Woolsey has a relationship of respect with Dr. Weir and Col. Carter. Col. Sheppard, on the other hand, once said he wanted to knock him on the head.
They deal with that when I first appear -- and I am anything but inspiring in my opening remarks ["Search and Rescue" (5x01)]. They definitely have a little fun with that. In fact, Ronon has this great aside where he says something like, "Six billion people on the planet, and this is the best they could do?" [laughs]
Does Woolsey have a tactic to earn the respect of Sheppard and the others, or is that just what develops out of the crises they deal with?
I think it's what's developing out of the crises. His saving grace is that he's aware. He has an awareness of what it is about himself that other people find either annoying, or not necessarily inspiring. There was a sweet little moment, again, in the season 4 guest star where I come in to evaluate Col. Carter ["The Seer"], where I say that it's been brought to my attention that I can rub some people the wrong way -- and the comment just hangs there like a big fart at the Thanksgiving dinner table. It hangs like a cloud in the air for a moment, and then we go on [laughs]. What I love about that moment is that he has at least a certain self-awareness, but he can't necessarily fix the problem at the moment. He's working on it.
And Amanda has that great capacity to just look at you and go, "And -- ?"
Right! And give you a sweet, kind of disarmingly honest, "I'm sorry, I can't lie and make you feel better" [laughs].
What is Woolsey's relationship with Ronon and Teyla?
Teyla and I, first of all, are in a natural conflict position when I first arrive, because the father of her child [Kanaan, played by Patrick Sabongui] is in a refugee camp, and it's my decision how much longer to keep him isolated along with the others. So she has a very concrete reason for wanting her family reunited. And I'm not -- I say all things that are sympathetic on the surface, but I'm not really very warm to her, or kind to her. And what I find interesting is, she's the first character who reaches out to me even though I haven't treated her that well. So says something about her character, that she can see beyond her needs and still look to me for my advice on a very serious decision that she's making, even though I have not really come through for her at that point.
And obviously Ronon and Woolsey are natural opposites. One being pure action, ad the other being all words [laughs]. We're bound to come into conflict. One of the first shows we shoot coming back, I have a fun, kind of comic run-in with Ronon trying to force him to file reports, when he does not like to write, or even to dictate into a little digital recorder -- his reports that I require all of the members of the senior team to do.
So I think that they are developing unique little character pairings, with Woolsey and the other regular cast members, which is always nice. One of the things that delights fans the most about a show is how the banter between particular pairings develops. The same way that the wonderful conversations between Sheppard and McKay, because McKay always seems to have a thorn in his butt over something.
There are some parallels there between Woolsey and McKay both grating on people.
In that respect, though they are very different, I think McKay's character has tremendous things in common with the holographic doctor on Voyager. Because he was very prickly, and constantly complaining, and way more interested in his own well-being than anyone else's -- even though he was supposed to be a computer program designed to help maintain the health of the other crew members, he seemed more interested in his own well-being. So to me there are lots of similarities, even though on the surface they're wildly different. I really enjoy watching David in the show. He makes me laugh on and off camera.
It was a nice touch having Woolsey show up in "The Last Man" [(4x20)] as the expedition commander in the alternate timeline. I assume that was to prepare the audience for his taking over in season 5?
I think in retrospect that's a perfectly good theory. I didn't get it at the time. But I was at the point where, after a dozen guest starring gigs, I would flip to the end and see if I was killed at the end. All of the other Star Trek stunt casting in Stargate, they'd met their demise by episode three or four [notably Cowen (Colm Meaney), killed in "Coup d'Etat" (Atlantis 2x17) after three outings, and Simmons (John de Lancie), killed in "Prometheus" (SG-1 6x11) after five outings]. So I thought, how much longer can I escape the bullet? [laughs]
Though lately they've just been killing off regulars.
And now I've graduated to that status!
How did you first get cast as Woolsey back in SG-1?
I think that the current showrunners on Atlantis, Paul [Mullie] and Joe [Mallozzi], were aware of my work and had seen me a fair amount on Voyager, and they were established but still relatively new staff writers [on SG-1] -- I believe they came in in season 4, and I was brought in at the end of season 7. So they had been working hard and establishing themselves for three years there and were writing as many as seven of the 20 scripts a season. And I think it was their idea to use me as that character.
What amazes me in retrospect was the Woolsey was designed to be filler, in an episode, "Heroes" [(7x17)], that was ten minutes too long and was so good they decided to blow it up intro a two-parter. I was hired to be filler! [laughs] As an excuse to reuse clips, you know, as someone who could sit down and interview everyone, and justify the flashbacks and reused footage. So, that's not an auspicious beginning for anyone -- "Yeah, we're just using you to kind of bump this up on the cheap!"
I had another commitment, so they said that they would shoot my entire part in one day. My recollection is, I had about nine and half, ten pages, give or take, of solid dialog --
That's a lot for one day.
And for a guest star to come in, the day before, and basically show up on the set, and you're doing all of the talking. All of the principals on the show are coming and going, and having scenes with you. And it was a great experience.
