Amanda Tapping's trailer at Bridge Studios looks decidedly different from previous years. Maybe it's the box of disposable nappies on the counter, or the red and white check baby cot sitting off to one side of the room. There's a simple reason for these and certain other additions; this season, the actress is sharing her work digs with her and husband Allan's new baby girl, Olivia. It takes just one look at mother and child to see that they're both pleased with this arrangement.

[...] Tapping took the first five episodes of SG-1's ninth season off to spend time with her newborn daughter, and only returned to the set at the end of April to start work on the episode Beachhead. Although she was back in familiar surroundings, it still took her a bit of time to reacclimatize. "Obviously, Sam had been away as well, and during that time a whole new dynamic had built up among Daniel, Vala, Teal'c and Mitchell and with the actors who play them," says the actress. "For the first couple of days I felt like the captain of the school chess club trying to hang out with the football players, do you know what I mean? I can make jokes about the captain of the chess club, seeing that my twin brother was one," she chuckles.

[...] While Sam Carter may not have given birth, Tapping is interested to see how her new role as a parent will affect how she plays her character. "Sam has to be slightly different because I'm quite a bit different," muses the actress. "Last year we focused a great deal on her soul and the woman who is Carter, and I'm pleased that this season we're somewhat suppressing that and taking her back to her roots, those being the scientist and the soldier and what makes her strong.

"However, having done so much exploration into her heart and soul, she has a softness to her now. We'll see what happens, though, the next time she's in battle. By that I mean with me, Amanda, there's the mother lion in me now. I've realized that for the first time in my life I'm actually capable of killing," notes Tapping, pausing for a moment, "and that makes me cry. If anyone tried to lay a finger on my child I'd kill them, and that's quite a revelation. I relate that to work insofar as there's a new level of fierceness to Carter that we'll see. I always knew that as a soldier she could kill, and she has, but now there's an entirely new drive behind it, because as an actress I can bring that to the table."

[...] "As far as how she ended it with Pete, it seemed a little cagey, and I wasn't very proud of Sam for that. I am proud that she decided to stop stringing Pete along, but she could've been a bit more honest about it. That's OK, though. I play a Human being and Humans have flaws. With matters of the heart, it's hard for Sam to be totally honest, and I believe it's because she truly doesn't understand matters of the heart as much as she may think."

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