David Hewlett (Dr. Rodney McKay) and Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter) in "Grace Under Pressure." Photo copyright of MGM Entertainment.
In the fifth season Stargate SG-1 episode 48 Hours, Dr. Rodney McKay is temporarily assigned to Stargate Command to help Major Samantha Carter find a way to rescue Teal'c, who is trapped inside an active Stargate wormhole. The scientist may be an expert when it comes to Stargate technology, but his limited interpersonal skills coupled with his enormous ego results in him getting on everyone's nerves, not the least of which Carter's.
McKay later expresses his sincerest of apologies to the major in Redemption, and the two cross paths yet again in the Stargate Atlantis episode Grace Under Pressure. Luckily for Carter, she is just a figment of the concussed McKay's mind, but her "presence" turns out to be invaluable as he tries to figure out how to escape from a crashed puddle jumper that is sinking further down into the ocean surrounding Atlantis. Despite his character's dangerous predicament, David Hewlett, who plays McKay, has fond memories of this story.
"This episode stands out the most for me for a number of reasons," says Hewlett. "I mean, number one, I got to work once again with Amanda Tapping [Samantha Carter], which was great. Grace Under Pressure was such a unique experience for me in that, while it might not necessarily be my favorite episode to watch, it was my favorite to shoot because it was just so much McKay. It was like a one-man show. Even when they cut back to the Atlantis base, there were people there hoping that my character was OK," chuckles the actor.
"Funnily enough, these types of episodes were never my favorite story-wise because I didn't like it when it was too much about one of our characters. To me, the whole point of Atlantis was that it was an ensemble, and, for example [series co-creator/executive producer] Brad Wright was very good at writing McKay-centric episodes that included all of us. The Shrine is one that stands out and it's a great one because, yes, it's about McKay getting sick and basically almost dying, but it also was so inclusive in that we saw his interaction with everyone. They're dealing with his condition along with him dealing with it.
"Grace Under Pressure was McKay dealing with McKay saving McKay, and it was fun to work on because were in this big wave tank at the UBC [University of British Columbia] and I was more or less in the water for 12 hours a day. I think I must be part dolphin because I love the water. When I was a kid I loved swimming; it's the closest thing to flying that you can get, and I'm too much of a wimp to be a pilot," he jokes. "So for this episode we were in this giant dark tank with underwater lights and this half-submerged puddle jumper. The crew was swimming around and there were these little submarine things that you grabbed onto and would pull you under the water.
"It was a tough shoot but I enjoyed myself a lot. That's when you really feel like you're making a film or TV, when you're in an unusual situation and it's not always pleasant but it's interesting. I felt much the same when we were doing the first season two-parter The Storm and The Eye. That was just hell - freezing cold water was being fired at us from water cannons, we were screaming out our lines into a fake wind, and Robert Davi [Commander Acastus Kolya] was acting at us. He's a fantastic actor and totally gets into his roles. As a result, his character was terrifying and one of the best bad guys we ever had on the show.
"So the big physically demanding stories are the ones that stand out for me over the years. And, of course, the other thing with Atlantis is that my little boy [Sebastian] was born a day after we wrapped season four. In that year's finale [The Last Man], McKay is an old man and walks around explaining what happened in the past. Not exactly a sparkling episode in terms of action for me, but close to my heart because my son was born the following day. In fact, when I read the script for the first time I thought, 'You've got to be joking. My kind could be born at any second and I get an episode where I've got to spend three hours in make-up and talk non-stop. I can't remember lines! I'm having a baby!'
"Just a little side note - the other day I asked my little boy what he wanted to watch on TV. Usually it's a Disney show or something similar, but he told me that he wanted to watch [the new] Doctor Who. So we watched the first episode and Baz loved it. So now my son is a Doctor Who fan and we've been watching the older episodes with him. And Baz hides behind the sofa just like I did when I was a kid. I think I've managed to twist his arm into nerddom.
"Speaking of children, I also love the first season Atlantis episode Childhood's End. Again, we had a hell of a time filming it, and it's when we find out that McKay doesn't like kids, which was fun. I remember driving home one night after work and thinking, 'I'm playing a character who doesn't like kids; I like that,' because people who don't like children are always the ones who children go to. They're like, 'What do you mean you're not trying to impress us. If that's true, then we like you.'"
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photo copyright of MGM Entertainment, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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