From Residents to Kelownans, Gillian Barber has established herself as a recognizable face in Stargate canon. We are thrilled to sit down with her to discuss her career and share some stories from production!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
So, I ask you, how many times in your everyday life do you have to say to yourself, “That’s not a glider, that should be a mothership?” My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. Thank you so much for being with me. Gillian Barber, who played two highlights of mine personally in Stargate SG-1, is joining me for this episode. She played a, we didn’t get their species’ name really, in the extended lore we do but a resident of a planet who was plugged into a machine that preoccupied their minds while Dwight Schultz was fooling about in their gardens. And then one of my favorites, Ambassador and First Minister Dreylock. I am privileged to have her here, and if I can press the button, I’ll bring her in. Gillian.

Gillian Barber:
Hey.

David Read:
Welcome to the show. How are you?

Gillian Barber:
I’m great. Thank you, David. Thank you so much for having me.

David Read:
It’s terrific to have you here. You really made an impact, Dreylock obviously, but you really made an impact on me with your role in The Gamekeeper as well, and I’m really looking forward to getting to both of these conversations. But what’s been going on in your world recently? What are you working on?

Gillian Barber:
My goodness.

David Read:
Narrow it down.

Gillian Barber:
Lots of things. I teach at a local university, and I’ve been doing a lot of work there directing and teaching acting, and every time I can get some time off, I then audition and shoot things like The Last of Us, which was my last role.

David Read:
This upcoming season?

Gillian Barber:
Yep. I am so blessed to be in that series.

David Read:
Wow. Has it aired yet, your episodes? I’ve not seen the new season yet. I’ll watch it when it ends.

Gillian Barber:
I was in Episode One and I’m a councilwoman, and the regular people of the town come to talk to us for decisions and stuff like that. I’ve got one more episode coming up. They recut them all, so I don’t know what number it is, but there we go, two epis[odes].

David Read:
What has it been like being a part of this critically acclaimed mega-series? I bet you were pinching yourself when you got it.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. I did the audition, I think, just before Christmas, a year and a half ago, and I thought, “Oh, wow. This would be just amazing,” but I was not gonna think about it. And six weeks later they called and said, “OK. You’re in. Be there on April blah, blah, blah,” and there I was, and it was a thrill, a thrill to work with that caliber of people, for one. And not to mention that when you put it on your resume, it’s a nice thing to see there.

David Read:
Absolutely, for sure. Anything that stands out from that season of production for you personally?

Gillian Barber:
For me personally, I was thrilled to work with the people, obviously the cast, but I have to say that Bella Ramsey is a real standout. Talk about a person that can just talk to anybody, be polite, come up to you, welcome you to the show, ask you about what you’re doing in your life, and then be interested in hearing about it. They really are a lovely person to work with, and I was thrilled.

David Read:
The perception oftentimes is that, and I think less now because of social media, that people really get to see under the hood a little bit, but I think the perception is that stars are just amazing and they’re all so wonderful. It’s like, “Uh-huh. Uh-huh.” And they’re long days. Everyone gets to have a bad day. I don’t think you need to get to mistreat people, but I do think you get to say, “I’m sorry. I can’t do X, Y, or Z while we’re behind the scenes. I’m just having a really bad one. Could you cut me a little bit of slack?” But then you get other people who are just consummate professionals, steady. They almost never have a down day and it’s like, “This person was built for this. That’s one of the reasons they are so successful.” And also, they can act as well. That helps.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. I saw them have great fun on set, chasing around, running after things, but also then the moment they could just switch on and be in the role. I think that’s so important for actors, to have that duality, to be able to understand when the cameras are off and have fun and just be a person, and then when the cameras turn on, as you say, the consummate professional turns up and they’re in the moment. And Bella is really one of those people.

David Read:
How long have you been teaching?

Gillian Barber:
Gosh, 20 years.

David Read:
OK, so when you turned about 18, 19?

Gillian Barber:
Yeah. Thank you so much.

David Read:
Absolutely. This is a mantra at this point on my show. I stole it from Tim Russ in a video game, but there are fewer jobs more important than teaching, and when I look back on the opportunities that I have had, when I was… I worked at PayPal for a little while, and I had a chance to teach one-on-one. It was an assembly line of people. We would get 20 or 30 and then we would go back to the beginning of the assembly line and start over and get another 20 or 30, and it was so richly rewarding to see someone’s eyes light up when they get it. It’s like you’re trying to make a connection for them. You’re trying to make it work. You’re using metaphor, you’re using simile. “I’m approaching this every angle but supine,” and to watch someone grow and become the next best version of themselves, in whatever you’re teaching is one of the most ecstatic sensations I have ever had in my life, and I regret it to this day that I no longer have a method of teaching and conveying knowledge of something that I love, or at the very least enjoy.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. It’s a great passion. I’m lucky that I teach acting, a subject matter where everyone that comes to the table wants this really badly. They want to learn. They want to get better. So, the fact that you’ve got a room full of 20 people who are as passionate as you are about a subject, and you get to share whatever knowledge that you’re bringing to the table on a daily basis, there’s nothing like it. I’ve always said that teaching makes me a better actor because I look at somebody that’s having an issue with something and I go, “I get that. That’s me. I’ve been there. How can I help this person and therefore remember my own advice in order to help me.” It’s truly been a labor of love, for sure.

David Read:
I find it to be an eye-opener in terms of seeking greater understanding. “Oh my gosh, I’ve never experienced a situation like that, but that person’s experienced this situation right now. I need to remind myself when I’m in a similar situation that someone else may be having the same reaction that he or she is having right now that I didn’t consider and adjust my behavior accordingly to accommodate people like that who may never even communicate that to me.” I think that if you’re receptive to new methods of empathy in terms of how… ‘Cause you’re not just doing it to communicate with something. You’re doing it to be with other people and to work with them, and in your particular case, acting is all listening. Reacting, which is listening.

Gillian Barber:
Yes.

David Read:
Where have you come away in terms of your career with being the most satisfied as an instructor? I’m curious. Would it be mask work? Would it be directing people in positions on the stage? Where do you find yourself being, “Oh yeah, this part of it. I love it all, but this part of it, I really love.” I’m curious.

Gillian Barber:
I would have to say directing. Because not only are you creating pictures… And I’m a very visual person. Creating the pictures on the stage, assisting with choosing the costumes, approving of the set, agreeing to the lights that are going on. It’s all part of the visual experience, but it is also like teaching, in that you have this vision and you need to draw people onto your wagon so that you can all be on the same road to create the picture that you want at the end. And it’s the communication that you need to spruce up in order to get people on your side, I suppose, for want of a better word, to help them see what you see, to help them put into practice what you put into practice, physically, vocally, visually, and that fascinates me. It’s so rewarding. I can’t describe how rewarding it is.

David Read:
Directing is a lot of politics.

Gillian Barber:
Yep.

David Read:
Because a department head or a cast member, they’re looking at you. You’ve given a note. You want this done. You want this lighting change in this direction. You want this set piece to look like this. And I’m sure you’ve been there where you get to look back that they’re going, “She’s crazy. That’s not gonna work. What’s she thinking?” And it’s like, OK, if they have a soul and a beating heart, it’s like, “OK, they’re the director. Let’s try it and let’s watch ’em fall flat on their face.” And then they go and do what you said, and it works and it’s like, “Huh. Well, OK then.” Can you relate to this?

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. There’s no doubt that every human has an ego. And they want to do what they want to do, and you have to stand back and find the language. You said this earlier, finding the different language to speak to people, whether it be empathetic or despotic, whatever the way–

David Read:
Straight down the– If you’re dealing with a New Yorker they want to hear it straight. There are those people.

Gillian Barber:
Right, like this. “This isn’t how I want it.” So, whatever language you decide to choose with different people, and you have to use different language with every single person, their ego has to accept that I will try what you want me to do and then I’ll do it my way. And sometimes you look at an actor, and they do it their way and you go, “Yep, that’s how they should do it.” And your ego has to take the back seat. So, it’s, it really is striking that balance between what you want and then using who you’ve got, and their talents to create the picture that we can create together. So, there’s a lot of community attached to it as well.

David Read:
You haven’t hired someone on to raise an army of foot soldiers. In this case, they come equipped with certain talents, some of which you may not even expect in an ancillary field. It’s like, “Well, they’re talented over here, let’s try this and see what happens.” You gotta be flexible as a director, you gotta be willing to explore. Otherwise, where’s the fun in anything else?

Gillian Barber:
No, no, it’s true. You have to work in collaboration with people and that’s… And I love that, in front, behind, and on stage. It’s just, it has to be there.

David Read:
What aspect of this industry did you discover first? When in your life was this and how has it shaped you as, as a person? In a minute, I’d like you to tell me about a part that has profoundly impacted you. But I’m curious as to what got you first interested? Did you see a film? Did you see a play? Where was it for you?

Gillian Barber:
I was four. I was living in [England]…

David Read:
So, it’s an early dream.

Gillian Barber:
… and has not changed except once. My mom was in musical theater. There came a show; my dad was away and she couldn’t afford a babysitter, so she took me to rehearsal. There I was sitting in the wings watching her and I decided to come out and do something I thought was a really good idea, and I did it, and the director went, “Who’s that?” And my mother was mortified. “My daughter, my daughter.” “I like it. Keep it in.” That was it. I was in.

David Read:
You bought your own ticket!

Gillian Barber:
I did. And honestly, I only wavered once in terms of the profession that I wanted to be in. I think about six, I wanted to be a nun. Because of Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music.

David Read:
That’s right.

Gillian Barber:
But I changed quickly into wanting to play a nun instead. There we go. Never changed.

David Read:
No spinning on a hillside for you, and now…

Gillian Barber:
No.

David Read:
… when you see an opportunity, sometimes you gotta go for it. And sometimes you’re four years old and it’s like, “You know, I wanna do this for me.” And sometimes there’s a director watching and it’s like, “Yeah, that fits this. Let’s bring her in. She’s around anyway.” Do you remember the production?

Gillian Barber:
Carousel.

David Read:
Oh, that’s a great memory. Is your mother still with us?

Gillian Barber:
She’s not, sadly. Sadly, but I know she’s really proud. My sister’s an opera singer so she’s got a double whammy. She’s got two performing daughters, and she was thrilled with our choices. But how did it shape me? Every year I would do something whether it was in school or out of school. And I suppose it gave me a little bit of a cachet which always helps one’s confidence. But we moved a lot too. We moved back to England, we moved to Africa, we lived all over the place. So, it was a very peripatetic childhood, and I think that too made me more outgoing ’cause I had to be making new friends all the time. But it was a–

David Read:
You have to have an anchor somewhere.

Gillian Barber:
Funnily, mine was theater. Not much of an anchor that was but —

David Read:
You can take that art wherever you go. A part of it is, you make friends and it ends, and you make new friends. So, having that to hold onto I think would be a strength.

Gillian Barber:
It certainly made me a bit of a class clown which got me into trouble a lot. But that’s okay. But no, it never stopped, that desire to explore and learn more about this, this profession, both sides of the table.

David Read:
Is there a role that you’ve carried with you since you performed that, that sticks with you, or even a piece of a performance that there’s no separation between you and this? Is there something that just sticks with you after all this time that you’ve performed?

Gillian Barber:
The prelude to this conversation is I have always been fascinated with World War II, the Nazi regime, and how it almost changed the world, always been fascinated by it. And so, when I was cast in Man in the High Castle which of course is that…

David Read:
What a show.

Gillian Barber:
… sort of novel. That talks about what if the war was not won by the Allies but was won by Japan and Nazi Germany.

David Read:
“Let’s go there.”

Gillian Barber:
I think being in that show was fulfilling in a very odd sense, even though I had to be on the wrong side, if you want to look at it morally. How people get dragged into beliefs that their society, their religion, their politics are the ones that you have to believe in. It was eye-opening, I suppose, to the humanity underneath it for me. Not thinking of these people as bad people, these people as good people. But the idea that within a society, whatever the leading politics are, that there are still humans who breathe and live and love, so it had a huge impact on me, that series.

David Read:
Chelah came on last season, and I’ve always loved her. She crashed my party, a Stargate party I had a few years ago and I’ve been a fan ever since. And she was very brave in being able to say that it was an amazing production, and she had some profoundly conflicting feelings about this as the queen bee of the eastern United States bloc, as it were. And made her face the fact that underneath this regime, there are people who are… We’re not giving them permission to be this way in our minds, but this is the real… This is the box that this performance is being set in. And I always think back to a Tolkien professor who talked about the Ringwraiths. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Tolkien. But we are so willing to jump on the fact that, “That wouldn’t be me in that situation.” It could be if the parameters were set right. That could be you. And if you aren’t willing to think through the possibility of you going down that road, maybe you’re not too comfortable about exploring true malevolence and evil. And maybe you should be more comfortable about looking at the possibilities that that could go down, because under the right set of circumstances, it will be you. It was a scary show to watch. And I didn’t like the ending, but I loved the bravery of Philip K. Dick’s concept. It’s a wild show, and it makes you ask those banger questions. It is like, “What does it mean to be human? And where do you lose yourself? At what point do you stop being one?”

Gillian Barber:
I think the thing that’s very important about it is we are all dual. We all have the decisions we make that are moral, we all have the decisions we make that are not moral, depending on where your compass lies. But it’s true, you have to accept the light and the dark of humanity. And I had to live inside that, as I can’t imagine Chelah doing it for all of that length of time, but in the time that I was on the series it really did awaken me to the fact of you have to live within the rules, if you like, of this particular society, and how are you gonna cope? How are you gonna comfort yourself in this world?

David Read:
You have to live in it or you’ll die.

Gillian Barber:
Exactly.

David Read:
Or your children will die. You ready? “I can kill ’em now.” That’s the reality. And hey, go vote. man. Right?

Gillian Barber:
Yep.

David Read:
First awareness of Stargate for you? Were you in Vancouver in the late 90s? You had to have been ’cause it was Season Two.

Gillian Barber:
I was.

David Read:
So, first awareness of Stargate and tell me about that.

Gillian Barber:
A bit of a vague memory, but I remember this new series coming to town. I’d done X-Files already. All these wonderful sci-fi things that were happening in town, and then this new made-for-TV from the movie series came up. And always loved MacGyver, big fan. But then when the cast started to happen and I realized that there were locals being cast in significant roles, that’s when I started to get excited about how our local community can help tell this story of different worlds and different things that happen out there, different explorations, different good and bad things that happen. And what it can teach us. So, that’s what I remember from that first hearing from my agent about this new series coming to town, and thinking, “Yes, I would love to be on it.”

David Read:
Did you audition in Season One?

Gillian Barber:
I don’t think I did. No, I was busy at the time. I had two small children, for one. But I was also busy doing other episodics and lots of movies of the week at the time. But couldn’t wait for my turn to come up.

David Read:
Absolutely. And I love this episode. It’s called “The Gamekeeper”, brilliant lead guest star by the name of Dwight Schultz. This episode is prophetic, in my opinion, on a number of different levels, and I’d like to explore it a little bit with you. Did you know it was written last minute?

Gillian Barber:
I didn’t at the time, no. Not at all.

David Read:
Can you imagine? It doesn’t look half-assed in any way in terms of what comes on screen or the ideas in it. Tell me about what you remember from this part.

Gillian Barber:
It was all very mysterious.

David Read:
And veiled, literally.

Gillian Barber:
Literally. When you’re playing a relatively small part, you’re not involved or invited, and I don’t mean that in a mean way. You’re just not invited into the whole story. So, did I see the part where Jack goes back in time or Michael Shanks’ character goes, Daniel goes back and sees that happen? No. I wasn’t that aware of that, but only into the sort of arc of being plugged into a machine, being entertained, being told that we had destroyed the planet, therefore there was that guilt placed upon you which made you listen to the leader and obey his every word and believe his every word. Again, we’re back to this theme of rules in a society. Interesting.

David Read:
Yes. Themes come forward, don’t they? How interesting.

Gillian Barber:
Feeling actually guilty and powerless, I think, were the things that I felt the most when playing the role until meeting the Stargate team and understanding that there was a different truth out there. But it did feel quite oppressive. Being veiled, which I’d never done before, makes you think about other people in the world who are veiled all the time. But the oppression was very real during the filming.

David Read:
Wow. I love the idea of, especially the end is one of my favorite scenes. When you’re at the conservatory and you’re picking the flowers. “You are ruining the garden!” It’s so funny.

Gillian Barber:
It was funny.

David Read:
“You’ll plant more. It’s fine. They haven’t been out in years.”

Gillian Barber:
No, exactly.

David Read:
“Shut up.”

Gillian Barber:
Tulips will come back. They will.

David Read:
They will come back. I love… Dwight’s this outlandish personality, but in my head, I’m picturing this little king on top of his one little hill, and that garden is his world. Forget the whole planet. But it was so funny. And it’s just like, “Dude, you are no longer in charge. We have shown the portals to the residents, and they’re gonna go out.” Geez. There is– Sorry?

Gillian Barber:
He’s very funny. I just wanted to– He was very funny because he buried the humor early, but you knew it was there from the little twinkles in his eye every once in a while, of the potential of what was to come. I was really impressed by his obsession to detail. Yes, you’re right, this little king.

David Read:
This person would be, though. They’re used to running everything, and the environment has been restored, probably in part thanks to this guy, but you gotta let people go sooner or later. You can’t just keep ’em locked up in a video game. We’d die. And I love the messages of that episode, and I’m frankly terrified as to where we’re going as entertainment gets more and more alluring. When does the technology become more important than the people? And you know what? People? We really are bad. We really deserve to be locked away and just let nature be nature. That’s a scary message that a lot of people… “No, don’t, don’t make more people. There’s too many of us. We’re not worth that much.” There’s a lot of elements there that need to be unpacked. I love this show, and I see it very prophetic in terms of what’s coming as our technology gets more advanced.

Gillian Barber:
You pair that with 2001: A Space Odyssey and VR becoming, AI becoming, controlling us, all of those things, it’s…

David Read:
That too.

Gillian Barber:
…it’s terrifying.

David Read:
In this case, there was a human that you could appeal to.

Gillian Barber:
Yes, and who knows if the computers would take over the world, who would you appeal to? I don’t even know what your powers would be unless you knew where the plug was and you could unplug them from the wall. So many levels of it, going from virtual reality through to AI and also how despots can push a population down and make them believe something and…

David Read:
I’m curious…

Gillian Barber:
…and then humans becoming entertainment. I mean, it’s just, “Ugh”.

David Read:
I’m curious, with your body of work, you see something happen or an advancement comes out or someone goes and does something, do you as a performer ever go, “Oh, yeah. I’ve already done this. I’ve been in this?” Do you file those memories away, those projects, in terms of the messages that they carried? Or is the work the work?

Gillian Barber:
I have to say, I think the work is the work. I think if you come up against a story that is repeated, there’s always something new to learn, or to explore. And yes, a lot of these works are educational to a certain extent. You want to show an audience the dangers of or the potentials of. That is a responsibility, certainly, of an entertainer, is to understand that the work you do can have that effect. But no, the work is still very personal. The work is still very researched and explored for its own merit every single time.

David Read:
You have to have fun with it. Yes, it’s gonna be a slog sometimes, yet you have to hit your marks. Yes, you have to say all those words in that order, but you gotta have some play as well. And I think that’s what Richard Dean did well, as you shared many a scene with him, so I’m sure you can speak to that.

Gillian Barber:
I have to say that group of people was very entertaining. The beauty of it was, with a cast that’s worked together for so long, they know what makes each other laugh. They can do it when they’re off camera, and you’re on camera, you’re going, “Oh, God. OK, I have to keep my…

David Read:
You’re being hazed.

Gillian Barber:
…parade during that.” Yes. And they were very good at that, honestly. After seven seasons, they were experts at, when they’re on camera, being perfect, and when they’re off camera, they just wanna have fun. But in a lot of ways, once you understood that, once you’d been on set once and you went, “OK, I get that. I get your measure,” you could play the game before the game too. I don’t know. I had a great time with all those crazy characters.

David Read:
Christopher Judge. I can count on one hand the number of actors that I can call upon and, if I needed something in any moment, I could get them, two of which are Cylons. But Christopher Judge is one of the others and he admitted to me at one point, I said, “You know, you’re burning hundreds if not thousands of dollars per minute on this show. You’re gonna ruin a take? How much money has been lost? And just to make you laugh and make them laugh?” And Chris is like, “Yup, too bad.” Because you want them to want to come back and you want them to have a positive experience, and at the end of the day, we are getting our days.

Gillian Barber:
They could not do that if that was at risk. And they wouldn’t have risked that anyway. They knew what was in the can. They knew they could do another take and it would be perfect, but the itch to entertain was always there for all of them. And not just them! The directors too. Martin and Peter, they’re just as much fun as everybody else. It was very, very entertaining and many laughs induced.

David Read:
We have been exposed to a culture called the Kelownan people. They share a planet with, I believe, the Terranians and the Andari Federation, if I’m remembering correctly.

Gillian Barber:
That’s right.

David Read:
Thank you.

Gillian Barber:
Of course you do.

David Read:
Well, not necessarily. And you appear in the second half of, maybe not the second half but you appear in Season Six as Ambassador Dreylock. It was Season Six, right, was your first? Or was it Season Seven? I believe you appear…

Gillian Barber:
It was Season Six.

David Read:
In Season Six, yes. Along with Dean Stockwell.

Gillian Barber:
And then a couple of Season Seven…

David Read:
That’s the part that I missed. Jonas Quinn is a renegade and a traitor and you have to play this woman who is going down the middle of the road because “Yes, these people have stolen something from us with his assistance. Don’t know if he’s complicit or not. We’ve also got enemies at our back doorstep and we need their help. So, we’re gonna play this kind of middle of the road according to what the First Minister wants.” Tell me about getting and portraying Ambassador Dreylock.

Gillian Barber:
My first point of business was to discover what an ambassador is. ‘Cause I think you just summed up what that job entails, is you can’t lose your cool, you cannot have strong, or show you strong opinions on either side of the line and you have to back your First Minister and be wise at the same time. So, I spent a lot of time looking at ambassadors and thinking about how their ambition drove them to that job. How they acceded to that role and I felt quite confident actually that my Patrician looks, my voice. There are things that I could use of my own self to portray a wise councilperson.

David Read:
You can accentuate your softness.

Gillian Barber:
Yes, and you notice, or what I noticed going back watching them again was I did use that voice that’s a softer voice that I can use. So, I chose that particularly ’cause I did not want to antagonize anybody I was speaking to. It was fascinating to use what I have but focus it in on what my job entailed.

David Read:
Absolutely. Any highlights from working with Dean Stockwell, Corin Nemec. Anything that stands out from that early episode?

Gillian Barber:
Again, Dean Stockwell had been around for a long time. So, there was just watching the rollout of what he was doing. Fascinating at the beginning because you were not to expect anything that happened in the story later. His true beliefs in the resistance, everything that he believed in that episode. And Corin, serious young actor really, again, fun to watch because of his focus. But no, I think I was so thrilled at that point to have a role that I hoped would reoccur that would allow me to be a wise woman. I think that you don’t often get to play these kinds of roles where you as A: a woman is in that sort of position, plus to be able to embody your wisdom.

David Read:
Did any of the weight on her shoulders transfer to you? Did you feel that in inhabiting the performance of what was at stake or is it, “This is a role and I’m gonna take it on and I’m gonna do my research and I’m gonna play it?”

Gillian Barber:
Yes to both questions. I think one of the things that I do is I will, as I’ve already mentioned, I go to my own body to my own voice. What can I do to embody this character? And I think you’ll notice that I was ramrod straight throughout the portrayal. And I felt that it would give me command. My body would give me command, but my voice would be soft. So, I really like to obviously use the personal attributes that I have. But was there weight? Of course. I think the weight of having this so-called nuclear power, not at my fingertips, but within my role.

David Read:
Certainly his ear.

Gillian Barber:
Yes. I think that was the weight that I carried, was this idea of nuclear power and what it could do to destroy my world and threaten other worlds.

David Read:
This is always a repeating narrative in our society that these particular episodes really connect to that. But also, in terms of talking about the role and finding play in it, the script only affords you so much elasticity. So, you’re bound largely by the document. But at the same time, you get directors like DeLuise and Wood, and it’s like, “What are they gonna throw at us that we didn’t expect coming off this page?” And here it is. They’re delivering it, and Rick as well. I frequently hear the word recurring bandied about on this show where people are like, “Oh, I was told it may be recurring,” and part of them is like, “Ah, it may be recurring,” but in your case, it was. What was that like?

Gillian Barber:
It’s the luck of the draw, though. Because they can’t say any more than when they contract you, they’ll say, “Well, it may be recurring.” Because they don’t wanna put it in stone that you’re gonna be in more than one episode. That would be financially killer. But when I heard that I was coming back in Season Seven, I was so excited. I thought, “OK, what’s my storyline? What do I get to do?” It’s too bad. Was it “Homecoming” or was it…

David Read:
It’s “Homecoming”.

Gillian Barber:
…”Fallout”. I don’t remember which one it was but there was this battle scene and it was too bad because I’m a black belt in Taekwondo.

David Read:
You’re two belts higher than me in Taekwondo. Red belt, black belt.

Gillian Barber:
Great. Great. It’s again a very focusing sport.

David Read:
Yes ma’am. No ma’am.

Gillian Barber:
But, yes, it’s exactly —

David Read:
That’s right.

Gillian Barber:
But I got a chance to… I said… I think it was Martin, so I said to him, “Listen, I’m a black belt. If you want me to do anything, any stunts, any fights, please let me at it.” So, they did a huge shot where the camera was going round and round, and I got to take out a few bad guys, and it was a thrill ’cause it was the first time I’d ever been able to use that skill. And it didn’t end up in the edit.

David Read:
There’s a shootout with the Jaffa in “Fallen” near the end. So, Dreylock kicks ass.

Gillian Barber:
I did, but you didn’t get to see it. But that’s OK. The fact that on a set with time constraints you can say to a director, “Listen, I can do this. Use me.” And he did. He let me have at her, so I was really thrilled by that.

David Read:
You never know what you’re gonna get on the day.

Gillian Barber:
I know.

David Read:
Sometimes things just pop up, and you can’t get swept away with, “God, will it be in the edit?”

Gillian Barber:
No, no.

David Read:
That’s not the…

Gillian Barber:
No, that’s not…

David Read:
But it’s so easy to do that.

Gillian Barber:
No, no. I don’t tend to think that way. I just think, “Oh, come on. Please, please, coach, put me in.”

David Read:
Exactly. Let’s do it on the day.

Gillian Barber:
It’s basically what I want. Exactly.

David Read:
I love “Shadow Play” for a number of different reasons, including Dean’s performance. Everybody is great. But really, in hindsight, I wish that… I think that it would’ve been more… And I’m curious for you, as a fellow viewer of the episode, I think that it would’ve been more intense if the bombs had already started falling and the Kelownans are being wiped out. These are desperate times. We need something with a greater punch. “Help us. See that person out there? They’re about to die. What do you do?” But in this episode, the version that they chose to go with was a little bit more, we can spend more time at the conference table just working through this. Because really, I guess at its core, it’s not what’s happening to the Kelownans specifically as much as what’s happening to Jonas, and that’s what’s facilitating the story. He’s being forced to confront the fact that he’s returned to a planet he’s been exiled from. And so, it’s probably best for the story that that was the way that they were going.

Gillian Barber:
The conference table stuff was important, the sort of politics of the event. Absolutely. But you’re right, the action and the humanity of his story… That’s what I’ve felt about Stargate from the beginning is they were always very good about, or very clever, in making each story have that line, that storyline, that could twang your heartstrings, as well as the political environment in which you were in. I think that was its strength, personally.

David Read:
For sure. I’ve loved “Fallout” because we finally get to return to the planet and see what has become of our friend, and the First Minister is now you. And it wasn’t a stretch. It made organic sense that a person — Gosh, her boss was killed — the person who saw them through their darkest hour would be considered for that posi[tion]. Did it feel like a natural growth to you? And did you find any room in your back to have a little bit more poise than you did before?

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely, with great help from the costume department.

David Read:
The clothes.

Gillian Barber:
Those people were so good.

David Read:
Christina McQuarrie, I think.

Gillian Barber:
Yes. Having worked with her quite a few times before in theater as well. But having all of those things built for you and measured within an inch of its life, it filled me with that control, with that authority. Put the final touches on it. I think the ambassador was always a little bit ambitious. Just a little bit. But of course, taking over that role where the previous guy was murdered you have to understand that you’re taking on this role and that could be you. So, yeah.

David Read:
I guess I will.

Gillian Barber:
I guess I will. But I’ll keep my back even straighter just in case someone’s gonna shoot at me. Which they did.

David Read:
That’s true. I didn’t think of it that way where… Underneath the surface, ambassadors do often have political aspirations as well. Ambassador is often just a position of goodwill, facilitating communication, and that makes a lot of sense. I never thought of… I didn’t necessarily think of her as a Mary Poppins, but I didn’t consider her having ulterior motives of– Ulterior the wrong word? — motives of power that were facilitated by the death of her boss, that she’s like, “You know what? Here’s the opportunity, and I might want that anyway.” I never thought of it that way, but it makes sense that you would.

Gillian Barber:
I didn’t get too much chance to show it. But every once in a while, in the reaction shots, I would be thinking, “I don’t like this decision. I would have done it this way.” And without even knowing that I was going to be promoted, I just chose to make her very slightly ambitious about decision making and what I would have done in that stead.

David Read:
Makes a lot of sense.

Gillian Barber:
That was my little window of, “There you go. Please keep me on.”

David Read:
Any other performers we should call out? Any other specific memories from your time on that franchise? Anyone behind the scenes…

Gillian Barber:
Actually…

David Read:
… before we wrap it up?

Gillian Barber:
…two performers. Don S. Davis and I got friendly. I admired him so much. He was always a gentleman. Not that people aren’t gentlemen on set, but in the melee of all the humor and everything else, Don was always there holding the fort together with his kind of Southern style, and I loved him. I thought he was an amazing person.

David Read:
Miss him?

Gillian Barber:
Yes, very much so. I was very saddened to hear about what happened. And then the other person I admired wholeheartedly and would love to work with again is Amanda Tapping.

David Read:
Director/Executive Producer Amanda Tapping.

Gillian Barber:
I know. Held it together in that world of men and then now… And look, she really advanced to where she should be.

David Read:
You’ve not been directed by her yet?

Gillian Barber:
No, not yet.

David Read:
It’s just a matter of when. She’s taking over the friggin’ earth.

Gillian Barber:
I know. I can’t wait.

David Read:
Geez. Dogs for everyone. No, Amanda, what an extraordinary human being. And fortune could not have favored someone more deserving of the accolades she has received, and the crucible she has endured. Not to say that it was hell for her, but there are certain situations where it’s like, “Yeah, yeah, because I’m me, I’ve got to deal with this.” And she’s just done it with grace and poise. So, Amanda’s a wonderful human being.

Gillian Barber:
That’s my favorite word, grace.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Gillian Barber:
Very gracious.

David Read:
Stargate provided a huge opportunity for hundreds and hundreds of performers, and even more hundreds of behind-the-scenes personnel for 17 seasons of television. I remember being there in Vancouver in 2003 for the first time, and then going back last year, it’s a completely different town. And Stargate helped to build that film and television community into what it became.

Gillian Barber:
Yes.

David Read:
It’s a tremendous feather in their cap. And I don’t even recognize the city anymore. It’s huge. What a wonderful job they did, and I miss it.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. I think so many people cut their teeth both on and off screen in that show, and have gone on to fulfill this sort of Hollywood North that’s been built out of it.

David Read:
What are you gonna tackle next? What’s on your plate? What would you like to do that you haven’t been given a shot at yet? You’re moving into a part of your life where it’s like there’s only so many years, how do I wanna allocate them? What is it that you wanna do, either on stage or… Or are you perfectly content with teaching and going out for roles? You said three earlier today, my gosh.

Gillian Barber:
Yes.

David Read:
You aren’t slowing down.

Gillian Barber:
No. Why should I? No. I think teaching has been wonderful, beautiful, all of the above, but you’re right, I think I’m entering a new phase of my life, and I think what I would want to do is to go back and do more acting, ’cause there’s always something to learn, but I’m also really interested in cutting my teeth on doing some writing. I’ve had a story sort of percolating around in my head, and I want to explore it. I’m gonna take a course this summer in making an ultra low-budget film as a director, so I’m gonna do that. So, I would like to direct on film more. I’ve done a couple, but I’d like to do more. I want to write. I want to write stuff for myself and I still wanna act. So, that’s my new phase. I’m doing some more directing in the fall. There’s a couple of stage plays, but actually three. Eek. OK. But I really–

David Read:
Just three? Is that all?

Gillian Barber:
Only three. Only three. And one of them I’m gonna write. I wanna write the first one. I wanna write it based on some mythology that I’ve recently found.

David Read:
Which mythology, if I may ask?

Gillian Barber:
I don’t wanna give too much away. I’m gonna say Grecian mythology.

David Read:
OK.

Gillian Barber:
There you go.

David Read:
That’s correct.

Gillian Barber:
I’m gonna create it for a group of 18 performers, so I have to mold it to the people themselves, the gender makeup of the room, all those kinds of things.

David Read:
That’s a lot of cards on the wall with the red string and the time between to make that all come to –18 people, that’s not an easy thing to keep track of if it’s a true ensemble. Very cool. Will you please keep me in the loop as that moves forward?

Gillian Barber:
Of course. No, not at all, I’d love to.

David Read:
Absolutely. Tom McBeath is a friend, and I got to see him live a couple of months ago in Vancouver in A Doll’s House Part Two. And it was extraordinary. And it hadn’t been since before COVID that I had sat down into a space as intimate as that one was and got to just bask in a live performance and he’s 15 feet from me. And at one point, pouring down his face, his emotion, and it’s like people don’t get enough of this now. And I think Matthew Bennett made the comment last week on the show, as we go more digital, the yearning for the physical will become more relevant because we know, at least for now we know, that when it’s in front of us, it’s real. And I really do think that theater is going to… I hope that we’re entering a new renaissance with theater. There’s some cool stuff out there and there are some amazing performers, and it’s a beautiful space to be in.

Gillian Barber:
The PAL Theater is stunning. I’ve directed there too and it’s, there’s nowhere to hide and I love that.

David Read:
Right, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s all out, warts and all, so you better get it right.

Gillian Barber:
Exactly.

David Read:
Or at least don’t lie.

Gillian Barber:
100%. Tom’s wonderful. His wife, Karin Konoval is my best friend.

David Read:
I love Karen. I want her on the show this season.

Gillian Barber:
Please. No, she would be astounding.

David Read:
Oh, her gorilla stories alone.

Gillian Barber:
I know, she’ll… Orangutans are her life.

David Read:
That’s it, exactly. The orangutans, that’s it, for sure. Gillian, this has been a treat to have you on. I’m thrilled to have had this opportunity to get to know you a little bit, and to hear where things are coming ahead for you. And I’m so thankful to the larger Stargate family of satellite actors who have been willing to come on this show after 20-some-odd years. And in some cases, more of being away and still share stories of the things that they remember from the production, because elements of it still stand out to them because the show was that good and it meant that much to the community up there and to the group of people who worked in it.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely. It was early days for the film industry up here and it was a thrill to learn and grow and laugh with a bunch of amazing people.

David Read:
Absolutely. Thank you for taking the time to be with me.

Gillian Barber:
Thank you so much, David. I really appreciate it.

David Read:
Thank you. I’m gonna wrap up the show on this end, but you be well. Thank you.

Gillian Barber:
Thanks.

David Read:
Bye-bye. That is Gillian Barber, resident in Stargate SG-1’s “The Gamekeeper”, and Ambassador, nay, First Minister Dreylock. Appreciate you tuning in. We’ve got a number of shows coming up the next couple of weeks here that are gonna be heading your way. If I can get my document to work right here. Gillian? Are you still with me?

Gillian Barber:
I am. Sorry, should I be leaving the Zoom?

David Read:
No!

Gillian Barber:
No? OK.

David Read:
I made a huge faux pas.

Gillian Barber:
What?

David Read:
I skipped the fan questions.

Gillian Barber:
Oh, OK.

David Read:
Do you have a little bit more time?

Gillian Barber:
Yeah, I’m happy to. This has been so much fun.

David Read:
I apologize to Gillian. I apologize to Fandom. This is what happens when host gets carried away with himself. God! Sorry guys. My moderators are like, “Dude’s not with it today.” Matt T, “Gillian, how would you compare the Supernatural set to the Stargate set?”

Gillian Barber:
Ooh, that’s interesting question.

David Read:
Yes! Both have their comedians.

Gillian Barber:
They’re quite similar. I think that the two lovely gents on Supernatural really set the tone of the set. Again, polite, gentlemen, I can’t use that word strongly enough. Welcoming, truly, chairs pulled out, the whole schmear. I was treated like a queen. And that is the similarity between them, where those in command, if you like, are setting the precedent for how people should be treated. So, that’s the biggest thing for me. I also got to use my Taekwondo on Supernatural too. I was Head of the British Intelligence.

David Read:
Fighting stance, “Junbi!”

Gillian Barber:
Yeah, there. I would say a great similarity. You’re on sets most of the time, rather than being out in the world, and I find that very comforting to be on a stage. Wow, it’s a question out of the past. No, I can’t really say anything differently in that run, on one side with gentlemanly, polite poise and on the other side with humor but welcoming.

David Read:
Yeah, for sure. When you’re doing 15 seasons in one and 17 seasons in another, something’s working, for sure.

Gillian Barber:
Absolutely.

David Read:
Two more for you. Jakub wants to know, any memories from Jumanji that you can share?

Gillian Barber:
Yes. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.

David Read:
Oh, I know, I loved it.

Gillian Barber:
Robin Williams, I met him first in the makeup chair. So, he came in on the day that he was shooting, when he was in the game. So, he was very rough and ready that day.

David Read:
Wild man.

Gillian Barber:
Scholarly, extremely hirsute, and I didn’t know where to look because he had to sit in the chair, sort of bare chested but he was hysterical. He kept on shooting these sort of funny looks at me, and then he went, “You never sat next to a bear before?” And I went, “No, that is fine, fine. Sorry.”

David Read:
He’s a hairy man.

Gillian Barber:
He was a very hairy man.

David Read:
Anyway, and even more hairy now.

Gillian Barber:
But honestly, the best day was on the day where I was being carried off. The giant mosquito bites me in the car.

David Read:
Oh, that’s right.

Gillian Barber:
We were doing that scene 20 times, and on the 19th time, the car died. So, Robin Williams gets under the hood of the car, pulls out the spark plugs, and he had these two spark plugs having this conversation, and we all just…

David Read:
Oh my God.

Gillian Barber:
… peeing ourselves laughing ’cause it was so fun. Again, what a way to break the tension of a moment where this huge-budget film has to halt because of a stupid car. Anyway, it was great.

David Read:
But you get the right person under the hood, who will not fix it, but give everyone else a break…

Gillian Barber:
Exactly.

David Read:
… with some levity. It’s like, “Well, let’s bring out the two people who have caused this moment, folks, Spark A and Spark B.”

Gillian Barber:
Exactly.

David Read:
“Hi. Give them a round of applause, everybody.” Geez, that’s funny.

Gillian Barber:
Went like that, that’s how it went.

David Read:
Lockwatcher, final question, “Beyond Stargate, you’ve also done some voice talent for some animated features. What do you like about that process? It’s far more intimate.”

Gillian Barber:
It is, but I tell you, it’s really, really exhausting, because even though there’s a mic there and your lines are right in front of you, if you don’t put what they call effort, that’s an actual terminology for when you’re recording. If you’re not going full bore and your body’s moving and everything’s going like this, you come away from those sessions absolutely exhausted. Not just vocally, but your whole body has to get into it, or else it doesn’t really translate across the microphone.

David Read:
Wow, OK. You can’t sit there quietly, otherwise you’ll come off as phoning it in.

Gillian Barber:
Phoning, boring, all of those things. It just doesn’t work. It’s incredibly enervating to be on, and your voice has to change and do all sorts of things. Anyway, I love it for that complexity that it adds to the performance as well.

David Read:
Wow. That is wild. Now I’m done. Peace Rider, Gabby, we already asked those questions, guys. I really appreciate it. Thank you for sticking around for a few more minutes with me.

Gillian Barber:
No, my pleasure.

David Read:
And apologies to my audience. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that. Lucky 321 [sic] or whatever it is. Thank you, Gillian. I appreciate you.

Gillian Barber:
OK, thank you.

David Read:
I’m going this time.

Gillian Barber:
I will leave it running.

David Read:
You could… You’re welcome to stick around, but it’s… Thank you, you take care.

Gillian Barber:
OK. My pleasure. Thank you, David.

David Read:
Today’s not my day.

Gillian Barber:
Bye.

David Read:
All right. Let’s try this one more time. Gillian Barber, everyone, Ambassador Dreylock, First Minister Dreylock in Stargate SG-1. We’ve got a number of episodes coming up for you, including a Monday one that’s hanging on, believe it or not, if I can push the right button here. And it’s not going to work until I do this for some reason. All right, there we go. We’ve got Shane Meier coming up on Monday, May the 5th. That is tomorrow at 3 PM Pacific Time. I think this may be our first Monday show, but Shane requested this, and so we’re gonna go all in and take care of that for him. Brenda James is coming May the 10th. She played Katie Brown in Stargate Atlantis, and William DeVry is joining us starting our Sunday, May 11th episode with Aldwin, and Craig Veroni, Peter Grodin in Atlantis on May the 11th as well. And you can go to DialtheGate.com to read the rest. My profound thanks to my moderating team. Boy, I almost hung you guys out to dry today. They would’ve been pissed. “We wrote down all these questions and you didn’t ask them. You suck.” Alright. My moderators, Antony, Jeremy, Kevin, Lockwatcher, Marcia, and Raj, you guys are very patient. My producers, Antony Rowling, Kevin Weaver, Linda “GateGabber” Furey, I appreciate all of you guys. Big thanks to Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb who keeps DialtheGate.com up and running. Season Five has shaped out to be a banger. We really went in there, roared in like a lion. Gonna get my metaphors right. Not gonna be as many shows moving forward week to week. We’ll see, because I do want to save some of my prospects for later in the season, in terms of new guests, but we’ve really been pounding it hard in terms of new guests for the first half of this season, and I appreciate everyone who has come on. There was a note here for me, I believe. “Need to update website for…” Oh, this is behind the scenes stuff. So, no one didn’t ask a question. That’s OK. I’m here all week. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate y’all tuning in, and I will see you on the other side.