The man who stepped into Richard Dean Anderson’s very big shoes for an episode of SG-1 is here! Actor Michael Welch joins us LIVE to catch us up on his life and career, and to share his memories of working on the set of Stargate SG-1’s “Fragile Balance.”

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0:00 – Splash Screen
00:25 – Opening Credits
00:50 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:15 – Welcoming Michael and the Impact of Science Fiction
06:10 – Why Stargate is different
10:25 – Playing Young Jack O’Neill
12:36 – The Audition and Prepping for the Role
18:28 – Stargate VS Michael’s Other Roles
22:03 – Balancing Work and Fun
25:46 – Cast Memories
29:18 – Twilight
36:37 – Challenges in the Industry
44:26 – Quantum Leap
49:23 – Sci-Fi VS Mainstream TV and FIlm
55:44 – Michael Welch the Dad
1:02:30 – Fan Questions: Future Stargate
1:03:55 – Michael Tested for Stargate Universe
1:08:32 – Working with Richard Dean Anderson
1:13:48 – Growth as an Actor and Prepping for Roles
1:18:18 – Wrapping up with Michael
1:22:30 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:26:07 – End Credits

***

“Stargate” and all related materials are owned by MGM Studios and MGM Television.

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 184 of Dial the Gate, The Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read, thank you so much for joining me. We’ve got Michael Welch joining us in this episode. Young Jack O’Neill from Stargate SG-1, Season Seven, Fragile Balance. He and I haven’t spoken in nearly 20 years, so it’s gonna be… I’ve been really looking forward to catching up. Before we get into this. If you enjoy Stargate, and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal if you click that Like button. It helps the channel continue to grow the audience and please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. And giving the Bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last minute guests changes. And clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. Now as this is a live show — some of them we do pre-record and some of them we do live — we have the guest joining us live. And I’ve got a team of moderators in the YouTube chat who will be fielding your questions for the first half of the show, and then when we get more toward the back half, we’ll go ahead and turn the show over to you and I’ll go through those questions and start inviting you to answer them — inviting Michael to answer them. All right. Without further ado, I am privileged to welcome someone I’ve been watching — many of us have been watching — since he was, oh, this big. Michael Welch. We know him as young Jack O’Neill. You may know him as Artim, you may know him as Mike in Twilight. Sir, it is so good to be back with you again. How are you?

Michael Welch
David, it’s an absolute pleasure to be speaking with you again. I cannot believe it’s been, it has been, about… almost 20 years.

David Read
Isn’t that crazy?

Michael Welch
And you know what’s funny, it got me thinking, because I’ve — you know, I’ve been acting for a minute — I have one or two guest spots under my belt at this point. And I gotta be honest, no one is, like, knocking down my door to talk about, you know, the episode of CSI: Miami I did 15 years ago. Or The Pretender, or Shasta McNasty. It’s just… and yet Stargate, somehow, this thing just keeps going. It keeps living on, it keeps finding different iterations. So, you know, I… the one thing that has not changed from my vantage point is I have always been honored to be a part of this universe, even in the small way that I was able to contribute.

David Read
You’re a sci fi fan, aren’t you?

Michael Welch
I am. Yeah, I like doing it, you know, more than I am like an ardent watcher, but I do love sci fi. Yeah.

David Read
So, like you indicated, you know, even 20 years from now, from then, you know, we’re still… people are still asking to talk. Why do you think that is? What’s happening? What is it that’s captured the cultural zeitgeist about this type of content? It’s not just Stargate. It’s Star Wars, you know. I mean, Star Trek Picard just wrapped.

Michael Welch
I know, I know. Well, what you’re asking is a larger philosophical question. I don’t know how deep down the rabbit hole you want to get. I assume your fan base is probably into it. But I think part of what’s cool about being just a human being, being an artist storyteller, is that we are the only living things on this planet, as far as I know, that are able to imagine a world that is different from ours, and then take the steps to create that world and express it and ultimately, tie it back into universal truths that apply to our own lives. So I think there is just something that is uniquely human about the the sci fi experience, tapping into our imaginations. And ultimately, I think, you know, hopefully making us, you know, more empathetic and better people. I mean, these are very lofty ideas. But this is how people who create this kind of stuff, think about this. And as an audience, it’s not your obligation to necessarily go out to dinner. I mean, you just might like spaceships, and that’s good enough, you know what I mean?

David Read
And there are those fans.

Michael Welch
100%. I mean, I was that with Game of Thrones, like, I didn’t… you know what I mean? Like, I’m just like, “You know what, I’m good with the dragons. I don’t need to know every detail about every house in this thing.” You know, so there’s different elements to it. But I think that, I think deep down, that’s kind of what’s going on there. It has the unique ability to tap into something that I don’t think other sort of mediums or art forms have the ability to access in the same way.

David Read
I think that that’s a very considerate answer. If I may even simplify further down, I would say, just the phrase, “Stargate is chicken soup.” It’s something that you can put on with your kids, and they can watch on an entertainment level and as they get older, they can read things into it that they want to read. And we as adults — I mean, going back and watching some of this content decade over decade — is like, I glean something different from it, but it’s all things that I can apply in my own life. Now, you talk about Brad and Robert, and all these guys, that’s not necessarily what they set out to do. They set out to create great entertainment. But the choices that these writers made and the medium that they made it with, allow it to be reinterpreted across time. In many different ways.

Michael Welch
That’s right. Yeah. 100%. And you initially were asking about sci fi more generally. You want to talk about Stargate specifically, I do think there are elements of it, that almost feel a little punk rock to me. Like, it’s very difficult to pull off the tap dance that they do. And I’m kind of just talking about SG-1. I’ll fully admit, I’m not that familiar with the expanded universe beyond that show. But it had this way of kind of being just meta enough. Like, just sort of self aware, and winking at the audience enough so that we could go into it going, “Well, I kind of know not to take this too seriously.” But yet, at the same time, the stakes were high enough that you were still fully invested. I hope that makes sense.

David Read
Yeah. It’s not frivolous. But when there are episodes that teeter on frivolous, we’re invited to take that journey.

Michael Welch
Yes. And the reason I say it’s punk rock is because it doesn’t have the same — just objectively — cultural impact as a Star Wars or Star Trek, or, you know, Twilight for that [matter], you know what I mean? But in a way that’s almost cooler, because you have to be part of the club to get it. Does that make sense? Like, if you even… like, if you tried to explain, you know, Richard Dean Anderson’s portrayal of O’Neill to someone who had no familiarity with the show, and you had to explain what his character… in a sentence or two, I don’t know that you could really do it accurately. It just, you have to… you just have to see it, to get it. And then once you’re sort of in the in-crowd, then it gives you a better understanding of, kind of, the life that’s that’s behind this thing. And I think that’s part of it. So even though it’s lasted all this time, and you’re talking to me 20 years after my one episode, on this show, it’s still like, I don’t know, it’s like still underground or something. You know what I mean?

David Read
It’s not, like, blowing the world over, but I get…

Michael Welch
I think that’s kind of cooler to be honest, in some ways.

David Read
Well, yeah, exactly. But it’s global. It’s a global phenomenon, in a way that some of the other, you know, sci properties, not necessarily are. It’s huge in Australia and New Zealand. It’s huge in the UK. And this… we’re talking about a US paramilitary television series. There’s something about it. And I think a lot of it goes back to Rick. It’s his whimsy. It’s his carefree style of, “Oh my God, here we go again!” You know, we’re invited to acknowledge that, you know, it’s not necessarily… it doesn’t have to be Battlestar Galactica. It doesn’t have to knock you over and then stomp on your privates for you to get the the broader sci fi message and have fun.

Michael Welch
Yeah, that’s, that’s right. And I think, you know, there’s just such obvious joy from the people making it that, just like… you just feel it through the screen, man, you really do. So, yeah, I love it. And man, I… you know, looking back now to be able to try to, in some way, you know, replicate or recreate what Richard was able to bring to life is just… it’s something that I’m glad I didn’t have a better sense of how daunting that potentially was going into it.

David Read
You wouldn’t have been able to do your job.

Michael Welch
Yeah, probably not. I mean, I just worked on the first episode of Quantum Leap last year, the reboot, and talking to Ray[mond Lee] — I don’t think I’m speaking out of school here — but, you know, Ray, very explicitly, was like, “Look, if I, for a second, thought that I was replacing Scott [Bakula], like I would kill myself. I can’t, like, that’s not a possible thing to do.” So, you know, not having a real sense of this truly iconic actor, you know, bringing this truly iconic character to the place that he did, I am glad I was in the dark coming into the process, and was really just kind of able to focus on the acting and the performance and creating something with, you know, the director, Peter Deluise, and the rest of the cast. And really, honestly, still didn’t have a sense of kind of what that meant to the fanbase until after it aired and I got to, you know, experience the reaction firsthand. So I’m very grateful of that because it kept the work more pure, in a sense.

David Read
Absolutely. And Peter was a was a great student of observing Rick, you know. So I’m sure he had a lot to offer in that regard, in terms of helping you capture that performance, which has to be nuanced because we, as an audience, are looking for the tells that identify you, as Rick. Well, you as Jack, in that case. I remember the, “[Gesture]. Shut up.” Those kinds of gestures, and just like, “Hello”, you know, “This is crazy.” Tell us about exploring that process. Well, first of all, how did you get… did you just audition for the role? Take us back. Was it a regular audition, or…?

Michael Welch
Yeah, it was a regular audition. And again, I had not seen an episode going into the audition. So I just, you know, took the material and, broke it down and basically prepared as you would for any other audition and just kind of like, you know, played the character as truthfully as I knew how. Now keep in mind too, this is back before like, YouTube or [whatever]. There was not necessarily an easy way to access shows you didn’t already watch, you know. We didn’t have any of what we have. Now there would be no excuse. If the audition came in now and you’re playing a clone of an established character, like they would expect you to watch a dozen episodes before even coming into the audition. That expectation wasn’t necessarily there. So they cast me based on the audition and then once I went up to Canada, they were nice enough to fly me up…

David Read
I lost your audio. You ok?

Michael Welch
Sorry. Can you hear me?

David Read
Yes sir. Continue.

Michael Welch
Can you hear me yet?

David Read
Yeah, go ahead.

Michael Welch
Oh, this technology. I don’t like this technology. I really… I want to go back… I so want to go back to an analog world. I was so much better with that then. Now I can’t hear you. Why can’t I hear you?

David Read
Uh-oh.

Michael Welch
I don’t want this. I don’t want this!

David Read
It’s okay.

Michael Welch
This is going so well.

David Read
It’s OK, you’re good. I’ll make sure I’m transmitting.

Michael Welch
All right. Let me reset my bluetooth. I put on ‘Do Not Disturb’ too.

David Read
Right?

Michael Welch
Clip this by the way.

David Read
We’re live, Mike!

Michael Welch
This isn’t what people want to see. The power’s back on.

David Read
Testing 1-2-3.

Michael Welch
Are we connected?

David Read
Can you hear me now?

Michael Welch
Alright, Bluetooth’s coming off. We’re going right though the phone.

David Read
Can you hear me OK?

Michael Welch
Can you hear me?

David Read
Yes. Can you hear me?

Michael Welch
Yeah, it’s good enough.

David Read
So they flew you up?

Michael Welch
Yes, sorry. They flew me up and gave me a bunch of episodes to watch. And, again, they flew me up early so I could sort of, study it beforehand, which is not… which is not common. Like, a production isn’t looking to spend more money than they have to spend, generally. Especially if you’re a guest star, they’ll just fly you up the day before you start filming. But I’m sure that’s something that Peter fought for. Oh, and I just, as a quick side note, so Peter DeLuise who directed that one, he was instrumental in finding the character as I did it. Like, all those moments, you’re talking about, those were very specifically planted, deliberately planted, by him. So if you were a fan of that performance in any way he is, I would say, as — if not more — responsible, than me even, frankly. Ultimately, I have to execute the game plan, but he was the one who was able to, kind of, draw up the x’s and o’s and really shape it in a way that I think ended up working pretty well. So yeah, and I just watched the tapes. It was just VHS tapes. And I just watched them over and over again.

David Read
I mean, literally not to just give you a… Can you hear me OK? Go ahead.

Michael Welch
Yes, go ahead.

David Read
No, please.

Michael Welch
No, that’s okay. Working from the macro down to the micro. So I’d, you know, you have to understand kind of the essence of the character in a larger way, and then really get down to those minute details. So I would just watch, and he would do a line, and then I would do it the same way that he did. I mean, honestly, I was literally just like, you know, copying sort of word-for-word, physical traits, you know, everything that I could do within the course of those like three, four days in prep. And then eventually, once we got on the set, we just shaped it, you know. And I got, sort of, more and more comfortable as we went along. But it was a very collaborative moment-to-moment shaping process.

David Read
So when you say they flew you up, you’re saying they flew up early, specifically for days for you to prepare yourself for the character?

Michael Welch
That is correct. Yeah, under a different circumstance, I probably got an extra four days than one would normally get for something like that.

David Read
Wow. And not only did you get to prep for Jack, but they went out of their way to give you background details, story info, episodes on the Asgard. You told me years ago that they sent you Revelations, which was, like, the big Asgard episode before the one that you had. So you weren’t just walking in to seeing, you know, a three-feet tall puppet, you know. You had backstory to be able to, you know, interact with this thing on a more appropriate level.

Michael Welch
Correct, yeah. It was very smartly done, honestly, like, the way that they did it. Because, yeah, I mean, and if you think about it, it’s important for me, you know, since I have the full knowledge of this character, for me — the actor — to kind of understand some of these things. At least in a very basic way, coming into it. So yeah, they did. They gave me the episodes that they thought were most relevant to understand the story that I was going into for this episode.

David Read
Got it, wow. I’m curious, Mike, obviously your body of work has increased since this was in your front and center. I’m curious as to the quality of this production, in terms of its moving parts, in terms of its execution, compared to a lot of the other things that you have done? Where does Stargate fall? In terms of the quality and professionalism of the people who put it together? The consideration of the players on set and your director, you know. Is it near the top? Is it near the bottom? Where does Stargate fit in your pantheon of looking back in your body of work?

Michael Welch
Yeah, that’s a great question. You know, I, so… TV is a very, like, it’s very fast. They have… I mean, if you think about it, a typical show is an hour, right? So two episodes are essentially the equivalent of a movie — if a movie is two hours. I mean, I’m speaking in very general terms here. And one episode of TV is generally shot in eight days. So if you think about your favorite movie, and you go, “OK, now they had to shoot that in 16 days.” So, you know, there’s not a whole lot of time for nonsense. You[‘ve] got to… and especially as a guest star, like you’re job is just to kind of show up, do your job and like don’t, you know, don’t slow things down. I mean, for the most part.

Michael Welch
Don’t cost money. That’s right. So, you know, so what I appreciated about this experience, especially looking back at it, is the care that they took with, not only with my performance, but with all the details that make that show what it is. There was a real sense that I got of the responsibility of being good shepherds, good caretakers of this thing for the fan base, specifically. It’s almost… it’s like, I had an opportunity to go to a table read for The Simpsons, once, you know, and I sort of got that same kind of feeling of like, “We know that we have this golden egg in our hands.” And there’s like a responsibility in that, that they feel, that you don’t, quite frankly, you don’t get that sense, on most of the shows that you go on, especially if it’s like a procedural or whatever. You know, what I’m saying? There tends to be this thing where you end up kind of doing things by rote. But from the top to the bottom, from the creators, producers, writers, director, down to the cast and crew, there was a sense of kind of the specialness of this thing and a sense of the responsibility to take care of it properly. Now, you’re still working under the constraints of television, but they were always very deliberate about making sure they got all those very important details right, that, frankly, made Stargate what it was.

David Read
Yeah, don’t cost money.

David Read
Absolutely. And it’s not something that’s that’s trivial. I mean, you are coming in to replace the lead for essentially an hour of a project that’s been running six seasons before you. I mean, that’s practically unheard of for… it would go on to do three more, that’s unheard of! In three years, they produced 120 hours of television. No one does that. Certainly not now. And it has to be a well-oiled machine to be able to pull that off. Everyone’s got to be able to pull together, but also have a good time. And Peter is notorious for having a good time.

Michael Welch
Yes, that’s right. And that’s the balancing act that I’m talking about, you know. And that’s kind of when creativity works at its best too. That sort of perfect balance between work and play. I’ve heard — just through whatever sources you hear things when you’re in entertainment — that Anthony Hopkins, in his scripts, that if you go through them, there’ll be little doodles in there. There’ll be, you know… so there’ll be like… and they’ll be full, because, you know, he’ll read a script 100 times, or whatever it is. And it’s just like… and half of it is just, you know, is obviously like the character work or the story work or whatever, all that technical stuff. And then the other half is just like little drawings and little, like, little jokes here on the side, little fun expressions. So I think there’s… it’s a very like… my point being that it’s, I think creativity tends to work at its best when there’s sort of that perfect balance, and I don’t think anybody pulled that off better than Stargate.

David Read
Have you been in situations on other projects where you had to cram to make your day? Uncomfortably so? Like, it was…?

Michael Welch
Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve been on whole productions, that every moment feels like that. And it, yeah, it creates a different kind of energy. Now, you still have to be professional, you still have to do your job, and that’s a different sort of skill set that you that you learn over the years. You know, I remember Jim Carrey years ago, on Inside the Actor’s Studio talked about how like, you know, being in an acting class is great, but really, what would be more realistic is if in the middle of your scene while you’re in class, that all students just started throwing tennis balls at your head, and you had to figure out how to still give the same performance. Because that’s more like… the reality of what acting actually is is figuring out how to, you know, sort of, work through all of the things that aren’t necessarily lined up to be totally conducive to giving your best performance and still managing to give a good performance. Luckily, Stargate was not that experience. And I think because they… you know, listen, in fairness, you’re right. I mean, the lift was, sort of, so heavy — not just for me, but for the whole show — to kind of make that work, that it wouldn’t have served anybody to add additional complications to that process. So we got a little bit more leeway, than perhaps one normally would, as a guest star, on a typical show.

David Read
Absolutely. And, you know, with a little bit of extra time to finesse and get your performance figured out before you go in there you can have a great time. So, do you have any memories of Amanda, Michael, Chris, Don S. Davis, who we lost a few years ago? Or being rigged up in that suspension for that piece of Asgard technology that had you floating? Any moments from the set that you recall? I know this is really pushing way back there. But if there’s anything that stands out?

Michael Welch
No, that’s quite alright. More generally what I can remember, is that Amanda was, honest to God, as sweet and supportive and lovely and wonderful as one can be. I mean, really. She, and this is gonna sound, like, I don’t know how it’s gonna sound. But, I remember there were a few days where she, like, invited me into her trailer to have lunch with her. Now, I know that that doesn’t seem like a big deal or whatever. But, you know, keep in mind, again, when you’re working in a long-term way, you know, 9, 10 months out of the year, you know, sometimes up to 16 hours a day. And that’s just the nature of TV, that’s just how it is. You know, I’ll tell you, from my standpoint, when I’m like the lead in something, you know, lunch is kind of your… that tends to be kind of your sacred time to just, sort of like, be by yourself, and re-charge and re-energize and whatever. And she just like… and who am I? I’m not going to be here next week, and she still, like, made the effort to make me feel as welcomed and, kind of, “at home” as possible. And so I always try to point out when people, sort of like, you know, do things that are nice for no other reason, other than to just be nice. There’s nothing to gain out of that other than just being a good person. So she’s a good person. And I just want people to know that.

David Read
Absolutely. No, she’s great.

Michael Welch
Yeah. Christopher I remember being, frankly, kind of a ballbuster. But in a way that was like fun and like… nothing harmful. He and Michael were really funny together, the two of them. The only, sort of, specific… see this the problem. The only specific things I remember, I can’t even say!

David Read
That sounds right for Christopher Judge. You know, for him being on that set, if he wasn’t going to have a good time, if he wasn’t going to have the ability to have a good time, he didn’t want to be there. And that was a tone that Rick and Michael Greenburg set.

David Read
Not worth it. Yeah. 100%.

Michael Welch
That’s right.

David Read
We’re going to come in, we’re going to work hard, we’re going to work our asses off, and we are going to have… but we are going to have fun. Otherwise, it’s not worth doing.

David Read
I remember you telling me a story of about wanting to make sure that you got some close ups and they’re like, “We’re in season seven now. We’re giving these shots away.” Do you remember that?

Michael Welch
That’s right. Yeah. Yeah, no, that’s true. Right. Yeah, I made some sort of stupid joke about how I was like, “Alright, come on now guys. Don’t be stealing those scenes from me.” And they were like, “We’re not… stealing? No, no, we’re giving scenes away!” So yeah, it was just stuff like that. I mean, that’s the kind of atmosphere that that show was.

David Read
You and I had talked about Joan of Arcadia, and how much we missed it. And you know, as great as it was for two seasons, you know, it had the potential to be so much more. Then you went along to Twilight, which I had not seen until last night. I watched the first one.

Michael Welch
OK.

David Read
And it was one of those things where, you know, I’ve always, like, supposed at some point I would get around to see it. And so, in talking with you, I was like, “OK, I’ll watch it.” And, uh… huh. It’s not my cup of tea.

Michael Welch
Sure.

David Read
But I get why it’s such a… I mean, it’s a lot of pining. You’re pining for her. She’s pining for him. The other him is pining for her.

Michael Welch
That’s right.

David Read
But I get why it’s such a global phenomenon. I get why people are drawn to it so much because they need that kind of connection. And there’s this subtext of Beauty and the Beast that runs through the thing — at least in terms of Act One — about the beauty taming the beast. What an adventure that had to have been for you.

Michael Welch
Yeah, that was wild. I mean, again, looking at it in a more lofty way, I think you’re absolutely right. I think there’s Beauty and the Beast, there’s kind of a Romeo and Juliet quality there. You know, to me, the thing that, like… the real sort of visceral driving force behind it is that, you know, the idea of like that first love at like, 17 you know what I mean? It’s so… it’s such an intense and unique experience. And the idea of like, expanding that out to forever? To me, I was like, “Wow, yeah. I can see, like… totally understand how people are so drawn to this.” And then of course, you know, there’s more to it than that. But yeah, I think at its core, there’s real elements there that makes sense why it got so popular. And, you know, yeah, it was it was a totally wild experience. Again, you know, similarly to how I explained going into Stargate, I didn’t really… I mean, it’s not that I didn’t have a sense… we knew the books were popular going into those movies. But at the same time, it was also just a bunch of kids, you know, trying to make a movie. I mean, I remember it, you know, specifically, like, as an example, one of the things that I did in the film, it’s probably my most like… the thing that, if I died tomorrow, that my mark on American cinematic history, is taking my wet hat off, and shaking it over Kristen Stewart’s head, and asking her how she likes the rain because she’s from Arizona, where they don’t have rain. Now, to be honest, I probably, you know, again, this is like… we were all… my point is, like, I probably wouldn’t have the balls to do that now, with Kristen Stewart being who she is, you know what I mean? Like, you don’t just… and it didn’t even really occur to me like, “Hmm, maybe it’s not like the coolest thing that I’m like getting the star of this movie like wet just for this one moment for me to have that’s kind of just silly and fun.”

David Read
This wasn’t scripted?

Michael Welch
Not that part.

David Read
Oh wow.

Michael Welch
Yeah, I mean, the line was there.

David Read
Oh, but the gesture. I see.

Michael Welch
Yeah, me taking and making the hat wet, and like getting her wet. Like that wasn’t in the script. And Catherine Hardwicke’s a maniac, so she just let me do whatever I wanted. So… and I say that in the most loving way possible, I loved working with her. So again, it’s a similar sort of thing where it’s like, “Man, there’s a lesson in this,” which is like the more you can sort of get to the purity of just creating the work, and kind of separate yourself from all these other elements, the more fun it is, and the more, sort of, freeing it is, and the more you can actually, I think frankly, create something that people can connect to. I think that’s something that frankly, like… I’m not a huge Avengers guy, it’s just not my thing. But I think that something that those actors do really well is, you know, they’re all like the biggest movie stars in the world, in the biggest movie franchise in the world and yet, somehow, it’s still just kind of looks like they’re just in a room creating something. Like they have… that’s what makes them movie stars, is they have the ability to just strip all that other stuff away and just like, do the work and like find the joy in it and not be thinking about like, “Oh, I have to do this scene a certain way because this is going to end up in the poster.” Or whatever, you know what I mean? Yeah, so all of this to say, like, the first Twilight, yeah, it was a very fun experience. And things would happen. I mean, the first sense that I got that it was going to be as big as it was, is like this is, you know, when we… after our first day of filming — we shot at a high school — and there was like, this was right around the time when everyone started filming everything and putting it on on the internet, and this was like, we were right at the cusp of that.

David Read
iPhone era.

Michael Welch
And then like that night, on YouTube, there was like, whatever it was, 100,000 views or whatever on this video — on this grainy video — of like us looking like dots, just sort of walking around a high school and I was like, “Oh, wow!” So the appetite for this thing is powerful enough that people will just absorb anything that’s put out there. That’s when I was like, “OK, this might actually, like, be something.” So yeah, pretty wild man.

David Read
It just took the whole world by storm. I know Bill Condon, his partner and I worked on another project — a Stargate related project — together for a while. And he was just crazy about it. I mean, he just absolutely loved the content. So there is something there. And a lot of it, you know, as long as you’re hanging it on Joseph Campbell’s bullet points, you know, his Hero’s Journey structure, a lot of it runs itself.

Michael Welch
Yes. 100%.

David Read
And the author really got that.

Michael Welch
Yeah, right. And that’s what’s great about, you know, being a creator. There’s just, there’s so much… there’s such a rich history of good storytelling at this point. You know, you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel, like, these structures work.

David Read
They exist in us. From campfire to YouTube channel — occasionally breaking. Those campfires didn’t do that! Is there a role that you can tell me about that pushed you in ways that you didn’t anticipate or ways that you did anticipate, but it was still not what you expected? Did that make sense?

David Read
It did. Oh, hello, Kitty.

David Read
Hello, Kitty. Oh, hi!

Michael Welch
Man, you ask some great questions. And I love your curious brain.

David Read
Thank you!

Michael Welch
Yes, sir. Yeah, so…

David Read
I know it’s not an easy thing to ask, you know, just, “Oh, well, this one thing, this one time,” because it’s a very emotionally relevant question.

Michael Welch
Yeah. I think this is not the sexiest answer. But the things that I have found the most challenging in the process of production, are usually technical things. And what I mean by that, because I’ve always had a very, sort of, good sense of… I don’t even know how to explain this, of separating the character from my myself. Meaning like, if whatever problems the character is going through, I don’t take that home. I’m not one of those actors. I just… in fact, that wouldn’t work for me. I need my decompression time. And it’s great, because I can, then because I have this sort of very strong divide between just a good sense, a good understanding of the separation of my life and my work, I’m able to dive into my work headfirst without a safety net, and not have to worry that it’s gonna, like, affect my life. So I can go as dark as I want to go, or as whatever, it doesn’t… there’s no limit to where I would take myself. Because I know that ultimately, it’s not going to, like, negatively affect my life. So in that sense, I can’t say that anything has taken me anywhere, emotionally, that I wasn’t prepared to go. I think the things that are challenging is like, you know, as you work your way up in the industry, it’s like, “OK, so for a while, I’m just sort of doing guest spots,” and that’s a very specific thing. And then I remember like, my first time being a lead in a film, and just figuring out exactly what that means, as I’m doing it. And I remember the first time I, like, cried on camera, and you know, just like certain things where you go, like, “I’m in the moment.” and I go, “OK, I know what I need to do to, like, cry right now.” And it just like clicked in that moment and it’s like, “OK, now I know how to do that.” You know, so it’s like… you know, a few years ago I was in a horror film and working with these amazing horror actors and just getting to watch them — it’s a movie called The Final Wish — so like, Tony Todd was in it, and Lin Shaye and Doug… is it Doug Jones? Shoot. One of the Dougs that does all the all the monsters.

David Read
Yep. Yeah. Like in Pan’s Labyrinth and everything. I’ve heard he’s brilliant.

Michael Welch
Yeah, it may not be Doug [Jones]… it wasn’t the guy who was in The [Shape] of Water. It’s like the other Doug.

David Read
Oh OK, the other Doug [Jones].

Michael Welch
There’s another Doug. And he’s great and I’m so sorry, I feel terrible I’m not remembering his last name. But my point is like to watch him and go like, “Oh, there’s like a horror movie thing that these guys have, like, clicked into and can access. That’s cool. Let me learn from them.” And now I have that in my tool belt. So it’s really just, you know, acting is like, it’s as big and complicated and simple as life itself. It’s a reflection of life. So, you know, the difference is, frankly, just the technical element of it. Like, how do you actually express these things to make it look like it’s someone that’s just naturally living their life? Because it’s an inherently unnatural thing, right? It’s a law of nature that when someone knows they’re being observed, it changes their behavior — not just a person — anything that’s alive, that’s aware it’s being observed, its behavior automatically changes. So how do you… you can’t reverse that, so that’s why you have to learn technique and different technical aspects of it so that you can look like someone… you can pretend that you’re not being absorbed when you know you are. So those are the things that I found that are, like, challenging, but in a good way that continue to help facilitate your growth over the years. But yeah, I’m not someone that’s ever had an issue with not being able to go to certain places emotionally because of how it would affect my personal life. I just, that’s just not how I’m built.

David Read
So you’ve got a healthy partition. I think that it sounds like, from that kind of perspective, if I were in your place, I would be interested in doing as many genres as possible so as to, like, facilitate like a kaleidoscope, a Rolodex of technique. You know, that would be something.

David Read
You want to take part.

Michael Welch
Yeah. And it’s even more than that, because it’s… you’re right, it’s genres, it’s mediums and understanding the distinction between like, film, television theater, voiceover. It’s like, co-star versus guest star versus lead versus, you know, what I mean? Like, there’s so many… all of these things are ultimately like a cog in the wheel of telling good stories. And I’m also lucky in that sense, in terms of my perspective, where like, of course, there’s ego in it, but ultimately, I just want to tell good stories, and I just want to, you know, be a part of that process. And, obviously, the better I am, the more it will contribute to telling a good story. So maybe the effect is the same, but I’m, yeah, I’m not… I’m just not someone that has ever… I’m not in it for career advancement. You know what I’m saying? Like, I just want to, like…

Michael Welch
…I want to tell good stories and do my part to… and ultimately just entertain, I mean, that’s really what it’s all about. But to answer your question, yeah, I mean, 100%. That is what I like to do. And it’s… in a sense it’s what I’ve been lucky enough to do. I’ve had a wide range of different, sort of, things that I’ve worked on, frankly, probably, to the detriment of my career, because what happens a lot is that people will go “Oh, I know you, but I don’t know how I know you.”

David Read
Right.

Michael Welch
“Oh, wait, you were in that? Oh, that’s you too. Oh, wait, I’ve seen all six of these things and never made the connection that that was all you.” So that’s not generally how movie stars operate. Usually, it’s like, “Oh, yeah, Tom Hanks, of course. That’s Tom Hanks, and he’s Tom Hanks and everything.” And I’m not… I’m saying… I’m praising that! I’m saying, “I’m doing it wrong.” But that’s just how that’s… I just I don’t have enough like… I don’t know, the personal ambition is secondary to being a servant of whatever it is that I’m… that people are nice enough to let me be a part of.

David Read
I have a confession on that line. I have been anticipating Quantum Leap since I heard it was announced. I’m a huge Quantum Leap fan. And I’m watching the pilot — Martin Gero is a friend of mine — and I am watching the pilot, and I’m getting about 10 minutes into it and it’s like, “Oh my God, it’s Michael!”

Michael Welch
Right, sure. Yeah.

David Read
I’m so sorry. It’s like, was it the beard? I don’t know. I didn’t recognize you at all. Were you familiar… how familiar were you with Quantum Leap before doing the new pilot?

Michael Welch
I mean, familiar enough. I actually have an older brother that was an actor years and years and years ago, and he was on the original Quantum Leap.

David Read
I did not know that.

Michael Welch
Yeah, he was in an episode. So I had seen the original.

David Read
OK.

Michael Welch
I loved it. I mean, who doesn’t love Quantum Leap? I mean, it’s so cool — conceptually and otherwise. But, yeah. And to that end, I mean, even — sorry to take it back to the same place — but even for that part, it was like, you know, I kind of had decided with, really just the hair and makeup people, like, “Hey, so let’s not, yeah, let’s…” Usually, kind of like, my face tends to look better when like, this [neck beard] is less than this [face beard]. But I said, “Nah, it’s good. Leave it all. Let’s leave it scraggly. Let’s…” I had like, kind of, you know, the dark circles under my eyes. I was like, “Leave them, don’t cover that up with makeup. Like, it’s good.”

David Read
Well based on the story it makes sense.

Michael Welch
That’s right I mean, the thing that excites me is not, like, what’s gonna make me look good. It’s like, how can I contribute to this story? That’s what, like, gets me revved up about working more than anything else. But yeah, so… I’m sorry, I don’t remember your question.

David Read
Yeah. Working on the pilot, you know?

Michael Welch
Yeah. Yeah, it was great. I mean, that was a… it was very… it was very tricky in a few ways, because, first of all, it was the first episode so I had no reference to look at, which is always difficult. In fact, I’ve had several friends who have auditioned for the show now, that have reached out and been like, “Oh hey, I watched the first episode for reference, and I saw that you were in it.”

David Read
Right, exactly.

Michael Welch
So it’s tricky when you kind of don’t know what a show is going into it. And that part was tricky in the sense that it was…. it had to be just kind of a perfect balance between someone that was, like, just… he had to be likeable enough that the audience would be on his side this whole time, but also, like, he had to kind of be hard enough that he would be a believable criminal. So then it’s like… but then of course, as an actor, you can’t, like, play that you… you have to take all that information, and then just somehow, ultimately, create a believable character. So it was… and the show is just, it’s very, again, very technical. It’s very, like, you know, there’s a lot of… there’s like holograms and there’s a lot going on. So you have to be very…

David Read
And it’s a period piece.

Michael Welch
It’s… right. Absolutely. It’s very precise. So it was a challenge. I mean, I’ll be totally real. But I, again, you know, luckily, the actor… I mean, pretty much all my scenes were with Raymond Lee, who’s, I mean, he’s the best, he’s a fabulous actor. So that always helps when you’re working with someone that is that good, it just, it gives you something to bounce off of, you know. The one thing in retrospect, I wish I had a better sense of the pacing of the show. And if I’m to be self-critical at all, the performance does feel a little choppy, because they had to kind of chop it up in the editing room, and I wish if I had had a better sense of that I could have, you know, put the pace into the performance so that they didn’t have to chop it up in the editing room, if that makes sense? I don’t know if that’s something that anyone would even notice or care. But, yeah, so those were the challenges with that. Other than that, awesome cast and crew. I have to say, I actually hadn’t worked in a minute up to that point. I think it had been a good, like, six or seven months or so. Which is not atypical in an acting life. And the crew, it was like, I mean, it was super like… everyone was like in their 20s and it was like of every race and whatever, you know what I mean? Like it was a real sort of like… it was just really cool. It was a really high energy production. So yeah, it was really cool to be a part of the first episode.

David Read
One of the things I’m interested to see if you think that you agree with this criticism or not — especially with a lot of genre network television — is the velocity in which it moves. You put the original Quantum Leap piling up against this one. This one moves four times fast.

Michael Welch
Absolutely.

David Read
It has so many ideas, and a part of it is designed to keep you invested in it, because that’s, I think part of it’s just our culture now. But the other part of it is it has a lot to say. And one of my frustrations with a lot of programming now, is the fever pitch at which it’s presented. And then I’ll put on an M. Night Shyamalan project like his series Servant or, you know, Knock at the [Cabin], which just came out, and his deliberate, just slam on the brakes, that it can deliver the same, if not better, emotional current, that through those slower performances, in those slower shots, rather than one after the other.

Michael Welch
Yeah.

David Read
It’s wild. Do you… where am I going with that? Do you see that happening yourself? Do you think that that’s just one of those, you know, “This is the generation that we’re in now. And you know, we just have to move that way. That’s just how it works.” It’s only gonna get faster.

Michael Welch
I… no, I know, I think that is… I think that is a part of it. What I hope is that there’s ultimately going to be room for everything.

David Read
Yeah.

Michael Welch
My fear is that, you know, a lot of what you’re talking about, it’s like, yeah, certain creators that have perhaps been grandfathered in. Like, they’re always gonna let David Lynch do whatever he wants, or, you know, Wes Anderson, or whatever, you know what I mean? But that’s because… and whether you like that stuff or not, is kind of not even the point, but they have the freedom to still kind of experiment. I mean, Quentin Tarantino… nobody paces things more slowly than him. Can you… like, is that something… would anyone… would anyone else — any new filmmaker — even have been permitted to make Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? I don’t think so.

David Read
Yeah, that’s true.

Michael Welch
That’s my concern. I think it’s fine, the the fast pace. I mean, listen, you have to keep audiences invested somehow, and you have to keep us from, you know, checking our TikTok every two seconds, or whatever the hell we’re doing. I don’t even know, I’m out. I’m 35. I’m already out of it.

David Read
Right.

Michael Welch
I mean, I’m speaking directly into my phone speaker right now, does that gives you a sense of my… how good I am with technology? So I just… I hope that we are able to make new David Lynches, I guess is my point. I hope that there is, somehow in the landscape, room for all of it. And you know, maybe these things are cyclical. Maybe it comes back around? I don’t know. So I wish I had a more optimistic answer for you, other than to just say, “Yeah, I hear what you’re saying. And I don’t, I don’t disagree.” And ultimately there’s always going to be room for, like, good work. I mean, I don’t think we’re ever gonna get to a point where people don’t care about seeing things that are good. I just hope that it doesn’t continue to shrink into, you know, something that’s like… like, I’ll give you a quick… well, I don’t want to… I’m… it’s fine.

David Read
May I insert? There is a lot of programming out there that is entertainment that I would consider artistic, and there’s a lot of entertainment that I would consider content. You know, like, I can turn this on, but it’s not substantive in any way. It’s just content. It’s a block of information for the “McConsumer.” And then there’s stuff over here that’s like, “Oh, I’m actually deriving something out of this.” You know, is that making sense? There’s a lot of content now.

Michael Welch
That’s right. Right. And frankly, I’ve had a better sense of, like, the need for that more since having kids, you know. Obviously as like a 15-year old, 16-year old actor without a care in the world, like I have the luxury to just, you know, inundate myself with cool artistic stuff, and not have to, you know… But now it’s like, now that I have a sense of what life is like for most people, at least for a good, like, 10 years or however it is that the kids are just completely all incompassing, you know what I mean? Who has the time to sit down and, like, really dive into something that’s going to be thought provoking or emotionally moving? It’s like, I’m too exhausted, man. I got an hour before bed. You know, let’s put on some dumb reality show and move on.

David Read
Right. Exactly right. There’s nothing wrong with it.

Michael Welch
Honestly, the way that I’m watching movies now is, like, basically a half an hour at a time on my Peloton in the morning, on the days that I feel like waking up before the kids do. It just took me about two weeks to get through Promising Young Woman, so… you know, so I get it. I get it. I mean, it’s not everything… You know, I mentioned David Lynch, probably three times. I am in no headspace to watch nothing by David Lynch right now until I can get some sleep and have some time to myself. So you know, it does make sense. Again, I just go back to, ultimately, I hope there’s room for all of it. And ultimately, I think there is, you know.

David Read
Before I get to fan questions, tell me about Michael Welch, the dad. What is Michael Welch, the dad, learned about Michael Welch, the person? What have you taken away? How have you changed?

Michael Welch
Man. Well, it’s certainly… there’s a couple of things that I think are interesting, kind of right out of the gate. Number one, it doesn’t, like, fundamentally change who you are. I think there’s this sort of romantic sense, like, “Oh, once the kids out and you look them in the eyes for the first time and it’s just like, you just change.” It’s like, “No, you’re still the same person.” So I thought that was kind of interesting. I also thought it was interesting how much of individuals they were, right out of the gate. It was just like, “Oh, no, you’re kind of like, in a sense…” I don’t want to say fully formed, but like, “You have your personality, you have your interests, you have your strengths and weaknesses. Like, you’re like your own person.”

David Read
The ego is in full swing.

Michael Welch
Yeah, right. And so I kind of learned that right out of the gate, too. It’s like, “Oh, my job is not to, like, try to shape this person or tell her how to live her life, or whatever.” It’s like, “No, I’m a shepherd here.” My job is just to support and love and try to, you know, give her some tools or some insights that I’ve managed to pick up along the way that I think can be helpful. But no, like, this child doesn’t belong to me. You know, it’s my child and I would die for my kids, of course. And I also, you know, another interesting observation I had is like, after the first one comes out — I have two. I have two of these things —

David Read
Thing 1 and Thing 2.

Michael Welch
Exactly. We got those shirts. You know, it’s like, you love them so much, it’s almost… it feels inconceivable that you could love anything that much. And then the next one comes out and it’s like, it’s almost like a different branch from the same tree. It doesn’t… it’s not like you have this sort of finite amount of love, and then once that you have more of them, you have to split it up. It’s like, “Oh, no, there’s like an infinite river going this way. And now there’s a second one that’s now going this way.”

David Read
Like you’ve discovered one. Another one.

Michael Welch
Yeah, absolutely. So it’s like, “How do you expand on infinity?” Well, you just make another infinity over here. It’s wild. Again, it’s very hard to explain. So as far as how I am as a dad? I mean, you know, I think I’m doing OK, I’m doing my best. I’m attentive, I… listen. The other thing that definitely changes is like, and I know I’m long winded, and I go on forever, and I apologise it’s just how my brain works.

Michael Welch
Dude, you’re doing great. Don’t, you’re great.

Michael Welch
Thank you. You know, I like… see, and now because I criticized myself I forgot my damn point.

David Read
Let me reframe it with this.

Michael Welch
Please do.

David Read
Have you had any conversations with your folks about, “OK, I get it now.”

Michael Welch
Oh, sure. Yes. No, there is a lot of that, yeah. For sure. Yeah, especially. Yeah, especially with my mom. And it’s like… man. It’s like, no, “Don’t you understand, my whole, like… I’m responsible for your growth and development. So I’m not just telling you to do things because I’m a jerk. I need you to understand, I’m trying to… I’m just trying to help you. And I know that you’re your own person and everything, but you know, I do have a little bit of a better sense of certain things, I’ve just been around longer. So I wish you would trust me maybe just a little more on a couple of these things. It’s going to help you down the road.” You know, it’s hard to impart that perspective on a small child. One of the things I was saying is like, it’s another switch that happens, is that you suddenly, everything you do is, like, for the kid. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. I mean, that’s how my mom was, you know. And sometimes you can, you know, maybe I understand why people, sort of have like, identity crisis or whatever. We’re suddenly trying to find out, well, “Who am I now?” I think part of what’s been helpful for that, for me, is just understanding, like, she is still her own person — the both of them are — I’m still my own person. It’s just I choose to dedicate my life to, you know, making sure that you have every opportunity you can have to pursue your happiness any way that you see fit. So it’s like, it’s being able to separate, again, what we do from who we are, I guess.

David Read
Are you going to be neutral when it comes to the possibility of entering into your industry? Are you going to be proactive? Are you going to be pushing against it? Have you decided yet?

Michael Welch
Good question. No, I’ll be supportive in whatever either one of them want to do. I’m not getting that sense from either one of them. I know that they’re, you know, they’re two and five. A lot can change.

David Read
Oh, yeah.

Michael Welch
But, I can tell you that people that kind of have the bug, it tends to come pretty early. You know what I mean? Like, even for me, I mean, watching old like… I mean, from the time I’m three years old, I’m performing on any home video that is there, you know, whatever it is. Whether it’s just like seeing… just reciting the latest commercial I saw. So my gut is telling me that’s probably not going to be the route that they go. But ultimately, I’m never going to… I would never hold them back if that’s what they feel like they need to pursue.

David Read
Good for you. That’s great, man. Do we have you for a few more minutes?

Michael Welch
Oh, dude, I’m chilling, man.

David Read
OK! Raj Luthra and Marina Q want to know — I think this is probably an obvious question, so we might as well get it there — MGM and Amazon are developing something Stargate related. Would you be down for a return? Either as the character or as something new? Is that something you’d be willing to pursue?

Michael Welch
Oh God, would I be down? Of course! I mean, what are you kidding? No, it would be amazing. I think it’d be super fun to come back as Jack — as older Jack — now. I mean, I don’t know that that’s like… I don’t know what their plans are. I don’t know that that would be necessarily, you know, first on the agenda. I can tell you, I think we talked about this back then, too. Like, there were talks about me coming back at the time. You know, in fact, I had a conversation with Peter over the phone and he was telling me a whole story about how, for some reason or another, they needed Jack’s expertise. So it sounded really fun because in that particular case, I was essentially going to be coming back and, like, running a mission of some kind. But, as you know, I was on Joan of Arcadia, like, immediately after that episode of Stargate, and that pretty much occupied my time for about two years, and then it just kind of never, you know, nothing ever materialized from that. So 100%, I would do it. I do have… I’ve never told this, I don’t talk to anyone, other than the people who already know, but I literally just, I just thought of it. And I thought it might be interesting to share. So, I had an opportunity to test — do a screen test — for Atlantis. And this was, it was like right after, I think, the first Twilight movie had just come out. And it was made clear to me, like, essentially, I would have only been able to do one or the other. And I made a choice, and I said, “You know what? I kind of want to see where this Twilight thing goes.” So I don’t know if that was the right decision, but you know, I guess it’s a good problem to have. It’s like, you know… and who knows if I even would have gotten the part. I may not have, but I didn’t want to, like, waste anyone’s time. I didn’t want to go in if I wasn’t committed to doing it. But you know, there were a lot of factors like, “OK, well, we’re gonna be moving to Canada,” you know, which is fine. I love Canada, there’s nothing wrong with that. But yeah, I just kind of went like… I’ve always been someone that’s like, I’m loyal to a fault, and I just, I don’t know, I was in the middle of this thing. After that first Twilight movie came out, I mean, it was like, it was insane. It just took over the culture. And I just thought, “It just feels really stupid to me to like, leave this in the middle of it, this is gonna go on for another like four or five movies, and I don’t know what it’s gonna lead to and blah, blah.” Now, Atlantis ended up running for, like, 10 years, and I mean, you know, who knows? But listen, ultimately, it’s like, if I had ended up being on that, I, frankly, the way life would have worked out, I probably never would have met my wife and have the kids I have now, and life would just be different. But yeah, that was like a kind of a big decision that I had to make at a kind of a pivotal moment in my career, you know? Honestly, if I had to, like, you know, do it again, or whatever, or I was faced with a similar sort of choice now, 100%, of course, you go in, I mean, you go be on the TV show. And especially something like that, where there’s a built in audience and you sort of know. It’s not like you’re going to go do a pilot you don’t even know if it’s ever going to make it on the air. Like, there’s a good chance that the Stargate series is being developed, like, it’s going to do well. But anyway, just a little tidbit, just for your audience.

David Read
So this wasn’t too long after your fragile balance appearance then? Because it was later that year that Atlantis — the following season — that Atlantis premiered. So is this the Atlantis pilot or was this a subsequent Atlantis season?

Michael Welch
Oh, that’s interesting, because the timing as I remember it was… oh maybe it wasn’t Atlantis.

David Read
Was it Universe? 2009?

Michael Welch
What’s that?

David Read
Was it Universe, 2009?

Michael Welch
It must have been. Yeah, that’s it. Sorry, yeah, yeah yeah, my bad.

David Read
No it’s alright. Wow, that’s crazy. So as a new role?

Michael Welch
Yeah, I didn’t see the show, so I don’t know what… but it was for a regular, yeah.

David Read
Wow. I bet you were up for Matthew Scott. I suspect that that’s probably what it was. There was a young upstart, First Lieutenant on the show that fits your age and description pretty well. So I wouldn’t be surprised. That would have been wild. Wow.

Michael Welch
I can feel your audience right now going like, their brains are going, “You picked Twilight over Stargate, what is wrong with you?”

David Read
Maybe one or two. But no, it’s like, that’s a big decision to make. These are enormous books with an enormous fan base, and they are movies. I don’t blame you whatsoever. I would have loved to see you again. But at the same time, you got to do you. And as long as you can look back on that part of your life and go, “You know what? I had a good time.” You know, and as long as you’re happy where you are now, screw everyone else, man.

Michael Welch
Hey, I appreciate that, man. And listen, honestly, you know, quite frankly, if a new Stargate series — or new Twilight series — wants me to come back, my phone is available. Yeah, that’d be an interesting decision, if suddenly, I was offered both of those and then had to choose. No, Im just, no, I don’t know what I’m saying. One thing at a time.

David Read
Pamela Tarajcak. When you heard that you were going to be playing young O’Neill, did MacGyver come into consideration at all? You’d seen MacGyver, hadn’t you?

Michael Welch
Not up to that point, no.

David Read
Oh, OK. OK, so you hadn’t seen it as a kid?

Michael Welch
I hadn’t, no. I had never seen anything Richard ever did.

David Read
OK. Peacerider was under the assumption you had seen it. Do you have any Rick anecdotes from the couple of days that he was on set?

David Read
Yeah, so. OK, let’s think about this.

David Read
So he’s a producer, so he has the ability to push things around a little bit on set, more than any typical actor. I would suspect that, you know, there are clips of them going through dialogue, and him being like, “OK, let’s just go. Let’s get this going.” He was always interested in like, moving it along. Was there ever any of that?

Michael Welch
Yeah. Well, what I remember is like, you’re right. Like he changed quite a bit of dialogue, which I mean, of course, like, it makes sense. It’s his deal. He has the ability to do that. And I remember there were certain things, like in our big, sort of, scene together where we’re confronting the Asgard and it’s like, you know, that big end of episode, seven page, let’s explain the episode scene. You know, there were certain lines that like we, I think had to say at the same time. And I remember once I said like — during rehearsal — I was saying what was written, which is generally what you do. And then he said something different. And then he, and then he goes, “Yeah but why would you say that? That doesn’t make sense.” And like was giving me… but not, listen, all of this is in a light hearted way.

David Read
Of course!

Michael Welch
But total ballbuster, in terms of like, just you know… And I remember even like the other actors, literally were just like, “Don’t listen to him. Don’t worry about it.”

David Read
That sounds about right.

Michael Welch
In real time, not like later. Like, as he was busting my chops. The other actors are going like, “Just don’t, just don’t worry about it. Don’t listen to him.”

David Read
I’m sure there would be a lighthearted portion of him that’s like, you know, “You’re playing me. I own you.” Just a sliver. It’s like, “OK, we’re going to work on this play together.”

Michael Welch
No, no, for sure. I mean, yeah. It was wild, man. And like, honestly, it would… I don’t want to say if I had to do it again, but like, that scene was sort of shot toward the end of the episode. I almost wish it was shot in the beginning. Because I was noticing stuff, even then I was like, “Oh, that’s kind of cool. I’d love to [incorporate]… Ah, darn.” I mean, if anything, like there is, you know… I don’t want to say that my performance was like… it wasn’t one note, it was good, but there are like… you know, this is just the perfectionist in me saying like, there’s things in retrospect I wish I could have done. But like, listen. Ultimately, you do the best with what you’re working with, in any given moment.

David Read
If you have the model with you, in real time, of course it’s going to affect your energy in a far more radical way than if you’re watching him on VHS, you know. Because you’re picking up mannerisms in real time that you can actually apply in real time. I would think it would be a little bit unnerving, as a performer, where it’d be like, “You know what? This really would have been handy seven days ago.”

Michael Welch
I haven’t seen that. But I’ll take your word for it.

Michael Welch
Yeah. And there is something about, like, I don’t want to say it shakes your confidence, necessarily. But you know, for the first like, six, seven days shooting, it was like, I was O’Neill and I was like, owning the fact that I was O’Neill. And then the real one shows up, and it’s like, “Oh, I guess I’m not, but I still have to pretend that I am?” I remember I had a buddy who played young Austin Powers in one of the movies, and he was saying, like, “Mike Myers was on set the first day.” I was like, “Dude, why would you do that to these poor young actors,” It was that sequence of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil, like in a dorm together? I don’t know if you remember?

Michael Welch
There’s two different actors playing these [characters], you know. So yeah, you’re right. It does sort of change, like, it changes the energy of it. It changes the dynamic a bit. But yeah, man, again, super fun. It was fun to watch him, it was fun to watch him work and kind of the way that he owns a set. He’s again, just very, like, all good-hearted, but very sort of like, no nonsense. He’s kind of I think how you think he would be, I think, to be honest. Like, however you imagine he is in real life, that’s that’s kind of what he is.

David Read
Absolutely. Nicole Rodrigues-Galdo. She’s a big Stargate and Twilight fan. She said you were young during those roles. What’s the biggest difference you think between yourself as an actor then and now? What qualities in yourself have sharpened?

Michael Welch
Hmm.

David Read
Other than all of them.

Michael Welch
Between myself as an actor then versus now…

David Read
Do you have any rituals that you go through before you have your first day? Do you have a methodology that’s changed in any way or evolved in any way?

Michael Welch
Right. Yes, I mean, I think, and again, I don’t know how interesting this stuff is to people. But I think I’ve definitely gotten more deliberate in terms of my prep. You know, a lot of like… like I remember with Twilight, and again, part of it was just because of like, the nature of the role, and sort of how I felt that I fit in that universe and what my job was, but it was very kind of like… I sort of purposefully didn’t prepare, if that makes sense. I kind of, I was like, you know… because the character was sort of, felt very close to kind of how I was in high school in some ways. So I wanted it to come across with as much sort of free-flowing kind of life and, whatever, as possible. So I just sort of like did things to kind of tap into those energies for myself. So I ended up like, you know, instead of flying up, I sort of drove up and like, kind of spent a lot of time in nature and just, you know, and would… I heard this is kind of, in some ways, how like Jennifer Lawrence works too, where she sort of, she kind of knows the dialogue going into a particular day on set, and then kind of in the makeup trailer sort of locks it down, because she wants it to be sort of as spontaneous and free as possible, you know. So that was kind of more of the approach. Now, I don’t think I could do it the same way now. Now I feel like I I kind of have to dig in and do the work, otherwise it feels more restricting if I don’t prepare enough, you know what I mean? It’s like, I have to… the more work I do, the more sort of free and natural, ultimately, I think I can feel when I’m actually performing it.

David Read
I think what you’re telegraphing here is like a desire to be sincere, you know, but not come out as a machine. Like you’re not an avatar dispensing dialogue, you know. It has to come from a place of sincerity. And from that, a piece of you has to be in it, more than just your face.

Michael Welch
Right. Right. No, 100%. But I think that like I kind of like, you know, if you’re asking the differences in my approach between then and now, I think it’s more like, you know, I had more of a… I sort of purposefully tried to create the balance of kind of what you’re talking about — the free flowing nature of it, versus the more technical elements of it. And now as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more honed in the technical elements of the prep work, specifically so that I can be free when I do the [job]. It’s like, you know, in anything, in a basketball game or whatever, it’s like you want to prepare as much as possible in terms of the X’s and O’s. But then ultimately, when you show up you have to react to what’s happening in front of you. But if you don’t have that, like, I don’t know… without the prep underneath it, I just don’t feel comfortable anymore going into situations and trying to rely on like, you know, the spirits taking over and creating something cool in the moment.

David Read
Yeah. They got this, I’ll just show up.

Michael Welch
Yeah, exactly. I’m not the roll out of bed actor. I show up with a notebook of preparation first.

David Read
That’s funny. Last question. Raj wanted to know, did you did you take anything? Did you get to walk off with anything? Any souvenirs?

Michael Welch
Oh, gosh, I wish I had the balls to be the steal stuff from set guy. I just never did. I’m trying to think if they gave me anything. I don’t think so. The only like, — gosh, I don’t have a lot. I still have my bloody letterman jacket from Z Nation, which was a zombie show that I was on. They were nice enough to let me keep that, because it’s like, “Well, it’s got blood on it now. We can’t return this.”

David Read
No, it’d be a horrible cleaning bill. So, that’s funny. I’m going to be going out to LA later on in the next month or two here working on a project. I’d love to take you to lunch, if you’re willing. And I’ve got a couple of screen use souvenirs that I’d like to give you.

Michael Welch
Oh, man, that would be fantastic. I would love that. Yeah, no, please reach out. You have my email now, so reach out any time.

David Read
Absolutely, sir. This has been fantastic. Mike, it’s been great to, you know, pick your brain this decade of our lives. And I’m eager to see what you do next. Is there anything on the horizon that you want to talk about? Or, you know, are we just focusing on being dad right at this moment?

Michael Welch
No, I thank you, man. I appreciate that. And again, I do apologize for the technical issues. I hope it sounds OK and it looks OK.

David Read
It’s great.

Michael Welch
OK, good. As long as you’re happy.

David Read
Absolutely.

Michael Welch
So, yeah, I do have a movie that just played at South by Southwest, it’s called Scrambled. It’s a really, really lovely comedy that I think is a very special project. It’s about a young woman in her early 30s, who’s decided to freeze her eggs, so it’s kind of a serious subject matter, but done in a very, like, fun, comedic and relatable way. And then I had another movie come out earlier this year, called The Disappearance of Mrs. Wu. I had a, you know, just kind of a small part in that, but that’s available digitally. And then I am set to work on a film in New Mexico this summer. Obviously, you know, things can happen between now and this summer. So I can’t really tell you anything more than that to this point, but that’s one that I’m very excited about if it goes through.

David Read
The life of an actor, you know.

Michael Welch
Yep, that’s it.

David Read
We hear all these horror stories about kids who are just, you know, chewed up and spit out by the system. And to see someone, you know, go through all of what he’s worked on and still have a smile on his face. You know, these are good things. You’ve obviously had good people in your in your life who have kept you on the straight and narrow.

Michael Welch
Well, that’s very kind of you to say. And make no mistake, I’m completely chewed up. But I still, I love the work, ultimately. And the passion for the work has never died. So, man, as long as — again — as long as people are nice enough to keep, you know, letting me be a part of stuff, I will happily oblige. But man, listen, it’s been great talking to you. It’s always fun to, kind of, you know, dig back in to your past and re-explore some of these things. So yeah, man, this has a pleasure.

David Read
This has been great. I appreciate you as an artist, and this has just been terrific. So yeah, so I’ll reach out to you in the next couple of months here as things get moving and check in. And thank you for taking so much time to be on my show. It means a lot to have you.

Michael Welch
Absolutely man. My pleasure. Anytime. Appreciate you.

David Read
Alright, sir. You take care of yourself.

Michael Welch
OK, cool. You too, man.

David Read
Be well. Michael Welch, everyone. Young Jack O’Neill in Stargate. SG-1. He was one of the first that I spoke with when I was over at GateWorld. And it was… his performance is just one of those that it’s like, you know, there are artists that come on and can make the show themselves for just one episode. And there are people who help push the show in ways that you don’t expect. So it was really, that one episode is continually one that stands out to people, and fans have been asking me for a while, “When are you gonna get them on?” like, “Okay, we got him.” So thank you, Michael. We’ve got a couple of things I need to show you guys before we wrap up here. I want to mention Allan Gowan’s YouTube channel. So Allan Gowan of Gatecon, he has started a new YouTube channel, if I can get the information correct here. And of course, I am not prepared because I’m me. All right. So the details that he gave me, he started a channel called Better SciFi on YouTube. And he’s already released one episode, if I can switch over to my imager here. I think he’s focusing on Mandalorian. So go ahead and check out Allan’s content over at youtube.com/betterscifi and subscribe to him. He’s been on our episodes for trivia before and we’ve had a really good time with him. And I think he’s a great guy and I think he’s going to be a great host with this. So go ahead and give his channel a poke and prod. And the last thing before I let everyone go, I’ve been really impressed with — whoops — I’ve been — whoops, what is happening? Everything screwing up all at once here — Here we go. I’ve been really impressed with some of the artwork that James CD Robbins has been releasing lately. This is one that he made of Jason Momoa as Ronon Dex and he says, “This one is from the Wayback Machine. Season Two of Stargate Atlantis we introduced a new character Ronon Dex, played by Jason Momoa. I was tasked with designing a weapon for him — a sort of energy pistol — also a sword, and when I met him I realized he was going to need a really big gun. He’s six foot four, here he is with his blaster, which he loved to learn to use like a wild west gunslinger.” And James CD Robbins was the production designer and on set artist for Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe. So I just really wanted to share that image. Thanks so much to my team. I really appreciate you guys. Tracy, Jeremy Rhys, Antony, Summer, and Linda “GateGabber” Furey for making the show possible. Big thank you to Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb. He keeps our website up and running. And I think that’s everything that we’ve got here. We have Courtenay J. Stevens joining us this Sunday. And go to Dialthegate.com to see all of the current lineup of guests for everyone who’s going to be coming as we roll out season three and take a break for the summer. My thanks once again to Michael Welch for joining me in this episode. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate, and I’ll see you on the other side.