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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Welcome everyone to Episode 23 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Thank you so much for joining us. It is wonderful to have you with us. And it’s wonderful to have Rachel Luttrell in the wings here. She’s gonna be joining us momentarily before I bring her on. I do wanna advise what’s gonna be happening. So, in this episode we’re gonna have Rachel in. I have a line of questions for her and then I’m gonna invite people in the live chat to ask their questions as well. And then after the show, we’re gonna have some Stargate art from the fan community to show off. I’ll also be sharing the lineup of guests that we have for next week. But before I bring Rachel in, if you like Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you clicked the 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 the Subscribe icon. Giving the bell icon a click will notify you of the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes. These actors are working, and so things shift all the time. So, this will be key if you plan on watching live. And clips from the live stream will be released over the course of the next several days on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. And without further ado, I have the privilege of bringing in one of the most talented actresses to grace the Stargate Pantheon, Miss Rachel Luttrell. Hello.

Rachel Luttrell:
Hello David.

David Read:
It’s so good to see you.

Rachel Luttrell:
Aww, it’s great to see you too. I’m honored to be sitting here. I’m very honored that you asked me to be here.

David Read:
I have had the privilege of knowing you since the first season of that extraordinary journey of Stargate Atlantis, and we talked a little bit during Gatecon, the Gatecon reunion episode on YouTube, about… And I was really impressed with your thoughts on how the fan interaction, fan involvement from the show, fan feedback has just been so extraordinary over these past… What was it? 15, 16 years now? How the content from this series and franchise has changed people’s lives for the better in so many ways. How often does a piece of art transcend more than just the time and place that it was created and continue to ripple positively throughout time?

Rachel Luttrell:
It’s amazing. It really is amazing, and it always does astound me, and I’m always so deeply moved when I hear from fans about, as you said, how the show has changed their lives, how it’s influenced them in really, really positive ways, and it’s just amazing. And it continues to do so and that’s also thrilling and wonderful. I feel very, very honored to have been part of this. So honored.

David Read:
Were you aware when you started that it was gonna to take on the legacy that it has? Because SG-1 was already going for seven seasons at that point. That itself is tremendous. And then you were coming in to do your own thing.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, it is. And no, I had no idea. I mean I was so naive. I was so naive about the entire franchise, really. I didn’t know a lot about SG-1. I had seen the movie, like, a 1000 years ago as a kid and I remember being really intrigued by it. But that was pretty much all I knew, and I’m happy that that’s the case, because, you know, its nerve wracking enough to pack up your life and move to another city and to take on this new part and to meet all these new people, blah, blah, blah blah blah. But if I had known of the gravitas that was attached to it, I think I would have been debilitated almost.

David Read:
A lot of people we talk with, they’re like, “I’m really glad I didn’t know as much as I did about it because I couldn’t have done my job.” It would have gotten in the way.

Rachel Luttrell:
100 percent. I’m glad that it just kind of slowly revealed itself to us and moment by moment it became something that was, like, as we were just saying, it’s just an extraordinary extension of what it was that we were doing. We perform in front of a camera. As actors, obviously, we perform on stage every once in a while, but we’re usually performing in front of a camera. You don’t really get any kind of interaction. You do your best job. You try and do your best work. You service the role. You service the story. But you don’t really know how that ripples. And the fact that Stargate has had this incredible ripple effect, and that the fans are so loyal, and that the fans are so lovely… We’ve got the best fans! And it’s wonderful. But I had no idea. I had, like, zero idea. And I remember our first convention. Everybody was so nervous. We were, like, “What is happening?” We were just, like… We had no idea. But we came to understand that the fans are just… They come from this place of such generosity that it just can’t help but fuel you. And eventually it was a wonderful thing that helped buoy all of our performances, really.

David Read:
I want with this series to make it a place on YouTube where people can go, and I mentioned this to Flanagan a few weeks ago, I intend for this show to be a kind of oral history of the Stargate franchise where people who, in future generations haven’t even discovered it yet, can come to this and find out more specifics about a lot of the individual episodes. It’s my hope to go through every episode of the show, with each of the performers who made those episodes what they are, and leave a lasting legacy on YouTube that people can come back to and say, “Oh, you know what? I wanna learn more about Tracker. I wanna go into… I wanna learn more about The Queen. What were Rachel’s thoughts on The Queen?” All this to say that it’s my hope to have you in the future episodes so we can go into more deeper minutia about the arc of this amazing character and her contribution to not only Atlantis, but to sci-fi fandom as well. I’m hoping to have you back in 2021.

Rachel Luttrell:
I’d love to.

David Read:
Before we get into shoveling into this. I just came back from… I live in Phoenix. I just came back from Florida. I don’t know if it’s a regional thing or not, but my mom had, I don’t know what channel it was on in her room, and we were watching TV, and this commercial came on, and…

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my God. I know exactly what you’re gonna say.

David Read:
Well, maybe but maybe not. This race car driver gets out of his car, and it turns to this kid and I’m, like, “Is that Caden?” I was, like, “I think that’s Rachel’s son.” And another commercial came on and you were there, too. I was like, “Wow, it’s all family affair.”

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh. All right.

David Read:
It’s a Domino’s commercial.

Rachel Luttrell:
Let me correct you. It’s actually our little girl. So Caden…

David Read:
Really?

Rachel Luttrell:
Well, listen, Caden is now my height, and has a deep voice. He just turned 13.

David Read:
Oh my gosh. So, I got the kids wrong, but the family right. Isn’t that interesting?

Rachel Luttrell:
Right. Yeah, that’s little Ridley. And I’m so proud of her. That was actually her very first job. Both of my kids have expressed some interest in the performing arts and they both had to, like, beg me and beg me, and beg me before I actually pursued it for them. Because I know how hard this profession can be.

David Read:
It’ll kill you, if you’re not careful.

Rachel Luttrell:
It’s a difficult profession. But while they enjoy it, I’m here to support them. And that was her first job. And they asked if I wouldn’t mind being on camera, and I was, like, “Sure. Why not? I’m there anyway just to make sure that she’s OK.” I’m so proud of her. I was so proud of her. She delivered her lines like a champ. She even had to do some lines in Spanish. She’s not a Spanish speaker. And she was, like, “Well, we got a really loving [inaudible].”

David Read:
Give it a shot.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. She just was, like… So, I don’t know. She might end up going places that… I mean, I know she’ll end up going places that I can’t even imagine. But she’s really good.

David Read:
You see a lot of this now. Like with Jim Gaffigan. He does commercials with his own kids. And that’s, I think, [is a] really great way… Well, A, it helps them pay for their college. But B, it’s a great way to get introduced to that kind of world because the commercial auditions can be just as just as difficult as anything else based on what I’ve heard. And in that kind of situation, like with Gaffigan, you’re there with them. So, there’s a there’s a nurturing. There’s a safe space almost.

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly. It was a very, very special experience and I’m glad that it’s forever documented for us to have and share. It was really fun.

David Read:
Do you think that is it for her?

Rachel Luttrell:
No. Oh no.

David Read:
She didn’t say, “Do you know what? I’m done. I’ve done it now.”

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, no.

David Read:
OK, good.

Rachel Luttrell:
Ridley is, like, “What’s my next audition? What’s my next audition?” Listen, before I came on the show with you, I was actually editing a voice over audition that she just knocked out of the park and prior to that… I’m a proud mama, but I really do think that my kids are kind of taking it to the next level. She’s definitely gonna pursue this at least for the next couple of years. She really loves it.

David Read:
Absolutely. And especially… Was that recorded since this whole COVID business started?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, it was. Yes, it was.

David Read:
So, you guys are making it work. That’s terrific.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh yes. Happily, my husband is back at work. We’re here in Georgia, as I told you prior to us joining everybody else, and we’re just down the street from what used to be Pinewood Studios. They now call it Trilith Studios. They changed the name, but it doesn’t matter. That’s where all the Marvel production is filming, and my husband is currently the fight coordinator for the new Loki television series that will be streamed on Disney Plus. And he’s been working, which is great. So, you know the industry is slowly moving back. But they are getting tested three times a week, which is, like, 40 some odd Covid tests. It’s pretty tough.

David Read:
And they’re not pleasant tests at that.

Rachel Luttrell:
No, not pleasant tests. But he’s working and yes, as you said, we’re making it work. That’s good.

David Read:
Martin Wood, we had him on, and he was talking about how they have watches that go off after you’re within someone’s proximity or bubble, you know, too close. Every production that’s allowed to operate is finding a way to make it work. It’s gonna be very interesting to see what happens to LA over the course of the next several months of this for better or for worse.
I can’t dispute how they specifically… They have to handle it however, they’re going to, but at the same time, there’s some people that have no choice but to work. And what are you gonna do? It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens over the course of the next several months in 2021, if this thing takes longer than we fear that it will.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, I mean God, what a year we’ve been going through. This is something that we gonna be processing for so, so long. And I’m optimistic. The vaccine is close to being ready, but they’re saying that it’s gonna take, like, several months for them to get all of our first line workers…

David Read:
Yeah, they come first.

Rachel Luttrell:
Vaccinated. They’re gonna be first, so it’s probably not gonna trickle down to the rest of us until, I don’t know, this time next year, so this is something that we’re gonna have to face for the next several months.

David Read:
For sure.

Rachel Luttrell:
Learn how to deal with.

David Read:
Well, it’s fantastic that you’re geographically in a place that’s working and affords opportunities. So, you gotta count your blessings.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, my goodness, yes. And I do. I so do, my goodness.

David Read:
Rachel, you and I have talked about your background in terms of… You come from a family that was always singing and harmonizing, in the car, and dancing.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes.

David Read:
But where are you from, specifically? What part of the world are you from? And who were you as a young person and how did that launch you into what you became as a professional actor?

Rachel Luttrell:
Well, what a lovely question. Thank you so much. That was such a thoughtful question. I’m from Tanzania, which is in East Africa. And people wanna figure out where that is geographically. It’s Indian Ocean. It’s Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s the Serengeti. So, it’s kind of, like, where people zero in when they wanna go on their safaris. And my mom is from there. All of her family still lives there. I was born there. My dad was from Louisiana, Shreveport. And we grew up in Toronto. I lived in Tanzania until I was about six years old, moved to Toronto with my very thick East African accent. We do have recordings of me and my [accent]. I’m blown away. It’s, like, you know… But listen, I was shy. I was always a shy kid, but I was kind of a goofball, which kind of… They were polar opposites. But when I came out of my shell, it was really kind of goofy. I always… I would be, like, super, super shy, and then they pull the camera out and I’d be like, “Oh!” Something really ridiculous. So, that’s kind of where I got into it. And, as you said, my whole family sings, and I danced for many, many years and we played instruments. And my father was an academic, but he sang in the opera chorus in Toronto in the Mendelssohn choir. He had a beautiful, beautiful tenor voice, and so, he helped us all with our singing voices and helped us to have this amazing connection with music and the arts. It really came from Dad, as well as my mom. And even though they were not professionally in the entertainment industry, they always supported our desire to be in this industry. We didn’t grow up with parents who were, like, “Over my dead body.” It was, like, “Well, if that’s what you wanna do, absolutely! We will 100 percent support you. Absolutely.” Most families are, like, “You wanna do what?” And I don’t blame them.

David Read:
It’s hard. And the chance of success enough to pay your own bills is not always best.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely. Yeah. No, it isn’t. It really isn’t. It’s a pretty ruthless industry. It’s so funny because on the one hand it’s such a beautiful industry and it transforms so many people, and it touches people [and] it moves people in so many wonderful ways that… It can be very disheartening, as a performer, to try and get work. You can be at the top of your game, but if you don’t fit the bill, you’re not gonna get the roles and it can be…

David Read:
Castings subjective.

Rachel Luttrell:
Precisely, precisely. And in the end, it is a business. But my very first experience on stage, I was in elementary school, maybe Grade 2, and I had to sing this little song at Massey Hall. Those of you who are in Toronto, in any case, know what Massey Hall is. It’s this venerable theatre that’s been there for, like, 100 plus years. And I’m so nervous, and I got pushed out to sing and I opened my mouth and it just, like… I will never forget it. It was this incredible experience where I felt, even as a little person, this connection between myself and the audience, it was, like, this art can bring us all together. It’s, like, we have this shared experience. Even though it’s one person performing, everybody is a part of it in this incredibly energetic way. And I remember just feeling that and thinking that this is something that I wanna definitely pursue. I didn’t know how the heck I was gonna do it, but it was that. It was the feeling that, “My gosh, we can all be connected in this amazing way.” And then as an adult, I love the collaborative experience of theater, and television and film. I love it. It’s something that [has] always been a part of me.

David Read:
There is something about getting up on the stage and taking on a responsibility that forces you to transcend outside of yourself. In a way that is, like, “Did I just do that? Was that me? I can do that.” It’s not an easy thing to put yourself on display in front of other people, even when you know inside you, “I’ve got the talent to do it.” It still takes some nerves.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, goodness. And listen, I am as grown as anybody can be at this point in my life, but I still get nervous. I just think it’s… I still get nervous. I’ve done it so many times, but it’s still this… Yeah, absolutely. It’s an enormous responsibility that you have, but at the same time, when you do manage to plug into this ephemeral thing, it’s amazing. It’s just amazing. And I don’t know. I think in many ways it’s the human condition. It’s, like, we forget there we’re all kind of one. I don’t wanna get all woo woo, but you know.

David Read:
We’re social beings.

Rachel Luttrell:
We’re social beings, and beings that need story. I mean story to help make sense of our worlds and our lives. And we’ve known that for thousands of years, so we’ve been telling stories for thousands of years. We’ve had theater for thousands of years. But it’s this incredible, beautiful experience and I just immediately fell in love with that.

David Read:
Rachel, who are… We kind of established this a little bit. Certainly, it sounds like your folks are gonna be a big part of this answer. Who are your heroes? Who are the people who really helped chart your course? Expectedly [or] unexpectedly, people who, when you look back on your life and the signposts and the forks in the road of your particular path, really pointed the way.

Rachel Luttrell:
Well, listen 100 percent, my parents. 100 percent. They were just… Listen, I just have the best parents. I lost my dad a few years ago, but as I told you prior to this interview, my mom lives with us now, which is wonderful. But they were always so supportive. Always, like, “You can do it.” Always, “Dream big.” There was never a moment where they were kind of, like, “We don’t really know if you’ve got it.” So, that really helped me to dream bigger because my roots were so strong. And then I had some wonderful teachers along the way. At times in my life where I doubted myself, I doubted my own talent, I doubted if I even had a right to dream for what I wanted, and I had these really wonderful teachers along the way who would just remind me that that I did have the right. And not only that, but that I had something. And then I had some wonderful friends as well, who are still friends of mine. I’ve been very, very lucky to be surrounded by really wonderful people. Just some beautiful, heartfelt people who are also performers et cetera, who just supported me throughout my life and, as I said, very, very lucky to have some wonderful teachers as well. But my foundation came from my parents. 100 percent.

David Read:
What role, outside of Atlantis, would you say… I really should’ve asked this to you before we came on, so I do apologize. But what role do you really think has stretched you as a human being in ways that you didn’t expect that you were privileged to play and gave you some surprising, unexpected surprises?

Rachel Luttrell:
All right. Wonderful question. I started my career in theater. I started my career singing and dancing and being on the big stages, the Broadway stages. And that was certainly very transformative. And I was an understudy in Miss Saigon. I was an understudy for Ellen, the American wife. And this is going way, way back, like, near the beginning of my career.

David Read:
It’s OK.

Rachel Luttrell:
But I just… The first time that I got to go on, I found out, like, two hours before curtain call that I was gonna be going on and the stage didn’t work. It’s this, like, huge show where the props move on these different tracks and it didn’t come down, so it was this bare stage. And I remember just being absolutely terrified by it. But I remember stepping onto the stage and having nothing to perform with, with the exception of my voice, and the other character on stage, and I remember that being super transformative. Just in the sense that, as we were saying, art kind of transcends so many things. And I just felt laid bare in front of everybody. That was certainly a character and a moment for me. And then I got to play some other wonderful characters on stage. I got to play this character in a play called Las Meninas which was by Lynn Nottage, who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for theater, for writing. And that character was really amazing and wonderful as well. She was a character from history who was a biracial child born of nobility, but through kind of embarrassing means for the nobility. And I got to… That was a transformative experience for me just to be on stage and to portray her. I’ve had so many, and so many diverse characters, from musical theater to just straight plays to television and to film. It’s hard for me to pull out just one. I feel like, they’ve all kind of influenced me and helped me grow in different ways.

David Read:
Had you seen the feature film or SG-1 before auditioning for Teyla?

Rachel Luttrell:
I had seen the feature film. I knew hardly anything about SG-1. And I am very happy that that’s the case. But I had seen the feature film, and I had been really moved by it. It struck a chord in my imagination, years before I ever auditioned for Stargate. I grew up in a family that really, really loved science fiction. My dad loved science fiction, so it was something that we would watch and enjoy, and we would read. So, I do remember that film, for sure, but I didn’t know about SG-1, or at least the extent that it was…

David Read:
Right. Otherwise, like we said, it would have been more difficult.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, so much more difficult.

David Read:
Were you in Toronto at this point? Or were you in Vancouver?

Rachel Luttrell:
Sorry, when? When I saw the movie?

David Read:
When you were preparing… Before the audition process, were you already based in…?

Rachel Luttrell:
I was in Los Angeles.

David Read:
You were where?

Rachel Luttrell:
I was in Los Angeles.

David Read:
You were in LA? OK.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, I was already in LA, and I had been in LA for, actually, quite a few years I’ve done a number of pilots and guest stars, and my career had kind of gone up and down. I’ve been, like, “I don’t know, maybe I should just give it all up and become an architect.” And it’s so funny. In my career, when I announce, “That’s it, I’m done,” something happens. And I remember, just before I auditioned, telling dear friends of mine that that was it. I had enough. I had enough of Los Angeles. I had enough of just banging my head against the wall. And I auditioned, a lo and behold, there I was.

David Read:
With Teyla. Wow.

Rachel Luttrell:
With wonderful, wonderful. Teyla. I loved playing Teyla.

David Read:
So, you auditioned from LA and sent a tape up?

Rachel Luttrell:
No, actually. I auditioned in person.

David Read:
You did?

Rachel Luttrell:
First of all, I auditioned with the casting agent. I auditioned with Ivy Eisenberg. And actually that’s a hilarious story because I gotta to say, I went in, I met with Ivy first, and I’ve always been, like, an artist, in terms of really working on my lines et cetera. And I came in and I did the read and she was, like, “Rachel, that was wonderful. That was probably the best read that I’ve had. I’m gonna bring you back. You’re gonna meet the producers, but I’m gonna need you to do this. You’re gonna need to wear,” and she was, like, “You’re gonna need to wear some heels. You gotta need to wear a push-up bra. You’re gonna need to…” She was just, like, she was coaching me through because I think I kind of came in and I was, like… I don’t know what I was wearing, but it was not right. She was, like, “You gotta sell it, girl.” And I guess I did. She was just, like, “Please. This is… What you’re bringing is amazing, but you also have to bring it.” I think at that point I was over bringing it. I was, like, “God. I don’t wanna have to.” But anyway, it’s OK. That’s also part of… It’s part of the industry. It’s an industry. It’s a business. So, you have to play the business angle as well. But yes, I was in Los Angeles, I auditioned in person. And everybody shook my hand at the end of my… It’s called a test. You test for the network. And everybody was just, like… And I thought it was a sealed deal, and then a week passed, didn’t hear anything. Another week and then I heard that I didn’t get it. They’re, like, “Sorry, Rachel, it’s gone another way, like, “That’s it! I knew I should have given up.”

David Read:
Vindicated.

Rachel Luttrell:
But I went on a bunch of other things and then out of the blue, it was, like, “They do want you up there.” I had, like, three days to get myself up there before they started filming the pilot. It was just, like, “Oh my God, my God.”

David Read:
So, they just went another way with the character or something wasn’t working?

Rachel Luttrell:
I don’t even know, and I’ve never asked. You can ask.

David Read:
Oh, I will. Wow.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, I don’t know, but it wasn’t… I thought it was a done deal. I thought, “My gosh, this is great. It just feels so amazing” And then I didn’t get it. And I auditioned with Joe. Yeah, we auditioned together.

David Read:
Oh, so for the for the network test?

Rachel Luttrell:
For the network test, yes. It’s the first time I met him. I met him in the waiting room, and I went, and I did a little scene on my own, and then they had the two of us come in and wanted to see about chemistry [and] did they work well together.

David Read:
Was he a lock at this point?

Rachel Luttrell:
I believe he was.

David Read:
OK.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, he was, he already was. So, it went great, but who knows.

David Read:
Wow. We talked with Rainbow a couple weeks back and he had literally, like, 72 hours before he had to fly from Toronto to Vancouver. So, did you do Vancouver to LA commute like Joe did, or did you settle in Vancouver at that point?

Rachel Luttrell:
I settled in Vancouver. Joe already had a family. He already had his kids, and they were in school. For me it was just me and my sweet little dog, Nala.

David Read:
I remember Nala.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, right. You remember Nala. And it was just the two of us. So, every once in a while, we’d drive down, but no, we didn’t do the crazy commute. I bought a house. That’s where… Vancouver is where I met my husband. That’s where Caden was born. Caden still very much considers himself to be a Canadian. He’s Canadian citizen. But I settled there. I lived in Vancouver for eight years. Eight years of my life. Maybe seven. Seven years. Two years after the show ended, I was still pretty much there. And then we moved back to Los Angeles.

David Read:
It is a great city to spend time in. Once this thing is all said and done, if you get the chance, listeners, if you’ve not had a chance to visit, I completely recommend it. And it took me forever to go up there and actually look around, because every time I would go, I was in studios with you guys. And everyone was, like, “Oh, you’ve gotta see such and such.” I was, like, “No time. There’s no time. I’m booked for interviews wall to wall when I’m up here.” And then I eventually started discovering the city and I was, like, “This is a wonderful city with all kinds of divergent little aspects to it. Little burrows, where there’s different groups of people, different kinds of food.” And it was just… It’s a great place to live, I would have to imagine.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. Absolutely. It’s a fabulous city. And every once in a while… There are places that I used to go to that I really, really miss and, like, just lovely restaurants and the walks that I used to go on, et cetera. It is a wonderful city. The one thing that I didn’t love about Vancouver is that when it got dark, it was dark. I remember I would go back and forth, on occasion, with Caden, back to Los Angeles. And I remember, on this one occasion, we came back, and we stepped out at, like, I think it was 8:00 a.m. in the morning, to go for a walk, and it so dark, and I remember little Caden stepping out and saying, “No mommy. Night.” And I remember being, like, “Oh, sweetheart. Nope, it’s not night.” [inaudible] But other than that, it is an extraordinary city. It’s beautiful. It’s like the Emerald City.

David Read:
Yeah. In many respects, absolutely. I have been privileged to know so many of you guys over the course of these several years. It’s such an eclectic cast of talent that came together for this wonderful show. Tell us about working with Joe.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, about working with Joe?

David Read:
Mr. Flanagan.

Rachel Luttrell:
Mr. Flanagan. Oh my gosh, Joe. Joe, Joe, Joe. I have a soft spot in heart for everyone that I worked with. Everyone. And we became like a family in so many ways. And I love Joe. Joe was awesome. Joe loved his newspapers. Joe likes to joke around a little bit. He has this wry sense of humor. Sometimes you were, like, “Wait, what did you say?”

David Read:
I know.

Rachel Luttrell:
“Was that a joke?” It was lovely working with him. It was lovely working with him. He’s a lovely guy.

David Read:
Torri Higginson. You guys were the two females… Is leads correct to say? Are all of you considered [leads]? I’ve never been very good at nomenclature.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. In the industry it is, like, you’re number two, number three, number four…

David Read:
The call sheet, yeah.

Rachel Luttrell:
On the call sheet, Torri was, I believe, like number two for a while. Torri is wonderful. Torri is warm and kind and sweet. She has this beautiful, youthful quality to her that’s just heartfelt and lovely, as well as being super grounded and strong. And I loved working with her. Just a wonderfully generous person, as well as generous actor. I haven’t seen her in a long time. The last time I saw her was in Los Angeles, and I went to her house in LA with Caden, just Caden, and hung out for a minute. It’s been a while, but she’s lovely. She’s just a lovely human being and a wonderful actress.

David Read:
David Hewlett.

Rachel Luttrell:
David. David loves to paint himself as this, like, curmudgeonly, guy who’s, like… But he’s got this huge heart. He’s just got this enormous heart. And that’s what I know about David. David is just a really sweet, and kind guy. And he’s a consummate professional. I take my hat off to him all these many years later for being able to handle the dialogue that he got given.

David Read:
Oh my God.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, to handle it with such poise. I love David. He’s just got a huge heart. Wonderfully talented, hilarious sense of humor. As much as he likes to pretend that he’s this curmudgeon, he cares deeply. And if you’re a friend of his, you’re lucky to be a friend of his.

David Read:
Rainbow, when we talked with him, he made a point to say how close he was with you and Paul, that it really got him through some days. Talk a little bit about Rainbow Sun Francks.

Rachel Luttrell:
Sweet Rainbow. I remember meeting Rainbow, like, the first day we were on set, and I remember immediately being drawn to him. He’s younger than me and I just felt like a big sis to sweet Rainbow. Just a delightful spirit. Just a delightful, kind spirit. And yes, when we got together, the three of us, it was just, like… It created this funny little effervescent bubble where we would just constantly… You know when you meet someone, and you can meet somebody immediately and you’re, like, “Oh my gosh! You get me.”

David Read:
It works.

Rachel Luttrell:
“You get me. I can say that and there’s a twinkle in your eye, and you know what I mean.” Well, we had that thing, and it would be great. It was like, we had this shorthand. And it would get us into trouble on occasion. Because there would be things that we just crack us up and thank goodness for that. Yes, we really did help each get through. Yeah, a lot of things. But yes, we had a shorthand, and we had a lot of fun and whenever I get a chance to see Rainbow, it’s been a while, but I do love him. And I’ve gotten to know his sister.

David Read:
Cree [Summer Francks] yeah. Absolutely.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. And they’re wonderful. Even though I don’t get to speak to either one of them that often, I still consider them to be family. And Rainbow, certainly.

David Read:
Paul McGillion? Pauly McGillion?

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh gosh. So, he was part of the trio, and he was like… As soon as I met Paul, once again, it was, like, “Oh my goodness,” this relaxed kind of feel, like, I just… And then you can have fun. I’m one of those people who… It takes a minute to get to know me because I’m still kind of shy in many respects. Every once in a while, when you meet somebody like that, you kind of come out of your shell. And Paul is so funny. Very, very, very bright. Wonderful actor. And he likes to have fun. And we had so much fun together and still do. When you had him on your show…

David Read:
Oh my God.

Rachel Luttrell:
And he talked about those pictures, and I hadn’t seen those pictures in years. They were in a box in my garage. And I saw that somebody brought the episode to my attention and was like, “Gosh, I gotta find them.” And then of course I put them out there. And I remember putting them out there before I had reached out to him and then I sent him a text and I was, like, “Gosh, I hope you’re OK that I put those out there,” and his first response was “Rachel, I am furious with you.”

David Read:
That sounds like Paul.

Rachel Luttrell:
And I was, like, “Oh. Oh my God.” And I remember, like, five minutes later, “Just kidding.” But it’s that kind of a rapport. Which is great.

David Read:
Those are on your Twitter, right? I think you posted the pictures [there].

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah.

David Read:
OK. That was so funny. I remember that was a vindication for me, because it let me know that the show was working, like, in our second week. I was, like, “Oh, this is too good.”

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes. And thank you for that. Because I hadn’t seen them forever and there’s some gold in there. There’s still some gold.

David Read:
Oh, absolutely. That was a particularly difficult day for me because there was some interview… I think it was Dean Devlin that I had next. That’s right. And I was looking forward to this, but I was very… I think it was Dean. I was pretty intimidated because I never spoken to him. He created Stargate with Roland Emmerich. And I brought Paul in that day because I knew that Paul would calm my nerves before I did. And it was, like, he did not disappoint. That was very deliberate. But I love that man.

Rachel Luttrell:
Good.

David Read:
You had an amazing relationship with Bam Bam, James Bamford, who was the fight coordinator for Atlantis. There was no real… There was no fight coordinator for SG-1, but Atlantis was gonna be so much more action oriented, and it was established very early on with Teyla’s that she had some form of martial arts background. And it was very clear, with your athleticism, that this was something very… I think it’s Suspicion. That it was very clear that it was gonna work. Tell us about that relationship with James Bamford, and how that grew Teyla’s fighting style and her use of her bantos rods and that whole like sub arc that wound its way through the show.

Rachel Luttrell:
Right. Absolutely. So, when I auditioned for Teyla, there was no mention of her being a fighter at all. And she was kind of mystical and she had these intuitive powers. And of course she was an otherworldly human, but from a different galaxy. But there was no mention of her being athletic, necessarily. And when I met James, and he knew that I was a dancer, I had been a dancer for many, many years, he gave me my sticks, my fighting sticks, for the first time and I remember being so intimidated.

David Read:
Really?

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh, so scared. So scared. “What is this?” And he taught me a simple pattern. Simple. And I went home, and I remember going over it like a 100 times.

David Read:
The drills.

Rachel Luttrell:
The drills. Over and over and over and over and over again. And then slowly, he would add different things, and he was always so lovely, and he was always very much like a big brother who helped me work through that element of Teyla, which was such an enormous part of who she was. And I’m so grateful for that. And I loved all of the fight sequences, and I loved that she was so powerful and adept in that way. And he helped develop this form of fighting that kind of took from my dance background and married it with all these different forms of martial arts and created what Teyla grew to be her own fighting style. And I very much loved working with James, and he was like a big brother. Very protective.

David Read:
I think that the thing that always…. It wasn’t really surprising per se. It was kind of, like, “Oh, you know, that makes sense, considering this caliber of people.” [It] is how tireless you and he both worked. He would fill up his weekends. And as far as I was aware you would as well, just training.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh gosh, yeah.

David Read:
And if there was a major fight coming up, so that it would be perfect, when it would come time to shoot it.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, 100 percent.

David Read:
And just going that extra mile to take up valuable time that you had off to rest and recharge and learn lines and just drills to make that amazing product.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely. Well, thank you. Part of that was sheer terror. I was, like, “I have got to work on this,” so that when I get on set and the lights are pointing, and everything is going on, that I can just… It’s all muscle memory. It had to get to a place where it was just part of who she was and so subsequently part of who I was. But I worked very, very hard and he helps me with that a lot. And I would wake up, this is before I had Caden, but I would wake up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning and I would jump rope for 30 minutes and then I would do all my other sit ups and my weights and then I would always, like every single day, go through my drills with the sticks. Every single day. I would check it off, like, “I have to do it at least 40 times, at least, every drill,” so that it was just, like, “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.” It’s been a long time. It’s been a long time. Those sticks are now in my son’s room, in Caden’s room.

David Read:
“Don’t break them. It’s my only pair.”

Rachel Luttrell:
Maybe I should be concerned about that.

David Read:
I sold off so many sets of those. There was a couple of, like, harder plastic ones and then the stunt ones. There were so many bantos rods, it wasn’t even funny. What a trip. The pilot episode featured Robert Patrick, and featured Andee Frizzell and James Lafazanos, introducing this new alien species in addition to your alien species. Human but unearthly, as you once told me, which is true. Tell us about filming that and working with that ensemble.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh. That kicked it off. I remember being really, really nervous. I was really nervous, and I felt this great responsibility to just bring Teyla to life and to inhabit her in a way that gave her the all due respect. And I remember being very, very nervous working on that particular episode, and working with Robert Patrick. Oh my gosh, I was so intimidated. And I remember the very first time I met him. He came up to me and he put his hands together and he said, ”Namaste.” I remember being, like, “Oh, OK. I see you!” Once again, a really nice guy. Thank goodness. There was something about Stargate that, I don’t know, attracted some really good people. But I remember being very, very nervous about the whole thing. I remember being very, very wet. I remember the big jacket that I wore, that long coat running. So many moments kind of stand out to me, but it was great. What a fabulous ensemble. A lot of it, though. I remember just being, “Oh my gosh, you just gotta get through this. Get through it. Get through it. Work, work, work, work.” But it was still a lot of fun.

David Read:
Yeah. Stargate wasn’t just a pilot. It was greenlit to series right away. I can imagine getting into that and being up there and being, like, “OK, we’ve gotta make this work for 20 episodes. Gotta make it happen.” Were you aware? I gotta ask you this. When did you become aware of the origin of Teyla’s name? Did you know right away? Because I didn’t until just recently.

Rachel Luttrell:
No, no, no. I think maybe the end of the first season. It was a while. I was just assuming this is, like, a fun name that you guys made up. But yeah, it’s so cool.

David Read:
So, for those who are not in the know, Teyla Emmagan is a combination of four daughters, two of Brad Wright and two of Robert C. Cooper. They created that name. So, I love that little nugget.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, very, very cool.

David Read:
There were aspects of the character… She was, in many respects, the Teal’c of Atlantis. She was the outside observer of humanity, and I wish that there had… We can always, “Woulda, shoulda, coulda,” but I wish that there had been a little bit more of that. It was established in the pilot that she had not just a great athletic acumen but an unusual one. She could run extremely fast. There’s a line where John is telling her to slow down. It’s because he literally cannot keep up with her. There’s something about her that is unusual. We’ll eventually find out that she’s part Wraith. What was it like going through that journey of evolving that character and adding those layers and watching some pieces not get carried forward, like the running aspect and others, but building that character on over the course of that first year and then ultimately the five seasons of the show.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, my goodness. Wonderful. I consider it a great honor to have been able to portray Teyla and I loved her. I loved her. She married elements of myself, obviously, with elements that were created in the writer’s room. But every time there was an episode that highlighted another aspect of who she was, it helped me to better understand her and so subsequently flesh her out in more colorful ways. But all of it was. I remember The Gift particularly stands out. I loved that episode, and I loved how that just influenced so much of who she was. Teyla was just a wonderfully fun character to portray because she was so well-rounded, and she was this wonderfully well-rounded female character who was not just this woman in crop tops. She’s very smart, pragmatic, strong. She wasn’t moved to anger that quickly, but if you did anger her, be careful about it. I loved growing within Teyla, and I loved subsequently how the two of us, myself as well as the characters, started to merge together, particularly in the last couple of seasons, with the birth of my son.

David Read:
Yeah, influenced the scripts.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, and how they ran with it. They ran with it, and it was wonderful.

David Read:
You were pregnant with Caden through Season 4. Is that right?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes.

David Read:
OK. Did you give them enough heads up to let them decide if they were gonna work it into the script or not, or if they were just gonna shoot around it. How does something like that come about when you’re involved with the production? How does that work? Obviously, I’m sure you’re not contracted to tell them, “Well, if you’re pregnant, you have to tell us.” How does that work so that they have time to work it into a story?

Rachel Luttrell:
Sure, absolutely. We went into production, I believe, it was, like, late February for this season, and I had a conversation with them end of January. And I remember the very first person who I reached out to was Amanda Tapping. She had gone through a pregnancy on SG-1. And she was lovely and so, so helpful to me. And the day that I went in to tell all of our writers and producers, et cetera, about my pregnancy, she actually showed up. She was there. And I remember, it was so wonderful. Before I went upstairs to talk to them, she had a little chat with me, she gave me a big hug and that was really wonderful. There was this really great camaraderie between performers. But I went upstairs, and I let them know, and it was not the direction that they were thinking that they were gonna go in for Teyla at all. But they had a little bit of time, and they ran with it, and they made some really, really great storylines from that, I think. And forever I’m gonna be grateful to them for how they for how they grew the character through that season. That’s pretty great.

David Read:
Overall, in the role you started off with a different wig and you ended up with one that was shorter.

Rachel Luttrell:
I had so many. I had a whole bunch. I had a whole bunch, yes.

David Read:
And the costumes. Were they an aid to creating the character? Did they drive you nuts? Both?

Rachel Luttrell:
I loved going into the wardrobe department. I loved it. And they brought me in on a lot of the decisions. The fabrics and the colors and the textures and the feel and how long and it was. I loved that element, and it helped me to inform who Teyla was as well. The hair thing. We can… There will be, like, a whole episode on hair because I was just, like… We were talking earlier on about how Vancouver can be very, very rainy. Very, very dark and rainy. My hair is naturally curly, so if we are out in the pouring rain, it wants to go… It just does. It’s like, “Rawl!”

David Read:
Was your own hair out of the question from day one? Or was there some consideration of trying to make it work?

Rachel Luttrell:
It was always… Yeah, it’s interesting. It was always a wig, which I didn’t mind because of the fact that Teyla was meant to be human and yet otherworldly, it kind of helped me to… It did. But I did go through a lot of incarnations of hair until we finally settled on one and that particular wig was like something like 10,000 dollars.

David Read:
Hair is expensive.

Rachel Luttrell:
Hair is expensive, yeah.

David Read:
I have a group of fans who have been wanting to get some questions answered from you here. We have 160 concurrent viewers right now. So, thank you so much for being here with us and thank you fans for tuning in. Teresa McAllister would like to know… So, we’re gonna kind of step all over the show at this point in different aspects, more than I did for my questions. “Did you have any input for the romantic direction for Teyla who of course ended being with Kanaan?” Because the baby had to have a daddy. Did you have any input for that process along the way?

Rachel Luttrell:
Uh, no, actually I did not. That was something that they guarded in the in the writer’s room. And I know they toyed a different… “Does Teyla like so and so? Is there a chemistry over here?” They played with that element. But no, I didn’t really have much to do with it and I didn’t have anything to do with the hiring process.

David Read:
Oh, OK.

Rachel Luttrell:
No. Although I’m thrilled where it landed. Patrick Sabongui is a wonderful actor and a generous performer. So, it was lovely that he ended up being Kanaan. But no, I didn’t have anything to do with that. No.

David Read:
I’m curious, if you did, who, if anyone… Well, obviously the baby would have had to have a father once we established she was pregnant. Who would you have wanted it to be? Would you have wanted it to be Shepherd or someone else from the Atlantis expedition? Or did it make sense that it was another Athosian?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. Boy, I’m stepping on a minefield there. So, I’m almost gonna, like, stay out of it. I think in the end it did make sense that it was another Athosian. I think in the end that it did. Due to you her attachment to her people, et cetera. That made sense to me. There was this speech that was never part of the show, but it was part of my audition, and it talks a lot about Teyla’s father and her legacy and so that was always a really big part of who she was. I know fans have their have their favorites.

David Read:
Oh boy, do they. My gosh. Chris Gartland, “What was it like filming while pregnant and have your kids watched any of Atlantis?”

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, my goodness. Thank you very much for that wonderful question. OK. So, I remember so many times being pregnant and doing, like, these very physical things and having somebody from upstairs come down and be, like, “Yeah, you know, when my wife was pregnant, she just slept all day.” And I was, like, “What? Oh God, I am tired, but you know…”

David Read:
“I’m bringing home the bacon!”

Rachel Luttrell:
Right? I remember one of our camera OPS saying similar things. I had to, like… I had this scene where I had to run and run and run, and he was, like, “Yeah, you know, my wife liked to snuggle down when she was pregnant.” And obviously if I had the opportunity to do so, I probably would have done that too. So, that presented a challenge, for sure. There was a big fight sequence and I’m forgetting… I wish I could remember the episode. I should have thought of that prior to this.

David Read:
Who was it with?

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, good grief. Jewel. Jewel and I.

David Read:
OK. That was The Lost or The Lost… [sic!] Just before she finds out.

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly, exactly. And I had this big fight sequence, and I knew I was pregnant, obviously. And it was one of the biggest ones that I had to do. Ever. So many different adversaries. And I remember crying and crying and crying on my way home thinking, “Oh my gosh, did I do something detrimental? I didn’t. Caden’s fine.” Have the children watched the show? They’ve seen, like, a couple of episodes. They are unimpressed.

David Read:
Oh my God.

Rachel Luttrell:
“Yeah, mom, whatever.” They’re just, like, “Whatever.” It’s so funny. I feel, like, one day they’ll go back and be, like, “Oh.”

David Read:
There you go, they’ll appreciate it, I think, as adults.

Rachel Luttrell:
Eventually, but for now, no.

David Read:
The episode is Missing. You and Jewel.

Rachel Luttrell:
That’s it. It’s Missing.

David Read:
It’s a good episode. You dig the rubber squid out of the floor and have a bite of it.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes. Oh man, Jewel is another one we had a lot of fun with. We laughed a lot.

David Read:
Yes. Tell me about welcoming in cast members like Amanda Tapping and Jewel Staite. And Jason. Oh, my God. Everyone’s probably shrieking in the chat about Jason.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh. So, so so, so, so many. Yeah, Jason. Gosh, it was wonderful. He, to me, was always, like, this giant puppy dog. Jason was just this giant puppy dog. And I will always love Jason. I will always love Jason. Beyond the performances and when everything’s quiet, he just has this really generous and lovely being.

David Read:
He is soulful. Him and his guitar.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. He’s just a very lovely soul. So that was lovely welcoming him in. It was sad because we said goodbye to Rainbow, but Jason brought a whole other aspect to it. And [I] always loved Jason. And yes, Jewel. I met Jewel before she joined us as a series regular. She was…

David Read:
Ellia.

Rachel Luttrell:
I’m forgetting the name of that episode.

David Read:
Ellia. It was the two-parter, and it was… Oh, for Pete’s sake, come on. It’s the werewolf episode. It’s Instinct.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, yes, exactly. That’s it. And I remember sitting with Jewel in between takes and her sweetly saying to me, “They told me that it was just gonna be a little bit of prosthetics.” She was, like, “I thought it was gonna be maybe some cute ears.” Oh gosh. So, we had some laughs over that. But we always had some giggles, Jewel and I. She’s got a lovely sense of humor as well. And Amanda, as I said, Amanda is great. And I will always have so much respect for her for what she did to me during that… Helped me with, rather. “For what she did to me.” How she helped me. How she helped me navigate that as an actress who was pregnant. She was very generous and lovely and a wonderful performer. I think I’ve diverged. I don’t know what we are talking about.

David Read:
No, you’re absolutely right. You’re completely on it. You welcomed in Robert Picardo as a series regular in Season 5, but he had definitely been in there prominently as Richard Woolsey. Tell us a little bit about Bob.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh, Bob. When I think of Bob, I think of pizza. I went over to his house a couple times in Pasadena, and he had this pizza oven, and he was very, very, you know, about making his pizza. Every once in a while, I hear things that Bob said to me. As a dad, he would say things, like… I remember the other day I was cooking broccoli for the kids, and I remembered him once saying, “Don’t you ever boil your vegetables, Rachel.” I heard Bob saying that to me as I was, like, making broccoli for the kids. I was, like, “Yes. That’s right, Bob. That’s right.” It’s so funny. It’s, like, for the fans, they’re, like, “But you guys were working together.” But of course, I remember him as just a lovely guy.

David Read:
You were working together, but you were living together, too, on that set, for most of the really long days.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely.

David Read:
It makes sense.

Rachel Luttrell:
Thank goodness we actually got along with each other. Bob is great. Bob actually helps me with a couple of other projects of mine that haven’t gotten off the ground yet, but he was always very generous in terms of, like, coming over to the house and helping with table-read, scripts that I have written. He’d be there in a flash. There were a couple of things that I was trying to shoot, and Bob was always happy to be there and to help us with those things. So, he’s lovely.

David Read:
The caliber of talent that was always brought in for Stargate was pretty much unmatched. The quality of people. And I think that that comes from the top. I think that starts with Brad and Rob, and the team that they built. There’s something to be said for a consummate group of professionals who were just willing to give it their all for the course of you know, 360-some-odd hours of television. It’s just crazy.

Rachel Luttrell:
Right. Absolutely, absolutely. And just in that regard, I also wanna give a little tip of my hat to Connor Trinneer, who we also welcomed into the cast.

David Read:
So good.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh, what a wonderful actor. There’s this wonderful thing that happens when you’re energetically bouncing off of another actor and the lines and everything is kind of… It’s just this… And that’s how I felt with Connor, like, immediately. We were just like, it was just kind of great, magical. Because he’s just this wonderful, wonderful actor. And once again, a really nice guy. Thank God. Thank goodness I’m not, like, “That person was a great actor, but a real jackass.”

David Read:
He was key. He was so integral to your story as well. I’m sure you could have made it work if he was a jackass, but it was so nice that he wasn’t.

Rachel Luttrell:
True. Yes. True. It might have added layers to Teyla’s ire of Michael, but no, it was so fun whenever he joined.

David Read:
It’s so funny, Rachel, going with you through all these memories. No production is perfect. You know it, I know it, and we kind of have to wink and nudge as we go through some of the stuff because not all of it was perfect all the time, and there were some people who wouldn’t show up with their lines memorized there. There were some days that were just excruciating, and we’re supposed to go, like, “Oh, it was so amazing.” But it’s human beings who are doing the best that they can.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, yes. Oh, come on. Yes. And as a family, because we were like, apparently, [family], every once in a while, there would be moments of, like, “Oh, come on now,” where you had to set boundaries and people straight.

David Read:
At the end of the day, you have to make the day, and it all comes out in the wash in the end.

Rachel Luttrell:
That reminds me of something that David used to say all the time. Sometimes he would just be, like, so annoyed. People would say “Cut” on a scene, “Moving on,” and he’d be, like, “Nothing fell down. Guess we’re moving on.” “Oh my God, David, am I not gonna get another take on that? Something fell down in the back. So, I guess we’re moving on.”

David Read:
I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him to… He’s not just delivering dialogue. He’s putting gas into the car that’s making it go down the road. That is not an easy thing to do. And Rainbow was very open and saying, “Sometimes he let people know how frustrating that was.” And I honestly can’t blame him.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely, absolutely. “Can you guys just stop messing around for a moment so we can do this?”

David Read:
He’s gotta get it out. He’s gotta get the information out and in the right order.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely. Not only that but he infused it with character and with, like, interesting character quirks and it was just like… First of all, it is so hard to deliver exposition. Information that moves the story forward, but is not necessarily, like, the fine tissue between characters.

David Read:
Yeah, it’s not what we’re tuning in for. It’s to propel the story.

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly, precisely. And to deliver that in a way that is engaging? But he did it. And there would be moments where Jason would show up on occasion and he would look at me. He would see David had, like, a chunk of dialogue and he’d say, “Hey Rach. How many lines do you got?” And I’d be, like, “I don’t know. I think I’ve got two,” and he’s, like, “I say a word.” And then David would be, like, “Shut up. Shut up.”

David Read:
Oh, God, I’ll never forget the… And I’m sorry fans, I’ll definitely get to your questions here. I’ll never forget the scene. Martin Gero and I were fairly tight during some of those years, and he sent me a page. I’m sure he wasn’t supposed to do this, but he said, “Tell me what you think.” And it’s the scene from First Strike. Because he was, like, “There’s no way this is gonna make it. We’re gonna run out of time.” We’ve run out of time in normal circumstances. This is a season finale. And it’s the scene of all of you out on the balcony and where Ronan says, “I need to learn some science.” And Joe starts talking about, “We’re the Fantastic Four,” and Teyla says, “Why do you get to be Mr. Fantastic?” And those little character moments, that for a more action-oriented show, those scenes would just suffer. They frequently didn’t get to make it in. And those were the scenes that were so good.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, my gosh, so many good things. I had a thought and it’s gone out of my head. I was, like, “Oh, I gotta share this thing.” It’ll come back.

David Read:
It will. Just stop me when it does. Glen Helwig, “Did you do most of your own stunts, especially in the fight scenes?” And if so, I think we kind of talked about this a little bit, what training did you have to do?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes. Listen, I did all of the fight sequences. I did have a wonderful stunt double, Lani Gelera, who took the heavy hits. Hat off to her. Every time I had to, like, fall hard on the ground or what have you, boom, Lani was there. I took it very seriously to learn the choreography and to get it down. And because my background is dance, for me, it was an outcropping of choreography, is an answer. So yes, every single fight sequence that Teyla did, I did. Every single hard hit, Lani was there to help with. And she also had to learn the choreography. And she would definitely do the choreography as well. And sometimes, like, the heavy hits, if I was fighting with Jason, and Jason really wanted to boom against the wall, Lani would do it. I am married to, and I’m getting a coffee from my wonderful husband. I am married to a stunt performer, a fight coordinator. An incredibly talented man. And so, when it comes to talking about fight sequences, I always tip my hat to the stunt performers and man, they deserve a lot of credit. They deserve so much credit, especially in an action driven show. So much of it is driven by their talent and their work ethic, et cetera. So yes.

David Read:
It can’t be a coincidence that you connected with him, you being as athletic as you are. Was there some kind of a connection there between your stunt work in Atlantis and meeting your husband?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes. OK, so, back to Jason joining the cast, shortly after he joined the cast, I took Jason out for dinner. Because I was, like, “I really want Jason to feel comfortable.”

David Read:
Of course, he’s the new kid on the block.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, there’s a new kid on the block. So, it was just me and Jason. I took him out for dinner. And we got a text from James, and he was, like, “Hey, we’re gonna be meeting at this…” I can’t remember where it was. The Cambie. I think it was The Cambie. Kind of like this divey place. Maybe it isn’t anymore. Sorry Cambie. For, like, drinks, and then maybe go dancing. And so, Jason and I were, like, “Sure, we’ll go.” So, we went, and we met James there, and we were all having some beers and just having fun because thank God we actually enjoyed each other’s company, off the set as well. And that’s where I met my husband. He was a stunt performer and knew James, and he happened to be there. And it was, like, “Oooh” at first sight. I was, like, “What is happening. Oh, no.” And then yes, and he did perform on the show. That was certainly part of why we bonded. But another part of why we bonded is, he spent his first few years as a child in in Africa, in different parts of Africa. Nigeria and South Africa. And of course I’m from Tanzania. We had all these other little symbiotic things that that brought us together.

David Read:
Thank you for sharing that.

Rachel Luttrell:
Hats off to the stunt department.

David Read:
Oh my gosh. Man, oh man. Aaron Banks, I’m curious about your thoughts on this. “If there was any one thing that you could change about the character in hindsight, if anything, what would it be?”

Rachel Luttrell:
Alright. Well, I don’t wanna sound trite, but there isn’t really anything that I would change. Wouldn’t change anything about Teyla. It would have been nice to have added more.

David Read:
I was about to say. If we’re gonna address any kind… If there’s any kind of elephant in this room, in my opinion, it’s that there wasn’t enough utilization of you. And I don’t attribute that to one person or a writer or anything else. It was just how it turned out. It just felt, Rachel, like, you were underutilized.

Rachel Luttrell:
Thank you, David, for saying that. To answer the question, there isn’t anything that I would change about who Teyla was. I think that she was a magnificent character, and I loved playing her, but yes, to your point, there’s… My heart kind of bleeds a little bit in the sense that I wish that there was so much more that I would have enjoyed doing. So much. And discovering about that character, and, you know, c’est la vie, c’est la vie.

David Read:
No, absolutely. You have to do what you what you can with what you’ve been given. Rainbow and I definitely talked about this, and how he had a frustration that his interesting stuff was after he left. Characters are created with the best of intentions, and sometimes the pieces just don’t all go together with what comes out later. And then cometh Season Five, I think if there had been a Season Six, I think that it would have been frankly a huge Teyla season with what was introduced with you in Season Five with The Queen, with really leveraging that Wraith aspect of yourself. And that’s one of the things that I wanna talk with you about in more detail in the future, because that was so cool. That episode with you in full prosthetics is one of my favorites. We’re really getting into the minutia of that species. And it’s a good one.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, it is. There’s so much that I can say about The Queen. I don’t know if we have time.

David Read:
Give us a nugget.

Rachel Luttrell:
So, on a personal level I discovered that I was gonna be the queen at a large dinner with all the cast and writers, producers, et cetera. And they let it slip, “Hey, we’ve got this great episode coming up.” I was a new mom to an infant, and I begged them. I begged them, “Please no, don’t make me be in full prosthetics.” I was still nursing. I was like, “Oh my God, this is gonna be a disaster.” So, I remember putting avocado on my face at home, to just try not to scare Caden, just, like, this is how mommy’s gonna be. I had so much angst around it. I was, like, “This is gonna be the worst.” And on the first day of filming, I have to get there, like, 3:30 in the morning, because it takes forever to put that makeup on.

David Read:
Get in and get out, according to Andee. It’s crazy.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh. So, I’m there with my little one and my mother-in-law is there helping me. And I’m going in, like, we get one layer on, I go in to see Caden. In the end, my little guy literally laughed. He thought it was hysterical. He thought it was hysterical. Thank goodness I’ve got these pictures of me nursing as a wraith. I do. But I loved portraying that character. When all was said and done, and I knew that everything was fine in terms of me personally, I loved portraying her. The energy for her just sat in a completely different place. The power that it was just… The switch was so amazing, and I credit that on so many levels to our amazing make-up artists, and wardrobe and everything. Oh, my goodness, that just came together in the most powerful way. And when I had it all on it just felt so… I love you, sweet pea, and your shoes look amazing. I love you. My little one just came in to show me her new shoes. But yes, I loved it. I loved portraying her. And that would have been something amazing. We were just starting to learn so many incredible aspects of…

David Read:
We’ll talk about it more for sure. Let me see here. Aaron Banks. Oh, no, I just started answering him. Claireburr, “A tough one, I’m sure. Favorite episode or film to watch, or both, and any guest star that stood out, that was your favorite to work with?” So, any favorite episode of Stargate Atlantis that you that you enjoyed watching? Did you watch the show as it aired?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes and no. For me, it’s hard for me to watch myself. I don’t really enjoy watching myself. Now that there’s been so much time…

David Read:
“Look how young I look!”

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly. Damn, I was cute.

David Read:
That’s right.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh!

David Read:
You’re still great.

Rachel Luttrell:
Anyway. Favorite episode? It’s a really hard one. You have to imagine… You know, everybody knows, there’s, like, 20 episodes, five years. It’s really hard to find a favorite episode.

David Read:
It’s fair.

Rachel Luttrell:
For me, episodes… And I can look to every single episode and point out why I loved that episode. It was either the interaction behind the scenes or a scene within the episode, actually getting to work with an actor who I didn’t get to work with that much. I remember, near the end of the show, David and I talked about how, “Gosh, it would have been wonderful if we had had more moments as characters to just have some McKay Teyla stuff.”

David Read:
The scene of him serving you tea in Tao of Rodney is wonderful.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes. All of the episodes are wonderful for different reasons, for different memories for me. And I don’t mean for that to be a cop out, but it’s true. It really is true. And then in terms of guest stars that stand out…

David Read:
We’ve talked about Connor a little bit.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. For me, I don’t even consider him a guest star. He was just such an integral part.

David Read:
He was there constantly.

Rachel Luttrell:
And I loved performing… Yeah, with Connor, that’s a tricky one. Oh, those are gorgeous shoes too. She’s just popped in to say hello. Just come and say hello.

David Read:
Just come and say hello. How are you, Ridley?

Ridley Bateman:
Good.

David Read:
We just saw you. I just saw you on television last week. Did you like your commercial?

Ridley Bateman:
Mhm.

David Read:
Oh, wow. Well, very good. You wanna do more commercials? You wanna do more TV? Any film?

Ridley Bateman:
Yes.

David Read:
Wow, that’s terrific. You were so good.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, we gotta watch out for Ridley. OK. I’m so sorry, but yes, Connor. We had some wonderful guest stars. Oh, my goodness. If I had had a little bit more time to actually really think about that and give you a really, really solid answer… And then what was the last portion of his… Bye, sweet love. What was the last portion of his question?

David Read:
Any specific actors that were your favorites to work with?

Rachel Luttrell:
I loved working with Robert Patrick. He certainly stands out. Richard Kind was really fun to work with. Oh my gosh, so many.

David Read:
Richard Kind was great. We’ll have you back. We can go through some of these in more detail. I can’t wait.

Rachel Luttrell:
We’ve had some amazing actors join us, with such incredible careers behind them. What a gift. The whole show is a gift.

David Read:
Switching gears. Keith Homel wants to know, “Any moments with fans that stand out?” I know there are kids that have been born with the name of Teyla. There’s a huge fan interest in this show. Any particular moments with fans that stand out over the years? I hate asking this question because it’s such a broad brushstroke, but if there is anything that comes down from the ether.

Rachel Luttrell:
Oh my gosh, let me just say that I have had so many wonderful interactions with fans and I have never once had a bad interaction with the fans. They’ve always been just so beautifully positive and so forthcoming in terms of how the character and show have influenced them. I remember the first time somebody told me that they had named their child Teyla. I think it’s very, very hard to even articulate how that feels. It’s so humbling, and it’s such an incredible honor. I remember countless people telling me that the show helped them get through a really, really hard time, even, like, an illness. Just a bad time in their life and how it just helped them to get through. So many moments. My goodness. And for me, I muddle through my days as a mom. Obviously, I’m an artist and I’m an actor but I spend a lot of my time navigating through as a mom. And so, every once in a while, I will meet somebody, and they’ll say, “Oh my gosh, are you…?” And it always takes me by surprise because I’m kind of, like, “I’m just Rachel, and I’m a mom.” But it’s moments like that just kind of take me by surprise. It’s like, “Oh my gosh.” And then it reminds me what a gift this is. It just happened to me the other day. I was taking Caden to get Chick fil-A…

David Read:
Gotta love me some Chick Fil-A.

Rachel Luttrell:
Hello.

David Read:
That Chick-fil-A sauce is where it’s at!

Rachel Luttrell:
Well, you and Caden.

David Read:
It’s 150 calories a tub. Go ahead. Go ahead. I’m sorry.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, well anyway. And there was this young girl. She must have been… She was a teenager, and she was taking my order, and I had my mask on, and she was like, “Can I have a name?” And I said, “Rachel,” and she was, you know… But it takes me by surprise and just her reaction and just her effusive beautiful comments about the show and how much it means to her.

David Read:
She was a fan.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. They’re too many. So, in short, there are too many for me to isolate just one. You guys are amazing. You guys are amazing. That’s all I have to say.

David Read:
Absolutely. Michelle Palmer, “What did you think about the relationship between Teyla and Michael?” I think we touched on it a little bit, in terms of Connor and Rachel, but the relationship with Teyla and Michael was a complicated one and it was a sick one, but there were so many layers to that.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, it was not a healthy relationship, but I loved how multifaceted it was. And I think in the hands of maybe another actor, it wouldn’t have been as rich and as colorful. But Connor just brought so many layers to it, and it was wonderful. I loved the interaction between Teyla and Michael. I loved how broad and, as you said, unhealthy.

David Read:
Weird obsession.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, but it was terrific. I loved it. It gave me great pleasure to perform those scenes, and whenever there was a Teyla Michael moment, I loved it. I was sad to see him go, and I was, like, “Maybe [inaudible].”

David Read:
Connor still doesn’t believe. He still can’t believe it. It’s like, “No, no.” He was too intelligent to have been checkmated into that situation.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. Exactly, exactly. Had it continued…. We hadn’t seen, I don’t think, the end of [Michael].

David Read:
I don’t think so either. But made for a good hour of television.

Rachel Luttrell:
It sure did.

David Read:
That fight sequence on the roof is just fantastic.

Rachel Luttrell:
Right?

David Read:
And you’re wondering how’s it gonna go because these people, they value all life. But you see it running through Teyla’s head, knowing how many civilizations of people he has destroyed. People that they knew and worked with, that he turned into bugs. And innocent slaves across the Pegasus Galaxy that he turned into his henchmen. You see that process through her mind when he’s begging to get helped up. And she says no. Well, she doesn’t say “No.” She kicks him off.

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly. But I think one of the main reasons is that she was mom and she protected her little one.

David Read:
I didn’t bring that one up. That’s right.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah. You can be the most rational person [but] “Don’t you, don’t you, don’t you. Don’t you come anywhere between me and my little one.” Yeah, that was a great hour of television.

David Read:
It was. Natalia Elsik, “How much time…” We know we started at 3:00 a.m. “How much time would it take to get transformed into the queen?” So, you would arrive on set at 3:00 a.m.?

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, like, 3-3:30 a.m. in the morning and then I would be on set by, like, 8 a.m. It took a long time. It took a long, long time. I would just kind of patiently laying there while they worked their magic. It was, like, layer upon layer upon layer, and then your nails, your teeth, skin, the hair, your eyes. It was a very, very intricate process.

David Read:
And to think that that was five years into the Wraith design. That was the advanced stage of make-up they had developed. And how long did it take to come out of that and the chemicals that you’d have to use on your skin. How long was that process?

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly. It was about half the time of getting into it, but it still took forever. It was an entailed process. Very entailed.

David Read:
Wow. Russell Baldwin, “Any other any specific fond memory from Stargate either on or off the screen?”

Rachel Luttrell:
Goodness gracious.

David Read:
Let me narrow it down for you. Any with Richard Kind?

Rachel Luttrell:
Even with Richard Kind. Listen, he was just a funny cookie, fabulous guy. That episode in particular… And this memory doesn’t involve Richard. It involves the rest of us. The first time we saw this set for Mr. Wonderful… Mr. Wonderful? Mr. Wonderful?

David Read:
Irresistible.

Rachel Luttrell:
“Mr. Irresistible.” We all kind of looked at it and it just looked like this musical theater set piece. And so, we were all kind of dancing around the sets, if you can imagine David Hewlett singing and peeking out behind things. I remember that. I remember… Gosh, I just remember having a great deal of fun. Any moments that stand out? Yes, that one in particular, for sure. A moment… The very first time that we were all in the puddle jumper together certainly stands out because we hadn’t gotten it down, like, if an explosion hits you, where are we all going? The first time it had happened I flew backwards, Joe flew forward, Rainbow was in a different place, somebody was on the ground. And I remember, I think it was Martin Wood, and he was, like “Guys, if it hits you from the side, let’s all decide how we’re gonna react to it impact.” Learning that kind of stuff stands out. All the moments that we were acting to green screens for something that our visual effects artists would paint in later, that would be, like, huge and monumental that we had to react to. Just great camaraderie with my family of actors. When we found out that the show wasn’t gonna be continuing. Big, big moment for all of us. So many moments. The episode where we said goodbye to David. I’m not sorry, not David. Paul.

David Read:
Sunday.

Rachel Luttrell:
Sunday. It was huge. I remember that one. That one certainly stands out. We were all feeling so emotional. Truly emotional. Countless, countless wonderful memories that stand out.

David Read:
Felipe dos Santos, “Rachel, did you keep anything from the set besides the bantos rods?”

Rachel Luttrell:
I don’t know if you’ve heard this story. I think you have. No, I didn’t. OK. So, because wardrobe, bless them, they were, like, “Rachel, we’re gonna give you as much as we can. Don’t worry about it. It’s gonna be yours. Of course, it all ended up being sold.

David Read:
Auctioned off. Sorry, my fault.

Rachel Luttrell:
I didn’t get anything. I do have a couple of my beautiful coats that were gifted back to me by fans during conventions. Oh my gosh. One of my very favorite ones, I’ve got her back, so that’s wonderful. But no, I didn’t take anything. I’m too much of a good girl. I’m too much of, like, “No guys, let’s not do that.” And now I realize I wish I hadn’t because Jason wasn’t that guy, and he took as much as he could. He had burlap sacks full of things. I am not even kidding. And in fact, here’s the funny thing, and some of you may have heard me tell this story, maybe some of you hadn’t. It was years later, a couple of years after the show had ended, and I was actually over at Jason’s house, and we were talking about that, [about] all the stuff that he took because it was, like, lying there. He’s got so much stuff. And I said I didn’t even get my chair back. I didn’t even get, like, Teyla with… It was gone. And he started laughing. I’m like, “Why are you laughing?” Turns out he had stolen my chair. He took my chair. And it took him two years to finally get it back to me. So, I got nothing.

David Read:
You got your chair back.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, I got the chair back. And as I said, I got two of my coats back so slowly but surely, I’m getting some pieces back. It pays to be nice.

David Read:
Melody Young, “I remember seeing a lot of clips from Cons where Joe and Jason described you as being such a good sport as a stunt punching bag from all the fights that you did. Were there any mishaps?” And she says, “Rachel, you always look so badass.”

Rachel Luttrell:
Thank you so much, thank you.

David Read:
Every once in a while, I think that contact would be made. There would be an actual hit. I would think.

Rachel Luttrell:
I’m happy to say that for the most part, there were not a lot of contacts. I didn’t often get bruised or hurt. In fact, hardly at all. There was one moment. I think it was early on. I think it might have been Season Two, when Jason had joined us. I was particularly tired, and they had scheduled the fight sequence at the end of the day, so I was really, really tired. We’ve done a number of scenes and then I had to do this action sequence. It didn’t happen after that. After that it was, like, “We’re gonna schedule fight sequences near the beginning of the day when everybody’s fresh.“ But I was tired. And I didn’t bring up a block, and I got nailed in the face. And it was, like, “Woo.” I saw stars and my face swelled up. And I shook it off, and we continued, and we got it.

David Read:
You got the day? OK.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yeah, that was the one. I did get kicked in the head, actually, in the fight sequence in Missing, when I was pregnant. That was bad.

David Read:
The Bola Kai.

Rachel Luttrell:
But when you’re talking about five years of 20 episodes, two moments. And then the third moment was in… Oh, my goodness. I’m trying to remember the name of the episode. I think it was Lost Boys. Jason and I had a fight.

David Read:
Over the dining room table?

Rachel Luttrell:
Dining room table.

David Read:
With, like, food?

Rachel Luttrell:
Exactly. And I had to throw a punch, and I actually nailed him, “Boom,” in the eye, gave Jason an enormous black eye. That was the other foible. And I’m gonna say it because he knows it’s true. He did not take kindly to it. He was not at all happy that I… And the next day I brought him flowers, “Come on. Forgive me for God’s sake. Here’s some flowers.” So, three moments stand out where there was some pain.

David Read:
In the scheme of things, it’s amazing that more didn’t happen over the course of so many hours.

Rachel Luttrell:
It’s a testament to the preparedness of that team to get everything right.

Rachel Luttrell:
Precisely. Exactly. Three moments in five years of 20 episodes is a pretty good track record.

David Read:
I would say so. Last question from Adam Drmota, “Would you return to Stargate?” Brad Wright’s trying to get another show off the ground. I’ve been calling it SG4. And there’s a possibility of some prior faces. I don’t know what the exact plan is, but they’re keeping that door open. Would you be open to returning?

Rachel Luttrell:
Of course, I have nothing but good memories. Of course I would. Why not? I loved her. I really don’t know anything about it, except for the kernels that I hear. I don’t know if you heard that. That was Caden. The natives are getting restless.

David Read:
We’re about to let you go.

Rachel Luttrell:
But I most certainly would, yes.

David Read:
Well, there is every chance that that’s gonna happen in the next, you know, at some point here in the future. And we’re all hoping and praying, despite everything that’s going on here, that MGM, just like every other studio, is gonna weather the storm and wanna bring back Stargate. Rachel, this was wonderful. Thank you so much for taking this time.

Rachel Luttrell:
Thank you. I have to say, honestly, I really do believe this has been one of my loveliest interviews. You are just delightful, and I so appreciate your energy. Seriously, it comes across so beautifully. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for just being so lovely. And for your very, very thoughtful questions.

David Read:
It’s absolutely a pleasure. And thanks to all the fans who contributed.

Rachel Luttrell:
Yes, yes.

David Read:
Absolutely. Thank you so much. As I said before, you know this is a long-term project, and I would love to have you back next year as we go into specific episodes through this journey.

Rachel Luttrell:
Absolutely. That’d be a lot of fun. Coming.

David Read:
Thank you so much, Rachel. You take care of yourself, and you have a great holiday season and we’ll be in touch, OK?

Rachel Luttrell:
OK. You too. And bye everybody out there. Thank you so much for joining us.

David Read:
Bye. Rachel Luttrell. Thank you so much for joining us for this episode of Dial the Gate. Rachel has always been one of my favorites, and it’s just a treat to have her on. It’s a treat to have any of them on but particularly Rachel, definitely. Before I let you guys go, I have some fan art to share, and I saw this on social media a couple weeks ago, and I was, like, “I’ve gotta have it for this episode.” This was created by AstridV, and the artwork is entitled, “The Woods Are Haunted, Dark And Deep”. I don’t believe it’s from any specific episode. But it is one of the coolest images that I’ve seen produced by the fan community. I love her use of color. It looks like she’s created it on cardboard. It’s a beautiful piece. It was created, apparently, for Les_Starr as part of Sticks and Snark Rodney Teyla thing-a-thon on live journal. So, thank you AstridV for this beautiful composition. And before we let you go, if you like what you’ve seen in this episode, I would appreciate it if you would 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 the video with a Stargate friend and if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. If you plan to watch it live, I recommend giving the bell icon a click so you’ll be the first to know of any schedule changes, which will happen now and again. And bear in mind clips from this live stream will be appearing on GateWorld.net and ultimately Dial the Gate YouTube channels as we sort out the clips process, which I’m still working on. For next week, our guests are Jay Acovone. All of our guests are Sunday, December the 6th. Jay Acovone will be joining us at 11:00 a.m. PT to talk about Kawalsky. Darren Sumner of GateWorld.net and my moderator Ian will be joining us for Stargate Trivia, the second round, at 1:00 p.m. Join us in the live chat because after we give each other our questions, the questions from the audience, the trivia questions, will be ending the trivia challenge. So come with some hard Stargate questions. No number questions please, for the love of Pete. David Nykl will be joining us at 3:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, December the 6th to discuss Zelenka. That’s all I have for you right now. In just a few moments, we are gonna be welcoming my friend Alexis Cruz to discuss Stargate, the feature film, and the TV series Stargate SG-1. His role of Skaara and also as Klorel. So, thank you so much for tuning in. My name is David Read. This is Dial the Gate. We’ll see you on the other side.