Bryan Cairns, Dreamwatch 132, Sept 2005

Daniel Jackson seems like a phoenix — he has perished twice before rising from the ashes — so is he scheduled to bite the dust again?

Well, people are fully realizing they are taking away the stakes of the character when he gets himself in jeopardy, gets killed, and keeps coming back to life! [...] I don't think at any time in the near future Daniel is scheduled to die. We'll let him be a regular old human who can cut himself like everybody else.

In the last two seasons, Daniel has definitely become more confident and action-oriented. Do you think he would have evolved that way if you hadn't taken a year off?

Quite frankly, I think the character should have grown a little bit more off the top of the show. I've always had a different idea of what happened to Daniel between the period of the movie and the beginning of the series. He spent a year as the leader of a group of people on a far away planet and he certainly had some skills. I always felt he was weakened — the evolution of working in a military environment would certainly toughen any character up. [...] When I came back to the show, Jack O'Neill wasn't there as much and Daniel showed he was capable and willing to tackle that kind of action.

Stargate is constantly replayed on TV. When you see yourself in earlier episodes, what runs through your mind?

Shudders. That is the best way to put it. You look back, shake your head, and think, "Well, that is where I was at the time." [...] It's definitely interesting to see how far we've come and we have a reminder of every line and every bag under the eyes that has been well earned.

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