Dan Payne, Multiple Roles in Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis (Interview)

The man behind the mask of so many amazing Stargate aliens returns to Dial the Gate to update us on his career and share more memories from production!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Welcome, everyone, to Episode 435 of Dial the Gate: The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read. I appreciate you being with me for this episode. Mr. Dan Payne is joining us once again. It is so good to have you back, sir. How are you?

Dan Payne:
Good, man. I’m glad to be here.

David Read:
I’m thrilled to have you. Stargate is back, man.

Dan Payne:
I know. I know.

David Read:
What dost thou think?

Dan Payne:
I dost think I wanna be a part of it, obviously. Here’s my thinking. I’m gonna say it out loud ’cause why not? Let’s put it in the universe. Every incarnation has a big guy. I’ve been hitting the weights and I’m not small, 6’5″. I’m not Momoa, but we looked eye to eye, let’s put it that way.

David Read:
You’re not not Momoa.

Dan Payne:
I’m not not Momoa, and I can grow…

David Read:
You’re close.

Dan Payne:
I’m trying. No, nobody can be that guy. He’s phenomenal. What an incredible human being. But I wouldn’t mind being a version of the big fella, the, I don’t know. There’s always that guy. I wanna be that guy. The security, the muscle, the heavy, the big rig on the next incarnation. I think that’s viable, that’s plausible. I can also be a smartass, so hey. Not saying Momoa was. He’s kind of a smartass. Whatever, let’s go with that. He knows.

David Read:
God sakes. Is your passport up to date?

Dan Payne:
It is. Let’s roll. I can go to the UK anytime.

David Read:
OK. I’m amazed at the– No, I shouldn’t be amazed. That’s the wrong word. But there’s so many of the Vancouverites still don’t know that that information has been decided. So, I’m rooting for so many of you. You are one of them.

Dan Payne:
Thank you.

David Read:
The thing about you is–there’s a couple of things about you, notorious and otherwise–but your willingness to jump in and do whatever it takes to get a shot, suffocating yourself for several minutes and saying, “Did the director yell action? Am I gonna stand up out of this pit of pile of dirt? I’m gonna go for it and see what happens, and hopefully they’re rolling.” You know.

Dan Payne:
‘Cause I’m running out of air.

David Read:
You’re running out of air. You are the rare beast, my friend.

Dan Payne:
Before you get too far on that, I appreciate that very much. I do love what we do. Every cog, every piece, every part of the machine that is there to help the story get told, I appreciate, respect, and wanna honor by doing everything I can. Now, not to the extent where I’m gonna lose self, but I definitely wanna find the range and full limit of what that is to tell the story to its fullest. And I feel that everybody else is doing that as well. So, I appreciate you saying that. I don’t know that I’m unique in that. I think that there’s a lot, but I do feel some of the assets I might have maybe show up a bit differently, like the ex-pro athlete willing to do a little bit more physically. I’ll go to any extent to tell the story the best …

David Read:
I know you will.

Dan Payne:
… I possibly can with the instrument I have. That might be an everybody thing, I hope.

David Read:
Not everyone, but also not everyone has all of your assets, and you have lovely assets. Can you do something for me real quick? Can you give me another thumbs up? Interesting. Yes. OK, so that’s what happens. Can you see that bubble? Did you just see that?

Dan Payne:
Wait, I think I get fireworks if I do that. There we go. Did I get fireworks?

David Read:
You did. Pretend that you’re a mime and you’re cutting the cord to a piano. No. Do this.

Dan Payne:
Gotcha.

David Read:
Interesting. That usually brings balloons. OK. All right, I’m sorry. Hey.

Dan Payne:
There we go. I got a balloon. Technology.

David Read:
Chelah Horsdal, I had her on about a year ago.

Dan Payne:
Che. I love her.

David Read:
She’s awesome. And she was getting into this juicy story, this one really detailed, specific Stargate story. We talked for an hour. And I was like, “Oh, this is… I can’t wait to share this clip with everybody.” And she does this, and balloons. And I’m like, “This is gonna go out to everyone as a clip and everyone’s gonna–” There’s balloons that they’re gonna be thinking of, and a story about the Prometheus. “OK, Prometheus and balloons, whatever.” Anyway.

Dan Payne:
They go together. They go together.

David Read:
What’s news? What’s going on with you?

Dan Payne:
The biggest–

David Read:
How are you keeping busy?

Dan Payne:
Actually–

David Read:
Raising kids?

Dan Payne:
Yeah. That’s a full-time job. They’re getting big. I gotta– My oldest, 17-year-old Eli, he’s six foot three. He’s taken after dad a bit. 195-pound handsome fella. Heck of a hockey player. And he’s graduating this year, which, that’s a big milestone for both of us ’cause wow, I got a kid getting done with high school. And then my youngest–

David Read:
Congratulations.

Dan Payne:
Thank you. And then my youngest, 14-year-old, he’s six feet tall at 14. And he’s an incredible baseball player. He throws a fastball that I’ll never be able to hit now. So he’s in the upper 70s with a fastball at 14. It’s incredible to watch them grow and be a part of it, and taxi chauffeur them to all these crazy things that they do.

David Read:
I can’t imagine feeding those kids for all these years.

Dan Payne:
There wasn’t–

David Read:
To grow these tree trunks.

Dan Payne:
I remember when I was at university the second year that I had moved out, my dad called me and goes, “Hey, son, I just realized something.” I was like, “Oh yeah, what’s that, Dad?” He goes, “Now that you moved out and stopped eating here, I actually do make money.” I get what he’s saying now. I fully can relate.

David Read:
Are they honorable men?

Dan Payne:
They have great hearts, and that’s a huge piece of the puzzle for me. There’s a lot of— I think they’re just rites of passage.

David Read:
But they’re also kids.

Dan Payne:
They’re kids. You’re gonna make dumb choices and do stupid things, and I think you have to. I think it’s a part of the rite of passage of going through. But what I want them to do that with is a good heart and a solid head on their shoulders. And I think so far, so good. But both of them have beautiful hearts. That’s the biggest component. And obviously, chivalry and all the other things that I want, I’m gonna push for. And they seem to be very in line with and in tune with being that kind of a human being, which I believe is important. So to each their own, but the big takeaway for me is they both have big, beautiful hearts.

David Read:
I am not surprised at all. You represent, as far as I’m concerned, so much of the positive masculine traits.

Dan Payne:
Wow.

David Read:
Your enormity is surpassed only by your soft voice and your kindness. And when the chips are down, I hope that it’s someone like you who has my back, and I’ve always felt that way.

Dan Payne:
That is a tremendous compliment. Thank you very much, man.

David Read:
Absolutely, it’s from the heart. You have done so much in this franchise that other folks would just balk at and be like, “Pfft, I’m not doing that. That’s not happening.” How do you balance going for something that, “This is gonna be a challenge. I’ll go for this,” and, “Hmm, do I…?” I’ve always been worried, Dan, that at a certain level, I keep thinking of the sign above the Oracle’s door in her kitchen in The Matrix, “Know thyself.” You have to know the outer boundaries of your capabilities to determine whether or not you’re going to be able to stand up straight in a black neoprene suit in summer in the GVRD playing a supersoldier, and not drop like a fly. How do you do that? What kind of headspace do you go in? How do you know how to push yourself so far to where it’s like, “This is a grueling thing that I’m doing right now, but I’m not going to damage myself?” Going back to why I teed this up the way I did with the compliment, you pull stuff off that most people wouldn’t be able to handle. Is it just that you know yourself and … or is it, “I’m gonna push some buttons here on myself, and we’ll see what happens?” Where do you walk that line?

Dan Payne:
That’s a cool question. I like that, and there’s a lotta components to it. I think, let me start with the “know thyself” part. Having been a pro athlete to begin with, you get to push the limits. You have to in order to find what your full capacity is. And if you really want something, you’re going to get to that edge, and you have to go past that edge to know that it exists ’cause otherwise you limit yourself. The pro athlete history and past afforded me the mindset of let’s see how much beyond my comfort zone or my known abilities I can go. But when you do that, there’s a vulnerability, and there’s a sense of, depends how you look at it. There could be anxiety or excitement, two sides of the same coin. This is when I think the huge component comes in with Stargate, and I’ve said this almost in every interview that I’ve ever done about Stargate. It was a family, and it was a family where you felt the trust and support which gave you the confidence to go past that limit that you may have thought. And it’s arbitrary. You choose what your limits are, and everybody has them born of what they’ve done. Their lived experiences are sort of how it gets informed, and whether you push past it or not is how you were raised or what challenges you feel are. None of it’s right or wrong. It’s who you are. My parents supported and pushed me in a very supportive and complementary way, not like a, “Get out there and do it, or you’re failing.” And it allowed me to feel encouraged and desire to find what that limit was and go past it. That said, when you’re on a team like the Stargate team, I’m gonna be in situations that I’ve never been before. But with sports, I had almost understood all of the parameters of the sport. Anything that I was pushing beyond, there was an unknown sort of known element to it. If I may, there was a known about the unknown. With Stargate and some of the things I was doing, especially with stunts and other things, there was no known, it was completely unknown. And in that regard, I had to trust the team, the group and the people around me. And they were so beautifully connected to what was trying to be done and what people’s fears, concerns and limits were, that the confidence to go and push that boundary with whatever it was didn’t feel as big as maybe it was perceived to be by beautiful people such as yourself. So, I’m grateful for the compliment, but I never felt like I was going, “All right. I’m risking more than I should right now.” I always felt like, “Wow, this is gonna be really cool and new and I don’t know what exactly is gonna happen, but they’ve got my back …”

David Read:
They’ve got your back.

Dan Payne:
“… and I can’t wait for this experience.” I hope that covers it. It was really cool.

David Read:
That’s it. There’s such a drought of responsibility and call to adventure now. And if you don’t attempt to assess the upper limits of your perceptual experience, you can never hope to expand yourself.

Dan Payne:
No, you set a limit. You limit yourself. And it’s incredible how the people around you will help you. If you’re willing to go to the edge of what you believe your limits are and you are feeling that excitement, anxiety, exhilaration, because you’re at the verge of something beyond, it does matter who’s around you. ‘Cause the people who are going, “Dude, what? No. What are you… That’s insane.” Your subconscious, if they have weight and their opinion has value, you’re gonna pull back. It’s cool when you have the people around you going, “Yeah, we got you, and this is set up for you to succeed. And we don’t know a million percent, but we know 99.9, so let’s go try this. Let’s go see what happens.” That’s fun, ’cause that little bit of unknown is a safe, curated and set up to be successful unknown. So, it’s fun to explore. I don’t know why we’re going tangential here maybe, but–

David Read:
This is why I have you. Go ahead.

Dan Payne:
But I feel like with my kids, and I think kids in general, I do agree, I think there’s a lack of– I think it’s insular; I think phones and technology have pulled us down, and there’s a disconnect with even just talking to somebody. The eye contact, human interaction, the art of conversation, the spirit of discourse is failing. “What’s your Snap, so I can Snap you?” I think that’s what they say.

David Read:
What’s your Insta?

Dan Payne:
What’s your Insta, bro?

David Read:
That’s fire, bro. I low-key love this.

Dan Payne:
I hear all those things, I don’t know what they mean. But for me, the cool part is the human interaction. So, the interaction with the people that I work with gives me the confidence and trust and belief in them to do things that are beyond my realm of known, and/or comfort. But I think when you don’t have a true sense of someone because you haven’t actually connected with them in real-world interaction, how do you trust somebody that you don’t know well enough to know has your back because all you know is about their Insta or what they post or what they curate for you to believe to be them? I like getting to know people for who they truly are; up, down, back, around, faults, triumphs, failures. And again, I don’t mean this to be negative. I’m so grateful for the people who are fans and supportive, but I don’t tell them about all the trials and tribulations and struggles. That’s not something that I wanna burden them with. Now, that said, mental health is something I’m happy to share about, because I think in essence the sharing of that builds a community where there can be growth and support and connection, but—

David Read:
But you can overshare.

Dan Payne:
You can. You can, and then it loses the value. And I think you in essence will lose value in terms of, this is the word that will always come back to me: authenticity. I’m always gonna strive to be the most authentic version of self that I can be. And in doing so, I hope that I find my people, I reach and touch people who can then reach back and touch me, or vice versa, they reach out and help me and make something better in my life because of me being authentically who I am. This is something I try to impart in my kids every day. I don’t know if I’m doing it. There’s no– I don’t have a parent teacher who’s like, “You’ve got a B+.” I don’t know. Man, maybe I’m failing. I’m just doing the best I can, and I got a couple of kids who I think are good-hearted, soon-to-be productive citizens, meaning, on their own, productive citizens. Maybe not in Van; it’s hard to move out in Vancouver, you can’t afford it.

David Read:
Gosh, one of the most expensive cities on earth.

Dan Payne:
Maybe not right away. It is. It is beautiful. I guess you get what you pay for.

David Read:
I hope so.

Dan Payne:
Going back to the whole wrap-up on this, when you said about the new Stargate, if it’s gonna be anything like the previous versions and incarnations, I want to be a part of it because it’s a family. They’re telling a story. They’re having fun doing it. There’s levity. There’s intrigue. There’s all the things that I want. There’s adventure, and there’s adventure in telling the adventure, so that’s a pretty intoxicating pile of ideas to put together. Who doesn’t wanna go get drunk on enjoyment.

David Read:
I haven’t talked really at all about this, but I’ve had a chance to meet in person a few of the folks who are involved in this next one, and all that I will say is, already, they’re having a really good time. They love being together, and that’s gonna trickle down from the top. So, I think we’re in for a treat. I’ve never lost faith in this from the moment I saw Martin Gero’s face in November. Never for a moment. So, as audience members, regardless of whether or not we get to be part of this thing in any way, we’re in for a treat.

Dan Payne:
That is great to hear. And I’m not surprised.

David Read:
I’m already getting some fan questions in for you here. I had one from me first. I had Aaron Douglas on a couple of weeks ago. Nothing but good things to say about you. Good guy.

Dan Payne:
Right back at them.

David Read:
I loved the different side of you that we got– I’m not even sure if I’ve spoken with this about you, with you about this.

Dan Payne:
It’s okay. Dyslexia affects five out of three people. Sorry, that’s an old one, but a goodie.

David Read:
You were in the finale of Battlestar Galactica. And you are with Mary McDonell in a very sensual scene. What an extraordinary actress.

Dan Payne:
Just a phenomenal human being.

David Read:
Delighted to see you when I got to the end of that show. it was like, “Oh my God, there’s Dan.” And he’s in bed. Tell me about that shoot.

Dan Payne:
Let me reiterate. I was also beyond grateful to finally– ‘Cause a lot of friends were on that show. It’s a really cool show, and I wanted to be a part of it in some way, shape, or form. So, to have snuck in in the finale was pretty cool.

David Read:
You and Simone Bailly–

Dan Payne:
What’s that?

David Read:
You and Simone Bailly and a couple others.

Dan Payne:
Yeah, very fortunate and grateful. But then on top of that, to be able to make out with the president, I mean, victory. And she is as amazing as you think as a human being. Again, when you come into a franchise and it’s been going for a while and they’ve got a thing going, you really have to either rely on your confidence to slide in and do your job and not get overwhelmed or trip over yourself doing what you’re meant to be doing, what you’ve hired to do. But like Stargate, this show had a great– And there were friends on there, so there was that sort of comfort zone. But they also were an incredibly wonderful group who knew what they were doing, were proud of what they were doing, and invited you in to be a part of what they were doing, not, “Hey, show up and do something great, ’cause we’re great and you better not screw that up.” I’m not saying I’ve been on sets often like that, but there have been some experiences in the past where–

David Read:
They exist.

Dan Payne:
They exist. And you don’t feel the support, you feel pressure. You don’t feel welcome, you feel– I don’t know what to call it, but it’s not the inviting, warm, “We got you, let’s go get some awesome together.” It’s different. So, showing up there, I definitely had my insecurities rocking in ’cause this was a great show, a show that I enjoy, and now I’m gonna be on it, oh boy. But as soon as I got there, those were immediately alleviated and everybody there was like, “Hey bud, we are so glad to have you. It’s great that you’re here. Let’s go have some fun.” And I was like, “Huh, OK.” Also, you’re about to climb in bed and get your gear off with, so there is that part where you’re like, “Oh God, I’m also in bed. OK.”

David Read:
I’m with the future president of the colonies. Oh my God. It’s Stands With a Fist. I’m so thrilled to hear that. She’s one of those that I’ve been looking forward to meeting at a convention or event someday or another. Someone else I would love to see in the next Stargate, to be perfectly frank.

Dan Payne:
I hope you do meet her. Honestly, it’ll be memorable. Not only is it ’cause she’s warm and kind, but there’s a beautiful presence about her. It’s undeniable. Some people, when you meet them, “Oh, why are you on the top of this call sheet?” Takes about .04 seconds to realize, and she’s one of them.

David Read:
No, I totally get it. Lockwatcher wanted to know, you’ve been an actor and have provided voice talent for animated works. How did you become a puppeteer on Crank Yankers, and what was it like to work on that series? This is the first time I’m hearing of Crank Yankers. I’m assuming it’s for all ages, yes?

Dan Payne:
OK, here might be one of those IMDb fails.

David Read:
Uh-oh. Lockwatcher.

Dan Payne:
I’m so sorry. I don’t know that that is something I can speak to because I don’t recall.

David Read:
Since 2002. Dan Payne as puppeteer. OK.

Dan Payne:
Here’s the weird thing. I’ve helped out and I’ve done– There’s a really cool guy who does a lot of puppeteering, and he’s also an incredible makeup artist named Geoff Redknap, and he was on and helped out with Stargate. He’s a great guy. And I’ve helped him. I’ve been able to do some very secondary support-type puppeteering. But Crank Yankers, unfortunately, I think, is an IMDb fail, which I have tried to correct, and they just– It’s a very difficult thing. My birthday is off.

David Read:
You can’t take stuff off.

Dan Payne:
It wasn’t me.

David Read:
You can only move stuff. Lockwatcher says it shows him as 40 episodes. That’s 40 incorrect episodes. Sorry.

Dan Payne:
So sorry. I apologize. I could baloney an answer here if you want.

David Read:
Have you ever done puppeteering?

Dan Payne:
Yeah. but very briefly, like when you’re doing– And it’s usually your own character, like you have to puppeteer an arm that was built for your character, and they show you what to do. It’s usually creature-related stuff. And I love it. You are this creature; you want to move the way this creature moves. If we give it to somebody else, it might be different. it’s the same way that, you don’t want somebody to put on the costume and run for you because what if that character, you have a specific way that you want that character to run. You don’t want to give that up to somebody else. And the puppeteers, whenever I’ve had the chance, “This is yours, and it’s not a complicated thing. It is a very simple– Would you want–” “Yeah, please.” But I haven’t done any extensive puppeteering.

David Read:
Matt4812: You were I think the oldest Buckner in Cabin in the Woods along with Jodelle Ferland. It seemed like a fun cast, and lots of technical prosthetic work. Any fond memories of being what was the zombie, the zombie redneck family, the redneck zombie family as opposed to regular zombies. There are two different species.

Dan Payne:
100%. I don’t know if this is a little bit of an Easter egg, or– If people watch the movie closely, of my redneck family, Dan Shea played my dad. Jodelle, my sister.

David Read:
He did?

Dan Payne:
Yep. Dan Shea was in there as my dad. Father Buckner. And then, I was Matthew Buckner. But if you look really closely, all of their eyes are cataract eyes and my eyes are blacked out. I hope somebody chimes in and says that they know why. If not, I’ll say why. Anyway. I’ll finish with that. Let’s see if somebody chimes in and knows that to be true and why. At any rate, playing Matthew Buckner was a lot of fun, a lot of makeup. It was four or five hours every morning for just under a month. And I’m sure Dan Shea has a pretty cool story ’cause he went down in the RV and did some underwater stuff. My memory was doing the– I did a, for lack of a better reference, G.I. Jane coming out of the water. And the cool part was that was done at Rice Lake, which I live maybe 10 minutes from. And the production was so great, they had a hot tub ’cause that lake is not warm, and we weren’t shooting during warm months. But I had to go in and they had to put– They had a diver in there with me. I had to put sandbags over my feet ’cause I kept floating up. And I had to go underwater and hold my breath, and then come up really slowly with my eyes open. They put antibiotic drops in my eyes right after ’cause there was a lot of duck and random stuff in that lake that you don’t know might be growing inside you. But that was a really cool experience. Also because I got out, and when I got out from the water, I was walking back to get in the hot tub and a black bear went through set. A big, probably at least six-year-old black bear wandered through set. And these are random things that happen. I go under, I do this whole thing, I get out, I’m like, “Cool,” and I walk. And they’re like, “Hey, be careful. There’s a black bear.” And I look, and down the trail, not 40 feet from me, is a black bear just having a walk-through and having a sniff and checking things out. So, that was a neat experience.

David Read:
If he brought his towel with him, I would’ve been staying clear of that hot tub if I were you. That’s a good thing.

Dan Payne:
He’s just like, “Hey, human soup. Awesome.” So, the other thing was I was hanging upside down when they drive the crowbar through my head, and so I had to do that. That was an all-day shoot. So, hanging upside down, the thing that we had to measure was before I would black out from hanging upside down so long, but they had to get shots and certain shots take a certain amount of time, and the setup and the rolling and the action. It was really intriguing for me to push the boundaries of, I guess, consciousness. Because you have to be down there and performing, and then there’s stunts going on and they’ve got a green screen rod that they’re gonna drive this crowbar into your head, multiple times. The technical side of that, and also testing the boundaries of my physical ability ’cause I’m hanging upside down and the blood rush on that. I didn’t really– I’ve never hung upside down so long that I had to be aware of going unconscious. So, that was a new, fun learning. And then, the last piece that I remember was– And Maja Aro doubled the girl that I, the lead that I throw down the jetty and beat the living daylights out of. That woman is incredible. Tougher than I’ll ever expect to want to be. Amazing. But at the end of that scene, I take a two-by-four in the side of the head, and sometimes things don’t go as they’re supposed to. And unfortunately the two-by-four was supposed to glance, but it full took the side of my head just about off and it actually knocked me out. And I rolled into the water, and I was unconscious in the water. And I was supposed to be unconscious in the water, but I was supposed to play unconscious, not be unconscious. I didn’t know that. Obviously, I didn’t know I was out. And then all of a sudden I came to and I took a breath, but I was underwater. So I sucked down a whole bunch– And we were in a studio, so it was a three-foot-deep fake lake, studio version of the lake. Took down a bunch of water, came up choking, was a little bit confused of where I was at. And the stunt coordinator was so great, he knew something was wrong. He was already in the water there with me, making sure that I got my wits about me and wasn’t gonna choke. And it was also at the end of, I think, a 16-hour day. So, a lot of elements. But again, this is one of those cool things, to go back to the Stargate thing. I wasn’t worried. These are things that happen. That’s why it’s called stunts. And I guess, technically I was a stunt actor for that, because you’re performing the character of Matthew Buckner. But I didn’t feel any concern and I knew that they had my back and he was there immediately and all that stuff. But it was pushing the boundaries of what I was comfortable with. And you never know when you’re gonna actually take a two-by-four in the side of the head when you’re supposed to glance. People’s adrenaline gets up, things go sideways, and there’s never any malicious intent. That’s why it’s called stunts. Things don’t– There’s a risk factor involved.

David Read:
So, it was supposed to pass in front of your face and it got too–

Dan Payne:
Yeah. I would’ve sold it. But it unfortunately full clipped my ear and it knocked me out, man. It took a two-by-four in the side of the head.

David Read:
So, I think the obvious next question is, did they use the take?

Dan Payne:
I hope so.

David Read:
I would hope so.

Dan Payne:
I hope so. It would’ve been pretty …

David Read:
Man, you got it on camera, use it.

Dan Payne:
… authentic, The flop into the water would’ve been about as real as it gets. I don’t know.

David Read:
No one has a clue as to the eyes.

Dan Payne:
Nope.

David Read:
Can you share that?

Dan Payne:
OK. So they all have cataract eyes, and mine are blacked out because I’m pure evil. I killed them.

David Read:
It’s kinda like the Sith version of the blazing sun eyes.

Dan Payne:
So, theirs are cataracts because they were murdered. Mine are black ’cause I was the evil that took them out.

David Read:
That’s awesome. It’s the little details like that.

Dan Payne:
Isn’t that cool?

David Read:
What a remarkable… I love this movie. This is in my top 10, 15 films.

Dan Payne:
Cult favorite of mine too. And normally when I’m in something, I don’t put it on the list. But, it’s such a cool movie. I laughed out loud. I also had some jump scares. The creatures and characters were so beautiful and brilliant. I enjoyed that, I love the redneck zombie family. I love my family. And then, the little details. My eyes were black. And it’s something that you don’t really put out there, but it’s a little detail. I think the little details that you aren’t pushing out there are what give it the depth that people don’t understand, which gives it the opportunity to be a cult favorite. I think. I don’t know. I think.

David Read:
‘Cause it’s not superficial. You have a story that’s working and that people are having a good time with.

Dan Payne:
We, the actors, get to play with that story. I get to know that I am the evil in that family. And I made my family …

David Read:
That way.

Dan Payne:
… the redneck zombie family.

David Read:
That’s awesome.

Dan Payne:
That’s fun.

David Read:
Didn’t it take years for it to come out? I remember seeing it and it’s like, Chris Hemsworth’s hair. It was in development hell in post-production for ages. And I can’t remember why, but it eventually came out.

Dan Payne:
I think some network bought …

David Read:
That’s right.

Dan Payne:
… that network, or studio bought the other studio, and then–

David Read:
That’s right. OK. There it is. You guys did your part and then it goes into the can and it’s like, “Hadn’t they released that thing yet?”

Dan Payne:
Did it make–

David Read:
“It’s not out yet? Oh, OK.”

Dan Payne:
But I’m terrible for that, ’cause I got a bunch of posts, texts, and people saying, “Hey, we just saw you, you’re a guest star on Fire Country.” And I was like, “Oh, it’s out?”

David Read:
I can talk about it now? OK.

Dan Payne:
I can post pictures? Maybe I should be more diligent in that. I don’t– I love the doing of it, and then I love that I have incredibly cool people out there, call it fans, friends, whatever, that catch it and then they enjoy it and tell me about it. That’s pretty awesome. I don’t know, I don’t do the other thing, “Hey, guys, make sure you watch me on this.” I don’t do that. And there’s nothing wrong with that. And I bet you if I was better at it, I would still put something out there going, “Hey, guys, I had a great time doing this.” But I like the other way. This way is pretty wicked when somebody’s like, “Hey man, we saw you in Fire Country.” I’m like, “Oh yeah, man. I loved doing that. Was it any good?”

David Read:
That’s the thing. Not everything is gonna be a home run.

Dan Payne:
Trust me, I’ve done some not home–

David Read:
OK. So, this is not not a home run, but this is not for me. I was in Phoenix a few weeks ago. And I was with my best friend and his toddlers. And they put on a Disney film that is a Disney musical, for the villains, and my God, in the opening, it’s you as the king. And I was like, “Oh my God, I got Dan,” and you responded and you were like, “What are you talking about?” It had been so long ago, and your IMDb is like this, in 12-point font, and I snapped a picture and you’re like, “Oh, yeah, yeah.” It was interesting to watch.

Dan Payne:
I don’t wanna underplay that. Descendants has been an …

David Read:
Descendants.

Dan Payne:
… incredible gift for my career. Disney Descendants. We did three of them, and then there was a really heartbreaking passing of one of the cast members, Cameron Boyce, who was truly one of the good ones. He was a philanthropist, he was an incredibly, ridiculously talented young man, and just a beautiful soul. Heartbreaking, and it still doesn’t sit quite right for me, but–

David Read:
It’s unnatural.

Dan Payne:
It’s just not fair.

David Read:
You’re not supposed to go when you’re that young. That’s what I mean.

Dan Payne:
No, I’m not saying take the bad ones. Don’t take anybody. But that kid was such a good one, such a good everything kid. Anyway, the movies, and they did a really great job of honoring him, and they took the movies in a different direction because they were still– But we did the first three together, and they’ve been such a gift for my career. I’ve been able to go to conventions, I’ve been able to go to France or whatever and meet fans and my buddies’ kids are like, “Oh, your buddy is the king,” and they give my dad buddy like–

David Read:
He’s not under prosthetics.

Dan Payne:
They’re like, “Thanks for giving me street cred with my kids.” Some dads are like, “Dude, I have to listen to that song every day all day. I’m gonna lose my mind.” That’s when I’m like, “Sorry.” What a phenomenal-– Kenny Ortega was a brilliant man to have at the helm. All the kids in that cast were triple threats, sing, dance, act. The songs were wonderful and catchy; the messages were beautiful; the costumes were vibrant. They really got it right. If you’re going to talk about a kids’ show, or a show that’s meant for a specific demographic, they nailed it. And I got to be a part of it.

David Read:
That’s really awesome.

Dan Payne:
I might play it down with my buds, because it was not me kicking butt, but it was a gift. And to be able to be cool to my nieces and nephews… The funny thing was I wasn’t cool to my kids. What the heck. Can I bore you with a story?

David Read:
Be my guest.

Dan Payne:
So, when the first one came out, and it just exploded, and I didn’t really understand the scope of it, ’cause again I’m not the–

David Read:
You’re not a Disneyphile?

Dan Payne:
I’m just not even a– Like I do something, I love it, it’s done. I don’t really check, “Hey, did that hit?” So I have no idea, going to drop my kids off at school one day, that this thing had exploded. And we get to the front of the school and back then they were going to a Francophone school, French school. and so, you drop the kids off at the front, and they’re not allowed to speak English once they cross the school grounds; it’s all French. We get to the edge of the school, and I’m telling the kids– And this is probably 10 or 11 years ago, so they’re younger, young enough where you wanna think you can still be cool to your dad. I get to the edge of the school. And all of a sudden, there’s screaming and yelling. I don’t wanna exaggerate; let’s say 30 kids come running up. I looked a little, like you know, a little naive, I’m like, “What’s going on?”

David Read:
It just aired.

Dan Payne:
It had aired enough that it had actually caught fire. So they actually know who the peripheral parent characters are, like King Beast. It’s about these kids. But they all come running up, and they’re like, “Sir, you’re King Beast in The Descendants.” Oh, wow. “Actually, yeah, I am.” And they’re screaming. And I look at my kids like, “I got some street cred right now, man; I’m cool, right.”and I look at my kids. And they’re literally looking at me like this. “Huh.” And I’m looking at them like, “Dude, what? This is as cool as I’m gonna get.”

David Read:
And this is the look that you give?

Dan Payne:
“That’s just my dad.”

David Read:
Michael Shanks, he says that his son, Sam, has never taken more than a couple of looks at any of his stuff. Even that, and then the announcement came out about Stargate on Amazon, and people started talking about it. And Sam went to him and said, “Hey, Dad, what was this thing?” Michael couldn’t believe it. My son has turned his head finally toward something that other people are talking about it, and it’s finally happened. So, there is hope.

Dan Payne:
My kids, whenever they came to set on anything I was doing, they’re like, “Hey, Dad, cool. Where’s Crafty? The chocolate lady, where is she?”

David Read:
That’s right.

Dan Payne:
Whatever. They were young. Now that they’re older– Actually, my oldest wants to get into stunts. As I said, he’s an incredible hockey player, and he’s a 6’3″, 190 pound beast. And there’s a lot of hockey shows going on right now. And the only problem is, they need to be 18 plus for liability, so he’s months away. ‘Cause I’ve got a lot of friends who are really cool about, if your kid, once he turns 18 and this show is still going, “Yeah, I’ll take him in a second.” ‘Cause he played AAA hockey, the highest you could play before going to Brick. So now he’s gonna try out for Junior type of level next year. So he can do anything you want him to do with skates and a puck and a stick, and that’s what they need for stunts. And he can take a hit or deliver them, and I would never wanna get hit by him. I’m telling you right now I’ve seen him do what he does I don’t want it. I play hockey.

David Read:
Don’t piss him off.

Dan Payne:
Yeah. We’re getting to that stage.

David Read:
He can take you. He can almost take you.

Dan Payne:
David, I still have old man strength.

David Read:
I do believe that. You have cunning.

Dan Payne:
Yeah, exactly. But I’ll tell you this, I don’t wanna wrestle him because in order to prove that I still have it, somebody’s gonna get hurt.

David Read:
Yeah, somebody’s gonna get hurt.

Dan Payne:
Like when your dad is strong enough to keep you safe and control and win, or let you win, but in a safe way? That’s gone. The safety banner, that’s been taken down. I’m gonna have to do whatever I can, and it might mean pulling something either off of my arm or body, or accidentally hurting you just to try and survive. Those days are done.

David Read:
No, someone like that who knows how to work on a team, of course you’d want to put them near the top of a spot, because you have to listen and be aware of your surroundings.

Dan Payne:
And capable of taking–

David Read:
I trust. Taking a beating.

Dan Payne:
There’s so many things going on that you have to be able to take it all in. And if you don’t have the skillset, if they’re asking you to skate, cut hard, crossover, toe drag, and then shoot top corner while getting buried after you release the puck, you have a lot going on. When you play high-level hockey, that’s gonna happen. So, you know to get the shot off so that you can brace for the impact. Because if you don’t, they’re taking you out on a stretcher or you’re done for the game. I love watching him play hockey just like I love watching my younger son play baseball. They’re doing things that I can only enjoy the experience of watching. I’ll never understand the doing. I’ll never understand how they do what they do. I just get to be the proud dad going, “Unbelievable that you can do these things.” My youngest was like, “Dad, I got a splitter. I can throw a splitter now.” And I used to coach him up until a couple years ago when he went beyond my abilities. But he’s still beautiful and he’s like, “Hey, Dad, can you help me with my splitter?” And the truth is, no, I can’t.

David Read:
That’s the thing. I can encourage you. I can cheer you on.

Dan Payne:
If you’ve got some really base-level things that I can help you with, maybe you’re closing your chest too soon or you’re not driving your hip, sure. But you’re talking about where the thread hold is and what pressure to put on what finger.

David Read:
Some of these athletes— I loved the Olympics. I loved watching Ilia Malinin do his quadruple axel. Both his parents were pro skaters. He can’t go to them and say, “How do I do that?” No one’s ever done that. And it had never been achieved before. And now everyone’s expected to attempt it. Because if you wanna win, if you wanna get those points, you have to at least work toward it now. Some of these athletes, the stuff that we’re feeding ’em, my gosh, it’s just extraordinary stuff, the things that they can do. We are really testing the outer boundaries of sensory experience and excellence.

Dan Payne:
Humans are evolving. Training is evolving. Technology is evolving. And all of those things are coming into–

David Read:
And nutrition.

Dan Payne:
They’re happening sooner. Nutrition, everything. It’s all coming, and it’s hitting them earlier. I didn’t even start– Anyway–

David Read:
Go ahead, please. I wanna hear the end of that statement.

Dan Payne:
What’s that?

David Read:
You didn’t even start what?

Dan Payne:
I didn’t even start my career until well after what these kids would already be at the point of getting selected– I started my career when kids are now being scouted for their career.

David Read:
I see.

Dan Payne:
I grew up small town, and I started playing volleyball in junior high. And it was glorified, ridiculous, bounce a ball off your face by accident volleyball. And then at 15 I started taking it seriously. I went to camps and all that, and then found my way into being a professional. Cool. At 15, if you haven’t been scouted, your hockey career is over. If you’re not being looked at. Not scouted necessarily, but if you don’t have eyes on you at 15, you’re not going anywhere. You might get away with a bit of Junior B or maybe pro in Europe if you’re lucky. The same goes for my younger kid with baseball. If he’s not going to ID camps and getting eyes on and being in the rankings for the Perfect Game baseball rankings, the road to wherever you wanna go is infinitely more difficult.

David Read:
Is it because for that sport, the window for the maximized endurance is so slim?

Dan Payne:
Which one, hockey or baseball?

David Read:
Hockey.

Dan Payne:
I think that it got so much younger– Again, this is just speculation. But I think that it got so much younger because there is such a high-level elite amount of skill that if you don’t get that kid first, you miss out on that kid. And everybody in the league is so skilled that if you don’t find the next best things first, then you lose. Everybody’s looking for the next McDavid or Celebrini or what. And cool that Celebrini’s from North Van, by the way. Just saying. Just throwing that out there.

David Read:
There you go.

Dan Payne:
So is Bedard. Again, just saying it out loud. But these kids, there’s so much demand to be the next best thing that when they show promise early, they’re getting looked at so much earlier, because you don’t wanna miss that boat. Whereas there was no boat when I was a kid. Eventually you get to the thing and you’re like, “Hey, can I be on that boat?” And they’re like, “Oh, I don’t know. Let’s see. Yeah, you can.” Different dynamics, different eras. I wanted to say, David, one of the quotes that I read recently, which is really starting to hit home, is, “Your dad is the only person who truly wants you to be better than him in every way.” If you talk purely in terms of pursuing your sporting career, I want you to get as far as you possibly can, whatever that is, and be the best version of yourself. In essence, that’s what I think it means to be better than you are in every way. I want you to be a better husband. I want you to be a better human being. I want you to be a better all of those things. And they’re now at that age where I’m like, “Well, that really has some weight now.” I hope I’ve done the groundwork for this to be the truth very soon.

David Read:
“It is a poor student who cannot surpass their teacher.”

Dan Payne:
There’s another one. We just got heavy, bud. We just got heavy.

David Read:
This is half the reason I do this, brother.

Dan Payne:
There we go.

David Read:
Looking back over Stargate, which of those characters are you proudest of?

Dan Payne:
Oof. I’m grateful that I have a lot to choose from, but I’m gonna pick the two go-tos. For SG-1, it has to be the Kull Warrior because of the ominous nature of it and the way they rolled him out. I felt like something cool, like a big piece of this already established amazing machine. So, that was neat. It was powerful, and you couldn’t kill it, and all that. It was neat. Neat, that’s not the right word. It was exciting to be the–

David Read:
It was special.

Dan Payne:
It was special. Anyway, it was exciting to be the person, the body inside that thing. The other one would’ve been the Uber Wraith because I almost beat up Momoa. I like to always say that if the Puddle Jumper didn’t cheat with the missile, I would’ve.

David Read:
Dismissal by missile.

Dan Payne:
Dismissal by missile, baby. So, that was really cool to have that, because I’m drawn to the Ronon characters. I’m drawn to that and sort of go to war with that guy, and be what I consider the big green biker of the universe. Getting to battle the Ronon character, that’s a pretty cool honor, going toe-to-toe with the big dog. Those ones meant a lot. And both had really fun physical components and stunts. James Bamford, back in the day, was coordinating for the Uber Wraith, and I think it was my first ratchet. It might’ve been my first ever ratchet.

David Read:
I wouldn’t be surprised.

Dan Payne:
It could’ve been.

David Read:
That’s pulling back through the barrels and smacking into the back wall supposedly.

Dan Payne:
And then blowing up. But that’s on a button, on a wire that just… Bam Bam, or James, I don’t know if he still goes by Bam Bam. Anyway, Bam Bam is an incredibly cool guy. His essence is uber cool. But he’s also phenomenal at what he does. He’s now a director. Was second unit directing back then, I think, and then stunt coordinating, and I just knew that it was gonna be cool. It was gonna be great, safe, and push those boundaries we talked about earlier in this conversation. I was going into a full level of discomfort. We’re gonna strap you to a wire, rip you through some things, and then reset, and then rip you into a wall. What? That sounds crazy, but I’m in, because Bam Bam’s got me, and this is a very exciting part of a story I get to tell. Let’s do it.

David Read:
For the rest of your life.

Dan Payne:
For the rest of my life.

David Read:
“Should you survive…”

Dan Payne:
I did.

David Read:
Did you get to do any of your own ADR for that thing? Did you get to make any of the growls or sounds that they were able to enhance?

Dan Payne:
Yeah.

David Read:
I always wondered about that. I always meant to ask you that. ‘Cause I don’t even think he speaks any words. I think it’s just animalistic rage. Did he have a line?

Dan Payne:
For the Uber Wraith?

David Read:
Yeah.

Dan Payne:
That was rage. But I got to ADR the Kull Warrior when they took the mask off and I was chained to the wall.

David Read:
“I serve Anubis.”

Dan Payne:
“I serve Anubis.” That was cool. They contorted it and played with it, but I got to give the base track.

David Read:
There has to be some kind of other worldliness to it, for sure. I am thrilled that you’ve taken the time with us today. I’m glad to see you’re good and well.

Dan Payne:
Honestly, we’ve already done an hour …

David Read:
I know.

Dan Payne:
… ish? Holy s–

David Read:
Isn’t that wild?

Dan Payne:
For me, that’s a sign of a great conversation, so I’m grateful to you. Thank you.

David Read:
Thank you. Do you have a few more minutes?

Dan Payne:
Got a couple more, yeah.

David Read:
All right. Pamelaterajack:” Any memories of working on Good Witch? It’s one of my favorite shows, and my parents and I are rewatching it now.” Good Witch?

Dan Payne:
Yeah.

David Read:
So, not an IMDb fail?

Dan Payne:
No, no, that’s me. That’s me.

David Read:
I’m all nervous now if I don’t recognize the title. It’s like, “Uh, I’m gonna fix this one.”

Dan Payne:
Crank Yankers is the only one, and it’s funny that came up. And I’m actually glad it came up ’cause I didn’t know how to, I guess, let the universe know that–

David Read:
It doesn’t sound very PG.

Dan Payne:
I don’t know what it is. But whatever. And kudos to the guy who did it. But The Good Witch. A couple things. I got to film in Toronto. I got to meet Catherine Bell. She’s stunning. I got to be her love interest for a whole season. Get to the hard part, there wasn’t any. What a great job to be at. She was my first port of call to meet her because I was gonna play her love interest. And she put me at ease right away. She is very sweet. A sweet and incredibly talented human being. I got to know the rest of the crew and cast through her. So, she was my, let’s call it, guide. Again, I’m now relocating to Toronto for shooting this season. So, I’m in a new town. I’m away from my family.

David Read:
This is then.

Dan Payne:
And I didn’t know anybody. She was an incredible guide. I got to play an archeologist. I got to hit on Catherine Bell repeatedly. Not a hard gig. Also, the wardrobe was really nice. I think I asked to keep everything. The wardrobe on that was, I don’t know, just–

David Read:
You could wear it in public and not look like a freak for one of your characters. So, there you go.

Dan Payne:
It just spoke to me. It was very fun. And also, I think the premise of the thing is about connection and hope and love and all the good things that I think are fun to tell. Again, sorry if this is a tangent. Is it Pamela?

David Read:
Yes, Pamela. That’s correct.

Dan Payne:
Pamela. So, hopefully, that answers your question, Pamela. It was incredible. I got to enjoy Toronto. I had all my preconceived– ‘Cause there’s always the east versus the west and eh, Toronto. I got to go there and dispel all the baloney that people in the west say about it ’cause it was fun. Would I live there? Maybe not, ’cause I’m more of an ocean and trees kinda guy. But there was a lot of really unbelievable cool things about Toronto. So, I’m grateful to Toronto for being awesome hosts. But the cool thing about Good Witch and other Hallmark-related type of stories that I’ve got to tell is the biggest ego boost I get is grocery shopping and having an incredibly wonderful lady in her midlife come up to me and say, “Hey, I know who you are, and I love your Hallmark this,” or, “I love the movies that you’ve done,” or– I’ll walk around with the biggest, goofiest grin on my face for that day because they just filled my cup 1000% over. Overfilled my cup. Hopefully, I also selfishly wanna think that I’m approachable enough. That I give off that vibe of, “Hey, come and say ‘hi.’ I’m more than happy to have a chat.” The two of those things coming together, I get a big smile for the rest of the day when that happens. So, I’m glad that I’m in …

David Read:
RBF is a real thing.

Dan Payne:
… Good Witch.

David Read:
You’ve gotta– Not everyone is approachable that way, so sometimes they just look like a resting hmm. So, there you go. Ah, that’s awesome. Dude, it’s been so good to hang out with you and spend some time with you.

Dan Payne:
You too, brother.

David Read:
Anything specific on the horizon that we should keep an eye out for?

Dan Payne:
No. Fire Country. If you haven’t had a chance, I guess it’s out now. Take a look at that. Had a lot of fun on that one. I did a short that I’m looking forward to. It’s gonna hit a circuit and be out there. I’m teaching, actually. I’m teaching a lot now. I’ve created my own school.

David Read:
What? We’re talking about this now?

Dan Payne:
Sorry.

David Read:
At 58:52?

Dan Payne:
Yeah.

David Read:
More, please.

Dan Payne:
Talk quickly. I had a lot of mentors and a lot of great people who helped me and supported me along my career. I feel like after 25 years of doing this and having been around incredible actors and been supported by incredible people, I feel very much like I should and have something to offer back to those coming in and those wanting to learn and grow. So, I started a school called DP2 Acting School, and I’m actually now offering it on Zoom as well. And people can audit. They can join it as just a non-participating auditor to learn and hear, less on the doing side, but more on the theory and learning side. I do the in-person thing. It’s an audition process primarily. I’ve got a scene study class starting, and I love it. I gotta say, I love it. There we go.

David Read:
Look at this. My gosh. You’ve been holding out on me.

Dan Payne:
Sorry, man. I am loving it. I love teaching almost as much as I love being in front of the camera and doing. But I wanna give everybody that I can and everybody who wants the opportunity to get that experience. To be in front of the camera, to book jobs, and feel comfortable that some of the things that I can help with will get you there a lot sooner and get you in touch with your process, and I think that all the magic happens once you do the homework. So, I’m trying to teach people how to do the homework, build their process, so that when the camera rolls, they are being and they’re present and they’re listening and responding and living in that world they created.

David Read:
It’s a huge difference that you can make for yourself when you are not playing catch-up through lack of preparation when you’re there. Because you’re gonna have to pivot for a million things anyway. That’s just the nature of the beast when you do this stuff. There’s things that are not gonna go according to plan. But if you can give yourself more runway by preparing for the stuff that you have been concretely given, you’re all the better for it. So, where can people reach out to you for this?

Dan Payne:
DP2Acting, DP and then the number two, Acting at gmail.com. That’s the school email. That’s how you can reach out to me. Then also, @DP2ActingSchool on Instagram. Feel free to DM me through there. To speak quickly to what you said, ’cause now you got me all excited in the teacher mode, but doing your homework means being specific, and that specificity builds a freedom, the freedom to be present in that world because you understand it completely. And once you’re in the world, then authenticity will reign supreme. So, you’re no longer showing. If you’re thinking and you’re up here chasing words or parts of the story that you haven’t been specific about, then you’re thinking. You’re not being present. You’re not in the moment with somebody. I like to teach those things so that you can be authentic and truthful. You don’t have to be interesting. You have to be truthful, because dealing with the truth is what becomes interesting.

David Read:
Because if you’ve internalized it, then it’s already in here. It’s not up in here the entire time rattling around.

Dan Payne:
You’re being. You’re not thinking. You’re being. And if you do have thoughts, they’re the character’s thoughts. You’re listening, seeing, and hearing, and thinking as the character. So, those are not Dan thoughts. Those are the character’s thoughts, ’cause if they’re Dan thoughts, I’m not in it.

David Read:
That’s cool, man. Thank you for sharing that. I’ll put that information in the description below when we’re done.

Dan Payne:
Thank you, man.

David Read:
This has been great. Thank you for taking the time to share and catching up. Who knows about …

Dan Payne:
Good, back at ya.

David Read:
… the future? We’re gonna see what happens. So, thanks for stopping by, brother.

Dan Payne:
I appreciate the opportunity, and it’s always great to chat with you.

David Read:
It’s good to speak with you again. I apologize for it taking as long as it has. We should’ve had you back far sooner. I was looking at… It said 032 was the last time I had him on. It’s like, “That is unacceptable.” That was in 2020.

Dan Payne:
All good, man. Hey, lives, right? We cross paths when we’re meant to. So, I think …

David Read:
That’s exactly right.

Dan Payne:
… this was when I was supposed to have it, and I’m glad I did. So, thank you.

David Read:
Please take care of yourself and, truly, all the best to you. I hope this continues to be great. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, there are few jobs on this Earth more important than teaching, so good on you.

Dan Payne:
Thanks, man.

David Read:
All right.

Dan Payne:
Thank you.

David Read:
I’m gonna wrap up the show on this side. I’ll speak to you soon, OK?

Dan Payne:
Peace.

David Read:
You take care of yourself. Bye-bye.

Dan Payne:
Bye.

David Read:
That is Dan Payne, everyone, actor in Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, multiple roles, from the Kull Warrior, Uber Wraith, Jaffa, Laura Roslin’s former student in Battlestar Galactica. The guy, he is one of the best. Last week, I sent out a very personal video, and I have been blown away by the response. I set up a Patreon. For the longest time, I’ve been doing this show out of my own pocket, and I’ve always felt that that’s the way that you should be doing it ’cause that’s how it works. I can’t sit down and ask people to give me stuff. I’m creating something. I’m putting something out there into the universe, because if there is an ultimate, “Why are you here?” I really take Data’s note from “The Offspring:” to contribute in a positive way to the world in which you live. But I got to the point where I couldn’t do it alone anymore, especially with the show coming back. And I have been humbled beyond words by the support of fellow Stargate fans out there. I don’t have words to express the wellspring of support that has risen up to sustain me. And I’ve only had this thing public for a handful of days so far. And I think that the common thread of what it is that I’m getting back, because I’ve made sure to let everyone know who’s joined how much this means to me, is that what I was doing was that I was robbing people of the opportunity to support the project, if I’m gonna delineate all of the messages that I’ve gotten. That’s really the big takeaway, and that’s on me. And I’ve had to reconfigure my headspace to recognize the fact that that is an error on my part. So, if you wanna continue to support Dial the Gate, because it is gonna get bigger, it is available at patreon.com/dialthegate. And if you don’t like Patreon, but you still wanna support the show, you can reach out to me at [email protected], because it is me accepting the fact that no one goes it alone. And I really appreciate everyone’s support. It has been a paradigm shift in the past few days, how at peace with myself I am because this has proven to be a venture, a project that will be able to take care of me while I create it. So thank you. If you enjoy Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on the interwebs, do me a favor, 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 the video with a Stargate friend, a Disneyphile, a Cabin in the Woods fanatic. And if you wanna get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. And if you click the Bell icon, it’ll 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 weeks on Dial the Gate. Tremendous thanks to Jakub, our mod captain for this episode, pulling this off, and Antony as well. Lockwatcher and Marcia stopped by as well. Really appreciate everyone for making this possible. Tremendous thanks to Frederick Marcoux over at ConceptsWeb, who just turned 30 years old. Happy birthday, buddy. He is the reason that we have a proper backend for the show, and he makes a huge difference for it. So happy birthday, my friend. And thank you all for tuning in and making the show continuously possible. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you. Thanks for tuning in. I’ll see you on the other side.