After stints on Painkiller Jane and Smallville, Vancouver-born Alaina Huffman has now joined the cast of the acclaimed Stargate Universe, in the role of First Lieutenant Tamara Johansen. She talks to Bryan Cairns about romance, faith and human conflict.

How familiar were you with the Stargate franchise before joining Universe?

Well, I knew it existed, but I wasn’t familiar with the show itself. I had previously auditioned for recurring or guest starring roles throughout my acting career, so going into it was like any other audition. I just popped in, was expecting whatever, and they said they wanted to test me. I was like “Oh, here we go!”

Can you give us the lowdown on your character, First Lieutenant Tamara Johansen?

She’s affectionately known as T.J., but I tend to call her Tamara. She’s a medic and a first lieutenant in the Air Force. By default, when we get thrown onboard the Destiny, she becomes the chief ranking medical officer. Tamara is really in charge of everybody’s health and well being. It’s overwhelming for her and she feels she’s out of her league, but she’s strong and independent – she can handle it!

Aren’t you the resident psychiatrist as well?

There are moments where we have to pick up the pieces and that definitely becomes one of her roles. I don’t think she feels qualified for it, but we all have to make up for what we lack.

Apparently this is the first Stargate with romance and sex. As one of the only females on the ship, do either apply to you?

Yes. The show is about human moments – we’re stuck on this ship, so stuff happens. It’s about developing relationships and sometimes those work out while other times they don’t. There are quite a few people onboard the ship, so it makes for interesting developments as we delve into their personalities.

My character has a previous relationship with Colonel Everett Young. It leaves a conflict in the room because they had decided not to pursue it. He’s married and her colonel, so it makes for an awkward situation. Further on, there are some instances that might be brought up, but for the most part, it’s between T.J. and Young.

Do you have any stand out episodes yet?

My favourite episode so far has been ‘Faith’. It’s a good storyline that applies so much to faith, which was a personal one for me. What I like about the sci-fi genre is you can explore those things without offending anybody. We’re not talking about one particular faith; we’re talking about the idea of believing. What happens is we find ourselves in a situation that tests our faith. We shot on some really beautiful locations and got off the ship for a little bit.

Another great one was ‘Time’. The best thing about the show is the scripts keep getting better and better. I’m waiting right now for the next one.

Are there certain dynamics you are still aching to explore?

There are a few characters I really haven’t gotten to know that weren’t so much on the screen. It would be nice to explore some deeper relationships. A lot of my material is taking place in the infirmary with trauma stuff. It’s wonderful, but I look forward to those personal moments where something goes wrong in the trauma room and I have to work out how to deal with it. She definitely gets a lot of that in the scripts.

Sci-fi seems to embrace strong females. Were you pleased with how they’ve handled these characters?

They’ve done a good job of developing them. They are very well rounded. Some of the fan base feel we're young bimboesque characters, but we’re not! These are the same guys who created the other two Stargates, so they know what they are doing. They write strong female role models and they didn’t fail here.

You look at Chloe who is a Senator’s daughter and Harvard educated. You have Tamara who represents the Armed Forces. Then you have Camile who is a woman in power in the Air Force as well. They aren’t shallow characters at all and are definitely not bitchy. If there are real human conflicts we deal with them in a mature manner.

Part of the allure of this franchise is the Stargate set itself. What was your impression the first time you walked on it?

It’s huge and the gate room is amazing with these breathtaking staircases. The cinematography is beautiful. The feel of the show is dark and feels ancient – it lends to the mystery and romance.

It’s also really nice to film on a show where you don’t have a whole lot of locations, which means we go home by 9pm on Friday instead of 4am. That was a big push to take the job because I have a family. It’s nice. I think they are also going to add to the set if we’re lucky enough to get another season!

Stargate Universe is currently airing on the Syfy Channel in the US and Sky1 in the UK.

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