We are delighted to welcome back Suanne Braun to Dial the Gate! While not working on another season of Hathor Hosts, the actress has lent her voice to a number of different characters in the recently-released video game, “Dying Light 2.” She discusses making the game with us, shares more stories of Hathor on SG-1, and takes your questions LIVE!

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Timecodes
00:00 – Opening Credits
01:07 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:41 – Welcoming Suanne, Voice Acting in Video Games, Clip from “Dying Light 2”
21:03 – Audition Process and Characters Today
23:48 – “Hathor Hosts”
27:00 – Best Stargate Memory, Next Stargate Role, Playing a Villain
36:02 – New ABBA
37:34 – Pressure Playing Hathor, and Using “We”
41:40 – Playing an Action Role, Favorite Horror Film, Keeping Up with the SG Cast
49:33 – Amanda Tapping as a Director
53:03 – Favorite Stargate Episode She Appeared in, and Hathor Today
57:15 – Cooking and Dancing, and Her Cafe Shop
58:09 – Tok’ra Removing Hathor — What Would the Host Be Like?
59:42 – Gatecon Story
1:01:26 – Wrapping up with Suanne
1:02:28 – Post interview housekeeping
1:06:05 – End credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Might help if I turn my mic on. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 123 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read, thank you so much for joining us. We have returning in this episode one of my favorite humans, Suanne Braun, who played Hathor in Stargate SG-1. She’s going to update us on what she’s been doing. We have a special clip for you on something that you might want to check out. Check in on Hathor Hosts and see what might be coming up in the future and take some questions from the community @youtube.com/DialtheGate. But before we begin, if you’d like Stargate, and you want to see more content like this continuing on YouTube, please consider clicking that Like button. It makes a difference with the YouTube algorithm and will help the show continue to grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend and if you want to get notified about future episodes, click that 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 guest changes. Clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next few weeks on the GateWorld.net YouTube channels and then later on in the year when I go on hiatus. Now as this is a live episode Suanne is live with us in Britain. So she will be taking fan questions directly from youtube.com/dialthegate via me. So our moderators are in there curating questions for Suanne. So if you have something to ask her, please go right ahead and ask now. Suanne Braun, Hathor, Stargate, SG-1, Sophie and many other characters from Dying Light 2 as well. Welcome back.

Suanne Braun
Thank you, thank you so much for having me. And my goodness 123 shows.

David Read
Thank you, thank you. It has been a wild ride, and you know these are not easy to produce. So wrangling guests and and making the time and everything else, so I appreciate that.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. Well, congratulations. I’m so delighted that it’s continuing to do so well. And it’s just been amazing. And I’m thrilled.

David Read
Thank you. So what’s been going on with you? We’re beginning to get out of this pandemic hole starting to return to, well, all the things in the world, but I mean, what’s been going on with you?

Suanne Braun
Oh, well, I mean unfortunatel just before I went on I made the stupid mistake of looking at the news headlines and I see all our COVID cases are rocketing straight back up.

David Read
Oh, you’re kidding?

Suanne Braun
And so yeah, I’m not sure we are over the worst of it yet. But fingers crossed, fingers crossed. I have had quite an eventful time I think since I last saw you. I pretty much spent most of last year because we were kind of in and out of lockdowns, so my year really was like two extremes. I was finishing up the Princess Switch trilogy, which we shot in Scotland. And then I kind of went from that into the complete opposite. And my first game where I voiced the character of Sophie in Dying Light 2, amongst others, several other characters, and that was sort of spanned about eight or nine months.

David Read
As work?

Suanne Braun
Yeah.

David Read
Wow.

Suanne Braun
So yeah, it was absolutely brilliant because initially, I had no idea it was going to be as long as it was. So in the very first email that I got about it when they confirmed it was just for three days. And then they called me back for another three days and then another three days and I was kind of like, because I’ve done lots of voice work but not gaming, I wasn’t really sure what the procedure was, I was just like, “Okay. Okay.” And then kind of about two weeks in, they went, “Look, we’d like you to play this part.” And then like the work really began kind of thing. So that was just brilliant. And I loved it, loved every second of it.

David Read
So what is it like? Cuz you’ve done voice work before what is it like doing for a video? Did you do motion capture for this? I don’t think this game has motion capture in it.

Suanne Braun
No

David Read
Strictly voice.

Suanne Braun
I think they did do a tiny bit of motion capture for the parkour stuff?

David Read
Right. There’s a lot of leaping and climbing and jumping.

Suanne Braun
Exactly. So this was quite difficult actually. Because also they were changing the animations all the time. And so a lot of the time, you would get given a sketch, which may or may not be complete, of a character and then a kind of brief description. And then they could all see me. So I was in a studio, they could everyone could see me and people were remote. And we had people all over the world. So Techland are based in Poland. And then we had producers in LA, and the director was in London, and we were recording at Side Studios, the brilliant Side Studios in London, who also have offices in LA. And then they would kind of show me and say, “What do you think this character should sound like?” Or sometimes they would go, “You know, she’s European, or American, or we don’t want this.” They were trying to stay away from very British characters. So I played one English character, and the rest were all American or other nationalities. And then they just sort of let you play and very quickly, because also the drawings are kind of like useful in the description. So very quickly, they kind of go, “We like this, the second voice you did, let’s go more on that ballpark.” But with Sophie, they had a really very, very clear idea. And they basically wanted my, kind of my voice just standard American, sort of sounding like me. I mean, she’s the closest one I think, to sounding like me just she’s American.

David Read
Wow. Now, was this eight months of development for just Sophie or for all the different characters that you did? Is that Is that why it took as long as, I’m just so surprised to hear hear it taking that long, I guess I’m not accustomed to, in the stories that I’ve heard about, about production for audio for a game taking that long. And to be fair this is a game where you basically choose your fate. There are different narrative branch points to be sure. So they probably had more going on than then your typical parkour video game.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. And I think it’s an epic cast. There’s so many people involved. I wasn’t in every single day. So it spanned eight months on and off. So sometimes I’d be in every day for a month, then I’d have like two weeks off, and then I’d go in for a day or two days. With Sophie she was, that was the bulk of the work for me. And then I play another character called Anna. And she was probably about two days work. And then their little bits and bobs. So I would sometimes come in. So how they do it as they book a session and then they’re smaller roles, so the session is like four hours. And in those four hours you maybe go through three or four characters. And one of the characters I did I’m slightly disappointed the character stayed, but my version of her I think they were all a bit like, because they wanted her to be she was a really tough soldier, very matter of fact. And they didn’t want her to be a man or they weren’t sure if they wanted her to be American. And I was like, “She has to be South African.” And I think they were all kind of like, “I’m not sure about that.” Anyway, we did, we recorded the whole kind of character, whose name is Meyer, we recorded all of her as South African. I never heard another word, I was like, “Okay, I guess somebody higher up was like, no.”

Suanne Braun
You know what if you don’t try, then how could you?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly.

David Read
Right, you had to put your spirit in it and sometimes people aren’t gonna bite.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. Um, sometimes we would do stuff, there was another character who was kind of old and almost like a witch and I had a very clear idea of what I wanted. And they loved it. But then like two weeks later, I went back and they were like, “It sounds a bit similar to this character, which we didn’t realize because there’s so many characters.” So I was like, “Okay, fine.” A quick alteration and we kind of redid stuff. And the hard thing like one of the big challenges when you can’t see what the action so I found that quite difficult. And then I know like the matching the mouth has been, I think it’s I sort of read somewhere that that’s come up a bit in this game. But yeah,

David Read
I didn’t notice that.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, well some of them they changed Sophie completely, she looked completely different when I did the recording. So I can safely say that that was not my fault. But I can listen, they are the coolest loveliest people, Techland, and I’m just so delighted to be in a game and it like to say, I’ve gone as I said from Mrs. Donatelli, who’s Mrs. Christmas and lovely and family, “Come on children. Let’s all gather” to a woman who’s like, “Kill them, kill them all!”

David Read
Post Apocalyptic, zombies, brains

Suanne Braun
Exactly, like slow motion.

David Read
So let’s take a look at one of the quote unquote cutscenes, it’s not exactly a cutscene, this game doesn’t really have cutscenes it stays in the perspective of the first person. They’re looking right at you which in my opinion heightens the the intensity of the situation because you’re not placed outside of the body when there’s the story development. Let’s take a look at Sophie. You’ve brought a clip.

Suanne Braun
Okay.

David Read
Okay. We’ll be right back. Check this out

Aiden (in Video Game)
Sophie, who did this?

Sophie (in Video Game)
You. Aaahh! You and the Peacekeepers, your friends, they attacked the Bazaar. Most of us died trying to protect it. I told you, told you they were murderers, all their empty claims of wanting peace. And look, look what they’ve done to the Bazaar. My home. Does this look like peace, Aiden? So many years of work. So many years of fighting. Why did you even come here?

Aiden (in Video Game)
I’m looking for Dr. Veronika Ryan .

Sophie (in Video Game)
Well, then you’re a lucky son of a bitch. She survived.

Aiden (in Video Game)
Where is she now?

Sophie (in Video Game)
Why would I tell you?

Aiden (in Video Game)
Sophie, I didn’t start this war. I was trying to warn you.

Sophie (in Video Game)
You know what? Okay. That bitch Ryan used to help the PK, said there are people just like us and they’re not. Whatever you want from her will probably get her killed anyway, knowing you., Which is good, I wish that for her. And as far as I know, there are also some Renegades trying to take her out. Last I heard she was hiding in a building north of Quarry End. Courtesan Row Street.

Aiden (in Video Game)
Thank you.

Sophie (in Video Game)
Get out of my sight, you miserable wretch. I’m sorry, mother. So much work.

David Read
That was extremely cool. So tell us about that big scene. You said you had a story.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, so that scene was done right near the end of my journey on the game. And on the day that we recorded it we were filming inside. And they had me in a like essentially a music studio. So really big. There’s a piano and drums and obviously because they were so busy. And there was lots of stuff like running and sounds and all the kinds of FX sounds as well. And then the director said, “I really want like this to be you know, she’s completely and utterly defeated. Speaking to her mother, dead mother, like you have to go for it.” But I had no idea like obviously it was no cutscene, no reference. And they’re just these disembodied voices going, “Okay, that was nice. But can you do again, please, because…” Anyway, we kind of went from this like it got more and more, because in the beginning, I think I was much more contained and eventually, sort of producers will kind of going like, “More, more.” So by the end I was on the floor like in the studio on all fours kind of like [screams] weeping. And I remember at one point thinking, “God, if this isn’t good enough and I don’t know.” But it’s really hard because we are so used to seeing a face, that gives you the emotion of what someone’s saying. It’s really difficult when it’s just your voice, because I would feel I was giving it, you know, really, oh, so invested.

David Read
And they’re not seeing your your facial performance, you’re saying.

Suanne Braun
They could see my facial performance, I couldn’t see anyone else. Yeah, I couldn’t see anyone else so they all had a camera on me, in the studio, and I’m reading and also you have no one else with you. So if someone else has already recorded their lines, they will feed you that line, but often it isn’t. So you’ve got someone who’s not a performance based person just reading the line for you, or you have to guess. And that was quite difficult. And they also they do it unlike a performance, in many ways where, if it was an acting monologue you’d take the whole piece in one chunk and do it. With this it’s very broken up so it’s really hard to sustain a level like that, particularly when she’s so upset. But in the end, we had wonder, and I was crying, like snot coming out. I was like, [groans] and finally they were like, “That was great.” And I was like, “Oh, thank God for that.” So yeah, it was all worth it. But it’s really challenging because you forget when you can’t see someone’s face. You know you have to find other ways, other nuances to make a point, apart from just getting louder.

David Read
Absolutely. Suanne, so the platforms, if you want to go play Dying Light 2. You can find it on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation four and five, Xbox 1, Xbox series X, and I believe there’s a Nintendo Switch version that’s also being ported right now. They’re working on that. So there’s a lot of places that you can get this game. Join me on Steam. So I’m a big Steam gamer myself. But this is great stuff. Are you going to put yourself out there for another video game project? Do you think you think you’ve caught the bug?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I would love to, I would absolutely love to. And I’m auditioning for things all the time so fingers crossed. I mean, I’d absolutely love to do another one.

David Read
What type of game would you want to, if you had your pick of the litter, what type of game would you like to do next? Would you like to do something mocap? Would you like to try that out?

Suanne Braun
I would love to try mocap. I mean, I’m not so keen on the outfits. Like, I’ve never seen anyone pull it off.

David Read
Well, there not doing it for fashion.

Suanne Braun
That I know, but I would be willing to suffer. But yeah, I’d love to do a mocap one. I’d love to do something really, well, obviously, naturally if there was ever a Stargate game, hello?

David Read
Absolutely.

Suanne Braun
Love to do that. But otherwise something quite sort of fantasy based, like The Witcher, something like that. Like a Game of Thrones type epic. Something with powerful badass women.

David Read
Absolutely. This is good, ya know, you keep on hammering away at it. And once you get that first credit, I would think that the first video game credit will be the hardest to get. But maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, it certainly was for me. I mean, I had auditioned, kind of on and off for about seven years for this company. And sometimes getting really, really close. I kind of got callbacks for a Star Wars, got one that they were doing for Star Wars Lego, but didn’t get it. And so I was like constant. And I got to a point where I was like, “Well obviously they just don’t like my voice”. ButI think what happens well, I think sometimes you’re just not exactly right for that project or someone else becomes available. It makes me realize that it’s so often is about slotting people in to make the best fit. And luckily this time around it worked out for me.

David Read
Absolutely. One of my favorite television shows is Lost and they actually, in many cases, they brought in actors that were auditioning for one part, but they’re like, “I’m in love with this performance in this performer. Let’s create a character for her.” And like always in the back of my mind, I would think, “Well if I can’t make it in this one, maybe they can create something out, let’s collaborate and put something together based on what you are providing. Let’s be willing to alter or adjust something that we had so that we can create this beautiful thing together.” But it sounds like they’re just plugging people in.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, well, I think, they are exceptional at what they do. And I think voice casting is a completely different thing to anything else. It’s a really, really, casting in general is such an amazing and underappreciated skill and I think voice casting particularly. So I am so thrilled that after many years of trying to get in the door, I’m in. I’m in and now they’re never gonna get rid of me.

David Read
This industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It’s growing year over year with all these tournaments that are developing and everything else. This is the next big thing for sure.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. I think one of the things too, that I found so completely liberating is the sense of play. And I genuinely mean that because very often when I audition now, because I am ancient and of a certain age, it’s like the roles are so like, two dimensional. Do you know what I mean? It’s like, I don’t know, either the women are all like either desperate cougars, drunk and desperate in a corner at a wedding. Or sort of terribly prim and you may have never married anybody, and so unhappy and uptight. Or like, that’s it. There’s a fantastic line in a film with Goldie Hawn playing and she’s like, “There are only three ages in Hollywood, it’s ingenue, district attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy.” And I’m like, I’m past district attorney and I’m just before Driving Miss Daisy.

David Read
Well, I think that that’s slowly changing. My mother has a, I haven’t seen a great deal of it, my mother loves the show called Call the Midwife.

Suanne Braun
Oh, yeah.

David Read
And you know, there are a lot of more, we have a long way to go, but the nuanced roles for women are starting to appear a little bit more.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly.

David Read
Again, we’ve got a long way to go.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. But we’re getting there. But it is getting better. And I loved that with the game. I could go to work in like a tracksuit and no makeup. And I could play like the sexy whatever. Or I could play an ancient old crone, or a little boy, or like this punk rocker chick. It was so great, just by changing my voice, you know. So that kind of sense of play, that you have at drama school and that you have when you first start acting like you don’t really see that much anymore because the industry is so huge now that if they’re looking for somebody who is fluent in two languages, and can dance on one leg while juggling eggs being fried, they can find it.

David Read
Someone out there can pull it off. One of those lost arts that I’m beginning to see a little bit more of with the likes of Audible and some of these other app offerings is radio dramas. That’s another, except in the video game Instance, it’s being converted into something visual, but there’s a lot coming back in terms of being captivated by a story, just an audio story. And that’s something that actors can do in a tracksuit, they just have to have time to get into the headspace and then they’re good to go.

Suanne Braun
Exactly, exactly.

David Read
I have some fan questions.

Suanne Braun
Oh, let’s go!

David Read
And so number one, right off the top of the bat is one that many people are asking and that I started with. Damian Robbie wants to know, “When is the next series of Hathor Hosts? Can you tell us a little bit about your thought process?”

Suanne Braun
You guys, so yeah, I would love to do another series. I definitely, definitely think that there are actors, who I still haven’t got to. There’s so many people, I would still like to interview. I had a great, I have a great idea of making it, I feel like if we’re going to come back, it needs to bump up a level and go, I hate this phrase, but like to the next level. And I would really love to be able to make the show grow in a way that I am envisioning. And the reason I’m being so cagey is because I’m in discussions with people but it has been very lengthy and very slow and COVID is really messing us up again. Because one of the ideas is to have a situation where people come to the show. So that sort of all I can say at this stage, but where it’s actually the same show, but a bit like you know, where you go and watch your favorite, like Oprah or Graham Norton.

David Read
So you’re talking about potential physical space?

Suanne Braun
A physical space but also being broadcast at the same time. So we get, so we’re trying to figure out the best way on how to do that, how to make it happen, how to get people to and fro. Whether it is better to maybe stay for the time being in the virtual arena. I am quite, thankfully, quite busy this year. That’s the other challenge. As you know it takes a lot of work. And some of the things I’m busy with are just personal things. My beloved dad passed away a few months ago. And so I need to go back to South Africa just to sort some stuff on his estate, which I’m hoping to do mid-year and then I’ve got the fantastic Prague Comic Con coming up at the end of April. So I am quite busy until about June, July. And then I’m not sure about the rest of the year. So it’s sort of trying to work out when and also working, as you well know, around actor’s schedules. But yeah, I mean, it’s so great that people are asking so if you guys, would you guys like to see another series is the question?

David Read
Absolutely.

Suanne Braun
Thank you, David, anything.

David Read
Absolutely. However, you want to configure it next I am down. So just just give me a seat on the ground floor.

Suanne Braun
Oh, honey, you’re gonna come and be like cohost with me.

David Read
I’d love to do an episode. Absolutely. Your magnetism is what people tune in for, and it’s one of the reasons that I love having you on because I know that I’m going to laugh myself sick at some point. So. Linda Alexander, “Suanne, what memory from SG-1 makes you laugh the most, one thing when remembering because it was a scene that was funny or even wasn’t meant to be funny.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. Oh, Linda, great, great, great question and hello. So I have two that spring to mind. One is, as you know, RDA, Rick and Chris Judge were like quite, we’re all quite keen on the prank. On kidding around and having fun. And I just remember lots and lots of like banter, “bants,” as they say, [Cockney accent] “The cockney bants mate, haven’t gone back a little bit of bants.” There’ll be lots of banter backwards and forwards. And in all these scenes, like, I remember very clearly, one day when I was like blowing the mist, and obviously, because the mist was put in afterwards, it was just me going like a goldfish, sort of doing that. And like out of nowhere Rick would be like, “Whoa, who had onions for lunch, man, God damn.” So we’d have that or, I just be leaning in seductively in somebody behind me would go [farting sound]. And sometimes not with their mouths. It was a lot of that. And then there was bits, like when I had to open the sarcophagus, and Rick was inside, even to a whole phase of like holding up little pieces of paper, like, “Hello, gorgeous.” or you know, “Nine out of 10, do better.” And they all my close ups so I’m like, [makes face] so that was [that]. And then the other kind of not so funny, but funny in retrospect, was when we were filming the shrimp scene in the bath. Yeah, going shrimping. They were very kind and had sort of heated the bath to like a good body temperature, because I was in it for quite a while. But I think they hadn’t worked or realized that these, the larva, that sort little Goa’uld thingies, the symbiotes, were a plastic that after three hours started to smell a bit funky. And I remember I was like, “What is in this water?” Anyway, I finished at the end of that day shooting and I was, you know when your fingers all shriveled because you’ve been in the water for hours and I get into the car and I could see the driver a bit like [makes face] get into the hotel and I’m in the lift, in the elevator, and the lift doors are closing and someone gets in and she’s like, “Oh!” And it was me, I stank so badly. It had like seeped into my skin and it just sort of had this like stinky rubber smell which for about two days I think I walked around [trying to hide from everybody.]

David Read
Wow. Like you and the symbiotes were pretty symbiotic.

Suanne Braun
Exactly. We were joined, fused.

David Read
Do you know how many years after, those things were given away at Gatecon and a number of other events for auction items, those little Daniel-Hathor symbiotes?

Suanne Braun
Oh, really? No.

David Read
Yes, they were because it was a bulk item. And it’s one of the things that when Gatecon would come around either Evil Kenny, or someone else in the props department, would go in and they would select items for Gatecon to auction off because the Stargate production was really good about that. And they would give like, there was like a DNA slide from an episode called Scorched Earth, they had rows and rows of these plastic things. And one of the others was the Daniel symbiotes. And I remember seeing pretty much every year another one will be brought. I can’t remember how much they went for.

Suanne Braun
They gave away my babies,

David Read
Your babies, one by one, were given away. And I’d love to see like if anyone’s listening to me if they can like post a Twitter link or something. If anyone’s got one out there. I’d love to see one.

Suanne Braun
Are they teenagers now?

David Read
Probably teenagers, absolutely. So probably bothering someone else in the back of the neck. But hopefully they’re not bathing with them.

Suanne Braun
Yes, yes.

David Read
Teresa Mc, “Suanne, if it wasn’t Hathor pick your next Stargate role.”

Suanne Braun
Oh, good question. Um. Well, I think if I wasn’t going to play, I mean, if the show ever comes back, I would so love to be in it in any shape or form whether that is playing an armchair, whatever.

David Read
Mocap to the extreme.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. I could go there, man. I could be like the talking the captain’s chair. I would actually love to be someone on the team or someone medical, although the medical ones always have really difficult dialogue, you’ve got to spout all that medical stuff. But I quite like to be a doctor. And if not, then I love the idea of… whoops.

David Read
Just my desk falling. Let’s go ahead.

Suanne Braun
I either like the idea of Hathor returning but in a different capacity so that she doesn’t necessarily look the same. But obviously she doesn’t look the same. But that she doesn’t, you know I mean that it isn’t just that one side of her with the mist and you know that she’s learned a trick or two. Or that she teams up with someone like Apophis or something like that.

David Read
Other villains.

Suanne Braun
Or other villains. Yes. And becomes their arch nemesis.

David Read
What is it that’s so delicious about playing the villain? Is it just that you can explore aspects of yourself that you wouldn’t normally in a civilized society or is it something deeper?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I mean, definitely with Hathor particularly, she’s so utterly in control and so completely like, doesn’t question anything. She believes she’s doing everything the right for her. Her reasoning is, “I’m doing it, because that’s what has to be done.” And that is not like me at all. So I love being able to play things that are not close to me. Which one again, doesn’t really get to do very often, you often get to play things that are much closer to what you are. So I love that about her. And I think that, again, like it would be really interesting to see Hathor in an updated more current version, because I think that the version that we did in the 90s wouldn’t hold up now. You know, her behavior was quite questionable in certain aspects. And so I think that though there would be ways to find like, more dastardly deeds for her to do but in a kind of more contemporary way. But yeah, I mean, otherwise, yeah, I’d love to play, I’d love to be one of like the team. You know, even if it’s playing I don’t know. I don’t care. Whatever it is.

David Read
Absolutely. What in the later seasons of SG-1 Goa’ulds were using a particular female Goa’uld, I believe it was Athena that if I’m not mistaken, was using a business environment to maintain power and control. And that would have been interesting to like place, I don’t know if I can see her in a business environment, but place Hathor in another position of power where she’s running like a corporation to achieve her own [inaudible] Ba’al was doing that, she was working under Ba’al.

Suanne Braun
I totally see her as a business woman or a politician. I mean, [inaudible] we currently have…

David Read
I know.

Suanne Braun
Absolutely I could see her completely, completely because I think she knows how to manipulate, you know she knows exactly how to get what she wants in a way, obviously she has evil intent, but she can manipulate and extract what she wants very often without having to resort to that first. And that’s kind of interesting.

David Read
I mean, the best villains, they take what’s the most efficient way to handle a situation. So not necessarily go press the nuclear button first. It’s like, “Okay, how can we how can we achieve what we want without absolutely destroying what we what we want to pursue after?” Claire Cowan, this okay, “Have you booked a ticket to see ABBA live at the new show in London?”

Suanne Braun
No, I haven’t, ABBA The Party, I haven’t actually yet. But funny enough one of my best friends is going to be in it so I am gonna go.

David Read
Really?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, she’s in the new cast because they opened I think just as we kind of went into the second hard lockdown here and it’s been massively successful apparently. And my friend is just got a role in it. So she is going to be starting I think in, I don’t actually know when, but whatever the next company takeover is so April or May I think.

David Read
Wow!

Suanne Braun
No, I will be going to the O2 to do some Mamma Mia.

David Read
I’ve never seen it live, but it’s on my list.

Suanne Braun
Oh, well, this is new. The Mamma Mia: Party is a new show.

David Read
Oh, so it’s a new show?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, so there’s Mamma Mia in the West End, which is the one I was in. And then Mamma Mia: The Party is a brand new concept, where you go and you eat and you drink and the whole set looks like the taverna in the film, apparently.

David Read
So you’re inside of it?

Suanne Braun
So you’re inside of it eating Greek food, drinking, and then there are characters but they’re not the same characters as in the film or the stage show, they are new characters. That’s all I know.

David Read
Definitely gonna look into it for sure.

Suanne Braun
Like great, great fun.

David Read
Okay. Yeah, I still have to come out to [London]. I still owe you a visit at your shop, so. Absolutely. Paul Chapman, “Even though she is beautiful. Was it a lot of pressure playing what is supposed to be the most loved and beautiful woman in all of mythology?”

Suanne Braun
No. Oh my god, yes. Less so at the time, much more so now, when people go like, “Oh, you’ve aged” or “Oh, yeah.” And you’re like, “Oh, thank God, it was 30 years ago nearly.”

David Read
Yeah, for a long time.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. So yes, I definitely felt the pressure. And I had no idea that she was meant to initially, obviously when I auditioned, I didn’t know she was meant to be this beautiful woman that stops everyone in their tracks. And I think I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but then I found out and I was a bit like, “Oh, my God, no pressure.” And on the very first day that I met Rick, I was standing at the craft service table with a bagel in my hand. They hadn’t decided if they wanted to use my hair or a wig. And they wanted, they liked my hair color but my hair as you can see is curly and they wanted very much that kind of Cleopatra thing like fringe. So I think I had like a stocking cap on, no makeup, and like half a bagel being shoved in my throat and I felt somebody tapped me and told me like, “Hey, I’m Rick.” And I was in a dressing gown and I was like [talking with mouth full of] cream cheese, “Yeah, I’m the most beautiful girl in the world.” I was like, well, “It’s uphill from it. I mean, it can only get better. Right?”

David Read
Right. Exactly. Oh, gosh, that’s so funny. You know one of my one of my favorite reactions from you. It’s just a dead stare. Is we know how powerful her scent is because it’s technologically enhanced to actually screw with the guys. And by the end of that first SG-1 episode, the SG-1 team is immune to it. So by the time we catch up with her in season two, at the end of the very last, one of the last scenes, if not the last scene, she’s Jack’s face and he says, “You know, you really ought to do something about the breath.” Yeah, the look back on your face is like, “Really? I just gave you this powerful monologue and that’s all you had to say?”

Suanne Braun
And I’m pretty sure that wasn’t adlib. I think.

David Read
Why am I not surprised?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I think so. I can’t remember. But there were many, there were many.

David Read
Oh, geez. Retired Millennial, “Was it weird to refer to yourself as “we” in SG-1, I thought I almost noticed a smirk a few times.”

Suanne Braun
It was at the audition, because I didn’t know. All I got originally was just like two pages of part of the scene. And they didn’t say anything about why she’s referring to herself in that way. And I know, at the time, I was like, “Well, the only people I know, who refer to themselves as “we” are royalty.” So I was like, “Is she Is she crazy? Or is she a queen?” Like, I didn’t know what she was. And then I thought, “Well, I’m just gonna play it like she’s royal, like that it’s not a joke or awkward.” So. But no, I think I took to it quite well.

David Read
Absolutely. I had never been, I hadn’t been aware of that when I first saw the episode. I was like, “Who? I mean, the only people as “we” as the Borg.” You know it’s like, “Oh, it’s a royalty thing. Well, that makes sense. Okay. She’s not just loopy.”

Suanne Braun
No, a Queen darling, a Queen.

David Read
Tracy says, “With voicing a character like Sophie in the video game, does that inspire you to take on a live action role like that on a TV or in a movie?”

Suanne Braun
Oh, hell yeah. I would love to. I mean, I am up for anything, that sounds dodgy, but I mean, in terms of of acting I feel like, I have been an actress since I was 19-years-old. So I’ve been doing it a long time. And I love acting, I love performance, I love play. I really like to challenge myself. So yeah, I’d love to do something like that. Unfortunately, it’s not up to me, one has to you have to get an audition, you have to get in the room. And today with films and series, it’s there’s so many layers and so many people that you have to kind of like get through before you actually get a job. But yes, if there are any producers out there watching, I’m very open to that.

David Read
Matt Sankey wanted to know, he says, “If you have one I’d like to know what your favorite John Carpenter movie is.”

Suanne Braun
Oh, John Carpenter is that like the horror films, isn’t it? You think? The Shining?

David Read
Yeah, I believe so. So, um

Suanne Braun
I should know.

David Read
Science fiction, Horror, I’m not even sure if I’ve seen one.

Suanne Braun
I’m not sure…

David Read
Shame on me.

Suanne Braun
Shame on me, too. Have you got another question?

David Read
It’s a long list. Okay, so like Halloween.

Suanne Braun
Oh, yes. Of course.

David Read
They Live, oh, They Live would be my favorite.

Suanne Braun
Halloween would be mine. The first one, the original.

David Read
Star Man. Did The Thing. Oh, of course The Thing.

Suanne Braun
Oh, I love The Thing as well. But still Halloween I think.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely. Have you seen They Live?

Suanne Braun
No, I haven’t.

David Read
So They Live is film where aliens have come to Earth but we can’t tell that they look like us unless you wear a certain set of glasses, sunglasses and billboards say like, “Watch TV” and you know, “Obey” and it’s very subversive, but it’s a freaky film. So.

Suanne Braun
I’ll check ’em out. I used to love horror films. I was obsessed when I was 10 to 13. Now, I can only watch them like this. Like sort of peered through one [eye] otherwise I don’t feel safe. I mean, I can barely, I can’t, no, I have to…

David Read
There’s some really good stuff out there. I tried to watch one every two or three months. I’m not a gore fan.

Suanne Braun
No same.

David Read
But psychological. Like Dawn of the Dead, like the original. Ooooh! Absolutely. Retired Millennial also wanted to know, “Any of your SG-1 co-stars you keep in particular touch with?”

Suanne Braun
Oh, loads. Yeah. I mean, Amanda and I speak quite often. I’m going to be doing her Gabit event in September, which [inaudible]

David Read
Oh good. Yeah.

Suanne Braun
Yeah. So I know they’ve had to move that unfortunately because I think it was meant to be in April. And what was fantastic about Hathor Hosts is it completely renewed my relationship with many of the actors that I’d worked with and some who I’ve never worked with, like Torri and I have never worked together. But I had met her like once or twice, when I say met it was like, “Hello. Hi.”

David Read
A blink.

Suanne Braun
So yeah, when I got in touch with her I didn’t, I wasn’t sure she would say yes, I thought she might be kind of think, “Oh, who is this woman asking me?” But she could not have been nicer and now love her, love, love, love her. Teryl’s always busy but always speak to her. Chris Judge speak to, I speak to Rick occasionally, like we text, I wouldn’t say very often, he tends to go off grid. And I was exceptionally close to our darling Cliff, obviously, he was one of my dearest, dearest friends from before Stargate, from South Africa, from when we both grew up in South Africa. So yeah, lots of them. And what a fine bunch of people and I think a real testament actually, to Brad and the team for casting such a brilliant or writing, firstly, such a great show. And then also getting such a fantastic group of people together, who still are friends. You know, Alaina Huffman and I are good mates, like David Blue. It just, it’s amazing. These are people again, that I didn’t necessarily work with, but yeah, good people.

David Read
I’m regularly to this day surprised at how willing people are to communicate stories about the show, and talk about that experience, and just come on and give their time for free to fans. And then I recognize, I have to remind myself then, that these people were all picked from the same bucket of creators who all had the same approach in mind. Whereas you know what? We’re going to have a good time, we’re going to enjoy what we do, the work is going to be hard, but it’s going to be great. And then when you look at it from that point, it’s like, “Oh, all these people are going to have the same kind of ilk when it comes to work ethic and loving what they do.” And it’s like, “Oh, well, then that makes sense.” You know they didn’t pick a bunch of asshats. You know, these are great human beings.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I think Joe Mallozzi was saying, when I had him on the show is like we made a point of not hiring assholes. Because like, if people were just dickheads in the room we’d be like, “No, not having them back.”

David Read
Yeah, life’s too short.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, too short. And the older I get I find that is so true. Like when you, can be on a great project but if the people on it are not nice. It can be terrible.

David Read
Absolutely. You know, when you do like a project like the Princess Switch 3, the third in a trilogy, something’s got to be working, and the people have got to enjoy, either really enjoy the money, like really, or enjoy coming back together and seeing one another again, and appreciating the experience that they have.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. I mean, that was obviously the third one was much more about a new character for, well she’d been introduced on the second one, but kind of like one of Vanessa’s characters and it was much more focused on that character, Fiona. So we were, certainly my character was really hardly in it. But it was so lovely that they asked me to come back at all and to sort of like dot the eyes and and be a part of that kind of franchise because when we did the first film, nobody had any idea it was going to be a success. The first one was shot like over the summer in Romania on a shoestring budget, like no one…

David Read
It was a sleeper.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, and people just loved it. So yay!

David Read
You can never tell what’s going to be a huge success. You can see the material and love the material but if no one sees it, then no one’s going to talk about it with their friends and it’s not going to catch fire. And then every once in a while one of them renews your faith and the system is like, “See it does work!”

Suanne Braun
Exactly. Exactly.

David Read
MinerGirlCrafty, “What do you think about Amanda Tapping and what she is doing now as a director?” We’ve talked about Amanda before but.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, oh, I nothing but love for her. I think that she is, long answer here. But I think basically she is a spectacular human being. When she was acting and kind of like the only woman in that group of men, powerful men, she always conducted herself, and still does, with grace, humility, humor, hard work, first one to come over and say, “Hi, I’m Amanda, how are you?” No airs and grace’s, no nonsense and I have a lot of time for that. And she was like that on the very first day we met. And I can, obviously, now because of Hathor Hosts, again, because she was on the show twice. And now we’re talking much more than we did say, five years ago. But you know, I would not see her for like five years, and then we’d meet at a convention, like we did, not DragonCon, FedCon together. And like, she walked into the hotel, I walked in, it was like, [Scream] “How are you?” that was it. Like five days we were just inseparable. And we’d meet at night and have drinks in her room and chat and talk about this. And then I was going off to do this show in South Africa. And she texted me and said, “Have a great performance” And, you know, that’s a rare thing. I think…

David Read
Completely genuine, it’s not like, “What can I get from you.”

Suanne Braun
Exactly. And with everyone, with everyone. And then I think she’s a fantastic director. I mean, I haven’t seen everything she’s directed. But I’ve made a point of watching quite a lot of the stuff that she’s directed. And I think she’s a fantastic director. You know she’s a really good actress so she’s got great instincts. She knows her craft, I would imagine that she’s a joy to be directed by, because she’s a performer so she knows exactly how to get what she needs in the shortest amount of time, because television is all about, you know, cracking [inaudible]. So I think she’s fantastic. I think it’s brilliant that she’s segue wayed into directing A) because we need more excellent female directors. And B) because I think it’s a really smart thing for a woman, as you get older, as an actor to have something else to do.

David Read
I’m always, I haven’t mentioned this a lot, because it’s like on the one hand, I’m so thrilled that she’s doing what she wants to do, but at the same time I miss her performances. And it’s one of those things where it’s like, she’s doing what she wants to do, you know, all the more power to you. But at the same time, I miss seeing her in front of the camera, and I hope that she continues to do one or two, here and there, because she’s such a good actor. And she brings so much out in her performance. When she appeared on Travelers, it was gold. It was absolute gold just just to watch her. But you know, you have to do what you love to do. And she’s certainly put in her time on on different fronts in the industry, so can’t blame her.

Suanne Braun
And I’m sure that with the right project, she’ll come in and she’ll perform again, I’m certain of it. We’ll make her.

David Read
That sounds good. Lockwatcher, “Of your three appearances, which is your favorite, in Stargate SG-1 which is your favorite?”

Suanne Braun
Um, I think the first one actually, probably because I have the most to do. My least favorite is the last one because I didn’t expect to disappear and never be seen again.

David Read
I loved your outfit in the in the second and third.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, me too. I think they got a better wig as well. So [inaudible]

David Read
It’s a different wig.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, the first one if you look is quite short. I think that’s about here. And then a second one is longer.

David Read
A Jaffa got her some some bangs trimmed.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. Like slightly better hair. But so yeah, I think probably the first one because there was much more to play with and much more, the character had a bit more of an arc. And then I loved like the kind of surprise appearance in the second one. It’s like the kind of cliffhanger. And I originally was like, “Yeah, this could be, you know, maybe I’ll be doing this for a while.” But the very next day it’s like, “Oh, she dies. Oh.”

David Read
Well, she’s not seen again.

Suanne Braun
No, ever!

David Read
Well, gosh, yes, this is true. There’s so many Goa’uld that are taken out off screen that’s like, “Oh, please, you know, find some way to insert them in the future.” Ákos wanted to know, “If Hathor had been written differently nowadays, do you think she would have seduced women as well?”

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I do. And I think that would be one of the things that they, that could be really interesting to explore. I think that she would definitely seduce women and men. And I think that they would probably be less, I would quite like to because one of the things that I have read on some of the forums and things that people found it, some people really hated the character because they say like, “She raped Daniel.” And I sort of like, I’d never really thought that. That was enough…

David Read
I suppose you can think of it that way. Yeah,

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I didn’t.

David Read
She’s a villain, she’s vicious.

Suanne Braun
Exactly. But I was a bit like as Suanne I read that and I was like, “Oh, my God, I can’t read these things.” I was like, but it really stayed with me because I was like, “Oh, that isn’t like, that was not the intention of I don’t think at all of the writing.” She was kind of in enslaving him, which is still bad, but exactly that she was a powerful villain. So I think that if it were to come back, I think it should be men and women. And I think be handled with more nuance today.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely.

Suanne Braun
You can do, I think you can do it in a way that she isn’t like, knocking them over the head and then sort of date raping them. I think there’s a better way of doing that.

David Read
Well, I think, they were looking at it from a mythological perspective. I recently talked with Jonathan Glasner, just a few weeks ago, who said, this was news to me, that your appearance was a note from executive saying, “We want a sexy female in there.” And so he was like, “Oh, well, let’s do Hathor. Because that’s what she is. She is sex drugs and rock and roll, baby.” So that was actually created from a note given to production. Did you know that?

Suanne Braun
No.

David Read
Yeah, I was surprised. So and then it grew into this creation. But I think were it done today there’ll be a hell of a lot more nuance to the character, and it would be more subversive.

Suanne Braun
Yes. And I think you could have much more fun with her in that sense, and make her much more subversive.

David Read
You don’t know who she’s got under control.

Suanne Braun
Exactly. I have you all under control right now.

David Read
I think you do. Absolutely. And I am loving every moment of it. All right. Claire Cowan , “Are you still cooking and dancing?”

Suanne Braun
Cooking and dancing?

David Read
Yeah, so you like to dance while you cook?

Suanne Braun
I do. That is very true. I am still cooking and dancing. I’m not cooking at our shop anymore, thankfully. And yes, I’m still cooking. I’m still dancing.

David Read
Is the shop doing good?

Suanne Braun
Yeah, I mean, knock on wood it’s doing really well. We’ve had to rethink how we operate as a business because COVID obviously changed everyone’s world. So we are no longer really a cafe, we’re much more now like you come in you get your fresh bread, your pastries, or coffees, deli stuff.

David Read
It’s a grab and go.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, but we also now have lots of fresh fruits and veggies which we never had before. And we do still have seating but outside only rather than like a cafe where people sort of sit all day. And it’s been great.

David Read
Wow, that’s great. MsSunstar81, “Suanne if the Tok’ra had removed Hathor from the host, what would that host herself have been like?”

Suanne Braun
Oh, that’s such a good question. Hmm.

David Read
Tortured, a lot of the hosts are tortured. We saw Apophis he was basically, his host was basically living inside of just in this long cavern of a nightmare inside of his mind. But he’s one of the older Goa’ulds. Well, I guess Hathor was too so, man. There’s gonna be a lot of emotional baggage.

Suanne Braun
Yeah, exactly. I think it would be really interesting to see the opposite of what she is like with the host. So very, maybe exactly that, broken, betrayed…

David Read
Introverted.

Suanne Braun
And we could find it, yeah, like completely the opposite. And also maybe kind of the like, “Why is this happened?” I you know, shell shocked and, yeah, great question. I need a little more, I have to think about that a bit more. But that would be my instinctive answer.

David Read
That’d be the be all and end all of post traumatic stress, for sure. These beings inhabiting you and revivifying you over 1000s of years in a metal box and crazy stuff. I wanted to ask you if you remember a story from Gatecon, of a rugby ball during a ballgame that was being broadcast. I believe that you are on Cliff’s request.

Suanne Braun
Well, his I think, I was like, “Oh alright, because it’s South Africa.”

David Read
Oh, okay. Do you remember this story? Because Stef Rogers, the Gatecon team, she always tells it because it damaged production equipment.

Suanne Braun
Where I kicked poor Elaine in the face with her rugby ball. Showing once and for all that ballgames are not my forte. Yes, I do remember that and then I broke her camera. Oh, I have never lived this down. I’ve apologized. I’m so sorry, Elaine, yet again.

David Read
Oh, gosh. So there was…

Suanne Braun
I remember that vividly.

David Read
Do you know that Allan worked it into the set? So he has, Allan Gowen is famous for his Stargate sets. He has a theater background so he actually builds the sets for Gatecon. And in one of them it is an image of Hathor in her Egyptian form holding a rugby ball.

Suanne Braun
Oh, I love that. Please take a photograph for me when when you guys are there. I

David Read
I will have him send one.

Suanne Braun
Sadly, I’m not going.

David Read
Well, I know it’s happening at the same time as the Gabit event, which is a whole other conversation.

Suanne Braun
I wasn’t invited. But anyway, that’s fine.

David Read
Oh, well. Okay, but I will make sure that you get that section of the set because it is a beaut.

Suanne Braun
Okay. Great. Thanking you.

David Read
It has been so wonderful having you back. I’m always grateful that you’re willing to come on the show and tell us about what’s up and sharing more memories of being on this wonderful television show that we share. And I’m glad that you’re doing well and that you’re keeping busy.

Suanne Braun
Thank you. Yes, I stopped filming in the next two weeks on a on a new series, which is all I can say right now. So that’s quite exciting, and lots of lovely things coming up.

David Read
Well, we’re gonna keep an eye on your Twitter and help share that news. So once that information comes out, please let us know.

Suanne Braun
I will do, I definitely will. Thank you so much.

David Read
It’s so good having you Suanne, thank you so much for tuning in, that’s my audience. Thank you so much for stopping by.

Suanne Braun
Thank you for having me. And thanks so much for joining us, everyone. What a brilliant evening, afternoon for you. But yeah, really great. Thank you so much for having me.

David Read
Thanks Suanne. You take care.

Suanne Braun
[Lot’s of love.] Bye, stay safe everyone. Ta!

David Read
Suanne Braun, Hathor, Stargate SG-1 and if you want to check out Dying Light 2, it is available on Steam, also PlayStation four, PlayStation five, the Xbox One and the series X and S and it’s gonna be coming out on Nintendo Switch as well. We really do appreciate you tuning in. Dial the Gate is brought to you every week for free and we do appreciate you watching and if you want to support the show further buy yourself some of our themed swag, T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts and hoodies for all ages, as well as cups and other accessories in a variety of sizes and colors at dialthegate.com you go check out the design that you want and take it from there. You just click on the design and see what options are available. Checkout is fast and easy and you can use your credit card or PayPal, just visit dialthegate.com or go straight to dialthegate.com/merch and thanks so much for your support. We have guests scheduled for next week and the week after. there was a slight scheduling adjustment because of well, you know life happens. On the 19th Saturday of March at 2 pm Jeff Gulka is going to be joining us 2 pm Pacific Time he played young Charlie in season two of Stargate SG-1, what was the episode? Hide and Seek? Is it Hide and Seek? I’m gonna see heref. Show and Tell, I was wrong, Show and Tell. And on the 26th of March at 12pm Pacific Time, Brittany Irvin, Britt Irvin who played Merrin in Stargate SG-1 Season three’s Learning Curve. The kids of Stargate are coming out this March. And we’re happy to have them now as grown ups to discuss their experiences growing up on the show. Thanks so much to my Producer Linda “GateGabber” Furey for helping to make the show possible, as well as my moderating team Sommer Tracy, Keith, Jeremy, Rhys, and Antony, you guys make the show possible. Big thanks to Frederick Marcoux at Concepts Web, our web developer on Dial the Gate. Also a big thanks to Jeremy Heiner, our webmaster who keeps the site up to date. And I did have a couple of questions for me. Teresa Mc, “Would you be patient enough for a complete Wraith makeup?” Oh, yeah. Yeah, but those I mean we’re talking three or four thousand dollars for a process like that, but I would be absolutely willing to go through that process if we could have something like that for the show. I don’t know if I would want to Wraith though. Maybe, huh? We’ll have to think about that. Christina DeLouise, “Has there been any news on Stargate?” Well, there is a YouTuber has been purporting to have some information. I can’t speak to any of that there are a lot of rumors flying around out there. Until we get more information directly from the horse’s mouth, i.e., MGM directly. Just consider everything with a grain of salt. There’s a lot of people who are taking advantage of this lull period for clickbait and everything else. So keep your head screwed on straight. GateWorld I know will not publish any information unless it’s verified. Darren has never had to retract a story. That’s what we’ve got. I appreciate you so much for tuning in, episode 123. We have we have more to go and it’s it’s means so much to me to be able to continue to do the show for you. And thanks so much again to Suanne Braun, my co-host for this episode. We will see you on the other side.