SciFiAndTvTalk

Eureka's Colin Ferguson - Welcome Back, Carter

Change is in the wind for Eureka's Sheriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson). Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

Every so often we take a wrong turn in life, but sometimes that unintentional detour is just what we need. It was four years ago that U.S. Marshall Jack Carter and his teenage daughter Zoe got lost and ended up in a little Pacific Northwest town called Eureka, which boasts a population that includes some of the world's most brilliant scientific minds. Little did Carter and his daughter know that this would soon become their new home, with Jack taking over as town sheriff. Our handsome hero was initially somewhat reticent about relocating, but as Colin Ferguson, who plays Eureka's Jack Carter, explains, that is all in the past.

"In season one, he didn't want to be part of any type of society or community," says Ferguson, speaking from the show's Vancouver set during a break in filming. "Jack was pretty much a lone gunman and kind of doing his own thing. He wasn't even really a part of his own family, other than in name, but over the past few years we've seen my character progress and truly embrace being a father. I guess that his canvas just got bigger, first off to where he wanted to be a part of his daughter Zoe's [Jordan Hinson] life, and from there, wanting to be part of a community.

"Now this [fourth] year, Jack is reaching out if you will, personally and wanting to be part of a relationship, and hopefully achieving that. So he has relaxed a great deal when it comes to his insecurities, and as much as the town of Eureka has benefited by his presence, he's benefited from being a part of the town."

At the end of Eureka's third season, Jack Carter's personal life was turned upside-down, and, surprisingly, it was not the result of any scientific mishap, which is sometimes the case. His daughter Zoe was accepted to Harvard University, while Jack's new romantic interest and temporary head of Global Dynamics, Tess Fontana (Jaime Ray Newman), accepted a new job in Australia.

In the season four opener, Founder's Day, Jack is trying to get used to Zoe being away from home as well as deal with a shift in his relationship with Tess, when he is taken out of his comfort zone yet again, physically and emotionally, and has to adjust accordingly. As for Ferguson, he was eager to dust off his sheriff's badge and get back to work.

Fargo (Neil Grayston), Allison (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) and Jack (Colin Ferguson) prepare for Founder's Day. Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"We'd had a 14-month hiatus, and when you've had that much time off you're a little rusty right out of the gate, you know, but also really fresh," he notes. "One of the best things about this year is that we've got a new show runner, Bruce Miller [writer/co-executive producer]. So he and Jaime Paglia [series co-creator/executive producer] are running the show and they're doing such an amazing job. It's so nice, so calm, the scripts are ready way in advance and this season is more fun than ever before. And by that I mean everyone seems to have bigger ideas, there are crazier [plot] turns and just wonderful bizarre stuff happening story-wise.

"With the season opener, what I've basically been telling people is that something cataclysmic happens and you assume it's one of those things that sort of gets swept under the carpet, and our characters will right the ship and it'll all turn out fine. But they don't, and the writers stuck with it for the entire season. It's really interesting as well as bold and I was shocked that the network agreed to do it. We're just wrapping that storyline up now in the episode we're filming at the moment [the mid-season finale I'll Be Seeing You], and it's been a blast carrying that idea through nine or ten episodes.

"Regarding Jack, specifically, this year he's faced with Zoe not being around, but we get Jordan back for a bunch of episodes, and although her character has moved on in terms of her life, Zoe's presence on the program is as deep as ever. She, of course, is at Harvard, and Jack visits her there, and then she comes back to Eureka for a couple of weeks. And I guess I can also say that progress is made towards the long term Jack/Allison [Salli Richardson-Whitfield] plotline, so that's been terrific and I've enjoyed approaching that in a proper manner."

In the opening teaser of Founder's Day, Jack crosses paths with Dr. Trevor Grant (James Callis), a theoretical physicist and onetime resident of Eureka. A supposed "accident" has brought Grant back to town, which has changed quite a bit since he was last there, and it seems that he will be a part of our characters' lives for the foreseeable future. The scientist's presence is cause for some consternation on Jack's part, especially given Grant's eye for the ladies, including Allison.

"Jack and Grant get off to a bit of an antagonistic start," reveals Ferguson, "and then we sort of go away from that, come back to it, go away from it again, etc. With the two of them and Allison, it becomes a triangle. Grant is a catalyst, a speed bump and an obstacle - his presence is all those things that it should be in relation to Jack's and Allison's relationship. As far as how things end with Grant, they definitely end, how shall I say, the way they should. I wish I could say more, but I can't without blowing it all," says the actor with a chuckle.

Jack (Colin Ferguson) and Dr. Trevor Grant (James Callis). Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"I can tell you that James Callis is great. He's one of the members of the Battlestar Galactica cast who we met first. James has always extended himself and always been very generous and embracing. So we were all familiar with his energy as well as his personality and who he is. On top of that, he's a terrific actor, so James has been a really easy fit to this show."

Along with Jack, Allison and Dr. Grant, both Henry Deacon (Joe Morton) and Deputy Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra) are among those caught up in events that have altered their lives as well this season on Eureka. "Henry has always been Jack's best friend in town and that doesn't change," says Ferguson. "And Joe Morton is such a rock solid guy that it's really easy to play those scenes with him, and a pleasure, too.

"With me and Erica, our two characters actually get much closer this year when Jack and Lupo start living together. Something happens to Jo's house and she ends up having to move in with my character. We've had a blast doing those [domestic] scenes because we've constantly played the antagonistic brother/sister-type thing between Jack and Lupo, so to play the friendly aspects have made for a nice change."

As in the past, Ferguson together with the rest of the Eureka cast and crew have ventured beyond the studio lot to do some filming for season four. "There's a physically grueling episode called Momstrosity where we were shooting out in the forest all night for weeks," recalls the actor. "We worked nights filming outside for a couple of weeks as well on Founder's Day and it was a living hell. It was freezing, we were soaked, the bugs were out - not exactly my idea of a good time," jokes Ferguson. "That said, the CGI [computer-generated imaging] in that first episode is unreal. The guys at Zoic Studios [the California-based visual effects company] are that talented."

This season, Eureka teams up with another hugely successful Syfy Channel series, Warehouse 13, to do two crossover episodes. In the Warehouse 13 episode, 13.1, Fargo (Neil Grayston) treks over to that show's secret government facility, while in the season four Eureka story Crossing Over, Warehouse 13's Allison Scagliotti's character of Claudia Donovan pays a visit to the scientific haven. For Ferguson, it was like old home week when it came to this exchange of talent and storylines.

 
Jack (Colin Ferguson) and Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield). Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"I've known Eddie McClintock [Agent Pete Lattimer] and Jack Kenny, the Warehouse 13 show runner, for years," says the actor. "I worked with JoJo [Joanne Kelly, who plays Agent Myka Bering] as well years ago. Also, Saul Rubinek [Artie Nielsen] guest-starred on our show - he was in the [season one] episode Invincible - so I feel like I know their program, and it's not dissimilar in tone to Eureka.

"The only person from that series who I hadn't met was Allison, so she came over to us and we all had a ball. It helped, too, that Neil had established a working relationship with her, having done the Warehouse 13 episode. As far as the episode itself, it's just like a normal Eureka episode in that we didn't want it to look too much like a set piece. They [the writers] made Allison's character a good fit. Claudia is spunky and she gets the job done, but at the same time our characters are trying to keep certain things from her. Claudia can't see everything, so it was a lot of fun to shoot."

Last year, Ferguson had the opportunity to step behind the Eureka cameras to direct the episode Your Face or Mine. He did so once again this season with The Story of O2. "This time around they [the producers] put me in the middle of the shooting schedule as opposed to the front, so I didn't have as much time to prep," says Ferguson. "I'm good at flying by the seat of my pants, but ideally I prefer to have the prep. Syfy, however, is very happy with the episode as well as the TV movie I directed for them last summer, and they've asked me to direct other series for them, so that's good. It's a nice gesture. Actually, it's more than that; it's a nice vote of confidence on their part for me."

With that prior directing experience under his belt, did the actor find it easier to direct Eureka this season? "Definitely," he says. "Having directed that movie in Bulgaria, which was a two-hour format, with a crew I'd never worked with before and in a country where I don't speak the language, I really felt bulletproof by the time I came back into this year's Eureka episode.

"It's the little things you realize, like, 'Oh, I can think in terms of two cameras,' where I wasn't really doing that with the first episode I directed. You find your knowledge of gear, including lenses, gets better, too, as does knowing what you need and what you don't. Again, I was flying by the seat of my pants on some days, but it was all good."

Henry Deacon (Joe Morton), Allison (Salli Richardson-Whitfield), Fargo (Neil Grayston), Jo Lupo (Erica Cerra) and Jack (Colin Ferguson) in "Founder's Day." Photo by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

As the actor already mentioned, he spent part of last summer directing the Syfy Channel movie Fossils in Bulgaria, and prior to that, Ferguson starred in another upcoming Syfy TV movie Lake Placid 3, British actress Kirsty Mitchell plays his wife in that film, and the two were reunited for the filming of Fossils. "Kirsty is just a top-notch actress and was by far the highlight of working on both projects," enthuses Ferguson. "In fact, she was so good in Lake Placid 3, that we cast her as the wife in Fossils.

"I loved directing in Bulgaria. It's the Wild West over there, and by that I mean it's like it was here back in the 70s. There are rules as far as the filming process, but if you know who to talk to, it all works out, and I really enjoyed that. Sometimes we're so over-regulated in Los Angeles, whereas over there, if you're trying to get something done and it's something that you know isn't a problem, they'll go, 'OK, we understand what you're trying to do. That's fine.' They still have that sort of mentality here in Canada, too, but I sometimes find in LA that you have to get a permit for everything, and they do not waver."

Given a choice between acting and directing, does Ferguson have a preference? "It's sort of like the difference between a scientist and a professional athlete," he muses. "When you're an actor and in every scene all day long, that's a physical drain and it can take its toll, whereas with directing, you tend to just get mentally drained. Again, they're very, very different and I love them both."

Over a half-hour has passed and the actor is being called back to set to carry on filming. While some in his position might consider resting on his or her acting laurels and coast through scene after scene in order to finish another working day, Ferguson resists such temptation.

"The [acting] challenge with something like this is to keep it fresh," he says. "It's the same with any role, even the first time you do it, but after 50 episodes you start to think, 'Hmm, everyone sort of knows what's going to happen; this is how we shoot this, this is how we shoot that.' So you kind of have to break it apart sometimes and say, 'Let's rethink this. Let's put a new spin on things.' We've got to try to keep it fresh, even in the littlest ways, so it doesn't become rote."

Season four of Eureka premieres Friday, July 9th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on the Syfy Channel.

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos by Eike Schroter and copyright of the Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Haven's Emily Rose, Lucas Bryant, Sam Ernst And Jim Dunn - Small Town, Big Secrets

Emily Rose (as FBI Agent Audrey Parker) and Lucas Bryant (as Nathan Wuornos) in "Welcome to Haven." Photo by Chris Reardon and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

THE Syfy Channel's new drama series Haven, starring Emily Rose, will premiere Friday, July 9th, 2010 @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST. Based on The Colorado Kid from renowned author Stephen King, the series follows FBI Agent Audrey Parker (Rose), who arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve the murder of a local ex-con. Before long, her natural curiosity lands her in the epicenter of activity in this curious enclave, which turns out to be a longtime refuge for people with a remarkable range of supernatural abilities. Among the townspeople are local cop Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant), who eventually becomes Audrey's partner, and the mysterious and charming Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour).

Myself and a group of other journalists had the pleasure of speaking two weeks ago with Emily Rose and Lucas Bryant as well as Haven co-creators and executive producers Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn. The following is an edited version of our Q & A. Enjoy!

Emily and Lucas, what would you say is the major blind spot for each of your characters and how is that going to trip your character up as the story unfolds?

EMILY ROSE - That's a great question. I think the major blind spot for my character happens initially in the first episode with this sort of confrontation that she kind of comes to grips with where there might be some type of link to her past as well as her family and roots. As all that starts unfolding in the story it will begin to trip Audrey up at times. She's so used to having this sort of defense and that she knows how to operate and conduct herself in her day-to-day world, but she'd rather not face the emotional and personal side of things. So I think that's going to be her blind spot.

LUCAS BRYANT - With my character of Nathan, he has a condition where he can't feel pain, so this has sort of alienated him from people and relationships recently, so I think that it's intimacy that will get in his way. But at the same time, that's something that when Audrey comes to town, she kind of blows his world wide open. So we'll see if he's able to overcome those emotional deficiencies. In some ways, both he and Audrey are very similar in that way.

I have a question for the creators; can you guys give us some idea past the pilot of how the show is going to work. Will there be cases that the characters will be looking at each week?

SAM ERNST - We have two elements to the show. One is we're going to meet in each episode a supernaturally afflicted person like we did in the pilot, so we'll tell that story, and every week there will be a new person. So each episode in a standalone story, which means that viewers can jump in with episode six or episode 16 and they'll be able to enjoy it. At the same time, there is a mythology to the show, and Jim and I being Sci-Fi/supernatural geeks, we actually know the last scene of the series, whether that's episode 25 or 75. We know that scene, so we know exactly where we're going and we're going to unfold over that. Each episode will sort of go along and talk about the story of Audrey and Nathan as well as the town of Haven and where it's going.

Can you each talk about how you got involved in the project and how all that started?

JIM DUNN - We were working with the people who were producing The Dead Zone and their development person (Adam Fredo) brought us The Colorado Kid and asked if we thought we could find a TV series in it. We had this idea of making the town cursed or filling it with people with supernatural afflictions. And we jumped through a variety of hoops, the biggest one being Stephen King liking the idea as far as what we were doing with the basic core of his book. So that's really where it all started. We sold it to ABC and eventually it migrated to E1, Syfy and our international partners.

ER - I actually ended up coming straight back from my honeymoon and settling back into normal life and hitting pilot season. One of the very first scripts that came across my desk was one that my manager was really interested in, and I felt the same way when I read the script for Haven. Sometimes you read pilot script and you're kind of like, "I guess I could grow to love it, but this was one of those that was really special from the get-go where I really fell in love with the character. It was really exciting to me and I was turning each page looking forward to what was happening. So I just got involved with auditioning right away and I was really fortunate to be there when all the dust kind of settled.

LB - I read the pilot script and also loved it from the start. Then I found out that Emily was attached to it, and I had had the pleasure of working with her before. So I (jokingly) told them (the producers) that she is a total nightmare and if they were going to be able to deal with her, they needed me, and they bought it. And then I also bribed them with Canadian chocolate bars, which went down really well.

Emily, you're playing a different character than in the book, so would you talk about where the book ends and you begin? Also, what cool super-powered creatures are you looking forward to facing?

ER - When I read The Colorado Kid initially I had a very strong reaction to it. I thought, "What the heck?" But then I picked it back up and Stephen King so wonderfully in his afterward sort of nurses you through it and kind of helps you digest it. Not being the Stephanie character, specifically, but rather Audrey Parker, I sort of feel like she's - from kind of the reader's point of view - observing this town and the quirkiness that exists there. So in a lot of ways I think that's super beneficial that the audience kind of observes Haven, this central character of a town, through her eyes. And while that character might not be completely written as a person in that story, it's sort of neat because as a reader you are definitely a character through, again, the observation and the quirkiness. And I think that's the part that Audrey Parker takes; she takes the place of the audience observing and having to cope with all the strange things that are getting thrown at her.

In terms of the people I that I want to encounter. I think probably someone that could jump from place to place would be kind of cool, but the writers and producers are kind of leaving me in the dark as far as where that's going and letting me find out things as they unfold. And I kind of enjoy the mystery of wondering what's next.

Emily and Lucas, can you tell is a bit about your experiences shooting the first episode of the series and perhaps some of the challenges stepping into your respective roles?

LB - I guess the first shock was that we were here on the edge of the Earth, you know? We're shooting in a little town outside of Halifax on the edge of Nova Scotia looking off into the great wide rest of the world. So upon arrival that was an immediate surprise, as I initially thought we were shooting in Halifax, but, in fact we were shooting not quite in civilization, but it's exactly where we wanted to be. I don't know if you've traveled the south shore of Nova Scotia, but it's stunning and it's a landscape that you don't often see on television. So being able to capture that on film is a beautiful and exciting prospect, and I think we were both kind of like strangers in a strange land for a little while when we began shooting, but, again, it was and is the perfect place to be.

As far as challenges, one of the immediate ones was the weather. The pilot also deals with weather, so it was all rather appropriate. We got here in April and starting shooting in April, so the scene in the pilot where Emily and I first meet each other, shooting that scene we were outside, and it started off as a beautiful day and then it was black clouds followed by pouring rain. Then we had hail and two rainbows by the end of the day, and all that was in the same scene. I had very little faith that it would actually cut together, but it does and it's beautiful. So we just quickly got used to that being that status quo. What you can expect during the day was everything to change every five minutes.

ER - I think for me one of the biggest challenges was that Lucas and I have worked together before, so immediately off the bat it's one of those things where we get along and kind of have a camaraderie. There's that kind of checking each other out and observing one another thing that happens between our characters in the first episode of the series; it's like, "OK, who are you? How do you run this town? Who are you and who are you to come into this town and try to run it." In one way Audrey doesn't want to feel anything sort of emotionally, and then you have Nathan who can't feel anything physically, and how do those two (elements) sort of interplay and walk that fine balance. So in a way, Lucas and I having worked together before kind of helps that because we're able to fall into place if you will and finish each other's sentences.

Also for me, I had been sitting with the pilot script for a while, so it was a matter of trying to make each thing new and, "Oh, my word, what is this new place, and who is this person and what's going on," and all of that. So that was kind of like a fine little teeter-totter that I had to sit on.

This is actually a question for the co-creators - the show is called Haven but I understand you originally wanted to call it Sanctuary. I wondered what that's supposed to mean for the show; is there something like a villain or entity that's hunting everyone?

JD - In the larger scheme of things it will be revealed why there are so many people with supernatural afflictions here in this one place. And the idea of naming it Haven, or previously Sanctuary before someone else did a TV show with that name, was that this is a place where theoretically for long periods of time these people are able to live without having their afflictions kick in. But now we're in a time when they are beginning to do just that, when Audrey Parker comes to town.

SE - And that's something actually that we talk about in the second episode. Nathan reveals his perspective on what's going on and how he knows what has happened in the past, but he has no idea what's happening in the future, which is very consistent with the actors playing these roles.

JD - And the writers writing them.

It's difficult enough sometimes to adapt a TV show from a book, but this is a Stephen King book. Did that present any additional challenges, or sleepless nights trying to put this together?

SE - Yes, we had all those things, including sleepless nights with me and Jim sitting on my porch talking about this. There are two sides to Stephen King for us, and we are both huge fans of his. There's the creepy crawly side and then there's all the cool character/real world people's lives who suddenly go sideways on them. That's what he does to us. That's our favorite part of Stephen King. And actually with his new book Under The Dome, which I read over Christmas break and while we were just starting to write the first episodes of the show, I was struck by the fact that there was one supernatural element to that book, which, of course, is the dome. The rest of it was just how all these incredibly normal people deal with that thing and how everything just goes crazy because of that. And out of that 1,100-page book, which left a welt on my belly as I would lie there and read it in bed under the covers at night with a flashlight - that's actually true - I would say maybe 90 pages are supernatural, and the rest of it is just all the sideways stuff.

So that's what Haven is about. This show is about peoples' lives going sideways after something supernatural happens to them. And what we're really excited about is tracking Audrey and Nathan and hanging out with them as they try to help these people deal with these things. Sometimes they help them deal with them in very positive ways, and sometimes things go horribly wrong, and watching these two what we hope are very real characters deal with that is the journey that we want to go on with them.

JD - Just to add one more thing - one of the things in genre TV that can sometimes be a problem is that people get so hung up on the bright shiny toy of the supernatural thing or the Sci-Fi thing that the characters don't really get a chance to live and breathe and become real characters. We're trying to take the other approach, which is to use the supernatural elements of the show to highlight the lives of the characters and get more emotionally involved with them and the interesting things going on with them.

Can you talk about working in Nova Scotia and what the town of Lunenberg gave the series creatively that Maine couldn't and how it worked for the series.

ER - I always say that I think Haven, Maine is, of course, the central character in this show, and Lunenberg, Chester and all these really other cool places surrounding this area is just eye candy. A lot of shows go out there and they're filmed on the same lots in the same place and you see the same streets. But I think you can agree from watching the first episode, it has stuff in it that you don't see out there (in other shows). Doubled with that is the fact that we're shooting on film, and it's very rare these days to be doing that. It really sets a tone and a place for us to play and make these discoveries. It adds a certain weight, too, and Halifax and the people here as well as the crews have been nice to us and really it's a great place to be shooting. I think the minute that Sam and Jim stepped out into Lunenberg, they were like, "Yeah, this is awesome." And the minute I stepped out there it was like, "OK, yep, I can't shoot anywhere else," you know? This is perfect.

JD - It's an absolutely beautiful part of the world and it is a character in the show, and that's what we're so excited about. We always saw it that way. Jim and I spent a fair amount of time in Minnesota, which has a lot of very, on the surface, 'normal' people, as you would think, or whatever normal means. However, when you get to know them, you find out that they're just as 'freaky' as everybody else, and certainly that's true in Maine and Nova Scotia. I actually took the ferry from Maine to Nova Scotia and you don't really feel like you're changing cultures. It feels like it's just a natural continuation from one group of people to the other. So it looks just like Maine, of course, and feels just like it, too. And the crew is all local and they're fantastic to work with.

Emily and Lucas, what makes Sam's and Jim's writing unique and fun to play with?

ER - We love when Sam's and Jim's episodes come around, and their writing is fantastic. Honestly, the thing we enjoy so much is the natural banter, and some of the feedback that we've gotten from people who have seen the show is that the banter is natural. We want more of that; we want more of the banter between these two oddities. For me, it's like I can hear Sam and Jim saying things sometimes, and it's so nice to read a script and genuinely laugh out loud at certain beats. And it's great because they have a really good ear, too, for our voices and kind of how we finish each other's sentences, and, man, does that make our jobs so much easier.

LB - Sam and Jim have a beautiful marriage of the absurd, mundane and human, you know? Everything is always very real and human, even in these wild circumstances. And having a Minnesota connection, they understand part of my roots. My father is from North Dakota, and, in fact, I've been trying to use his side of the family as a bit of an inspiration for Nathan, and Sam and Jim have a real for that.

SE - With Lucas, I write using 20 or 25 words, and then my challenge is to get it down to three words and it's great to watch him struggle to get all that information out in three words. With Emily, I try as often as possible to get her to take a left turn in the middle of a conversation that no one is expecting and say it out loud and surprise Nathan with that. That's our goal. And my own number one goal has always been to make Jim laugh, and when I find that these two people can make him laugh as much as the words do, that's my happiest moment as a writer.

As noted above, photo by Chris Reardon and copyright of the Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Lost's Kenton Duty - Duty Calls

Actor Kenton Duty. Photo copyright of SBPR.

At one point in the sixth season Lost episode The Substitute, John Locke, or in this case The Man In Black, leaves Sawyer behind to chase through the jungle after a young teenage blond boy. When he finally catches up with him, the boy tells him, "You know the rules; you can't kill him," to which The Man in Black replies, "Don't tell me what I can't do." Just who is this young boy and what is his connection to The Man in Black? That, of course, is not revealed to viewers until much later in the season. Actor Kenton Duty, who played the young boy, was no less in the dark about the character when he read for the role and first played the part.

"I didn't even audition with the same script that we later ended up using on-set," says Duty. "It was sort of a general script, which I guess they call a 'ghost script.' The lines weren't even the same as those in the actual script, but they had the same emotion or sentiment to them.

"So I auditioned once using that script, waited a few weeks, and then I got a call telling me that I got the part. Most of the time when you get a script, you know who you're playing and that's how you're able to develop your character. But with my first episode of Lost, I only had that first script to go by, so I didn't know where my character was going to end up. All I knew was that Terry O'Quinn's character [Locke] could see my character and that scared him, which I used to help me with my performance. The director of the episode [Tucker Gates] even came up to my Dad on-set and asked him, 'Do you know who Kenton is playing?' and my Dad said, 'I [honestly] don't know.'"

Not until the third to last episode of Lost's sixth season/series finale, Across the Sea, is the young boy's identity revealed. His name is Jacob, and for the past two-thousand years he has lived on the mysterious island - where our heroes were marooned after the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 - and served as its protector. The Man in Black (Titus Welliver) is, in fact, Jacob's fraternal twin, Samuel, who acquired his supernatural form as well as abilities after a brutal fight between him and an adult Jacob (Mark Pellegrino).

Across the Sea is set in 44 A.D. and looks back at the lives of the young Jacob and The Man in Black/Samuel (Ryan Hanson Bradford) as well as their "adoptive" mother (Allison Janney) and how the brothers eventually took very different life paths. Needless to say, Duty thoroughly embraced his role.

"When I found out I would be playing the younger Jacob, I was stoked," enthuses the actor. "I really liked the character and the whole history behind it. On top of that, I think Mark Pellegrino is a terrific actor, so I wanted to make sure that I played that character the way I felt Mark would then play Jacob as an adult. It was important to me that the transition between the two versions of the character was seamless and in a way that would make the audience watch me and think, 'Hey, he really is the young Jacob.'

"Mark and I had a chance to discuss scenes and how we thought they should go," continues Duty. "Whenever I shot a scene, I was always happy when afterwards one of the crew told me that my gestures, body language and facial expressions were just like Mark's. Their feedback helped me a great deal to keep that up. Another cool example of that is the game that Jacob and The Man in Black play, both as kids and adults. The four of us, Mark, Titus, Ryan and I, discussed how it should be played, so it was always the same when me and Ryan and then Mark and Titus did it.

"Allison Janney was another neat person to work with and she's a lot of fun, too. During lunch, we'd talk about how we wanted to do a particular scene. In the one where [the young] Man in Black is leaving, and they didn't cut it this way, but from what my parents and the crew told us, when you looked at me and Allison on the monitors, we had the exact same expression on our faces as we watched Ryan's character go. We didn't even practice beforehand. It just sort of came out that way because Allison and I had the same thought process going into it. She's a wonderful person to look up to and an amazing person to work with, too."

Duty guest-starred in another episode in-between The Substitute and Across the Sea, along with the next to last episode of the season, What They Died For. When asked if he has a favorite, the actor has a little trouble choosing. "I like all the episodes for different reasons," he says. "I mean, the whole experience was just incredible. I'd probably have to say, though, that I really like the first episode where they introduce my character and I'm running through the jungle with Terry O'Quinn chasing me. That was fun and all I could think was, 'Wow, I'm actually here and getting to do this.'

"When it comes to my favorite scene, it's the fight [in Across the Sea] between young Jacob and [the young] Man in Black. It was the toughest one as well in that episode because it's a very emotional one for both characters. The Man in Black is leaving and Jacob doesn't want him to go, and The Man in Black doesn't want to go without Jacob and he doesn't want to go by himself. They're both torn on what they should do, and it really helped me further develop my character. I also like the scene afterwards where Allison and I are sitting on the log on the beach. It's another emotional one where her character has to depend on Jacob after The Man in Black decides to leave."

Although he had limited on-screen appearances with the regular Lost cast, Duty did have the chance to spend time with several of the show's actors in-between scenes. "I played guitar with Terry O'Quinn, and I also played Scrabble with Jorge Garcia [Hurley], who is really good, so he owes me a rematch when he gets back to the mainland," says the actor with a chuckle.

"On my first day of the next-to-last episode of the season, What They Died For, I was in the wardrobe and make-up truck when Evie [Evangeline Lily, who plays Kate], came right over to me, said, 'Hi,' and started talking with me. She's one of the sweetest ladies I've ever met, and she's also a very natural and nice person who's always present when she's doing a scene with someone. Josh Holloway [Sawyer] is a lot of fun, too. He's very cool and he actually gave me some good mentoring tips on life in general. Henry Ian Cusick [Desmond] and I hung out as well and played this game where we would hit acorns off a tree. He won, so he also owes me a rematch. And Matthew Fox, who plays Jack, is a very dedicated and professional actor and I learned quite a bit from watching him act."

Born and raised in Plano, Texas, Duty loves animals and once dreamt of becoming a veterinarian. That, however, was before being bitten by the acting bug in fourth grade, where he landed supporting roles in the Dallas Theater production of A Christmas Carol. "Back then, my parents and I didn't even know what a head-shot was," recalls Duty. "When I auditioned for the play, the casting director took a Polaroid of me, and when they [the producers] asked me what I had done [as an actor], I said, 'Theater camp.'"

With 35 performances of A Christmas Carol under his belt, the aspiring actor appeared on-stage again the following year as a principal in Ragtime. "Thankfully, my agent here in California (Ms. Cindy Osbrink) was in Dallas one weekend and saw potential in me. And I hadn't even pursued getting an agent in Dallas yet," notes the actor. "I am blessed to be represented by such a wonderful person. Ms. Osbrink asked me and my parents if we wanted to test the industry waters during pilot season. We thought, 'Let's try something different,' and we've been out here [in Los Angeles] for three-and-a-half years."

Along with sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Duty has guest-starred on such TV series as Cold Case, Forget Me Knot and 2:13 as well as played the recurring role of Young Ben in Ctrl. On the big screen, his credits include a lead role opposite Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver in Crazy on the Outside and a small supporting role in My Name is Khan. The actor just recently booked a regular gig on a new Disney TV series, Shake It Up, created and executive produced by Chris Thompson (Bosom Buddies).

With his good looks, professional demeanor and natural talent, Duty has all the necessary ingredients for a long and successful career and is eager to take on as many challenging roles as possible. "I love developing a character and having the chance to play someone else," he says. "Most of the characters that I've plays so far have been really far from the real me, which has been great, and I hope that continues."

Steve Eramo

As noted above, photo courtesy and copyright of SBPR, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Stargate Universe's David Blue - True Blue

The always congenial, enthusiastic and extremely talented David Blue. Photo copyright of Pinnacle Public Relations. 

Are you familiar with the saying, "Too smart for your own good?" Well, Stargate Universe's "math boy" Eli Wallace certainly is. The pizza-loving, video game playing M.I.T. dropout had no idea how much his life would change when he solved what he thought was just another mathematical problem in one of his Sci-Fi video games.

Before Eli knew it, he was whisked away by Stargate Command to another planet, which eventually led to him being stranded millions of light years from Earth and onboard the Ancients spaceship Destiny. Unable to control their course, Eli and his fellow reluctant travelers had to do whatever they could to secure such basic needs as clean air, food and water. Just as it looked as if they had gotten a foothold on their survival, our heroes were faced with their first outside threat as well as internal turmoil between civilians and the military in Universe's mid-season two-parter Space and Divided. For actor David Blue, who plays Eli, it proved to be another eye-opener in his character's ongoing outer space odyssey.

"Every day is kind of a big change in my opinion for Eli because it's such a new experience for him," says Blue. "It's a brand new, for lack of a better cheesy term, 'universe.' Eli didn't know that this world existed, so every time he discovers or learn something new, it directly affects who he is as a person. For example, he's getting better at using the ship's computers as well as reading Ancient and figuring out how to best apply himself to what's happening around him and the other characters.

Eli Wallace (David Blue) tries to make sense of this unfamiliar "universe" he has been thrust into. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"On top of that, his relationships are changing. The one person Eli believed he was going to be romantically involved with has been taken away from him by someone who my character has come to call his friend. So for Eli, it's a matter of trying to grow from and learn how to deal with that type of situation. Then there's the question of how much he should not only trust but also look up to Dr. Rush [Robert Carlyle]. He's also not 100 % sure about putting his life into Colonel Young's [Louis Ferreira] hands and is the colonel worthy of such a trust? And then the more close calls with death that Eli has, the more he starts to realize that he has to start taking responsibility for his own life as well as those of his friends.

"As far as SGU's mid-season episodes, it was the first time that our characters really had a huge outside influence to deal with, and not just the little creatures that were trying to kill them [in the episode Water], but something that was a real threat. At that point, it felt like the show changed. And to be totally honest, it kind of frustrates me because some fans think,' Oh, they [the producers] listened to us, so the series is different now,' and that's not the case. What you see in the second half of the season is what was planned for the show all along, but it's just that people watched the episodes after they were filmed.

"So, yeah, the game changed because of a new outside influence coming in and we realize that we're not alone. It now becomes a matter of having to trust each other, even though some of us are tempted to, let's say, toss Rush out of an airlock because of the whole wanting to go home situation, but realizing we can't do that. It's really no longer about, 'Oh, we're here, this stinks,' but rather, 'OK, guys, so what are we going to do in the meantime,' and moving forward."

Eli and Chloe (Elyse Levesque). Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

As Blue pointed out, a potential romantic entanglement for his character has fizzled out since our characters' arrival on Destiny, while Eli's relationship with Dr. Rush continues its rollercoaster ride. "With Chloe [Elyse Levesque], it began with what my character saw as a mutual attraction, and then he was surprised to find out that it was more of a friendship, and he's now had to change that relationship," explains the actor.

"Eli is not a child, and he's not a puppy dog who always falls in love with the girl across the room. He's been in relationships before, and in this case he's had to morph the one he has with Chloe into a close friendship. That's important, too, as far as Eli's relationship with Lt. Scott [Brian J. Smith], whose character Chloe is now involved with. I mean, it would be ridiculous for my character to hold a grudge against someone like Scott, who he connected with pretty much right off the bat.

"With Eli and Rush, they have this strange relationship where I don't think they could get on each other's nerves more than they do right now. But the truth is they both feel a kinship with each other because, in a way, I think Eli is a young un-jaded Rush. He's incredibly talented, possibly even more than Rush. Eli has a great deal of potential but he's never really put it to use, and Eli is so much better than Rush at speaking with people and having interpersonal relationships.

Dueling brainiacs - Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) and Eli. Photo by Art Streiber and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"So it's this weird type of respect, envy and hate all wrapped up in one, and it continues to grow in all different directions as the first season progresses. Rush will do something and Eli will think, 'That's amazing, that floors me. I want to be like you.' Then, however, he'll hear about something that Rush did, or Rush will do something that is obviously threatening the entire crew and suddenly my character will be like, 'Who are you? You're a madman. You deserve to be punished.' These are just some of the things that, thanks to the brilliance of our writers, were set up when we went into the show and that have kept on growing and evolving.

"Besides Chloe and Rush, I love the moments that the writers touch upon between Eli and the other characters, especially the ones that take place with him and people like Volker, Brody and Park. I like that they go into this bizarre interaction whenever Eli is around. They're all scientists and they've got these little underlying resentments and/or other feelings because Eli is an outsider who got pushed into their inner circle whether or not they wanted it. I hope to explore more of that going forward. And I've got to say, too, that we have so many unsung heroes of this show, like Patrick Gilmore [Volker], Peter Kelamis [Brody], Jen Spence [Park] and Julia Benson [Sergeant Vanessa James]. You sometimes don't see them as much because their characters are recurring, but when they're on the screen they bring so much to the storytelling."

In the season one Universe episode Human, Rush is forced to relive events leading up to his wife's tragic death when he volunteers to connect himself to an Ancients neural interface chair. As his condition is monitored, Destiny drops out of FTL (faster-than-light) drive and Lt. Scott leads an off-world mission through the Stargate. He subsequently becomes trapped in an underground labyrinth of tunnels together with Chloe, Eli and Sergeant Greer (Jamil Walker Smith).

Eli goes off-world! Photo by Gregory Peters and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"That was a great story to work on," says Blue. "We all knew going into it that it was going to be a beautiful episode for Robert Carlyle and it was interesting to see the acting choices he made in that one. He always impresses me, though. When I read the script for Air I felt that Rush was a rat-bag. I thought everything he did was questionable. I was like, 'This guy is evil; how come no one can see it?' But then I watched Air for the first time and saw how tender Rush was with Chloe after her father passed away. I thought, 'Oh, my God, I feel bad for him. I think Rush is convincing me, and I know what he's up to.'

"It's really interesting to see how things translate to the screen. I mean, some of my favorite SGU characters have become my favorites much to my surprise, like T.J. [Alaina Huffman]. A lot of what I love about her have been moments throughout the season, and the thing is I've been in scenes with Alaina and thought, 'Wow, she's good,' but then I've watched the episodes cut together and she is absolutely brilliant and floors me every time. That's why, selfishly, it's so much fun to go to work every day. Everyone is open to playing and trying new things, and when you do a scene, you know that they're going to be respectful of what you bring to the table. More than that, though, you're going to be pleasantly surprised at what someone else brings to the scene.

"As for Human, when we shot that we were nearing mid-to-late-mid-season and we weren't quite sure if we were coming back for season two, and if we were coming back, we weren't quite sure who was coming back. So I was a little freaked out to discover that Eli wouldn't be getting back to the ship right away. I was like, 'Uh, oh. Well, it was nice working with you guys. See you around,'" jokes the actor. "Seriously, I thought it was an exciting story and a cool choice not to have us return too quickly to the Destiny."

Chloe, Eli and Lt. Scott (Brian J. Smith) in "Lost." Photo by Carole Segal ad copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

While Greer is presumed dead and reluctantly left behind by the others in Human, Eli, Scott and Chloe try to catch up to Destiny by using the Stargate network to travel to other planets in the following episode, Lost. "I was hoping that we'd be going to lots of different locations for this story," says Blue, "but, unfortunately, because this is a TV show, it doesn't have the budget to do something like that. However, I really enjoyed watching how they created all these neat looking planets on-set.

"The sandstorm planet was nuts, and I can't remember what they used, but that wasn't CGI [computer-generated imaging]. They were blowing stuff at us and we had to yell in order to hear each other. I don't want to ruin the illusion, but some of those scenes were shot on the same sound stage that we've filmed as other planets. I think it was the one that we shot Time on, so they were able to take a forest planet and turn it into other planets including a beautiful, pristine snow-covered world that was so serene that I felt like I was standing outside a log cabin in the middle of Whistler [British Columbia]. It's so cool that you can walk onto the same stage that you've worked on for a year and constantly be transported like that to a completely different place."

Eli and the others finally make it back to the Destiny in Sabotage, just in time for all of them, except Eli, to fall under the deadly influence of an alien tick's hallucinogenic venom in Pain. Blue was a bit disappointed that his character missed out on such an experience, in a totally creative way, of course.

Lt. Scott and Eli - romantic rivals but still good friends. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel. 

"At the time I was a little jealous as an actor," he recalls. "I thought, 'Oh, man, why couldn't I do that.' I wasn't around for some of the scenes, but the [hallucination] stuff they shot was really well done. Brian Smith has some incredible moments in it, and so does Elyse Levesque. Also, some of the guest-cast from SGU,specifically Patrick Gilmore and Julie Benson, have received Leo Award nominations for their work in Pain [Benson subsequently won a Leo]. They're great in it. I enjoyed everyone's work in this episode, especially because the ones that follow, Subversion and the two-part Incursion, are so action-packed, crazy and have so much happening. It's nice that this story focuses on the characters and solid performances."

In the aforementioned Incursion, the Lucian Alliance, whose attack on Icarus Base in Universe's pilot Air stranded Eli and the others onboard Destiny, return and cause more problems for our heroes. Filming the finale was bittersweet for Blue and the rest of the show's cast.

"The two-parter was interesting to shoot because, again, so much goes on," notes the actor. "Also, we all knew that the season was coming to an end and didn't want to deal with that. Everyone on SGU is so happy and proud of the show. We didn't want to say anything until it was official, but we all hoped there would be a second season. So no one said goodbye, but, instead, we ended things with a, 'I'll see you in a couple of months,' sort of feeling.

Eli wonders what season two of Stargate Universe has in store for him. Photo by Carole Segal and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"Even more than that, we truly have become friends as well as family, which sounds like a cell phone company commercial," says Blue with a chuckle, "and we all hang out, which we did during the hiatus. So it didn't feel like the end, but a continuation. The last thing we actually shot were the last few Kino [the spherical cameras used onboard Destiny] episodes for the MGM website. They had a lot of random characters in them who didn't actually influence the season finale, so it was a little surreal. Funnily enough, I was in the first shot of the season and the last shot. That's kind of a cool little bookend for me and I'm very proud of that."

Universe was, in fact, renewed for a second season, and the cameras began rolling again back in March at Bridge Studios in Burnaby, B.C. Needless to say, Blue was thrilled when he initially received the news. "Do the words 'Woo hoo' mean anything to you?" he asks. "It was like when you know someone is throwing you a surprise birthday party but you don't want to say anything until it happens. That's how I felt about the renewal. Again, we had all talked about it, but were waiting for that official word, so it was great.

"And the episodes we've done so far as some of my favorites. As an actor, when you get to do the first season of a TV show, there are some episodes that are your favorites. Well, with every episode of season two I've been like, 'Wow, this one is awesome, and that one is awesome, too, but in a totally different way.' I asked the other guys on-set the other day, 'Do you feel like all the episodes have been really cool,' and everyone agreed. We're seven episodes in [as of mid-May 2010] and each one has been fun and interesting character-wise as well as awesome action/Sci-Fi wise.

"I am loving my own show," enthuses the actor, "and I'm also antsy like you wouldn't believe because I haven't watched any of season two yet, I've just acted in them. So I'm dying to get my hands on the rough cuts of episodes to see how they're looking."

Steve Eramo

As noted above, David Blue photo courtesy of/copyright of Pinnacle PR, while Stargate Universe photos by Carole Segal, Gregory Peters or Art Streiber and copyright of the Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!