The man behind “Dr. Radek Zelenka” checks in from the Pegasus Galaxy to bring us up to speed on his most recent work and talk about the possibilities a new Stargate show will bring!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
All right. Welcome, everyone, to Episode 409 of Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. I appreciate you being here with me. David Nykl, Radek Zelenka in Stargate Atlantis, is back on this show. He is in the house, and he’s not dialing in from the Pegasus Galaxy this time, so we have a much clearer signal. How are you, sir?

David Nykl:
I’m doing well. Were we live last week during our aborted events attempt?

David Read:
We were not. We were going to be, but we couldn’t get there. See, this is what happens.

David Nykl:
I owe a much bigger apology to everyone then.

David Read:
No, you’re quite all right. But this is what happens when you destroy the Intergalactic Gateway Bridge. You think that you can just get rid of Midway Station, that there are no consequences. It’s not true.

David Nykl:
I know. Turns out, it’s just an old Lenovo laptop with a bad graphics card. It always is, isn’t it? Apologies to everyone for not being able to …

David Read:
It wasn’t one of these days.

David Nykl:
It was bad Wi-Fi and everything. But we’re back in fiber-optic land here, and all well. It’s a real pleasure to be back in this new era, shall we say, of Stargate.

David Read:
Dude, Stargate is coming back. What say you?

David Nykl:
I think it’s pretty fantastic. I was surprised at the news, because it’s a question that comes up frequently on panels and at conventions, like, “What would you do? What would you do?” And I’m sensing it might come up again. Here we go. “Would you be interested if there ever was a reboot?” And my stock answer always was, “Well, I have no idea if this is gonna happen.” I don’t know. It seems like it’s ripe and ready for a reboot, as witnessed the world over from all the fans, and the incredible fandom, much of what has been spoken about on your forum, and thanks to you.

David Read:
Throw out your stock answer, man. Gotta make a new one.

David Nykl:
Sorry?

David Read:
Gotta throw out your stock answer.

David Nykl:
But the news came to me in the form of an email from Martin Gero that, and this is a fella that doesn’t write me very often, or I didn’t really have too much interaction with him, so I was … It’s a little embarrassing, but it’s kinda funny, because he wrote the email in such a way that it was written just to me, and I obviously BCC’d everybody else. But I was under the impression that he wrote me a very long email about Stargate coming back. And I was filming in Budapest, and it was a different time zone, and I read the email just before going to bed. It was late at night, around midnight or something like that. And I read it and I go, “Martin Gero writes me a long email about Stargate …” So, I started falling asleep, and I didn’t sort of process it properly, but I sort of thought that he’s asking me to come back to Stargate. Or that’s, in my mind, what I was thinking, and I sort of went, “Wow, wow, this is …” So, I wrote back going, “Martin, that’s great, that’s …” my jaw hit the floor, I can’t believe this is going … “So, when are we starting?” And he, and he’s like, “Well, to be clear, it’s a new show.” “We’ve gotta get, we’re gonna start with other characters and stuff like that.” “Yeah, no, that’s cool.”

David Read:
Look, the fact of the matter is that sooner or later, at some point, I would expect someone to return. The question is who. The question is when. And that, we are all in that position right now, because it’s fertile ground for whatever this thing is going to be, because they can do anything. It’s been 14, 15 years by the time this comes out, maybe 15 and a half, 16, God knows. At this point, I’m thankful that there’s a target that we can start shooting at, rather than hanging around saying, “Well, maybe one day.” And now, we have a point and we have an objective, and the whole fandom is … It’s so nice to have something to talk about, David.

David Nykl:
Ain’t it, though? You’re right about the legacy characters. I hope they bring some of them back, and it’s up to them. But honestly, one of the things that I’m excited about, that I’ve been fortunate enough to sort of work a little bit since then, is the way the technology has evolved. Particularly volume stages, which I think are gonna be a game changer for the new generation of sci-fi films. And obviously, I’m sure the writers room or the impending writers room is aware of the possibilities. But you no longer have to go to these expensive locations, and you can do a lot on volume stages nowadays with the technology. And it’s impressive. I shot a little bit on them, and the potential is amazing for what you can do with the volume stages. That bodes well for an imaginative writers room.

David Read:
Which show did you use volume stages? Was that Death by Lightning?

David Nykl:
Well, indirectly, because there was a lot of CGI in the– you’ve done your homework– a lot of CGI in the Republican Convention scene of it. But I was speaking specifically about Resident Alien.

David Read:
Really? OK.

David Nykl:
I was heavily prosthetized. I was gonna say sedated, but I wish I was. But heavily prosthetized. I was in a full face mask. It’s the episode with …

David Read:
You were an alien.

David Nykl:
The Galactic Council. But I’ve got this little rubber face mask on, but we were shooting in a volume stage here in Vancouver. And the technology is remarkable because it answers for wherever the camera is pointing. So, if you’re, where’s my video? If your camera’s pointing this way and you’ve got your background here, then the background video wall changes completely based on what the camera is looking at. So, you can actually get a …

David Read:
It maintains the perspective of the camera.

David Nykl:
It’s like having an entire building with virtual headset on. So, you gotta be kinda careful because you can get sick in there because your whole reality moves. But it just creates an unbelievable opportunity for filming anything, really.

David Read:
To remind the chat that we are live with David, and if you are in the YouTube feed right now, you can submit questions to him in the YouTube feed, just so that everybody knows. And thank you to my mods, Lockwatcher and Antony, for pulling this thing off. What was it like working … Did you get to work with Alan Tudyk?

David Nykl:
Yeah, directly. He would never know it. He would never know it because I’m gonna see if I can find a picture of it, because he would never see me. It’s like I had the same experience when I worked with actors that were Wraith, and I had no idea that I was working with them because you can’t see behind the …

David Read:
James Lafazanos, I had no idea who he was if I saw him off set. I just didn’t see it. He’s just a Wraith.

David Nykl:
It’s this character …

David Read:
Wow.

David Nykl:
Let me see if I can get my …

David Read:
There you go. Wow. OK, so there are different species. OK, hence the Galactic Council.

David Nykl:
I’m trying to see if there’s …

David Read:
Wow, dude.

David Nykl:
My camera’s on.

David Read:
It’s bright. You turn down the brightness and we can see it even better, for whatever reason.

David Nykl:
Look at that. All right.

David Read:
If you make it almost pitch black, it’ll work …

David Nykl:
OK. All right.

David Read:
That’s what I’ve learned. But that’s wild.

David Nykl:
OK. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.

David Read:
Whoa! Look at that. Man, oh, man.

David Nykl:
So, it’s that kinda guy. You can see out of the tear duct holes. But I still could see enough that the volume moves in there. It’s the Galactic Council, so it’s a fantastical environment. There’s no reality there to it. But you could sub that for the streets of Prague, you could sub that for any planet. And it doesn’t all look like the Lower Mainland. You can make your planets actually look like other places.

David Read:
I see people skiing down that alien vista there. No, it’s not Graft Mountain at all. No.

David Nykl:
I know.

David Read:
How many days were you in that? Was that a single day or was that multiple?

David Nykl:
Fortunately, it was a single day. It was a single day because spare a thought for actors that work in prosthetics. One day is enough. I had empathy for someone like John Kerry who had to do that with the Doctor Seuss character. What was it? The Grinch? Or what was it? He had to have a …

David Read:
Jim Carrey.

David Nykl:
Jim Carrey. Who did I say? Sorry.

David Read:
I was like, “A politician? The Grinch? Oh, Jim Carrey.”

David Nykl:
Sorry.

David Read:
No, it’s fine.

David Nykl:
But they had an FBI hostage, or torture guy, come in and talk to him, like, how to wind down the thing. Because you’re surrounded; all your senses are taken out, and 16-hour days. So, that was one.

David Read:
Could lose your crap.

David Nykl:
I had enough, and I just can’t imagine doing it day in, day out. It’s …

David Read:
You had a 16-hour day on that day? Wow.

David Nykl:
Yeah, that was. ‘Cause they wanna get it all done, and once the mask comes off, it’s destroyed. The foam rubber rips, and it’s a one-shot, one-go thing. So, keep it on for as long as you can. Shoot as much as you can with it, and then it goes.

David Read:
Man. Bodymaker16 asks an interesting question. Is this the first time that you’ve done this level of prosthetics before? And what if they had chosen at some point to turn Radek into a Wraith? Would you have felt bad for that particular guy, and would it have been like, “Oh, please, if you’re gonna do that, just make it quick or kill me off?”

David Nykl:
Yeah. I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that prosthetics are hard. Michael Dorn, all the great characters, actors that had to do that. I think Paul Giamatti now has to have a little bit of some kind of Worf thing on it for the new Star Trek show that he’s on. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

David Read:
But seriously, what can you think of the idea of turning Radek into a … They turned Rodney into a Wraith in the novels, but what if they had done it to Zelenka?

David Nykl:
What if? I’m seeing the make-up chair, so I’m not … The story might be interesting, but …

David Read:
What was I thinking. It’s gone. Tell me about your shoot on Death by Lightning. This is a period piece, yes?

David Nykl:
Yeah. Death by Lightning was really cool.

David Read:
What was that like?

David Nykl:
Super, super. Great question. The cast. I mean, Michael Shannon, Nick Offerman. Bradley Whitford, Shea Whigham. I mean, these are some top-notch actors. And I mean, I didn’t work with Matthew Macfadyen, who is luminous in this show. He was a parallel storyline. We were the Republican operatives back in 1880. The period piece was really cool. It was filmed in Budapest and … I mean, it comes down to the clothes, to the details that you’re wearing. It really brings you in. But it was also the approach that the director took to the shoot. It was very inclusive. We were all in. We sort of came in and it was sort of done like the way films are done, with lots of time and attention. They had a VR headset for us to sort of look around and see what the set would look like so that we could really live in it. Even for the minor characters, we have this great sort of lived-in experience ’cause it’s a sound stage on the outskirts of Budapest. So, to be able to channel 1880s Chicago, it really helps, the bunting and the environment. And then the characters just really bring it alive. And because it’s TV, you have to shoot the hm out of it. You have to shoot every single angle so there is a … That’s why it took so long. But a great shoot. I remember just being really hot in Budapest for most of it, so a real summertime classic shoot. And I came back last year for another show which nobody knows of yet.

David Read:
Really?

David Nykl:
Yeah. I shot with the same production company for a show called 3 Body Problem.

David Read:
OK.

David Nykl:
Which is on Netflix.

David Read:
So, Season Two.

David Nykl:
Yeah, Season Two of that.

David Read:
I am a fan of the trilogy.

David Nykl:
Did you read the books?

David Read:
Enough of it, and I am debating whether or not to get into the series because I don’t really want that perspec– I’m debating when to dip my feet in. Because there are some details that are changed. The Trisolarans are not named the Trisolarans in this. I didn’t even know …

David Nykl:
No, the San Ti. They’re called the San Ti.

David Read:
… what they’re called. OK.

David Nykl:
But the thing is, it takes liberties. Of course it has to with the books. It speeds a lot of things up, and it’s a super-rich trilogy. I’m halfway through the second book.

David Read:
What do you think?

David Nykl:
The sci-fi is tremendous. The imagination of Cixin Liu is brilliant. And our producers have really sort of tried to fit that whole world into it. It’s quite a trip, and it’s hard science fiction. By that I mean the genre. Scientific equations, it’s that sort of thing. Can’t go into hyperspace because your flesh would fall off your bones, so you need to go … There’s a lot of sort of reality in what the physics of it would be like, and stuff like that, which is super cool. You get that in the books. TV, and Netflix especially, the genre of TV that it is, needs to edit quickly and is dealing with people’s attention spans. So, you’re telling a dense, complicated story with some hard science fiction in it as TV friendly as you can. So, it’s a challenge, but I think it’s something that they rose up to quite well.

David Read:
Did you see the first season in preparation for this?

David Nykl:
I did.

David Read:
And what did you think?

David Nykl:
Of course. Of course I did. I’m sorry, what was your question?

David Read:
So, I love sci-fi that makes you lean in and pay attention further. I don’t like sci-fi that I can watch while I have it on my phone in the corner while I’m doing the dishes. If I’m gonna have that, I’m gonna put on something from Bravo. It’s the … My sci-fi is when I’m gonna sit down and plug my brain in.

David Nykl:
Lean in.

David Read:
Not shut it off.

David Nykl:
Well, this is a show for you then, for sure.

David Read:
OK. All right. I think you may have convinced me. Very good. All right. Have they said anything about a release date? Have you heard anything yet?

David Nykl:
No.

David Read:
… looking forward to seeing it?

David Nykl:
They gotta put it together. We just finished three weeks ago.

David Read:
Oh wow. All right.

David Nykl:
That still needs to get going.

David Read:
Well, it’s terrific to have you involved in more sci-fi content as we move forward. And I’m curious, when you’re a part of those productions, does Atlantis ever come up? Or is it the further that we get away from that …

David Nykl:
… it does because one of our cameramen was Will Waring, a director from Atlantis.

David Read:
So, Will was working on it. Fantastic. Aw, good.

David Nykl:
It was really great. It was a Vancouver connection, so it was super great to see him.

David Read:
That’s awesome. And also in Hungary. OK. Very good, man. Martintaichl wants to know, who is also Czech, we had him on the show a couple of weeks ago, “David, do you plan to return to Prague/Brno Comic Con?” How do you pronounce that?

David Nykl:
Brno Comic Con. OK. That’s a city in the Czech Republic, and they have a Comic Con there. I think they just had one there. Peter Williams had gone to it, so the person is asking if I’m coming to Brno Comic Con. No plans yet. I don’t know. Is all I can say to that.

David Read:
OK. Very good. Do you ever get sick of the convention circuit after all this time hearing the same kinds of questions, or does the audience always manage to keep it fresh? I’m always curious from actor to actor to get their experience at this because it’s wonderful to see people who recognize you and appreciate you for a role that you did. But sooner or later it’s … I can understand how some actors would be like, “You know what? I think I’ve really sang this song, and I think it’s time to retire it and put it in the attic upstairs.” How is it for you in terms of Stargate fandom, and continuing to see these new generations of fans bring up?

David Nykl:
I think the one thing that’s hard for some actors to realize is that it’s a lived experience for me that’s been the past 15, 20 years. And yeah, it’s the same questions. But the person that’s asking it has seen you for the first time. Maybe even that question has occurred to them for the first time. And that’s just simple. I can’t expect them to know that. There’s also a part of going to conventions, I think, which is, in a way, of explaining it not as much about us as about the community. The community gets together, and we’re the band on the cruise.

David Read:
That’s right.

David Nykl:
We’re the reason for it to happen. But we’re not the main reason for it to happen. The main reason, I think, is for the community and for the coming together and for the stories that are shared amongst the fandom. And plus you get a chance to maybe meet an actor that you liked and ask the question that you always wanted to ask, which is the question that he has heard a thousand times before. So, the mechanics of it are obvious that it’s, to me, that it’s an entertainment, and it’s a different form of entertainment. It’s a more personal entertainment. So, knowing that, it’s not that I’d be disingenuous to think that I’m tired of this, or annoyed with this. I know exactly what this is about. The weird ones are when it’s outside of a convention, when I’m sitting on a bus or other places and you sort of get that person looking at you, going, “Where have I seen that person before?” So, that’s when sometimes someone comes up to you and goes, “Dr. Zelenka,” and you turn around.

David Read:
Oh, no, you told me once, oh, I think we were with Christopher Judge, and you had an encounter with a lifeguard at either a swimming pool or a water park or something. Do you remember this story? And he was remembering you from Arrow.

David Nykl:
It’s ringing a vague bell in the Christopher Judge thing, might have been something that happened in New Zealand. I don’t remember.

David Read:
I think you were getting into a swim tube, and you looked up at the kid and you said, “You have failed the city.” And you shot him there.

David Nykl:
Yeah.

David Read:
I knew it.

David Nykl:
That’s what it was. It was at the water slide. I don’t immediately say yes; I just let them try and explain it first, then I shake their hand and go, “Nice to meet you.”

David Read:
Lockwatcher wanted to know how did your time on Stargate compare to Arrow? Was it a similar energy? Was it more intense in terms of action? What was the vibe from one to the other?

David Nykl:
Yeah, a different vibe, different vibe. I would say that Arrow was a harder shoot, in that it’s street level crime fighting. So, there were stunts, lots of sort of ratchets and sort of being flung away from things, and cold, middle of the night, and because it was so technically oriented, it was very much work. Which it always is, but I just remember Stargate being a little lighter, a little bit more joking around, a lot more joking around, sort of more of a lightness on set. But with Arrow, I just remember having to show up and working hard. And it took a while to get to know everyone there, because I was there on and off, and I only worked with Stephen. So, by the time I got to know Paul Blackthorne and Emily and those, it took a while to get into the cast. It ended up being five years on and off. There’s a couple of years that were off, but the story, the Bratva and that came back, I think, in Season Five. So, that was a nice year. That was a big year. But it was a lot of work with Stephen Amell directly. And those are the scenes that I enjoy the most: the direct one-on-one scenes.

David Read:
Was the enormity of what DC is, felt on the set in terms of wanting to get it right and really paying attention to detail, you find that these people … Or was that …

David Nykl:
I think at that time …

David Read:
Were you protected from that?

David Nykl:
The dynamic was that … I’m sorry, I missed the rest of your question.

David Read:
I apologize. These are a little bit delayed. Were you protected from that as an actor, being able to do your job?

David Nykl:
Yeah. I think what was happening at the time was that the Marvel movies were huge. The cinematic universe on screen was massive. And the DC world was getting a sort of a toehold in TV, that Arrow and Legends of Super Heroes, or …

David Read:
Supergirl, yep.

David Nykl:
Supergirl and the other ones that were around at that time were kind of creating a bit of a groundswell. So, there was a feeling that we’re actually getting something, that this is quality television that’s being made at the rate that it’s being made. Because it’s an hour every week and 20 episodes. It was a grind. There was a lot of pages to cover for every episode. So, the sense, I think, was that we were getting going, that the machine was running, and that it was … Pressure in terms of carrying the universe, I think Stephen might have had some of that. I mean, he’s carrying the franchise on his shoulders.

David Read:
That’s right.

David Nykl:
You’re asking the guy that comes in at number six, seven on the cast list and sort of has a few days. So, for me, it’s always fun ’cause I love playing the characters and doing the scene. The environment or the context in which the shows are being shot is off my radar when I’m doing it, or less of a concern.

David Read:
I haven’t seen Arrow. I’m not hugely into the comic book scene. I got the impression that… I could be wrong, that your character wasn’t an absolute villain. He was much more black and white. Or at least, he was more gray and …

David Nykl:
Yeah.

David Read:
OK.

David Nykl:
It was a sort of a … I started out as a prisoner that was imprisoned beside him, became a friend. Turns out that I was the leader of the Russian mob, the mafia, and I trained him in certain spurious methods of the Russian mafia. So, there’s sequences where I’m showing him how to build bombs and things like that. So, we had a friendship, and then we had a falling out for a part of the season and things weren’t going so well. And towards the end of the series, we were beginning to patch things up, but things were sort of icy. But I think towards the end, things were patching up. I suspect some of your audience will know more precisely what actually happened.

David Read:
It must be so much more satisfying on a number of levels … As, as fond as we all are of Zelenka, don’t get me wrong … Keep Portland weird. No, no pigeon cup this time? You had a pigeon mug.

David Nykl:
Did I? For God’s … Yes, I still …

David Read:
Yes, I see the image.

David Nykl:
I still have that pigeon mug. Wow. Lucky I didn’t grab that one today. You’d think I’d never do my dishes.

David Read:
The layers that you can get with this kind of a character, as much as we love Zelenka, have gotta be far more satisfying as an actor for this kind of a role.

David Nykl:
Absolutely. I love that. I love that because it’s … Tighter parameters give you much more focus on making your … Like black and white film with Charles Chaplin, the gags and the humor had to come out because sound wasn’t available. So, the tightened parameters made for a heightened version of the art or a more applied version of the art. So, I see that a little bit with a day player, when you’re a character and you come in and you have … It’s usually stock characters. I’m thinking of Milos Forman, the Czech-American director who, his quote says that you cast your main characters against type, but you cast your secondary characters prototype so you can instantly recognize them. So, within those characters that are recognizable, bad guy, security guard, to give them within that constrained moment, that day-play, that one day that you have, prosthetics and whatever the constraints are, you know, foam-rubber mask, can’t see, can’t breathe, try to put the art into that, whatever. If it’s a mask, if it’s … Try to put whatever you’re trying to breathe into the character. So, that’s sort of the way I try to approach it, is you got one chance, one opportunity, Mom’s spaghetti. Take it.

David Read:
Georgettefan684, “In Eureka, you played a character who couldn’t see, is that correct?”

David Nykl:
Yes, that is correct, Georgette.

David Read:
What was that experience like?

David Nykl:
Any time where they disable you, it’s unpleasant. And the person who comes on set …

David Read:
They physically did?

David Nykl:
… is a contact lens lady. There’s makeup, there’s hair. That’s two departments because there’s a big difference between this and this. But there’s also a person that is trained in being able to stick your fingers into your eyes, and that person is the contact lens lady. And they were milky white contact lenses that they pop in, and I was effectively milk-white blind. I couldn’t see anything. So, you’re debilitated.

David Read:
Wow.

David Nykl:
You have to be led to the mark, and then someone has to take your eyes out so you can have your lunch and stuff like that. It’s …

David Read:
Take your eyes home.

David Nykl:
Not pleasant not having your eyes around for that. But yeah, that was …

David Read:
Sounds a lot like … I hear that when people, like, James Lafazanos, Andee Frizzell, they have talked about the fact that when the cat’s eyes on the Wraith costumes, or the Wraith makeup and the whole process, go in, after they come off at the end of a day, you have this tunneling effect where your periphery is gone. It’s just absolutely destroyed. Was there any kind of experience like that when they finally came off?

David Nykl:
No, I’m hearing that for the first time. That sounds nasty. No, these were just straight white …

David Read:
Straight white.

David Nykl:
… and much like the mask in Resident Alien, just a pleasure to get off at the end of the day. I was lucky with Zelenka. I had a blue shirt on and I barely sat in the makeup chair. I could, it was just this. So, that’s the way to do sci-fi.

David Read:
Absolutely. Einahsirro1488. I apologize, Einahsirro, if I’m mispronouncing that. At a certain point you and I once talked about this, and I’m not entirely sure when the transition really happened. It was originally your idea to slip in some Czech. Am I right about that? Early on in, in 38 Minutes? There was, there was a little bit of crossing over there.

David Nykl:
Yeah.

David Read:
At what point did it become part of the script?

David Nykl:
It’s a tennis game between the writers and the actors. The character originally was a Russian, we’re talking Zelenka. The character was originally, I think, a Russian physicist. And when I showed up on set I happened to meet Brad Wright, and we were sitting at the craft table, and I told him that I’m Czech and I have Czech background. I told him my one Czech joke that I know. And when the next script came, the character was changed to Zelenka because that’s kind of like Jones in Czech. It’s a common-ish enough name that it’s kind of like the Czech doctor Zelenka. So, when that …

David Read:
‘Cause Zelenka’s green, I think.

David Nykl:
Yeah, that’s right. It’s a derivative of the word. So, when it came back as that, I sort of thought, “Well, that’s great.” And when they had swears in Czech, those are in the parenthesis when they said “swears in Czech,” I took that opportunity, let’s say.

David Read:
My friend Martin, who’s specifically, we had a conversation about this the other week when he was on, he doesn’t care for listening to the Czech dubbing because in that language, they screw up Zelenka. He’ll say things and then Sheppard in the Czech language will say something about the other language. And it’s not in context for that language, for what’s being said. It’s no, no, he would have understood that because it is in Czech. And it’s one of those odd situations. It’s, well, this is …

David Nykl:
It’s funny, isn’t it?

David Read:
… that particular language.

David Nykl:
It’s these linguistic, it’s these linguistic bubbles that are, for people that are linguists, really interesting. It’s the default language in space is English, and is there, there’s some translator or stuff. And you face that when you have an international team. I was sort of taking it that this is a guy that’s gonna have an accent because he’s Czech, and people have accents when they don’t have English as their first language. And we already know with the AI that’s around now how that causes disruptions and misunderstandings, and that famous sequence of the Scottish people coming into the elevator and going, “Eleven,” you know, for the floor, and not being understood. There’s, by default, when the production is in English and needs to be dubbed, which is the reality in Europe, most nations dub their television. I know some very good dubbers and some great translators, hello Flora, that do great work in translating it. But then it’s, you’re there in Italian, you’re in Portuguese, you’re in Czech. So, when a Czech character is speaking Czech … And then, here’s the thing, they dub me into Czech, so someone is speaking Czech for me, and then I swear in Czech, but I do in production. So, he goes away, the dubber that’s dubbing me goes away. I speak Czech for a little while, and then he comes back to take my voice. That’s weird, isn’t it?

David Read:
Absolutely. So, what you’re saying is that your voice makes it into the track where you’re speaking in Czech, and then he comes back in later?

David Nykl:
Yeah. I would think. I actually haven’t seen that episode. I had that explained to me, that he doesn’t dub my expletives in Czech, ’cause …

David Read:
Those are things that are OK to say to that audience.

David Nykl:
Or maybe he can’t. Maybe he doesn’t want to. Maybe they bleep them out because they are they’re for real censor-worthy. I don’t know.

David Read:
Martin, you have your mission. You must accept it. Go and get us the Czech dubbing and let us know. Because I was always wondering, when you give those lines in the show to an English-speaking audience, does it ever get to the point where … Because I’ve seen the translations. GateWorld was really good about publishing the Czech translations. They’re largely fairly tame. But did you ever want to say something like, “There is no way that they are going to be able to say this,” and the Czech, and they’re going to have to …

David Nykl:
I did. Those are full-on Czech swear words that … Teaching the world to swear in Czech one episode at a time. If you want to know a cuss, that’s for real. I’m not saying any “dang it.” I’m saying the full thing here.

David Read:
Your hair’s good, man.

David Nykl:
No, I’m just saying, coming up, that the censors, I don’t know how much they would have cut out of it. And there was also an episode … It was one of the episodes where I broke the fourth wall in a sense that what I said in Czech was, “I can’t work with these actors anymore.”

David Read:
I remember that. That’s right.

David Nykl:
I said that in Czech. I said, “I can’t work with these actors anymore.” And I had a fan in Prague go, “Why would Zelenka not wanna work with actors? I don’t understand.”

David Read:
Because it’s funny.

David Nykl:
An Easter egg. It’s an Easter egg for the Czechs. That’s what that is.

David Read:
So, there’s three times that that’s happened in … For your information and the fans’ information, there’s three times that I’m aware of that that’s happened in the show. The other one happens on a Russian Foxtrot submarine in the beginning of Season Four of SG-1. And a replicator, one of the mechanical replicators, is stuck at the other end of a torpedo tube underwater. And one Russian says to the other, “What is that? What do you … What does that sound like?” And the other Russian, in Russian, looks to the other actor and says, “It sounds like one of those creatures from the last episode.” And the other one is spoken by RDA himself. There’s an episode in Season Seven called “Fallen,” and someone points to Christopher Judge, an off-worlder in the show, and says, “He is Jaffa.” And Rick goes, “No, but he plays one on TV.”

David Nykl:
“But he plays one on TV.” That’s fantastic.

David Read:
And it’s, that is perfect. It’s hilarious and it’s true. And so, I’m gonna have to remember that those were the three. That’s a good trivia question. I’m sure there are probably more.

David Nykl:
You’re an encyclopedia. And the fans should document this.

David Read:
Dude, you gotta be good for something.

David Nykl:
Because in many ways, I don’t know if I remember a lot of what they were. But that’s one I remember. It was an evacuation, or I was being frustrated with Chuck, I think, the technician. “I can’t work with these actors anymore.” And I say that in Czech. And nobody knew that’s what I was saying.

David Read:
I have been trying to get Chuck Campbell on since the beginning. And I’ve heard he doesn’t do interviews, which is such a shame, because I got to meet him on set when I was there with you guys one year, and he was a nice guy. I wanted to … Actually, no, it wasn’t me. It was someone else who wanted to … Hannnahh-k wanted to know, when the rubber met the road, really, who was your BFF on Atlantis? Who did you find yourself leaning on if you had a minute and wanted to spend it with someone? If you had your choice in terms of the schedule and production and you had some time to kill with somebody in between a take, who would it be? Or did it change on the day?

David Nykl:
Are you talking about me as an actor?

David Read:
“You sucked …” You as a person. Who would you like to spend time with in between takes? And also, who would you enjoy spending time with the most on screen? And they can be two different people, or they can be the same person. I’m curious.

David Nykl:
They sort of are. I really enjoyed doing scenes with David. That was that was a lot of fun. But it was also super fun to sort of hang out when we could with Jason Momoa. That was between takes. That was always a blast.

David Read:
Did he always have his guitar?

David Nykl:
Yeah. In the Pink Cadillac days, he had his guitar, and some of the shoots were, it’s amazing. They had the tacos on the truck and the Mexican music. He’s playing his guitar and we’re all sort of hanging out, riding the golf carts. Those were good times. The thing about shooting is that you’re spending a lot of time with the people, and then you sit in your chairs and then you’re reading your scenes and stuff like that. So, a default hangout on set is usually literally hanging out. There’s conversations when they happen. But I would say it’s sort of we’re spending so much time together that when we were actually on set and not interacting, I didn’t, at least. I went home and I had a young family at the time. And so, after shoots, I’d sort of be devoted to being at home. But during shoots, it was a super fun shoot. And as Zelenka, I enjoyed the scenes with David. I love that sort of back and forth thing. And I think that’s kind of a little bit the genesis of Zelenka, was to sort of be a technobabble mirror, and a foil, and the disgruntled sort of … That dynamic was born of those two characters, which I think was really, was fun to do.

David Read:
You were both very … It’s a certain amount of job security there, because you were both facilitating story. You helped move the engine of story and the situation forward. Which …

David Nykl:
Laying pipe.

David Read:
Laying pipe, that’s right. Putting the tracks in front of the train.

David Nykl:
Yep.

David Read:
You and I have talked about the complexity of the language. But one of the things that I’ve never really asked you about was the manner in which you would assimilate it. So, were you the type of person who had to have the next day’s lines completely down pat the day before? Or were you the type of person who didn’t need to look at them until the morning of and then you got them? How was it for you? And has the process changed over the course of the years that you’ve worked?

David Nykl:
Good question. No, preparation is and always has been the cornerstone. If anything, I’ve always been frustrated, and a lot of actors will tell you, to get scenes on the day or get paragraphs or pages on the day are panic-inducing. I get that too. I tend to be an inveterate preparer. Read, read, read, re-read, and advocate for getting the scripts as soon as possible. That sometimes was an issue, because the writers would hang on to their rewrites and their rewrites, and there are little details that were … It didn’t affect the fact that you needed to get the script and try to learn your pages as soon as possible. Plus, there’s the extra layer of the character that Zelenka was, and assimilating it in the language with the accent, with the way that it was done. It got better, it got easier as it went along ’cause you’d sort of know how the scenes were written and you’d sort of get the rhythm of them, and you sort of assumed, “Oh, this will probably be a walk and talk, this will be this.” And you sort of learn the mechanics of it later, as seasons went along. But with all projects, I always try to advocate for getting the script as soon as possible, getting to know the characters as soon as possible. And then it’s a physical process. I like to sort of do it on the treadmill, on the bike, going for walks, on my thing, and running through it so that it becomes an organic thing. It doesn’t become a talking head and you’re not reciting lines in your mouth. You’re breathing them, living them, you’re gesticulating as you would in those circumstances. So, it’s important. I don’t wing it, I don’t want to wing it. The more you can prepare, the better you are at winging it.

David Read:
How often would you get scripts the night before on Atlantis? Or else?

David Nykl:
Not very, to their credit. But I mean, it’s a tight production schedule, and back then they were doing two shows for the beginning of it. They were doing SG-1 and Atlantis at once, so they were harried. They had their work cut out for them, for sure. So, you know, the reasons why the pages might have been later or were not forthcoming were evident, but that doesn’t change the fact that as an actor you want to get them as soon as possible and learn it as soon as possible.

David Read:
Absolutely. Your ability to perform this, it’s not just to say the lines, it’s to perform them. It’s in context of whatever it’s going to be.

David Nykl:
Lives, not lines.

David Read:
It hinges on you getting … That’s exactly right. It hinges on you getting it as quickly as possible. Would you run lines with David if you could beforehand?

David Nykl:
Yeah. In the early days we did more. I remember doing some read-throughs in his trailer, just to get the patter right. Towards the end we didn’t do it as much because we sort of had it, you just sort of had the patter. And there were sort of lulls, ebbs and flows in the relationship in terms of how they wrote us together. There was a period there where I was being written with John Sheppard a lot, and so that’s a different relationship. So, there was working that and didn’t have so much interaction with Rodney as he was having his love affairs and his sister and all of this life happening. But when they started writing our little stuff back again, yeah, we’d cover it. But a lot of it was sometimes we just wanted words, because we’d already know what each other’s thoughts were, so that kind of stuff was fun. And then there was the long sort of technical stuff that we’d have to sort of bounce off of each other, and things like that. But yeah, that’s the nature of the beast.

David Read:
In Universe, they grew the idea of two scientists into a bit of a triad with Patrick Gilmore, Jennifer Spence, and Peter Kelamis. Did any of those three ever approach you guys about how you approached your characters? Did you ever hear from them?

David Nykl:
As a matter of fact …

David Read:
I’m curious.

David Nykl:
… yeah. I mean, Jen Spence is someone that I knew before she got onto Universe, and yeah, we would have coffees together and talk about sort of character development and stuff. And I know Peter Kelamis also from back when there were auditions, and Patrick Gilmore too from my conventions. So, in the post-audition days, if you don’t actually look up your friends, then you don’t see them ’cause there’s no way, you don’t just happen to run into them at auditions anymore. But at conventions is where I would see them, where I saw the three of them. But your question specifically was if they asked, if they came to me and asked how to …

David Read:
Ever asked either you or David for input on, well, this is essentially the same type of person in terms of servicing this story. Was there ever any, did they ever ask for any input? Ask you for any input?

David Nykl:
No. Jen did. I just remember talking to her about character. But it was, I think, before Stargate Universe came along, so …

David Read:
OK.

David Nykl:
… it was just an actor’s habit that we’d happened to get into, and from cold reading series, and scene study class.

David Read:
Were there any, was there anything that you’ve taken with you from that role in terms of prep that you’ve carried with you ever since?

David Nykl:
You mean my seat back?

David Read:
Yes. But in terms of dialogue …

David Nykl:
Anything I can take with me?

David Read:
… my friend, dialogue.

David Nykl:
I haven’t taken anything, not my seat back.

David Read:
I don’t know what you’re talking about. That thing there. No. In terms of prepping for the character, is there anything that Zelenka taught you? Yes.

David Nykl:
Stargate Atlantis, there it is, under there.

David Read:
That’s why I never had the Zelenka chair back to sell at Propworx, that explains a lot.

David Nykl:
You’re not supposed to take ’em.

David Read:
There was more than one.

David Nykl:
Not supposed to take ’em.

David Read:
I think everyone had a couple. Is there anything in particular that he taught you that you continue to practice today in your art?

David Nykl:
Absolutely. I always maintain that acting school and theater taught me how to act, but Stargate taught me how to act on set. The technical nature of the education there was, you had to know your stuff and you have to learn it quickly ’cause those directors and those crews were experienced and were doing it day in and day out, and knew what they were doing. I remember once, one time when I was still pretty new and had done theater and figured I was a thespian, I was on set and it was DeLuise, Peter DeLuise was directing. And it was one of those days where we had to get stuff going. And he’s like, “OK, Zelenka, you start over there. And Sheppard, you start over here.” And I’d add, “We’re gonna come in like this with the cam–” And I come in and I go, “What if Zelenka started, I think, over by here and then came round? ‘Cause I feel like maybe he’s trying to do this, and to say this and do this.” And everybody, all 70 guys on set, went … And I went, “OK, so I’ll start over there. I’ll be fine. I’ll do exactly … I’ll start where he said.” You realize that technically it’s been thought out, the lights need to go where they need to go. There’s a tape on the thing. And that’s what I was saying earlier about the constraints, the pressure. You have to do it under those circumstances, in those moments. You have to try to get that done. And that’s sort of what it taught me, that it’s nice to have talent, but you have to be able to deliver it in those moments that matter, in a way that is useful to the production. It doesn’t do them any good if you’re gonna be doing stuff off to the side here, like not lit.

David Read:
You’re not wrong. But you are more than a widget. There’s a certain amount of, at some point … maybe not on the day, but I would want my talent to at least be a part of … Obviously, they don’t control every scene. I get that. But I would want my talent to be able to approach me for an idea. Maybe not as a lighting thing.

David Nykl:
No, for sure. Let’s not conflate these two things that I’m saying. One thing is that you gotta work within the constraints you have and bring the magic in those constraints. And I think that’s what you’re alluding to. But I’m talking about the training that does restrict you technically. It’s a different thing if you’re shooting me like this than if you’re shooting me like this. And if I know that I’m like this, then I have to keep my head like this if I’m gonna be doing this all over the place. That doesn’t make it work, even though I might think that that works for the character. So, technically, I need to stay thin and do whatever I’m trying to do right here. Whereas if I’m over here, I can do it a little bit more. So, that’s knowing what size the lens is, or knowing how close you are to the thing. The acting is what you’re doing. But the technical is doing it within those constraints that need to work.

David Read:
Wow. There we go. That makes sense.

David Nykl:
Sure it does.

David Read:
Let me … How much more time do you have, David? When’s your heart out?

David Nykl:
I’m cool.

David Read:
Is it good?

David Nykl:
How’s the show going?

David Read:
Apparently we’ve got 130 people watching, so it’s a good crowd, my friend. So, absolutely, everyone’s happy to see you.

David Nykl:
Hello, everyone. Happy to see you.

David Read:
Vegan.Peace.Rider2500, “Back to the questions about cons. Is there anything …” See, I would be curious about this as someone who found myself on stage a lot, but I don’t know if I could necessarily come to the answer very quickly. Is there a question that, as a member of this monstrous thing, you wonder if someone will ever ask? Or is it just, “No, I’ve answered pretty much everything that I could possibly think of for this particular thing?” Is there ever a question that you, as a performer, ever think of, “I wish that someone would ask me about the process,” or, “I wish that someone would ask me about the time that … We all got into a laughing fit at the table because so-and-so couldn’t get this line right at the read-through.” Or, ’cause speaking of that, some of those days can get really hairy if someone can’t get through a line. Things like that, I’m curious.

David Nykl:
Your question is specifically that …

David Read:
Are you ever, have you ever been in a situation where you were hoping that, “I hope that this time someone will ask me this question?”

David Nykl:
For this question you’ve asked, I’ve been asked a lot of questions over the years, and people’s curiosities have sort of flushed out pretty much everything there is. I like the ones that you allude to about process ’cause the process is unlike the finished product. The way that it’s made, and the way the sausage is made, is interesting. Particularly again, flashing back to the beginning of the interview with the new technology that’s around, with the volume stages and what cameras can do right now. So, it’s exciting what the technology of it can do. And in an age of AI and in an age of synthesized humanness, that sort of magic that humans and their foibles and their quirks and their eyebrows that shoot up, and weird things that happen that are uncontrollable, is what’s gonna propel us forward and what’s gonna keep us engaged, I think. It’s what’s gonna keep us interested because, if anything, the processed world, we’re becoming more and more familiar and a little bit more distrusting of it because the way information is coming at us in waves. It’s the human delivery, and the particular messiness, quirkiness, unpredictability, and way that it’s said that keeps the story moving forward and keeps us engaged and interested. And I think that’s, in some ways, those are the kind of questions that interest me, or that’s the kind of direction I’m always interested in discussing with fans. I get worried if I get questions of, “In Episode two …” and that because …

David Read:
That’s not fair.

David Nykl:
I’m about the process. I’m not necessarily always about the product even though I think the product is wonderful. And stands as its own as an entertainment. It’s the process that … Because I’m still in it. I’m still … I don’t want to retire. I wanna keep working and I wanna keep sort of trying at this craft and at this business. So, I take it seriously. I like it. I find it fascinating. I find it interesting. And it’s morphing. It’s changing. AI is changing the way we consume, the way people talk to us, the way information is given for us. I recently upgraded my computer, my old PC, with AI. And the way it was walking me through all the steps, I mean, I was editing registry keys and stuff like that. I would never do that on my own. But the AI’s like, “You can do it. You can do it.” And I’m like, “Really?”

David Read:
You just have to ask the right question.

David Nykl:
You gotta ask the right question. We’re all learning how to learn, how to work with this stuff. Whereas for thousands of years we’ve learned how to, what I’m doing with you, talk to you. I get your visual cues, I listen to your questions, I answer you. I know where you’re coming from. I know who you are. So, there’s social capital in there. So, you know what this conversation is about. But when it’s synthesized, we get fooled so easily and we get led down a path so easily.

David Read:
Have you found …

David Nykl:
That’s a rambling answer to …

David Read:
No, I loved it. I loved every moment of it. Have you found using a lot of these new tools, like the volume– Well, let’s set Zoom aside for a moment here, because that’s a very different question that I had with you in 2020 and 2021, the last time we spoke on this. Do you find your days on set and in pre-production getting things ready, do you find less time is being wasted? Do you find more time is being wasted because of these tools? Do you find that things are improving in efficiency, or do you find that things are slowing down the more that we bring ourselves into a digital space to accomplish the same tasks that filmmakers have been doing for decades?

David Nykl:
Oof, that’s a tough question. I would say, I think it’s the area you’re working in.

David Read:
I mean for you.

David Nykl:
For me, I guess in the research and prep department. I think I can go into AI, and for Death by Lightning, for example, or for 3 Body Problem I can sort of ask some questions that I have about the character, so in terms of information and detail it would work. In other departments, I mean, that’s in my area. In terms of writing scripts and in terms of production quality and then how you put together scripts, or production schedules, I’m sure AI is helping with efficiencies there. But the sort of whole Tilly Norwood, or whatever her name is, the sort of synthesized human as it, as it were, and the whole uncanny valley aspect of AI. Will Smith eating spaghetti, and how that creepiness …

David Read:
Watching that improve.

David Nykl:
And watching that improve. Which is almost creepier than …

David Read:
Life.

David Nykl:
It’s all sort of part of … And it’s curious that that’s the one thing that we wanna do the most is mimic our faces and our abilities. That’s what we’re asking of this thing is what we look at. I find the biggest use is that when you have something, when you’re phoning a phone company or an insurance claim or something like that, and you have to sort of go through your story every time, ’cause I said this, this, this. AI remembers all of that. So, you put it on your problems, “I have this kind of a system, I have this kind of a car, I wanna do this kind of an oil change.” It remembers all those steps and it goes, “Well, because your car is, five years old, you need to …” It’ll remember the context, and I find that very handy. Then sometimes humans forget that, “Remember I told you I was …” back in the beginning. They don’t … But AI remembers your circumstance and can help you with particular problems.

David Read:
That’s true.

David Nykl:
But it’s, when it comes to the esoteric stuff, or human relations, it’s the ultimate sycophant. It’s only gonna tell you what you want. And I’m wary of that.

David Read:
That’s, that concerns me as well. If I ask it anything, ChatGPT or whatever have you, the Google prompter. If I ask it anything remotely political, it’s very quick to tell me exactly where it is that I am right or wrong on something …

David Nykl:
Wow.

David Read:
And leave its sycophanticness in the dust.

David Nykl:
Really? So, it’ll point you in a direction it wants you to think?

David Read:
And this is not to say that I’m suggesting anything that the system wouldn’t want me to think. But I poke the bear as a matter of course in my work. And so, I throw things at it to see how it’s going to respond. I wanna see where its edges are. And I will often, when I’m sitting there thinking of something and I ask it a question, I get the answer, it’s like, “What if I put the inverse of that? What would that do?” And I put the inverse in and it says, “Well,” it almost says that not only is this offensive but it is wrong for you to even think it. Like, it doesn’t say that, but it might as well be saying that. It will say that this is considered a very offensive thing and should not be used in X, Y, or Z. And it’s like, “Isn’t that interesting?”

David Nykl:
Isn’t that interesting.

David Read:
If it’s so offensive, should it be so obvious for you to be telling it to me so emphatically? Or should it just be relaying the information to me?

David Nykl:
Or where does it have the right to be a moral guide?

David Read:
That’s the question, doesn’t it?

David Nykl:
Is it a pastor? Is it a priest? Is it a parent? Is it a teacher that’s supposed to give you moral guidance?

David Read:
That’s right.

David Nykl:
Again, that’s the part that’s freaky. How is it to know what is appropriate? And you are poking the bear if you are asking obverse. I also think, what if you have to research a very difficult topic? What if you’re playing a serial killer?

David Read:
That’s right.

David Nykl:
What if you’re playing a serial killer, and I’m talking about research, and you wanna say, “What’s the best way to remove a human liver?”

David Read:
I’m sure at some point you’ve wanted, on your side, to put into Google, “Yes, I am an actor. Search.” Just so that’s out there in the ether, you know? Because you do have to search some complicated things sometimes if you’re playing a rather dark character.

David Nykl:
For example, for it to morally guide you, I suspect … I’m seeing lawyers in this, and kids using it, and they’re worried that it can go there. But everyone’s gonna, the first thing that they do is ask it the tough questions to see how it responds. You wanna test the parameters of it. That’s also what happens. It’s a tool. We just gotta learn how to use it as a tool, and it’s gonna be very disruptive for the next couple of years, ’cause there’s more money being invested in this stuff than I think even in the railroads when they were first being built, it’s crazy.

David Read:
Even adjusted for inflation, I think that’s still perfectly true. Where do you feel the Zoom auditions have gone? I’m talking you personally, because I have a number of actors who are like, “Oh, it’s great. I’m absolutely in my element. I don’t have to see anyone.” And I’ve seen other people who are like, “You know, I wish that some adult would come into the room and just say, ‘You know what? This is good for another year, and then we’re going to sunset it.'” Because dollar for dollar, all things being equal, I think that the amount of time and energy that we’re investing into this and getting one in 12 auditions formerly, now getting one in 48 or 50 auditions, is really wasting a great deal of energy and time more than before. I’m curious as to where you stand on that, because I’ve gotten both sitting in your chair on this show.

David Nykl:
I hate them, quite frankly. I think …

David Read:
“I hate them.”

David Nykl:
Because the thing that happens is you get these disembodied … You turn a performance into a piece, a thumbnail, right? And so, you’ve got your iPhone, and you’ve got your thumbnails, and you can scroll through all the auditions, and we’re becoming profiles of ourselves. And the term chemistry is sometimes thrown around in terms of what the chemistry of a cast is. People have that within the first microseconds of walking into a room with each other. You sort of go, “Oh, that one’s the …” That’s a natural human thing.

David Read:
They used to.

David Nykl:
That’s what an audition is for, and that’s what the room is, and that’s when, if you’ve got the production team in there, and you walk in, they get a sense of you not just what you’re seeing right now, not just a digital box of me. They get a sense of you fully, and how you interact, how you take direction, and all that. So, I’m definitely of the old-school that this is … And I came up through the theater and repertory systems and working together as groups. You see that on set when, you know, in the fourth or fifth year, when the cast knows each other. When you have a repertory team in a theater that has worked together for a long time, it creates a kind of human chemistry that you can’t replicate, or you get unfinished sentences from each other. You get basically natural human reactions. And therefore, I think that now, projects that are cast exclusively off of self-tapes from various corners of the world have that sort of too much space between us thing, and we don’t get together until we hop on a plane and get into a room and work together. And then what if it doesn’t work that way or look that way, or something? There is definitely something missing in it, and I hope it’s the latter of the options that you offered, that someone’s gonna say, “Sunset this.” Or maybe just as an introduction: “OK, that’s the people that we want.” Get the first self-tapes and then bring them, fly them into the room, or bring them together, or do that. I don’t know what the answer is, but I certainly miss the old way of interacting when you come into a room.

David Read:
What do you see happening? You’re actively auditioning out there. Are there any productions that are, “We’re not doing self-tapes with Zoom. We’re gonna come in there and do it.” Are there some pushing back?

David Nykl:
We have a very good union here in BC, the Union of BC Performers, and they’ve negotiated for us a fantastic thing, which is basically that they’ll arrange a studio self-tape. It’s tantamount to an audition, but it’s not one. But it basically means you get a self-tape from your agent, and if you respond right away and you say, “Book me a room, please,” the production is compelled here in Vancouver, I don’t think this is in other jurisdictions, to get you a reader and a camera in a room. And I take advantage of that service, and I go in, and I know those two readers that I work with down at the studio. And they have the sides ready, and I just sort of … It’s a one and done, just like the old days used to be. You don’t fiddle with it, you don’t retake it, you don’t fiddle with your lights and stuff like that.

David Read:
Thank God.

David Nykl:
You just sort of go in, raw dog and do an audition. I try to do those as much as I can. So, that’s kind of, it’s a hybrid state of auditioning because there’s no casting director in the room to correct you or to give you feedback. It’s just a reader, and they go, “Yeah?” And I go, “Yeah, OK. Thank you. Thanks for having the service.” And then it gets sent off. But I would prefer if there was someone there that says, “OK, your take is completely wrong. This guy is like this and like this.” And then if you can do an adjustment in the room and still nail it, that’s sort of where the talent and where perhaps the employability comes from, that you can see that you are able to do, or that you just made a bad choice in choosing your initial thing for the character, which might happen a lot, I guess. If people misinterpret the character, don’t know the tone of the show, don’t do their homework, don’t prepare, et cetera.

David Read:
So, it is a one and done? You aren’t invited to take a note and provide something in a slightly different way to adjust something in the … OK.

David Nykl:
No, there’s no creative people from the project there. There’s just readers that just get the same script that I do. So, you do the scene as much as you can, and then you sort of hope for the best.

David Read:
Well, at least you can demonstrate in one go that you can pull it off.

David Nykl:
Perhaps.

David Read:
Whereas when you’re doing a self-tape, I know some actors who have taken six hours to get a certain take done. It’s, “Well, I hope you can perform on the day when you’re in front of 150 people.”

David Nykl:
Yeah, because you won’t have six hours to do it on the day. That’s for sure.

David Read:
That’s exactly right. So, I have two more questions for you. Is that OK?

David Nykl:
Yeah, I’m all good. I’m fine.

David Read:
In Season One, Episode 16, “Letters from Pegasus,” you get to speak in Czech a whole sequence …

David Nykl:
I know that one.

David Read:
… of dialogue of Atlantis rising out of the ocean. How much leeway were you given on that? Were you just told to describe Atlantis rising out of the ocean, or was that given to you in English and you translated that as best you could?

David Nykl:
Good story here. Yeah, it was given to me in English. And our director back then, Mario Azzopardi from Malta, was a wonderful, wonderful man. And we would, he was one of those directors that just, just, “Get it done, get it done,” kind of a guy. And I got the …

David Read:
We’ve had him on. He’s awesome.

David Nykl:
Yeah, he’s great. And I got the text, and it was a paragraph, and it basically was describing the city rising, and it was in English. And they asked me to translate it into Czech, so I translated it into Czech. This is, I did, not ChatGPT. And I sort of thought, “Well, why would you describe something that you’re seeing on screen?” That’s basic law of filmmaking. Don’t talk about what you’re seeing. You’re seeing it. So, when we got there on the day, it was first day up, you know, the camera’s up and, you know, go. And we said, “Well, we’ll do the Czech version first.” So, we do the Czech version, and we did one take of it, and they did the sort of the Czech, “The city is rising.” And then I’m expecting, “Well, we’re gonna do the English version,” and we never did, because Mario said, “I’m not gonna give the editors the version to use, the English version. We’re gonna do Czech and Czech only.” So, that’s why the Czech has remained in there, because he basically forced the editors to choose the Czech because there were no other takes of me. There’s no English take of me describing the rising of Atlantis.

David Read:
I can appreciate what he did as a director, and I am glad of his choice. Had I been producer, I’m not sure I would’ve been too happy with him. But …

David Nykl:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

David Read:
… I am glad of his choice.

David Nykl:
That’s how that one unfolded.

David Read:
Man, I don’t think he ever directed again on Stargate.

David Nykl:
I don’t know if it was because of that, but yeah, he wasn’t around after that. But he was a he was a well-known director, and he directed a lot.

David Read:
Oh, absolutely. No, he did the pilot for SG-1.

David Nykl:
Oh, did he? Oh, OK, I didn’t know that. Sorry.

David Read:
He did, he did indeed. And DinnerBeef wanted to know, was there ever an episode of Atlantis that you heard that they did or that you saw that you’re, “Damn it, I wish I had been in that one?”

David Nykl:
Well, I wish I was at the railing at the end when they were all saying goodbye.

David Read:
Yes.

David Nykl:
I don’t know where Zelenka was. I think he went to …

David Read:
Sharon’s there.

David Nykl:
… for a bathroom break or something?

David Read:
Yeah, they brought Sharon in. Where were you? You were on that episode already, they could put you in the scene.

David Nykl:
Yeah, I think there was a scene in that episode that I was in. So, there you go, there’s my answer. Why I wasn’t saying good bye to everyone. I was busy working. As always. On the wormhole drive.

David Read:
That’s it, you were … thrusters at station keeping, we’re on the ocean floor. We’re on the surface of the ocean now, that’s wild. You know what, that sucks. I don’t wanna finish on that, David.

David Nykl:
Is that all the questions that we have?

David Read:
Well, I don’t want to get episode specific because it’s not very fair. Do you remember working with Richard Kind?

David Nykl:
Yes, yes I do, he was wonderful.

David Read:
Tell me about “Irresistible.”

David Nykl:
That was the one with the kind of substance that was making us all go crazy. The pheromones. Yes, Richard Kind, I remember that was super fun. And I remember when Homer Simpson when Dan Castellaneta was on set, but he wasn’t on our set, he was on SG-1’s set. I was star struck by that, I thought “Hey, there’s Homer!” That was super cool. You wouldn’t recognize the bridge now, they’ve totally rebuilt that studio. Where the parking used to be there’s more studio space there now. There’s a lot going on.

David Read:
So, much happened there that is so key to everything that all of us hold dear, and every few years I go back and poke my head over there on the boundary road and it’s slightly less recognizable then before. There’s something really sad about that. A lot of the locations that you guys had just don’t exist anymore. And that’s the passage of time, that’s just the way it works.

David Nykl:
I need to say to you thank you for keeping the flame burning for all these years. This has been, you kept the lights on, you literally did, you kept the lights on in between, and I think the fans and the producers and all of us owe you a big thank you for keeping this going when it didn’t seem like it was going anywhere. I hope you get a lot of good out of this

David Read:
Well, I am so thrilled that the work that Darren and I have done, and so many other fans online have done is being recognized. That means more than anything. It means so much to have you back and to be able to sit and reminisce and catch up. And I mean, the fact is this thing is not going anywhere anytime soon. There are a lot more stories to be told, and I think that we are primed to have some really good ones ’cause I think they’ve picked well on the next one. We’re just sitting and waiting now.

David Nykl:
We just gotta have one of those letter-writing campaigns where we get Zelenka on the new show.

David Read:
I wouldn’t be surprised. There are certain characters who are not around, and there are certain characters who are, and that’s already one in your corner. So, they’re shooting in London, but they have these things that go through the air that get air underneath them when you give them enough thrust. And I’ve heard that they’re good.

David Nykl:
I can legally work in Europe, so …

David Read:
There we go. All right, man. David Nykl, it’s a pleasure to see you again.

David Nykl:
Been great, guys. Thank you, thank you very much. It’s been a real pleasure, and thank you for some great questions. David, and I look forward to doing this again one day.

David Read:
Thank you, my friend. I’m gonna wrap it up over here. You take care of yourself.

David Nykl:
OK. Take care. Bye-bye.

David Read:
Be well, sir. That is David Nykl, Radek Zelenka in Stargate Atlantis. My name is David Read. You’re watching the Stargate Oral History Project. If you enjoy this content and you wanna see more like it on YouTube, do click that 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 clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. My tremendous thanks to Antony and Lockwatcher for pulling this one off in the chat today. I have a piece of software that I’ve been using to collect the fan questions and put them into a Google Sheet on the backend. It doesn’t always work, and those two … Man, thank you for being so cool, guys, and pulling this thing off, because, today, it did not work. We have a huge schedule coming up for you, and a lot of these I haven’t even posted yet. David Warry-Smith, who directed “The Fifth Race,” “There But For the Grace Of God,” “Pretense,” those are three of my favorite episodes right there, he is going to be joining us next week to discuss directing those shows. We also have, let me see here, Kerry McDowall, Post-Production Supervisor, Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe. This is the part of the process I am looking forward to the most ever, because getting to talk with someone who is responsible for getting the sound, and getting the music, and all of the pieces of every take that are necessary to composing an episode, and putting it all together, and stirring this thing up, and then serving it out. Kerry was on top of that, and it’s gonna be really great to have that conversation with her. I hope that that’s going to be live. We just need to verify a couple of things first here. We just posted a little bit earlier, ’cause it took a little bit of time for YouTube to square this circle and get this one green lit. We’ve got P90 firearm training with Rob Fournier. And yes, that is me firing one of the 10 original P90s, FN P90s out of Belgium that were purchased for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. And you can go and watch that specific scene if you don’t wanna watch the full thing, or if you wanna listen to Rob sharing some amazing details about the whole process of training the team with that particular weapon, and everything else that goes into firearm safety on set. Go to DialtheGate.com to see all of the shows that are going to be heading your way. We’re gonna have some more information for you really soon. Stargate Worlds Part Two hopefully is gonna be heading your way this Friday. I had a conversation with Katie Postma, my counterpart Lead Community Manager, and Dan Elggren, who was the studio lead for Stargate Worlds, yesterday, and it was a two-hour conversation, and it was a good one. I haven’t seen Dan since the USS Midway when Stargate Continuum premiered at San Diego Comic-Con in 2008. So, there was a lot to talk about there. And he and I weren’t always on the best of terms, and a lot of that was my fault. So, it was really awesome to be able to sit down with him and catch up and get to know each other again, and share some stories after twenty years. Eighteen years. So, it was a good time, and I’m looking forward to that one being released. But that’s gonna be a monster one to add content for, because not really a lot of editing in terms of cutting around the footage. It’s gonna be pretty much exactly as we recorded it, but I’ve got so much content from Stargate Worlds coming now in terms of assets that were created for the game, artwork, sounds, and a number of other things that bringing it together just right is a bit of a bear. So, we’ll see how it goes. I think that’s what I’ve got for you guys. I appreciate everyone who tuned in to make this episode special, and we will have some more episodes heading your way really soon. Again, keep an eye on DialtheGate.com for all those specific details. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you tuning in, and I will see you on the other side.