The series premiere of Bitten airs Monday, January 13th at 10pm on Syfy. Bitten stars Laura Vandervoort. And the series is based on the bestselling author Kelley Armstrong‘s novels.
How you begin your involvement with Bitten? Kelley, what was your inspiration for the book series? And Laura, how did you first get involved in the TV series?
Kelley Armstrong: Okay. For the books, Bitten actually came out of an X-Files episode. I was in a writing group. And as part of a writing group you’re expected to actually write new stuff. I was trying to come up with an idea, sat down and watched X-Files. It was way back in their first season. Their one and only werewolf episode. It was your typical big guy who changes into some beast like thing and goes around slaughtering people under the full moon. And I said that’s not how I would do werewolves. And for a writer, that then sparks how would I do them? And I wrote a short story with this character named Elena and I loved that world so much that I wrote a book.
Laura Vandervoort: I had no idea it was the X-Files. That’s really cool for me to know as well.
Kelley Armstrong: Which goes to show you how long ago I started writing Bitten. It was the first season of the show. It is old stuff.
Laura Vandervoort: I actually – yes, I love the X-Files. Like I was watching that as well. So that’s cool to know.
Laura Vandervoort: I actually received an offer for the role. Which was amazing, first of all. And ended up speaking to J.B. on the phone just to get an idea of the premise of the show and how it would look and how the wolves would be done.
And so we spoke for about an hour. And I heard how passionate he was about the project – he’s our executive producer. And it just sounded like something I’d really been looking to do—such a layered thing—and the character who is both flawed and strong.
And so I read the books. I read Women of the Otherworld and Bitten and did a bit of research. And as soon as I realized the amazing quality of what was there I jumped on. And we did some auditions and chemistry reads with the guys and we just sort of hit the ground running—no pun intended.
And I mean it was the most challenging six months I’ve had thanks to Kelley and the writers. Every day was a challenge for me. And there were days where I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle the emotional side of it or the physical side of it or just being in every scene. And I did. And I’m so grateful for the experience.
Since one of you created Elena and one of you plays Elena, kind of tell us a little bit about her and does your interpretation of her kind of differ from each of your versions of her?