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Casting for the
roles of series regulars began in Vancouver and Los Angeles early January.
Atlantis Executive Producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper are
looking to fill the following roles:
MAJOR JOHN SHEPPARD, 35-40
Maverick gifted pilot, a Southern gentleman with gold ole' boy charm
and a closet mathematical genius. Sheppard is described as having
a wry sense of humour and to pretend to be dumber than he really
is. He's also a bold fighter, a man of great common sense
morality and possesses the rare gene which allows him to interact
physically with Ancients technology.
DR. ELIZABETH WEIR, 35
Described as attractive, brilliant and the master of 5 languages, Weir
will be introduced to Stargate viewers in Stargate SG-1 season 7 finale
The Lost City, portrayed by actress Jessica Steen. However, the
role is to be re-cast for Atlantis. Weir chose to battle the
establishment from within, is known to be anti-military and has
extensive experience as an international negotiator. She is the
civilian head of the Atlantis outpost.
TEYLA EMMAGAN, 20-25
Beautiful and soulful, native of a post-apocalyptic world which suffers
depradation by the Wraith. Teyla is introduced as a love interest
for Sheppard, with UST intended between the two throughout the
season. She's a leader for her people and a strong fighter whose
knowledge of the people and worlds the Atlantis team will be visiting
proves invaluable.
LIEUTENANT AIDEN FORD, 25
Boyishly good-looking and possessing of an ebullient sense of humour,
Ford volunteers for the Atlantis mission. He's described as a
good man in a tight spot, who keeps a cool head and a finger on his
trigger.
DR. BENJAMIN INGRAM, 40-50
A brilliant African-Canadian scientist, expert in interfacing human and
Ancient technologies. He is largely responsible for the
discoveries which make the Atlantis mission possible, despite not
possessing the rare gene that would have allowed him to interact with
Ancient technology.
COLONEL MARSHALL SUMNER, 45-40
Described as a hardened, autocratic officer with a hair-trigger
temper. Sumner suffers from being second-in-command to the
civilian Dr. Elizabeth Weir but is an inspired commander who is committed to the mission.
Other roles to be cast for the pilot include Dr. Beckett, a medical doctor who also possesses the rare gene, and Dr.
Grodin, a civilian scientist, Bates, Parker and Smitty, members of the
away team, Wex, Halling and Toran, aliens and compatriots of Teyla.
Sources are
speculating that the principal cast has been short-listed.
However, a revised casting call went out for the principal role of Teyla
Emmagan early in February, and a revised casting call went out for the
principal role of Lt. Aiden Ford early last week. It begins to
look doubtful that a complete principal cast will actually be in place
as the Atlantis pilot goes into production, slated to begin Monday 23rd
February.
SG-1 stars Richard
Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks will reprise their roles as General
Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson in "Rising", appearing in what
Michael Shanks referred to during his Shanks-Judge tour appearances as
the first two acts. Shanks and Anderson remain the only two actors
confirmed to appear. SCI FI and MGM have yet to make any
announcements about the regular cast for the new series.
With renewed calls
for the casting of a principal actor at this late date, it seems likely
that Atlantis itself may suffer production delays which could in turn
impact on Season 8 of Stargate SG-1, already pushed back to begin 3rd
March to accommodate filming of the Atlantis opener "Rising".
Concurrent productions do offer the advantages for the studio, network
and producers of economies of scale but they can also compound production
difficulties, with two series affected instead of one. Fans are
naturally expressing concern about the Stargate SG-1 cast, characters and show
they've invested seven years in. No one wants to see SG-1's last
season suffer through Atlantis' first season teething problems.
SCI FI and MGM have
been lucky to maintain the level of secrecy they have surrounding the
Atlantis production; untimely Internet revelations can kill print
stories and the greater publicity they bring. On this occasion, it
appears the studio and the network are going to beat resourceful fans to
the punch.
For cast and indeed
any other Stargate: Atlantis announcements, all we can do is watch this space...
STARGATE: ATLANTIS PRODUCTION
Pegasus Productions, Inc.
Exec. Producer: Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, N.John Smith
Directors:Various
DOP: Andreas Paulsen
PM: George Horie
PC: Boris Ivanov
LM: Doug Brons
ALM: Amy Edelson, Heather Byrne-Vidan
PD: Bridget McGuire
Casting: Stuart Aikins, Sean Cossey
Extras: Sandra Caudwell
Publicist: Brigitte Prochaska
Schedule: Feb 23 - Oct 21/04
2400 Boundary Rd,
Burnaby, V5M 2Z3
OFFICIAL LINKS
MGM Atlantis website
SCI FI.com Atlantis website |