The man behind the enigmatic “Dr. Robert Caine” in Stargate Universe joins us LIVE on Dial the Gate to catch up on his career and explore what was really happening with the people left behind on the obelisk world of Eden.

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
The darn transition. I test it and I test it and I test it beforehand, it’s working, it’s doing everything right. And then all of a sudden I get it for the show and it breaks every time. Need. New. Processor. Welcome everyone to Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read, really appreciate you tuning in for this one, I believe Episode 358. We have Tygh Runyan, Dr. Robert Caine from Stargate Universe. Hello, sir.

Tygh Runyan:
Hi.

David Read:
How you doing?

Tygh Runyan:
Good. How you doing?

David Read:
I am well. I appreciate you being here. You don’t know how long I have wanted to have this conversation. This character–

Tygh Runyan:
Thanks for having me.

David Read:
Absolutely. Been a fan of the show since ’98, ’99. It’s in production in Season Two at this point. I make no bones about the fact that SGU is my favorite, and I look at it for the show that it was aiming to be with the first act of a three-act play actually completed, which is really what it was. And you were at the center of one of the greatest mysteries, if not actually connected to, which I suspect was the case, the larger mystery of the show. So I am really looking forward to chewing some of these stories with you here over the next little while. But first, I wanna get to know you a little bit if that’s all right?

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely. That sounds great.

David Read:
So are you in Vancouver? What’s going on for you these days?

Tygh Runyan:
No. I haven’t lived in Vancouver since filming SGU. I lived in LA for almost 20 years off and on, and now I live in Joshua Tree.

David Read:
Oh, I love Joshua Tree. Absolutely beautiful area.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s the stars.

David Read:
The most amazing black and white photos you can get there, and the skyline. Yep.

Tygh Runyan:
The stars at night, and it’s clean air, very peaceful. We love it.

David Read:
Absolutely. Now, when did you know that you wanted to act professionally? When did that hit you? Or when did you know that you wanted to make this a sizable chunk of your life? When was the inspiration that struck you? ‘Cause I get every answer. I get four years old, I get college, I get later in life. What was it specifically for you?

Tygh Runyan:
I’m probably in the four years old category. Although, I saw The Blues Brothers when I was around that age, and I remember clearly thinking that between the music and acting… and that looked like the most fun that any human could have in life. And that really stuck with me as a kid. Of course, Indiana Jones and Star Wars and– Growing up, I feel really lucky to have grown up in an era where those big movies and film was such an important part, I think, of everyone’s lives, the ritual of going to the movie theater with your parents or with your grandparents, and we’re kind of raised with that, and I think it grew over time. I think the seed was planted early on, but I think as time went on and I got older, I gradually started thinking, “Maybe I could do that.” It’s something I love so much and I’ve grown up watching these incredible performances and huge mythological tales, and sci-fi, I think, is a genre that can embody those big myths very easily, and I think it’s one of the reasons I love sci-fi so much. But anyways, yeah, just over time I gradually kind of started to think that, “Maybe that’s a job, actually. Maybe it’s not just Harrison Ford. Maybe I could do that.” And started taking some classes and trying out for school plays and things like that, and it seemed like I was lucky to have good mentors and teachers, and was getting encouragement. But I resisted it as long as I possibly could. I thought there’s no way this is any kinda stable income, or I was like, “No, I should pursue other things.” So, I would say that I probably resisted as long as I could, even after I’d filmed a few things as a teenager. I think I was–

David Read:
Pretty pragmatic, not having your head in the clouds.

Tygh Runyan:
I was very… My dad’s a biologist. I come from a very pragmatic, scientific engineering family, so it was… I wanted to do what was best, I guess. Or I don’t know what I was thinking. I was delaying the inevitable, which was this love of the craft.

David Read:
There is something about being transported by story. And I don’t care if it is broken English around a campfire with a bunch of people or at Disneyland, sitting on a bladder that expands and closes, pretending to be a bird from that Avatar planet, and you’ve got this huge screen projected in front of you. The end result is the same: teleportation to a different experience and inhabiting, in your mind, other positions of other individuals that we may encounter, or stories that we’ve heard about people that don’t exist or could exist, and living with that for a little while and be like, “OK, this is their reality. This is the reality that’s being presented to me.” Or, “This is the reality of my ancestors. I’m being told a story from something previous.” That, I think, is intrinsic to the human soul. I think at the end of the day, if we are nothing else, we are our stories. Those are the things that we take with us.

Tygh Runyan:
Wow. That’s very well said. I agree. I think myth and story is directly linked to our soul and purpose for being here. I think you touched on something else that’s really great, which I agree with 1,000%, is that story, storytelling, and participating in storytelling as an audience, it’s really an empathy training tool.

David Read:
If you let it in.

Tygh Runyan:
If you let it in and you put yourself in that person’s shoes, it’s like exercising a muscle, an empathy muscle that directly applies to how you walk the Earth as a human being. How you exist in the world. You’re exercising this muscle through story, but really it’s also training and building that muscle so that out in the world, you’re able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see their side of it or understand their side a little better.

David Read:
There’s a couple of nuggets that I’m connecting with right now. Christopher Judge is a friend, and he once told me that his mother said to him ages and ages ago, “If you are not finding someone interesting, you are not trying hard enough, and it’s your fault.” And there’s a line from the seventh or eighth episode of SG-1 where this guy is trapped on this world for 70 years, and he has unlocked knowledge of the universe over there. And now Daniel is there trying to get it before the gate closes, and they have 10 minutes, and Daniel’s willing to be stuck. Ernest, the older guy, says to him, “Believe me. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is worthless if you cannot share it. Believe me, I know.” And I think that comes back to the stories that we tell. And what Christopher’s mother said, if we choose to open ourselves up to someone and invite them to take a journey with us, like you and I are gonna have for the next several minutes here, I think that it waters our spirit, and I think it also activates those pathways that encourage us creatively to think of new ideas that we hadn’t before. I think it’s all together. I think it’s all a piece.

Tygh Runyan:
I agree. It’s beautifully put.

David Read:
You were stuck on that thing.

Tygh Runyan:
There it is.

David Read:
There it is.

Tygh Runyan:
There’s some great ships in SGU. I had forgotten that, and rewatching the episodes, it’s like, “The look of it is awesome. Killer.”

David Read:
James Robbins did an extraordinary job as the production designer for that ship. It is definitely my favorite ancient ship. The one over here, the Daedalus, or this is the handmade replica, was created by Peter Bodnarus, who was an art director on SGA. The talent that these guys had… A, they had the budget to pull it off. But B, the amazing talent that they had to do some of this work. You were trapped… The character was trapped aboard, what one of the characters says in your first episode, a dying, flying coffin. We’ll get into the episode in a little bit here that allowed, really for the first time, so many of the crew to be free of it. Tell me who Doctor Caine was for you. They introduced him in an episode called “Justice,” which is really SGU’s trial episode, someone is believed to be murdered, someone is dead, and they’re weaving you in. I cannot tell you how many times, Tygh, I’ve had people come on the show and say, “They told me that it was gonna be recurring, but really what they were doing was getting me for less money.” But in this case, really it appeared to be they were setting you up for a bit of an arc to thread through particularly the second half of that season. Tell me about your experience with Stargate. Were you aware of the show before this audition? Obviously, you’re in Vancouver, you’re probably seeing it a lot. Tell me about your relationship with the original show.

Tygh Runyan:
I wasn’t… I’d never worked on previous seasons. Like I said, I lived in LA. I moved to LA after–

David Read:
At the time you were living in LA?

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah, I moved to LA after doing a film called Disturbing Behavior. Got signed to an agent there and relocated. But I would keep going back because my parents still live in Vancouver. We’re from Denver, Colorado actually, originally, but they’re still there. So, I would go back and forth and film up there, and as a dual citizen I could work in both places. So, I always had one foot in Vancouver, and obviously knew about Stargate, and had friends who had worked– It seemed like everyone but me had been on the show. When I got the call, I was pretty stoked. I love sci-fi and I wasn’t really familiar with the show itself, but I was told that this was the best iteration yet, and I was just… Great people involved, Robert Carlyle. I was a huge fan of his. I was so happy to be involved in the project. And I guess to get back to your question, there was a lot of stuff going on in the background for me career-wise at the time. Monte Hellman, who made a lot of films in the ’60s and ’70s with Jack Nicholson. He also produced Reservoir Dogs, a little film that kicked off Tarantino’s career.

David Read:
A certain director’s career.

Tygh Runyan:
So, he’s credited with essentially kick-starting that career for Quentin, and also, he was the first producer to write the low-budget agreement with SAG, which was later adopted by AFTRA, in having lead actors take points on the back end so that you could make your movie and not have to pay Harvey Keitel or whoever all this money up front. And it was pretty amazing. It’s the genesis of how so many independent films after that– I think Reservoir Dogs came out in ’92 or something like that.

David Read:
Sounds about right. It was pretty early on. It was before Pulp Fiction.

Tygh Runyan:
Pretty early on, yeah. And then, anyways, that became the model for so many filmmakers after. So, Monte was getting ready to shoot a movie in North Carolina and Rome, and had asked me to play the lead role, or one of the two leads in it, pretty much simultaneously to getting cast in SGU. I’m not quite sure if it really changed things much, but I remember watching and thinking, “Oh yeah, I was…” The way my episodes were staggered, I remember I would do an episode on SGU, and then I would fly to North Carolina and go film that, and then come back and my hair’s a little different. I could see the timeline through SGU is pretty interesting. So, I actually don’t remember if there was a slightly different arc planned for me initially and then they kind of just… But I remember it was a great group to work with, and they supported me and they worked with me and they were like, “Well, you can’t pass up that film. We wanna work with you.” How often does that happen? That was very… felt really amazing that they were still keen on having me play Doctor Caine and having an arc in the season. If that changed from the time I was cast to the final episode — what’s it called? — “Visitation?”

David Read:
“Visitation.” You got it.

Tygh Runyan:
I don’t know. It may have evolved. But it all worked perfectly, because his character, or my char[acter], Dr. Caine is evolving too.

David Read:
This is a nebulous guy. On the surface, if you’ll forgive this, he’s got a… He’s opinionated, but also he’s… I wouldn’t call him a milquetoast, because that’s not right, but he’s really–

Tygh Runyan:
But a little–

David Read:
He’s really just… He’s very chill. “Shouldn’t do that. That’s not a… No…”

Tygh Runyan:
Also, I like the milquetoast description. He’s kind of–

David Read:
He’s content to just be.

Tygh Runyan:
I think this maybe comes from growing up around a lot of PhDs in the science field. A lot of questions are asked.

David Read:
Intellectual.

Tygh Runyan:
Not a lot of definitive answers. “There’s… It could be. Could be. We’ll have to think about that. We’ll have to collect a little more data before stating an opinion.” So maybe I borrowed from that life experience a little, but when I got the character breakdown and the description, and I think I bring that to any scientist role that I’ve come across. So when I saw that he is collecting samples on a planet, I’m like, “I know this guy.”

David Read:
And a computer technician at that.

Tygh Runyan:
That’s right. He says, “I’m an IT…”

David Read:
And he doesn’t even drive a car.

Tygh Runyan:
But he can’t drive a car, I know. It’s funny. There’s some things, you’re like, “Really? OK.”

David Read:
I can see that. I can see him being an environmentalist, but also an IT guy. It reminds me a lot of Jeff Goldblum’s character in Independence Day who– And obviously he’s higher strung, but I get the impression with this guy in particular that he is very inward-thinking and had– They’ve all had plenty of time to spend on the ship by themselves, if not, A, trying to get away from each other; B, that sense of profound transformation that set in when you realize that you are truly lost.

Tygh Runyan:
He’s a loner, too. He’s an outsider. And I’ve pretty much unanimously played outsiders in my career, for whatever reason. But he’s an outsider. He’s a loner. You never see him hanging out with friends in the mess hall or whatever. What is he doing? He’s reading, he’s reading, he’s reading.

David Read:
If I’m gonna be honest with you here, for the first several minutes in, I think it was “Faith.” To be perfectly honest, this may come off bizarre, but he gave me the creeps. And I don’t know why that was. But then after the story is going here… because I wasn’t sure. I’m like, “Maybe this guy is being pulled by something cosmic on this planet.” There’s something running underneath the surface that I couldn’t grasp.

Tygh Runyan:
David, is “Faith” the one where they first arrive on–

David Read:
They first come on the Obelisk planet.

Tygh Runyan:
OK. For sure. Again, I remember, I think, coming back from North Carolina or Rome or… between multiple worlds to film that episode. And when I read the script on the flight, I had the same impression. I was like, “What’s… This is different.”

David Read:
“What’s going on?”

Tygh Runyan:
“What’s going on here?”

David Read:
It’s nothing that’s on the page, not really.

Tygh Runyan:
Not really, not necessarily in dialogue, but I felt like, in the narrative, you take a pragmatic scientific mind who is suddenly having this spiritual awakening and suddenly he’s meditating by a river. By the creek.

David Read:
An IT, an engineer. Completely removed from his professional circumstances.

Tygh Runyan:
Right. And I remember being a little surprised by that and working to connect the dots. And one thought I had was, “Is this possession? Is he already… What happened on this planet, actually?” Between his first arrival and when Lieutenant… What was his name? Scott?

David Read:
Yeah, Matt, Matthew Scott. With the guns.

Tygh Runyan:
With the guns. When he finds him by the creek I’m like, “Is that the same guy?” ‘Cause as I was reading… And then I’m like, “OK. It’s the same guy, but he’s having an awakening.” So, I feel like… the choice, from what I remember, was to not necessarily play that he’d been possessed by aliens right out of the gate, but kinda leave the door open to that possibility a little bit. ‘Cause we’re all finding out where this story is going as we go, and I do remember some aspect of it being a question for me in my notes was, has he been infected during that brief time where you don’t see him? Or is he just being pulled? And as we discover the obelisk and things like that, in retrospect, I think he was being pulled by alien forces.

David Read:
I think that… Did you watch Battlestar Galactica?

Tygh Runyan:
I did.

David Read:
OK. There is an episode where something horrible will happen near the end of the show. Something horrible happens to everyone. They make a discovery about 10 episodes before the end, and one of the characters decides to self-delete. And she is, for the first 10 minutes of the episode, she’s just wound up. And then this placidness, this serenity takes over. And it was very much watching a guy who had decided that he knew what he was going to do, but in this case, this is– I think he is plugging into something here, and as we find out that there’s this struc[ture] this star should be right, it’s right in Destiny’s path. And then you go around it, and, oh, there’s a planet, by the way. This thing should not be here, and I think that his technical mind has reached a point where it’s like, “I cannot accept that what I am seeing can be practically possible knowing the sensors on that ship picked up what they did, and I am just going to give myself to whatever this is. Even if it kills me.”

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely. I think it was, there’s a genuine spiritual awakening afoot, like you say. He’s accepting that he does not have all the answers, that he can’t explain any of this, and that there’s a feeling that a higher power is involved, and he’s giving himself over to it. I also think there’s an alien tractor beam at work simultaneously, where they’re being used. This group of people, they’re being lured as well.

David Read:
You’re giving me literally chills right now, physically passing through my body, dude.

Tygh Runyan:
Wow. Cool. Cool.

David Read:
Seriously. The stuff that they tapped into this show that they were just getting started with was so fricking awesome. Because that’s what sci-fi does best. It makes you think inward really deep, staring into the abyss deep in these episodes. And something stares back.

Tygh Runyan:
That’s right. That’s absolutely right. The void stares back, and there’s multiple messages, but there’s a message, too. And I think with the, what’s her name, TJ’s baby– of that episode, I forget what it’s called, but–

David Read:
“Intervention.”

Tygh Runyan:
“Intervention.” Yeah.

David Read:
“Intervention.” Yes, sir.

Tygh Runyan:
And it was divine intervention, but alien intervention. And yet some of the dialogue, when I would encounter it out here on the edge of the universe, what’s he saying? Out here on the edge of the universe, it’s just your–

David Read:
Anything’s possible.

Tygh Runyan:
Anything’s possible. It’s yourself and what you believe, and that’s your faith.

David Read:
Most important.

Tygh Runyan:
Or what your belief is, is all you have. Even when I read it, I was like, “These are the aliens speaking through this apparition, or this version of Dr. Caine.” And it just seemed very clear to me. And in the last episode too, when he’s sitting there towards the end and talking to TJ, and kinda giving–

David Read:
Wasn’t him.

Tygh Runyan:
No. No. No.

David Read:
So, let me fill in some backstory here, just in case, to bring everyone up to speed, and perhaps yourself as well. What we find out as Season Two goes on is that whatever these beings are who created this star system, they’re clearly capable of transporting people, but they’re also reading inside their minds. Interpreting their thoughts. Destiny was also doing that too.

Tygh Runyan:
Oh right. OK.

David Read:
So, its AI was something that we only just scratched the surface with in Season Two before the show got canceled. There is an episode where the commander, played by, for heaven’s sake, that–

Tygh Runyan:
Louis?

David Read:
Colonel Young’s character, Louis Ferreira. Thank you. He breaks down, and he quits, and he gives up… and drinks himself into a stupor, and the ship literally stops in space. And starts running catastrophes in his head. It starts playing these scripts through. And only when he decides to get back up on his feet and say, “OK, I’m gonna man up. I’m gonna take care of these people, and I’m gonna do what I need to do to finish this mission,” the ship suddenly goes back into FTL. And you can tell it’s saying to the crew, “I’m in charge.”

Tygh Runyan:
“I’m in charge.”

David Read:
“And I can’t talk, I can’t figure out how to talk to you directly yet, but I’m gonna do what I have to do to make sure that you people are the best people that you can be, because where we’re going is not going to be easy.”

Tygh Runyan:
Interesting.

David Read:
And it was the same with TJ. We found out that it was the ship. More than likely, they may have added another twist to this, but it wasn’t Caine talking to her. It was the ship, and it projected that nebula ahead of its course into her mind to tell her that, yes, your baby’s OK, but what it really was, was her baby was gone, but it recognized that TJ was critical to the mission.

Tygh Runyan:
To the mission.

David Read:
It’s mind-boggling stuff what they were playing with.

Tygh Runyan:
I love it. I love it. And it’s also funny to hear, there’s a scene, I think it’s in that episode, where they’re talking to me over the radio before we arrive.

David Read:
You’re on the ship, on the shuttle.

Tygh Runyan:
On the shuttle, and they’re talking to me on the radio, and that’s not me. That’s not my voice. I don’t know who read those lines, but it’s not–

David Read:
Were you not available for ADR?

Tygh Runyan:
I have no idea. Maybe not. Maybe not.

David Read:
You’re positive?

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely dead positive. So that’s a little tidbit.

David Read:
Fooled us. Man, oh, man. I wonder what’s behind that. I’m gonna have to reach out to whoever directed that episode, ’cause I can get that story. That is wild, man.

Tygh Runyan:
That’s it. It’s funny. I could have been filming the other thing.

David Read:
But that’s something that you can, even in 2006, 2007, save as a wave file and send it to them, for crying out loud. But you know what? The magic of television, especially ’cause it’s distorted, and that is wild.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s very true. And the technology now is incredible. For Blonde, I was doing a lot of voiceover narration for the film.

David Read:
That’s mad.

Tygh Runyan:
And I would just record into my iPhone, send it to the director. We were writing and improvising as we went. But he ended up loving some of those recordings so much that we fixed them up in post, and I think some of those recordings from the iPhone are actually in the final product, which is incredible.

David Read:
You can’t tell now.

Tygh Runyan:
You can’t tell.

David Read:
As long as you’re in a quiet space, I do a lot of recording in my closet for things like that.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly.

David Read:
And we are at a point with technology now where art is so much more accessible and so much more immediate given the right circumstances. It’s a mind-boggling time to be alive as a creative person.

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely, and with AI, and I haven’t really used any of it yet, but ChatGPT and stuff like that–

David Read:
Double-edged sword. It’s a tool like any other. Well not like any other but you know.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s crazy. Someone was saying, I was talking to somebody, but it’s creating a menu for a restaurant, for example. You could easily go into ChatGPT and say: “I need a menu for a new restaurant that’s a cross between Southwest cuisine and Thai food, and I want it in the style of Anthony Bourdain.”

David Read:
And it’ll produce something arguably clever.

Tygh Runyan:
It’ll produce a menu. And that’s–

David Read:
Mind-boggling.

Tygh Runyan:
I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s mixed feelings. You could–

David Read:
100%.

Tygh Runyan:
It sounds like a useful tool, but it sounds like a slippery slope.

David Read:
It makes you wonder, like Destiny was reading their minds, just how long before it’s… ’cause it’s not really; it’s a prompt generator, but we’re giving it information and it’s often correctly interpreting things when it gives it back to us. What’s happening in our brains that I think is more interesting because we’re going, “I didn’t expect it to say that.” “Did I give it a tell earlier on to give me this information? What the hell?”

Tygh Runyan:
And it’s learning.

David Read:
“Is God watching me?” And in its way, it is.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s accumulating data. It’s accumulating information and then making adjustments to the algorithm based on what you’re inputting to it, or what, presumably what everyone is inputting.

David Read:
This is so wild.

Tygh Runyan:
Which is… I don’t know. I don’t know if we just created our demise.

David Read:
If we’re not, there is that path. I mean, I hope that we’re not on the road that has no turns, but it’s interesting that we’re– talking about a ship that’s reading them and giving them no choice but to proceed off the edge of the universe. We are very similarly, technologically speaking, in a situation like that, where just 15 years later– where it is an AGI arms race. Because if the West doesn’t do it, China will. So you don’t have a choice to stop. Whatever comes from these technologies that we give birth to, at the very least, we’re gonna be in it together.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s true.

David Read:
Looking back on what happens when they do get to the ship, do you feel… I’m interested as to how you feel about this character and how passionate he was in those latter minutes of “Faith” where he’s like, “I really think that we’re supposed to be here for a reason. These guys, whoever made this place may come back.” There’s actually hints, if you go back and watch the episode, folks– there’s hints that there are bad winters on this planet, just in that episode, and I was really blindsided by what ultimately happened, here come the chills again, in “Visitation.” Do you think that Caine was a fool?

Tygh Runyan:
A fool to stay?

David Read:
To stay?

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah. Again, I think that they were being lured– as much as anything else. And kinda, that was sort of part of the choice to not go full fanatical with his conviction–

David Read:
He doesn’t take the guns from them and say, “Get outta here.”

Tygh Runyan:
Right, and he’s not giving some impassioned sermon or something. It’s almost like it’s being pulled out of him, and he’s just–

David Read:
Almost like he’s a mouthpiece.

Tygh Runyan:
Yes. And he’s still this mellow, introverted, loner guy, but suddenly, the way he speaks is a little different.

David Read:
So, you deliberately played him a little differently.

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah.

David Read:
That’s what you were dropping down earlier, that I failed to pick up in that regard, from the ship to now we’re on the planet, I’m literally gonna play him just in case he’s possessed. ‘Cause they could go that way.

Tygh Runyan:
When I read that episode “Faith,” I thought, “I don’t exactly know where this is going, but I have a feeling…” Because there was no indication that he would say these things or have this spiritual side to him before then.

David Read:
It’s no accident that he’s an IT technician. That’s very deliberate.

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely.

David Read:
This should not be coming out of that guy.

Tygh Runyan:
And so you don’t trust it. You’re like, “Huh?” And it’s great. It’s great writing. So, I remember just wanting to– make that choice that it’s almost like he’s being drawn by this planet, but the planet is kinda speaking through him. There’s a puppet element to it.

David Read:
I would hope that he still genuinely has freedom of choice in those situations. But maybe not.

Tygh Runyan:
Maybe not. But I think it’s one of those things where it’s somewhere in between. He’s still the same guy, but there’s a kind of alien possession beginning to take shape. It ties into the last episode there where he’s absolutely not himself, admittedly, in the end.

David Read:
And he feels that he’s not. He feels that he’s a shadow.

Tygh Runyan:
A shadow. It’s great.

David Read:
I wanna talk to you about that in a second here. I normally don’t ask personal questions to guests when they come on, but I’m hoping that for this particular situation with this particular character, I can explore this just for a beat to get a glimpse in. With this character being so spiritual, I’m curious to know if there’s anything, even just a yes or no, that you lean on in your own life that’s bigger than you are, that allowed, that guided you toward this character or if this character was a complete departure for you.

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah, absolutely. I would consider myself a spiritual person. I’ve followed different paths in my life and meditate, which I learned through studying aikido and martial arts for many years. So, I don’t think anything of it was too much of a stretch. But I don’t really… I’m not fanatical.

David Read:
Nor was he.

Tygh Runyan:
Nor was he. So, I’m just gonna go with that, that he’s convinced, or he has this conviction, this faith, but he’s not–

David Read:
He’s assured, on some level and I don’t think it’s of their safety. I think it’s of the fact that this is designed.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. It’s interesting to watch all of it again. It was a pretty great show.

David Read:
“Visitation…” is haunting on so many levels because what happens is something that, again, should not happen. They just materialize in space next to them and we later find out they all died at different times on the planet. And yet, here they are all again. And I’m gonna share my theory with you when we’re done with this, but I thought that that was a great way, and an unexpected way to approach the story. They’re all dying again, in order, victims of what it was that happened to them on the planet. If for no other reason than to give them all a chance to say goodbye. As if this thing that had happened to them, fleeing to this ship and being there, was the most important part of their lives. There’s a morbid bitter sweetness to that notion. And that must have been wild to play. “I’m not Caine. I’m an echo of him.” You know? “A self-aware echo of him.”

Tygh Runyan:
It’s kinda hard to remember exactly where my head was at for that. But in watching it, I think it’s one of those things where it’s kind of impossible to hold it all in your mind while you’re acting. And to some degree, you still have to put yourself in the moment. And you have your backstory, and you lean on that. And then you plant yourself in the moment and say what you need to say. Which I think, if I remember correctly in my notes, is essentially what he was anyway. He was an actor for these beings, or the ship. Or they’re one and the same. But he’s this… it’s kinda no different than the process of interpreting a role and embodying that. And it’s very, very similar. So I tried to not overthink it.

David Read:
You’re an actor who’s playing a character who’s an avatar. In one way, shape, or form in “Intervention.” And then you’re an actor playing a character who is a piece of himself. And it’s, “Oh my God, just say the words.”

Tygh Runyan:
Like a projection.

David Read:
Not unlike that.

Tygh Runyan:
“OK, play an astral projection. OK.”

David Read:
That’s it. “Something cosmic is occurring here. And action.”

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. That episode is great. I think it’s one of my favorite things I’ve done. It’s… Again, with the look of the show, the actors involved, the writing, the whole team, it’s killer.

David Read:
How was Alaina to work with as TJ?

Tygh Runyan:
She was great, from what I remember.

David Read:
She’s cool.

Tygh Runyan:
I remember her being really cool. Who else?

David Read:
You talked about Ryan.

Tygh Runyan:
I remember really getting along with him. Louie and I remember hitting it off with him. Anyways, the whole team was really special. And I didn’t really pay attention after my part was done.

David Read:
Dude, you were a little busy.

Tygh Runyan:
Classic. And busy on other things. I didn’t really know what happened. Did they do half a season and then it got canceled? Or–

David Read:
They did two full years, and then they pulled the plug. They were guaranteed quietly, two years out of the gate had Season One hit certain milestones, which it did. But then the MGM bankruptcy came along.

Tygh Runyan:
Gotcha, OK.

David Read:
And to quote Brad Wright to me, Syfy called MGM and there was no one there to pick up the phone in Beverly Hills. Or not Beverly Hills, where the main office was located — MGM — Universal City. It was, “what were we gonna do?” That was not the exclusive reason, but that was the big chunk. And two of five seasons were done, and the rest of us are standing out there in space, floating as Destiny sails off and the show fades to black. And it’s, “Holy shit, that’s it.”

Tygh Runyan:
That’s it.

David Read:
That’s it.

Tygh Runyan:
Ugh. Brutal.

David Read:
And we’ve all been pining after it ever since, those of us who truly loved it. And to this day, I’m still gutted. I can’t re-watch the last 10 minutes of that with Joel Goldsmith’s score playing. In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful piece of music he ever wrote. If you haven’t seen it, it’s extraordinary.

Tygh Runyan:
I haven’t.

David Read:
And it’s just on piano. It gets you in the gut, man. It’s a gut punch. What that show was.

Tygh Runyan:
I need to watch it. So, have they done another Stargate since? Or that was it?

David Read:
We’re waiting on Amazon MGM to figure out what it wants to do. We’ve all been in a holding pattern here on the tarmac. There’s been, “Oh yes, OK, something’s coming,” and then COVID. “And then… yes, OK, something,” and then that writer’s strike.

Tygh Runyan:
And then after the strike.

David Read:
That’s exactly what happened. You’re right. So, at this point, we’re all… “OK. Just call me.” The rest of us will be on the watchtower keeping an eye on things, like me and a couple of other shows, but everyone else: “We’re gonna hit the snooze.” ‘Cause what can you do.

Tygh Runyan:
So many projects went dead during the SAG strike–

David Read:
I know. Devastating.

Tygh Runyan:
And during COVID, and I fully, 1000% supported my union in striking.

David Read:
Of course.

Tygh Runyan:
It was long overdue in my opinion. So I was happy for that. And I think, honestly, we could’ve held out a little longer even, but… But a lot of projects went dead during that time. Really frustrating, never to resurface, and it’s budget stuff most of the time. And once something gets shelved or goes quiet, it’s very hard to come back. You need that initial momentum. There’s so much commerce involved. You need that enthusiasm, and when that kinda fizzles: “OK, what’s the new thing? What’s the next thing?”

David Read:
That’s it.

Tygh Runyan:
Very frustrating. Anyway, hopefully they bring a new iteration back.

David Read:
Something will happen, it’s more than likely not gonna be following on what happened before. I would think at this point they’re gonna reboot the whole thing freshly.

Tygh Runyan:
Reboot it.

David Read:
I understand, but it wouldn’t be my first choice, but regardless. And I wanna talk about Versailles in Blonde here, but before we dip into that, my theory on what was happening was that we had not seen the last of Robert Caine. I have the impression that they were taken, because we see them engulfed in a light at the end, here come the chills again, of “Visitation,” and it’s crystal clear in stark relief at this point, something’s going on, whatever it was we saw it for a glimpse. And I really think that we were gonna see more of these things. And something tells me that we wouldn’t be able to see them except for an avatar. I think that you would have been a mouthpiece coming back speaking for whatever these things were, and whatever the mission was gonna be. And I do think that whatever these things were was tied to Destiny’s ultimate mission as well. Is that your takeaway? Or am I way out to lunch? David, it’s a show, it’s a show, sure!

Tygh Runyan:
No, David, you are an excellent detective. No, really. That’s exactly what the plan was.

David Read:
Were you told that?

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah.

David Read:
Are you pulling my leg?

Tygh Runyan:
No, so, when you sign these options and these contracts, I had only signed to do the one season, but there were clauses in my paperwork and in talking to the producers, definitely there was more in the works, which is also why I think that they… I’m not sure why Season Two was not… I can’t remember where I was at scheduling-wise, but it was definitely talked about. So, yeah. I think if it went a full five seasons, there definitely would’ve been… You would’ve seen me again at some point. May have been just one episode or something… But that was… who knows?

David Read:
At the end of the day, it is Monday morning quarterbacking, but still… That’s awesome.

Tygh Runyan:
It was, again, a great project to be involved in, and so long ago I’d forgotten a lot about it, but in watching it, it was great to have my memory jarred, and to see it in succession, and kinda remember working with some of the cast, and little memories of filming those episodes. It was a really, really special project from what I remember, and there were big things talked about and planned for Dr. Caine. And I know that’s why they were willing to work with my schedule, and go do the movie for a bit, and come back.

David Read:
I appreciate you acknowledging that. That’s cool.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s cool, but it doesn’t help the fans, in a sense, ’cause you’re like, “Oh, I wonder what…” “How would they have continued to use him? How would he have presented as an avatar?” It’s a great show, and whenever a good show gets canceled, it’s a heartbreak.

David Read:
But also to know that they’re… because they exist in our minds. Just like they existed on the screen, and all that is is the characters that you carry with you in your hearts. My favorite book of all time is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Ebenezer Scrooge is always a part of me. These characters do exist in a way, shape, or form, and it’s good to hear that the character did have life beyond what we got to see. Those expectations were going to be met. And I do take comfort in that, so.

Tygh Runyan:
It is really cool. And just wondering, with sci-fi, you could take it as far as you want. He could actually be reanimated, or they could, they could be exploring the idea of soul that we talked about at the beginning. Myth and soul, and what is soul, and can soul be… Soul is eternal, so can that be reanimated on some level, and do these beings have that power if they can create a star, let alone a planet and terraform? If they can create a star, that’s right there, that’s all you need to know. It’s almost like they can do anything. They can play God.

David Read:
I would have a hard time believing that if they were to bring him back like they did in “Visitation,” they would be only capable of bringing him back broken. That whatever they’re doing, they’re doing by design. So that’s kinda cool. And the fact that he was becoming something else, you know, before he died again, I think that also, it speaks to us and our lives, where we have periods of doubt and disbelief about ourselves. “I did, I allowed what to happen?” You know? Those are the kind of things that I lean into the story that I take back with me. It’s like, “Well, some of my favorite television, the characters that I loved to follow, they had days like this, so, you know, and what did they do? OK, and you know what? I’m gonna go and do that, because that’s a good role model.” That’s the great thing about story.

Tygh Runyan:
That’s very true, and to live vicariously in order to live in the moment, and through that osmosis, like you say, of embodying these characters, or I guess what you’re saying is, having a character, resonate with a character that’s already within you, that’s already implanted, and that’s kinda some of the magic of storytelling. It’s like the Hero with a Thousand Faces.

David Read:
Campbell.

Tygh Runyan:
Campbell. There’s only so many different iterations and forms that story and heroic myth can take, and that is tied to our, each individual’s journey as a human being here, I think. There’s an arc to every life story.

David Read:
‘Cause we’re finite.

Tygh Runyan:
We’re finite. There’s a beginning, middle, and end. There’s acts, and there’s plot twists and all of it, and tragedy, and comedy, and all of it. So what came first? Did story exist before we did? Did we? Is it an extension of us? Or is it, in these episodes, is it something that was already there, and we are actually an embodiment of what existed before? Maybe.

David Read:
There is something holy about it. The one thing that separates us from the beasts is, I think, our empathy, our capacity for… well, and that’s not necessarily exclusive to us, either. Dolphins and all kinds of animals exhibit that. But our ability to share stories with one another, and shape our future. It’s one of the reasons acting is one of the oldest professions in the world, because it is at the center of everything. Tell me about your experience on Versailles as Fabien. What was that role like?

Tygh Runyan:
That was honestly such a gift to also be on that project, involved in that, to live in Paris for three years, and do three seasons, and to be a part of the core fabric of the show from its inception was pretty exciting, because I hadn’t really done that for a while at that point, being one of the first three leads in the show. So, it was, to play this core element, and have meetings, story meetings with the showrunners, it was a dream come true. It was great. And what a fascinating character, and…

David Read:
Tell me about him. I don’t know much about the guy.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s set in the court of Louis XIV, and he–

David Read:
But not Leo DiCaprio.

Tygh Runyan:
No. George Blagden played Louis XIV in our show.

David Read:
Probably a lot better.

Tygh Runyan:
He was great, honestly. You should check it out.

David Read:
I intend to.

Tygh Runyan:
He’s essentially presented as the king’s head of security, and henchman. But as the show evolves, he lives by his own code of ethics, a samurai code, duty first, duty and honor before his own personal wellbeing even, and making this sacrifice to this higher power, which happens to be a king. But there’s also a parallel, I would think, to Caine in that…

David Read:
I’m hearing it.

Tygh Runyan:
…he’s an outsider, but he’s also a detective. He’s an incredibly good detective, so he’s someone who’s aware and intuitive, and has no qualms about giving himself over to a higher power, making self-sacrifice for greater good. So even though he, at the beginning of the show, he’s presented doing horrible, heinous things, like medieval torturing, for information and stuff, but that was the time period.

David Read:
It’s hard for us to get through in modern times to think of that the, “Why are they doing that?” Because they knew no other way.

Tygh Runyan:
They knew no other way.

David Read:
That was who they were.

Tygh Runyan:
That’s who they were, and to live in that space and make sense of it through a modern lens was pretty exciting.

David Read:
Did inhabiting that character make you uncomfortable? Is that a sweet spot as an actor? “Well, if I’m uncomfortable, maybe I should look into that a little bit more. Maybe I should go there.”

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah, uncomfortable, yeah, but I think you nailed it. If you’re feeling some fear and some resistance, that’s really the good stuff. That’s where you wanna relax into that and surrender to that, and dig a little deeper, and I think that’s a good indicator that something special can happen that you hadn’t planned, that it’s unscripted, or it’s in the moment, and that’s where… People have different training or whatever, but my teachers were all method actors. One element that I incorporated in all my roles is a psychological gesture. Allowing that to present itself at some point in the course of filming is a pretty incredible thing that happens, because it’s not predetermined. It happens in the moment. You have to leave the window open to it, and when it happens, you know it. It’s like you’re talking about the chills, you just have nerves firing like crazy up and down your spine, and then they call, “Cut,” and you come out of it and–

David Read:
It’s a state in and of itself.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly, and you go, “Oh, that was the gesture that completely represents this person.” And it’s not scripted, and it’s not in my notes, and it’s not in my backstory. It’s another thing. It’s something that just happens in the moment. It’s amazing. So I think, to get back to what you were talking about, if anything made me uncomfortable. Those tend to be the types of moments where you hope for that… element of, “I don’t know what’s gonna happen here, but I’m gonna jump off this cliff.”

David Read:
That’s the thing. You can relate to that ’cause you’ve done some stage. In many of our professions, I’ve been in situations where it’s like, “OK, I’m being asked to do this right now. Before I have to go into work, I have to be in two hours, and I am terrified, and I am sobbing, and I am praying to have this weight of terror taken from me.” And then I go out, and I do it, and I get through it, and it’s like, “I got this.” I’m a better person because of it, at least to myself, you know? ‘Cause I would hope that any of us in a similar situation, when we’re faced with those moments, can look at ourselves in the mirror and say, “Go out there and kick some ass.” It’s ’cause that’s what someone else has asked us to do.

Tygh Runyan:
You’re suspended in time and space. It’s an incredible feeling. There’s nothing else like it, and I’ve been hooked on it for a long time.

David Read:
Is there anything coming up that you can share with us?

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah, a couple. It’s all projects in development. I’ve done tapings for a few things that I think could be exciting here and there, but I’ve optioned a novel, another historic period piece set in America. It’s a famous strike break in Colorado with some miners, and very timely… story to tell, with everything going on right now. So there’s that project. And then another project, a director I worked with, Jeffery Lando, I think he may have been involved in some of the early Stargates, if I’m not mistaken. I could be wrong about that. Anyway, he’s a director I’ve worked with in the past. We’ve been working on a project together that he’s writing for me set in Alaska, a film noir, a detective story. He’s a private investigator, ex-police-force PI, and another moody outsider character.

David Read:
It’s set in Alaska, of course it’s gonna be moody.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. Exactly.

David Read:
Look, some characters you, not you specifically, but you in general, you fit well. I had Patrick McKenna on and he was like, “I’m a French horn. I can’t be this other thing. I can try, but I’m a French horn, that’s what I am.” And when he said that to me, immediately I knew what he was talking about. These are the levers that I have, these are buttons that you can press, and anything else that you try is experimental, but I think it’s great for someone to know what it is that they’re really good at. But also, I think you need to be willing to be like, “OK let’s try the drums.”

Tygh Runyan:
Totally. Absolutely. I think after Versailles I did a small comedic role in a little independent film and it felt great.

David Read:
And probably a lot less weight with less costume. I would imagine. “Get me out of this.”

Tygh Runyan:
Get rid of the sword, and I think it’s really important to stretch and exercise all the muscles.

David Read:
Absolutely. Do I have a couple more minutes with you? Is that OK?

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah, of course.

David Read:
I have some fan questions for you.

Tygh Runyan:
OK, cool.

David Read:
Lockwatcher wants to know, you worked with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson in K-19: The Widowmaker. Any stories from that production that stand out to you, that you wanted to speak on? And he also brings up the fact that he was impressed with the sets and the movie and he wanted to know if there were any comparisons to the Destiny set. I haven’t seen it.

Tygh Runyan:
OK. I would say that the Destiny set was a lot more comfortable. Kathryn Bigelow with K-19, I mean, they built a submarine in an airplane hangar and put it on a hydraulic gimbal. And then put a few camera operators in with Steadicams, and they would actually be… This was their concept, and it was wild, because it was, you could get the same effect tilting the camera and shaking it a little bit.

David Read:
Just trusting us… “Just tell us from one to a ten how much do you want us to shake or…”

Tygh Runyan:
But this thing would actually rotate on this hydraulic gimbal, and the Steadicam operators would be hanging to some piece of apparatus while we’re trying to get a shot. And it just, I don’t know that you ever quite got… What I thought the idea was was so that you could keep the camera steady, but then you would see us kind of leaning. And I don’t think she ever actually used that type of an effect in the whole film, but you definitely got a sense of being all contained in this very tight space. So working with Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, I mean, you’re working in this closet. You’re in this tight space for six months.

David Read:
Oh my God. I think it would’ve messed me up in the head a little bit.

Tygh Runyan:
It was… as a young actor, it was so exciting. And just hanging out with two of my acting heroes and honestly meeting — this is a funny story — meeting Harrison Ford for the first time in the production office. I’m 24, I show up, I’m nervous, I’m on this thing for a long time. They’re writing as they go too, so you have this feeling like, “Oh, if they like me enough, this role could become…” So there’s a lot of nerves as a young actor, and anticipation. So I meet Kathryn Bigelow and she’s amazing and warm and welcoming and awesome, and we’re talking about wardrobe and other things and the character. And then Harrison Ford walks into the production office and it was almost one of those things where you see something but you don’t see it. Your brain’s like, “That’s not real.”

David Read:
“Is that Andy? Did you really see him?”

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. It was like, “Eh, eh, what is this?” And next thing I know, Kathryn Bigelow’s standing there going, “Harrison, I want you to meet your helmsman. This is Tygh.” And I just remember, I’ve never been really star struck– or I guess a little bit since then. But at that point, I’d just been like, “actors are people, and this is a job.” And meeting Harrison Ford for the first time, it was like– I think I went beet red. And extended my hand to shake his hand, and he was, “Well, nice to meet you.” And it’s…

David Read:
It’s not the same with every actor.

Tygh Runyan:
I froze. I was shaking his hand seeing myself pretending to be Indiana Jones in the yard with the hat and grabbing a stick as a whip and, Harris, sorry, Han Solo and Indiana Jones and, here I am shaking his hand. And about to work with him for six months, and I just clammed up. I couldn’t even say hi, it was so funny. And I remember I’m shaking his hand and I look over at Kathryn and she’s, “Say hi.”

David Read:
Don’t ruin this, kid.

Tygh Runyan:
“Say, say, say hi.” And I was like, “Hi?” It was the most awkward meet, but we had a lot of fun together and became friends on the shoot, I can say. Which is a pretty great memory. Very inspiring. And Liam was awesome too. I remember I still have a book that he gave me for my birthday while we were filming. A fly-fishing book inscribed by him. And, yeah, killer, an amazing experience.

David Read:
They say never meet your heroes, but every once in a while, you have a positive experience.

Tygh Runyan:
It was great. I remember talking to Harrison about the stars one night. We all went out for dinner and we were gonna hang out at the apartment they had rented for me and a few of the other actors. And we were filming in Halifax a lot of the time. It’s winter, cold, crisp, the stars are really bright and clear. And I remember saying to him, “Wow, look at the stars. It’s amazing.” And he’s like, “Yeah, and do they shine…” What did he say? It was, “And do they shine that much brighter for you?” And I remember thinking, and this ties into Stargate too, “Yeah, and I can’t help but feel that we shine back.” And I remember he looked at me and he was like, “Yes. Yes, young man. That is, absolutely correct.” It was such a great weird little moment with one of your heroes, where you’re having this esoteric, philosophical, meandering conversation about the stars, it’s just surreal to think about. Even that little weird conversation, it meant so much to me as a young guy that he was someone who had a mind for these things, for greater powers and that it wasn’t, you’re not so weird, I guess is the feeling. You’re not… I never would’ve thought that Indiana Jones would be thinking these things on a cosmic level. But then you live your life and you’re like, “No actually, that’s a human–”

David Read:
That’s a human thing.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s a human thing. And just this reassurance that you’re human and that these are good things to think about.

David Read:
You had a moment with him when he was willing to be vulnerable. And that’s a clear example of the fact that you guys had spent literally in the trenches…

Tygh Runyan:
Close quarters.

David Read:
… together. There’s a great video of him, I don’t know if he’s on Kimmel or Fallon, but a fan comes out onto the stage and starts talking about the construction of the whips over the course of the movies. And it’s a clip that you must go online, Tygh, and see if this happens.

Tygh Runyan:
OK, I gotta see this.

David Read:
I can’t send it to you ’cause we didn’t connect, but I, if– You need to because the guy goes through in about a minute the different whips and the materials that were used and he asks him, I think, “What was your favorite?” And Harrison leans forward, I’m gonna break my rule, guys, and says, “Who gives a shit?” And it was like, oh my God. And that is the persona that I am aware of with him. But when you get him into a situation like that where he says something like that, “They shine brighter for you,” and I’m thinking to myself, “Oh man, he’s gonna crack something.” And you went vulnerable and he was receptive. That’s experience that no one can take away from you.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. That was a very special, vulnerable, very human moment. No sarcastic quips, no… I think people — I don’t think he’s any different — develop personas or aspects, I guess, of your personality in defense, of being a very sensitive, creative weirdo.

David Read:
Apparently, he gets nervous in front of crowds and events like that, and he has to chill himself out…

Tygh Runyan:
I believe it.

David Read:
… a little bit beforehand, and I can understand that.

Tygh Runyan:
And develop a sort of sarcastic…

David Read:
Swagger.

Tygh Runyan:
… callous swagger thing. But that’s not the person.

David Read:
That’s more Han.

Tygh Runyan:
Or it is, it’s a part of… But I think we all have that to some degree, and we all have our own version, and I’m acutely aware of that when I watch people on talk shows, interviews with actors that I admire. I’m like, “Well, this is their interview persona.”

David Read:
This is their… shtick.

Tygh Runyan:
Yeah! And even if it’s a very open and vulnerable one, there’s a persona at play. Anyway. Couple memories from K-19.

David Read:
Bernd Backhaus, just to comment, “My 78-year-old mother told me to express how much she enjoyed Tygh in Versailles.”

Tygh Runyan:
Aw, cool.

David Read:
So there you go.

Tygh Runyan:
Thank you.

David Read:
When you connect with an audience through a character, there’s nothing more special. It’s like, “Yes, someone is watching who enjoyed it.”

Tygh Runyan:
And getting back full-circle to what we talked about in terms of empathy, storytelling being a tool for empathy and these characters that resonate within us, I remember at one of the… We’ve had a couple fan conferences for Versailles, and I remember meeting a mom who had come over from Germany, I think, and she said, “Oh, I just love your character so much, and if you could sign this for me, and if you could sign this one for my daughter.” I was like, “Absolutely, what’s her name?” And then, as I’m signing the photos, she said, “I have to tell you, my teenage daughter and I were going through a really difficult time in our relationship, and we couldn’t agree on anything, and we were fighting every day, and butting heads, and it was breaking my heart, and I felt like I was losing my daughter.” And she’s just opening up to me about all this, and she said, “And then your character came along, and it was like we could both agree that we loved your character, and your character actually…” Which is so interesting, ’cause he’s like… I’m like, “Really? OK, interesting.” But she said that over the course of the three seasons… and no word of a lie, and it’s like that somehow, me playing this character, the writing, all of it, it all works synergistically, brought them closer together again.

David Read:
They resonated with it because as complicated as your character is, they are complicated too.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly.

David Read:
And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely, and I was floored by that, and it made me so humbled, and it made me feel like that is exactly why this profession is this old, and why I do this, and thank you for confirming that this is worthwhile. It’s not a dog and pony show. It’s not ego and the rest of it. There is this deep connection at work, and worth pursuing. A noble craft.

David Read:
It can be those things too.

Tygh Runyan:
Can be.

David Read:
Naked Gun, I don’t know if you’ve seen the new one yet with Neeson, but oh my God, I haven’t laughed so hard in a movie in a long–

Tygh Runyan:
I need to see the film.

David Read:
It’s so good. It’s so ridiculous for ridiculousness’ sake, and we haven’t had one of those movies in a long time, so good to Seth MacFarlane.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s true.

David Read:
Just give me something crazy. The world is wild. Let me unplug for a while now and laugh my ass off and I did. You’ll love it.

Tygh Runyan:
OK, cool, I love that.

David Read:
He’s not that, he’s great.

Tygh Runyan:
Amazing. I can’t wait to…

David Read:
He’s balls to the walls, we’re gonna go there.

Tygh Runyan:
He’s perfect for that too, ’cause it’s surprising.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Tygh Runyan:
I can’t wait to see that.

David Read:
Two more for you here.

Tygh Runyan:
Sure.

David Read:
TheOneWithTheManyZs says, “Any scenes that you filmed that you recalled filming from SGU that didn’t make it into the final episodes?” I know that’s a bit of a stretch going this far back in time, but we just did wanna ask.

Tygh Runyan:
No, not that I can recall.

David Read:
It was pretty much a Swiss Army knife by the time they got to SGU. They had things pretty darn dialed in.

Tygh Runyan:
It was a tightly run production, excellent crew, but not that I can recall. Sometimes things get cut down. Even that, I don’t recall. Watching the scenes today, I’m like, “Oh, they kept, they kept all of it in there.” That’s pretty great.

David Read:
You’re working with season 16 and 17 of a long production that includes people from MacGyver as well, on top of that. You’re gonna win one way, or shape… it just matters… what kind of shape they’re gonna decide to take it in. They know what they’re doing.

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly. They know where to slot the elements in.

David Read:
That’s it.

Tygh Runyan:
No, I can’t think of anything that was left out. Except later episodes. That we never got to see.

David Read:
It’s kinda missing. I think we may have lost a car at the end of the train. God. Never get over it, man. Last one for you. Kevin Weaver: “If you were called tomorrow by Amazon and they wanted to bring you back in for a new Stargate project, either as a new character or reprising your role, would you be interested?”

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely. 1000%. Sci-fi and Stargate and…

David Read:
Opens the mind, man.

Tygh Runyan:
It’s my favorite.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Tygh Runyan:
Ships. Come on.

David Read:
What’s the best sci-fi thing you’ve watched lately? In the past few… Have you seen Severance?

Tygh Runyan:
Severance. I haven’t.

David Read:
It’s good.

Tygh Runyan:
Is it?

David Read:
With Ben Stiller. Who is a huge Trekkie, produces and directs. It’s Adam Scott– The whole thing is well worth your time if you are interested in exploring the soul and what we can partition in the mind, because it is all that. They go straight in.

Tygh Runyan:
Man, you know what? I did see the pilot, and I loved it. And honestly, with our baby here– we have not watched much.

David Read:
Dude, I mean, you’re getting nicked on the face for crying out–

Tygh Runyan:
I know. I got–

David Read:
People are probably asking “What is that?”

Tygh Runyan:
I got a little–

David Read:
“That’s battle damage.”

Tygh Runyan:
I got a little scratch from my baby boy. He gets excited to play with papa. So, honestly, I haven’t had time to watch too many things. But I did see the pilot of Severance. Really, really cool. Adam Scott’s great. Love him.

David Read:
He is great. That whole cast is extraordinary. The breadth of stuff that is available now, a lot of it is meh, but some of it is extraordinary. It’s a matter of scale and volume, with the number of shows that are coming out now. Hopefully more productions will start to wind up. I have so many friends… I was talking to one in the visual effects industry the other day who’s been out of work for so long. And with the stuff that’s coming with AI and everything else, we just don’t know about tomorrow. But the only thing I do know for certain is that I’m here today, and I’m gonna be thankful for it, and I’m gonna make every second of it count. And I really appreciate you taking as much time as you did today, Tygh…

Tygh Runyan:
Of course.

David Read:
… to really sit down and be… I really am thankful for you being as open as you were, because with this character, if we were going to crank him open and see what’s really on the inside, it all depended on how deep you were willing to go and you went there with me and that really means a lot to me. You gave me a gift.

Tygh Runyan:
Of course, man. I appreciate it. Likewise. A real pleasure to talk to you about all of it, and I have to thank you too for all that you’ve done for the fans, and doing this for how many years? 20?

David Read:
I have been involved with it since ’02 as a reporter. I was 18.

Tygh Runyan:
Wow. Amazing, man.

David Read:
It’s kind of my show… It’s not my favorite show. Lost would be my favorite show, but this one–

Tygh Runyan:
Lost is–

David Read:
Are you– Did you love Lost?

Tygh Runyan:
I loved Lost.

David Read:
Thank God!

Tygh Runyan:
I watched all of it.

David Read:
Yes. Please don’t let him– “Oh, I was lost in Lost.” Man. Kevin, I said, he’s in there right now. He liked Lost, buddy.

Tygh Runyan:
For me that was the dawn of modern television, really. When Lost came out… Sopranos as well. We’d already seen versions of those characters through Scorsese, in People and The Godfather, and… But Lost, I think, was… Lost and Being John Malkovich. When they came out I was like, “Now we’re into a new era of storytelling, of television,” and if we can have a film like Being John Malkovich, this is exciting. And I miss those days. I gotta say.

David Read:
I do too. That’s what I really loved about Naked Gun. My friends about 10 years ago finally convinced me to sit down and watch Being John Malkovich, and I’m like, “Why are they spat out at the New Jersey Turnpike?” And my buddies were like “Why not?”

Tygh Runyan:
Why not?

David Read:
Yes. Why not?

Tygh Runyan:
Why not?

David Read:
Absolutely. But the fact you can get to the end of Lost and know everything about 34 characters and a golden lab, and that show is so much about how the story is told, not just the characters. And it’s brilliant.

Tygh Runyan:
Absolutely brilliant. And the confusion and the puzzle of it is the fun. For me, I’m glued to it. I’m just thinking, “This is getting really weird. I love it.”

David Read:
And maybe accept the fact as an audience member that I don’t have to be telegraphed the answer to every single thing for it to–

Tygh Runyan:
Exactly.

David Read:
… mean something greater to me, because I don’t necessarily wanna see the zipper up the monster’s back. Sooner or later, the artifice is going to emerge. This is a show. It leaves certain things to the imagination.

Tygh Runyan:
And to enjoy the ride. If you know where the ride’s gonna take you, it’s not the same.

David Read:
It’s not the same at all. Titanic’s gonna hit the iceberg, but give me the story that means something to me on a human level while she’s sinking.

Tygh Runyan:
While she’s sinking. Exactly. Lost was great. I’m trying to think if there’s anything else in there around that time. But those two things pop out for me: Being John Malkovich and Lost.

David Read:
There is some good stuff out there, man. Tygh, thank you so much.

Tygh Runyan:
Thank you.

David Read:
I’m not gonna take you from your boy any longer. This has meant the world to me. And continue to be well and to do good work.

Tygh Runyan:
Thank you. Appreciate that.

David Read:
And to make, as Jack said at the dinner table, to make it count.

Tygh Runyan:
Thank you. Thank you. Wow.

David Read:
It’s a pleasure, sir.

Tygh Runyan:
Appreciate that. Likewise. Absolute pleasure. Wish you all the best.

David Read:
Thank you.

Tygh Runyan:
Carry on with your great self. We’ll hope for more Stargate in the future.

David Read:
I hope I can connect with you one day again. Be well.

Tygh Runyan:
That would be great. Take care.

David Read:
I’m gonna wrap up the show on this side.

Tygh Runyan:
OK, cool.

David Read:
Bye-bye.

Tygh Runyan:
Take care.

David Read:
Sorry, everybody. Switched the wrong mic. That was Tygh Runyan, Dr. Robert Caine, in Stargate Universe. This was a real pleasure for me. I don’t hide the fact that this show was my favorite of the three. I know that I am in the minority on that, particularly because it didn’t get to last as long as all the others did, and it didn’t develop the fandom as a result of that. But I really stand back and look at Universe in terms of what it was going to be, what we could clearly see it was going to be when the end of chapter two comes along, knowing that there were five planned, and what they did, and where they were going, it kind of opens the brain up and lets you think about your place in the universe and how small we are in it. And I’m really glad that we had that conversation with Tygh today. We’ve got a huge lineup of shows coming your way over the next few weeks here. Keep it all on DialtheGate.com for that information. I would like to apologize to Raj, Philippe, F7supercereal, William, for not strictly getting to you guys, because I already asked those questions in the show. But it’s that circumstance where one question naturally leads into the next one. So I’m glad you guys were plugged into the same thoughts that I was, ’cause we definitely had those questions answered. My tremendous thanks to my team for pulling this episode off, to my mod captain, Lockwatcher, for this episode, and Kevin. Those guys were behind the scenes chiefly running the show, along with Antony, Jeremy, Marcia, Raj, and Jakub. You guys make the show possible. Thanks to Matt “Eagle SG” Wilson for his beautiful opening sequences, especially with the Destiny shuttle, and Frederick Marcoux at Concepts Web, who keeps DialtheGate.com up and running. I’ve got a few legacy episodes as well that I’m gonna be sharing later on in the week, with clips that I’ve actually recovered from my database of Ken Rabehl and also Elizabeth Hoffman, content that I thought I didn’t create. I’m excited to be able to share some of these stories that I thought I never captured with you for the latter half of Season Two. I’m gonna be winding down this October. Early November, we’ll have a few more shows, and then we’re gonna be going on break until about March or April, because I have a board exam to finish and that’s gonna be taking up most of my time. My name is David Read. You’re watching the Stargate Oral History Project. Appreciate you tuning in. Thanks again to Tygh for sharing his character and his stories. I’ll see you on the other side.