After eight years of helping right intergalactic wrongs and keeping Earth safe from alien incursions, Richard Dean Anderson decided to take a break from his duties as Brigadier General Jack O'Neill on Stargate SG-1 in order to spend more quality time with his little girl Wylie... Recently, however, Anderson returned to the Stargate fold, thanks in part to his daughter's encouragement.

"Wylie came to me one day and said, 'You know, Dad, if you want to go back to work you can because I'm OK now. We're good,'" recalls Anderson. "I was like, 'Are you sure?' and she said, 'Yes.' My reply to that was, 'Well, what about me? What if I miss you too much?' That's when she put her hand on my shoulder, looked me square in the eye and said, 'Dad, you'll be OK.' She's such a wise and sensitive soul for a seven-year-old," smiles the actor.

"So I've been relaxing quite nicely. Whenever I'm not with Wylie I just go horizontal and rest. I've discovered this great invention called a nap."

[Regarding filming five episodes] "Of course, no one mentioned that I'd be doing more Stargate Atlantis episodes than SG-1's, but that's cool. Right now I'm in the middle of filming my next Atlantis story (The Return) and things are going great. Brad Turner is up here as well. He's a very good friend of mine and an amazing director, so I've been working with him and Robert Picardo [Richard Woolsey], who is also guest starring in this episode. Robert is one of my favourite actors and I've been trying for years to do a project with him, and it finally came together here."

[On Episode "200"] "The 200th episode is just a crazy romp. Any of the quirks or idiosyncrasies that the writers, directors or us actors may be harbouring or living with were targets, and I love that. No one was spared. As subtle as the moments might be, or as blatant, we all got nailed. It's quite clever stuff and I'm proud of these guys for having come up with such a script."

[On playing himself on The Simpsons episode "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore"] "This was the apex of my career. If I never worked again I'd still die a happy man," he enthuses. "It was such an upbeat experience for me, and I don't want to get too ornate about it, but doing The Simpsons really injected a wonderful new positive edge to my acting. It was like hitting the refresh button on your computer."

"The nature of this particular Simpsons script was such that there was a proper amount of ribbing that was directed at me, personally, and my MacGyver character. It was all good-natured, though, and it was an honour to be skewered in such a way."

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