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

Title: Teyla Emmagan (Excerpt from Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion, Season One)
Publisher: Titan Books
Publishing Date: July 2005
Byline: Sharon Gosling
Source: Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion, Season One


"Teyla is a very deep character. She's quite spiritual, I think--and I don't mean religious. I just think she has a deep connection with life," says actress Rachel Luttrell of her character who, over the course of the first year of Stargate: Atlantis, became an invaluable part of Major Sheppard's team.

It's hard to imagine the show had she been absent--but, as Luttrell reveals, Stargate: Atlantis very nearly did go ahead without her! "It was the beginning of pilot season," she explains, "where the studios generate piles of new shows. Starget: Atlantis was my very first pilot audition of the season, and I had actually been telling friends and family that I wanted to take a little break from acting. I thought maybe I'd travel, or study something completely different. So it's kind of amusing in a way that the very first pilot that I auditioned for ended up being this wonderful thing! I don't want to sounds absurd, but I did feel like it was touched with some sort of divine intervention, because from the moment I stepped into the room with the first casting agent, it was bizarrely golden. They were just immediately trying to get me the job," the actress laughs. "I wasn't wearing the appropriate clothes and she said, 'Okay, so come back and wear something like this, and do this...' From that very moment, I felt like I was being gently nudged along."

As the casting agents continued to be impressed with Luttrell's performances in the auditions, she neared the next level of auditions--in front og the studio network representatives. Despite the pressures at this kind of audition, the actress was still confident, and with good cause: "Before I actually did the network test, the casting agents told my representatives that if I just did the same thing again, it was mine. The test went fantastically well--ridiculously well. I tested with Joe, who had already got the part of Sheppard, and he came out afterwards and gave me a huge hug and said, 'They love you, it's yours,' and I had network executive coming out and shaking my hand. It was just amazing. But then I found out that actually, I hadn't got the job!"

In a sudden change of heart, the actress's agent discovered that despite their happiness with her perfomance in auditions, the network had decided that she wasn't right for the role. "I moved on, I started to prepare for other shows, and I was starting to get close to other parts," says Luttrell. "Then, out of the blue, about a week after hearing that the job was no longer mine, I had a phone call from my agent who said, 'Okay Rachel, they called back and they've actually been fighting for you this whole time, and the part is yours--but they want you in there in twelve hours!'" Luttrell laughs again, remembering that hectic time. "It was the craziest thing. It went from this incredible, focused period of trying to get the job and feeling like it was mine, to then fiding out that I didn't get the job and grieving and moving on--and then, lo and behold, it came through! I literally had a night to put my things together and come up to Vancouver. we started shooting four days after I arrived, and I hadn't even read the script yet. It was quite a crazy period!"

Despite the rushed start to the season, the actress really enjoyed making the character her own over the course of the first year. "When I was auditioning, I really felt like I knew who this person was. I had a good grasp on who Teyla was, at least from my perspective, and thankfully, that's what the writer's ended up using," she laughs. "Characters slowly reveal themselves to you as an actor, and I just felt a really strong connection towards her when I first read the sides that were offered in the audition process. But once I'd finally got the script, and after our first table-read, we were shooting virtually the next day. I was really flying by the seat of my pants and going by my gut instinct. Thankfully, Martin Wood, who directed our pilot and a lot of our subsequent shows this past season, was fantastic in terms of nudging me along and suporting my instincts."

One distinct aspect to Teyla's character that has been very evident during the first season is her fighting skills. For Luttrell, developing this side of her character didn't only going back to her training as a dancer, but also learning something entirely new. "I'm loving the whole physical aspect of Teyla," the actress enthuses. "I just thought it would be great to get a job that required me to learn a new physical skill, and this is certainly that! I really do enjoy that part of her.

Something else that's interesting about Teyla is that she's human, but she's not from Earth. That presents a very unique challenge for me in portraying her because although she will react to certain things in the same way that you or I would, there has to be something that sets her apart, because her point of reference is completely different. It's an interesting journey for me. I am also quite excited about persuing the various relationshps with the other characters. That's what's fun about a series, there are just so many opportunities."