Haven's Lucas Bryant. Photo by Adam Secore and copyright of Syfy.
At first glance, Haven appears to be your typical sleepy seaside town. From its picturesque main street to the spectacular views from the local lighthouse, it seems the ideal place to live, especially when it comes to crime. Nathan Wuornos, who recently took over as chief of police from his deceased father Garland Wuornos, and his fellow officers must have very little to worry about in terms of violent crime or similar offenses, right? That might be true if not for the “Troubles,” a supernatural affliction that affects some of the townsfolk and puts them and others in danger.
The Troubles returned two years ago, and since then Nathan, with the support of Haven’s newest resident and ex-FBI agent Audrey Parker, has tried to help The Troubled and keep them safe from those looking to hurt them, run them out of town, or worse. In Haven’s second season finale Sins of the Fathers, the town’s dead come to life in order to seek revenge and complete unfinished business. Audrey is subsequently abducted and Nathan confronts Duke, who he believes is responsible. A fight breaks out and a gun is fired. As tension mounted onscreen, actor Lucas Bryant, who plays Nathan, has only fond, and slightly soggy, memories from filming this episode.
“First off, I got to work again with my buddy, Nick Campbell, which is such a joy,” says Bryant, taking time for a chat after finishing work for the day on the penultimate episode of Haven’s third season. “He plays my father, the chief, and we hadn’t seen him for a while. Thankfully, by some Haven magic, his character could reappear and did so for last year’s finale, which made it all the more special. I’ve probably said it a million times before but I don’t mind repeating myself – Nick is a fantastic man as well as an incredible actor and a pleasure to have on-set
Chief Nathan Wuornos (Lucas Bryant) in season three's "Stay." Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
“We filmed the scene where Nathan first sees his deceased dad in the picturesque cemetery here in Chester [Nova Scotia]. It’s a pretty neat place with this iconic tree right in the middle of the cemetery, and on that day we had this lovely setting sun, which made for just a beautiful setting and memorable experience. So that definitely sticks out in my mind.
“Something else I’ll never forget about this episode has to do with the weather. Last year it rained a lot in Nova Scotia; I think the final number on the show’s production report was that it rained something like 67 out of 91 shoot days. Even for Nova Scotia that was a pretty terrible summer and very wet, but miraculously and for some reason it never stopped us. We never had to shut down or got held up by the weather. The production team could always swap scenes around and we would carry on.
“With this episode, however, it was the first time that there was a huge thunder and lightning storm going on while we were shooting the sort of climax scene. All the ‘ghosts’ were there along with the hostages that Reverend Driscoll’s [Stephen McHattie] people were holding, and we had to shut down because of the pouring rain. We were all hanging out in the woods under tarps trying to wait it out, but finally we couldn’t do anything more. That was the first time out of all those rainy days that we actually shut down. It was still kind of a cozy experience, though, because it was the end of the season and we were all snuggled in there.”
Nathan (Lucas Bryant) and Audrey Parker (Emily Rose). Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
Once production wrapped on Haven’s second season finale, the show’s cast and crew filmed the 2011 Christmas-themed story Silent Night. “That episode existed sort of out of time with the rest of last year’s storyline,” explains Bryant. “In some countries it was screened in the middle of the season, whereas in the States, it was shown after everything else had aired. So there was some confusion about whether or not it was a continuation of season two. It didn’t really make sense in the timeline, but I think in some country it probably did because the story was innocuous enough that it didn’t mess with anything.
“That being said, that’s what it was, a Christmas special, so it had its own character, its own life, and wasn’t necessarily in keeping with the rest of the show. We were therefore allowed to have some extra fun with it, and the people in Chester, I think, especially enjoyed having Christmas decorations and people in Santa suits all around town in the middle of August. So that was a blast because it was this sort of alternate reality absurdity that we were in.
“We had just finished shooting the finale, so it was almost like a weird kind of working vacation/farewell/little love poem to the community. It was a lot of fun. It was also freakin’ hot,” says the actor with a chuckle. “So you get the rain, you get the calm, and then the following day it’s sweltering. It sounds like I’m complaining a lot, doesn’t it, but I’m not. As they say in Nova Scotia, if you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes. It always turns out to be true, but it never ceases to amaze me. I can never get it through my head that it can be that extreme.”
Duke (Eric Balfour) and Nathan (Lucas Bryant) square off in "301." Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
In Haven’s third season opener 301, Nathan and Duke (Eric Balfour) mount a search for the missing Audrey (Emily Rose), but their efforts are hampered as the town experiences some of its most bizarre goings-on yet. Unlike the previous year, stepping back into the Nathan role was a far less daunting prospect for Bryant.
“I felt much more trepidation as far as coming back to shoot the second season opener,” he says. “I wondered if I still remembered what this guy [Nathan] was like. I was a little concerned about that because I had been off being myself for a number of months, and I consider myself somewhat of a different person from Nathan. However, as soon as we shot the first scene I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, there he is,’ and I just sort of fell right back into it and the character.
“Coming back this year, I guess maybe I’m more confident, or maybe I’m just more of an idiot,” jokes the actor, “but I wasn’t really that concerned about it at all. And the weird thing is, because of scheduling issues, we ended up filming episode two [Stay] before we shot the season opener. So it wasn’t so much that I was concerned about being able to portray Nathan again, but more keeping track of what supposedly had already happened in the third season opener, which we hadn’t shot yet.
Duke (Eric Balfour) and Nathan (Lucas Bryant) team up to find Audrey in "301." Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
“So it was just a matter of doing a little bit of extra homework. As far as episode two, it was directed by Shawn Piller, who’s our executive producer and the boss of everything around here. He’s a great director as well as producer and a good friend, so that made it even easier, I think, for everyone to get back into the swing of things with him.”
When it comes to policing Haven’s streets and dealing with the Troubled, no one is better equipped than Nathan, especially since he, too, is among the afflicted. He is unable to physically feel anything, with the one exception being Audrey, whose genuine desire to help the Troubled appears to make her immune to the problems they cause. So far, her touch is the only one that Nathan can feel. Not surprisingly, their relationship has grown and developed a great deal since she first came to Haven. Nathan is definitely not the man she first met, and Bryant hints that more layers of his character will be peeled back this year.
“I think Nathan has come a long way this season,” he notes. “He’s more comfortable in his role as chief, and confidently stepping up and making strong leadership decisions much more ably. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone, but his relationships with Audrey and Duke are very different this year and tested.
Nathan (Lucas Bryan), Duke (Eric Balfour) and Audrey (Emily Rose) make an ominous discovery in season three's "Over My Head." Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
“Nathan has always been a reserved guy and somewhat isolated, but in season three that’s even truer, and I think we get to see new sides of him that even he didn’t necessarily know existed. A certain thing happens to him this year that puts him in a much more dangerous place than he’s even been before. So there were times in season three when I was doing things that seemed almost very un-Nathan-like and that I questioned. Those things end up having their reasons, though, which we learn later on, but at the time it was sort of an act of faith on my part to trust that those reasons would be revealed. That was rather challenging, but looking back now over the course of the third season, it all does make a kind of sense in the end. So it’s been really exciting for me as an actor to get to push my character that little bit further.”
Haven plays host to several new recurring characters this season. Will Nathan have much to do with these fresh faces? “Yes, he does,” says Bryant. “Dorian Missick plays a character named Tommy this season, and with whom Nathan has a lot of interaction. He’s a fantastic actor as well as a great guy and we had a blast. Bree Williamson plays a character named Claire, who Nathan definitely has a lot of interaction with, as he also does with Kate Kelton’s character of Jordan. As I was saying before, there are new sides of Nathan and these new characters bring out some of those new sides. So it was fun to have these new dynamics in his relationships with people and all the actors were wonderful to have on the show.”
Although Bryant has to be slightly cryptic, he is still able to talk a bit about one of his favorite season three Haven episodes. “There’s an episode that may or may not involve time travel or something of the sort,” teases the actor. “That was a pretty cool episode to shoot. I haven’t seen what it’s ultimately going to look like, but seeing it on the day as far as the stuff we were shooting and the production values, it was amazing.
Jordan (Kate Kelton) and Nathan (Lucas Bryant). Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
“Our incredible art department pulled out all the stops as did hair, make-up and wardrobe. We shot a period piece of sorts and it felt like a film. You could say it’s a Back to the Future-type of deal where Nathan is interacting with different people that he knows from his life in the present, but they don’t necessarily know who he is. I don’t know if that was vague enough without giving too much away, but this episode, which I think is number nine, is really incredible.”
The actor spent most of the hiatus between seasons two and three of Haven with his wife and their family, but he did devote a little bit of time to working on a new project. “I shot a TV movie in Calgary called Merry In-Laws. It was directed by a good friend of mine, Leslie Hope, and I play a character who’s the son of Santa Claus. She encouraged me to be a total wing-nut and I happily obliged,” he says with a laugh. “It’s a weird and wonderful comedy and it was a blast to do.”
All new TV shows start out as blank slates. From there it is up to the writers, directors, actors, etc, to come together and create a story as well as characters that viewers look forward to spending time with each week. All those involved in Haven have succeeded in doing just that, and Bryant is confident that fans are going to be pleasantly surprised by season three.
Nathan (Lucas Bryant) is caught up once again in The Troubles during season three of Haven. Photo by Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy.
“We just finished shooting episode 12 today [Monday, August 27th, 2012] and we start work on the season finale tomorrow,” he says. “That script has been changing over the last couple of days, but the most recent incarnation, in fact, all the incarnations have been incredibly exciting and largely revealing. In general, I think this whole season has been bigger, better, faster, more dangerous, with bigger stakes, higher production values and extremely ambitious episodes.
“Seeing how it’s all going to end, it’s pretty thrilling, and I was just thinking today, with all that’s happening this season, I don’t know where we’re going to go from here. God willing there will be a season four. I’m very hopeful and a little bit confident about that, and I’m really looking forward to what lies ahead because I think we’ve blown the top off this season.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, all photos by Adam Secore or Michael Tompkins and copyright of Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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