“I just read the script on the plane ride here.”
Those were the first words David Hewlett spoke to GateWorld in regards to Stargate Universe‘s highly anticipated crossover episode with characters from sister series Atlantis. GateWorld sat down for an exclusive chat with the actor during his appearance at Creation Entertainment’s Official Stargate Convention in Chicago, Illinois last month.
The episode, “Seizure,” is currently scheduled as the fifteenth episode of SGU Season Two, and will air sometime in the first half of 2011. In addition to Hewlett’s reprisal of Dr. Rodney McKay, the episode will also feature an appearance by Robert Picardo as Atlantis expedition leader (at least up through “Enemy At The Gate”) Richard Woolsey.
“I was told not to tell anyone I was in it!” Hewlett said. “And then literally a day later, it was announced at Comic-Con!”
For fans of Atlantis wondering exactly how McKay and his personality will fit into the tone and pacing that has been established on Universe, Hewlett states that they weren’t the only ones.
“I was sitting there going, ‘How does McKay fit into this world?’ He’s such a different character, and Atlantis is so different from SGU,” he said. “I was a little nervous about that. But I think they’ve done a really good job of getting them in there.
“It’s not a McKay episode. It’s not all about McKay and it’s not all about Robert [Picardo]. It’s an episode of SGU. But I think they’ve nicely melded the worlds together.”
All that being said, expect for some of McKay’s personality traits and eccentricities to be reigned in a bit for the new series.
“You cannot have McKay in an episode — just like you can’t have Jack [O’Neill] in an episode of Stargate — without a certain personality, or at least aspects of that personality, coming through,” Hewlett told GateWorld. “But I think they’ve done a really good job of getting just enough of it in there. But not so much that it takes away from what they are doing on SGU.”
Could the appearance of Woolsey and McKay on Universe open up the door for other Atlantis characters to make appearances in the future? It’s a question only the writers can answer, but Hewlett remains hopeful.
“Secretly in my heart, I hope it means we will see more of the Atlantis crew come in,” he said. “And selfishly, for me, I miss playing McKay. And I just felt so happy and honored that Robert and I were asked to come in. It’s Stargate. It’s family. It’s home.”
Keep watching GateWorld in the weeks to come for more from our chat with David Hewlett. A full-length interview with the actor is coming soon, plus much more!
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I'm glad David loves McKay and wants to play him again. (just wish it would have been in the movie...)
Receiving decidedly mixed feelings from those who are tweeting him though. If you do a search of twitter, many are feeling a bit betrayed, many are quite happy about the crossover.
I fear the worst. They already completely changed the O'Neill character in SGU. I didn't recognized him anymore! Carter didn't even try to rescue those pilots and Daniel Jackson was misused as an agent with a camera. I think McKay and Woolsey will be the next characters from the two older Stargate series, which will be mistreated in SGU. I bet we will see again a complete personality change of those characters.
@psw. I respectfully disagree about O'Neill. I think he's toned down, but he's also playing the role of commander and if you remember he was hard ass on occasion when he needed to be. I do think young is a screw up and O'neill needs to kick his ass. As for Carter and Jackson I agree their roles have been unsubstantial. Too bad it sounds like McKay will be just another brief cameo and non-integral to the plot. Too bad, as I would like to see McKay and Woolsey used in a way that's more important to the story. IMO, If you're going to have a guest star make it worthwhile for them and us.
I'm not an SGA fan, but I'm fairly excited to see Mckay again. I think they've done a great job with Jack, and I think even Daniel and Sam have made believable cameos, so I'm interested to see a slightly darker version of McKay.
@ sgfan
O'Neill is my favourite SG1 character and they changed him so much in SGU, that I didn't like him anymore.
When they use SG1 or SGA characters in SGU, they should still have the same personality than in the previous series. They shouldn't tone them down; the personality traits and eccentricities shouldn't be reigned in. Those aspects make them the characters we know.
They shouldn't bother to include SG1 and SGA characters, if they changed them so much that you can't recognized them anymore. If they need characters with a different personality, they should just introduce new characters and not change the existing SG1 and SGA characters to suit SGU's needs!
Wow, Seriously what is the point of having Mckay if you take away and tone down his personality. I would prefer for them not to bother if they arent going to ring true to the actual characters. Doesn't everyone realise that the only reason they are including these cameos is to keep veteran viewers tuning in so the ratings look good. While SGU does have some qualities most of the time they might as well be in a huge submarine in the bottom of the ocean for all the Sci-fi there is. But hey what do i know, im just the guy who has spent over £2000 buying all the dvds...
I'm really looking forward to seeing this, especially if it's a toned down McKay, more in keeping with the feel of SGU. (And I liked the treatment of O'Neill's character in SGU. I think it worked and I have faith that McKay will work as well.)
Change is good :)
Lol @ the people saying that SGU has changed O'Neill and will change McKay. Remember the line "We'll beam you up to our spaceship"? That line from the SGU pilot was exactly the kind of think the SG-1 O'Neill would say, and is just one example from SGU. Some people must think O'Neill was a complete joker and never serious in SG-1.
I'm looking forward to seeing McKay SGU.
@evilgrin "change is good" I remember alot of governments saying that...now look what happened!
@psw,
I get were you are coming from, but I also must disagree. SGU O'neil is very similar to the Movie or early SG-1 O'neil. Also, O'neil cracked an inappropriate joke at an inappropriate time during his visit on the Destiny-- more like the O'neil of later seasons.
As for McKay-- I hope his appearance is more substantial than what is being implied here. While I enjoyed seeing Jackson and Carter on SGU, there were ultimately unsatisfying due to how short and fleeting they were.