Actor Ivan Sergei.
In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actor Ivan Sergei talks about his recurring role of Henry in the hit supernatural TV series Charmed.
When it comes to conjuring up some romance in their lives even the beautiful and bewitching Halliwell sisters on Charmedneed a little bit of help every now and then. Eldest sibling Piper found Mr. Right in her husband and ex- Whitelighter/Elder Leo Wyatt, but her two sisters, Phoebe and Paige, are still looking for their ideal man. Both, however, may have just found their perfect match this (eighth) season; Phoebe has fallen for a socially conscious artist named Dex, while Paige has crossed paths with Henry, a San Francisco parole officer played by Ivan Sergei. He’s an actor who Charmed executive producer Brad Kern had been keeping an eye on for some time.
“Apparently, Brad Kern had been a fan of my work for a while,” says Sergei, “and he’d made a couple of offers to me before about coming onto the show. For whatever reason, usually because I was doing another project, it never worked out. This year, though, I happened to be available and Brad and the Charmed people approached me with an offer. I was not only flattered that they were still interested in me, but also very happy to accept. The best part of all was I didn’t have to audition, which was a relief. No matter how long you’ve been at it [acting], it’s always a nerve-wracking thing to have to audition, so this made for a pleasant change.”
Sergei’s character of Henry is introduced in season eight’s Battle of the Hexes. In the episode, Agent Murphy (Brandon Quinn) from Homeland Security enlists The Charmed Ones to sift through cold case files and weed out any they feel could have supernatural connections. Meanwhile, Paige tries to help her new Whitelighter charge, a young man who’s gotten mixed up with a bad crowd. Her efforts, though, are being hampered by Henry.
“One of the interesting things to me about my character is that when audiences first meet him he has no knowledge of witchcraft or any of the things that the Halliwells are involved in,” notes Sergei. “Henry is a parole officer who gets involved with Paige [Rose McGowan] when she decides to save this young man who’s one of his parolees. Henry’s been working with this kid for a long time and he’s convinced that he’s headed down the wrong road. Paige, on the other hand, believes that this young man is destined for greatness, and in the end she’s right. From that first encounter, she and Henry strike up a little relationship.
“You could say my character is a bit hardnosed and somewhat cynical in terms of his job. Henry is no stranger to being around and working with inner city youths as well as kids who have been in and out of jail and/or juvenile detention. He’s witnessed a lot of things, many of them bad, but Paige has seen even more and, perhaps, with her being part Whitelighter she’ll get Henry to see the light, no pun intended,” jokes the actor.
Although he’s worked on TV series before, including a two-year stint on NBC TV’s critically acclaimed Crossing Jordan, Sergei didn’t know quite what to expect when joining Charmed. “My experiences on the show have been great,” he enthuses. “This series has been on the air for over seven years and a success all that time. So it’s had a place within the network, and that always helps to make a show run better when you know the network is pleased with it. Charmed is a well-oiled machine and its three stars are strong women who know what they want to do with their characters and take their work very seriously. At the same time, there’s plenty of laughing and joking that goes on throughout the workday.
“Initially, I think I was more nervous coming onto a new set and working with Rose McGowan. It’s always a challenge when you’re trying to create a new character. There are all these people looking at you and watching your performance and it’s up to you to make them believe in what you’re doing. So my first few days on Charmed really stand out for me because I was treading on unfamiliar ground. However, it’s since become like second nature to me.”
With his boyish good looks and charismatic nature it’s no surprise that Sergei has managed to carve out a successful niche for himself as a feature film and TV actor. Prior to deciding to pursue acting, though, his career path was littered with a few other choices.
“When I was a kid I always wanted to be whatever I’d just seen on TV or at the movies,” says Sergei. “If LA Law was on then I wanted to be a lawyer, or if I had just been to the latest Rocky movie I was like, ‘I want to be a boxer.’ When I turned 16 it finally dawned on me that as an actor I could pretend to be more than just one thing. So I enrolled in my first acting class in New Jersey and after putting myself through all the paces went to New York for a while to find acting jobs and then came out to Los Angeles.”
Sergei’s big break came in 1996 when he was cast as Mac Ramsey, the lead role in John Woo’s action/adventure series Once a Thief. “Man, I was on top of the world back then,” he recalls. “Of course, I didn’t take the time to think about just how quickly a TV show can get cancelled and all that sort of stuff. The experience itself was very surreal for me. I mean, I’d traveled to various places to work on TV and film projects, but here I was moving to Toronto where I lived for 10 months while shooting this program.
“It was quite a change to go from being a series lead to then six years later and starting work on Crossing Jordan where I was number nine on the call sheet. The TV market had changed significantly and here was this excellent show that I was invited to be a part of, but yet my character wouldn't be the main focus. Both series were such different animals. I thought of Once a Thief as my ticket to stardom – if it turned out to be a hit – whereas Crossing Jordan was already a top 20 show and, again, there were eight other characters above mine. As much as I enjoyed playing Dr. Peter Winslow, I actually asked to be released from Crossing Jordan when the pilot for a series called Hawaii came up. Here was another case of, ‘This could rocket me to stardom.’ Unfortunately, that show was cancelled and I wound up back in yet another pilot season. This business is full of ups and downs, but you know what, I still love it.”
Back over on Charmed, Henry and Paige may have started out as acquaintances, but it won’t be long before things heat up. “I’m having more and more fun than ever flirting with Rose’s character in the scenes we’ve recently been doing,” says Sergei. “There’s a definite romance brewing between Henry and Paige and I couldn’t be more excited with where the writers are taking that relationship. I’m pretty sure the show’s fans will be, too.”
Steve Eramo
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