David Hewlett

Intro

David Hewlett is a British-Canadian actor, writer and director best known as Dr. Rodney McKay in the Stargate television franchise. His work also includes Grant Jansky in Traders and Worth in Cube. These roles give him very different kinds of intelligence to portray, from professional calculation to the anxious problem-solving of people facing extraordinary danger.

Career snapshot

Hewlett worked with filmmaker Vincenzo Natali before their collaboration on Cube, released in 1997. As Worth, he joined an ensemble trapped in an unfamiliar and lethal structure. The film relies heavily on the changing relationships among its small group of characters, making suspicion and withheld knowledge as important to the performance as the physical threat around them.

The entry point

Rodney McKay first appeared in Stargate SG-1 before becoming a principal character in Stargate Atlantis, which ran from 2004 to 2009. McKay is a scientist whose technical ability is matched by impatience, anxiety and a strong opinion of his own competence. Those traits make him useful to the expedition and, frequently, difficult company for the people who depend on him.

Screen identity and style

Hewlett makes McKay's rapid explanations part of the drama rather than detached exposition. The rush of words can signal confidence, fear or an attempt to control a situation that has become unpredictable. Comparing a routine disagreement with an emergency scene shows how the performance turns scientific problem-solving into a recognizable emotional behavior.

Collaborations and patterns

Stargate Atlantis paired McKay with an ensemble that included Joe Flanigan, Rachel Luttrell and Paul McGillion. Hewlett also wrote, directed and starred in A Dog's Breakfast, bringing several Stargate colleagues into a separate comic project alongside his sister Kate Hewlett. That film offers a useful reminder that his work behind the camera developed alongside the familiar television role.

Era reflection

His other screen credits include Traders, Splice and The Shape of Water, as well as appearances in Dark Matter. The range connects Canadian television and independent genre filmmaking with larger international productions. A recurring science-fiction identity can be an accessible introduction, but it represents only one part of a career that includes both performance and filmmaking.

Legacy and rediscovery

Start with Stargate Atlantis, then compare Cube and A Dog's Breakfast. Notice how Hewlett changes the relationship between intelligence and anxiety as the genre changes. The gallery pairs a 2008 photograph taken during a break at Bridge Studios with a separate 2014 London Film and Comic Con appearance; the first is a behind-the-scenes portrait, not a still from an episode.

Selected roles

• Cube: Worth — 1997
• Traders: Grant Jansky — 1996-2000
• Stargate Atlantis: Dr. Rodney McKay — 2004-2009

A career in pictures

Distinct photographs from 2008 and 2014 document different moments in the career, with individual credits below.

Bridge Studios portrait (2008)

David Hewlett

David Hewlett during a break in filming at Bridge Studios in Vancouver.

London Film and Comic Con (2014)

David Hewlett

David Hewlett at London Film and Comic Con in July 2014.