Stargate SG-1's Rodney McKay Was A Last-Minute Character Replacement In Atlantis

The "Stargate" franchise is surprisingly expansive. That fact, in and of itself, is impressive if only because Roland Emmerich's original 1994 film was a moderate box office success and didn't exactly wow the critics. ("Stargate" currently has a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.) Such a middling start wouldn't usually suggest a particular franchise was primed for numerous spin-off TV series spanning multiple seasons. But that's exactly what happened.

For those needing a quick reminder of the correct order to watch the "Stargate" franchise, after the movie the very first TV show arrived in the form of cult hit "Stargate SG-1," which proved popular enough that it birthed several other shows. The first of these was "Stargate Atlantis," which debuted in 2004 and followed Major John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) and his team as they joined other squads sent by Stargate command to explore the Pegasus Galaxy — home to the lost city of Atlantis in the "Stargate" universe. This show was pretty expansive in and of itself, lasting for five seasons and following the crew's various adventures through the titular portal.

But "Atlantis" wasn't entirely removed from the series and film from which it had spawned. Not only did the team essentially have the same mission as those before them — to use the cool alien gateway things to check out unexplored areas of the universe — the show actually featured characters from its predecessor. David Hewlett's Dr, Rodney McKay, for instance, first showed up in "Stargate SG-1" as part of the season 5 episode "48 Hours." A snarky and obnoxious science officer, McKay became an integral part of the Atlantis crew, as well as a regular cast member on the spin-off series after having appeared on a recurring basis across four seasons of "SG-1."

Interestingly enough, however, it seems the original plan for "Atlantis" didn't actually involve Dr. McKay at all.

Rodney McKay provided much of the comic relief in both "SG-1" — which was cancelled after season 10 —and "Atlantis." In the latter, however, he had a much more pronounced character arc, overcoming his seemingly flippant and sarcastic nature to redeem himself on several occasions and demonstrate his love for the Atlantis crew. McKay remained a main character on the series for all five seasons and even showed up in an episode of a later spin-off, "Stargate Universe." But there's no doubt "Atlantis" was where McKay came into his own — which is just as well because it turns out the character wasn't even a last-minute addition to the series, but was actually added after the pilot began shooting.

The book, "Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion," recounts the show's beginnings, revealing how, initially, the pilot episode was supposed to include a character named "Doctor Ingram." According to the book, the character was "a somewhat excitable scientist who was to join the Atlantis expedition as an expert on celestial mechanics and the Stargate, amongst other things." But as the crew were gearing up to start shooting, nobody had been cast in the role, prompting seasoned "Stargate" director Martin Wood to consider other options. As Wood recalled:

"I kept thinking, this should be McKay. I walked into Brad [Wright, show creator]'s office and said, 'This really should be McKay.' He said, 'Well, MGM is looking for someone different, but I feel it should be McKay too,' and Robert [C. Cooper, co-creator] was saying the same thing. We all kept saying, 'This feels much more like it should be McKay!'"

By the time Wood, Wright, and Cooper had all made their decision to replace Ingram with Dr. Rodney McKay, however, filming for the pilot episode of "Atlantis" had already started.

In a 2004 interview with GateWorld (Via SyFy), David Hewlett remembered his experience with being cast on "Stargate Atlantis." It seems the Canadian actor had actually auditioned for the role of Ingram prior to being brought back as McKay. Recalling his initial audition for the series, Hewlett explained:

"I actually came in and read as Ingram, thinking, 'Oh, it's too bad this isn't McKay.' Because McKay was just so much fun to play. And then I know that Robert [Cooper] was [...] the one who originally brought McKay into 'Stargate,' with '48 Hours.' And I know that he was a big champion for that, and I — the people who we're working for here are just great, a great bunch. They remember people, and they like to bring people back."

Luckily, after being contacted to reprise the role of McKay, Hewlett was available and arrived on-set the day after filming had begun on the pilot. This did lead to some logistical challenges, with Hewlett recalling how the script still referred to Ingram rather than McKay. "For a long time, even with signs and stuff, we kept getting signs with Ingram," he recalled. "I had to figure out what I was saying, when I was saying — it often had the wrong name attached to it. So it was quite a last-minute change." It was a change that clearly paid off, however, with McKay remaining a main character on "Atlantis" throughout its run.