This slightly off-the-wall countenance is what gets her and Stargate SG-1 crew, which she admits is like a family, through a typical, exhausting 14-hour day. "I start all full of energy," Tapping says, "and we all start to slide around lunch time. I get my goofy period around 4 p.m. The way I get through it is, I become all these different characters that I play out for the crew in between takes. My latest character - I just came up with her the other day - is DeeDee La Pontz. She's this drunken washed-up has-been. The crew has actually been writing backstory for her. Today they were saying, 'So DeeDee obviously doesn't have any boyfriends, right? That's why she drinks so much?' They're really into it. It's very funny. So I come with characters and sing really goofy songs for the crew. I keep thinking that I'm doing this to keep the crew up and happy, and, in fact, I'm probably driving them all slowly insane."

In contrast to Tapping, the character Carter is clearly more serious. "I really wish they would allow her to laugh more," Tapping sighs, "because our show can be kind of funny at times - irreverently so." What sense of humour does exist in the brainy soldier is thanks to Tapping's efforts. From the start, the actress has tried to infuse her own sensibilities into a character who had a most inauspicious beginning. "I liked the idea of the character," she explains, "so when I auditioned, I gave her a sense of humour where there really wasn't one written. I don't know what the process was when they were thinking about casting, but that might have helped me get the part."

It may have indeed, as Tapping's input is evident. "Carter finds O'Neill really funny. I would like to see more of that. I would like to see more of her just reacting like a normal human being would, when they hear something off the cuff, and sort of non sequitur-ish." Case in point, during a serious moment in the episode Solitudes, Carter is bedding down beside a half-frozen O'Neill, when she looks up at him suddenly. "It's my sidearm,' he says weakly. "I swear." Laughing, Carter allows herself a small respite from an awkward and tense situation. Make no mistake, Tapping is extremely grateful for the chance to play Carter. "[For the writers] to create a believable, intelligent woman who knows so much about astrophysics is amazing. But also they've allowed me some really nice emotional beats. I think probably the biggest challenge is actually being on a series, trying to keep this character fresh and interesting every day."

The third season (segments airing on Showtime before their later syndicated run) contains plenty of pivotal episodes for the Major. In Point of View," Tapping plays two Carters. "We're confronted with the alternate reality Carter," she explains. "What would have happened if she hadn't gone into the military? Who would she have fallen in love with? It was a really interesting thing to flesh out, but it also made Sam aware of the possibilities as well. Everything that they give me opens her up more." Season three not only includes Carter's promotion to Major, but a deep exploration into her relationship with her father. "I love that they've written this Jacob character, and I love playing it with [actor] Carmen Argenziano. That has only helped her open up, made her warmer." "They don't allow characters to Stargate," she notes. "They really want to keep drawing new stuff out of them. And they're allowing our voices to be heard as actors, in terms of where we think they would go and what we think they would do." Though she is not proprietary about Carter, Tapping takes the responsibility of playing the adventurous scientist quite seriously and quietly regards her as a role model. "I receive so much fan mail alluding to it, especially from young women. I'm really cognizant of it. I'm aware of trying to keep her real and accessible. There aren't a lot of great female characters out there like her, characters who are allowed to be so grounded and fully realized. It's a lot of pressure sometimes, but I'm proud of it. She's so much now an integral part of me - I literally put on the boots in the morning and I become her."

There are enough differences between the two, however, to know where Carter ends and Tapping begins. For starters, the actress admits with a laugh, "I wouldn't do well in the military. I'm too vocal. I question everything and I listen to all opinions. I would probably be completely subordinate in that I couldn't respect somebody because of their rank. They would really have to prove [themselves] to me. The one thing that would make me good in the military is that I'm incredibly loyal. But I question people. I can't go on blind faith." It's pointed out that there seems to be a little of that "question authority" stance in Carter. "Part of that is the nature of the show," says Tapping. "These are situations that people in the military normally wouldn't face. How do you deal with an alien race?"

Even so, Tapping's fierce independent nature can sometimes get in the way of her character. "Our Air Force advisors have said, 'Well, you were really kind of insubordinate there. You can't do that.' I actually have to restrain myself a fair bit when playing Sam and remember that I have to add a lot of 'yes sirs' into certain conversations. Sam has actually gotten better at that on the show because the respect level that she has for Colonel O'Neill [Richard Dean Anderson] and General Hammond [Don S. Davis] is so huge. She has learned to trust them implicitly, therfore she'll follow their lead. If O'Neill said we all need to jump off this cliff right now, Sam probably would. I wouldn't. Sam would turn, say, 'You're crazy... sir' and then jump."

Tapping, in addition to having a commanding voice, has the physical presence and awareness to make Carter a believable soldier. For three seasons, in fact, Tapping has done many of her own stunts. "I love the challenge of this character," she admits, "because she's so physical." Not everything has gone smoothly, however. The actress suffered a concussion during the first season and once came a little too close to an exploding bomb. Though she suffered minor burns on her face, the mishaps have been few and far between. One thing is certain, however, neither outrageous characters nor Army fatigues and combat boots can hide the fact that Tapping is a beautiful woman. The unassuming actress, however, declares that those taken before the hair and makeup people arrived are her favourites.

The success of Stargate SG-1 has also increased Tapping's public recognition. On a recent family visit to Buffalo, New York, Tapping was spotted in a bar by a fan. His initial reaction to "the blonde chick from Stargate" was skeptical, and he quickly concluded that she was not Tapping. It took family members 10 minutes to convince him she was the real thing, at which point, Tapping says, "The guy freaked out. It was very funny. Then he called the cook out of the kitchen and said, 'Look, look. She's on TV. Do you know her from TV?' The cook looked at me and said, 'I don't know. Buffy?' So," she concludes with a soft laugh, "it's humbling."

Humbling or not, Tapping exudes a confidence, intelligence and comedic insticts that make her just as likely an heir to the 1940s screwball comediennes like Rosalind Russell and Katharine Hepburn, as she is to the next action heroine. Which direction this versatile woman will go next is difficult to tell. In addition to coping with Stargate SG-1's gruelling schedule, Tapping is trying to get a film script produced - one that she rewrote for a friend and is hoping to star in - and she has begun work on the revival of Random Acts, a comedy troupe devoted to women's issues. Tapping and two friends created the group with the goal of not only making people laugh, but opening them up to new ideas.

Tapping never seems to slow down. "My husband says I don't know the meaning of the word, 'relax.' He'll say relax, sit down for five minutes - but after a second and a half, I'll find something I desperately need to do. I have to learn to relax." Then she adds, with tongue firmly in cheek, "I think relaxation is learned behavior." But as honest and amusing as Tapping is, it's hard not to get caught up in her energetic enthusiasm. Despite some positively wacky outbursts, it's endearing to hear her speak so passionately about things such as morality on Stargate and how grateful she is to be able to essay Carter.

"One of the things that I like about our show," she explains, "is that we are real human beings that people could relate to in everyday life, because we're these characters living in the '90s, in the United States, who happen to have these fantastical adventures." The human element matters deeply to Tapping, and despite the adventurous nature of Stargate SG-1, there is much that appeals to the idealist in her. "Most of our shows have some sort of moral message," Tapping says. "So much of it is about respecting other cultures - especially for SG-1, not bullying our way through the universe, truly fighting for good, opening ourselves up to learn from other cultures. We do try to have moral messages and I think the biggest one is 'tolerance.'"

Regarding women in the military, Tapping reflects, "Stargate is allowing an equality and even leadership that hasn't always been evident in SF before, but was opened up so much with Gene Roddenberry's shows. This is the genre that's really opening it up in a big way - these fabulour strong female characters with leadership roles and responsibility." As Carter may fill the hero role for fans around the world, Tapping counts as one of her own heroes feminist author Gloria Steinem. "The last time I heard her speak, it was all about doing it yourself. We can sit here in this society and say, 'People treating us this way is wrong.' But so much of the responsibility is on us to make it right. That's a huge amount of pressure for women, but it's also the way it has to be. We're always going to run across bigots in this world and we're always going to run across misogynists who are threatened by female power, but I think if I were to describe myself in pure feminist forms, I would say I want equality. We want respect not because we're women, but simply because we're human beings. I feel very strongly about equality and I also feel, as Steinem said, we have to take responsibility for ourselves."

That sentiment is evident in the character Tapping has helped create. Quite simply, Carter is very good at what she does. An accomplished scientist, a competent and loyal soldier, she's cool under fire, possesses leadership ability and inspires confidence among her fellow SG-1 team members. Most importantly, there's never mention of her being a woman or any different than the others. She is simply one-fourth of a very successful team. "They started out differently in the pilot," Tapping comments. "But now they're allowing her just to be a part of this team, an integral part of the team, without having to prove anything simply because she's a woman. That's the best we can ever hope for - is just to be, without having to prove it. It's not necessarily something that's a reality in society today, but I think it's getting better."

"Amanda Tapping," she says, clearly on a roll, "is a huge idealist. I don't understand why things aren't equal. I don't understand how people can hate people because of the color of their skin, their religion or their gender. I've never understood it. I find it ultimately frustrating. And I could probably drive myself completely insane if I continue to think about it on a daily basis. But I think the best thing I can do is just try to make my corner of the world as copacetic as I can, as free from this kind of bias as I can." Then almost as an afterthought, she laughs at her small diatribe, and says, "Without being too heady about it, you know - still have fun."

Clearly, even the most serious topic for Tapping is offset with humor. If she were to describe herself in a word, it would be "goofy." "Happy" would probably fit in there just as nicely. She doesn't dispute the statement. Perhaps the epitome of her political ideology comes in her thoughts about a proposed action figure of Carter. "I made a point," she explains, "when they first started talking about it that she had to have flat feet, unlike Barbie, and if she were blown up to be a real woman, she had to have dimensions that actually made sense." Barbie's "14-inch waist and 42-inch bust" just would not cut it for Tapping. "She would have to be really normal," she reiterates, "and have flat feet to wear Army boots." Leave it to Amanda Tapping to once again make us laugh.