Before she had a face she was using kids for her own nefarious purposes. In her very first appearance she was trying to get the entire regime of Goa’uld System Lords to turn against Earth. Dial the Gate is proud to have “Nirrti” actress Jacqueline Samuda on the show to talk about her career, heroes, and making the role of the Hindu goddess of darkness all her own.

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Timecodes
0:00 – Opening Credits
0:01 – Welcome and Episode Outline
01:22 – Guest introduction
06:44 – Formative Years
11:32 – Personal and Professional Heroes
17:22 – Tel us about a role that stretched you
23:08 – The Feature Film and Franchise Familiarity
24:24 – Approaching Nirrti
26:51 – Nirrti’s Costume in Fair Game
28:00 – Creating the Character
30:52 – Filming Fair Game
32:32 – Rite of Passage
35:49 – Nirrti’s Exit via the Stargate and Potential Return
38:38 – The DNA Machine in Metamorphosis and Working with Corin Nemec
41:42 – SG-1’s Actions Have Consequences
43:25 – Prosthetics in Metamorphosis
45:57 – Nirti’s Costume in Metamorphosis
47:06 – Killing Nirrti
48:40 – Returning for Continuum
50:10 – Conventions
55:41 – Sci Fi is Not One Genre
56:42 – Voicing Captain Marvel
58:48 – Unique Memories from Conventions
1:03:39 – Favorite Costume
1:05:47 – Fitness Program
1:09:07 – Pranks on the SG Set
1:14:08 – Nirrti’s Ultimate Fate
1:14:52 – What inspired you to add the component of the DNA machine?
1:18:10 – What was your favorite prop you got to use?
1:19:54 – Do you think a part of Nirrti’s success as a villain was due to her own knowledge?
1:22:32 – Character References for Nirrti
1:27:10 – How can fans support you?
1:27:48 – Thank You, Jacqueline!
1:28:20 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:35:59 – End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Welcome to Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Thank you so much for tuning in. This is Episode 33. We have Jacqueline Samuda on for this episode, and I appreciate you tuning in for our program. We just finished with David Hewlett, he was marvelous and thank you all for joining for that particular show. Special thanks to my mod team, Sommer, Ian, Tracy, Keith, and Jeremy. You guys are making this happen. To Linda “GateGabber” Furey and Jennifer Kirby, my associates. I could not get this show done or out without you guys, so thank you so much. Before we bring in Jacqueline, just to invite you to share this show on YouTube. If you want more Stargate content like this, it would mean a great deal to me if you click that like button. It makes a big 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 the 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. This is key if you plan on watching live, and clips from this live stream will be appearing over the course of the next several days and weeks on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. Thank you again for joining me, and without further ado, Ms. Jacqueline Samuda, Nirrti, hello.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Hello. Good to be here.

David Read:
Where are you? It’s so beautiful.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, I am in Whistler, Canada. It’s just an hour and a half north of Vancouver where I live, and Whistler, you may know, was the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. My father-in-law has a home here. Because of restrictions, we can’t be in the space together, but me and my husband and my two children, we’re all here for the holidays.

David Read:
Wow, absolutely lovely. And you were mentioning that these are antique ornaments, you said?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, these are from my father-in-law’s lady friend, and she had a beautiful stack of these gorgeous little glass ornaments with the glitter, the stuff that you haven’t seen since the ’70s. I’m just so excited to use them.

David Read:
It’s so cool to have you on, Jacqueline, and thank you for sharing that. So, how are things going in this brave new world?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Life is different, isn’t it? It’s one of those things where we’re all, I think, learning to adapt. We’re all figuring out how to make the most of our homes and using absolutely everything, and it’s one of those things where I certainly feel blessed to have a space where I have adequate indoor space, some outdoor space, and over the summer when we were restricted to our homes, at least we had some garden area and so on. So, really feeling fortunate and understanding, too, that a lot of people are more confined, and it’s such a challenge. But we have to do what we have to do. If this was a Nirrti-invented virus, she would be very pleased with the progress, ’cause it’s really been going nuts.

David Read:
Boy, I didn’t even think about that. That’s a fair point. She would be having a field day right now, wouldn’t she?

Jacqueline Samuda:
But I’m lucky because I’ve been, for years, doing certain voice work at home, so I had all of my voice equipment and I was accustomed to doing remote recording for voice jobs, and then I just had to adapt with some equipment and getting my head around doing on-camera auditions at home, so that was a bit more of a challenge, a bit of a learning curve, and there have been hiccups. So, it’s amazing how just working with technology can contribute to stress, and if you’re a performer and you’re thinking, “OK, I just wanna concentrate on my character,” but my Zoom doesn’t want to cooperate and it’s a call back, and there’s a whole bunch of executive producers and a showrunner, and you’re just chewing your nails, it’s… But, on the other hand, it’s good exercise. I feel limber.

David Read:
It’s an interesting barrier to entry right now because if you don’t, for so many of us, and especially with our kids and everything else, if you don’t have the right tools to get access to things like Zoom and these other… For the time being, it’s what we’ve got and we’ve all gotta suck it up and just work with it. Like you were saying, with voice acting, those people who are already doing voice acting from home, they’re set, ’cause a lot of that stuff we can continue to hammer out because it’s all… Ideally everyone would want to work collaboratively together in person, but a lot of that stuff you can do from home anyway, so…

Jacqueline Samuda:
I think some of these adaptations that we’ve made are gonna stick. Why send everybody to a casting facility when, if you have decent equipment, you can actually send the equivalent quality of audition from your own home? You do miss certain things, though. If you’re not in the presence of the producer or someone who’s gonna give you direction, you’re really having to rely on yourself and just do more work yourself. But as I say, I feel like it’s actually gotten me in better shape in a way.

David Read:
That’s fair. And the thing that I really appreciate about this year, because I think it’s important to count our blessings wherever we can, is for those of us who are self-starters, it’s really given us new opportunities if we’re willing to look for it. As opposed to those who are like… I’ve been talking with so many people who are like, “My kids, they’re back in school now.” A lot of the kids in my areas are back in school, and they have special systems set up, but while they were at home, it was terrible. And now that they’re back in class, now that it’s structured, it’s working again. But for those of them who are self-starters, they’re way ahead of the game anyway. Adults as well.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, we’re getting through it. We’re all getting through it. We’re doing our best, and lately, I don’t know why, I’m just being reminded that we have to keep practicing patience. My patience has failed, just all the restrictions and tech issues and all of that kind of stuff. And just in the last little while, I’m making a conscious effort to remember to be patient. Not just with others, with my kids, but with myself. And realizing that, it’s not surprising that some of us might feel low or a bit sluggish, or, you know, we’re all kind of living through something very big. It’s gonna be in the history books. This is not a drill.

David Read:
Exactly. You grew up in both the US and Canada, is that right?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah.

David Read:
Tell us a little bit about your formative years. This is a show where we’re not only reconnecting with a lot of the cast and the crew that made the franchise, but this is a show about heroes. And this is a show about the people who have helped us to become who we’ve become. Tell us about where you’re from and how that changed you.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I’m Canadian born. I was born in Ottawa, but I only lived there for the first few months of my life. And then Vancouver, where I lived until I was five or six years old , and then, because I’m one of eight kids, the three youngest kids then continued moving around with my family. My dad was a professor, so we moved from Vancouver to California and we lived in Palo Alto and the area around Stanford. And then when I was nine, we moved to New Jersey, Hopewell, in the area around Princeton. And New Jersey was incredible. It was kind of like living in the country even though we were close to urban centers. We lived on a bigger property with lots of trees and tons of wildlife, deer coming from the forest. Glacial rock formations in the woods behind us. We were compelled to go outside. There were no options, we were made to go outside as kids. And so, for me, that was very creative time because I would make sure that I did something artistic or creative every single day. Walk through the woods, write a song for the flute, which I was learning at nine years old. I’d write a poem or draw a picture and all that kind of stuff and just write. So, I think that, honestly, incredibly long walks in the woods where you were the only person, was formative. It was so dense and not particularly traveled that I would do the classic thing of breaking twigs so you could find your way home. Just beautiful. I’m boiling hot. I’m gonna take off my sweater.

David Read:
No, you’re good.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And I still remember one day walking through the woods, getting lost for a little bit, and coming upon a path that was as wide as a road, but it was a horse path, and the trees were bowers over it. And then there was an open field and there was a girl galloping a horse through the field. Honestly, it felt like I’d gone into Narnia.

David Read:
I found the lamppost.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah, I managed to find my way home, find my little broken twigs. And so that was a really incredible place to live, and good education too. And then at the age of 13, I guess 14, I moved back to Canada. Kingston, Ontario, where Queen’s University is located. And I was there through my university years. I basically moved to Toronto, just outside of Toronto, for university where I met Brad Wright in my theater program. And then after that I still split my time between the States and Canada. I moved to New York for a few years and then I moved back to Toronto, and then I moved to Los Angeles for eight years. And then when I was trying to decide where to continue my career pursuits, I was in my 30s and I took a car trip, and I drove across the US and up to Toronto and I spent a month there. And then I drove across Canada and spent a month in Vancouver and then went back to California, and within a short amount of time I decided, “OK, yeah, Vancouver’s for me.” And I still had all my sisters here, so it was like coming home, in a way, even though I hadn’t lived here in years and years.

David Read:
It’s an amazing city. There’s so much there. The people are so wonderful, and you don’t have to drive too far before you’re in just wilderness.

Jacqueline Samuda:
That’s right. Yeah, it’s amazing and that’s why there’s so much shooting here, too, because you can be in a city, gorgeous city, a kind of a marine setting, lots of coastlines. Then you can be in a rainforest. Not very far from here there’s actually an arid area that’s more like deserts. So, a show like Stargate was able to take advantage of all of those. Be in the mountains, be in the snow. I mean, just an absolute plethora, every possible kind of environment, and really healthy too. Really healthy. Lot of rain, but otherwise…

David Read:
Oh, come on. You gotta love rain. I live in a place where it rains like three days a year.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Where are you?

David Read:
I’m in Phoenix.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Oh, in Phoenix. OK. All right.

David Read:
Yeah. But I’m from St. Louis, so I really miss my rain. But when it dumps, it dumps. So, anyway, who are your personal and professional heroes? Who are the people who helped to shape you?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Well, I can say that when I was three, I wanted to be Shirley Temple. So, that was a bit of inspiration. I just thought she was so incredible. To be able to sing, dance, act, and she was little like me, in the movies I saw. So, that was incredible. And then, honestly, when I went to university at the age of 17, my class and my instructors there were absolutely critical to my growth as a person and also as a performer because when you’re in a theater school, it’s kind of like being in group therapy in a way. You encounter yourself and you encounter other people on a very intimate level because you’re being asked to strip down to the basics, emotionally, to be available. And troubles are called out, your flaws, your… By flaws I just mean where you have resistance to doing certain things, you have to kind of become vulnerable and open. And Ron Singer was a very important instructor for me, to leave university and have a methodology for how to approach acting. And in fact, the education was so complete that I felt like it informed my writing later on as well, because as a performer you’re asked to create a world and to have an arc and to be able to justify what the character does, and these tactics and actions you take are a means to an end. “What is the end? What do you want? What’s underneath?” And all of that stuff actually is critical when creating characters or creating a story as well. So, that was all great. And in the last two years of my university career, I was in a class of 14 people, and we were so close and we had so much fun and we did such good work. It was a great group. And to feel safe and be able to just take chances and —

David Read:
Yeah, you can explore. You can go in creative ways you didn’t expect.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Exactly. And then immediately out of York University I apprenticed at the Shaw Festival. So, working there and watching the work of some really world-level stage performers like Frances… Oh my goodness, her last name’s escaping me. It’ll come to me. Just one of the most incredible women. She was, I think, in her 70s at that time. And she would say every morning she would get up, strip naked and do her hour of stretching and exercise and then her vocal stuff. And then every time she walked on stage she commanded. Her charisma was incredible. David Hamblin was one of the directors I worked with there and he was very inspiring and gave me a great foundation to then move on back to Toronto and start working professionally. And then, I have to say, doing Atom Egoyan’s movies… I did three of his films, and he’s a very important Canadian filmmaker and he has a presence on the world scene as well. And to be quite young, my first feature film at 21, and to be, again, in an environment where you’re surrounded by people you really admire. And I was playing this nervous little bride who’s being interviewed for her wedding video, and I was using techniques that, if I were on stage, I knew that the audience would be laughing. And, of course, it’s a film set, but I’m not used to a film set yet, so, I’ve got this kind of heightened tension and I’m waiting for the response. And then they say, “Cut,” and then everybody breaks out laughing and I just got this incredible release, and I learned how to be in a movie and what the differences were, from very early on, so that was great.

David Read:
It’s a different skill set, because, A, you’re playing for an audience that’s there as opposed to being taped, but your level of intensity and emoting is different because the camera is with you and you’re so much more close. You’re not projecting to an audience. And you can sometimes spot on those Lifetime movies or some of those lower budget programs, where they’re pulling theater actors for background, and they’re emoting and they’re just like, “Everything’s enormous,” and it’s two different skillsets.

Jacqueline Samuda:
It is. And actually, I wish I could remember which director it was who said this to me. It wasn’t someone I was working with at the time, but he said, “You just have to check that you don’t scare the camera.” And I’ve actually used that a lot: “Just don’t scare the camera.” ‘Cause if you’re doing a very intense role, if you’re playing for a 1000-seat or more house in theater, you can project and you can get really, really messy. If you are working in a feature film, you can also go bigger, too. If you’re working in TV on smaller format, it’s almost like I used to always think of it like this. So, theater is just coming all the way through from behind you and through, and film is coming from you straight forward. TV, you just gotta be about this deep. And I don’t know if that makes sense, but that image helps me to not scare the camera when you have an intense role to play on TV.

David Read:
Boy, did you have one for Stargate. But before I get to that, can you tell us a little bit about a role that stretched you in ways that you didn’t anticipate or didn’t even think were possible and was maybe more challenging than how it appeared on the surface?

Jacqueline Samuda:
There is one that stands out for me in my university career on stage. There were a couple of stage performances that will never leave me, the characters will never leave me. But this one was particularly challenging because my whole class auditioned for this role. It was supposed to be a man. It was Killer’s Head by Sam Shepard, and it’s a seven-minute monologue where the killer is in the electric chair, strapped down with the thing on the head to run the electricity through, and blindfolded. A seven-minute monologue with a one-minute silence in the middle. So, if you didn’t have the blindfold on, that would be challenging, but with the blindfold on, you’re relying on all of your visceral energy. And I use my eyes a lot, and I’m sure in Nirrti I certainly used my eyes a lot.

David Read:
You did.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, in this case, I had to use all of my bodily vibrational energy, and especially during that minute of silence, to arrest the attention and keep it, and not let that energy flag. So, that was really challenging and really thrilling to have that responsibility and to go for it. So, other theater performances for sure, but recently, in 2015 I did a show called Ties That Bind where I played a woman who was secretly an abused wife, and she’s friends with a woman who is a police officer. And slowly the police officer is realizing that her friend seems like something’s wrong. And so that was a very complex role because of the internalized shame, and just that battle for survival, and also wanting to say something that’s buried, and having that internal conflict. And the reason that was so meaningful for me is because I felt great sympathy for women in that position, and the ones that can’t speak. And so, I had an opportunity to speak on behalf of women in that position. So, even though that sounds intellectual, it translated into an emotional depth for me, and it was a really… It just meant a lot to me to do that role. And that was one of those instances where certain energy and intensity did come out, but it was appropriate for the depth of the emergency.

David Read:
I think that it’s fascinating to examine a role like that where, “I’m me, and in this situation I would do X, Y, and Z, and I would do X, Y, and Z because I’m strong, or I’m athletic, or I’m this or that.” But in a role where you examine a character, and examine their history, and the building blocks that they’ve had to work with in their particular circumstances of life, and say, “OK, these are what this person had to deal with, and work with, and nothing else. How would I approach that if those were the rules?” And go.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Exactly.

David Read:
That’s what you have to do. It’s one of the brilliant things about acting, is getting to re-examine the human perspective.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And you have to practice, and you have to learn how to justify different approaches or results for people. Because one of the things that we often see in a show is, “Why didn’t the person just say something?” And of course, the writers are trying to create all these obstacles to make things harder for these people, and if it’s not on the page and it’s not obvious, you as a performer have to justify it. As much as you wanna say it, there’s a reason, and you’re gonna find it, and it’s gotta be a good reason, otherwise it’s gonna look like a lie.

David Read:
It’s gonna come off as… You may have tried, but A, did you try your best, and B, is it gonna appear sincere? And if it appears disingenuous, you’ve lost the audience, and they go, “Pfft, that sucked.”

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, I liked that… I guess you could call it a method of, “I’m the voice of this person.” And then, over time, especially if it’s theater and you’re doing so many shows, or if it’s a series over many years, then that person does become you, you do become that person. But to begin with, you’re speaking on behalf of that person. It’s as if you had the person who meant more to you than anyone in the whole world, and you are their representative. You have to fight, fight, fight.

David Read:
So, I’m really interested in talking to you about how you cracked Nirrti then, a psychopathic killer who just sees humans as cattle and prey. Before I get there, did you see the feature film in theaters? What was your familiarity with the franchise?

Jacqueline Samuda:
I did not see the feature in theaters, but I did see it shortly after it was made. I loved that movie, loved it. And in fact, it’s so funny, which is totally separate from this, my husband suggested that we watch it with the boys, so we were gonna do it last night. But anyway, we’re gonna do it tonight. So, I’ll see it again for the first time in ages. And I love the concept. I’ve always been deeply, deeply fascinated by mythology. When I was 21 and just finished university, finished Shaw Festival, I started a theater company, and I was debating about the names, and I wanted it to be a camel or a pyramid. It was gonna be Camel’s Eye, and then I settled on Pyramid Productions. I’ve been fascinated with mythology from around the world forever. So, the movie was awesome to me. I had zero familiarity with the franchise when I was cast as Nirrti. Which is crazy because, of course, as I say, I did go to school with Brad, but it was shortly after I moved to Vancouver that I had the audition and I hadn’t yet seen the show, so it was learning on the fly kind of thing.

David Read:
So, you get the role and do you immediately go and start looking into mythology, or did you just say, “Oh, they’re making their own interpretation,” or maybe they said that to you, “Just go with what’s on the page?” What’s the approach, for you, for a character that has such historical depth?

Jacqueline Samuda:
I did look up whatever I could find on Nirrti as this mythological figure. They didn’t give me anything. They didn’t tell me to watch “Singularity.”

David Read:
They didn’t?

Jacqueline Samuda:
I didn’t watch it. I didn’t know anything about that. I hadn’t seen any of the previous shows. The information I had was strictly on the page and in the audition process. And when I did the callback, it was between me and two other women, and Brad just gave me a note, because they had said there is a kind of elevated essence to the Goa’uld. They’re quite theatrical. So, it was interesting to bring in some of that theater, that way you operate. But then I was asked to, “OK, make it a little less theatrical, just a little more available.” And then it was reading the scene and reading between the lines, because so much of what Nirrti does is behind the scenes and talked about. I was like, “Just let me in there.” I just wanted to do it all right in front of everybody, but instead I had to read it. And the cool thing though, I will say, ’cause I rewatched my episodes, it works. Obviously, this show is lightning in a bottle. That’s why it endures and why the incredible fan base is so devoted. There’s magic there and a lot of skill and incredible talent. But one of the things with looking at Nirrti, as much as, as an actor, of course, I just want more pages, I want more conflict, I want more opportunities to get in trouble, but I actually quite enjoyed the episodes with the level of suspense that was created because she’s talked about. So, she’s kind of a legend. And then there she is and gets to do all the fun stuff.

David Read:
How about that costume, that initial costume?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Oh, yeah, that was just– I still remember going into the costume room the first day I went and feeling so at home because it was just like walking into a big theater company costume room. All the tables, all the sewers, all the patterns, everything handmade, rendered in muslin first, everything racked. And then, of course, working with somebody as gifted as Christina McQuarrie. And that fabric that was encrusted with semi-precious stones on the front of that bodice, and that cool skirt and the headdress, and then doing the hair and makeup test. And then I was presented to RDA and he approved.

David Read:
He’s a producer.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I still remember that, being marched, stood in front of him, I’d never met him before, and he just nodded very solemnly. Like, “Good.”

David Read:
“It’s good. It’s good.” It’s established in “Singularity” that she’s willing to murder whole civilizations of people and use kids as weapons. How do you access a personality like that when you’re creating the character? Do you just accept that this is how it is with this character, this is just how she does it? Or do you allow yourself to look into why she behaves the way she does?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Because she is… there’s something… what’s the word I’m looking for? It’s sort of iconic, these Goa’ulds are very iconic. They represent such a mass of history, and they’ve become a storied figure. So, I accept that this is her job. She is a scientist, she is the best scientist, and she has a very serious goal. And so, it’s not even, I wasn’t even really thinking of it as a selfish goal, “Oh, I just wanna create the best post for myself.” I’m looking for the best that can be done, period. And so, the ends justify the means. And if time is not a factor, if you can survive for a millennia, then you just work on getting better and better. And anybody who’s living in this temporal realm where it’s like you’re just a blip on the screen. Collateral damage. So, again, it comes back to you have to justify things and this was easy to justify as long as I didn’t switch on any empathy. It was all, as you say, sociopathic, just, “These are my pieces and I have a very important job to do, and you don’t understand it, and you might die. I don’t know. But I’m gonna work, I’m gonna do my work. And I’m going to enjoy it.”

David Read:
She enjoyed it, absolutely. I didn’t think of it that way because with the sarcophagus, she can watch civilizations rise and fall and continue to perfect across eons. If you can do that, if you had that ability, it would be all the more reason to look at anyone else who didn’t have that ability as lesser than you.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And expendable, but useful. “So, here you’re useful in this way and you’re useful in that way and I’m gonna use you this way, but it’s for a very important goal that I don’t need to trouble myself about making sure you’re on board. You are a tool to be used.”

David Read:
Interesting. For that first episode, you come through the gate with Lord Yu, played by Vince Crestejo, and Kronus, played by Ron Halder, who both appeared later on. All three of you became recurring characters. And you also had a lot of those scenes with Rick and the puppet Thor. Tell us about shooting that initial episode.

Jacqueline Samuda:
It was great. I actually was so impressed with the sets that I was a bit intimidated. It was such a massive… I mean, even if you go to a convention and you see a replica of the Stargate, that’s impressive. When you see it on a huge sound stage and there’s hundreds of people invested in this incredible thing, it’s very cool, and it is intimidating, and so it took me a little bit. But I remember the first instruction of coming through the gate, that was Martin Wood. [inaudible]

David Read:
I can see.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And you give a little bit of a… not a hop, but you have a physical experience as you’re crossing that threshold. I still remember walking down that — and my favorite, of course, was I was invisible for part of the fun stuff. But anything physical in there was the best. Absolutely loved it.

David Read:
In “Rite of Passage,” Nirrti returns to Earth and she has an opportunity to advance what she has been learning from her advanced humans all along with this particular girl, Cassandra. Tell us about what it was like coming back to that role after two years.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I was so excited. I was so excited and I thought it was such a cool opportunity, and I love those actors that I worked with across the board. From Colleen Rennison, who played Cassandra so beautifully, and she’s such a gifted performer and singer, as I’m sure many of you are aware. It’s such a pleasure to work with someone who is such a mature performer even though she was very young. And Teryl is a wonderful actress and the fact that she tapped into that mama bear energy, and I love the fact that it was a face-off, female-ish to female, me being the ish. And so that was really, really cool. When she came into that room where I’m strapped into the chair, or we’re standing up I guess, and she’s pointing the Zat at me, loved her…

David Read:
The gun.

Jacqueline Samuda:
The gun, that’s right. The intensity and the absolute unwillingness to back down and to compromise everything for the sake of her child. You rise to that. And so that’s what you look forward to when you’re a performer, to have those face-offs and to really meet somebody toe to toe. And the fact that she knew that I’d lied and pretended to do some healing and didn’t, and so that was just so satisfying.

David Read:
I love that scene between the two of you.

David Read:
And I mentioned this at GateCon with you a couple of years ago. When she comes in and she points the gun at you, and Nirrti’s like, “Oh, OK. Here we go.” And I asked you then and I’ll ask you now, behind her eyes, she still sees these beings as lesser, but I think even in that moment, her respect for Fraiser went up just a little bit, to confront her the way that she did. It’s like, “OK. I disagree with you. I don’t like that you’re pointing the gun at me, but wow, you’ve got cajónes.” Did you play it that way?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, absolutely, you nailed it. And the other element to it was the entertainment value because when you’re… It’s like being in a sandbox when everybody is just sort of fumbling along being human, and so anything you’re watching is interesting and fun. It’s like watching an ant colony. You know you can crush them, but, “Oh, they’re so… Look at the… They’re so busy and they work so hard.” And then when you see this figure rise up and say, “I’ll take you on.” It’s like, “OK. Oh, yeah, right. Good for you.” So, yes, absolutely.

David Read:
When you walked through the gate at the end of that episode, SG-1 has let you go to go and do whatever you’re going to do next. Was there an intent at that point that was like, “Jacqueline, we’ll have you back in the future,” or was it like before, “Hey, come what may, hopefully we’ll be back, but there’s no guarantee.”

Jacqueline Samuda:
There’s never a guarantee, so it was certainly my intention, “I’m coming back. I intend to come back.” But I love that exchange between RDA and me. And mostly I think because Peter DeLuise, such a fun and cool director to work with and just so good, and he just gave me lots of permission to really sit in that moment, that exchange, that silent exchange, between Richard Dean Anderson and myself, and you almost feel like… When you’re a guest on a show and the stars are… They’re everything. The entire weight and success and whatever of the show rests on them. So, when you come in as a guest, you wanna mind your Ps and Qs and you don’t wanna take up too much space, sometimes. Peter was just like, “Milk it. Just milk it.” And boy, that’s fun. And the fact that Rick was so happy to be present and have that moment. So, it was super satisfying. That’s my favorite moment, actually.

David Read:
He has a good time. That’s the thing about the tone that Brad and Jonathan and Robert, that those guys really set on that franchise was that, “If we’re gonna be here, we’re gonna have a good time. If you’re not gonna have a good time, might as well go home. But while we’re here, we’re gonna work long, hard hours, and we’re gonna do great work.” And it showed itself. Absolutely.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I have to say, those sets, every single time, it was always fun. Always the best feeling. And that really comes from the top down. And I’ll say the same thing from my seminal experiences in film working with Atom Egoyan, where you walk onto a set where every person appears to be really happy to be there. Nobody’s there just for the paycheck. They’re feeling fortunate that they’re in this space, delivering this work and knowing that it’s good and that it’s appreciated. It’s very special ’cause sometimes you get on set and it’s not…

David Read:
…always the case. So, she goes on to ruin another civilization with her genetic experimentation. What was it like getting to wrap that arc? First of all, you had someone new to play with, Corin Nemec.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes.

David Read:
And play with him she did.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, absolutely. He was really, really fun. That whole final scene that Peter [inaudible] shooting through my leg, like from The Graduate.

David Read:
Yes, exactly right.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, so fun. I co-wrote the story, and I had pitched the idea of the DNA machine, and then it became–

David Read:
That was yours?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes. That was integrated into the larger story, and then James Tichenor wrote the screenplay, and of course, Brad always contributed. Did I want to die in the episode where I also had a writing credit? Not necessarily, but on the other hand, when you’re a Goa’uld, who’s to say that you don’t have a clone or you got something going on that you’re gonna come back in some way? So, I was definitely not feeling like my death had to be eternal forever and ever, amen. But I did like coming back and bringing all of that work, that devious, evil, meddling work, and bring it home to the SG-1 team. ‘Cause then it’s the best possible end of an arc for any villain. If you think of a movie, it’s always gonna be mano a mano at the end, and the bad guy has to face off with… So, now, there I am actually facing off with Amanda’s Carter and Corin’s character and RDA. You almost have to have that. So, that was very satisfying. I loved doing that bit with Amanda. That was so cool. She’s incredible. What can you say? And that whole thing with Corin. The fact that Peter… he’s just such a clever director and he’s so efficient. He was doing most of that scene just with our faces right here. And of course, as an actor, I wanted to be looking right in Corin’s eyes and doing all this kind of stuff. But then when you watch it, it’s got a really interesting quality, and it is creepier, in a way, just to be kind of hovering and being right against his cheek. And that little chalice that I was drinking from —

David Read:
I think that was sold at an auction.

Jacqueline Samuda:
It was. Sold my very first convention in Blackpool, England, and Corin was there, and he and I did the auction for that. And it raised 800 euros or–

David Read:
Something ridiculous?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Crazy amount for charity. So, that was so, so great.

David Read:
One of the things that has always been a cornerstone of Stargate is that actions have consequences. And that when you agree to get something from someone that is a foe, and in this particular situation, the agreement is releasing that foe back into the cosmos, SG-1 is responsible for what happened to those people in your last show, “Metamorphosis.” That’s some pretty heavy subject matter, and they don’t get away with it. That race lets them know, “You are responsible for this.”

Jacqueline Samuda:
And actually, that’s a very good point because I think it’s Wodan who does the final killing of me, and he knows that, so it’s like, “Why is he going to serve you and keep her alive for your purposes when she’s done all this devastation?” And Dion Johnstone, who plays that, is such an important actor and he also was in that episode of Ties That Bind that I spoke with you about.

David Read:
Oh, really?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah. He was one of the series leads where he played a police officer. So, fabulous to work with him again. And Alex Zahara, who played the psychic character, who was able to tell Wodan, “She did this, and blah, blah, blah and it’s true.” Those guys, the fact that they were able to work with those prosthetics and still manage to communicate as performers, that’s a special, special level of skill.

David Read:
That’s one of the things I wanted to get to was the prosthetics in that episode. We’ve seen a lot of alien creatures and other forms of life, but people that they make themselves out to be in this particular episode. There are people who have lived like that and those are the bodies that they’ve had. What was it like staring into a lot of those prosthetic suits? Through the screen, they just look so real. That’s just magic, that’s movie magic.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Absolutely. It’s horrifying. And the fact that those characters had this sweet, terrible belief that they were getting treatments to help them and really they’re just continually being experimented on. And I look at them and I’m like, “Come on Nirrti, you should do a little better than this.” I mean, they had incredible skills, telekinesis and psychic abilities and so on.

David Read:
But at what cost?

Jacqueline Samuda:
At what cost? Exactly. That’s a very big question, isn’t it? In science in general there is always that weighing of the good with the bad and how can you justify that kind of thing?

David Read:
Our history includes times where we have experimented and tried to perfect our own species and it’s just horrifying. But to do it to a race that didn’t ask for it is even on an order beyond that. They had no choice. They were subjects.

Jacqueline Samuda:
They were subjects, they were victims, they were prisoners, they had no options whatsoever. And they were almost like, also, cult followers, too, because they made the mistake of believing the lie. And I have to say, rewatching all the material with Cassandra and “Rite of Passage” and then the whole situation in “Metamorphosis,” and being in a pandemic environment, where they’re talking about this particular virus and, “Where did it come from?” Yesterday I went down a rabbit hole, and I was watching Ancient Aliens, and they were talking about viruses from outer space. And I was like, “Ringing a bell.”

David Read:
We’re pretty vulnerable when it gets right down to it, and I think in recent times that’s crystal clear. And what a great costume for this new episode as well. Did you have any input?

Jacqueline Samuda:
No. I had no input. Honestly, it gets pretty low cut and, and… you know. There are moments where I’m sort of doing this and arranging myself or whatever, and then I realize I’m still on camera, but in between takes and the whole video village is watching you.

David Read:
How else are you gonna get it done? You gotta adjust sometimes.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, you can use the camera lens as a mirror in between takes. But you have to remember there’s still people sitting and watching the feed. I just went with it because when you… Look, they were geniuses, those costumiers are so incredibly gifted. And yes, it was a bit revealing, but hey, man, I was Nirrti. I didn’t care. I was dirty, flirty Nirrti as RDA used to call me.

David Read:
He did. That’s just great. So, it wasn’t your intent to have the character die? Who said, “At this point we need to add this. It’s time?” Because there was a chance that there wasn’t going to be a Season Six. SyFy Channel, they were gonna end it. That was it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Imagine. I don’t know whose decision that was exactly, but when they’re crafting a show like this, they are looking at large arcs and they do need their characters to have these massively impactful moments, and obviously that was a critical episode for the Dr. Fraiser character and others, with “Rite of Passage,” and has to have some kind of end. The fact that I did these horrible things and our guys are heroes. The SG-1 team, they are heroes and they have to win the battles in a massive way. It can’t just be letting me go back through the Stargate every single time I do something naughty. Eventually there has to be a reckoning and then move on, and that’s why it was a pleasure to be able to come back because there wasn’t an expectation, but always just the hope and the glee when it did happen.

David Read:
I think that it’s interesting that SG-1 aren’t the ones that break her neck. She has tampered with people’s lives. They encourage the people to do X, Y or Z. They eventually go and do it and discover just what they’ve been dealing with, and they take care of her. I think that there’s a poetic irony in that.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Thank you. That’s so true. And then to come back for Continuum was like, “What?” ‘Cause I thought, “I’m dead. OK, I’m coming back in some form. This is cool, and this is exciting.”

David Read:
What was that like? What a trip to be gone for so many years, and then from a twist of time travel, you’re back again and in a row of all sorts of heavyweights.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I loved it. As always, wanted to do more. I wanted to get into it with Ba’al and so on. But honestly, first of all, again, the costume. Absolutely staggeringly gorgeous costume, gorgeous wig. You really start to inhabit a being when you’re clothed like that. The weight of real regal materials were used, just incredible. It makes you really get there quickly. And then walking into that room… Now, of course, everybody’s hilarious, they’re all so fun. So, we’re yucking it up, Steve Bacic is cracking wise and… But to be there with Peter Williams again and with Cliff Simon, and we are friends. So, I loved it, I absolutely loved it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And of course, now, Hathor and Ba’al and Apophis and Nirrti love hanging out at cons together, so we just have such a scream, we’re really genuinely good friends.

David Read:
Tell us about the convention experience. What is that like from your perspective?

Jacqueline Samuda:
It’s super fun. From the very first one that I did in Blackpool where I was the surprise guest, and I’ve told this story many times, but–

David Read:
I have not heard it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
You haven’t? My goodness. OK, so I was invited to go, and I was told that I was the surprise guest, and at that time, I was like, “Well, surprise guest, will anybody know who I am? This could be awkward, I don’t know.” So, I’m in a bus with all these great actors and we go to this green room, and I think it must have been like an airplane hangar. That’s how big the venue was. There were thousands of people there. Massive stage, they had a replica Stargate that actually did spin. They had smoke and light effects, they had music. It was a big-time show. And I was told, “Well, all you’re gonna do is, actors are just gonna walk out one at a time and say who they are and what time is their signing the next day.” And I thought, “OK, I can do that.” And then, of course, they start coming out one at a time and they’re all standup comics. JR Bourne gets out there and it’s like, “Ba-dum-bum, ba-dum-bum,” and everyone’s laughing and I’m like, “I have no material. I haven’t prepared for this.” Gary Jones goes out there, “Duh-duh-duh, duh-duh-duh.” Everyone’s screaming and laughing.

David Read:
That is so true.

Jacqueline Samuda:
For me, no one knows that I’m going to be there, and I’m told, “OK, so you’re the only one who’s not just gonna walk out on stage. You’re gonna get into the sarcophagus that we have backstage.”

David Read:
You had a sarcophagus?

Jacqueline Samuda:
I had a sarcophagus. “You’re gonna be in there with a microphone. You are gonna be pushed through the Stargate with the smoke and light effects. The sarcophagus lid is gonna slide off with the sound effects of heavy stone, and then two Jaffa are gonna lift you out of the sarcophagus with no introduction.” And so, I’m thinking, “Oh my God,” and no one had told me that I was gonna do this. I had nothing prepared. I climb into the sarcophagus with my microphone, and I’m like, “I have no idea what I’m gonna say.” They push through and there’s the sound of this grinding stone and lights and the smoke and the Jaffa are out there somewhere, and then the lid comes off and these gigantic men in Jaffa costumes lift me out, and everybody recognizes me and they all cheer. And I was like, “What? Oh my God.” And I said, “When I got into that thing, I was a little jet-lagged, but there’s a minibar in there, and it’s a sarcophagus so I feel fresh,” and I was trying to do my little thing. Had the best time, and that of course was right in the peak, I think, of all the fans being super excited. So, the lineups were incredible. You really got sore signing the pictures. The excitement was palpable. It was so, so cool, so exciting. And from then, I missed a few years. I had two babies, and so occasionally I wouldn’t be able to attend. There were a couple in Germany I really wanted to do and wasn’t able to go. But then another super memorable con was the ones in Australia and New Zealand. So, thrilling, massive, massive cons that just appreciate all kinds of sci-fi and animation and really, really huge events. It’s the energy and it’s the excitement, and then over the years, considering the first episode that I did, I think was shot 20 years ago, something like that, a really long time ago.

David Read:
It’s been a while.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And the fact that the devotion of fans is so constant. Their interest, their keenness. I love the fact that fans… If I ever falter, forget something, there’s always somebody in the crowd who knows the answer, who knows Nirrti’s biography perfectly. And the energy is great and it feels like a family, and the fact that the really, really loyal fans come back over and over again to conventions. So, you see them with the joy of reuniting with their pals, and similarly, that’s how I feel when I see my Stargate cast member friends when we meet again. Wherever it is in the world, wherever it is, in Canada, or the United States, or Australia, New Zealand, or England, or… it doesn’t die. It’s magic. There really is some kind of alchemical thing that has been invested in this show by the energies of the right people coming together and the creation that these creators really did put that lightning in the bottle. It didn’t happen accidentally. They cast the people, they set the tone, and that translated. And that joy, that sense of family, you see it when you watch the episodes, you see it with the SG-1 team, you see it with the guests and the fact that we’re always happy to see each other, and the fans, we’re always happy to see the fans and it’s mutual. It’s special. I’ve never experienced that with any other show that I’ve done.

David Read:
Brad made the comment that sci-fi is not one genre, it’s all of them. And it has a transcendent nature to it by the way in which it tells stories. It keeps you coming back for more and gets interpreted again and again across time through different generations, through different lenses, and it all still works because it’s human.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I think that’s very interesting and very true because there’s definitely soap opera elements, the shipping… not just that, it’s also the family stuff that happens, and you trace that over seasons and various episodes, so that element is there. There’s thriller elements when certain individuals of the SG-1 team are having to run and evade. I think that’s really, really interesting. So, true.

David Read:
I have a couple of… more than a couple. I have a few fan questions. Before I get to them, though, you were recently the voice of Captain Marvel in Marvel Super Hero Adventures. Tell us about voicing a comic icon.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Super fun, of course, and the audition process was kind of interesting because it came to me, like all of mine do, as just an email, “Put this as an MP3, send it to us,” and I don’t know a lot of the details, I just know, “OK, Captain Marvel, that sounds exciting, I’m gonna do that.” And then that was the first time I was asked to do a callback for an animated character, and I did, I think, two callbacks actually. And then, when you go into the studio, of course you’ve got… LA is on the line, and then you’ve got producers and directors in the booth, and you’re in the booth with your fellow actors, and I absolutely loved the fact that, of course, it’s a powerful, iconic female superhero, but it’s the kids’ version.

David Read:
Ah, I didn’t understand that.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, it’s got this light and this sweetness and my job, in the episodes that I’ve done, is to help Spidey realize that he’s brave enough to do certain things that he’s feeling a little nervous about. So, it’s kind of this crossover thing where it’s the little superheroes but you still have to have that gravity. So, I absolutely loved doing it.

David Read:
The message is getting across. If there’s any message of superhero films, it’s not that you need to wait around for a superhero to rescue you, it’s that you believe in yourself and you can pull pretty much anything off.

Jacqueline Samuda:
You need to try your best, you need to have the support of friends, you need to ask for help when you need it, and you need to be brave. And that’s kind of a consistent message in those episodes, and I’m all for all of those messages, so, I really do love that.

David Read:
Keith Homel said, “I was fortunate enough to sit with you at a dinner table at GateCon and it was great. The dinners are one of my favorite parts of the GateCon conventions. What are your favorite parts of conventions where you make guest appearances?” I guess you kind of already answered this question with the fan interaction, but any other unique memories of meeting fans that stand out to you across time?

Jacqueline Samuda:
The last convention that I did in England, I had an injury. So, I had torn, partly ruptured my Achilles, and it was the week before the convention, and so the…

David Read:
You’re going to be doing a lot of moving around.

Jacqueline Samuda:
…logical thing would’ve been to cancel, but there had been one or even two guests that, for reasons of work, had to cancel at the last minute, so I thought, “I’m gonna go. These people are gathering, they’re excited. There has been a couple of people who can’t show up. If I physically can do it, I’m gonna do it.” Now, there was a little bit of a risk because with an injury when you fly on a plane, you have to get up and move around, or you run the risk of a little bit of a problem. But I don’t know how we did, but it was almost like everybody worked together, and it included fans rallying to help me because I couldn’t walk. So, we had the loan of Erica’s wheelchair. Erica, if you’re watching, I appreciate it so much. We all signed the bottom of her wheelchair at the end of it, and to my great good fortune, there was also Peter Williams and Cliff Simon and Suanne Braun there, too, so it was kind of like the gang’s all here, as well as some other great people.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Jacqueline Samuda:
But the fact that the fans were so kind and warm and helpful. It was like I was an Egyptian goddess, because people would carry me, they would make way for me. They were so considerate. It just warmed my heart. I see the pictures and sometimes you can’t tell that I’m always the only one seated or whatever, or that I’m being wheeled around in a wheelchair. But we just all made it work, because we were all there for the same reason: to enjoy being together and celebrating a show that we all love to pieces. So, that’s gonna be a top memory for sure. And–

David Read:
I’m sorry?

Jacqueline Samuda:
No, go ahead.

David Read:
You are surrounded by people who are delighted to have you and who care about your best interests and wanna make sure that you’re gonna get through it all right, so, it’s really the best environment to be in, is a fan convention.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah, real, real humanity. And I just love those moments where you actually have time to have a conversation with a fan, like at those dinners. ‘Cause you can’t always have more than a few words, because if there’s other people waiting, you don’t wanna take too long, but there’s just peak moments through all of the years. One of my favorite memories… this doesn’t involve a fan particularly but then he said he was a fan, so that was really cool, was when I was doing the convention in Australia and I was in the green room and I needed a pair of scissors because I had some thread or something like that. And so I was walking through, down a hallway, but in the actors’ area, and I pass these guys, and I hadn’t seen the movie yet, but they’re dressed as vampires from What We Do In The Shadows and there were costume and makeup people, and so I just said, “Does anyone have scissors?” And then this very ghoulish vampire turns to me and says, “I have scissors.” And it was Ben Fransham and I said, “Oh, thank you so much. Hi, I’m Jacqueline Samuda.” And he said, “I know who you are.” And I was like, “This incredible vampire knows who I am.” It was so fun and now we’re pals on Twitter, and it’s good.

David Read:
You never know who you’re gonna meet. You never know who you’re gonna cross paths with and what fun you’re gonna have. But once we’re all out of this, go to a convention. It needs to be at the top of everyone’s list ’cause you’re just gonna feel so much better.

Jacqueline Samuda:
For sure.

David Read:
Reno, “Your favorite costume?”

Jacqueline Samuda:
My favorite costume? Well, of course that bodice encrusted with the semi-precious stones was absolutely standout. I quite loved, in “Metamorphosis,” that bodice. Obviously, it was very revealing, but then it had that little mesh piece that comes down over the navel. I felt sexy. I really kind of…

David Read:
You looked great.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I kind of loved it. I really did. But I will say, Continuum, that costume, I did actually ask if I could have the muslin rendering. Like, “Can I please have the costume in the plain white cotton?” Not understanding, of course, when they said, “No. Oh, sorry, we can’t.” Well, the reason is they make the costume and then they pull it apart to use as the pattern [inaudible] incredibly expensive material. So, they make it once, fit it on you, and then they take it apart and recreate it in the actual fabrics. So, that’s how important that costume was to me. I was like, “This is the most spectacular thing I’ve ever seen.” The combination of the wig and the headdress and the whole thing.

David Read:
Continuum had a little bit more money, obviously, ’cause it was a DVD movie, but at the same time we’re historically showing each of these characters over the course of the run, and the costume, really, was all so much a part of the Goa’uld’s identity. And at the end of SG-1, that’s the time to do it. Pull out all the stops and make everyone look spectacular.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Absolutely.

David Read:
Ron Halder, all of his big pieces and his wool. I mean, not wool, but it looked like an animal that he was wearing. It was amazing, and I loved your costume as well.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Thank you.

David Read:
It was so cool.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I wanna say rest in peace Ron Halder, ’cause he was such a gifted, lovely–

David Read:
He’s passed?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah. A few years ago.

David Read:
I did not know that.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Such a lovely man and a great actor.

David Read:
I’m sorry to hear that. Yes, absolutely, may he rest in peace. Teresa, “Speaking of outfits and revealing things, do you have a regular fitness program?” You look so great.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Thank you. I’ve changed over the years, but I was a bit of an athlete as a high school person. I was an oarswoman and I’d actually been accepted onto the Canadian National Youth Team for rowing, but because I knew that I wanted to act, I was quite muscular and I thought, “I’d better stop this now or I’m never gonna get cast as a normal person.” I was so muscular. So, once I went through university then I was doing a lot of dance, and I would do regular gym rat stuff. I did some weights and always lots and lots of stretching. And then after I moved back to Vancouver from California, it was mostly yoga. So, now I’m doing mostly yoga and kind of a dance fitness, and I do the dance fitness when I’m not in the mood to exercise ’cause it cracks me up. I laugh as I’m doing my little… it’s kinda like a Zumba thing. But the main thing for me is to keep moving and get some cardio. And yoga is great. It’s been sad not to be able to do yoga for some months because of restrictions, so I do some at home. But I love doing hot yoga and I also like infrared saunas. They’re awesome.

David Read:
Really? Infrared saunas?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Infrared saunas. Because that helps to jumpstart your metabolism if your metabolism feels switched off, and after having kids, that happened to me for sure. And it also helps with inflammation, and I have injuries from sports and from a couple of car accidents. So, when those things start to feel creaky or whatever, getting in the infrared sauna regularly, it just fixes you right up. At least that’s been my experience.

David Read:
Hey, that’s cool. And whatever works. If that’s the way… I thought that yoga was always a solitary experience. I guess that there are group yoga classes, now that I think about it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah, lots of them, and I like doing the group hot yoga. And it really helps, because it’s 90 minutes and it’s extremely demanding, so when you’re in a room where nobody quits and nobody leaves the room… And when I say nobody quits, sometimes it’s hard enough that you have to take a minute, but you don’t leave the room, you stay with it.

David Read:
You’re still invested in it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Totally. And then if you’re doing a flow yoga or a power yoga and you’re in a group, it’s almost like, if you have the experience of singing in a choir or playing an instrument in a band and you get with a groove, you can actually have that sometimes in a class where everybody’s moving simultaneously, and it becomes kind of an energetic experience.

David Read:
There’s an uplift.

Jacqueline Samuda:
It really is, absolutely. And then the breathing really settles your mind. So, I’m definitely missing that ’cause we’re all getting a bit of crazy energy.

David Read:
Oh my gosh, yeah. I think we’ve all gained. I certainly put on some pounds, let me tell you, Jacqueline. Steven wanted to know, “Good evening from Hartlepool in northeast England. Any pranks on the other cast members, or was it all business?”

Jacqueline Samuda:
No, it definitely wasn’t all business. I didn’t play any pranks. I’m there as a guest; I’m a polite guest. But it’s super fun to be around these absolute maniacs that are Chris Judge and Michael Shanks and RDA. I mean, this is another story I’ve told where, I don’t know why, but for some reason, I guess people had dogs on the set, so they had treats on the snack table. And Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks started kind of daring each other to eat them, and then I guess they decided they liked them ’cause they would walk around eating these dog biscuits. And right before a take one time, RDA looks at me and he goes, “What do I have in my pocket?” And I said, “A dog biscuit.” He was like, “How did you know that?” And I was like, “You’ve been eating them all day.” And then I just remember, this wasn’t on set, but it was when I arrived in… no, this was in England. So, I had a convention in England and I had just, it was that first one, the very first one. So, I think I had done the whole sarcophagus entrance thing, and now I’m going back to my room and I’m changing and I’m kind of getting ready for bed and there’s a bang on my door and it’s JR Bourne and Chris Judge dragging me out for drinks. There was no saying no. It was like, “You’re coming. We’re going down to the bar and we’re gonna have some drinks.” So, they definitely had tons of that energy.

David Read:
These convention experiences, they bring fans together, they bring the actors together. And we as fans, we don’t appreciate just how much camaraderie there is between all of you as well. At least I don’t. When I’m there– it took me a while to realize just how much you all loved being together and needed your space as well. Because as an entertainment journalist, I’m backstage wanting to get some content for online and everywhere else. You guys need time too. You guys need some time to catch up.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And as an example, the last convention that I did in Telford, Peter Williams and Suanne Braun and Cliff Simon and I, we all had one evening where we weren’t booked and so there was… it’s a small community but there was one recognized restaurant that… it was in a beautiful setting, it was in a decommissioned church or something like that. It was just spectacular. So, we all go out, we have dinner together, and I swear it’s like we are family. We’re laughing, we’re having the best time. Of course we drink a couple of bottles of wine. I’m in a wheelchair.

David Read:
Everyone’s a little loose. You’re what?

Jacqueline Samuda:
I’m in a wheelchair. So, I had my crutches in the restaurant. We get back and then they’re wheeling me back to my room and some videos were posted online, I’m sure you can find them on Suanne’s Twitter or her Instagram, and certainly no disrespect meant to anybody who is in a wheelchair as a regular condition, but we started improvising and being naughty in the hotel hallway. Peter had gone into his room already, and then Suanne and Cliff just started pretending they were just these bizarre, hilarious characters and we were just so naughty. I don’t know how we woke no one up, we woke nobody up. I have not laughed so hard, and then when I finally go into my room, and they both go into their room, and then I opened my door to, I don’t know, check on the wheelchair or something ’cause it had to sit outside my door, and I open my door and I look down the hallway and Cliff has opened his door and he’s looking down the hallway. We both look at each other at the same time because what he had wanted to do was to sneak down the hallway and just be sitting in the wheelchair for when I opened my door, just to freak me out and scare me. We started laughing, and even when we left the next day, I’m going one way, and I guess they were going on a later flight to a different destination. So, I’m staying in a hotel near to the airport and I’ve just arrived, and they’re continuing to make funny videos and sending them to me. And so, I’m sitting in the hotel lobby. I’m laughing till I am crying. It is just… Oh my God. When you have really funny, good actors and you get to hang out with them, I mean–

David Read:
It’s a party. Kyle wanted to know, “Given how she escaped several times before, how do you feel about Nirrti’s ultimate fate?” It’s pretty fitting.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah, it is. It’s fitting, but I would have loved to be able to activate my rings and disappear before that happened and go somewhere else and then come back and wreak lots more havoc. I just wanted to keep coming back. I felt like I had so much more to do, which I’m sure would be exactly Nirrti’s thought process. She would feel like, “It’s too soon. I’m so close.” So, fitting, but as an actor, man I wanted to do more, and as a character, Nirrti had lots to do yet, so…

David Read:
So, you contributed to “Metamorphosis.” Kevin Leach, “What inspired you to add the DNA machine and do those other components to that contribution to that story?

Jacqueline Samuda:
At the time, I think I was teaching screenwriting at Vancouver Film School, and I was working a lot as a story editor where you advise on flaws or things that have to be addressed in screenplays, I was working with production companies and government agencies to do that, and I was ready to start generating some of my own scripts, or more of my own scripts. And so, I had been asked to pitch, actually, to Andromeda, to Allan Eastman. So, I had developed this whole pitch that included this DNA machine, and it didn’t go anywhere with Andromeda. So, then one day, I said to Brad, we decided we were gonna have lunch, and I said, “You know, I have an idea. I’d like to run it by you.” We have a nice lunch, and I tell him this whole concept of this DNA machine, and there was more to it, obviously, and he said, “You know, that’s interesting. Let me take that into the room and see what happens.” And as these things go, it takes time, so it was thrown into the pot, certain moments or concepts. That one stuck and it gelled with another idea that was already developing, so they decided to integrate it, and Brad called me and said, “You’re gonna have a story credit.” I was super excited. Of course I wanted to write the whole script, but James…

David Read:
Of course.

Jacqueline Samuda:
But anyway, it was James’ time to do that.

David Read:
Plus, you’re the villain. It’s your story, for all intents and purposes.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah, but I hadn’t pitched that it was Nirrti’s machine, so that was interesting. I personally am interested in quantum physics and biomechanics, and I’m just interested in science as a human being, even though, to be honest, I haven’t watched a whole ton of sci-fi, weirdly, but I love thinking about it in the real world. I was so fascinated, and the whole concept, the visuals of the way DNA looks and functions, I just felt it was so… It could be so mechanical and so interesting, almost like a place you can go into, and that was… It was the idea of it, it was the concept, and it was the visual appeal of it, too, that was in the pitch. And then of course, it made perfect sense for Nirrti. It made perfect sense for her.

David Read:
To be able to alter people’s genes on the fly. So, the end product that we saw, was that pretty close to what you had in mind?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes and no. The fact that, when you see Amanda, for example, and she’s standing on a platform and the DNA is going around her, yes, but my original visual was more of the person almost climbing the stairs of the DNA.

David Read:
Of the helix.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, I may still use that somewhere else.

David Read:
That is totally legit. Wow, very cool. Claireburr, “What is your favorite prop that you got to use in the show?” There were a couple that you got to use.

Jacqueline Samuda:
There were some cool ones.

David Read:
The healing device was cool.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I liked the healing device. I would say that was my favorite. And when I actually did do the healing on Cassandra and I had that second device, I don’t know what that one was called. Do you know what that spider one was called?

David Read:
They reused it again a few years later… Right here is one of your devices as well.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yay.

David Read:
Now that I realize it, so yeah. I’ve got a little Nirrti in my back, behind me. It didn’t even occur to me until now. But it didn’t have, technically, a name, just the healing device did.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Those two devices that I used in concert when I was working with Cassandra, that was really cool, and I’m actually interested in metaphysical healing, so it… it worked for me. I could imagine your energy going through these devices, magnifying the technology, and the technology using your energy to function. That made sense to me, so I really enjoyed those.

David Read:
Very cool. I think that there is more… I don’t think that pills solve everything. I think that there’s more going on. The EM spectrum is pretty huge. We’re tied into some more stuff than I think that we realize yet. That aspect of Stargate always lent credence to that idea, that there’s– I suspect there may be a real thing, like energy transference, to heal.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I like thinking about things like that.

David Read:
Zader, “Do you think part of Nirrti’s success as a villain was because unlike other Goa’uld she relied almost entirely on her own knowledge, her own power, and her own subterfuge?”

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, 100%. As soon as that question started, I was like, “Yep. She’s working from the inside out.” It’s her elevated intelligence and her capacity to create new technology, to picture what’s possible, and then to actually have the brilliance to execute and to create technological supports to make that happen, to create the result. Even though she tried, she failed, she tried, she failed. She kept working, but nobody else was able to use some of the technology that she had. There were no other Goa’uld running around with the invisibility capacity.

David Read:
Only one, Hathor. But she was knocked off early on, but that was it. No one else had it. I think they may have been in cahoots for a little bit.

Jacqueline Samuda:
I’d like to see a little bit of Hathor-Nirrti thing happen. In another universe, who knows? We could do some damage together, I think.

David Read:
Absolutely. Suanne’s show, Hathor Hosts, I think you were on it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yes, I was.

David Read:
Isn’t she terrific?

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, good. What a ray of light. She’s so talented, she is so charismatic, she’s so fun, generous. And then to put that show together at a time when it could really just bring a bit of light to people and just having the kind of personality that she does that she can appeal to her fellow performers who just wanna share. My hat’s off to her. And I had an Instagram account that I really wasn’t using. I actually should give you guys my account ’cause I’d like to start–

David Read:
Absolutely. We’ll promote.

Jacqueline Samuda:
So, for Hathor Hosts, I reactivated my Instagram account. So, that one is @jesamuda, all small letters. J-E-S-A-M-U-D-A. And then Twitter is @JSamuda, but the J and the S are both caps. And I wanna up my game now that we’re doing more from home and–

David Read:
Absolutely. This is our theater now, so this is what we’ve got. I will add that information to the profile after we’re finished. Morkan, “When you were initially playing Nirrti, did you have any character inspiration for her?” Did you pull a little of Hannibal Lecter? How, how do you, as an artist, work when you’re building a character like that?

Jacqueline Samuda:
That’s interesting. It’s so funny that you said Hannibal Lecter. I had just had to audition for something where they said, “We want a little piece of Hannibal Lecter.” Always as an actor, I look at, “What is the objective of the character? What’s my aim? What’s my goal? How do I want this show to end in my character’s world?” And then, “What tactics, what actions am I gonna take to make them happen?” And then I have to work with the script and find the moments, so that one of my tactics is being executed with each line, and then, because it’s an evil character, subtext is always critical. For any character. There are certain genres where subtext isn’t as critical. You can take people at face value in some really poppy, fun shows. But especially when you’re playing an evil character, subtext is everything. The chances of you putting all your cards on the table are about nil. So, that’s the main thing. So, it’s not like being inspired by another famous character or that. It’s more, “This character is a scientist. Some people would call her evil because she’s willing to use children, human beings, the most nefarious methods to execute her aims.” And then that subtext of always having a bit of a secret, always, as I say, watching the ant colony. There’s just something, there’s always a little bit of a glimmer behind the eyes, and that’s… It’s ephemeral. It was a feeling more than an intellectual idea. Just that notion of, “Isn’t this interesting, that I’m here with these silly, silly humans and they’re not cooperating, but they will, they just don’t know it yet. Or, they don’t realize they’re already cooperating.” That stuff, and enjoying it. And then, of course, if you have the brilliant makeup and hair and wardrobe. And I had things like exotic, exotic things for Nirrti. Like the mehndi, the hand painting, which, it looks strange, actually, when you look at it on the screen, it’s like, “What’s wrong with her hands?” But the very first time we put that ink, the henna on my hands, it was done by an actual Mehndi artist, and it took a really, really long time. It was carefully hand painted and then we realized, “OK, that’s not practical,” because already the rest of the stuff takes a long time. So, eventually we found stencils, which are commonly used, so we did those and then I was given a makeup pen to reinforce the ink as it would fade over the course of the day.

David Read:
Throughout the day.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Yeah. And if I was on set for three days that week, then I would keep it and keep… And so that, actually, it becomes like a ritual, and it starts to settle you into your character. Very common for actors to have rituals and they will often do similar things every time ’cause it’s an energy work as well as anything. Those were my methods.

David Read:
That’s crazy. That’s a lot… I gotta say, Jacqueline, I’ve never paid attention to Nirrti’s hands. I’m gonna go back and have a look at it.

Jacqueline Samuda:
And I think, possibly, at “Metamorphosis” we might have not done the Mehndi. I can’t recall, but certainly, if you look back at “Fair Game,” when I’m using that hand device, and it’s, “Are her hands just really old? What’s going on? Is it veins? What is it?” And it’s this pale orangey-brown ink, this henna that… and it’s a classic Indian kind of makeup that’s done on the feet and hands, and it was spectacular, but you couldn’t really see it on the screen. But, again, energy-wise and preparation-wise, it was a piece of my preparation.

David Read:
Absolutely. It’s that much more that you roll into that character. That’s really cool. Kevin Leach, “How can we, the fans, support you?” Obviously, we’re gonna share your Instagram and Twitter information on the site. What other ways?

Jacqueline Samuda:
Well, that, and honestly, if you know of a convention where there’s still some Stargate love, I love attending conventions, and certainly convention organizers respond to fans’ requests. So, any convention that you think I’d be a fit for, I’m happy to attend if I can. So, please consider that, putting in a word.

David Read:
Absolutely. I think that that’s terrific. Jacqueline, this has been wonderful. It’s been a pleasure to finally have an interview that we can share with the broader audience, that doesn’t sit in a can or on a data file somewhere.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Absolutely. Thank you so much, David. It’s been great catching up with you.

David Read:
Absolutely. Thank you so much, and all the best endeavors going forward. I’d love to have you on again in the future. And you have a good holiday and be safe.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Thanks. And to you and to all the fans, cheers.

David Read:
Be well. Bye-bye.

Jacqueline Samuda:
Bye.

David Read:
Jacqueline Samuda, everyone. Nirrti on Stargate SG-1. Thank you so much for tuning in, everybody. Sorry for the issues earlier with the video feed. I’m running on my gaming computer in the living room because, if you haven’t been noticing, there’s been a weird video hiccup that I’m trying to address. I think my computer’s having issues with overclocking or something, so we are addressing that. I have fan art. Nirrti fan art. And that is the wrong one. This is the right one. DarthCrotalus has created Nirrti. “It’s Nirrti by DarthCrotalus, one of the Goa’uld from the television series Stargate SG-1, made with Dress Up Games by Doll Divine.” I guess that’s some kind of software. “Her costume was very revealing in “Metamorphosis,” and this just enhances it as far as I’m concerned, accentuates certain things, shall we say.” The costumes in the franchise were absolutely extraordinary, and this is a great piece of art that shows that off all the same. Before we let you go, we have a sponsor. Dial the Gate has partnered with 3D Tech Pro for the month of December, to give you a chance to get your very own desktop Stargate and customized Ancient key chain. To enter to win these items you need to use a desktop or laptop computer and visit dialthegate.com. Scroll down to Submit Trivia Questions. Your trivia will be used or may be used… I keep saying that. Your trivia may be used, never any guarantees, but it may be used in a future episode of Dial the Gate either for our monthly trivia night or for a special guest to ask me in a round of trivia. There are three slots for trivia, one easy, one medium, and one hard. Only one needs to be filled in but you’re more than welcome to submit up to three. And please note the submission form does not currently work on mobile devices. Your trivia must be received before January 1st, 2021. I’ll take it also day of as well. If you’re the lucky winner, I will be notifying you via your email right after the start of the new year to get your address and what word you want for your Ancient key chain. And be sure to check out our partner’s website for more Stargate-related merchandise at 3dtech.pro. I have a few questions that have been set aside for me. I’m gonna run through those real quick. I apologize, a lot of these have been built over this past few hours with David and Jacqueline so I haven’t really had a chance to go through them yet. Yousefeel, “Have you had anyone from Sanctuary and Travelers on yet?” Paul McGillion, a few of– Anyone who has been in Stargate and who has also been in Sanctuary and Travelers, there’s a chance that some of these Stargate stars certainly have been. I know that Paul had his role as Wexford in Sanctuary and I had Tom McBeath on a couple months back. He had a role in a couple of episodes of Travelers as well. There’s definitely some crossover, shall we say. If you haven’t had a chance to see Travelers, I think it’s still available on Netflix. It’s an extraordinary three seasons. Ended way too soon, but it is essentially the first act of that story, I think. It is a cliffhanger, but it isn’t. So, it’s still worth watching. Kevin Leach, “Any chance of another Stargate role-playing session?” I think it’s about time. I’m gonna approach the guys in January and see about making it happen again, ’cause everyone had so much fun the last time around. I think it may be time to do that. R Radev, “When do you plan on showing us all your amazing Stargate props?” Let’s let the channel get a little bit older, and then I’ll take you around the house and I’ll show you the Stargate props. That’s definitely a little bit further off, but for sure. “Regarding the David Hewlett stream,” Watcher652vids, “need to put the link to this stream from the previous live stream. Some people didn’t know how to find the stream or who David Read was talking about. The link was already known when I go to Dial the Gate’s channel list. Update the info in the description.” Yes, I will definitely do that. Claireburr, “Has David Blue been approached for an interview?” I have asked David, and I didn’t get a response. If any of you are in touch with him and you’d love to have him on the show, please reach out. I would kill to have him on. We get along like a house on fire. He’s a great guy. REDUX, “It would be fitting the last episode of your season of Dial the Gate would be an interview of yourself getting to learn about your favorite interview.” I think I talk enough. And I don’t know if we’re gonna do seasons. We’ll see. I have it in such a way that I take one week off a month. We’re gonna keep on going as long as we can. I’m sure at some point I’ll take a break. I don’t have it in sight for the time being. I schedule any time I go out of town well enough in advance that I’m able to set up episodes for while I’m gone, because I think it’s important that y’all have content. Several fans have asked for a tour of David’s props collection. We’ll tour the props. I promise, in 2021, we will absolutely tour the props. OK. Thank you so much for tuning in everyone. I really appreciate your patience while we worked out the bugs with the transitions and everything else this week. It’s not been normal for what I intend the quality of the show to be, so I appreciate you bearing with me. But we’re just going to go ahead and keep on doing the program, keep on doing more episodes, and we’ll just keep on moving forward. So, I appreciate your patience. The guest announcements for next week. I didn’t create a graphic for that, but for this coming weekend, we are going to have Gary Jones’ second fan interview. He’s going to interview a daddy-daughter combination at 11 AM on December the 27th. At 1 PM Pacific Time, December the 27th, part two of our interview with Robert C. Cooper. It is two hours long, and it’s good. He goes into “Heroes” in depth, and directing in depth. Rob is just a vast wealth of knowledge. So, at 1 PM Pacific Time, Rob will be on pre-recorded. His schedule is such a way that I only manage to get him for pre-recorded shows, and we’re thankful to have him one way or another. Then at 3 PM Pacific Time, I may move this to 3:15 ’cause Rob runs a little long, so check YouTube, the Stargate Superfan Panel. So, we have on the majority of the Stargate superfans that MGM brought in at the beginning of 2019 to help us out with production when we were still moving forward with Stargate content, when my team was still in the studio. We’re obviously not there now, but it’s a great group of people, a great group of folks that I love very much, and I think that you’re going to enjoy hearing some of their stories. Some of them are very poignant. That’s all I’ve got for you this week. Thanks so much for tuning in, everyone. I really appreciate you being out there and enjoying the show. Let’s do everything that we can to bring Stargate back for a fourth round. My name is David Read. We’ll see you on the other side.