Jewel Staite

Jewel Staite on Gemini Nom, McKay/Keller Romance

TV Guide on-line today has a short interview with Jewel Staite. You can read it here. Of particular interest given the recent episode “Brain Storm” might be this exchange:

TVGuide.com: How has the fan response been to your character and your relationship with Rodney McKay (David Hewlett)? What direction do you want to see your character’s love life turn?

Staite: I’m not sure what the entire fan response has been. The fans I’ve had the chance to meet have been really enthusiastic about the Keller/McKay pairing. I really enjoy working with David, and we have a tendency to gravitate towards each other on set because we have the same work ethic, and most definitely the same sense of humor! I think the writers started to pick up on our natural chemistry and decided to go that route later on in season four. Off screen, we have a more brother-sister chemistry, so all the kissing scenes were kind of painful for us, but he was kind enough to lay off the onions on those days.

Read the whole interview for Jewel’s thoughts on her Gemini nomination and filming the episode for which she was nominated, “Trio”. As a side note, the Gemini went to another actress this past weekend.

SGA Nominated in 23rd Annual Gemini Awards

Stargate Atlantis has been nominated for four trophies in the 23rd Annual Gemini Awards.

The press release from the Awards’ website:

Toronto, ON (August 26, 2008) – The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is pleased to announce the nominations for the 23rd Annual Gemini Awards, recognizing the year’s best in Canadian English-language television. The Gemini Awards Broadcast Gala will be presented in Toronto, ON at the John Bassett Theatre on Friday, November 28, 2008. Canwest Broadcasting joins the Academy in celebrating this year’s exceptional achievements, airing the Gemini Awards Broadcast Gala on E! Network and Showcase at 9 pm ET.

“This was a banner year for Canadian television,” said Sara Morton, CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. “The nominees announced today truly exemplify the depth and breadth of our country’s talent, both in front of and behind the camera. Featuring newcomers and returning favourites, this year’s field of nominees has engaged and entertained audiences in Canada and beyond.”

The nominations for Atlantis are for Season Four:

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series: Alan McCullough for “Tabula Rasa”
Best Achievement in Make-Up: Todd Masters, Leah Ehman for “The Last Man”
Best Visual Effects: Mark Savela, Marco Checa Garcia, Sebastian Greece, Shannon Gurney, Paul Hegg, Brandon Hines, Jesus Lavin, Nikolas Slotiuk, Toby Taplin, Ray Van Steenwyk for “Adrift”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role: Jewel Staite for “Missing”

Congratulations to all the nominees! To read more about the Awards, visit 23rd Annual Gemini Awards.

Stargate Hits Big at Comic Con

Another San Diego Comic Con, another huge suite of Stargate events! This year was especially big for Stargate in that Richard Dean Anderson attended for the first time ever, and there were 3 panels, not two: Stargate Continuum, Stargate Worlds, and Stargate Atlantis. Fans had to arrive by 7:15 am to get the best seats, a mere 3.5 hours before the panels began. By the time they started, over 4000 fans had filled Ballroom 20 once again.

Stargate Continuum

Brad Wright moderated the Continuum panel, and it was a rousing and fun affair. In attendance, in order of assigned seating, were Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Director Martin Wood, Michael Shanks, Ben Browder, Chris Judge, and Beau Bridges. It was lovely to note Wright introduced RDA as perhaps his closest friend, and Michael Shanks as personally his favorite actor in the world. RDA didn’t seem nervous at all and in fact seemed to behave exactly as “Jack”, playing dumb and not taking anything the least bit seriously. He was a hoot. It should also be noted that Ben Browder kissed Michael on the lips as he joined him on stage. Michael seemed to take this in stride.

The main news for SG-1 is that both a third movie and Stargate Universe are in development. That doesn’t mean either one has been green-lighted, but MGM has authorized Wright to work on them, especially the third movie. Note this differs from previous stories saying there would either be two more SG1 movies OR Stargate Universe, but not both. Perhaps it will be one of each. In any case Brad is starting to work on a story for the third movie.

Some outlets are reporting this last as major news, but the certainty doesn’t seem to be any more or less definite than it has been for 6 months now. Hmm.

Brad introduced a lovely tribute to Don S Davis. It showed clips of General Hammond talking about what his people and his position as General mean to him, and it was set to Joel Goldsmith’s score from Continuum. When the lights came up after the tribute, all the panelists were clearly moved to tears. RDA got things back on track with a whacky joke.

The panelists looked healthy and happy, in particular Beau Bridges who looks much younger with longer hair! Everyone has been keeping busy, most with acting and Ben with coaching high school pole vaulting this spring, and football coming up. He’s auditioning and writing, however. Chris Judge mentioned he was supposed to be a villain on the upcoming season of 24 but was “fired” for not being black enough, which seemed to refer to him not looking like he’s from Africa. That got a good laugh.

Everyone was excited by the premiere of Continuum with a few hundred fans on the deck of the US carrier Midway the night before. They are very proud of the film and what it represented, the chance to go to the Arctic and then work together again even after SG-1 was canceled. Several of the panelists talked about what a great experience it was working together over the years.

RDA didn’t do well with questions like “favorite episode” or “hardest episode”. He passed on hardest emotional scene, but then called the panel back to him to say it was when O’Neill dealt with the death of his son (“Cold Lazarus”). He said the kid died, how could there not be emotion? Otherwise he admitted he doesn’t remember what he filmed. But his favorite part of Continuum was filming in the Arctic, and his favorite part of that was that the toilet seats were frosted with ice and that his poop would freeze solid.

Stargate Worlds

The Stargate Worlds panel was next, hosted by the Cheyenne Mountain guys. Brad Wright participated too. I don’t pretend to understand all the lingo, like PvP, PvE, spawning, or arenas versus battlefields. What I got out of the panel very strongly was that the creators are really trying to make the game accessible to all Stargate fans regardless of previous gaming experience. There will be many modes of play from solo to team, from fighting to physics to archeology. There will be social networking aspects as well. Reviewers have said the game is like the 4th generation of on-line role-playing games, and goes beyond World of Warcraft in that it takes the social networking to the next level.

The game will be set right before Season 9, and those events had all taken place in the universe of the game. Playing the game will have the elements of an episode. The SG-1 characters will be there as mentors and gift givers to the player characters. The panelists mentioned having voiceovers, and I asked one of the guys afterward what this meant. He confirmed they will record the actors’ voices for the game! He said everyone has signed on, except that RDA might need some further convincing. This is new information to many of us and very welcome!

They confirmed the game is for Windows only now but expressed sympathy for Mac users and some hope that there could be a Mac version some day.

Stargate Worlds encourages fans to sign up to be beta testers and help stress the game. Their current projected release date for the game is “early 2009”.

Stargate Worlds is clearly a huge part of the franchise strategy this year. They have lots of bling, from tee-shirts to dog tags, and are key to the Stargate booth, which appears to be sponsored by MGM and Stargate Worlds. Oh, and some of the buses are painted with SG Worlds. I sense a pattern emerging.

Stargate Atlantis

The Atlantis panel was smaller in terms of panelists, with Martin Gero presiding and Joe Flanigan, Bob Picardo, Jewel Staite, and Sci Fi VP Chris Sanagustin on the panel. Martin Gero was especially pithy and quick-witted and added much humor to the affair. All the actors were in fine form and very positive about the show.

Answering about the future of the show on Sci Fi, Chris Sanagustin assured the audience that Atlantis will continue, if not as a series than in TV movies. This seemed a very diplomatic answer and did not exactly impart warm fuzzies about the prospect for a 6th season of Atlantis.

In a hint of a spoiler, Jewel Staite said her wish for Keller this season is to make a choice, and she does. I assume this refers to the Keller/McKay/Ronon love triangle, and based on other spoilers, it seems her choice will be McKay. But, that’s just speculation.

Beyond that, Robert Picardo expressed how much he enjoys the humrous aspect of Stargate and the way it sort of winks at the audience, in contrast to the seriousness of Star Trek. He said he feels a bit like he’s been let out of prison.

Joe Flanigan spoke about “Search and Rescue” being a difficult episode for him to shoot because they’d just come back from hiatus and also because he had a personal issue going on during filming [a/n: he might have been speaking about the death of his father, which occurred at the end of February.] He said when it happened, he went right back to work because that’s exactly where he wanted to be, with his friends and colleagues on set. He has moments of intense gratitude for getting to do this work that millions of people wish they could be doing.

Jewel noted that her character gets kidnapped in the woods many times. Martin pointed out that since they film in Vancouver, it’s hard for them to kidnap you anywhere else but the woods.

Everyone on the panel seems very excited about the upcoming Season 5 episode “The Shrine,” penned by Brad Wright. There are insights into Woolsey. Brad Wright’s favorite moment of the season so far is a scene between Sheppard and McKay in The Shrine, on a pier at night. The slashers in the audience cheered the implications of that one.

These are just some highlights of course. Check back for a more detailed report, or since video taping was allowed, it’s likely the panels will be on MGM, Sci Fi, and/or YouTube. We will be uploading a more complete gallery in the next few days, including close-ups from the autograph sessions!

MGM Publishes SGA S5 Cast Close-Ups

The Official Stargate website published by MGM has begun a series of interviews featuring the main cast of Stargate Atlantis Season Five. So far, Rachel Luttrell, Robert Picardo, Jewel Staite, and David Hewlett have been featured:

MGM: Close Up: Rachel Luttrell (May 13) – “Teyla has faced many terrifying situations in her time as a part of the Atlantis crew: she’s been kidnapped by Michael, had her mind invaded by a Wraith Queen and faced an erupting volcano to name but a few. But this year, the Athosian has something a little more fundamentally challenging to deal with — becoming a parent.” …

MGM: Close Up: Robert Picardo (May 20) – “Robert Picardo is no stranger to science fiction television, having spent seven years playing the holographic Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager. He first made an impact on the Stargate universe back in Stargate SG-1’s seventh season, when Woolsey arrived at Stargate Command in the wake of Janet Fraiser’s death. It’s fair to say that the character didn’t endear himself to the SG-1 team — but Picardo obviously made himself popular with the show’s producers, because it wasn’t long before the one-off character was back for more. And from that point on, Richard Woolsey was on the road to character recovery.” …

MGM: Close Up: Jewel Staite (May 27) – “Having been introduced as Atlantis’new chief of medicine in season four, Doctor Jennifer Keller quickly established herself as an essential member of the crew — so much so that for season five, she returns as a regular. The addition continues Stargate’s tradition of adopting cast members from other respected science fiction franchises, since the role is played by actress Jewel Staite, who first became popular with audiences as Firefly’s bright and breezy mechanic, Kaylee.” …

MGM: Close Up: David Hewlett (June 3) – “David Hewlett, the actor behind the ever-irritating and indeed, irritated, Dr. Rodney McKay, is enjoying his first period of “down time” since filming on Stargate Atlantis’ fifth season began. According to Hewlett, McKay is having quite a time of it this year — and he’s happy to tell us all about it.” …

Be aware that there may be spoilers for Season Five episodes in these articles.

If the pattern continues, the next interview can be expected to be published on June 10.

Season Five is scheduled to premiere July 11 at 10pm ET/PT on the SCI FI Channel.

SCI FI WIRE: Atlantis Cast Changes Coming

SCI FI WIRE‘s John Sullivan visited Vancouver recently and talked with the producers of Stargate Atlantis about the show’s upcoming Season Five and its major cast changes.

Robert Picardo as Richard Woolsey

Sullivan starts his report with the addition of Robert Picardo as IOA representative Richard Woolsey, “Picardo replaces Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter), who had to bow out of the new season as a regular cast member to devote time to her forthcoming SCI FI series Sanctuary.”

Richard Woolsey was introduced in parent show Stargate SG-1 in the Hugo-nominated episode, “Heroes” (Season Seven). Woolsey’s interrogation techniques left General Hammond, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Major Samantha Carter, and Teal’c a bit rattled following the death of Dr. Janet Fraiser. None of them wished to answer his leading questions, and Woolsey resorted to threatening them to get their cooperation, which he didn’t get. After that, getting on the team’s “good side” was a bit difficult, but Woolsey started to make some break-throughs. Some, that is. …

“He’s come a long way from the pencil pusher that was introduced in ‘Heroes 1 & 2,'” executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi said in a recent MGM interview. Mallozzi said that Woolsey will clash “right off the bat” with the established Atlantis Expedition members. “In episode two, ‘The Seed,’ you’ll see that.

“The thing about Woolsey is that he’s always been a representative of the IOA, and the IOA have had their agenda. In some ways he’s been the rep for that particular agenda. But on the other hand, we’ve humanized him, to the point where I hope we like the guy and understand him and sympathize with his position and his willingness to at times realize that what the by-the-book situation calls for may not be the right decision. For example, in ‘The Seer,’ he goes back and presents a positive review of Carter’s handling of the situation – which was generally positive [anyway], but he left out some of the more damaging elements. And as far back as [‘Inauguration,’] he’s hired by Kinsey to basically cause trouble for the SGC. He does a little digging and realizes the truth, and rather than be a yes-man he goes behind Kinsey’s back to present evidence to the President. So that shows he has a conscience, and that’s the type of guy you want to write for. The type of character that will create conflict. He has an agenda — and it’s not even a hidden agenda, it’s right out there. You’ll butt heads with him but at the end of the day he’s a character you can sympathise with and understand.”

Robert Picardo is scheduled to appear in 14 of the 20 episodes of Season Five.

Jewel Staite as Dr. Jennifer Keller

Next up, Sullivan announces, “Jewel Staite (Dr. Jennifer Keller), meanwhile, will become a regular cast member, a promotion from her status as a recurring cast member.”

Keller relunctantly took the position vacated by the late Dr. Carson Beckett during Season Three. She didn’t want the position as Chief Medical Officer, feeling that she wasn’t ready to step into a leadership position. She preferred just being a doctor, but over the course of the next year, Keller started to become more comfortable in the position. “She steps up to the plate a little bit more,” Staite said in an interview. “She’s becoming more courageous.”

According to Mallozzi in his weblog, Jewel Staite is scheduled to appear in 15 episodes in Season Five.

Paul McGillion as Dr. Carson Beckett (the Clone)

Dr. Carson Beckett in "deep freeze" from S4

And speaking of the late Dr. Carson Beckett, “Former regular cast member and fan favorite Paul McGillion, who appeared briefly last season, will return once more to play Dr. Carson Beckett—or at least his clone. (Spoilers ahead!) Beckett was left in stasis at the end of season four, but will reappear for five episodes in the new season,” Sullivan reports.

Mallozzi discussed the process of bringing McGillion back to the sets as the clone of the beloved late Dr. Carson Beckett in his MGM interview, “So we always had the door open, and we were really amazed by the fan reaction. The ‘Save Carson Beckett’ campaign was great, the way they demonstrated. And finally we thought, why not? So we did the two-parter at the end of season four.

“Then we were making plans for season five, discussing it with the Sci Fi Channel. I should mention Mark Stern, [the Executive Vice President of original programming for the network,] his contribution to this as well. He’s a guy who always gets a lot of flack — if the fans aren’t happy with any aspect of the show they blame it on him! But Mark was a very big supporter of the Carson Beckett character. It was one of the things we discussed during the off-season, and ultimately we said, ‘Why don’t we try to nail him down for a number of episodes?’ So I gave Paul a call and asked him if he’d be interested, and he said he’d love to come back. So we’ve got him for five. And then, who knows what the future holds?”

Even though the clone has the memories and physical appearance of the late original (who died in Season Three’s “Sunday”), there are definitely some major differences between the two. Besides the obvious part (one is dead, the other isn’t), the clone has nearly two years of coercion and captivity to deal with, as well as a fatal design flaw programmed into him by his creator, the Wraith-Human hybrid Michael Kenmore. This flaw required that Beckett be put in stasis until a remedy could be found.

Beckett will be coming out of stasis in “The Seed”, and his role is pivotal in helping someone in dire need. His next appearance will be in “Whispers”. This means that a cure to his condition has been found and he won’t be going back into stasis, right?

Torri Higginson as Dr. Elizabeth Weir

Torri Higginson as Elizabeth Weir in SGA 4.11 "Be All My Sins Remember

“One cast member who won’t be returning at all is Tori Higginson (Dr. Elizabeth Weir),” Sullivan tells his readers. “Producers had planned to bring back Weir in several episodes, but Higginson declined to return. It’s not clear at this point how losing Higginson will affect the ongoing replicator storyline.”

Mallozzi addressed the continuation of the Replicator storyline in his MGM interview, “Yeah. That story line we are going to follow through on – but we will not be seeing Torri [Higginson]. When last she was in town for ‘Be All My Sins Remember’d,’ it was a very short scene, and she was at the time very excited that we had left the door open for her character. So based on her response we wrote the script. But when we went out to her she ultimately elected to pass. Which is fine — we don’t want to force anyone to do the show! However, given the script, given the plot, it was possible to do the story without her. So Carl [Binder] went back and did a rewrite and the story will go ahead. It’s unfortunate — the fans would have liked to have seen her for continuity’s sake, but at the end of the day it’s Torri’s decision and we respect that.”

Binder’s script is “Ghost in the Machine”, and it is currently scheduled to be the fifth episode in the new season.

Future Changes

Now for the surprise section of Sullivan’s report: “Regular cast member Jason Momoa (Ronon Dex), meanwhile, hinted that he’s starting to think about life after Stargate. ‘Wouldn’t say I’m sick of [Ronon] yet,’ Momoa said, ‘but one more [season], and I’ll probably be good. I’m 28 now. I’ll be 30. … It’s just time to move on, and I’ll want to play something else.'”

Momoa became a regular cast member in Season Two and is definitely a regular in the upcoming Season Five, but no one knows if there will be Season Six for him or anyone else to return to. Atlantis is produced one season at a time, unlike the show’s predecessor, which got several seasons right from the start when it premiered on Showtime in 1997. Ever since moving to the Sci Fi Channel, however, both SG-1 and Atlantis were renewed one season at a time. Word on Season Six for Atlantis won’t come for a while yet, perhaps not until October or November or even later, but if they are not being renewed (i.e., canceled), Sci Fi might give the producers and writers a chance to wrap up the story by announcing the end in August, just like they unceremoniously did with SG-1 during the production of its tenth and final season.

Even if Atlantis is canceled after Season Five, there is always hope that it will follow in SG-1‘s footsteps and move to the direct-to-video movie format.

Season Five has been scheduled to premiere July 11 at 10pm ET/PT on the Sci Fi Channel.

SGA S5 to Start Shooting February 19

Listed under “TV Pilots” at the BC Film Commission website, Stargate Atlantis is documented by the Commission to begin its filming of its fifth season on February 19, 2008, and complete it on September 23, 2008:

STARGATE ATLANTIS ~ SEASON V
Pegasus Productions V Inc.
Exec. Prod: Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, John Smith
Prod: John Lenic
DOP: Michael Blundell, Jim Menard
PD: James Robbins
PM: John Lenic
PC: David Magee
LM: Lorne Davidson
ALM: Dominic Main
Publicist: Brigitte Prochaska
Cast: Joe Flannigan, Jason Mamoa, Ish Kabibble
SPFX Coord: Wray Douglas
Casting: Corinne Clark, Jennifer Page
Extras: Sandra Couldwell
Sched: Feb 19/08 – Sep 23/08
2400 Boundary Rd.
Burnaby, BCV5M 3Z3
TEL: 292-8500
FAX: 292-8550

Interestingly enough, “Ish Kabibble” is listed as a cast member, perhaps because the actual cast members for the new season have not yet been officially announced (note that Joe Flanigan’s and Jason Momoa’s names appear in the list, but are misspelled). Fans corresponding directly with executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi in his personal blog have been told that an official announcement is to be issued by the SCI FI Channel, rather than from him directly.

Joe Flanigan stated at his Burbank Creation Con appearance that he had signed up for Season Five, and Mallozzi has discussed continuity issues concerning Jason Momoa‘s hair after Momoa had a major haircut. Mallozzi also confirmed that Rachel Luttrell will be returning for Season Five, and Jewel Staite has mentioned returning to the sets in her personal blog, but hasn’t revealed for which or for how many episodes. And as for how Flanigan and David Hewlett will appear after seeing that they both were sporting beards for the People’s Choice Awards acceptance video, Mallozzi said, “The boys will be beardless for the start of the new season.”

This leaves the status of Paul McGillion (Dr. Carson Beckett), Torri Higginson (Elizabeth Weir), and Amanda Tapping (Col. Samantha Carter) still in question. Mallozzi has reassured the Save Carson Beckett campaigners that the “door will be left open” for Beckett’s return in Season Five. Additionally, the new Weir-Replicator story arc that was started in Martin Gero’s “Be All My Sins Remember’d” leaves Elizabeth Weir fans wondering if Torri Higginson will be returning to reprise her role. Gero reassured them, “Weir’s storyline will be revisited in season 5.” And as for Carter, Mallozzi has expressed his desire to see Amanda Tapping return for Season Five. It should be noted, however, concerning contract negotiations and writing the new episodes, Mallozzi said, “It’s very rare we’ll write a script without having an actor commit beforehand.”

Join Solutions for production coverage of Season Five, and please continue to visit to keep up with Season Four as new episodes are currently being aired on the Sci Fi Channel on Fridays at 10pm Eastern.

SGA S4 Filming Wraps, Actors Find Projects

SGA Season Four Cast
Cast of Season Four of Stargate Atlantis

Introduction

It might seem a bit strange talking about the end of Season Four’s filming just as the episodes are starting to make their world premieres on the Sci Fi Channel, but it’s that time of year once again! Word still hasn’t come from Sci Fi about renewal for a fifth season, though, so whether or not the fond farewells the cast and crew bid each other on Friday, October 5, were to mark the end of a season of filming or the series as a whole remains to be seen. Executive producer and co-showrunner Joseph Mallozzi, looking back over the season’s development, stated in his personal blog, “I’m extremely satisfied with the end-product, and extremely satisfied with all of the hard work put in by the cast, crew, writers – pretty much everyone who stepped up and helped make this such a terrific year.”

As far as what everyone will be doing over the hiatus (the time between filming the seasons), here’s a quick run-down from what we’ve been able to gather from the Internet. If there are more, please add to them in the comment section for this blog entry. 🙂

Joseph Mallozzi

Season Four was the first for Joseph Mallozzi and long-time writing partner Paul Mullie as showrunners for the show. Since Mallozzi has been keeping his personal blog for about a year now, fans have had an exceptional peek into what goes behind such a position. It’s apparent from Mallozzi’s entries that he has many interests, including trying out various restaurants and reading science fiction novels. Concerning how he’ll be spending his time off, Mallozzi wrote, “Well, it really depends. If the show doesn’t get picked up, I’ll probably be working on pilot scripts are heading down to L.A. for meetings. If the show does get picked up, then we’ll be spinning stories and heading off to write – over the hiatus. So, time off in the long-term? No. Time off in the short-term? Sort of. I’m so exhausted that I think I’ll be sleeping straight through next week and well into word on the show’s fate.”

Joe Flanigan

Joe Flanigan will be making some convention appearances this month in Australia (October 13-14) and New Zealand (October 20-22). He revealed at the Comic Con in San Diego earlier this year that MGM has tapped him to star in the remake of the 1991 film Shattered, filming for which was last heard to be starting in November. According to IMDb, the tagline for the 1991 film was “A love he can’t forget. A murder he can’t remember.”

Amanda Tapping

Amanda Tapping has revealed in recent interviews that she’ll be making more webisodes for her on-line serial Sanctuary. She’s working with Stargate veterans Damian Kindler and Martin Wood to create another ten hours of entertainment, which equates to about 40 webisodes. Tapping said in a Sci Fi World interview, “Really, honestly, I just want to get Sanctuary up and going, that’s my main motivation right now.”

Rachel Luttrell

Rachel Luttrell is currently expecting her first child, so right now things are a bit quiet for her as she prepares for this momentous event. Her pregnancy was written into her character Teyla’s story arc for Season Four. Luttrell posted a note to her fans on her official website, “Another season has blown by. And it has been a wonderful one. I will endeavor to attend the party [wrap party held on September 29]…. but my first child may decide to make an appearance at any moment now. Exciting times!”

Jason Momoa

Jason Momoa is a new father! He and partner Lisa Bonet celebrated the birth of daughter Lola Iolani Momoa on July 21. According to one report, Momoa’s mother revealed more about the baby girl: “The middle name means royal hawk, and was chosen as there were hawks flying around [overhead] during the birth. The baby has ‘long legs, lots of black hair, and her lips are the perfect shape.'”

Momoa’s family means a lot to him, as he recently got a large tattoo that represents his family crest on his left forearm that the producers covered for “Adrift” and “Lifeline”, but will reveal in “Reunion”. Momoa gave Flanigan a new guitar at the end of filming for Season Four that is decorated with the same pattern. Fans can see the guitar in a picture Joseph Mallozzi posted in his blog entry for October 1.

David Hewlett

David Hewlett saw his independent film A Dog’s Breakfast distributed on DVD on September 18 (see Solutions Blog story on the release). He’s already working on his next movie’s script, Design of the Dead, which Hewlett talked about in an interview at Eclipse Magazine: “I loved Evil Dead; I loved Fright Night. It’s just that I loved that kind of stuff. And then, strangely, I’m a fan of these Home & Garden kind of home renovation shows. In this bid to become kind of the Martha Stewart of horror, I’ve combined the two. It’s about a design show that goes into this house to give it a new life, and it ends up waking the dead. It’s a lot of fun to write. I’m halfway through it now, so we’ll see how much time I get to sit down and write the rest of it. Right now it’s called Design of the Dead. It just seems in keeping with the Romero films, and the obvious likeness would be Shaun of the Dead, as well. That was sort of an honest appreciation of zombie films — and I just want to make a funny one.”

Hewlett had also said in his blog that he was writing a part in the movie for Christopher Judge.

Hewlett and his partner Jane Loughman are expecting their first child very soon. While waiting, Hewlett quickly noted in his Twitter recently, “Baby really taking its time…going to do this “Helen” movie next week now!” This movie stars Ashley Judd and is scheduled to film from October 9 to December 11 in Vancouver.

Jewel Staite recently finished filming some scenes in Panama for her new movie The Tribe. In a recent interview at SCI FI WIRE, Staite revealed a little more about the film: “It’s basically about a girl who starts off as being very meek and kind of subservient and scared about life in general and then really has to step up to the plate and become the leader, become the alpha in the situation. So it was really fun to play. It was a really complex character, and, yeah, it should be coming out next summer.”

In her latest MySpace blog entry, Staite answered a few questions from her fans, one being about the roles she chooses to play: “I love that I get these smart women roles, but it’s also fun to play the helpless victim sometimes, when it’s written well. What’s really great is someone who starts out as helpless and grows into the hero. Or superhero. That flies. And kicks ass.”

Staite is scheduled to appear at the Collectormania 12 Convention in Milton Keynes, England (October 26-28).

Season Four Continues…

Season Four of Stargate Atlantis continues on the Sci Fi Channel on Friday, October 12, at 10pm Eastern, with “Reunion”.

Staite Talks About New Atlantis Role

Stargate Project Interviews Jewel Staite

Fans of Stargate Atlantis will be meeting a new character played by Firefly actress, Jewel Staite. Staite isn’t new to the Stargate universe, having played a young Wraith in Season Two’s “Instinct”.

Staite returns to Stargate Atlantis as a human medical doctor, Dr. Keller. According to a blog entry made by Staite, Dr. Keller will be a young genius in the medical field. She’s been asked to appear in possibly up to 12 episodes in Season Four.

The interview at Stargate Project covers several of Staite’s other projects, but there were two questions concerning Stargate Atlantis which might be of interest to fans (beware of slight spoilers ahead):

SGPnet: Are there any news on the character of Dr. Keller you will be playing next year in “Stargate – Atlantis”? Do you already know, if we see her in season four for the first time, or if she will be introduced already at the end of season three? And are you happy to get back to the show, to the catering and the breakfast sandwiches, which you said, you liked the best?

JS: Yes, she will be introduced at the end of season three. I can’t say a whole lot about her, because truthfully, I still don’t know a whole lot! I’ve only done one episode! I do know I’ll be on for a few episodes, but we still don’t know how many, and I can’t tell you any secrets unfortunately! I will say that the cast is great and a lot of fun, and the whole vibe on the set is very relaxed and easy-going. And there’s nothing wrong with a big greasy breakfast sandwich to start the day!

SGPnet: This time you will be playing a human woman without a mask, but you first appeared on the show as a Wraith-girl named Elia in the episode “Instinct” of season two, wearing heavy prosthetics and contact lenses. Through the experiences you made on this episode, would you still be up to play another alien or would you choose your role more carefully next time?

JS: Hmmm. Well, I definitely need a break from the prosthetics for a while, I will say that. That was TOUGH. I’ve never been so distracted from my performance before; it was a real challenge to concentrate on the scene when I was so uncomfortable under all of that stuff. I have such respect for actors wearing prosthetics now. It’s a true art to do it and still be a nice person to work with!

To read the rest of the interview, visit Stargate Project.

[Thanks to wraithfodder for the tip.]

Jewel Staite Speaks Out on Atlantis Role

Atlantis Casting Spoilers follow…

Last week Jewel Staite wrote in her blog about her recurring role as Dr. Keller, MD, in Season 4 of Stargate Atlantis. She confirmed the departure of Paul McGillion from the cast but said she does not feel her character will be “replacing” Beckett in the way fans have assumed. She will be playing a prodigy/genius doctor, which is presumably a way to explain her young age (she is 24 yrs old). She asked fans not to “hate” her for taking the job that was offered to her. Obviously she had nothing to do with Carson’s demise, so that seems a quite reasonable request. 🙂

Apart from Jewel’s role, fans continue to campaign for Carson’s reinstatement full-time at SaveCarsonBeckett.com.