A R T I C L E S   &   I N T E R V I E W S

Title: Luttrell Thinking
Publisher: Stargate: The Official Magazine (Issue #15)
Publishing Date: March/April 2007
Byline: Rachel Luttrell
Source: http://www.titanmagazines.com/titanmag/app?service=external/Product
&sp=S12&sp=SPTM305&sp=Scty=en-US
Scans: Page One, Page Two, Page Three, and Page Four.

This year I wanted a little bit more for Teyla to sink her teeth into, and I really didn’t get as much as I would have liked to. However, near the end of the season, what’s most fresh in my memory right now, are the last couple of episodes that we shot. Submersion was an interesting episode for me, and for Teyla, because we were finally starting to look into the capacity she has to link with the Wraith. Her power to do that is really starting to develop, and I think that’s the first time that she finally gets to show to what extent those powers can reach. She came face to face with a very daunting Wraith Queen who may in fact have been the oldest ever Wraith, so consequently a very powerful one, and I was able to beat her which was great! I was happy for that, because there are so many of her capabilities which haven’t been touched upon and so, expanding that aspect of who she is, was something we haven’t really done, and was great. It showed that she’s really developed that capacity so that it can be a tool for the Atlantis team. She’s developed it to the point where she can dupe a very, very powerful Wraith, so that’s cool. We had an inkling of these gifts that she has, and she wasn’t quite aware of how to use them, but she’s slowly getting a better handle on it. The actress who plays the Wraith Queen, and has done since the beginning, is so wonderful. She really throws herself into it, and creates a very ominous character, and so those scenes with her are quite fun to do.

As for the first half of the season, Irresistible was obviously quite a departure for this show for so many reasons. It was a lot of fun to shoot, and Richard Kind [who plays Lucius Lavin] is so lovely, and obviously a very funny man. It was great to be able to show a sillier side of who Teyla is. Even though she was “under the influence” of his voodoo, it was still great fun. When we were shooting that, there was this once scene in the cafeteria, which was the very first time we had heard Ronon laugh. Jason thought he would come up with just the most annoying, ridiculous laugh possible—and he did a very good job of it! It’s so great to hear them laugh. I thought about maybe giving her a snort—a little laughing snort. Ronon laughing like a monkey and Teyla snorting—how attractive! I decided that his comic laugh was enough. It worked and I’m glad we showed that other side of who they are. They are well-rounded people, and now we’re getting to see how well rounded they are.

We went form Ronon’s geeky laugh in Irresistible, to Sateda! That was a cool episode, and it was great for Jason to have something to sink his teeth into. I didn’t have a ton of stuff to do—I think I had three days of shooting on that episode, which is quite rare for me because I usually have a lot more than that. But it was cool, and in that one, we actually introduced a new Wraith who was played by Dan Payne. Dan is a sweetie. He’s a big guy, but we get along so well and I was terrified of him! It was the most intimidating Wraith that they have managed to come up with so far.

It’s interesting to get to see Ronon’s background. Prior to season three, I had a conversation with the writers about Teyla’s backstory, and they were like, “Gosh, we really lament the fact that we haven’t delved into your character because there’s so much to do there.” At the end of season three, I had a wonderful season and I have so much to be thankful for in many ways, but I really wish there had been a little more for me to sink my teeth into. However, at the wrap party this year, many people pulled me aside and said, “Look, we are already developing a story for you, for season four. We understand that this character has been really underused, and there is so much that can be developed with her.” They have assured me that next year will be a very strong Teyla year—so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be an interesting year because it’s the first time the studio will be operating without Stargate SG-1 there. They’re going to be doing a couple of movies, but it’s going to be different. Much of the attention is going to be focused on Stargate: Atlantis. We have a team of people who are quite enthusiastic about making some very positive changes, and exciting changes, and they’re the ones that have spoken to me about diving into Teyla’s backstory. They seem to be earnest in this, that one of their main focuses is going to be Teyla and really creating an arc for her, because you know I love this character, and loved this character when I first discovered her back in the audition process, because of the vast potential that exists within her. There’s so much, so much; she’s a warrior, she’s a leader of her people, she comes from this strange and wonderful and unexplored galaxy and there’s so much that she knows about it. The Athosians are currently the only constant ally that the Atlantis crew has, so there’s just so much and then her history and why she became a leader and where is her family? Quite frankly, given the fact that we are based in the galaxy which she is from, and which her people have explored for centuries, and she has explored her whole life, it just seems to me that there is so much more to her. Hopefully next year that will be something they will take to heart.

One episode that really sticks with me for different reasons this year is Progeny. Out guest stars on that episode were so great and I had a lot of fun. I remember there was one moment where we had escaped and we’d frozen the world—McKay managed to do that by hacking into the computers. On that day, the producers hired a bunch of mimes! So our control room which was also the world of the replicators, was filled with mimes. They were amazing! We had to capture them in mid-walk, so we were rushing through, and all of a sudden, they had to freeze because that’s when the computer virus took hold. So we needed people who would be able to have fluid motion and then be able to freeze all of a sudden, and remain still. These people were amazing! Who would have thought we’d have mimes on the show! They were great. They were unblinking. It was like being at Buckingham Palace with the Queen’s guards.

We went from the fun of that, to the drama of The Real World. I thought that was a very interesting script when I read it, and I was very happy that Torri got the opportunity to have something like that. It was interesting to see her back at home even though it was all simulated, and I thought it was very well written.

So that was great for Torri, and then McKay and Mrs. Miller was wonderful for David. It was great to see David and his sister Kate have that dynamic on set. She just doesn’t take him seriously at all, and was constantly putting him in his place—as her character was on the show. That energy was quite real on many levels. It was a fun episode, especially for David. Kate Hewlett, who I got to work with briefly in A Dog’s Breakfast, is very lovely and it was so much fun for David to have his sister there.

A Dog’s Breakfast is a lot of fun, it really is. I’m very proud of David and his girlfriend, Jane—they did such a fantastic job, and they’re very inspiring. I’m getting on with my own writing. I love to write—it’s one of the things that I truly love. So David inspired me to really concentrate on that. His film is such a laugh, and we have such a laugh working together. One of the things I really love about Stargate: Atlantis is that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. The show pokes fun at itself, but it can also be serious. That’s what our fans really enjoy about the show. Fun but still with an element of levity, and I think that’s what the audience loves.

As a fan, what I love about shows that have engaged me through the years, is getting to see all the many sides of the characters that you invite into your living room every week. You want to see those different sides, and as an actor, you want to be able to portray those different sides as well. I would love the opportunity that that would give me to show a completely different side of who Teyla is—and a large aspect of who she is. She’s not just a badass! There are many, many aspects of who she is. I can’t tell you where that’s going to come from, because I don’t have a clue.

I would maybe like something of a romantic nature to develop for her. Whether it might develop between two members of the cast, or someone who comes in from a completely different storyline, I don’t know—we’re yet to see that. They’ve been hinting to us about it. This year, for example, they said that it was something they would like to pursue for Teyla—but it didn’t happen for some reason. So there was a lot more hinting, but nothing actually developed, so I don’t know. I too, am in the dark about that. I look to season four, and we’ll see what happens. Teyla has definitely been a vital part of the team, throughout all the episodes, and her leadership skills have come into play quite a bit. In terms of actually moving the character forward, or showing a different side to her or illuminating the mysteries of her past, we really didn’t get a chance to do much of that, but I have had fun and she has been a big part of the season—it’s just that we really haven’t had a chance to glimpse other shades of her.

Season three has been so fantastic. On many levels it is really surreal to think that we’re going into season four—it really doesn’t feel that way to me. It still feels quite new. I can’t believe that it’ll be season four, except for the fact that the people who I’ve been with over the past three seasons have become dear friends to me. I love Torri, I love David…they’re all such wonderful people and they’ve become very important aspects of my life, and that’s been a blessing. The fact that the show is going onto a fourth season makes me incredibly lucky in this profession. I’ve met so many incredibly talented actors who are not working, and so obviously I’m so lucky to have this opportunity and to work with such wonderful people. It’s exciting to see how everyone is developing and changing and the things that are taking place in everyone’s personal life. Joe having another wee one, and David with his movie, and everything he’s pursuing, it’s been great and I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve had a job that had a wonderful fan base to begin with, and I’ve had the opportunity to play such a cool character—a strong female character, which is thankfully becoming more prevalent in the entertainment industry. And then to actually be able to do all that with a group of people who are legitimately really good human beings, has been truly fantastic.