When the cast and crew of Stargate SG-1 venture out on location it�s usually to a forest, gravel pit or sand dune. Every so often, they�ll go to a town or other more public setting. On this August afternoon, shooting is being done on a residential street in North Vancouver for the scenes set at Jack O�Neill�s house in Lost City. Amanda Tapping is among those involved in the day�s shoot.

When she hasn�t been in front of the cameras, the actress has been in prep to direct her first Stargate episode, Resurrection.

�I feel pretty good about the directing gig,� smiles Tapping, taking a well-earned break in between scenes. �I�ve been doing plenty of homework, especially on the weekends. The only downfall, which probably won�t be much of a downfall, is that I�m in Resurrection quite a bit and I�ll have to direct myself. Unfortunately, Rick isn�t in it. Michael Shanks wrote the script, which is neat, and we�re shooting it all on-location, so it should be an interesting story.

�It�s a big episode, too, with quite a bit going on. There are three different storylines running simultaneously. I spent all day yesterday coming up with my entire shot list for the scenes. Of course, I looked at it today and said, �Boy, that�s a dumb way of doing that. What was I thinking of?� So I�m second-guessing myself now. Basically what I did was take the art department�s drawing of the set, make Xerox copies, and then for each scene draw in where the actors should be, how I�d like the cameras placed, etc. I�ve been given an amazing opportunity and I�m loving every minute of it. The crew has been great and all my meetings have gone well. Everyone seems to think I�m really prepared, so we�ll see.�

Along with her directorial debut, Tapping�s many admirers can look forward to seeing more of her work as Major Samantha Carter in the latter half of Stargate�s seventh season.

�In the episode Grace, it�s all Carter, all the time, stuck alone on the Prometheus,� notes the actress. �After that we shot Chimera, which is a big departure for us. In it, my character gets a boyfriend named Pete [David DeLuise] and Osiris [Anna-Louse Plowman] pays a return visit to Daniel. The actual story is much more TV drama than Sci-Fi and viewers will either love it or hate it. I thought it was fun to shoot, though, and nice to show a different side of Sam.�

It was July 1997 that Stargate fans watched as the-then Captain Carter and her SG-1 team-mates went on their first off-world mission. For Tapping, that time has passed quickly. �I can�t believe it�s been that long,� she says. �I�ll look back at Rick, Michael, and Chris and myself in those early seasons and think, �We were all so young? What happened?�� jokes the actress. �In other ways, though, I don�t feel any older. I feel a bit wiser as well as stronger and yet more humble. I�m in a very privileged position and I know it. I knew I was lucky when I got the job and to still be doing something seven years later that I love and with people I truly cherish is a joy.�

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TV Zone Special #55

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