The Companion Producer Tommy Valentine returns to Dial the Gate to reveal more than 30 amazing actors we would love to see included in the next Stargate television series!

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read:
Fantasy casting? What the heck does that mean? Tell me what the heck does that mean? What are we doing today?

Tommy Valentine:
I thought this was a sci-fi show. I don’t know what’s going on.

David Read:
How you doing, man?

Tommy Valentine:
Me? I’m really good. I’m really, really happy to be here. Bit apprehensive about this episode.

David Read:
Why?

Tommy Valentine:
I don’t know. I feel like you’re gonna reveal your list. We’ll talk about the format of the show in a minute, I’m sure, but I feel like I’m gonna see your list and just be jealous of every single one of your choices, and wish I chose them.

David Read:
I do have the upper hand there. I was like, “Should I go ahead and send it to him or not?” I’m interested to discuss this, but maybe we should tee up what we’re doing first before we talk about why we picked what we picked, to give people context. Do you mind sharing?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah. I don’t know if you guys know this if you’re watching. There’s gonna be a new Stargate show soon, breaking news if you hadn’t heard that yet somehow. But today, David and I are gonna go through and discuss who we would like to see in the show. This isn’t people that were already in Stargate that we want to come back, because that would be an even longer list. But this is new people that we’d like to see on the show, and realistic answers as well. We’d all love to see Denzel Washington in there, but that might not be so realistic.

David Read:
So, I asked Tommy to put together a list of no A-listers or prominent B-listers that have been in film. So basically, no one who has had their name over the masthead of a film. And there’s going to be a lot of arguments about what that means, because I’m gonna bring some of these people up and then we’ll be like, “Oh, they’re in such and such.” I’m talking about someone who, if you say it to someone, they go, “Who is that again?” You have to associate them with the character that they’ve done. Even Richard Dean Anderson, at this time some people will be like, “MacGyver? OK.” He’s had his name over TV films and things like that, and his name over the title of obviously his series. So that’s the grouping of actors that we’re looking for. And even I cheated once. One of my people was a minor guest star in one episode of Stargate, but I really have loved this actor and I wanted to bring them in. If you come up with anyone while we’re talking that it’s like, “You know what? I really should have mentioned this,” we’re not locked into 15. Jot it down, and at the end we’ll poke them around and look at them too. I’m really interested in everyone’s thoughts for the comments section about, based on this input, who they would like to see, who would make sense. So, no Tom Cruises or anything. The people who the new show would have a reasonable budget and shot at getting. Not that we’re going to help with casting, but if these people show up, or some of them, or maybe even one of them, I don’t think Tommy and I will complain.

Tommy Valentine:
Absolutely not. I’m actually kicking myself now that I’ve heard that you’ve cheated on one of them, because there was someone who was on my original list that I found out was in an episode of Stargate really early on. I was like, “I’ll have to disqualify them.” And I can’t even remember who it was now, which is killing me.

David Read:
If it comes up, let me know.

Tommy Valentine:
Hopefully I remember.

David Read:
If it comes up, let me know what that is and who that is and we will add them for sure. But let me go ahead and get this into position here so that we can talk about these. I actually went to ChatGPT, and I said, “Generate the IMDb lists of all of these actors for me.” And it generated IMDb lists, and about a third of them are not the actor that is in the name that you’re clicking on. This technology is just nowhere near ready sometimes.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s not there yet.

David Read:
Sometimes it does brilliant, and other times it’s like, OK, I clicked on one of mine and I got Daniel Dae Kim, who was in the same television series. And it’s like, “Guys, gimme a break.” Work better. You ready to get started?

Tommy Valentine:
I’m so ready.

David Read:
OK, here we go. Lucas Till. That’s one of yours, right?

Tommy Valentine:
You could ask yourself, “What is it that made SG-1 so successful?”

David Read:
I’m not sure.

Tommy Valentine:
We’d all have very different answers, I think. I think there’s a million different things. But really, I think what made it so successful is that they had MacGyver in the show. I thought, “Well, Richard Dean Anderson is pretty much retired at this point, so how’s this new show gonna be successful?” Luckily for us, there was a whole other MacGyver, so we could just cast MacGyver again.

David Read:
Ah, this is great. You’re OK with these people being regulars or guest stars, I’m guessing?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah. To be clear, I actually really like Lucas Till, but this was a bit of a joke answer. But for a bunch of mine, I have said, “OK, this could be a lead in the show. This could be a one-off, someone I’d like to see in certain roles.” There’s some where I’ve tried to cast them in a type of role, and there’s others where I’ve thought, “God, the range on this person, they could play anything,” which is quite exciting. Those are the ones that excite me the most. To be clear on Lucas Till, he’s obviously in X-Men: First Class as well, which is a big studio film.

David Read:
Is he Supersonic?

Tommy Valentine:
No.

David Read:
What’s he in that?

Tommy Valentine:
He’s Scott Summers’ older brother. I forget his name. Alex Summers?

David Read:
OK, got it. What was his handle though?

Tommy Valentine:
I can’t think of his name now. God, I’m losing my nerd cred.

David Read:
Havoc.

Tommy Valentine:
Havoc.

David Read:
Good, good, Havoc.

Tommy Valentine:
Yes, yes, yes, yes.

David Read:
That’s it. Very good.

Tommy Valentine:
I actually love that film as well. I love a good period sci-fi thing like that. I thought he had leading man potential. I was surprised that he went down the MacGyver route, to be honest with you.

David Read:
He’s also young, so he’s got …

Tommy Valentine:
Very true.

David Read:
… some room to expand and grow, perhaps on Stargate. I think that he would be a fun choice. So, when you said that earlier on, you said your first one was silly, I wanted to go with someone who is more of a comedic actor but also could play a silly part. I guess that’s not really what you meant by silly, but I’m still very serious about this actor, just like you were about MacGyver. DJ Qualls. This guy, …

Tommy Valentine:
Ooh.

David Read:
… he’s known for, obviously, Badass? God, what’s it called? What was that first… Let me see here, all the way down.

Tommy Valentine:
I remember him from Scrubs.

David Read:
Scrubs, Road Trip.

Tommy Valentine:
Road Trip.

David Read:
I first saw him in The Core. I can’t even …

Tommy Valentine:
He’s on Lost as well.

David Read:
… think of the show. Smart Ass? Yes, he was in an episode of Lost. But this guy has got chops. Breaking Bad, that’s right. An undercover cop.

Tommy Valentine:
That was brilliant.

David Read:
So, I think that he would have a lot to contribute to the show, and I think that he’s fascinating to watch. So he’s my first on my list. A lot of these I’m ashamed to say I’m not familiar with. Lloyd Everitt.

Tommy Valentine:
Are you familiar with Lloyd Everitt?

David Read:
Not off the top of my head. OK, so Alien Earth, The Sandman. OK. What have you seen of him you really liked?

Tommy Valentine:
The Sandman. I actually …

David Read:
Really?

Tommy Valentine:
… met Lloyd at Basingstoke Comic Con, which was the very first one, which had a lot of Stargate cast there, but also Lloyd was there. It was only off the back of this that I watched Sandman. I’m a big comic book fan, …

David Read:
OK. I’ve seen Season One.

Tommy Valentine:
… despite not remembering Havoc’s name. Yes, he’s in Season One. Do you remember this sequence? He’s part of this couple. I thought he had such incredible humanity to him. He looks like he could be an action hero, for one. I feel like he would fit right into an SG team. But he also had so much depth and humanity that I thought someone like this is about to break out really big, in my opinion. And I think capturing an actor like that in Stargate would only be a good thing. I think he’s a real upcoming talent. So I’d love to see him on the show.

David Read:
Great choice. No, very good. I like this one. This guy, if you had to name the most terrifying villain in a film, who would you pick?

Tommy Valentine:
Personally, I–

David Read:
Genuinely scary.

Tommy Valentine:
Genuinely scary, I’d probably go towards… God, I can’t even think of his name. Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins. Sir Anthony Hopkins probably is the number one for me. Who have you got? Who are you gonna terrify me with?

David Read:
As Hannibal Lecter?

Tommy Valentine:
Yes.

David Read:
Really? He never really bothered me that much.

Tommy Valentine:
I think it’s how much he didn’t care about anything. It was so– And he’s so intelligent, and it’s not someone that’s evil for, I don’t know, for the sake of it almost. It’s just, “I’m just gonna do it.” And that kind of unhinged–

David Read:
Just dispassionate.

Tommy Valentine:
That really gets under my skin a little bit. It was always–

David Read:
Awesome. For me, it is Anton Chigurh in …

Tommy Valentine:
Great choice.

David Read:
… No Country for Old Men.

Tommy Valentine:
No Country.

David Read:
Javier Bardem. I remember watching this scene for the first time. We see him set up a little bit earlier in the film, and then we get to a service station scene with a guy behind the counter. I can’t remember being more tense watching a scene before. I’m getting goosebumps, it’s also cold in here. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about this scene because he is so good at playing– In the film, he basically considers himself to be a tool of fate, with a coin between him and his prey. And the coin decides whether or not you will die. It’s an extraordinary book, more than the movie, and the movie is brilliant. And I watched them in that order, and I was like, “If they can’t get this actor right,” and then I went and saw the movie, and I was like, “This is intense.” So, Javier Bardem, I have enjoyed him in everything that I have seen him in. I think that he’s versatile. And I even liked him in Little Mermaid as King Triton. He was my favorite part of the movie.

Tommy Valentine:
He was a great King Triton.

David Read:
He was a good Triton.

Tommy Valentine:
You’re right.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s a phenomenal actor. He’s so good in Skyfall. He’s so good in Dune.

David Read:
I’ve not seen it. Dune, yes. Yes, he is excellent in Dune, so Stilgar, that’s right. I’m looking forward to having him back in Messiah, and if they do Children of Dune, he will be in that one as well. He’ll come full circle. Are you looking forward to the next Dune?

Tommy Valentine:
I can’t wait. I can’t wait for the next Dune. That franchise has just blown me away.

David Read:
I hope so.

Tommy Valentine:
I’ve actually never read the books.

David Read:
Oh!

Tommy Valentine:
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. There’s a lot of books. It’s like 20 books or something, there’s so many.

David Read:
The first few are Herbert, but it’s my dad’s favorite book. What about Javier? You were about to say?

Tommy Valentine:
He always struck me as too big. He almost missed my list, I think, because he was in F1 as well, nominated for Best Picture, and …

David Read:
He definitely–

Tommy Valentine:
… I guess I thought, in my head, he was in that category. But also, Robert Carlyle was a very big actor. He was in Oscar-nominated movies as well.

David Read:
Absolutely. It’s someone who could reasonably be in that position, for sure. Here, let me pull this up. Henry Ian Cusick?

Tommy Valentine:
Yes. Lost was actually my favorite TV show for a very, very long time. I absolutely adore that show.

David Read:
To this day. Have I never shared this with you? It’s my favorite show of all time.

Tommy Valentine:
We have got a lot to talk about, because I love that show.

David Read:
I’d love to talk about it.

Tommy Valentine:
When I was in school, we had to, I can’t remember how old I was, but we had to choose a topic, and we could choose any topic we wanted, and most people picked historical events. And I, of course, did my whole topic on my theories on Lost, and I had a whole thesis on the Dharma Initiative, and how elements of the logo and the Korean flag, and I had all this stuff going on. And Desmond was always my favorite character on Lost, so I love Henry …

David Read:
Him and Penny are the best couple.

Tommy Valentine:
… Ian Cusick. Completely agree.

David Read:
If you’ve still got it, I’d love to read it. “Not Penny’s boat.” God.

Tommy Valentine:
I think about that all the time.

David Read:
Man, those readings… If you’ve still got the paper somewhere, I’d love to, if you can dig it up, I’d love to read it.

Tommy Valentine:
I dunno if I do. It’d probably be somewhere. But what I really like about Henry Ian Cusick is, I also watched some of The 100. I don’t know if you’ve seen that show.

David Read:
I haven’t.

Tommy Valentine:
And he’s the villain in that, which is …

David Read:
Really?

Tommy Valentine:
… unique. It’s completely stark. Desmond’s happy-go-lucky, kind of depressing story, but still somewhat enjoyable and pleasant to be around. But he’s just a straight villain in the show, and he was so good. And, as I said at the top of the show, I love an actor with range. I love someone that can play hot or cold, that full spectrum in between. And he’s that guy. I can see him as the leader of an expedition. I can see him as the overarching nemesis of the show. I could just see him as a politician who comes in for a couple of episodes. I could see him in so many different roles, and I think he’s such an exciting actor that I think he would be a great addition to the show.

David Read:
That’s a solid one, for sure. My next one, one of my favorite movies growing up, and to this day, is My Best Friend’s Wedding. And there’s a low point in the film where Julia Roberts is outside of the hotel room of her best friend, and a bellhop walks by, and she’s smoking, and he asks her to put it out. And it’s three of the best minutes committed to film. Do you know who I’m talking about?

Tommy Valentine:
No, I don’t remember this scene. Oh my God. He’s one of the greatest actors working, period.

David Read:
He was wonderful in that scene. I had never seen him in anything before, and he’s spectacular. Paul Giamatti can do–Black Mirror right there–can do anything.

Tommy Valentine:
That’s a great episode. He’s such a talent.

David Read:
Versatile as hell. He did a movie called The Holdovers, which–

Tommy Valentine:
Fantastic film.

David Read:
So good. It’s like it was plucked out of an alternate-reality 1970s, right down to the glass that they used in the lens that they filmed it on. It could have been out of the 1970s, the whole thing. And it was shot digitally and then, to my knowledge, transformed to make it look like that. I think it’s even in mono. It’s 5.1. It’s just a brilliant movie, and he is fantastic in that as the educator who’s stuck at the university, who has to stay with the kids over holiday break, who have not been invited home. But a great actor. This next one here– I’m concerned that it’s not going to load. Is it this guy?

Tommy Valentine:
It is that guy. This is someone else. You’re gonna see through my list how my brain works. ‘Cause I’ll think of an actor from a show, and then I’ll think, “Oh, there’s another actor on that same show that was really good.” This is Richard Harmon. He was also in The 100 and he’s such an interesting actor, I think. Again, very versatile. He looks on the surface like he plays a bit of a sarcastic villainous guy. But, again, in the show, he has a bit of an arc to him. He kind of changes around. And what it really reminded me of or made me think of is that brilliant McKay arc. I can talk all day about McKay’s arc in Stargate and how wonderful I think it is. And I think Richard Harmon could do a really interesting modern twist on that. I think the scientific genius that we see in the zeitgeist now more often is the tech bro genius that’s kind of frustrating. And I’m not entirely sure how that would fit into the new show. I’m not in the writers’ room, sadly. But I would love it if there was a character like that, that modern tech genius. And I think Richard Harmon would be perfect for that, kind of a young guy, a bit cocky, a bit arrogant, bit of an anti-hero, antagonistic kind of person that could have that kind of journey that McKay has and be perhaps heroic–

David Read:
And can dispense the information-forwarding dialogue, or the story-forwarding dialogue.

Tommy Valentine:
I just thought that would be a really interesting character to see and a person to play them.

David Read:
For sure. Can you pull up your list while we’re talking so that you can tee up some of yours before I show them, like I’m doing with mine?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah.

David Read:
OK. Sweet. Did you watch Mr. Robot?

Tommy Valentine:
I loved Mr. Robot.

David Read:
There was a character who was introduced in the last season of the show who was the television equivalent of Anton Chigurh. It was a gal, and she was terrifying and brilliant. John Lenic was producer on the last season of Mr. Robot after Stargate. And I texted John as I was watching Mr. Robot, and I said, “This woman is so good.” Ashlie Atkinson. She played a– She worked for a clandestine organization, illegitimate, and she was scary as hell and blew me away. How she could turn on a dime and just turn it off. Someone does something to her and gets in the way of one of her objectives, and she’s a part of this multi-billion dollar dark web organization, and she just stares at the person and you know that she’s going to– You know that she’s now going to kill them. And she just goes, “Okie dokie,” and she walks out. You’re on pins and needles the entire time in this. She gets into a lesbian romance with one of the characters, and then halfway through the dinner, you find out that she’s actually there to, I think, threaten to kill your mother if you don’t do exactly what she says in the scene in Mr. Robot. She’s just brilliant. You give these actors on our list here or I’m sure on yours the right dialogue and the right character, and they just mop up the floor. And that’s her. Or did you remember her at all when I mentioned that?

Tommy Valentine:
Once you showed the picture, I knew who you was talking about. That’s such a great choice, such a left-field choice as well. Who would you like to see her play? Is there anyone specific you could see her as in Stargate?

David Read:
I didn’t really think of it that way. I didn’t think of– I can’t see her in anything specific. She’s so well-rounded and can do anything from administration to having her be one of the parents of the leads or a partner. She’s so deep. I’m really flexible with it. The next gentleman on your list, what do you know him from?

Tommy Valentine:
So, I first saw this actor in Torchwood. I’m not really a Doctor Who guy or anything like that, but I’m English and I grew up in England, so for me it was– It was on TV. We have to–

David Read:
We’ll give it away, Tommy.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s part of the rules of our TV license that we have to watch at least some sort of Doctor Who at some point. But Torchwood was always interesting when I was a teenager ’cause it was the edgy version, and he was a really interesting character on that. And then he went in to be in films like The Dark Knight Rises and so on. And that’s Burn Gorman. So, he’s really interesting. I don’t know if you saw the show The Offer as well, which is about how The Godfather got made back in the ’70s. He plays the German head of Paramount at the time and he’s funny, but he’s the big boss and it’s scary and you think he can blow up at any minute. But it’s funny. He’s got a real edge to it, and he plays it so well. But again, he’s got range. In Torchwood, he’s the funny light-hearted guy that’s part of the team cracking the jokes. I think he’s got that political edge to him, kind of an alien. Sorry, he could be an alien. Could be scientific, on that side of things. Again, I love range and I think he can be big and eccentric and–

David Read:
I’ve seen a few pictures.

Tommy Valentine:
This is it. This is from The Offer. That was the German guy with Ben Mendelsson there. So, I think he’s a really exciting actor, I think he’s really, really cool. And he’s been around the block, he’s worked in a lot of sci-fi and stuff before. I think he’d be great.

David Read:
He would make a lot of sense, genre fans would be familiar with him for sure. That’s a good one. This next one here is someone whom you will recognize. When Lost was created, they did something, and I’m relearning this again, there is a fan-made documentary that’s like four hours long that just covers the beginning of the show. That just covers creating the pilot. And it’s on YouTube. I ripped it just in case the Lost documentary gets it taken down. And one of the things about Lost that is interesting is they had the idea for the show, but the characters– It was a brilliant show. They never had to, “I can’t find any person to play my character. There’s no one out there who fits this box, who I can fit like a cat into a box.” When they created Lost, they auditioned actors and the actors played one or two of the characters that were probably gonna be written, and they played that set of lines again and again and again. And the casting people sat through and hired the people that they wanted to, and the writers hired people that they wanted to write characters for. Which was a brilliant way to do it. And I think it’s one of the reasons why the show has such good actors, because they shaped the characters based on the actors, a piece of them. This person ends up in the pilot, but doesn’t have any dialogue for a few episodes, and she was a part of one of my favorite two or three couples in the show. L. Scott Caldwell played Rose.

Tommy Valentine:
What a great choice.

David Read:
She is a favorite of mine. There is this scene in– she and Bernard have their first flashback in Season Two, and there’s a scene of them at Niagara Falls. I can’t get through it without bawling like a baby. It’s ugly cries. Like the end of the show. I cannot recommend her enough. Any thoughts on her?

Tommy Valentine:
She is the heart and soul of that show as well. It’s so easy on a show like that to get frustrated when the character stuff happens, especially in episodes when they’re building towards certain action moments, or a big reveal or something like that. Sometimes you get sucked into these moments and you think, “Oh, this is a bit of a waste of time. Come on, get to it.” But that never happens with her. It’s always so interesting and she’s always– Such warmth to her, feels like all these people are away from home and it just feels like a home moment, like their home and it’s just—

David Read:
She has come home in the story. She doesn’t want to leave. She’s the only one. There’s a couple others. And you feel that in this character.

Tommy Valentine:
I don’t think Locke’s keen on leaving.

David Read:
Exactly.

Tommy Valentine:
That is a fantastic choice. I’ve not really seen her in much else, to be honest with you-

David Read:
I’ve seen her in a couple of other things, but she’s always been– Any time that I see her on something, I will stop and watch it.

Tommy Valentine:
Can I call an audible that’s not on the prepared list, because I just thought of someone based on an image that I just saw then?

David Read:
Yes, please.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s Marc Evan Jackson. I just saw an image from Brooklyn 99 and it made me think of Marc Evan Jackson. Marc Evan Jackson is a brilliant comic actor, but it also turns out he’s one of the biggest Stargate fans I’ve ever met.

David Read:
Seriously?

Tommy Valentine:
It turns out I’ve met quite a few Stargate fans and he is one of the biggest. And when we did Stargate AI back in the day, he saw a tweet from Brad about it, and asked us if he could join. So, he actually hosted the Stargate AI for us because he’s just such a huge fan of the show and said he would do anything to be on the new show. So, I thought, if I’m doing my fantasy casting, why don’t I make his wish come true? Because he’s also actually a really good actor and he’s really, really funny, and I think it would be great to find a role for him on the new show.

David Read:
You know who else is a huge Stargate fan?

Tommy Valentine:
Richard Madden.

David Read:
That’s it.

Tommy Valentine:
Yes.

David Read:
Woo! How did you know that?

Tommy Valentine:
I know he’s also a big Stargate fan. I think we tried to get him on Brad’s podcast, but we couldn’t get it to work, ’cause we thought that’d be fun for him as well.

David Read:
OK. I’ve been trying to get him on Dial the Gate because he’s seen every episode. So he’s on record. I would love to have a true Stargate fan among the cast of SG4, just like Paul Giamatti was for Starfleet Academy. Paul’s seen everything, so– I don’t know about the utility of having an actor who knows the content through and through. It’s not the same thing as Christopher Lee for Saruman in Lord of the Rings. But I think that it would be an added incentive because they would be all over it in terms of the marketing. It would be a genuine excitement rather than, “OK, this is my job to be excited about this project that I created, even though I do…” I may even love the content, I may not love the content. I think that that would really work for him.

Tommy Valentine:
There’s a certain authenticity to it that’s great. As a fan, I wouldn’t say it’s a requirement for me that the lead in the new show has to have seen every episode. And I’m certainly not saying they have to do a Ben Browder and watch them all. It would be nice if they saw some.

David Read:
Only after he was hired.

Tommy Valentine:
Only after. But to actually have someone that is a genuine fan, that would be really exciting for me. That would be really, really cool.

David Read:
That’s it. Who’s this lass that’s on your next–

Tommy Valentine:
So, this was an interesting one. I was thinking of different shows, and I was thinking through Stargate actors and naturally, you can sort of go through a bit of a list, and I was thinking of Jason Momoa and his show See, which, I should finish the show, to be fair, and I should go back …

David Read:
Really?

Tommy Valentine:
… and watch it, ’cause I was having a lot of fun with it. It was one of those things where it just drops off my radar for a little while. But I will go back. Olivia Cheng is my next choice, and she was also in Marco Polo, which is really good.

David Read:
Really.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s someone, again, who’s got that warmth that I was talking about, but also ready for action, has authority about her, and all key traits of someone that I’d love to see in and around Stargate Command. Hopefully not a villain. I always worry for my heroes when I throw some evil under the bus. But I think she’s fantastic, and I don’t think she’s been in enough of what I’d like to see. So, she was a bit of a left-field choice, but I’m quite happy with it, to be honest. I think she’s great.

David Read:
I like her. I think there’s a ton of room for some left-field choices here. The next one on my list is definitely a familiar face in our fandom. Or not in our specific fandom, but in general. I had always adored her before they got her for Battlestar Galactica, but when she became Laura Roslin, it was- she’s a huge part of the soul of that series. Mary McDonnell, I have adored since Dances with Wolves. She is one of the most genuine actors. I’ve been told repeatedly on this show about that. And there are no pictures of her, just the stuff that she’s been in. OK, that’s fine. But the range on her is ridiculous. I would listen to her read the phone book. She’s solid, so– And I know you’re a Battlestar fan, so–

Tommy Valentine:
I’m a huge Battlestar fan, actually, and it’s interesting. That show for me came at a time when I was really into action and exciting stuff, big Star Wars fan. I want my big space battles and things like that, so when I started watching Battlestar and it’s not really about that, I remember first thinking, “Oh, man, like, when are they gonna get back to the space battles?” And then it gets to a point …

David Read:
It’s a part of it.

Tommy Valentine:
… when you’re three or four episodes in, you start thinking, “Oh, man, when’s this space battle gonna be over? I wanna go see all the politics and I wanna go and see all of this stuff.”

David Read:
That’s right, and she had her own ship.

Tommy Valentine:
And she’s a huge part of that. God, I love that show. Every time… I can’t talk about Battlestar Galactica without getting, “I need to rewatch it.” It’s time. It’s time for my sixth rewatch or whatever. I love that show so much.

David Read:
One of my producers, Jakub Olejarz, I finally got him to sit down and watch it, and we watched a lot of the last season together, like “Revelations” and “Sometimes a Great Notion” and– I didn’t want him to watch that alone. I did the Stargate podcast with Darren and we also talked about Battlestar when it was airing, and I’ll never forget Darren’s quote about “Sometimes a Great Notion.” This is the episode after a huge, huge letdown. And he was like, “This episode kicks you to the ground and stomps on your groin.” I never forgot that. Yeah, it does.

Tommy Valentine:
I don’t know.

David Read:
it’s taken from– I forget the song that it’s based on, but it talks about self-deletion. And there is some of that in that episode, so it’s very appropriate. And then, coincidentally enough, this was an accident. I threaded these together. I did see her on your list before, but I did not mean for these to come one after the other. What about your next person?

Tommy Valentine:
So, my next person is, of course, in Battlestar Galactica, but is also a bit of a staple in sci-fi in general. I think she’s been in three different franchises I can think of off the top of my head. Possibly more–

David Read:
She’s a fixture at Dragon Con.

Tommy Valentine:
Is that right?

David Read:
Katee Sackhoff.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s Katee Sackhoff, who’s incredible. I could gush about her all day long because, again, she seems like such a fan. She seems to really, really enjoy the work that she’s in. She’s, of course, incredible in Battlestar, but I also really like her as Bo-Katan in the Mandalorian and, of course, Rebels and Clone Wars. I’m so glad she reprised it in live action because, of course, it’s Katee Sackhoff. I don’t know if you saw the third Riddick film as well. I believe it was called Riddick.

David Read:
She’s brilliant in that.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s so good in that film. That film is–

David Read:
She’s topless in that.

Tommy Valentine:
Is she? In the shower. I thought you were–

David Read:
Yeah. It’s a good movie. I have been waiting …

Tommy Valentine:
It’s a really good film.

David Read:
… for Furia to come out for years. I think it may have been filmed.

Tommy Valentine:
Really? It was such a great choice to go small again because what made the first Pitch Black so good is that it was this kind of small indie movie that felt bigger than it was, and then they got loads of money and made Macbeth in space and threw Riddick in there. And then they just went small again. And that was such a good choice because it’s a great survival horror sci-fi action thriller, and it’s perfect. And she’s one of the best parts of that film.

David Read:
I’m gonna have to sit down and– I would enjoy watching that with you at a certain point. Maybe we should get on a Zoom at some point and sit down and watch that. I’ve only seen it once and I loved it.

Tommy Valentine:
Underrated gem. Not enough people saw that film.

David Read:
For sure. No, Pitch Black, it was one of my favorite movies at the time that it came out, and then a few years later, they announced Chronicles of Riddick, and it was so strange and unique and beautiful at the time to see this little indie film get blown into this sci-fi epic where you saw one planet and a few characters in that first movie, and then they wrote the world around it for the next one, an alien invasion on their galaxy. I enjoyed the second film very much, but it was like they had taken R and made it PG-13, and then they went right back to it in Riddick. And Vin Diesel loves the character as much as anyone else does. So it’s one of those where you can see it in the DNA of the movie how much the lead loves what it is that he’s creating, loves the character. So great choice, Katee Sackhoff. Are you watching any of her podcasts with her husband at all?

Tommy Valentine:
No, I’ve not seen any of that.

David Read:
She’s not just doing clips. They’re rewatching Battlestar together.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s doing really well …

David Read:
She’s never seen it.

Tommy Valentine:
… on the podcast.

David Read:
Yes.

Tommy Valentine:
That’s crazy.

David Read:
I know.

Tommy Valentine:
I’ll have to check that out. A friend of mine actually dated her many, many years ago, and they’ve still stayed in touch and are good friends, and I think he’s helping out …

David Read:
Not surprised.

Tommy Valentine:
… with her podcast. But she is incredible, so I would love to see her in Stargate. See, if I was to order my list, because I told you, I sent you the list as I thought of them, Katee might be at the top of my list.

David Read:
That’s fair. No, I completely agree. This next one, he has been in films. I don’t think he has ever been the starring role in an A-level or B-level film. And remember, there’s C-, D-, and E-level films too, folks. We can argue about that in the comments. See you there. But I know him first and foremost from his television as Leonardo da Vinci in Voyager, and as Sallah as well. John Rhys-Davies is a gem. One of my favorite all-time actors. You know what? Come on.

Tommy Valentine:
What is with IMDb?

David Read:
I just wanna see pictures of the man. I know, they go to those first. I’m just gonna skip down to the photos. But he’s another one who can do anything, be anyone. I look at him like I look at Tony Amendola. He’s got that look where he can be from 80% of the Earth and you can’t tell. He can just slip into those characters. This was before, “OK, we want this character for that part, so we must go to this part of the world to get them.” Before we did that, John Rhys, you can do anything with him. You can fold him into so many different cultures and people. Erick Avari as well. I’ve always loved this actor.

Tommy Valentine:
Is he Welsh? Where’s he from, John Rhys-Davies? Sounds like a very Welsh name, but he’s a fantastic choice. He’s so good in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He’s obviously so good in Lord of the Rings.

David Read:
Where is he from? He lives in New Zealand now. He’s from Salisbury. He’s your countryman.

Tommy Valentine:
There you go. He’s one of mine. No, he’s a Welsh actor. Where’s Salisbury then? Or maybe he just grew up in–

David Read:
Let me see here.

Tommy Valentine:
We’re doing some geography now.

David Read:
It says he’s from Wiltshire.

Tommy Valentine:
Huh.

David Read:
You never know about some of these people. Who’s next on your list?

Tommy Valentine:
We’re going back to Battlestar Galactica for me. I think I mentioned this about one of the other actors earlier, where I couldn’t believe I’ve not seen them in so much more or just in everything. And this is Callum Keith Rennie who played the number twos, off the top of my head, in Battlestar. I thought he’s so, so talented. I remember saying at the time, “This guy’s gonna win an Oscar someday or something.” He is such a talented actor.

David Read:
He is brilliant, and he’s had a rough history. He wears it on his face, and it comes into his characters. He is so good. I have seen him in any number of things.

Tommy Valentine:
This is really, really well thought of. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone that’s not seen Battlestar, but there’s a very particular scene in Battlestar Galactica with him. It’s probably my favorite scene in the whole show. It’s just him sitting in a chair is all I’ll say, and it’s just phenomenal what he does.

David Read:
Season One?

Tommy Valentine:
No, I don’t remember this season.

David Read:
OK. Season One, there’s a big episode with him. So the scene you’re talking about is not from that. So we’ll talk about that offline. No, he’s extraordinary. I saw him on your list, and I’m like, “No, this is absolutely a great choice.” Good pick. I’ve never seen him in anything that I didn’t like, and he’s one of those I can’t wait for his autobiography because he’s such a lived actor. He’s up there with Danny Trejo in that regard. I really wanted to put Danny Trejo on my list. But he brings that to his parts. You see it in the back of his eyes, and you can just tell. I knew the first time that I had seen him as Leoben, I was like, “This guy looks like he’s had an interesting life,” and he did. I went and read about it, and it was true.

Tommy Valentine:
I just looked it up, by the way. It was Season One. We’re probably talking about the same episode, “Flesh and Bone.”

David Read:
With Katee?

Tommy Valentine:
Yes. So good. What a star.

David Read:
I’m sorry. “You’re God? All right, we’ll give you a second for that one.” Man, so good. That whole episode works except when she puts her hand on the glass as well. I’m like, “I don’t buy that.” But every single …

Tommy Valentine:
It’s fair.

David Read:
… other moment of that episode works. This next one, I can’t say enough about this actor. I have seen him in everything. There is not a part he has been in that I did not love, Clancy Brown.

Tommy Valentine:
He was this close to being on my list. He was this close.

David Read:
Really?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah.

David Read:
Tell me about …

Tommy Valentine:
What’s so …

David Read:
… what you love about him.

Tommy Valentine:
… fun. What don’t I love about him? I think I first saw him in Starship Troopers …

David Read:
That voice.

Tommy Valentine:
… probably. That voice …

David Read:
Man.

Tommy Valentine:
… is so good.

David Read:
“Is this your signature, Rico?” “Doesn’t look like it to me.”

Tommy Valentine:
He’s so damn talented. But he’s one of those guys that’s so physically imposing and intimidating-looking. But he also plays some of these characters that are so light and approachable, and he has a warmth to him, and it’s just–

David Read:
He can bring it down to soft. He was great in Shawshank. That’s right, Dexter. Or no, Smoke Signals, excuse me. Yeah, Dexter: New Blood. But no, he can be anything. I would love to watch him in Shakespeare. I think anything Shakespeare, he would be absolutely delicious to watch. Tell me about your next one.

Tommy Valentine:
Last thing on Clancy Brown is he was my “Who’d be a great general? Who would be that kind of guy?” And I was like, “Oh, Clancy Brown would be brilliant at that.” And I guess he didn’t make my list in the end, but I’m so glad that …

David Read:
No, good choice.

Tommy Valentine:
… he was on yours so we could still talk about him because he’s so good.

David Read:
We still got him.

Tommy Valentine:
We still got him.

David Read:
‘Cause he can– He’s just got that flexibility. So to this day, I’m so conflicted about Beau Bridges being the General because I know that he and Lou Gossett Jr.— In Season Nine, they had the pick of the litter. Lou Gossett could have easily been Landry. I think he would have been a great Landry. The man looks awesome in uniform. So it’s one of those that I’m still devastated I never got to sit down and talk with him and get his Stargate story for the show. But awesome human being. We’re going back to Lost.

Tommy Valentine:
Of course we are. I honestly love Lost so much, and I even mentioned it earlier.

David Read:
I can’t wait to talk to you about it.

Tommy Valentine:
“Not Penny’s boat.” I couldn’t have Desmond without Penny.

David Read:
Absolutely.

Tommy Valentine:
Do you know what I actually really loved her in? I don’t know if you ever saw the show Flashforward when that was on back in the day?

David Read:
Didn’t see it. Was she a regular?

Tommy Valentine:
She was the lead.

David Read:
Really?

Tommy Valentine:
It also had– I forget his name now. Is it Dominic Monaghan?

David Read:
Yes.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s also on the show, a smaller role. But I loved her in that. Again, she seems so intelligent, so capable, so strong. There’s an emotional edge to her as well that I think is really interesting. I think her eyes, she’s so emotive with her eyes. It’s the window to the soul. It’s a powerful tool.

David Read:
When Desmond breaks her heart once or twice in Lost, I mean, she just wears it. She is like Judith Light, man. She just turns it on. She’s great. She’s a great choice.

Tommy Valentine:
Imagine her in an Elizabeth Weir kind of role. She would kick ass doing something like that. Love it.

David Read:
I think so. I think she would have been an excellent Elizabeth Weir. Have you seen Night Sky?

Tommy Valentine:
No.

David Read:
It’s a short-lived show, only one season, got canceled, but is self-contained all the same, very much like the end of the first act of a three-act play. J.K. Simmons and Sissy Spacek. I highly recommend it. And she is introduced about two-thirds of the way through, and it was clear they were setting her up for something huge in Season Two, and she is great in that. Night Sky has a lot in common with Stargate in terms of doorways. I would love to get your take on it, because it’s one of those that expands very much like Lost. You get this idea that it’s this size of a world, and it’s not. No, you’ve plucked one petal off of a rose. She’s great in it. So excellent choice, man, for sure. This next one, for me, is someone whom I have not seen in nearly enough, but I would watch her read the phone book. Do you know who Shohreh Aghdashloo is?

Tommy Valentine:
From The Expanse.

David Read:
Yes. I have not seen The Expanse, and I was–

Tommy Valentine:
It’s a great show.

David Read:
I decided that even if I didn’t want to watch The Expanse, which I did, I would watch it just for her. So, The Expanse is gonna take a huge emotional commitment, and I’m sitting it back here. But I cannot wait to watch it just for her. Her voice is …

Tommy Valentine:
Voice is so good.

David Read:
… so good. She played Gozer in the redone Ghostbusters, just extraordinary. Her voice is like– It’s like if gravel were musical. That’s what her voice is.

Tommy Valentine:
So good. That’s such a good way of putting it.

David Read:
It’s extraordinary, extraordinary sound. And the acting on top of it, I can’t wait to see her in The Expanse. Tell me about her in The Expanse, not in terms of the character, but the range that she has.

Tommy Valentine:
She’ll probably be your favorite character. I’ll tell you that straight off the bat. She’s phenomenal in it. She’s so good. She’s got such great material to work with, which– I always find it so frustrating when there’s an actor you really love in something, and you’re like, “God, this is not the right script for you.” But no, it’s perfect. She is commanding and just brilliant. Breathtaking.

David Read:
Isn’t it frustrating when you have a great actor that gets paired with a character that you don’t enjoy them as?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah.

David Read:
I’ll be honest, that, for me, was Fred Willard in SG-1. Did not care for Jacek, did not. I felt that Fred Willard was wasted on Jacek. Or Jacek was wasted on Fred Willard. Whichever one. Fred Willard is one of the greats, I think. The character didn’t work for me. But moving on, who’s this gentleman?

Tommy Valentine:
So, going back to the way my brain works, I was then thinking about Flashforward and who else is in Flashforward. It’s actually funny, ’cause I forgot this person was in Flashforward until I was doing some research looking around, and my God, Courtney B. Vance is in Flashforward. He was also more recently in The People v. O.J. Simpson.

David Read:
Is that any good?

Tommy Valentine:
He was actually married to Angela Bassett. Yeah, really good show. But he’s a fantastic actor, and he’s someone that commands authority. You see him on the right there. He’s got a presence to him that, I don’t know. You kind of stand to attention, which is why I thought, someone from the Pentagon or something like that, someone walking into the SGC or wherever they’re gonna be, and just, everyone stops and notices. But it’s maybe someone a little bit more quiet, but when they do speak, you listen to every word. He’s got that energy to him, and I thought he’d be perfect. I really, really like him, actually.

David Read:
No, that’s a great choice. Reminds me a little bit of Don Cheadle. I had to do a double-take there for a second. I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything, though. But I will definitely poke around and look at his IMDb. This next one on the list I enjoyed long before Lost. I don’t think there’s anything in his slate that I’ve seen that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed him in. We’ve already tangentially brought him up in this podcast already.

Tommy Valentine:
Great.

David Read:
Yup. Terry O’Quinn is extraordinary and his arc on Lost– Actually, I’m not gonna spoil it. He has a lot–

Tommy Valentine:
It’s a tragic story.

David Read:
He is Lost’s tragedy. You could definitely call it that. He’s just something else and I think that, if we were to get him in Stargate, or someone of his caliber, he would just mop up the floor with anything that he’s given.

Tommy Valentine:
I think that’s an incredible choice.

David Read:
You’re pretty similar to that as well.

Tommy Valentine:
I think that’s an incredible choice and he’s another one where he could play good or bad. He could be a great villain or a great leader for the SGC or wherever. I think that’s such a good choice. I really like that.

David Read:
I completely agree. The emotional range and flexibility there is very strong. Who’s this next gentleman?

Tommy Valentine:
So, next up I’ve got Rahul Kohli who I’ve actually only seen in one thing, which is The Haunting of Bly Manor. And he was also the lead in–

David Read:
Sorry about that.

Tommy Valentine:
OK, there we go.

David Read:
Go ahead.

Tommy Valentine:
He was also the lead in the show iZombie. I don’t know how big a role he had on it. I never saw it personally. But he’s a fan of a lot of sci-fi and things like that. And he was in the front running for a long time to be the live action version of Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka. I love that choice. He was really campaigning for the role. He was legit. And he’s got this, I can only describe it as the Michael Shanks effect, where he’s got a rugged action hero part to him but he’s also got a charming nerdy sweetheart side to him. That duality–

David Read:
We don’t see it coming.

Tommy Valentine:
I think that’d be really interesting for another Daniel Jackson-esque role. I think he’d be a great choice for that. So, I reckon you check out some of his work. He seems like a lovely guy, number one, but also really talented, so would love to see him do something like this.

David Read:
Absolutely. Those characters are the heart and soul of those shows, and so you have to pick very well. Here’s another one from Lost. She plays an excellent character in Lost, but my favorite role of hers is not in that. It’s in another show. I have enjoyed this actress for years and she can do absolutely anything. I would love to see her lead in something. Fionnula Flanagan–I don’t even know if I’m pronouncing the name right–is exceptional. In Lost she essentially plays a temporal policeman. Very complicated character, very, very veiled, and she is just so frigging good. I have adored her– Oh, The Others, that’s right. She was so good in that. She’s been around forever and you can see every single one of those characters behind the eyes. She’s just joy and I’m–

Tommy Valentine:
That’s a great choice. What would you have her do? Lead SG-1?

David Read:
That’s a thing, ’cause she’s retired, she would be of a retired age. I would love to see her …

Tommy Valentine:
You could see her as being …

David Read:
… as an alien.

Tommy Valentine:
… the leader of some culture, you go through the gate and they meet people. I hope they get back to stuff like that, by the way. I hope it’s, with the shorter seasons there’s a danger that it’s just gonna be one story spread out and you miss that, “Where are we going to this week,” element to it. So, I do hope we get a bit of balance of that. But she would be great for something like that, a really interesting person that they come across who isn’t all she seems to be or something like that. That would be cool.

David Read:
For sure. This next choice of yours, I knew who he was but I hadn’t really spent any time with him until I was playing his character on my PC. What’s your story?

Tommy Valentine:
Very similar, actually. So, the choice is Cameron Monaghan, who plays Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

David Read:
Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor.

Tommy Valentine:
And Jedi: Survivor, with Tony Amendola actually.

David Read:
That’s correct.

Tommy Valentine:
And I knew he was in Gotham and I knew he played their version of the Joker. But I sort of fell off that show after …

David Read:
Doesn’t he play twins …

Tommy Valentine:
… maybe a season.

David Read:
… in that show? Brothers?

Tommy Valentine:
I saw something like that. I’m not entirely sure.

David Read:
He grew up on Shameless.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s not just a voice actor. He’s very much performance capture where he’s doing a lot of the work and you can see a lot of the pilot scenes. That is really, really interesting. And he’s brilliant and I’m waiting for him to blow up.

David Read:
It’s a big break.

Tommy Valentine:
He might be a little further ahead than Lloyd Everitt was, who I mentioned earlier. But again, I think he’s gonna have a big franchise. He’s gonna have a big thing beyond a video game. Obviously, there’s not many bigger franchises than Star Wars, but even a live-action version of Cal Kestis, ’cause the character looks like him. It’s completely based on him and his performance. And look, I would be lying if I didn’t say that a part of this is because it’d be a fellow ginger on Stargate and I would love to see a ginger character represented on screen.

David Read:
It’s OK if you’ve got a bromance going for the guy. What’s the term for that? There’s another term for that. I have my buddy Brett. He’s a guy’s guy through and through. There isn’t a shred of gay in this human being. And then I mention Ben Browder. You guys, if you have any young children, you can mute for the next 20 seconds. I would mute now if I were you. But he and I had a conversation once, and I basically asked him, “It sounds like if I could convince Ben to sleep with you, you’d take him up on that.” And he said, “Oh, yeah.”

Tommy Valentine:
Actually, not doing this today.

David Read:
That’s how much he loves Ben Browder. He’s like, “Yeah, I would totally do that.” He loves Farscape.

Tommy Valentine:
Wow.

David Read:
Tangent there, but no. Cameron is very talented and I’m looking forward to sitting down at some point and watching Shameless. I don’t know if I’ll get through it because it’s 11 seasons, but no. He’s excellent, so– More gingers, more power to you.

Tommy Valentine:
Is he in the American version of Shameless? I’ve never seen that either. I’ve seen the English version.

David Read:
Cameron Monaghan is in the English version of Shameless?

Tommy Valentine:
No, no. I didn’t even know he was in the American version as well, so–

David Read:
He’s done all 11 seasons. He’s in the family. He grew up on that show. He wasn’t even 18 when they started it, so …

Tommy Valentine:
Wow.

David Read:
… that’s his show. Good selection, man. Let me see here. This next one was also in Lost, but he is my one exception for having been on Stargate because he was in it for a blip and I would love him to take part in the new series in any way possible. François Chau.

Tommy Valentine:
What a shout.

David Read:
Marvin Candle, Edgar Halliwax, “Namaste and good luck.” He is terrific. He played the Chinese ambassador in “Disclosure.” And there he is right there.

Tommy Valentine:
There you go.

David Read:
He is essentially the lead scientist of the Dharma Initiative in Lost and I did not realize it, but Ninja Turtles II, which I grew up on, that’s his face.

Tommy Valentine:
No way.

David Read:
Not the first one, but the second one. He can play anything, and I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed him in anything that I’ve seen him in. I’m looking forward to watching him in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I know he’s in a couple of episodes of that, but you could do anything with that actor.

Tommy Valentine:
That’s a really great shout.

David Read:
What about your next guy?

Tommy Valentine:
So, my next guy, I didn’t really know much about until I got to know him a bit producing Brad’s podcast and we brought him on. I think he was the second guest we recorded with, but I think his episode was released later. That’s Eric McCormack. Will & Grace is probably what he’s most known for, but I’ve only really seen him in Travelers.

David Read:
Travelers.

Tommy Valentine:
Which is–

David Read:
Excellent.

Tommy Valentine:
Are you a fan of Travelers? He’s so good in that.

David Read:
Yeah.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s so, so good in that.

David Read:
So disappointed that it was canceled.

Tommy Valentine:
I know. It’s devastating because he’s got so much charisma, so much charm, that kind of action-ready role. And he’s built for leadership. You can see him being a high-ranking officer or whoever, really. I think he’s such a magnetic actor that he would slot right into the show.

David Read:
He’s someone else that you can do anything with. You just mold him like clay. Brad was there when he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tommy Valentine:
That’s right.

David Read:
That’s an excellent choice for sure. This next one for me, you could probably argue he’s a B-level actor. But he’s so extraordinary. We’re getting near the end of these and I kind of rank them in that direction for me. But I don’t see him as being unattainable. There is a movie called Whiplash that is in my top 10 of genre films, niche movies. Do you know who I’m talking about?

Tommy Valentine:
Miles Teller? Or J.K. Simmons, fair enough. You mentioned him earlier, actually, and I almost squealed when you said his name. I can’t remember what you were talking about now.

David Read:
Night Sky.

Tommy Valentine:
Yes. He is– I’ll watch him in anything. Have you ever seen a film, what’s it called? Up in the Air? Is it Up in the Air?

David Read:
Up in the Air is one of my favorite movies of all time. I totally relate to the protagonist. Completely. And he plays– Go ahead. Finish your story.

Tommy Valentine:
I was just gonna say, J.K. Simmons is in one scene in that, maybe two. I can only recall one. And he is just, it’s heartbreaking. He just tears your heart out of your chest, shows it to you, and then just drops it on the table and walks away. It’s so good. It’s so good.

David Read:
That scene is the film in one scene. It follows a corporate guy and his protege as he goes around the nation. They live on planes and in hotels. They travel around the nation and they fire people. And this came out in 2009, 2010. So, it was prescient in terms of when it was in pre-production. And J.K. Simmons is an employee whom they fire. The film has a montage of people as they’re firing them. It cuts back and forth as they’re discovering that they’re being fired. And all he does is he pulls out his wallet and his two kids, and all he says to the camera is, “So what am I supposed to tell them?” And that’s how that scene starts. And by the end of it, they give him a shred of optimism. And it’s a great scene between him and–ER–George Clooney, and Anna Kendrick, who was very close to being on this list. But she’s been an A-list star, or at least had her own films for a while now. But yeah, he’s brilliant.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s so good. So deserved the Oscar for Whiplash as well. I always say I can never choose a favorite film. I can only choose five in any random order, and Whiplash is one of those five.

David Read:
It’s so intense.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s one of the best films. It’s incredible. It’s the most exciting sports movie ever made, and there’s not a single sport in it. It’s just the way it’s designed feels like a sport movie. He is the life and soul of that film. Well, the lack of soul maybe. But he’s one of the best cinematic villains. In fact, when you asked me earlier about scariest villains, or scariest characters in film, Fletcher is absolutely an answer for that. Because he’s terrifying. And even more so is that when you see the end of that film, not to spoil it, you kind of think, “Oh, God, he was– He kind of succeeded. He kind of wins.”

David Read:
Oh, you’re talking Whiplash itself?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah. He’s so good.

David Read:
I am torn on Whiplash. Brief aside. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an exceptional film. Because I grew up with a couple of teachers like that in the arts who didn’t settle for anything except for excellence. True excellence. Now, they didn’t hit us. They got in our faces. And that kind of a person you couldn’t get away with now in a school system, I don’t think. And I think that there is a place for teachers like that when the students–gotta be careful here–are receptive to being pushed to the brink, to the potential of being broken. Because in my opinion, we don’t have excellence anymore. And I don’t think it’s fair to break someone. But I think that if you don’t have an educator who absolutely puts you to the physical and mental limits of your abilities at some point in your life, you’ve not lived. And I’ve had a couple who have done that to me. And they are in my life to this day.

Tommy Valentine:
Wow. It’s a film about cost and about– It’s not just about excellence, it’s about what you’re willing to pay for it. And that’s not in terms of price, that’s in terms of your soul.

David Read:
Personal, your soul.

Tommy Valentine:
And I think the dinner table scene in that film, which isn’t actually a J.K. Simmons scene, so I shouldn’t be talking about it. I’m just talking about Whiplash now. But I think it captures all of that so brilliantly. I won’t say anymore about it. Just watch Whiplash–

David Read:
Go and watch it.

Tommy Valentine:
Enjoy that dinner scene.

David Read:
You will love it.

Tommy Valentine:
And most importantly, enjoy J.K. Simmons in it. Because it’s one of the best performances in the 21st century for sure. He won Best Supporting Actor for it, and honestly it’s one of the best supporting actor wins of the 21st century as well, because it’s a really, really great performance. Actually, one thing that you could start with is Whiplash started out as a short film before it was a feature length. And J.K. Simmons plays Fletcher in the short film …

David Read:
He does? OK.

Tommy Valentine:
… as well, which is brilliant. It’s not Miles Teller, it’s a different actor playing the role of Andrew Neiman. But it’s really interesting to compare the two as well, ’cause it’s just the rushing or dragging scene. That’s what the short film is. It’s just that scene.

David Read:
It’s one of those where you don’t– I put Whiplash into the same category as Ted Lasso, in that you don’t have to be a fan at all of the subject matter in order to be a thorough fan. I knew nothing about English football at all, and it gets you interested in English football if you give it a chance. And I started seeing a lot of their memorabilia everywhere. But it’s that kind of a thing. You can enjoy that movie for those reasons. J.K. Simmons, if you’ve not seen National Champions, Tommy, please go and watch it before we meet, because he plays the football coach in that, and he’s almost as good in that as he is in Whiplash. It’s an underrated movie.

Tommy Valentine:
He’s also brilliant in a voice role in the Invincible show. Have you been watching Invincible on Prime?

David Read:
I’m not. OK.

Tommy Valentine:
So, he’s the voice of Omni-Man in that, and it’s incredible. Because he’s got a great voice anyway, it’s no surprise that he’s great in a voice part. But he’s really, really good in that.

David Read:
And in Portal 2, I adored him. You hear him in voiceover over the second half of the game, and his character evolves. Did you ever play Portal 2?

Tommy Valentine:
I didn’t. I actually only played the first one.

David Read:
“That was jumping? You just jumped?” You’re missing out.

Tommy Valentine:
Pretty good.

David Read:
You’ve got a kid, bounce him on your knee while you’re playing. Miles Teller was almost on my list as well when I thought up J.K. because he’s pooped on a fair bit for films like Fantastic Four. For anyone who loves Stargate and the military, if you’ve not seen Thank You for Your Service, it’s an extraordinary film. It’s a hard film to watch. I watched it with my folks, and we cried through the whole thing. They get the military right, and the sacrifices that they make, and how we just walk all over them. Highly recommend it. Who you got next for me?

Tommy Valentine:
Sounds good. The next one, what I really liked about creating this list is it’s actually resurfaced some people for me that I hadn’t really thought about in such a long time. My next choice is Sarah Jones, who was in a show called Alcatraz. I believe J.J. Abrams produced it.

David Read:
Looks like [inaudible] shot.

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah. It was after Lost was such a breakout and he could do what he wanted, and he got this show off the ground.

David Read:
Interesting.

Tommy Valentine:
It was a really interesting sci-fi, mystery, thrillery kind of thing. And Sarah Jones was the lead, and she was so good. And she’s more recently been in the For All Mankind show, which I actually haven’t seen yet. But I’ve heard For All Mankind is incredible, and it’s on my list.

David Read:
One more, it’s gonna be amazing. My dad is looking forward to that one.

Tommy Valentine:
Very true.

David Read:
We’re waiting for it to finish, and then we’ll sit down and watch it.

Tommy Valentine:
Yes, good idea.

David Read:
That’s a multi-decade show that has a great concept. But no, she’s a great choice. I’ve not seen her in anything, I don’t believe.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s really good. She’s really, really interesting.

David Read:
Very, very nice. The next one here, she is Jonathan Frakes’ godmother. I don’t know if that’s a clue that rings a bell for you. Anytime that I see her in a movie that I didn’t know that she’s in, she’s one of those where it’s like, “Oh my God, she’s in the movie.” I get so excited. Alfre Woodard is extraordinary. I first came across her in Star Trek: First Contact, and basically, if I see her name coming up anywhere, I will go and watch her. She was the lead in a film called Juanita. And it was an indie film, and she eats the stage in that movie. She’s extraordinary. She can do it all, and I adore her. I could see her playing a lead, in terms of the management of this facility or whatever it is that they’re going to have, easily. I adore this actress.

Tommy Valentine:
I don’t think I’ve seen her in anything. That’s cool.

David Read:
You’ve not seen The Forgotten?

Tommy Valentine:
No.

David Read:
Wow. Please go watch The Forgotten and let me know what you think.

Tommy Valentine:
We’ve got a whole list to take away from today.

David Read:
No, it is one of those films where a third to half of the way through the movie, there’s a twist, and your reality basically falls out of your head. Do me a favor, go into it cold and let me know what you think. Enjoy it as a detective.

Tommy Valentine:
Nice.

David Read:
What have we got?

Tommy Valentine:
All right.

David Read:
Who’s number one?

Tommy Valentine:
This is the last one on the list.

David Read:
Or is that number one but last?

Tommy Valentine:
I’ve gone for Rockmond Dunbar, which honestly might be the coolest name in the world. That might be fair to say. Rockmond Dunbar, that’s such a cool name. I know him from Sons of Anarchy and actually the last season of The Mentalist he was in as well, and of course Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, by the way, is a brilliant film and everyone should watch it. It saved Robert Downey Jr’s career. We wouldn’t have Iron Man without Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Actually, this is a really good image because it shows this guy is a badass. He’s big, tough-guy-looking. But look at him here, he’s playing a really intelligent, quiet, calm, calculating kind of guy. I love people like that. I love someone that looks a certain way and you think, “OK, that’s them typecast and that’s their career, is playing this role.” But he’s managed to break out of that in so many different things, where I think, “OK, this is a really interesting actor here.” And this is one of the ones where I thought, “I think he’d make a great villain.” I think he would make a great main villain for the show in that Apophis role. That Apophis mold or someone that’s the guy that we’re up against over many seasons. I think he’d be great for that. I never saw Prison Break either.

David Read:
I can’t see him in anything.

Tommy Valentine:
Rockmond Dunbar- Coolest name in the world.

David Read:
I’ll go and check out Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Tommy Valentine:
You should do. It’s a Shane Black film, so it’s got a really cutting-edge-y script that just sings. Great film.

David Read:
No, this is solid. Very good. This last one for me, that ends our list, I first saw her in a film called Something’s Gotta Give. Have you seen this movie?

Tommy Valentine:
No.

David Read:
And she plays a character who is the sister of the lead, who is a joy. She’s a women’s studies instructor in the film. And the lead protagonist, Jack Nicholson’s character, is arguably a misogynist, but he adores women, but he kind of eats them up. Frances McDormand is extraordinary. She is my number one favorite actor, probably …

Tommy Valentine:
She’s so good.

David Read:
… that I can think of.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s so good.

David Read:
Have you seen Three Billboards?

Tommy Valentine:
Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Fantastic film.

David Read:
She’s so good in that.

Tommy Valentine:
So good.

David Read:
She was the voiceover for Good Omens Season One. I don’t know if she’s in Season Two and Three. She plays God.

Tommy Valentine:
That makes sense.

David Read:
She plays opposite Denzel Washington in Macbeth. I watched her for that movie and I love Denzel, but I could take or leave Macbeth. She is Lady Macbeth. She is a razor. It’s black and white. If you’ve not watched it, go and watch it.

Tommy Valentine:
Directed by her husband.

David Read:
That’s correct. The text has not been messed with. It is Shakespeare’s text. After I saw her in Something’s Gotta Give, I went back and watched her in Fargo and she’s so good in this thing.

Tommy Valentine:
She’s so good in that film.

David Read:
“What?”

Tommy Valentine:
I re-watched it like three months ago.

David Read:
“Tapioca?” It’s so good. Have you seen the show?

Tommy Valentine:
I’ve seen the first two seasons.

David Read:
Is it good?

Tommy Valentine:
Yeah, it’s really interesting. It’s really …

David Read:
It’s adapted from the story?

Tommy Valentine:
… different to what I was thinking. It’s not really. If you want to think about it like, I don’t know, an anthology set in the Fargo world. Each season’s a different time period and a different story.

David Read:
OK, so each season’s a story in its own, not every episode.

Tommy Valentine:
Contained– Yes. Each season is the anthology.

David Read:
OK, like American Horror Story.

Tommy Valentine:
Maybe. I’m not gonna say–

David Read:
American Horror Story is a seasonal anthology.

Tommy Valentine:
Yes. It’s exactly that. I think Paulie’s in a season actually. I’ve not seen him on it yet, but I think …

David Read:
Awesome.

Tommy Valentine:
… Paul McGillion’s on there.

David Read:
Paul McGillion. Awesome. No, I adore her.

Tommy Valentine:
What else Frances McDormand is great in, by the way, is Almost Famous. Have you seen Almost Famous?

David Read:
I have not seen it.

Tommy Valentine:
She is incredible in that.

David Read:
But she’s great in that.

Tommy Valentine:
She plays the main character’s mom, and kind of a villainous role.

David Read:
Julia Roberts. OK. Character. All right.

Tommy Valentine:
This is a classic Cameron Crowe film. It’s got a monster cast as well actually, if I remember rightly.

David Read:
Wow. Really? No, it’s not Julia Roberts.

Tommy Valentine:
No, no. It’s Kate Hudson.

David Read:
Kate Hudson. OK.

Tommy Valentine:
You’ve got Philip Seymour Hoffman in there. Billy Crudup, Jason Lee.

David Read:
I forget who it was who wanted him, Philip Seymour Hoffman, to play Thomas Edison. He would have made an awesome Thomas Edison. We lost him, I forget how many years now he’s been gone, but what a delicious talent. I will go and watch Almost Famous then, ’cause if she’s a villain in it, …

Tommy Valentine:
She’s brilliant in it.

David Read:
… I’m down.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s honestly one of her best performances, which is saying something, because you could make a Mount Rushmore of best performances and she would probably be three of the four heads. She’s so good in Nomadland as well, which is really good.

David Read:
I was about to say.

Tommy Valentine:
A really interesting film.

David Read:
She is playing herself, but not. She’s an observer in it. She goes by Fern, but it’s her but it’s not her. So, she just decides to– I need to look into this movie a little bit more, because it’s one of these films where it doesn’t really have a script. It has an overall narrative, but she goes and meets real people-

Tommy Valentine:
She’s the only actor in it. If I remember rightly. Everyone else is just themselves.

David Read:
I think so. Everyone else is just themselves.

Tommy Valentine:
Brilliantly directed by Chloe Zhao, by the way.

David Read:
Chloe Zhao, that’s it. It’s about people who live on the fringes and go from place to place, and they meet across country in camps and in Winnebago parks. They live on the edges of America because they don’t like to be fixed in one place, and despite what’s behind me here, the idea of it has always been very attractive. A little less so when you watch her poop in a bucket in her camper in the movie. But you have to admire the free spirit, for sure. Tommy, this has been awesome.

Tommy Valentine:
It’s been so much fun.

David Read:
I didn’t know how this would go. I was like, “You know what? This is an interesting idea, and I’d like to spend some time with my friend and have him back.” ’cause Darren just had him on, and I don’t like that. No, it was great. This was a lot of fun, so thank you for spending some of your afternoon or evening here with us to explore it.

Tommy Valentine:
Thank you so much for having me. I had a blast.

David Read:
That is Tommy Valentine, formerly of The Companion. He was a producer with them. That was a fascinating time. My name is David Read. You’re watching the Stargate Oral History Project. If you enjoy Stargate and you wanna see more content like this on YouTube, do me a favor and click that Like button. It makes a difference with the show and will continue to help us grow our audience. And if you’ve got a Stargate friend out there who is a Stargate fan, then let ’em know about Dial the Gate and help our network grow a little bit. And if you wanna get in touch with us on social media over here, we send out information about the availability of upcoming episodes. I’m out of town right now, as you’re watching this, but we still wanted to get some shows out of the way. Tremendous thanks to my Patreons who help bring this show together week after week now. I was in a different place just a few weeks ago, and then I decided to start it up, and it’s changed so much for me, and has enabled me to probably do more content than I was expecting to. ’cause it’s put me really in that much of a different place. So, I must thank everyone for that, ’cause that’s a big deal. I’ve been shown so much love, and thank you so much for it. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. I appreciate you tuning in, and I will see you on the other side.