GateWorld: For GateWorld.net I'm Darren Sumner and I'm here with Miss Claudia Black.

Claudia Black: Hello.

GW: Thanks for being here!

CB: Thank you for having me.

GW: You are now a full-time cast member on SG-1!

CB: I know! Isn't that weird?

GW: Tell us about the path that led you here.

CB: I was on set the other day and was working with some guest actors. And I was thinking, "Oh, I so relate to them." And then I realized, no, I'm one of the core cast now and I have a new set of responsibilities. I'm supposed to be showing them where the restrooms are, and I have no clue what I'm doing, still.

[Chatter about shutting the door]

It was just one of those weird, serendipitous little journeys. Vala was a really fun read in "Prometheus Unbound" thanks to Damian Kindler and Rob Cooper, and obviously Andy Mikita and Michael. It just all fell into place so beautifully. And the producers had said to me from the beginning – as I'm sure I've said to you guys before – this is a happy show. You don't have something like this running for nine years unless everyone really gets on and knows what they're doing and is comfortable.


It is obvious to any viewer of "Prometheus Unbound" that Black and Shanks enjoyed themselves.
And they were right! I turned up and I had a better experience than I could have possibly anticipated. And it obviously translated onto screen that Michael and I had a really great time. And he knew how to deal with me – he just gave me enough rope to try things and we just had very similar sensibilities. And I've just found out, only just this second, that Andy Mikita and I have the same star sign ... so now it all makes sense!

But then I think an opportunity presented itself. Amanda Tapping had personal reasons to be away from work at the beginning of last season, and they asked me to come in and keep her seat warm. And Vala in no way is a replacement of any other character. She's just a new, weird element that is as entertaining as she is irritating! But that's what makes her so great, I think. And she's got a bit of a journey to go. It will be interesting to watch and see how much texture there really is to her, and see if she can reach her better potential rather than her potential for no good.

GW: After the success of your Season Nine stint and the warm reception of your character by fans ...

CB: Was it warm? I heard rumors! I heard some rumors!

GW: Don't pay attention to rumors. Was it a foregone conclusion that you would be offered a permanent seat?

CB: Rob was very honest with me from the very beginning. He expressed what his desire was and what his intentions were. He said, "You know, I would love ultimately to have you back. I don't know in what exact capacity, but this character has brought something very interesting to the show, and we'd like to workshop some possibilities."

They didn't know if SG-1 would continue as an entity, and so they said, "If we did some sort of spin-off would you be interested in working with some of the existing cast if they were interested in coming back?" So I knew he wasn't just blowing smoke – he was wanting to make sure I wasn't scattering off somewhere to work on something else, and wanted me to understand that he really did want to employ me again.

And luckily SCI FI Channel, because with my previous experience some things just don't get renewed – you can't count on it! – they were renewed for Season Ten. So that made it possible for them. They wanted to bring me back again potentially permanently in Season Nine, but I had my own personal reasons for not being able to join the show permanently. And now we've relocated to do this for the season.

It was nice to give it a trial run, to experience Vancouver and the show on a more permanent basis and see if I could still find my smile with the insane hours I'd been doing last year. And I rang the producers the other day and thanked them for everything they're doing t