Defiance's Datak Tarr (Tony Curran). Photo copyright of Syfy.
One story element in most, not all, Sci-Fi TV shows is that of an extraterrestrial presence. That is certainly true of the new hit Syfy series Defiance, and in more ways than one. Although its aliens are collectively known as Votans, that group is made up of seven very different species, including the Castithans. Theirs is a pale-skinned race that highly values physical appearance as well as social status, where females are subservient to males, or so it sometimes appears, and sex is used as a means to an end.
Veteran stage and screen actor Tony Curran plays Datak Tarr, the most influential Castithan living in the Defiance settlement. He is a family man as well as businessman and a sore loser who does not take kindly to being crossed or looked down upon, especially by humans. Being such a rich and layered character, it is no surprise that the casting process for the Datak role was equally complex.
“I initially auditioned for Scott Stewart, who directed the Defiance pilot, and [series co-creator/executive producer] Kevin Murphy,” says Curran. “When I walked into the room, Grant Bowler [who plays Defiance’s chief lawkeeper Joshua Nolan], was also there. Everything seemed to go well, and then I received a callback. From there, it was a matter of trying to find the right man and the right woman for not one but two roles, because the chemistry between Datak and his wife Stahma had to be right for them.
“So I would go back in the audition room with a number of actresses and we’d play out quite a few scenes. Obviously there was more than one Datak there and more than one Stahma, and they [the producers] were just looking to find out who suited each other and was there a sparkle between the two actors. They really took their time and put the actors through the 'wringer' in some cases.
Datak (Tony Curran) and Stahma (Jaime Murray) Tarr. Photo copyright of Syfy.
“It was late on in the casting process when this dark-haired woman, Jaime Murray, walked into the audition room and sat down on my knee to do this scene. Now, Jaime is such a professional and so calm and devious as Stahma, but as I laid my head on her chest to do the scene, her heart was beating like a jackhammer. The two of us always sort of affectionately joke about that, because when you audition you get slightly nervous. After all, you don’t really know, in this instance, the person who’s sitting on your lap, and I don’t know whether or not Jaime was a bit nervous, but maybe it was because she was sitting on this Scotsman’s knee,” jokes the actor.
“Jaime and I did some scenes together, and after, I think, four or five times, they eventually made me an offer. It might have been three weeks or even a month from the beginning right through to my booking the job. So it was a rather drawn out process, but it was also quite good to get the nod in the end that the job was mine.”
Set on Earth in the year 2046, the story of Defiance unfolds over 30 years after a war between humans and Votans completely changed the landscape as well as social structure on the planet. Having declared a truce, the two parties now live side-by-side, not exactly in harmony, but in an effort to understand the other. The Tarr family resides in Defiance, once known as St. Louis, Missouri, and while their surroundings have become very much familiar to them, Curran’s introduction to Datak’s world was a bit of an awe-inspiring one.
“The first thing that sticks out in my mind is the enormity of it all,” recalls the actor. “I knew we were getting into something that had quite an ambitious approach and with a very large scope that wanted to be something big. The first scene that I actually shot is the one in the pilot with Datak and Stahma walking down the main street of Defiance. My character is sort of spouting off about how he doesn’t like Rafe McCawley [Graham Greene] and Stahma pretty much tells him that he’s just unhappy because McCawley got louder applause and kind of totally called Datak out.
Datak (Tony Curran) and Stahma (Jaime Murray) in the Defiance pilot. Photo copyright of Syfy.
“There are so many TV shows that you work on, a number of which are very contemporary. You have your police dramas or hospital dramas, and actors come to work, put on a little bit of make-up along with a suit or other contemporary clothing and off they go. When, however, we arrived on the Defiance set for our first day of principal photography, there was a cable car sitting in the middle of this backlot that was the size of a football pitch. There’s make-up, hair, contact lenses, and this lavish wardrobe that you put on. You then looked around at this incredible town surrounding you, complete with this massive green screen that was going to turn out to be the background of Defiance. Last but not least you had these amazing visual as well as creature effects.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this is going to be interesting, fun, compelling and challenging, but, ultimately, it’s going to be a big adventure.’ There are so many different elements to this show, and when I first arrived I was quite blown away by it all. I wondered and hoped that this would take off and end up being something where you could explore many avenues with the different characters and storylines within this apocalyptic world.”
When his planet was destroyed along with the other worlds in the Votan star system, Datak managed to secure passage onboard one of the survival arks headed for Earth. Since arriving in Defiance, he has used his wits in concert with his survival instincts to establish himself as the town’s key underworld figure, with his “business’ dealings ranging from gambling to weapons smuggling and organized crime. For him, Earth was a cornucopia brimming with opportunity, and Datak took every advantage of that to build himself up.
“To me, Datak is someone who was looked down upon within the society that he came from,” explains Curran. “He was brought up in the gutter if you will, and has had to fight, scrape, steal and work his way up from absolutely nothing. Datak would appear to do anything he can to survive within any given society, and that includes getting on an ark from another planetary system and making his way to what he saw at the time as his only chance of survival. He actually managed to get on that ship, even though he had no right to. Datak won his seat in a card game by all accounts. The only Castithans allowed onboard the arcs were mainly the aristocracy or servants of the aristocracy, and Datak definitely was not serving the aristocracy.
Nolan (Grant Bowler) and Datak (Tony Curran) take a little road trip in the episode "Brothers in Arms." Photo copyright of Syfy.
“I often make a Dickensian reference with regard to Datak in that he has been ripped from the pages of a Dickens novel where he’s kind of put down within society. He’s someone who longs to have the same type of respect that others appear to have. I’m sure Datak has always looked across the fence and thought, ‘Are they happier than me? Are they more powerful than I am? Why can’t I have what they have?’ When, however, people like him finally get to that point, they stand there and think, ‘Am I any happier than I was?’ Without saying too much, there are things that occur within the town and that Datak and Stahma get up to, and it’s like, OK, you’ve got to that point now. Does the world look different from where you’re standing now from where you were standing?
“Datak is very much a social climber, and he’s also like a shark in that if he stops ‘swimming’ he’s going to die,” continues the actor. “He’s got to keep moving, and as an actor, the challenge for me is trying to portray this working class sort of alien who’s streetwise but at the same time is trying to be something he’s not. Datak is trying to be a man of the people and trying to create this type of persona where he’s here for the people and all the alien races. He has now taken the first step towards a political career, having been accepted into the Defiance council and serving alongside the other council members, including Mayor Amanda Rosewater [Julie Benz].
“So he’s definitely going into waters where he has never tread before, and it’s been interesting as well as fun for me to show Datak as he tries to move on from the beast inside him to, again, a man of the people. I think there’s compassion in Datak, but it doesn’t rear its head very often. He can put people down and be put down himself. Datak isn’t always on top or the powerful one. He can get his face rubbed into the dirt, but he’ll bounce back.
“Datak is a strong man and, as I said, a survivor, but at the same time he’s like any living being in that he has issues and is vulnerable. He’s not made of steel, and that could be what some people relate to. I like the fact that you never know what you’re going to get with Datak. Is he going to fly off the handle and get angry or is he going to become quite stoic and listen to Stahma as she whispers in his ear, ‘If you hadn’t killed those men, we could have perhaps learned more about what they were up to.’”
Datak (Tony Curran) and Mayor Amanda Rosewater (Julie Benz) agree to disagree. Photo copyright of Syfy.
Even with all his power, influence and testosterone (or the equivalent in Castithan men), Datak is not immune to being influenced, in particular by his wife Stahma. On more than one occasion she has deftly and sublimely maneuvered her husband with something so simple, for example and as Curran pointed out, a gentle whisper in his ear. Stahma is especially keen to make sure that nothing goes wrong with the impending wedding of their son Alak (Jesse Rath) to Rafe McCawley’s daughter Christie (Nicole Munoz). That marriage will get Datak and Stahma one step closer to the McCawley mining empire. So theirs seems to be very much an ideal match.
“The relationship between Datak and Stahma is one that would have never survived or even come to pass back on their own world,” says Curran. “That’s due to the fact, which is somewhat Sense and Sensibility-like, that someone from Datak’s lower caste would never have been able to even get near or let alone marry someone from Stahma’s caste. It’s similar to some cultures and religions on Earth where people are affronted if one culture ends up wanting to marry someone from another culture because two people love each other. That’s wonderful, of course, but at the same time, the older generation looks down upon it because of the historical significance and things of that nature.
“I think Datak and Stahma have reinvented themselves by coming to Earth. She’s obviously from aristocracy, has been very well educated and is, I imagine, quite worldly. My character is, like I said, a survivor and a provider, but at the same time he works in the underworld and gets things from people on the black market. As it was back on their planet, it’s still a patriarchal society in Datak’s eyes here on Earth, but I believe Stahma has more power than he thinks she has. She’s very clever and suggestive of his volatile nature. Stahma would never just come out and say, ‘No, that’s not right, darling. Let’s do it this way.’ She would be very cunning with her approach, and at the end of the conversation, Datak would look at her and say, ‘OK, I see what you mean,’ and then she’ll almost suggest that it was his idea.
“There will come a time, I feel, where Datak will maybe have this feeling that Stahma is overstepping the mark sometimes. Clearly he has a large ego and he respects his wife for her wisdom and so on, but as much as they love each other, there’s a possibility in the future, given his volatile temperament and her cunning ways, that they could at some point collide with one another quite significantly. That could be bad for the two of them, and also their son Alak. Here’s this young Castithan and first generation Earth boy who wants to marry a human girl, but Datak is just not down with that at all. Aside from the fact that Datak finds them repugnant, he just doesn’t see the benefit of Alak marrying a human girl. There is, however, the business side of such a marriage, which is trying to procure the McCawley mines away from Rafe McCawley. That’s another instance where Stahma is weaving her web.
The Tarr family (L-R): Alak (Jesse Rath), Stahma (Jaime Murray) and Datak (Tony Curran). Photo copyright of Syfy.
“So I think there’s quite a rocky road ahead with Alak and Datak because they don’t see eye-to-eye. It’s funny, a lot of what my character gets up to as far as his business dealings and so forth is part of his efforts to give his son a better life than the one he had. Having said that, I don’t think Datak wants things to develop down the road into Datak and Son. If, however, you’re the son of someone like Datak, the family business might be something Alak could become involved with, but, again, I don’t know if that would sit well with Datak. I’m not sure how Stahma would feel about that either. Who knows, though? Perhaps they’ll become the super trio – the bad have just gotten badder,” jokes the actor.”
Curran along with the rest of the Defiance cast and crew recently received the news that the show would be back for a second year. Looking ahead, what are some of the actor’s hopes for the series going into a season two?
“I’d like for the show to continue to surprise as well as shock and to maintain its wonderful Sci-Fi, fantastical post-apocalyptic backdrop,” says Curran. “Also, in order to keep things vibrant and alive, the writers have to keep doing what they’ve been doing so well, which is make the characters even more compelling than they already have. There are so many avenues for all of them to go down. I think that’s what an audience likes watching, and certainly as an actor I enjoy playing out new scenarios and that also push the envelope of the series.
“So I think there’s plenty of adventure still to come in Defiance, and certainly the latter part of the first season is going to be really exciting and kind of cutting-edge, especially for a Sci-Fi show. I can’t say too much, but there are some relationships coming up within the storyline that are bound to get people talking, and certainly upset Datak, too. All I can say is it’s going to be interesting to put my character’s wig back on and see what they have in store for us.”
(L-R): Datak (Tony Curran), Mayor Rosewater (Julie Benz) and Rafe McCawley (Graham Greene). Photo copyright of Syfy.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Curran was 14 years old when he made his professional debut on a Scottish TV show. The actor went on to hone his craft at the Glasgow Schools Youth Theatre as well as the Scottish Youth Theatre. Prior to continuing his studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, he took a trip abroad to Brooklyn, New York to visit for a while with a friend and his family. While there, Curran explored potential acting opportunities, but, ultimately, he wound up returning home to take a serious stab at an acting career.
“When I was in New York I auditioned for a few off-Broadway parts,” he notes. “One day, this English chap came up to me and asked, ‘Tony, do you have your American SAG [Screen Actors Guild] card?’ I said, ‘No.’ He then asked me, ‘Do you have a green card?’ When I said no again, he said to me, ‘Without being too much of a blunt instrument, I’m going to tell you right now, the best thing you can do is go back to the UK and go to drama school.’
“Naturally, being an 18-year-old, I thought, ‘Who do you think you are? What do you know?’ Then I turned around, went home to Scotland and enrolled in drama school,” says the actor with a chuckle. “After I graduated, I moved to London and lived there for 10 or 12 years. I worked on a number of projects, and then after doing two movies, Blade II and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I ended up going to Los Angeles. I did so, though, never having in the back of my mind, ‘Oh, I want to be famous. I want to be this, I want to be that.’ I guess I was just floating around like a cloud trying to get work and I ended up in LA and I actually love it here.
“A lot of people are critical of LA, but I like to say that a place is only as good as the people you know. I know some great people back in the UK, but I know some wonderful people here, too. So I wound up sort of working away, and then Defiance came along. I’ve done series and episodic TV in the UK, but this is the first time I’ve done it in the States, and I’m dying to go back for a second season, I have to say. It’s going to be a great deal of fun.”
Actor Tony Curran.
Prior to his involvement with Defiance, the actor delighted TV Sci-Fi fans with his performance as Vincent Van Gogh in the long-running BBC series Doctor Who.
“Playing someone like Van Gogh was a real challenge, but at the same time a real joy,” enthuses Curran. “I thought the script that Richard Curtis wrote was quite moving, and when I spoke with him and the director, Jonny Campbell about it, I explained that along with the fact that Van Gogh was a genius artist, I wanted to show that he was a tortured soul as well. A lot of great art or anything that can be considered as worthwhile is sometimes born out of pain. Vincent was in many ways arguably one of the greatest martyrs who has ever been, having died a pauper and shooting himself. A lot of people, though, believe that he didn’t want to kill himself, and that it was more like a cry for help.
“At the end of this Doctor Who episode, a 1-800 number came up on TV screens and that anyone suffering from depression or other mental health issues could call, because I think it moved a number of people. There’s a stigma attached to depression and mental health issues, going right back to the time Vincent was alive. People didn’t understand such illnesses and were scared, so they’d throw the ‘crazy’ adjective at that person and lock him or her up. Unfortunately for those people and those making such decisions, that wasn’t a very compassionate thing to do.
“I think that episode made a lot of people realize, ‘Wow, here was an amazing artist who also may have been bipolar or suffered with some other mental problem,’ and there wasn’t the help there at the time to make him better. I’ve had people come up to me in the supermarket and start crying or wanting to hug me because of that episode. As an actor, you always feel good if you’re able to make contact with a fellow human being in any way, shape or form. If you can make them laugh, cry or think about something beautiful or make them think about themselves or bettering themselves, or help society understand, accept and try to help people who are suffering with such problems, then that’s a wonderful thing.”
Tony Curran as Vincent Van Gogh in Doctor Who. Photo copyright of the BBC.
There are people who spend much of their lives trying to figure out “who they are,” whereas an actor spends his or her entire career trying to understand and get under the skins of other individuals with the roles that they play. For Curran, that is one of the true joys of his profession.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to become an actor was the opportunity for diversity, versatility and to portray someone more or less than myself, if you will, and explore the human condition. So there were those aspects of it, and also just being able to tell stories. Whether it’s a play, a TV program, a movie, a short story, a radio play, whatever, I love telling a good yarn, especially one that’s informative, groundbreaking or just makes someone laugh or cry. I’ve always been compelled to be part of something like that. It helps, too, that I’m a big kid in many ways and in wonder of so many things in life. Acting allows me to explore those people, places and things that I wonder about. If I weren’t an actor, I would never have gotten to play Datak Tarr and explore his psyche. The same is true of Van Gogh or other characters who I find compelling.
“So I’ve been fortunate as an actor. There are so many talented actors out there and a lot of people who don’t get an opportunity to express their individuality or themselves. This is a tough business, so I tend to be very humble when talking about it, because you never know when it could all go away. Some people tell me, ‘Oh, Tony, you’ll always work,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I’m never going to think that way.’ As Frank Sinatra said, ‘The best is yet to come and…won’t that be fine.’ That’s the hopeful, optimistic side of me talking, but at the same time I’ve very grateful for the opportunities I have had and, fingers crossed, there are more to come.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, all Defiance photos copyright of Syfy and Doctor Who photo copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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