Kyra Zagorsky as Dr. Julia Walker in Helix. Photo copyright of Syfy.
In today’s world there are more scientific advancements being made than ever before as researchers work to find cures for everything from deadly diseases to the common cold. Most of these breakthroughs are without a doubt for the benefit of humanity. However, there are some that should forever remain a mystery. Such is true in the new Sci-Fi TV drama series Helix. When a biological horror is inadvertently unleashed at a remote Arctic research station, Dr. Julia Walker is among those assigned to identify as well as contain the pathogen and treat its victims. Actress Kyra Zagorsky, who plays Julia, could not wait to strap on her snowshoes and start walking in the footsteps of this new character.
“One of the things that I love about the Julia character is that she goes through quite a journey throughout the show and experiences so much,” notes Zagorsky. “I’ve had people say to me that she’s a strong woman and then ask me, ‘What’s it like playing someone so strong,’ but I think most of today’s women are strong , do you know what I mean? What’s great about Julia is that she’s a strongly-written character. She has moments of being very powerful and strong-willed and at the same time moments where she is incredibly vulnerable, open and needy.
“What I’ve discovered about her is that Julia goes through the whole human condition, and because these people are all stuck in such an isolated environment and with a life-threatening disease, their dark sides come out as well as their light sides. Something I admire about my character is that while she might be full of fear in a situation, she always puts herself in the eye of the storm and is very brave. So Julia might be freaking out about something, but she gets right in there and tries to solve the problem to make things better.
The cast of Helix. (L-R): Mark Ghanimé as Major Sergio Balleseros, Hiroyuki Sanada as Dr. Hiroshi Hatake, Meegwun Fairbrother as Daniel Aerov, Kyra Zagorsky as Dr. Julia Walker, Billy Campbell as Dr. Alan Farragut, Neil Napier as Dr. Peter Farragut, Jordan Hayes as Dr. Sarah Jordan, and Catherine Lemieux as Dr. Doreen Boyle. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.
“Oftentimes with female characters they exist as a love interest or kind of a sidekick to the man, but what’s so neat about Julia is that she exists for the purpose of eradicating this virus and helping its victims. So she has a greater purpose than just her relationships, and because of where this story takes place, I think it makes for an interesting conflict. Acting-wise for me, what’s been nice is that, again, because of the environment, the Sci-Fi elements of the story and a number of the story points that happen with my character, I’ve gotten to use a great deal of my [acting] background in my performance. A lot of my theatre training together with physical and emotional work and script analysis all come into play with this role. Julia is a full-bodied person, and that’s been not only the exciting but also fulfilling aspect of playing her.”
In the pilot episode of Helix, Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia receives an unexpected visit from Army Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanime). The major explains that the military has received a distress call concerning a possible retrovirus outbreak from a high-tech research facility, Arctic Biosystems. Balleseros has been ordered to escort Dr. Farragut and a team of specialists, including Farragut’s ex-wife, Dr. Julia Walker, to the facility to deal with the situation. Prior to the start of filming, Zagorsky and the rest of the cast along with the crew had the chance to get the lay of the proverbial land and bond as a team.
“What was pretty cool about our first day of work was coming together with Cameron Porsandeh [series creator/executive producer] as well as Jeffrey Reiner, who directed the pilot,” says the actress. “We got to know one another and discuss what the feel of the show was going to be. They wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page before we started shooting.
Major Sergio Balleseros (Mark Ghanime) briefs Dr. Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) along with the rest of the CDC team about the situation. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.
“So I remember sitting down with them and they just wanted to talk with me and get to know me. Once filming began, I immediately realized that Jeffrey is pretty brilliant. I would sit on-set and listen to him as he gave direction. I watched what he was doing to create the style of the show with the technical side of things and the way he guided us actors. I thought, 'OK, I get where he’s going with this, at least to start us off.’ With a pilot you kind of have to hit the ground running and then you can fill in the details as it goes along.
“One of the things that impressed me right from the start was that the people in charge really took into account that this was my role. They wanted to bring out the best and ‘worst’ of me and put all that into my character and base her on qualities that I possess. It felt very empowering. From there, I just loved coming together with everyone and getting to feel the energy of the actors that I’d be working with. Our cast is terrific; it’s a group of easy-going, creative people. Everyone is kind and there are no egos. The crew is pretty incredible, too. These guys are right there with you in the scene and they’re excited about creating something beautiful and interesting.”
Arriving at the Arctic Biosystems base, Dr. Farragut and his team are met by the facility’s director Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada). Although he grants the CDC officials unrestricted access to the base and all research, this turns out not to be entirely true. Hatake is hiding certain details from them about what happened, which only hinders their investigation and puts all their lives at risk. Further complicating matters is the personal baggage that both Farragut and Walker carry with them, including their respective relationships with the person at the center of this viral outbreak.
Dr. Hiroshi Hatake (Hiroyuki Sanada, center), greets Dr. Alan Farragut (Billy Campbell) and Dr. Julia Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) and the rest of the team upon their arrival at the Arctic Biosystems facility. Photo copyright of Syfy.
“The Arctic Biosystems distress call that the military received was, in fact, sent by Alan’s brother, Dr. Peter Farragut [Neil Napier],” explains Zagorsky. “Julia had an affair with him while conducting research at the CDC, which is revealed early on in the pilot. Something I’ve discovered about the relationship between her and her ex-husband is that there’s a lot of unfinished business between the two of them. Julia is the type of person who, I think, prefers to be out in the field, especially after what happened between her and Peter, whereas Alan prefers to be at the CDC, doing research, teaching and keeping his team together.
“Julia has a different way of doing things than Alan does and is impulsive about her science. This unfinished business between the two of them lingers and then you start to realize how the communication was off and there were things that she needed. Julia was just at a different place in her life than he was. Alan really became all about the science, whereas she might have had more of a human connection need than he did at the time. It’s fascinating to see how these little things come out and how there are moments in the show where you know they want to talk about things or get into it with each other, but it’s just not the right time. When they do actually get into it, though, it’s kind of neat. I’ve had a great deal of fun playing that with Billy Campbell and swinging between the science and our characters’ onscreen relationships.”
In addition to Julia’s interaction with Alan, is there a relationship between her and another Helix character that Zagorsky has enjoyed watching develop? “Oh gosh, there are so many of them,” she says, “but I think the relationship with Julia and Doctor Sarah Jordan [Jordan Hayes] is especially interesting. In Sarah, you have a young woman in her twenties who has just gotten out of school and wants to prove herself and has needs or things she wants to accomplish. Then there’s Julia, who is ten years older, much more grounded and feels confident in the work that she’s done.
(L-R): Dr. Sarah Jordan (Jordan Hayes), Dr. Farragut (Billy Campbell) and Dr. Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) check on an infected patient. Photo copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media.
“The scenes with the two of them have been interesting because these differences come out. In some ways Sarah might look up to my character, but there’s this competitive side that can emerge where, again, she wants to prove herself and feel like an equal to everyone around her. Sarah is a brilliant woman, and there are times where we begin to discover how much talent she actually has. I like watching that type of dynamic between two women and I’m curious to see what they [the show’s writers] end up doing with this relationship as far as who Sarah and Julia are to each other as the show goes on.”
In Helix’s second episode, Vector, Julia uncovers some disturbing facts about the mutation research that Peter Farragut was conducting, and in the final seconds of the episode, she has an unexpected encounter that could change her life forever.
“I’m so fortunate in that I haven’t had one episode of Helix where there’s not something incredible that doesn’t happen to Julia,” enthuses Zagorsky. “Like I mentioned earlier, it’s been a huge adventure so far and one that has allowed me to show different sides of the character. I think things really pick up for her in episode three [274]. I loved working with the director, Steve Adelson, and there are a number of private moments with Julia in this episode that I think are just so beautiful and that also show the ugly side of humanity. It’s just the tip of the iceberg, though, and sets my character up for, I’d say, the middle chunk of the season. I wish I could tell you more, but sufficed to say that a lot happens and everything sort of takes off for her from there. Honestly, this is a dream role and I am getting to go through just about everything with Julia Walker.”
Dr. Walker (Kyra Zagorsky) checks Arctic Biosystems personnel for possible infection. Photo copyright of Syfy.
Born in New York and raised in a small town in Colorado, the actress developed a passion for sports and dance at a young age. She also became enamored of Shakespeare as well as writing, and was certain that she would one day pursue a journalism career. Then, however, Zagorsky was bitten by the acting bug during her senior year of high school when she tried out for a school musical and was cast in one of the leads. While continuing her studies at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Zargorsky decided that an actors’ life was for her.
“I just fell in love with it,” she says. “This [acting] was my way of getting involved in literature, language and telling stories in a way where I could make an audience think and feel about the world that they were in.”
After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Southern Oregon University, the actress went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of California, Irvine. In 2007 she moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and booked her first TV role in the Stargate Atlantis episode Reunion. “There I was dressed in my little leather costume and playing the tough chick with weapons and doing fights, and I was pregnant at the time,” recalls Zagorsky. ”It was totally fine, though. The show’s stunt coordinator was James “Bam Bam” Bamford, who works on Arrow now, and he’s amazing. The two of us rehearsed a couple of times and he made me look like a complete bad ass, but, again, I was totally protected and had so much fun.”
Actress Kyra Zagorsky. Photo by/courtesy of Alex Chiang.
“At first I thought, ‘Oh, no, the producers are going to find out I’m pregnant and aren’t going to let me do this.’ Funnily enough, Rachel Luttrell [Teyla Emmagan] was on the show and was pregnant at the exact same time as me. So the two of us would walk around in our little leather costumes talking about baby stuff, and we wound up becoming friends. It was a pretty amazing experience for my first big TV show and getting to play a huge guest-star part. I actually still get fan mail from Atlantis fans, because my character was a pivotal one in that particular storyline.
Along with several made-for-TV movies, Zagorsky has guest-starred in such other series as The Troop, Smallville, Fringe, SGU – Stargate Universe, Falling Skies, Motive, Soldiers of the Apocalypse and Supernatural.
“Supernatural was a major highlight for me,” says the actress. “I had read for a ton of different guest-spots before on that show and was never cast, so I wasn’t sure if this show was my thing. When, however, this role [Randa Moreno] came along, I just thought it was incredible and really I wanted it. In fact, I was so focused on getting the part that when I walked into the audition room I didn’t even realize Jensen Ackles [who plays Dean Winchester on the series] was directing this episode. Usually I check all those things out ahead of time, but in this instance, I had my mind on one thing only.
Actress Kyra Zagorsky. Photo by/courtesy of Alex Chiang.
“So I did my thing and, boom, booked the job right away. It was such a cool part. The character was an ancient Mayan God who called herself Xena: Warrior Princess, but she was a super-stripper, too. You might think that would be a bizarre combination, but it was quite an empowering and interesting role. This woman was completely shy and afraid to live because she was so close to dying and needed a heart transplant. When she finally gets the transplant and transforms into this Mayan God, she becomes this almighty powerful being. She had substance to her, and behind her evil qualities, she had strong reasons for what she was doing and you couldn’t really judge her for it.
“I loved working with Jensen. He’s a very strong director and knows how to talk to actors. At one point, he was in a scene with me and also directing it. It was neat to watch him work things out, especially the part where his character gets thrown down onto the stripper stage and my character pins him down with her heel, sits on him and interrogates him.”
Like most people, Zagorsky enjoys watching a good story unfold in front of her eyes, and as an actress, she likes nothing more than when her character has a good story to tell. “That’s why I loved the Supernatural character so much, because I loved her story,” she enthuses. “With Helix, like I said, Julia Walker is a dream role because of how well she’s written and how interesting the story is to me. That’s where I find fulfillment and it’s what makes me want to keep going in this business, because there’s a lot of crazy stuff that goes on in this industry. I’m interested in just being a good storyteller, especially as a mother. Certain things or roles will come up where I just feel like, if anything, I want my kids to be proud of me and understand what it is I’m doing. If it’s a good story, that’s what drives me and makes me think, ‘Yes, I want to be a part of that.”
Steve Eramo
Helix premieres on Friday, January 10th and airs in Canada on the Showcase Network as well as in the States on Syfy @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST. As noted above, Helix photos copyright of Showcase/Shaw Media and Syfy respectively, and Kyra Zagorsky photos by/courtesy of Alex Chiang, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
Comments