(L-R): Dwight Hendrickson (Adam Copeland) and Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) in Haven's season four opener "Fallout." Photo copyright of Syfy.
There is no denying that law enforcement is a career filled with diverse challenges, not the least of which are the life-and-death struggles that many police officers face on a daily basis. In the fictional TV world of Haven, those issues are made all the more dangerous by the supernatural “Troubles” that have plagued the small and seemingly idyllic Maine coastal town for decades.
Haven’s chief of police Nathan Wuornos has been caught up in more than his fare share of these bizarre occurrences, even dying at one point and then miraculously being brought back to life. Through it all, he has found support in his coworker and friend Audrey Parker (Emily Rose), a former FBI agent who came to town three years ago to investigate a case and decided to stick around.
As the story has unfolded, it has been revealed that Audrey is somehow linked to the town as well as “The Troubles.” In the third season finale, Haven was on the verge of being destroyed, and in order to save it, Audrey was forced to fulfill her destiny, much to Nathan’s consternation. In the season four opener, Fallout, six months have passed since Audrey disappeared, and Nathan is more determined than ever to find her, even at the cost of everything else around him.
Last week, Lucas Bryant, who plays Nathan, took some time out of his busy shooting schedule to speak with journalists and spill a bean or two about what fans can look forward to in the upcoming fourth season, which premieres Friday, September 13th @ 10:00 p.m. on Syfy. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!
So this season starts off a bit bleak and Nathan seems to be this dejected version of himself as opposed to the confident guy he used to be. Can you talk a bit about what it has been like playing that version of the character?
Lucas Bryant: That was a really cool turn for me. As you said, Nathan has always been maybe a little bit too sure of himself. Yes, he has always had doubts, but he also had this kind of blind trust in himself and Audrey, which as you saw at the end of season three led to a disastrous outcome.
So getting to now explore that side of him was a lot of fun, and continuing throughout season four, he has a new mission, but it is as you say, much darker, and that was a lot of fun to play.
Can you talk a little bit about Dwight’s (Adam Copeland) role in season four how it changes up the dynamic between him and Nathan?
LB: Dwight is in a bunch of episodes this season, which is a blast. He’s sort of given Nathan some new leeway to not have to always follow the rules and act the role of chief of police, so (acting-wise) I’m able to get a little bit more “dirty” with my character.
As far as Nathan’s relationship with Dwight, it’s fun. I always felt that he was kind of like an older brother to Nathan, although I am actually ten years older than the actual actor. He felt like an older brother and someone who knew a lot more about what was going on in Haven. At the same time, Dwight was someone who Nathan needed to, I suppose, kind of corral, and now the tables have been turned.
Will Nathan hopefully have some happier moments this season?
LB: There are some happy moments definitely for Nathan, but sadly, they seem to be fleeting. That’s just the way it has to be, though. When things start looking too good, you have to just smash it all to pieces, right? In the first half of the season especially, Nathan’s outlook is pretty bleak and dark. You see in that opening episode what he needs to do and the deal that’s made about his short future.
So no, things aren’t looking too good there, but I will tell you that there may be very exciting lights at the end of that dark tunnel.
Do you have a favorite moment so far from this season?
LB: Well, there are a bunch of great bits coming up that I can’t tell you anything about, but I’m sure fans will probably be pretty into what develops midway through the season. Specifically for me, a couple of episodes ago I got to play a wildly different version of Nathan. Something happens in town that - how do I put this - shakes up everyone’s reality. So I got to explore a very different side of my character, a much less reserved and much more effusive side of Nathan that I certainly didn’t see coming. That was a blast for me to do.
Is Audrey (Emily Rose) going to remember at some point soon who she is/was or is this kind of “disconnect” going to last for a while throughout the season?
LB: That was my question at the beginning of the season too, but like I’ve said before, the writers don’t tell us very much of anything. I’m lucky if I even know if I have to work tomorrow or not (he jokes). Part of the Audrey we knew does make an appearance this season. How, why, or when, I can’t really tell you, but she is not altogether lost.
Can you talk at all about Nathan’s interactions with her and how your dynamic is going to be different if she does not remember?
LB: Well, that’s the tricky thing. Let’s just say Audrey does make it back to Haven and let’s just say, hypothetically, that there is a reunion of sorts. She has changed, though. As far as Nathan is concerned, she looks and seems like the same person, but it becomes clear pretty quickly that she is not, and that’s troubling for him as well as difficult.
This new version of the character is wildly different from Audrey Parker. She is much more sassy, outspoken and tough, and Nathan develops this kind of humorous and also challenging relationship with her.
What is Nathan’s mindset as he looks for Audrey? Does he truly think he can find her?
LB: There’s a little glimmer of hope that’s given to him initially in the first episode, and he holds onto that as tightly as possible. I think he believes in that 100,000%, because there is nothing else. Nathan doesn’t have any other hope. That’s not to say that he’s not without his doubts, but I think he has to believe that there is a way to get her back.
This season, are we going to find out anything more about Nathan, and Duke (Eric Balfour), and what happened between them when they were younger, or maybe why he doesn’t remember being adopted?
LB: Some of that is touched on and there is a little bit of that back story. I would, however, love to see that explored more, because as far as I am concerned, we are not really getting terribly satisfying answers. There is a little bit there, but that’s about it.
The first season of Haven kind of mixed it up a bit because there was a through-line the entire season. Will the fourth season be similar in that will there be a single thread that goes throughout the entire season, or will it get back more to more self-contained episodes?
LB: There are both. I guess it’s similar to the third season in that there is an ongoing storyline throughout this whole season. I don’t know the (season four) finale is yet, but the second to the last episode, which I just read for the first time, is sort of a continuous thing, so that looks like it will be a two-part story. But yes, there are a couple of big themes running through this entire season that I think will reward viewers that are tuning into each episode and waiting for the next one.
The character of William (Colin Ferguson) in Episode 401 is very important throughout the season. Exactly who is and what he knows becomes a large part of this year’s story, and also, obviously, Nathan’s initial attempts to locate Audrey and get her back.
Also in the season opener, you met this new character, Jennifer. Her relationship to the barn and just what she is capable of is a story that is woven throughout this whole season, too, and it becomes very important, especially as we get into the end of it.
I just recently saw your episode of Cracked and you did such nice work there. Does it sort of change how you play Nathan when you go off and play other characters during the hiatus and then come back to Nathan? Do you see him through a different lens?
LB: Well, first of all, thanks very much for saying that. It doesn’t – no; I wouldn’t say that it necessarily colors how I play Nathan. Nathan is what he is and the story is what it is, but the experience of doing other shows in the off-season definitely colors my relationship to this show. It really helped remind me or show me how lucky we are on Haven to be where we are and shoot the way we do, you know?
The other shows I did in during the off-season were great experiences and they were all with cool people, which was lovely. But here we are today in Nova Scotia and it’s a beautiful day. We have boat, and docks and people camped out here like a real little family. It’s fantastic, and so this whole experience surrounding the shooting of Haven I think is something really special and by working on other shows, I was reminded of just how special it is.
This question is about your costars, Kate Kelton (Jordan McKee) and Colin Ferguson. First, I was wondering if you had the opportunity to be in any scenes with Colin so far this season, and if so, what has it been like to work with him. Regarding Kate, I was really glad to see that her come back for another season, and again, I just wondered what you think of her as a scene partner and if you could comment on what her character’s intensity brings to the mix of the show.
LB: Sure. Well, Kate is great and her role in the story is something quite different this season, as is Nathan’s relationship with Jordan, which is an about-face from last season, so that was fun to play.
As for Colin, he’s fantastic. I have worked with him this year – more so during the second half of the season, He’s a blast to work with because he has a real great sense of humor and is a total pro. When it comes to his character, of course, once again, I have to give you a vague answer, but let’s just say that William brings out a lot of emotions in Nathan.
Can you tell us a bit of how long it takes for Nathan to find Audrey?
LB: There is a sort of reunion in the first half of the season.
Can you go into a little more detail on what the primary theme of this season is and how it has changed from last season?
LB: Well, I guess in many ways the danger has been raised again this season, and I think our show’s heroes, for lack of a better term, are each wrestling with how little they understand and how maybe ill-equipped they are to deal with certain issues.
In the past, they had some things go badly, but there was also maybe some faith that somehow they’d be able to deal with it. It’s not that they’ve lost all faith now, but I think this season, they have all been shown that this thing is perhaps much bigger than anyone could have guessed. I think they are sort of adrift in a lot of dangerous possibilities this season.
So maybe the theme is about questioning ourselves, but it doesn’t really sound like that’s a departure from the show, does it? I guess-types of questions have been the central theme since the beginning, but now it’s just like a whole new rug has been pulled out from under everyone’s feet.
Nathan and Duke have had a pretty tumultuous bromance throughout the series, but he did trust Duke enough it seems like to send him in after Audrey in the barn. So what can we expect from their reunion and their relationship this season?
LB: In season four, Nathan and Duke have a lot more trust of each other and faith in one another, so we see more of their friendship. Their relationship is always the same, but I think some of the animosity has been left behind in their shared goals this year, which includes searching Audrey. So they work together a lot more in season four, which was a ton of fun. Anytime those characters are paired up and try to achieve something together is, I think, a great match-up.
There is a new Crocker joining the show in Christian Camargo’s Wade Crocker. Can you hint a little bit as to how we’re going to see this other Crocker come into the other characters’ lives?
LB: It was so cool to have Christian come onboard this year. He is a great actor and a really lovely guy. Unfortunately, Nathan didn’t get to interact as much with the character of Wade as I would have liked to. He was tied in more to Duke’s storyline and all the possibilities with the Crocker family, but let me just say that it provides a whole other set of concerns for our characters when this other Crocker shows up.
As far as this season, how does it feel to you compared to last season? It sounds like the work has been more challenging for you so far.
LB: I think so, yes. First of all, it feels fast. This season has flown and I can’t believe that we are almost done. So that’s an indication I think of some good momentum. Last year we had the ticking clock with Audrey’s inevitable departure apparently and this year as well we sort of continue that momentum.
You initially see Nathan as sort of a wild man with a one-track mind, and like I said earlier, our characters are all dealing with a new level of self-doubt and desperation. So I think those factors can sometimes lead to more irrational behavior that only speeds up this inevitable whirlwind of madness that is season four of Haven.
It has been very cool to have these new people join us in season four - Emma Lahana who plays Jennifer along with Christian and Colin. They each represent either a huge new hope or a huge new danger, all of which feels like it has been woven very nicely together for a quick, fast moving season.
Why do you think Haven has become such a phenomenon and picked up steam and momentum every year? What do you credit for that?
LB: Well, I think that all of the credit has to go to the fact that I am in the show. I have been very modest in the past, but you know what, it’s time now. I’m going to go ahead and take credit for all of our success. No, seriously, it is amazing, isn’t it. Here we are four years later. My daughter was just a little diaper wrapped noodle when we started, and she’s in kindergarten this year, so that’s how I can count it. But why has it lasted? I have no idea, but I am so thankful for it.
I think that there is just a lot of heart in the show and people respond to that and in all things around it. We’ve all said before and as I said earlier what a pleasure it is to shoot here and to be in (Chester) and in Nova Scotia and to have such a fantastic local crew and great people involved. It’s really a tight ship and a tight family. Not to say it’s without its own set of problems and issues that we are always working through, but really, we are just incredibly thankful to be together here and loving this job.
There is just such joy in making this, and in some way I think that that can’t help but make it onto the screen. Hopefully, it’s felt by the audience. As dark as it can be, and especially as we are moving forward, the show has gotten darker, I still hope that people feel and some get joy out of the relationships amongst these characters as well as the fun of the story and the beauty of the locations.
Being a Stephen King-related show. I think we inherited some of his fans and then the fans who found the show have just been so loyal, supportive and wonderful. They, in turn, have told their friends and together, they and their friends have kept us on the air by doing what you all do as far as supporting the show and putting the word out there. We are not a hugely promoted show, but the results that Haven has been getting, the numbers and support that the show has been getting is in no way proportionate to the amount of money that we have.
I feel like that family feel has spread out through the viewers, the fans, and us. Again, it’s just a real joy to be a part of this. I am so thankful that we’ve done four seasons and, you know, hopefully we’ll get to do four more.
As noted above, photo copyright of Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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