I had the opportunity to spend a lovely hour
or so with Teryl Rothery, best known to many of us as Dr. Janet Fraiser of
Stargate SG-1, in Tampa this June and we chatted over coffee about Stargate,
her career, women in the industry, Michael Shanks’ driving … and magic.
We had a bit of trouble finding a quiet
place away from everyone, even though it was Sunday morning at Vulkon and there
was nary a Klingon in sight. We finally snuck into the autograph room while
convention security brought us coffee and then guarded the door from curious
passersby.
Once Teryl
had her coffee fix firmly in hand, I started out the interview by wondering if
Teryl thought it was getting harder or easier for women in the acting
profession. She was thoughtful for a moment and admitted, “That’s a tough one.
I don’t know if I would choose the word ‘harder.’ From an actor’s perspective,
there’s certainly not as many roles available to women … and that’s been really
as long as I can remember. I remember reading various interviews and quotes by
the likes of Barbra Streisand, who ended up doing a lot of her own producing,
getting her work out there. Glenn Close, the Meryl Streeps. There’s just not a
lot out there for women. Which is why … what was that movie that was just out?
Beautiful movie about Virginia Woolf with Nicole Kidman – The Hours.
What a fantastic piece of work for women. It was great. And that’s what they
all say – it’s so nice to see some really great work for women finally. So I
just think there’s not a lot of work out there for women. As far as women
getting into the directing, women writers, women producers, there’s becoming
more and more of that. And I think women just have to get out there and do it.
They just have to make the work for themselves.” I mention Jacqueline Samuda,
who played Nirrti on Stargate, and has done quite a lot of work to advance
women in the industry. She did an interview with us for Solutions and also a
live chat at the Our Stargate forum and had quite a bit to say about the
subject. Teryl nods enthusiastically and says, “I don’t know Jacqueline all
that well but I think she’s adorable. When I have had the opportunity to work
with her and speak with her, she amazes me. And I’m so proud of her because she
does get out there and she’s a writer. I mean, she gets her stuff out
there. She’s into all of that.” She even wrote a script for Stargate in the 6th
season, I mention, and Teryl nods again, “Yes, she co-wrote one with James
Tichenor, our CGI, our special effects guy.”
I wonder if Teryl thinks the lack of women
in senior positions in the TV industry might affect which shows get made.
Bonnie Hammer at the SciFi Channel seems to be one of the very few women in
high positions in the industry. But Teryl isn’t convinced this plays a big
part. “It’s a hard question to answer for me,” she says, “because we’ve got
some tremendous men who are out there pushing and getting these projects out
for women. So I don’t think it’s that. I don’t know what it is. I think we just
have to be more aggressive. If women want to be involved more we have to just
get out there and do it and not wait for the phone to ring or for somebody to
present us with something. We should just do it.”
At this point, we get a little silly as the
mention of Jacqueline Samuda reminds me of Samuda’s contention in her Solutions
Q&A that Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks were known for eating dog
biscuits on the set. I can’t resist asking Teryl if she’d ever witnessed this
behavior. She blinks at me like she’s not quite certain whether or not I’m
pulling her leg, but she gamely answers the question anyway and says, “Now, I
have been there for seven years, and I don’t think I have ever seen the two of
them eat dog biscuits. There used to be dog biscuits on our table – it’s
called a craft service table – because it’s like we have a kennel there on set.
One of our producers has two dogs – two Labs. Don Davis has his Lab. Amanda has
her Bouvier. I have a little Cockapoo. Other producers bring in their dogs. We
have dogs everywhere. Richard used to bring his up. So we always had
doggie biscuits on the table to give to the dogs. But I can’t say I’ve ever
seen a human eat a dog biscuit.” So there you have it, folks. Do they or don’t
they eat dog biscuits on the set of Stargate? Moving right along ….
Getting back on track, I wonder what some of
Teryl’s favorite things are about playing Dr. Fraiser. She laughs and says, “I
love it when she gets to show the military side of her because that’s who she
is. That’s how she came into it. She’s now a major and I think we sometimes
forget that. And they made reference to it even in Hathor – gosh
almighty, that’s going back to first season – but when we had to help save our
base because Hathor had taken over all our men and we girls got to kick some
butt. And I remember when Amanda [Sam Carter] put an M5 or M16 in my hand and
she says ‘You remember how to work one of these, don’t you?’ and my line is
‘Well, it’s been a long time since training.’ And she says ‘It’s easy. You just
point and shoot.’ There’s just this funny little moment to go back and see that,
oh yeah, she did go through all that. We forget that she’s a military person
and not just a doctor. Anytime I get to wear fatigues and take the lab coat and
stethoscope off I have a blast. Not to mention that the footwear’s a lot more
comfortable than Dr. Fraiser’s heels!” And you get to go through the Gate, I
point out. Teryl smiles with genuine enthusiasm and says, “I love going through
that Gate.”
Teryl is so obviously in love with Stargate and
so openly enthused with her character that I can’t help but ask her what kind
of story she would pen for Fraiser if she could write a “dream episode.” Teryl
gets an impish look on her face and talks really, really fast in a high voice
as she describes exactly what she imagines for Dr. Janet Fraiser: “I
would write that I go through the Gate to P2X-789 and I meet Patrick Stewart
and he’s playing this amazing character from this other world and I have to
treat him because he’s sick, you know. That’s what I do, I treat sick people.
And I would shine my little penlight in him and, you know, listen for his heart
with my little stethoscope. And we would fall madly in love and live happily
ever after. I’ve been writing that one in my head for the last seven years.”
Well, what can one say to that?
After
we’re done being silly about the dog biscuits and Patrick Stewart (although I
think Teryl really was rather serious about that), I ask Teryl the question
that’s on a lot of fan’s minds: is it true that Dr. Fraiser is going to die in
an upcoming episode? Amanda Tapping was quoted in a British magazine, I tell
Teryl, as saying, regarding the episode Heroes, “It’s not just about
Fraiser’s death.” Teryl looks stunned when I read her the quote but she
recovers quickly. She shakes her head and says, “I think at this point in time,
I can neither deny nor confirm any of the rumors or comments made in particular
magazines or internet quotes, but I can tell you that you are definitely in for
some great surprises in Season 7 and I don’t think any of the diehard Stargate
viewers are going to be disappointed.”
Changing the subject slightly, I ask Teryl
if she can tell us what she’s been working on outside of Stargate lately. She
maintains that she’s been “Stargating it” right up until the time of the June
Vulkon convention where we’ve met up, and that they were already filming
episode 13 or 14. Two and three episodes are being filmed at one time. She’s
also been working on a lot of voice work and cartoons and greatly enjoys it. “I
love doing voice and cartoons,” she tells me. “I’m currently working on a
cartoon called Martin Mystery, which is a lot of fun. It’s a co-production
between France and the United States. Also, literally the weekend before I came
here, I’ve been working on a show called Out of Order. They’re doing a
six-parter. And I’m sure hoping it does go and they pick up more episodes
because it’s a great show with Eric Stoltz, William H. Macy, Justine Bateman,
Felicity Huffman, Peter Bogdanovich and an array of other guests, as well.” Out
of Order is a limited-run cable series airing on Showtime. Teryl reiterates
that she really loves doing the comedy and would like to do a lot more in that
vein.
I ask her if she’s planning any further
conventions in the coming year and she tells me that most of the cast is
supposed to be at Reunion Island in December. “Chris is going,” she says. “Don
is going. Shanks is going. Amanda. Myself. I believe Greenburg, one of our
executives is going.” When I tell her that little is known about the Reunion
Island convention and press her for more details, she continues, “Yes, it’s an
actual convention. When Don and Christopher and myself were in Paris last fall,
last November, we were approached by this fellow who was putting this whole
thing together and wanted all of us – he wanted the whole cast – and he asked
if we’d be interested and we said absolutely. And he gave us the prospectus and
the paperwork and we took it back to Canada with us and we showed it around and
we took it back to our manager in the US and she’s sort of handling it all for
all of us and it’s a go. So we’ll be going in December. It’s actually December
5-7, I think, are the exact days and we’re all going to have a little bit of a
holiday and spend ten days there.” Teryl mentions she might be at a few other
conventions in November but they aren’t finalized yet. Teryl is also scheduled
to be at the annual Gatecon in Vancouver this September.
Turning the conversation back to Stargate as
our time is running out, I wonder if Teryl has any fond memories she’d care to
share of her days on the show. She says she has so many that it is hard to even
pick only a few, but she gives it a go. “Working in One False Step,” she
recalls, “with those creatures, remember, they couldn’t speak and they were all
white and shaved. We had so much fun filming outdoors for that one. It was just
fun and these characters were so amazing, these creatures – the actors did such
a great job. That’s a memory that sticks out automatically.
“Another one
is filming ‘The Curse’ where Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson), Amanda Tapping
(Sam Carter), and myself were out in a jeep looking for the pyramid and we went
to these actual sand dunes in the city of Richmond, British Columbia. And we
were driving around in this jeep and Michael was driving and it was, you know,
we had to be careful. We were all strapped in and we were told if anything
happens, if anything goes wrong, keep your digits in. You know, your arms and
your legs and there’s a roll bar, you should be okay. But we were all literally
just bolted into this thing. And we had to go at a fairly decent clip and
Michael was driving …” Teryl stops and laughs rather nervously and then
continues, “… and we came up the top of this dune and we were supposed to go speeding
down towards the camera. We shot up – literally shot in the air – I’m in the
front seat with Michael; Amanda’s in the back. Shot up in the air. We came down
and there was these two bounces on the dune. The car was sort of going out of
control, going from side to side, but Michael was in total control. But we went
soooo fast. We went through the camp. Did the shot like we were supposed to, we
hear ‘cut,’ and we see everybody is flipping. Like flipping. I’m talking
our director, DOPs, all the crew, came running at us. And we’re, like ‘gee,
must have been a really good take!’ But they had this look of horror, absolute
terror, on their faces. The director said ‘Good God! Oh my God! Are you guys
okay? Are you guys okay?’ And we’re like ‘Yeah. It looked cool, didn’t it?’
because we couldn’t understand what was going on. But apparently from their
perspective, because we were in the car and we were just having a good time,
they were absolutely terrified. They thought it was going to flip; they thought
we were out of control. I remember that just because it was just fun; it
was like being on a ride at a fairgrounds or something. Michael driving –
that’s a great memory.”
She grows thoughtful and a little sad.
“Another great memory is the episode when Michael ascends. But I will never
forget because we also knew it was his last episode with all of us. It was
really devastating for all of us. You get so close after six years of working
with these people and to know that he’s going. It was really hard for me
especially, as the doctor and knowing I shouldn’t show that much
emotion. So I had to keep capping it, I had to keep the lid on it.” But Teryl
goes on to add, “That’s what I like about Fraiser: she’s not afraid to show
some emotion and tears. And that’s why I appreciate that about our directors
and writers and producers, because they’ve allowed her to have that amazing
amount of compassion. That was really hard; it was hard for all of us. To know
that we were saying goodbye to not just a fictitious character who leaves us
but also a real live person actor friend who was leaving. So the fact that he’s
back has been great in the 7th season. It’s been fun having him
back.”
But Teryl was building up to her greatest
memory of working on Stargate over the years and what better way to end our
interview than to talk about the pure magic of the Stargate itself? “You talked
about the Gate earlier,” she says. “You would think after seven years, it would
get tired. It would be like ‘oh, yeah, there’s the Gate.’ But it never fails,
even when I talk about it, every time I go into the gateroom, and they have the
green screen up – or even before they put the green screen up – or if they have
a lighting effect … you need to have a lighting effect, right … and the
chevrons – this thing stops on a dime, it’s an amazing amazing piece of
machinery. And it’ll go and the sound of it and the way they have the lights …
they have this light thing so that it signifies when we see the puddle opening
and when we see the puddle closing. Every time I feel that puddle is open and
we see the light effect, I just get goose bumps. I love the magic of it. Seven
years later, I still love being in that room and seeing it work. Because all of
a sudden that little girl or that little boy in all of us just goes ‘what if?’
Wouldn’t it be cool if you really did step through that and you were somewhere
else. I’m so lucky to be on this show and so happy seven years later. That will
be a memory I will take with me forever when this show does eventually come to
an end. I will cherish it always.”
Grateful thanks to Teryl Rothery for taking
the time to speak with us and to Vulkon for providing the space, the venue and
the coffee. To find out more about upcoming Vulkon conventions, check out: http://www.vulkon.com/upcoming.htm.
To see lots of more photos of Teryl and Corin Nemec from their Vulkon
appearance, check out: http://photos.ashtonpress.net/vulkon03.htm
© 2003 by Ann Wortham, All Rights Reserved
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