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<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nHaving filmed the second half of the first season and with it airing now, does it feel good to be able to talk about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n Alaina Huffman<\/strong>: Yeah.<\/p>\n You had quite a long break didn\u2019t you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Jamil Walker Smith<\/strong>: Four months?<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Four months. Yeah, we finished shooting at the end of October, so quite a while.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: It\u2019s nice to talk about it, because I don\u2019t do well with secrets.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: He\u2019s got a whole second season to keep secret now.<\/p>\n Can you talk about the second season at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Well, we do have a resurgence of the Lucian Alliance, and they stick around for a bit in the second season. And there\u2019s more Stargate action. Lots of aliens.<\/p>\n Lots of aliens?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: I\u2019d say we kind of start to figure out why we\u2019re on the ship.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: That\u2019s true.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: So if you\u2019re a fan of the show, that\u2019s interesting. We spent the whole first season not wanting to be there.<\/p>\n [To JWS] Your character was quite mysterious until the second half of the season where we had an episode that began to explore him more. How does the character develop, moving forward?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: He can talk to plants. So that\u2019s something that comes up.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: When Jamil\u2019s eyebrows shake he\u2019s lying!<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: The thing about the show that\u2019s a bit of a trip is that we find out what\u2019s going on with our characters as we go. We only know what\u2019s going to happen one or two episodes ahead of what we\u2019re shooting. So that\u2019s kind of fun because it\u2019s always a discovery for us. But I will say that \u2013 I\u2019ll say something that I said a long time ago \u2013 you\u2019re only going to get a chance to know people who are military and warriors when there\u2019s no fighting going on. Because the minute it goes down they\u2019ve gotta go into that mode, and there\u2019s not a lot of time for introspection and self-realisation when you\u2019re dealing with aliens and people in leather suits are trying to kill you. There\u2019s a lot of action this season, hopefully we\u2019ll still live.<\/p>\n How much input do you have with your characters? Are you allowed to suggest things to the writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Well, with TJ last season they had no choice. I was pregnant. But absolutely, they\u2019re always on-set at some point during the day, so we always get the chance to kick about ideas. Ultimately, they write the scripts and they tell the stories, but they watch us, watch the dailies and the episodes, see where our strengths are and write to that.<\/p>\n So you get feedback from the writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Yeah, absolutely. A lot of times we\u2019ll go down for lunch and the producers are there, they\u2019ll say “Oh, we just saw the rough cut of that episode…”<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: We give them more feedback than they give us. You know, “Explain this to me”. I\u2019m kidding.<\/p>\n One of the criticisms of the first half of the first season was that it was quite slow paced. In the second half there have been more action-orientated episodes, you\u2019ve brought aliens into it, that sort of thing. Do you think that the show has answered its critics in this sense?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: It\u2019s interesting; I wonder how much they play to the criticism. I don\u2019t really know the answer to that question to be honest with you. It\u2019s still very much an ensemble cast, it\u2019s still very much a character-driven show, and as Jamil says, when you have the action you don\u2019t get character-driven moments. So I don\u2019t know how much of it is written to that.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: I would say though, keeping it on that, they know who their audience is. They know that people don\u2019t want to see a soap opera in space. They know that this is science fiction and that people want to see action, they want to see aliens and people want to see otherworldly interactions, other worlds at that, different ships, concepts to do with the stars and the universe. This coming season there\u2019s no faking the funk. We make a point to hit that, to hit those marks, and because we spent so much time establishing our characters, this coming season we don\u2019t have to create all of this back story on who these people are and their motives, because you\u2019ve learned all of that in the first episode, so now we can get right to it.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: And it pays off in the casualties and the drama, because you\u2019ve taken the time to develop the characters.<\/p>\n As actors, though, was it more satisfying in the earlier stages of the show when it was just human drama, and more or less shying away from the science fiction?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: For me personally, yes. Because you get to develop a character instead of just playing a role. And both of them are great and there\u2019s definitely room for that \u2013 because we\u2019ve taken the time to develop them as I said, in the middle of an action-packed episode you have a moment of intense drama, it works so well and it really pays off.<\/p>\n We spoke to Elyse Levesque recently, who said that you found out about your renewal around Christmas time?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Yeah.<\/p>\n Has it taken a bit of the pressure off, knowing you have that second season in the bag?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: No, because now we\u2019ve got to wait until next Christmas to find out about the third.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: That\u2019s the nature of the business, you go year by year.<\/p>\n It must be stressful for you, though, not knowing minute-to-minute whether you\u2019re staying or going?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: It makes relationships easier, though. “Baby I don\u2019t know\u2026”<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: No it doesn\u2019t! Speak to the married person! It\u2019s great to be on a long running franchise like Stargate \u2013 you know you\u2019ve got a fan base and you know that you\u2019ve got something to play to that has success. That being said, you don\u2019t know. I think that\u2019s actually why most actors love the business, though, because we\u2019re always getting to explore new characters. I\u2019ve never been on a show for more than a season, and this is now the second so it\u2019s exciting, but if it all finished tomorrow I\u2019d get another job.<\/p>\n Next:<\/strong> Hate sites, the show bible and the stage.<\/em><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: You\u2019re absolutely right about that. It\u2019s not difficult for us to deal with because we\u2019re in Canada, in Vancouver. So we\u2019re kind of isolated.<\/p>\n Come and get us?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Yeah! We\u2019re in an isolated community, so unless I go and search out the information online\u2026<\/p>\n Do you?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: No, I make a point not to.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: There are dedicated websites…<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: To hating us.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: We all know which ones they are.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Tell them.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: No! We\u2019re not going there, no. Absolutely, I think that the Stargate brand helped us. Up to a point we were riding coattails of course, you can\u2019t help it, you have this in built audience. But at the same I think it\u2019s really difficult to say “You know what? We\u2019re going to take this brand and go a whole different direction with it” and to stick to your guns. I think that\u2019s the hardest part; I wouldn\u2019t want to be in [the producer\u2019s] shoes. But that being said, they were very excited about getting a new audience as well, and appeasing the old audience.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Can we tell them we\u2019re moving?<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: To Tuesday nights? Yeah, we\u2019re moving to Tuesday nights.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Because of the wrestling?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Oh is that why?<\/p>\n Yeah, [Syfy] bought a big wrestling show they\u2019re putting on Friday nights, so you\u2019re moved to Tuesdays.<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: I think that\u2019ll help.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Yeah, we\u2019re talking about expanding our audience, and Tuesday night isn\u2019t a night where everyone\u2019s out and DVRing \u2013 is that what it is? DVRing shows.<\/p>\n Now you\u2019re into season two, how is the atmosphere on set? Less nervous perhaps?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: We\u2019re never nervous, I wouldn\u2019t say that.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: We always get along, everyone enjoys each other \u2013 because we\u2019re such an ensemble, there\u2019ll be an episode that goes by and you\u2019ll be like “God, I didn\u2019t work with so and so in the last five days”.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: But the answer to that question is that even if it was horrible, no actor would ever say that to a journalist. “The on vibe set is horrible! I can\u2019t stand that guy and that girl!” What I\u2019ll say about that question \u2013 the mood and the energy on-set starts from the top down. And when I say \u2018top\u2019 I mean the real top line, who are the veterans. And that\u2019s Louis Ferreira, and Bobby Carlyle, Lou Philips and Ming Na. And they are super professional, their doors are always open and they leave their egos at the door, so to speak. So they set that tone, and we all just kind of work in and around that, and it makes it very conducive to working. You know we live charmed\u2026 Look, if you don\u2019t know what you want to do, think about acting. Because it is a charmed life. We eat like kings and queens, get to spend all day in your trailer smoking cigarettes and watching movies, and from time to time you go on set, stand on a mark and do it.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: He\u2019s never had kids. I have to do laundry and cook dinner. No it\u2019s a great atmosphere and he\u2019s absolutely right. I think on a big feature the tone of the set is set by the director, and on a show it\u2019s set by your number one. That\u2019s Bobby Carlyle, he\u2019s amazing to say the least, he\u2019s salt of the earth, as well as Ming, Louis, Lou, and all of \u2013 we have a great supporting cast too, Volker and Park and James and we all get along famously.<\/p>\n Just coming back to the previous point about the show making its own identity. It\u2019s interesting that in the later episodes of the season you\u2019ve chosen to bring an antagonist from SG-1 into the forefront again. Do you think that\u2019s maybe a creative misstep, given all the steps SGU has taken to individualise itself?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: I\u2019d say one of the things that\u2019s interesting to me about what Brad and Robert have done over 15 years is create this mythology. You could write a dictionary\u2026<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: There is one, there\u2019s a bible.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Yeah, a bible or encyclopaedia. So when you have a well that deep of history, I have no problem tapping into it. It\u2019s just how you do it.<\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: I think it\u2019s actually a really nice marriage as well. Coming into a new series with a new fan base, as someone who hasn\u2019t seen the previous two Stargates, I follow everything fine. That being said, if you\u2019re a fan of the previous Stargates, it\u2019s something that you recognise. So you can still enjoy a new show and have the mythology from the other two series, and that is something \u2013 they created a world, and that\u2019s amazing.<\/p>\n We spoke about not needing to spend as much time on character development in the next season. Is there going to be more action then, a chance to hook fans of the previous series who maybe haven\u2019t been tuning in already?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: I think there was still a lot of that in the first season as well. It may have been a little slower but I feel like there was always that kind of drama, the epic thing that needs to get solved and I think that\u2019s true to Stargate. But moving forward to season two\u2026 Yeah, I think the fans who go to that website that we\u2019re not going to name\u2026 I think they\u2019re going to enjoy it. But they watch all of the episodes anyway, they describe them in great detail and then say that they don\u2019t like it. So I hope they\u2019ll watch, and\u2026 you didn\u2019t get ten years of SG-1 because everyone tuned out. You got ten years because they created a personal storyline and developed it, and then you had five years of Atlantis, which is a very long run for a show, and so two seasons of SGU, we\u2019re building. We\u2019re adding more.<\/p>\n So what are your backgrounds, in terms of acting?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Stage. Born and bred on the stage, I love the stage.<\/p>\n Did you receive training?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Yeah, I went to college and studied theatre, went to boarding school and high school and studied theatre. If I had my way I\u2019d die on the stage, I love it. Being in London \u2013 you guys have phenomenal theatre, and I know a dream of mine is to one day come out here and do some theatre.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n A bit of West End?<\/strong><\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Yeah, a bit of West End Theatre. Yeah I love it, it\u2019s beautiful, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily pay mortgages.<\/p>\n There are quite a lot of stage trained actors on Stargate \u2013 Brian J Smith went to Julliard, David Blue, Robert Carlyle obviously. What about yourself Alaina, did you have training?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: I don\u2019t have a lot of theatre training. Actually it\u2019s something that I\u2019d love to do. But I started my career as a model and it kind of transitioned into an acting career \u2013 it started with film, a lot of indie films. I was living in Texas at the time with that scene there. Then I moved to Los Angeles and did a lot of work in television. But I love it all, if I get to perform and develop a character then I\u2019m there.<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: And Ming is from the theatre, and Lou Diamond Phillips. I saw him on Broadway in The King And I.<\/p>\n So do you guys have any side projects you\u2019re working on? Anything outside of Stargate?<\/strong><\/p>\n AH<\/strong>: Our schedule keeps us really busy, Jamil though…<\/p>\n JWS<\/strong>: Our schedule does keep us busy. Over the hiatus though I wrote and directed a full-length feature film called Make A Movie Like Spike. IMDb it<\/a>. Hopefully that\u2019ll be done very soon, it\u2019ll get out soon, and all of the Stargate fans of the world… will go online and buy it!<\/p>\n
\n<\/a>You mentioned that the show has an inbuilt fan base, but do you think that has also made it come under more scrutiny from critics and fans as a result, and has that been difficult for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n