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Kate Hewlett Cast as McKay's Sister
David Hewlett plays against real
life sister in McKay & Mrs Miller
Actress Kate Hewlett has been cast
in the role of Jeannie, Rodney McKay's sister in an upcoming episode of
Stargate Atlantis. Hewlett is the real-life sister of McKay actor David
Hewlett. Kate Hewlett will guest star in
McKay & Mrs Miller written by Martin Gero, in which Rodney is reunited
with his estranged sister on Earth.
"Its an episode that I've been
wanting to do for about a year now, and just haven't found the right door",
Gero told GateWorld.net. "It kind of came out of the fact that I was back in
Toronto last summer...And I saw a play starring David Hewlett's sister Kate
Hewlett and she was spectacular. She's a phenomenal actress and has a lot of
- dare I say - 'Hewlettisms' about her. And they have a great chemistry in
real life...But after I saw the play this summer I said, 'David, I've got to
do an episode about your sister.'"
Though tight-lipped about the plot
of McKay & Mrs Miller, Gero did reveal the reason behind the tense
relationship between Rodney and Jeannie.
"She's equally brilliant," he
said, "Let me put it that way. But she has kind of left the physics game.
She got pregnant, basically, when she was in university and decided that
being a mother was really important to her. She kind of put that part of her
life on hold. McKay never forgave her for that. He felt that she was
potentially more brilliant than even he was, and feels like the contribution
she could've made to humanity far outweighs going home and raising a kid.
"Its those two schools of thought
meeting. Its about compromise. Its about accepting who your brother or
sister is, and trying to find
some middle ground with them."
The episode will also guest star
Stargate SG-1 actress Amanda Tapping as Lt Colonel Samantha Carter.
The casting of Kate Hewlett as his
sister is serendipitous, according to David Hewlett
"When we did Hot Zone,
where [McKay] confesses he has a sister it had originally been written as a
brother," David Hewlett revealed.
"And I said, 'Look, just on the
off chance, I've got a lot of sisters and one of them happens to be an
actress. I'm not saying you have to
cast her, but on the off chance,
can I say 'sister'?" And they said 'Oh that's a good idea. That's fine,'"
Hewlett recently co-starred with
Kate in A Dogs Breakfast, a film he wrote and directed.
"I've just worked with Kate,
because we just did this film together in January," he said. "And she's
fantastic. And that's me saying it - I'm usually tougher than anybody on
that kind of stuff. And one of the producers actually saw a couple of things
she did recently as well, and said she's good."
Gero is looking forward to seeing
the episode filmed. "Its a neat story about siblings," he said. "I have a
brother and two sisters. Its less trouble than McKay's relationship with his
sister. But I think there's something universal. Its kind of [about] family
and pride. Its quite a funny episode."
Thank you to
Tammy.
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