Interviews

Warehouse 13 Q&A with Aaron Ashmore and Jack Kenny

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Jack Kenny is executive producer of Warehouse 13, and Aaron Ashmore will be joining the cast as new Agent Steve Jinks. Season 3 of Warehouse 13 premieres Monday, July 11th on Syfy.

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Aaron, can you talk about Steve Jinks and his ability to detect lying?

Aaron Ashmore: Well I think I thought about it and was maybe overcomplicating it — this idea of being able to tell when someone’s lying. But, talking to Jack and when we kind of got into it, it was a very simple thing of just looking at somebody and being able to tell whether they’re lying or not.

I mean I think that the ability is quite simple in the way it works, but the way that it affects the character, I think, makes him very tentative when it comes to people and trusting people. He knows that everybody lies. And I think as human beings we know that anyways but being able to tell exactly when those things are happening, I think makes him put a little bit of a wall up around him.

And I think that that’s the real thing that when you’re playing – when I’m playing Steve that I had to think about him and be aware of. So I think that that’s really the big part of the character that there’s these walls up because of his ability to tell when people are lying.

With Steve coming in as Pete’s new partner, where that leave Myka?

Jack Kenny: Well just to keep myself from getting into trouble I never said she would definitely be back. They’ll hunt me down and shoot me. No, what I’ve always – what I kept saying to people is don’t worry. We have our fans’ best interest at heart and everybody should just relax and enjoy the ride.

Remember at the end of the first season we killed Artie… So everybody should just not worry. It’s going to be a great year and everybody’s going to be thrilled. That said, that’s part of the fun of the season this year is in the first episode is Myka coming back? If she does, how is she coming back? How does Aaron fit into all this?

It’s a nice fun beat. But honestly it’s just, as I keep saying and I’m surprised because I never really thought about it — Aaron fits so well into this family that it hasn’t felt like an issue. There’s been plenty of room in this show to have this new character. And I got to tell you, just separately of the writing and the acting and the shooting, everybody in the cast just loves Aaron.

So it would be different if we had somebody who was a jerk. But he’s such a terrific human being and brings so much warmth and professionalism to the set that I think people look forward to doing scenes with him and seeing him. So it’s been – it’s just been a real kind of a joy this year.

Will the show be visiting other warehouses again this year?

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Alphas Q&A with Ira Steven Behr, Ryan Cartwright and Azita Ghanizada

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Alphas SciFiChick.com was recently able to sit in on a Q&A with executive producer Ira Steven Behr and stars Ryan Cartwright and Azita Ghanizada of Syfy’s newest original series Alphas. Alphas premiers Monday, July 11 at 10:00 pm on Syfy.

How did each of you become involved with Alphas?

Ryan Cartwright: Okay. Yes. I think I was the first actor on board. I was having another fun horrible pilot season in LA running around doing my monkey showings trying to get a job and then this really good script turned up and I just wanted to be a part of it immediately.

And went into the audition and it was a tricky role for me because the character has autism and it was a bit intimidating. But then once I’d signed on one good piece after another fell into place and everyone that got on board after that and that was already on board that I met was fantastic and smart. So I was super happy to get it.

Ira Steven Behr: I had taken a year off actually to finish up a novel I had started a couple years ago and decided to finish it. And I just turned down TV work for a year, which did not make my agents happy or my wife.

She wanted me out of the house and as soon as I was done I called my agents and said let’s see what’s out there. And one of the first jobs I went on was Alphas and I saw the pilot, which I thought was really interesting and I really liked the characters, which is what I really look for in a pilot.

And I met with Zak and Michael Karnow because it’s really important you know, if you’re going to be the show runner it’s always nice if you can get along with the guys who thought up the project so there’s not going to be any kind of tension.

And we got along really well and I just thought the possibilities for a really good show were there. So and I had been doing a dance with the Syfy Network for about ten years of them offering projects and me turning them down or me going to them and it not working out.

So I figured you know what, let’s just end this once and for all and let me do something for Syfy. And here we are.

Azita Ghanizada: You know, I was the last person cast. I think they had a hard time finding Rachel. She was originally written as somebody kind of very different than what she has become now that Ira and Zak and Michael and everyone else in the writers room have really dug their teeth into her.

And so, I think in my real life I’m a little bit more ballsy and courageous than Rachel is and so I think people had a hard time originally seeing me as that. But I kind of went in and rearranged bits and pieces of myself and understood very quickly what it was like to live in a conservative home.

I’m a child from Afghanistan and grew up with very strict parents in the United States and that was part of Rachel’s journey from the pilot, kind of not fitting in at home was something I responded to. And I just kind of went in and did it and they hired me, those silly bastards. And I got on a plane, I went to Canada and we really you know, kind of found it on the day.

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Exclusive Interview: Falling Skies’ Connor Jessup

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falling_skies 110413_Connor_S01_096 - small Photo by Josh Madson

SciFiChick.com was recently able to interview multi-talented teen actor Connor Jessup. Jessup stars as Ben Mason, an alien abductee, in TNT and Steven Spielberg’s upcoming Falling Skies. Falling Skies premieres Sunday, June 19th at 9pm (ET/PT) on TNT.

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Can you tell us a bit about Falling Skies in your own words?

Falling Skies is a sci-fi/drama series that takes place during an alien occupation of Earth, six months after the initial invasion wiped out the vast majority of our population and infrastructure. It follows a group of characters––both civilian and military––who are trying to fight back, in the face of inconceivably overwhelming odds.

How involved has Steven Spielberg been with Falling Skies?

From what I’ve heard, Falling Skies is something of a pet project of Spielberg’s. He was heavily involved in the casting process, the conceptual design of the aliens and their technologies. He gave notes on every script and even cut a few of the trailers together himself. It’s an incredibly nice feeling, knowing there is a benevolent hand out there, guiding everything in the right direction.

Your character Ben Mason has been abducted by the aliens. Can you tell us about that experience for Ben?

The aliens are abducting teenagers––and only teenagers––for reasons unbeknownst to both the characters and the viewer. At the start of the series, my character, Ben, is missing. When the aliens kidnap a teenager, they put these strange, organic “harnesses” on their backs. The harnesses kind of zombify them, making them submit to the alien’s will. All these experiences––including being separated from his family––deeply affect Ben. The extent to which Ben is affected is one of the series’ mysteries.

What can you tell us about the Mason family dynamics? Were they a close family before the invasion?

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