Atlantis’s first doctor, “Carson Beckett” actor Paul McGillion, returns to Dial the Gate in this PRE-RECORDED interview to bring us up to speed on his recent projects, share memories of working in the Pegasus Galaxy, and answer your submitted questions!

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Timecodes
00:00 – Opening Credits
00:26 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:35 – Welcoming Paul McGillion, New Projects
09:23 – Shorter Seasons, Fewer Episodes, and Family Law
14:56 – Stargate Atlantis Reunion on Dial the Gate
16:25 – European Recognition and Conventions
17:28 – What Atlantis Means to Him, and Meeting Fans at Conventions
20:21 – Cliff Simon
25:03 – Ernest Littlefield in “The Torment of Tantalus”
29:40 – Paul’s Scottish Accent
30:53 – Introduction of Beckett, and Difficult Days on Atlantis
38:09 – “Sateda”
39:03 – Would Paul Change Anything? Future Stargate, Hallmark Movies, and LEGO
49:17 – Wrapping up with Paul
50:34 – Post interview housekeeping
52:31 – End credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Hello, and welcome to episode 118 of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read. Paul McGillion is going to be joining us for this episode, Dr. Carson Beckett from Stargate Atlantis. He was one of our first guests in season one and also for episode 100 with the Atlantis cast reunion. I will be talking to him about rejoining his co-stars for that particular episode. But before we get started, if you like Stargate, and you want to see more content like this on YouTube, it would mean a great deal to me if you click that 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, do 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 guests changes. And clips from this live stream will be released over the next several weeks on the GateWorld.net YouTube channel. For this particular episode, this is a pre-recorded show, so if you are joining us in the youtube.com/dialthegate live chat that’s going on right now when this episode has been published, just please know that this episode was recorded Tuesday the eighth of February. So we have collected questions for Paul McGillion in the comments section that I prepared for the Q&A for today so there will not be a chance for you to ask the questions live because we’re a pre-recorded show. Paul is a huge supporter of the channel and we will have him back in the future to get some live questions, so the questions that are asked in this episode come from me and from fans who submitted those questions previously. I really appreciate those who submitted questions. A number of the questions I did not ask because they are answered in the first episode with Paul. If you want to have answers to those questions, or you didn’t see your question get asked in this episode, check out the first time that he joined us because it is very likely that that question was answered already in his first appearance with us. Now without further ado, Paul McGillion, Dr. Carson Beckett on Stargate Atlantis returns, gracing us with your presence. Thank you so much sir, for being back with us. How you doing?

Paul McGillion
I’m great. Thank you so much. [in a Scottish accent] Hello, you cheeky buggers.

David Read
How’s it been going? What’s been going on in your world?

Paul McGillion
It’s great, yes, you know, two years of a pandemic but it seems like we’re starting to open up again and life is returning to normal. The kids are at school, which is great, and things seem to be getting a bit better, which is good and I hope everybody’s keeping well.

David Read
Have you been keeping busy?

Paul McGillion
It’s been busy, busy times. Yeah, I’m working on season two of Firefly Lane right now, which has been a ton of fun. I don’t know when it’s going to air, people are asking about it so hopefully we’ll find that out soon. But yeah, it’s been a ton of fun.

David Read
Can you give us a brief rundown of Bud for those who haven’t seen that project?

Paul McGillion
Bud Mularkey. It’s the best name. So, lovely Sarah Chalke, I play her dad in the show, I’m Bud Mularkey, she’s Kate Mularkey, and Katherine Heigl and her are best friends in this series. And basically it travels through the lives of these two girls, based on a book called Firefly Lane. Kristin Lehman [Kristin Hannah –Ed] wrote the book, wonderful story, heartbreaking, and it’s got so much humanity in it, so it’s a real pleasure to be part of a series like that. And it spans over 30 years, so myself and the lovely Chelah Horsdal plays my wife, Margie and Bud. I’m kind of like a blue-collar sort of dad, when he was in the 70’s he worked for a factory that built the space rover and things like that, he’s kind of rednecky, you know. Yeah, it’s good, it’s a fun series. He’s a beer-drinking, hot dog-eating, horse-loving dude.

David Read
So does the series transcend time every episode?

Paul McGillion
Yeah, every episode we go into different time areas, usually. Sometimes it’ll be in the 70’s, depending on the episode it might stay in certain periods longer, but it usually goes to the 70’s, the 80’s, the 90’s, and 2005 it ends, so for myself and Chelah, we age throughout the series. For Tully and Kate, Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke, they have younger versions of them, two young actresses that are fantastic, and so in the 70’s I work with them and then later on I work with the other ladies. You get the best of both worlds, it’s fun.

David Read
Is the timeframes isolated per episode? Or does it switch back and forth per episode?

Paul McGillion
It switches back and forth internally in the episodes.

David Read
Okay, so new episodes may come out, you don’t know what kind of makeup you’ll be putting on. If new ones always…

Paul McGillion
There’s often times where they have to age us and then often times when they have to get rid of the gray and make me younger, and do that work. So, it’s back and forth and sometimes even inside that episode, there’ll be different time spans. So it just depends what episode it is and how much time we’re spending on those.

David Read
As a creative person, as an artist, what tools do you use to hang on to, to keep all of the content straight? Because for you playing this character, he has an internal continuity that is fixed in the time of when you’re coming in, so he’s exposed to certain… he knows certain events before the event that you’re recording that day and he isn’t aware of certain things that come after that, that you’ve done on previous episodes, I would imagine. How do you… do you just go day by day dealing with that? How do you internalize that?

Paul McGillion
I think for me, yeah, I go day by day dealing with it. He’s a very lovable character, the complexities of the scenes, although there is some really, really beautiful tender moments with his daughter and at times he’s really sweet, but like I said, a lot of times you’ll catch him on a couch watching football and stuff like that. And he’s going to parties, he’s sort of there reluctantly, often times. He’s sort of a curmudgeon a little bit, but for me, I just go episode by episode, scene by scene and just go through with it. They do such a fine job with the set dec and everything, they put you into that period. Although, that being said, when I am playing older Bud, I’m in my late 70’s, I slunch a little bit more, I kind of just slow things down a little bit more and I think Chelah does the same thing. And there’s scenes where we’re dancing and stuff, and it’s always fun to kind of play that, you know, you’re not as spry as you were in your 70’s, you know, so there’s aspects like that.

David Read
Are there… emotionally and perhaps from a… what’s the word I want… From a wise perspective, how wise he is, do you approach him differently decade over decade, or is he kind of like a static kind of Archie Bunker, almost fixed in his ways kind of character? Or when you look at “Oh, we’re gonna be doing it from the 90’s” or “We’re gonna be doing him in the 2000’s, I want to play him a little bit more rounded and mature.” How does that evolve?

Paul McGillion
His edge goes away as he gets older too and he does evolve, because he’s got some, if any people have seen the show, there’s some aspects of — I won’t give anything away — that he has to mature too, as well, and deal with, and I think you can see him evolve as a person throughout the series as he gets older. And it’s interesting, because it goes back and forth so much that you kind of have… at times you’re kind of like, “Oh God, I like that character,” and then you don’t see him for a long time and then he comes back and then he’s in 2005 version of it. So it gets a little bit complicated, but for an actor, I just go in and present. We have an awesome writing team, so whatever opportunities I get to work, I just kind of take him at the moment and play him like that, but knowing that he does mature as a person, for sure. Hopefully we all do.

David Read
Do you know if Netflix has announced the release date for season two?

Paul McGillion
They haven’t announced it yet, as far as I know.

David Read
When did you finish shooting?

Paul McGillion
I’m still shooting.

David Read
Oh, wow, okay.

Paul McGillion
I’m shooting this week. We’ll go til April.

David Read
Wow, okay. Season one is available on Netflix right now. I am trying to see here… how many episodes were in season 1. 10 episodes. I love this shorter length series run, as opposed to the 20 episodes, frankly, of shows like SG-1 and Atlantis. I think that the quality of the material has overall had a real chance to improve over the years from doing a 20, 25 episode series to a 10 or an eight episode series because the writers seem to have an opportunity to spend more time on less hours of television and make them stronger. Would you agree with that or do you think it’s more arbitrary?

Paul McGillion
I think so, I think you can really focus more, if you have a writing team and everyone’s got, hopefully, an episode or so they really focus on and the budgets can be well used, because you’re dealing with 10 and not 20 and especially with a show like Stargate, it’s expensive to produce and I think that certain things you’d like to be able to do, you just sometimes don’t have the budget for. And then knowing that you have 10 episodes, they can really allocate that budget to what needs they have on the show, and the show on Firefly Lane, it’s more about dealing with all the time periods, and the costumes and the set dec and everything like that changes, shifts like that. Whereas a show like Stargate, you’re going off-planet and you’re dealing with all kinds of special effects and depending on where you are that the budget on the planet could be extraordinary, the sets can be a lot. And yeah, I kind of like it as well, too. I mean, the British model is sometimes six episodes, you know?

David Read
Right, limited, really limited release series.

Paul McGillion
Yeah. Hey, and for an actor, though, it’s nice to do 20 episodes!

David Read
I understand that, for sure, keep you busy. Any other recent projects or upcoming projects that you want to call out?

Paul McGillion
I had the pleasure working on Jewel Staite’s new series called Family Law. And the first season it just aired, I’m in season two and hopefully in season three, if they get a pickup, which they’ll probably find out about soon. It’s a it’s a procedural drama, Jewel is the number one in it with Victor Garber in there. Fantastic. It’s got a great cast. It’s a ton of fun. I don’t think it’s airing in the States, it’s just in Canada right now.

David Read
I think that that’s correct.

Paul McGillion
Yeah. And I think, hopefully, it will get a broader audience base soon, but it’s a lot of fun to work on and I have a really funny character — complete opposite than Bud Malarkey. His name is Charles “Chip” Crombie and I’m this hot-shot, obnoxious lawyer. But he’s a bit of a character, really fun to play. Jewel and I talked about trying to get on the show and do something, but I want to wait until I got a really fun part and this is the part that I wanted. It’s a pleasure to be on it. And Susin Nielsen is the showrunner and she’s great in all the ratings. It’s fantastic, it’s a ton of fun.

David Read
That’s solid. That’s great. What is it like getting back with some of those special members of the Atlantis cast? I know you and Jewel have always been tight, but getting to share convention space is one thing, but really getting back in there, sinking your teeth into characters on a different set. Have you had a lot of scenes with her?

Paul McGillion
Yeah, I’ve had quite a few scenes with her. We have quite a few scenes, a big courtroom scene that we have, more so in the first episode than the second one, not as much with her, a lot with Victor, sort of like Victor’s nemesis in it. It’s amazing. Jewel, and I’ve said this before, she really is taking her roles and everyone on the show really seriously, she’s doing a great job and she’s so gracious to everybody that comes on to set, and she gets it. For some special friends who get a bottle of Moët, that she put [inaudible]. I think she’s doing cards and stuff for a lot of people that are coming on it and making sure she introduces herself and making people feel comfortable, which is, I think, a great thing to do and it really helps the flow of the show, and when that makes people feel comfortable when they come onto a set with you. She’s doing such a great job, I’m really proud of her.

David Read
She’s learned from the best.

Paul McGillion
Well, it’s a great way to watch, it’s great to watch her work, and she’s so good. She has a ton of dialogue, and she just hammers it out. She looks amazing. She is just such a… she’s just taking the role on and just crushing it. I think she’s fantastic. I think, people, if you haven’t seen it, you’re in for a treat. She’s really, really good. And it’s funny, but at the same time, she’s really vulnerable as well and it sparks a lot of… pulls on the heartstrings quite a bit too. She’s got a very interesting, complex character to play.

David Read
It’s one of these situations where I wish that they would get some kind of a deal for distribution in the United States, because you don’t want to be one of these people who has to go and pirate it. But at a certain point, it’s like, “I love this actor. I love the performance that they give, I want to have access to this content. My region has decided not to carry it, and at a certain point, what do you do?” I’m not going to say that anyone should do one thing or another, but I also think that you should be able to support the people whom you follow by keeping up with their stuff.

Paul McGillion
Knock on wood, hopefully it will get a wider fan base soon. I hope so. It deserves, it deserves to have it.

David Read
Absolutely. It was terrific sitting down with you and the rest of the cast for ComicCon online this past July and I was really surprised at how quickly everyone just kind of sank back in to…

Paul McGillion
To make fun of each other?

David Read
Yeah! The comfort level just [clicks fingers] came right back there and the quirky… I mean, even Rachel’s like, “Oh, shut up, Paul.”

Paul McGillion
That’s not surprising.

David Read
The cadence between the personalities was just all in place and it looked like it hadn’t gone anywhere.

Paul McGillion
No, I think we all… listen, whenever I get a chance to see any of those guys, it’s always fun. We all have a dinner together. We were in Germany, in November I believe, and it was Rachel and Torri and David Nykl and myself. And we went for a couple of dinners, we had just a great time, it’s just great catching up just as people, they’re just really good people, and Jewel, of course, was there as well so it was like five of us. So it was a ton of fun. And we really got a great chance to catch up and see each other, it just, I don’t know, just like riding a horse again, you know, you just get back up on there, ride a bike. Everybody who we spent so much time with and they’ve moved on in different directions and doing different shows or whatever but we all have the commonality of Stargate that brought us together in the first place and I think we all very much still appreciate that.

David Read
Do you notice in Europe a greater recognition for a lot of the sci-fi content than is often the case over in America and Canada?

Paul McGillion
I don’t know, it’s been a while, obviously, since I’ve… I’ve always had a great time going to conventions and seeing the fan base everywhere. I haven’t done it in the States, for obvious reasons recently, but they’re just different. I think it’s just different. Everyone has their things that they really like, I mean, the UK is a bit different than Germany and then France, and then Australia, but I can tell you something right now, the need and the appreciation for Stargate hasn’t went away. It’s still there and the fan base is certainly there. We signed for hours every day and people were just thrilled that we made the trip over, it was just fun to go there and see everybody and see all the people celebrating what they enjoyed together.

David Read
James Davis wanted to know — I sent a request out on YouTube for some questions — Paul, what does Atlantis mean to you as that time in your life, as a person and as a performer, growing?

Paul McGillion
Well, James, it was a very special time for me, to be really honest with you. It was the first big series I was a major part of, I got to play a Scottish character, which I hadn’t done before. I made sure that when I read for the character, I stuck to my guns and played them Scottish so that was sort of monumental to me in that sense, that I was able to do that and represent my roots, so to speak, [in a Scottish accent] Thank you very much. And just getting the camaraderie with everybody, getting to know the writers and the directors, and of course, all the cast, and meeting the fans. Without that show, we wouldn’t be talking, and it’s the show that keeps on giving and it’s something I always will appreciate and I’ll always cherish as a big part of my growing as an actor, you know? And I had such a fun character to play so I, as an actor, allowed me to do lots of comedic opportunities and lots of dramatic ones as well. So it really… you build your muscles and you really got in there and got into the trenches, so to speak and it really was something that I’ll never forget. And like I said, all the relationships, people like yourself, David, all over the world that I’ve met all these great people that share the common love for Stargate. So it’ll always hold a special place for me.

David Read
Rik Gesamo wanted to know, do you remember your visits to Ghent, G H E N T? He still has the picture from the face to face meeting he says.

Paul McGillion
Oh, yeah, Ghent. What I do remember, it’s one of the most beautiful towns or cities I’ve ever been in my life, it was absolutely stunning. And the people at the convention were amazing, took such great care of us. And yeah, we had a great time there.

David Read
Belgium, I think.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, Belgium. Again, I think Jewel was at that one and Marina, and I think Cliff Simon was there as well, God rest his soul, and we went into a Spanish tapas bar one night and it was amazing. So that was great. The convention was beautiful, the city’s pristine, so of course, I remember it very well. And it was like a…

David Read
These towns are, like, 900 years old.

Paul McGillion
I know! I’m like, “This place is like… it’s a postcard.” you know? I’m like “This is amazing!” And the guys that set it up were awesome and they got it done and it was really well organized and all these people came from all over Europe to come to this convention in Ghent. And I was like, “Wow,” It was a really, really beautiful and special spot. Please bring me back.

David Read
We haven’t had a chance, I don’t believe, to talk about Cliff Simon, since his passing, if I’m not mistaken. You and Cliff got to know each other at conventions, if I’m correct. Tell us a little bit about who this man was as a human being and as a performer, to you.

Paul McGillion
He… it’s just sad, speaking about… First of all, he was just a specimen of a dude, just in amazing shape. He took really great care of himself and just a really kind soul. But he never suffered fools, at all. I remember once… I knew him a little bit, we’d meet at conventions because we never worked on the same show, per se. But I will see him and also have a great time, but then we’d also end up having dinners together and all of us would go out and gravitate towards Cliff, we had so much sense of humor, and he liked to have fun and I remember we got on a plane and we’re flying to the UK and I sit down beside Cliff on the plane. And there’s this guy, two seats over with his girlfriend, and he’s quite loud and obnoxious and he’s on his phone. And we’re getting ready to take off and they’ve already told everyone to put their phones away, so we’ve all done that, we’re starting to taxi and this guy’s still going on. Cliff and I are just chatting like this, and us having a little conversation. He’s sitting right here, and I’m here and then the guy’s over here to the side, two down from Cliff. And he goes, “Excuse me for a moment, Paul. Hey! Hey! Put that effing phone down right now, mate! All right? You got it? You obnoxious…” and told him right off, the guy just scurried away, put the phone down. And then he goes, “Sorry, Paul, what were you saying?” That guy never… I don’t think he got up for the eight hour flight.

David Read
Cliff wasn’t gonna have it!

Paul McGillion
Nope, Cliff wasn’t gonna have it and it didn’t faze him at all, he had no problem saying it. And it’s interesting, because you spend so much time with somebody like that, you get to know him, and you get to see the soft side of him as well and he just liked to laugh his butt off and have a great time. I remember I was going through… and there’s obviously a toughness about him, he has such a big story behind him. There’s something about him that’s really… and I remember I was looking at these, an agent sent me an audition for something, it was a show called The Americans and it was this role and it was basically an assassin, kind of Israeli assassin-type of dude and I’m like, “This is Cliff.” So I texted Cliff, I go, “There’s this thing. I think it’s [inaudible].” I go “Got it.” and he’s like, “Oh, thanks man.” He ended up getting the part.

David Read
Oh, you’re kidding!

Paul McGillion
And he did four episodes of it, I believe. I think you just share stuff like that with people, when you see something, I’m like, “This is you, man.” This is you. You should be… and sure enough, he got it, which is amazing. I think I saw him one time and he bought me a pint afterwards. He said “Thank you so much for throwing it my way.” He probably would have gotten it anyway but it’s just when you see something like that, I’m like, “Cliff, this is Cliff Simon right there.” But, just about his passing and it was just so tragic and shocking, to be honest, because you never expect when you say goodbye to somebody at one of these events that you’re never gonna see them again, you know? And he made such an impact on the fandom, I believe, because he was so great, I spent many times on stage with him and he was really great and generous with his time and truly cared about the people and having the opportunity to travel. He never took it for granted and he always put himself out there and gave them a little piece of Cliff every time he was out there. So yeah, it’s just a really sad passing and really affected me, I really miss the guy. So yes, sad.

David Read
It reminds us to take every day for what it is. For us it may be our last and for the people that we see. If you can, don’t leave something on a sour note because you never know if that’s gonna be it.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, that’s very true. It’s very true. Don’t hold a grudge. Just… don’t. Just step up, be the bigger person. I think, in cases like this. I don’t know if he had a grudge with anybody, but everyone I know loved Cliff, but I’m just saying in general speaking, it just takes a little bit of time to be kind to somebody and just remember that everyone’s going through tough times right now, you know? Everything that’s been happening lately, the pandemic and whatnot.

David Read
Yep, make good ripples, send good ripples out there. KD, Paul, any memories from your first appearance as Ernest on SG-1? I love this role. Even if you were in the episode for all of seven or eight minutes, it’s a solid performance. It’s a great episode.

Paul McGillion
A young actor at the time.

David Read
Yes, absolutely.

Paul McGillion
I do remember it, it was really a cool experience. Again, you’re reading for… it’s a period piece and I remember when I auditioned I felt like I had a good audition, I got the part, which was really nice. And then when I was getting fitted for that I had to go to a special place and a tailor made me that special suit that I was wearing. And then I also had to go see a different person who made the deep-sea diving suit, which was really cool to get to wear that thing, it was heavy as heck. Not really knowing the fandom at that point in time, I always reference it, I remember Martin Wood, he directed second unit on that episode, and I worked with him and then I never did another episode of Stargate SG-1. And I had lots of friends, I think lots of them played lots of multiple different characters. I’m like, “Oh, what the heck, I thought I did a good job. I can’t get on there.” And then when I saw Martin, when I got Atlantis, and Martin was doing the pilot, I kind of had a chance to chat with him and I just said, “Hey, how come I never came back and did SG-1 again?” He goes, “Well, you played Ernest Littlefield, you played the first person to go through the Stargate.” I’m like, “Yeah,” and he goes, “Have you done a convention yet?” I’m like, “No,” he goes, “Okay. Yeah. Okay. You’ll see.”

David Read
You are well remembered.

Paul McGillion
He said it was well remembered and now after having been there, I realize he said “We couldn’t use you again because that was a different — in that show — that was a really important character and for the fanbase that follows it.” So it was a cool thing to play and I loved how it was period as well, very different than a lot of the show. And people remember, sometimes, that it’s me, or people are quite shocked later on, because it was early in SG-1 and then I came in later to Atlantis. Very obviously I’m doing a Scottish accent and completely different and older. It was cool to do, yeah.

David Read
I’ve had this conversation with Tom McBeath before, who played Maybourne in SG-1, and he had wanted to do Atlantis so bad and he went in there to audition for it and they said, “You’re too recognizable. It’s not happening.” And he’s like, “Seriously?” like, “Yeah!” It’s one of those things where that’s an arbitrary decision, where can you suspend an audience’s disbelief? Garwin Sanford was one of the more recognizable faces on SG-1, and he was in the pilots of Atlantis as well and everyone was like “Narim’s on Earth?” “Yeah, well, deal with it.” And it’s just where is the line drawn? It’s just one of those creative decisions where the people at the top say, “Okay, this is believable, but this is not.” And as a performer, it’s like, “I could eat this week, I would really appreciate the work.” But at a certain point, if you’re too prominent, by some person’s standards, it’s too much.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, I mean, it’s up to the writers and the producers of the show to decide where that character might fit or not. Tom McBeath’s a fabulous actor, I’ve worked with him several times, and a great guy too. Any show where Tom’s in it is a better show, I think, but I also understand, they can’t just start pulling characters out of shows and putting them into — it’s almost like jumping the shark a little bit, it’s like, “Oh, come on, that’s…” So there’s that aspect as well, I can see. And I think a lot of shows do that. I’ll read for things quite often and see, “Do not submit if you’ve already appeared in the show in the past seven seasons.”

David Read
Oh, they’ll sometimes say that?

Paul McGillion
Quite often.

David Read
Okay. And Vancouver was also a much smaller town 20 years ago, as well. I mean, it’s at least doubled, I think.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, it’s doubled and there’s so many productions out here that have doubled and you think about The X Files was a show that really kind of established it on the map a little bit. And then you’ve got long running shows like The Stargate trilogy, those, and then Supernatural, of course, and Outer Limits and all these sci-fi’s, Sliders, so many sci-fi’s too and then obviously other productions too. So when things are going with all the gears, there’s a lot of opportunity for actors here to work on these shows and it’s in a great place for actors to kind of get their chops and get in there and work on some cool shows.

David Read
UriusTosh, have many fans told you that they thought you were a Scottish born actor? I mean, obviously you have Scottish heritage, but didn’t realize that you were a Scottish Canadian? Because the performance was so convincing.

Paul McGillion
Yeah. Well, I was born in Scotland.

David Read
Okay, so you are okay, technically, but you were raised in Canada, right?

Paul McGillion
I was, I came over when I was quite young. I was like two and a half, three years old. Then when I was 12, we moved back to Scotland until I was 15.

David Read
So it’s really just semantics.

Paul McGillion
But yeah, I’ve heard that a bit, depending on who it is, I mean, sometimes it’s so funny, some people in Scotland are like, “I don’t, I can’t hear your accent, you don’t have an accent.” I’m like, “Well, [inaudible] No problem.” But everyone has a different type of Scottish accent they’re used to hearing, it’s like anything. So, obviously, for the North American audience, you have to temper it a little bit to make sure it’s understandable. At times, it can be a bit thick, so you have to kind of temper it a little bit for the audience. But I’ve had that several times, when I’ve spoken to people and they’re kind of like, “Whoa, where are you from?”

David Read
Right, exactly. “I am an actor. This is what I do. I am a chameleon.” The way in which Beckett was brought back into the series, you and I have had this discussion in the past, the going out with a bang was so good. It was one of those turning points in the show where we all, as fans, just bled for the character. Wept. I certainly teared up when watching that performance. To be brought back as a clone — in sci-fi, there are only so many ways that you can be introduced; alternate dimension, time travel, this or that — ZubiForce wanted to know “What did you think of the way that you were reinserted into the series and do you think it could have been served better by doing it a different way?”

Paul McGillion
Interesting. I thought it was ingenious, actually, Joe Mallozzi talked to me about it. I’m like, “How are we gonna bring me back?” when I got the initial call the, “We’d love to have you back,” and I was like, “Oh, that was great.” and I honestly didn’t expect that, it was very nice to come back on the show. And obviously, at the end, Beckett flies Atlantis back to the San Francisco Bay. For me, as an actor it was kind of… I think it was a nice homage to the fans, because the fan base really went kind of berserk when he got killed, so it was really a pleasure to come back on the show. And using the whole Michael through-line and inserting that in there. And he became, I thought, “That’s really smart.” And he’s like, “Yeah,” because sci-fi, anything can happen. I thought it was a pretty clever way to do it, I really do. Because it really kind of made sense to me after he told me how he’s going to do it. I thought “Okay, that makes sense.” So I never really thought of any other ways, obviously, because it’s an exploding tumor, so it had to be something like that. Some DNA or something. But my concern was when I came back is how was I going to play the character and essentially, he’s like, “Just play him exactly the same.” Obviously, the first episode back, he’s a bit… everyone’s kind of treating him odd, so that’s a bit of an odd thing. It’s just going to unfold how it unfolds, but as we went on through the episodes, he just became Beckett again, in my estimation, and how I played him, and there was the remnants of what had happened, but it just gave more layers to the character, I felt.

David Read
I recently watched Whispers and I could have swore that it was part of the dialogue, but I guess it was just inferred, the metaphysics of what happens to the character is always very interesting to me, and to a lot of fans because we like to dissect the minutiae of it, just how much of Beckett is Beckett? If a soul exists, is that still there a part of him or is it something else, and the scene where the creature comes down above you and checks you out and leaves. I remember watching that being like, “Oh, it’s sensing that this is a similar creation, that this is another of Michael’s creations and is leaving him alone for that reason.” Did you get that vibe in shooting that and reading that content? Or do you think that it was just a coincidence, and you were just… Beckett was quiet.

Paul McGillion
All I know is I was frozen. When they had it, that thing’s so horrifying. I’m just gonna stay exactly still and don’t move at all and don’t breathe. And I didn’t go into that detail where you, which is, yeah, it could be something else, obviously, that’s what makes sci-fi sci-fi, right? But as an actor, I was like, “Okay, that’s a scary, [in a Scottish accent] scaring the bloody hell out of me. What a horrible creature.”

David Read
We had Nicole de Boer on a few weeks ago. She loved working with you.

Paul McGillion
She’s great, yeah, she’s great, it was a pleasure. She’s so fun. I wish we had more of her in the show, it would have been great.

David Read
Had there have been a season six — it’s one of the things I’m gonna ask Joseph Mallozzi about when we hit season five. We’ve been talking season by season over the past year, almost year and a half — that had to have been almost a certainty that that team would have been back for season six, because it was such a great direction.

Paul McGillion
It was a fun episode too, and you never know, maybe Beckett would have gotten a little love interest for a change, rather than David Hewlett.

David Read
Yeah, you know, nothing against Dave but, you know, diversify a little.

Paul McGillion
Just mix it up a bit. But no, all the girls, they all came and it was a really cool, fun episode, and it was a lot of Beckett and Sheppard and these women, and the episode was pretty cool. And frightening, too, quite a scary episode, right?

David Read
Stargate did horror about once every year or two and it’s one of those where it’s like, “Okay, if you’re gonna go there, as an audience member, if you’re gonna go there, you really need to make this genre work.” And that’s one of those where I had a couple of genuine jumps that didn’t feel cheap. It felt like a solid performance, or a solid presentation.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, I think so too, yeah.

David Read
AnimaConfusa, my question for Paul: If and when you ever had a difficult day on Atlantis, what would bring it about? Would it be dialogue? Would it be working out in the rain? What were the most trying days on that set?

Paul McGillion
Ah, well, the dialogue was… listen, in our show, in Atlantis, David had a ton of dialogue, I even had a ton of dialogue and Nykl would have heavy dialogue as well, quite often, so you get used to it. Some days are easier than others, but those were all fun. I guess sometimes when you went into the demonstration forest and it was pouring rain, which it does in Vancouver a lot, in the cold, that can be a little trying, but I also enjoyed it, regardless. You kind of deal with, at the end of the day, we’re so fortunate to be working on a cool show and the crew was working their butts off, so I just think I just go with a positive attitude and just make the best of it however you can. There’s lots of hot coffee and tea and hotshots for your pockets, but yeah, I guess physically some things are trying, more so probably for Jason and those guys who are doing a lot of stunts. And that can be difficult. Remember where he was getting just tossed around with the Super Wraith in that fight.

David Read
Oh, yes with Dan Payne. This was Sateda.

Paul McGillion
It was Sateda, and he was just getting hammered left to right. I was like, “Okay, I can string this monologue together, but I can’t do that.” A good thing for us would be walking. Physically demanding, everyone had their parts of the show, everyone had different things in the show to do and sometimes ours was to deliver the dialogue and try to be witty and funny and then Jason’s, and Joe’s, oftentimes, was a lot of the action stuff and they delivered on it all those times. Sometimes that can be tricky, because there’s a lot more semantics to deal with, like guns not firing properly, all that type of thing. Just [inaudible] the weather and all those things for those big stunts were a little more probably difficult and trying for those guys than for the talking guys.

David Read
What was it like on Sateda being directed by your showrunner Robert Cooper?

Paul McGillion
Great. Funny. That’s the episode where Rodney got the arrow in the butt, right?

David Read
That’s exactly right. “That did not just happen!”

Paul McGillion
Great episode. Robert’s, great. Both Brad and Robert, they know the story inside and out. It’s cool, it’s exciting, it’s almost a little heightened too because one of the bosses is in there doing it, and Robert’s really great to work… He’s got a very calm demeanor and he’s got a really interesting sense of humor too, and he, look at Sateda, with the arrow in the butt, in the gluteus maximus. It was very, very cool and it was such a great episode for Jason too, that was a really big breakout episode for him in that show.

David Read
TeresaMC: Paul, if you could change any of your career choices when you were younger, would you make any, or do you think everything’s led you to where you are now for a reason? Any regrets, I guess I’m thinking, in your career choices?

Paul McGillion
No, I’ve been really fortunate, I really have. I went to school first and I got a BA, and then I did a Bachelor of Education degree [inaudible] and had that under my belt. My parents were happy about that and it was all something I wanted to do as well for me and then I moved into acting a little bit later. It might be interesting if I got into it earlier, but at the same time, everything happens for a reason, just interesting and I’ve been very fortunate to play lots of different characters on lots of different shows. And as you age, it gets just different. I mean, there’s different opportunities that arise, which is always interesting. I’m always curious to see what’s going to be around the corner and I still am very motivated by acting and I still find it really interesting for me. I know some people get tired of it and there’s a lot of… it can be a difficult path, at times, but I just don’t take any of it personally and just do my best. I always try to give them a little piece of Pauly and walk away and see what happens. But that’s all you can do.

David Read
I’m always surprised at the number of — and there isn’t a lot of them, but there are a few — of actors that I come across, they’re like, “This is not the only thing that I do. I also have a day job when I’m not auditioning.” And it’s like, “Oh!” Life does go on for a lot of people, not everyone either wants to do this full time, or can manage to make it work full time.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, it’s tricky, I have lots of friends that work two other jobs and I’ve been fortunate over the years and kept busy as an actor, but never really, I haven’t done anything else for the past 25 years or so.

David Read
Making it work.

Paul McGillion
Yeah, making it work, and it’s also good. I think people just need to keep busy and for people that do other things on the side, it keeps them busy and keeps money coming in. People have families, they got to pay the bills and do whatever you need to do.

David Read
Benjamin Province wanted me to bring up Hallmark movies. He’s so excited when he turns on the channel and you’re there. Would you do more in the future or have any coming up?

Paul McGillion
Oh, sure, I just did two over the holiday. An Unexpected Christmas, which was a lot of fun, and Christmas in Tahoe. It did very well too, they’re very popular. It’s always fun doing Hallmark movies, I enjoy them a lot. I’ve done a lot of Hallmark stuff over the years and of course, yeah, I’d be happy to do more of them. I was on a series called Perfect Picture Mysteries, that was a Hallmark series as well. We did, I think, four of those and I’m hoping they do more of them, we don’t know where that’s going at this point in time, but it was sort of a mystery Hallmark series.

David Read
Picture Perfect Mysteries

Paul McGillion
With Carlos and Alexa PenaVega, who are amazing. So I did a bunch of those with them and Darrow & Darrow with Tom Cavanagh, I did a few of those as well and I don’t know if they’re coming back or not. But, yeah, it’s always fun. It’s a different feel. Obviously it’s not sci-fi, but it’s fun. And the awesome thing about doing Hallmark Christmas movies is people love them and you know it’s going to be a good ending.

David Read
It’s feel-good, chicken soup, comfort food.

Paul McGillion
And they’re fun to do and they have good stories. I thought that one was really quite funny and I was happy to be a part of it. I thought the script was really good and I thought the actors all did a great job, great performances, so it was fun to be part of it. So thanks for watching them. Hopefully there’ll be some more soon.

David Read
Any word on your end? I know your ear is to the ground, just like mine is, about murmurs about anything Stargate coming up.

Paul McGillion
I really have not heard. I haven’t heard anything. I know that certainly the desire and want out there, especially in the fan base, is large. I don’t really know beyond that, I don’t know. It would be nice, I think it’d be really great, especially for the fans, if there’s a reincarnation of the show in some sort of sort. Because I think definitely the fan base is there for it and hungry for it. But actors are often the last to find out.

David Read
That’s true. We had talked with the cast of Stargate Universe and a number of them were on the USS Carl Vinson at sea with Brad Wright and Martin Wood at the time of finding out, I think via Twitter, that Universe had been cancelled, and it’s like, [grimace] you know? Sometimes it’s like, “Really? Here is where I find out?”

Paul McGillion
Yeah, that’s unfortunate. We’re lucky, we did 100 episodes, SG-1 200, those guys at 40. But still, it’s a lot of episodes, when you think about it, of any show. So really, really happy.

David Read
NotJustCollectibles wanted to know if you’ve built any Stargate LEGO sets.

Paul McGillion
No, I don’t think I have. [inaudible] Ask Hewlett, he’s probably good at it.

David Read
Hewlett, very likely, yeah. There’s a series of LEGO sets, I think by Best-Lock, and recently — I think, is it Eagle Boss? — that has put out a Daedalus BC304 battle cruiser along with some other pieces from SG-1. So, there’s more Stargate content coming out there.

Paul McGillion
Yeah. What do you think? [inaudible]

David Read
In terms of like the quality?

Paul McGillion
For the show.

David Read
Oh, for another series?

Paul McGillion
Yeah.

David Read
I have high hopes, I think that with Amazon’s acquisition of MGM, I think, it is my opinion, that Stargate is floating around in their top 10 of things to do. My concern, and this goes back and forth on a daily basis, depending on my mood, is whether or not they’re going to take advantage of the library that they’ve purchased by adding on to it, or putting the library out and saying “This is for you to watch, but for Stargate, we’re going in a completely new direction, because we don’t want the baggage of 350 episodes of story.” And the problem with the Stargate fan base, as opposed to Star Trek, or Star Wars, in particular, is that there’s only so many active fans, and I hope that there are enough of us to rattle them and say, “Don’t delete what’s come before with whatever you’re going to do next.” But I don’t know if that’s the case, and that’s my concern.

Paul McGillion
Yeah.

David Read
And there’s so much good stuff that’s come before, I can understand where they would want to reset the template because it gives them a chance to do whatever they want, as opposed to fit inside of a box. But it’s one of those, as a creative person, it’s like, “Where do you go?” Where would you go? If you were handed this and they said, “Okay, what do you want to do?”

Paul McGillion
I think there’s something to be said about having a built in fan base already, so I think you have to honor that, I would think, but I don’t know. It’s a real question for the people with the money, I guess.

David Read
That’s exactly right. I have hopes that within a year, we’re going to hear something. I am a fan of that thing up there [points to Stargate in background] first and foremost. It would break my heart if they wiped the slate clean or did some kind of soft reboot, but I’m really hoping that they’ll keep the continuity intact, as well as do something very fresh. And also, I’d love a wrap up of Atlantis and Universe in some way with the new material that allows it to do that.

Paul McGillion
Bring some of the old gang back together.

David Read
I think so, I think that it would legitimize the new content by bringing a lot of the old creatives, and then, by extension, a lot of the old talent. Not old, like, like old, but old, like previous.

Paul McGillion
Mature. Somewhat.

David Read
I think that in looking back on Atlantis, there is a great symmetry to Beckett’s character as well. You have this person who was barely willing to sit down in that chair in Rising and in the finale, by God, he’s bringing that thing to land in San Francisco Bay. There was a growth for that character that was very satisfying to watch. Had to been satisfying to play.

Paul McGillion
It was. Like I said before, he’s sort of like the Cowardly Lion at times and then when he does get his courage up, I think that he goes for it. I think there’s something to be said about that. He’s like, “That’s it. I’m doing this,” and as an actor, and seeing that arc happen throughout these five seasons, it is sort of satisfying, for sure.

David Read
Do you think he went back to Pegasus, if Atlantis stayed? What do you think he’s up to?

Paul McGillion
I think he went back out. I think wants to be with the team, back out, for sure.

David Read
There’s no way that Atlantis stayed in the Milky Way. I mean, there probably was something going on there. I know that that was a big part of the Stargate: Extinction, or what would have been the first couple of episodes of season six. But yeah, they have to go back. There’s work to be done.

Paul McGillion
It does, as I said, there’s work to be done, exactly.

David Read
I’d love to see some kind of adaptation, for sure. Paul, it has been a pleasure having you back. You’ve always been a great supporter of my work and this show. And I always love having you on and your fondness for the fans is always rock solid and always appreciated.

Paul McGillion
Well, I appreciate them and thanks for all the great questions too, by the way, that helps a lot, and David, thanks for facilitating this for everybody, it’s fun to get together and chat about old times and hopefully new times, we’ll see. And you guys are awesome, I’ll hopefully get a chance to see you at a convention sometime soon. Things are opening up. You can also get a Cameo from me, I do Cameos now.

David Read
Yes, that’s right! So, there was a request…

Paul McGillion
I do it as Beckett, so it’s good.

David Read
So Cameo, Paul McGillion, right?

Paul McGillion
Yeah.

David Read
Let’s have a quick look here. Paul McGillion on Cameo. That’s legit, I’m gonna post this here. This is so much fun! This thing has just taken off, you know?

Paul McGillion
Yeah, it’s fun. It’s fun and the fans get a kick out of it and for birthdays or Valentine’s or whatever, anniversaries. Check out a couple. [in a Scottish accent] I’ll give you a wee bit of the Scottish flair.

David Read
Paul, thank you so much.

Paul McGillion
You’re welcome, thanks, guys. Take good care yourself, we’ll talk soon.

David Read
Paul McGillion, Carson Beckett on Stargate SG-1. Thanks so much for tuning in to Dial the Gate. I’m David Read. If you want more information on how to set up a cameo with Paul, click the link, I’ve put it in the description below for this particular episode. I really appreciate you tuning in. Dial the Gate is brought to you every week for free and we do appreciate you watching. 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, as well as cups and other accessories in a variety of sizes and colors at dialthegate.com. From the merchandise tab, click on a specific design to see what items are being offered. Checkout is fast and easy and you can use your credit card or PayPal account. Just visit dialthegate.com or straight to dialthegate.com/merch and thanks so much for your support. If you like what you’ve seen in this episode, please consider clicking that Like button. It does help the show, continues to grow, spreads us to more Stargate fans that are out there on YouTube who have not discovered the series. I’m always getting notifications “I didn’t know this was here.” We don’t do any real advertising, other than through our socials, so we try to make the growth as organic as possible. Thanks to my Producer Linda “GateGabber” Furey, as well as my moderating team Sommer, Tracy, Keith, Jeremy, Rhys and Antony and big thanks to Frederick Marcoux at ConceptsWeb, he is our web developer for Dial the Gate. Also a big thanks to Jeremy Heiner, our webmaster, who keeps the site up to date, week after week. My name is David Read for Dial the Gate. We will have the announcement for the next guest for Saturday the 19th, momentarily here in the next few days, if we haven’t already published it since this is a pre-recorded show. Thanks so much for tuning in. We’ll see you on the other side.