Alaina Huffman as Stargate Universe's Lt. Tamara Johansen. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
How cool is Stargate Universe‘s Alaina Huffman. Having spent the past few days traveling through hyperspace and saving lives onboard the Ancients starship Destiny as Lt. Tamara “TJ” Johansen, the actress has very kindly come in on her day off to talk about her work on the series. In Universe’s first season two-part cliffhanger finale Incursion, TJ was among those taken hostage when the Lucian Alliance boarded Destiny. It was a tension-filled time for the lieutenant, who was also pregnant, as was Huffman in real life, but happily for the actress, she enjoyed the experience far more than her TV alter ego.
“We started out the first season with [producer] Andy Mikita [who directed Universe’s three-part opener, Air], ended the season with Andy, and had a few of Andy’s episodes in-between, so that was great,” recalls Huffman. “He knows Stargate extremely well, so to have him in control of this big finale was reassuring.
“For me, because TJ was being held captive by the Lucian Alliance, I really didn’t work with my fellow cast mates, but, instead, the actors who were playing members of the Lucian Alliance. We had Rhona Mitra [Kiva, leader of the Lucian Alliance], and it was a pleasure to work with her. When I first read the script, I kind of cornered [series co-creator/execute producer] Rob Cooper and asked, ‘Can she stay?’ However, I think it worked out better for Kiva to have a limited yet strong impact. I just loved that character. We have a lot of Alpha male characters on the show, so it was nice for a change to have a female in power, even if she was on the wrong side.
“It was also great to have Lou Diamond Phillips, or should I say his character of Colonel Telford, actually onboard Destiny. I mean, he was ‘there’ throughout all of the first season, but only through the use of the Ancients communication stones, and there was this dynamic going on of him versus Colonel Young [Louis Ferreira]. In last season’s finale, though, a lot of Telford’s scenes involved the tension between him and his back story of being, I guess, a mole of sorts, and the all-powerful Kiva, who was rather heartless.”
TJ (Huffman) and Eli (David Blue) is season one's "Sabotage." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
During the initial skirmish between Kiva’s and Young’s people, one of the Lucian Alliance members, Varro (Mike Dopud), is injured. As the ship’s medic, TJ is “persuaded” to operate and save his life. “It’s always interesting to shoot those types of scenes because I don’t know what I’m doing,” jokes Huffman with a smile. “Luckily there are good camera angles along with good dramatic music to accompany those scenes. Of course, it’s always a little goopy, too, because we have to have blood and all that sort of stuff.
“I have a medical tech advisor who’s on-set with me and who makes sure I’m doing everything right. We also have a very talented prosthetics team that was there for that scene, so they pumped the blood out and applied the prosthetics. They always do such wonderful work. There’s an awesome season two episode called Cloverdale where the same team created this amazing prosthetic for one of the characters [Lt. Matthew Scott, played by Brian J. Smith]. Our props department is terrific as well. They always have everything that I need and sort of guide me along the way.”
As the clock ticks down to the final moments of Incursion, Part 2 there is another altercation between the Lucian Alliance and our heroes, this time resulting in more injuries, including TJ, who is severely wounded. Was Huffman given any warning ahead of time regarding her character’s condition at the end of the episode? “Being that it was the season finale, you pretty much knew that everyone was going to be in a dire situation,” says the actress. “So I was sort of prepared for something to happen to TJ, especially with her pregnancy and being held captive by the Lucian Alliance.”
The actress was eight months pregnant when the first season of Universe wrapped. Happily, she made it to the end of production with no problems at all. “I had the perfect schedule last year,” she notes. “We’ve got such an ensemble cast, so my workload was fairly minimal, especially the last half of the season, and some of that might have been done on purpose. I think they [the show’s producers] didn’t want to work me too much, although I told them, ‘I’m fine. I have really good pregnancies.’ A number of my scenes, even though they’re shown throughout the episodes, were in the infirmary. So for the last six or seven episodes I think I ended up working something like two days per episode, which were full days in the infirmary, and then I’d have four days off, so it was ideal.”
TJ (Huffman) - medic and military officer. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
Production on season two of Universe began in March 2010, and the show’s cast and crew eased back into work mode with the character-driven episode Pathogen. Airing fourth this year, it was directed by Robert Carlyle (Dr. Nicholas Rush).
“I was thrilled when I heard that Bobby would be directing because, among other things, I selfishly thought, ‘Oh, this will be a neat insight into learning how he works,’” says Huffman. “Although I work with Bobby as an actor, it’s different when he gives you direction and you think, ‘Oh, that’s what his thought process is. It maybe wouldn’t be mine, but now I know where he’s coming from.’
“So that was exciting, and it was also cute because Bobby would come over, give us notes, and then sort of go, ‘Bye, guys,’ because he had to go back to directing. Bobby would be like, ‘I just want to be one of the actors again and hang out with you guys and laugh and not have to worry about the shot list, the schedule, etc.’ So it was fun and the episode turned out terrific.”
When Huffman returned to work this year on Universe, she had already given birth to her child a few months before. However, when we last saw TJ, she was still pregnant and, because of her gunshot wound, it was unclear if she and/or her baby would survive. Fortunately for the two of them, a powerful alien force that was heavily hinted at in season one’s Faith would intervene. In that episode, several of Destiny’s crew remained behind on a seemingly perfect world, and in Intervention, these aliens bring TJ and her baby to that same planet and save their lives. Sadly, circumstances dictate that only TJ’s baby can remain there, and the lieutenant subsequently wakes up back on Destiny, alive and well.
Dr. Caine (Tygh Runyan) and TJ (Huffman) in season one's "Faith." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
“Intervention is an extremely deep episode for all the characters, especially mine,” says Huffman. “It sums up the last five minutes of the first season finale as well as deals with TJ’s pregnancy and her baby and then moves forward. I think they handled the storyline involving TJ’s baby quite wonderfully. The way it continues is positive and emotional as well as a little dark, but it’s relatable. I think a lot of people will relate to it.
“There’s one shot in this episode that we did on the observation deck, and anything we do looking out that window is all green-screen, so it’s always amazing what comes out of those shots. This particular shot was the last one in Intervention, and when we finished it, [executive producer] Paul Mullie, who wrote the script, came up to me and said, ‘I just want you to know that I wrote the entire episode around this shot,’ and I was like, ‘Crap, can we do it again.’ He said to me, ‘I wouldn’t have told you that unless I thought it was great. You nailed it and it’s perfect.' So Paul had a complete vision for this episode and I’m so pleased that we were able to carry that through for him.”
Despite the emotional upheaval she has been through, TJ ignores the urgings of others for her to take it easy and returns as soon as possible to her duties onboard Destiny. Almost immediately in Aftermath she must tend to Sergeant Riley (Haig Sutherland), who is trapped in the wreckage of a crashed shuttle and bleeding to death, while in the aforementioned Cloverdale, the lieutenant fights to save Lt. Scott’s life when he is infected by an alien organism. Even with all these “distractions,” the fact that she is separated from her baby is never far from TJ’s mind.
“My character is still the medic, and like everyone on the ship has her responsibilities,” explains Huffman. “However, on the personal side, TJ also has to come to terms with the pregnancy as well as her baby and everything that goes with that. I can tell you that there is a little something for TJ down the road that I believe is still developing, which is good. She deserves that. Who doesn’t need a bit of love in outer space?” teases the actress.
Season two's "Trial and Error" - Colonel Everett Young (Louis Ferreira) and TJ (Huffman). Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
“I also heard about an upcoming episode where we find out more about TJ’s back story, which we haven’t really gone into yet, so I’m going to keep after the writers about that one because I’m just as interested as everyone else.”
The baby that TJ was forced to leave behind was, in fact, hers and Colonel Young’s, the result of a brief affair they had. The colonel is aware of the child and what happened to it. How will this affect his and TJ’s relationship going forward?
“I always think that Louie and I play more in the Young/TJ relationship than is necessarily implied or written,” muses Huffman. “They have an interesting relationship. I feel that there’s a genuine respect between the two of them as well as, I don’t know if it’s love, but some other feelings towards each other. However, having said that, I don’t believe it’s going to go anywhere. I think it’s just always going to be the elephant in the room, and the what-could-have been, you know? There are just so many things that went wrong and it’s something that wasn’t really meant to be, but, again, that doesn’t mean that they don’t respect and love one another.”
As the ship’s medic, TJ has to detach herself emotionally and act in a totally professional manner when treating a patient, but as a human being she cannot totally turn off her emotions. She genuinely cares about those around her, and when something goes wrong she allows herself the chance to grieve, laugh, cry, etc. Huffman portrays this side of her character with a true sincerity, which has garnered the actress a number of fans. She has attended a couple of Stargate conventions and enjoys meeting and talking with the fans, some of whom were initially far from enamored of Universe.
TJ (Huufman) and her baby in "Intervention." Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel.
“A lot of fans have told me, ‘You know, I was one of those people dead-set on hating this show, and now I love it,’” says Huffman. “I was on a panel at a London convention and someone asked me a question along the lines of, ‘How do you feel about all the people who were such naysayers and thought it was going to be a horrible show?’ To those fans I would have to say that these are the same people who made two other shows [Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis] that you loved for 13 years. You can’t just write them off and say, ‘Oh, it’s a horrible idea.’ Where’s the trust? Where’s the respect?
“If anything there should be support. That’s what fan bases do, they support, and that’s wonderful. Yes, I think the same actors, producers and writers all hope to please the fans, but at some point you have to move on creatively, and that’s what they’re tried to do. They want to make something fresh, and I’m thankful that so many fans have decided to give the show a chance.”
When viewers first met Tamara Johansen in Universe’s opening episode, Air, Part 1, the lieutenant had a medical school scholarship in hand and was preparing to leave the military. Then the Lucian Alliance attacked Icarus Base, forcing all personnel to evacuate through the Stargate. They had no idea that they would end up millions of light years from home and trapped onboard Destiny. Before she knew it, TJ went from Army medic to chief medical officer, and both she and Huffman embarked on an adventure of a lifetime. Having played TJ for almost two seasons, the actress could not be enjoying herself more.
“I feel like there are two TJs,” says Huffman. “There’s the TJ who is part of the military, has her role on the ship and does her job in the infirmary. Then there’s the TJ who’s maybe not an emotional wreck, but is certainly vulnerable. I’ve learnt a great deal from her personally. I think she’s the type of person who’s maturing and finding her way in life as well as someone who’s not afraid to say, ‘I don’t know everything yet.’ I’m not like that. I’m the person who says, ‘No, no, no, I’ve got it.’ Then I think, ‘I’m not quite sure what I’m doing,’ and that can be stressful.
“So I admire TJ’s ability to say, ‘I need help. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m willing to give it my all,’ in her personal as well as professional lives. I try to bring that aspect of who she is to both TJ’s that I play. Sometimes she has to serve a function and be part of this great ship that makes the series go, and then I get some of these little gems, scenes that I absolutely love, and if I could do them all day long I would. That being said, there are so many of us and so many storylines that the writers have to try to balance. I’m just thankful for the scenes I do get, and I really enjoy them. And I also enjoy just coming to work. Look at all the talented people I get to work with – they’re awesome. So I’m having a blast.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, all photos by Carole Segal and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
It sounds interesting. However I am waiting for A Good Day For It and The Other Side with Joe Flanigan to come on Next year. Also I hope they will soon give the green light for SG1 and SGA movies.
Posted by: Julie Merritt | 11/29/2010 at 09:48 AM