Casting for SG1

[Dave2]

I am interested in knowing what kinds of other actors were considered for key roles in SG1. And why did the main actors from the 1994 film decide not to join the series? Were people like Spader and Russell considered for their roles in SG1, and were there other major actors considered for the roles of O'Neil, Carter, Teal'c, Jackson, etc.? How did the writers come up with new characters such as Teal'c and Samantha Carter?
Talk about parallel universes, what about a continuation of Stargate 1994 with the original actors or actors other than those in SG1?

On another matter, what was the relationship of General Hammond to the rest of the SG teams? Since he was a single figure in the administration, did he spend all or most his time debriefing all the SG teams, or did he have assistants, and was therefore concentrating on SG1?

[Dave2]

A larger role for characters such as Dr. Rothman or of Jonas (as chums or competitors of Daniel) throughout the series would have most interesting.

[hedwig]

I am interested in knowing what kinds of other actors were considered for key roles in SG1. And why did the main actors from the 1994 film decide not to join the series? Were people like Spader and Russell considered for their roles in SG1, and were there other major actors considered for the roles of O'Neil, Carter, Teal'c, Jackson, etc.? How did the writers come up with new characters such as Teal'c and Samantha Carter?
Talk about parallel universes, what about a continuation of Stargate 1994 with the original actors or actors other than those in SG1?

On another matter, what was the relationship of General Hammond to the rest of the SG teams? Since he was a single figure in the administration, did he spend all or most his time debriefing all the SG teams, or did he have assistants, and was therefore concentrating on SG1?

I believe Richard Dean Anderson was a friend of Brad Wright, and Brad wanted him for the role of O'Neill. RDA agreed, with the conditon that he wouldn't be playing O'Neill the way Kurt Russell did (with no sense of humor). I like RDA's O'Neill far better than Kurt Russell's.

Many actors auditioned for the roles of the other three.

Apparently the network (ShowTime) wanted an overly sexy woman for the role of Samantha Carter (and apparently had an actress in mind for the part), but Brad Wright wanted Amanda Tapping for the role and stuck to his guns and Amanda got the role. I'd love to know who the other actress was, because I can't imagine anyone but Amanda in this role.

Both Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge had worked with RDA on earlier projects (CJ was in an episode of McGyver). Don S. Davis had also been involved with McGyver and worked with RDA. Don was the stand-in/double/whatever the appropriate term is, for RDA's co-star (Dana Elcar) in McGyver.

You could probably find interviews or articles on RDA's website with his description of how he came to be involved in SG1. Personally, I can't think of anyone better to have played O'Neill than RDA.

I've often wondered about Hammond's duties to the rest of the SGC, given how much time he seemed to spend with SG1. He had an assistant or two over the years, but they never seemed to be highlighted. There were a few episodes where we see a woman in uniform handing him files or helping him pack/unpack boxes. There was at least one episode where he seemed to be followed around by a man in uniform, who was probably an assistant (the guy that took Bratac to be debriefed at the end of "Serpent's Lair" when they all arrived back in the gateroom).

Jack was presumably (though never really stated) the second-in-command of the SGC and, of course, CO of SG1. So in that light, Hammond probably did give them more attention than others.

Hammond also seemed to spend quite a lot of time on the phone with the President.

I'm sure others have more information than I remember, and maybe remember more accurately ().

And I agree with your other comment. I would like to have seen some of those other short-lived characters given more screen/storytime (along the lines of what they gave Dr. Lee). And I really, really liked Jonas Quinn. I wish he could have become a recurring character after Season 6.

[Dave2]

Thanks......now in general what "interesting and exciting things" were the other SG teams doing while our guys were fighting the Goa'ulds and Ori besides serving as backups? Was Teal'c intended as the sole alien (former human) involved with SGC? Presumably each of the SG teams had their own science officer and language expert like Sam and Daniel, and knowledgeable alien like Teal'c. After all, what could any other team do without the expertise of Teal'c?!
I agree about RDA. Top-notch.
I was disappointed to see a rather silly interview with Amanda, Chris and Michael. Like a bunch of high school kids. I didn't expect to see Michael behave like a genius nerd off the show all the time, but the guy is obviously hiding a great intellect that showed up in Daniel. Same for the other two. I guess the pressures of Hollywood force such people to act like they are dumbing down to be accepted. Too bad.

I believe Richard Dean Anderson was a friend of Brad Wright, and Brad wanted him for the role of O'Neill. RDA agreed, with the conditon that he wouldn't be playing O'Neill the way Kurt Russell did (with no sense of humor). I like RDA's O'Neill far better than Kurt Russell's.

Many actors auditioned for the roles of the other three.

Apparently the network (ShowTime) wanted an overly sexy woman for the role of Samantha Carter (and apparently had an actress in mind for the part), but Brad Wright wanted Amanda Tapping for the role and stuck to his guns and Amanda got the role. I'd love to know who the other actress was, because I can't imagine anyone but Amanda in this role.

Both Michael Shanks and Christopher Judge had worked with RDA on earlier projects (CJ was in an episode of McGyver). Don S. Davis had also been involved with McGyver and worked with RDA. Don was the stand-in/double/whatever the appropriate term is, for RDA's co-star (Dana Elcar) in McGyver.

You could probably find interviews or articles on RDA's website with his description of how he came to be involved in SG1. Personally, I can't think of anyone better to have played O'Neill than RDA.

I've often wondered about Hammond's duties to the rest of the SGC, given how much time he seemed to spend with SG1. He had an assistant or two over the years, but they never seemed to be highlighted. There were a few episodes where we see a woman in uniform handing him files or helping him pack/unpack boxes. There was at least one episode where he seemed to be followed around by a man in uniform, who was probably an assistant (the guy that took Bratac to be debriefed at the end of "Serpent's Lair" when they all arrived back in the gateroom).

Jack was presumably (though never really stated) the second-in-command of the SGC and, of course, CO of SG1. So in that light, Hammond probably did give them more attention than others.

Hammond also seemed to spend quite a lot of time on the phone with the President.

I'm sure others have more information than I remember, and maybe remember more accurately ().

And I agree with your other comment. I would like to have seen some of those other short-lived characters given more screen/storytime (along the lines of what they gave Dr. Lee). And I really, really liked Jonas Quinn. I wish he could have become a recurring character after Season 6.

[hedwig]

I was disappointed to see a rather silly interview with Amanda, Chris and Michael. Like a bunch of high school kids. I didn't expect to see Michael behave like a genius nerd off the show all the time, but the guy is obviously hiding a great intellect that showed up in Daniel. Same for the other two. I guess the pressures of Hollywood force such people to act like they are dumbing down to be accepted. Too bad.

If you read interviews with and about these three, you'll find they are fairly well known for their sense of humor, esp. CJ and AT. From what I've read they are some of the most down to earth actors around, and feel no pressure to conform or be something they aren't. And since SG1 wasn't a "Hollywood" production, but a Canadian one, there apparently wasn't that much pressure to be something they weren't. From interviews I've read with them, and comments by many others that worked with them, they were loads of fun to be around, and the atmosphere on the sets.

I think I've seen the interview you're talking about, or maybe one similar, and those three seem to just be that way around each other. They are probably a bit more serious in individual interviews. RDA has a pretty wicked sense of humor, too, and was seen and heard to be pretty silly at times during behind the scenes stuff.

I think the attitude was "It's more fun to be silly than it is to be serious", and it carried over into interviews and such, even when it wound up being overly silly.


From what I saw in some of the episodes, many of the SG teams were made up of all marines, or all AF people. Some had scientists, some were more "soldiers" than anything else. I don't think any of them had a similar make-up to SG1, which people seem to feel was what made SG1 so much "better" than other teams. I don't necessarily agree with the "better", since I think there were likely teams that were as good as SG1; we just didn't get to see them. I wish there had been a few episodes highlighting some of those other teams (other than the team in "Heroes" where Dave Dixon was the CO; and the ones that turned rogue and started stealing from other planets.)

[fems]

You can see the makeup of the different teams here and what their specialty is.

[madaboutdanny]

Just for the record, Michael and Rick never worked together, when Michael was very young he saw Rick shooting a MacGyver ep on a Vancouver beach, that's all, and that inspired him to become an actor, so put the blame on Rick

[Inquisitor]

Just for the record, Michael and Rick never worked together, when Michael was very young he saw Rick shooting a MacGyver ep on a Vancouver beach, that's all, and that inspired him to become an actor, so put the blame on Rick

I remember that from the DVDs. I think it's an interesting age-gap.

Apparently the network (ShowTime) wanted an overly sexy woman for the role of Samantha Carter (and apparently had an actress in mind for the part), but Brad Wright wanted Amanda Tapping for the role and stuck to his guns and Amanda got the role. I'd love to know who the other actress was, because I can't imagine anyone but Amanda in this role.

I think Showtime got what they wanted!

[Quizziard]

On another matter, what was the relationship of General Hammond to the rest of the SG teams? Since he was a single figure in the administration, did he spend all or most his time debriefing all the SG teams, or did he have assistants, and was therefore concentrating on SG1?

I always thought it odd that Gen. Hammond (and indeed SG-1) was on base and on duty whenever anything happened. He would be entitled to a couple of days a week off, plus however weeks annual leave the USAF is entitled to.

[Calluna]

Apparently the network (ShowTime) wanted an overly sexy woman for the role of Samantha Carter (and apparently had an actress in mind for the part), but Brad Wright wanted Amanda Tapping for the role and stuck to his guns and Amanda got the role. I'd love to know who the other actress was, because I can't imagine anyone but Amanda in this role.

When I watched COTG the first time after reading this last year I wondered if the actress was the Airman that got kidnapped by Teal'c and Jaffa in the first scene. Because she definitely seemed more overtly "T&A" than Amanda Tapping was and they often give guest spots to actors who come close to getting regular roles as a sort of consolation prize. But I agree you'd be hard pressed to find another actress who managed to pull off being an genius, Captain and woman as well as she did.

On another matter, what was the relationship of General Hammond to the rest of the SG teams? Since he was a single figure in the administration, did he spend all or most his time debriefing all the SG teams, or did he have assistants, and was therefore concentrating on SG1?

I assume as a good CO he had good working relationships with most of the SG teams and their leaders. We know about his relationship with SG-1 first and formost because the show is about SG-1. I assume he had a number of off screen subordinates and administrative aids that were both too boring and too costly to put on screen on a regular basis for this show. We know he had Major Samuels as an XO for a while in early seasons and had constant contact with the Pentagon via an emergency phone and Major Davis as Liason. He also seems to have established a good working relationship with the Air Force Academy and he and their Commandant recommending cadets for potential recruitment (Proving Ground). I think it's Fanon that Jack became his 2IC but I don't think there's much evidence either way in later season.

Marine Unit SG3 also apparent established a friendly rivalry with SG-1 based comments especially in later seasons.

Also As Gen. O'Neil Jack showed that he had a number of other responsibilities than SG-1, including sorting out problems with potatoes, other SG teams with interesting rocks, alien plants taking over the base, alien diplomacy, Ba'al/Anubis, a presidential visit and also averting a world wide nuclear war.

I was disappointed to see a rather silly interview with Amanda, Chris and Michael. Like a bunch of high school kids. I didn't expect to see Michael behave like a genius nerd off the show all the time, but the guy is obviously hiding a great intellect that showed up in Daniel. Same for the other two. I guess the pressures of Hollywood force such people to act like they are dumbing down to be accepted. Too bad.

You know, I also assume I know which interview you're refering to and I find it cute. What they aren't allowed to have fun? There aren't too many shows where you can find the leads literally cuddled up with each other relaxed and having fun with each other. There are a lot of interviews where it is clear all 4 of them have though a lot about their characters. In particular AT has said she read many Physics journals to get the understanding of some of the technobabble Sam spouts. There's a reason this woman has mostly played highly intelligent characters for the last 20 years. And MS also comes across as fairly interesting and articulate in many of his interviews.

[Gen. Chris]

The reason that Spader and Russel weren't used was because they were/are considered to be higher tiered actors (whether you agree with this or not)...And would have demanded higher salaries than Showtime and MGM would have likely wished to pay. With RDA and Shanks, MGM/Showtime would only need to pay TV actor salaries

[KEK]

I agree for Kurt Russell, not for Spader. The reality is they probably wouldn't have wanted to be involved in the first place, even if MGM could afford them. It's a big step down from their perspective.

[Gen. Chris]

I agree for Kurt Russell, not for Spader. The reality is they probably wouldn't have wanted to be involved in the first place, even if MGM could afford them. It's a big step down from their perspective.

That too.


I'm glad they got Michael Shanks...I could not have imagined Spader maturing both appearance and personality wise over the 10 years (9 for Shanks) of SG-1

[hedwig]

The reason that Spader and Russel weren't used was because they were/are considered to be higher tiered actors (whether you agree with this or not)...And would have demanded higher salaries than Showtime and MGM would have likely wished to pay. With RDA and Shanks, MGM/Showtime would only need to pay TV actor salaries

As the star of the show and having a successful, well known TV show to his credit, I'm sure RDA got a rather hefty salary for his work on SG1. Plus, he was also being paid for being an Executive Producer on the show.

Michael, as an unknown at that time, wouldn't likely have gotten near as much.

[Gen. Chris]

As the star of the show and having a successful, well known TV show to his credit, I'm sure RDA got a rather hefty salary for his work on SG1. Plus, he was also being paid for being an Executive Producer on the show.

Michael, as an unknown at that time, wouldn't likely have gotten near as much.

I wasn't saying that RDA isn't an unknown...But he wasn't really a movie actor. Movie actors tend to think that TV is beneath them and they want outrageous salaries just to appear =/