 
GW: Do you look at episodes and say "I remember what was going on in my life at that point?" Or do you view them differently?
AT: Absolutely. Absolutely. I can pinpoint things that were happening on set when I watch certain episodes.
GW: Like "Someone was having a bad day" or "This is when my cousin died" or something like that.
AT: Or "Chris and Michael and I burst out laughing and couldn't stop" or "That's the day Teryl ..." There's some scenes, especially when Teryl was on set, where we would all be laughing so hard. I'd have tears streaming down my face ... Teryl's fantastic laugh which has a little snort in it.
I can look at scenes and actually remember the laughter. Oh, that sounds hokey too. My God, I'm like a bad sound byte aren't I? I remember that! I'll look at certain episodes, or Teryl and I going off and doing our Turleen and Minnie routine. "Oh, that's the day we discovered those characters."
But it's fun. It's nice to look back. The good and the bad moments. I can look back and actually pinpoint certain things that were actually happening at any given time. Yeah.
GW: What professional relationships have become the most lasting? Who do you keep in touch with the most?
" I took for granted all the pieces that were a part of my family puzzle."
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AT: Richard [Dean Anderson]. Christopher and Michael for sure. Teryl and I are back in touch, and it's been a while. That's really, really nice. I talk to Don. I still talk to Carmen Argenziano. It's like the kids go off to college and we come back for Thanksgiving and hook up. Do you know what I mean? People will always be a part of my life. Obviously professionally I'm working with Martin Wood and we're in partnership with a company, and with Damian Kindler, so that's ongoing. I obviously talk a lot to David Hewlett and Jewel Staite and Rachel and Joe.
You can't leave the Stargate family. They're everywhere. It's a big, huge part of my life, and it's part of my family.
GW: Creating a television show often means outrageously long, ridiculous hours. Did you ever feel as though you didn't have enough time for yourself or for your family?
AT: Yes. There was a period of time making Stargate where I think I became a little too Stargate-centric at the expense of my life. I would come home at night and open my script. Sundays at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon it would be "OK, sit down with a script."
I took for granted all the pieces that were a part of my family puzzle. This is before Olivia, of course. And I'm such a damned perfectionist. I loathed to drop a line on set. I was like, "I'm going to have this word perfect every single time." But I think, yeah, I ended up getting some really good perspective. Now, as important as the work is, you can do it all at work and come home. And I think having a child is a great equalizer in that sense.
I can't get in the door on my cell phone. Alan and I have very specific rules about when you come into the house you can't be on the phone. You drop everything and you're totally engaged. That's really important that Olivia gets that sense of "us."
GW: It's that dinner table mentality, too. So many people, you can't talk about work at the dinner table. You can't take a phone call at the dinner table. That's family time.
AT: Exactly. It's hugely important.
GW: As fast as this society is getting, we have to hold on to those things as hard as we can.
AT: Yes.
GW: Kylie, from Australia, she wants to know, "Do you as yet have any indication as to how the writers are going to deal with the departure of Sam Carter as base commander?"
AT: Yes.
GW: You do?
AT: [Laughter]
GW: Can you share anything with us?
AT: No. I'd love to! Gosh, are you kidding? I'd love to say "Yeah, this is how they're going to do it." But I don't want to give away any secrets from Atlantis. And the writers have done it really cleverly.
GW: OK, so you're pleased with what they've done.
AT: Yeah! Yeah. The last script that I read, it was very clever and it made a lot of sense, and it dovetails nicely into the Stargate franchise. Stop me talking, David! Stop me talking!
GW: Stop talking, Amanda! [Laughter] Do you consider 'Atlantis Carter' to almost be a different role from 'SG-1 Carter,' even though they are the same people?
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It was a deliberate choice of Tapping and the producers to fashion Carter differently for a leadership role. |
AT: Yes. Yeah, I do. I do only in that I chose to play it that way to keep the character interesting, but also because she was out of her element in a totally different realm, in a lead position, commanding an expedition and being in charge of all these people. It was a very different role for Sam, so it was a very different Sam. It made sense to me.
GW: Yeah, you're not a part of the team per se anymore as you are of the whole team. I think one of the big defining moments for a lot of people that I know was in "Be All My Sins Remember'd" when she nails Michael Beach's character for talking down to Rodney. "You are not going to talk to any of my team like that anymore and if you do you're not allowed here anymore." I loved that.
AT: Yeah, and that was great that they wrote that in. There were a couple of things where I was ... early on in this season of Atlantis it made sense that Carter was being played a certain way, but I remember going to Joe Mallozzi and saying "Um, in as much as we're playing a different side of Carter she's still really smart and a scientist and there's times when I don't speak up and I should. I don't want her to be completely different. The heart of what is Carter makes a lot of sense to me."
There were a couple of moments where I thought we pulled too far back.
GW: Right. And as you're trying to figure it out I'm sure Sam would be, too.
AT: Yes! Absolutely. They were definitely going on the same journey, the two of us.
GW: We all know how Rodney is. And I'm sure she's thinking "OK, I know that I’m in his sandbox now but I want him to know that his toys are not going to be taken!"
What's your theory as to what happened to SG-1 when the character left the team? We know The Ark of Truth and Continuum take place before Season Four. What do you think went ahead and happened to SG-1?
AT: The timeline for the movies may be slightly different than what we thought. There's a little hint for you. What do I think happened to the team? What we've done in the past, like before Ben's character came onboard the team disbanded and Daniel was doing this, Teal'c was doing that, and Vala was off doing this. I would like to think that that's what happened, not that Carter left and the rest of the team kept going without her. Even though that's quite likely.
I think maybe the band disbanded, like we had done in the past, and we get back together for the movies. I don't know. I don't know. That's just my own sort of ego where I don't want SG-1 to happen without me being there.
GW: Well you are an invaluable member of the team, just like Daniel, and just like Teal'c, and yes, Ben and Vala.
AT: So here's hoping!
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