Rachel Luttrell, who plays Teyla in SCI FI Channel’s original series Stargate Atlantis, told SCI FI Wire that she’s a new mother in real life, as is her character in the coming fifth season, and that presents its own challenges.
Speaking in an interview on the show’s set in Vancouver, Canada, last week, Luttrell said, “Hats off to every single mom and every mother who’s working, because it’s not easy. Everyone’s like, ‘How did you lose the weight?’ Oh, brother! There’s no stop. I run from my trailer to the set. I do the scenes, and then I race back, and I’m bouncing my little guy, and I’m back on set. It’s a lot.”
Luttrell became pregnant last season, and the producers chose to write her pregnancy into the show. As season five opens, both Luttrell and Teyla have new babies and must balance motherhood with demanding jobs. (Spoilers ahead!)
It’s not surprising that Luttrell’s two worlds are starting to overlap. Preparing for an episode in which Teyla physically transforms into a Wraith, Luttrell realized that she would have to nurse her baby while wearing full Wraith prosthetic makeup. She was extremely nervous about it. “I was going to look like a monster,” she said.
Luttrell’s castmates weren’t much help. “I thought it was hilarious,” admitted Joe Flanigan, who plays John Sheppard. “I was giving her a hard time. I was saying, ‘No, your child’s going to be permanently scarred.'”
Luttrell was so worried that she tried working up to the Wraith makeup. “I’d spent the two weeks prior to that putting on avocado [colored makeup], and … ‘Look, crazy Mommy!'” But in the end, everything turned out OK, she said. “I like to believe he is incredibly enlightened,” she said. “But perhaps all babies are. I went into the trailer, and he laughed.”
Luttrell said motherhood has changed her, and she’s using those changes to inform how she plays Teyla. “It’s made her all the more strong and willing to go out there and do whatever she needs to do to make his world safer,” she said. At the same time, she added: “You’re incredibly vulnerable.”
With the Wraith hybrid Michael (returning guest star Connor Trinneer) pursuing Teyla’s baby for his genetic gifts, that vulnerability seems likely to be exploited in upcoming episodes. But overall, Luttrell said she’s delighted that the writers chose to incorporate her pregnancy into the show. “They did a wonderful job,” she said. “I think it made for a stronger, more colorful character. And it’s made her all the more powerful and multi-dimensional this year.”