Stargate (1994)
Roland Emmerich’s Stargate burst into theaters 30 years ago – October 28, 1994. It was a gateway to a whole new science fiction universe, as Kurt Russell’s Jack O’Neil and James Spader’s Daniel Jackson traveled to a distant planet … only to find a people oppressed by a powerful alien.
Today we’re marking Stargate‘s 30-year milestone with one of the people who helped bring that world to life. The first actor on screen (in the theatrical cut) was 11-year-old Kelly Vint, who played Catherine Langford as a child. Her scene takes place at Giza, Egypt, where the Stargate is first unburied in 1928. She was there to witness the Stargate being raised for the very first time.
“That thing was so big!” Vint told “Dial the Gate.” “And it took multiple people. When you’re watching that moment in the film, and it’s taking all those people to lift that — it really took all those people to lift that. It was so humongous, and there was just something about being opposite this portal. It’s like a real portal — that’s how it feels. Yeah, it’s a movie, and this thing feels like a real portal into other dimensional realities.”
Check out this clip from the conversation:
“I feel so blessed that I got to be in that moment,” she said.
Kelly also talks about auditioning for Stargate, filming in Yuma, Arizona, and the special relationship she had with director Roland Emmerich.
“I went to the second callback, and that’s where I met Roland Emmerich,” she said. “And it wasn’t different necessarily than other auditions. … [But] from the moment Roland and I met there was something where we just really loved each other. It’s hard to explain. … There was just something that was really beautiful between us.”
Kelly Vint returned to the franchise for a cameo at the conclusion of 2018’s Stargate Origins.
Visit “Dial the Gate” on YouTube to find the full interview with Kelly Vint, which runs about 45 minutes. She also talks about returning to filmmaking, which led to a cameo appearance in 2018’s Stargate Origins. And check out GateWorld’s YouTube channel for more Stargate content each week!
Kelly Vint, Roland Emmerich, and the cast behind the scenes of Stargate