Feature: Stargate SG-1

Amanda's Army

For six seasons as Samantha Carter, Amanda Tapping has given this popular series its heart and soul.

As Major Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1, Amanda Tapping has spent the past six years imbuing the Space-hopping, hi-tech series with much of its heart and soul. The character is as tough as O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and Jackson (Michael Shanks), but she’s also feminine. Stargate just wouldn’t be the same without Tapping or Carter. Fortunately, Tapping has been a constant from day one, and she’s on hand again now, as the series returns to the airwaves for its seventh season. Starburst chatted to Tapping on a rare day off and found her to be in terrific humour as she discussed past events, the return of Michael Shanks – and exit of Corin Nemec – as well as her hopes for Carter’s continued development.

Let’s start with Season Six. How pleased were you with the year as a whole and specifically Carter’s character arc?
The season as a whole, I thought was fantastic. I thought that it was such an interesting dynamic bringing Corin in, or bringing this Jonas character in, and it changed the relationships of everyone and it sort of infused the show with new life. It was a really strange season for us, but I think that it was a really good one.

For Carter?
Sam’s development, no, but I’m not complaining. Her job in Season Six was to help move the story forward, doing a lot of explaining or taking us to places. She facilitated stories, but she didn’t have a huge emotional mark in Season Six. She was the go-to girl. You need the information, go to Sam. You need something explained, go to Sam. You need some back-story, go to Sam. There wasn’t a lot of character development for her. There were certain episodes that I thought were fun to play, like Nightwalkers and Smoke and Mirrors, which were sort of Earth-based stories about ‘Who do you trust and who don’t you trust?’ I certainly had a great time shooting Season Six, but I don’t I feel that the character of Sam had a huge amount of development.

What would you say the sixth season finale, Full Circle, set in motion for Season Seven?
Well, it sets the stage for Daniel coming back, in that we don’t know what happens to him. I guess that everyone knows he comes back because they’ve done all of this hoopla. So I’m not telling tales out of school [laughs]. Daniel comes back.

Oh yeah? We didn’t know that…
Oh man, I’m sorry. I blew it for you [laughs]. What was put into motion? Well, I don’t know that Full Circle actually set in motion anything for Season Seven except for the fact that Daniel either makes a huge sacrifice or does something wherein he comes back. It solidifies that he’s a part of this team because he’s back when we need him the most, but beyond that, in terms of relationships between anyone else, no, though there were obviously the Jack O’Neill moments.

by John Reading

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Starburst #301

Photo © MGM
Feature © Visual Imagination 2003. Not for reproduction

Taken from

Starburst #301
August 2003
ships from Jul 31 2003
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