Join us for an intimate conversation with the actors behind “Ka’lel,” “Varro” and “Amelia Banks” as they reflect on their careers and the upcoming return of the Stargate franchise.

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TRANSCRIPT
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Simone Bailly:
Hi.

Mike Dopud:
Hi. Hey.

Sharon Taylor:
Hi.

Simone Bailly:
I’m excited to sit with you guys and talk about the new Stargate series that was just announced at Amazon.

Sharon Taylor:
Stargate’s back.

Mike Dopud:
Stargate’s back. It’s been a while.

Simone Bailly:
Question. Do you remember how you found out about the news?

Sharon Taylor:
I do. My mom texted me. My mom is my biggest fan. It’s actually really funny. I think she Googles my name every once in a while, just to see what pops up.

Mike Dopud:
I love it.

Sharon Taylor:
But she Googled… She sent me the… Actually, she sent me your interview that you did with the team, with the Stargate team, announcing it. She’s like, “Look, Stargate’s back.”

Simone Bailly:
‘Cause she’s subscribed to Dial the Gate and GateWorld.

Sharon Taylor:
Probably.

Simone Bailly:
She’s the number one fan.

Mike Dopud:
That’s awesome.

Simone Bailly:
That’s awesome. That’s really cool.

Mike Dopud:
How did I find out? I think it was on TikTok.

Simon Bailly:
Really?

Mike Dopud:
TikTok. No, Instagram. And just watching, and all of a sudden… I was actually doing a movie with Paul McGillion. And he goes, “You hear the news?” And I said, “Yes, I did. Did you?” He goes, “Yeah.” So, we’re pretty exciting. And then I proceeded to text Martin Gero and say, “Hey, how are you? How you doing? Congratulations.” No, I don’t expect to be back. So, for me it’s a matter of congratulations, I can’t believe the news, and same with Joe Mallozzi. So that was fun. That was good to find out about it. I was a little surprised, ’cause I hadn’t heard anything leading up to it. Did you guys?

Simone Bailly:
I had a sneaking suspicion that it might very well happen, and I would check the news every once in a while. But that day, I don’t know how I saw it. I think it was Instagram as well.
And it was a combo of maybe Dial the Gate, GateWorld, a little bit of the trades, and in one day, it was like… And my jaw was like, “Oh my God.” I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited. And then I just went down the rabbit hole that whole day, researching articles, looking at trades, reading as much as I could, and then watching the YouTube shows and seeing what was everyone saying and going down the rabbit hole about… ‘Cause Martin Gero I don’t know that well, ’cause I’m an SG-1 girl. Was he in SG-1?

Mike Dopud:
I think he did some SG-1.

Simone Bailly:
But he wasn’t as forefront in my experience at the time, personally. But I do know his wife. Her and I go way back, so that’s very exciting. I was so excited. Chris Judge, who’s a friend of mine, when I lived in LA he would call me once in a while and we’d always talk about potential things. I’m really excited.

Sharon Taylor:
You guys are both so optimistic. I was a little bit like, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Simone Bailly:
Really?

Sharon Taylor:
‘Cause there’s been so much stuff online for so many years, saying, “It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.” But then when I actually saw the Dial the Gate video with David and Darren, I was like, “Oh, OK, it is real.”

Mike Dopud:
Yeah… Joe and I talk every once in a while, Joe Mallozzi and I, and we were talking about his project that I was producing and trying to get together, and he never mentioned it to me. Never said, “Mike, there might be Stargate coming back,” and never said a word to me. And I’m like, “Oh.” And, then it came out, I’m like, “Well, I thought we were closer than that, but that’s OK.”
My feelings weren’t hurt. Just a little.

Simone Bailly:
But Joe’s been in the biz so long.

Mike Dopud:
I know.

Simone Bailly:
He has decades of this probably.

Mike Dopud:
Also, I know all of us, too, have seen… It’s not a sure thing until the papers are signed. So, you never know what could happen. But it’s about time. I think Stargate needs to be back. The fans’ reactions were wild to me. How they were so excited about Stargate potentially coming back. And now that it is, it’s such a great thing.

Simone Bailly:
I would add that even the cast is just as excited. We’re all, “OK. Even if I died, I could come back.” ‘Cause it’s sci-fi. Anything can happen.

Sharon Taylor:
The stories are endless. Regardless of the OG cast members, the actual stories are endless for that. And the fact that they can incorporate the OG cast members from SG-1 and Atlantis. There’s so many storylines they can do. There’s so many characters.

Simone Bailly:
True.

Mike Dopud:
And it’s not a reboot, correct? It’s still gonna be… It’s a new Stargate, but I guess they’ll incorporate some of the old cast to some extent. I don’t know, but who knows?

Sharon Taylor:
I’m gonna throw this out there. This is my guess. It’s gonna be Samantha Carter’s daughter… is the lead probably, and she’s… I don’t know. I’m just throwing that out there. And it’s her trials and tribulations of trying to make it through the Stargate Program.

Simone Bailly:
Online they have said that Mike Shanks, Amanda Tapping, and Ben Browder have all been contacted previously. And then they were all given an email of, “Hey, we’re back.” There’s a bit of “wink, wink.”

David Read:
All of the cast were contacted, everybody.

Sharon Taylor:
All the cast were, yes, contacted. I saw that too. And I actually think that’s a really lovely courtesy.

David Read:
It was a classy notification.

Sharon Taylor:
It’s so classy.

Simone Bailly:
Classy move. Love it. So, what excites you about the new Stargate series?

Mike Dopud:
For me, I guess technology. I think will potentially… could potentially make it better. Because I can’t even remember when we started, ’97, ’96, ’97 the series started. I would think that technology and what they’re able to do with the different worlds and the different places they can go… I think it leads to potentially a lot more planets and worlds that they could go to, and diverse. They would be so different. And they can do that now. So that’ll be interesting. And to see where they… what storylines they come up with will be great. What about you? What do you think?

Sharon Taylor:
I also think that, as a world, we have become a little bit more spiritually aware in the last 20 years. And I think that the original Stargate shows had a bit of that spiritual awareness that was always touched on a little bit but still had a little bit of the playfulness. So, I think that you can bring in a lot of what’s happening in today’s world without obviously touching hot topics but still bring up that spiritual element of everything.

Mike Dopud:
And you?

Simone Bailly:
To touch on what you said, Amazon obviously has deep pockets, so we don’t have the restrictions of a lot of budgetary concerns, ’cause I think initially with the series filming in Vancouver, it was because the dollar stretched further here. And also some of the series, I think Universe had, correct me if I’m wrong, had a smaller budget, so it was kind of almost not quite a bottle episode, but having it all on the same set continually more often than not, even though they did go to other worlds and traveled to Earth, I guess. Now, they can do whatever they want. So, if they even need to reverse-age people, they could, especially the effects are whatever. And I love hearing the news that they’re already reaching out to all the best effects houses right now for the new series. I think that’s really juicy. Yeah, there’s a ton of stuff I’m really excited for. I love the idea of the fan service and bringing back a lot of elements and characters and places, and also just seeing where the new technology goes and the new characters and all that. Would you like to come back as your character or someone new?

Sharon Taylor:
I’ve already thought about this as soon as they announced it. I was like, “OK.” Amelia Banks would be the captain of her own ship by now. That’s obvious. She’s a middle-aged woman. Come on. And she would have had children with Ronon Dex, and they’d be crazy and wild. And then because Ronon’s character is a runner like Mike’s character, he’d have to be the godfather, and then he’d have to be looking out for all these crazy teenagers. And then Simone’s character, they’d end up on the planet with all the Jaffa, and then they’d have a Romeo and Juliet thing between my crazy kids and Simone’s Jaffa kids. The storylines are endless.

Mike Dopud:
That’s amazing.

Sharon Taylor:
Thanks.

Mike Dopud:
I’m glad you thought about that. It’s in-depth. I like it. What about you? What character… Would you like to come back as a character, or…

Simone Bailly:
I do love Ka’lel, and I love the journey that she’s had. And so now she’s kind of running the show.

Sharon Taylor:
She’d be the queen of her planet. Right?

Simone Bailly:
Yeah. I think there’s a lot of interesting things that they could explore. If they go back in time, which also has been suggested that that might happen, where people do origin stories of certain storylines, I think it would be interesting to see perhaps the origin of the Hak’tyl and that. But then also I’d like to be in a fast-forward mode where we see maybe Ka’lel in a love relationship or two and see maybe she dates another alien, and maybe she dates someone you know like…

Sharon Taylor:
Ben Browder’s character.

Simone Bailly:
… like Eli. Or whoever. Maybe there’s a crossover and who knows? I think it’d be cool to see a bunch of characters jam from all three main series, in my opinion. You as Varro on Stargate Universe, remember, you’re on ice.

Mike Dopud:
Yes. Now, that would be amazing to find out what happened. Do we survive? Hopefully we do. And that was the funny thing when we did that, when everybody was on ice, it was like, “Yeah, we’re negotiating for Season Three. And whoever doesn’t come back, it’s ’cause the negotiations didn’t work out, so…”

Sharon Taylor:
They stay on ice.

Mike Dopud:
“… they stay on ice.” “Oh, well, that character didn’t make it,” or that character. I’m like, “Well, wait a second.” And then we got canceled promptly right after that conversation.
But no, I would love to find out what happens with Varro. I’d venture to say that he was a leader as well, leader of men. So, I think he would be put in that position because he finally became a member of the crew. Being in the Lucian Alliance, he was probably the only guy that was able to become a member of Stargate. I think that would be an interesting storyline and see how far they can go with that. And see where his relationships with TJ ended up, and if it progressed, if it moved forward, or if it stopped after we came to. But it’d be a lot of possibilities.

Sharon Taylor:
The storylines really are endless.

Simone Bailly:
I would definitely like to do some epic battle scenes too. Because I love doing action, and that would be awesome.

Sharon Taylor:
You should. Your character’s built like an Amazon lady to me.

Simone Bailly:
And I’m gonna plant that seed. I would love to direct as well.

Sharon Taylor:
Great.

Mike Dopud:
Look at you.

Sharon Taylor:
Throw it out there.

Mike Dopud:
I like it. Fight scenes. You don’t know anything about fight scenes.

Sharon Taylor:
No.

Simone Bailly:
Do you think they should bring in new lead characters, or work off who they already have in the existing character base?

Mike Dopud:
They’d have to bring in new characters.

Sharon Taylor:
They’d have to.

Simone Bailly:
Really?

Mike Dopud:
I think they would have to bring in new characters. Absolutely.

Simone Bailly:
There’s nothing wrong with bringing people you’ve already got.

Mike Dopud:
Well, they have to do that as well.

Simone Bailly:
It’s a great idea.

Mike Dopud:
I think they have to do that as well, bring people back. But I do think there’s probably… there has to be a new set of characters to lead the way. Just because I think what they’d said also is they wanted to bring in a new fan base as well. So, that might be a way to create a new fan base with other actors, or popular actors and such.

Sharon Taylor:
That maybe have their own following already.

Mike Dopud:
Exactly. And I think that would be an interesting… But why not have both? I think you can. I think it’s possible.

Simone Bailly:
I also believe, though, that you don’t always need already-existing famous people. I do believe that you can make people. Because remember, Momoa… that was one of his first series, was it not?

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah.

Mike Dopud:
Absolutely. Yup.

Simone Bailly:
And look at him now. Baby’s all grown up.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s right. He’s a superhero now.

Simone Bailly:
So, there’s that.

Mike Dopud:
That’s right. I’m thinking of Varro as a great character. But man, there’s… I was very fortunate to play a couple different ones. And Joe Mallozzi would always… He had the perfect way… I wish… I can’t remember how he did it, but there was a way that three characters were intertwined, and how…

Simone Bailly:
The ones that you played?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah.

Sharon Taylor:
‘Cause you’re one of the only actors…

Mike Dopud:
I know.

Sharon Taylor:
… that’s actually played in all three.

Mike Dopud:
It’s wild.

Simone Bailly:
It’s almost like an EGOT.

Mike Dopud:
In my own mind, sure.

Sharon Taylor:
He’s the Easter egg.

Simone Bailly:
I’m being demented. But it’s great.

Mike Dopud:
No, but it’s cool.

Simone Bailly:
Trifecta.

Mike Dopud:
I think it… in that way. But I’m curious to see, ’cause you brought up Jason Momoa, and the character Kiryk too, to see what would happen…

Sharon Taylor:
With them together.

Mike Dopud:
‘Cause he went through the gate. See what happens if they were able to go on a mission. I know they discussed that before. That Jason and I go on these missions, and that would have been badass, I think.

Sharon Taylor:
That would have been so fun. In fact, both you guys had badass costumes, with your leathers and your top warrior stuff.

Simone Bailly:
Leather.

Sharon Taylor:
I was dorky.

Mike Dopud:
That was the thing. I always had to wear leather on this show.

Sharon Taylor:
‘Cause you look so good in it. That’s why.

Mike Dopud:
No.

Simone Bailly:
And shout out to the costumers, too.

Sharon Taylor:
Pardon me?

David Read:
You were not dorky. Thanks, costumer.

Sharon Taylor:
Thank you. Thank you. I was very official.

Simone Bailly:
Where do you think the new Stargate series should film and why?

Sharon Taylor:
It should obviously…

Mike Dopud:
That’s not a loaded question.

Simone Bailly:
No bias.

Sharon Taylor:
Don’t film in Vancouver ’cause that’s literally where the whole cast lives. Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, everybody, we all live here.

Mike Dopud:
Obviously, it’s a biased opinion, but I would say Vancouver. It’s gotta be in Vancouver.

Simone Bailly:
And like I’ve said, I think it makes sense ’cause if Martin, I believe, is in LA, his wife was from Vancouver, hint, hint. And then also if Joe’s out east and he likes Vancouver. And the brewery. I don’t know. I think it would make a lot of…

Sharon Taylor:
He likes the sushi over here.

Simone Bailly:
I think being on the West Coast makes sense for the timeline when you’re talking to LA. But you never know. They might go to Europe.

Mike Dopud:
They could go to Europe.

Simone Bailly:
Because somebody… There’s other places that are…

Mike Dopud:
There’s New Mexico. They could go…

Simone Bailly:
They’re really cool.

Mike Dopud:
Europe.

Simone Bailly:
Or they’re cost-effective. Or they’re whatever.

Sharon Taylor:
Europe would provide for all sorts of interesting-looking universes if you were in some of those medieval towns and stuff like that in Europe.

Simone Bailly:
But Vancouver has a very diverse landscape, and we play for a lot of places.

Mike Dopud:
But BC, more specifically, ’cause…

Sharon Taylor:
You literally drive up to the north or middle of BC to Kamloops and it looks like the desert.

Mike Dopud:
And you could do that. That’s true too. So, it’s gotta be BC. How about we put it at that?

Simone Bailly:
Vancouver.

Mike Dopud:
It’s gotta be Vancouver or BC.

Simone Bailly:
Go Vancouver.

Sharon Taylor:
Our hockey team’s not doing well, but that’s OK. But we have… We’re gonna bring Stargate back here.

Simone Bailly:
My real dream too is to film in Thailand. I’d love to do where we go someplace also. A little…

Sharon Taylor:
Go through the Stargate.

Simone Bailly:
… field trip.

Sharon Taylor:
In the middle of Thailand.

Mike Dopud:
Why not?

Sharon Taylor:
Anything’s possible.

Simone Bailly:
Yes. Do you have a favorite Stargate episode? Not necessarily that you were in, but that you like to watch?

Sharon Taylor:
Honestly, I watched all of Atlantis. And one of my favorite episodes was actually the one that… “Tracker,” right?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s the name. The one that Mike was in. Because I was friends with Kyra Zagorsky and Aleks Paunovic and I had not met you at the time. But I saw it and I was like, “This is such a great episode.” It plays into Ronon’s backstory, and it was so great with the kid and all of it. That was probably my favorite. And you guys were so good in it.

Mike Dopud:
Thanks. Yeah, no. That’s one of my favorites. There’s a lot of good ones, but yes, probably the ones that I was in, ’cause you just have it… when you’re in it and you watch something, there’s a different feeling. Not that I watch a lot of my stuff, but Stargate’s always cool because of all the action that’s involved and the character development I always thought was really interesting. For me, yeah, there were… again, that episode, “Tracker,” was great. There were a few on Universe too, that were… The last two episodes of Season One. I can’t remember what they were called again.

David Read:
You mean “Incursion”?

Mike Dopud:
In SGU, yeah.

David Read:
“Incursion,” but in Season Two, “Common Descent” and “Epilogue,” where they aged you.

Mike Dopud:
Yes. That was interesting too.

Sharon Taylor:
That would be cool.

Mike Dopud:
The aging process was really interesting. Where we ended up and who we ended up with was different. For me, it was how I came up on board as Lucian Alliance. And then all of a sudden, we get in this battle, and I realize things are going off the rails. And then I end up with a love interest with TJ, and that sort of started brewing there, so it was percolating.

Sharon Taylor:
And who played TJ?

Mike Dopud:
Alaina Huffman. And so, that was really cool to see where that went. So, a lot of action, a lot of crazy stuff happened. Again, like I said, character development, love interests. So, as a guy, as an actor, it’s always great to be able to play all these different elements. Not just the typical bad…

Sharon Taylor:
Explore the sensitive side, the vulnerable side, and be the bad guy.

Mike Dopud:
And not just be a bad guy or just be a tough guy or whatever. So, it was always fun to play.

Sharon Taylor:
What’s yours, Simone?

Mike Dopud:
Tell me. Do tell.

Simone Bailly:
I really have a soft spot for “Window of Opportunity,” which is like the movie Groundhog Day, where every single day they relive…

Mike Dopud:
Wow, that’s right.

Simone Bailly:
…the same day over and over again, and it becomes wacko. Anyway, it’s really good.

Sharon Taylor:
It’s always fun. That’s always a fun trope.

Simone Bailly:
I do painting, so I actually did a painting of the mustard and ketchup plate, happy face, which is out there. So that’s really fun. And I also have a soft spot for the episode in SG-1 where Sam Carter has to navigate the awkwardness of having a quasi-love relationship with a child, because he’s been embodied in a child’s body when it’s really an…

Sharon Taylor:
Weird.

Simone Bailly:
…adult person. What is that called again?

David Read:
“Fourth Horseman.”

Simone Bailly:
Yes, “Fourth Horseman.”

Mike Dopud:
Gosh, you’re good.

Simone Bailly:
Which I was in, on the other side, as Ka’lel. I really like that episode, because she plays it so well and it’s so awkward. It was a really great episode. I have lots. With Roland Emmerich in the mix on the new Stargate series, there may be an opportunity to release another Stargate movie or movies. And if Stargate 4 goes really well, which I’m optimistic it will, there’s a chance that they could release other Stargate spinoffs. Thoughts?

Sharon Taylor:
I guess the possibilities are endless. You look at the FBI franchise. They’ve gone off in so many, or CSI even, CSI: Las Vegas, CSI: Miami.

Mike Dopud:
NCIS.

Sharon Taylor:
NCIS.

Mike Dopud:
All of them.

Sharon Taylor:
They’re in New Orleans. There’s so many. When you have great storylines and great characters, possibilities are endless.

Mike Dopud:
They are. I think a feature would be really cool. A couple big, big features would be really interesting to see Roland Emmerich. Obviously, he does a lot of the big blockbuster movies, so that would be really cool to see, I think.

Simone Bailly:
Imagine what…

Mike Dopud:
The spinoffs.

Simone Bailly:
…they can do now.

Mike Dopud:
And the spinoff. I like it. I like where you’re going with that.

Simone Bailly:
I don’t have Disney+ currently, but I have, at times. And I…

Sharon Taylor:
Same. I’m like, “Is there anything good on there right now? OK, sure, I’ll renew my subscription. OK, then I’m done.”

Simone Bailly:
Huge fan of Andor. I loved the…That was a fantastic Star Wars series. I’m a fan of the well-executed spinoff.

Sharon Taylor:
You’re right, Star Wars is a great example. All the different spinoff TV shows.

Simone Bailly:
And if you look at the Star Wars model, the Marvel model, all those… I guess the reviews, though, are mixed, ’cause obviously, they can’t be 100% every single time. Some are way stronger than others.

Sharon Taylor:
Some of them make a great limited series, like Agatha All Along and WandaVision.

Simone Bailly:
Love WandaVision. What a fresh series.

Sharon Taylor:
They make them so good.

Simone Bailly:
I like that a lot. So, I’m excited. I’m optimistic that it will happen. How did you initially get involved in Stargate? Talk about the casting process and how your role or roles developed.

Sharon Taylor:
My story’s a little weird, because I started off as a completely different character. I got cast as a replicator technician, a character that had no name, in Season Four. And then, a month or two later, I get a call from my agent saying, “Oh, they’re bringing you back.” And they send you the script, which, in those days, was by courier. So, it arrives at your house by courier. I’m like, and it says, “Sharon Taylor as Amelia Banks, Atlantis technician.” And I thought, “Oh, they have the wrong Sharon Taylor. They have the wrong person.” So, I call my agent, I go, “I think they have the wrong person. I was a replicator technician.” And he’s like, “Oh, I’ll check.” Then he went and checked, he said, “Nope, it’s you. That’s who they want.” And he’s laughing too, ’cause he’s like, “You’re probably the only actor that would ever question that. Most actors would just show up.”

Mike Dopud:
“Yeah, that was me. That’s me.”

Sharon Taylor:
“Yeah, that’s me. I can also ride a horse.” Or whatever else actors say. Then I show up, and the next thing I know, I’m Amelia Banks, which is on the good guy ship. ‘Cause the replicators were the bad guy ship. And I did say to Joe Mallozzi, I said, “I was a replicator before, and now I’m on the good guy ship.” And he said, “Well, replicators replicate people, so maybe that replicator was a replicated version of Amelia Banks, an image of her. So here she is on this ship.” I’m like, “Great, I’ll take it.”

Simone Bailly:
Gotta love sci-fi.

Sharon Taylor:
Gotta love sci-fi.

Mike Dopud:
No kidding. What about you? What was your journey into the Stargate universe?

Simone Bailly:
I was pretty green when I started as a film actor at that time. And I went in for an audition, thinking it was a one-episode part. And Ka’lel ended up playing over three seasons recurring on Stargate SG-1, which was pretty awesome. And I think I kinda cut my teeth a little bit on the show and definitely, Chris Judge was a huge mentor of mine. He really… ’cause he was so seasoned, technically. ‘Cause there’s the aspect of acting, but then there’s the aspect of technical acting, which I just didn’t really know.

Sharon Taylor:
‘Cause you don’t know until you’re there on set doing it. It’s hard to teach.

Simone Bailly:
So, there’d be times where it was somebody’s coverage and he would just physically pull me so that we’d be in a better eye line, or he knew how to…

Mike Dopud:
Aw, that’s great.

Simone Bailly:
… help me out a lot.

Mike Dopud:
That’s giving.

Simone Bailly:
And those kinds of things are so helpful.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s so great.

Simone Bailly:
And I never forget that.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, good. That’s great of him. To be giving as an actor, it doesn’t always happen, as you guys probably have experienced before with some… but to have Chris do that, that’s amazing. That’s great.

Simone Bailly:
Soft spot for him as a friend.

Sharon Taylor:
How about you with your SG-1 character?

Mike Dopud:
It was weird because, for me, I started out doing stunt work on SG-1. I was a stuntman back in the day, so I was acting too, but stuntwise, I was busy and working, and I was very fortunate. And then I started doing stunt work, and I remember, Richard Dean Anderson, RDA, would say something. He goes, “OK. Hey, how many times have I killed you already?” “How many times have I shot you?” “How many times have…” I said, “I know, I know.” Then I was doing a play and a couple of casting directors, and I think Amanda Tapping went, Peter DeLuise went. And they saw me in this play and then they were like…

Sharon Taylor:
They were like, “He can act?”

Mike Dopud:
“You’re not a stunt guy. You’re an actor.” And I was like, “Well, thank you.” Peter sat me down and told me. He says, “You have to understand. You’re an actor.” I said, “Well, thank you. I appreciate that.” But I was like, “whatever,” and then the next thing you know, that sorta set the ball rolling, and then I started being brought in for a lot of auditions. And then I played a Russian character called Colonel Chernovshev, was my first acting thing on Stargate SG-1. And Michael Greenburg was like, “Well, why didn’t you ever tell me you were an actor? I thought you were just a stunt guy.” I said, ” we’re not just stunt guys.” But some guys act, some guys… I mean, I know some stunt guys that did plays, did theater, went to drama school, does the whole thing. But sometimes you get pigeonholed in a certain way and you just…

Sharon Taylor:
And you build a career that way.

Mike Dopud:
… ride the wave. Exactly.

Sharon Taylor:
You build a career.

Mike Dopud:
They build a career that way. Why change? Why rock the boat? But for me, I didn’t wanna stay doing stunts my whole career ’cause acting was my number one goal, I guess, in the film industry. That’s how it ended up happening. There you go.

Simone Bailly:
That’s pretty awesome. What was it like working on Stargate?

Sharon Taylor:
My experience was very similar to yours, where it was one of my very first professional…

Simone Bailly:
Really?

Sharon Taylor:
… shows I’ve ever worked on. And I was really nervous and I wanted to do a very good job. Which was really funny ’cause it played into my character, because my character was very official, opening and closing the Stargate. She really was by the book, doing a good job. And that was who I felt like I was inside. So, I was playing myself.

Mike Dopud:
Great.

Sharon Taylor:
And I– it was great because that was also where I learned all sorts of things: hitting your marks and catching your eye lines and doing all that. That was where I learned all that too, was on that show.

Mike Dopud:
Very cool. And it’s true. It helps. I mean, I was very fortunate too with all the guys. Everybody accepted me. And I think obviously because of the stunt work, and I’d done a lot of stuff with the show before. But again, still, it’s a different world as an actor than a stunt guy. But everybody was open and giving. I gotta say, the crew and the cast were fantastic with me. I mean, you guys obviously have experienced the same thing. So, very fortunate to get on a show when you start after they’ve been there for years, and then they, you know, they sit there and take you in and they’re there for you, ’cause a lot of shows… there’s people that are just tired and they wanna do their work and get out.

Sharon Taylor:
To that point, it was a well-oiled machine. So, when you are coming in, people aren’t as stressed out as they are on other shows where they’re still trying to find their legs the whole time and they don’t know how much money they’re spending on each episode. And when you come in on that show, everybody was really… had settled back into themselves, I feel like… ’cause the production team, Atlantis at least– because they’ve been doing it for so long at that point.

Simone Bailly:
Well, as I mentioned, I was pretty green at the time, and I was very fortunate. I got to have a lot of scenes with the SGC team, so all the leads of Stargate SG-1. It was such a privilege because Amanda Tapping was just… blew me away with her acting. And then Michael Shanks, he just had all that exposition all the time, and he just knew it, rattled it off…

Sharon Taylor:
So good.

Simone Bailly:
… so well. RDA was hilarious and he’d always just have those one-liner quips.

Mike Dopud:
Zingers.

Simone Bailly:
And then Chris Judge, ’cause he created my character. He wrote the episodes “Birthright” and “Sacrifices.” So, he and I would bond a lot of times in between takes or just as we were waiting to film, things like that. But for me, being on the planet Hak’tyl in the beginning, where you get to see this all-female planet of warrior women, it was so powerful to me as a woman. It even almost gets me choked up thinking about it. But just the world building that the production team did was so incredible. And we would drive far out and you’re like, “Where am I going?” And then you park and walk onto the set, and you’re like, “Wow, this is awesome.” And then they’ve got fire, and horses, and all these cool things. And also, because I was new, I did endow my character, my leader, which was Ishta. She was played by Jolene Blalock from Star Trek. And I, as the character and the actor, looked up to her. And so that was a little more method acting at the time for me. But even in between takes, I would just look up to her, and I’d just be like, “Wow, she’s like a blonde Angelina Jolie.” I just thought she was the most beautiful girl, and yeah, I was just really in awe. I was just impressed how they had my character evolve to more of a powerful position by the end. So, it was really special for me. Who were some of your favorite actors to work with on the show?

Sharon Taylor:
I mean, I didn’t have a lot of scenes with Paul McGillion, but I loved working with him ’cause he would make me laugh so much.

Mike Dopud:
Paul, Pauly’s the best. Pauly’s so funny. I just worked with him, so it was, again, to reconnect, and we hadn’t worked together in years, and it was just fun to… We just had a blast. They couldn’t shut us up. “OK, guys, we’re ready to roll. Let’s go.” “Sorry.” “We’re ready.” Then we’d be ready to go, but it was fun to be able to reconnect, and then we hung out, and were able to… it was two weeks of hanging out and working together. It was really fun, it was good. Pauly was great. I’m trying to think… I was very fortunate to work with… man, all the guys on SGU were great. Alaina Huffman was great. We became friends after working together in that, which is always nice. Same with Michael Shanks, my first thing I ever did. He was very complimentary and very giving as an actor. All the guys, man. Amanda was great. I’ve worked with Amanda since as a director. There’s always that bond, that little closeness, and that helps when you’re working with somebody. I think it’s amazing that you get that opportunity sometimes to work as a director, work with these other actors, and there’s a bond because you guys have worked together before. I just think it helps. It makes a scene… you trust each other, and I think it makes the scenes better because you trust each other, you know that you guys are both gonna give your best, and it’s gonna be awesome. You’re gonna play off each other, and it’s gonna be amazing.

Sharon Taylor:
What about you?

Simone Bailly:
Obviously, all the leads, amazing, which I just mentioned. But I had the fortunate opportunity to act opposite Lou Gossett Jr.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, wow, that’s right.

Sharon Taylor:
Cool.

Simone Bailly:
Even that chokes me up too. I geeked out as an actor so big time that I was acting… Some of these scenes were head-to-head with such a powerhouse actor who… I grew up watching the movie Enemy Mine. And I loved that movie so much, such a beautiful, touching film. To finally– And I find that in my career often, where I cannot believe who I’m acting with, and it just blows my mind.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s awesome.

Simone Bailly:
I love that about what we do. So that was really incredible. Huge shout-out to Tony Amendola who also, I just adore as a human, as an actor.

Sharon Taylor:
I met him at a convention once. He was very kind.

Simone Bailly:
He’s fantastic.

Mike Dopud:
Really good guy, really, really sweet. And we could go on all day about all the actors.

Sharon Taylor:
We can go down the list.

Simone Bailly:
How many episodes of Stargate did you do, and what would you have liked for your character to do? I guess we touched on that.

Sharon Taylor:
I think I did 12. Stargate Atlantis got canceled, and my character was supposed to be in the next season. And they had said there’d be more for her to do, especially ’cause she was turning into Jason Momoa’s love interest. So, I was like, “Aww.” That part was a bummer.

Simone Bailly:
There’s still time.

Mike Dopud:
There’s still time. I think I did 16, something like that, of Universe, or 18. I can’t remember–15?

Simone Bailly:
That’s a couple of stints.

Mike Dopud:
And then what else? And then Stargate Atlantis, again, the same type of thing with Jason, I had a great time, and we did some fight scenes together, and so we hit it off really well. And it was really interesting ’cause they were saying, I think they saw that our chemistry was fine, and we’re getting along, and we’re able to do the fight stuff together, and they’re like, “Oh my God, you guys are gonna go through the gate, and you’re gonna go on these missions, and you’re gonna be…” So, it was getting exciting to hear about it, and then the same thing happened. I think a couple weeks after that, they canceled the series. And we’re like, “No.”

Simone Bailly:
No.

Sharon Taylor:
But see, my fantasy storyline really works well. Godfather of our children, it all works out.

Mike Dopud:
See, it all works out. I love it.

Sharon Taylor:
How about you, Simone?

Mike Dopud:
How many episodes did you do?

Simone Bailly:
I did six, I believe, over the course of three seasons.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s awesome.

Simone Bailly:
But it was such a treat, ’cause like I said, I was happy even doing one. Now I’m like, “I want more.”

Mike Dopud:
Like any actor. I think it’s the only industry where the actors are like, “Give me more. I’ll work, I’ll work, I’ll stay, I’ll stay late. I’ll do it.”

Sharon Taylor:
I’ll do extra. Not be an extra, but I will do extra.

Mike Dopud:
“You want me back tomorrow?” “You want me to work tomorrow? OK, I’m in.” “Don’t you have a wedding?” “It’s OK, don’t worry about it. We’ll postpone the wedding.”

Sharon Taylor:
“My wife will understand.”

Mike Dopud:
I know, it happened to me.

Simone Bailly:
We’ve kind of touched on it, but who from Stargate have you worked with since? Either actor, director, writer, producers, stunt coordinators? I’m sure that’s a lengthy list for you.

Mike Dopud:
I guess so. James Bamford I’ve worked with when he was directing on Arrow. So, I did a season of Arrow, and so I was working with him on that. Again, I was very lucky, I worked with Amanda on, I think it was Arctic Air and a few other series. Paul McGillion I just worked with… Now I’m drawing a blank on some of the other shows. But…

Sharon Taylor:
Jewel? Have you worked with Jewel on anything?

Mike Dopud:
No, not since that episode. No, I haven’t worked with Jewel again. Not on Family Law. I think there’s a few other ones. But again, it’s always interesting ’cause you have that commonplace… Especially with Paul, I just go back to Paul just because it happened recently. But you just have fun. And you know each other’s work. And you trust each other, and then you just have a blast doing your job. So, there’s nothing better.

Sharon Taylor:
I’ve actually ended up working with you a bunch of times.

Mike Dopud:
Yes.

Sharon Taylor:
We never had any scenes together on Stargate. But all sorts of other shows. Hallmark Movies, Lifetime Movies.

Simone Bailly:
I love that. In the same scene?

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, we’re detective partners and…

Simone Bailly:
That’s awesome.

Mike Dopud:
And then, Continuum.

Sharon Taylor:
Continuum, Amanda Tapping directed us in that. He kidnapped me. Gosh, bad guy.

Mike Dopud:
As one does. I’m just saying.

Sharon Taylor:
And I got to work with Jewel Staite a bunch of times on Family Law as a lawyer. Always opposite her. I was always the very conservative lawyer, and she was the very liberal lawyer, so we were always going toe-to-toe there. And then I’ve worked with Jason Momoa again on See. So that was pretty cool.

Simone Bailly:
That’s awesome.

Mike Dopud:
What about you? Who…?

Simone Bailly:
I did a Christmas movie with Martin Wood directing. That was a lot of fun. And then mostly, ’cause we’re in Vancouver, I cross paths with people all the time. Or if I was in LA, there’s Josh bringing me sushi. Or that kinda stuff, more socially.

Sharon Taylor:
You’re so good with that. You’re a very social person. You’re very good at it.

Simone Bailly:
Where I’d be on the lot and he’d be like, “Oh, hey, so-and-so. Nice to see you.” Or conventions.

Mike Dopud:
Here’s a good one. There was Andy Mikita. Peter DeLuise too, I worked with. But Andy was interesting ’cause he was a first AD when I first worked with him.

Sharon Taylor:
On SG-1?

Mike Dopud:
And then we’d play hockey together sometimes. And then he became a director, producer, and obviously throughout all the SG-1s and Atlantis and SGU. He did a lot of SGU. So, that was a really fun, I guess, roundabout way to stay working together. ‘Cause as a first AD, he dealt a lot with the stunt guys and that, so it was really interesting. It’s true.

Simone Bailly:
Speaking of Peter DeLuise.

Mike Dopud:
Yes.

Simone Bailly:
I just went to a screening of a short film that he and I starred in.

Mike Dopud:
Fantastic.

Simone Bailly:
We were comedically naked together. Don’t worry. His wife–

Sharon Taylor:
“Comedically naked.”

Simone Bailly:
Anyway, it was a funny or die type short film. But it was an award-winning short. And it was like a film noir comedy.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, congratulations. That’s great.

Simone Bailly:
Very…you know the movie…

Sharon Taylor:
That’s fun.

Simone Bailly:
… Airplane! That kind of prop humor.

Sharon Taylor:
Yes.

Simone Bailly:
That was really fun. That was really cool. What did you like about your character on Stargate? Are there any similarities to you as a person? You kind of touched on that.

Sharon Taylor:
I kind of touched on that. I was also really cool in the “Prodigal” episode when they wrote in that I kick-boxed. They wrote that in for my character because I do that in real life. So, that was pretty neat. And the great thing about that too was it kind of kickstarted my career as an action actress.

Mike Dopud:
Nice.

Sharon Taylor:
Pun intended. That’s right.

Simone Bailly:
Sharon is the queen of puns. I love it.

Sharon Taylor:
But yeah, ’cause as soon as I think casting directors saw I could do that, I ended up playing a lot of action roles after that.

Simone Bailly:
By the way, that is the coolest when writers actually take an interest in, “So, what do you do? What are you good at? What do you do outside of this?”

Sharon Taylor:
Right? Another testament to these guys.

Simone Bailly:
And then they fold it in, that’s really cool. Also, how many black belts, or what level are you at now?

Sharon Taylor:
I’m a second-degree black belt.

Simone Bailly:
You’re unofficially third.

Sharon Taylor:
No. I don’t think I’ll go for my third. It’s so difficult… It’s a lot of work. And it’s your whole life for months and months; that’s all you gotta do is eat, train, and try to do your best physically.

Simone Bailly:
Pretty awesome.

Sharon Taylor:
I think I wanna do other things. I still do it, multiple times a week, but I don’t need to test ever again.

Mike Dopud:
It’s intense.

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, it’s intense.

Mike Dopud:
Simone, what did you like about your character? And how similar is it to you?

Sharon Taylor:
Is it the outfits?

Simone Bailly:
Definitely wear leather on the reg.

Sharon Taylor:
I know ’cause you do. Look, you got your leather right here.

Simone Bailly:
It’s faux. Don’t worry, it’s vegan. No pants were killed. No, I’m just kidding. I think I was trying to discover my character ’cause I was a newer, ancillary character to begin with. So, I would just have to be like, “I’m in this world.” I remember asking Chris Judge, “I’m surprised there’s no…” What’s it called when there’s a phonetic pronunciation? I was like, “How come there’s no glossary or whatever that would be of how to pronounce things? ‘Cause I notice everyone’s pronouncing things different. Jaffa, Ja-ffa?” He’s like, “Oh.”

Mike Dopud:
Goa’uld.

Simone Bailly:
He said to me…

Mike Dopud:
Because that’s the big one.

Simone Bailly:
He goes, “We’re all just winging it.”

Sharon Taylor:
That’s how I felt about pressing the buttons on the Stargate. “I have to commit to this. I have to decide what that sticker means and what that sticker means. As long as I commit to knowing what those…

Mike Dopud:
Then it works.

Sharon Taylor:
… colored stickers mean, then it’ll work.”

Simone Bailly:
You just kinda go with it. But I tried to be dynamic with her with what I had and find moments of strength, moments of softness. Then I think I tried to make her a little sexy. I don’t know if that worked.

Sharon Taylor:
Of course, it worked.

Simone Bailly:
“I’m wearing leather. I’m wearing…”

Sharon Taylor:
You just do it naturally.

Simone Bailly:
“I’m wearing a little leather crop top with my midriff.”

Sharon Taylor:
It was sexy. You were sexy.

Simone Bailly:
A little dash of this, dash of that.

Mike Dopud:
That’s great.

Simone Bailly:
How about you?

Mike Dopud:
Varro. There’s a few… I always bring as much of me as I can into a character. It makes it more interesting if you’re playing a bad guy or whatever. There’s always elements of you. OK, I don’t go kill people and shoot people or anything like that. But as Varro did, I think– I grew up fighting a lot and doing that kinda stuff, and a lot of people didn’t see that. And now, all of a sudden, they see me fighting: “Oh, crap. OK, he can fight.” So, I think that was the interesting thing about Varro, was that he’s a good guy, but he could handle business if he needed to. And I think there’s a little bit of similarity in my life to that, especially when I was younger, ’cause it was… What would Joe Mallozzi always say? He’s like, “You’re a killer with a heart.” And he said, “That’s what makes these guys interesting, that you’re able to convey that, and it’s not…”

Sharon Taylor:
You can’t just be a stereotype. You have to bring some…

Mike Dopud:
I was trying to bring that, and I think it came– But who knows?

Sharon Taylor:
It did.

Mike Dopud:
It resonated. But it was one of those things that you try to find those moments because I don’t think every bad guy’s a bad guy. There’s all this gray area with these characters.

Sharon Taylor:
No, we don’t think they’re bad.

Simone Bailly:
Agreed.

Sharon Taylor:
They’re just misunderstood.

Mike Dopud:
In a lot of ways, yes.

David Read:
You came from a very rough planet. It was, you either survived or you died.

Mike Dopud:
Absolutely. I grew up in a rough environment…

Sharon Taylor:
As a kid.

Mike Dopud:
… immigrant family from the former Yugoslavia. We didn’t have much money, so it was one of those things where you learn to fend for yourself.

Sharon Taylor:
It shapes you.

Mike Dopud:
You guys will laugh…

Sharon Taylor:
It does shape who you are as a person.

Mike Dopud:
You guys will laugh at this. My parents, my dad was trying to make us seem that we were cultured and the whole thing. My dad would… I was going to public school in this rough neighborhood, and my dad would make me wear these corduroy suits with my name labeled on every article of clothing that I had. And I had white hair and…

Sharon Taylor:
Like blonde white?

Mike Dopud:
… I had broken teeth because we couldn’t afford to… my teeth were broken. I’d go to school with this, and it was a bright red on my lapel. Michelle is my real name, Michelle Dopud, on everything. And then it would… I would go to school and everybody… first couple of days, everybody’d make fun of me. Then there’d be a point like, “OK, that’s enough.” Then I’d have to fight. I was in the principal’s office, and it was…

Sharon Taylor:
“Do you still wanna make fun of me?”

Mike Dopud:
And then I became friends with everybody. And you win a few fights, things happen.

Simone Bailly:
And then they had broken teeth.

Mike Dopud:
That was it. So, I could relate to–

Simone Bailly:
So, we all had broken teeth.

Mike Dopud:
But that’s what happens when you grow up in… you don’t know any other way…

Sharon Taylor:
That’s true.

Mike Dopud:
… to get out of it. You don’t know. I gotta stand up for myself.

Sharon Taylor:
And that’s what bad guy characters are also, too. They’re products of their environment. All those, like Batman Begins, all the origin stories.

Mike Dopud:
Absolutely.

Sharon Taylor:
They’re all, oof.

Mike Dopud:
Scary stuff. But here we are.

Simone Bailly:
Michelle Dopud Begins.

Sharon Taylor:
Your hair is going white again. It’s going full circle.

Simone Bailly:
See? Full circle, Mike.

Mike Dopud:
I know. A little gray.

Sharon Taylor:
But your teeth are looking good.

Simone Bailly:
Let’s get that outfit back on.

Mike Dopud:
It’s amazing what dentists can do.

Simone Bailly:
Any funny Stargate stories you’d like to share?

Sharon Taylor:
I have a story. It’s… nowadays, this would never happen because of the political correctness of our environment of the world, but it was the very last episode of Stargate Atlantis. And Jason Momoa is wearing hospital clothes, and one of the higher-ups at, I’m not gonna say their name, was like, “as a joke, in between, right when he walks out, pull down his hospital pants, OK?”
And I was like, “I am not doing that.” But this is one of my bosses saying, “Yeah, yeah, pull down his hospital pants.” So, I was like, “OK. So, I–”

Simone Bailly:
No, I know where this is going.

Sharon Taylor:
As the scene’s starting and Jason Momoa’s walking out, I’m like, “I’m gonna pull.” But he’d tied the strings so tight, they didn’t come down. So, it was like nothing happened. And he was like, “Oh, you tried to get me.” He’s so playful and that’s the only reason why anybody would’ve ever suggested that in the first place. Because Jason is so playful. So, there’s lots of burping and farting jokes back then. And there was a lot of that.

Mike Dopud:
Speaking of Chris Judge was notorious for that.

Sharon Taylor:
Yes.

Mike Dopud:
I think that one… RDA would always… “Am I killing you again?” That was always funny to me ’cause everybody would laugh, and a lot of people weren’t around, and they would, “What do you mean?” And he said, “Well, he’s a stunt guy, he’s been killed a bunch of times on this show.” Stargate Universe was a different… we had funny moments too, but it was sort of a different, darker theme to it, whereas SGA and SG-1 were a little more playful, a little more…So, you would have a lot more of those…

Sharon Taylor:
Tongue-in-cheek humor.

Mike Dopud:
… tongue-in-cheek humor moments. Peter DeLuise. Here’s a good one. So, I remember doing a stunt. I’m running up this hill, running down, I should say, across this hill, then I get shot and I fall down. And what Peter DeLuise would do is, stunt guys get some danger pay called adjustments sometimes. And Peter would run up, and for the Americans out there that don’t know, a loonie is a dollar. And he would come up, he goes, “There you go. Great work, Mike. Here’s a loonie.” “Oh, thank you.”

Sharon Taylor:
Nothing’s broken.

Mike Dopud:
“Nothing broken? You’re good? OK.” “Oh, thank you.” And that was his thing. That was always funny.

Simone Bailly:
I’m gonna tell a story I’ve never told before.

Mike Dopud:
Uh-oh.

Simone Bailly:
So, working on Universe, we were doing this scene on the ship, and it was a huge crowd of everyone on the ship in this room. And I think Robert Carlyle was giving a speech. And it was taking a long time to film ’cause you have to do a lot of coverage, there’s a lot of cast, da-da-da. And one of the background performers had the worst gas and was crop dusting the set. Which means they were farting, walking around farting silently. But the smell was atrocious, to the point that one of the cast members had to actually yell, “Whoever is farting, can you stop farting? Cause you are stinking up the whole set. Close your butt.” And everyone was like, “Ew,” and they’re like… But you can’t really… you can’t clear it out. It’s not like a fire alarm where you can clear it out and then come back. It was kinda bad. Chris Judge was really fun on Stargate SG-1 ’cause when we were doing the high council scenes, we were wearing these really heavy robes. And he was wearing his underwear underneath ’cause the costumes said don’t wear much ’cause it’s so hot. Plus, they’ve got the torches going and the lights and we’re in this tin can of a studio, Norco Studios for that. And it was summertime and it was hot. And in between takes he would, “Hey, Simone,” and flash me his underwear, not in a Me Too way, but just in a fun, jovial way. And then he would pelt food at me in between takes and we’re always laughing.

Sharon Taylor:
A lot of big kids and all those sets.

Simone Bailly:
And then I remember Peter DeLuise when he was directing the high council scenes and he had some of the background performers on the council and he just needed coverage of them reacting, he’d be like “OK,” It would all be quiet M.O.S, which is called mit-out-sound, which means they’re not rolling sounds. That means the director can speak and direct while they’re filming. And he’s like “OK. So, you’re all deciding who farted. And you are looking to the left. And you’re looking to the right. And then you’re grading the fart and then maybe you approve.”
And that was the way he directed the background to do their reactions to…

Sharon Taylor:
The early 2000’s was a whole other world.

Simone Bailly:
Yes. Talk about working with any of these people.

Mike Dopud:
Pick any.

Sharon Taylor:
I feel like we did. We went through the list of the people we’ve worked with. I will say, Amanda Tapping is always such a professional. Her energy is so calm and she’s such a leader in real life, and I think that’s why she’s made that easy transition into directing.

Mike Dopud:
No, she’s amazing. Obviously, a lot of these directors are former actors or still act, but they have moved on to directing and they have this incredible nuance of dealing with actors. Having a way to speak to them, to understand, to get their point across, which is always good. And Peter DeLuise does, too. He just does it in a different way. He uses more humor, I would think. With Peter and he’d make jokes or make things. But sometimes he’d get serious and he’d bring you in and hug you and, “OK, so I think this guy, what do you think about…” And Andy Mikita, too. Man, I loved working with Andy as well, ’cause we had that rapport of playing hockey together and stuff. He was so good at his job, too. Being a first AD, too, enables you to really understand directing in so many different ways. And you know your timeline. You know what you have to get done. And he doesn’t mess around; he gets to it. Same with Peter. Peter shoots so quickly. I didn’t work with Chris, not much. We did some stunt work with Chris. Jewel, I worked with. Jewel was great. Man, there’s so many people here. Jewel Staite was great. It was on a “Tracker” episode on SGA. I kidnap her and then–

Sharon Taylor:
You and your kidnapping

Simone Bailly:
God, you kidnap everyone.

Mike Dopud:
There I go again.

David Read:
But you kidnap her for good?

Mike Dopud:
Yes.

David Read:
To help a little girl.

Mike Dopud:
Trying to save a little girl.

Sharon Taylor:
Yes. It was for a good reason.

Mike Dopud:
And Jason… everybody. Martin, originally ’cause he was producing with Stargate and writing and that. And with Joe Mallozzi, all those guys. Brad Wright, Brad was always… I always looked at Brad as the leader, the kingpin, so to speak, if that’s the wrong terminology to use. But I found Brad was always… And he was so knowledgeable about everything. And all the guys, from Carl Binder to Joe Mallozzi, to Paul Mullie, who was there, all those guys.

Sharon Taylor:
There’s so many names.

Mike Dopud:
There were so many names. And they were all so knowledgeable about every character and every scenario in the episode. And you could go to any one of them, and that’s what was amazing, too. You can go to the director, but a lot of times I would go to them because they knew the Bible throughout. They knew everything about every character and where they were potentially going with it. And every once in a while, they didn’t know, ’cause we’re discovering the characters as we go. So, that was always interesting. And then they’d be open-minded about it to be able to say, “OK, well, I don’t know, what do you think? Do you think?” “Well, I think this would be interesting.” “What about if they had a relationship? or what about if they fell apart?” Whatever it was. And it always…They were open to ideas, which was great. Tony Amendola. I did another series with Tony, so I have a big place in my heart for Tony.

Simone Bailly:
I see him at conventions. Joe Mallozzi, I love working with ’cause he’s so classy and he always dresses impeccably when he shows up to set. And I remember, ’cause normally when I work, you don’t always get an experience with the writers or producers. It just depends. It’s case by case on the show and depending on how long you’re there. But I remember him looking so dapper and then offering chocolate. And I really liked that. He had all this designer chocolate. He’s a real foodie, isn’t he?

Mike Dopud:
That’s right. He’s a real foodie.

Simone Bailly:
So, I’m hoping he brings us back when he comes to Vancouver to film the new show. We can all eat.

Sharon Taylor:
I like chocolate, too.

Simone Bailly:
The thing I also like about Andy Mikita when he directs…Cause everyone has their certain way they call the shots literally, like when they are calling “action.” And he’ll always go “spin it.” And I like that. It’s a cool way to–

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, good memory you have.

Simone Bailly:
Let’s talk about conventions. What do you love about doing Stargate or sci-fi conventions?

Mike Dopud:
For me, it’s obviously the fans. You get to meet people. And it’s always interesting because a lot of times a lot of the fans will reach out on social media. You’re able to…you get an idea of what they might be. But then a lot of times they meet you and they are not as forthcoming or they’re a little more shy, much more humble, so to speak. Sometimes you have to reach out a bit more to say “Hey, it’s ok. Hi, how are you?” Cause they get shy and they shut down a little bit. So that’s always interesting. Especially the first few conventions I did. That was the interesting part. And then how the fans love the show. And any time you do a panel is always jam packed. And the fans just really love the show. So many times, they know more about what I said or what I did in the episode than I do.

Sharon Taylor:
Than we do. That’s cool.

Mike Dopud:
And somebody explained that to me though, which was really cool, is that the reason the fans know is ’cause they go back and rewatch certainly.

Simone Bailly:
Of course, many times.

Mike Dopud:
And they rewatch it, and sometimes they’ll go over scenes and rewatch it. And you’re like, yeah, ’cause as an actor you don’t. Once it’s done, it’s done. You move on. And you go– There’s certain lines every once in a while, that you say that you’re like, “Oh my god, I’ll never get rid of that.”

Sharon Taylor:
I’m sure we have all our movies that we grew up with, or shows that we like to watch where we know the lines, too, right? Princess Bride

Mike Dopud:
And how about you for conventions? What, what’s your take?

Sharon Taylor:
I’ve really enjoyed myself. I feel like the best part about the conventions that I’ve done is that that’s where I met Simone Bailly. Because she was in SG-1 and I was in Atlantis, so we never had any scenes together. And that’s where we first met was in London. We both live in Vancouver, but we have to fly across to the other side of the world to get to know each other. And now she’s one of my very best friends.

Simone Bailly:
And we call each other Stargate sisters.

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, we’re Stargate sisters.

Simone Bailly:
And everyone in real life thinks that we’re really sisters.

Sharon Taylor:
She looks more like my sister in real life than my own sister.

Simone Bailly:
And we get that a lot when we go out.

Sharon Taylor:
We do.

Simone Bailly:
They’re like, “Are you sisters?” And I’m hoping that we do get to play side by side doing something fast.

Sharon Taylor:
One day, one day we ought to play.

Simone Bailly:
I agree, ’cause that would be really cool.

Sharon Taylor:
We created it ourselves.

Simone Bailly:
We became fast friends. I love Stargate conventions because it is the most famous I’ll ever feel for a hot weekend. And I feel like… There was actually a convention I did at GateCon, one of them, where, as I was driving home, I actually got weepy thinking, “These people are nicer to me than my own friends and family.”

Sharon Taylor:
Not me though. Don’t say that. I’m not nice.

Simone Bailly:
No, no. There’s just an outpouring of compliments and love. And honoring the show, and everybody. And we really do owe a lot of the success of this franchise to the fans. Absolutely.

Sharon Taylor:
Oh, my goodness.

Mike Dopud:
Absolutely.

Simone Bailly:
Because without them…

Mike Dopud:
We wouldn’t be here.

Simone Bailly:
…we wouldn’t be here.

Sharon Taylor:
There would be no reboot either.

Simone Bailly:
And these conventions, the gift that keeps on giving. One of the other things I loved about conventions was I had the fortunate experience to go to FedCon in Germany, which I was told is one of the biggest sci-fi conventions. And this particular year it was a bunch of Stargate actors and a bunch of Star Trek actors. And so there I was in this giant room with just hundreds of people packed. And the energy, and I got to share the stage with a ton of incredible actors, but one in particular, which was George Takei. Who I would never, ever think in a million years that I would be sharing a stage with George Takei. That made no sense to me.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s so cool.

Simone Bailly:
And it was so cool. And when he came out, there was a standing ovation, and just the power of that beautiful, pure love and respect and energy honoring him. It was unbelievable. But it was so funny ’cause when I was backstage, I was so excited to meet him, but I was a little too scared to approach him. And all of a sudden, I hear someone’s like, “Simone, George wants to talk to you.” I was like, “Me?” And there were, let’s say there was 20 actors there. But of all the people, he wanted to talk to me, and I was like, “He wants to talk to me?” “Yeah, yeah, go over.” And I see him sitting there, and his husband’s there, and he’s like, “Darling, I just have to tell you, you were so fabulous in your performance in that Stephen Sondheim musical.” And as he starts talking, I’m like, “Oh, he’s got me mistaken for someone else.” But I’m sitting there in this moment of meeting this hero who’s gushing to me… that he’s so excited to see me and how great of… “You’re just a fantastic actress, and you’re incredible.” And for that moment, I’m like, “Oh, should I tell him the truth?”

Sharon Taylor:
No, don’t.

Simone Bailly:
And so, I took a pause and I just let it soak in for a second, and I said, “George, I think you have me confused with someone else.”

Mike Dopud:
Oh, you did.

Simone Bailly:
And his husband said, “Well, why would you do that? Why didn’t you just take the compliment?” I said, “I can’t live with myself knowing that I deceived…”

Sharon Taylor:
That you deceived George.

Simone Bailly:
… this legend.” And then it was nice ’cause it was a real icebreaker. And then I asked the hu… ’cause I wasn’t familiar with the husband, I said, “What’s your name?” He’s like, “You can just call me Hubby.” So, when we saw each other the next day and throughout that weekend at breakfast, I’d be like, “Hi, George,” I’m like, “Hi, Hubby.” And then George would be like, “Back off, he’s mine.” It’d be so funny. So, things like that.

Sharon Taylor:
I had a similar fun moment at a convention where all the actors went out for dinner afterwards, and one of the other actors brought a friend and she ended up sitting beside me, and she was a bit older than me, and so she says, “What are you working on? Stargate was so much fun. What are you working on now?” I said, “I’m working on this show called Smallville. It’s a Superman show.” She goes, “I love Superman stories.” She says, “I was in Superman II. My name is Sarah Douglas. I played Faora.” And I was like, “That’s who I play on Smallville also.” We play the same characters. But she played Zod’s partner in Superman II out of the spinning glass from the Phantom Zone, and that’s who I played in Smallville also. She was also in Conan with the gold bikini witch lady.

David Read:
And she was on Stargate.

Sharon Taylor:
And she did Stargate too?

David Read:
She’s a Stargate actor. She’s a dope girl.

Sharon Taylor:
Oh my gosh, I did not know that because she was just hanging out at the convention. She wasn’t a guest. She came as someone’s friend.

David Read:
Probably friends with Stargate.

Sharon Taylor:
Probably.

Mike Dopud:
Probably.

Simone Bailly:
So, for people who’ve never been to a convention, what’s it like? How would you describe your experience, and especially the first time that you ever did one?

Mike Dopud:
You don’t know what to expect. As a first time, you don’t know what to expect, and there are obviously levels to this as well. And there’s certain actors that have been on the show for a long time. There’s other actors that… and other role players, day players, recurring guest stars. You have all types of different actors that are on there. It was funny to see the first time I went, and I was at my table, and then I can’t remember who it was. Was it Amanda? And Amanda had a lineup going right out through the door. And I had eight people. And there was a lineup for Amanda. But then you realize, obviously it’s because…

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, she’s the star of the show.

Mike Dopud:
…because of who she is, and she’s the star of the show. That was really interesting. And then the energy sometimes that it takes to talk to everybody. And you don’t realize spending 10 hours a day speaking with these fans that you get to a point and you’re like, “I’m exhausted.” And you’re trying to figure out, “I didn’t do anything today. I just sat there and talked to people.” But then you’re done and you’re like, “I had a drink and I’m done.”

Sharon Taylor:
Same, I have had the same feeling where I just go back to my hotel room and I just stare at the ceiling because I’m like, “I think I just got overstimulated.”

Mike Dopud:
It’s an amazing thing.

Simone Bailly:
And then when they stand… ’cause there’s so many aspects. There’s the signing autographs and then you actually get to have a bit of one-on-one with the fans which is great to hear their stories about how the multi-generations are watching the show, and now their kids are watching it, and they watch with the grandparents. And that’s really cool, and just how much Stargate has meant to people. And people talked about mental health struggles that they had and that they were in very dark places and the show brought a lot of levity and just comfort to them, entertainment and joy. And they really care about these characters. They’re invested. So, there’s that. There’s also the funny aspect of getting the step and repeat of all these fans taking photos with you, and the people that do the photos are like, “Next, next, next!” you’re like, “Hi, smile.” “There, smile, boo-boom.” And your face hurts, ’cause you have been like, “Hi, nice to meet you.”

Sharon Taylor:
What struck me about that was that I kept thinking, “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” smiling quickly, and I’m like, “I’m sure I must be blinking in some of these.” But everybody looks great in all the pictures. The fans look great. The actors look great. And I’m thinking, “No one’s blinking. They’re just pros, those photographers.”

Simone Bailly:
And isn’t it impressive, the costumes? And some of them are the legit wardrobe from the show that people purchased.

Mike Dopud:
And all the cosplay. I love when you have 10 people dressed as certain characters. The same character, all 10 people dressed like that.

Sharon Taylor:
Don’t I have a picture of the three of us with a snake guy? What’s his name again?

Simone Bailly:
Apophis.

Sharon Taylor:
Apophis, thank you.

David Read:
Or Jaffa? The snake guy?

Darren Sumner:
I was trying to look up the serpent helmet. It’s you guys with the Serpent Guard, with the serpent helmet on.

Mike Dopud:
Yes.

Darren Sumner:
I think at the bar.

Sharon Taylor:
We’re at the bar.

Simone Bailly:
Is that Apophis?

Sharon Taylor;
It was such a random moment. The three of us.

Darren Sumner:
It’s the best picture ever.

Simone Bailly:
It really is.

Sharon Taylor:
We were literally at the bar, and then this guy comes up, and I’m like, “We have to take a picture like this.”

Darren Sumner:
It looks like you’re just hanging out at a bar in LA.

Sharon Taylor:
With the guy.

Mike Dopud:
And we were doing that…we were like laughing.

Simone Bailly:
That was our friend who had flown into Vancouver to a GateCon from Switzerland. And had brought that…

Sharon Taylor:
Costume piece?

Simone Bailly:
Yeah.

Mike Dopud:
How?

Sharon Taylor:
Bring that on the airplane.

Mike Dopud:
That’s gotta cost.

Sharon Taylor:
Go through customs with that.

Simone Bailly:
It’s commitment and love for the show. Tell us about some moments with the fans at some point, or at some of the Stargate conventions that you’ve been really moved or impressed.

Sharon Taylor:
As far as being moved emotionally, I think that I’ve had that same experience, what you said, where people are explaining how much the show meant to them. And I’ve actually had, because my character’s military, I’ve had people who were in the US military come to my table and talk and say, “You know, I was in the military. I have PTSD and just watching the show and finding that escapism brings me so much joy.” And that was very moving for me.

Mike Dopud:
There’s been a few times, but I think I remember one of my first conventions. One of the fans was, again, I was at the bar at the end of the night.

Sharon Taylor:
There’s a theme here.

Mike Dopud:
The theme. Anyways, I was sitting there having a drink, and he came by to have a drink, and he sat away. And I remember him coming to my table before, and he seemed like a nice person. And I was sitting there, and he asked, “Do you mind if I sit here?” And I said, “No, go ahead.” And I said, “Let me ask you,” I go, “I’m curious as to why do you go to conventions?” ‘Cause I was trying to understand the whole thing of people spending a lot of money on a weekend with their families or without their families to go and see a convention. And he said, “Oh, I’m glad you asked me that.” And he goes, “I have a job where I work 9:00 to 5:00. I’m in front of a computer all day long, and it’s a high-stress job.” And he said, “Gets to the point when I get home and I’m able to watch you guys on TV, it’s my escape.” And he said, “And it keeps my sanity.” And he said, “I’ve had some mental-health issues in the past.” And he said, “That’s what keeps my sanity, so that’s why I come to a convention like this, ’cause I have a chance to see the actors that I enjoy. And so, for me, it’s not a waste or an expense, an extravagant expense. It’s actually part of what my life is.” And I thought, that was moving to me. I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” You don’t realize what your work sometimes… how much it resonates with people.
We’re still active. We’re just trying to do our thing. We’re trying to… We do it ’cause we have to. I know most actors have to be an actor, ’cause they don’t know what else you could do. And for me, it’s the same thing. You don’t always realize what an impact you have on the fans and the people watching. So, for me, that was one of those moving moments where you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I really… it’s impactful. These people really love the show, and they love your performances.” And so, it really, really is touching.

Sharon Taylor:
I had another profound moment where one day I realized–

Mike Dopud:
One second. And I didn’t let him buy the drink. I bought the drink, OK?

Sharon Taylor:
You bought the drink?

Mike Dopud:
He offered to buy the drink. I said, “No.” I got the drink.

Sharon Taylor:
What a good guy.

Mike Dopud:
“No, you can’t… After telling me that, now. You want another one?” I said, “Have another one.”

Sharon Taylor:
I had another profound moment where I looked around one day and I realized all these fans are from different countries all over the world, and they all know each other. They’re all friends with each other. For me, “They’re not really here to see us. They’re here to see their friends.” And we’re just the cherry on top. So that part was cool.

Mike Dopud:
That’s a good way of looking at it.

Sharon Taylor:
That was fun.

Mike Dopud:
That’s true.

Simone Bailly:
Agreed. And it’s so cool to be in the green room when we finally have a lunch break and all of us actors are there. To take that moment to look around, and so many of us that have all these wild bodies of work, and to sit there and be like, “Wow.” I pinch myself that I’m in the fam.

Sharon Taylor:
Included.

Simone Bailly:
But what’s also cool is the fans that either with their cosplay, the Stargate dresses or the T-shirts they make, and there’s a photo of me on the shirt. Or one girl showed up one time with…were you…

Sharon Taylor:
The nails, the fingernails.

Simone Bailly:
The girl. She had…

Sharon Taylor:
With our faces.

Simone Bailly:
… our faces perfectly on every nail

Sharon Taylor:
That was in England.

Simone Bailly:
It was incredible. Some of the gifts: a wonderful lady made me a hand-beaded bracelet, which was fantastic, that I still wear. And I’ve had people make wood-cutting things. I still have a coaster that I use every day at my makeup station that has Ka’lel on it. Someone made me a…

Sharon Taylor:
That’s so nice.

Simone Bailly:
… pen, and they whittled the wood and the whole thing, and it was from another country. Things like that that have so much heart, and it’s such a gracious thing that they would be so thoughtful…

Sharon Taylor:
So thoughtful.

Simone Bailly:
… to do those things for us. So, a lot of that is really touching to me. Let’s talk about GateCon. GateCon was held in Vancouver, Canada where the series was filmed. Why does that convention stand out to you?

Mike Dopud:
I think literally because of what you were just saying before. It stands out because of all the casts. There’s so many casts that are in Vancouver, and then you get a lot of the American casts that come up as well. And it’s funny ’cause for a while I was coming up from LA to come up here for the convention. But seeing everybody. Again, there’s such a great atmosphere with GateCon. And I found that everybody there is pumped up. Everybody’s into it, and the fans are great. And like you said, a lot of people in cosplay, a lot of people in different characters. I think it makes it fun. It’s always… I try not to ever miss it. Really good.

Sharon Taylor:
Mostly to see all our friends, see people that we all work with and hang out.

Simone Bailly:
And they raised a lot of money for various charities over the years, so it’s a real feel-good thing as well. I recall spending time with Cliff Simon, our beloved Cliff Simon who’s since passed on, and having some great laughs and cool moments with him and other people. It’s really touching. And I think for us it’s almost like going to an awards show like the Oscars or the Emmys, because the rarity of getting that many performers in the same room is pretty terrific.

Mike Dopud:
It’s a strictly Stargate event. So, that’s what makes it even more special.

Simone Bailly:
How long have you been in the business now? And how has your acting changed from then to now?

Sharon Taylor:
I guess I started in 2006 as TV and film, but before that I was all theater. So, I think now I’m way more playful than I ever would’ve been when I first started out. Because as I mentioned, when I was first starting out as Amelia Banks, I was pretty serious. How about you?

Mike Dopud:
Very cool. Since ’94, ’93, I started. It’s been a little while. But I think the same thing. I think at the end of the day you start… I think when you’re new, you’re trying to be as perfect as you can be, you’re trying to not make any mistakes, you’re trying to be, like I said, I guess perfect or… And you think that’s good acting. You don’t realize that a lot of times it’s when you let loose and then obviously you do your work, you know your dialogue and stuff, but you just sort of let loose. You’re more comfortable. And I think that obviously happens with age and experience. That would be the biggest thing.

Simone Bailly:
I too came from theater and switched to pro film in 2000, so that’s 26 years of being in the biz. I think as well, too. I was trying to be correct and do my lines, and I think coming from theater, I was really invested in character work. And my mom would always say to me, “Why are you always doing charac–” Like, I’d even do voices and things, really high voices and just different kind of physicalities and things like that, because that’s what I prided myself doing when I was in theater. Like, I would love if you could watch me and you would never know that it was me. Like, I’d like to do that kind of morphing. And then my mom said, “Why don’t you just use your real voice and just be you?” And I let that land and I definitely am way less precious about things. More playful, more primal, which is a big one. And I’d say that my acting is… Maybe in the beginning I was a little more method, now I’m very Meisner, which is more of a method of responding off of …

Mike Dopud:
Listening.

Simone Bailly:
…what is given to you in the moment and being very present and active listening. That’s more kinda my style now. But I still do characters.

Sharon Taylor:
You are a character, let’s be honest.

Simone Bailly:
What’s your favorite movie and why?

Sharon Taylor:
Outside of the Stargate world?

Simone Bailly:
Yeah, yeah.

Mike Dopud:
Is there such a thing? No.

Sharon Taylor:
One of my favorite movies is True Romance. I have a poster up in my living room and I love that movie. It’s one of the first movies that Quentin Tarantino wrote, and I’m a Tarantino fan. So, I love the wild, the craziness, I love all the incredible actors. I love how the scenes are intercut and the story jumps from all the different characters and places. I loved it.

Mike Dopud:
What about you? What’s your favorite movie? You’re, you’re like, “I hate this question.”

Simone Bailly:
No, I love it.

Mike Dopud:
OK.

Simone Bailly:
To some people it’s such a controversial movie, but to me it’s a no-brainer. I love the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas directed by Terry Gilliam.

Sharon Taylor:
Side note, she had a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas party this summer that I went to. Everyone had to dress up like that, so.

Simone Bailly:
But I love it because Benicio del Toro is bananas, and just the best, as he always is. Johnny Depp is hilarious, and all the other characters. It is so much fun, and there’s so many different little, what do they call them, Easter eggs, cookies? Yeah, Easter eggs, in the movie, that you can keep watching it over and over again, and there’s always new things you will find, and it’s just brilliant. I think all across the board everyone did a fantastic job, and it’s a very quotable movie. And there’s a lot of us that are huge cult following of that film. And I’m always rallying for our local theaters, the independent theaters here to put it up.

Sharon Taylor:
I would love to re-watch it with you, to get your energy off of it.

Simone Bailly:
It is so good. I love it. One of my favorite things is when I know someone who does know the movie and we can just riff for like an hour. Just saying lines from the movie over and over. It’s so good.

Mike Dopud:
Me, I always go back to Mad Max, the original Mad Max, for me. And it was, I guess growing up, immigrant family in this poor neighborhood and stuff, and then my brother and I– it was the biggest gift ever, we got this VHS machine, and we were able to watch movies, rent movies. And my brother was into, he’s older than I am, and he was into movies, B movies, action movies, that type of thing. And we watched Mad Max on it. And it was… you just opened my eyes to this post-apocalyptic world, and I thought, “Oh my God, I wanna be in a movie like this. I have to become an actor. I have to.” So that’s why I love that. You watch it now, it is a lot of… and there’s two versions, right? There’s the Aussie version and there’s the American version.
Where they dubbed all the voices, It’s really weird. They dubbed all the Aussie voices ’cause it was filmed in Australia. So, all the Aussie accents that they had, they dubbed to put American voices in it all. And at the time, I was young enough that I didn’t really realize ’til I re-watched it again with the proper actors’ voices, and that was much better. Because back then, I guess technology wasn’t that great, so their voices didn’t really sync and match, it didn’t make sense, so it was really silly. But having said that, that movie, I still remember it, and it was one of those eye-opening moments, where I’m like, “If I could ever do this, be in a movie like this, that would be the bomb.” And then I ended up–

Simone Bailly:
Spoiler alert.

Mike Dopud:
But yeah, it worked with playing Kiryk, was pretty close in that. So, wearing the patched-together clothes, and all of that, and being a fighter, and being, you know… just for survival, trying to save a woman, trying to save a child, I should say. That’s one of my favorites.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s your movie.

Mike Dopud:
Yeah.

Simone Bailly:
Do you have any dream directors or actors you’d like to work with?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah, there’s a bunch. I would love to work with Meryl Streep. That would be one for me. I would love to work with her.

Simone Bailly:
Not intimidating at all.

Mike Dopud:
No. Yeah, it would be pretty amazing. A friend of mine that’s a producer sent me the script once, and he was targeting Meryl Streep, and was asking if I would play this other role, and that was, “Please, please, I’ll do it. I’ll do it for free. I’ll do it for free. Let me do it.” It didn’t materialize, but that would, yeah, she’s one of the people that first comes to mind. And Anthony Hopkins as well. And for me, directing would’ve been… I don’t know how many more movies Clint Eastwood’s gonna make, but he was a guy that I really wanna… and Denis Villeneuve. Who’s a Montreal director that has done some–

Simone Bailly:
Did he do The Professional?

Mike Dopud:
No. He did Sicario. And he did, there’s a bunch of other ones. I’m just drawing a blank all of a sudden. He did the new Blade Runner. And he just has a slow burn method of shooting, which I really enjoy.

Simone Bailly:
How about you? Any dream actors or directors you’d like to work with?

Sharon Taylor:
I have a vision board, and Jeff Bridges is on my vision board. I’ve just always loved him, ever since I was young. I was first… in The Fisher King, and his character was so brooding, and complex, and traumatized, and then I…

Simone Bailly:
I wish I knew that. ‘Cause I spent a lot of time with him. I did a whole show with him, but not as an actor.

Sharon Taylor:
OK, we’ll talk later.

Simone Bailly:
But that’s really cool.

Sharon Taylor:
I don’t know why. There’s just something about him. I am so drawn to him.

Simone Bailly:
Really?

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah. And I watched the whole Old Man when my Disney subscription was active. I watched the Old Man. And I quite enjoyed him in that recently, too. Yeah, such a talented man. How about you?

Simone Bailly:
I have tons. One has passed. David Lynch was high on my list. Huge Terry Gilliam fan. I love, who was our Moulin Rouge director?

Sharon Taylor:
Baz Luhrmann?

Simone Bailly:
Baz Luhrmann. Tim Burton. I love, obviously, stylized stuff. I’d love to be in a Fast and Furious movie, but that’s not really a director-dependent thing.

Mike Dopud:
It’d be fun.

Simone Bailly:
But I really admire Cate Blanchett. She kind of would be my Meryl Streep.

Mike Dopud:
Yeah, she’s good.

Simone Bailly:
‘Cause I just think she’s just amazing.

Mike Dopud:
There’s so many.

Sharon Taylor:
She can do anything.

Simone Bailly:
I’d love to hug The Rock. And…

Sharon Taylor:
He used to be on my vision board.

Simone Bailly:
Really? There’s lots. But generally, that’s it. But point of interest: I used to be Paul Thomas Anderson’s yoga instructor.

Mike Dopud:
That’s cool.

Simone Bailly:
I still have yet, at this point of filming, to see One Battle After Another. But that’s also high on my list to watch.

Sharon Taylor:
Great movie.

Mike Dopud:
Jeff Bridges.

Simone Bailly:
Getting back to that, I know it may sound woo-woo, but do you believe in manifestation, Sharon Taylor?

Sharon Taylor:
Why, yes, I do.

Simone Bailly:
I had to tee that up.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s why I have my vision board. And I have posted about it on my Instagram, that things start to come true, one by one on them, and I can take them off. And it really works. It really works. I believe that energy flows where consciousness goes. So, if I consciously put out there the things that I want and I’m interested in, or I’d like to experience, they start to unfold around me.

Simone Bailly:
And you really have had a lot of things come true.

Sharon Taylor:
I truly have had like a strange amount.

Mike Dopud:
That’s very cool. I believe in it. I believe in manifesting certain things, absolutely. I remember my father– I ended up doing a movie called Rollerball, but they were auditioning for it. It was a remake and it was shooting in Montreal.

Sharon Taylor:
I’ve actually seen it.

Mike Dopud:
Why is that such a bad thing?

Sharon Taylor:
Because I was dating a guy who made me watch it with him. And I was like, “What are we watching?” And he was like, “This is a great movie.”

Mike Dopud:
Listen, it’s John McTiernan directed and I loved him from all the Die Hards, The Predators. And I said, “I have to be on this movie.” And “Oh, you need roller skaters, you need motorcycles…” “I could ride a motorcycle, I could do the roller skating, I’m an actor. I’m in.” I was flying myself all over to try and get in these auditions. And I did. I got in Toronto, and then I got in LA, and then I guess at one point they were like– It’s an interesting story because I was at my bachelor party in Calgary, Alberta, and then I get a call saying, “Listen, are you available till November?” And this is June, or this is July. I went, “November? Yes.” ” For what?” “For Rollerball. Come in, you’re gonna be an actor, but right now you’re one of the guys that can actually rollerblade at a high level and ride motorcycles, and you’ll be hanging off a motorcycle for most of the time.” And he goes, “Let your facial hair grow,” and I’m like this, “OK, this is great.” And then I say, “Well, I’m getting married in two weeks.” And they’re like, “Well, don’t worry, we’ll be rehearsing for the next two weeks.” And I said, “OK, great,” and my wife is trying to call me. I was tired, I was hungover from the…

Sharon Taylor:
Party.

Mike Dopud:
… all the drinks and the party that we were at. So, everybody’s calling saying, my wife’s calling saying, “I need to talk to Mike.” Everybody thought I was in trouble. No, I wasn’t in trouble, my wife totally knew what I was doing there, but she was trying to say, “They’re looking for you. You gotta answer them, they need to know…”

Sharon Taylor:
Because that was before cellphones.

Mike Dopud:
“… ’cause you have to be, this is a Saturday, you have to be there Monday.” So, literally we got the news, I’m like, “Yes, I’m in.” And it was a nice contract, and I’m like, “OK.” So, I go home. I pack up, I go, and Angela, my wife, is like, “You’re gonna be back here in two weeks, right?” And I said, “Yeah, absolutely.” Well, after we start rehearsing, the director, John McTiernan, decides, “Oh, we’re gonna shoot Friday,” and I’m getting married Saturday. I’m like this, “No, I can’t.” And then John McTiernan was, at the time, going through a lot of, I think personal issues or whatever, and so he was firing a lot of people. So, the producers and the first AD were like, “Mike, we can’t tell him that you’re going, ’cause he’ll just fire you.” I’m like this, “What do you mean, just fire me? I’m going to get married. It’s one day. You guys weren’t supposed to, you know, shoot.” So, anyways, I decide, whatever, I gotta go get married. And I get fired, I get fired, you know, this was more important. And I just couldn’t believe that that’s what it’d come to. So, they get a photo double for me, “Don’t worry, we’re gonna make him…” all the ADs are like, “We’re gonna make him shoot the other side first, that first day, it’s just gonna be more of a trial.” And sure enough, they call me up the first thing to do, and the photo double comes out and he’s like, “That’s not Mike. What the fuck is going on here? Where is Mike? This is…” And they’re like, “He’s getting married,” everybody’s saying, “He went to get married.” “When’s he coming back?” “Tomorrow.” “Oh, fine, we’ll shoot him Monday then. He better be here Monday at 6:00 AM.” So, they called me, you know, and at that point I turned my phone off. I said, “I’m just getting married, I’m gonna enjoy my weekend and get married,” and so that Saturday we get married. I made the rehearsal, we got married. That Sunday morning, I’m saying goodbye to everybody, my parents, my whole family was…

Sharon Taylor:
Flying into town for that.

Mike Dopud:
… flying into Vancouver for the wedding, and I was going back to Montreal to shoot Rollerball. And I’ll end it by saying the reason I really wanted this movie, not so much just for me, but my dad was terminal, the cancer. So, we had to move our wedding up to July. So that was why… And then if I could shoot a movie in Montreal, ’cause my dad had never been on a movie set, so I thought, “It’d be so cool to have him, bring him to a movie set, and while he was still able to.”
And so, we got married, and it all worked out, and that was all. When we talk about manifesting, that was literally, every night I was putting it out there. And sometimes you gotta let it go, but I was just, “No, I have to do it.” I was so determined that I was gonna get on this movie. And it worked out.

Sharon Taylor:
And did your dad get a chance to visit you on set?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah, he came to set, yeah, the whole thing. And then I was able to stay with him the last month of his life because we wrapped in November, and then we stayed in Montreal. I came back here to shoot a TV episode, I can’t remember what it was, it was such a blur back then. And then I flew back in February, and I stayed with my dad February to March, and he passed March 3rd, so I was able to be there. And then we had reshoots to do in April, in New York. So, it all worked out. It was amazing how… So, power of manifestation sometimes works.

Sharon Taylor:
It works. It totally works.

Mike Dopud:
There you go.

Simone Bailly:
I thought… That’s a beautiful story

Mike Dopud:
Aw, thanks. It was a pretty cool one.

Simone Bailly:
Sometimes I don’t know if it’s that I’m low-key psychic or what, but I do get visions of things. And so, in a way, it is coupled with manifestation, I guess. But one of them was I always dreamt of living in Los Angeles, and I had visions of it. And it was right when I gave up on that is when it happened for me. And I guess another one was Battlestar Galactica. I was such a fan. That was my gateway TV show to sci-fi, at that time. And no offense, Stargate. I still love you. You’re still number one. I had auditioned and auditioned, and I went out for Baltar’s lawyer, and it didn’t go, and I was like, “Uh.” And then finally, I got an audition for the series finale, the two-part series finale, and I had to go in and put a match out in my mouth, which is called eating a match. And back then, they had the exec and director in the room. And so, I did it in the room, and he was like, “How did you do that?” And I was like, “Oh, well, I practiced and I practiced.” No, I watched a YouTube video, and I practiced and I practiced. But I was so amazed. I was like, “Did no one else do that in the audition? Was I really the only girl that came in and did that?” Anyway. But I had been thinking about that show. I loved that show, and I was so enthralled, especially with the Baltar Six dynamic. Those were my favorite characters. And I got a call from my agent. I was driving, and she’s like, “Simone, you got the role. They want you.” And I was like… and I pulled over, and I was like, “Oh my God. Really?” I was so… See, I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. I was so excited. But I think I had put a lot of energy into that. Wanting that so bad. That meant so much to me as an actor when that happened. So, I’d like to reverse FTL and go to the past and talk about your theater career. What did you love about doing theater, and would you ever do it again?

Sharon Taylor:
I would do it again. I got my degree in theater, like you, my Bachelor of Fine Arts. After university, I started a theater company, and we did shows all over Vancouver and Granville Island. They were union equity shows, and– But we made no money, and then there sometimes would be more of us on stage than people in the audience, which can be terribly disheartening when you’ve worked so hard. The camaraderie was wonderful, and I had so much fun. And I think Vancouver wasn’t really a theater town, so it was the shows that were comedies did really well. But the shows that were dark and meta did not do well at all back then here. I would definitely do it again. Did you do theater?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah. I love theater. There’s nothing like it when you’re on stage, and if you have a monologue or something that you’re doing, and you can just feel the audience is into you every once in a while. That there’s like, “OK, I’m on. Things are going.” You can just feel it, and that feedback you get, that instant feedback is amazing for me. And yeah, I would do it again in a heartbeat. But the reason I got away from it was because of film. And then I went back to it. I did a couple plays. Last one was about 10 years ago. Maybe it’s time to do another one.

Sharon Taylor:
OK. Three of us should do a play. What should we do?

Simone Bailly:
That would be so cool.

Mike Dopud:
You come from theater, so how about you? What’s your…

Simone Bailly:
My background. I graduated at the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting, which is also where Michael Shanks and Alex Zahara went. Also, Camille Sullivan, bunch of other people. Fabulous program there where you have to audition to get in. They have 140 applicants and they accept 12. So that was really exciting. I was one of three women to graduate, and the first year I was there, I did something like seven plays in a year. And I remember Alex Zahara came up to me, and he was older, a couple years or something. And he was like, “So, I hear you’re the hot actress on campus,” And I thought that was kinda cool, he had noticed that I was in a lot of plays. But I loved theater. I trained with the Shakespeare guru of Canada who’s passed on.

Sharon Taylor:
Yeah, Neil Freeman.

Simone Bailly:
Neil Freeman, fantastic guy. And I ended up working for a Shakespeare company out of university. But I would do all these big plays, and sometimes for 4,000 people when I was touring some of these Shakespeare shows. And I loved it, but you had to be in the audience, otherwise you missed it. So, I loved the archival aspect of film, and also the money’s, you know, it was pretty enticing. So, that’s why I switched. But I would like to do theater again. There’s a couple plays that I have always had on my bucket list, and specific roles I wanna do. So that is something. Yeah. Although it terrifies me. I don’t know how… I used to do Shakespeare shows where I would do two shows in rep, which means you do one show one night, one the next night. Plus, I was understudying the lead of another show, so I’d have…

Mike Dopud:
Gosh, that was difficult

Simone Bailly:
…three Shakespeare full play, things in my head at any given time. I can’t even imagine how I did that. Now I’m like, “Where’d I put my phone?”

Sharon Taylor:
As humans, our attention spans have evolved to shorter and shorter.

Mike Dopud:
Devolve, exactly. Devolve.

Sharon Taylor:
Devolve. Thank you.

Simone Bailly:
All right. What is some of the greatest acting advice that you’ve ever received?

Sharon Taylor:
Well, this is gonna make you cry… me cry, ’cause this makes me cry every time. But I worked with Vincent D’Onofrio on Ghost Wars, and he would give all the actors little bits of acting advice. And because he’s also an acting teacher, and he’d be like, “It comes from your tummy, it comes from your tummy.” But there’d be moments where someone was having trouble really getting into a scene, or a moment, or a memory, and he would say, “Close your eyes.” And he would say, “Imagine someone you love, and their cheek is pressed up against your cheek, and they’re humming.” And then, so you would close your eyes, and you’d imagine someone you love, they’re humming, against your cheek. And it makes me cry every time. It’s just so beautiful.

Mike Dopud:
That’s really cool. No, just ’cause I was just with my mom in Montreal visiting.

Sharon Taylor:
Yes, that’s where I go. In my head, to my grandfather’s past.

Mike Dopud:
Acting advice. I’ve never had anybody tell me what to do, or how to be, or “try this, or try that,” but it’s just watching. For me, I think it was watching other well-known actors. I remember watching Michael Keaton. I’m doing scenes with Michael Keaton in White Noise, the movie White Noise, and they decided to change…

Sharon Taylor:
Wait, you did scenes with Michael Keaton?

Mike Dopud:
Yeah.

Sharon Taylor:
That’s cool.

Mike Dopud:
It was pretty cool. And then I was blown away. Everything’s going great. The whole day is going great, couple days. This was the first day and we had to change because we lost a location. It was a low-budget movie that ended up doing really well. And we’d lost locations, and all of a sudden, we had to come up with different dialogue and that. And then watching Michael, and him talking to me, and his eyes are so expressive, and the way he would look at me. And I’m sitting here, and the whole time I’m like, “Wow, this is cool. I’m talking to Michael Keaton. I’m doing a scene with Mike. We’re discussing how to make this scene better,” in my head. And then all of a sudden, one of the producers goes, “Look at you, working with Michael Keaton.”
And I’m sitting here going, “Oh, shit.”

Sharon Taylor:
Backing down.

Mike Dopud:
“I’m working, I’m working with Michael Keaton. Oh my God, I better be good.”

Sharon Taylor:
You’re backing in your head.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, back in my head I was like, “Oh, crap, crap. Be good, be good. Just listen, listen. Remember, listen. Feel your toes, feel your toes. Listen to him.” That was funny. I reverted all of a sudden back to my first acting gig. I was like, “Oh, shit, I’m working with Michael Keaton.”
But then it all worked out really well. But it was just really interesting. I was sitting there going–but his eyes were so expressive without doing much. Just looking at me, he’s connected, and the way he would look at me, and he’s got these big, beautiful eyes. Just the way they moved, and I was blown away. So, those are those moments that…just be connected. Be present, be in the scene, and it’s the biggest thing. So, that was one of those moments.

Sharon Taylor:
Did you have a…?

Simone Bailly:
I had the very fortunate privilege of studying with one of the greatest acting instructors, Ivana Chubbuck. And I spent a very, deep intensive with her in a class. And I have her book, which she inscribed to me, and she basically said, “Simone, you know…” I’m gonna cry just saying. But she’s like, “Oh, you’re a phenomenal actress,” which meant so much, ’cause she’s such an amazing person. She had trained Brad Pitt, and all these people.

Mike Dopud:
Halle Berry.

Simone Bailly:
Yeah, Halle Berry. All these huge people. And she was like, “When you get outta your head and you’re primal, you are unstoppable.” And to be… sorry, I’m all schmoopy right now.

Mike Dopud:
It’s okay.

Simone Bailly:
But it meant so much, ’cause she’s such a revered teacher. And for her to say that about me meant so much. I think a lot of times we wanna have that validation and to be seen as an artist.
So, that meant a lot.

Mike Dopud:
Tissue?

Sharon Taylor:
I have an old one in my pocket.

Simone Bailly:
I’ll take it.

Sharon Taylor:
There’s some gum in it.

Simone Bailly:
So, what can we look forward to that’s coming out for you guys?

Sharon Taylor:
This goes back to manifesting. I have a picture of myself on my vision board… actually it’s a photo of not myself. It’s Zoe Saldaña in Lioness, and it’s the image from Lioness on there.
Then I auditioned for Terminal List with Chris Pratt in Toronto. And the character was a lot like that Lioness-type character in there. And so, I did not get on Lioness, but it was one of the producers, or someone who had worked on Lioness ended up seeing my tape and brought me into Terminal List. So, I got to work with Chris Pratt earlier this year. Yeah, I did two episodes of Terminal List, but then my character… they ended up making her very official, and so I wasn’t in the field. They decided to make her more of working from the office and doing the intelligence stuff. So, then I was like, “Oh, it didn’t quite work out the same,” but I guess I still manifested it in its own way somehow.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, cool. Congrats.

Sharon Taylor:
Thanks.

Mike Dopud:
Oh, me?

Simone Bailly:
You always have lots.

Mike Dopud:
No, I have a couple of little things, but one is a new Netflix series called Trinity. It hasn’t been technically announced that I’m in it, but I’m in it. And that was a really great government conspiracy theory about World War III and the safety and security defense teams. I can’t say what I’m playing yet because it hasn’t been announced. But it’s cool, it’s really great. And I was really thoroughly impressed with the scripts and that, so I’m excited. Hopefully it comes out in July next year. July 2026, on Netflix. Trinity.

Sharon Taylor:
OK. We’re gonna be watching.

Simone Bailly:
I can’t say, but I worked on a mega movie that’s gonna be humongous coming out maybe 2026. I’m not sure. And then I have a short film that is making the rounds in–

Mike Dopud:
The one with Peter DeLuise?

Simone Bailly:
No. That was a while ago. But a short film that’s making the rounds right now. We were nominated for best drama, and we continue to go all over the world with that. And it’s a proof of concept for a feature, so I am the number one on that film, and it meant a lot to me because it was a period-piece Western set in the 1800s. So that’s really cool.

Mike Dopud:
Very good, very cool.

Simone Bailly:
To end off, do you have any message for the fans?

Sharon Taylor:
My message for the fans would be: enjoy the new Stargate. That’s a stupid thing to say. Let me say that again.

Mike Dopud:
That’d be good.

Sharon Taylor:
I guess I’m excited for all the fans because they’ve kept this franchise alive. It’s because of them. So, they will soon be rewarded.

Mike Dopud:
Same. I can’t wait to see the new Stargate and to see what they do with it. Make sure you guys watch. Make sure you watch that means it’ll stick around.

Sharon Taylor:
Seasons and seasons of it. And spinoffs.

Mike Dopud:
I like that. Spinoffs.

Simone Bailly:
Spinoffs. I’m so excited for the new series. And the new news is breathing life in the whole entire community. It ripples in every which way. The conventions are gonna be that much more exciting. The people that make any merch or props, or anything, I think we should all just have a giant party and rejoice and dance like Charlie Brown characters. Celebrate and do a little ribbon around the maypole or whatever it is. I’m really thrilled. And thank you all so very much for your support and love and keeping the show and the fandom alive. It means a lot. And special thanks also to Dial the Gate and GateWorld for having us today

Sharon Taylor:
Thank you.

Mike Dopud:
Thanks, guys.

Sharon Taylor:
Thanks, Darren and David.

David Read:
Thank you, guys.

Simone Bailly:
We love you. We love you all.

Darren Sumner:
Thank you.