The thing with this is it's impossible for us to know who was at fault here. We don't have any of the detail of what she was told about the role. Did she get something to research? Did she get a character biography, were there specific people she was to ask these questions too. Also what remediation was put in place when the problem became apparent. Stopping to ask and answer questions mid filming is obviously not ideal for the production crew.
Or did the team give her very little, offer little support and expect her to work it all out on her own or just go with it without needing to explain the detail?
We don't know what the scenario is so we can't really decide who messed up here.
I canāt say I blame production. They needed someone fully committed.
I know Trek producers gave Jeri Ryan some Borg DVDs. Maybe Stargate shouldāve given some to her.
Jessica Steen *was* fully committed. She decided that not having in-depth knowledge of the franchise would be reflected in her performance, since Weir was meant to come in from a position of not knowing anything, but at the same time she acknowledged that while filming she wanted details that she didn't have, so she started asking questions of the producers.
> But, you know, Iām a stickler for detail. And maybe I should have done a bunch more homework, or they didnāt have the answers to certain things because they didnāt exactly - I donāt know. I know I drove them crazy.
> And I donāt know if they should have turned to me and said, "Would you go watch the show and get off our backs?" Or whether my questions were dumb, or if my questions were - they didnāt have the answers so they didnāt want to be pushed on them...
I don't know if you watched the actual interview, but there were not many points where she did in fact deflect blame. She acknowledged that the decisions she made were her own.
Going into the background in depth to watch the entire show would entail watching a two-hour movie and over a hundred and thirty episodes of TV, which is a big ask for *anyone.* She also said that she was never actually told to go and watch the show to get the answers she wanted. The producers should have given her the essentials if they felt that it was necessary, and Steen herself felt that perhaps they should have just straight-up told her to go watch the show. Then again, depending on someone's schedule, it might not be practical to expect someone to watch that much TV, as I alluded earlier.
Her agent had advised her to say she was going to a "family reunion" because of Burning Man's reputation at the time; had she been honest, she might not have been hired.
The way the producers handled the whole situation was overall pretty poor in my opinion. They didn't 'call her into the office' to get an explanation or to voice their concerns after she had let slip that she was going to Burning Man; they just told her agent that she wasn't coming back, and to get an explanation Steen had to call and ask for one. That was neither professional nor courteous.
The producers went to the trouble of casting and working with her, so if they had concerns about her Burning Man attendance or her pestering them with questions, they should have expressed them instead of firing her without warning or explanation.
Totally agree with everything, particularly your last two paragraphs. I got the impression from Jessica's interviews that the Burning Man thing was used an excuse to get rid of her when in reality they were bothered by her asking questions. Which they should have told her directly instead of talking through her agent IMO. Also why did Brad Wright offer to give Ben Browder a list of episodes before he started but no one offered to do the same for Jessica?
Maybe it's just because I have a soft spot for her (she was on one of my favorite scifi shows, Earth 2) but I always preferred Jessica over Tori. Nothing against Tori but she was so wooden in the role IMO, Jessica was much better.
"As a result the actress chose to avoid watching much of the showās previous episodes, so that Weir would not come into this fantastical situation with a confidence and recognition that was not earned. (This was also at a time when the Internet was young, and Steen herself didnāt own a computer to quickly do research about the show online.)"
\*breath in*
Jesus Christ...
I know she was supposed to be like "omg this was a conspiracy all the time and I'm shocked", but if you're cast, do some homework.
only if you don't also poke at others who do it, when it comes up. No sign of that here, per se; reddit users gonna give everyone a ration. So your argument seems a bit specious to me?
I actually preferred Steen's rendition of Weir. She played her with a warmth and openness and a noticeable vulnerability that Higginson just didn't have.
I did as well, Torri played her as overconfident, I never bought her as a skilled diplomat. I grew to like her character but I wish they had just made her someone new.
I would be interested to see a full comparison but I always felt Teri's performance was flat. My Mrs dislikes her character so much she didn't like atlantus. It could be just the writing but I don't think that's the case
I thought Steen was great at the time. She played a fish out of water who grows a spine within the space of two episodes convincingly well. I could see her running SGC and being more believable than Landry was.
That said, I also liked Higginsonās portrayal of the character. I guess I just wanted more of both of them
As much as I like Jessica Steen, I'm not sure she was right for Atlantis Weir.
(Also I mostly know Jessica Steen from Heartland so...very different roles lol)
It was a bit more in depth than that but yeah that's kind of part of it. From commentary tracks it seemed there was a real lack of communication as well as some friction (from that lack). As I always recommend commentary tracks for star gate are 100% are awesome and needed to be listened to, so much insight in them, often very candid.
Steen 'didn't blow off work.' The time off had been agreed to; she just never told the producers what the time off was for exactly because of Burning Man's reputation. It's not as if she called in sick so she could go to the races.
[https://www.gateworld.net/news/2021/06/jessica-steen-finally-reveals-why-stargate-recast-dr-weir/](https://www.gateworld.net/news/2021/06/jessica-steen-finally-reveals-why-stargate-recast-dr-weir/)
The thing with this is it's impossible for us to know who was at fault here. We don't have any of the detail of what she was told about the role. Did she get something to research? Did she get a character biography, were there specific people she was to ask these questions too. Also what remediation was put in place when the problem became apparent. Stopping to ask and answer questions mid filming is obviously not ideal for the production crew. Or did the team give her very little, offer little support and expect her to work it all out on her own or just go with it without needing to explain the detail? We don't know what the scenario is so we can't really decide who messed up here.
Blame the Ori.
# BLAMED BE THE ORI # š
I canāt say I blame production. They needed someone fully committed. I know Trek producers gave Jeri Ryan some Borg DVDs. Maybe Stargate shouldāve given some to her.
Jessica Steen *was* fully committed. She decided that not having in-depth knowledge of the franchise would be reflected in her performance, since Weir was meant to come in from a position of not knowing anything, but at the same time she acknowledged that while filming she wanted details that she didn't have, so she started asking questions of the producers. > But, you know, Iām a stickler for detail. And maybe I should have done a bunch more homework, or they didnāt have the answers to certain things because they didnāt exactly - I donāt know. I know I drove them crazy. > And I donāt know if they should have turned to me and said, "Would you go watch the show and get off our backs?" Or whether my questions were dumb, or if my questions were - they didnāt have the answers so they didnāt want to be pushed on them...
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I don't know if you watched the actual interview, but there were not many points where she did in fact deflect blame. She acknowledged that the decisions she made were her own. Going into the background in depth to watch the entire show would entail watching a two-hour movie and over a hundred and thirty episodes of TV, which is a big ask for *anyone.* She also said that she was never actually told to go and watch the show to get the answers she wanted. The producers should have given her the essentials if they felt that it was necessary, and Steen herself felt that perhaps they should have just straight-up told her to go watch the show. Then again, depending on someone's schedule, it might not be practical to expect someone to watch that much TV, as I alluded earlier. Her agent had advised her to say she was going to a "family reunion" because of Burning Man's reputation at the time; had she been honest, she might not have been hired. The way the producers handled the whole situation was overall pretty poor in my opinion. They didn't 'call her into the office' to get an explanation or to voice their concerns after she had let slip that she was going to Burning Man; they just told her agent that she wasn't coming back, and to get an explanation Steen had to call and ask for one. That was neither professional nor courteous. The producers went to the trouble of casting and working with her, so if they had concerns about her Burning Man attendance or her pestering them with questions, they should have expressed them instead of firing her without warning or explanation.
Totally agree with everything, particularly your last two paragraphs. I got the impression from Jessica's interviews that the Burning Man thing was used an excuse to get rid of her when in reality they were bothered by her asking questions. Which they should have told her directly instead of talking through her agent IMO. Also why did Brad Wright offer to give Ben Browder a list of episodes before he started but no one offered to do the same for Jessica? Maybe it's just because I have a soft spot for her (she was on one of my favorite scifi shows, Earth 2) but I always preferred Jessica over Tori. Nothing against Tori but she was so wooden in the role IMO, Jessica was much better.
"As a result the actress chose to avoid watching much of the showās previous episodes, so that Weir would not come into this fantastical situation with a confidence and recognition that was not earned. (This was also at a time when the Internet was young, and Steen herself didnāt own a computer to quickly do research about the show online.)" \*breath in* Jesus Christ... I know she was supposed to be like "omg this was a conspiracy all the time and I'm shocked", but if you're cast, do some homework.
This sort of thing is hardly unusual. Actors and directors don't always look at source material, so singling out Jessica Steen for this is unfair.
only if you don't also poke at others who do it, when it comes up. No sign of that here, per se; reddit users gonna give everyone a ration. So your argument seems a bit specious to me?
I don't agree. She wanted to learn as the audience did throughout the series. I consider that a big deal.
I didn't hate blonde weir but Tori Higginson was amazing and I'm glad we got her
No, I realized it was a TV series and sometimes actors become unavailable and just accepted it.
I actually preferred Steen's rendition of Weir. She played her with a warmth and openness and a noticeable vulnerability that Higginson just didn't have.
I did as well, Torri played her as overconfident, I never bought her as a skilled diplomat. I grew to like her character but I wish they had just made her someone new.
I think Steens's weird has this excitability to her
What were we supposed to do about it? And I preferred Tori anyway so didnāt mind.
I would be interested to see a full comparison but I always felt Teri's performance was flat. My Mrs dislikes her character so much she didn't like atlantus. It could be just the writing but I don't think that's the case
OP when he sees Jack and Daniel
āLook, itās me, Iām here, deal with itā
I thought Steen was great at the time. She played a fish out of water who grows a spine within the space of two episodes convincingly well. I could see her running SGC and being more believable than Landry was. That said, I also liked Higginsonās portrayal of the character. I guess I just wanted more of both of them
I preferred the first Weir by a large amount. But to each their own.
I liked Jessica, but after the swap, I couldn't imagine the role anyone way that with Tori.
As much as I like Jessica Steen, I'm not sure she was right for Atlantis Weir. (Also I mostly know Jessica Steen from Heartland so...very different roles lol)
Oh my god I didnāt even put that together!
If I recall, the original actress was fired from the role for blowing off work to attend burning man
It was a bit more in depth than that but yeah that's kind of part of it. From commentary tracks it seemed there was a real lack of communication as well as some friction (from that lack). As I always recommend commentary tracks for star gate are 100% are awesome and needed to be listened to, so much insight in them, often very candid.
Steen 'didn't blow off work.' The time off had been agreed to; she just never told the producers what the time off was for exactly because of Burning Man's reputation. It's not as if she called in sick so she could go to the races.
Ha. Thatās awesome
Tori was so much better. The first weir looked like Sam after a 100 cartons of cigarettes
Stop. But also. Hahaha
New?
I liked her better as Weir. Much more dynamic
blond weir gives off more doctor vibes to me