Known for Puberty Blues, A Place to Call Home and A Midsummer’s Nightmare, Australia-born Ellie Gall stars as Catherine Langford in the sci-fi web-series Stargate Origins. Stargate fans will remember young Catherine as the daughter of professor Langford who unearthed the Stargate in 1928. The series chronicles young adult Catherine’s quest to rescue her father and protect the world from an ominous threat. The Web series recently wrapped up its first season with a special, 3-part finale. In this one-on-one on-set interview, Gall reveals her passion for the series and the challenges she faced in presenting this prequel to millions of Stargate fans.
What drew you to this iconic project?
Ellie Gall: I had an audition on a Wednesday to meet my fellow actors. I got the call on Friday, the script on Sunday, and my deal was finished on Tuesday. I read the entire script and thought it looked crazy, scary and exciting. On Wednesday, I went to rehearsal and on Friday, I went to the fitting and dyed my hair, and Saturday, we were shooting. It was crazy. I didn’t have much time to think about what I was getting myself into. I just said to myself, okay, this is Stargate; this is the story, what is happening in the show, how do I make it work.
Ellie Gall as Catherine Langford
Were you a follower of Stargate? Did you see the original movie? There’s so much to follow—SG-1, Atlantis, Universe.
E.G: I had heard of Stargate. I saw the original film but I wasn’t a fan. My roommate was a huge fan. At the start, Catherine doesn’t know much about the Stargate. She knows it’s a chunk of metal from an archeological dig. For me, it was important not to know too much about it, about how it would work until I was actually going through it. All Catherine knows about the Stargate is that the glyphs, symbols and their sequence somehow open it. So for Catherine to know everything about the Stargate and all its possibilities would be getting ahead of things.
Catherine is faced with unraveling the technical aspects of the Stargate. Did you bring yourself up to speed on the tech aspects of the device?
EG: We have several Stargate tech advisors who help me with the tech aspects. We also watch some of the online experts who follow Stargate.
Ellie Gall on the set of Stargate Origins
What kind of relationship will Catherin have with her father?
EG: We just discovered that we’ve run out of money to keep funding our Stargate research. He’s going to go back to America and Catherine reveals that she wants to remain in Egypt. Their relationship is very close, they have a big fight and Catherine takes over his research. Then he’s taken by the Nazis and during much of the series, Catherine tries to rescue her father. She has this awful feeling that she may never see him again and that she may never be able to say I’m sorry to make up for the big fight they had. Catherine has a lot of fire and she’s very driven to find her father. She gets into a lot of trouble and she tends to drag people down with her.
Can you give us some insights into the budding James-Catherine relationship?
Ellie Gall and Philip Alexander
EG: There is a love interest in the show. She’s very fond of James, an English soldier with whom she has a budding relationship. They’ve just started dating. She’s not only drawn to the Stargate but wants to stay in Egypt to be with James. She’s swept away by him. He’s a bit shy and she’s trying to bring him out.
Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez as Serqet
What challenges are you facing in portraying young Catherine Langford?
EG: There’s a lot going on with young Catherine. She’s always thinking, faster than everyone else. So in my scenes, I’m always trying to be one step ahead of everyone else. So everything that could happen, I’ve already played out in my head. That’s the biggest challenge–coming to the set where there’s a lot going on and trying to be the puppeteer in all of that.
Salome Azizi as the Goa’uld leader, Aset; Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez as the Goa’uld warrior, Serqet, and Ghadir Mounib as Renisenb
How are you like Catherine Langford and how are you different?
EG: I think I’m fiery like Catherine and passionate about things I care about. She’s really driven and so am I. We differ in that I’m not as impulsive as she is. Also, Catherine is very academic. I’m not that academic. And she’s American. I’m Australian.
You’re fleshing out the backstory of this huge cultural phenomenon of Stargate No pressure?
EG: No pressure (laughs). When I thought it over, this is Catherine’s story and it’s about her life, which is all we have to focus on. That took a lot of pressure off me. Plus the fact that I have this amazing team of people around me who all so excited and dedicated to making this world and creating some amazing content. I trust everyone on the show.
What’s it like working with Mercedes (Morgan)?
EG: She brings a great positive energy to the show. It’s not very often that you get to work with a young director. She’s inspiring and I think we make a great female duo.
How will Catherine change? What will be her character arc?
EG: What makes Catherine so interesting and endearing is that what she does is so selfless to go in and save her dad. She really learns to collaborate over the course of the series. She starts listening to other people and what they have to say. With her and Phil (Philip Alexander), there’s a really nice arc with him kind of standing up for himself and she witnessing that change dynamic in their relationship. They become more of a duo, rather than her just pulling him along.
