Most people have had days where they just want to stay in bed with the sheets pulled up over their head. Sadly, for those living in the apocalyptic world of Syfy’s Van Helsing, every day is more or less like that. After all, when your planet is being overrun by vampires and your loved ones have either been killed or turned into one of these fanged bloodsuckers, then the immediate future looks fairly bleak. There are those, however, who are not ready to give up quite yet and willing to fight until their last drop of blood is spilled – no pun intended. Among those brave souls struggling to survive in this much-changed landscape is Nicole, who, if confronted by the enemy (vampire or human), would not hesitate to whack him or her across the head and take them down. Getting into that survivalist headspace was a bit of a challenge, but a fun one for Canadian-born actress Alison Wandzura, who plays Nicole.
“If you’ve seen the Van Helsing pilot, you know that my character is a bit of an instigator and very reactive,” notes Wandzura with a laugh. “I guess you could say that Nicole is a bit of a troublemaker, but in her mind she’s totally justified because everyone’s life is in danger here. So the typical Canadian pleasantries that we are used to acting with have been thrown by the wayside in this instance. With Nicole it’s very much kill or be killed, and she has no qualms about acting upon that.
“Something really cool about her is that, again, being reactionary, Nicole defines what needs to be done and goes about doing it. She gathers together whoever she feels can be trusted and explains to them, ‘OK, we need to get this person out of the picture. How are we going to do it?’ When it comes to the ‘how,’ it probably has something to do with the big pipe that Nicole carries, which I nicknamed ‘Martha,’” jokes the actress. “So playing her was rather daunting at first, because I’m not like that. I’m definitely more of a contemplative person who likes to consider everything before taking action. Nicole, however, doesn’t like to wait around and is all about action. I found that a neat contrast to some of the other characters who were maybe a bit more hesitant or brooding.”
In the Van Helsing series opener Help Me, three years have passed since “The Rising” of the vampires and eventual downfall of humankind. Behind the locked door of an abandoned hospital, a military officer, Axel Miller (Jonathan Scarfe), continues with his mission to stand guard over a comatose Vanessa Van Helsing (Kelly Overton), a descendant of the most famous vampire hunter of all time, and who holds the key to stopping the further spread of The Rising as well as possibly reversing its effects. Miller’s well-fortified sanctuary ends up hosting a small group of surprise guests, including Nicole, who beg for help when they are attacked by some hungry humans-turned-vamps. Naturally, Wandzura decided to enter into the whole spirit of the show in her original audition.
“A lot of Sci-Fi is filmed here in Vancouver, so it’s not unusual to be driving down the street and come across aliens, zombies, you name it,” she says. “There is also this sort of amped up sexiness that we sometimes associate with Sci-Fi, like girls in black leather, spandex or whatever. So on the day of my Van Helsing audition, I put on my best make-up, tight black leather pants and high heels. Of course, again, if you’ve seen the pilot, you know that my character’s wardrobe is the polar opposite. If I had known, I would have dressed down – really down. It’s funny, the perception you can have of a show before you know its tone. I was sure this was going to be like [the feature film franchise] Twilight, where everyone is super sexy, but that wasn’t true at all, which was kind of nice, because since we all pretty much look like hell in the show, there is no vanity.
“The first thing that impressed me about Van Helsing was the [creative] team that had been assembled and the passion with which all these people were fueling this project. I remember at the cast table read of the first script, the producers said a little something about why they were involved and that they were so appreciative to the actors for coming onboard to help tell this story. Again, you could tell this was a passion project, unlike some things where it sometimes feels more like it’s about the bottom line and how much they can make with a show. Everyone here was personally invested, and that trickled down throughout the entire experience. Simon Barry, the creator of Continuum, was one of the exec producers here, along with [Van Helsing creator] Neil LaBute. Who would have thought Neil LaBute, an American playwright, would ever be writing a vampire story, but he brought this dark, twisted element to the series, which ended up being such a great fit.
“When it comes to my first day of actual work on the show, I’ll never forget thinking, ‘Oh, my god, I’m going to meet Christopher Heyerdahl, who plays Sam. I didn’t know him or had ever worked with him, but I did watch him religiously on Hell on Wheels as The Swede. I remember telling my fiancé before I left for work that morning, ‘I’m going to meet The Swede today.’ I kept my cool, though, and to this day I don’t think Chris knows the level of my admiration for his work. Oh, I have to tell you, too, that when I was cast in the series, Nicole was supposed to be killed after the first episode. However, the producers changed their minds and I got to stay throughout the season, which I was pretty thrilled about.”
Although Nicole and the others are grateful to Axel for taking them in, their new living arrangements are hardly what you would call cozy. Along with watching over Vanessa, the military officer is also caring for his colleague/friend Doc (Rukiya Bernard), who was turned by the vampires during the early days of The Rising. These newcomers are not at all comfortable having her in such close proximity, but Doc is the least of their worries. Along with the vampires, our merry little band also has some big trust issues to deal with, and if they hope to survive, they must learn to overcome such handicaps. Despite her tough exterior, Nicole is not a one-dimensional pipe-wielding menace. Like those around her, she is an ordinary human being thrust into an extraordinary situation, which can bring out the worst in someone, but underneath that, she still has a heart.
“Initially our characters are experiencing a really heightened state of fear and, obviously, anxiety, which was one of the biggest acting challenges with this role,” explains Wandzura. “You might have been sitting in your trailer for three hours, and then you have to go to set and shoot a little 30 second scene where you have to get all amped up because the vampires are coming, So everyone is in a constant state of panic, but then throughout the first season some things happen – perhaps some losses – that cause Nicole to soften a bit. It was so cool to have that softer side introduced into her story by the writers, and I took it and ran with it.
“Nicole has a connection with another character named Cynthia, who’s played by Avery Konrad. She’s the youngest of the group, and Nicole adopts this big sister-type approach with her and sort of takes it upon herself to protect her. No one here has any family; they were left behind and either turned by the vampires or killed. Without their loved ones, these strangers/fellow refugees wind up forming relationships with each other. They’re starving for a connection with one another, but that tends to take a backseat when you’re in a life and death situation.
“Another of Nicole’s relationships I really enjoyed playing is the one she shares with John, who’s played by David Cubitt, one of the best people you’d ever want to work with. His Van Helsing character is not interested in having any fun. His wife was left on the outside and she’s probably dead. With Nicole and John, certain things are very much black and white as opposed to grey. I think they have a similar sense of how to survive, and you’re going to see some neat conspiring between the two of them.”
Does Wandzura have a favorite scene from Van Helsing’s first season? “We filmed in an old post office building that’s no longer serving as a post office, so it had that kind of derelict feel to it, which was neat,” she says. “We also shot a fair amount on roof tops, and there is this one scene where our characters are, if I remember correctly, looking down at some attacking vampires on the streets below.
“Amanda Tapping [Stargate franchise, Sanctuary] was directing this particular episode, which was a gift in itself. She’s such a pioneer for women in the Sci-Fi realm and has truly been blazing a trail for everyone. In Van Helsing, it’s supposed to be apocalypse time, which means intense, dark and dreaded. Just before the cameras began to role on this scene, the clouds above loomed over us and it started, not raining, but hailing. We carried on filming in that, and I actually have a picture of crew people pulling out umbrellas and trying to protect the actors’ hairdos. So the natural conditions lent themselves nicely to the apocalyptic feel that we were going for. Of course, I’m from Alberta, Canada, which has some pretty treacherous winters, and I’ve had to put up with a lot of hail in my life, so for me it was just another day, but a pretty awesome one.”
Along with a number of made-for-TV movies, the actress’ other small screen credits include Motive, Bluff, Backstrom, Mistresses and Rogue. She also had plenty of other genre experience under her proverbial belt going into Van Helsing, having guest-starred on such series as The Tomorrow People, The X-Files and most recently, the upcoming season two of The Magicians.
“The Tomorrow People was very much a straightforward character who delivered information to advance the story,” says Wandzura. “It was the type of role that I built my career on when I began acting in Vancouver. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I have a business degree [from the University of Calgary], but I have always been really good delivering a series of fancy sounding computer or technical lingo. Again, that has really served me well over the years in this sort of profession.
“With The X-Files, when I heard they were coming back to town, I knew everyone would want to be on the show, and I just lucked out that I got a part. It was pretty surreal to be on-set and see Gillian Anderson [FBI Special Agent Dana Scully] walk by, and everyone kept talking about how good David Duchovny [FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder] still looked, especially how good he looked in his jeans.
“As for The Magicians, which like Van Helsing is another Syfy show, all I can really say about it is that there is dancing involved. I’d never been paid to dance before, so in Van Helsing there will be blood, and in The Magicians there will be dancing.”
As Wandzura mentioned earlier, as an actor you sometimes spend much of your day waiting around to do your job. As boring as that might sound, it is, in fact, one of the things she enjoys most about her profession. “It’s always exciting when you step in front of the camera to shoot a scene and be able to connect with your fellow actors,” she says. “However, the time in-between filming scenes is also pretty rewarding because you get to make similar connections just sitting around as people. So for example, getting to work with the Van Helsing cast and crew was such a gift because they’re all such incredible people to be with. Years from now, I’ll probably have forgotten the details of the story we’re telling, but I always remember the good times that come from being part of a family of storytellers and getting to know them through the process of telling our story.”
Steve Eramo
Van Helsing premieres Friday, September 23rd @ 10:00 p.m. EST with a two-episode opening on Syfy (US). As noted above, photo by Dan Power and copyright of Helsing S1 Productions/Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
