The actor behind more than a hundred (yes, it’s true!) Stargate characters joins DialtheGate to share his life and legacy, and take your questions!

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Timecodes
0:00 – Opening Credits
0:27 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:39 – Guest introduction
04:58 – How did you know that this is what you wanted to do with your life?
08:27 – Who are the most important figures in your life?
12:35 – Pay-Per-View Spice Girls Commercial
14:40 – Professional Influences
18:47 – First Stargate Audition
21:18 – X’els in Spirits
29:30 – Falling Asleep During Filming
32:17 – Michael and 1969
42:23 – Foothold
47:49 – Unas in Beast of Burden
55:41 – Eggar in Metamorphosis
58:36 – Iron Shirt in Enemy Mine
1:01:12 – Unas Language
1:04:53 – Warrick in Space Race
1:09:00 – Longest Day on Stargate
1:11:02 – Costumes, Complexity and Cost
1:13:07 – Super Soldier
1:14:31 – Super Soldiers with Dan Payne
1:17:24 – Alex’s Success on Stargate
1:24:37 – Creating a Character for SG4
1:25:24 – Preferred Characters to Play
1:26:21 – Surviving the Prosthetic Process
1:27:42 – Alex Inspired A Fan
1:32:41 – Baking Cakes
1:34:46 – Revisiting Characters
1:36:51 – Signed Autographs
1:38:12 – Couch Origins
1:38:48 – Props from the Show
1:40:55 – Thank You, Alex!
1:42:31 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:46:55 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

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TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read:
Welcome, everyone, to Episode 84 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Alex Zahara is joining us for this episode. Alex and I go way back during the production of Stargate, and he has played more roles than even the SGCommand wiki lists. And we’re gonna be discussing pretty much all of them in this episode. So, before we get started, if you like Stargate and you want to see more episodes like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal to me if you click that Like button. It really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click that Subscribe icon. Giving the Bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops, and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes, which is key if you plan on watching live. And clips from this livestream will be released over the course of the next several days on the GateWorld.net YouTube channels. As with most of our shows, we invite you to go to YouTube.com/DialtheGate to submit questions for our guest. And you can also submit questions for me and the show, which will be answered at the end of the episode. So, first, Alex and I will talk, and then I will go ahead and bring the questions that the moderators have gathered for me over into the discussion. So, without further ado, Mr. Alex Zahara. Hello, sir.

Alex Zahara:
Hello.

David Read:
How are you?

Alex Zahara:
I’m pretty good. Yourself?

David Read:
I’m all right. All is well. So, you have some recent news. I don’t know if you wouldn’t mind sharing on our show as well.

Alex Zahara:
Well, I got engaged recently, so there you go.

David Read:
Congratulations.

Alex Zahara:
Thank you. It was a mutual thing. She put a ring on it, so there you go. There’s the ring on it. Let me post. There we go.

David Read:
Very nice. What is that? It’s a tri–

Alex Zahara:
It’s wood and tungsten. It’s some sort of hardwood. I can’t remember the name. It’s a black wood, and I think it’s a rosewood. And tungsten. It was a design she had made, and then I had hers– Well, I bought hers, and then we both had to get it resized, and whatnot. And I said this to you earlier, I’ll just share it with everybody here, but we were gonna get engaged on the day that we decided that we were officially boyfriend/girlfriend. Anyway, it didn’t work out ’cause both rings were– Mine was too big, hers was too small. I can’t remember now. Anyhow, suffice it, both had to get redone. And got ’em back on the 12th. It was Friday, February 12th. And we had a nice dinner for each other, and we each asked each other in our own special way, and we did. And we each said yes, luckily. It would’ve been awkward if one had said no. Especially after the other had said yes.

David Read:
Then it’s like, “How do you go back from that?” Yeah.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly. But then we didn’t– I don’t post my whole life on Facebook just because it’s not my thing. But I don’t mind it, but whatever. So, we posted later, but everybody thought we got engaged on February 14th. And I just said, I’m gonna say to everybody out there, I’m not that cheesy.

David Read:
I’m not one of those.

Alex Zahara:
No. I’m not gonna be down on one knee in a sports arena either. Moving on, moving on. But yes, I’m very excited. Cheers.

David Read:
Well, congratulations again.

Alex Zahara:
Thank you.

David Read:
It’s so great to have you. We’ve got so much ground to cover in terms of so many characters that you have portrayed over the course of seven seasons of SG-1. Six, maybe six… It was in Season Two, I think, was your first, with Xe’ls.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah.

David Read:
And then Warrick was in Season Seven. And I wanna get to all those, but first, I wanted to take a step back. How did you know that this is what you wanted to do with your life?

Alex Zahara:
This is my go-to answer, because my mom said it best. When I was three years old, I was apparently putting on sock puppet plays behind the couch for other kids in the neighborhood. So, appropriate I’m on a couch, there’s a show. There we go. No, but yeah, just from the get-go, I used to sneak up when I was a kid and watch old movies on CBC Nostalgia Theater, they called it. And I would go in black and white and watch old Humphrey Bogart movies and Jimmy Cagney films and Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn. And I was four or five years old walking around the house going, “Listen, sweetheart, the lives of two people don’t amount to a hill of beans. See?” And doing–

David Read:
Why did he get on that plane?

Alex Zahara:
I know, exactly. And I’ve got my Casablanca, I have a metal Casablanca poster, printed on metal, right over there. Maybe I’ll take you over and show you later.

David Read:
It’s a great film.

Alex Zahara:
I’m gonna do it now. I’m doing it now.

David Read:
All right.

Alex Zahara:
We’re going. So, it’s one of my favorite films of all time.

David Read:
Here’s looking at you, kid.

Alex Zahara:
Here we go. See? Right there. Look at that. Isn’t it cool?

David Read:
What a beauty. That scene when they’re in the diner …

Alex Zahara:
Yes. That’s right.

David Read:
… and the national anthems gives me chills every single time I watch it.

Alex Zahara:
I’m getting chills right now and I’m not even joking. It’s so good.

David Read:
Powerful stuff.

Alex Zahara:
Because it’s people being passionate about what they believe in. And they’re saying, “Oh, geez. Let’s see. Fascism is bad in my country. I think I’ll have a little form of display of power by playing my national anthem in front of you bunch of Nazis.” Yes, anyway.

David Read:
Have you seen Watch on the Rhine?

Alex Zahara:
Oh yeah.

David Read:
You wanna talk about? I think that there’s a lot of parallels there. I think everyone out there needs to watch that. I don’t care where you are in your mindset or anything, you watch a society transform bit by bit by bit. Anyway, great film. And sock puppets.

Alex Zahara:
And sock puppets. I did that stuff. And then when I got older, mom took me to plays, did different things, and what really hit me one time– I’ve said this before to other people, but I was watching… We went to watch Fiddler on the Roof. And they did it in a production in the high school that I eventually graduated from. But what happened was they went, and the gym was empty and we’re all sitting in the bleachers, and then the lights go down and all of a sudden you hear the little music, the fiddler? And all of a sudden, the lights came up slowly, and there’s a shadow, like a silhouette of a guy, a fiddler sitting on a roof of a house that was not there moments before. And my five-year-old mind went ka-boom. How did they get a house in the middle of the gymnasium within seconds? It’s still up there, like–

David Read:
Sleight of hand.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly. That’s kind of it. And then I did plays as a kid. We started doing early videos in the ’80s, when the video cameras were the size of luggage. And then it went from there and I ended up going to UBC. I got a degree in theater from UBC. I didn’t end up going– I made my route there. And it wasn’t an accident, that’s for sure. ‘Cause you had to audition and– Anyway, I should maybe stop talking, but that’s sort of the route. I went to university and blah, blah, blah.

David Read:
Who are, in your estimation, the most important figures in your life?

Alex Zahara:
In my life? Professionally, personally?

David Read:
Let’s start with personally.

Alex Zahara:
Personally, I’ll show you right here. That’s my dad right there. He’s passed away, but that’s my dad. Hang on. It’s terrible with the reflection, but you can see him.

David Read:
I see him definitely.

Alex Zahara:
That’s dad right there.

David Read:
Kind face.

Alex Zahara:
That is also dad when he was 10. That is also dad when he lost a bet and had to go to work in drag.

David Read:
My God. What a sport.

Alex Zahara:
He was one that, you read that article, it was– He was head of indoor maintenance at a college for 20 years. You read that article and it says, “Alex Zahara always has a skip in his step and a joke and this and that.” That’s where I get my personality from, I think. Pretty outgoing. He was super outgoing, friendly, nice guy. Not that I’m blowing my own horn or whatever, but that kind of describes me too. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Dad and actually, the fellow next to him with this lady here. Can you see that? That’s my grandparents in 1942. That’s their wedding photograph. That’s my grandpa Hugh and my grandmother Lucille. They were married Christmas Eve, December 1942. She took a train all the way across Canada from Alberta to Ontario to get married before he shipped off to sea, overseas, in ’42. Or would have been ’43 then by the time he shipped off, but– So, they got married by Reverend Patrick McGillicuddy on Clapperton Street, or it was Reverend Clapperton on McGillicuddy Street. And they would play with this, play fight with that their whole lives about what was real or not. I don’t even remember.

David Read:
The important thing is the marriage was.

Alex Zahara:
But no, my dad and my grandpa really formed me as a person, as the, I guess, two most important males in my life. And then, important females, obviously my grandma and my mom. And words of advice from all of them are the best. I think one of the best words of advice I ever got from my dad was he said, “You can be, do whatever you want in life. But just because you do accomplish that, just remember, it doesn’t make you better than anyone else.” And because he got treated kind of oddly ’cause he was a maintenance foreman at a college and there was a lot of, a bit of elite academics there and whatnot. And they looked down on him a little bit sometimes. But when they realized that they couldn’t conduct their classes and do things without his crew cleaning up and whatever, then suddenly it built respect over the years. And there was one incident where this one professor really came at him and basically– From a foreign country, I’ll just let it be from there. And he called him a peasant. And this professor had worn muddy galoshes all the way across the concourse. And my dad reared back. My dad was like 5’6″, 150 pounds soaking wet. He reared back and was just gonna crack this guy. My dad was a tough man. He used to open beer bottles with his teeth. He lost his eye teeth doing that.

David Read:
Doing that?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah. He was super strong for his size too. He was amazing. So, he rears back to punch this guy to say, “Oh yeah?” And his boss, who was 6’2″, 200 and something pounds, grabbed him and said, “Alex, don’t. He’s not worth it.” And that professor from then on, “I guess I can’t treat people like this here.” Anyway, they ended up having a friendship that lasted until my dad died. So, there you go.

David Read:
The guy who had made all the mud?

Alex Zahara:
Yup.

David Read:
When you stand up to someone who’s being a bully or just being plain obnoxious, I’m always surprised at the number of times that they turn around and say, “OK, I see what’s…” Almost as if they were testing you to see what your mettle was, to see what you’re really made of. And it’s like, “OK. Sorry about that, by the way, but now I’ve got your number.”

Alex Zahara:
My first venture into space, as it were, I did still live in space, I did the final pay-per-view concert commercial for the Spice Girls. And it was at Wembley, England, and they’re gonna have this live with whatever, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, so get this, they had, and here’s the Stargate connection. So, they had Bruce Willis slated to be the captain of their space spy ship flying them home on their tour. That fell through. Then they tried getting Dennis Hopper and Jim Belushi, it all fell through. Then they tried to get Richard Dean Anderson.

David Read:
Interesting.

Alex Zahara:
And I was on hold the whole weekend and he was like, “I’m not gonna do that.” They wanted me here, there, whatever. And he said they just thought I was– And this was before I even did Stargate. This was the year before. And so, I mean, they were gonna pay those guys big money. Me, I got scale or whatever it was, where it was nothing compared to the ad campaign and the amount of money they made in that concert, let me tell you. But anyway, when we were on set, the producer was all cigar smoking back in the day and he’s like, “Wa, wa, wa.” And I said, “Well, it’s kinda crappy those guys were gonna get big money, I’m just getting scale,” whatever. He goes, “Ah, kid, you don’t sell tickets, you don’t get bums in seats.” And I said, “Oh, don’t worry. One day I will. And when we work together again, you are gonna pay through the nose.” And then he just stopped smoking and he goes, “I bet I will, kid. I bet I will.” And after that, he treated me really nice.

David Read:
Nothing wrong with pushing back a little bit.

Alex Zahara:
No, but it’s a shame that we have to treat each other like that, or there are people out there that do bullying and intimidating to the point where you gotta go, “OK, this is the game you wanna play? Fine, I’ll play, I’ll play your game. What you don’t realize is just ’cause I didn’t bring my bag of marbles doesn’t mean I’m not ready to play.”

David Read:
That’s true. That’s a fair point.

Alex Zahara:
I will hit you with that bag of marbles.

David Read:
If you have to. Some examples of the professional people in your career who have helped shape you into who you are.

Alex Zahara:
Sure. One of the early mentors I ever had was Tom McBeat. He was in the show, Stargate. We did a play, we did a play together years ago called The Visit. And it starred Nikki Cavendish as well, and Tom, all about a woman who goes back to her small European town after it’s been decimated with financial strife, et cetera. And Tom played her old beau, et cetera. It’s a very fascinating story. And anyway… But Tom, the work ethic from Tom, his amazing professionalism, and kindness, and generosity, and especially to young actors like ourselves. We, myself and my buddy Peter Grier, were picked from our UBC grad class to be in the show, probably because it was free labor for the theater. We got an honorarium. Didn’t even cover my bus fare to get from school, back and forth to the theater.

David Read:
Gotta love those warm fuzzies, man. That’s all you’re gonna get sometimes.

Alex Zahara:
“Here, have a nice cup of tea.” “And you can pass token and be here for 25 hours when we need you.” OK. No, but Tom is really cool, and as a personal mentor, really had a big impression on me. And we’ve remained friends. And his partner, Karin Konoval, we’re friends over the years. We don’t get together really that much, but we’re professional and friendship sort of people. Anyway, we used to be at a few conventions together. But on a looking-up-to scale, the only person I ever wrote a fan letter to and I loved was Kirk Douglas. I love Kirk Douglas. I came back on a plane, first plane trip I ever went was 19, 20, I went to Europe. I was coming back. I went on my own. My girlfriend and I, I should say, I went on my own, she went to work as a nanny and I went traveling, and then the Gulf War broke out. I was 20, 23, something like that. Coming back, in the airport in Heathrow I saw– I always liked Kirk Douglas, I love his performances, but I saw his book, and it was this thick, because I remember. The Ragman’s Son. And I picked up The Ragman’s Son and I almost finished it on the plane home.

David Read:
You were sucked in.

Alex Zahara:
God, it was so good. I felt there was a lot of parallels ’cause his dad was a ragman. Literally, his job in the factory was to go around and pick up the oily rags that the other workers dropped. And that was his job. And I felt a bit parallel ’cause my dad was a maintenance man for years. There were so many parallels I felt like in our lives. And I wrote him an appreciation letter just saying, “Listen, I really like you, your work,” et cetera. “I just read your book. I flew back from Europe.” And I’ve just looked at him ’cause he always talks about his hard work ethic and it’s just everything. He was a super hardworking guy. And that’s what I really liked about him. For whatever faults, everybody has their faults and whatever. He lived to be 100 and something, lived through a helicopter crash, stroke, whatever.

David Read:
He hung in there.

Alex Zahara:
He had my respect. And I really, really, really enjoyed the work he did. He was a fine actor. He and John Wayne were supposed to maybe do a movie together, and John Wayne said to him, “I hear you’re doing this here pansy movie about that Van Gogh guy or whatever.” And he said to Kirk, “Kirk, we’re icons. We have people look up to us. You can’t be playing these namby-pamby characters or whatever.” And Kirk’s like, “Well, I’m an actor. I don’t know what you are,” sort of. He didn’t mean it meanly, but he just said that. I’m boiling it down. I’m not quoting anybody. And yeah, I always respect that. ‘Cause he said, “I’m an actor first.” I mean, he played Vincent van Gogh, and he played generals in the army and stuff. And just like, ah. Anyway, there you go. That’s my big ones.

David Read:
He definitely had some flexibility there. For sure. Tell us about that first audition. Was Xe’ls your first audition? Did you hit it right out of the park? Were there some that came before it?

Alex Zahara:
What’s funny? No. I actually booked a Stargate before Xe’ls. And what happened was this. It was an episode with Gillian Barber, and the aliens wore these little veils, these sort of see-through veils.

David Read:
“The Gamekeeper.”

Alex Zahara:
There you go.

David Read:
The residents.

Alex Zahara:
Residents, OK. I auditioned for that. And the same time I auditioned for the Sentinel, roughly the same time. And long and short was, the Sentinel got back first, or I’d auditioned for them first. So, they had first dibs. And I booked guest star on that, and then I booked a guest star on Stargate at exactly the same time.

David Read:
When it rains, it pours.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly. Or drought.

David Read:
That’s true too.

Alex Zahara:
So, anyway, I booked the two of them, but Sentinel got back two hours earlier than Stargate and that was it. We couldn’t– But it worked out great because you see, in the one with Gillian, they just used these little veils. And then I maybe wouldn’t have been able to come back because he’d seen my face, for a while. So, it was what I call a happy accident where I didn’t get that one, but they remembered me for the next, down the road a little bit here. And then when Xe’ls came up, which I don’t even remember how long it was between. I didn’t think it was too long, but maybe it was. I don’t know. Can’t remember. But then Xe’ls came up and I did that audition and booked it and it was prosthetic makeup and they found out I had an affinity for the makeup. I didn’t mind sitting in a chair for hours or whatever. I was born on Halloween so makeup and me go together really well. Anyway. So, then that’s how I got it. And then Michael Greenburg, between Dion Johnstone and I, he just said, “You guys, you’re our go-to guys and you’re welcome on set any time and come on visit.”

David Read:
What a golden ticket.

Alex Zahara:
We didn’t even have to phone up. We just had to come by. He said, “Just come by any time you want.” So, we became the go-to alien guys. And they would write scripts for this, with us in mind and they would ask months ahead of time, “Hey, are you free in June? We’re gonna do this episode.” “Yep.” “OK, cool.” And then I think there was an overlap or something was available, the one time I filled in for Dion ’cause he was doing Stratford or whatever. But mostly they were able to accommodate and so we did that on and off over the run of 10 years.

David Read:
Just extraordinary, absolutely.

Alex Zahara:
Pardon me, I’m drinking my tea. I’m very Canadian.

David Read:
No, actually you’re fine. I look at an episode like “Spirits,” which I love. And it shows how the show, ’cause the show is often compared to Next Generation, Star Trek: [The] Next Generation.

Alex Zahara:
Total agreement.

David Read:
Next Generation really took a while to get going. There are some tremendous episodes in the first and second seasons of TNG but in my opinion you can count them on one or two hands. With SG-1, it got out of the gate so fast and “Spirits” is just one of those great examples of really high concept sci-fi that the show was achieving really early on in its run. Tell us about that makeup process, tell us about getting into that character, into that one-piece hideous suit. Whatever you want to call that thing.

Alex Zahara:
That’s my Mylar gown. Now stop it. What? So, it’s–

David Read:
Lighting that would have had to have been a nightmare.

Alex Zahara:
It was fine. Hey, sweetie. My fiancée just came back from the gymnasium sort of.

David Read:
Hello.

Alex Zahara:
She’s back over there. There you go. She won’t let me turn the camera on her right now so I don’t–

David Read:
I don’t blame her. It’s all right. She just got back from the gym, leave her alone.

Alex Zahara:
OK. You notice I changed my shirt ’cause of you, David. I had my trousers on. And then I thought, “This will–”

David Read:
I thought something was different.

Alex Zahara:
I might have put a nicer shirt on.

David Read:
No, you’re all good. No, it’s great.

Alex Zahara:
Anyway, and we have one of our little dogs is deaf like this. We have a little dachshund named Star.

David Read:
Aw! You have a dachshund?

Alex Zahara:
We’ve got two of them. She’s four, it’s her birthday today.

David Read:
Aw! Hello, sweetie. Hi, honey.

Alex Zahara:
And Ruby’s down here. I’ll show you Ruby. Ruby. Oh no, come here. Ruby, come here.

David Read:
Alex, I had dachshunds for years.

Alex Zahara:
There you go, OK. Here, there’s Ruby. Hello.

David Read:
Hi, sweetie. Aw, what a sweetie.

Alex Zahara:
There you go.

David Read:
Also, thank you for sharing.

Alex Zahara:
It’s her birthday. We gotta take her to Dairy Queen later ’cause she gets an ice cream cone.

David Read:
Aw!

Alex Zahara:
And to the dog store, forgive me. Anyway.

David Read:
She’s so sweet.

David Read:
Dachshunds are the best.

Alex Zahara:
Xe’ls.

David Read:
Xe’ls And dogs.

Alex Zahara:
Anyway, I thought it was a really cool episode because dealing with sovereignty, rights, everything. And it’s an obvious parallel to what’s been going on in North America and South America and all over the world with indigenous peoples being colonized, et cetera, or transported, moved, what have you. And Xe’ls, he was looking out for ’em, it was his thing. And Christina Cox, who played my partner, T’akaya, I just thought it was such a really well-crafted, well done script and wasn’t heavy handed at all. And I know I just really liked it. It spoke to who are we, where are we going, and why are we treating each other like this? We can step beyond where we are. I don’t know, I loved it. Oh, sorry, you were gonna say something, David, sorry.

David Read:
No, I thought appearances can be deceiving. You think that this one culture is one thing. That they’re not protected and we can take advantage of them, at least our government can. SG-1 is not cool with it, but our government can. And then, man, it gets turned on its ear real quick. That’s just great stuff.

Alex Zahara:
And that’s the thing I always found with Stargate. I think Stargate, the crew and everybody was a really big family. And that’s the thing, you take care of your family, and that’s what I felt was going on in the show, that it actually leaked into the show, or the show leaked into the crew about caring for each other and family. You don’t want to treat people that you’re gonna see every day poorly. Why would you do that? And you don’t want to treat your family poorly. In the bigger picture, everybody taking care of each other, and all this weird COVID stuff that’s been going on. Even Shannon and I were moving stuff the other day and talking to people, dealing with each other with respect. Respecting each other, that’s the key thing, give some respect to each other and some courtesy and we’ll all get along fine. And that’s what was going on in that show, everybody caring for each other. And Xe’ls and T’akaya saved the Salish people from the Goa’uld. And said, “OK, well, these people have been transported away from their homeland. Let’s try to make their homeland seem as real again or as more comfortable.” So, that’s when they don the persona of the Raven God and the Wolf God, et cetera. Make these people’s transition to this alien world easier.

David Read:
They really took it to the nth degree. And they were the types of creatures that they were comfortable in pretty much doing that for them. They had no issue with that. But at the end of the episode, it’s like, “You know what? I think the humanoid form makes us happy.” “I think we’re cool with this if you guys can accept it.” And it takes SG-1 to help them realize, “You know, maybe you shouldn’t always be impersonating just what they want you to think. Maybe they’ll be more accepting of you than you realize.”

Alex Zahara:
And that’s a big thing for people across the board here, for all the experiences that people have been going through, the LGBTQ community, et cetera. You are good enough the way you are. And that’s the message of it. And it’s funny you say with the makeup and stuff and going through the makeup every day, about the transition, et cetera. I have friends that did a play years ago with Green Thumb Theater. I think it was called The Beauty Machine, all about people’s social pressure to become beautiful, become the same. And there’s a whole play where this girl is deciding whether or not she’s gonna go into the beauty machine, which will make her the same as everybody else. She chooses not to. And of course, then they discuss with the kids the pros and cons of all the above. It’s kinda like that with the makeup. When I wore the fish gills, people were creeped out by them or grossed out.

David Read:
They’re pretty creepy at first.

Alex Zahara:
At first, but then you get to know somebody and, “OK, that’s just the way they are.” When Xe’ls gets to know the people and they get to know him, he’s not a god, he’s another being like them, he’s got a bit more power, as it were. But the appearances can be deceiving, like you said. And at first, he could look creepy or weird. But he’s a really genuine, good-hearted person, or being, I should say. But the makeup was crazy to begin with. I actually should say it’s the least crazy makeup I’ve ever done. Because it’s a piece that came over like this. And then basically I was sprayed, and it was down here. And they colored my hair black, and I had to wear that Mylar dress, which put my temperature to about 172 Fahrenheit. But anyway, there’s a great shot of–I wish I had it with me–but of Martin, Martin Wood, Christina and I hanging out on set, sitting on the steps of the Stargate, and there was a heat wave in Vancouver that time. And we were, “Uh…” And we got the Mylar dress up, you can see my underwear, I think, they’re pumping in cool air. Anyway, it was very fun. And a real quick story, I’ve told this 100 times, I think you’ve probably heard it. As I was there doing the scene–

David Read:
Alex, can you start over? I had a bit of a lag for about 10 seconds there. Can you start over again for me, please? Hello?

Alex Zahara:
Computer broke…

David Read:
I’m getting pieces of him.

Alex Zahara:
Can you hear me? Can you hear–

David Read:
There we go. OK, now you’re back. Sorry about that. Please start one more time if you don’t mind.

Alex Zahara:
No, no, you’re fine. It’s all good. I just said–

David Read:
Technical difficulties, folks. I’m so sorry. This is what happens in the COVID age. We get what we can with what we got.

Alex Zahara:
The problem’s… oh, no. Am I gone?

David Read:
Yeah.

Alex Zahara:
I’m here. Can you see me?

David Read:
I can now. So, OK, if you don’t mind, take three. I’m so sorry.

Alex Zahara:
Thank you. It’s all good. So, here we are, I’m lying on a gurney. It’s 38 degrees Centigrade. People are passing out just about around us, but I fell asleep during a take. I was like, “Oh, I have to be unconscious,” and I’m lying there, and because the fish gills are over your nose, your nose is sealed off. So, I’m breathing through my mouth. I started snoring.

David Read:
You’re on your back. That’s too funny.

Alex Zahara:
I’ll never forget. This is what I saw. I gotta do this for you. Imagine seeing Amanda Tapping do this: “Alex, you’re snoring.” That was my POV of Amanda gently shaking my shoulder, waking me up and going, “You’re snoring.” I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry.”

David Read:
OK. Action, action. You will be punished.

Alex Zahara:
I was lying in– I couldn’t move.

David Read:
That’s too funny.

Alex Zahara:
I was supposed to be unconscious anyway. You know what? I was method acting.

David Read:
Absolutely. So, did they have air hoses behind you in order to make the gills do the thing?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah. What it was– So, I’m getting all uncomfy here, and I’m moving the perspective. Sorry. They had little tubes. They went smaller and smaller down the back, and they went down the back of my dress, past my buttocks and out to this guy who had, I’m not joking, turkey basters, the bulbs on the end of all six or whatever. He would squeeze them, and they would go like…

David Read:
Wow.

Alex Zahara:
High tech, eh?

David Read:
Hey, whatever makes it work, man.

Alex Zahara:
But you think magic of the movies, you would never know that I was connected. Whenever I’m breathing, I’m connected to some dude squeezing turkey baster bulbs. I’m sorry, I broke the illusion. I’m going to movie hell.

David Read:
That’s one of the reasons we’re all here to see how it’s done. The simplest tricks are the best. It is one of the coolest/creepiest aliens that the show did because it’s so different. A huge portion of your face is missing. And to relate to that psychologically just takes a little bit to get used to. You don’t just automatically see one for the first time and go, “Oh, huh.” It’s kinda like, “Whoa.”

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, and it’s kinda creepy. I have an issue with holes, when I see holes in people’s faces and shit, and pardon my language, but– There was a Michael Jackson video back in the day, and one character, this weird character, and just for a glimpse, had this mouth of just holes. And I was like, “Ew.”

David Read:
There’s certain things that we’re accustomed to seeing and then with not. That’s crazy. Your next episode was one of my favorites in the ones that you’ve done, if not the favorite. And the story that you’ve told, and I’ll want you to tell it again, in terms of this character. My father was a drafted Vietnam helicopter pilot. So, finding out that Michael was gonna be crossing the border to escape the draft, I had certain, growing up in the household as I did, I had certain feelings about that. But one of the lines that you suggested put the whole character into perspective for me that I wasn’t expecting. Didn’t necessarily have to agree with him, but I understood him. And that was the important thing. Tell us about Michael. “1969.”

Alex Zahara:
A little background real quick here. It was my second episode. I got asked to specifically audition for the show. Hang on, I should turn my phone off. Oops. I, running around here, forgot to turn the phone off. So, I was doing a play up in Prince George. It was about 1,200, no, 800 kilometers that way, north. And I had to come back, I had to fly myself back in order to audition for it. This is before you could tape anything and send it in really. So, they asked me to come, and so I flew back. And it was the night of the play. And if I missed the play, I said, “Well, OK, I’ll buy the house out for that night. I’ll do it. I’ll have to, right? ‘Cause I stand to make a lot more money doing Stargate than doing the play.” Anyway, so I flew back, I came back, and everybody started scoffing, “Oh, you’ll never get it.” Whatever. So, I landed at 4:30 back in Vancouver. I was dressed up as a hippie. The stage manager lent me all this stuff, and I went as a hippie, and far out, man. And they loved it. Michael and everybody just were in there, they just loved it. So, I left, and then I got a call at 5:30. I was first choice. As I left to the theater at 6:30, “Oh, you got the job.” “Great.” So, I walk in and this one lady was like, “So, how did it go, Alex?” And I said, “Well, guess who’s doing Stargate when I come home?” She was like, “Oh, Alex,” and I’m gonna say her word, “You’re nothing but a TV whore.” I’m like, “What the hell does that even mean?”

David Read:
“I like to eat. How about you?”

Alex Zahara:
How about you? Anyway that’s the funny backstory. But the serious thing of Michael was, yeah, here’s a guy who lived life, and he was believing in peace and love, and there was that whole counterculture movement then. We’re trying to get away from after World War II and Korea, and now we got Vietnam. What the hell? So, they were really trying to say, “Peace is the way. We don’t have to be, take up arms against each other. We can do something different. We can make a new choice.” And that’s what, you look at all the poetry and the writing at the time and the songs, you know, like–

David Read:
Some of the best music that we have came out of that era.

Alex Zahara:
Totally. Like, “The eastern world, it is explodin’.”

David Read:
“Explodin’.”

Alex Zahara:
“Violence flarin’, and bullets loadin’.”

David Read:
Bullets loadin’, yeah.

Alex Zahara:
Anyway, so I went, “He’s a peace-loving guy. He loves his fellow man and woman.” So, I went in there and I have to say, I played me if I was a hippie. And, you know, ’cause that’s kind of me. I’m pretty fun, easygoing for the most part. Just don’t get me started. Just kidding.

David Read:
Charles Correll directed this episode.

Alex Zahara:
I was gonna say, and Charlie. So, we’re sitting around talking and I said, “Charlie, he keeps saying, ‘Oh, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna go to war, man. Don’t wanna go to war.'” But Charlie, it was so cool, such a nice man and so good at his job and craft. And I just said, “Look, Charlie, that last line, he said it so– My character, I don’t wanna kill anybody.” And he’s, “Perfect. We’re gonna film it. We’ll ask him about it later, but they’ll be cool with it.”

David Read:
Did you do both?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, we shot both versions. They were cool with it. And Michael and Jon and the others, they made the call. And they put that in because that’s really what was behind it. Because let’s face it, nobody wants to go to war. I mean, ever. But if you have to, then you have to, right?

David Read:
That’s a different circumstance, yeah.

Alex Zahara:
That’s a different circumstance. But certainly nobody wants–

David Read:
To kill.

Alex Zahara:
Don’t wanna willfully kill anybody, any other human being, ever. So, when it came down to it, he said, “That’s just it. I don’t wanna kill anybody.” And we made that call and the line got in, and I think it was a better episode for it. And that’s not me tooting my own horn. All I’m saying is, approaching it as an actor and looking for the essence and the sense of the character, that is the thing that resonated and rang true to me. And it comes out. When you’re in rehearsal, you’re doing stuff, and these lines come out of your mouth, it’s not meaning, “Oh, I’m gonna say this line ’cause it’s super cool.” No. The character is inhabiting my body and spirit and mind, soul, and the words will come out sometimes that aren’t on the page. That’s not disrespecting the writer, it’s not disrespecting the process. You’re paraphrasing with your soul. And that’s what comes out. And I’ve always had to honor that because if you don’t honor that, then you’re not being truthful to the character.

David Read:
And you’re also not giving the documents the proper opportunity to potentially shine even further. At least give them the choice. Because if I would think that if you’re not doing that, then you’re potentially betraying your interpretation of the character. And a lot of these things have to come together.

Alex Zahara:
True. And the fact of the matter is, again, it’s no disrespect to anybody, and really good producers, writers, directors, fellow actors, they know when a moment works and they’re not gonna not let a moment work to say, “You didn’t say the right words.” Look at Casablanca, they didn’t even have a fully functioning, filled-out script when they started filming.

David Read:
No. They just had the talent.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly.

David Read:
And that was enough.

Alex Zahara:
There you go. Nothing against writers. Love writers, they’re the best. Without them we would have nothing. But I’m just saying a good writer will see a good line and say, “Yeah, that works better, do it.”

David Read:
Yep, absolutely. Brad Wright would often–

Alex Zahara:
Brad too, forgive me. Brad would’ve approved that for sure.

David Read:
Oh, absolutely. He was never precious on really specific lines of dialogue. He was always up for saying, “If you can make it better, great. To change it just to change it, that’s something else.” But if you, if it’s–

Alex Zahara:
It’s ego.

David Read:
If you’re having an active intent of, “I really want to service the text and this is an idea that I have,” just film it and throw it out if it doesn’t work. Because some things don’t always work in editing, when you see other things together.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, when you piece a performance together, you’ll see the different– And a classic example and the best example I think is when, from The Untouchables with Sean Connery. The infamous, collar closed, collar open, collar closed, collar open. He did this little scene when he says, “You wanna get to Capone.” Says, “Yeah, you wanna get to Capone. You bring a knife, you bring a gun.” That’s it. Anyway, but there’s a whole, a series of in– I can’t remember the– And his collar is opened and closed and opened and closed and opened and closed. But see, elements of each run were better than the elements of the other. So, they, you know, they cut it together and there’s a prime example where, you know, good stuff comes from all over the place. Doesn’t necessarily, the best take isn’t the flowing at once. It was spikes and it kinda went, “Oh, and that’s good and then na, na, na, and that’s good.” And then the other take, those lows are actually higher.

David Read:
You have to sometimes sacrifice continuity. One of my favorite films, comedy films is Music and Lyrics. And there’s a scene with Drew Barrymore sitting in the cafe with Hugh Grant. And her cup is either at her mouth, she’s sipping, or it’s sitting there constantly. But it was the right balance of moments to make it work. So, you have to look– If you just stare at the cup it’ll drive you nuts, like his shirt collar as well. It just has to, you have to make the best moment that you can with the information that you have.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, it’s suspension of disbelief. To really go to another world, to live through it, you suspend your disbelief. ‘Cause let’s face it, even right now, this little camera that’s capturing me, well, this is not real. All this is real, you know what I mean? I’m giving you a selection of my reality right now. So, when you see this, or in a film, when we watch film, we suspend the disbelief. Because we know like, “Tap tap tap,” just outside the barriers of the frame, there’s like a hundred fifty people standing there, with lights and camera.

David Read:
On a set, yeah.

Alex Zahara:
You know that, but we watch it because we want to experience something vicariously that we’ll never get to experience. How many of us are gonna get to go to space? I’m sorry, I’m not a billionaire, I don’t have the recreational funds to go do a little loop around the world or the moon. So, I’ve traveled in space a thousand million times. And I love it ’cause I suspend–

David Read:
You’ve raced, what are you talking about? You’ve raced in space.

Alex Zahara:
I’ve raced in space. Anyway, moving on.

David Read:
That’s great. Terrific episode. A classic to this day. And I think Michael and Jenny are– Amber Rothwell, big, big part of that. She was delightful. “I really love your hair.”

Alex Zahara:
I’ll have to show you. I think I’ve got it somewhere here, but I actually had hair like that.

David Read:
Really?

Alex Zahara:
I had long hair. My head used to get perfect spirals, like Shirley Temple curls. My hair was about down to here, mid-chest, beyond. When I cut it in, like, God, I think I grew it for five years once straight, and I grew my COVID hair, went for about a year. I cut my hair, it was about that long about five weeks ago. I know I had the full-on– That’s the first time in my life when I really needed a long wig ’cause I usually have my hair fairly long. They had to put extensions in, I did extensions for that, and I did extensions for King Midas on Once Upon a Time. But so many times my hair’s been so long–

David Read:
That’s right, it’s Midas. I love that show. Next episode, you wanna talk about a full wardrobe. These “Foothold” aliens. I can’t imagine, I can’t remember how many suits they designed for that. It was at least six or seven, and then they duplicated them in effect shots. I don’t think there’s any makeup on that. I think it’s just a helmet you’re wearing. Is that correct?

Alex Zahara:
Well, in essence it is makeup, because you are wearing something over your face. So, it is special effects makeup. And we actually had a mouth thing inside that you had to chew, and it made the mandibles wiggle. So, Geoff Redknap was the makeup artist, and he had this thing and you put it in your mouth, and you went… And then… It was pretty funny. But no, that was a tough one because, again, very limited vision. They had to put a little piece of black– There was a little slit for the eye where it was supposed to be? And then you put your hand over like that; it was kinda what you could see. And then they had to put this little black veil to hide my skin tone, because my skin, I’m fish belly white in February. So, they did that. And then Andy Mikita was directing. It was a great episode; I had a great time with it. We all did, Dion and I, everybody. But I had to race into the control room one time, and you can watch, my character comes running in and he goes up the steps to where Gary normally sits. What’s his name again? Wally? Wait, no, what’s his name?

David Read:
Walter.

Alex Zahara:
Walter. There we go.

David Read:
Gary Jones. You got it.

Alex Zahara:
Gary Jones. But I laughed because he was talking about his name and how it came up one time; I was remembering. Was it Wally? So, I come racing up, but I couldn’t really see. I can’t see below here. So, I thought I had put my foot up on the step, and I did not. And I realized, “Oh, shit, I’m gonna fall,” so I just shot my left arm out like this, ’cause I knew there was a rail there. I grabbed it and sorta ended up swinging underneath it. And Andy was right out of his chair, right by the camera, just, “Jesus.” Like, “Ouch, are you OK?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m fine. No, it’s OK.” “So, all right, let’s do that again. You sure you’re OK?” That was fun.

David Read:
You’ve got stairs there. That’s an interesting space.

Alex Zahara:
What was really funny too is, even the hands, the little claws they gave us, the little lobster claw, I think you could fire the machine– No, you could fire either the machine gun or the handgun. You couldn’t fire one of them based on what we were doing. I think it was the machine gun we could fire, but we couldn’t fire the handguns. And when we did that scene where we were all shooting and Richard Dean’s there, that’s when Tom MacBeath comes in. Remember they raid the facility to save everybody?

David Read:
Yes, that’s right.

Alex Zahara:
And then Richard Dean’s sitting there and he goes bang and hits the thing, and it drops down ’cause I’m gonna nuke myself in my own head. But when we were firing those machine guns, they’re blanks in there. We’re inside the room, and I’d forgotten to put earplugs in because it was hard to hear. So, we’re inside there, but it’s OK. But it just reverberated, your entire being. And you’re like, “Oh my God, I think I’m deaf.” You know what I mean? ‘Cause all those guns in an enclosed space? Holy crow, man. That was loud.

David Read:
Absolutely. And you can’t say, “Yeah, let’s take all this off so I can put my earbuds in.”

Alex Zahara:
No, no.

David Read:
I suppose you could, but then it would be like, “Ugh.”

Alex Zahara:
I wanna jump back for a quick sec, in reference to the last episode. With the anti-Vietnam War, not going to war?

David Read:
‘69.

Alex Zahara:
With dad being a pilot and stuff. And that’s the thing: Michael wasn’t a coward, that’s what I wanted to say. He wasn’t a coward, he just didn’t wanna kill anybody. And I think he still respected the people that went off to war to choose that. That’s their path and they chose that, and that’s OK. He didn’t disparage the soldiers that went off. At least in my mind, I didn’t play it like that. And Jenny and Michael went off and they had seven love children up in Canada somewhere, you know what I mean?

David Read:
After Woodstock.

Alex Zahara:
After Woodstock, you bet. That’s it. And then people like your dad that served, and others. And there was a lotta Canadians that actually went and volunteered. They came down and volunteered ’cause they felt compelled to. But that’s the thing, it’s about choice. And I think that episode was about choice and not– And it wasn’t cowardice, it was choice, emotional feeling, like a conscientious objector. In essence though, I think a lot of the guys that went across the border were conscientious objectors, objectionists, or objectors. I wouldn’t even call them cowards either because it takes a lot to decide to, you’re gonna leave your family, leave your country, everything else.

David Read:
Look at Edward Snowden.

Alex Zahara:
Edward Snowden. Thank you to your dad for his service and flying and endangering himself. So, we jump back now. We’re over here again?

David Read:
Back to fun. They just took his wings from him last year, it was not a good day.

Alex Zahara:
Did they?

David Read:
He flew… He has a lot to be thankful for.

Alex Zahara:
Was he a professional pilot his whole life?

David Read:
Yeah. Because of Vietnam. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. It’s crazy.

Alex Zahara:
He choppers the whole time or what?

David Read:
He flew planes too, but he flew aerovac for years. Hey dad, I know you’re watching. Love you. He doesn’t miss an episode.

Alex Zahara:
Hey, what’s dad’s name?

David Read:
Just like me, David.

Alex Zahara:
Hey David, thanks very much, and I’ve been in a helicopter once or twice in my life, it’s my favorite mode of flying, I think. It’s really cool.

David Read:
I love it. I love flying, absolutely. What a run with the Unas. You are one of the few to have played a female Unas.

Alex Zahara:
Which is true.

David Read:
Were you in “The First Ones?” With the first episode with Dion as Chaka? Or was it “Beast of Burden” that you came in?

Alex Zahara:
I came in in “Beast of Burden.” It was Vince Hammond and Dion, I believe, were in that one.

David Read:
Correct. I couldn’t remember if there were others, females, in “The First Ones” or not.

Alex Zahara:
There may have been, I think there were some in the background that I don’t see.

David Read:
There were, in the cave.

Alex Zahara:
They were loitering in the cave somewhere. As you do, you loiter in caves.

David Read:
You do, as an Unas.

Alex Zahara:
No, but I came in in “Beast of Burden” for that. And then that was a really great episode ’cause I got to play– I think I played six or eight characters in that one alone. We were the Unases working in the field, we were the Unases for slaving, for sale in the slave market.

David Read:
Auction.

Alex Zahara:
We were the Unases working in the town.

David Read:
In the tavern.

Alex Zahara:
And then I was Shy One. I played the main guy, Shy One. Then I played the bloodhound Unas that was hunting my own self. And then I played the female waitress, of course, which was really cool ’cause they put the little bodice on me with the little slight boobage.

David Read:
Exactly. No horns, you gotta do a couple of different things.

Alex Zahara:
All the characters, Dion and I talked about their movement, and from “Foothold,” they were like lobster men so we thought, “Well, they must be, they could be from underwater. Maybe they developed underwater.” So, their musculature would be different. They’d be super strong because they had to move underwater. Anyhow, we did that and then with the Unas here, they were like lizards. And they had the fast-twitch muscle and they’re very quick and whatnot. And we talked about that too, and I actually based Shy One off of Lou Gossett’s character, Fiddler, from Roots. The TV series, Roots. I based Shy One off of Fiddler, like an indentured slave, and he was so– Rebelling was so foreign to him. Because he’d been a slave his whole life, basically.

David Read:
That’s all you know. It’s easy, hindsight is easy to say, “Why didn’t he…” ‘Cause it’s what he knows.

Alex Zahara:
That’s right.

David Read:
We’re not talking about right or wrong, we’re just talking about what is.

Alex Zahara:
Absolutely. And then the scene where Dion shoots Larry Drake’s character. And then passes the staff to me and I, whoa. Take it up. A pivotal moment, but back to the female waitress Unas thing once. In rehearsal, again, good things coming up. We’re in rehearsal and Shanksy’s sitting there, and he asks for a drink, and he says, “Please?” And I was like, “No.” I look at him, I’m like, give him a little sniff ’cause he’s different than the rest. He’s not like the other freakos or these jerks around here. This kid’s new in town. But that was the thing. I thought, “What would an animal do?” What do dogs do? They sniff people. They check ’em out, “You’re different.” And Martin Wood just loved it. He goes, “Oh, nice. Nice.” You’re doing good with Martin, you either get a, “Nice. Sweet.” Or we got, “All right, we’re going again.” Put that little sniff in and– There’s all physical changes. Every creature that you play or every person moves differently. The bloodhound Unases were psychos. They were bloodthirsty bastards and they were running around like maniacs.

David Read:
They’ve been conditioned to do that.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly. That’s just it. Everybody has their own thing. It’s every character. And it’s funny, real quick, I fell asleep during a break one time. There’s a picture of me lying on the grass. But I closed my mouth. I have no passage to breathe through the nose. I closed my mouth and I’m lying there, and in my dream I’m suffocating. I’m like, “Can’t breathe, can’t breathe.” “Why can’t I breathe?” And then I woke up and I was in this little unused room at the time and we weren’t filming it. I was alone and I said, “OK, Alex, calm down. It’s OK.”

David Read:
That’s spooky.

Alex Zahara:
I didn’t– Don’t let anyone know that you’re such a goofball that you did that. But after that, I put a pillow behind my neck to keep my head back. Fun times.

David Read:
I love that episode. You’ve got a society that has used these things for all forms. And one of the most striking moments for me is when the little boy comes in with the Unas who is his caretaker who’s clearly a friend. And this kid has no perception of slavery or anything else, and he reaches out and he holds his hand as he walks away from the cages after someone had hurt a family member or something like that. It was, wow, there are a lot of layers to this. It’s just a lot to take in. When a society absorbs another one. Not everyone is– I think you could certainly say everyone is, in part, guilty for their circumstance, but you look at that kid and you look at, for all intents and purposes, a nanny or a mother, or a stepfather. There’s a lot to unpack in that episode.

Alex Zahara:
If you think of it, it obviously parallels to slavery, of course, because it’s–

David Read:
Of course. It’s a sci-fi.

Alex Zahara:
For the American experience at least, I’ll speak to that. When you look at something like Django Unchained. Where you got Leonardo DiCaprio’s character and Sam… Oh God. Brain…

David Read:
For Pete’s sake.

Alex Zahara:
Samuel L. Jackson. Jesus.

David Read:
Samuel L. Jackson.

Alex Zahara:
Him.

David Read:
Who’s the complete other end of it. For sure.

Alex Zahara:
But here’s a man who had been– He’s a slave. So, he has to do what this guy’s told. The thing is, in the slave mindset, I would think, you have to, you’re forced to treat these people like you care for them, like you’re their family. And of course, we’re all human so you’re gonna have some affection for this kid that you raised. So, that’s the tough part is one side of this group is looking– They still have humanity, and yes, they’ve been forced to look at people as being more human or treat them more as humans, but they also have the capacity to still do that. Whereas from the master side of it, as it were, the owner side, they don’t have that and they’re, “You do this and treat my children as such, but I’m not gonna treat you as such.” And that comes across in that movie when Leonardo’s character is killed and Samuel L. Jackson yells out, “Calvin!” And he just runs to him, but, he’s been …

David Read:
Conditioned.

Alex Zahara:
… conditioned to do that. It’s not just freedom of choice. He didn’t have a choice. Or maybe he did. I don’t know.

David Read:
That’s one of the interesting things about that particular character. There may be some complicity there. But typically, you’re right.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, but all I’m saying by– And tying it back to here is, when he takes out that creature’s hand, see, that thing, the creature and the Unas in that has far more, let’s say, humanity or creature-anity, I don’t know, than the human child. Or even the humans around. Forgive me, but the humans around, because he’s still gonna treat that helpless little boy like a helpless little boy. But the second he pisses somebody off, he’s gonna get shot in the back of the head, or Zatted or whatever. So, there you go.

David Read:
Love the episode. “Metamorphosis.” Took a really different direction in terms of makeup, in terms of an approach for the character you were playing. Another slave, enslaved society. This time because of Jacqueline Samuda, Nirrti.

Alex Zahara:
Nirrti.

David Read:
What was it about Eggar that struck you as delicious to play? ‘Cause you played off of Dion in this episode. The two of you were really the ones in control of that group of people, on Nirrti’s behalf.

Alex Zahara:
We basically played it– I think we decided to play it like we were brothers, basically. And that was the whole thing is, again, when you are forced by a more powerful entity or compelled to do something you did not wish to do, you find the path of least resistance so that you are punished the least, maybe rewarded the most, or at least they keep the violence down to a minimum. Or the harm, the punishment, et cetera. That was the whole thing. And it’s about… are you complicit in, are people complicit in fascism, like people that collaborated with Nazis and stuff. They’re saying, “Well, we were collaborating with Nirrti, were we? Well, yes, but we were compelled to.” And then in the end when you see her for what she really is.

David Read:
He looks into her mind.

Alex Zahara:
Exactly. Then you realize, “Oh, wait a minute. This wasn’t for our benefit. This wasn’t for what…” So, you know, they were sold a bill of goods that was a complete and utter lie. And they’ve been mutated, and they’ve been harmed. And their whole family and their culture has been destroyed because of this person. So, for me having– everybody fantasizes either about being telekinetic or being able to read minds, et cetera, and whatnot, and that’s just it. And it was added to the mystique with the one white eye and–

David Read:
Like it’s a beam into your soul.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, and had this little chicken paw weird hand and whatever. That’s the old thing, with the Greeks, the seers, the ones who could see everything were normally blind. And yet they could see and they could move beyond. They could go into the emotional, spiritual transitory world that most of us are too afraid to go to or don’t want to be a part of. And that’s kind of the way I played him, like Eggar. You know, he became that way. He wasn’t probably like that as a kid, but after being mutated, his mind, his soul, his body changed. Everything physically warped and changed.

David Read:
Completely transformed. That’s a solid show. And it very similar parallels to some of the earlier episodes that you did with enslaved cultures. We return to the Unas with “Enemy Mine.”

Alex Zahara:
Oh, yeah.

David Read:
Iron Shirt. Kor Asek.

Alex Zahara:
Kor Asek. Uman ko keka te Unas. Unas ko keka te Uman.

David Read:
This had to have been a delicious part.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, it was great. When you get to play bad guys, or really interesting characters. We didn’t call Iron Shirt bad necessarily, but he was one tough mofo. He led the revolt as far as I, the way I played him. He led the revolt on his planet against the Goa’uld. That’s the way I played it. He earned his stripes. And he had to fight within the Unas community to become the big leader. It was really great. My buddy, Wycliff Hartwig, who’s six foot seven, huge guy, and, when Vince Hammond couldn’t do the episode, Dan Shea was like, “Oh, we need someone up there to play the shooter,” whoever it was said that. I said, “Hey, I got a really tall friend.” Anyway, my character, Kor Asek would’ve had to beat him for a challenge if he challenged him for the leadership because he’s the big guy. Anyway, it was super cool because he realized what had been done to him and his people, and he said, “Enough is enough, and I don’t– Damn the consequences, we’re not gonna live like this one more minute.” And they ripped the crap out of the Goa’uld and defeated them. You think about that. That’s a pretty hefty price tag.

David Read:
For Unas, that’s a big deal.

Alex Zahara:
Oh, yeah.

David Read:
They were certainly capable of it, but to do that? Yeah, he would certainly have a badge of honor for that.

Alex Zahara:
Oh, yeah.

David Read:
Or at the very least his ancestors. I think it was his ancestors that did it.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, it was probably his ancestors. But I guess, in the sense of I play it, that’s his mindset. He’s willing to do that, to go there.

David Read:
That’s his tribe. Those are his people.

Alex Zahara:
He was gonna die, come hell or high water, to get Michael Rooker’s character and the rest off his planet. “I’ve had enough of this crap, boys. My people defeated the Goa’uld.” Sorry, it’s been years, but, “My people defeated the Goa’uld. And coming back?” And that was the point of the episode: Hey, listen, colonialism is still colonialism. If it’s physical slavery or economic slavery, it’s slavery. And if you exploit other people for their resources, that’s slavery. Whether they’re in chains or not. “Oh yeah, they’re free, it’s fine, but we’re gonna take everything of value that they have, potential of value for their culture, that we value, and we’re gonna exploit them.” That doesn’t fly.

David Read:
What was it like learning that language? ‘Cause Peter DeLuise, that was a big part of his deal was making sure that, you know, the Unas and the Goa’uld languages were consistent.

Alex Zahara:
It was cool.

David Read:
Yeah?

Alex Zahara:
I had a great time learning it. Are you kidding? Again, I’m not joking. I was born on Halloween, I like to play characters. I like to play dress-up, and learning that language, because it really– When you don the costume, when you get in the makeup. Seriously, after you go in the chair– Dion and I would get in the chairs and, you know, three or four hours later he would wake up ’cause he could fall asleep like that in the chair, which is great. But you wake up and you’re a lizard! What acting do you really need to do? ‘Cause so much of the costume is doing the work for you, but I mean, you still inhabit the musculature, etc., the spirit changes. And it’s just incredible. I think I’m going off-topic. What did we just ask here? But just the transformation.

David Read:
Exactly. I’ve heard people describe that once they go into this, it’s like you say, their spirit, their being changes, and you kind of have an idea of how to move. Or at least a direction of what’s more appropriate given the circumstance. And with him, you have teeth. Your talking is different.

Alex Zahara:
The talking, the speech. Real quick. So, what Peter did, he wrote the bible for this, and the alphabet, and whatever. He created the language basically. And that was a really cool thing for me because it came to me really easy because I felt like, I mean I was this character’s, so the character became me. Using the language, the language helped root the character even stronger for me. But you’re right. Our ancestors, I’m remembering now, did defeat the Goa’uld but, I mean, there’s always keeping vigilant.

David Read:
Correct. Sooner or later they may try again.

Alex Zahara:
They could try again. But just the language, I still remember, “Uman ko keka te Unas, Unas ko keka te Uman.” “Don’t worry, we’re not gonna–” Shanks is warning, “Oh, you know, we’re gonna get killed.” He says, “Don’t worry. You’re not gonna do the killing, we’re gonna do the killing. ‘Cause you don’t know about us.” And that’s it at the end. And that’s what I love, at the end we’re– I’m standing there with Michael Rooker’s character, who I’ve killed I think two, three times in other shows. Anyway, he comes up and he’s like, “Yeah, it’s just me and my homies. Don’t worry about it.” And the ridge line is full. And they’re like, “Oh, we’re in deeper than we thought.” ‘Cause here’s a guy… Michael Rooker’s character’s just demanding respect. He’s demanding respect. Why? What did you do to be respected? You stole from our people, you killed our people, you didn’t– There’s no respect going on here. And by the way, the shoe’s on the other foot, and here’s my size 57 shoe, gonna step on your neck. With all my boys back here.

David Read:
But by the end of the episode–

Alex Zahara:
‘Cause might is right– Sorry, go ahead.

David Read:
I apologize. By the end of the episode they make a peace treaty that the Unas will mine the Naquadah in honor of their ancestors. And this, from a mythology standpoint for the show is absolutely critical because they pump out at least five more spaceships in the later seasons.

Alex Zahara:
That’s right.

David Read:
And that is because of the sacrifice that these Unas made.

Alex Zahara:
Me and my peeps! Me and my peeps!

David Read:
Absolutely.

Alex Zahara:
I like to think Kor Asek retired, and he’s having a lovely little brood of kids and whatever.

David Read:
Dion Johnstone’s character of Warrick was introduced in Season Six. He was unavailable. You came back on his behalf in “Space Race.” Tell us about Warrick.

Alex Zahara:
It was funny ’cause Dion, I think he was doing Stratford?

David Read:
Yeah.

Alex Zahara:
Which is great. I’ve never done Stratford; I would love to have. But he was off doing Stratford, I believe, and he couldn’t come back, so they asked, would I play Warrick, ’cause I knew the character from before. Not that we worked together before, but I knew Dion’s vibe. And they said, “Well, can you come in and play Warrick for us, just to be sure?” They weren’t sure it was gonna work to have someone else play that character. I said, “OK.” I watched the episode, and I got his vibe, and I know Dion, so I walked in, and I did it and they go, “Oh, that worked great. That was perfect. OK, cool, we’ll do this.” Patrick Curry played my brother in the show.

David Read:
Eamon? Yep.

Alex Zahara:
Then I played Warrick, and it was really funny though because they, I guess they had lost the mold or something of the previous Warrick, so they had to redo it.

David Read:
Oh, no.

Alex Zahara:
And when they redid it, they made him a little jowlier than he was, a little more heavy-set. And I was like, “Oh, kind of looks like him? But–” Anyway, then they put me in this suit that was a seven-mil thick, neon skin-diving suit. So, that mother was hot. Getting into the character of Warrick was really good ’cause I had Dion to channel. Being on that planet for all those years and all that stuff. So, I channeled all that, and it was great. The issue I had the one time was, I think Andy was directing again here. It was a scene where we’re in the space dock or whatever and Eamon is showing us stuff on the thing. And I had some line and I turned to whoever and said, “Los smorc meep mordif merdi smorc mork.” I was speaking gibberish. I had no idea I was overheating. And they kind of came in and I guess they were talking to me, and I wasn’t responding. They peeled off the back of the suit, and it was just this plume of steam come out and, oh my God. So, they threw all these ice packs on me, gave me a bunch of water and whatever. I was overheating and didn’t realize it. Then all of a sudden it was, “Oh, wow. People are around me. They’re speaking the English language.” I was so unaware. I had overheated to the point where I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know what was going on. So, they got me all cooled down and everything else, and it was like, “Maybe next time let’s not use skin suits, seven mil skin suits or skin-diving suits.” So, I got a little too hot in that one. But overall, it was a great time. Had a good time with it. And Samantha, working with Amanda as flying the ship together. She’s my fave. The boys are fine, but I like Amanda best.

David Read:
There’s something wonderful about Amanda Tapping. And it harkens back to the fact that this is a hugely successful director now who is getting more work than she can handle, and she deserves every accolade she gets.

Alex Zahara:
I did Sanctuary with her. And then I did an episode of a short-lived series called Strange Empire, and she was directing the next one. And I was like, “Oh, damn it.” And we saw each other on set. And that was the great thing. Even after all these years you still see each other, but you have those bonding moments. And it’s just, I seriously, I love– I don’t get to see Amanda at all. We don’t hang out socially, but I really consider her a friend. She’s so sweet, so nice, so caring. Just working together, that bond, when you’re 17 hours a day or whatever. They say that you spend more time at work than you do with your own family when you’re filming stuff.

David Read:
It’s true.

Alex Zahara:
I think most of us in our other jobs too, of course. But it’s a different thing when you’re on set and you gotta make the day, you gotta whatever. ‘Cause, listen, at the end of the nine to five or day, you lock the door, you go home, and you come back the next day. But with us, we gotta make the day here because we’re not gonna make tomorrow.

David Read:
Correct. You gotta get it in the can. What’s the longest day on set for Stargate for you?

Alex Zahara:
Longest day I think was 17 or 18 hours. Straight. We went to work around 3:00, 3:30 in the morning up in the GVRD, the Greater Vancouver Regional District, when we were doing the “Beast of Burden” one. We were specifically doing the bloodhound bits. And then, in that same episode, Alex Pappas was assistant directing, and Dion and I were, I think it was Dion and I. I was tied up for sure in one of those little pens. We were just fading. Just fading. And we were going into our 15th, 16th hour, and Alex said, “Hey, Alex, Dion, you guys gonna make it?” And I said, “Honestly, Alex, I couldn’t tell you. I’m so tired,” or whatever. He goes, “OK.” Calls up, got transport and said they were gonna move the cars. They got transport guys to drive our cars to wherever. They put us up in a hotel. They said, “You’re not driving home,” or whatever. From then on, ’cause locally you’re supposed to go home at the end of the night if you’re a local actor. We went to work at 3:30 in the morning, and wrapped, let’s see, so 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 10:30 at night. Other people had worked a 12-hour day or maybe a 15-hour day or whatever it was. We worked an 18-hour day. So, they started putting us up in hotels. We didn’t even have to ask anymore. They drove us. And again, that’s not a common thing in the master agreement or whatever it is. But Stargate did it, and they took care of us like family. And it was awesome.

David Read:
Wow. Tremendous.

Alex Zahara:
And we’re alive and didn’t get killed in a car crash driving home sleeping. So, there you go.

David Read:
Things happen. Absolutely. The stress that you put on your body in doing this. Andee Frizzell talked about it took four hours to get her makeup on as the Wraith Queen. It took two to get out. You have to get out of this stuff. And it takes a while if you wanna do it properly, ’cause some of the pieces you wanna be able to reuse.

Alex Zahara:
You have to. The cowls… They put the major cowl over it, and then they put the face on. So, they have to save those cowls ’cause– I think I got a quote one time, the full Unas body suit cost around 40,000 US to produce. It’s not cheap.

David Read:
A lot of that was in the makeup.

Alex Zahara:
That’s why in that one episode we played so many characters ’cause they would throw a different costume on us and we’d change our physicality. They might change a little bit of makeup. Whatever. But it was, I think the longest makeup was four, four and a half hours for me. Somewhere in there. And then, an hour to two hours to get out, easily.

David Read:
It’s crazy. The amount of money that goes into a television show. I have Brian J. Smith’s costume here from Stargate Universe, which was modified from a costume that was created for Season Five of Atlantis. They created three of these. And the manufacturing costs for each of them was $100,000.

Alex Zahara:
Oh my God.

David Read:
$100,000. All the pieces that go into it, I can understand it when that translates to man-hours in fabrication. It’s crazy.

Alex Zahara:
When they sent me down to Santa Monica, they flew me down to Santa Monica for the first full-on body molding that I did for Stargate. And that was crazy. I’m standing there and there’s a crew of like eight, ten people molding my body in things, in my face and everything. It was nuts.

David Read:
Is this for the Super Soldier?

Alex Zahara:
No. I didn’t even do that for the– For Super Soldier I was in the CGI suit with the little ping pong balls. But for the Unas episode I did, the first big one I did, “Beast of Burden,” they had to make it fit my body.

David Read:
Wow. So, you had to leave the country in order to do that.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah. Now most of the shops up here, I think Todd Masters ended up taking over at MastersFX, but back then, no, it was MastersFX down in Santa Monica. That’s right. But he didn’t have his shop open here at the time. That’s what it was. He didn’t have a shop here, so they just flew me down there for the day. And it was great. I had a good time. Got to go to Santa Monica Pier afterwards and watch the boardwalk and it was cool.

David Read:
So, I was under the impression that you were the Super Soldier alongside Dan Payne in “Lost City.” That’s not you?

Alex Zahara:
I was. Yeah, that’s me.

David Read:
OK. So, you did have the costume at a certain point, fully on?

Alex Zahara:
No, no, no, no. They only CGI’d my costume.

David Read:
In “Lost City?”

Alex Zahara:
They had me go in a room, I did motion capture for it. They had me only as a motion capture warrior. That’s who I was.

David Read:
OK. “Evolution 2” in the big crowd, that’s you?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah. And then when the spaceship takes off and then the guy jumps up and grabs onto the spaceship, I did that as well. I don’t know, maybe Dan did too. I think they had Dan and I both do it, but they picked whatever. We had to do all these motions of the troops walking around and doing different things and then leaping. I was only ever the motion capture guy, and then they CGI’d or whatever on top of all, whereas Dan played the full-on real costume dude.

David Read:
OK, understood.

Alex Zahara:
I’m a little Super Soldier.

David Read:
In the season finale, in “Lost City,” in Season Seven, there’s two of them that ring down to the Antarctic base. So, there’s someone else there. And I always was under the impression that it was you, so now I’m gonna have to figure out who that was.

Alex Zahara:
I don’t know who that was. It wasn’t me. Unless, again, they CGI’d me and put whatever, I don’t know.

David Read:
There was someone practical standing next to him.

Alex Zahara:
There was? OK. It wasn’t me.

David Read:
OK. Understood.

Alex Zahara:
It literally wasn’t.

David Read:
So, you’re the only actor that I can think of whose characters on Stargate easily extend past the hundreds, when you include all the characters that we’ve talked about. Include the wide shots of the digital replication of the Unas in “Enemy Mine,” and then in “Evolution 2” when Anubis is mustering his troops. That is all you.

Alex Zahara:
That’s me and Dan. I think it’s Dan and I just replicated 1,000 times.

David Read:
Oh, so the two of you?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah.

David Read:
OK. So, you each did a pass?

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, I’m sure we each did a pass. I’m pretty sure.

David Read:
Wow. That’s absolutely crazy.

Alex Zahara:
That’s why I laugh ’cause I say I did thousands of characters. I literally have.

David Read:
Exactly.

Alex Zahara:
I literally have.

David Read:
What is the experience of mocap like? ‘Cause you were doing it in those earlier days too where it wasn’t so common, like it is now for every video game that’s out there.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah. It was interesting. Real quick, also don’t forget in “Foothold,” I was the alien leader, but then I was a bunch of other guys too, sometimes.

David Read:
That’s right. I still think you hold the record.

Alex Zahara:
On the plane, I get shot on the plane. I can’t remember who I– I was somebody. Was I Shanks? I don’t know. I can’t remember.

David Read:
Yes, you were Shanks, and Maybourne shot you. Tom shot you. “Sit down.”

Alex Zahara:
That’s right. And I go down. I was that guy, I was the alien leader, and I think I was another one. So, I played two, three, or four more characters in that too. And my favorite part was when I got to nuke everybody and just like, “Mwahahaha.” What did he say? I don’t know, it’s …

David Read:
It doesn’t matter.

Alex Zahara:
… garbley-gook. He’s a lobster.

David Read:
That’s exactly right. I’m taking you with me.

Alex Zahara:
So, you were saying something else? What did you just ask me?

David Read:
The Super Soldiers and motion capture.

Alex Zahara:
Motion capture, that was early days for me at least, and I think early days overall. But it was fun. You put on the little leotard, you got the little ping pong balls, and they put the little dots on your face, and away you go. But you gotta stay inside whatever it’s called, the world or the parameter or–

David Read:
The radius of the cameras.

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, you do that. And I’ve done some other motion capture for some other games and stuff. And it’s, especially with the ones with the camera on your face now today, you can’t interrupt the stream. If you put something in front of your face, it breaks the stream. And I’m a very polite young man, so when I cough, I cover my hand. And they were like, “Stop doing that.” I’m like, “It’s been 50 years of conditioning.”

David Read:
You want me to not hold my hand up to my face when I cough? You try that. It takes a while, especially these days. That’s over with.

Alex Zahara:
I don’t have to do it now. I have a mask on. It’s all good.

David Read:
I know. That’s my issue too. Man. It is a body of work that is– It has to do you proud considering the ongoing success of the franchise.

Alex Zahara:
It’s one of the things where it really hit me early on, and I say its ongoing successes, but also to the minutiae of the successes, where it really struck home to me how far and wide and deep this show connects with people. Because I was, I think, in London at one of the earliest conventions I’d ever done. I think it was the first convention I’d ever done to London, and a fan basically said, “You know, if it wasn’t for the show, I wouldn’t be here.” They were contemplating suicide, and that show brought them back ’cause it gave them hope for humanity, gave them hope for themselves, it gave them hope for mankind. And that really hit home with me. Someone, a stranger basically, sharing with you, “Hey, you’re part of something that actually saved my life.” I was like, “Whoa.” ‘Cause I used to lifeguard for years. I lifeguarded 15 years. I’ve actually saved lives.

David Read:
Physically.

Alex Zahara:
Physically. But because of your entertainment, or your skill as an actor, and the entertainment of the show, but the depth and the meaning of the show, that was completely different. And I was like, “Whoa.” OK. So, this goes beyond just people’s enjoyment and entertainment. This isn’t just vicarious fun, watching a popcorn fluff movie. This is the real deal. And I always knew that. Your brain knows that. Intellectually you know it, but when you hear it from another human being saying, “I literally would have killed myself if this show hadn’t given me some hope.” I was like, “Whoa.” And that just– I’ve never forgotten that moment. Never forgotten that moment. I say I almost did in London. I know it was in London, but it’s been so long ago now. It just hit me. And I’ve heard other things: how the show has inspired people, caused people to become writers, actors, to just do better in their lives as a human being. Hey, whatever–

David Read:
People have met because of the show and married.

Alex Zahara:
There you go.

David Read:
It’s crazy.

Alex Zahara:
And I gotta say real quick before I gotta pass on my acknowledgment about Cliff Simon’s passing recently, which was so tragic. I heard that, I’m even sitting here thinking about it now, I’m just gutted by it. Jesus. Ugh, so horrible. That guy was a prince. Seriously. He was so sweet, so nice, so genuine, so kind, so real, and he wasn’t pretentious in the least. He was so real. And God, talk about, I don’t know, it sounds cliche to say he was taken way too soon. Well, he was. And that’s just crap. Because I remember meeting him, I think first in London one time, and just hanging out, and we didn’t really know each other, what each other had done, and he treated me like gold, you know what I mean?

David Read:
He was one of the greats and he deserved every ounce of success that he got in his career.

Alex Zahara:
Totally, man. And we shared the swimming background. I wasn’t an Olympic swimmer or anything like that, but I competitively swam and lifeguarded, and we hit it off. I really liked him. Anyway, I just, putting it out there, a guy who touched– That show reached farther out in a different scope for different people, and Cliff was a big part of that.

David Read:
Sci-fi has a means of transcending the human condition that a lot of other programming doesn’t even attempt to achieve. There is something about it where it makes you say– And if it’s doing it right, it doesn’t pound you over the head with it, and a lot of it certainly does. But Stargate, I never felt did. It makes you say to yourself, “Huh, let’s take a look at things from this perspective outside of my own.” “Let’s consider this from this angle.”

Alex Zahara:
And what can I change about myself to make this situation better? When Michael Shanks’s character says to Michael Rooker’s character, “All you have to do is bend the knee.” It’s all you gotta do. It’s not a huge thing. You’re not saying, “I’m a coward.” You’re not saying whatever. You’re saying, “I respect you and you respect me, so let’s respect each other.” That’s all you have to do.

David Read:
Did you watch Game of Thrones?

Alex Zahara:
Are you kidding?

David Read:
So, in that situation, bending the knee would’ve meant yielding an entire army, you know, if Jon were to do that to Daenerys. So, it’s so interesting to see where this person who is in Stargate, it really is just about his own ego, you know? “Would you be willing to do this at least to save our lives, let alone the potential possibility of getting what we’ve come here to get?”

Alex Zahara:
But that’s where it goes, Michael Rooker’s character, it was more ego-based for him. And that he was willing to sacrifice everybody based on his ego. And that’s another thing that the show brought to question is the validity and validation of our political leaders and our military leaders that wanted to engage in reckless wars. And that was that. That was a reckless war. Hey, in the face of tens of thousands of people dying, “Oh, we’ll just come back and we’ll wipe them all out.” Wait a minute. Let’s put a little pause on that for a sec. But that just shows that he didn’t see the Unas as the Unas, I guess, as being equals.

David Read:
Or at least being people.

Alex Zahara:
Or what’s a people? I’d say equal. You can be a lizard person or you can be a humanoid person, a human person, and you can still be a being. I don’t know the wording would be right, but that’s just it. And that’s why I almost had to kill him for the second time on television. I killed him– My character killed him in Jeremiah.

David Read:
What a great show, short-lived show.

Alex Zahara:
And I evacuate all the air in his chamber that he’s in, and I suffocate him. “Mwahahaha.”

David Read:
Yeah, that’s been a while, man. I need to go back and rewatch that. That’s a good show.

Alex Zahara:
And by the way, big Game of Thrones fan, huge. My girlfriend and I are huge — or fiancée and I — huge Game of Thrones– She bought me Game of Thrones, the box set afterwards. I have in my bar, right over there, a bottle of Targaryen family scotch. I’m a huge scotch fan. And before the final party, we had a big party at our friend’s house, and they had all the family banners up and–

David Read:
For the final episode?

Alex Zahara:
Sorry, you jealous? You should be. I flew back from Grand Prairie, my hometown, and I was in the Calgary airport, and they had Game of Thrones beer and wine. So, I bought all this stuff, and that precious Targaryen scotch, I’ve held that there since the end of the show, and every so often I crack it open and put the lid back. Label the bottle. No, just kidding.

David Read:
A little bit here and there. Absolutely. I have some fan questions if you still have time.

Alex Zahara:
Oh, please, I’ve been chatting away here.

David Read:
Teresa Mc: If you were asked to create your own character for Brad Wright’s upcoming, still in development SG4 series, what would you like to come back as if it were up to you?

Alex Zahara:
People always say, “Would you like to be a human?” I played a human on Stargate the once, Michael the hippie. That’s cool. But I don’t know, I think I’d probably wanna do another alien, almost, if there was gonna be a Spock-like character or something, and you’re working with the humans, I think that’s what I’d like to do: be that bridge between races.

David Read:
OK. Elizabeth Lee wanted to know, “What characters do you prefer performing over other types of characters?” I suppose that’s a genre question or a–

Alex Zahara:
You know what? Again, I think I’ve made my living dying on TV. One, I talk to Sean Bean, I do the readings of Snowpiercer every once in a while. I help read the other actors’ parts. Anyway, we had that discussion. I said to him, I said, “You think you’re doing pretty good with 23, but I think I’ve got 38 to 40, so, just so you know.” And he had a good laugh at that.

David Read:
Deaths, you mean?

Alex Zahara:
Deaths. Sorry. Deaths. One of the fans at one of the conventions once did me a death reel, of all the characters. And it was pretty horrible. In the 30s even then. What was I gonna say now? I was gonna tell you a story real quick here. But we were talking about dying on TV. I make my living dying on TV. I think I’ve been killed 40 times or whatever. It’s crazy.

David Read:
Charlotte, “How did you survive the prosthetics process?” Do you put yourself in a head space?

Alex Zahara:
No. I love it. No, I don’t have to survive anything. I love it. It gets tiresome maybe, when you’re into your 18th hour, fifth day in a row. And as I’ve gotten older, Dan and I, we did Aliens Ate My Homework and Aliens Stole My Body. And he played Captain Grakker and I played Tar Gibbons. And my Tar Gibbons character literally, if you take your hands like that, go over your eyes, that’s what I can see. Two slits, I see nothing from here down at all. The first one I was in six-inch drag queen boots. Seriously. And we got rid of those for the second one, thank God. But it was tough. The makeup in Stargate, I was younger, it was new and it was fun and exciting. It was good. I never had a real problem with the Stargate makeup, ever. You get tired, sure. But now as I find I’m getting a little older too, I’m like, “Oh my God. I gotta get this thing on again?” I don’t have the strength like I used to have, I don’t have the endurance. I have to chill out more and relax more during the day when I’m not filming. Whereas the other days, I’d be like, “Whoa. Hey, what are you guys doing? What’s happening over here?” ‘Cause I was so young and new, and now I’m an old man.

David Read:
Didn’t know any better. “Hey, coach, let’s go.” Yeah, exactly. L T, “I just wanted to tell Alex how amazing he is and how much he inspired me when I was growing up.”

Alex Zahara:
That’s very sweet, L T, whomever you are out there. L T, go to my webpage or whatever, send me a message, or send a message to David, I’d love to find out who you are and I’m glad to hear that. I get that once in a while ’cause I taught swimming lessons for years and I taught kids, and younger people and older people, swimming and acting and whatnot, it’s just nice to hear once in a while that you make a difference. I should’ve mentioned this. You asked about mentors earlier? Sukumar Nayar. Sukumar Nayar was my first real acting teacher in Grande Prairie Regional College in Grande Prairie back in 1984, ’85, ’86. Anyhow, he was friends with E.R. Braithwaite, who wrote To Sir, with Love. And the scene where, in To Sir, with Love, Sidney Poitier’s hand gets hit with a can. He blocks it so the girl doesn’t get hit. And the kid goes, “Cool, look, his blood is red.” That actually happened to Sukumar, and E.R. Braithwaite were walking together in England, someone threw a bottle at him, it hit Sukumar in the head, he still has a scar to this day. And he was like, “Cool, look, his blood is–” Anyway, Sukumar’s one of the most amazing acting teachers you’ve ever had, and he said to me, and this hit me, and here come the goosebumps in the back of the neck, there you go. But he said, “If you come to my class, and perhaps one day you don’t feel like coming to my class, you may miss an experience that you will have, that you would’ve had, that would’ve changed your life forever, send you down the path you were supposed to be on, but you did not show up to class. So, if you choose not to come to my class, know this, you may miss that experience, and it may never come back.” And I was, “OK, I’m there. I will never miss a class.” And I never missed a class. In seven years of post-secondary education, in the acting program, I think I missed three days, and one or two of them was because I had a 102-degree fever, and I was literally hallucinating in the hospital.

David Read:
That’s a good excuse to not show up under those circumstances. Something is sending you a message.

Alex Zahara:
Yes. L T, again, thank you for saying that. I feel you inspired me to remember to think about my mentor Sukumar, who inspires me to this day. He’s in his mid-to-late 80s, still writing; writes a blog. It’s crazy. And we’ve stayed in contact. My parents and his parents, they worked together at the college. My mom was the early childhood administrative assistant there and then the head receptionist. My dad, like I said, was there till he retired as maintenance foreman. And Sukumar was a staple there and in the local theater, and I love him. Anyway, going on.

David Read:
Show up for class. I translate that to show up for life.

Alex Zahara:
Bingo. That’s what he was saying.

David Read:
If an opportunity is presented to you, there are few sadder things than a missed opportunity. Especially in hindsight. And certain things, you can’t get back when they’re gone.

Alex Zahara:
No. I’m gonna do this, and I mean this sincerely. Here we go. Talking about inspirations and mentors. Mrs. Parker, grade one. Mrs. Zutz, grade two. Mrs. Shelly, grade three. Mrs. Duplessis, grade four. Mr. Hoffman, grade five. Mr. Atkinson, John Atkinson, grade six, who did Much Ado About Nothing and all these other plays and H.M.S. Pinafore. Grade seven, Ms. McLean, she was amazing. Mr. Lindsey, grade seven and eight. Mr. Stan Neufeld, gym teacher. Mr. Hoffman again. Mr. Otterbein, for shop class. Jim Telfer, again, and just so many others. I remember all my teachers that were good teachers. Even the ones that weren’t great, which were very few, by the way. But they inspired me to move on and do new and better things with my life too, so all those people. Plus, all my relatives and friends, and there’s just so many people out there that help inspire. You might do a small thing, but that’s it. Bingo. I once did this. I was lifeguarding, supervising at UBC and this new fresh-faced lifeguard showed up and she said, “I’m ready for work.” And I said, “OK, where’s your stuff?” “What do you mean?” “Well, your whistle, where’s your whistle?” And she said, “Oh, I thought those were provided.” I said, “Well, you didn’t read your package because it says right on your package, bring this stuff.” And I said to her, I looked at her and I said, “Do you realize a lifeguard going to work without their whistle is like a cop going to work without their gun?” And she just– 10 years later we’re walking on the streets of Vancouver and she says, “I’ve never forgot that, Alex. Never forgot that.” Thank you. I’d love–

David Read:
‘Cause when you need it and you don’t have it, a life–

Alex Zahara:
What are we gonna do? It goes into, it’s very personal. There may be a spare whistle around here but– Then one other lifeguard has to give up their whistle when they’re off deck and that’s the signal for help for each other. And she said, “Oh my God, I never looked at it like that before.” So, there you go.

David Read:
I wanna go to something a little lighter for a moment here. Where did it go? It was just on my screen. Claire wanted to know, have you been baking any more cakes?

Alex Zahara:
There we go.

David Read:
I’m glad you know what this is.

Alex Zahara:
Claire and Lynn, they know my baking habits. My fiancée Shannon’s an amazing baker and we were doing a lot of keto this year, and she made all these incredible keto things. And I made a keto cake for her birthday. And I made this chocolate keto cake, and it was amazing, I have to say. Shannon has the patience to do more of that than I do. You know what I mean? So, here, let me show you. She’s not gonna let me put her on camera but I’m gonna show you this. Here’s Shannon here, just a minute. We had this– I don’t know if you can see us there. I’m gonna take this out for you. See that?

David Read:
She’s lovely.

Alex Zahara:
There you go. And that’s us snowboarding right there in our goggles.

David Read:
Is that a puzzle?

Alex Zahara:
That’s a puzzle.

David Read:
It was reflecting off the light. That’s really cool. It’s snowboarding, that’s great.

Alex Zahara:
Snowboarding, and then hang on. Where’s us in Hawaii? Just a minute. Where are we at?

David Read:
I love her blue moose.

Alex Zahara:
That’s her blue moose. There you go.

David Read:
Look at the dachshund.

Alex Zahara:
That’s us at a coffee plantation in Hawaii. That’s us on our final day in Hawaii looking at the sunset.

David Read:
I’m so happy for you guys.

Alex Zahara:
That’s our sunset. There’s the beach. That’s my dad. Can you see that? Hang on. That’s my dad and look at that. There’s Henry Winkler as Fonzie in the Wax Museum in LA. And I worked with Henry Winkler, weirdly enough, at one of my first shows. He hung me in The Dead Man’s Gun. It was so cool. And then, I guess, here’s my brother. This is a weird one. Not weird, it’s I go back 100. Can you see that in there? There’s a Christmas photo. That’s me, my sister, that’s her son on her knee, and those are my two cousins. And the little guy on my knee would not sit still. We took about 200 shots. That’s the only one that was remotely usable. Moving on.

David Read:
Carlos Takeshi, “Is there any one of the characters that you’ve done whose story you would like to revisit more than the others?”

Alex Zahara:
Yeah, honest to God, I wouldn’t mind seeing what happened to Michael. I wanna see a follow-up to what exactly happened to him and what were the repercussions? Say Michael met your dad in the years to come. When the guys crossed back across the border and when they were given amnesty, what would that be like to meet– His counterpart would’ve been like your father. And how would they have interplayed? Or people like that. I would imagine it would be sort of, but not the same, I should say. But I saw a thing about World War II pilots that met the Germans and the English that met after the war and they knew they were-like, “Listen, I was trying to shoot you down, you were trying to shoot me down.” And there’s that mutual respect. And I think in the end it would’ve been interesting to see a documentary about– Or maybe it’s been done with the vets meeting the guys that skipped. You know what I mean?

David Read:
One of the things that I’ve always wanted to– I apologize, this is kind of off-topic. But there is a hill. I don’t know if it’s Hamburger Hill in Vietnam or if it’s another hill where to this day, at least before COVID, Vietnam War vets go back to this place and see it for the first time. And when they get to the top of the hill, they find out that their tour guides are former Viet Congs who had fought on that hill. And it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. I’ve been to Pearl Harbor …

Alex Zahara:
Me too.

David Read:
… and the Japanese, there’s a huge number of Japanese tourists that go there. And we’re all just in silent reverie of everything around us and all the memorials and everything else. There’s something to be said for that. So, it’s crazy. Bernd Backhaus: “As an autograph collector, I’d like to know if and where we could order a signed photograph from you?”

Alex Zahara:
That’s a good question.

David Read:
Where are they currently available?

Alex Zahara:
Probably just sending it through my agent, The Characters.

Alex Zahara:
Tyman Stewart at The Characters.

David Read:
Tyman Stewart. T-Y-M-A-N Stewart.

Alex Zahara:
And then I’ll get you the address. Here you go. One moment please. I’ll have to set something up ’cause people keep asking about that and I’m just so bad. See these little things that we’re using, these little things, and these, these… I don’t do this well. I don’t do it well, so hang on… Anyway, The Characters. They’re gonna love that I give this out. But it’s number 200, 1505 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC. Postal code is V as in Victor, 6H as in Harry, 3Y as in Yankee, 4. Canada. There you go. Number 200, 1505 West 2nd Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V6H 3Y4.

David Read:
All right. I’ve added it to the chat.

Alex Zahara:
There you go.

David Read:
Thank you, sir, very much. I do appreciate that. OK.

Alex Zahara:
You’re welcome.

David Read:
And let’s see here. A very important question, Alex. We’re about to wrap this up. Nate Contarino: “Where did you get your couch?”

Alex Zahara:
Shannon, where did we get our couch? We got it in a mall. A furniture store that was in a mall. Do you know what the brand is? No, I’m sorry. Sorry. It’s actually a sectional. And there’s even a piece– It’s a sectional. It attaches over here. But what I love is these things come up and down and they go– That’s a good one.

David Read:
Get some posture changes, absolutely.

Alex Zahara:
There you go. And then just lounging.

David Read:
Very cool.

Alex Zahara:
Just lounging.

David Read:
Teresa wanted to know, do you have anything from the sets? Any props or prosthetic pieces?

Alex Zahara:
I’ll be quite frank, I don’t have a lot of that stuff. I still have a pair of sweatpants that I scarfed from the show. Shannon was like, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” And actually, here’s the thing. I’m using them. I’m wearing them as part of my costume, my character’s costume, in an indie sort of thing that my buddy and I are doing. It was set in the future, in a post-apocalyptic world. So, they’re still there. They let me take ’em home because I was into my 18th hour or whatever, and I was like, they were just like– They gave me something to wear and they said, “Just go home. We’ll get you clothes later.” And then they just said, “Oh, don’t worry about it, just keep ’em. Who cares?”

David Read:
So, it’s not like you didn’t try to return them.

Alex Zahara:
No, but the one thing I have that’s in my bedroom that I can’t go show you right now, but …

David Read:
No, that’s fine.

Alex Zahara:
… I’ve got a helmet from The 13th Warrior. I’ve got a Viking helmet. It was the first film I ever did, first real gig I ever got. Oh yes, I went in for my costume fitting, and they just had made the first helmet that day. And they said, “Hey, do you mind if we try this on you to see what it looks like?” I went, “Sure. Are you kidding?” And I got one, I don’t know if that’s the one, but I got one exactly like it. The very simple sort of just helmet like that with the little tiny metal piece over there, just your little bowl helmet, and I love it.

David Read:
That’s real cool, man, especially for your first big gig.

Alex Zahara:
It was my first real gig.

David Read:
Absolutely. Good for you.

Alex Zahara:
It was a $130 million movie, and it was the biggest film ever shot in Canada at that point. And I got in, and I was, “Yeah, man, right on.” And then I met– You talk about princes? Omar Sharif and Antonio Banderas. Two of the nicest guys I’ve ever met in my life. Omar’s passed away now, but goddamn, they were good people. Sweet. And say what you will about John McTiernan and his interesting habits, or spying and hiring private detectives or whatever, but he was a hell of a director, really good. Great guy. Thank you.

David Read:
We always have to be thankful for the lives that we crisscross. And I’m thankful that you’ve taken the time and have come on and that we’ve had a chance to cross paths again. This has been really special for me.

Alex Zahara:
Thanks. I wanna give a shout-out to everybody out there, Claire, Lynn, Tessa, and others who are watching. I know you’re there. Hopefully, everybody’s surviving this weirdness that is COVID, and we’ll get through it. Keep steady on: little mask, keep washing the hands, and et cetera. We’ll get through it. Let’s just have a little more patience. We’re gonna get there.

David Read:
One of the things that I’m doing with the next phase of this channel hopefully, crossing and dotting everything is some select episode commentaries, particularly from the first three seasons of SG-1 that didn’t have any. And what I would really love doing is having you back with Amber Rothwell and sitting down and doing a commentary over Zoom on “1969.”

Alex Zahara:
That’d be great.

David Read:
All right.

Alex Zahara:
Love it.

David Read:
I’ll reach out to her and see if she’d be game.

Alex Zahara:
Peace. Sounds good.

David Read:
Alex, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for sharing your family and your home and your puppers. This has been fantastic, sir.

Alex Zahara:
Right on. Thanks, guys. Thanks, everybody out there. Hope everybody’s really doing well. And a big hug, that’s what I always do with my family. Big hugs, hugs.

David Read:
You take care of yourself, sir.

Alex Zahara:
All right, take care.

David Read:
Sir, I’ll be in touch with you soon.

Alex Zahara:
Bye. Bye, David. Bye, everybody.

David Read:
Bye, sir. Alex Zahara of Stargate SG-1. Thank you so much for tuning in. It’s wonderful to have you. We have merchandise. And I’ve been working on some new ones lately. Dial the Gate is brought to you every week for free, and we do appreciate you watching. But if you want to support the show further, buy yourself some of our themed swag. We’re now offering T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, and hoodies for all ages in a variety of sizes and colors at RedBubble. Checkout is fast and easy, and you can even use your Amazon or PayPal account. Just visit dialthegate.redbubble.com and thank you for your support. Right now, on the docket for next week, we have Rachel Luttrell, who’s going to be joining us, I believe… What time is she currently scheduled for? I have her at 12 noon on Sunday the 16th, so eight days from today. The following week, I currently have scheduled, and this is a great announcement for me, it’s one of my personal heroes that I’ve wanted to sit down with for a long time, is, if I’ve got the button, Pierre Bernard. You may know him from his Recliner of Rage segment on Conan O’Brien. Pierre and I met at a convention in LA a couple, three years ago, when we had a Stargate exhibit set up, and I had a chance to confess my love for this man. He got to do what so many of us fans would always have loved to have had, which was a cameo on the show. We’re going to talk about his experience on Conan, how this whole opportunity came about where he said his piece on the Recliner of Rage regarding Daniel Jackson, for better or for worse, and the controversy and fandom surrounding that, and just getting to be a part of Stargate history, particularly with the 200th episode. So, Pierre is going to be joining us on the 23rd of May. A few other announcements coming really soon. I got a big green light for the show confirmed just a couple of days ago. Something really, really big has happened. It’s not like we’re getting Richard Dean Anderson or anything like that. Unfortunately, nothing that big. But this should be a pretty reasonable nitro boost for the show, and it’s gonna be something that I’ve always wanted to do. It has to do with bringing multiple people in, multiple cast members for a panel. I will say that. Summer is fast approaching, so I will say that. So, those pieces are gonna start sliding into place here fairly soon. I can’t really say anymore. In fact, I probably said too much. But some big stuff is coming, so I will leave it at that. My moderating team, Sommer, Tracy, Keith, Jeremy, Riz, Antony, you guys are fantastic, and I couldn’t make the show work without all of you. With the help of Linda “GateGabber” Furey, who’s always keeping me on my toes, and Jennifer Kirby, who’s always standing by to assist. You guys are great. I really appreciate your time. If you liked this episode, please consider hitting that Like button. It really does boost YouTube’s sharing of this file and other similar content in Dial the Gate. We’ve been on the air now for seven months and we’ve passed 10,000 subscribers. So, I’m interested to see where that growth goes next. And there’s gonna be a lot coming later this year which will help to fuel that. That’s all I’ve got for you. I think we’re all squared away until next weekend. The concept art episode which was supposed to be done for today for SG-1, 2, and 3, I’m gonna have to reschedule that later this month, but it will be done. Had some family things I had to take care of. Everything’s fine, but that’s where we’re at. Thanks again to Alex Zahara for a wonderful afternoon. My name is David Read. You’re watching Dial the Gate. We’ll see you on the other side.