In 2019 Gerard Plunkett sat down with David to discuss the roles of Tuplo of the Untouched (“The Broca Divide”) and the Nem of the Oannes (“Fire and Water”) for Dialing Home. Sadly the second season was never released. However, we are now proud to present this unaired episode on Dial the Gate to make his memories part of the oral history project!

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Timecodes
0:00 – Notice and Opening Credits
0:46 – Welcome
0:55 – Guest Introduction
0:59 – Watching SG-1 Be Born
02:21 – Discovering Acting
03:03 – Theatre Highlights
03:42 – Brad Wright’s Travelers
05:56 – Tuplo and “The Broca Divide”
07:39 – Nem in “Fire and Water”
17:39 – Conventions
18:35 – Accomplishment With Work
20:30 – Future Projects
23:36 – End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Can I ask you to say that famous line from Nem?

Gerard Plunkett
“What fate Omaroca?”

David Read
My name is David Read. I am here with one of the earliest guest stars from Stargate SG-1, Mr. Gerard Plunkett. Hello, sir. It is a pleasure to have you.

Gerard Plunkett
Likewise. Pleasure to be here.

David Read
You were a witness to this franchise when all [that] was known was the feature film about it. Nothing had even aired yet. What was it like being an observer to that creation all the way back then?

Gerard Plunkett
Well, you know, we chatted a little earlier, and I talked about just how striking the sets were. So as an actor, you know, you get into a costume, and the costumes were, of course, strange and bizarre, and you had to kind of get your head around that. And the world you were to inhabit. But then, when you walked onto these sets, which were just enormou, and so striking. You know, it was easy to play whatever it is you have to play in these beautiful places. They felt so real.

David Read
So it informed a lot of your acting choices?

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, absolutely. The temple scene in The Broca Divide, there’s this feeling of just this vast room, you know. And you just feel kind of quite small in it, you know, next to those bulls. They were bulls, right? These huge bulls. Yeah, I remember thinking, wow “This enormous. It’s fantastic.”

David Read
Take us back to how you discovered your craft. How old were you? What was your inspiration?

Gerard Plunkett
Well, I actually started in comedy. I started as a stand up, and that was back in Ireland, before I came to Canada. And then, you know, when I came to Canada, I started to do more theater, and then into film and television, and then it just kind of took off from there. So it wasn’t like, you know, a big conscious thing “I’m going to stop doing this and doing the other.” It’s just evolved from one thing to the other.

David Read
Any particular highlights from your theater days? Any characters that you played that sticked with you?

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, absolutely. Shelly Levine in Glengarry Glen Ross, opposite Eric McCormack, actually. He played Roma, and I played Shelly, and we did that here in Vancouver at the Stanley Theater. Henry Higgins, I played many moments ago as well in the musical. That was a beautiful part to play. Yeah, you know, lots of parts over the years have been really exciting and a pleasure to have done.

David Read
Anyone who’s been on online television recently in the last couple of years will recognize you as a traveler from the future. Brad Wright’s series Travelers. You came in, I believe it’s Season One. Was it two episodes in Season One? I think the other one was in Season Two. Wasn’t it you returned in Season Two the next year?

David Read
That’s correct. Yes, it was Season Two.

David Read
You played a traveler who went into the body of a senator, and had complete assurance in the computer program that was running the future, or running humanity into a certain direction, in the first episode. And then in the second episode, your energy completely changed in that character, and it was someone who had kind of like, lost his God in a way, who recognized he was being sacrificed for something. That was just like “It’s just throwing me away,” you know, “I thought I was supposed to be a part of this grand plan, and I am, but I have to give my life up.” What a great part.

Gerard Plunkett
It was a great part. And I remember when that script came because, you know, it wasn’t one of these people “Oh, I’ll take one for the team.” Well, of course, he is taking one for the team, but he’s not happy about it. So there’s nothing about it that’s kind of terribly gracious. It’s gracious in the sense that he goes through with it. I mean, he does allow himself to be assassinated.

David Read
Or was to have a heart attack. That’s the question.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, the heart attack was given, you know, but he wasn’t amused by that either. That was something that hadn’t been looked into before he went into that host. So either way he was fated to die but he wasn’t amused about it.

David Read
Yeah, it’s an interesting example, a little micro example of the roles that some people have to play in the world. Some parts are bigger, some parts are smaller. Great couple of episodes there. So your first appearance was in The Broca Divide. Tell us about discovering who Tuplo was, and this rather young pre-technology race of people who were living with a disease on their planet.

Gerard Plunkett
I just remember the position of elder, if you like, or the fact that people needed me to solve the problem that I didn’t have to solve. So, you know, there was an element of dignity to that man. I remember that very much, his love for his daughter and so on.

David Read
She was basically dead.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. So, you know, it was a lovely part, I remember, and it was a pleasure to come back and play it again, at a later time.

David Read
Yes, in Enigma you return for one brief scene, in your hat we were mentioning earlier.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. And I did ask them about that, because the hat was so extraordinary, and did say “Oh, you know, are we doing the hat?” And they said “Yeah, we’re doing thehat.”

David Read
Well, it’s got to be like the equivalent of a crown or something. It looked like it was something to do with his status as counselor of these people.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. And I’ve had kind of a weird relationship with hats. I don’t know whether you’ve ever seen the movie Seventh Son, but I play a character in that as well who has quite an extraordinary hat. But in one of the scenes there, which ended up not being used in the movie, unfortunately, I did, you know, find a way within the scene to get rid of the hat.

David Read
Get rid of it?

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, because of the action that was going on. But it was another hat where you had this big hat on your head.

David Read
You start wondering “Am I being typecast with that?”

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, with hats. “Give him a hat! He loves hats. Give him a hat.”

David Read
How about “Let’s trade out the hat and give you a complete new face,” and neck, and the whole works in Fire and Water. A complete transformation. Did you audition for that? Were you asked to come back for that?

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, I auditioned for that. And I remember that. And I think I remember the audition. Because if memory serves me right, I started the audition with my back to the camera, which was a choice that I made before I went in.

David Read
Okay. For the audition tape?

Gerard Plunkett
For the audition in the room.

David Read
Okay. Oh, I got it. All right.

Gerard Plunkett
Yes. In those days, the director and the producer would have been there too. Which is great, right? So I made the choice of having my back to the camera and then turning with the first line. And it just gave him that stillness, which I wanted him to have, that he was very powerful and didn’t need to do very much. I mean, he literally holds his hand up and makes this sound, and you’re toast. So that helped, I think, greatly, and I chose that kind of voice a little bit, which was helped then later, by the actual teeth.

David Read
So teeth that you wore were those little sharp points.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, the prosthetic, and the fact that they couldn’t breathe very well within the mask through my nose, so you’d have to breathe, you know, through the mouth. It all informed the character. But it was a lovely sight. I remember reading the couple of scenes that I saw in the beginning, I’m thinking “Yeah, yeah. This will be fun to do.

David Read
Are you given the scenes where Daniel is trying to figure out what he wants?

Gerard Plunkett
Yes.

David Read
“What speech? Who are you? You know, “Where did you come from?”

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. And Nem is getting increasingly upset because this human, you know, is not delivering the goods. And in fact, in one scene, he goes off in a huff, he kind of gives up and heads out.

David Read
“I kept the wrong one and let the other people go.”

Gerard Plunkett
That’s right, “I got the stupid one.” It was great. I remember that scene on the beach where they first meet, and he puts the cuneiform on the sand, and then they kind of communicate that way, and that’s where the decision is made to take Daniel, and leave the others.

David Read
I think he takes them all and wipes their memory.

Gerard Plunkett
That’s right, he does.

David Read
And then he brings them back to the surface. Because that’s why they’re all wet.

Gerard Plunkett
But he’s the one that he feels has the information.

David Read
Tell us about the makeup process.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, that was long. That was about three hours in the morning, and probably, you know, an hour after wrap, to get it all safely off.

David Read
Did you know, going in, what you were in for?

Gerard Plunkett
No, you never really know. No, you don’t. You can’t know because you just not, really. You know it’s gonna be a prosthetic, and part of the process of that, of course, is the work that has to be done before, where, you know, you go to the studio, and they put you in a full face mask, which takes a degree of calmness. Because it’s like being entombed. So you kind of have to get into the head space to do that. And I think that was the first full face prosthetic I had done. So it was quite an experience. That’s probably the most difficult part for the actor, I think, is having those molds made. And I’ve had full body ones done, which is just…

David Read
Talk about being entombed?

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, it really is kind of something, and you’ve got to find it in yourself to just chill, you know. Because it has to set to a certain level before they can successfully make mould. But I remember doing that, and then on a daily basis, you know, you were probably three hours in the chair, I think, every morning, while these wonderful artists worked on a mask. So it wasn’t just the mask, but then it was the very delicate painting and highlighting that went on, because it was a new mask every day.

David Read
Fresh. Wow. They made a whole series of them?

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, becasue they had to cut you out at the end of the day. You had to be cut out. So yes, you know, all the masks were made. And then the detail would be put in, in the course of the day even, just like they would to your normal makeup, if you wore no prosthetic. They were always coming and touching it with a little bit of colour here, a little bit of, you know, shine, or something like that, whatever effect they were looking for on a mask. So that was really interesting. Although by the end of the day, by the end of a 12 or 15 hour day, where you’ve had people touching you constantly all day, because they’re always touching you up. What do they call them? The contact lenses, which I’d never had, because I didn’t even have to wear glasses back then. So having contact lenses, you know, put in every morning was a huge deal, because you just weren’t used to it. And then they would do that, of course, several times a day. They take them in and out to let your eyes rest and so on.

David Read
And you had gloves, as well, on your hands. You couldn’t even touch yourself.

Gerard Plunkett
That’s right, it was gloves. And unfortunately, you know, you’re not really a fish, so you can’t just go into the ocean. So certain functions need to be accounted for, you know.

David Read
Oh my God! I didn’t even think of this. Oh man!

Gerard Plunkett
And you can’t take them off yourselves.

David Read
Oh, yeah. You need help.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. So people have to help you get in and out of it all the time. Eating was a problem, too.

David Read
Did the teeth come out during lunch?

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, the teeth would come out.

David Read
But the mask stays on.

Gerard Plunkett
But you had to be careful with the mask. You couldn’t just have burgers, or whatever. That wasn’t gonna work, so you kind of ate very daintily, just to keep the mask safe, so it would last for the whole day. So they were long days. They were hard days, in that you’re in this mask for all of those hours. And they were long days, as I remember it.

David Read
The relationship with Nem and Daniel, even though it is one episode, is still one of the stronger connections. Particularly [because] they both have lost wives throughout the entire series. Did you and Michael get a chance to work together to find beats in the dialogue, or did you all just hit your marks and you went home? Was there any discovery together while you were working on the material?

Gerard Plunkett
He’s just such a lovely actor that, you know, [that] whatever you give him, he takes in and returns. So it’s like, you know, playing tennis, when you’re with another good actor. It makes it very easy and exciting. Because no take is exactly the same. It can’t be, you know. And so, you know, they have a choice. I remember those interrogation scenes very well, because he was just so, you know, in pain.

David Read
He’s torturing the man on a table.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah. And it was, how shall I put it, he was a reluctant torturer, though. So this is not somebody who’s enjoying the fact that they’re torturing something. He needs the information but at the same time he’s feeling for this creature who’s suffering at his hands, and he finally, you know, turns it up, or whatever. But I remember that scene being very emotional, for both of us I think, because it was just a hard, hard scene.

David Read
Yeah, you’re nearly killing him, and the information that you’ve learned in the process, is that “I’ve been waiting around for 2000 years for someone who’s not coming home.” It’s hard. And I think it informs, you know, one of the frustrations in watching the show, and liking a character like yours was, is that sometimes, you know, it’s once, and that’s it. We don’t get to see them again. There’s a hope at the end that they’ll establish relationships. Maybe they did. They probably didn’t. But, I mean, this is a culture who has been fighting this parasitic race for thousands of years. They’re done, you know. They’re not interested in working with humanity anymore. You can’t really blame them.

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, no.

David Read
Have you done any particular sci-fi conventions where you’ve been recognized? Anyone say “Oh, I know him. I know him. I recognize that voice.”

Gerard Plunkett
I haven’t actually done any over the years. We’ve always kind of missed out on that. And it’s funny you should mention that, because just recently, somebody called me and said, you know, “Would you like to do this convention? We’re doing this convention.”

David Read
Was it Gatecon? Up here in Vancouver?

Gerard Plunkett
No, it’s in England. I think it’s in Liverpool, or something like that. And apparently, this year that Stargate is a…

David Read
25th anniversary for the movie. We’re celebrating.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, so there’s an aspect of that in that. So their people are talking to my people.

David Read
Oh, okay. Well, so there’s a chance that we may meet you.

Gerard Plunkett
Yeah, I may end up in Liverpool, which would be nice. Maybe the start of something beautiful, as they say.

David Read
When you look back on the work that you’ve done, do you feel a sense of accomplishment of the roles that you have played? Is there anything that makes you say “You know what. That was particularly worthwhile. That surprised me.”

Gerard Plunkett
I had probably the most beautiful compliment paid to me some years ago. Allan Eastman, who directed that episode a couple of years back. But Alan was in town, and so we went to have a little drink, and we were talking. And that episode came up, and he said “You know, whenever I talk to film students about prosthetics, and use of prosthetics,” he said “your name always comes up.” And I said “Well, why?” He said “Because I could never understand how you could get so much emotion out of those eyes that weren’t yours.”

David Read
It’s all you see. And they’re not even yours, yeah.

Gerard Plunkett
It was funny. But looking at it again last night, I thought “Yeah, there is a lot going on in the eyes. A lot more than I had suspected.” I mean, you’re the actor are behind a screen, if you’re, like, acting, so you’re not quite sure what’s happening on the face of the character. But that was one of the loveliest things that someone can say, I think. But I’ve had lots of parts over time that have been very rewarding. And, you know, it feels like good work. Some stuff, you know, I never want to see again.

David Read
Some stuff is a paycheck, you know.

Gerard Plunkett
Yes. But not only that. It’s just because it’s hard to make a silk purse sometimes, if you know what I mean. But if the script is good, and the people are good then, you know, it’s a joy. But when you’re struggling with trying to make things real, sometimes that’s difficult, I find.

David Read
Any chance we’ll be seeing you on screen again anytime in the future? Anything popping for you?

Gerard Plunkett
Well, you know, I haven’t retired, so that’s always a good thing. I mean, there’s always things coming and going. Some things work out, some things don’t. What I love nowadays, actually, is to write, and I write, you know, screenplays, I write stage plays. I do whatever. And because the acting at this stage, you know, the bloom, if you like, is off the rose in terms of, you know, being an actor. I mean, the joy of youth and all of that. So you get to a stage where your craft is your craft, and if people like you, then it’s nice to work with them. But you’re no longer trying to prove anything to anybody. And there’s a great freedom in that.

David Read
I was gonna say. It’s very freeing.

Gerard Plunkett
Absolutely.

David Read
Take it or leave it guys.

Gerard Plunkett
Yes, really. Because you learn after a time that there’s no point in thinking like that anyway. All you can do is what you can do. So you give the best you can. If they buy it, great. If they don’t, then you move on. Writing, of course, is a solitary thing. But it’s like acting, in a way, because the characters, whatever characters you’re working on, draw you in, and you’re feeling whatever they’re feeling. So it’s probably even more schizophrenic than acting, in that you’re drawn into everybody’s dilemma, or joy, has it.

Gerard Plunkett
You’re digging through a lot. You’re mining content.

Gerard Plunkett
And there are days, you know, where you’re struggling through a scene or something, and it’s quite exhausting. You know, when the eight hours is up, or however long you’ve been working on it, it’s quite exhausting, mentally. But I love it. I mean, it’s the kind of thing where you can just sit down and the hours will pass, and you just enjoy. It’s your own world, so nobody can tell you can’t do that. So that’s nice. I like that.

David Read
I appreciate you taking the time to talk about it. It’s so exciting to speak with people who were there when this franchise that we love so much was just getting its feet under it, and still experimenting, and trying to find itself. So I appreciate you taking the time.

Gerard Plunkett
I just want to say that even back then, when they, you know, all the “experimenting,” I mean, the skill of the people involved was extraordinary, you know, and it only got better over time. So looking back, you know, it was a great thing to have been a part of, for sure.

David Read
Can I ask you to say that famous line from Nem?

Gerard Plunkett
“What fate Omaroca?”

David Read
Thank you so much, sir.

Gerard Plunkett
Thank you.

David Read
It was a pleasure to see you.

Gerard Plunkett
Likewise.

David Read
Thank you.