Your two favorite Stargate siblings are coming your way in this very special Dial the Gate interview! David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett, Meredith McKay and Jeannie Miller, respectively, will take your questions LIVE… while trying not to cause trouble.

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Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
00:25 – Opening Credits
00:55 – Welcome
01:08 – Guest Introduction
02:06 – Where are David and Kate Now?
03:22 – Tech Bandits Updates
04:37 – David and Kate are Awesome
06:14 – Updates with Kate Hewlett
06:38 – “The Swearing Jar”
07:11 – Kate’s Second Film
10:20 – “Letters from Pegasus”
10:49 – Changing Brother to Sister
12:40 – Auditioning for Ingram/McKay
16:40 – David and Kate in Another Show
18:04 – The Hewletts During Childhood
20:50 – Michael Sheen
25:37 – When is A Dog’s Bed And Breakfast Coming?
27:06 – Generative AI from a Tech & Artist Perspective
33:23 – ChatGPT Is Getting Better
35:11 – Chat GPT, who are David and Kate Hewlett?
39:26 – AI Helping Writers
43:16 – What Kate Admires About David
46:53 – What David Admires About Kate
49:15 – “We’re A Weird Family”
52:44 – David, Are You Ambidextrous?
53:13 – Kate Hewlett in the Marvel Universe
53:55 – Will You Work Together Again?
55:36 – If You’re Right for the Part, You Get the Role
59:40 – Thank you, David and Kate!
1:00:47 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:02:06 – End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Welcome to Episode 254 of Dial the Gate, the Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode. I am really excited because for a long time now I’ve been wanting these two sci-fi titans to join me for a single episode of Dial the Gate, and they are David Hewlett, Meredith McKay of Stargate Atlantis, and Kate Hewlett. Hello.

Kate Hewlett:
Hi.

David Read:
How are you both?

Kate Hewlett:
You couldn’t just see the actions we were doing?

David Hewlett:
I’m worried about Kate. I think Kate has been kidnapped and is in an empty house somewhere and we’ve got to find her.

Kate Hewlett:
And David’s a hoarder in the garage. He needs to be rescued.

David Hewlett:
We’ve exhausted ourselves by arguing in the preamble, basically.

Kate Hewlett:
While you were talking, could you see the actions we were doing ’cause they were inappropriate?

David Read:
No. I was trying to get the show on.

Kate Hewlett:
What?

David Hewlett:
Come on.

Kate Hewlett:
It wouldn’t be a good start.

David Hewlett:
What do you mean, “they?”

David Read:
How are you guys doing? Are you both in the same city? How far are you guys from each other?

David Hewlett:
No.

Kate Hewlett:
As far as possible.

David Hewlett:
She’s in The Hammer. Very far away. She arrived back in town yesterday and I’m leaving tomorrow.

Kate Hewlett:
Are you gonna talk the whole time?

David Hewlett:
I am.

David Read:
So, Toronto?

David Hewlett:
Hewlett. That’s it.

Kate Hewlett:
He’s in Toronto and I’m in Hamilton.

David Hewlett:
I’m sorry, Kate, did you wanna answer that?

David Read:
Hamilton?

Kate Hewlett:
I’m in Hamilton. Which is about an hour away, but how many times have you visited me, David?

David Hewlett:
As little as possible.

David Read:
Ooh, what do you mean, zero?

David Hewlett:
Once.

Kate Hewlett:
Once.

David Hewlett:
I was there the other day.

Kate Hewlett:
What?

David Hewlett:
This is why I don’t visit you, ’cause you forget.

Kate Hewlett:
No, you weren’t here the other day. You missed her birthday.

David Hewlett:
Whose birthday?

Kate Hewlett:
Georgina.

David Hewlett:
I was away.

David Read:
The baby?

David Hewlett:
Wasn’t I in England?

Kate Hewlett:
I think you were in Prague.

David Hewlett:
“Darling, I’m Felix of Prague. I’m so sorry I couldn’t make the party.”

Kate Hewlett:
So, now whenever she’s angry at us, she tells us she wants us to go to Prague.

David Hewlett:
Really?

Kate Hewlett:
Yes.

David Hewlett:
That’s like my son telling everyone that I worked with monkeys for a living. When he was about that age, he would tell everyone, “I just work with monkeys.” I was like, “You do not know how closely you are right.”

David Read:
David, how is “Tech Bandits?” What’s going on with you guys?

David Hewlett:
It’s kind of exciting actually. We’ve got this — I’ve somehow managed to convince a University of Toronto professor to use it in her biology class, and she’s run with it and the students seem to really like it. So, they were creating escape room puzzles for kids, grade 8 to 12. Biology-related obviously, and it was really fun. They had things like COVID has mutated into a zombie virus and having a lot of fun with it. And apparently they like it so much they’ve gone and they’ve got a fund for it now. They’ve got it funded and they’re doing a summer program, which I’m now hoping to be around to at least be able to participate in some of the escape room research. But I’m excited.

David Read:
That’s really cool.

Kate Hewlett:
You’re dying. Are you dying?

David Hewlett:
That’s kind of it. Am I what?

Kate Hewlett:
Dying?

David Hewlett:
Am I dying?

David Read:
To participate in the research?

Kate Hewlett:
Hopefully you’ll be around.

David Hewlett:
I hope I’ll still be around.

Kate Hewlett:
Hopefully you’ll be around.

David Hewlett:
“Yes, but with my ailing health and old age, I am concerned I might not make it.” What are you talking about? No. I hope I’m gonna be around, that I’m not gonna have to do stupid acting work.

David Read:
Geez, man. David —

David Hewlett:
Stupid acting, it gets in the way.

David Read:
20th anniversary of Stargate Atlantis this year. You and I have known each other for 19 years.

David Hewlett:
Oh, my God. I’m so sorry.

David Read:
Kate, I think 18 or 17. I want to say off the bat, you guys have always been wonderful to me. You’ve never said no to a request that I’ve had.

David Hewlett:
It’s pathetic, isn’t it?

Kate Hewlett:
Total desperation.

David Hewlett:
Desperation. Please, God. “He likes me. He really likes me.”

David Read:
Looking back on all the work that I’ve been able to do with you guys, I can’t thank you enough. And it means a lot to have you guys together for… I don’t think I’ve seen you together since the “A Dog’s Breakfast” panel at Creation…

David Hewlett:
Jesus Christ.

David Read:
…when the movie aired. Kate, I think you were there for that, weren’t you?

Kate Hewlett:
I think that’s the last time David and I were in the same room.

David Read:
Sounds about right.

David Hewlett:
What are you talking about? Now you’re just making crap up. I have to point out how bad we are at taking — People say nice things to us, we do not know what to do with that. So, thank you very, very much. That was very nice of you to say so. It’s so funny how we both immediately went to, “Yeah, wacky, wacky, wacky.” I know. But it’s been 20 years. It’s insane.

Kate Hewlett:
No, these interviews with you are always so much fun.

David Read:
I appreciate any —

David Hewlett:
With me, yes.

David Read:
And these interviews are almost like a small convention. It’s kinda cool to get everyone together.

David Hewlett:
A lot of work.

David Read:
It is a lotta work. And it’s like herding cats. So, Kate, what’s going on in your world?

Kate Hewlett:
My world?

David Read:
Yeah.

David Hewlett:
Nothing, look behind her, there is nothing there.

Kate Hewlett:
I live with no furniture. There’s a real mess over there.

David Hewlett:
She is a big writer now.

Kate Hewlett:
Over there is David’s backdrop. Things are good. It’s mostly child, child, child.

David Hewlett:
What about the writing, writing, writing?

Kate Hewlett:
I know, I know.

David Read:
If you haven’t seen The Swearing Jar, go and download it. It is a great film. I love this movie. It’s good. So that’s Kate’s project.

David Hewlett:
It is annoyingly good, I have to say.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s the first time you’ve ever said that.

David Hewlett:
I think I’ve said exactly that before, it is my go-to quote.

Kate Hewlett:
Really? So that was my first passion project, really… It took, like I told you, 20 years basically. ‘Cause I started it as a play and all that stuff. But right now, I’m doing my second passion project, which is –

David Hewlett:
Jesus, you’re gonna be 100 years old when they make it.

Kate Hewlett:.
I know, this is the problem. I have to go a little faster this time. But this one loosely deals with our family a little bit —

David Read:
Ooh.

David Hewlett:
What?

Kate Hewlett:
Well, loosely.

David Hewlett:
It better be loosely, otherwise I want life –

Kate Hewlett:
It loosely deals with our sister.

David Hewlett:
We have no sister, what are you talking about?

Kate Hewlett:
AMC Studios are on board. They’re helping me write the pilot, and… well, not helping me write the pilot, they’re –

David Hewlett:
You need a whole studio to help you write it?

David Read:
David, let her talk.

Kate Hewlett:
They’re giving me an opportunity to be paid to write the pilot, which is really nice.

David Read:
So, is this gonna be a series? A limited series? A —

Kate Hewlett:
One hour, not even limited series. No, hopefully it’s… I think in my brain it’s five seasons.

David Hewlett:
You are going to need more than five seasons to cover everything that I’ve done in my life, I think.

Kate Hewlett:
Exactly. I think we may do time jumps. Right now we’re just doing the pilot. I’m writing the pilot, and it’s the first drama I’ve written in a long time. So, it’s really different, and I’m approaching it more the way I approached The Swearing Jar, which is to write and write and write and find the story, and find the characters, and that sort of thing.

David Hewlett:
For 10 years.

Kate Hewlett:
I hope not. I have to write it in four months this time. I’ve got four months.

David Read:
Necessity can be the mother of invention.

Kate Hewlett:
Yes, deadlines are very good for me.

David Hewlett:
The weekend before that last month, you’re gonna be —

Kate Hewlett:
It’s gonna be crazy.

David Hewlett:
Very busy. What do you like?

David Hewlett:
Have you told Dad yet?

Kate Hewlett:
Dad knows, but I’m not getting too into, you know… Dad knows.

David Hewlett:
She was worried about telling Dad. She wasn’t worried about telling me, she was worried about telling Dad. I thought it was so funny.

Kate Hewlett:
Well, you’re not in it.

David Hewlett:
What the hell?

Kate Hewlett:
I kill you in the pilot.

David Hewlett:
You can’t afford me, is that what it is?

Kate Hewlett:
I’m just kidding.

David Read:
He’s gonna come back as a ghost.

Kate Hewlett:
No one is cast as themselves.

David Read:
They eat here, craft service.

David Hewlett:
That’s what she’s gonna say. No one’s herself. That’s how she gets away with it.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s not, it’s not.

David Read:
Does it have humor?

Kate Hewlett:
Yes. It’s called Everything is Funny, a drama.

David Read:
Really?

David Hewlett:
What? That’s a terrible title.

Kate Hewlett:
“Everything is Funny: A Drama.”

David Hewlett:
What about “Everything’s Drama: A Comedy?” I think that’s better.

Kate Hewlett:
I wouldn’t get paid as much. And I would move back to the light that you had before, with the window.

David Read:
For God’s sakes.

David Hewlett:
I wanna point out that I have given Kate advice on every aspect of her life and career, and she has quite wisely ignored me on all of them.

Kate Hewlett:
Like the three?

David Hewlett:
Every single one of them. What the hell’s that?

David Read:
That is a three.

Kate Hewlett:
Or… a butt?

David Hewlett:
I was gonna say mustache, but OK, that’s horrible.

David Read:
David, take me back to… Season One.

Kate Hewlett:
The beginning of this interview.

David Hewlett:
Let’s start again. Yes.

David Read:
There was an episode…

David Hewlett:
I take back that part about enjoying the last 20 years.

David Read:
…called “Letters from Pegasus”…

David Hewlett:
Yes.

David Read:
…and there was a line that… they’re giving letters home because there’s a really good chance that they’re all about to die —

David Hewlett:
Terrible mistake, this was.

David Read:
Tell me the story about changing the brother to sister.

David Hewlett:
I was concerned they were gonna hire someone more handsome and famous than me, so I asked them to change it to sister. No, actually, I was reading it and I said in passing sort of, “Look, I have five younger sisters and one of them has some desperate pathetic attempts at being an actor. And on the off-chance that maybe she’s grown up enough to actually get some talent, what if I just said “sister,” because that’ll be more fun, it’s a more fun dynamic anyways. And they’re like, “Sure, that sounds like a great idea.” And then Gero ran with it from there. Gero saw Kate in a play and said, “Boy, she’s got a lot of Hewlett-isms.”

David Read:
I wonder why.

David Hewlett:
“Not quite as good, obviously, as David, but there’s work that could be done.“

Kate Hewlett:
I forgot about that part.

David Hewlett:
It was a silly kind of “I know how these things go.” I knew that Stargate was gonna run for a while, that they might want to explore all options when it came to stories. So, I just thought I’d throw that in there, and I’m regretting it to this day.

David Read:
So, Kate, never let it be said that he never did anything for you.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s true. I think he might take a little more credit for it. But, actually, I forgot about the play. I forgot that he saw me in a play. I always tell the story more like you…

David Hewlett:
Inaccurately.

Kate Hewlett:
…said sister, and then you did “Don’s Breakfast” so that he could see me act, and then… I give you a lot more credit. But I think…

David Hewlett:
I like that story. Let’s go with that.

Kate Hewlett:
…that’s not true.

David Read:
Martin Gero.

Kate Hewlett:
And I had to audition.

David Read:
Yeah?

Kate Hewlett:
Yeah, Martin Gero. Sorry.

David Hewlett:
I had to audition. I’d already played freaking McKay before they made me audition. They’re jerks.

Kate Hewlett:
You had to audition for your own part?

David Hewlett:
Yeah.

David Read:
I was talking with —

David Hewlett:
And the casting agent kept telling me to be less… He’s like, “No, no, it’s too McKay.” I’m like, “Yeah, yeah, OK, sure,” and then we just do it again the same way. He’s like, “Yeah, you’re just not quite getting it.” I was like, “I know, I don’t know what it is.” “Let’s go again.” ‘Cause he kept saying, “No, no, no, it’s too McKay. You gotta be nicer, you gotta be this.” I’m like, “Yeah, OK, I got this.”

David Read:
So, you auditioned for the same part before it became McKay?

David Hewlett:
Before it became McKay, yeah.

David Read:
I didn’t know that, David. I thought they brought you in because of McKay. I didn’t know you auditioned fresh.

David Hewlett:
They brought me in to audition because of McKay, but they brought me in to play a different role.

David Read:
Because of McKay, but not for McKay. Yes.

David Hewlett:
I spent the whole audition going “There’s no way that you can play McKay and then show up as a different character…

David Read:
Ingram, Benjamin Ingram.

David Hewlett:
…a year later.” Ingram’s not gonna —

Kate Hewlett:
Also, David only knows how to play one character.

David Hewlett:
I only have one character and a few looks. My new looks are great now. I can’t wait, I’m moving into that phase where I’m just gonna be dying in beds. I cannot wait for that stage. Dying in beds, few last words, “Kate, come to me.”

Kate Hewlett:
Why am I there?

David Hewlett:
“I never loved you.” Don’t know why you’re there, but —

David Read:
I remember Martin Gero conversing with me, and him talking about “Letters from Pegasus,” and David saying, “Let’s change brother to sister.” And Martin originally was like, “Yeah, sure, David, like we’re gonna hire a sister, like that’s gonna happen.” And then he saw you in the play and he was like, “I think there’s something here.” And Martin had a lot of stories that he was whittling for years. He was working on “Sunday” in Season One, he had that idea. It was cool to watch that unfold. And then Kate, you became a part of the family.

David Hewlett:
Like a cancer.

Kate Hewlett:
Jesus Christ.

David Read:
Geez, man. It was great —

Kate Hewlett:
Not sure that metaphor works super well.

David Hewlett:
No, it does. Hewlett cells, but really horribly deformed.

David Read:
It was great to have these two for the course of the rest of the season, all the way through to “The Shrine”.

David Hewlett:
I was showing off my Prague Comic Con mug. The reason why I couldn’t be at the birthday party that she’s accusing me of not attending.

David Read:
I see, OK. I’m trying to be serious here, guys.

Kate Hewlett:
He doesn’t like it when you talk —

David Hewlett:
Come on, David, keep up. Keep up, David. Come on.

Kate Hewlett:
He doesn’t like when you talk about other people.

David Hewlett:
It is interesting how they don’t… I feel like there’s a little — Maybe, and Kate can probably talk about this better than I can because she actually writes. But there’s kind of a ‘King of your own Kingdom’ thing, and people make suggestions, and I think there’s a nerdy response of, “No, it’s my world. I’m gonna make it.” You know what I mean? I feel like there’s always a bit of pushback when you get outside, especially actors, because actors always have stupid ideas, to be honest. And it’s one of those things that I, for the most part, try not to change lines, because I hate those actors who’re gonna go like, “Why would I say…” It’s like, discuss it before we get on set. But after years of Stargate and dealing with a million different actors, they were quite reticent to go with that kinda stuff, so it’s nice to see when things work out. But I think it’s a good thing ’cause I think it filters out the crap. I think they did see — Kate got the role because Kate got the role. It just happened — It was nice that there was a role to have there… It would’ve been weird for her showing up in any other role. We are very similar-esque in a way.

Kate Hewlett:
We did that when you came and acted on the show that I was in. They didn’t even put us in a scene together.

David Hewlett:
No, it was the weirdest thing.

David Read:
Tell me this story. You weren’t related in this other story, but they —

Kate Hewlett:
No.

David Hewlett:
That’s right. That is weird.

Kate Hewlett:
I was doing a YTV sitcom, and I played the mom. And they were, “We’re gonna get David in to be in the show.” And I think I talked to them about it. I think I probably brought it up.

David Hewlett:
I was expecting ‘crazy Uncle David’ or something.

Kate Hewlett:
I know, and then he came in and played an astronaut, and we didn’t have a scene together or anything. And then I think there was one scene where it was a huge group scene, and I was like… You had all these scenes with my husband.

David Hewlett:
That’s right.

Kate Hewlett:
Mine was with my husband.

David Read:
Ah.

David Hewlett:
That’s right.

Kate Hewlett:
It was pleasant.

David Hewlett:
It was fun. That was a really fun shoot, actually.

David Read:
“Yeah, just keep him over there, away from me.” This is good.

David Hewlett:
It’s probably the best way to work, I think, far, far away.

Kate Hewlett:
Far, far away.

David Hewlett:
I remember I tweeted Chris Hadfield and sent him a photo of myself dressed as an astronaut. Because it was sort of a silly version of Chris Hadfield. And he was not amused. I got this tweet back, “I don’t think so.” And I was like, “Yeah, what do you think? Chris Hadfield?” “I don’t think so.” He’s the nicest guy to everyone except me now, I’m sure.

David Read:
Each of you tell me a story from childhood. Please.

Kate Hewlett:
My memory’s terrible.

David Hewlett:
A good story? You’re gonna ruin Kate’s show. It’s all about that.

David Read:
I want to know a story…

David Hewlett:
I’ve got one. I gotta get one.

David Read:
…that encapsulates each of you.

David Hewlett:
OK, I got a perfect one. I get this great role on this amazing movie with all these fricking movie stars and it’s got Christopher Plummer in it, it’s got all these people, Dabney Coleman, Uma Thurman. Jesus, who else? And then —

Kate Hewlett:
Jesus was in it. He was very good.

David Hewlett:
Jesus was in it too. Jesus was amazing.

David Read:
Love.

David Hewlett:
Although I felt… He overdid it a bit, I thought. And Kate and my mum came to visit the set.

Kate Hewlett:
I don’t know this story.

David Hewlett:
You wait. And I’m standing there on set with Chris Plummer and Kate comes up and whacks me in the forehead.

Kate Hewlett:
No, no.

David Hewlett:
Full-on smack in the forehead.

Kate Hewlett:
No, no, no.

David Hewlett:
What? What no?

Kate Hewlett:
You’re mixing up — You’re turning into Dad. That’s amazing.

David Read:
Uh-oh.

Kate Hewlett:
No, no, no, no. That’s not the story.

David Hewlett:
Is the dad role a better one? ‘Cause I’ll take that, that’s fine. The dad role, I’ll play Dad.

Kate Hewlett:
No, the slapping you in the forehead, you had just been in a terrible play, and after the play we’re all standing around —

David Hewlett:
What was the terrible play?

Kate Hewlett:
Can’t remember. Outside the theater. It was Vincenzo and a whole bunch of people… All your people who ended up being super famous. Vincenzo Natali —

David Hewlett:
No, that’s when you stepped in the dip. You stepped in the chip dip.

Kate Hewlett:
No, that was at home I stepped in the dip.

David Read:
Her story.

Kate Hewlett:
This was outside of theater and you were surrounded by everyone, you stand up, surrounded by all your friends. And I came running over and I slapped you in the forehead.

David Hewlett:
Whacked, and there was a…

Kate Hewlett:
And everyone was like, “Oh!”

David Hewlett:
…perfect finger-shaped mark on my forehead. But of course that’s all we… We used to slap each other in the forehead all the time.

David Read:
It’s your hug.

Kate Hewlett:
Plummer, did I?

David Hewlett:
You did it in front of Christopher Plummer as well.

Kate Hewlett:
I may have blocked that out.

David Read:
But how did Christopher —

Kate Hewlett:
I remember shaking his hand.

David Read:
How did Christopher Plummer react?

David Hewlett:
I don’t remember, to be honest.

Kate Hewlett:
You know why you don’t remember?

David Hewlett:
Because I had a…

Kate Hewlett:
Didn’t happen.

David Hewlett:
…stinging forehead because I… No, I don’t remember, but I remember being absolutely mortified ’cause I’m trying to be cool.

David Read:
Geez.

Kate Hewlett:
I did slap him in front of some important people, and I didn’t know that they were… I thought they were people who had seen the show and I didn’t realize, and then I, it was… There were a few people out there.

David Hewlett:
Is it really appropriate in front of anyone though? Honestly, let’s think about it.

Kate Hewlett:
It was such a win though. It was a perfect moment to do it. Even if he…

David Hewlett:
I wasn’t expecting it because I didn’t expect you to be…

Kate Hewlett:
…didn’t expect to see it.

David Hewlett:
…so unprofessional. That’s what it was. All right. What’s your story?

Kate Hewlett:
OK, I’m gonna tell — It’s not a childhood story. I became friendly with Michael Sheen. We did a movie together.

David Hewlett:
Jesus, God.

Kate Hewlett:
And we hit it off and we became friends. He did a show in England and I got tickets, I got to go see it. And then he met —

David Hewlett:
This isn’t name dropping. This is name dropping.

David Read:
You name dropped Christopher Plummer.

Kate Hewlett:
You totally did.

David Hewlett:
He’s dead for God’s sake. Show some respect.

David Read:
So what? I’m sorry, I couldn’t let that stand. Kate, continue please.

Kate Hewlett:
Thank you, thank you.

David Hewlett:
Sorry. You obviously don’t have siblings.

David Read:
I don’t.

Kate Hewlett:
I know whose side you’re on. What were we talking about?

David Read:
You’ve met Michael Sheen.

David Hewlett:
Michael Sheen. You’re gonna —

Kate Hewlett:
Thank you, Michael Sheen.

David Hewlett:
You embarrassed me about Michael Sheen.

Kate Hewlett:
Thank you. OK. So, then he met my sister, my younger sister, the other one. Not my younger sister. That’s a lie. My older sister…

David Hewlett:
You have a younger sister?

Kate Hewlett:
…but the younger of the two, not the one that the show is about.

David Read:
I follow.

David Hewlett:
Can we use names? ‘Cause I’m confused.

Kate Hewlett:
Jenny.

David Hewlett:
Oh, Jenny. OK.

David Read:
But not Jeanie?

Kate Hewlett:
So, he met Jenny.

David Hewlett:
Jenny, the smart one.

Kate Hewlett:
But not Jeanie. He met Jenny and got along with Jenny really well, and then afterwards he sent me an email saying, “The Hewlett genes are very strong,” or something like that. He made some joke ’cause our sister is very beautiful and said something about the Hewlett genes. And then I told David the story and David said, “You should have sent him a picture of me back.” And I was like, “I did.”

David Hewlett:
And she sent the photo of me cross-eyed with a bowl of popcorn on set with her. I look like the troubled son, it was — Do you have the photo?

David Read:
No, I just remember you had one ear plugged.

David Hewlett:
It was not pretty.

David Read:
Like phones and you’re like —

David Hewlett:
I was like, “Really?”

Kate Hewlett:
I was like, “I did. I sent that back as a response.”

David Hewlett:
I literally looked like…

Kate Hewlett:
And he never said anything, he never responded.

David Hewlett:
Like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It was like the Steve Martin role in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels where he’s doing the, “Could you pass the butter please?” With just his whole… “I need to go to the bathroom.” It was like one of those.

Kate Hewlett:
I swear to God you had tears…

David Hewlett:
That’s a great story.

Kate Hewlett:
…you had tears in your eyes.

David Read:
From being upset?

Kate Hewlett:
I did send it… I thought he was really upset. I thought Jane was like —

David Hewlett:
Jane was fricking angry.

Kate Hewlett:
Furious.

David Hewlett:
Jane was actually angry.

Kate Hewlett:
She was angry. I’ve never seen her so angry.

David Hewlett:
She was not happy.

Kate Hewlett:
I remember going to bed being like, “Oh my God, did I cross the line?” ‘Cause I didn’t think there was a line.

David Hewlett:
You did cross the line, totally. Absolutely crossed the line.

Kate Hewlett:
But then afterwards, the next day I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that would upset you. You’re so conceited.” And I said, “I didn’t” —

David Read:
Actors are never perceiving themselves that way. I don’t know why you would have been concerned.

Kate Hewlett:
I know.

David Hewlett:
No, I didn’t care as much as Jane did.

Kate Hewlett:
No, he didn’t care. But Jane did, and you said, and I quote, “I’m so…” You’re like, “I’m so horrified, but so proud.”

David Hewlett:
At the same time, it’s true.

Kate Hewlett:
At the same time. With tears in your eyes.

David Hewlett:
It was genius.

Kate Hewlett:
“I’m horrified but still proud.”

David Hewlett:
It was pure genius. Jane’s point was that she goes, “This is the business, you can’t… Now, when your name comes up for a role, it’s only gonna be some mentally challenged role in a” — Ah, whatever. I think she was a bit worried about presentation.

David Read:
I would hope that Michael would be like, “This is my family. You’re getting a private photo of a private…” I’m assuming it was a private moment. “I’m expressing my love through my deranged, psychopathic brothers.”

Kate Hewlett:
To be fair, it was a photo you had posted online.

David Hewlett:
I posted it online.

David Read:
So it was already out there.

David Hewlett:
That’s why I wasn’t so worried about it

Kate Hewlett:
I just Googled him. I Googled him and it was the second photo.

David Hewlett:
That’s it. To be fair, I found the best screenshot still of Kate from a film we worked on together. I blew it up and put it on a T-shirt for her birthday party. So I wore the most unattractive shot of Kate that is in existence.

Kate Hewlett:
Ever.

David Read:
Afterwards? After this?

Kate Hewlett:
No, before.

David Hewlett:
No.

Kate Hewlett:
Yes.

David Hewlett:
No, it was vengeance, I’m pretty sure.

Kate Hewlett:
Yes.

David Read:
Then it would’ve had to have been afterwards. It was vengeance.

David Hewlett:
David, I don’t like the way this conversation is going. I’m ending this discussion right now. That’s it. But I don’t know how to hang up. I would if I could figure out how to hang up.

Kate Hewlett:
Anyway, that’s not a childhood memory.

David Read:
No. Brainshatterer wants to know, “When is The Dog’s Second Breakfast coming? Or A Dog’s Bed and Breakfast?”

Kate Hewlett:
We talked about that, remember?

David Hewlett:
The dog’s on a diet.

David Read:
People want it.

Kate Hewlett:
We talked about Dog’s Bed and Breakfast and then we —

David Hewlett:
People outside of the industry want it, but in the industry, nobody wants it. In the industry, no one gives a crap.

Kate Hewlett:
In Canada, they didn’t. They might, in the States.

David Hewlett:
Dog’s Bed and Breakfast was actually a really good idea for a show based around a haunted bed and breakfast that we thought would be more of a series approach than a film. But maybe we should make a film of it.

Kate Hewlett:
Yeah.

David Hewlett:
The problem is we don’t have the same resources. First off, we don’t have me to pay for everything. Secondly, we don’t have the crew.

Kate Hewlett:
But now I can pay for everything.

David Hewlett:
That’s great. If you wanna do that, go ahead. You pay for everything and get the crew and then…

Kate Hewlett:
I’m just kidding. I don’t have any money.

David Hewlett:
…I’ll show up and hold the dead fish.

Kate Hewlett:
We just had to downsize into a smaller house.

David Read:
It’s hard out there right now. Absolutely.

David Hewlett:
When you look like Kate, you gotta go to writing.

David Read:
Geez. For God’s sakes. Jeremy Heiner –

Kate Hewlett:
What if I just cry?

David Hewlett:
Imagine, Kate loses it, breaks down.

Kate Hewlett:
“This time, you’ve gone too far.”

David Hewlett:
“I always hated you. That’s it. You are dying in the pilot, you bastard.”

David Read:
I’m interested, Kate, in your answer of this from a writing perspective, using it as a tool to help you work. Jeremy Heiner wants to know, “What are your guys’ thoughts on generative AI from a technological perspective and an acting artist’s perspective? And how do you see it impacting our society?” David and I talked a little bit about this in The Rise of Artificial Intelligence, but I’m interested to hear both of your perspective from using it as a tool in the entertainment industry, ’cause there’s a lot of talk about that right now.

Kate Hewlett:
I know very little about this. I will give you my opinion anyway because why not?

David Read:
‘Cause why not?

Kate Hewlett:
One of the biggest sources of income for me and something I really enjoyed doing was voice work. That was my consistent income for 20 years. Then two years ago, there was a lockout of… All commercial union actors were locked out.

David Read:
Explain, please.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s absolutely brutal.

David Read:
Locked out, like?

Kate Hewlett:
The union and the producer’s association could not come to an agreement about how to continue to allow us to work and get paid for it. So, because there’s no agreement, they just started hiring non-union workers.

David Read:
So, they had a stalemate.

Kate Hewlett:
Sort of a stalemate, but also, we had no power. The union has no real power.

David Hewlett:
It’s a guild too. It’s not even a union. It’s actually a guild.

Kate Hewlett:
Now, a whole bunch of people who are incredible just got elected onto the Actor Council and are now doing something about this. But everyone who was a commercial actor or a commercial voice actor lost their living completely. I was the voice of Winners and Quaker and all these different — I had five campaigns. And it wasn’t just that I stopped getting new work. They took away those campaigns and gave them to non-union actors.

David Hewlett:
It’s not like she could go in and take them herself ’cause she’s a union member. She’s not allowed to —

Kate Hewlett:
My union won’t allow me to work.

David Read:
‘Cause you’re on the other side of the fence.

Kate Hewlett:
We’re not allowed to work. So, that completely went away. So the AI thing is…

David Read:
All humans.

Kate Hewlett:
We’re already in so much trouble. Basically, whatever’s cheapest, I feel people are gonna do. Whatever’s cheapest. So, I think David’s approach to it, we have to grow with this instead of being like, “No, no, no, no AI. AI is bad.” No, I think you have to figure out how the world is changing. You have to change with it. I think bad movies are gonna be utilizing AI. I think good movies won’t. I think there are certain genres and certain types of TV show and certain things that you probably could take the formula, pop the formula in, come up with a script, and then pay a writer to fix it up, which is trash. That is trashy ’cause you’re paying people nothing to do the same job. It’s bad, but I think you have to figure out a way to work with it ’cause I think you can’t just keep putting it off. Are you hearing snoring?

David Read:
It’s not going anywhere. I’m hearing a TV in the background or something. That’s fine.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s not a TV.

David Hewlett:
The snoring is just me. It’s that you’re talking, and I…

Kate Hewlett:
I’m gonna actually show you ’cause it’s amusing.

David Hewlett:
Is it your dog?

Kate Hewlett:
Yeah.

David Hewlett:
Is it that dog that I saw yesterday? That you made mom look after?

David Read:
Aw.

David Hewlett:
Watch out though, if you sit at that butt end, it goes off periodically and that is nasty.

Kate Hewlett:
Can you hear him though?

David Read:
He looks like Mars.

David Hewlett:
It is a Mars-like look.

Kate Hewlett:
He snores.

David Hewlett:
Although Mars is much more beautiful.

Kate Hewlett:
He does look like Mars, but he’s like Mars with bald spots. But anyway, that’s what the noise is. I apologize. He snores like an old man.

David Read:
Aw.

David Hewlett:
Maybe when you talk, you should be a little more exciting and then maybe he wouldn’t be sleeping so much.

Kate Hewlett:
Whenever you talk, he wakes up.

David Read:
David, I want your thoughts.

David Hewlett:
It’s an interesting perspective, because I feel like the biggest thing that I got out of the AI stuff of late is it’s made me question what human creativity is. That’s the biggest, weirdest thing for me is I go, “Is our power perhaps… Is the power of creativity potentially in the limitation of what we have access to?” We’re forced to make jumps creatively because we have a limited pool of experiences and things that we’ve read and stuff. AI has an unlimited repository for this stuff. So potentially, I think we will always come up with stuff that’s gonna be different than the AI, because the AI has to, and will, contemplate it across all of them. Whereas we have our own weirdly, unique… We have to make, in a way, larger jumps creatively. Because we have to go, “What do we know? How do we create a story out of what we know? OK, let’s take…” Silly example for me, recently I did a little thing called… I was playing with AI tools and I wanted something to make, to put it in, if that makes sense. A project to work on to do that. And there was one that I was joking about for years called Mad Mouse: Furry Road was the idea. So I used AI to make a little trailer for Mad Mouse: Furry Road. You’ve got Furiosa. Instead of Immortal Joe, you had Immortal Joey, which was a little kangaroo.

David Read:
Aw.

David Hewlett:
But because of AI and the tools available, I could put something into the world. This is not a movie we’ll make, but it was something that was fun to exercise that creative spirit using these tools. Kate’s hit it bang on the head there, probably stolen from me. But the idea is that we have to do an AI audit on everything in our lives and see where it can be used as a tool that can help us because the genie’s out of the bottle on this stuff. I don’t feel like it’s going away.

Kate Hewlett:
No.

David Hewlett:
You talk about commercials. There is no way they’re gonna pay actors once they can just type a prompt in and have it —

Kate Hewlett:
No.

David Hewlett:
Listen to the audio on ChatGPT now. It’s fabulous. It sounds like a person.

David Read:
The inflections. When there’s an opportunity to have news stories read to you by an AI, you can press a button on a lot of these websites and listen to what they have to say. And for a long time it was reading it, but the inflections weren’t there at the appropriate spots, because you’re listening to this and going…

David Hewlett:
It’s there now.

David Read:
“It’s reading it to me, but it doesn’t feel like a human is reading it to me, understanding the significance of the chunks of the sentences and the topics at hand.” And like David said, it’s there now. And it’s like, “Whoa.”

David Hewlett:
I had a 10-minute conversation with ChatGPT the other day asking it to explain to me the different stages of cell growth, using the biological terminology for it. Because the biggest issue with biology is there’s a ton of stuff you have to learn before you can even start learning about biology. There’s so much terminology around it to learn. And I had a 10-minute —

Kate Hewlett:
Science.

David Hewlett:
I had a 10-minute conversation on my phone with an entity that was speaking, answering my questions. And I would say, “No, I don’t understand that. Could you make that simpler?” And it would explain to me in a simpler form.

David Read:
Can I pause you for a minute?

David Hewlett:
Yeah, of course. ‘Cause he got a call.

David Read:
No.

David Hewlett:
I’m kidding. You’re like, “Can I pause you for a second?” “Yes, I’d like a large pizza with” —

Kate Hewlett:
That’s it.

David Read:
Just doesn’t work. All the time.

Kate Hewlett:
Do you have oat milk? Do you have oat milk?

David Read:
I’m trying to get this to work.

David Hewlett:
Oat. Oat milk.

David Read:
Who are David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett?

ChatGPT:
David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett…

David Hewlett:
Friends of —

ChatGPT:
…are Canadian actors who are also siblings. David Hewlett is well-known for his role…

Kate Hewlett:
Oh, no.

ChatGPT:
…as Dr. Rodney McKay in the Stargate television series, particularly Stargate Atlantis. He has also appeared in various films and TV shows, both in acting and directing capacities.

David Hewlett:
Go on.

ChatGPT:
Kate Hewlett is also an actress and writer, and she has appeared alongside her brother in Stargate Atlantis, playing his character’s sister, Jeannie Miller. She has worked in theater, television and film.

David Read:
What is their best episode together in Atlantis?

David Hewlett:
She was like, “She’s worked in…”

ChatGPT:
They’re both [inaudible].

Kate Hewlett:
So just the same as —

ChatGPT:
Their best episode together in Stargate Atlantis is often considered to be “McKay and Mrs. Miller,” from Season 3. In this episode, Rodney McKay, played by David Hewlett, reconnects with his estranged sister Jeannie Miller, played by Kate Hewlett. The episode showcases their sibling dynamic and provides a mix of humor, drama and emotional depth. Fans and critics alike have praised the chemistry and performances of both Hewletts in this episode.

David Hewlett:
Is that true? I think we’ll soon find out.

David Read:
Which of them is a better actor?

David Hewlett:
What? Shut up.

Kate Hewlett:
David Hewlett.

David Hewlett:
Not for me.

ChatGPT
It’s tough to say who is a better actor between David and Kate Hewlett, as it…

David Hewlett:
Not for me.

ChatGPT
…often comes down to personal preference and the types of roles they play. David Hewlett has more high-profile roles, particularly in science fiction, which might make him more recognizable to some audiences. Kate Hewlett, on the other hand, has also received praise for her performances, especially in theater, and her writing. Each has their strengths, and it really depends on what you’re looking for in their performances.

David Hewlett:
That was switching, huh?

David Read:
That inflection…

Kate Hewlett:
It’s amazing.

David Read:
It’s extraordinary. And now that it’s plugged into the web, man, here we go.

David Hewlett:
But here’s the other thing I don’t think people are considering as well, is the fact that this is like the early days of the internet, with no concern about security at all. If you put your script into ChatGPT or any of these programs, we do not know where that ends up.

David Read:
Don’t know where the end of the pipe is.

David Hewlett:
In fact, the reason why it’s being banned in a lot of corporate environments is because you send a letter out to have it proofread, you’ve just sent it a press release a week early or something. You know what I mean? There’s a lot of issues here and I think people aren’t understanding. Again, there was a really interesting thing, we talked about the Mad Mouse: Furry Road thing. I showed my son the little trailer that I posted and he’s like, “Huh.” And I was like, “Isn’t this cool?” I was like, “Look at what you could do.” And he’s like, “Yeah, whatever.”

Kate Hewlett:
“Aren’t I amazing? Baz, aren’t I amazing?”

David Hewlett:
But that’s kind of what I was saying.

David Read:
Baz is already over it.

David Hewlett:
But he called it boomer art. It’s boomer art. He’s like, “You guys are excited about it. It’s just normal for us. Whatever.”

David Read:
“How many likes do I have today?” “How many followers did I get today?”

Kate Hewlett:
Thomas!

David Read:
These kids, they’re so number-driven now. And their status, their personal self-worth, if they are plugged into that system, is determined so much by the numbers that they have in their lives, and the numbers that their peers have in their lives. It’s really scary.

David Hewlett:
I feel that’s changing though.

David Read:
Yeah?

David Hewlett:
For Baz’s age…

David Read:
I hope so.

David Hewlett:
…I feel that’s beginning to wane. He cringes at all of my social media stuff.

David Read:
How old is he now?

David Hewlett:
He’s 16. He’ll be 17. Let’s go back to the dog. What are you doing?

Kate Hewlett:
No, I need to silence him.

David Read:
I can’t hear him.

David Hewlett:
Why do you need to be closer? We can’t hear him at all.

Kate Hewlett:
You can’t? Oh my God.

David Read:
You can’t?

David Hewlett:
You got noise-cancelling headphones on.

Kate Hewlett:
I do?

David Read:
Yeah.

David Hewlett:
Zoom is really good at cutting out background noise, but it’s AI.

Kate Hewlett:
These are noise-cancelling?

David Hewlett:
No, but Zoom does a clean-up as well.

Kate Hewlett:
OK, sorry. I wasn’t trying to interrupt you, he sounded like he was about to have a heart attack and die.

David Read:
No, he’s okay.

Kate Hewlett:
So, I’m trying to…

David Hewlett:
I’m excited about this stuff. From a writing perspective, Jane made me do some writing the other day, and I had to look stuff up. It’s fantastic for that. As Google gets worse and worse and more sponsored links pop up instead of actual content, Perspective AI’s been really useful, ChatGPT, I use Midjourney all the time.

Kate Hewlett:
I know what it is, but I’ve never been to — Is it an app? Is it a site? I’m such a loser.

David Hewlett:
Midjourney, you use Discord to use it. So, you’re basically having a chat with it. You ask it to do something and it pops up an image-type thing.

David Read:
It creates images for you.

David Hewlett:
But I pay for all these tools now, and I say to my son —

David Read:
You’re applying them professionally too, David. You’re not curious about it, so there is an application there.

David Hewlett:
That’s what I keep telling my wife, but she says, “Why are we spending…” I’m like, “It’s work.” It’s definitely work.”

David Read:
That’s correct.

David Hewlett:
But it’s interesting to see, there may be stuff. I wondered about even doing a little ACTRA course for this. Or a writer one, because I think there’s a tendency for people to fall into one of two categories now, where they are either complete opposed to it — Everything in our world is so polarized. You’re either completely against it and never wanna touch it, or that you can’t use any of it, otherwise you’ve somehow sullied your work. And there’s other people who are like, “Wow, I could put out 50 scripts and whatever. And I could write that novel I always didn’t get around to writing, because AI will do it for me.” I feel somewhere in the middle, we gotta find a place where we can use it as a tool, because I remember the teacher sending back my Commodore 64 typed-out essay, because they said that I had cheated by using a computer to type it out.

David Read:
Wow.

David Hewlett:
And I think that’s where we’re at with a lot of people right now, where they’re like, “AI?” Then that’s not your work, then. It’s like, “Well, I mean-”

Kate Hewlett:
That’s the thing. It’s like photography versus painting. It’s like anything. People are gonna fight progress in any way, and it’s always scary at the beginning and it’s always the Wild West at the beginning, and… I don’t know, I think all this stuff is already happening.

David Read:
You can’t roll it back.

David Hewlett:
And it doesn’t replace. It doesn’t necessarily replace —

Kate Hewlett:
It doesn’t replace.

David Hewlett:
Theater didn’t die. Theater’s doing better than ever. Maybe not now, but —

Kate Hewlett:
Books didn’t die. People still read books. TV didn’t kill books.

David Hewlett:
I don’t, but people do.

Kate Hewlett:
I don’t either.

David Read:
There are some things that do. Horse-drawn carriages aren’t gone, but they aren’t ubiquitous anymore. There are certain things —

David Hewlett:
I think there will be less of –

Kate Hewlett:
But this is entertainment. This is not survival.

David Read:
That’s true too.

David Hewlett:
Our dad raises a really interesting point when he talks about —

Kate Hewlett:
This is how I found out.

David Hewlett:
You talk about the horse-drawn carriage. They were worried that London was gonna be overrun with horse manure. They were really worried. They’re like, “What are we gonna do? Oh my God, we’re screwed. Unless we get rid of all these horses, we’re doomed.” We got automobiles, so —

Kate Hewlett:
Is that how he denies climate change?

David Hewlett:
That’s how he denies, yeah, that’s how he gets around the whole climate change thing, yeah.

David Read:
I would never underestimate human ingenuity to solve problems, and if anyone’s going to save us, I believe it is us. I don’t believe it’s a higher power or anything. I think that, at the end of the day, our problems will be solved by us when ‘us decides’ to put down our issues with one another and get to work. ‘Cause that’s how we were designed. That’s what it is that we do. I got a few minutes left with you guys. Can I go a little sappy?

David Hewlett:
Uh-oh.

David Read:
I know.

David Hewlett:
Don’t make Kate cry.

David Read:
I’m sorry.

David Hewlett:
She gets all puffy and it’s not pretty.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s true. Ugly crier.

David Read:
Kate, can you tell me what you admire about your brother? And please do go ahead and take a moment to tell me about what you…

David Hewlett:
This isn’t sappy, this is a hit.

David Read:
…what you don’t admire about him. But do tell me what you admire about him.

Kate Hewlett:
You wanna hear what I don’t admire about him as well?

David Read:
Yeah.

Kate Hewlett:
Is that what you said?

David Read:
But 10% compared to what you admire about him.

Kate Hewlett:
What do I admire about my brother?

David Hewlett:
“This is your life.”

Kate Hewlett:
OK, “my favorite swear word is…”

David Read:
It’s OK, we’re 50 minutes in, you can give it.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s a questionnaire they ask in the Actor’s Studio. Anyway.

David Hewlett:
It was Actor’s Studio. Lipton.

Kate Hewlett:
Lipton.

David Read:
James Lipton.

Kate Hewlett:
There are many things. I can’t think of a — No, I’m just kidding.

David Hewlett:
I can’t think of one.

Kate Hewlett:
One of the biggest things, and it’s one of our greatest differences too, is that David is very, very self-made. The education thing, you have learned everything on your own. You didn’t like school, you didn’t do well in school, you were dumb, dumb, just kidding.

David Hewlett:
“Beauty school dropout.”

Kate Hewlett:
You could’ve just gone into acting and that’s it, and you did well and you’ve always done well, but you learned how to design websites and you stayed on top of technology and you learned what you were interested in, and you got your degree, correct?

David Hewlett:
No.

Kate Hewlett:
Really?

David Hewlett:
Never got my degree, no.

Kate Hewlett:
I thought you went back and got your degree.

David Hewlett:
No.

Kate Hewlett:
I still admire —

David Read:
But he sure makes it seem like he did.

Kate Hewlett:
It doesn’t matter, is the thing. It was Moira. Moira went back.

David Hewlett:
I photoshopped one and put it up.

Kate Hewlett:
Moira went back.

David Hewlett:
Moira went back.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s Moira I admire.

David Hewlett:
It’s Moira you admire and I thought that might be —

Kate Hewlett:
You taught yourself everything you know. And I often say you’re one of the smartest people I know.

David Hewlett:
Which isn’t that many people.

Kate Hewlett:
And you don’t have a massive education, right?

David Hewlett:
Mm-hmm.

Kate Hewlett:
So, that’s one of the big things. One of the other things that I admire is that he’s one of the only actors I like. No, that’s not true. I like a lot of actors, I have a lot of actor friends. He’s an actor who is not actor-y, at all. He doesn’t enjoy talking about himself, other than this interview. And he…

David Hewlett:
Other than in public.

Kate Hewlett:
… He doesn’t talk about acting very much. He doesn’t get off on getting recognized. He doesn’t — That was a gross way of putting that.

David Hewlett:
You made it weird.

Kate Hewlett:
I made it weird. And also, he’s so handsome. He’s so handsome. No, he’s very motivated and self-made and he gives himself deadlines. He also tries everything. He tries acid. I’m just kidding. No, it’s writing scripts, directing, everything. This whole thing, working with the university, and I just think it’s amazing. And when I subscribed to his thingamy… what is it called?

David Hewlett:
The newsletter?

Kate Hewlett:
Newsletter? I can’t understand.

David Hewlett:
And then I stopped sending it.

Kate Hewlett:
‘Cause I don’t understand what’s going on. But I read it and I’m like, “This is a very smart person who knows things about science and I don’t.”

David Read:
David?

Kate Hewlett:
Is that enough?

David Hewlett:
What about the things she doesn’t like? That’s the fun stuff.

David Read:
I think we’ll just accept this as a nice pass.

David Hewlett:
Ugh.

Kate Hewlett:
What am I good at?

David Hewlett:
It’s so funny ’cause anything that you say, all of that, that’s all stuff I can turn around and go, “I never finish anything, I’m always changing my mind, I’m always — I’ve never got a degree, I’m always…” It’s so funny how you see, from the inside, you see things so completely differently. Kate just drives me nuts because she’s… I remember with the —

Kate Hewlett:
You misunderstood the question.

David Read:
That’s a backhanded… OK, what’s the positive?

David Hewlett:
Because I remember with the acting, it was like, “Oh, I wanna be an actor, could you work on this audition piece for me?” And she does the audition piece and I’m… she just nailed it. I’m like, there’s no notes, just shut up and go be famous, you know what I mean? It was so… And the writing… I literally tried to talk her out of all of this stuff because I thought it was too difficult and soul-destroying for people. And I always say Kate’s the funniest woman I’ve ever met. She can make people, myself included, laugh like nobody else. Usually at her. But sometimes she gets a good crack in there as well. How the hell you managed to do the writing and go back to school for… She’s like my complete opposite, she went to school for acting, she went to school for the education and then she went to school for the film world and I said that she shouldn’t do any of it and she did it all. So, it’s so interesting to see two completely different paths and yet in the same business. It’s one of the things I love about the film world.

Kate Hewlett:
I didn’t go to school for education though.

David Hewlett:
Didn’t you? I thought you were gonna be a teacher.

Kate Hewlett:
That was Moira.

David Hewlett:
No, didn’t you go to university as well, though?

Kate Hewlett:
I went to university. I did a…

David Hewlett:
You had to.

Kate Hewlett:
…I did my undergrad.

David Hewlett:
That’s what I’m talking about.

Kate Hewlett:
But not in education.

David Hewlett:
You were being educated.

David Read:
He’s trying, Kate. He’s trying.

David Hewlett:
I don’t know what happens at university. I never went. I don’t know what you guys are doing at university.

Kate Hewlett:
Basically, we both complimented…

David Hewlett:
Acid, probably.

Kate Hewlett:
We both complimented Moira in our answers.

David Hewlett:
We both… “She’s just amazing, Moira. I mean, Kate. Jenny.” Whatever. But we’re a weird family. We just don’t… Nobody’s allowed to… You can be proud for other people. But you can’t be… You can’t voice your own stuff, ’cause you just get shot down in our family so quickly.

Kate Hewlett:
We started telling each other when our parents said nice things about them, because you don’t… I didn’t realize. I just thought I was a disappointment and everyone was very pleased with David, because…

David Hewlett:
And that’s true.

Kate Hewlett:
…I would hear — ChatGPT agrees. But I would hear this about how amazing he was and everything from my parents, but they never said anything to me, so I just assumed they weren’t. And then he was like, “Wait. Wait, they tell me about you.”

David Hewlett:
It’s hilarious.

Kate Hewlett:
So now we share it.

David Hewlett:
I hear how brilliant all of my sisters are, and oh my God, “Why don’t you go and do that?” Or, “Why don’t you –” “Sure, totally.” My father’s hilarious that way. My father would — I would call him and he’d go, “Diebach, I can’t talk right now, I’m watching a show with Helen.” And then he’d hang up on me. I’m like, “Jesus Christ.” I only talked to him once every so often. I found out he was watching Stargate. He just wouldn’t tell me that. He hung up on his son to watch his son’s show. It’s so funny.

Kate Hewlett:
The first TV script I ever wrote, I hadn’t watched the episode and I told people about it. I now know I have to watch it first. And dad watched it with me. So we’re sitting —

David Hewlett:
That was a mistake.

Kate Hewlett:
It was not strong. Anyway, so we’re sitting in the living room together watching this episode that I had written, and I look over and he’s like this: …

David Hewlett:
God.

Kate Hewlett:
He goes… And I was like, “Dad, are you OK?” He’s like, “It’s awful.”

David Hewlett:
“It’s awful.”

David Read:
“It’s crap,” is that what he said?

Kate Hewlett:
“Dreadful.”

David Read:
“Dreadful.”

Kate Hewlett:
“It’s just dreadful.”

David Hewlett:
Dreadful. Why do you keep cutting out?

David Read:
I’m not sure.

David Hewlett:
Now they’ve lost you.

Kate Hewlett:
Have I been cutting out through the whole time?

David Read:
Here and there, yeah. It’s been weird.

Kate Hewlett:
The dog is cutting off.

David Hewlett:
Just on the important part.

David Read:
Wow, so it’s cutting off the dog and you in the process. Wow, OK. That’s a loud dog.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s what I’m saying.

David Hewlett:
It’s mistaken your voice for the dog snoring. I could see that.

Kate Hewlett:
It’s prioritizing the dog snoring.

David Hewlett:
Dad’s idea of a compliment’s, I remember: “The movie was terrible. And you were in it. All right, enough said.” That’s basically my dad’s idea… That’s dad saying…

David Read:
Planet of the Apes.

David Hewlett:
…”Wow, give him an Oscar.”

Kate Hewlett:
He’s better. He’s better now.

David Hewlett:
“Why is the music so loud?” I’m like, “Dad, I don’t know. I don’t know.”

David Read:
“I’m playing my part, that’s it.”

David Hewlett:
That’s basically it.

David Read:
Coming on…

David Hewlett:
Sorry.

David Read:
Go ahead.

David Hewlett:
I was gonna say, I’ve actually taken now to saying, “Love you, dad,” and it is the funniest thing, because it’s like trying to give a cat a bath. You can hear him squirming at “Bye, Diebach.” That was it. It’s hilarious.

David Read:
Some people are harder with intimacy and the mushy stuff.

David Hewlett:
It’s a generational thing too, I think.

David Read:
I think so too. I think that’s a big part of it.

Kate Hewlett:
And British.

David Read:
A couple of quick questions for you both. Alan Schoolcraft, “David, are you ambidextrous? I’ve noticed in SGA you write with both hands.”

David Hewlett:
No, I’m not. But I have this stupid thing where I try to brush my teeth with a different hand every day. I’d like to get better. I’d like to be ambidextrous, and I feel like I used to be until I was taught to use my right hand. So, I will sometimes mess around to get my brain working.

David Read:
Kate, if you had an opportunity to be in a Marvel adaptation, what character would you like to play in the Marvel Universe?

Kate Hewlett:
I can’t answer that.

David Hewlett:
She-Hulk.

David Read:
I think you would’ve been a good She-Hulk.

David Hewlett:
She would’ve been great She-Hulk. Look, she’s even wearing green. It’s perfect.

Kate Hewlett:
I would’ve been. I looked more like I can kick ass. I can’t, though.

David Read:
Yes, you can.

Kate Hewlett:
I’d like to be Iron Man. Is that Marvel?

David Read:
Yes.

David Hewlett:
Iron Man.

David Read:
Absolutely. That would be good.

Kate Hewlett:
I’ll be Iron Man.

David Hewlett:
That’s good, ’cause it also covers your face. It’s perfect.

David Read:
Will you guys, at some point, work on another project together? Will we see you guys together again in the future in a project?

David Hewlett:
I’m obviously gonna be in her AMC thing. I just assume that.

Kate Hewlett:
I thought maybe I was gonna be in it, but —

David Hewlett:
Yes, of course you will, at some point. I’m assuming at some point we will, won’t we?

Kate Hewlett:
I haven’t been acting as much.
Am I cutting out again?

David Read:
No, you’re OK.

David Hewlett:
There hasn’t been as much acting to do, really, though.

Kate Hewlett:
No.

David Read:
I can’t see you being finished with… I hope not, ’cause you’re good.

Kate Hewlett:
I hope not too.

David Hewlett:
No, you’re gonna act.

Kate Hewlett:
Thank you. I hope not. I don’t know. I still wanna do it.

David Hewlett:
The thing about acting is it’s always there. That’s the great thing about it, it is always there. If the right part comes up, you’re there. That’s what’s great about it. It’s what is good about earning a living always. It is always there. As long as you’re still open to it, it’s still there.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Kate Hewlett:
There’s not a lot of work. It’s still bad for women. It really is. There’s not a lot of work. It’s still crazy. You look at every call sheet, it’s like… There’s not a lot of character roles or interesting recurring, or —

David Hewlett:
Dying in beds. You wait.

Kate Hewlett:
I would take it.

David Hewlett:
Dying in beds.

Kate Hewlett:
But I stopped…

David Hewlett:
That’s where I’m going.

Kate Hewlett:
…have stopped auditioning, so. I’ll act in stuff that I write, and obviously, I’ve always put David in anything I do. And you usually would put me in stuff too, right? Right, David? Right?

David Hewlett:
Yeah. I try not to, but then you keep showing up.

Kate Hewlett:
If you show up on day one, they figure it out.

David Hewlett:
That’s it. Eventually. I should learn from that. It’s true.

Kate Hewlett:
I would love to act with you again though.

David Hewlett:
It’s fun. It really is fun, especially when you’re on someone else’s set and it’s not your problem. And it’s great.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s more fun.

David Hewlett:
But I feel like we’re at a point now, I think you get to a point in your career where if they know who you are and you’re right for the part, you get the role. It doesn’t matter about the audition, it doesn’t matter about any of the other stuff. I think it’s just either you know them or you don’t, or they know you. And if they don’t, at this stage, they’re gonna hire someone that they know. We have our circle of influence. And when those things align, then you work. And when they don’t, you don’t. I think you also get to a point. I see parts come up now and I go, “This is not happening. It’s not gonna happen.” And if it’s fun, I find I’ll put myself on tape because I enjoy the process. I wanna do this role. I know I’m not gonna do the role, but I enjoy doing the role. As long as you can find some fun in it, that’s the only way to do it, ’cause it’s such an odd job.

Kate Hewlett:
I’m exactly the same. Most things I read and I’m like, “Ooh, I would cast this person.” And then I contact that person. And I say, “Have you auditioned for this part? Because you would be right for it.” You know when you read certain things, like you say. There’s no way. I don’t know. Even certain things in the writing and the dialogue, there are little clues. The writer gives you little clues about appearance, about all these different things. And sometimes I’m like, “I know this is not happening.”

David Hewlett:
I had one the other day. They had the whole character breakdown. And then at the end it said, “Ideal casting, Mark Hamill.” I’m like, “Well, why don’t you hire Mark Hamill then? Because that’s the best you could do.”

David Read:
Why do they give you that? Why do they show that to you?

David Hewlett:
I don’t know. This is what I mean. I don’t know.

David Read:
Gosh

David Hewlett:
Where you’re like, “Why would you…” In other words, “We’ve got an offer out to Mark Hamill, but let’s look for someone like him if we can.”

Kate Hewlett:
There was one time I went in for an audition, for a voice audition. And there was a male and female voiceover. And then for the male voiceover, they said they were looking for a Peter Mooney type, who’s a friend of mine, a friend of David’s now. A Peter Mooney type.

David Hewlett:
He’s a better friend for me actually.

Kate Hewlett:
And I told Peter about it, and he was like, “I couldn’t get an audition for that.”

David Hewlett:
Oh my god, seriously?

Kate Hewlett:
It didn’t get submitted. He didn’t get submitted. And it said a Peter Mooney type.

David Hewlett:
I have a fun Peter Mooney story ’cause Peter Mooney was a very old friend of Kate’s.

Kate Hewlett:
Careful!

David Hewlett:
What?

Kate Hewlett:
Nothing.

David Hewlett:
I ended up doing a movie with him. And what we would do is we would send photos of us on dates all the time. And eventually it got to the point where we were sending photos of us laughing over cake, and we had little ice cream on our nose and-

Kate Hewlett:
Ice cream on their noses.

David Hewlett:
Constantly. It did get to you eventually, didn’t it?

Kate Hewlett:
No. I was a little jealous because —

David Hewlett:
That’s what I wanted. That’s what I wanted.

David Read:
It got to you.

Kate Hewlett:
I was so jealous of both of you. I was jealous of both of you, ’cause I don’t get to hang out with you very much and I don’t get to hang out with him very much. But it made me laugh so hard ’cause the pictures were honestly like they were on romantic dates at amusement parks and stuff. It was very funny.

David Hewlett:
Tandem bicycles, and we’re on set together sharing a sandwich. It was literally like, “Hey Peter, come here. Come here, let’s do it.” And then share the sandwich. And then he would go off and do his thing, I’d go off and do my thing.

David Read:
There was a guy who about 10 years ago, real quick story, he passed out drunk at a bar and left his phone out. And the next day he woke up and there were 10 or 15 photos of Tom Hanks doing poses with him passed out.

David Hewlett:
No.

Kate Hewlett:
Oh my god.

David Hewlett:
That’s genius.

Kate Hewlett:
That’s awesome.

David Read:
You can Google the story.

David Hewlett:
If I ever meet someone passed out, I’m totally doing that. Putting pictures of Tom Hanks on their phone.

Kate Hewlett:
Don’t do it if it’s a woman.

David Hewlett:
That’s true.

Kate Hewlett:
You won’t get elected.

David Hewlett:
That’s it. “Or will you?”

Kate Hewlett:
Depends.

David Read:
This was such a treat to have you both. Krisztian Unpronounceable, provided the MCU question, by the way. I’m sorry, Krisztian.

David Hewlett:
Great.

David Read:
But to have you guys together, this was really cool. Means a lot to me to have you both. You’re both tremendous parts of my Stargate life. And I think that you’re both amazing. So, to have you both on together is…

David Hewlett:
It’s a pleasure. It’s always —

David Read:
…really cool.

David Hewlett:
The reason why we’re here is because of you. Thank you for doing this.

David Read:
I remember, David, you and I had… Thank you. The first one we had, David wrote me, Kate, and he said, “I’ll do one episode ’cause you’re launching this.” And then we’re not finished with the first one, he’s like, “So when am I back?” It was like… “I think something’s working.” So…

David Hewlett:
I don’t like to talk about myself. According to Kate.

Kate Hewlett:
I’ll do one. A week.

David Read:
Guys, all the best, continued good fortune and continue to do the work that you both are doing, and thank you for coming on.

David Hewlett:
Pleasure. Thank you much.

Kate Hewlett:
Thanks.

David Read:
I’ll talk to you guys really soon.

David Hewlett:
Thanks, everyone.

David Read:
That was David Hewlett and Kate Hewlett, Meredith McKay and Jeannie Miller of Stargate Atlantis. Really appreciate y’all tuning in today. If you enjoyed this episode, please do consider hitting that like button. It makes a difference with the show and will help it continue to grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. And if you plan to watch live, giving the bell icon a click so that it’ll notify you of any schedule changes, which happened with this episode, so it’s a good idea. And bear in mind, clips from this livestream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. My tremendous thanks to my moderating team, Sommer, Tracy, Antony, Jeremy, Marcia. You guys make the show possible. To Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb, keeping DialtheGate.com up and running, the amazing work that EagleSG is doing, Matt, on my graphics, with the Puddle Jumper flying over in this opening. It’s really cool. We’ve got a number of different shows, including Tory Higginson and Rachel Luttrell next weekend, a double interview with them. So, keep it on DialtheGate.com and look at all those details for the times that you can show up live and submit your questions. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate, and I’ll see you on the other side.