Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane – Killjoys

21/06/2016

Q) So what I want to know is, is there anything at all that you can kind of tease about what Level 6 is and kind of maybe what’s going to happen to D’Avin if he’ll become part of that or if he’s just going to escape?

Luke: I remember being very concerned of it. Oh what are we going to do with my character? Finally, I’m in Level 6. So I think what we can tease is that we learn a lot more about what a Level 6 is. And that it’s not as simple and it’s not as good and evil as we originally thought. I think I’ll also tease by saying it’s what makes the Level 6 is that becomes a big story point, the actual physical sort of makeup of a Level 6, that becomes a big clear point.

Q) We know it’s quite an action-packed show. Can you tease some, if you are allowed, that are not too spoiler, if you could tease some upcoming moments that maybe fans can look forward to?

Hannah: Well, definitely I think this season, what fans definitely need to expect is the world is a lot bigger. And we just discovered Arkyn and with that comes really, really awesome new and exciting characters.

Aaron: Yes. I think a huge part of this season is — yes, obviously, new characters. But also really expanding on some of our supporting characters, which I think is awesome. Because I think we have great — Pawter, and Alvis, and Pree are three that we really, really sort of get to see more background. And we really interact with them sort of in our mission and stuff. So I think that’s a pretty exciting aspect of the show moving forward, is really bringing forth some sort of exploring these other characters that I think are really interesting.

Q) Can you talk to us about whether there’s a certain theme to what goes on in Season 2?

Aaron: Maybe holding your family together.

Luke: Yes. That’s a really good answer. Yes.

Aaron: The circumstances that are sort of happening in the Quad are sort of tearing it apart. And I think on some level – even though we sort of explore that the team sort of being pulled apart in the first season and this world sort of being torn apart, we really continue with that and sort of what’s that going to look like and how is our team going to stick together through all these insane things that are about to happen to them.

Luke: Yes. Yes, that’s right. I think we learned a lot last year what it means to kind of love each other.       Now, we sort of know that we have loved each other, so it’s now what we can bear, how much weight we can take on, how much responsibility, how much we can understand each other and what everybody needs as individuals, and so stay together. Yes, because we challenge each other a lot, the three of us this year.

Q) As far as your experience in filming Season 2, how did it feel different for you guys than Season one?

Luke: I am going to answer this question right off the bat. I just want to say (some of very) we –it’s wonderful from an (intro), it’s wonderful. We had a really, really tough time in our studio this year. So I’m just going to fell with that. We have incredible audio people. But when we — one of the really challenging things this year was our studio space was really loud, literally. We had to hold a lot of roles. We could hear compressors, and saws and drills through the wall. In that regard, the other — so this year was, it was snowing and it was cold and it was a winter. The first season was in a summer. So it changed, I think in a really good way, the outdoor experience of the show, because all of the sudden the world that we have in is cold and rainy and wet and snowy, whereas the first season it was green and (ration). So that I think were two very distinct things that changed the filming experience this year.

Aaron: I think something that was sort of different for me, or I found different is, the first season we were all getting to know each other. It was totally brand new, this world, these characters, and even like our relationships with each other. And this season, we were sort of past that. We already knew, we knew each other now, we were friends. And I think that in a lot of ways it was even more fun in the second season because all that getting-to-know stuff and all that were sort of out of the way. And we are already friends, like from day one of the second season when we jumped in. So I find it to be a lot of fun. And yes, even more fun than had during the first season.

Hannah: I think for me what was different to me this season was actually kind of story-wise, without giving too much away is, I remember last year working a lot with Aaron and Luke and with Bellish, and with Nora. But then this season I know that there’s just — working with different people for a long period of time, because of the way the story goes. So yes, as I want to say who and what and when but definitely that was different to me.

Luke: Very true.

Q) I wanted to ask you guys, usually when a series does reach year two, there is — you mentioned that some of the supporting characters kind of have their day. But do we dwell more into the three of you and what’s going on with you, and maybe a little bit more of your past and who you were, that kind of thing?

Hannah: Definitely, this season is — we went a lot together last season. And this season we will or will be doing our own thing actually. And Dutch was absolutely — we’ll be seeing so much more of her past come to life and that’s the real battle that Dutch herself and a struggle with what’s good and what’s evil and — yes. I mean, definitely you will be seeing so much more of Dutch’s past.

Aaron: Yes. And I think there’s always going to be character development with the three of us. You know, like that will just be what it is. But again, you know, there — we need to sort of develop the world bigger and these other characters. So there’s definitely a lot of that as well. And as Hannah was saying, I mean, Dutch is our main girl, right? Dutch is our — the focus and the focal point and what sort of brings all of these characters together. So yes, we definitely get a lot of really cool — really, really cool back story and layering with Dutch, which is, yes, I think people are really, really going to find it interesting.

Luke: Yes. And I think in the classic second season of the show, we meet the characters, we understand the way they function, how they operate, and the second we make the world bigger. And we’ve done that for sure in the second season.

Q) Can you tease a little bit about how your relationship pans out with Khlyen this season?

Hannah: So with Khlyen and Dutch, it’s really obviously very complicated, conflicted relationship, because he’s the guy that he just wants to hate. It’s really easy to hate Khlyen. And obviously at the end of Season 1, he’s taken D’Avin away. And we know that he has. But definitely with Khlyen, there’s going to be more of an understanding of why he’s done what he did — why he’s done what he’s done in the past. And I think for an audience member as well, it’s going to be a bit harder to just see Khlyen as the bad guy, I mean there’s more understanding of his character as well.

Aaron: And nothing seems cut and dry this season, does it? There’s lots of sort of complex things going on. And yes, and I think you’re right, like that’s exactly what that relationship is, it’s very complex. And Khlyen, we sort of saw sort of only one side of him or one – in the first season and we see so much more in the second season. And yes, it’s — again, it’s a very, very interesting to see that stuff unfold.

Q) If Johnny was the parent of a child in the Killjoys world, what would be the biggest thing you would be afraid of for them?

Aaron: Have you seen the Quad? It’s a terrible, terrible place. Everything (or may be) — we’re surrounded by assassins and civil war and everything. Lucy is not baby-friendly. Yes, we have laser guns all over the place so we would have to seriously baby-proof Lucy. I think there’d be a lot to be afraid of. But I also think that Johnny would (risk) some really fun little toys and stuff like that for his baby with his little – he put little things together and have the baby well pacified while they are out on missions. Or he could build some cool little, you know, armor structure that he could like mount the baby on its chest and go like some sort of a warrior father or something, I don’t know. It would be fun, I think. I think it would be fun to see Johnny do that.

Q) You guys have some of the best action scenes. I’m just curious about, like do you have to learn a lot of choreographies?

Aaron: I learned none. And Hannah learned none.

Hannah: I learned a lot. Well, to be honest, like when it got — it’s a bit crazy actually kind of learning the fight. And luckily, it’s quite naturally to me. But you know, there’s so many — there’s so many cool, awesome badass fights that happen this season. And there’s actually the first girl-on-girl fight this season as well, which is really, really (timed). But I do remember fighting outside and it was in the snow. And I didn’t know my fight yet. And I remember I had light lit you and the camera is rolling, like, “Right, Hannah. You do like left, kick, turn around.” I was like a (damn). And then yes, the fight kind of happened. It miraculously happened. So yes, there was — it was really fun, actually, it’s really — it was a challenge. But you know, when you achieve it, it was cool.

Luke: I think Hannah is, you know, a little modest in a sense that I think something that the writers and the producers discovered this year was like, “Actually Hannah has a real gift for the fight choreography. She picks up really quickly.” And they asked a lot of her and she always delivers. And like honestly this year she has longer, more badass fight. It’s really been impressive. I’m going (to show) because my fight (experience).

Hannah: Luke is really good.

Luke: So I’m like the grunter and the muzzle. And you know, there is this one episode where I have to do something quite (balladic) for reasons that would be revealed later. And yes, I had this very complicated like stick thing that I have to clean and spin and twist and do it very elaborately. And there was a group of reel of about, you know, 50 takes of me just going look, “Oh God! I can’t.” “Oh my God!” like I was dropping. And then when I actually saw the thing get together, I look like I know what I’m doing. But just rest assured, I really don’t know what I’m doing. And that’s like our (kind of thing). Hannah has lots of options.

Q) Because it’s a very physical show, what is harder for you to do, the physical aspect of the show or dealing with the green screen working against nothing?

Aaron: We actually do a ton of green screen to be honest with you. Do we guys like — I’m trying to think when we and Lucy obviously looking at the cockpit and stuff, there are some green screen shot. But it’s not — we don’t do over-the-top stuff. They do a really good job of building sets and going to locate some of the stuff. But it’s not — we don’t do over-the-top stuff. They do a really good job of building sets and going to locate some of the stuff

Luke: What was also interesting too because the effects artists are so gifted like, I was actually just looking at something today, and something (levitating) very close to me in my eyes are tracking it. And because they do their work so well it looks like my eyes are actually tracking this whole thing that wasn’t there. So like a lot of it, the success of it has to do with the work that they do afterwards, honestly. But the physical stuff, I actually always find really quite enjoyable myself. It’s a very different party here, the brain, the body. You don’t have to think as much as disturbed reactant. I always find the struggle is just to get this much out of my head as possible. So I really like the physical stuff a lot, personally.

Hannah: Yes, I love the physical stuff. The physical stuff is amazing. But yes, I agree with Aaron and Luke that the effects is amazing. But we haven’t like a massive ton of it. But when we do, when we’re in the space, it was actually, it was really fun.  It kinds of brings back like you’re a kid again, like just hanging, just using your imagination. So yes, I like it.

Aaron: And the directors do a great job of sort of explaining to you what it’s going to look like and what’s going to happen.      And it’s not like they just leave you to hang out there and have no idea. They definitely fill you in and — yes, like Hannah was saying, you just use your imagination. We sort of do that all the time anyways in our jobs. So yes, it’s fun.

Luke: And we try to thank them pretty much as often as I can

Q) Can you describe Season 2 in one word?

Hannah: I’m going to say steroids, as it hits like then made even bigger.

Luke: I would say family.

Aaron: I’m going to say complexity.

Q) I was curious whether this season’s script plays whether (subverts) sort of science fiction conventions? I noticed a little bit of that on the first one, so I’m interested to hear.

Luke: Very much so. You guys can answer that. But this is to me, what comes to mind is, you know, I think we referenced a lot of like this sort of aspect of the 70s. And that’s always been part of the show. I’ll just roll out like (sandbox) as a possible sort of thing that we see this year. So I think (subverts) or makes (whatever), kind of have like an ironic appreciation for, definitely is part of the (translator) of this show this year, yes.

Hannah: Yes. I definitely agree with Luke. I agree with that kind of 70s and the business kind of coming definitely with this season. And I know it’s still a lot with some of the costumes when even when you kind of look back into the past, very much mine that kind of look and change in certain costumes. So yes, definitely.

Aaron: And Michelle, our show runner is so — is such a fan of sci-fi. And I think you know, sci-fi from the past, so I think it’s inevitable that she’s going to be bringing a lot of those references and a lot of that stuff into the show, but then also spinning it in a new way.

Luke: I would also, you know, say, in the humor aspect of the two, there’s this kind of self-awareness of it the way we speak, the kind of, you know — the kind of tough little sort of quips that come out of our mouth. They definitely revert back to some TV from the 70s for sure.

Q) Everyone is asking, so is there going to be any more D’Avin with Pawter this season?

Luke: No, D’Avin Jaqobis does not hook up with Pawter this season. But it’s something that will unveil itself. Yes, it will become clear and it’s an important, I think, part of D’Avin’s growth, is that idea of sort of hoping on to things. So it’s a very good story.

Q) Now you mentioned earlier that this season is going to be action-packed. Is there a particular episode that’s maybe more action-packed than others?

Aaron: Actually the first episode is really action-packed, like there are some amazing action sequences in it. But I think most of the episodes have quite a bit of action. But definitely the first episode back is insane, I think, as far as action goes.

Hannah: We set the valve very high in this last episode and it seems like every single episode just gets really bigger and wilder with all the action. I always notice that as well in our (read-throughs) just how the excitement, and yes, like a real action-packed, fun-filled episode, there’s got mini-episodic things where there are so much going on. So I have to say, yes, pretty much every episode.

Aaron: Yes. There was no easy episodes, like guys like feel laidback. It was all like fast-paced action-packed stuff throughout.

Luke: We, Aaron and Hannah and I would always joke like, “This is episode where I really did like Lucy a good cleaning.” We get to stay on that tip and rub her down. It’s very organized with big closets. I also think the action comes in all kinds of different — you know, this year we have, you know, a lot of this the kind of combat. We have, you know, some done sequences. We have some spaceship on spaceship sequences.

Aaron: Oh, my favorite.

Luke: So action in all different shapes and sizes. Yes, exactly.

Q) I noticed that in Season 1 there were a lot of episodes that seemed to be self-contained. And then by the end, it all kind of tied together very neatly. Will it be that same kind of flavor in Season 2?

Aaron: Well there’s definitely a warrant-based episodes in Season 2 but I think that now that we sort of locked into a bigger story, and there’s the sort of bigger mystery about what’s going on, obviously, that’s what sort of driving the second season. So I think it sort of much like the first where — the first couple episodes, we definitely have some more warrant-based things happening. But it really does sort of ramp up again like the first season, I would say. That was my sort of take on it.

Hannah: I think as well. What — because things this season will be revealed. You’ll kind of forget about them until you actually find out the bigger meaning behind it in like a later episode. So yes, it does tie together. But in between that, there will be a warrant-based episode. And what we find on the warrant actually will play much bigger later on. And that kind of — yes, it all does tie in to a little bit more like that this season, I find.

Aaron: Yes, definitely. I think one of the great thing as the watcher or the show, as the viewer of the show is that, because the story is so dense, there really isn’t anything that’s kind of not significant. Pretty much anything that is on it, the character, sort of a prop, align like it does get to let it back in, and that’s just the density of the show.

Q) What would you guys attribute to the (feasibility) to pull fans in and then keep them coming back week after week?

Aaron: I definitely think it’s the characters that sort of draw everybody in. Because I think the sci-fi stuffs is amazing. And if you’re tuning into sci-fi, that’s good looking. You want that sort of futuristic or sort of not quite reality. But I think if the characters in the story line and the dynamics between them aren’t interesting, you’re not going to get a loyal fan. People aren’t really going to be drawing in. I think that that was what the writers and what Michelle did really well, is creating a dynamic between these three characters and all are supporting characters that’s really dynamic and interesting to watch. It’s not just the action that keeps people coming in. I really think it’s the characters. As like an actor, it’s like, I love these characters. I love all of them. I don’t just love the character that I play, I love all of them. I think that they’re all so interesting and well-rounded, and all sorts of different colors of them. And I think that that’s what people respond to, that’s what people watching the show respond to as well.

Hannah: They kind of go against the grain as well. Like especially with Dutch and Johnny’s friendship, platonic friendship, is you don’t really see that in shows. When there’s kind of two guys, one girl, it’s kind of inevitably always like a love triangle, or as well also happen between Dutch and D’Avin, and then kind of trying to find a way back to being friends again. I don’t know it’s kind of this complex thing between the characters, I think, as well. I’ve seen a massive response from that as well.

Luke: Yes. I think anything that gets bringing people back is that they sort of want to know these people be part of their — be part of their little community.

Q) You shot the whole season. Is there a particular episode that you’re really excited to see, visualize on TV once it’s ready and everything?

Hannah: For me it’s Episode 7. That was the one — that was written by Michelle. And I think there’s an amazing one line, isn’t it. And that would be interesting to look. So I’m actually just really excited to represent D’Avin because it’s so — the lines, some of the lines that are in there are so funny.

Luke: I’m looking forward to five because it was very much a John episode and it’s just always nice to see your fellow actors work. — I think I only work like maybe a day-and-a-half in that episode because it was John’s episode and you know, it’s a great location. I heard all these great scenes. So it’s kind of like — I wanted to see how it all turned out because it’s John’s big episode.

Aaron: I was going to say as well, is that, like this year we definitely work apart from each other quite a bit. So I’m excited to see — well, I’m really excited for the finale this season too. I think there’s like some really cool dramatic big stuff that happens obviously in the finale. But I’m excited to see all the episodes because we definitely get to work apart more this year. And it’s really fun to watch the scenes that you weren’t a part of because you got to see your friends, your fellow actors, you could see the story unfold. And of course you read the script, but it’s really a completely different thing to watch the scene put together and see how everybody is playing things all the dynamics are happening. And yes, so I’m actually excited for the whole season just to see it. We put a lot of work into it. And we all, I think, really love the show. And so for me, at least, I am so excited to see it. And we don’t get to see very much of it either. You know what I mean?          Like we see maybe some rough cuts here and there, points, and we see stuff from what we’re doing AVR, but we’re sort of in the dark as the final product, the music, the editing, the takes it shows, the special effects until it airs as well. So I’m really excited to just to see the whole thing put together.

Q) I wanted to ask about, in the finale last season, Johnny did the blessing, he sort of fake the blessing of that woman. And he didn’t tell the guy that he wasn’t a true believer but the guy sort of insinuated that maybe he was. Is that going to come up sometime this season?

Aaron: No. I’ve actually have lots of people asked me questions about that. And a lot of interests sort in that element of monk and the religious stuff. And I will say that the religious stuff and the monks play quite a big part in Alvis in the second season. But no, John does not go for monk, although that would have been interesting. But he doesn’t really go down that road. But just the whole religious aspect of the show plays a very, very big part in the second season.

Q) I was wondering if that was something, because he seems to be maybe more compassionate and — I don’t know, sensitive maybe than his other shipmates a little bit

Aaron: I don’t think — well, I don’t think that one is cold-hearted. I don’t think the Quad sort of — is a place where that creates sensitivity or compassion. It’s a tough, tough world. And as we’ve seen Dutch’s past and also D’Avin’s past, like these guys have been through some really difficult stuff. And John has too but for whatever reason he’s — yes, he is just maybe a little bit more sensitive in whatever ways. So sure, yes. That’s just sort of one of his sort of quality that makes him him.

Q) And then for the group, I know you can’t say if D’Avin has been in the Level 6. But can you answer if being Level 6 makes you sort of a killer?

Aaron: Wouldn’t it be awesome to let go? That would be call.

Q) And I know you hit on this just a bit. But can you tease anything about how the dynamics between your characters are changing this season?

Hannah: I think for Dutch, she’s got of kind let Johnny go and do his thing. But also she’s so super protective of him. There are reasons why Johnny will go and do certain things and not tell her. And then there’s going to be a little risk, like definitely complicated between Dutch and Johnny, the two of them.

Aaron: Yes, yes, for sure. And I saw some really interesting things happening between Dutch and D’Av too, some really interesting sort of — like I would say almost a friendship forming. I mean, I still think that these characters will always have sexual tension and there’s something kind of hot about them, but there’s also something in some of the things that I saw where there’s like a real bond and a real friendship that’s formed. And obviously, they just met in the first season, so that wasn’t there. So to me it’s sort of interesting to see those dynamics play out like these two characters actually get to know each other. They actually spend time together. It’s cool. Like from what I saw, it’s really kind of interesting to see it play out.

Luke: Yes. I think, for D’Avin, I think, his relationship to both of them is defined by this acceptance that you can’t kind of control people.   Because I think his whole life leading up to …he can control people, whether that’s violence or over sex. And here he’s with two people that he can’t control and it’s open, kind of softens him in a very deep way that can make relationships deeper.

Q) As actors, what would you say has been the toughest challenge you face this season?

Hannah: I think, for me as an actor, I mean this and Season 1 as well, I mean, taking on a role that is, it requires a lot of emotional strengths, a lot of physical strengths. And suddenly for this season the stakes are higher and especially with other characters you should close to and other characters you should love and close to. I think this season with stakes being raised so high, that find the emotional strengths that the character has and trying to hide it as well. So it’s that — it’s that conflict within Dutch. It’s yes, that was very tough for me this season.

Aaron: I think, yes Hannah, you’re right about this sort of — or what I think is really difficult about this, you know, doing the show, and I think you touched on it Hannah, are the stakes. There’s no scenes. There’s no time where we’re just kind of sitting around and it’s just chill and it’s really conversational. I think, yes Hannah, you’re right about this sort of — or what I think is really difficult about this, you know, doing the show, and I think you touched on it Hannah, are the stakes. There’s no scenes. There’s no time where we’re just kind of sitting around and it’s just chill and it’s really conversational. I’ve done sort of like horror movies before where — which are really difficult because you’re being chased through the woods, you’re being chased whatever. And it’s like those stakes are high. You have to keep at that sort of place where you’re like, you know, on edge, adrenaline something, adrenaline something. And I feel like this shows sort of like that. There’s not a lot of downtime for the characters to just be relaxed or whatever, they are always on a mission. They’re always on guard. They’re always killing with emotional stuff. They’re always dealing with, you know, problems and warrants. So it’s just — it’s very, very busy. There’s no easy scenes. There’s always something going on. And if it’s not action, if it’s not emotional, well then there’s — and you’re throwing humor in that too, right? So they ask a lot of you. They ask a lot, like would you be able to play all these things, and juggle all these things, which is amazing. It’s an amazing challenge. But it’s definitely a lot tougher than a lot of other acting jobs that I’ve done.

Luke: Yes. I think I can reiterate everything that both of them said. It’s just it’s both the strongest aspect of the show and also the biggest challenge. It’s totally — you’re in a scene and you just punch somebody or shot somebody and then you make a joke. And it’s kind of funny. It’s just, it sometimes it’s hard to know exactly how to play that. And we’re very lucky with great directors who help guide us and who have bigger visions. But yes, you wonder like, “Oh, how serious is this now?” Or, “How much joke it is now?” And realizing the sort of nice edge of those things, you know, humor and pain and you know, drama, are very close to each other.

Q) What can you tell us about Red 17?

Luke: And Red 17 is connected to something that we — is very much in our lives and we find out. I don’t know what else to say. It’s really hard.

Aaron: Yes. We delve into Red 17 right off the bat. I don’t really get into the Red 17 stuff. So if you can wait until July 1st your answers will be forthcoming because yes, we definitely jump into all of that stuff right off the bat.

Q) If Lucy as since maybe manifested in like a human form or even like a robot, how would you guys interact with her?

Aaron: I think it would be very interesting. I mean, you know, we know Lucy. Like she may not have a physical manifestation but her personality would be the same. So how would we interact with her? Probably quite similarly. I think maybe the question would be more, how would Lucy interact with us?

Q) You talked in the past a little bit about having a cast that was big into singing. So I’d love to know whether we’ll hear any characters singing this season.

Aaron: Yes, we will.

Hannah: Yes, we will.

Aaron: Multiple characters sing. Yes.

Q) I just wanted to ask, because one of the strengths of the show, and this question is for everyone. One of the strengths for the show is the culture between the different planets in the Quad. And I’m wondering, if we’re going to get deeper into any of these specific cultures that you can mention, or maybe even cultures beyond the Quad that we might get to see.

Aaron: I think that we definitely — we definitely delve into the politics. I mean that’s still a huge part of Season 2, all the relationships between the planets and sort of the political system that set up. That’s a huge part of it. And the world does open up slightly, I would say, to explore at least the possibility of stuff beyond the Quad, beyond what we’ve seen in just, in the first season and that. So yes, the world is certainly opening up in the second season.

Hannah: Definitely as well you will see historically the cultures politically very different in the past, and how the states of it whereas now and how different it is.

Q) You mentioned earlier about Pree and that we would see a lot more of him and his — I guess his (Dory) is gone. So can you give us any more details about that?

Luke: It might not be done.

Aaron: I would say the thing about — to me, one of the biggest surprises of Season 2 were like, they’re really fun and interesting characters stuff was working with Thom or work with Pree. He gets some really, really cool fun stuff. And Michelle and the writers just really opened up that character and really expanded it in a really, really fun way. There’s more to Pree that meets the eye.

Q) I read something recently where Michelle talked about how you in real life are very light and fun and funny. And she felt like she didn’t serve you very well last season in that way but she’s trying to make your character Dutch have more fun and give you more opportunities to show your fun side this season. Do you feel that happened?

Hannah: Dutch is very witty. And of course, when you’re introduced to Dutch, you’re also introduced — well I mean, with her character, with meeting D’Avin in Season 1 and obviously she had got up his long lost brother, and she’s not very trusting. But the people who she trusts — I’m on the last season yet. There were a lot of times when maybe Dutch wasn’t – like the fun joker. But that Dutch has her fun in her own way. And definitely the Season, Michelle’s Episode 7, yes, there’s so much fun and that there’s so many — one line in that that made me laugh.       So that was a really fun episode. And yes, you will definitely see more of that this season.

Q) What is your favorite part about playing each of your characters? Like what is about your character that you like the most and your favorite part about playing them?

Hannah: The one thing I respect about my character is, I respect and I love — the one thing I love the most about Dutch is her loyalty. As a character is just her loyalty to people that she loves, her friends, she will move mountains. The challenge, and the one thing I love about playing Dutch is — I mean, not necessarily, but the range of emotions as an actor I get to play with one character. And also physically, it’s just, it’s amazing, it’s a dream, and to play a strong character as Dutch, and yes.

Luke: The challenge, and the one thing I love about playing Dutch is — I mean, not necessarily, but the range of emotions as an actor I get to play with one character. And also physically, it’s just, it’s amazing, it’s a dream, and to play a strong character as Dutch, and yes. I like the kind of — so really lack of a better word, and this is a bad word, but the sort of masculinity of him or his ideas or what he thinks that he really is, you know, I like that. And the thing I really like playing D’Avin is he often sort of reacts what got first in his head. And that’s something as a person that I don’t normally do. I overthink things a lot. And it’s quite a joy and a relief to being somebody’s body who doesn’t do that.

Aaron: You guys have a deep answer, I like those. It made me think. I think the one thing that I really like about John and sort of playing John is, there is hope in this guy, you know, like he’s always looking for the positive in people. He’s always sort of — that’s what he’s thriving for. That’s what he wants for other people too. And it’s kind of fun to play a character that that is sort of the basis sometimes for what he is. He is always trying to help people. He’s always trying to make things better for people, and that’s either — maybe not always for himself but for the people that he loves, the people that he cares about. And that’s fun to play a character that cares so deeply about other people. And I think that that sort of ties into something that Hannah was saying about the loyalty too, like it is fun to play a character that is loyal to a fault. I think that there’s something admirable in that. And that’s — so it’s really fun to play character that that’s a huge part of how he is and why he does things.

Source: Starry Constellation Magazine

Luke Macfarlane and Rob Stewart on the New Dynamics of Season 2

06/06/2016

(Photo credit: Steve Wilkie/Syfy)
(Photo credit: Steve Wilkie/Syfy)

In part four of our Killjoys set visit interviews, Luke Macfarlane and Rob Stewart talk about the complex new dynamics of Season 2, and how every character’s story influences the others. Macfarlane mentions that D’avin learns what makes him unique to the team this year. He also discusses his character’s PTSD and it being realistically portrayed via sci-fi. Ready to learn more of Khlyen’s backstory? Stewart tells us we will, but you will have to tune in to the season to learn more. Our final interview is coming up, so check back with us in a few days for that!

Knowing Khlyen is behind a whole lot of this stuff D’avin and Dutch have had to experience, is there this ongoing tension when you guys are on set?

Luke Macfarlane: It’s interesting why the show does this successfully and we continue things in the second season. The question of what is an enemy? What is something we’re afraid of and constantly trying to figure out? When is a father figure a bad person or when is he good, what does it mean to discipline or support your child, when are you just a bad person? D’avin is someone usually very principled until he meets his brother and Dutch, he follows the order of the code, so [Khlyen’s] very confusing to me.

Rob Stewart: I think you’re right but we definitely explore that in a much deeper way in the second season. As an actor opposed to the character, in the first season I only got to work with Dutch, which was great and we create this wonderful relationship, very confusing for both of us as none of us knew what was going to happen next. But when I first got to work with Luke, that was more me as an actor, this is a fun, new dynamic and change to be complex. Some of the things we have had a chance to do, to create the respect for my little girl’s boyfriend, sounds ironic and diminishing, but there is a sense of respect. All those things he says ironically, there’s a sense of giving him credit for that. For me as an actor, working with Luke was a real fun challenge and to create a new complex relationship that will confuse that.

Should we read into that then, that your guys are together and still shooting Episode 6?

Rob: It’s alphabetical! Makes no sense. We don’t know why they did this…

For Khlyen going after D’avin was as much about hurting Elena as it was about the larger mythology, where do we find him this season?

Rob: I’m going to correct you from saying hurting. As I’m not entirely sure as there’s still parts of Khlyen that I’m still in the dark on. I’m a fan of the show and read the scripts like a fourteen-year-old nerd so I think hurt would be disingenuous of me to say. I would say help. Even though I do everything horrible to her. It’s a father-daughter relationship that’s very complicated and I do tough things.

Luke, after playing the husband in Brothers and Sisters and then the Night Shift, D’avin is a different character, at the time did you think about being typecast and how have you settled into this role?

Luke: It’s also interesting as you never know what roles are going to pop up. I think as most actors, your eager to try something totally different. I loved Scotty and then Captain Rick in The Night Shift but we love to try different things. I think there was a part of me eager to play somebody more physical in their lives and in the last four or five years that’s what was more interesting to me. I’m very excited to have action in my repertoire now.

How have you settled into your role?

Luke: The weird thing with Brothers and Sisters, I did 100 episodes of that character so it’s always about figuring it out with every passing episode. I feel incredibly settled and firm in who he is through this season. It’s away a fun thing to convince people when they recognize you from something else.

Are we going to see D’avin as a character go beyond his tortured mind back to his more confident self?

Luke: Very much so, that was a piece of storytelling in the first season, they had a relationship so something had to come along and mess that up. This time they are more of a triad. We are all really needing of each other. For me, talking to the writers about it, how am I necessary to the group, what do I bring to it? Obviously I’m a fighter and strong, but Dutch can beat up anybody, so how am I different? John is the tech guy and the great friend. So this year, D’avin has discovered what is special about him and it’s a big point where he figures out this thing that now has makes him necessary and special to the group.

Your character has PTSD, is that something you are looking to explore more, what have you done to study that?

Luke: I have a couple friends who are former veterans and they said “You can’t tell PTSD in the future, in the sci-fi world.” Maybe because it would somehow be irreverent and not be realistically portrayed in a contemporary setting. But this show actually stripped away everything and made it about the trauma, the way we cope and being violent and hypersexual. These are all things I discovered as there is a need to create conflict and embrace it as it feels real. This was interesting to me. I seem to constantly keep playing characters who have PTSD.

Brothers and Sisters seemed to touch on that too, how do you articulate that narrative of the genre plays rather than the traditional drama?

Luke: I think what I was trying to say is that in sci-fi we get to strip away everything and don’t have the constraints, we can go very big with it. I think it’s interesting as we didn’t know it was PTSD at first then we had to look at the symptoms more, rather than the cause as much.

Rob, with each layer that gets peeled away with Khlyen, it’s like you have played five or six characters inhabiting Khlyen, what is the core of the character that exists in all those different iterations?

Rob: Love. It’s Khlyen. I can’t claim to be the one who figured that out. That was Michael Nankin in 106 who gave me that note. It was brilliant and changed the whole tenor of it. I always had that as I had a son and taught him how to sword fight since he was three years old. We have a lot of similarities, apart from the bad parts. So when I started work the first time, it wasn’t with Hannah, it was with the eight-year-old so all the paternal stuff comes out. No matter what the scenario, there’s a child with those eyes looking at you so all the paternal stuff comes out, you would be a stone if it didn’t. I think it was always there as any father would have that response. Then we did 106 and it sparked that whole thing. Even when we had that fight in 110, all those things I keep as my base, then I twist it and knot it up with bizarre things, but that’s the base for me.

Luke: It’s funny as we move into the second season, I think D’avin was the first person to see that in a way Dutch can’t. It’s like when you go “Mum! God, you’re so annoying” but actually it’s like, “Your Mum has a point.”

It could explain why Khlyen didn’t kill off D’avin right away, but he didn’t have any hesitation to kill off her first husband.

Rob: Because of that, yeah. That whole fear and apprehension of losing Dutch for all those years because of his rash action. He doesn’t want to make that mistake again. If anything he has learned very quickly and is devious and whatever his bigger goals are he’s going to be a lot more cunning about it. 201 is one of the best scripts I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. When we did the table read I felt like I was at a rock concert, so much energy, it’s such a good script.

Do we get to see any more of Khlyen’s backstory?

Rob: We do, that’s new to me. I heard that when I was getting prepped for this. We have to get the do’s and don’ts of what to say and what not to say. I just found that out extremely recently and so I’m really excited. I don’t know how deeply or in what way. I don’t even know what it is, I’m in the dark.

And you wouldn’t say even if you knew…

Rob: I wouldn’t be able to say but I would tell you I know with a smile on my face, all smug and Khlyen like, but that’s not the case.

After the cruelty and brutality of Season 1 and where they left things with Dutch and D’avin, is there a possibility he may want to pursue romance with her again or is that off the table?

Luke: It’s interesting, I know a lot of people thought it was a romantic triangle but I never saw it like that. It was like the PTSD conversation, she was there, she has it too, and it was a very confusing, wanting to bond or be a part of it. Or envious of whatever John has with Dutch. He thinks why he can’t be close with a woman like that. That was his way of trying to figure that out. In a weird way they almost need to get that over with. In Season 2 it’s a deeper sort of intimacy that doesn’t involve sex. Whether that’s romance, I don’t know, but it’s a different way to come to understand each other, I think deeper, maybe not sexual, or maybe.

Khlyen’s about the only one who isn’t getting any?

Rob: Thanks God at my age! I am so over love scenes. It’s fun when your 29 or 30. I never liked it. I did a show with 66 episodes and there were 66 love scenes at the beginning of every show and I just started hating it. I felt awkward and 70 people are watching. I can’t watch people kiss on screen. It’s so funny, I’m like a prude or something, I know they’re actors but I’m just like “Ahh!” I don’t know, I think these shows have ‘shipping’. If they introduce some wickedly powerful female who’s just evil, strong and messed up, she’d have to be wicked strong.

Does it annoy you that some critics say the show doesn’t have enough drama, would you like to see more of that?

Luke: Sometimes Aaron, Hannah and I are stuck on a ship on a rainy day and trying to do some small thing like sweep Lucy, I don’t know do you mean drama over the action? The action is an important part of the show, it’s the way we tell a story.

Rob: You always have those quick bits in between the acting and that’s where those moments come as you’re so good at it.

Luke: We have a ton of story, we work through a lot of story.

You get to have your downtime with Dutch, when you guys were stuck on the ship.

Luke: Right which is fun as we love that as it’s not rushing into a fight choreography, or getting rigged up.

You both have done series that are longer, so can we talk about the change in doing 10, do you prefer that telling a tighter story and telling it faster?

Rob: I prefer the show to anything I’ve ever done but I don’t think it has anything to do with the episodes. I don’t know about the compression, maybe. I just love the character, the people I work with, it’s fantastic but I don’t know a technical reason. In terms of 10 versus 22, it’s a lot easier for the lead actors as that’s a grind. The kind of work they do on a show, 22 is tough, so in that were probably saving lives. They can give it more and be more intense. For me it’s easier as I’m not in it as much. Good thing about 22, you’re rich after. That’s the funniest thing when in my twenties and thirties, it’s’ “I’m poor!” I was ready to declare bankruptcy. Then you get a phone call, then it’s “I’m rich”. The paradigm changed a bit. The quality is better and that’s why HBO and Syfy do it now, BBC had been doing it for years and the quality is light years ahead of ours. Now we’re getting the idea it’s better to focus and do really good work instead of just a lot.

Luke: It also forces the writer, you have to be very precise with every scene as there’s so much story to tell, there’s really no fat… like the sweeping scene with Lucy.

Do you get to interact with any outside characters we haven’t seen before?

Luke: We do yes! We all kind of do. That’s what’s interesting with Season 2. What bonds us, we all have our outside lives, but we all come back and it’s like the family’s back together. I have some stuff with Rob and the bartender at The Royal. We do get to work outside the family.

Rob: Which is cool as the triad get affected indirectly by these different, wonderful things but they all come back together.

Luke: Everybody’s stories influence everybody else’s story and you learn something.

Killjoys Returns to Syfy on July 1st at 9/8c.

Source: KilljoysTv

[VIDEO] “Killjoys” season 2: trailer and Luke’s interview

button_enNew videos of Luke from the second season of “Killjoys”: the trailer and an interview.

button_spNuevos vídeos de Luke desde la segunda temporada de “Killjoys”: el tráiler y una entrevista.

button_itNuovi video di Luke dalla seconda stagione di “Killjoys”: il trailer e un’intervista.

button_frNouvelles vidéos de Luke dans la deuxième saison de “Killjoys”: la bande-annonce et une interview.

Chaplain Henry Hopkins

Henry_hopkins_mezz.jpg

Henry Hopkins, a hospital chaplain with a dark past, is newly committed to God and his work. His integrity, compassion and worldly wisdom make him an appealing figure to staff and patients alike, and eventually draws the eye of Emma Green, against her own instincts. He, in turn, is drawn to her, though he does his best to hide it, since she is a Confederate who sees him as the enemy. Their attraction is unspoken and slow burning, but will eventually ignite into something neither can deny.

Luke on Henry:

Chaplain Hopkins attends to the souls of the wounded and anybody else who really needs any sort of spiritual guidance, which was an important time or an important thing for these men. This is a time when people were a lot more religious than they are nowadays. So I’ll read Bible verses. I’ll read from the Book of Common Prayer. I’ll do the services. So many of the men in this hospital were at a point in their lives where they badly needed spiritual guidance. Some of them are at the end of their lives and they need to make peace with God, or try to make some kind of peace. So he’s definitely a welcomed figure in the hospital.

Actor bio

Luke Macfarlane currently stars as one of the leads on the SyFy series “Killjoys.” He made his feature film debut in Bill Condon’s Kinsey opposite Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. He also starred in Robert Altman’s “Tanner on Tanner,” a limited series for the Sundance Channel, opposite Cynthia Nixon. On the small screen, Luke was a series regular on the Canadian sitcom “Satisfaction” and has appeared as a guest on hit shows such as “Smash,” “Person of Interest” and “Beauty and the Beast.” On the stage, Luke starred in “Where Do We Live,” written and directed by Chris Shinn, at the Vineyard Theater, as well as the play Juvenilia.

Most recently, Luke has starred in the Playwright’s Horizons production of “The Busy World Is Hushed” opposite Jill Clayburgh. Luke is a graduate of the Juilliard Drama Division, where he starred in the productions of “The School of Night,” “Blue Window,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and “As You Like It.” Luke is best known for his role on ABC’s hit television series “Brothers and Sisters.” He is also known for his work on the critically acclaimed Steven Bochco FX series “Over There” and most recently starred in the CBC mini-series “Iron Road,” leading an all-star cast including Peter O’Toole and Sam Neill.

Luke hails from London, Ontario, and resides in Los Angeles.

Source: PBS

Luke Macfarlane Talks “The Night Shift,” What’s The Deal With The Salvation Army? BRIEFS

24/12/2015

IN OTHER NEWS

Luke Macfarlane talks about his various TV projects, including the Hallmark movie Christmas Land, Season Two of Killjoys, his brief turn on Supergirl (“I got to catch up with Calista Flockhart,”) and his upcoming PBS potential series Mercy Street (which also stars Cameron Monaghan and Jack Falahee)

FeaturedphotoPBS_Mercy-Street_Guide_lores-640x360

 “I’m super proud of this project. It’s produced by Scott-Free, [it has] wonderful writers. I play Chaplain Hopkins, who was a Union Chaplain who worked at this hospital,” he explains. “It’s essentially an Upstairs, Downstairs story of a hospital. Being a Civil War buff, I was very excited to live inside this world. It’s a fantastic cast. I think PBS is looking to find something that whets the appetite of the Downton Abbey audience, which they’ll be losing this year as the show goes off the air. I don’t know how official it is, but I understand they’d like to do one for every year of the war.”

Plus his hopes for a return to NBC’s The Night Shift.

“Also holding a place on Macfarlane’s dance card is the third season of The Night Shift. He hopes he can return to the show after Killjoys wraps in April. “Gabe [Sachs] has been really open with me. I love doing that show. I want to [give him a window] and come do something with Brendan. I’m pitching myself,” he says. “I love being part of the show. I know how frustrating it was for fans [that my availability impacted the story].”

Source: Logo – New Now Next

 

 

Luke Macfarlane Talks Christmas Land, Killjoys, Mercy Street, and More [Exclusive]

19/12/2015

Photo Credit: Fred Hayes/Crown Media United States, LLC

Luke Macfarlane broke our hearts in the first season of Killjoys, but we’re thrilled they are already working on season two. The bad news? We’ll have to wait six months for those episodes. The good news? Macfarlane is back on our TVs Sunday night opposite Awkward‘s Nikki DeLoach in Christmas Land, a very sweet, fun Christmas movie for Hallmark Channel. And next month, he’s on PBS in the Civil War era miniseries/limited series Mercy Street. I jumped on the phone with Macfarlane this week to talk about his projects.

Christmas Land is Macfarlane’s second outing for Hallmark after 2014’s The Memory Book (when I interviewed him the first time), and it was a super-fast turnaround. They just wrapped filming in November and were able to take advantage of an early winter in Salt Lake City, which helped them set the tone.

Photo Credit: Fred Hayes/Crown Media United States, LLC

Macfarlane had a ball working on the movie. “My agent is really good at being in touch with the folks at Hallmark Channel. They thought of me [for this]. I did [The Memory Book] and didn’t do a terrible job, so they gave me another crack at it,” he laughs. “It’s great because the Christmas movies are a big part of the Hallmark tradition. It was an honor to be asked because it’s a whole other level of what Hallmark is known for. I jumped at the opportunity to do it.”

The movie was Macfarlane’s first time working with DeLoach and he adored her. “Nikki is really special. I did the Google thing [before we started work]. She’s so grounded and such an honest, hardworking girl,” he says. “She’s texting with her mother making sure Christmas things are arranged. She’s a great mother. I really, really, really respected her and the way she’s navigated the business as an actress. She’s great and prepared and on the point.”

He was happy they didn’t have to fake the cold weather, which made the shoot that much more special. “We were joking that you could see our cold breath so it made it especially cozy and authentic,” he says. “Most of the time, it’s fake snow and it’s the middle of the summer. We were the last one [filmed for this holiday season]. They made it work to get it done in time for Christmas.”

Photo Credit: Fred Hayes/Crown Media United States, LLC

“They did an amazing job with the location. We found this beautiful old pioneer town that became the primary setting. You never know when you read the script how they’re going to pull off this important set piece,” he explains. “It was these old facades, and with the smells, it was so cozy. It was especially exciting. The background players [in Salt Lake City] are the best I’ve ever worked with. They were so good. They had just lost Blood & Oil when we were there so there was a lot of disappointment about that.”

Macfarlane made a point to meet TV icon Maureen McCormick, who appears in flashbacks. “She was so lovely. I knocked on her trailer because we didn’t have scenes together and said hello and an hour later, we were chatting about life and family and the business,” he recalls. “She was so wonderful and kind and open-hearted. I really, really enjoyed her.”

Eagle-eyed viewers may have caught Macfarlane in a recent two-episode appearance on Supergirl, which he filmed earlier this fall before Christmas Land.  He came to that through his connection to Greg Berlanti from Brothers & Sisters. “I’d worked with Greg before and I knew some of the people peripherally from auditioning. It was interesting because of my experience on Killjoys,” he says.In a way, they’re both sci-fi shows with a strong female lead, but I’ll tell you who had a bigger budget than we did.”

“It was really impressive and massive. Beautiful, beautiful sets, hardworking cast. It’s always fun to get a little bit of a glimpse into that moment when the cast is hopeful and optimistic about the show. I got to catch up with Calista Flockhart. I’m very curious to see how it will continue to do, and on that network.”

Photo Credit: PBS

Starting next month, we can see Macfarlane in Mercy Street, a  Civil War-era drama with Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Winstead, which PBS is positioning as a pickup series for audiences anxious to fill a post-Downton Abbey void. Macfarlane plays a Chaplain, and he was happy to dive into such a historical piece.

“I’m super proud of this project. It’s produced by Scott-Free, [it has] wonderful writers. I play Chaplain Hopkins, who was a Union Chaplain who worked at this hospital,” he explains. “It’s essentially an Upstairs, Downstairs story of a hospital. Being a Civil War buff, I was very excited to live inside this world. It’s a fantastic cast. I think PBS is looking to find something that whets the appetite of the Downton Abbey audience, which they’ll be losing this year as the show goes off the air. I don’t know how official it is, but I understand they’d like to do one for every year of the war.”

Photo Credit: PBS

Mercy Street isn’t Macfarlane’s first foray into period territory. He shot a miniseries for CBC a few years back called Iron Road, about the building of the railroad. [You can now buy that on DVD in the U.S.; for a while there it was only available in Canada].

Photo Credit: Steve Wilkie/Temple Street Releasing Limited/Syfy

On a much darker note, I had to grill Macfarlane (good-naturedly, of course) about where D’avin ended up in the season finale of Killjoys, and where he’s going in season two He was tight-lipped except to say that we will learn more about Level 6. I did get him to admit that three weeks into production, he has shot footage with Aaron Ashmore and Hannah John-Kamen but he laughed that he couldn’t say whether the scenes were in the current timeline or a flashback. (Dammit!)

Macfarlane is beyond excited to be back at work. “[Season one] was such a positive experience. It continues to be. Almost our entire creative team came back, which I think is a testament to the show. It was such a great experience,” he shares. “We’re all energized by the fact that nobody’s given us fistfuls of money and [set] super-duper high expectations. It’s very fun to problem solve within the constraints [we have].”

“Michelle [Lovretta] is so wickedly talented and she ‘s doing that very clever thing of creating a universe that can speak about contemporary issues in a deep, deep way. And she continues to do that in the second season. It’s fantastic. It’s really, truly, and sincerely a positive experience.”

He didn’t know going in that Lovretta had planned to pull the trigger so early on Dutch and D’avin but he trusted her vision. “I think Michelle did this very smart thing where she wanted to get it over with. She’s not interested in love triangles. She’s bored by the idea of two guys fighting over one girl. I think she wanted to acknowledge and recognize that these are two red-blooded people so let’s get that story told.”

Photo Credit: Syfy

“I also felt like she was interested in exploring intimacy and violence and how close they can exist. It was hard to watch. When I finally saw it, [D’avin] actually hitting her was so upsetting, and the punches to the face with the sound effects were so brutal. But so much of the show is also about Dutch defining herself with these very controlling men. She’s trying to be a strong woman and still be feminine. Hannah John-Kamen is so wickedly talented. I look at her with such awe. She’s seven years younger than me. I’m blown away by her precision and focus.”

“I think Michelle’s universe and the story she is interested in telling are so smart. And everything I’ve read this year is even better. I want life to get better for D’avin. One of the joys and difficulties of having a small cast [is that] we have to continue to tell stories within our small group. I’m loving this show. I hope it goes for five years. I really, really, real do.”

Macfarlane missed out on the 2015 convention circuit because he was booked back to back between his TV work and a play, but he looks forward to doing them next year if scheduling permits. “I think it will be especially exciting to go to these things once the audience is familiar with the show,” he says. “I’m certainly open to it. Aaron says it’s a very positive experience.”

Also holding a place on Macfarlane’s dance card is the third season of The Night Shift. He hopes he can return to the show after Killjoys wraps in April. “Gabe [Sachs] has been really open with me. I love doing that show. I want to [give him a window] and come do something with Brendan. I’m pitching myself,” he says. “I love being part of the show. I know how frustrating it was for fans [that my availability impacted the story].”

As an alumnus of Brothers & Sisters, Macfarlane has done the traditional 22-episode season on a network, and he’s loving the flexibility afforded by the short seasons of his current roster of shows. I 100% prefer a ten-episode season. This year has been a testament to why I got in the business,” he points out. “I joke with my friends that I play soldiers in three different generations, one in the future, one in the past, and one in the present. That’s because of these schedules. I’m very grateful.”

Working on so many projects has also given him the opportunity to do something near and dear to him. “I’ve always known about myself that what really interests me about acting is the opportunity to meet different people. I love meeting people, and I love the different sets and seeing the way they’re unique,” he admits. “Killjoys is probably the funnest for me, because I believe so deeply in the material.”

Mercy Street begins January 17th on PBS. Killjoys and The Night Shift return in mid-2016.

Christmas Land premieres Sunday night at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel. DeLoach plays a career marketing exec who’s plan to sell her late grandmother’s Christmas-themed village gets derailed when she strikes up a friendship with the lawyer (Macfarlane) handling the estate, and she realizes what the village means to the community. Here’s a sneak peek of Christmas Land.

Source: Tv Goodness

[PRESS] Updated with translation

button_enHi. I’ve just updated the press section with the Italian translation of the French article Luke Macfarlane: “Une série peut aider à changer les mentalités”. Thanks to Alessandra.
button_spHola. Acabo de añadir en la sección de prensa (Press) la traducción en italiano del artículo francés  Luke Macfarlane: “Une série peut aider à changer les mentalités”. Gracias Alessandra.
button_itCiao. Ho appena aggiornato la sezione stampa (Press) con la traduzione in italiano dell’articolo francese  Luke Macfarlane: “Une série peut aider à changer les mentalités”. Grazie ad Alessandra.
button_frSalut. Je l’ai juste mis à jour la section de presse (Press) avec la traduction italienne de l’article français Luke Macfarlane: “Une série peut aider à changer les mentalités”. Merci à Alessandra.

[PRESS] Updated with press from 2009 and 2010

button_enHi. I’ve just updated the press section with articles and interviews from 2009 and 2010.
button_spHola. Acabo de añadir en la sección de prensa (Press) artículos y entrevistas desde el 2009 y el 2010.
button_itCiao. Ho appena aggiornato la sezione stampa (Press) con articoli e interviste del 2009 e 2010.
button_frSalut. Je l’ai juste mis à jour la section de presse (Press) avec articles et interviews de 2009 et 2010.

Chatting with Killjoys, Part 2: You Have to Have a Sense of Humor

18/06/2015

Recently, my colleague Tom Gardiner had the chance to participate in a conference call with the stars of Killjoys – Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane (and I will admit to more than a twinge of jealousy). Here’s Part 2 of our chat! You can read Part 1 by clicking here. And be sure to check out our show preview – then come back each week for our episode reviews.

Can you tell us something about your character that maybe only you know?

Luke: Not to get too dark but I think that John and D’avin’s father used to beat up D’avin.

Aaron: Yes.  I mean, that’s interesting too because we’d never discussed anything like that and there’s nothing in the show like that.  But I had thought of similar things like John and D’avin’s background.  You know, we don’t really get into the details of it in the show but it was very, very difficult so I thought of things like that too about scenarios, and I pictured that too that D’avin was the older brother and so he probably took a brunt of a lot of that growing up.  And probably was protecting John, so for me there’s slight guilt dripping in some of those potential things about, you know, it’s kind of dark. But hey, the show is still fun, it’s not all dark.

Is there a really funny scene that stands out in your mind that we would be looking for?

Luke: Gosh. Oh, I know something to look that I think is very funny.  In a much later episode John comes in contact with a super computer and he gets really excited about that super computer. So I’m just going say that much, I laughed really hard when I saw that.

Aaron: Good, I’m so glad.  So John’s nerdiness that you find – that’s good I like that.  The show is not necessarily always ha, ha funny like knee slapper, I think it’s sort of subtle and it’s really in the way that these characters tease each other or interact with each other.  It’s just so peppered throughout the show, this current of humor on the way that they sort of gab at each other.   To me that’s really where the humor lies, it’s not like, oh my God there’s this one hilarious like comic scene. It’s really the tone of the way these people rib each other and tease each other that to me is where the sense of humor really lies.

Could each of you share something about each of your co-stars that surprised you the most? Perhaps their personality or their process, anything that comes to mind.

Aaron: Oh, telling tales on each other, oh my goodness.  I was very pleasantly surprised at how funny and not just funny but weird both Luke and Hannah’s sense of humor is. That’s one of the really unique things about the three of us together is that we’re just so weird.  And our sense of humor just kind of rips off each other and so I was really pleasantly surprised to see how strange their senses of humor were and then how we as a whole bonded together.

Hannah: Like I think it’s the sense of humor.  Because on set like one of us is saying something and then without even any questions the other one would join in and then it wouldn’t stop for like an hour.

Aaron: In harmony nonetheless.

Hannah: In harmony.  That was a surprise to me – this kind of crazy sense of humor, no questions asked, just really join in.

Aaron: Yes.  And that’s not always the case, right, the things that you think are funnier, the things that really tickle you have other people that you’re working with and it flows, that was sort of really surprising and lucky I think.

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In an action oriented show sometimes the actors will use mood music or conjure up certain mental queues to kind of inspire them to kind of pump them up for the intense action scenes.  Do either of you have devices that you utilize?

Aaron: I find in emotional scenes sometimes that works better, to set the mood if it’s sad or anger or something.  But the action stuff is like you’re just thrown in and you got to run or you got to kick butt. Sometimes that’s not the hardest thing to motivate yourselves into.  But sometimes for emotional scenes that works a little bit better to put you in a place emotionally.

Luke: Yes, definitely.  In fact thinking about the first fight scene that we filmed, which is John and I in the cage fight right at the beginning, it was so amazing to have that whole crowd of people around us yelling, that was sort of enough to get us into the mood.  Like it was really cool to have 100 or whatever extras all screaming, they don’t know what the show is, they don’t know what they’re screaming for.  But still…

Aaron:  It was interesting too, I remember we did a first take right after lunch and everybody was still kind of coming back from lunch, they just had something to eat, everybody was kind of quiet.  And then Chris Grismer, our director, was like, OK, guys we’re back from lunch, I need you to scream and yell.  And then when we did another take it sort of changed everything because when you have like 100 people screaming and beating on the cage, that sort of energy really amps everything up for us.  And, yes, that was really cool actually.

Once you realized that you had gotten the job that you’re going to play a bounty hunter, did you do any like research and perhaps find that you had a favorite real life fictional bounty hunter that you might have drawn inspiration from?

Aaron: My dad is a big “Dog The Bounty Hunter” fan, and I already watched a ton of Dog.  But that’s not really what we’re going for here so I kind of did the opposite of that –  I stripped away anything that I’d seen from Dog and decided to just go off the script.

Luke: That was wise. He came with a mullet the first day.

Aaron:  I got rid of that pretty quick.

Hannah: I don’t know, I think for me I just basically did character research and more of this character building with Michelle and Chris.  And the skills come with the training and within the character.  But for me it was kind of who is Dutch first before what does that do.

Luke: Both Hannah and Aaron had experience in the sci-fi world, I was intimidated, I’ve never done anything in the sci-fi world, so I actually watched a lot of sci-fi programming thinking that, oh, I’m going to be interacting with these people and fans that know the sci-fi world much more deeply than I do and I don’t want to look like irreverent to their genre.

If you could travel anywhere in outer space where would you want to go?

Aaron: To a planet where there’s alien life maybe. Wherever is that, I don’t know the name of it unfortunately, I can’t be that specific but…

Luke: If you could I would be…

Aaron: Very impressed.  I would be wasting my skills as an actor if I could tell you where that is.

Luke: Yes, it’s hard, there’s not a lot of places that you could go.

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Obviously Dutch has a lot of secrets and Luke also, about what’s happened in his past in the war and everything. So, Aaron, my question is does John have any kind of secrets that we’re going to be finding out about?

Aaron: In this first season not really.  And I think that needs to be that way because the whole thing is that Dutch and D’avin have these secrets that are holding the team apart because they’re not really wanting to share those and trying to deal with all these things by themselves.  And it causes a lot of strain on the team and I think John’s position in this first season is, his main purpose in the show and his goal is to keep the team together because they’re just ripping each other apart.

So I think if you then throw John into the mix where he got things, I think it would be a bit convoluted. You needed somebody who was just not being torn apart by all this stuff to kind of keep it together.  So I hope that if we get another season that we’ll get to start to see a little bit of John’s past and the things that he had to go through, the difficulties and stuff. I really hope that we will get to do that but I think in this season it would have been a bit much to sort of have all three of them really trying to explore these dark secrets.

What has been your favorite part about working on Killjoys so far?

Hannah: The sets have been amazing, I think the fighting as well has been so cool.  But I think with Aaron and Luke they’re just so amazing to work with.  They just made the whole time and experience just injected with fun.

Luke: Yes, it’s really true.  You often hear actors talking about, “Oh, you know, we all like each other so much.”  But really legitimately it was like a really great group, I love showing up to work, it was wonderful. And just to use your imagination in a really profound way.  You know, it’s not often that you’re required to imagine so much and that it makes you feel like a kid again when you’re looking out the window of your spaceship and you see a green screen having to imagine what’s on that. Often your job is entering into a living room with cup of tea.  So being able to use your imagination that massive way is super fun.

Aaron: Yes, I agree. I think first and foremost not just as the actors but the whole creative team and the whole crew, I think everybody really, really enjoyed themselves.  And again we’re working in such a fun business, but the experiences are not always amazing, amazing.  And I think like on a personal level the fun of working with everybody was way, way up there.

Another thing for me was getting to start on a show, I’ve done lots of shows where I kind of come into them while they’re already been successful and then become a lead on the show or recurring.  But to come in to a show from the very start and feel like you’re really, really part of something.

And like Luke was saying, it’s just not really part of something where it’s set in New York or wherever where we know everything but we’re really getting to explore and create the world and these characters that nobody has seen before.  You know, coming from Michelle’s imagination and the writers, and then we really get to inhabit these places that don’t exist, and these societies, these cultural levels that are not real.  So who gets to do that, some people get to fantasize and get to think about those things but we actually get to act them out and create them.  And that’s been the really, really exciting thing that very few people get to do, so it’s a lot of fun.

Luke: I remember the first time we all were on the cockpit together, and we’ve been watching the ships get built because we’re filming on our station and we see them and like, “Cool, that’s our spaceship.”  And then all the sudden we were on the spaceship and they built this beautiful thing but nobody knew how to drive it and we got to make up how to drive the ship.  And we got to imagine what button to press to try to make it go up and make it go round and that’s thrilling.

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What challenges did you face when filming the first season?   

Luke: It’s a small cast and we all worked a lot,  it was really long hours.  You know, sometimes when cast of shows are bigger and there’s more screen time to go around but this is very equally spread among three people so we had really long days.

Hannah: The challenges at the beginning, I remember when we had this gun and it was so heavy.  Actually kind of like getting to use to it, the equipment and the armor, and making it look like I’ve been carrying this gun for years. It was really embodying a killer, as a bounty hunter, and getting used to the kind of physical way of that.

Aaron: Even up until very recently I felt this way throughout the whole season, so you’re really excited to do this, this is an amazing opportunity.  But you’re really like, I hope that we do all of this justice, I hope that all this hard work that we do and we put in, you know, that it pays off, that people really enjoy it. Because we’re not just doing a cop show where we’re emulating something that’s already out there and people will buy into it.  We’re creating a whole new world and so you really want to get it right and you really wanted to create characters and a world that’s believable and people are going to buy into.

And that just comes with the genre, I think that that there’s a lot of actual work that you have to do and pressure that’s put on you because people have to buy into this.  It’s not an easy thing to buy into, and the sci-fi audience is very discerning, they’re very intelligent, and you want them to like it.  So there’s some pressure in that and that doesn’t just fall on us obviously as the actors, as a production we all have to accomplish it together.  But after seeing the show I feel very confident and very proud of the work that everybody did and I’m really hoping that everybody is going to enjoy it.

Luke: That’s a really good point, yes.  And I think there is more reverence, the intelligence of the audience in this genre than any other genre I think I’ve worked in and wanting to do them right.

Killjoys is created by the creator of Lost Girl, Michelle Lovretta, and it’s produced by the producers of Orphan Black and Temple Street. What do you think fans of those shows would like about Killjoys?

Aaron: Well, obviously they’re coming from the same sensibility, the same minds, but I think our show is going to be very different because of the content and the world that we’re in. So hopefully the things that you enjoy about those other shows, they’ll be assembled in our show as well.

Luke: Speaking a little bit about Lost Girl, I think there’s something about, not to be sort of light about it, but there’s a sense of female empowerment that I think is definitely something that’s really strong (in viewers), strong female characters that aren’t just strong because they beat people up but they’re very comfortable with their sexuality.  Michelle writes a lot about sexuality in a really unique way.

You just talked about this a little bit but are you guys ready for the vintage genre fans you’re about to have?

Luke: Bring it on.

Hannah: We’re ready.

Luke: I would love it. I have a lot of flight attendant sort of fans right now, I like to sort of broaden my fan base. I often get like – “Oh, you know, the first class wine is a little bit better than the coach wine.  Let me see if I can scrounge a glass for you.”

Aaron: That’s a bonus.

Luke: Yes, it’s very nice.

We talked previously about Dutch’s past and what’s going on with her.  But can you tell us a little bit about D’avin’s search for the military doctor (more about this in episode 2) and whether his search will come to a resolution this season?

Luke: Well, he’s definitely looking for this person all the way through the show and, gosh, I don’t know how much I should tease but yes he finds her, he finds her.  And that she is a her.  And I think it’s really interesting because there’s a lot of comparisons that a lot of soldiers are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and are trying reconcile with their sort of violent past and I think it’s a great story line.  But he does get more completion and closure than Dutch does.

Source: TBIS – Three If By Space