Rachel Luttrell, who plays the warrior princess Teyla Emmagan on Stargate Atlantis, is full of a boundless joy that spilled from her when she sat down with a table of journalists at Vancouver's Bridge Studios in May. Her energy and enthusiasm seemed at odds with the fact that she’s a new mother. Her character becomes pregnant in Season 4 of the series in part because Luttrell herself became pregnant.

Luttrell talked about Teyla’s journey, her own journey, and how the two have at times crossed. She also discussed how life has changed on set with a baby on board.

Question: How’s the baby?

Rachel Luttrell: He’s wonderful.

Question: You look amazing.

Rachel Luttrell: Thank you.

Question: There’s so much going on with your character. At the end of Season 4 with your being kidnapped...

Rachel Luttrell: It was quite a season finale for me.

Question: Was that just storyline or was that you having a baby?

Rachel Luttrell: I think it was a mix. I think the writers didn’t want me to give birth on set, so they decided to write me out a little earlier. They were very sensitive about the whole nature of my journey as well as the nature of what Teyla was going through. I did wrap a little earlier than the rest of the cast, about a month earlier.

Question: And now, this season, were there expectations on how you would come back? Or were you surprised when you started opening up the new scripts?

Rachel Luttrell: You know, I have no expectations. With respect to how the script was going to go. I didn’t know how it was going to blend with me being a mom and all of that, but it’s all worked wonderfully and essentially the themes - we’ve only done six episodes thus far - so the main theme thus far for Teyla has been balancing work and motherhood; whether or not to go back with the team and to put her life on the line, as she always does, or to remain with her child. The decision is made to rejoin the team.

CinemaSpy: That’s a very practical, real-world problem that women and mothers have to face.

Rachel Luttrell: It is, exactly. Very much so. Hats off to every single mom out there and every single mother who is working, because it is not easy. It’s very challenging. Incredibly rewarding, but to be a full-time mom and also working full-time is a doozy. Everyone is like, “How did you lose the weight?” [laughs] I’m working 24 hours a day. There’s no stop. I run from my trailer to set, I work and do the scenes, then I race back to be with my little guy, and I’m bouncing my little guy and I’m nursing and then I’m back again on set. . . . It’s a lot.

CinemaSpy: There are parallels between your life and Teyla’s. How is that informing how you are playing her?

Rachel Luttrell: I had respect for mothers prior to, but now that I am one, I’ve a completely different perspective. The most prevalent change is that you become so much stronger on the one hand. I don’t know if this will be remotely amusing to you, but I am terrified of scary movies. I can’t watch Freddy Krueger [Nightmare on Elm Street] or anything like that. I can’t even watch previews for them because they stay in my mind forever. And I had this moment a few months ago when a Freddy Krueger moment popped into my mind and it was late at night and I was there with my little guy and I had this feeling of, “Bring it on.” For the first time in my life I was like, “I could tear off your head, Freddy. And eat it.” And I felt it. I was like, “I will do whatever it takes to protect my son.” That’s definitely something I’ve imbued in Teyla. It’s made her all the more stronger and willing to go out there and do whatever she needs to do to make his world safer.

CinemaSpy: Teyla was a protectionist of her people even before, so that’s another level.

Rachel Luttrell: But on the flip side of becoming so much stronger on the one hand, you have this incredible Achilles tendon. Incredibly vulnerable on the other hand.

Question: The last time we saw Teyla, she was a prisoner of Michael. They’ve always had a really interesting connection, she’s almost had a sympathy for him. How does she feel towards him now?

Rachel Luttrell: No sympathy whatsoever. None. He took a turn for the worse in terms of her perspective, and certainly the beginning of this season [Season 5], he says that he’s after her child for the gifts that he possesses. In his own mind, he’s decided that he can do away with Teyla. He’s definitely gone down a few rungs if he was ever anywhere, but at least she had a certain amount of compassion for him, but that’s gone.

CinemaSpy: Was it a relief for you when the writers decided to write in your pregnancy?

Rachel Luttrell: Yes, it was a big relief. I spoke to the writers prior to beginning Season 4 - a good month before we started - and they had in mind, as they always do, how the story arcs were going to play out for that season and what they wanted to encompass in Teyla’s journey. And I came to them and dropped the bomb. But they ran with it and they did a wonderful job and they were able to blend portions of what they wanted for the season and encompass the journey that I was going through. And I think it made for a stronger, colourful character for me to portray that. And continuing on the shoulders of Season 4 it’s made her all the more powerful and multidimensional this year.

CinemaSpy: I’m thinking as well in terms of how you approach your performance, was it difficult initially before they wrote that into the script? Your character is not written as someone who’s pregnant. Does it make it more difficult for you to get into that character when you are pregnant?

Rachel Luttrell: It probably would have, but the thing is they started encompassing my pregnancy from the get-go in Season 4, so there was never a point where I felt like I had to hide that. If anything, it was something I kept in the back of my head because I knew that Teyla was going through it even though she hadn’t made it aware to the rest of her team. So it was something that I was aware of as well on the same note, even though I hadn’t announced it to my castmates and the crew. The writers, producers, and myself all knew that that was something that was going to be a part of her journey. No, I never felt that I had to downplay that or play something else. It was always part of what I was holding in my mind.