound hokey as
hell, but truthfully I think they are a great way to say thank you.
On Directing
DH:
You’ve directed an episode. You’ve got to want to do some more of that.
AT:
I absolutely want to. It was fantastic.
DH:
So you want to direct now. What about features and stuff like that?
AT:
Oh yeah! What about you? Do you want to direct?
DH:
I do, yeah, yeah, yeah. I definitely need to, but I’ve got a lot of homework
to do before I do it I think
AT:
It took 7 seasons for them to say yes to me
DH:
So I’m hoping to get some photos of some of the higher-ups in compromising
positions, which you’re welcome to help me with…
AT:
[Laughs] I’ll do whatever I can! I have to say it was really fun to
have you on our show again. And that episode was fun, and you touched my
bum.
DH:
Yep, but I asked first.
AT:
You did, ‘is it OK if I do this?’ you said while grabbing my bum.
DH:
Well the last time you grabbed mine without asking I was very put off.
AT:
Did I? That was so rude of me [Chuckles]
DH:
Oh I think it might have been a dream. Yeah, sometimes I can’t distinguish…
On Dessert
DH:
I’m having the lemon sorbet
AT:
Lemon sor-, you’re having lemon sorbet? But you’re allergic to citrus
DH: But
this is the thing, I’ve actually gone from a guy who doesn’t like lemon to,
like, lemon meringue pie being like my favourite food.
Let me ask you
a question—
AT:
No, you! You keep doing this, you keep asking me questions and you won’t
answer any.
DH:
Yes, I’m a mystery wrapped in a lemon wrapped in—
AT:
Wrapped in a lemon shell
DH:
--in a light pastry—
AT:
A light puffed pastry with some cream on top and Belgian chocolate drizzled,
and some crumbled biscuits.
DH:
You make me sound so decadent.
AT:
You are decadent darling
DH:
Like a lovely dessert
AT:
Like a lovely dessert num num num.
After two
hours of revelations and Amanda’s frozen lemon being thoroughly vanquished,
the lunch comes to a close. The pair depart
back to their
respective gates, probably not much wiser but certainly more stuffed and
fonder of one another than ever. What further adventures does the future
hold for Carter and McKay? Only their producers know, but they and the
viewers can only hope another bum grab is written in the stars.
