way back to Earth before being discovered and destroyed by O'Neill. This was later reshaped into SG2 leader Major Kawalsky's being taken as a host by a Goa'uld symbiote at the end of the pilot. The writers' main goals when writing the pilot were to bring O'Neill out of retirement, Jackson back to Earth, and introduce the Stargate as a way of going all over the galaxy. Cast John Symes, the president of MGM, had a relationship with Richard Dean Anderson and his producing partner Michael Greenburg and suggested that Anderson take over the role of Colonel Jack O'Neill. Believing he would be unable to portray the strict, humourless military officer that Kurt Russell had depicted in the feature film, Anderson initially declined the offer until he was told that the show had already been given a 44 episode commitment and that he would be given ample leeway to shift the character away from Russell's version. For recasting Daniel Jackson, the team viewed auditions for around 500 actors, before narrowing it down to just 3 who were all very different. Michael Shanks, who was finishing his second year at Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Toronto, submitted a video audition before being flown to Los Angeles, with Shanks recalling that he "must have tested for everybody at MGM and Showtime". Shanks got on well with Richard Dean Anderson during the process, and Glassner had a hunch that whilst Shanks appeared nervous, he would be able to bring wit and a sense humour to the role. As well as bringing back O'Neill and Jackson from the film, Wright was adamant they introduce new characters, including a strong female character that would end up being Samantha Carter. An Air Force Captain and theoretical astrophysicist, Carter had been written as a "hardass", so when Tapping auditioned, she decided to try and bring a sense of humour as well as more warmth and levity to the characters—even though it wasn't written that way. In the casting process, the studio executives were predominantly interested in casting an actresses based upon her physical attributes, with Glassner recalling that the studio "wanted this other woman who was sort of the cliché hot woman who didn't come across as very bright", whilst Wright and Glassner wanted Tapping for the role. It wasn't until just two weeks before filming the pilot commenced that Tapping was finally given the role. The part