Whether you know her as Reya Varrick, “Vanessa Conrad” or Patricia Armstrong, if you’ve seen Stargate you’ve seen Anna Galvin! We are pleased to welcome her to the show to discuss her life, career, and time on the franchise. She will also be taking your questions LIVE!

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Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
00:39 – Opening Credits
01:04 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:17 – Welcoming Anna
03:51 – Anna’s Start in Acting
07:08 – Theatre, TV and Performance Capture
10:00 – Challenging Roles
16:34 – Anna’s Start on SG-1
17:46 – Collateral Damage
21:19 – Smallville
24:21 – Remnants and playing an Artificial Intelligence
31:02 – Playing Chloe’s Mom in Stargate Universe
38:00 – Robert C. Cooper’s “Unspeakable” Miniseries
43:23 – Anna’s Projects
45:48 – Fan Questions: “The Sentinel”
48:00 – Differences between the 3 Stargate Shows
50:29 – Preference between Drama or Comedy work
52:01 – Real-Life Events and Fictional Writing Differences
53:05 – What Anna Loves About Science Fiction
54:47 – “Tin Man” miniseries
58:31 – Wrapping up with Anna
1:00:32 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:03:21 – End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 174 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode, we have Anna Galvin joining us from Stargate SG-1, Atlantis and Universe. She is one of only a handful of artists who have their face on all three of the series. So we’re really grateful to have her joining us in this episode. Before we get started. If you enjoy Stargate, and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, please click that Like button that helps make a difference with the YouTube algorithm and we’ll continue to help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon giving the Bell icon to click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last minute guest 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 as this is a live stream that we’re bringing to you. We have Anna Galvin joining us live, so if you are in the YouTube chat right now you can submit questions to her through the moderators and then I will share them in the second half of the show. And joining us from down under, Anna Galvin.

Anna Galvin
Hi, everyone.

David Read
Hello.

Anna Galvin
On the show, David. It’s a thrill.

David Read
Absolutely.

Anna Galvin
Something that feels like a long time ago, but I do cherish it I feel blessed to have been involved in all three of the series. It’s how many of us are there?

David Read
I think that there are technically 14-15. It’s not a large number. If and it shrinks even more if you don’t include stunt personnel. It’s quite an elite crew. So yeah, it’s and we’re privileged to have you absolutely. So you are East Coast in Australia?

Anna Galvin
Yes, I’m in Victoria, and I’m outside Melbourne right now, right near the coast on the peninsula. Beautiful. It’s a gorgeous, sunny day, surrounded by birds and chainsaws, actually, but I hope…

David Read
Oh you did? You’re gonna be down there for a little bit?

Anna Galvin
We are going to be down here for a little bit. I do still live and work in Vancouver too. But my daughter is at university here and we’re gonna try and split my family here. We’ll try and split some more time here.

David Read
Okay, very cool. That’s great. I’m really eager to talk about your, your body of work. How old were you when you knew that this was what you wanted to do for for the rest of your life?

Anna Galvin
Oh gosh. I actually didn’t know you’re gonna ask questions like that. I was five. But I didn’t, I remember distinctly when I first started thinking this is for me. I think it was a pretty shy kid. I was a very tall little girl that everyone thought was a boy and I was competing. In any case, I felt quite self conscious and not particularly confident until I was in the first theatrical production I did, playing a doll in a toy shop on stage. And they turned on the stage lights and I looked up into, what even wasn’t an audience it was just a rehearsal, and it felt like home. So I harbored a dream for a long time. But they didn’t talk about it much I just did all the theater I could possibly do. I fantasized about being on TV or in film. I didn’t dare mention it to my parents much, I think they were nervous that I was going to follow that track. And I was, I did two university degrees before I ran off to join or to audition for the Oxford School of Drama and prove to everyone this is want I to be, this is what makes me happy, this is what feels good.

Anna Galvin
Was there at any at any point in, after you left? I’m curious about this. Where you went against expectations where you said, “Oh my God, I’ve made a mistake.”

Anna Galvin
Oh my god, of course, but it will, to tell the truth. No, I kept procrastinating because I said, when I was I went to London, and I’d won two tickets overseas and a long, boring story. But once I was in, once I’d left drama school, I was in London, I thought, I’m giving myself two years, okay, if I’m not in a movie, within two years, I need to go and get what everyone else called a proper job, but didn’t feel like a proper job to me. It wasn’t feeding me. So and I did drama school, I thought, I’m not going to do commercials. I’m not doing television. It’s film and theatre for me. And of course, all I did was commercials. I made my bread and butter on commercials when I first started out. I did a little bit of theater and did started doing television. And as Dennis Potter said, “The golden era of television,” that just started in the 90s and I think I was very lucky and blessed to have started doing TV when I did. TV so exciting. It’s so exciting what’s happening out there. I don’t think it was as exciting at the time in the 90s but there’s so many opportunities and there’s so much so much range of work and yeah…

David Read
I think we’re in the golden age of television now. There’s just something, I could be wrong, but I the storytelling is of such a caliber these days with shows like Yellowstone and, you know, Better Call Saul and a lot of these other dramas and including science fiction as well, with shows like The Expanse, which I have not seen yet, but I hear everyone talking about. I think that this is a real time to jump on that train on all different facets from production to just viewing. So, it’s really cool.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, exactly. Very, very cool. And yeah, so that’s what and I do feel once I moved to Canada, I did get back into theater again too which was that really feels like food for the soul, doing theater. Theater is electrifying, you have that visceral relationship with the audience. It’s so immediate, there’s no slacking off. That’s the real work. Whereas TV feels very comfortable to me. I don’t feel, I don’t remember, rarely would I feel unprepared or nervous. It can be very frustrating because there’s so many elements involved, but it can also be thrilling and so collaborative. And theater is just a major haul and effort for everyone involved. And it’s a labor of love because it doesn’t pay. But I feel blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to do film, TV and theatre. And I think it’s made me more well rounded. And I think it’s what led to one of my favorite jobs was doing performance capture. And I think performance capture lends itself to theatrical actors who know how to work with a camera. It blends the two disciplines very well.

David Read
Were you doing performance capture for characters that you were creating? Or were you were you assisting with other voice work for other performers and merging it together?

Anna Galvin
I played an Orc on Warcraft, and that was performance capture. They make a helmet that’s digitally scanned to fit your head and you’re in a elephantine onesie and little dots painted all over your face with GoPros pointed at you and pointed this way. And you become, then they layer the 2D character on top of you post production and it’s quite extraordinary. So you have to be rooted in something very genuine but theatrical at the same time. I was playing an Orc. So that’s a massive character. However, I had to make it real and on camera what’s behind the eyes is more important than anything. On stage gesture can be quite large but on camera, you’ve got to be rooted in something so genuine. And at the same time with performance capture, you’ve got to be larger than life. So that was the most artistic, artistically satisfying job I’ve ever done and working with Duncan Jones was amazing. Absolutely amazing. My favorite director of all time to work with.

David Read
Wow, yeah, I watched the film and it was an extraordinary watch. I’m sorry.

Anna Galvin
It wasn’t what you asked. I don’t know how I got to that, it just that’s how acting… I was five when I first decided I want to do to get back to that. It was a dream long, long harbored — long harbored dream.

David Read
You kind of already answered this with Warcraft but I’m, uh, let me take a little bit of different tack. Is there is there a role, theatrical, television, film that stretched you in ways that you were not expecting, that you kind If took away with you after the performance. Or that pushed you in ways that you didn’t expect.

Anna Galvin
For sure Warcraft but then on a more cerebral or cerebral level, some of the theater roles where you get to dwell, in theater you get to rehearse, such a lengthy rehearsal period. And to investigate your character, you would discover things about yourself, which is interesting. And on in television there’s often you, sometimes you’re only meeting or seeing the actors that you’re working with, if you haven’t bumped into them in the makeup trailer, you’re seeing them on set, as you do your block through, then you’re sent back to make up, hair and wardrobe. And then you come back to shoot it and live there. After they set up the lights and whatever, you sometimes just walk through or rehearse once, then you shoot it. And if the director is happy, and the producers are happy, you may only do a couple of takes. And then you do several setups for master shots, mid-shots, close ups, all the rest of it. So it can take all day to shoot one scene. But it’s kind of more or less locked in at the walkthrough. And it’s, you don’t get to flesh it out as much as you would with… So sometimes that is the biggest challenge of all. And I have worked with actors, I’ve worked with one actor, who I won’t mention because I’m a huge fan of his, but we spent all day on a scene in a different sci fi series — not Stargate. And at the 11th hour, when he got shot, his close up was the last thing of all, he completely altered his performance. But we’d already done the masters, the mid-shots, my close up, was locked in and done. And he gave so much more in his close up, I realized, “Oh my god, I could have given much more breath.” I wanted to respond to that look, but that expression, that nuance, and it was too late. So frustrating on stage, that doesn’t happen. It’s there, someone decides to do something different or they blank on their line, or they have a costume malfunction there’sno retaking it, you’ve got to work with it in the moment. And that’s very challenging, very, very challenging, so different.

David Read
Okay, that’s, I didn’t expect to hear that. That’s you will, I’m used to sitting in this chair hearing stories about people who you know, are, are committed to giving their all to the other player that’s in the room to making sure that that player, it’s like almost like a game of tennis or another or something, perhaps another game that’s more elaborate. And I think this may be the first time where I’ve heard where someone was working with someone else who had saved so much for another, another moment that they couldn’t access with them, because their part had already been done.

Anna Galvin
It was frustrating, but in their defense, they were a film actor. And I think they that’s the way they work. They just saved it all for them. And I don’t think it was meant as any, they weren’t setting me up for failure. I just thought, “Oh, no, I could have responded to that.” Know what I mean? So of course, other than that, I actually worked with that actor before on another TV, a mini series, and, and hadn’t experienced that. It was just in that one that was very frustrating. So it’s frustrating to leave and go home with it. And that was out of my control so completely. However, generally, I absolutely agree with all the actors that have said you really do. It’s a collaborative effort. And it’s not just a collaboration with other actors. It’s a collaboration with the DP, hair, makeup, wardrobe, props, departments, continuity, it’s all going on. And that’s one of the best things about working as an actor is the collaboration. I did a one woman show on stage once and I was so lonely. It was so taxing, so taxing, just being on my own, with a stage manager and me that was it.

David Read
What was the project?

Anna Galvin
It was an important, it was called Lorilei and it was really showcasing the journey of a woman who had successfully fought to save the life or get the pedophile that had murdered her son off death row in America. So it’s an anti-capital punishment piece and that was taxing. And yes, I learned a lot about myself because at the end of the day, you think okay, as ethical — listen to ethics — ethics aside, or when you’re so diving into the ethics of that situation. If it was my child and how brave and admirable that woman was, and how so much empathy she showed — forgiveness she showed in a way. She hadn’t forgiven him, but she believed her six-year-old son would have and she didn’t want anyone dying in her son’s name. Because she believes that’s what her son would want.

David Read
Is this a true story or is this fiction?

Anna Galvin
It’s a bit heavy. It’s a true story. And it’s a, and she did successfully fight for his life and she got him off death row, and the poor fellow is of course extremely sick and ill, but I feel my empathy is with her and I’m full of admiration for her.

David Read
Wow. That’s, I can’t imagine. I can only imagine accessing a part of myself to go down that emotional road in front of an audience one or two times a day for 6,7,8 performances a week. Yeah, how long did you do that role?

Anna Galvin
I did it actually, actually haven’t worked in Australia much, but that was premiered in Melbourne, it went to London, and it went to Sydney. And it also was a radio play for the BBC. So it was, it was preaching to the converted because of course, it’s not a capital punishment in the UK or Australia. But yeah, it felt like, it felt very important. It felt bigger than me and [inaudible]. I was terrified to do. Absolutely terrifying to do and I used to, I had a mantra before I performed because I’d be shaking like a leaf I’d say, “This is bigger than me. This is her story. Tell it well. Do her justice. And do him, do the little boy — Jeremy was his name — do them both, Lorilei and Jeremy justice.” And so that was, that made it easier, in a way, to do.

David Read
Tell us how you got involved in Stargate SG-1. So, your first episode.

Anna Galvin
I think was creating sorry. Clark and Page Casting, who were fabulous casting directors in Vancouver. I think they cast me in all three of them. And then maybe the Executive Producers must have liked me because to have been casted, which is nice and very grateful to him. Just auditioning, auditioning in Vancouver. When I moved to Vancouver from Los Angeles, I’d already worked there before and I’d already done a sci fi series. In fact, my first gig in, my first few gigs in Vancouver, were all I will be flown up as a guest star or I did a series called The Sentinel years ago as one of the leads. And I was always doing sci fi. it just felt like it was the home of sci fi. Every time I went there I was doing sci fi and I did a lot of sci fi in Vancouver and I auditioned. The casting directors there are great, the community’s great, fabulous place to work, and was through auditions. That’s how I got them.

David Read
Okay. this is an episode called Collateral Damage. It is really one of the first stories to show off Ben Browder, our new lead in Stargate SG-1 co-lead, if you will, in Stargate SG-1. Where we get an episode of that, that he can emotionally really sink his teeth into and over the really crux of the story is that you have been murdered. And we have to attach him to this device which can play back memories and they think that he was the one responsible. Tell us about your journey, though brief, as Reya Varrick.

Anna Galvin
Well, yeah, I am bludgeoned to death right in the opening scene and some memories have been planted in Ben Browder’s character’s psyche that belonged to my husband, who has bludgeoned me to death.

David Read
Spoiler alert!

Anna Galvin
Oh, god!

David Read
I’m kidding. I’m totally kidding. I’m kidding.

Anna Galvin
Yeah. A long time ago. Ben is from Little Rock, Arkansas, and so charming and has the most exquisite accent that he has to cover up. He’s got like a Clinton… I’ve worked with three actors from Little Rock, Arkansas, and he’s hands down my favorite accent — North American accent. He sounds, it sounds very charming to me. He was so delightful and so handsome and I remember him talking about what you’re saying. I remember him saying how, “It was an emotional role for him, was more meaty and fleshy, that he really had to tap into something on a deeper level.” I recall that. He was great to work with. And it was early in the piece for him, wasn’t it? He was quite new to the show. I remember that as well. And Warren Kimmel played my dastardly husband. And yeah, it was, it was a great experience. I remember the bludgeoned to death scene being shot at 3am. It was so late.

David Read
That’s late. That’s late for them to do that way behind or…

Anna Galvin
I think so because that was unusual, that was really unusual. And then what happened the next day I was meant to go to Victoria, my mother-in-law was having a party and on the island in Vancouver, so we were taking a ferry at the crack of dawn and I got lost driving home. So that was a night of no sleep because I think we shot that scene somewhere in Tsawwassen or maybe it was Richmond or something like that. I took the wrong bridge. I wasn’t, anyway, that night was — felt rough. But the scene, shooting playing that character was a lot of fun.

David Read
Wow. That’s crazy… So that was, the last thing you did was die?

Anna Galvin
No, no. Yes, it was. They shot that last. Yeah, cuz I went to Victoria the next day. You’re absolutely right. They saved that to the end. And I did remember them saying we’re going to be MOS which means without sound so you don’t need to scream and we just we did it. I remember doing ADR for it where I had to do [scream] on top of what I’d already done on the night. But in order to get it I just said I’m just gonna go for it. That was another morning where I woke up with no voice.

David Read
Oh gosh,

Anna Galvin
Sreaming, bludgeoning, crawling along the ground, it just helps you get there to just emote and vocalize.

David Read
Would you say that’s your most violent death on film?

Anna Galvin
I didn’t know if there was one. What was the series where I got injected in my eyeball? No, injected, sorry, I wasn’t injected my… I was injected and so I was paralyzed. But then they wanted the cat in. This was also a 3 am, bringing him in the morning, I’d been injected — it was what’s that thing called? Little, the Superman thing? Smallville? Littleville?

David Read
Oh, Smallville.

Anna Galvin
When my character dies, I’m Lex Luthor’s secretary or something like that, I bet someone injects me, I’m paralyzed and I can’t remember how they actually kill me. But I know that the camera, the director wanted the camera to zoom in on my eyeball. So I don’t know how you’ve ever, if you’ve ever played dead but not blinking. You’ve got you know, it felt like four hours but it was only a few seconds. And I had to be paralyzed, dark be suffocated, I think, and then have the camera pull around with someone, a 13-year-old kid had taught me just about three months before how to win in a blinking game.

David Read
And things you can use professionally

Anna Galvin
The things you can use. So thank God, because it just, the raking shot and we just moved around and zoomed in it took forever. And had to keep my eye of course, sorry about this, I think I had to keep my eyes open and not blink.

David Read
I always wonder, it’s one of those pending YouTube searches that I want that I keep telling myself “Oh yeah, I need to look this up.” How people hold their breath when they’re in wide shots. But in tight shots like you’re describing, I always think of Janet Leigh in Psycho, you know. That’s just cuz she, they were right on her and she was 60-feet-wide in the theater. She has to look exactly dead, you know?

Anna Galvin
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, vacant.

David Read
That’s madness.

Anna Galvin
Vacant, still, oxygen-less. Yeah. And not going purple in the face. Even on stage after a fight scene, where you’ve got a lie on stage dead, you will see the performer’s chest rise and fall, they’re actually exhausted in particularly if it’s at the end of a fight scene. But you do, you can control your breathing. Where your breathing very slowly so your chest isn’t moving and you’re getting oxygen and nothing’s twitching.

David Read
Wow. Just staying really shallow.

Anna Galvin
Slightly. Yeah, exactly. slightly moving your eyes but almost imperceptibly so the muscle is still engaged and you don’t result in blinking.

David Read
The fact, that you know, acting class, right? Like maybe David needs to go to acting class.

Anna Galvin
I’m pretty sure, I’m pretty sure a child taught me that trick. I’ve never been beaten. Blinking competition I can outlast anyone.

David Read
Oh, that’s funny. Tell us about Stargate Atlantis. So season nine would have been season two of Atlantis. And then you came in near the end of Atlantis in season five as an artificial intelligence. Those have been in the news a lot lately but tell us about the Sekkari probe. Yes, I was a probe in Atlantis, bottom of the ocean for millennia.

Anna Galvin
It is topical though, isn’t it? The whole thing of the survival of this Sekkari. Robert Picardo, because I was just watching it last night, was saying, “You know, you’re going to sacrifice the potential life of billions of life forms that aren’t us.” And actually, I’m listening to it and thinking, “Yeah, because they’re potential life form but that this technology could benefit your family.” So it was an ethical decision that he made that I wonder how much the audience resonated with that and thinking, an artificial intelligence, an artificially intelligent entity, is putting him on or judging him, and putting them on trial for not making the most ethical decision and thinking, “Well, come on. This is a figment of his imagination, it’s engineered to be that way.” So I don’t remember thinking all these thoughts at the time when I was doing it. I was very much on Team AI, playing that character. So I was advocating for myself, but watching it as an audience, you know, with that removal, given what’s going on with AI right now and the nervousness surrounding this incredible technology and the leaps and bounds in which it’s moving forward. I actually thought, “You know, maybe want to take pause here and think, can you benefit from this technology? Do you really have to worry about life forms that may, or may not, come into existence?” I don’t know, it was probably worthwhile, worthy of a lengthier debate?

David Read
For sure. You you play one aspect of its personality, we get to the end of the episode, and we find out that it’s actually been influencing all of the stories.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, it’s a lovely twist.

David Read
Right? And you’re the aspects that’s been interacting with Robert Picardo as Woolsey. Picardo’s first full season, only only full season, of Stargate. What was it like playing, playing across from him and his scenes.

Anna Galvin
Absolutely delightful, an incredibly generous actor, very professional, very prepared, very warm and welcoming. It was, I remember clearly, it was because a lot of it feels like so long ago, but working with him was a dream. Seriously, seriously, professional, charming actor. So that when I, and I was watching the interaction between us and it was very easy for me to play that character because I was getting everything I needed back. And it was it was a lovely communion working with him, yeah, he’s a pro. He’s great and charming, and fun to work with — was great.

David Read
Were you said…

Anna Galvin
I didn’t know that Jason, Jason Momoa. I just thought, yeah, I didn’t know about that.

David Read
Yeah, that’s the thing. You know, the people are, I’ve continually shown the show to others. And they’re like, “Oh, it’s Aquaman!” I’m like, “Yes!” You know, they all have to come from somewhere.

Anna Galvin
Well, also, I didn’t know that, um… What’s his name? Marsden, I’m blanking on his first name. Who was in it as well, as I was[inaudible] a Scottish… I didn’t get what you said. James Marsden.

David Read
Oh, James Marsden. Okay.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, he’s in Universe. I know that at the time. I actually yeah, and um…

David Read
Oh, you’re, oh, you’re thinking of…

Anna Galvin
I jumped ahead to the Universe.

David Read
Brian, Brian Smith. I think that, I think that’s who you’re thinking of, they look very similar.

Anna Galvin
Oh, that’s fascinating to me. Because I…

David Read
They could be brothers.

Anna Galvin
…could look him up and I should of. Say… Oh, that’s so interesting, because I felt, “Is he really in this?” because he had sunglasses in and it was in the desert.

David Read
Correct. Looks just like him nose and everything Yeah, Brian that’s really close to him.

Anna Galvin
So I couldn’t see his eys, mouth, nose, everything.

David Read
Yep. Yeah, absolutely.

Anna Galvin
Is that the guy that’s lying in bed talking to my daughter, or somebody, at the end of the…

David Read
Yep, that’s Brian.

Anna Galvin
Doesn’t look a thing like him. Okay, yes. Why are you talking to me about this David? To learn about what I did Yes…

David Read
I’m blown away by the visual effects of that episode when the alien life form is is finally revealed the true nature of of the Sekkari people. That show could do visuals and I can only imagine what it was like being on set. “Okay, stand here and now we’re going to transform you into this green leprechaun.” You know.

Anna Galvin
Well see we, that’s all done in post. Stand there and now I shall show my true form just for you and locked on. Anna moves away right off and post production do their thing. So it’s not very glamorous on set but you know, you do… I remember doing a show called Time Cop where it was set in the time of Jack the Ripper. And there, I don’t think that show was that successful. I think they only shot a few episodes. I don’t know if it ever aired actually. But there was a time portal. And I was a Victorian, it was sent me a Victorian Era. And I had to watch a time portal open up. And they hadn’t given me any visual cues or anything like that. But I know what I imagined in my head in order to see that. And I love that, I love being given challenges like that where I have to absolutely just come up with it all on my own and help the audience see my, the character’s experience of what it is. The wonder, the majesty, the horror, whatever it is, help get them there through my imagination.

David Read
You have to have something to chew on. So, you can’t just stand there like, huh?, you know,

Anna Galvin
No way, it’s going, but it was all in my head. I remember the director coming up to me afterwards and saying, “So what did you see?” Like yeah, now you want to know, you didn’t want to discuss it with me beforehand. But yeah, it was… Doesn’t matter what I saw. I think I saw something spiraling she was from the Victorian era, so I didn’t make it to high tech. I didn’t want her to collapse with horror, I just wanted her to be excited.

David Read
Absolutely. You were Mrs. Armstrong in Stargate Universe. You were, I don’t believe ever, no, never on Destiny. But you were at the receiving end of Elyse Levesque’s phone calls as Chloe. What was it like creating a character who had lost her husband and her daughter all in one go. And who had enough information that she could effectively, potentially cripple the program if she wanted to? She probably get herself wiped out in the process by revealing this to all of, all of Earth, but still.

Anna Galvin
That’s right. And she makes that threat. She says, “I’m close friends with the First Lady and I can communicate at any time with President and let the whole world know what’s going on.” But I think, actually the actor that I was married to, I’d worked with him before.

David Read
Christopher McDonald.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, we’d worked in in Family Law in LA a few years before. So it was fun, he was hysterical to work with. He’s a very funny fellow. So it was fun to hook up with him again. I don’t think we had any, did we have any scenes together?

David Read
I don’t believe so.

Anna Galvin
No, I don’t think so. But we saw each other I think we had to pose for a family photo. So we got to work together. And I don’t know if they ever used it. But we did do all that stuff. And Elyse is delightful. Really. I think I’d already, I hadn’t worked with her before but I think I already knew who she was. I just created in my mind, a very tight family that I believe she’d grown. She, her married life had been in that sphere in that realm. There is no way, I don’t think for one minute, she was ever going to betray her husband’s work and commitment. And she just wanted to make sure that they were doing everything that they could. I think she’s, if you’re asking, I don’t believe, I don’t think from when I was playing the character that I ever thought for one minute that she would actually cause alarm and terror to the world. It was a threat, wasn’t an idle threat, or was kind of an idle threat because she, I think, I think she’d almost given up hope. And she was, I think in one of the other subsequent scenes, she’s actually saying to her daughter, “If this is the only way through the stones, this is the only way I get to speak to you, then I’ll take it.”

David Read
Right. You’re not even seeing her. You know, not seeing face not hearing her voice.

Anna Galvin
But I loved… And they kept us together whenever once after they initially meet, in fact, the whole time I’m looking at her they had chosen to have just had me looking at Elise as Chloe. Yeah, which shows how much I could see the soul of the essence of my daughter and how much of a mother I was. I think it was very maternal and so, and not particularly Machiavellian. So I just played it, it felt, David to answer your question, it felt like a drama. It didn’t they were didn’t feel very sci fi. Because my character is is only at the very beginning Chloe saying, “This is me. It’s me.” I don’t seem to doubt it. I know she looks different. And I say it’s troubling when I’m drinking the scotch and all the rest of it. I’m saying I’m having different pity. Really, I’m just predicting that there’s, I’m about to be given some horrific news and felt very much like a drama doing Universe rather than a sci fi. Except there is an episode isn’t there an episode where I see Chloe in a water tank? I’m in her dream.

David Read
You’re in her dramagination. Yeah,

Anna Galvin
Yeah, I mean her imagination so that felt sci fi.

David Read
I bet. Yeah, that’s the, the thing that I love about Universe is that it is so much more grounded in reality, and some people resented that. I loved it because it just, it felt more like real life and the people felt more like you could reach out and touch them. Whereas SG-1 and Atlantis felt further away, just by the nature of the storytelling. And by how it was shot, I could see that it felt, you know, you could feel like it was like a, like a domestic series, you know, and but then the elements that they bled, that they pulled into it from the outer reaches of the universe, I think were all the more compelling as as a result. There’s been a lot of back and forth in my particular fandom about earth based episodes, and interplanetary episodes. And not everyone likes both. But this show is a real melding of that, because that was the, their only way to get back home was through these devices — to communicate with their loved ones. And I thought it was a great evolution of the stories of the show, because they had advanced that, they had created that technology to series ago. And we’re now using it in this one. Great storytellers.

Anna Galvin
Oh, I didn’t know that. Hmm, fantastic device. I think, it was so good. In your opinion, was it unpopular, an unpopular device?

David Read
Because in the show, it was, because in SGU it was because it took more a domestic take on the characters rather than the fantastical take on the characters. Instead of like an SG-1…

Anna Galvin
…home and back into reality.

David Read
Right instead of so like on SG one, they would, you know, get in their cars at Cheyenne Mountain and drive home and deal with, you know, my dad who has cancer, you know. They have to plug into these devices to connect with home and deal with, you know, mother who’s just lost her husband. But I think that that’s how the juxtaposition between the two is what makes it so relatable, is because they’re not locked away in the 24th century on some ship. They’re relatable, flawed human beings who haven’t, you know, figured out all of their weird human issues yet. And they’re in the here and now. And that’s what makes Stargate what Stargate is.

Anna Galvin
And more, more accessible, I suppose. And was it in your opinion? Now, I’m interviewing you. Do you think that was an evolution of the series, the whole franchise that it just became more sophisticated? And a…

David Read
That’s an advantage..

Anna Galvin
And more accessible at the same time?

David Read
Right, that well, the sophistication part is just the the advantage of them having done you know, 15 seasons of television before they had gotten to Universe. The other part of it was that Brad and Rob wanted to do something different. You know, they had done a more action oriented show. And they were wanting to do something a little bit more drama focused and gritty and real. And not everyone can just turn on a dime and follow that, you know, a lot of fans have discovered SGU since and have fallen in love with it. And a lot just syrup or not a lot but some are just like, “This one is just not, this one is just not for me.” So…

Anna Galvin
“It’s not for me,” right? I wonder if Rob was cutting his teeth on drama in preparation for Unspeakable?

David Read
One thing leads to another. for sure. What a great miniseries. Tell us about getting involved, as Dr. Matthews in Unspeakable which is about the the tainted blood scandal in Canada during the AIDS crisis.

Anna Galvin
Yeah. Which I was not aware of. And I just asking my sister-in-law about it, just before this interview, saying, Well, you could she was studying medicine at the time. Well, not really, because the tainted blood scandal maybe started in the 70s, did it? And bleed through to the 80s, all the way through. So she would have been a kid in the 70s. But I was just asking if she was familiar with it. And to some extent she was, but not really, and I was ignorant of it. I was horrified.

David Read
So was I.

Anna Galvin
Then the auditon came up yet. Yeah. Which was quite startling and afronting. And I read for the role and when I was cast in it, I had access to reading all the scripts for the entire miniseries. And I was gutted by it. I was just, so I felt, it felt like a privilege. I’m not only had I worked with because Rob Cooper has it’s very personal for him because of his own experience. And he, um, it was his production, his passion project. I would, that felt like a privilege to work with an auteur who’s put everything behind something. To be part of that, that collaboration, and the actors that I worked with, and I knew lots of people in the cast. The scenes, most of the scenes I was, some of the scenes I was in anyway, were shot in Comox on the island. And going over on the ferry, I was with a group of other actors, all of whom I knew and I’d worked with before, theatre and film and TV actors. He cast it with a lot of the A-list Canadian, Vancouver based actors which was exciting to work with all of them, and yeah, I thought it was, and to talk with him on set about it, it’s pretty gut wrenching and inconceivable actually, that so in such near, such recent history that something so diabolical took place.

David Read
I remember watching it in early, I guess this was, I’m not sure if this was 2020 or 2021 at this point, but I think it was early like, just I think it was just after COVID had really got going and this was around May or June. No, no, it had to been 2021. I apologize. And the scene in the market, where the mom and child are in the marketplace, I’m assuming you’ve watched it, and the child is touching the fruit. And there’s someone else who’s freaking out saying, that knowing that he’s potentially a carrier, and saying, “What are you doing just walking around letting him touch everything?” And experiencing that, and experiencing what we were at that point dealing with COVID. The juxtaposition between the two, I could absolutely see crystal clear both sides of that argument. And like, this is a child not a bomb. But at the same time, you know, the ignorance, in that particular situation it’s ignorance. He’s not, you know, going to hurt anyone. But then, it’s with the COVID experience that I was having was like, wow, that it hit me really deep. And getting to talk with Robert about that was, was really, really something let me tell you. So…

Anna Galvin
Is that scene actually autobiographical or not?

David Read
I don’t know, I wouldn’t be surprised if he experienced something like that. I don’t know. He keeps it pretty vague as to what specific stories he experienced, and those that he’s telling, because he’s telling a story from a broader group of related experiences by people. I’m sure that that happened.

Anna Galvin
Representing so many people.

David Read
Right. I don’t think that he would have shared an incident if that incident hadn’t occurred at some point somewhere, but I don’t know if it’s his. So, it’s just wild.

Anna Galvin
A really important story to tell. And I really admire him, and everyone involved actually, for telling that story. So important. And yeah, it’s interesting. You say you wrote it during, sorry, you watched it during COVID. Yeah, I watched when we just gone into lockdown in March of 2020. I started watching, I think a lot of people started watching this series on the Black Death, that was out of Purdue University in America. A really fabulous Professor of History had this fascinating 30 episode thing on the Black Death, and she was recorded in 2015. In the beginning, she says, “You may think why do we need to delve into the history of a pandemic that happened hundreds of years ago? But you never know how this history may inform us should we be victim, fall victim to a pandemic in the future it is possible and we don’t start life in a vacuum, how important it is to have history on our side.” So…

David Read
Telling.

Anna Galvin
These stories have to be told. They have to be told.

David Read
Absolutely. What are anything in the recent past or present that you’re working on that you want to share? What what’s in store for your future besides the beach?

Anna Galvin
The beach. Yeah. So the I have come here, I have been running Speech and Drama School. I’m very much focused on helping kids with communication skills, and adults too, but kids as well, more generally children. And I wanted to try and create an online version of it, which is going to be really tricky and taxing it might be an embarrassing flop. But that’s the project I’m, I thought I can do that from here. So I’m going to try and do that. So I’m still administering and still coaching students online and helping running the school that’s in Vancouver, but I still do audition. And I, the last work I did was a film called Crimson Point and a series called Van Helsing. And that feels like a long time ago I didn’t work. The Van Helsing was the only camera work I did during the pandemic, wearing masks and so bizarre on set, safety goggles, masks…

David Read
You had to make it work.

Anna Galvin
You just couldn’t see anyone’s faces and then suddenly the cameras rolling and the actors, “Please take off your goggles a mask.” And your, everyone around you is a hyper-protected and suddenly your this naked… And a very few background actors, no cuddling or kissing or to show affection. They’d find another way, it’d be done with a look. In your close up and the other actor would be far away. Very interesting and challenging. Not a fun challenge. That’s the least interesting challenge to be talking to a director through two, 15 layers, I can barely see their expression. And then to rehearse in goggles and masks and, yeah, not fun. I’m not complaining. I felt blessed to have worked right. And however, yeah.

David Read
I would imagine the pulling it off. Okay, makeup, come in, touch up. And now go, you know, I bet that would have been a lot of that.

Anna Galvin
A lot of that. And just not fun. You know, it’s just, it’s too restrictive. It’s, yeah, but you got to do what you can do.

David Read
You get through it, you know? So, absolutely. I have a few fan questions for you. GateGabber says, “I love your portrayal of Inspector Megan Connor in The Sentinel. That series was famously canceled and then brought back for a final short season by a successful campaign. What was it like for the cast going through all of that?”

Anna Galvin
Oh, my God. Well, you’ve just given me goosebumps. Because the fans of that show were hard core and they brought the series back. I just, that was, thank you GateGabber, if you were a part of that movement — that was awe inspiring. I mean, yeah, there was a, we felt well loved, well supported. I don’t think I was pretty new in this series. The guys were what everyone really loved. They’ve been there since the start. Richard Burgi and Garett, as well, Maggart, and I joined in the second last season, and then within a few episodes of the ultimate, I was in the penultimate and ultimate seasons. So much fun, incredible fan base, and we felt very grateful. Oh, they moved a mountain.

David Read
Yes, you know, the I don’t think anyone can can underestimate the power of an audience. If they really want something they’re going to get it there’s a there’s a series very akin to Lost. That’s airing its final season right now on Netflix. It’s something to do, it’s an airplane series, I keep forgetting the name of it.

Anna Galvin
Oh yeah. Passenger…

David Read
Passengers, is it Passengers?

Anna Galvin
Or Flight or Flight Plan or something. Something along those lines.

David Read
And I’m looking forward to finishing that story because I wasn’t going to go and watch it had they not finished it. What?

Anna Galvin
Is it called Manifest?

David Read
Manifest, you got it? Well done.

Anna Galvin
Haven’t watched it yet. Yeah.

David Read
No, no go on.

David Read
I’m looking forward to seeing it. But you can never anticipate how a show is going to be received and canceling it beforehand is not always the right call. So some some of these do need to be put down, let’s be perfectly honest, but others it’s like there’s an audience there that wants to see the finished product. So that’s cool. Lockwatcher and go ahead.

David Read
Yeah, Lockwatcher and The One with the Many Zs says, “You played in Stargate — all three. Were there any differences in working with the cast and crew from from each of these, anything unique about the each different series as you had come in, that you can think of?

Anna Galvin
Michael Blundell was the DP on two of them, I believe. Which two?

David Read
Probably was in the second two.

Anna Galvin
And I, Stargate Atlantis felt different because it was, there was nothing on location. It was all in a set because you’re in Atlantis.

David Read
Yeah, the last two shows.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, that felt quite, um… Universe I was on, I remember going in you know, my character had a lot of money so we were shooting in first, Shaughnessy which is the Beverly Hills of Vancouver, in a massive house for, and then on set as well. So Atlantis felt different because it was all on set, it was all in studio and whereas Collateral Damage that was also shot in houses and backyards and that. And yeah, interiors I don’t remember being on, in a studio at all for that one. So they did feel quite, they did feel different from each other. It just speak to your point before David, Universe felt very different because it was dramatic and accessible and relatable in that sort of less sci fi. And Atlantis felt more progressively dramatic because also Atlantis for me was a lovely character to play. There was a lovely journey for the character to go on there because I was deceiving him but playing someone so kind and warm and then you discover I’m artificial intelligence.

David Read
There’s a lot to mine from that character, really? I mean, she is an ambassador for a civilization. So you have to give her a certain amount of slack for when she makes a decision, because it’s like, oh, she’s this is not a self centered choice. This is one being done in the part of a whole society that could be born. So, very interesting.

Anna Galvin
Hey that’s, that’s her MO. That’s all her purpose. That’s all she’s got. Yeah,

David Read
Yeah, crazy. Teresa Mc, “Do you personally prefer drama or comedy as a performer?”

Anna Galvin
Oh, drama’s, so much easier than comedy. Comedy is fabulous when it works. It’s really hard to come up with comedy, I don’t think I’m, I have done a bit of comedy. And I’ve done comedy on stage and on camera. And it can be the most rewarding, when it works, because it’s so much fun. And who doesn’t want to make people laugh? Drama’s much easier, much, much easier. Timing, timing, the materials gotta be good. You’ve got to be talented. You’ve got to have someone to play off. There’s so many things that could make the joke fall flat. The editing, it’s out of your control in comedy, is the trickiest of all.

David Read
Comedy is much quicker, I would imagine. With drama, you have to suck someone in and pray that you’re interesting enough to get into — invite them on a journey with you.

Anna Galvin
Yes, you’ve got to be captivating. And you do. And sometimes you’re not in control of everything. And you just have to, it’s part of the collaborative side of it that you’ve to some extent, you’ve got to relinquish control over the impact you’re having on the audience. In your job, yes, try to be captivating, be genuine, be funny, if it’s a comedy, and be real, always on camera, even when you’re doing comedy. It’s still rooted in, you’ve got to believe, the stakes are higher, in some ways, but it’s still real. As my work.

David Read
You’ve talked about a lot about real life adaptations of things that you’ve done from events from real life. And, of course, everything else from that is fiction. Is there a is there a different weight to them? Or as a performer? Do you take them the same way? Or is it more like, you know, this actually occurred, in the back of your mind when you’re executing one that has.

Anna Galvin
I think that’s a great question. I actually feel a sense of purpose and responsibility when it’s real. And if it’s a controversial topic as Lorelei was, or, and also and then something is tragic and important that it must never be repeated as Unspeakable. I, you feel it’s not a burden, it’s a responsibility. And so I think they do feel different. When you have more breadth to play with, I just feel like I feel a responsibility in when it’s real.

David Read
And finally, Alex Kilpatrick, “You’ve you’ve had a chance to work on a number of different sci fi spaces. Having played multiple characters in various different genres, what’s your favorite thing about sci fi?”

Anna Galvin
I did everything, what comes to mind is playing Draka in Warcraft, I just love the escapism of performance capture. The freedom to not worry about my hair and what my face look like, how many wrinkles was showing how many freckles was showing, how much weight I did, I mean, it was all about the performance. And then, however, they wanted to make me look, I was free of all of that. They used my face and my musculature and my expressions, and layered a character on me. So it’s still me. I would say that’s my, that’s sci fi to be able to do that. And well, you know, that genre is actually fantasy genre. I’m…

David Read
It’s still in the same ballpark.

Anna Galvin
Yeah, it’s I remember in an interview, Toby Kebbell, who was I was working alongside saying, “It’s not sci fi, it’s fantasy.”, And he’s right. But I, sci fi for the same thing. Just the also the realm of potential, talking about AI of let’s explore this, and they were doing that decades ago, I think and I think it’s good to explore potential and positive story, possible possibilities. So sci fi allows us to do that. Think outside the box, go big and bold, drama, theater, or keeping it real and relatable is a big part of what I love about my job and sci fi gives you that on a grand scale.

David Read
Pamela asks, very last minute here. She loves Tin Man. “How was it? How was it being in that mini series?” And I don’t know what this means, but why wasn’t the character you played given a real name? I don’t. Do you know what that means?

Anna Galvin
Lavender Eyes? Is that it? Yeah, I was called Lavender Eyes. I love your question, Pamela. I asked the same question myself. That director I’d actually worked with on a commercial in London years before one of my first gigs. And we didn’t recognize each other’s names when he cast me in the role. I remember him walking up, he wanted to meet me at my house, I’d fly back from Australia, actually, to play that role. And I remember him walking up the garden path at the front. And I was standing at the window. We both looked at each other went, so we recognized each other. And Nick Willing, I believe, and he said something about my eyes and was looking at my eyes because one of the first things out of his mouth. And I said, “Yeah, because that’s my name, right? Do I have another name?” I remember asking that. I don’t remember what his response was. It was all about the lavender eyes. And the contact lenses that they put in my eyes. I have blue eyes that made them look more violet. I don’t know what happened to the substance on the contact lenses by the last few scenes we were shooting my eyes were looking very much blue and not violet. So I don’t know where that color went.

David Read
Wonder if it evaporated?

Anna Galvin
Anyway. It’s in my body somewhere, or was. It was great working with Alan Cumming was just exquisite. Yeah, he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever worked with and I remember he would be having me in stitches laughing so hard. Camera, rolling action, all rest of it, and he would just turn it off. And usually I can turn it off. But with Alan Cumming I must admit I shamed myself — crying with laughter.

David Read
You can’t anticipate that everyone else can cool down as quickly as you can. I mean the musculature in your face, you know your redder and…

Anna Galvin
Normally, I know, and tears in my eyes. Normally I could but I must say he was a challenge in that regard. But so delightful to work with, Zooey Deschanel and Kathleen, yes, Robertson. Yeah, it was a bit mortifying to be playing the mother of a 26-year-old and 32-year-old when I was, I wasn’t much older than them, but I’m old enough I suppose. But they were great to work with too. There was, um, and Neal McDonough was in that, it was great.

David Read
Yeah. That was, that I remember that mini series came out and it was a big deal. So that’s really cool. So Anna…

Anna Galvin
The costumes and the hair. Oh, you could say goodbye.

David Read
Yeah, no, please finish your thought on that. It was It was outrageous miniseries, really well done.

Anna Galvin
I will say when I first got into acting, I wanted to do BC period dramas. I’ve done a lot of sci fi and not a lot of period drama. And that gave me an opportunity to wear much as corsets are very uncomfortable in the stiff garb and the wigs were very heavy and I had 1000 pins in my head head at any time. I love doing period stuff. I just, that was a British accent I think I was doing then and playing a queen, a noble character. And it’s fun. You know, that’s what I was doing when I was a little girl dressing up my mom’s clothes and stomping around set in high heels and, and with feather boas and pretending I was otherworldly, but also noble or majestic or something powerful. So yeah.

David Read
Absolutely. And I want to finish on the thought that you and I started with that I figured I would get into at some point in the interview and we didn’t bring it up. Your accent being utilized on Stargate.

Anna Galvin
Yes, that’s right, because we discussed it before we went live. That was a treat to to be reminded in the links that David sent that I was using my natural accent on two of the series. I’ve only use my natural accent about five times in my career. So I’m very grateful to Stargate for allowing me twice to be Australian.

David Read
Gotta represent the Aussies.

Anna Galvin
I find that’s another that’s another good thing about sci fi — anything’s possible.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely. There have been many circumstances where, you know, people have come on and they’re, I don’t know, Janina Gavankar, she’s Indian and her character, Dusty, on Atlantis. I can’t remember her last name. It was something much more Western. And they changed it to Mehra. Once she got the character because she’s like, “They made me Indian because I’m Indian.” And so those little nods that production can do before it goes to scene and it’s like, well, this is, incorporate a little bit more of that person’s background into the performance, you know, as much as you can.

Anna Galvin
Use it to our advantage. Why not?

David Read
Yep, absolutely. And this has been a treat to have you and I I’m so glad we were able to reschedule and sit down with you. I’m so glad you’re in the sunshine and it’s beautiful there. Get away from the dreary North America. So this has been great.

Anna Galvin
I love winter in North America, but just goes on for a bit long in Vancouver. So it’s a bit of a treat. Thank you, David, thank you for rescheduling, and my apologies again, and thanks for your patience and it was such a pleasure. It was really great. Thank you everyone for listening in.

David Read
Yes, thank you. You take care of yourself. I’m going to go ahead and wrap up the show on this end.

Anna Galvin
Okay, thank you so much. Bye.

David Read
Anna Galvin, everyone from Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe her three different parts. Absolute treat to have her on and I appreciate you tuning in. This is the latest episode that we’ve done during the day so I appreciate my European audience who stayed up to watch and thanks to everyone who has made this episode possible. My appreciation goes out to Antony and to Tracy, the mod team for making this one happen. This was Sommer, Jeremy, and Rhys. To my Producer Linda “GateGabber” Furey and to Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb who keeps dialthegate.com up and running. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider giving us a Like and sharing this with a Stargate friend. We’ve got quite the lineup coming. This week we have Tor Alexander Valenza, Writer and Story Editor of Stargate SG-1, joining us Wednesday, February the 27th. Next weekend, we have actor and Asgard puppeteer Morris Chapdelaine, and actor Glynis Davies, for her roles as Katherine Langford in SG-1 and as Eli’s mother in Universe, another person at the other end of the stone. And I’m pleased and privileged to announce that Google’s AI lead advocate Laurence Moroney is going to be joining myself and Robert C. Cooper, for a discussion on Stargate and artificial intelligence, Saturday March the 11th. A little bit less than a month from now. Followed that same day by an experimental episode, Jack O’Neill AI Chatbot Q&A. You can tune in live and ask Jack a question. I’ve been working with Yvie Cahill on this interface. And I think we’re ready to go, so if you want to talk to Jack — an AI chatbot of him — join us live on March the 11th at 2pm Pacific Time, we’re going to do our best to make that happen. The time actually may change, I’m just putting a pin out there to make this to make it possible for us to begin the process of scheduling it. She and I, 95% her, have been working on a chatbots based on Jack and getting the personality and everything else out. So this is going to be very interesting. Let me just put it that way. Thanks again to Anna Galvin for joining us this episode. I appreciate everyone out there for continuing to share the show. And my name is David Read for Dial the Gate and I will see you on the other side.