Who knew when “Point of No Return” aired that the character of Martin Lloyd would be the storytelling device for two of Stargate SG-1’s biggest episodes? Certainly not Willie Garson! He joins Dial the Gate to talk about his incredible Stargate journey and to take fan questions.

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Timecodes
00:00 – Opening Credits
00:42 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:13 – Guest Introduction
02:49 – A Critical Role in the Milestone Episodes
07:26 – The Big Event
09:18 – Science Fiction and Star Trek Voyager
12:07 – Making Jokes
14:02 – Falling in Love with Acting
15:00 – Career Highlights and Transformative Moments
16:08 – Getting Involved on Stargate
17:48 – Discovering Martin Lloyd
18:53 – Christopher Judge
20:09 – Insight into Any Jokes for Wormhole X-Treme and 200
23:40 – Discussion about the differences between “100” and “200”
24:46 – The Countless Scenes in 200
26:14 – Are Aliens on Earth right now?
27:07 – Can we anticipate Stanford coming back for “Sex in the City”?
27:27 – Acting as a Human Alien
29:19 – Parts Willie Has Yet to Play
31:42 – Role Willie is Most Proud Of
33:19 – Working with Claudia Black in 200
33:30 – The 200 Script
34:34 – Returning for SG4
36:47 – Advice for Brand New Actors
38:45 – Work Prep for Directing
41:25 – Thank You, Willie!
42:16 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
47:02 – End Credits

***

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

#Stargate
#DialtheGate
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TRANSCRIPT
Find an error? Submit it here.

David Read
Welcome to Episode 55 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Thanks so much for joining me. Very special episode today. Willie Garson, Martin Lloyd of Stargate SG-1 will be joining us in just a moment here. But before we get started, if you enjoy Stargate or you have fans who enjoy Stargate, it would really [mean] a great deal to me if you would consider subscribing to the show. Click the “Like” icon, definitely, to get us started here. It really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow it’s audience. Please also consider lending the link for the show to a Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click that Subscribe icon. 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. This is key if you plan on watching live. And clips from this livestream will be released over the course of the next several days on both the GateWorld.net and YouTube channels. So I’m going to go ahead and bring in Mr. Willie Garson here in just a moment. The Run of the Show is going to be, I’ll have some questions for Willie about his experiences in the show, life, acting, his career, his personal heroes and influences. If you’re in the YouTube chat at YouTube.com/DialtheGate you’ll be able to submit questions as well and I’ll get them over to him. And then afterwords we’ll have a wrap-up, so I appreciate you tuning in. Without further ado, Mr. Willie Garson, “Martin Lloyd!” Oh my God, how are you sir?

Willie Garson
Hello, there! I’m well, thank you! Thank you so much for having me!

David Read
Thank you for being on! You were in such important episodes of this show, shame on me for not reaching out to you until now, my friend. This is great to have you.

Willie Garson
How, dare you! Yes, I was thinking horrible thoughts about you!

David Read
Mar – Martin! Willie, what is it like — anyone turn on the television, someone will have seen you in something. What is it like being such a critical piece to the most important episodes, the milestones, of this franchise? Being such a character that everyone has loved.

Willie Garson
Well, it was kind of amazing because it’s not obviously how it started. And it’s a huge compliment which I take from them. I just did that one episode, basically. It was really a great character. He’s an alien. He doesn’t know that he’s an alien. It’s all wonderful. And then Rick and I got along very, very well.

David Read
Yeah.

Willie Garson
Then out of nowhere, it was not soon after, it was, like, years later, we get a phone call like, “Hey, we’re going to do our hundredth episode and we’re going to have a little bit of fun. We’re basically going to make every joke that anyone could possible make about a science fiction show. And we’re going to do it through you. So there’s a couple reasons for that. They liked me very much. I fit in with the crew and the cast very well when I was there the first time. But also they thought it was really funny and perfect that I’m not a sci-fi person. So I’ve done every science fiction show other than, I guess, Babylon 5. I’ve done all of them and I don’t watch any of it. I don’t know anything about science fiction. When I was a kid we would go to the Star Trek conventions, but it was really because it was combined with the Planet of the Apes convention. So [inaudible] Planet of the Apes. And then when I did Star Trek I’d never seen an episode ever. And same with Stargate, and same with X-Files, and same with Quantum Leap. I’m just not that guy. So I think they loved that about me to then have me make these hilarious episodes that they were going to make their hundredth. And then we got the call, years later, my agent called, “They love you, they love using you.” I’m like, “They haven’t called in five years! What are you talking about?” But anyway, it was great. I don’t know if the first one…

David Read
“Point of No Return,” Season Four.

Willie Garson
Yeah, but first, the hundredth episode, “Wormhole X-Treme!” I guess

David Read
Season Five.

Willie Garson
Was Rick gone already?

David Read
No, he started phasing out his time in Season Six, then a little bit more Season Seven, then a little bit more Season Eight, and by Nine and Ten he was gone.

Willie Garson
Then he came back. He came back for the 200th, which was great. That was really cool. I got to work with Beau Bridges who would later join us on White Collar for a little bit. The whole experience is great. The crew is amazing. I love shooting in Vancouver. I remember that first episode specifically because I’d never shot in Vancouver in the summer. And it was so glorious because the show was really crew and cast friendly as well, and they would shoot until normal, like six, seven o’clock at night. And then the summer in Vancouver, you have a whole other day, because it doesn’t get dark until 10, 10:30 at night. So you can go for a run or a bike ride or hike up a mountain and I just thought that was so civilized to shoot in Vancouver when it’s not miserable there. Because that’s the only other time I’d shot there was when it was freezing cold and dark at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

David Read
Vancouver has all kinds of sides to it. You can tell, like, when in the season the show is when they go into the out of doors in the GVRD. Are the trees bare or are they covered? So what planet is this? Well it’s Vancouver in the winter.

Willie Garson
I do remember the big event of my first episode. Because I don’t understand any of it. I’m too stupid. I don’t understand anything about these storylines. And I did play the import of me walking through the Gate. I remember being such a big deal. And everyone on the crew, like, “Oh my God, he’s going to walk through the Gate. Martin gets to walk through the gate.” It was the hugest deal. So I just played that with literally no idea what was going on.

David Read
You have no idea how many guest performers have been around for so many seasons of that show, multiple series, and have never had a shot of them going through the Stargate. And many of them, its implied that they’re off-world, but we don’t get to see the scene, and they don’t rotoscope them out in post production. You got to do it. Twice!

Willie Garson
I could tell that it was a big deal. And it was of import to the show. And then other episodes I knew what they were doing. And I just thought it was terrific. To be that open and hilarious and in touch with the fans. I just thought they did an incredible job on those episodes. You know, people think, a lot of people think sci-fi people are weird, like zombies walking around and are not rooted in reality. And I loved the way the writers really addressed that, freely and hilariously, knowing that their fans are not zombies.

David Read
Exactly. And, you know, Stargate strikes a balance. It’s in the here and now. Your Voyager episode…

Willie Garson
Very rooted in current reality. Yeah, right. That’s the glory of the show, though.

David Read
Correct, it has the benefit of sending us to another world and allowing us to use a metaphor. I mean, your Voyager episode is one of my favorites. You may not be a Monean living underneath an ocean planet. But in this circumstance it was a chance to tell a story about a group of people who left their world to try and go get help and ended up, you know, being deserters. We see the consequences of that.

Willie Garson
I think what’s interesting, I was just writing about this. I’m writing a book about everything. And when I got to the Stargate section is when it really hit me. It’s why I’ve done a lot of Science Fiction, because basically it’s so [inaudible] and moving and important, is that at the end of the day it’s all rooted in human contact and emotion. So it can be someone from another planet, but it ends up being the humanity that makes them saved, or makes them move forward, or whatever it is. But it all is rooted in humanity. And that’s why people are drawn to it. Star Trek was ridiculous. I’d never seen an episode of Star Trek. And there were people on the crew who literally had been working there since 1968. Do you hear my doorbell? Isn’t that exciting?

David Read
I thought it was a clock! Getting an Amazon package?

Willie Garson
I’ll just have to run and get the delivery! Yeah, I’ll be back in one second. One second!

David Read
OK, absolutely!

Willie Garson
Yes?

David Read
Maybe it’s the CIA coming to finally get Martin. The beauty of doing it live, folks. Anything can happen. Oh, my candle just burnt out. So I totally recommend these Yankee candles, except for this one, because I cannot get the damn thing to light. Midsommer’s night. That’s what this one’s called.

Willie Garson
I’m back, sorry!

David Read
You’re all good! Sci-fi’s a lens. It’s a lens into us and the human condition for sure.

Willie Garson
Danny come on in. Come sit down over there, away from me. No, sit over there so you can participate!

David Read
Is that your son?

Willie Garson
My son’s in collage. This is my younger son. He’s special. But you know, the big joke I would make on Stargate and on, like, Star Trek, is because I don’t know anything that anyone’s saying, I don’t know what anything means ever. So we’d do a take and they’d say, “Cut!” And I’d announce everyone, “If they would just stop stopping us we could’ve been to sickbay by now a nd then I would get this [makeup] removed!” It’s funny. Richard Dean Anderson is such an old pro. I think he really appreciated me being there, this other side of non-awareness of all of this.

David Read
He’s not crazy about sci-fi either. He gets into it because he loves the characters and he loves the people.

Willie Garson
Yes. Well, I mean, there are no fans like that. Like in any other realm of entertainment. I mean, you can do one episode of something and make a whole career out of it. I did a convention, there was a guy in the booth next to me who had done like one episode of Deep Space Nine, and he does conventions every weekend. It’s crazy. That’s [a] crazy level of commitment from fans.

David Read
And that there’s – yeah! There’s enough of an interest in that community to keep that guy going, you know?

Willie Garson
Yeah!

David Read
It’s so nice when you meet people that have been a part of a project that has inspired you in some way, or gotten you through a difficult time, or something like that. The experience is a positive one. Because it’s not always the case!

Willie Garson
Yeah, no that’s true. It is not always the case. You’re not wrong.

David Read
Right. How did you get involved in your craft? What made you fall in love with acting?

Willie Garson
I was a kid, so easily fallen in love, so I started working when I was 13. Someone in my town, they were casting a play in New York, and they needed a 13 year-old kid. So I went in. And I’d done school plays and stuff. And I went in and auditioned and I got it, and they hired three of us so we could rotate performances. The play was called “The Winslow boy.” The role as the Winslow boy, which sounds very fancy but the kid is literally on the sleep on the couch for the entire play. And he had no lines. So they rotated us, and then I was like, hooked! Didn’t go on film until I was in my twenties, or 21, when I came to California. That’s when I started working in film and TV.

David Read
Wow. Any particular highlights over the course of your career where you have tackled a character that surprised you in ways that you didn’t expect, or forced you to grow in directions that you didn’t anticipate?

Willie Garson
Definitely it would be Sex and the City. Because it has so [inaudible] and it’s completely different than the way I auditioned for it. Now it looks like we’re going to get a chance to revisit that again. And it’s going to be very different. I mean I haven’t done it in 12 years and the world has changed and the viewpoints have changed. I’m excited to see what they’ve written, how these people have matured and changed and become much more evolved. It’s going to be very different stories for sure.

David Read
Absolutely, yeah. I just heard about that announcement a couple of days ago. Like, “Wow,” you know? “Stanford might be coming back!”

Willie Garson
Yeah, might be. We’re almost done. We’re almost there. We’re almost there.

David Read
Absolutely. Tell us about getting involved in Stargate.

Willie Garson
It was an offer. I didn’t audition for it, so I don’t remember how the offer came. But I was like, “That’s awesome.” I love Richard Dean Anderson who I didn’t know yet. Vancouver in the summer, and I knew the show was very popular. And I had really just been doing my kind of round of the science fiction crowd. I’m the only person who’s done two episodes of Quantum Leap. I’m the only person who did two X-Files. And then Star Trek, I don’t know if Star Trek had happened yet when I did the first one.

David Read
It was around the same time.

Willie Garson
It was around the same time, yeah. It was interesting to me. And then I went out and literally just fell in love with Rick first day. He was saying shitty things about science fiction, whispering in my ear. “Oh, don’t fall off the Milky Way” or something. Literally whispering into my ear. And I’m like, “I don’t know where I am.”

David Read
Mostly in a hotel room bathroom.

Willie Garson
Yeah, luckily my character didn’t know he was an alien.

David Read
He suspected that he was, but he couldn’t prove it.

Willie Garson
Right! But he’s operating on a plane of reality more so.

David Read
Exactly! Mostly drugged. He was using all kinds of different things. How was it discovering this character who was so off the wall and in many ways a caricature of …

Willie Garson
Why thank you!

David Read
Well yeah! A caricature of… I’m trying to be kind to my community. Of the more interesting members of us who can believe in, you know…

Willie Garson
Yeah. You know, what worked for me, because I know nothing about the show or science fiction, was his innocence. That’s what I ended up playing. And even when, in the other episodes, when he becomes this kind of asshole producer, this kind of stock character of “Asshole Producer,” there was still an innocence about him that he has no idea that these stories are coming to him because they’re actually from his former life in the cosmos! Or beyond, pardon me to use your phrase, “beyond the gate.”

David Read
No, absolutely! And Christopher Judge!

Willie Garson
Oh, great! I loved him! I loved him. Great.

David Read
He was so cool.

Willie Garson
And the poor guy with all the make-up, that guy. My heart felt for him because, as you know from Star Trek, I went through it.

David Read
Well you went much more! I mean, you were…

Willie Garson
Mine was four hours on and two hours off every day.

David Read
As Riga? OK.

Willie Garson Yeah. That he had to do that every day was like, “Are you kidding me right now?” I mean it probably took… I’m sure they got it down to an hour, probably, to put it on, and then whatever it took to take it off.

David Read
Dip his face in gold.

Willie Garson
Every single day? Who is the guy on Star Trek, Ethan Phillips played him?

David Read
Neelix, yeah. Oh man.

Willie Garson
I mean, that guy was in… His entire experience of that show was being in mak-up. His entire life was being in make-up and taking off make-up.

David Read
It’s a lot of craziness.

Willie Garson
I hope he makes a ton of money at conventions.

David Read
Ethan, I think, does a pretty reasonable job indeed, for sure.

Willie Garson
Yeah, cause that’s hazard pay.

David Read
Right?! Exactly. So after Season Four, Season Five they brought you back for “200.” For “Wormhle X-Treme!” initially, did they provide any insight in terms of some of the in-jokes that you were invited to partake in terms of your character’s development? Like, “What does this mean? This is referencing something!”

Willie Garson
Well, you know, it was great ‘cause it was kind of written. The jokes about the actual show, they had to explain all of them to me. I think [Peter] DeLuise was there. I think he was explaining them to me. But I just loved that it was user-friendly. It was every joke that someone who’s not a science fiction fan would make about the show. And I loved that they did that, and that they brought me to do that. And that it resonated so much with fans. They weren’t, like, holding it so precious, like, “Oh, you can’t joke about the lost city of Orgahn!” I have no idea! I’m just…

David Read
“Atlantis,” right there!

Willie Garson
Yeah. And here it is.

David Read
Right, exactly! But that’s what the show did so well. It could tell serious stories with more serious episodes, but at the end of the day it never took itself too seriously.

Willie Garson
Well, they’re not taking themselves seriously by hiring me. They’ve already made that decision to not take themselves too seriously. So this is not going to be a very special episode where I’m dying because I’ve been bitten by a tribble or whatever the fuck it is. But it’s going to be more – it’s gonna be more like a wink at the audience by having, certainly by having me back for the hundredth. And then the 200th! The 200th really took me by surprise.

David Read
I would think so!

Willie Garson
I think they were going to make a Stargate movie at that time. I wasn’t kidding when I had that conversation. My agent called and said, “They love you! They want to bring you back again!” It was like, “It’s been five years! They don’t love me that much!” But what a joy. And everyone [was] all excited. There’s a different energy on the set when it’s like, “We’re making a special episode.” “Bobby’s getting a new leg.” Or whatever. A special episode, a special episode energy surrounds the whole set. And that’s really great to be there for.

David Read
Well, how many shows make it to 100 episodes is one thing. How many make it to 200?

Willie Garson
Now, like zero. Now, like zero.

David Read
Yeah, ‘cause only 10 episodes a season. But 200 shows!

Willie Garson
Two-hundred is a lot!

David Read
That’s a ton of material. And what an honor to be brought back in for… We went up to… They hadn’t yet shot Season Ten Episode Seven or Eight, whichever one it was. They hadn’t yet shot “200,” and they were prepping for it, and we sat down with Brad and Rob, and we said, “Are you guys bringing Willie Garson back?” And they’re like, “Oh yeah.” I’m like, “Yes!”

Willie Garson
Well here’s the thing. They were not going to and because you said that they made the call.

David Read
There we go! You know, I’m at your service.

Willie Garson
So I owe you some Canadian dollars. There’s some Canadian dollars heading your way! Almost valueless! Anyway.

David Read
Oh my gosh, all money at this point, geez. What was it like to then flip it on it’s head, because in the one hundredth episode you had the common sci fi tropes, and in “200” it was specially about all of the Stargate in-jokes from all 199 episodes before.

Willie Garson
Well they had been baking them. I mean, they had so many at that point. 200 episodes worth. I just look at them like the development of the character. At 100 he’s kind of an asshole because he’s going to be a TV producer and this is how he thinks TV producers operate. And then in “200” now they’re going to make the movie. Now he’s going to be in the movies! And now he’s just become a total, like, Hollywood asshole. So I got to ramp it up to be a bigger douchebag.

David Read
Did you feel the intensity of the number of scenes that they were having to create over that couple week timeframe? It’s the biggest episode that really Stargate’s done!

Willie Garson
For “200?”

David Read
For “200.” Was that not present in that briefing room?

Willie Garson
Well I definitely felt they were gearing up towards the end and that they had a lot of things to answer. So it was definitely that. There was a lot of stuff going on. And I thought, I just remember – I don’t remember the exact scene but I remember, “This is really big.” There’s a lot going on in this one scene. And DeLuise is in that scene. But there’s bodies everywhere, and I just thought, “This is huge. This is really huge.” Bigger than the average basic cable show, basically, which is what it was at the time.

David Read
What an achievement to be a part of that.

Willie Garson
Yeah, it was lovely, and they’re lovely people, and I’m still friends with them! Still friends with Brad and Rob. I don’t see Rick ever. He’s a recluse in Malibu.

David Read
He does his own thing!

Willie Garson
Yeah, free spirit! He’s a free spirit. And he’s MacGyver, Damn it. He can do whatever he wants!

David Read
That’s exactly right! For sure. I have some fan questions…

Willie Garson
Do it!

David Read
That are here for you. Theresa: Do you think that there’s a chance that there are aliens on Earth right now? I mean, who else can I ask this to?

Willie Garson
I know one well. Yeah, there could be. I don’t know. We’ll see what Rover brings back. Aren’t they hanging out on Mars?

David Read
Yeah, we just landed.

Willie Garson
The timing is everything. During an international pandemic, I’m glad we’re spending money on that. But maybe they’ll bring back something!

David Read
You know, were aliens were to show up right now, I would about expect now for that to happen. I had aliens for October of last year and I didn’t get my wish.

Willie Garson
Aww. Well, I’ll make you a bet if you want.

David Read
OK.

Willie Garson
By April. I’m saying No.

David Read
By April, no!

Willie Garson
Which side are you taking?

David Read
I’m not taking that action.

Willie Garson
OK, good.

David Read
Dan Zimmerly: So we can anticipate Stanford coming back for Sex and the City?

Willie Garson
We can anticipate it, but I cannot say it’s actually happening quite yet. So you can ask me that question in a week.

David Read
Alright! Jett Ison: Was it fun acting as a human alien, not having to wear the cumbersome outfits and makeup like you had to do for Riga?

Willie Garson
So much better. I highly recommend, if you’re going to be an alien, put yourself in human form. Don’t put things on your face with glue. Do not have glue on your face.

David Read
Would you not do another character that had extensive prosthetics?

Willie Garson
At the time for Star Trek, just in overtime and forced calls, forced calls when you’re not given 12 hours off, but they could never give me 12 hours off because I was in make-up all the time. So I never made more money on an episode of television as that episode.

David Read
Wow, that extensive in terms of the make-up time?

Willie Garson
I would say five times my salary.

David Read
Wow! Jeez.

Willie Garson
At the time when I was living on ramen noodles—that’s what aliens eat, by the way—I was really appreciative of that job. So it’s like, “Sure, you wanna glue crap on my head for five hours? Go for it.

David Read
Pay me to do it.

Willie Garson
Every day. Do it every day. And they did every day.

David Read
And to make a great story.

Willie Garson
Yeah. I slept there too. By the way, I slept in my dressing room.

David Read
You did?

Willie Garson
Yeah. My call time was, like, three in the morning.

David Read
Well then yeah, screw that! If it’s already set up.

Willie Garson
Four or five hours of make-up, and then I’d work till nine, ten o’clock at night, and then two hours to take it off.

David Read
Yeah, you don’t want to waste your time on car rides.

Willie Garson
Toothbrush, and have a shower. I just stayed there.

David Read
GateGab wants to know, is there any particular part that you’ve wanted to play that you haven’t had a chance to yet? That hasn’t come along?

Willie Garson
Oh. That’s interesting. I’d like to play more people who get the girl. And when I do play people who get the girl it’s like a very… It’s always been a very sweet episode. “Oh, look, he got the girl.” Like it’s some, like, heartwarming Make-A-Wish Camp Something. “Even he can get the girl.”

David Read
How does it feel being cast to a type? I mean, is it irritating or is it something like, “You know what? This is kind of my niche. This is my area to play in.”

Willie Garson
You know what, you are what you are. I teach a working… an acting workshop once every couple of years for six weeks. And one of the first things I talk about is [inaudible].

David Read
Willie, I lost you, can you back up again and say what it is that you teach in the class? I lost you.

Willie Garson
I teach about how knowing the physical properties of things, then you can create with them. So that’s true with us as individuals. I can play a guy who thinks he looks like Brad Pitt to amazing comedy or pathos or whatever. I can’t play a guy who looks like Brad Pitt. I look like I look like. But once I’m aware of that, I can now play a guy who THINKS he looks like Brad Pitt. I can totally create with that. And so that’s… You’re in your lane, you know? Everyone has their own journey as an actor, and you’re gonna play what you’re gonna play. Sometimes… I have a pretty wide range so I get to play a bunch of different kind[s] of characters and that ends up being as you get older in your career. That ends up being the battle. “I know you know me as this, but give me a shot at this.” Luckily I’ve been able to deliver a few times in various ways, hopefully.

David Read
What’s a role that you’re most proud of?

Willie Garson
I’d say the deepest one for me would probably be Mozzie on White Collar. It was the most like myself. I got to write a lot of it. That’s where I started directing. The producer always says that “Willie uses the script like a template. Not necessarily as a compliment, by the way.” Cause I made that role very much my own, and that was really fun to do. It made me feel like a creator rather than just showing up.

David Read
What ways did you get to expand yourself in playing that part that you didn’t expect?

Willie Garson
I got to bring a lot of stuff, knowledge from life, experience from my life, and write it in, into the character. And that, some of it was sneaky and some was very obvious. During the show I was going through adopting my child, so we made Mozzie, automatically just made Mozzie a foster child. That he’d been a foster child. Things that we could weave into the show. And that’s the glory of going for a lot of episodes. You get more of a chance to…

David Read
Explore.

Willie Garson
Expand the character. It’s not just like on Sex and the City. The smart one, the slutty one, the whatever. But as you go on these people become real people. That’s what’s great about a long run.

David Read
Thank you for sharing that. Dan23: What was [it] like to work with Claudia Black in “200?”

Willie Garson
Oh, great.

David Read
Vala.

Willie Garson
Great actress. It was totally ridiculous. The whole situation. I’ve nothing but fond memories of the people there. The surprise to me was Beau Bridges showing up. I thought, “Even you! Even you were in this crazy world!” But I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone walked in!

David Read
What did you think of that 200 script? The framing device is essentially a Treehouse of Horror, Simpsons-style thing. I mean, how off the wall was that? Were you just – was your head spinning when you read that?

Willie Garson
It was very obvious that this was a very different episode. Which is great! That they cared so much. In Science Fiction, as you know, fans are everything. We wanted to give the fans something really special. And they did, because look at how… I only did three episodes! Look how it resonated with that.

David Read
The impact.

Willie Garson
What is this, twenty-something years later.

David Read
We’re still talking about it.

Willie Garson
Yep!

David Read
Absolutely amazing. Raj: Brad Wright is working on developing a fourth series. We’re hoping it gets green-lit. Would you be interested in returning in some capacity, maybe not as Martin but as something else?

Willie Garson
This is what character actors do. I talk to Brad sometimes on the Twitter. That’s what the elderly call it. Yeah, of course. I mean, it’s a great world. And again, as an actor, besides that you want to tell interesting stories, you want to have a really wide and interesting fan base. And again, these are the best fans in the world. Once you got ‘em, you’ve got them for life.

David Read
Absolutely. It’s something that…

Willie Garson
…Incredible thing. I’m hopefully not done working yet.

David Read
The thing about science fiction that I love is that I watched a lot of it when I was a kid, obviously, and I reinterpreted it as an adult, so much of it. More along the lines of, “Oh, this is what they intended but I wasn’t aware of as a kid.”

Willie Garson
That’s great.

David Read
But also things that apply in my life that the writer didn’t even know about, where it struck home. And I think not just sci-fi does it, the best entertainment does that.

Willie Garson
It’s great. And it’s funny you say that, because I showed my son a movie that I realized halfway through, that I had shown it to him like four or five years ago. But it had no resonance then, but now at 19, he was like, all up in it.

David Read
Right.

Willie Garson
It was just like, he remembered it. “Oh, when I saw that last time that meant nothing to me. That scene. And now it means everything to me. And that was very cool.”

David Read
What’s the film?

Willie Garson
Porky’s. No, the film… Dead Poet’s Society.

David Read
Absolutely! Carpe Diem.

Willie Garson
I wish it was Porky’s.

David Read
Oh my God. So you occasionally teach acting classes. Any advice to anyone wanting to get into this field?

Willie Garson
Which field?

David Read
Television and film acting.

Willie Garson
Just do it. Do it all the time. Never not do it. I was just talking to my son about this. When I came to California I built sets at every crappy theater that I could be involved in. I did small parts in any play that I could do. It was a different time. You could get up in the morning and drive around town to casting director’s offices and drop off pictures and resumes, and go in and maybe get them to say hello to you for a second. You couldn’t do that now. They’d call security. So it’s all about just practicing and learning and always being, for my field – acting – always being in a class. Always be doing a play. And it doesn’t matter where. And there is no job. There’s no magical job that makes your career. It[‘s] just one after the next. I did really big jobs and then found myself drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup at four in the morning for a hundred dollars out in the middle of nowhere, coming off a really fancy job. It’s a stack of jobs that makes a career, but the same stack is needed to get to a career.

David Read
And I would be that potentially some of those less paying, less fanciful jobs, provided you with more fulfillment.

Willie Garson
Sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes not. It’s people who somehow are shooting something and they were not ready to shoot it. That’s the bad experience that most people have.

David Read
Cause you’re ready to go and they’re not.

Willie Garson
Just because you can direct something doesn’t mean that you should be.

David Read
Right.

Willie Garson
That happens a lot.

David Read
Right. How much work did you have to put yourself through, how much schooling, to direct?

Willie Garson
I didn’t direct till I had been standing on sets for 30 years. And then I still had to shadow two directors over two months to see how it’s done, and what I learned about, which I did not know because some of them were so good… What I did not know is the amount of preparation. And that’s who I studied the most from. I studied most from a guy who had been an assistant director who became a director. So he came at it from a point of preparation. And he taught me so much. And that’s why I was really good at it. Because I was a lunatic about preparing.

David Read
Yeah. Yeah, we’ve talked with a number of the different Stargate directors throughout the production and if they didn’t get at least two or three weeks, depending on the size of what the script was, they could not be ready. It was not physically possible.

Willie Garson
Right, and then you’re playing catch-up, and you’re sitting up all night trying to look at a scene in Act Three that you didn’t get a chance to get to, and you know, whatever.

David Read
Right. And then editing on top of that! Then you have to go with an editor and cut it all together!

Willie Garson
It’s funny, though. I like that work. Like, I went to direct a sitcom because I thought, “Oh, everyone likes to do that because it’s easy money. It’s really easy. You work Monday to Friday. That’s it.” You don’t prep. You have two hours of editing. That’s it. I learned how to do it. I shadowed some people. And then I went and did an episode. And I hated it. It just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t as “I’m really making this as I like for [an] hour long.” And by the way, PS, that episode was nominated for an Emmy.

David Read
The episode that you hated! What was it again?

Willie Garson
It’s a show called Girl Meets World.

David Read
OK, yeah!

Willie Garson
It was a very special episode, it wasn’t a jokey episode. It was an episode about autism and Aspergers. A kid on the show, they think he has Aspergers. It’s an emotional episode. The kids were amazing. I grew up with them. I’d done many Boy Meets World. I grew up with all these kids. So I know them really well and that’s why they let me do it. They got nominated for Best Children’s Programming that year and that was the episode that they used to get nominated.

David Read
Wow. That’s really cool, man.

Willie Garson
Yeah.

David Read
Willie, I appreciate you taking time and stopping by to do our show. Stargate has had some pretty significant milestones. You were definitely in some of the bigger ones, and Martin is a character that is very close to my heart, and many fans’ hearts out there. So it’s a pleasure to sit down and talk with you, and reminisce about such a satisfying product.

Willie Garson
That’s awesome.

David Read
And a great piece of Stargate history.

Willie Garson
Well thanks for having me! It’s an honor. It’s an honor to be in these shows that means so much to the people who watch them.

David Read
Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate your time and you take care of yourself, OK?

Willie Garson
You take care. Stay safe!

David Read
Thank you, be well!

Willie Garson
Bye-bye.

David Read
Willie Garson, everyone. Martin Lloyd on Stargate SG-1. Alright. Dial the Gate is brought to you every week for free, and we do appreciate you watching, but if you want to support the show further, buy yourself some of our themed swag. We are now offering t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts and hoodies for all ages in a variety of sizes and colors at Redbubble. We currently offer four themed designs and hope to add more in the future. The WordCloud designs have both a solid background and transparent options so you have some flexibility in choosing a light or a dark color, so keep that in mind when you’re making your selection. And check-out is fast and easy. You can use your Amazon or PayPal account. Just visit DialtheGate.Redbubble.com, and thanks for your support. We are giving away a piece of the Stargate DHD from the Pegasus Galaxy! For the month of February, Dial the Gate is partnering with Empire Movie Props to give away this piece of the DHD from “Phantoms.” To enter to win, use a Desktop or Laptop computer and visit DialtheGate.com. Scroll down to “Submit Trivia Questions.” Your trivia may be used in a future episode of Dial the Gate. There’s three slots for Trivia, one Easy, one Medium, one Hard. Only one needs to be filled in, and you’re more than welcome to submit up to three. The submission form does not currently work for mobile devices. Be sure to get this in before March 1, and if you’re the lucky winner I’ll be notifying you via your email. Big thanks to Empire Movie Props for making this item available to a member of our audience. I do have a couple of questions that I’ve been meaning to get to. TheresaMC: Jason Momoa, I understand, is an accomplished artist. Do you have any of his works? I do not have, actually, any of Jason’s pieces. Tom Hudson, what is the space suit in the background? What movie is that from? That is from a show called Stargate Universe, and that is Matthew Scott’s space suit from Destiny. SGU’s a good show! You should check it out! Alright. And “can we talk about getting our paws on the Sheppard-McKay ‘Harmony’ portrait for give-aways?” That portrait was actually sold at Propworx. It was about six feet tall, if I remember correctly, absolutely an enormous, enormous thing. And I can’t remember how much it went for. But that information’s on LiveAuctioneers.com. Next week’s guest line-up. So, we have four coming your way this coming weekend. And two are on Saturday, and two are on Sunday. Gary Jones interviews another fan, Christina, and that’ll be premiering February 27 at noon PST, followed by Richard Woolsey himself, Robert Picardo. He’s going to be joining us on February 27 at 2 PM Pacific Time. And then on February 28, Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific Time, we have James Bamford who’s going to be joining us. He was the Stunt Coordinator on Stargate Atlantis and the Fight Coordinator on Stargate SG-1. So BAMBAM’s going to be stopping by at 1 PM on Sunday. Three PM Pacific time, Simone Bailly, one of my favorites, Ka’lel on Stargate SG-1. She was also a background player in Stargate Universe as well, which I didn’t even realize until [a] couple-three months ago when we had her on one of our first episodes for Dial the Gate. I think that that’s pretty much everything that I have for you here. I always feel like I’m leaving something out. If you’re enjoying our show please consider giving us a Like and subscribing. Or leaving a comment saying what you think about it. Because the algorithm behaves more positively to the series when there’s interaction in the videos. It gets us up front, in front of more Stargate fans. Really makes a big difference. And I appreciate you taking the time. That’s all we’ve got for this weekend. Next weekend those four shows are going to be heading your way. My thanks again to Willie Garson for a great interview, great time that we’ve had him on. Thanks to Linda Furey, “GateGabber,” for all of her hard work. My mod team, Sommer, Tracy, Keith, Jeremy Riese, you guys are fantastic. Thanks to Jennifer Kirby. All of you make this show possible, and all of you watching give us a reason to keep on doing more of these. My name is David Read. Thanks for watching Dial the Gate. I’ll see you on the other side.