Post by chimene on Feb 20, 2007 3:19:26 GMT -5
Credits to deepinblue.
Here's the link to the interview and podcast.
Rachel Luttrell
STAR GAZER
by: Lisa Steinberg
Q. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on?
A. Oh boy! "Stargate Atlantis" and "Stargate Atlantis!" Last year I worked on a project called A Dog's Breakfast and it was a film that was spun from the mind of one of my castmates on the show. So, it's kind of a dark comedy that is now being released by MGM. I am also hoping this year to put together some music. I am working with a composer on my show and he wants to branch out and do some more modern, freestyle stuff. He's essentially been composing for television for his entire career. The two of us will hopefully be getting something off the ground.
Q. Is there anything new going on with your character?
A. Well, I can tell you that there is going to be more of a dark side to my character being introduced this season. We'll see more of her edgier, ruthless side.
Q. What is it about the role that challenges you?
A. There are so many things, the first thing that was the most challenging is that she needed to be human and also otherworldly in the sense that she is form a different galaxy. All of her influences have been so far off the map from anything that those from Earth had. So, I needed infuse the character with something that was otherworldly but that was also understandable, approachable, and recognizable as human. That was the first challenge and then I had to start learning a lot of fight techniques and that was a challenge for me because I had never done that before. I put my dance techniques to use in terms of learning the choreography, those two were the ultimately the very first challenges that cropped up with my character. Now, I'm at a place where we have a rhythm.
Q. When it comes to your portrayals, where do you draw your experiences from?
A. Initially from me, I was born in East Africa, I was born in Tanzania, my mom is Tanzanian. Her perspectives growing up were vastly different from anything that those of us who grew up in the Western World could imagine. I grew up with those stories and influences and having been born there, it was always a very strong part of who our family was. I really used that when I went into the audition, I actually had a picture of my grandparents from my mother's side from Tanzania, and I thought about the closeness they had to the Earth and how separate their lives were from what I knew and I really called upon that.
Q. Do you have a really memorable moment from your time filming?
A. I have about a hundred memorable moments! I guess the first moment that I really showed up on set for the first time. I had in my mind that I was only going to work up here in Vancouver for two months or so. I was looking at it as this fun, quick experience that I would have. Showing up on set and being in wardrobe for the first time and wardrobe is amazing and meeting all of the directors for the first time and being really excited and inspired about it.
Q. What do you think it is about the show that continues to draw so many viewers in?
A. It's a Sci Fi genre in general that taps into people's sense of imagination and the possibility of what is out there and that kind of endless world. I think it appeals to people who have great imagination and that's endless. I am a Sci Fi fan and always have been, we got into the Star Wars movies when I was really young. So, I get it, it's endless in terms of where storylines can go. It's not limited by the sense of what we know, it's only limited by one's imagination. That's something that is so vastly appealing. We are lucky because we kind of came off of the great success of "SG-1" which has been on for ten seasons. It just has such an immensely strong fanbase.
Q. You've done music and acting, is there anything else you'd really like to try your hand at?
A. Yeah, I love to write, I've always been a writer. Short stories and the like and I am trying my hand at putting together a screenplay. I am hoping to do but I don't really want to publicize it and put it out there. I definitely aspire to write and maybe produce as well and who knows, maybe direct. My focus for so many years was on singing and dancing predominantly and then acting. Being on the show has given me the luxury of exploring the other things I haven't had time to focus on. Maybe down the line with directing but certainly writing.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A. So many things! I love to travel, I guess that kind of goes without saying given the fact that I come from so far away. I love to explore this world as much as possible, I love to go to movies. I am one of those actors who can go to a movie and completely lose myself in it, I don't think about behind the scenes stuff. I like to sit in a movie theater and be lost in a movie. I love to cook and spend time with my family and friends. I am hoping to maybe learn an instrument this year, I have this guitar that's been leaning up against my bed for the past year and a half now, desperately calling to me. I love music and singing and that's a definite part of my day.
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. Thank you, that's it, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's amazing to me, I don't really go online so I don't really have a sense of what people are saying about the show. I do get a lot of fan mail and it's always so wonderful and positive. It runs the gamut from people who are really young, girls and boys to people who are in very different job lines. It's just amazing to me, I am incredibly grateful, I would just like to say thank you.
Here's the link to the interview and podcast.
Rachel Luttrell
STAR GAZER
by: Lisa Steinberg
Q. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on?
A. Oh boy! "Stargate Atlantis" and "Stargate Atlantis!" Last year I worked on a project called A Dog's Breakfast and it was a film that was spun from the mind of one of my castmates on the show. So, it's kind of a dark comedy that is now being released by MGM. I am also hoping this year to put together some music. I am working with a composer on my show and he wants to branch out and do some more modern, freestyle stuff. He's essentially been composing for television for his entire career. The two of us will hopefully be getting something off the ground.
Q. Is there anything new going on with your character?
A. Well, I can tell you that there is going to be more of a dark side to my character being introduced this season. We'll see more of her edgier, ruthless side.
Q. What is it about the role that challenges you?
A. There are so many things, the first thing that was the most challenging is that she needed to be human and also otherworldly in the sense that she is form a different galaxy. All of her influences have been so far off the map from anything that those from Earth had. So, I needed infuse the character with something that was otherworldly but that was also understandable, approachable, and recognizable as human. That was the first challenge and then I had to start learning a lot of fight techniques and that was a challenge for me because I had never done that before. I put my dance techniques to use in terms of learning the choreography, those two were the ultimately the very first challenges that cropped up with my character. Now, I'm at a place where we have a rhythm.
Q. When it comes to your portrayals, where do you draw your experiences from?
A. Initially from me, I was born in East Africa, I was born in Tanzania, my mom is Tanzanian. Her perspectives growing up were vastly different from anything that those of us who grew up in the Western World could imagine. I grew up with those stories and influences and having been born there, it was always a very strong part of who our family was. I really used that when I went into the audition, I actually had a picture of my grandparents from my mother's side from Tanzania, and I thought about the closeness they had to the Earth and how separate their lives were from what I knew and I really called upon that.
Q. Do you have a really memorable moment from your time filming?
A. I have about a hundred memorable moments! I guess the first moment that I really showed up on set for the first time. I had in my mind that I was only going to work up here in Vancouver for two months or so. I was looking at it as this fun, quick experience that I would have. Showing up on set and being in wardrobe for the first time and wardrobe is amazing and meeting all of the directors for the first time and being really excited and inspired about it.
Q. What do you think it is about the show that continues to draw so many viewers in?
A. It's a Sci Fi genre in general that taps into people's sense of imagination and the possibility of what is out there and that kind of endless world. I think it appeals to people who have great imagination and that's endless. I am a Sci Fi fan and always have been, we got into the Star Wars movies when I was really young. So, I get it, it's endless in terms of where storylines can go. It's not limited by the sense of what we know, it's only limited by one's imagination. That's something that is so vastly appealing. We are lucky because we kind of came off of the great success of "SG-1" which has been on for ten seasons. It just has such an immensely strong fanbase.
Q. You've done music and acting, is there anything else you'd really like to try your hand at?
A. Yeah, I love to write, I've always been a writer. Short stories and the like and I am trying my hand at putting together a screenplay. I am hoping to do but I don't really want to publicize it and put it out there. I definitely aspire to write and maybe produce as well and who knows, maybe direct. My focus for so many years was on singing and dancing predominantly and then acting. Being on the show has given me the luxury of exploring the other things I haven't had time to focus on. Maybe down the line with directing but certainly writing.
Q. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A. So many things! I love to travel, I guess that kind of goes without saying given the fact that I come from so far away. I love to explore this world as much as possible, I love to go to movies. I am one of those actors who can go to a movie and completely lose myself in it, I don't think about behind the scenes stuff. I like to sit in a movie theater and be lost in a movie. I love to cook and spend time with my family and friends. I am hoping to maybe learn an instrument this year, I have this guitar that's been leaning up against my bed for the past year and a half now, desperately calling to me. I love music and singing and that's a definite part of my day.
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. Thank you, that's it, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's amazing to me, I don't really go online so I don't really have a sense of what people are saying about the show. I do get a lot of fan mail and it's always so wonderful and positive. It runs the gamut from people who are really young, girls and boys to people who are in very different job lines. It's just amazing to me, I am incredibly grateful, I would just like to say thank you.