097: Jessica Steen, “Elizabeth Weir” in “Lost City” of Stargate SG-1 (Interview)

If you’ve been a Stargate fan for more than five minutes, you’ve seen the question asked in online forums: What happened to Jessica Steen as “Elizabeth Weir?” The list of roles in Stargate that were credited to more than one actor is small, and fans always think they’ve read the right answer.

Jessica joins us in this very special episode of Dial the Gate to dispel rumors and set the record straight from her point of view. We are fortunate to get the time with the actor to discuss her pivotal performance in not only SG-1, but her personal background, her time on the ongoing Canadian series “Heartland”, as well as “Armageddon,” “Captain Power” and many more.

Tremendous thanks to the numerous fans who submitted their questions early for this pre-recorded interview!

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Timecodes
00:00 – Welcome and Episode Outline
00:46 – Opening Credits
01:29 – Call to Action
02:01 – Guest Introduction
02:57 – Did you watch the show?
05:47 – Stargate is chicken soup
06:25 – How did you get into acting?
08:44 – What do you wish you had known?
14:48 – Do you not like auditioning?
18:23 – Tell us about a role that stretched you in ways that you didn’t think were possible?
21:19 – What has it been like growing Lisa Stillman in Heartland?
28:08 – Did you know about SG-1 before being cast?
30:50 – Playing Dr. Elizabeth Weir (SG-1 7×21&22 “Lost City”)
38:34 – The Story of the First Elizabeth Weir
50:21 – Do you have regrets?
52:41 – Memories of working with cast members
59:35 – Do you have a role you played that stands out?
1:00:51 – Armageddon (1997)
1:02:51 – Captain Power
1:10:36 – Would you like to come back to the franchise in SG4?
1:12:17 – Post-Interview Housekeeping
1:18:34 – End Credits

***

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

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Welcome everyone to Episode 97 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. We have a really special episode planned for you. If you’re a fan of Brad Wright’s Stargate universe, pardon the pun, then this will be an episode that answers some questions for you. Fandom has always wondered what happened to Jessica Steen? Some of us were really attached to that version of the character. Some of us, like me, were attached to both where we had one flavor of one performance and then another performance came in and just, “Ah! I can do this one too.” And with this episode, Jessica Steen explains her story. So let’s get to it.

David Read
We’re at episode 97, got this week and then next week to go and then we go on to a summer hiatus with episode 100 being in the middle. Don’t unsubscribe from our channel because we’ve got more content heading your way. But before we get started with this episode, if you like Stargate, and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, it means a great deal if you click the Like button, it really makes a difference with YouTube’s algorithm and will definitely help the show grow its audience. Please also consider sharing this video with a Stargate friend. And if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. And clips from this live stream will be released over the course of the next several days on GateWorld.net and the next several weeks and into the summer on Dial the Gate as we move into phase two. Let’s bring in Jessica Steen. Jessica Steen, Elizabeth Weir on SG-1.

Jessica Steen
Doctor.

David Read
Doctor. Yes.

Jessica Steen
Excuse me

David Read
She knows five different languages. Brokered a dozen UN peace treaties, some Daniel Jackson referenced for the agreements with the Tok’ra in Stargate SG-1. Thank you so much for joining us.

Jessica Steen
I am flattered to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

David Read
It just dawned on me, Jessica, I should have sent you a copy of Lost City so that you could have a chance to poke it over.

Jessica Steen
Okay, so you did send me links.

David Read
Did I?

Jessica Steen
You did. You’re already ahead of your own game. Yes, you were on it and I tried to watch yours. And for whatever reason, I hooked them up to the TV and they got very fuzzy, but I have a way and I watched it.

David Read
Okay, so you obtained it.

Jessica Steen
I needed a refresher. Yes.

David Read
Have you? Have you seen the show? Did you watch the show after it aired? Or is this the first time?

Jessica Steen
You know, it was so long ago I’m sure I must have at some point. But it was very good to watch again.

David Read
So that was my question, what did you think of it? It was supposed to be a feature film, the bones of the idea.

Jessica Steen
Where I watched it. They ran it together as one. So it was the movie. Yeah.

David Read
Well, there you go. So let me back up a little bit. How are things going with you and Heartland and any other projects that you want us to be aware of. As we’re coming out of this dark tunnel, how are things?

Jessica Steen
Well, I along with lots of people have made significant changes. Yeah, it’s been a precipitous kind of, I find I did a podcast recently for a couple of guys, Jack and Brad, who run Stay at Home Son. And they got in touch about, they just got their Engineering degrees but they’re living in their parents basement. And yeah, looking at the prospects of what next and who are they going to be as adults and careers and things like that. And so, for whatever reason, I got connected to them, and they wanted to know what I had to think. But it’s interesting how we’re all having to reinvent ourselves a little bit and look at creating new chapters for ourselves. So yes, I have been doing that with my life and learn living and all that stuff. And yeah, but it’s nice to be back on Heartland and with the folks that I know well here and to tuck into this season, and yeah, so I’m…

David Read
Fifteen, right?

Jessica Steen
Yes, sir.

David Read
As you interview the longest running drama in Canadian history.

Jessica Steen
That is it.

David Read
It’s the longest running, it’s not longest running TV series, is it?

Jessica Steen
No, I think Beachcombers still tapped it but that was a half hour show. So we’re in the market.

David Read
If you’re looking at you know terms of minutes you’re shot.

Jessica Steen
If you’re nitpicking a little bit. But anyway, yeah, I take pride in the show because I really like the people that watch it and one of the things that I’m proud of is that anyone can watch it. And a lot of my friends, I turned a lot of my friends from watching late night news and then going to bed with all that on their minds. And then why don’t you watch a little Heartland where everything is beautiful and turns out well and every little hair’s in place, and you’re going to sleep better at night. So many of my friends have become Heartland. You know, like, yeah,

David Read
It’s chicken soup.

Jessica Steen
It’s what? Chicken soup?

David Read
Have you not heard that expression?

Jessica Steen
No. Yes, I get it. Yeah. Yes.

David Read
I’ve always called Stargate chicken soup. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s something that families can sit down and enjoy. And it’s something that you won’t be dwelling on too much, fretting over, it resets you for, it’s like something you could watch on Sunday night before a long workweek, it just really…

Jessica Steen
And both shows are thought provoking. And they deal with topics. And they do address, it’s not without its issues and topics. And so I appreciate that, too. Yeah,

David Read
Absolutely.

Jessica Steen
Yeah.

David Read
When did you know you wanted to act? Is story there, you can share?

Jessica Steen
I get this question a lot. Because for a lot of people, I think they, I’ve seen bumper stickers in Los Angeles “Born to act” and I have to say that for me, and I’ve said this before, but it’s true, that if your parents run a company, chances are you’re going to take it over. For the most part, if you grew up a farmer, that’s what you know. And so my parents were both in the business and all their friends were in the business. And so I, at an early age, and because acting isn’t always very financially stable. As a kid, as a teenager, I needed to make some pocket money and so it was my contribution to taking the weight off my folks. So yeah, I’ve been acting since, I don’t know, well my mom and I did a series together when I was eight. So I never really went, “I know what I need to do, I will be an actor.” Right? It wasn’t like that for me, because my family is very loud and very, I mean you can’t get a word in edgewise. And my grandparents and great aunts and uncles every year we would do a Christmas concert. And they dressed up and they had all these classic old skits that they would do. And so my cousins and I, we started had our own show, and we make up songs and skits. And so…

David Read
Just for the family or for the public?

Jessica Steen
Yeah. No, no, no, no, for the family. Every time our family got together Christmas.

David Read
This is what you entertained yourselves with. Yeah.

Jessica Steen
So, we had family guest stars, and we had dances and my cousin and I, anyway, so it’s not something that although my mother and I are the only actors in our family, it’s not, we’re pretty dramatic. So I just started doing it to make money. And I had already been doing it as an after school program. And, yeah, high school theater arts and all that stuff. So yeah, there wasn’t a moment it was just sort of keep doing what you know.

David Read
What do you wish you had known then that, you know now? Is there any one thing?

Jessica Steen
Oh, God.

David Read
Don’t shy away from a job or something like, yeah.

Jessica Steen
Two things come to mind. One is, knowing when to say, “Am I worth it?” or “I am worth it.” So knowing when to say yes to something and when to say no to something. And it is often a crapshoot, you don’t know for sure, but I think your gut. To maybe not operate out of fear, right? To have the voices in your head, “Oh, what if, what if, what if.” But to be able to be grounded and have confidence. It’s very hard when I watched, rewatched Stargate, it brought up a lot of things because of the way it went down, and it’s a tricky story to tell. But I think, confidence is a thing that it’s hard to have early and those who do have it early it can be a double-edged sword and you want it so you can sit in yourself and go, “I know who I am. And I know what I need. And I know where I’m going.” And I’m not going to wield it like an idiot but I’m not going to be a sycophant or a tyrant or whatever. And I don’t know that it’s the kind of thing, David, I don’t think you can. It’s hard to tell a younger person, you learn by experience. And the Stargate experience for me, was a teaching ground for sure. More in the negotiating, and the way to get the off camera stuff. Then anything else.

David Read
Of course, I’ve been having a long running conversation with a friend of mine, we’ve been working on a project for a long time, it’s very sensitive to her. She’s been accused of all kinds of things. And it goes back to what are you willing to put up with yourself and your own self worth, and depending on the type of person you are, it’s very easy for you to tell a friend, you’re worth more than this. Stop doing what you’re doing, stop putting up with what you’re putting up with. And then we say that message to ourselves. And it’s like, ‘Oh, no, I am not worth that.” Or the flip side of it. The psychopath side of it is worse. I mean, especially for artists, it’s hard to balance that, “What am I worth?” And you have to always keep checking yourself to because you can go off either side.

Jessica Steen
And, quite honestly, as you said being an artist and an actor, I equate it to being in a abusive relationship because you’re always like doing the thing to get where you know you want to go, and you put yourself out there and then you wait by the phone. And then sometimes you’re really the thing, and then you’re so not the thing, so it has to do with your ego and your self worth and being yourself but at the same time, is that enough? Are you worth it? Will they like it? Will they buy it? Pay your rent, dah, dah, dah. It’s a very, it’s like dating, it’s like, it’s different, most people if they were asked, “Do you want to go on job interviews three or four times a week, and put your intimate self out there for people to judge and choose?” Not many people would do that. And then to also live the life of never knowing when you’re going to work or when the next check is coming. And that’s a whole lifestyle that a lot of people wouldn’t choose as well.

David Read
Yeah, I mean, it’s an industry where there are periods, right now, of fallow. And you have to think ahead, you have to plan ahead, and I would imagine a part of it is, okay, I want to know what I’m worth. But also, I want to make sure that I’m not cheating anyone else out of the group in terms of what it is that they’re worth as well, there’s only so much money that can go around for a specific project. I would think that and at the same time, I want to make sure that I’m getting paid what I’m worth, but also these dingbats over here, what do they really know about the people who are financing this project, about who’s watching, about who is getting the most attention when people are talking about it, the same thing that went back about William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy for years on Star Trek, it was a huge issue about which of them was prominent, and it can really damage a series.

Jessica Steen
It reminds me that when I was, when I moved to LA to do a show called Homefront, and we were shooting on the Warner Brothers lot and Friends started right then. And our show had a lot of young people. We were a crew of youngsters, and we were having such a good time. And they were a couple of studios over. And we all heard at one point, “They walked out, they’re not coming back unless they get a million an episode. Oh my god.” And we were like, “Oh, should we do that?” We so didn’t. But when it came to Friends…

David Read
It’s a cultural phenomenon.

Jessica Steen
Holy Nellie, like, yes, they should have because it was an unprecedented money-making magical moments like, yeah. But when you say caring about how everybody else is being paid as an actor. Yeah, that’s producer’s job. And…

David Read
You have lines.

Jessica Steen
Well, but you can stand for your own worth. It’s in a vacuum, you have no idea.

David Read
So what a mess. Jeez, one of the comments that I was reading, that I got submitted, and I was kind of frankly perplexed and I didn’t add it to the bunch. Was this gentleman said, and I’ll pull his name up here somewhere. And it has to go back to the things that you have to do to get where you are in the position and to get on screen. And I’ll pull up his name, but he said, “I read somewhere that you don’t like auditioning.” And I remember thinking to myself, I can’t think of any actor who likes auditioning.

Jessica Steen
You know what? That’s not true because they tend to be male actors. And I’ll say this, I enjoy auditioning much more now that you’re doing self tapes, and you’re able to do it in the comfort of your own home. Some of the things that I really like, get tense about would be, I don’t know. Especially in LA, you would get all dressed up and you drive across town to the Sony lot or the wherever…

David Read
Which in itself is a whole career, dealing with that traffic.

Jessica Steen
Right? It’s a full time job. And if you had back in the day, young and whatever, you might have three in the day. And you’re literally changing clothes at lights in your car. You’re looking at your Thomas Guide trying to figure out where you’re going. You’re putting your makeup on, it’s like that in itself was a Wonder Woman show. I thought that was pretty funny. But and then walking from your, you go in through the gates and it’s like, it’s all very daunting. And Emerald City, and you park your car and you walk in your high heels all the way wherever you’re going. And you walk past all the women who look exactly like you, wearing exactly what you’re wearing.

David Read
Who are all audtioning for your part.

Jessica Steen
And you’re all sitting in the same room waiting, like yawning and shifting and biting our nails and kind of running our lines and looking like crazy people. And then you go into a full room of people that you and they start talking introducing them “Woah, woah, woah”, or was like a Peanuts teacher. Right. It was like, [mumbling] “I didn’t hear any of that. What’s happening here.” So self tapes at home, dressed from the jammies down.

David Read
Well, I don’t know anything about that.

Jessica Steen
Don’t stand up, David, I don’t want to see that. But you put up a sheet and it’s so much nicer, right? Less intimidating. and, anyway…

David Read
Vaseline.

Jessica Steen
But yeah, that too. Yeah. But yeah, it’s one of those crucial parts of being an actor. And I’ve heard a lot of male actors say, “Oh, I love it. It’s like going on a battlefield.” I’m like, “I’m gonna bite the head off this thing and all those guys in there [inaudible].” And I’m like, “He’s better for it than me.”

David Read
Yeah, essentially, because that’s not going to service your performance anymore, any better. Worrying about these other things, you have to convince them with your character, not convince them have it being exhausted from the road and everything else. So that’s, yeah, that’s one of those side effects of COVID, that’s really gonna push things because we have the infrastructure for it. We’ve got the technology, we just got to do it.

Jessica Steen
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you don’t get directed, and you don’t get feedback. So it’s in a vacuum and you kind of are like, “I don’t know what,” but other than that, for me it’s a much better format.

David Read
Jessica, tell us about a role that stretched you in ways that you didn’t think were possible or was more challenging, when you really dug into it than appeared on the surface.

Jessica Steen
I’m gonna cop to something about this, because just like I said earlier, I got into the business to put money in my pocket to pay for clothes and then my mom and my stepfather moved away as soon as I finished high school. So I then was out of the pan into fire as a working person, and again the length of money flow of an act of my mom, I didn’t have money to go to university, so didn’t go, just jumped into the workforce. And one of the drawbacks of that, for anybody that’s thinking of doing this for a living, to go to school and really stretch yourself, right, to have that place to try things that are out of your comfort zone and be schooled on how to get to be characters that are so far from your wheelhouse. I didn’t do that. I literally had to make money, had to pay rent, had to do what was comfortable and I knew and felt was me, sort of, and so the drawback to that is if I were to look over my filmography or whatever, I honestly, but for a couple of things, a lot of it’s been in my wheelhouse, like things that aren’t too far from me. I’m one of those actors, I’m not a recognize them in that part person. I’m not that person. I’m sort of like, you know, I just…

David Read
Helena Bonham Carter was in that role? That was her?

Jessica Steen
Right? Well, yeah. And so there’s a lot of people that are actors that don’t need to be anybody else because they do themselves so incredibly well. And everybody just wants to watch them because they’re fascinating, weird, interesting characters. And then there’s other people that can transform into a million different things and that’s amazing. And then I’m in the sort of, if this was me in this circumstance, kind of actor. And so to answer your question, I don’t think I’ve had that opportunity to the degree where I’m finished or satisfied or give you an edge, I want to find that still. And as I get older and getting the opportunity to audition for things that are outside my wheelhouse, and sort of, quirky, different, there’s older witchy, ladies and all these. So I’m literally going, “Wow, I need to up my chops and try to get these parts that are more caricature and fun.” And I want to do that stuff.

David Read
So let me ask you the next question, then come back around to this. And I think that this will help because you have been given an opportunity to come in and out of a show that has lasted a decade and a half, I can only imagine the number of actors who have really had an opportunity to grow as a series grows and to grow with an era and with the times and with an ongoing, as you said, topical discussion that has evolved over time as well. What has it been like growing Lisa Stillman in Heartland for 14,15 years?

Jessica Steen
Well, hilariously, when you go for a wardrobe fitting, you realize how you have grown in 14 years, because nothing fits anymore. Hello, menopause. So a lot of muffin topping and Spanx and stuff. So that kind of growing isn’t as fun to watch happen. I think one of the not to sort of cut close on this, but what is great about Heartland is, you know where we all are and that consistency of who we are and the place. And you kind of know how people are going to react and who they are and you watch them go through certain circumstances, but they are who they are. And I think that’s comforting for people. So in terms of like the arc of Lisa, her circumstances have changed, right? We’ve gone from not being together and navigating our relationship, and moving in and becoming part of the family. And she didn’t have children and so the coming part, an aunt or great grandmother, that kind of thing is like, yeah, that’s circumstantial changes. But in terms of and I think she’s, I often use my mom, and her first cousins and my cousins and my aunts and I have a lot of really wonderful Ontario WASPy women in my life that I adore, and what’s fun for me is to think of how it kind of makes me feel closer to them because when things come up and like, “What would mom do? What would Lindy do? What would Carol do?” And I really think about the ways in which they would react to certain circumstances.

David Read
Do you put a dash of them in?

Jessica Steen
Oh, yeah.

David Read
Oh, that’s cool.

Jessica Steen
Oh, yeah.

David Read
Like Mom, watch next week’s episode, you may see something familiar.

Jessica Steen
So this is a funny thing. My one of my best friend’s, from high schools, mom and we spent so much time at their house growing up, sitting around the dining room table. And she used to walk in the house, Janet would walk in the house, and she would just to see who was home she’d go. “Yoohoo!.” Right? And she yells through the whole house and on the third floor you could even [hear] “Yoohoo!” I used to put that into every time I walk in the Heartland house and I used to do it more often obviously and now I live there but I would walk in announce that I was coming I was like, “Yoohoo!” and so adding little pieces like that to the Ontario women that I grew up with I’ve enjoyed doing that.

David Read
And you looking at the body of work that you’ve achieved through this time period and getting to really refine a character. Has it, going back to the earlier point, helped you to say to yourself, “You know what, I’m ready to start pushing those buttons on getting more uncomfortable with going out for parts that are more outside of myself and the women that I know.” Has that helped?

Jessica Steen
Yeah, yeah. I mean, last year I was on a show and had to play a racist lady. And there have been parts in the past where I would read it and like. “I don’t want to be that person.” I was on Earth 2 and when my character started to be a traiter, I got a lot of feedback and I was introduced at that time to, holy moly, I would get letters and when on Homefront too I would get letters where people would say, “God could save you, you’re going astray. How dare you be doing [inaudible].

David Read
They’re thinking she’s real.

Jessica Steen
You, right? They’re talking to me, they’re putting my name on the on the letter, but they’re talking to me as if I am the person, and I realized early how influential the things that you choose to do, are, right? The only control I have, in my contribution to the fabric of culture and society, is to choose the jobs that I will or won’t do. And oftentimes you’re like, “I need the money, am I gonna go out for this thing?” But honestly, if you go up for a series and it’s a regular, you got to be prepared that it will, I would never have guessed that doing a guest spot on Heartland would have me there. Like most things you do, any guest spot you do. doesn’t do this. Like, when does that ever happen? You do a guest spot and on you go to the next thing, right, or episode. You never know. But if you’re auditioning, not for guest spot but for a regular, you got to really go, “Hmm, do I want to live in this town potentially for many years, work on this kind of material?” And does it shoot mostly at night and dark? There’s some heavy material out there that I just don’t, I don’t want to, I don’t think I day in day out would want to live.

David Read
Because you’re in that person’s head too, to a certain extent…

Jessica Steen
And you’re living the stuff, right? So if you’re doing, procedural, torture, porny-type TV, you’re embodying and acting and looking and doing and that’s heavy. And so it’s not only a choice of like, how do you want to spend your time in your life. It’s also how do you want to contribute or not? And so turning down certain jobs, even though they might have been lucrative they didn’t say what I wanted to say. It does make choices about your career and that kind of thing. I can’t remember the question.

David Read
No you answered it. You hit it on the head.

Jessica Steen
Did I? Oh, good. I’ll take it.

David Read
I’m gonna skip ahead a little bit here and we’ll come back around if you’ve got a little bit of time. Jeandiata Smith. Jeandiata asked, “How familiar were you with SG-1 before being cast as Dr. Weir?”

Jessica Steen
Not at all? Sorry? Not at all.

David Read
Are you a sci fi fan?

Jessica Steen
Well, I’m a softcore sci fi fan.

David Read
Okay. Edward Coyle wanted to know that one, so okay.

Jessica Steen
Yeah, like, I mean, okay, I learned another thing. So, yes, I learned a fair bit about sci fi fans on Captain Power. But I learned a heck of a lot more about sci fi fans, because the Internet was just started on Earth 2. Okay, so Clancy Brown would come to work and he was on the Internet I didn’t have a computer for another I don’t even know how many I was late, late, late to the game. He would come to work with these printouts of all the things that were being said and we’re like, “What? I can’t believe like the detail with which these people watch this.” So I didn’t even think about that. Like I just remember reading one where they were walking through the river and then just a short time later their pants are dry. I’m like, “Oh my god these people they’re watching and they’re like tracking all the information and doing stuff that..” Anyway so that was a real wake up call. And when you ask me if I’m a sci fi fan, I am a noticey kind of person, I’m like a continuity kind of person, or I can read a script and go, “No, wait, wait, wait that doesn’t track, that wasn’t but, no.”

David Read
The and outs of it like, yeah.

Jessica Steen
I’m a right brain. I’m not a left brain, for sure. I was gonna ask you what’s the genre of like Supernatural, Charmed, Black Mirror, Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents?

David Read
It’s all sci fi fantasy.

Jessica Steen
It’s sci fi fantasy. So that I like. I like that a little more, for sure. And listen, I also like, I did get a hit last night watching it again, of how tickling that part of your brain where I’m not a religious person. So I just like the idea of having faith that I wish they were little, that the aliens generally would be a little nicer, overall. We always get such nasty aliens. Why is every, other than Star Man or ET it’s like, “Why does every alien got to be so mean?” Anyway, but…

David Read
If you go through SG-1, the little green men actually turn out to be good guys. So it’s a trip. So you hadn’t followed SG-1 before?

Jessica Steen
Oh, that’s what I was gonna say is that, sorry, is that Dr. Weir was green also. So in a way, I went in there thinking I don’t need to know anything. I’m going to learn everything with the fans on the show. Right? As the audience learns, I learned and reading those boxes full of files and stuff like that. But I think I actually drove the writers, producers, bananas, to a not good degree, because then I would come in with all these questions that I would think she would have. But I’m a stickler for detail and maybe I should have done a bunch more homework, right? Or they didn’t have the answers to certain things. Because they didn’t, exactly I don’t know, I don’t know, I know, I drove them crazy.

David Read
Oh, you came to them for a lot more than like…

Jessica Steen
Yeah, and I don’t know, if they should have turned to me and said, “Would you go watch the show and get off our backs.” Or whether my questions were dumb or if my questions were, they didn’t have the answers so they didn’t want to be pushed on them. Or I was thinking like, is this an inconsistency or is this something? Anyways, I drove them crazy. I know.

David Read
Well, no. We’ve all been there, one shape or form. One of the things that I wanted to ask was any episode given to you like as homework to kind of get a feel for it. But it sounds like you were just thrown into the deep end of the pool. And kind of basically, she’s either going to do her own research on it or not.

Jessica Steen
Right.

David Read
Okay.

Jessica Steen
Yeah.

David Read
Okay.

Jessica Steen
And what year was it?

David Read
That was 2000 and one moment, 2003. Yeah so.

Jessica Steen
So just just to put into perspective, I don’t think I even got a computer, you know what I mean? And did they give me VHSs, or CD, DVDs or whatever? I don’t know, a lot of this stuff happens quickly, from casting. I’m not using it as excuse. There’s no excuse. I could have I’m sure but anyway.

David Read
Yeah. Okay, you had your approach. What do you recall? And you went and rewatched it, what the intensity of that that job felt like as being it’s a season finale, potentially a series finale, we’re potentially going into another show. Do you recall the intensity of this particular project and the commitment to really have everyone on board to really getting this one, right. “Being in charge of the SGC,” Goran Andonovski asks, “You’re in charge of this whole thing? You’re coming in here? Like you’re absolutely green?”

Jessica Steen
Yeah, but that’s the thing, rewatching it, it’s like, she’s not in charge. There’s at no point, does she actually, she has a couple of flare up moments where she goes, “This is my chair.” But I don’t think she ever felt like she was in charge and if she felt in charge, and I have to say it’s so funny to watch yourself at that age and think “That doesn’t even sound like me, that’s not my voice and what?” Would someone of that age have actually accomplished that much and be taken seriously as a woman? I love that they went there and love that they took a chance and put that person and here’s the other thing I like about that show like I do about NCIS when it comes to procedural stuff, they have a nice balance of humor and personal interactivity and combined with serious issues and weighty content, right? And it is a tricky line to navigate, right? Where you want to keep both things well served and not diminish the intensity. So I think Bill Devane does that so well.

David Read
He is precious.

Jessica Steen
Brilliantly. Yeah, but he’s the kind of President you would love to have because he’s weighty, you don’t want to mess with him, but he’s always got a smile and he’s a good old boy. And he’s never, he’s with a smile he’s going to give it to you. So I, [inaudible] So I loved watching him. I love watching him, because he does that really well.

David Read
Jessica, I don’t think you give yourself enough credit for that role. Look at the context here, she starts on a Monday they get, as the guy who keeps track of all the data, they get attacked on a Thursday, the same week, she is still getting her feet wet. And she knows what she’s doing. She knows people’s names. She knows what needs to be done when she’s there. This was the first few days of this assignment and when you think about it in that context, Ronnie friggin’ Cox coming in, you got the Vice President leaning over your shoulder saying, “You’re gonna do this, you’re gonna do this, and you’re gonna like it.” I think that she did just fine. And I think that you had given her a few more months, like in the story, everything was clicking along, right. Just right.

Jessica Steen
Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it’s the magnitude of a job like that. Yeah, you can’t even, right?

David Read
Well, I mean, she asked, “I’m not qualified to deal with aliens,” and the President’s like, “Someone has to, we have to have an equivalent to this.”

Jessica Steen
So as I’m watching, it’s like, there’s a scattered, little bit of scattered and casual, when I watched Don Davis, who holds such, he holds that weight so well. He just did such a great job of bringing that side of it, right, to the role. And it counters with Harry who plays, he’s kind of the Michael. I don’t know. Yeah. Anyway, [inaudible].

David Read
Richard Dean and Michael Shanks the kind of chaotic, Hammond was the father figure. You were coming in to a show that had this father figure in the form of Don Davis for seven seasons, and you’re appointed by a new administration, and like [inaudible] “I’m in charge of this place? So I guess I’ll read some files and figure it out as I go.” I started, I was told last Friday.

Jessica Steen
Right. And here’s the other thing. Yeah. All my stuff was, well, aside from the White House and getting in the limo. It was all in that one set. Yeah. Right. And it’s all imagination of where, yeah, so yeah.

David Read
Do you recall? Go ahead.

Jessica Steen
No, you go ahead.

David Read
Do you recall was the audition process for it any different than some of the others?

Jessica Steen
Not at all?

David Read
So you weren’t made aware that this was potentially going into a new TV series?

Jessica Steen
Oh, yes. That for sure.

David Read
That’s what I’m interested in. So the information comes out about it, the breakdown, it’s like this is a springboard into Atlantis.

Jessica Steen
Right. Yeah.

David Read
Okay. All right. So what was that like going in there thinking, okay, if this pans out the way that it’s supposed to this could be another seven years. Was that daunting? Was that like, well, at some point, I’m going to have to watch this whole thing or or not, depending on your personal approach.

Jessica Steen
Sure. And here’s where we kind of can’t avoid like what happened. Right. So as I said earlier, like I do take things quite seriously, right? If I’m going to commit to something I do take that very serious. And yes, I’ve heard that. “Oh, she didn’t want to live in Vancouver.” Well, that’s so not true. I mean, I have family in Vancouver, and no, I’m Canadian, and I’m happy. Anyway, was that part? No, absolutely not. Because what I do I wanna live in Vancouver? Sure. Absolutely. Do I want to work on this show? If I didn’t, as I said before, when you look at the breakdown, when you look at the material, when you look at a situation you go, “Could I do that for a long, extended period of time or not?” Right? And so I would not have auditioned for it, or done it, if I had not been prepared to do it. And if I was going to do it, I was going to do it extremely in a committed way. And part of that was when I drove the producer writers crazy with details, a lot of that was like, what’s going to, where are we going with this, and should I do this or should I do this? And can you tell me what’s the outcome of these various things? And should I foster a kind of this or this or anyway.

David Read
You could be mentally actively prepared.

Jessica Steen
Or just project where the growth of this character or the knowing of the, so I was asking a lot of like, future questions. And so anyway, yeah, so when I signed on to do anything, and this show, for sure, I was prepared, especially looking at how long this one ran, and the potential of the second one to do the same. Right. Gotta commit to that. So then…

David Read
Yeah, and then…

Jessica Steen
And then they held me, they hold you for doing anything else by paying you a certain amount of money to keep you from getting on anything else. And then in the fall, they let me go. And…

David Read
No phone call? Just your agent was notified?

Jessica Steen
Yeah. Yeah.

David Read
I’m green about this, is that how it’s done? So.

Jessica Steen
Well, I think it was unceremonious and here is why. So when this came around, and I think it would have been happening in July, late July, and we would be shooting in August. And you said it was 2003. So at that point, 98, 99, 2001, 2002. So at that point, I had, no I don’t have children, and I don’t have other careers, but for 20 years straight I went to Burning Man, changed my life. If you know what that is.

David Read
I’m very familiar, I haven’t been out. But yeah.

Jessica Steen
The first year I went, and for every year afterwards, I, not single handedly, produced a camp. Like we, if you know anything about it, there are theme camps, and you apply for space, and there’s rows of streets and the Front Street is was on the main drag. So it’s all facing everything, and you’re sort of responsible, you have to really show up with the goods. Now, I went for the first time in 98 and there were 14,000 people. Now it’s up 80s and stuff like that, but it changed my life. The first time I went, it changed my life. By the second year, my boyfriend and I at the time, spent so much money, so much time creating a scene, an interactive scene, with a bunch of our friends and we just created this amazing and it was so gratifying. It was like producing a play. An amusement park kind of engaging, I mean, we had everything it was set decking, it was music, we were painting and building and coordinating and we had, it was so much and we all had characters we were playing and producing and you have to bring everything, everything, everything, right? From water to food to fuel to generators to…

David Read
Yeah, cuz it all goes out at the end.

Jessica Steen
Right.

David Read
You guys leave it better than you found it.

Jessica Steen
Biggest leave no trace event on the planet. And so for me, it was my family. I missed weddings, showers, bar mitzvahs, everything for, I know my family knows how important it is to me. It is my family. It’s Mecca, it was going back every year. And here’s where if I commit to something I’m going to do my best to be my word and do my thing. So I had committed, this was a year long. I did a documentary on the theme camp leads and what they, it’s a full time unpaid job, it runs year round and you’re coordinating hundreds of people and everything from far right brains to the far left brains and infrastructure and trucks and insurance. We were bringing out huge structures like huge scaffolding and stages and lighting and music. And so I loved it. And at that point in no way was known and there was no cell service and there was no selfies and there was no and so it was a much quieter thing but it did have as a terrible stigma. Although, yeah, it’s just naked drugged out people, pissing around in the desert, right? And so my agent advised me to tell them, to say that I needed the days off, I had to be done by this date, which I did because I was a camp lead. And I was driving a five ton truck that was full of all this stuff. So he said, “Tell them it’s a family reunion.” I said, “Oh, it is.” “And that you can’t miss it.” I’m like, “And I can’t.” And we’ll have an end date, but they have to have you out by and I was like, “okay.” So it’s a true story for me. Right? As I said, it’s as important to me as my real family is. So it is a family. Yes. So go to set. Fall in love with everybody. Martin Wood, like it just like everybody was awesome.

David Read
He’s amazing.

Jessica Steen
The crew the cast. Everybody’s awesome. So fun. And I can’t keep my mouth shut I guess. It is a family reunion. I am going, people are interested in talking about it and I’m also having costumes made. I had like, I’m a stilt walker so I was having these huge, stilt costumes made. And I was having…

David Read
You’re excited.

Jessica Steen
I’m excited. I’m having like foggers and bubble makers delivered to my [trailer]. It was bananas. So…

David Read
This is all it’s going on when you’re filming Last City, you’re getting prepped for this?

Jessica Steen
Yeah, I’m literally coordinating like a producer heading out into the Sahara Desert, and getting all the tickets and all the early entries and all that stuff, whatever. Doing all that. And it’s not, sure yes, is there naked? Yes. Yes. Are the desert? Sure, yes, but

Jessica Steen
It’s everything. something much more. So I they all then come to know that I’m going to Burning Man. Okay. And they arranged the schedule to get me out by the date that we agreed upon in my contract and whatever. So, in fact, I shot all day, one day, I had a day off and I shot again another day, so it was like Wednesday and Friday. So I fly the last flight out from Vancouver to Los Angeles, I packed the truck all the next day. I’d have to pick up the truck, I packed the whole truck five ton with friends and we filled the whole thing. And I fly back that night. And I got to work on Friday. And then I booted to the airport again and fly back to Los Angeles. And I drive because we have to go in and build this whole thing before it opens. So I drive out to the desert and we do our whole thing. So I don’t know how long later it was that I talked to John Smith, producer on the show. And I guess I called him at some point and I just said, “Hey, I guess I just want to know what happened.”

David Read
It was after, this is after everything’s been [inaudible]

Jessica Steen
Yeah, it’s, um, I didn’t know what, I think it might have been, it might have actually been a year later. I don’t know. So he said why don’t you come in and see me. I was like, “Okay…”

David Read
Aw, good guy.

Jessica Steen
I feel like I’m going to the principal’s office. So I go in there. Lovely man, he was such a lovely man. and I said, “Can I guess?” He goes, “Yeah.” I said, well, I know I drove them crazy asking too many questions. I drove them crazy.” He goes, “Yup.” And I said, “And it was the Burning Man thing.” He said, “Yup, they felt you were more committed to naked drugging in the desert than you were committed to doing the show the way they needed you to.” I was like, “the irony about that John is that for me it was a true story, I was going to a family reunion, I was not lying, it was more important to me than several families, as I said, my commitment to it is the commitment that I would show to the show.” And unfortunately no one ever had the conversation with me. I was unceremoniously let go without explanation and he said, “I think there are regrets about that the way that went down.” And I said, “Okay, well and I don’t know how I would have done it differently.” I think at that time my agent was right to say, “I don’t think they’re gonna understand that you’re that committed to getting naked and doing drugs in the desert, like they won’t understand what you’re doing, and we have to lie, I guess, or would say it’s something else or whatever.” So Burning Man that’s how it happened.

David Read
Yeah, I didn’t know what it was until Malcolm in the Middle. They have that episode on it. And I’m like, that’s interesting. It’s a parody of it. And then I start, it’s one of those you really do your own research. And it’s like, oh…

Jessica Steen
There are so many parodies. I mean, it is…

David Read
Okay, that’s what this is. And it’s one of those where it’s like, it’s kind of like cryptocurrency. Oh, well, you must be doing drugs. No, it’s an investment. There’s so much more to it then everything that went down with Ross Ulbricht and Dread Pirate Roberts and Burning Man has that kind of stigma. And I look at the work that Torri did on Atlantis, and I love Torri. I love Torri as a person. And I can’t help but wonder, Jessica, what your performance would have done to that show? What they would have taken from you and done with it. And it’s something that you were like, You know what, at the end of the day, this is the question that I’ve really wanted to ask. At the end of the day was probably for the best that I didn’t get it because these other things came up? Or is it like, still one of those scabs where it’s, I really would have enjoyed that.

Jessica Steen
I think, I was hurt or I was like misunderstood. And I’m definitely the kind of person that I’ll apologize if I completely did something bad or wrong. But if I can explain to you why I did what I did, and help you understand from my point of view, how it was honorable or my intentions were good, then great. And I didn’t get a chance to do that. And that’s the biggest sticking point for me. I’m the kind of person that will audition for something and I put the sides and the breakdown directly into the recycling bin. I cannot, just like I can’t invest in any audition, I cannot invest in anything that isn’t mine. Right? The way it happened is the biggest sticking point for me. What could have been for me on that show or I cannot play in that landscape. Because you know…

David Read
Why torture yourself? Why?

Jessica Steen
What good does it do? And then yes, of course, am I a person that everything happens for a reason sometimes because great things can happen. But things unfolded the way they did and I can’t have regrets about it. And again, I don’t know how I would handle it differently if something, I don’t know, it’s a tricky one.

David Read
That’s fair. You had some dynamite scenes with Devane, with Ronnie Cox. Michael Shanks. Richard Dean at that conference table. Do you have any memories of working with them?

Jessica Steen
I remember thinking that Michael Shanks and Michael Weatherly, they could play brothers, you know what I mean? They had a very similar, to me they had a very similar ease and humor and the way they dealt with the material. And I just liked working like that with them. It is always intimidating to come into an established cast, crew, show situation as a guest star and make yourself at home and feel, and especially if you’re holding a position of power, whatever. And and so telling the leads what’s going on or what they [inaudible]

David Read
I will consider it.

Jessica Steen
You know, right? Right. Yeah. And honestly, when I watched it last night, I was like that is almost happening to someone else. I have no idea who that is right now. It feels like…

David Read
You’re really divorced from it. Is it time? Or is it…

Jessica Steen
Time. It’s like if someone showed you footage of you in the school ground fighting or talking or playing or doing something.

David Read
Who is that person?

Jessica Steen
Who is that person? I said those things I looked that way. It’s like it’s somebody else, honestly, I mean, of course there are pinpricks of memories about all shows and all situations in your life. But when you have to look at them again, you’re like, Aaahhh!

David Read
Absolutely. No, for this fandom it is an impactful performance. And I want you to know just how the response over the years from Lost City to Atlantis afterwards has really divided people’s allegiances because you’ve got the group who is I love the actor, I’m committed to the actor, it’s the actress, the actor, it’s the actor. And then others who are like, I can step back and look at this and say, “What if this person had actually continued this?” And there are so many people who are like, and I’m getting that back out there again, I loved Torri. I am one of those who was like, “What about the possibilities?” Because I’m not in it as in the perspective, we the fans are not in it in the perspective that you were where it was work. And it was going to be your nine to five.

Jessica Steen
Yep.

David Read
And there’s so many of us who are like, “You know what? Would have been incredible to see her do that.” And then you got the other people who are like, “Nope, nope, she’s not Torri.” Because that’s what they saw and that’s who they loved.

Jessica Steen
Sure that’s not easy to come in, and I don’t envy anybody that has to step into a role that’s been somebody else. And it’s hard for that person and it’s hard for anybody watching. And I remember doing, this is hilarious, I remember doing a soap in New York called Loving and the woman who was playing this part got too big to, she was pregnant, and her shoes wouldn’t go on and stuff like that. And they just went, “Playing the part of Trisha will be [Jessica Steen]. I’m like, and they said, “Can we see how long your hair is?” And I’m like, as if the length of my hair is going to fool the public. That’s not the same. So it’s weird for anybody to see someone else play the part of somebody that’s been, “Wait a minute, who you trying to,” but anyway, and do I as a creative person with like an imagination of, what if? Or what if Atlantis in [Antartica], like, cool, I would love to have done that, played in that imagination landscape. And what if this and provide to be an ambassador for that? Geez, that would have been really fun. And I think the weight or her gravitas or her empathy or her growth for that character, oh my gosh, epic, right? I did not watch any of Torri’s stuff and I don’t know her. So once it was done, I was like,” Okay, put that on the shelf.” Right? I didn’t go and say well, [inaudible], I didn’t do that. But would I have liked obviously to, because if that was happening, I’d be fascinated. I’d be so excited. It’s like creating a whole you know [inaudible]

David Read
Absolutely. The whole thing, it would have been creating another Lisa. Except every episode.

Jessica Steen
Honestly, that part in that way, way more layered, wage issues, way more intense, way more incoming material, way more variations of what, like, there’s just so much to, and that’s one of the things of playing a part like that. It’s like can you possibly even imagine what it’s like to be dealing with that? I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be a politician, let alone somebody dealing with you know…

David Read
Bureaucratic role. And that’s who Weir was at the end of the day, and I can tell you just to take a couple of minutes, once she got to Atlantis, just to give you a peek into into what she dealt with, the character dealt with. She was, because of circumstances, being forced to step aside and let the military come in and take over, at least twice. And in the second time, it was a situation that Weir said, “This is crazy. We can’t do this. If you go forward with this, I’m going to resign.” And the situation ended up killing her. And her physical form, ultimately, and it’s just one of those where it was a great arc for a character she went, all over the place. And all of us fans who rewatched the material again and again, sit back and go, “What if.” So, yeah, it was it was cool. Christina, and I really appreciate you being so open about it that and [inaudible]

Jessica Steen
Yeah, we will never know.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely.

Jessica Steen
I mean, it’s like, yes, I would not have signed on if I hadn’t wanted to take that journey for sure.

David Read
Christina Jacobs, she says, “I’ve watched two thirds of Jessica’s lifetime filmography and have enjoyed all the different genres and roles that she’s played. Like most fans of Jessica, I’m always wanting more. So my question is, if you can make a full length feature film based on just one of the characters you’ve portrayed over the years who would you pick?”

Jessica Steen
Oh, I actually think I’m going to circle back to the same thing I said before which is I am still…

David Read
Waiting for that one what?

Jessica Steen
Yep. Okay I have ideas, realms, and characters that I would like to play in. But honestly, been there, done that. I want to try somebody different, new. If I was going to do a movie sure, like, I’ve got places I want to expand into.

David Read
Absolutely. The one that I would go for with that would have been, let me pull up the character. I want to get her name right. Let’s see here. David, shame on you for not having this ready to go. That’s my fault.

Jessica Steen
Not one, but your your quick on your fingers. What’s that? What’s…

David Read
Jennifer Watts. I would love to have had that backstory from Armegeddon. I grew up a Michael Bay kid, and yeah, I love, “If I decided to kick you in the balls and you don’t know how to work your thrusters. What happens to you?” It’s one of the greatest lines in action cinema. I would have loved have been a character in that.

Jessica Steen
One of the most beautiful guys ever.

David Read
Oh, he was such a sweetheart. Oh, man. Absolutely the world lost some great talent.

Jessica Steen
Oh my god. And just to say like, his voice literally vibrated your body because it was so deep. And he was so cute and so funny. And you could scare him, he hated being scared. Like you could jump out from behind a door. A guy that size who literally his arms were the size of my torso.

David Read
Michael Clark Duncan.

Jessica Steen
Oh my god, a big man. Like you’re like, oh, and he and I, this is kind of funny, he and I were back in the circus, in the trailer zone and I challenged him to a race. I was like, “You cannot outrun me. I don’t know what you weigh. Yeah, you’re all muscle, but I bet I can beat you in a race.” So we started to run. And he goes, “Oh, oh.” and I’m like, “Oh, come on. Come on. You can’t be serious. You’re gonna pull one of those.” He goes, “I think I pulled my hamstring.” I’m like, “Get out of here,” but I think he did. But seriously he left a message on my phone that I kept on there forever because it was like, it was deeper than Barry White. I played it for my friend. Can you believe? I wanted him to make the an outgoing message. I couldn’t, nothing would happen if I kicked him.

David Read
Right. Zero G on the asteroid. 00TheRealTC and M.E., Man I wish I saw this show.

Jessica Steen
What are you talking about?

David Read
Captain Power? What was Captain Power like?

Jessica Steen
Wait, what did you call it?

David Read
00TheRealTC that’s his YouTube username and M.E.

Jessica Steen
Oh, oh, sorry.

David Read
Sorry. My apologies. They were both asking about Captain Power. He says here, “If you haven’t seen the series, the finale will rip your heart out and crush it into pieces. And he wants to know, Jessica, what did the death of the character, what did you think of the death of the character, especially since this is a kid show?” More than one way?

Jessica Steen
Yes, absolutely. I mean, it was the first interactive television which I didn’t think it really in terms of I saw teaching opportunities for that kind of thing. Like if you were to, Sesame Street interactive that would have been fun. Or there are ways to, I don’t think I ever saw the same kind of thing, it was the first you bought, it was funded by Mattel Toys. Right? And so when Christmas came around, and I guess it didn’t sell as well then we were done. But this was a situation where I didn’t want to do the show. I did not want to do the show. This post apocalyptic world and it felt super dark and heavy for kids. And I, like I said earlier, when if I’m going to sign on to do something, I want to get behind it. I want to be able to, I couldn’t, I couldn’t, I couldn’t, I didn’t want to play in that world. I don’t know it felt very bleak and yucky.

David Read
Didn’t want to ask you to say power on then?

Jessica Steen
No, but so here’s the thing. You kept coming back and I was like and I felt very pressured to do it. And I said, “Okay, but I only want to do the first season.” That was how I signed on to do it, was I only want to do the first season and I don’t know if I said kill me at the end of the first season or they said, “Okay, we’ll get rid of you by the end of the first season.” I’m like, “Okay, great.” So I was my own demise, that was my first blowing up and but then getting on the show, oh my gosh, it was such an unprecedented kind of CGI the whole thing and it was back so early that the way that it was being done it’s so cute now, right? So when we would stand in front of our pods and put our hands over like old 70s lamps these upward facing you know those ones hang down, anyway, so they had to up face when we put our hand and then on the screen there was a little TV monitor and they would take a Sharpie and outline us on the screen and then we would run off to our changing rooms and put on our spandex, come running back in and they come in a little more to your right, a little more, now stop, don’t move. And we would sit back into our Sharpie shape and power on. So that’s cute as anything and Peter MacNeil, we laughed a lot and made the most of because we were shooting in an old bus station. Not a station where passengers come and go and there’s like a cafe. No, it was a depot, it was like a fix the buses, store the buses, so there was no insulation and in the summer we boiled and in the winter we froze. And there we are in our spandex, like we’re either boiling or freezing and it was all this like foam rocks so there’s a lot of chemicals and a lot of beehive smoke that they used to create, I mean, wooh, and we would get giddy. You just be there for hours and hours and we would just get giddy and so it was there was a lot of fun to it and some you know heavy stories and… I still have, I had a bunch of ships and the way they raised money they made trailers to raise money for it and the woman that played my part very blonde, very buxom, and whatever and they made all the plates for all the armor for those people. So when I powered on I went from like, an A cup to an E cup. [inaudible] just shot out these big gold boobs. And my what do you call it figure, my…

David Read
Your avatar?

Jessica Steen
Little doll.

David Read
Action figure? Yeah,

Jessica Steen
My action figure. Who is that blonde? I have a couple of them still. And I’m like, “See me. I haven’t aged, have I?”

David Read
Karr Galaxy Studios wanted to know, “Have you stayed in touch with anyone from that show over the years?”

Jessica Steen
Within the last year, Peter McNeil and I become friends on Facebook. So yeah. And then I saw Tim and we did our 25 year interview thing.

David Read
It’s just that, the things that it’s like, you know what, if it had the cult following that it has now, you would have still finished and who knows what it would have done. It’s like looking at that with a lot of the cross merchandising that goes on today is very much similar looking at what was called DEN or Digital Entertainment Network with what Netflix did a few years later. It was too early. The infrastructure really hadn’t evolved. But Netflix would not exist without DEN. And I can’t imagine what we have now. That wouldn’t have existed without a show, like Captain Power paving the way. Tell it to go ahead and say, “We’ll take a chance on this. Let’s see what happens.” It will be interesting one way or another.

Jessica Steen
And there were heavy stories. Yeah, yeah. Yep. Yep. I think it’s technology. Like I said, I think it could have served a lot more purposes and done different things and the evolution would have been interesting to see. And the storylines were, there were a lot of really deep and juicy storylines.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely. And I have to finish on a funny one here at King’s Rook and back again to 00TheRealTC said, “Jessica, any explanation for the propensity for your characters to die in explosions?” Five characters and counting, apparently.

Jessica Steen
How? Oh, didn’t, really they counted. I love that.

David Read
Someone counted.

Jessica Steen
The only thing I couldn’t think of it was it seemed like it was, do you remember the SCTV characters that John Candy and Joe Flaherty did in the Farm Film Review or whatever. And the two of them sit there, “May God take a liking to you and blow you up real good.”

David Read
So there’s nothing left.

Jessica Steen
So I guess God’s taken a liking to me. Blowed me up real good five times. I know it’s weird. I remember when it happened on NCIS, “We’re blowing you up for sweeps week.” When they get all their ratings. I’m like, “I’m glad I’m serving a purpose.” Unceremonious.

David Read
One more before I let you go. Amazon has begun the process of buying MGM. It’s just a matter of time, be it two years from now or five years from now, before Stargate comes back in one shape or form. Either in the Brad Wright universe that was created for the TV series after the movie or something new. Would you be opposed to coming back as a new someone for SG four?

Jessica Steen
Oh, of course, I’d love to. That’d be great. Yeah. As someone else. Yeah.

David Read
I would love to see. If something does come down. If it does end up getting shot somewhere that’s accessible to you. Please audition for it, please?

Jessica Steen
Oh, yes, absolutely, absolutely. And I mean, of course those kinds of shows, and I’ve done a bunch of, it’s so good for your imagination. And it’s so good for, yeah, I would love to. That’d be great. The hope that for you guys.

David Read
Yes, we have been, we’ve been very patient Jessica. But the velocity of the storytelling has slowed to the point where it’s fewer number of episodes. The Expanse was picked up by Amazon from SyFy. So it’s one of the shows that everyone is looking at that and saying, “If they can adapt a previously existing show.”

Jessica Steen
I have a friend on that show.

David Read
Oh, yeah. And are they happy?

Jessica Steen
Yes. It’s Keon Alexander. I think he’s having a great time.

David Read
I haven’t seen it yet. But I’m looking forward to it.

Jessica Steen
Yeah, I have SyFy, fans are like, “This is the one, it’s great. Love it.

David Read
Absolutely. Jessica, thank you so much for taking the time.

Jessica Steen
Thank you for inviting me. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

David Read
My thanks to Jessica Steen for making this episode of Dial the Gate possible. It was such a treat to finally sit down and talk with her and she’s someone that I’ve admired for years long before she was on Stargate. I found out she was gonna be on Lost City. It was like, “Yes! They got her, that’s great!” And then things changed, changed out with Torri. And it’s like, “Okay, this other girl’s got her stuff this is a terrific performance.” And so I’ve always been like, Jessica, Torri, I’ve always been so torn in between, because I’ve loved them both. And I’ve gotten to know Torri over the years. So it’s like, it’s been so hard for me. And the other thing is, I’m gonna let you in on stuff here. Darren over at GateWorld and I because I was there once it was like three years old, I’ve been doing this since I was 18. And I’m 38 now and we have been so privileged to have access to Brad and Rob and Joe and Paul and the people who have made the stories possible. And we have, because we’re fans, and we want to know the stories and so we have those stories from their perspective that we will take to our graves. They’re not our stories to tell. And it’s so interesting to bring someone on and have them tell their story. Because we’ve been doing a lot of oral history with Dial the Gate and Dialing Home over when Stargate Command was the thing. And oral history is very nebulous. People remember one thing, it was a blue canoe, no, it was actually a gray canoe, little things like that persistence, memory’s weird. And so it’s always so pleasant when someone comes on, and verifies everything. So to get an opportunity to have someone come on and actually explain their side of it. And for me as a reporter to go back through my brain. I’m like, “Yeah, that’s that’s exactly what I heard.” But the right people have to tell that story or those stories don’t get told at all. It’s just not our place. So it was terrific to have her on. And it’s also one of those other things that’s flashing in the back of my mind, as a neon sign would be, as the older that I get that communication is so important. And there isn’t always time or an opportunity for it. And you get to deal with the consequences of that over years of dwelling on it. Or in Jessica’s case it was the time that it was once the opportunity was over. I moved on. I found out a little bit later what was going on and that was it. And it’s such a privilege to sit down with the likes of her and the likes of Joseph Mallozzi, who we’re doing an ongoing series with now, and getting those details committed in a place for all time where fans will be able to access it into the future. And it’s just really cool. So that’s the nice thing about and the reason that I created this show. So thankful to Jessica and everyone else who have come on and given their stories. Absolutely. 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, support the show by buying yourself some of our themed swag. We’re now offering T-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, and hoodies for all ages in a variety of sizes and colors at Red Bubble. Checkout is fast and easy and you can even use your Amazon or PayPal account. Just visit DialtheGate.redbubble.com and thank you so much for your support. So next week’s lineup is going to be the lineup that is going to close us out of the season with episodes 98 and 99 at 12 noon on June 27th, 12 noon pacific time, Joseph Mallozzi is going to be joining us for part nine, coincidentally enough, Atlantis season one. So we’re going to go into that first season with with Torri. And with Joe and all the others. Joe had these are both that are upcoming pre-recorded episodes and Joe had some some really interesting insights for season one of Atlantis. And he’s at 12 noon pacific time on June 27th. Followed by my first interview ever with Bill Dow, a huge oversight on my part let me tell you because this guy, he’s one of eight people who have been in all three live action TV series. So that’s June the 27th at 2 pm Bill Dow will be episode 99. And then we’re off. And so this behind me goes away and I am going to the Midwest. We will have episode 100 over the week of San Diego Comic Con with the Stargate Atlantis cast reunion. The 45-minute version will be premiering there first, and then a few hours later or a day later, not exactly sure which yet because the date and time are still being finalized but they have a several hour moratorium on the content. We will then air a 90-minute version, the complete cut, over here on Dial the Gate at youtube.com/dialthegate. And that’s what we’ve got and be expecting content to be produced throughout the summer as well. That’s pre-recorded, no real live shows as this one does when they move everything’s gonna be chaos. And especially right now with next to no houses on the market. That’s that. So that’s what I’ve got for you. I really appreciate you tuning in. My tremendous thanks to my amazing team, Linda Furey, my producer, Sommer, Tracy, Keith, Jeremy, Rhys, Antony, my moderating team and my production assistant, Jen. You guys make the show happen. And to everyone who tunes in every week, my viewers who are consistent with us. Thank you so much for watching. If you’ve just found the show, I hope you liked what you saw. Click that Like button for us and help to get us into the viewing cues of more Stargate fans. And we’ll just keep on puttering along with this show. I think that’s all that we have for you here. And I hope that the interview answered some questions that you had and that you had a good time as well. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. Thanks so much for tuning in. And I’ll see you on the other side.