The son of Abydos joins us once again to share in the excitement of Stargate’s return to television in this special Valentine’s Day interview!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
I turn this thing off here, give me a second. I don’t know why this is not working. OK. I don’t know why that didn’t work, but it didn’t work. Welcome to Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. I appreciate everyone for tuning in for this episode. I am privileged to be rejoined once again by, I don’t consider many actors friends, this one I do. Alexis Cruz, Skaara, in the feature film and in SG-1. My friend, I am thrilled to have you back. How are you doing? How are things going?

Alexis Cruz:
Thank you. It’s great to be back. I love to count you as one of my friends, too, Dave, for real.

David Read:
Absolutely. Dude, we have more Stargate! What the heck?

Alexis Cruz:
Amazing. Long time coming.

David Read:
Man, what do you think about that? Was it just a matter of time, or did you think maybe that ship had sailed? I’m curious as to your perspective.

Alexis Cruz:
No, I definitely think it was only a matter of time. I wasn’t sure whether that time would be within my time. Our time. But it was an inevitability, eventually over time. It’s too big a franchise, it’s too connected, it’s generations.

David Read:
It’s true.

Alexis Cruz:
At some point somebody was gonna bring it back. That it’s happening now is phenomenal because everybody gets to share in it. In terms of it being current and done, there’s been enough time, there’s been a moratorium, and I mean that in a positive sense. We look back on what worked, what didn’t work, what was great, but there’s enough time now to reset, and move on and launch something new with… There have been palate cleansers along the way, as it were, and now we’re ready. We know what we’re gonna get for the most part. Not we, I’m not talking about as an audience, but we have the sense that–

David Read:
You mean like quality?

Alexis Cruz:
— in terms of quality. Quality, that people who are making it know what they’re doing, and they know the franchise, and all of that, and we have hopeful optimism for it. But yeah, it was inevitable.

David Read:
No, this thing has more lives than a cat, and it was interesting fielding people for years, and it’s like…

Alexis Cruz:
Let me amend this for a second ’cause I just …

David Read:
Please.

Alexis Cruz:
… because in hindsight, how that sounds, and that, yes, it’s inevitable, but I don’t want that to take away from God knows whatever work and pitches and pushbacks and tug and back-and-forth that it took for them to get it going again, to get it greenlit again, to detangle it from past glories and previous critiques, and to turn it… Whatever that process was, and I heard it was at least a year in the making. I’m sure it’s far more. It’s an incredible accomplishment.

David Read:
Inevitable does not mean simple. This thing… I don’t know how big of a Simpsons fan you are, if at all, but there is a scene in one of my favorite episodes with Sideshow Bob and a series of rakes, and every turn that he takes, he gets whacked in the face with the stem of a rake. And it really felt like Stargate was doing that for a while, because things would spool up and, “OK, we’re gonna get, you know, we can potentially do a Season Three of Universe.” “MGM’s filing for bankruptcy. OK, great, so that’s not gonna happen now.” Now Origin’s — and I forget what it was. There was something going on there when we were doing Stargate Command, and then something happened for that. And then Brad Wright had a pitch for an idea, and then COVID hit. And then there was another thing that was potentially spooling up as well, and then writer’s strike and actor’s strike. And it was… No joke, dude. It was seriously like, “Well, Stargate’s just gonna have to put on the back burner again.” So, to illustrate your point, this has been a ridiculous journey, and the fact that Martin Gero has come out the other end of this woodchipper and still smiling is… I don’t know if I would be as enthusiastic as he’s been in private with myself and Darren, because of the process, but he genuinely is. So, it’s like, hey, that’s why I am as excited as I am. Otherwise, I would not be half as excited as I am about this. I would still be really looking forward to it, but I’m really looking forward to it.

Alexis Cruz:
Agreed. Real.

David Read:
So, any personal updates to share? Anything going on before we, before we really get into the thick of it?

Alexis Cruz:
Personally, all’s been quiet on the home front. And it’s interesting ’cause when you rattled off that montage of events that slowed everything down, and I chuckled because, as you were saying it, it put all of that into perspective, because I’d forgotten that there were all of these events that were really challenging for people back then, but specifically for people’s work and for people’s careers and stuff. And I chuckled because I, sort of, “Oh, yeah… I’ve been good.” For a while, I stepped away from the river of things, the giant treadmill of… I had accomplished a lot of what I had set out to accomplish, at least what I promised myself as a child, and I did a lot of that stuff. And I found myself in this sort of finding myself: “OK, you have your job, and you have your career, and you have… But what am I?” Because this was fundamentally how I started, and everybody watching this who’s heard my interviews gets that about me. I’m always looking for the why and the meaning, gazing at my navel, and what does it mean, et cetera. So, with all of that, I got to a point with my work, which was so integral to my life, so tied into my identity, that over time, I was able to manage to separate it. So, that’s still a thing, and I’m doing it, but I have much more control over it, and it’s not my life anymore. And so, for 10, 15 years now, I’ve been not hanging everything on it. I’m still taking meetings, and I’m doing projects, and you’ve seen me on different things here and there, but I’m much less prioritizing this ladder climbing, this… And maybe the added social media and its saturation and my uncomfortability, something to do with my perception, and the decisions I make to put myself there in front of that, right? Because it’s not putting yourself in front of the camera for people. I’ve done that since I was a kid. It’s that the camera now reaches out and grabs you, and won’t let you go, and stays there, and follows you, right? It’s a whole different animal. And I found my peace in staying connected with as much of a normal life as possible, and this, because, again, I was a child actor, this eternal question of, if I couldn’t do this, what do I do? And it’s terrifying, and who am I, and all of that managed to be resolved, and the fruits of that is that now I’m in New York. I’m doing very well. I’m doing a lot of theater here in New York, and I’m directing, and I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying that peace, and that focus, and part of the life that I’ve built. I came to New York, back to where I was born and raised. Found my wife again, who I’d known since childhood. We had lost touch, and then we got together, and we’ve built this beautiful life. We had a beautiful, amazing child that is my heart out of my chest on two legs walking around. All of that changes your perspective. No, change is not the right word. Evolves. Settles your perspective, and then all of a sudden, all these things that were… I had questions that suddenly clicked into place. That’s why that happened. That’s why this thing… That’s why I was here instead of there. That’s why I was there instead of there, right? All of these things come into place. And my car is now a hovercraft, and I can do whatever I want and go where…

David Read:
If only.

Alexis Cruz:
But I don’t have any power or influence. It’s not like, “Oh, boom, I’m doing that. Boom, I’m doing that.” You know, it’s not like that, right? We’re grinding, but it’s this voluntary, I’m engaging with life, and in that, it’s… I mean, it’s good. I don’t go hungry. I’m very comfortable. I have friends around me. My colleagues… I’m going through the list now of celebrations. I’m well.

David Read:
There you go.

Alexis Cruz:
But the big major change with my life and our family in general is that, as all of these things were happening, the universe was like, “Oh, well, now you’re ready for this. Therefore, this thing was happening anyway.” My mother was diagnosed with dementia, Alzheimer’s, last year, well, the year before officially. So, since then, my family’s been rallying around, trying to understand the condition, trying to manage it for her, keep our family together. And so, this year was particularly rough as things were progressing, and now I’ve become her caretaker. So, she’s with me now, and my family in our home, and we’re rebuilding from there. So, that takes an extraordinary amount of extra focus, but again, it’s sort of the universe… As you were, “This happened, and then this happened, and this happened, and this.” And I remember at those moments, I was, “Wow. This is wow.” But now after the whole chain of it, I’m like, “Oh, OK, but I collected this that I needed for here, and I was able to collect this that I needed for there, and this that I needed…” And here we are now, and this is the most important thing in the world, not just for me because I care about it, but obviously, there are people whose lives are in my hands, and I’m responsible for that. And that’s a big plate, as it were.

David Read:
I have a close family member — and I’ve talked to you about this offline — I’ve had a close family member diagnosed as well, and “The future is never certain,” as one Oma Desala once said to Daniel. And we can only take things day by day, so we might as well put a smile on our faces and be thankful that we are here to experience something. And with a child… How old is he now?

Alexis Cruz:
Six.

David Read:
Six years old. You have access to wells of joy and despair and frustration and–

Alexis Cruz:
Not despair, not despair. I don’t have that in my…

David Read:
You know what? That was a poor choice of words.

Alexis Cruz:
Terror?

David Read:
Poor choice of words. Yes. Fear, frustration that you didn’t know were there. When you said earlier, “It wasn’t a change, it was an evolution,” that it’s really an expansion of all of those emotions. My gosh. My heart has literally expanded out of my body and into this other being that is moving around. That’s something that I will never know. So, it’s hard for me to relate, but… You can only imagine, and now on top of that taking on a family member with a degenerative illness these things only end one way, but I think that it’s… Heroic is not the right word because it’s not. And noble… Because it’s the right thing to do. In the West, we don’t do that anymore to our loved ones. We just lock them away when they become too complicated. And the thing with dementia is some of them can get violent to the point where sometimes you have no choice. But until the bitter end, no. We take care of those who have taken care of us.

Alexis Cruz:
This phenomenon is relatively new in our society. And certainly as widespread as it is. Because I could mention it, and then you’re like, “Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too. Yeah, me too.” And none of us thought about this before growing up. Because we were told at a certain time, this happens and this happens, and you’re gonna have to grow into this. That wasn’t on the list.

David Read:
This is… We’re consuming something.

Alexis Cruz:
Yeah, we are. It is what it is, and you can’t escape the inevitable, but you can certainly work towards making a nice landing spot. We’re working on living in love and taking it day by day. So, for me, again, we’re getting into all this other stuff, and there’s plenty of people watching this who are parents and who are going through all of this. But I think the point is, since y’all have last seen me, this is where we’re at, and the point is, I’m glad that since then, I have learned to live day by day. Because now, that’s what we have. And once you’re ready for that, thank God I became so, it makes everything easier, makes everything manageable, makes everything… So, then we go back to, as you’re saying, “Is this heroic? Is this noble? Is this necessary?” But it gives you the strength to understand the righteousness of that necessity, and that —

David Read:
Correct.

Alexis Cruz:
— then more strength. You see, if that feeds itself, because it’s a thing, and actually we notice, because… Maybe we notice when other people aren’t doing it, or other people are doing, or whatever it is that we might have criticisms with the world around us. But it’s not that I’m doing anything particularly special. I’m doing what’s required, what’s expected of myself. That’s what love does. And now that I’m in the position of parent, there’s a throughline of legacy that happens. My forbearers and my legacy that comes after me. I’m in a position to start thinking about these things. Which then brings us full circle to the legacy of the show and the generations. You see, there are parallels, and those parallels aren’t lost on me. And we’re able to see this entire project, where it came from, where it goes. And now, what does it mean? What does it mean for us to pick up this mantle, pick up this torch, and run it forward? Forward to where? Towards what end? We do have one. I have one in my life. Martin and these guys have one in this thing. The key point is that that’s what you’re doing, and that you know that that’s what you’re doing. And that gives you the strength and the fuel and the vision to carry it out, I suppose.

David Read:
I think that one of the frustrating things, at least for me for a long time, was… And I’ve had this… You and I have a tendency to get into the existential and the philosophical when we get on the phone together for a couple of hours.

Alexis Cruz:
Just check out how deep we get though.

David Read:
Because we don’t check in with each other that often. And so, when we do, it’s like, OK, we’re gonna stop everything, and we’re gonna be for a while.

Alexis Cruz:
I know. These people all get to see it all and hear it all.

David Read:
Exactly. Here you go, folks. Here we are.

Alexis Cruz:
It’s weird, but OK.

David Read:
What I’m trying to establish is that, for a long time, I went from one project to the next, until I created something for myself, and then started doing things for myself. I’m 100 pounds lighter than last when I saw you. And that was a transformation that was literally a pain in the ass. But it was also necessary, because if I am to be healthy enough to take care of a member of my family, then I can live with myself. Whereas if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to. And that’s only one reason, though. I sleep better. God, I sleep so much better. And there’s a spring in my step after jumping off of the treadmill. And so, there’s little things like that. But in order to summit the mountain, you have to take the first step. And it’s so easy to shroud ourselves in vagueness to not do that, and to make excuses. And that is only one journey that I’m talking about. There are all kinds of journeys that we go on. But having a North Star, having an anchor point to direct yourself toward really brings things into focus in so many ways. And then if you don’t have that, if you’re rudderless, it’s hard to argue with someone when they say, “What’s the point?” You haven’t found one yet. And no one can really determine that for you but you. You have to decide if you’re going to find one or not.

Alexis Cruz:
And it was worth it. You look amazing.

David Read:
Thank you, I appreciate it, man. If your son came to you and said, “Dad, I wanna be on TV,” what would your reaction be? With your experience having actor peers who were young when you were young turn out not so hot, lose some along the way? I’m curious as to what your thought process would be going through that, knowing what you know now.

Alexis Cruz:
All right, my answer is entirely hinged on the fact that it’s my answer knowing what I know now, not someone else in my position when I… But me, where I can —

David Read:
That’s correct.

Alexis Cruz:
— and what I make of it all. I would be very excited for him. I’m looking forward to it, but I might be a little low-key disappointed if he doesn’t. I love my life. I love my career. I love where it’s come… While there were a few scary spots, the person that it made out of me, because I was a person before that, and that person was able to make a lot of decisions. Some worked in my favor. Most ultimately worked in my favor. Some didn’t work in my favor, but I didn’t understand why until later on. But that base person was capable of it. Could I have done better? Leaps and bounds. Exponentially.

David Read:
Alexis, you, by your bootstraps, pulled your family out of your old neighborhood. You did that.

Alexis Cruz:
Sure, and during a time when that’s not a thing that was easily done by anybody.

David Read:
That’s right.

Alexis Cruz:
Shoot. Wait, I lost my train of thought. One second. Sorry.

David Read:
With your son potentially following you.

Alexis Cruz:
All right, I’ll be very excited, because after all, in… The scariest parts about it, the absolute worst parts about it, everybody already knows, and we’re finding out worse things about life in the world out there. And I’m no stranger to seeing the shadows around corner. I was lucky that I was never put into those rooms, but I saw the shadows. I understood, and then the rest of me was like, “I’m gonna go over here.”

David Read:
Some really scary ones.

Alexis Cruz:
So, there’s that kind of stuff, but again, I was prepared in a certain way, and I’m giving my son a life. So, all that stuff is separate. That’s a thing that you have to handle wherever you go, anywhere you do. Handle it. That needs to be exercised. But despite that, in the meantime, you raise somebody who has a core sense of self, of principles, and who wants something, so, “I wanna be on TV.” “Well, why do you wanna be on TV?” Now, I know all the answers. I know the answers. I know the answers that a child would give because they’re seeing stuff on TV, and then I understand the answer that they’re gonna come to as they grow, and then I know the answer of what it actually all means and what you actually should be doing. I didn’t have somebody with this book giving me page by page as I was coming up, or waiting, “Not this chapter yet, and now read this chapter.” I didn’t have any of that. But he does. I made my union pension by the time I was 18, 19. I was done with that. That’s a real mechanic of life. Why wouldn’t I want that for my kid? That alone has lifted so much weight throughout my life for me. Now it’s different in that we don’t live in the same generation. There were certain things where, if there were institutions and there were tracks, and if you do this, this will come, and if you do this long enough, this will come. I don’t know that those promises can be made anymore. So, the best thing for me to do for my son is raise him adaptable. And that means strengthening the core principles and his core critical thinking, his core decision-making skills, his ability to defend himself, his ability to see through what people are saying or doing, to make decisions based on what he needs rather than wants. All these things that we hope to put in there. So, far, so good, man. So, far, so good. And then on top of that, I literally won’t be letting him out of my sight. I’m a phenomenal acting teacher. His mom is a phenomenal actor and acting teacher, very well-respected by her colleagues. This kid, if he wanted to, we’re just waiting for him to step up. It’s gonna be his… But it has to be his choice, because that’s what’s gonna carry us through, and through all the hard times, because that road is not easy. It’s just not. And you have to be willing to sign up to go be a soldier, man. This, the long haul, the real thing. Anybody can be on TV, bro. Anybody can be on TV today. Do you mean I wanna be on TV ’cause I wanna be somebody? Make things and give things. That’s a whole other road. You need to enlist in that. And it’s not for anybody, and I could tell people, and it’ll turn people off, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t believe you.” None of it matters. Again, I’m talking as me, myself, what I know, and what I’ve done, about my legacy. Comes to me, this is the wor… That’s our paradigm.

David Read:
Especially now when you’ve got folks who are convinced that the world was waiting for them to come along and fill it. It’s an interesting dynamic that we’ve got today with…

Alexis Cruz:
Well, in this case, they are, they just don’t know it yet. And so, I gotta prepare this kid to fill it, ’cause you are waiting for him to come up and do his thing. That’s OK. I didn’t want anybody to know about it, spoils the surprise.

David Read:
But in terms of how the person presents themselves in the world, there’s a certain amount of humility that goes a long way?

Alexis Cruz:
Sure. But I think I’m coming to the conclusion that humility is also often, it comes out of being imposed. Most people aren’t naturally humble if they don’t have to be, because nothing’s… Because what is the definition of that without context? So, if you don’t have any context, once you do have context and you get humble, whether you understood that context and made a choice, or because you didn’t understand that context, but the context understood you and forced you, either way. But I think that dynamic has to happen for most people. Not everybody, but for most people. I think certainly for most people to trust someone else behaving in a humble manner, we have to have an understanding that that was earned. But once it is earned, it fundamentally changes the character of a person, and you can feel that. You feel that in their presence, you feel that in the space they take up, or how they take up space or not. Deep thoughts.

David Read:
What’d you say?

Alexis Cruz:
Deep thoughts.

David Read:
No, absolutely. This is what I enjoy having you on. Raj Luthra wants to know, “Were you asked to participate in the fourth television series, would you jump on that opportunity?” Or would you have to take some time to think about it. I’m curious. Either in a continuation for this character, or as something new. ‘Cause there were a lot of things that were, I can tell you that there were a lot of things that were brought over from the movie into SG-1, a few things that were even carried into Atlantis. There’s a tradition, there’s a naval tradition where when one ship is decommissioned, a piece of it is placed into the next one, and on down the line. There would be something very appropriate about bringing you in in some way, shape, or form.

Alexis Cruz:
Reuse my driftwood. Reuse my driftwood.

David Read:
You’re not driftwood, man. Come on.

Alexis Cruz:
I couldn’t. I had to take the opportunity on that guy. I’m a word player. I got it. So, I don’t believe that anybody, to my own knowledge, and I don’t know too much. But I don’t believe anybody that we all know of was asked back right away. And I don’t know who, of anybody that everybody knows, was asked back at all. Not a single person. I have no idea.

David Read:
We’re just floating the idea, not were you approached, I’m not asking you, like —

Alexis Cruz:
I’ll answer that too.

David Read:
— I’m asking if you were to be approached, is what I meant. I apologize.

Alexis Cruz:
Part one, nobody has. But if I– sure. Of course. Why not? I love the franchise. To say that I love the character, that I have a connection with the characters, there aren’t really many words for it anymore,

David Read:
It’s a vast understatement, considering our conversations.

Alexis Cruz:
Vast understatement. So, you know, that will live forever in my head canon. There’s a little pocket dimension, and things continue. And then as actors, we all are that, with the handful of roles that we’re connected to that way.

David Read:
There’s certain things that just don’t leave you, yeah.

Alexis Cruz:
Be interested. There’s no reason not to be. I’m not at this place of, “That was the thing that I did as a kid that was typecast.” There was a little way on the way where I had some awkwardness and uncomfortability with how I related to that vibe, that mythology as I was sort of dealing with my own life and how things layered. That’s not a thing now. It’s just not a thing. So, it would be very interesting. Now, that said, I’m also, as a storyteller, it’s not even personal, but as a storyteller, I would be a little wary about the… If you’re gonna make a new franchise, you’re gonna wanna move on to things. And while there are callbacks and there are Easter eggs and there’s different things, you have to be very careful as a storyteller about how you handle that, the appropriateness of these things. And at this point, not to do fan service, but to do narrative service. And we’ve seen it done wrong, so I don’t think that that’s gonna happen again here. I think that there’s a way to do it right, and I think people have learned in general to do it right. So, in terms of that character that I’d created and that, it’s deep, it’s complex. There’s a lot to it. There’s a lot to consider just in the base mythology as it stands. There’s a lot to consider. And so, how would you do that? I have a few ideas of my own, but that’s neither here nor there. The point is that it has… There needs to be a lot of thought involved in that. And because of the kind of creative that I am today, I would wanna contribute to that thought. Or at least give my take on who that guy is and what he’s lived with and all that.

David Read:
Meaning Skaara?

Alexis Cruz:
Of course.

David Read:
Lived and died with.

Alexis Cruz:
But again, this is all part of the world, the universe mythology and what can be. So, much like Star Wars, and I do think that there are parallels here with this franchise in terms of its expanded universe and its potential for an expanded universe and how that gets under our skin and into our, as audiences, our head canons. I know I’m looking at all of you guys out there, we have years of head canons in our heads, you guys have for us and each other. So, we have that, and like an expanded universe, it’s a big galaxy, it’s a big universe, this might even be bigger in theory from the fiction. So, there’s a lot of room for different tones and different scenarios, different corners of this galaxy and things that are happening. So, I think there’s a lot of really rich potential with all of that legacy universe stuff. But who knows? Conversely… Sorry.

David Read:
You’re OK.

Alexis Cruz:
Conversely, there’s also the do something new.

David Read:
That’s it.

Alexis Cruz:
In terms of, for me, would I wanna come back to the show? Yeah, man, I’d wanna do that, or I could do what else we got? Let’s do something new.

David Read:
That’s one of the things that has been…

Alexis Cruz:
I’ll tell you, I have not… I’ve gotten better and not worse at my job.

David Read:
So, I, like many fans out there, are hoping for certain folks to come back. But I am also very interested in some folks coming back as new things, because why the heck not. The show successfully did that in some cases series to series, but in some cases season to season. There were certain people who were like, “This guy’s good. This gal’s good. We’re gonna bring them back again to do this again, but with another role,” or, “We’re gonna change it to do this.” I think that, on one hand, yes, it does break the illusion a little bit, but we all know that it’s an illusion and we choose to put ourselves in front of that space and let it envelop us. So, you choose to buy it or not, and at the end of the day, that’s down to you. So, I think that there’s…

Alexis Cruz:
But nobody confused Tom Zarek for Apollo.

David Read:
Not by the end of that show, they sure did not. And I would argue not by the end of that first episode.

Alexis Cruz:
I agree.

David Read:
What a remarkable performance Richard Hatch had.

Alexis Cruz:
Like 5, 10 minutes into it.

David Read:
That’s right.

Alexis Cruz:
And that’s… It prompts a lot of wishful thinking for the universe and for that narrative, for me anyway. I’m not… I never created Stargate or had anything to do with its creation. I don’t…

David Read:
Vehemently disagree but pray continue.

Alexis Cruz:
So, I don’t have this hanging-on ownership of that. I have a certain internal ownership of this particular character’s arc, and why and wherefore. And mostly because I understand the soil that was planted in and where it grew, and I did that on purpose. But not with anything else. I love the story, I love what it’s become, the different things. And even where along the way I’d be like, “I don’t know about that plot point, that’s weird,” it still stuck. And I still, in my own head canon, I’m like, “Oh, but this and this.” And I sit there for, I’m a gamer, so I fantasize about different scenarios, like a Dungeon Master of D&D and stuff.

David Read:
It’s true.

Alexis Cruz:
I have my own SG-1 role-playing game scenarios in my head constantly going all the time. So, when you think about that stuff, I don’t have ownership of any of that stuff. And I mean in this visceral, emotional sense. I don’t have any ownership there. So, therefore, I don’t have stakes on that. And of all the things in my world, that has been in my world, the best thing that I could’ve done for myself is to release myself from having stakes in that. ‘Cause when you have stakes in something like that, and then you’re not a big part of it, man, that’ll mess you up.

David Read:
Not to say that you no longer care about it.

Alexis Cruz:
No, no, no.

David Read:
But it’s freeing yourself of what it will become next, I think is what you’re getting at.

Alexis Cruz:
Yes, thank you. It frees you to appreciate whatever it is that’s gonna come next, and then how does that legacy, how do these other things plug into it? And that stuff is fun in that way. And then I think, like anything else, along the way, what are people gonna do to make the show better? What are audiences gonna do to be a part of that appreciation? And because, remember, so much of this franchise and its success was the mobilization of the community. And how we supported, how we gave. You gave us a home outside of the sound stage. Every city we went to, every convention we had, you created a home, a place for us to be. It was these satellites of existence for this universe, for this franchise, for everything above the table for us to be and become and get feedback directly, immediately. And all that built on itself, creating this wave over two and three generations. Having that home, there’s a back and forth, and I think over time, there’s… It’s hard to speculate, ’cause there’s so much room for everything, and you get excited about how much of the old stuff are they doing? How much of the new stuff are they doing? Are they gonna combine everything? Is it gonna be one thing and then another? You’ll drive yourself crazy. Don’t do that. Sit back. Wait for it. It’s gonna be interesting.

David Read:
You’re here. You’ve made it. Don’t blow it. Just breathe. And do your part, and live.

Alexis Cruz:
And enjoy it. Enjoy the excitement, like it’s exciting. Actually, no, let me… Don’t do that, meaning don’t stress about it. I definitely do all of the talking and speculating on ‘do that’ because that’s fun.

David Read:
No, don’t be passive. Be a participant, for sure. YourfellowScoo wants to know, “Hey, Alexis, what was James Spader like on set?” You and I have spoken about Kurt a fair bit. I don’t recall ever really speaking to you about James. One of the things that has been made clear long since is that Spader did the film for the paycheck. That was the primary reason for him. But the fact of the matter is, that role was just so well defined by the writers and by him, that when Michael Shanks came along, I mean, he was being handed a baton in a relay race and ended up taking it to marathon. He didn’t stop. What was James Spader like? What do you remember?

Alexis Cruz:
Not a lot.

David Read:
And it’s OK if that’s nothing.

Alexis Cruz:
It was a long, long time ago. He was fine, in terms of polite and cordial. We didn’t have a very close relationship in particular. I think I was closer with Kurt and the other cast and crew in general. That’s a measure of, I guess, who they are in that way. And knowing what I know now, that honestly means nothing. Some people are introverted, some people are extroverted. It’s just who they are. And while you’re in the context of work, and it’s a professional environment, we are who we are. So, I can’t… I wanna be able to give a, “Here’s some insight and something warm, insightful,” but I just don’t know what I could… We were fine and the whole set was amazing. It was an amazing experience all the way around. What I can tell you about him is that he’s an intellectual. And that was really fascinating aspect for me in getting to know him in the time that we worked together because he was such an intellectual. And, at the time, I had a lot of friends who would consider me an intellectual, and I knew that I was not in any way, shape, or form. And so, once I met him and understood what that was, then it was cemented that I was not an intellectual. I saw what that is. An example of that, and I say that in a complimentary way. Don’t get it twisted. Because then I understood. It gave me an aspiration of making myself more specific and sharp about what I read and what I said. And how that works, about what it is to be an intellectual. Not just calling somebody or believing you’re one, but what does it mean? I think I got my first model on that, I could say, from James. And that’s good. I keep that. Beyond that, we haven’t spoken, and then my relationship with Michael became much closer along the way.

David Read:
OK. What about Michael? And for the record, if I had to use a noun on you, it’d be dreamer. But what about Michael Shanks?

Alexis Cruz:
Michael’s exactly who you feel Michael is. Completely… He’s warm, he’s loving, he’s smart, he’s generous. All of that, we connected right away. At the time when we first started this show, he’d been an actor for a while, but this was his first, or one of his first, major thing.

David Read:
And he’s very young too, for that role.

Alexis Cruz:
So, there was a certain wide-eyedness, eagerness that he had to learn about everything and figure out and do a good job and all that, and it was super charming. It was so endearing; his earnestness was so incredibly undeniable.

David Read:
It certainly helped the character.

Alexis Cruz:
It did because the character was earnest, and I give that to James initially in investing that. And part of the brilliance of that original performance, again, in the context of above the table with the actors that up until then you had rarely, if ever, seen such a character out of that actor. And then you rarely, if ever, saw such a character out of that actor ever again. I don’t know how that actor feels about this role, but that role stands out in the filmography. It’s undeniable. So, there was that thing, and that earnestness was the central core key of the character. That’s a brilliant actor. He just goes, “Here we go. What, whether you do it for the money or not, whatever you’re… But here we go. What is this?” And boom, there’s the core.

David Read:
And he hit it.

Alexis Cruz:
You don’t just fumble on that. He hit the core. Then Michael comes along, and Michael is the core. That’s who he is as this guy. The rest is Daniel Jackson scaffolding.

David Read:
It’s true. I think that’s why we feel it so strongly.

Alexis Cruz:
And then you let the guy go, “OK, so now we got four, five, six, 10 seasons,” and what are we… Who’s gonna know this guy better than you? This guy.

David Read:
That’s it. No, I would…

Alexis Cruz:
And I respect… That’s the other part of my love for Michael is that it rises to respect. It’s beyond this familial love, but I respect how he built that scaffolding for those 11 years. I respect his craftsmanship I met along the way, and what I couldn’t see, maybe in the very first beginnings, we never do over time, I was, “Ah, that’s fascinating.” What he did with that. That’s cool.” Because he is now the character and the character is now him, but there is a distinct difference between Daniel Jackson and Michael Shanks still. So, it’s that, it’s the same earnestness, that core, but that’s brilliant, and we’re none the wiser. It all blends seamlessly. It’s brilliant, and I love him for that.

David Read:
One of the things that… We’re already at an hour, man. I am sorry. Are you OK?

Alexis Cruz:
I’m fine. I’m good.

David Read:
OK, I did not want to abuse your time. I wanted to bring that up there. If you need to flag, flag. One of the interesting conversations that I had with him not too terribly long ago revolved around the fact that, as a series goes along, you incorporate more of yourself into the character. And one of the things that he said was, near the end of that, it was hard to tell where Michael ended and Daniel began because after he fell from ascension, he had a much rougher edge to him, and the wet-behind-the-ears was gone, and the eagerness about the universe had become far more world-weary. And also at the same time, Richard Dean Anderson had left the team by the eighth season. He got to take on a lot of the characteristics of Jack because Jack wasn’t there, and that would make sense because I think a part of Daniel would want Jack to continue to be represented on the team in some way. So, by the time, in “Children of the Gods,” it’s Michael Shanks, a little bit of a James Spader impression. But not even before that pilot is done, he’s completely harnessed that thing all on his own. But by the end of Season Three, so around the time that he lost the long hair, that character was beginning to really morph into who Michael was to the point where Michael says that, “There’s just so much of him that’s just me now.” I would think that that would… I’m trying to figure out how I would feel about… I think you play a character that long, it’s inevitable.

Alexis Cruz:
It is inevitable. And the important…

David Read:
They become you or you become them, or some combination of the two.

Alexis Cruz:
It’s a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern situation. These characters do not continue to exist in our material world once the camera shuts off. Once its airtime is done, these characters don’t exist. But we have to treat them like they do exist. We have to treat them like they’ve phased into some other reality. What is that story? The truth is, that story is the actor’s background that goes into here, and he’s living. So, Thursday, November 12th is a Thursday, November 12th for that guy somewhere. You’re not hearing about it. And then Friday, November 14th is still the same Friday, November 14th for Skaara or wherever he is. It’s there. So, because of that, we are carrying these things. They don’t exist, so it’s inevitable that they become more and more infused with us. Now, here’s where I think the key thing is: theory crafting, acting theory crafting here, where the key part of that is that these changes, these evolutions, these adaptations, the things that make us different from one day to the next, have to be earned. Because that character off-screen, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, they’re not actually enduring anything. They’re not going through anything. There’s nothing triggering any kind of self-reflection growth. There isn’t. They don’t exist. But there is for you in your life, so you take those things and you learn that perspective. And sometimes, for me I’ll say, my characters that I carry with me help remind me of who I am. They’re sort of a peanut gallery. They’re like little Jiminy Crickets sometimes, whispering in my ear, reminding me. And you can keep them there for that in your head canon. Earning these things. Daniel Jackson, he was eager, but that’s not the same as earnest. And I wanna return back to this word earnest. Daniel Jackson has never changed from being earnest. He changed from being eager. That’s something different. And let’s note how that change manifested and what was triggered by it. For you to understand where Jack was and who he became and all that, that was triggered, pardon the pun, by a very specific incident in his life. Now, he was a person who was already a soldier though. Not Daniel, but he was already a soldier, and then this thing made him metastasize into something that we know.

David Read:
Boy, did it.

Alexis Cruz:
And Richard Dean, for television, brilliantly brought some levity, humanized that part of it, because otherwise you can’t live with Jack O’Neill for 11 years the way he looked. Not healthy.

David Read:
So, my excuse has always been he took on comedy in order to not self-delete.

Alexis Cruz:
So, that’s who he was and that’s who he became, and he was a captain, then general, and all of that. Meanwhile, for Daniel to lose his eagerness but retain his earnestness, he needs a trigger, an event in his life that is going to show him how serious and grave things are. To take on Jack’s perspective, his understanding, that it’s not all curiosities and roses. That tomb you open will blow up in your face one day. It’s not, “Oh, interesting.” So, it’s that kind of approach that, when he ascended, that veil was lifted. He was not the soldier, and he wasn’t hardened out to begin with. He was an earnest person who thought about it. But the trigger was that he now sees reality for what it is, not for what he wanted it to be. Jack was way on the other side of that mountain. He saw it for what it was, not what he wanted it to be. But on the other hand, the danger of that is sometimes you start making up stuff ’cause you’re so afraid of what you think it is. And that’s a whole story there. Now, if these two were the same characters, then that’s where it would’ve gone for Daniel too, but it didn’t, because he’s a fundamentally different person. So, that trigger of understanding the world as it is is going to affect him differently. We could say, and I think Daniel came back with Michael in tow, filling it. You’re seeing the inverse position of real life, and he took what Michael understands is the rest of real life. Michael is an adult in America. He’s a father. He’s a professional that goes to work. All these things that make us, they all come now, and he borrows them. And for him, that was, “I’m ascended. I see all these things, and I see what is righteous but cruel, and beneficial, but toxic,” and all these different… Now he has to come back at it from a different way. He is still a scientist. When he comes back to Earth, he’s grounded again, no less earnest. Not eager, because he’s now considered it. And for the rest of us, we’re all, “Wow, man. You’ve changed. What happened to you? “Why are you so serious?” And then he’s, “I’m not really serious. I just understand things now.” We’re not used to not seeing so many… “Let me tell you about these Cartouche da-da-da-da-da.” We’re not used to seeing that anymore. But how long are you gonna do… 12 years later, through all of these events. If we maintain any of these characters as they were before, however much we liked them at those moments, it undoes and cheapens the events that they actually live through.

David Read:
And endured.

Alexis Cruz:
Endured. Initiated, created. ‘Cause again, not just in a negative, but in their joys and their accomplishments too. All these things, the way they’ve changed the galaxy, the universe of Stargate within the fiction.

David Read:
And how it’s changed them.

Alexis Cruz:
Who they are and how it’s changed them, because it’s great in the retelling of it to look at these people as heroes. But part of Stargate and its connection, its relativity is that it could be any one of us in there. You’ve talked about that with other people. We’ve talked about that. We have to acknowledge that dynamic of what are these real world things, good and bad, that affect us, that change us and make us new people. Now what makes someone, I wanna say, 12, 15 seasons/years later, is how they have managed to maintain their core principles and evolve those so that they grow as a person, but their values, their integrity don’t change, because we all fell in love with their integrity. If we’re watching, there are some shows you watch for the villains, because the villains are great and this is what it is. Great. This is a show that we watch for the heroes.

David Read:
That’s true.

Alexis Cruz:
And what we appreciate about them is why they are heroes and how we come to that, and we can see that happen, ’cause we are them and they are us. We maintain that. Let O’Neill grow. Let Daniel grow. Let all these people grow and have their lives. There’s been plenty of that. There’s promotions and stuff, but what we’re talking about in their personalities and how much they borrow from us, it’s inevitable. It’s necessary for them to return to present to you as real, alive people, and not just, “Here’s an illusion of Daniel Jackson,” but, “I’m so outta touch with playing this guy. I have no idea what’s going on, but here’s what you wanted to see.” We don’t do that.

David Read:
And you can feel it when actors do that. There have been a couple of instances where it’s been, “Yeah, they’re phoning it in on this one here.” You just feel it. You feel that it’s not there. It’s that you don’t feel it. That’s what I’m trying to get at.

Alexis Cruz:
I tend not to think about that too much at all, because when I do see that, those performances tend to stand out. And I really don’t have to give it a thought. I just hope it doesn’t distract from the rest of the viewing experience. But I don’t have to think about much, because it just stands out when people… Whereas, when everybody’s having fun and doing a good job, then you can just enjoy the show.

David Read:
That’s it. It takes care of itself on a certain level.

Alexis Cruz:
So, that’s why you don’t have to be, “Oh, I didn’t like the spirit…” We don’t need all the hate either, or the… When it’s that obvious. But then that’s so rare, too. Usually when that happens, you’ll get much more of the cast. And then at that point you come to realize that that’s the writing, and then it’s different. Once you start seeing that, you come to realize there’s a lot of other issues going on. And then talk about something else.

David Read:
Marcia Middleton, she wants to know, “This winter in New York has brought some challenges. Skaara is a son of warmth and deserts, and you’ve grown up in this part of the world. Do you embrace winter? Does your son embrace the cold and the snow? How has this year been?” It’s been cold. It’s so true.

Alexis Cruz:
But this is like a bone-chilling cold. Listen, we haven’t had this cold in New York in a long, long time. So, I’ve now been here a while, almost a decade, and every winter has been, “Yeah, no, this is cool.” And then it won’t snow until February. And my boy and I would go and do snowball fights and stuff. This year, it’s suddenly wind-chilled, and it’s been sustained. So, no, it’s pretty horrible. It sucks. Nobody’s happy about it. Nobody wants to do anything.

David Read:
You feel immobile.

Alexis Cruz:
But it’s only a couple of months and we get through it, because… My boy complains, but he’s my boy. My mom complains. She lives in California.

David Read:
What is this?

Alexis Cruz:
It’ll be over soon. We gotta think of everything. In the meantime, put on my coat.

David Read:
To everything there is a season.

Alexis Cruz:
Especially in today’s world, I keep remembering that there are people that have it harder. So, I look at the temporary things, I grit my teeth, and then I laugh about it, ’cause it is funny afterwards.

David Read:
The mountain’s not gonna summit itself.

Alexis Cruz:
And I love New York. I’m in New York for a reason, too, so this part sucks, but I’m here doing my thing, and I gotta put up with the cold.

David Read:
We’re New Yorkers. This is what we do. Just get on with it.

Alexis Cruz:
Minnesota, ’cause that… Y’all are legends.

David Read:
Have you been following the Olympics at all?

Alexis Cruz:
No, I have not been following it. I’m not a big sports to begin with. I don’t, I tend not to follow it unless there is a particular story, attention to it. Which usually does happen every year. There’s something going on, ’cause there’s always… The Olympics are a human interest event. So, when the thing in particular has that human interest angle, I’m all over it. But as for sports… I’m reading a D&D player’s handbook.

David Read:
I’m generally the same way, but when the Olympics come around, it turns my head, man. I like to look into the figure skating and the curling, and there’s something to be said for attempting to achieve the exceptional. But we all, if we’re fortunate enough to be called to do that in some way, hopefully find a way to do that in our lives with something, because there’s more than just one way to do that. It’s been awesome to have you. I really appreciate you taking the time. And I appreciate your thoughtfulness and your candor. A few years ago I had you on for a podcast that I was hosting when I was at Stargate Command over at MGM, and I had a conversation with you about the hero’s journey and that whole archetype. And a lot of that came back to me with this episode. And I would love to do some version of that with you again, to truly unpack that at this stage in your life, with a son, frankly, another decade on you. And I hope that would be something you would be interested in doing with me later on this year.

Alexis Cruz:
Yeah, I always, I always get a little nervous… Part of, and we talked about this, is there’s always a little underlying nervousness that I have, not just ours but in general, because I know that the SG community and all the interviews, they tend to be very fun and at conventions people ask me all kinds of crazy questions about pranks. And I have no stories for any of that stuff, and I’m so sorry. And it’s… You’ll have Chris Judge. I mean, you’ll have all these different people who are, like, I celebrate it, but at the same time, we all know this happens to everybody out there. Fans I’ve seen at conventions, they’re like, “Man,” but when it’s Alexis’ turn, suddenly it’s all …

David Read:
Look, there are currently-

Alexis Cruz:
No, I haven’t heard anybody complain about it. I’m making the point that nobody complained about it. I’m just noting that I get a little nervous ’cause I know I’m that guy.

David Read:
Well, get over it, my friend. ‘Cause there are currently 94 people who are interested in what you have to say. And at an hour and 19 minutes into a presentation, that’s saying something. So, the feature particularly was about several heroes’ journeys, and so I think that it’s only appropriate because you are one of those that we reexamine it now, especially because that podcast has been lost to time. That server is long gone. I would love to reexamine that with you, especially as we get closer to this fourth Stargate thing.

Alexis Cruz:
Yeah, and there’s so many amazing reinforcements over here. And when you go back, and I think we, God, we all really did a few key early things right. And it’s showing up again for us to build on. I’m so proud of what we built there. Really proud of it.

David Read:
This is your franchise in so many respects. I said the same thing to Kelly Vint; I’m saying it to you. It’s hard to argue that it’s someone else’s first, because you guys found… You were finding who you were when you shot that. We’re always finding who we are. I mean, that’s… But you know what I mean. And to have you back to discuss the next whatever this thing is going to be, let alone just catching up with you, has been a profound treat for me and for the crowd who stuck with us. And means a lot.

Alexis Cruz:
The next one’s gonna be four of us and a SportsCenter type of thing.

David Read:
Can you believe that? Let’s replay the tape.

Alexis Cruz:
That’s what happens. When the old quarterbacks retire, we become SportsCenter pundits.

David Read:
You are not retired. No way. You might be retired from Stargate, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to say. Absolutely.

Alexis Cruz:
Or Stargate pundits. Did you see that scene?

David Read:
What’s the Joe Rogan expression? Alexis Cruz, thank you, sir, for being with us.

Alexis Cruz:
Thank you, David Read, my brother.

David Read:
Pleasure to have you, brother.

Alexis Cruz:
Thank you all for watching.

David Read:
Take care of yourself.

Alexis Cruz:
Thank you guys for tuning in. Stick around.

David Read:
I’m gonna wrap up the show on this end, sir. You be well. Bye now. Alexis Cruz, everyone. Skaara in Stargate, Stargate SG-1. I am always thrilled when he comes on, because he’s such a good time. The dude knows what’s up. Don’t get me wrong. It is wonderful to have a Christopher Judge. It is wonderful to have someone like him who is full of light and just outright affection for humanity. But Alexis, there’s something about his thoughtfulness and his measured inward perspective that is very, that really clicks with me. And so, when he wants to go somewhere, I can’t help but follow. And I really appreciate everyone who has followed us through this episode and had a chance really to catch up with him and his perspective on things, because, I mean, this is his franchise. So, I like that he occasionally… It’s been since episode 151 that we’ve had him, but he needs to… We’re blessed by him coming on and taking the temperature every now and then to see how we’re doing and to see how he’s doing as well. My name is David Read. You’re watching The Stargate Oral History Project. Thank you everyone for submitting your questions. It’s been wonderful to have you guys for this episode. And tremendous thanks to Marcia and Lockwatcher, who were modding this episode, along with Antony for the chapter time codes. If you enjoy Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on YouTube, do me a favor and click the Like button. It does make a difference with the show and will continue to help us grow our audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click Subscribe. And giving the bell icon a tap will notify you the moment a new video drops, and you’ll get my notifications of any last-minute guest changes and clips from this livestream will be released over the course of the next few months on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. We have an impressive array of shows heading your way this next few weeks here. I think I’m on track to do 20 episodes in 20 days. They just keep on happening, and I’m very thankful for that. We’ve got Simone Bailly, Mike Dopud, and Sharon Taylor in a pre-recorded episode tomorrow. That is the second roundtable. Fuse Films Kevin Call is going to be joining us at 8:00 in the morning, Monday, February the 16th, 8:00 AM Pacific Time. This is a pre-recorded show. It’s called Jack O’Neill’s Finest Hour. And we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna break down which episode we feel is his finest and why. And everyone’s gonna have their own opinions. I put this out there onto the channel a few weeks ago. I said, “If you had to pick one, what would it be?” And a lot of folks responded they didn’t know what they were responding to, so I collated a lot of those and put them together for that episode. David Nykl, Radek Zelenka in Stargate Atlantis, he is joining us as well, Monday, February the 16th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. And then Pierre Bernard, O’Brien in Stargate SG-1 “Zero Hour” and “200.” We’re going to see if he’s still comfortable and angry. And he’s going to be February the 17th, that’s the Tuesday at 12:00 PM Pacific Time. For the rest, you can go to DialtheGate.com and check everything out, ’cause there’s a number of great shows heading your way. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate everyone tuning in. Quick shout-out to Matt EagleSG Wilson, who updated the look of our Ha’tak mothership in the opening credits. Did a marvelous job there. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you tuning in. I’ll see you on the other side.