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Mission Accepted
Visiting our shores for their first ever UK convention, we made like the fans for a conflab with three of Atlantis' stars: Rainbow Sun Francks (Lt. Aiden Ford), Rachel Lutrell (Teyla Emmagan) and Paul McGillion (Carson Beckett).
We've had a little cross over with SG-1 at the start of Atlantis - how often will this happen in the future episodes?
Rainbow: There is a little bit of crossover stuff that they shot with Torri Higgerson who plays Dr Weir she did SGI episode this year so there's going to be a little back and forth, but you won't have to follow both.
Do you guys ever hang out with the SG-1 cast?
Rainbow: Chris and Michael Shanks I hang out with all the time. They're great men.
Rachel: They've been wonderful, very welcoming, there's been some crazy nights with lots of drinking!
Rainbow: But they definitely took us in and welcomed us with open arms. We love each other very much; they're so nice and were very gracious to us so it's been really great. This is a new series and they've been doing it so long, it's been really great.
And do you film in the same place, Vancouver?
Paul: Yes we do. Both shows are going on simultaneously in the same studio, but not exactly the same stages, but the same studio.
At one point in the series, the team have the possibility of going back to earth, but would not be able to return to Atlantis. How much of a dilemma is this for the crew?
Rachel: Eventually that might be a possibility, but for the first season we're pretty much trapped. Trapped completely.
Paul: If we are fortunate enough to do a second series we'll see where it goes.
Rainbow: But we want to be in Atlantis, that's where we're supposed to be, for the protection of Earth for many different reasons we're supposed to be there and not on Earth, so it's difficult for them. But there's an even better spin than that at the end of the episode! But we're not able to spoil it!
The show looks at how human kindness can often become interference, such as when the team accidentally provoke the Wraith's return; do they feel guilt and a responsibility for this?
Paul: I think to a certain degree you feel responsible, but you never knew what you were getting yourself into to begin with. The mandate of the team is to protect any race they encounter, in the case of the Wraith they don't want us to protect them, they are the villains so far in the series, there are other villains that come into play later on, and our challenge as the team is to find a way to defend ourselves and other races against the Wraith.
Rachel: I think Major Sheppard though played by Joe Flannigan; his character actually does grapple with his guilt in terms of having woken up this huge threat in the galaxy. Torri Higgerson who plays Dr Weir also brings a sense of humanity and the whole notion of not wanting to disturb the culture we encapture, respecting what they have to offer and trying not to intrude as much as possible.
Paul: It's the responsibility of being diplomatic as well; you come there as ambassadors from Earth and you want to ensure that you really aren't interfering with the different cultures.
Rainbow: Yep, that goes out the window! Opps!
Where do you think the Wraith rank among other alien enemies?
Rachel: I've heard from a lot of people who have watched our show and from what has been written that the Wraith are some of the darkest characters ever seen on television. I think that it true.
Rainbow: They take out entire populations because they're hungry. They feel no remorse.
Rachel: They're pretty bad assed scary creatures.
You're a really talented bunch, Rainbow is a musician, Rachel has trained in ballet and Paul you're an IT expert…
Paul: I'm no IT genius - that's David Hewlett - but thank you for that!
Rainbow: You're a champion wrestler though aren't you. Who races thoroughbreds. And you design lingerie too.
Paul: Yep!
Will you ever get the chance to display your skills on the show?
Rachel: I doubt that Tyla will be dancing…
Paul: I don't think I'm going to wrestle either, so I'm out.
Rainbow: I'd do a musical episode, like in Buffy - that was a great episode, so that would be funny.
Paul: Rainbow's great at spinning records, so I think they whole set could be turned into a nightclub.
Rainbow: If there isn't a season two, we've got a plan!
If you hadn't gone into acting would these have been your chosen career paths?
Rainbow: Well for music I still do. In three weeks from now I'm about to record my first solo record, I have seven records released with my band over the past ten years. I've been doing it since I was twelve.
Rachel: I started off as a dancer and was in a lot of musical theatre, that's something I will always do and I definitely want to do that when I get breaks. The dancing has come in very handy for me in terms of the fighting aspect of the show, getting all the choreography down.
Paul: I've produced films, independent films so that's something I've done that I'd like to keep doing. I also have a teaching degree so that's something I did in the past so if I wasn't doing this I'd probably be teaching.
Do you have a favourite sci-fi show?
Rainbow: In general, my family's really big on sci-fi and they were really happy when they heard I was going to be on the show. We sit at Christmas, my sister, my father and I watch the entire Star Wars trilogy every year, and with the new DVD we'll be all over it this year. I watch Anime, I love sci-fi and I always have. So it was cool when I got the chance to be on Stargate.
Paul: I grew up on Star Trek as a kid, I loved the original Star Trek it was fantastic. I was a big X-files fan too. I've actually done a lot of different sci-fi television programmes, so I've always enjoyed the sci-fi world. It's great to be on Atlantis, it's a cool turn of events. Walking around the studio at lunchtimes seeing people with all the different outfits on is just hilarious. And with both shows on at the same time you never know what they've got going on, so there'll be like a 100 marines walking around or people with giant snake heads. We always let them go ahead in the lunch queue!
You guys get to dress quite normally though, don't you?
Rachel: Yes, for the most part.
Paul: Joe wears a body thong.
Rainbow: What's a body thong!?
Paul: It's like a mini girdle. He actually feels really comfortable in it. We're only kidding because he's not here!
Stargate SG-1 started out as a movie, could Atlantis turn things on their head by starting out as a TV series, and ending up in the cinema?
Rainbow: I think it could but I also think we've almost already done a film with the pilot, that was like a full length movie.
Paul: Who knows what the future is going to hold, it's just great to be in the series right now and we have high expectations that it's going to continue. If it goes that way I know I'd be interested in it. Who knows what's going to happen with the characters and where it's going to develop. The writers right now are doing a great job with the television series; they've got a lot on their plate with SG-1 so we're fortunate that we've got great writing to work with as actors and hopefully that'll continue. We'll see how the fans respond, because it's all about the fans and what they think about the show.
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