Excerpts from the Stargate Magazine
Advanced Telemetry:
McCullough Crowns The Queen
Rachel Luttrell Interview
Rachel Lutrell by Brian Cairns
...This year Teyla gets more insight into the Wraith than she ever bargained for when she makes a disturbing transformation into the Queen herself! "That was a loaded episode," admits Lutrell, "When I found out I had to do that, I was very concerned because I am a mom, my little guy's with me all the time, and everybody was like 'Oh, you're going to terrify your son!' I had that in the back of my head that I was going to look like a monster. I like to believe my child is incredibly enlightened, but perhaps all babies are. They've got no palette of what a monster is or any of that, so yeah, I came into the trailer in stages. There's a mask that they put on you and it's latex and foam. It's got built into it various different forms of what the Wraith would have, such as higher cheekbones, a more pronounced brow, chin, and all that kind of stuff. They glue it on to your face first and after they have done that - which takes quite awhile, because they've got to lay it quite precisely around all of your features - I went into the trailer to see how he would be and he laughed. Mind you, I had spent the two weeks prior to that putting avocado on my face going, 'Look, crazy Mommy! Look, what is Mommy doing now?' I went into the trailer, he looked at me and went 'Heh, heh, heh' so I knew that it was going to be okay. But yeah, it takes about four-and-a-half to five hours to do that," adds Lutrell. "It's very uncomfortable because you're completely encased. It's kind of claustrophobic. The mask is put on and it completely transforms you. And then the make-up they use is mixed with the glue, they paint some of it on, and they airbrush the veins. So it's layer upon layer upon layer, and it's really quite a precise art, but they did a wonderful job. I certainly didn't recognize myself."
As rough as it was for Lutrell, it definitely raised some questions about Teyla, too. “There was a lot going on,” she agrees, “It was wonderful for me because I got to work with Chris Heyerdahl, who is such an amazing actor and a great guy as well. We talked about the scenes and he said, ‘It’s very interesting what’s going on with you – how much of Teyla is actually enjoying this, how much of her DNA speaks to this, and how much is she resisting that?’ There was a lot going on and that’s hinted at, at the end of that episode.” Teyla’s gamble will also thrust her into an unexpected position of responsibility and, at least in the near future, alter the Wraith status quo. “That was the last episode that I finished shooting, so I haven’t had a chance to bite into the next episodes and see how that will play through but it certainly will,” notes Lutrell. “Now that she’s embodied the Wraith Queen, it’s certainly heightened her connection to the Wraith and heightened the abilities that she already had. Not only that, but at the end of this particular episode, she’s now the leader of an alliance of Wraith and it’s very bizarre. It’s not a role that Teyla hopes to revisit, but it’s one she knows that if she has to, she would,” continues Lutrell. “She leaves it in the hands of Todd, but as it turns out, the Queen is the supreme ruler and she is the Queen, so who knows. It’s very interesting…”
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Advanced Telemetry:
McCullough Crowns The Queen
Spoiler:
Season 4 of Stargate: Atlantis introduced new field of depth into the growing series. Season-wide arcs were attempted in a way that few seasons of Stargate: SG-1 could compare. The show took on a darker hue, and new, bold stories were introduced.
The many facets explored paved inroads for Teyla Emmagan, the resident Athosian and Wraith hybrid of Atlantis, as well as Todd, Sheppard's Wraith inmate from Common Ground. Stargate staff writer Alan McCullogh recently told The Official Stargate Magazine about some of the exciting turns for these characters. "We make a proposition to Todd later in season five," he revealed. "The episode I'm just finishing right now is called The Queen. We go to Todd with a gene therapy we've managed to develop using Michael's research, which we believe will make the Wraith able to process food and thus not have to feed on humans anymore."
Getting the Wraith to switch from humans as their food source is something the Atlantis expedition has been pursuing for some time. "Todd" has sought ways to separate himself from his Wraith brethren, so he would be the logical Wraith to whom Atlantis would offer a taste test. "Of course, Todd, who's always got his own agenda, asks us to do something in return, which is what the episode becomes about. It becomes a very Teyla-focused story. Essentially Todd has joined an alliance of other hives, but the only way he can. He's had to fake his way in and lie and say that he had a queen on board...it goes in an interesting direction after that."
The story for The Queen was a culmination of a story McCullough pitched, and a story script coordinator Alex Levine, pitched the previous season. "He pitched a story where there was a Wraith summit and we tried to infiltrate it," said McCullogh. "We were trying to infiltrate a Wraith summit and we needed to go in undercover. Using that pitch, as well as some story elements that I pitched this year, we built the story."
Teyla already has Wraith DNA, which may allow her to masquerade as a queen. "There are subtle arcs happening in season five," McCullogh told The Official Stargate Magazine. "And who knows? Maybe we'll come up with something in the back half of season five that tears it wide open. You never know and, all of a sudden, it will spin things off in a completely different direction."
The many facets explored paved inroads for Teyla Emmagan, the resident Athosian and Wraith hybrid of Atlantis, as well as Todd, Sheppard's Wraith inmate from Common Ground. Stargate staff writer Alan McCullogh recently told The Official Stargate Magazine about some of the exciting turns for these characters. "We make a proposition to Todd later in season five," he revealed. "The episode I'm just finishing right now is called The Queen. We go to Todd with a gene therapy we've managed to develop using Michael's research, which we believe will make the Wraith able to process food and thus not have to feed on humans anymore."
Getting the Wraith to switch from humans as their food source is something the Atlantis expedition has been pursuing for some time. "Todd" has sought ways to separate himself from his Wraith brethren, so he would be the logical Wraith to whom Atlantis would offer a taste test. "Of course, Todd, who's always got his own agenda, asks us to do something in return, which is what the episode becomes about. It becomes a very Teyla-focused story. Essentially Todd has joined an alliance of other hives, but the only way he can. He's had to fake his way in and lie and say that he had a queen on board...it goes in an interesting direction after that."
The story for The Queen was a culmination of a story McCullough pitched, and a story script coordinator Alex Levine, pitched the previous season. "He pitched a story where there was a Wraith summit and we tried to infiltrate it," said McCullogh. "We were trying to infiltrate a Wraith summit and we needed to go in undercover. Using that pitch, as well as some story elements that I pitched this year, we built the story."
Teyla already has Wraith DNA, which may allow her to masquerade as a queen. "There are subtle arcs happening in season five," McCullogh told The Official Stargate Magazine. "And who knows? Maybe we'll come up with something in the back half of season five that tears it wide open. You never know and, all of a sudden, it will spin things off in a completely different direction."
Rachel Luttrell Interview
Spoiler:
Rachel Lutrell by Brian Cairns
...This year Teyla gets more insight into the Wraith than she ever bargained for when she makes a disturbing transformation into the Queen herself! "That was a loaded episode," admits Lutrell, "When I found out I had to do that, I was very concerned because I am a mom, my little guy's with me all the time, and everybody was like 'Oh, you're going to terrify your son!' I had that in the back of my head that I was going to look like a monster. I like to believe my child is incredibly enlightened, but perhaps all babies are. They've got no palette of what a monster is or any of that, so yeah, I came into the trailer in stages. There's a mask that they put on you and it's latex and foam. It's got built into it various different forms of what the Wraith would have, such as higher cheekbones, a more pronounced brow, chin, and all that kind of stuff. They glue it on to your face first and after they have done that - which takes quite awhile, because they've got to lay it quite precisely around all of your features - I went into the trailer to see how he would be and he laughed. Mind you, I had spent the two weeks prior to that putting avocado on my face going, 'Look, crazy Mommy! Look, what is Mommy doing now?' I went into the trailer, he looked at me and went 'Heh, heh, heh' so I knew that it was going to be okay. But yeah, it takes about four-and-a-half to five hours to do that," adds Lutrell. "It's very uncomfortable because you're completely encased. It's kind of claustrophobic. The mask is put on and it completely transforms you. And then the make-up they use is mixed with the glue, they paint some of it on, and they airbrush the veins. So it's layer upon layer upon layer, and it's really quite a precise art, but they did a wonderful job. I certainly didn't recognize myself."
As rough as it was for Lutrell, it definitely raised some questions about Teyla, too. “There was a lot going on,” she agrees, “It was wonderful for me because I got to work with Chris Heyerdahl, who is such an amazing actor and a great guy as well. We talked about the scenes and he said, ‘It’s very interesting what’s going on with you – how much of Teyla is actually enjoying this, how much of her DNA speaks to this, and how much is she resisting that?’ There was a lot going on and that’s hinted at, at the end of that episode.” Teyla’s gamble will also thrust her into an unexpected position of responsibility and, at least in the near future, alter the Wraith status quo. “That was the last episode that I finished shooting, so I haven’t had a chance to bite into the next episodes and see how that will play through but it certainly will,” notes Lutrell. “Now that she’s embodied the Wraith Queen, it’s certainly heightened her connection to the Wraith and heightened the abilities that she already had. Not only that, but at the end of this particular episode, she’s now the leader of an alliance of Wraith and it’s very bizarre. It’s not a role that Teyla hopes to revisit, but it’s one she knows that if she has to, she would,” continues Lutrell. “She leaves it in the hands of Todd, but as it turns out, the Queen is the supreme ruler and she is the Queen, so who knows. It’s very interesting…”
.
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