Are you satisfied with Rodney's journey so far?
I'm still pleasantly surprised by this. Because originally when I took this job, my vision of where it was going -- and think their vision to some extent -- was that it was going to be basically me standing beside a computer yelling out things at people every so often. Rodney was a surprise to them, because he suddenly became part of the team. Originally the idea of Rodney going on missions, everybody would have laughed at it. The idea would have shocked him. Rodney was incredibly unhappy about having to go on these missions in general -- where some people see adventure, he sees a potential health hazard.
So for me, it's all a pleasant surprise, because I really honestly thought I was going to be sitting behind a computer terminal, bored out of my cranium, and it's just turned into so much more than that. I think what's neat about what they've done with him is that they've really managed to flesh out what is a very nasty, difficult character. So I'm far more than satisfied with what they've done. And it's always a pleasant surprise to see what new, fresh hell they've come up with for us. I'm hearing about freezing-cold lakes coming up, so that sounds promising.
Excellent, more drowning. Maybe you can have another hallucination of Sam.
With less clothing this time!
Actually "Grace Under Pressure" [where McKay is trapped in a sinking jumper and imagines Sam Carter helping him] is a pivotal episode for Rodney. There's several of these major Rodney episodes that move the character forward.
What's so funny about that is that while it moved him forward, it didn't actually move the relationship forward in any way, because it was completely imaginary from his perspective. So it was so funny because McKay comes into this season with Sam with this kind of backstory that she doesn't have any access to. So there's this wonderful way in which he has resolved some things, but they haven't. He feels like he's given her a nod and said, "Yes, you're a smart one," but he's still not done it in real life.
And then in "Trio" [4x16] he fumbles trying to describe her body, and Sam tells him he'll never have a chance to worry about it.
Exactly. Well, he's never going to give up hope. That's the one thing about us nerds, is, we're rather persistent. It's a war of attrition, basically. That's how I ended up with my lovely girlfriend Jane -- it's all trickery and deceit.
She even thinks she's engaged to Santa, not you.
[laughs] Exactly.
At the end of season 4 you got to work with Paul [McGillion, who plays Carson] again, which made everybody happy.
Everyone except the cast. If anything, it was all about, let's get this over with as quickly as possible.
It seems like Carson and Rodney have this great friendship, but it almost feels like it's coming from you and Paul and gets transferred to the characters.
It's the same kind of thing that's happened with the Jeannie character, with my sister [Kate Hewlett]. The writers see a dynamic that's somewhat there, and I think what ends up happening is it becomes a kind of mixed statement, the characters with your personal life, and you fold aspects of each -- I've always been the kind of actor who uses different aspects of my personality as different characters, because I always feel like I'm not good enough, it's gotta come from somewhere. And I think that Paul and I do certainly have a rather beautiful banter that we partake in at all times, and I think they've done a wonderful job of incorporating that into a lot of the scripts.
Again, the same thing with Kate and I, where Katie and I just have this -- I remember Martin [Gero] actually said to us once, "Now remember you guys are supposed to be brother and sister." And we were laughing because we were treating each other so horribly, we could only be brother and sister.
Did he remember you actually are brother and sister?
We pointed it out to him again. He was like, "Remember you're brother and sister," and we were like, "Yeah--? Thank you for reminding us?"
You guys have done two episodes together.
Two, and then there's a far-too-brief bit coming up in "The Last Man."
And now you've got Clone Carson in the freezer, ready to come back in season 5.
He's keeping the drinks cold.
Who else is back there, anyway?
I think there's a few. There's a good season's worth of episodes in the freezer over there. I always warn any guest stars to stay away from the freezer.
So can you imagine Atlantis station without Rodney?
[laughs] I try not to think of it. -- Honestly? I think it would just be a very different show. One of the things I've always loved about SG-1 and now Atlantis is, it's science fiction for the non-sci-fi fans, in a way. It's always about these great, dysfunctional characters and how they pull together, and that makes it more accessible. Atlantis would function just fine without McKay, but he just adds that extra edge to things. He just can't say anything without sounding like, "You're an idiot."
But at the same time, defensively. Defensively obnoxious.
Yeah, it all stems from insecurity in so many different ways. He just has absolutely no social filter. And it's one of the things that, I think David Hewlett has learned so much from McKay. Sometimes the self-censoring stuff, it's just so nice to lose that and just say the obvious.
Just be careful, because you don't have someone writing a resolution 45 minutes later for you.
[laughs] That's right. I lead a lowly life.
But getting back to the accessibility -- you have all this science stuff, but in the end you and Joe and Rachel and Jason [Momoa, who plays Ronon] go in and shoot things.
[laughs] Right. Well, we all resort to smacking the computer sometimes if it's not doing what we want.
So what's it like being a hero?
It's bizarre. Because I think I'm as uncomfortable with the heroics of it as McKay is. They give you a gun and say "This is how you hold it," and I'm like, "It's McKay! It's amazing he's pointing it in the right direction." I've actually made a career out of playing reluctant heroes, and I get more reluctant than McKay on that stuff.
