SciFiAndTvTalk

Alice's Caterina Scorsone - Wonderland's Everywoman

The Syfy Channel's re-imagined Alice Hamilton (Caterina Scorsone). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

When she was a child, actress Caterina Scorsone read Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books, not knowing that one day she would not only be stepping into Wonderland, but also walking in Alice's shoes. However, in the Syfy Channel miniseries Alice, this iconic literary character is quite unlike the little blonde-haired girl who most of us are familiar with. For one thing, this Alice is a brunette. She is also a twentysomething martial arts instructor who very much has a mind of her own. While Alice may have grown up, she still retains elements of the original character, which Scorsone could not be more pleased about.

"In this production, Alice is the everywoman, just like in Lewis Carroll's original story," explains the actress during one of her days off from filming this past summer. "She is the eyes through which viewers get to observe this wonderful and strange world, and that can be Wonderland or the world in general. Alice is kind of the perspective for the audience on just how bewildering life can be. The character is a tough cookie in this version of Alice. It's a re-telling, so she's an adult and very self-sufficient in the beginning of the story and throughout. At the same time, Alice is vulnerable and there are a lot of areas that she has yet to explore within herself as well as Wonderland. And this place called Wonderland is where she, and the viewer, get to discover all those sorts of places that she is not comfortable with all of the time.

"This is kind of a new spin on the story, so it's very contemporary and brings elements of psychology into some of the whimsy and fantasy that Lewis Carroll set up in his books. In terms of acting, this has been one of the most satisfying projects I've ever worked on. There are a lot of procedural dramas on TV right now, and that's terrific and they have their place, but as far as personal stakes, they're not always as satisfying. It's great to solve a crime and it's very compelling and interesting and I love watching stories like that, but as an actor, it's the personal journeys that truly excite me. And in Alice, my character goes through such a transformation, more so than in any other project I've ever done. I've had the chance to play a tremendous range with her.

One tough cookie. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"She starts out pretty much emotionally closed, but by the end of the story, all her walls and defenses have been blasted away. It's been a joy to work with the other actors who have been cast. Everyone who comes to work is so professional and so well-prepared that you know anything emotionally challenging is going to be supported and played with and you're going to be given the time to do things right."

In Alice, we learn that at the age of 10, our heroine's father abandoned the family without warning or word, which led to Alice developing a stong distrust in men. Now, years later, she believes that she has met Mr. Right in her handsome new love, Jack, but, unfortunately, her old demons resurface and she sends him away after rejecting his proposal of marriage. However, when Jack is kidnapped, she follows him and his abductors through a mysterious portal and winds up in Wonderland. Once there, she is forced to put aside her doubts in the opposite sex and ask for help in order to find Jack.

"What's cool about playing Alice is that, again, being the eyes of the audience or the everywoman, she gets to interact with everyone because so much of the journey and the adventure is through her experience," says Scorsone. "Just like in the Lewis Carroll stories, she kind of walks through and meets all these fantastically colorful characters.

Jack (Philip Winchester) and Alice. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"Jack Chase [Philip Winchester] is the dashing young man who Alice opens the story with. He's her love interest right off the top, and then there's Hatter [Andrew-Lee Potts], who along with the White Knight [Matt Frewer] become my character's trusted companions. Hatter is with Alice throughout the entire story and together they have this journey of self-discovery. Everyone she encounters affects her in some way that is a significant part of her transformation. They impact her subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, and act as a catalyst for the change that is happening inside her as a woman."

Scorsone could not have asked for a better person to help guide her through her onscreen adventures than Alice writer/director Nick Willing. "Nick is an amazing director for so many reasons, one of which is that he's very interested in the rehearsal process," notes the actress. "He makes sure that you have a significant amount of time to rehearse in order to get to know the material as well as the people you're playing with.

"So before our first day of shooting, we had, I think, a week-and-a-half to two weeks of intense discussions and rehearsals at the hotel where we were all staying, and Nick's process is so neat. Usually you get together and everyone sits around a table and you do a read-through of the script and then start filming. What we did, though, was meet, discuss and rehearse, and only after we went through this really intense process did we sit around the table and do a read-through.

Alice ends up a stranger in a very strange place called Wonderland. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"By the time we got to set we were all very familiar with the material and had created trust with each other. So from day one the set has been a safe and creative place to play as well as explore and push the limits of what we thought we could do. Right from the start this has been a pretty magical situation to walk into, where you're surrounded by people who fully believe in this project and are excited about creating something of value. It's been one of the most consistently joyful sets I've been on. Nick has this incredible ability to keep it light and keep everyone laughing, and at the same time command the respect that you need to get through the really long days and lots of material. And what's nice, too, is that everyone here is experienced enough to appreciate that."

Although the actress and the rest of the Alice cast and crew has spent a great deal of time shooting inside on a soundstage, they have also ventured out quite a bit in and around Vancouver, a place that Scorsone admits to have fallen in love with. "I have this mad fantasy that I'm going to move here and have this beautiful life surrounded by mountains and water," she says.

"It's been so much fun working on-location. We were in Kamloops [British Columbia] for a while shooting in this abandoned sanatorium, and we also went to Golden Ears Provincial Park, which has a beautiful rainforest where the tress are so massive and it's so damp that they're completely covered in this lush, dripping moss. We were filming there at five in the morning and there was fog and mist everywhere. It was really quite surreal. There was mist on the water and you were outside of everything familiar to you and in this spectacular place that truly felt like Wonderland.

Alice finds a friend - and perhaps more - in Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"Then, of course, we're wearing these incredibly creative costumes and the set dec is unbelievable. So you have all these elements that are adding to the suspended reality that has been created here. It just makes everything so much fun and easy emotionally as well as creatively to enter this world that we're talking about here."

Obstetrician and violinist were among the career choices that Scorsone considered while growing up. Having acted since the age of eight, she stepped away from it a couple of times, including when she was 19 to go to university. While she was eventually drawn back to the business, Scorsone has no regrets about her brief respite from it.

"I needed to explore what other possibilities there were," says the actress. "And what's fortunate is that that exploration led me back to an appreciation of what I'd been doing. I think when you start acting as a child it's fun, but you haven't made an actual choice about it. You've inherited it, so I had to get away from it and really decide if art was something important to people. So I quit, went to school, got my bachelor's degree and after that came back into the business with a more mature perspective and have really been appreciating it ever since."

Ever get the feeling that you're all boxed in with nowhere to go; Alice sure does! Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

Having begun working on TV in the mid-90's, the actress has appeared in several made-for-TV movies as well as done guest-spots and recurring roles on such shows as Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, Power Play, Crash, The Guard and Castle. She also played the lead character, Jess Mastriani, for three seasons in her own series, Missing.

"When you're with a character for that long they become a part of you and you get close to them and feel protective of them," says Scorsone. "Also, working on that show was a huge learning experience for me. With series TV you're there every day and all day, it's long hours and you're surrounded by a tight-knit family of, in my case, 85. So as a professional, you're learning a number of skills in terms of your acting as well as technical skills such as the camera, lighting and all the other things you need in your 'tool bag.'

"You're also learning how to ration yourself energetically along with emotionally and how to work well with others when everyone is tired and hasn't seen their families for a while and it's crunch time because you've got to get the episode done in 14 hours. So doing that series was definitely significant for me, creatively and in terms of my work ethic as well as professionalism and coming to understand the significance of every single crew member's job on the set, and only together can we make this amazing thing happen."

On the big screen, Scorsone's credits include Borderline Normal, The Devil's Arithmetic, The Third Miracle and the upcoming political thriller Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson, Danny Huston and Ray Winstone. "I can't say too much about the story because I don't want to spoil it," teases the actress. "But I can tell you that I loved working with Martin Campbell, who's a fantastic British director. My role is a really cool one, too, and I have a South Boston accent in the movie, which was a fun challenge for me to do."

While she might work in an industry that is based on make-believe, it is very much the down-to-earth aspects that make an acting career rewarding for Scorsone. "When you first come onto a project it's like the Land of the Misfit Toys, where you meet everyone at base camp and it's all these people who never saw themselves working a traditional 9 to 5 job," she muses. "For whatever reason, we were all attracted to this nomadic-like, caravan lifestyle where the stories and the challenges are always changing.

"Everyone is willing to live in this kind of uncertain way where you go from job to job and don't know what tomorrow will bring. There's a heart to it as well as a tenacity and a courage that tends to inspire on every project. You get to witness these moments of fantastic humanity at 3 in the morning when it's freezing cold and everyone is trying to get the shot. There's a support that everyone throws into the ring for one another when you're in these unusual situations, and it's a privilege to be part of such a team."

See the conclusion of Alice tonight, Monday, December 7th, from 9:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Alice's Matt Frewer - Father Figure

Matt Frewer as The White Knight in Alice. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

From Sci-Fi time traveller to a digitally enhanced artificial intelligence and even Sherlock Holmes, actor Matt Frewer has over the years brought these and many other characters to life in theaters as well as feature films and on TV. There is one role, though, he once longed to play but never had the chance to do so. And it was a role that would have taken him in a totally different direction as far as his professional life.

"I always wanted to be a pro hockey player,' says Frewer. "However,  at one point I realized I wasn't going to be good enough, and if I was good enough, I would probably end up with no teeth, playing on a semi-pro team and talking with a French accent for no apparent reason," he jokes. "When I finished high school I was all set to do an honors degree course in biology, but I backed out of that at the last minute when my drama teacher said to me, 'You'd get a lot more girls with acting.' Well, I was sold," laughs the actor. "I'm happy to say I have no regrets. I love doing what I'm doing and would do it for free. Don't tell anyone that, but I would, really."

Last night, Frewer made his debut as The White Knight in Alice, the Syfy Channel's take on the classic children's story Alice in Wonderland. The image conjured up in most peoples' minds when they think of his character is one of a noble warrior dressed in shining armor, carrying a lance and riding into battle on a mighty stallion. In this case there is the armor as well as a sword and even a horse, but the medieval melange that is Frewer's character is far more than just a familiar stereotype.

"The While Knight is kind of a cross between Baron Von Munchhausen, The Cowardly Lion and Don Quixote," explains the actor, taking a break during filming last summer in Vancouver. "The idea for Alice sounded intriguing to me, and then I was completely sold on it when I read the script. The story, which is absolutely delightful, was written by Nick Willing, who's also our director, and he has come up with some amazing characters.

"I have to say that this role has sort of fit me like a glove, so it hasn't been much of a stretch to play. We've got this wonderful Salvador Dali-type beard and mustache that I wear, and that's been a bit of a challenge, especially when it's hot out because the glue starts to come loose. So there's that business of people futzing with you right up until the moment that the cameras start rolling. You being to feel like a Christmas tree being continually dressed," jokes Frewer, "but other than that the character has been a joy to play.

Our hero enjoys a laugh! Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"The White Knight has a huge heart, but he's a bit mad, you know? He's nuts and he's noble, but he also has a big secret, so what he shows to the world is not necessarily who he is. And happily with Nick's version of the White Knight, my character is able to reveal who he really is during a scene with Alice [Caterina Scorsone], and that was tremendous fun to play on many, many levels."

In Alice, the White Knight crosses paths with Alice Hamilton when she comes to Wonderland to search for her lover, Jack Chase (Philip Winchester), who has been brought there against his will. He joins the Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts) in helping Alice find Jack, and in the process, the three of them also risk their lives to help oust Wonderland's ruler, The Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates) and break her stranglehold on the kingdom.

"The two characters that the White Knight relates to almost solely in the story are Alice and Hatter," says Frewer. "He comes cross Jack in a couple of scenes, but most of my onscreen time is spent with Caterina and Andrew. There is kind of a begrudging friendship and respect for one another that evolves between my character and Hatter. And with Alice, I think the White Knight is more or less a temporary Wonderland father while she's there.

"He is somewhat mesmerized by her because in his eyes, she's Alice of legend. She's the Alice who he has heard of and who was written about, and he will do anything for her. The White Knight really is her protector, and as inept as he is, he does his best. Again, this is such an incredible role, and, I think, probably the best role I've had since Sherlock Holmes. There are very few iconic characters that come along and that you get a chance to play, and the White Knight is definitely one of them."

An unstoppable team - The White Knight, Alice (Caterina Scorsone) and Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

What were some of the challenges the actor found working in his White Knight attire? "The first day of work on any new job is usually pretty chaotic, and in this case it was particularly so for me because they had only just begun to put my costume together," he recalls. "It included a huge breastplate, chain mail and all the various other accouterments that a knight would wear. The breastplate was cumbersome to say the least. We ended up calling it the Volkswagen," chuckles Frewer. "I then began to realize how hot it was going to be lugging this thing around, especially on-location, because it's basically like being cooked in your own soup can.

"So getting all that together is my not-so-fond memory of my first day on the job, but it was still fun, and continues to be. The thing is, a lot of the stuff I thought I'd be able to [physically] do as the White Knight has been somewhat restricted by my outfit, so I've ended up, I guess, channeling any restrictions into the fact that my character is an older guy. He is supposed to be in his 60's and slightly crazy, and that 'madness' has come from spending too much time on his own. So we actually found other aspects of his personality to highlight as a result of wearing the armor, and that's been great.

"Again, this has been fun. Typically on these sorts of productions, the work stops and everyone has a laugh, and probably my favorite memory of working on this as a whole is that the laughing has never stopped. We're always having a good time and hopefully that translates to the audience."   Frewer credits the show's cast and crew, in particular, Nick Willing, with making Alice such a positive experience for him. "Nick is a real visionary," says the actor. "He's a little bit like the White Knight in that he's slightly 'mad,' but in a wonderful way, as well as a very warm, gentle, kind and witty guy. That is all an added bonus on top of the fact that he is also a huge talent. You don't often find that combination.

Ready to take on anything - the White Knight and Hatter. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"Andrew and Caterina are a blast as well to work with. Caterina is a real find for Alice. She's so much like her character and is an open book. Caterina is, I think, one of those actresses who has such an immediacy onscreen. Whatever scene she's in, she's right there and reacts to it immediately. And like I said, her face is an open book, and she's an extremely tender, sensitive soul and isn't afraid to show that. Caterina also has this kind of tough curiosity about her. Such a combination is perfect for Alice, and I think she has knocked the whole thing out of the park.

"As for Andrew, he's terrific, too. He's from the north country in England, a place called Bradford, and he has sort of a tough guy swagger, but he's very sweet as well. I think the girls are going to love him as Hatter. Andrew has this fantastic onscreen chemistry with Caterina, and hopefully audiences will go with that and be rooting for their characters to end up together.

"There are very few projects where, when you start talking about them, you feel genuinely supportive of them, and this is one of those times. I think Alice is going to do great and I have really high hopes for it."

Born in Washington, D.C., Frewer trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and graduated from its three-year acting course in 1980. One of his very first roles was in the 1983 film Monty Python's Meaning of Life. "There was a piece before the main film called The Crimson Permanent Assurance and it was sort of a pirate spoof where a group of young office workers were defending their building against a group of older ones," says the actor.

"The older office workers would pull up alongside what looked like a Spanish galleon, swing through the windows and take on all the young office workers. One of the older pirate guys corners my character by a window, I yell, 'S**t!' and jump out the window. That was my first professional experience in front of the camera. All I can say is thank God for all that classical training," he jokes.

The White Knight, dressed for action. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

A few years later, the actor became a familiar face, of sorts, around the world with his portrayal of a fictional British artificial intelligence in the TV series Max Headroom. "That was kind of a short sharp shock," notes Frewer. "Originally, Max was meant to be this computer-generated man/video disc jockey and we perpetuated that 'ruse.' Then we realized the only way we'd be able to achieve the look and effect of such a character was to put someone in rubber make-up, and that guy ended up being me.

"Max Headroom started out in England [in a music video program] and then evolved into a talk show. Coca-Cola then picked it up and I did a bunch of TV commercials for [director] Ridley Scott. That then convinced ABC TV [in the States] to feature Max in an adventure series. At the same time, I was doing a Cinemax [cable] talk show along with various other ancillary things as Max. Long way around, what I meant by a short sharp shock is that from beginning to end, the whole Max thing really didn't last much longer than three years. But Max made the cover of Newsweek, and it was great for me because it meant I was able to arrive in Los Angeles as an actor without having to pound the pavement. I was playing a double-lead in a very high-profile show for ABC, and even though it only lasted for 12 episodes, it was a wonderful introduction to Los Angeles for me."

Besides his work on Max Headroom, Frewer has guest-starred on such shows as Robin of Sherwood, Miami Vice, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Outer Limits and Intelligence. He also had a regular role as Matt Praeger in Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, and currently plays the recurring character of Jim Taggart in the Syfy Channel series Eureka.

Frewer as Jim Taggart in Eureka. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"Again, some lovely people to work with on Eureka and a fun show to do," says the actor. "My character only dips in and out every few episodes. He's sort of a weirdo who lives in the woods, and I think whenever he comes to town, by sheer virtue of the fact that he is the weirdo who lives in the woods, the story sort of has to be about him. Jim is an Australian dog-catcher - I mean, you can't beat that for weirdness - but he calls himself a biological containment engineer. He's a nature boy, too, and tends to run naked through the woods a lot," he says with a laugh,"so needless to say I have a ball when I do work on the show."

On the big screen, the actor's credits include The Fourth Protocol, Far From Home, Going The Distance, Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen, playing former super-villain Edgar William Jacob/Moloch the Mystic. "The first scene I shot on that was in a cemetary and I just remember being overwhelmed by the number of crew," notes Frewer. "You suddenly realize that you're part of a big-budget movie and being directed by Zack Synder. He's a lot like Nick Willing in that he has endless positive energy and keeps his crew driven and wanting to perform for him. Zack is one of those rare leaders who has the power but also the wisdom not to wield it. He's a really amazing guy and I had a ball working with him."

The goal of most actors is to be able to practice their craft in as wide a range of projects as possible, and for Frewer, the wider the better. "I think the measure of success for an actor is that you can be on your deathbed - which hopefully comes later rather than sooner - and look back over your career and say that you did plenty of diverse and interesting things, as opposed to how much [money] you took to your grave," he muses. "After all, what are you going to do? Get a more expensive lining for your coffin.

"I was trained as an actor to do lots of different things, and that's what makes this [acting] such a joy for me. You can only hope to be lucky enough to go from doing a heavy drama to something light and comedic and then something totally different from the two. It also helps to be facile and quicksilver-ish enough to be able to slip easily from one role to the next and not pigeonhole yourself because so many people are willing to do it for you."

The concluding two hours of Alice airs tonight, Monday, December 7th starting at 9:00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all Alice photos by James Dittiger and all photos copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Alice ' s Zak Santiago - In The Cards

[caption id="attachment_4767" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Actor Zak Santiago. Photo by Mitchell Parsons and courtesy of Zak Santiago and The Promotion People"][/caption] In the Syfy Channel's Alice, the title character goes through the looking glass and ends up in a world filled with quirky and colorful characters. Just like the Lewis Carroll books on which this miniseries is based, Wonderland is ruled over with an iron fist by The Queen of Hearts, an ill-tempered monarch who, for some reason, has it in for Alice. Eager to meet our heroine in-person, The Queen dispatches two of her most trusted minions to bring Alice to her. Enter the 10 of Clubs, played by Zak Santiago.  "My character is kind of a righthand man for The Queen of Hearts [Kathy Bates], and in this story he's rolling with Mad March [Geoff Redknap]," explains Santiago during a break in production. "They are sent to find and capture Alice [Caterina Scorsone] and bring her to The Queen, who wants this very special ring [The Stone of Wonderland] that Alice was given. Mad March and 10 of Clubs are bounty hunters, so they possess a sort of severe coldness, but because there is such a humor in [director] Nick Willing's writing, they're almost like Laurel and Hardy. Here are these two deadly villains who aren't so much bumbling, but who don't really understand one another.  "The Mad March can be described as this reconstructed, almost half-robotic assassin, and my character, the 10 of Clubs, is usually the one in charge of this type of operation. However, when Mad March is brought back to life, I have to bow to him a little bit, and this guy is really cold. So 10 of Clubs is trying to be ruthless, while at the same time trying to develop a relationship with this machine-like assassin. And the thing is, 10 of Clubs is usually a tough guy, but there are other times where he'll show his cowardice.  "As an actor, the trick is to find these comedic levels with your character without being too campy, and to be part of this fantasy world without descending into caricature. You don't want to be false; you have to be 100% committed, even if the situation gets ridiculous at times. That's one of the hurdles, though, with this type of storytelling. It may be a children's story, but adults are going to watch it, too, and there's dark humor in it. So it's much more difficult to play as opposed to a broad farce, sitcom or straightforward children's show. So that's a challenge, but a good one, and my character has definitely been fun for me to play."  [caption id="attachment_4768" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The 10 of Clubs (Santiago) in the Syfy Channel's Alice. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel"][/caption] Santiago had just returned to Vancouver from Los Angeles when he was sent the [audition] sides for Alice. As soon as he read them, he could not wait to try out for the 10 of Clubs role. "I was excited for a number of reasons," says the actor. "When I was a kid, I read The Lord of the Rings series of books long before I thought they would be made into films. I also read C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and played Dungeons and Dragons and Middle Earth. I loved the idea of fantasy as well as legends and mythology and all that kind of stuff. And Alice is one of those stories you read as a kid and that just opened up your imagination.  "I think I'm from one of the last generations of kids who didn't learn on computers in school. There wasn't an Internet, either, and we didn't have cable TV, video games or a VCR. So everything existed in these books and what you could draw, paint, write, create or otherwise imagine for yourself after having read them. So Alice ties into that part of my childhood. I've always been drawn to otherworldly sorts of things, so I was thrilled to find out that I had a shot at helping tell this type of story.  "Once I booked the job and before filming actually started, I found out a little more about [the production company] Reunion Pictures as well as Nick Willing and the legacy that he brings with him, which includes his work on [the 2007 Syfy Channel miniseries] Tin Man. Then there were the sets as well as the costumes - we have an Academy Award-winning costume designer [Angus Strathie] working on Alice - and, of course, the rest of the actors who had been cast. I began to get even more excited because I realized with Nick's vision, and once I'd read the script, that this was going to be incredible."  The actor's first day of work on Alice was on-location in Kamloops, British Columbia. "I had never been there before and the set they built was very surreal," he says. "We also shot in downtown Vancouver and all over the lower mainland, but most of the filming has been at our main studio here in Aldergrove, which is about an hour-and-a-half outside of Vancouver and in the suburbs. This is where the throne room set is along with the casino set as well as where all the green screen work is done.  [caption id="attachment_4771" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Putting his imagination to good use, Santiago enthusiastically took on the role of the 10 of Clubs in Alice. Photo by Mitchell Parsons and courtesy of Zak Santiago and The Promotion People"][/caption] "Kamloops was my first time being on-set and putting on my character's costume and the make-up. The 10 of Clubs wears this long, pointy goatee-type beard, so that's been a bit of work for the make-up women, all of whom do a fantastic job of fashioning the beard and gluing it on me every day. It's meant a bit more time for me in the make-up chair, but otherwise the rest of my make-up is fairly standard. As for my costume, I wear an Italian suit with amazing woolen cloaks as well as bowler hats and 10 of Clubs headpieces, so I feel pretty regal. It's almost like playing a cardinal or a cross between one of Emperor Palpatine's men in Star Wars and some sort of evil lawyer," jokes the actor.  While the 10 of Clubs starts out working for the bad guys, his allegiances begin to shift as his eyes are slowly opened to who his so-called rulers truly are. "First off, I have to say that it has been incredible working with Kathy Bates and Colm Meaney who plays The King of Hearts, both of whom I'm a fan of," says Santiago. "My character's relationship with The Queen and King is one of fear and super-reverence. However, as things spiral out of control for them, The 10 of Clubs gets to see a weaker or less regal side of both of them, and it reaches the point where he turns his back on these two monarchs.  "So that relationship basically disintegrates over the four hours of our story, but with Alice, it's very much the opposite. She's one of the good guys, and the 10 of Clubs eventually comes over to her side and ends up watching her back along with that of the Hatter[Andrew-Lee Potts] and The White Knight [Matt Frewer]. He's not a turncoat, but rather the ultimate revolutionary. My character helps the campaign to overturn the despot, tyrannical ruler.  "Again, my main challenge with the 10 of Clubs has been making sure I really believe in what he's saying and doing, otherwise it's going to be hard for people to take him seriously because he's a pretty eccentric guy. What's great, though, is that acting-wise everything has just been so clear to me because the scenes and dialogue all make sense and everyone in this cast is so talented and committed to the script. I've worked on a lot of projects and, honestly, this one has been almost a no-brainer.  [caption id="attachment_4772" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Actor, writer, musician, dancer and more - Santiago is a modern-day renaissance man. Photo by Mitchell Parsons and courtesy of Zak Santiago and The Promotion People"][/caption] "Another huge plus has been Nick Willing, who is an actor's director. He's so specific about his vision and I can tell that he's a real fan of the fantasy genre, too. We've been working some really long days, and it's been hot and you've got something like 150 people in crazy outfits and all this other stuff going on, and yet Nick still finds a way to be true to this vision, you know? He doesn't sacrifice anything because of time. Nick makes certain that he gets all the shots and is always funny and cracking jokes. There are some directors you work with who are craftsmen and are good because they make the day and keep to the schedule. When you're doing episodic TV there's so much you've got to get done and they know how to bang things out. But Nick is a true artist and this has been one of the best ever experiences I've had with a director. There are only two more days of work for me and I'm going to be sad when this [shoot] is over."  Having boxed for several years, Santiago reached a point in his life a while back where he felt a career change was necessary and decided to give acting a try. "When I was still boxing, I ran into a fighter friend of mine one day and asked him what he was doing in this part of town," he recalls. "My friend told me, 'I'm going on an audition.' I asked him, 'For what?' and he said acting.  "Years later I went back to that exact same part of town and looked at every doorway on that side of the street until I saw one marked 'acting studio.' I took a class and liked it. I eventually got an agent and slowly began chipping away at it [an acting career]. I've always been an artist, though. I danced when I was younger and still do, and I've also been a musician my entire life. But I never thought I would ever be an actor. It's either my curse or my luck," jokes the actor, "but I'm still doing it, so I guess it's a good thing."  Santiago made his TV debut in an episode of Poltergeist: The Legacy and has since appeared in several made-for-TV movies as well as guest-starred on dozens of shows such as Da Vinci's Inquest, The L Word, The 4400, Smallville and Eureka. He was also a series regular on Young Blades and the Canadian comedy series Robson Arms.  [caption id="attachment_4775" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Santiago as Hal Garcia in Robson Arms. Photo copyright of CTV"][/caption] "Young Blades was great fun," enthuses the actor. "It was a sword and sorcery/period-type piece with wizard characters and other fantastical elements. I played a musketeer and got to ride horses and fight with swords. Having boxed, I like anything physical and with lots of movement, so that was terrific. I also got to write for the show. My character [Ramon Montalvo Francisco de la Cruz] was a Spaniard and a poet as well as a lover of food and wine, a lover of women and a lover of words. And as it turned out, I wrote a sort of soliloquy for my character for each episode. It was like a monologue in poetry that he read at the end of the episode that encapsulated the events of that particular story.  "That show was a challenge because, again, it was a period piece and an action piece, but it was fairly low-budget as well. Those types of programs are hard to do unless you have the money because of the lavish costumes along with the castles and other things of that nature. It takes a lot to string everything together, so we all worked really hard and I'm still good friends with the cast. It was a wonderful time in my life.  "Robson Arms was even more of a low-budget program, and a neat one, too. Everyone did it out of love, and some of my best friends were my castmates on that show. As a young filmmaker I enjoyed it because it was such an amazing training ground for new directors. There was an incentive to hire first-time directors as well as young writers on that show, so it was exciting to be a part of. The producers had a great deal of heart, and, man, oh, man, was the show funny."  Santiago can be seen in upcoming episodes of the Syfy Channel series Caprica, and only a few weeks ago the actor guest-starred in the Stargate Universe episode Time. "Years ago I did a Stargate SG-1 [Evolution]; my friend Peter DeLuise directed that and he then ended up being one of my castmates for a season on Robson Arms," notes Santiago.  [caption id="attachment_4776" align="aligncenter" width="203" caption="Hal (Santiago) takes charge of a slippery situation in Robson Arms. Photo copyright of CTV"][/caption] "Another good friend of mine, James Bamford, who was the stunt coordinator on Stargate Atlantis and now Universe, had been trying to get me on Atlantis as a Wraith or to do some stunt work, so it was cool when I got to play a Marine [Corporal Rivers] on Universe. I got to kiss a really pretty girl as well, and that's always fun when you're acting. I was told that my character could be recurring; we're all on this ship and I haven't been killed off yet, so I'm hoping to come back and develop my character a little more because I really had a ball in the short time I was there."  From listening to Santiago speak it is obvious that he is a people person, and for him, that is a big part of what makes his job so enjoyable. "I'm so grateful for all the friends and relationships I've made, and the collaboration," he says. "In this business you've really got to look at it as a whole bunch of people working really hard to come up with something that's worthwhile. However, when any one of us forgets that we're just a piece of the puzzle, that's when you start to look at this as being something different. So as long as you keep in mind that you're part of a team, then you'll come away with these relationships and friends along with work that you're proud of."  The first two hours of Alice airs Sunday, December 6th from 9:00-11:-00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel and concludes Monday, December 7th @ 9:oo p.m. EST. For more information on Zak please check out www.zaksantiago.com  Steve Eramo  As noted above, some photos by Mitchell Parsons and courtesy of Zak Santiago and The Promotion People as well as copyright of The Syfy Channel or CTV, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Alice's Andrew-Lee Potts - Hat Trick

Andrew-Lee Potts as Hatter in Alice. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

When you are in a strange place it helps to make friends, and not many places are stranger than the setting for the new Syfy Channel miniseries Alice. Innocent people from our world are being taken and brought to a parallel universe known as Wonderland. Once there, their memories are forcibly erased and they become prisoners in a casino where people never lose. The resulting emotional "high" helps sustain Wonderland's residents, most importantly its ruler, The Queen of Hearts, and her husband, The King of Hearts.

When Alice Hamilton arrives there in search of her kidnapped fiance Jack, she turns to come of the locals for help, including a slightly shady character called Hatter. Having not long finished his third season battling dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures as Connor Temple in the hit British TV series Primeval, actor Andrew-Lee Potts was excited about the idea of a potential trip across the pond to work in Wonderland and play Hatter.

"When I first got a call from my agent to go in and read for Alice I thought, 'Oh, wicked! That sounds fantastic and right up my alley," enthuses Potts. "Then I found out that it was for the character of the Hatter, and straightaway everything felt right for me, and even more so when I eventually received the script and discovered it was written using the type of humor that I often use in my work.

"So I taped my audition with the British casting director and I just did my thing. [Director/writer] Nick Willing wasn't there in the room; it was just me and the casting director. And sometimes with that type of situation, especially when you're doing overseas casting, things can get lost in the translation - i.e. how you should be playing the part.

Alice (Caterina Scorsone) and Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts). Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"And it's funny because I went into the audition and played the role as I thought it appeared to me, and was more sarcastically comedic as well as a bit eccentric. Hatter is a hero of sorts in the story, and the casting lady suggested, 'Maybe you should try being a little more sexy?' and I [jokingly] said to her, 'What do you mean? Am I not being sexy?' So I tried that, and later on when I met Nick, he told me, 'Your first reading of the role was perfect, but then you did something really strange and went all serious.' So although I'm glad I did it both ways so that he could see either interpretation, I'm really pleased that my initial take was what Nick was looking for and that I eventually got the job."

A week after Potts received word that he had been cast, he was on his way to Vancouver, British Columbia to start shooting Alice. "We actually had a few days rehearsal before filming began, and that was really interesting for me," recalls the actor. "I haven't done that many plays and things of that nature, so I've tended not to rehearse a lot of the parts I've played in the past. I like to keep my performance as fresh as possible because I never quite know what I'm going to do with the material. That's something I began doing during Primeval, and as a result they [the producers] allowed me to be a lot freer with the dialogue and to try, I suppose, to get the humour and keep things really lively.

"On my first day of work on Alice, I actually shot my final scene as Hatter, and then went on to do my first scene, which was something like seven or eight pages long. It was just me being the Hatter in his teashop, so I had to gt into the swing of things straightaway. I was a bit nervous, but at the same time really excited. I was playing the character the way I wanted to, and it was a relief to see that Nick looked happy when he came out from behind the monitor after the first few takes

"I suppose as an actor you always think, 'I hope I'm doing the right thing and they're not going to recast me.' I remember we started out filming in this abandoned mental institution up in Kamloops. It was hot and the Hatter wears a leather jacket throughout the whole story. Being British, I'm not used to the heat," he says with a chuckle, "but I survived and it was a lot of fun. Both Nick and I hit the ground running with the character and we carried on having a good time with it."

A brief moment of respite for Hatter. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

In this telling of Alice, the Hatter is part of a resistence force led by Dodo (Tim Curry) and The White Knight (Matt Frewer), whose goal is to overthrow the Queen's (Kathy Bates) tyrannical reign. While eager to take on his character's re-imagined role, Potts also wanted to imbue his performance with some of The Mad Hatter's original personality.

"In the back of your mind you've got the original story where you know The Mad Hatter as being eccentric, crazy and all that kind of stuff," explains the actor. "However, in Alice, we don't have The Mad Hatter, we have the Mad March [Geoff Redknap], who was originally The [Mad] March Hare. So my character is supposed to be the sane one, but what I tried to do the first time you see the Hatter is go with a little bit of his eccentricity because I thought that might be enjoyable to the audience.

"We tip our hat to every single character in Alice in Wonderland. With Hatter I wanted to keep an element of fun and spontaneity of the original. You never quite know what's going on with him. Sometimes he goes really fast and other times he slows down and tries to take control. The first time Hatter meets Alice [Caterina Scorsone] it's an assault of information on her, and from there he tries to take control. He's a hustler and a very conniving one, and I wanted to play him slightly dangerous at the start as well. We have no idea what Hatter is capable of, and as the story unfolds, he does things that constantly surprise you.

"At one point I had to do a hat trick, so I had to have a lesson and learn a bunch of tricks. That was cool, but, unfortunately, the hat I wore was really lightweight and the guy who came in to teach me the tricks was struggling because of that. They usually use a weighted hat, so I had to try to work around that. My character uses his hat as a bit of a distraction tool, especially in fight situations, which was quite fun and interesting. I'm quite handy with my fists in this, as opposed to Connor in Primeval, who couldn't throw a punch to save his life, but Hatter is the complete opposite.

The Hatter and Alice discover their budding friendship. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"The stunts were neat to do, too, and quite challenging as well because I did nearly everything myself. That included learning how to ride a horse, which I had never done before. I'd never even sat on a horse before. So I went to horse training, which was brilliant. I loved galloping as fast as I could on top of a ridge in the middle of nowhere and thinking, 'I hope I can stop,'" he says with a laugh.

Although Hatter's relationship with Alice starts out as a purely selfish one, it becomes more of a friendship as the story unfolds. "In the beginning, he sees her as a money-making tool," says Potts. "Alice is initially useful to the Hatter in very different ways to the ways that she's useful to him at the end. I think my character finds her absolutely fascinating because she is very headstrong and sure of herself. Even though she's been flung into this incredibly strange world of Wonderland, where the things she sees would instantly blow away most peoples' minds, she manages to keep her feet on the ground and continue searching for what she's come to Wonderland for.

"Again, Hatter finds that attractive in a way, but I don't think he understands exactly why. Like I said, he's a player. He's used to having many women in his life, but not really connecting with any of them. In a weird kind of way, his and Alice's heads work in a very similar fashion. They're equally matched intelligence-wise, which furthers his challenges with her, and they spend a great deal of their time arguing, which leads to some very amusing situations for us to play. Alice has a lot of trust issues and she finds it incredibly hard to trust anybody. At the start, I don't think anyone would trust Hatter, and that's something else I tried to explore with the character. I wanted to make the audience go, 'He's just plain mean,' and that's the fun with Hatter. You're supposed to expect the unexpected with how I played him."

Potts relished the opportunity to work with Nick Willing in developing the many levels of the Hatter that viewers are introduced to. "One of the brilliant things about Nick is that, yes, he has his own ideas, but he doesn't trap you inside them," notes the actor. "He likes to throw everything up in the air and see where it lands. I always feel that that's what makes a better show. Going back to Primeval, I think one of the reasons why my character worked so well is that the producers had the same way of working as Nick does. Connor was supposed to be your typical nerd who liked Star Wars and that sort of thing. He's quite cliché in the original script, but then we did something completely different with him, which was to make him eccentric and more of an accidental hero as well.

Hatter and Alice try to talk themselves out of a tight spot. Photo copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"So they were very open-minded in Alice with how I delivered a lot of the dialogue, and also with making it suit my voice as well, being that I have such a strong Northern accent. At first they wanted an English accent, but Nick said he really liked the Yorkshire in my voice, and also up in the north of England we always enjoy a cup of tea, so it's kind of fitting that my character should run a teashop. I love that the first time we see the Hatter, he's drinking a cup of tea. I'm so pleased with the way he's been written. You don't expect Hatter to be such a strong force in the story. I know it's Alice's journey, but she catapults him into his own journey as well within hers.

"Hatter has been living in Wonderland for years, unhappy with his life as well as with the system and the way things were going. He had a lot of resentment built up towards the Resistence and the Queen's side of things. So he'd kind of been living in a no-man's land until Alice came into his life. She opens my character's eyes and suddenly Hatter has something to fight for, a girl, and he doesn't even realize it, which is lovely. Hatter is a little slow on the uptake with things like that," he jokes. "He thinks he's fighting for himself. Up to this point, Hatter has lived his life very selfishly. One of his lines is something like, 'I've lived life playing both sides of the court and trying to keep everyone happy.' But in this story he actually does good by himself and Alice, which is terrific."

While there is no sign of prehistoric wildlife in Alice, Potts feels that his work on Primeval was excellent preparation for this project. "Having done a big CGI [computer-generated image] show, I actually feel qualified for the first time in my life," says the actor. "I thought, 'This is easy. I've been doing this for the past three years. I can run away from these monsters.' So that was a blast but in a different way because it's less about monsters in Alice and more about the CGI world that we're in. There are a lot of extended CGI sets, which was something I wasn't used to, and far more green screen work, too. We didn't do much green screen on Primeval.

"So every day has been fascinating and I feel extremely fortunate to have been given this role. I felt ready for it as well, though, if that makes any sense, and I don't know if I would have had the same confidence before Primeval. A lot of the stuff I'd previously done were one-off films and projects like that where you only have a short period of time with a character. With a TV series, though, when it progresses, you have the chance to explore all these different angles of your character. And during the four hours on Alice, Hatter shows every side of himself and way of behaving. So hopefully playing Connor on Primeval has helped me in portraying Hatter."

The first two hours of Alice airs Sunday, December 6th from 9:00-11:-00 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel and concludes Monday, December 7th @ 9:oo p.m.

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all photos copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Primeval ' s Andrew-Lee Potts - Boy Genius

[caption id="attachment_4096" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Andrew-Lee Potts as Primeval's boy genius, Connor Temple. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] Unless you're a psychic or have some other way of seeing into the future, you have no idea what it may hold, and that is especially true for actors. A few years ago, Andrew-Lee Potts was experiencing a bit of a lull in acting work, and in-between auditions was pouring all his energy into making a short film of his own as well as developing a feature film project with a friend. "It was about vampires living on a council estate, and way before Twilight and all that sort of stuff," says the actor. "I should have gone ahead and done it; it could have been a big hit." The actor spent an entire weekend shooting his short film, and on the following Monday morning he had an audition for the role of Connor Temple in a brand new TV series called Primeval. "I went in and shot out words at about a thousand miles an hour," he recalls. "I told loads of jokes and was just excited about my film, so much so that I wasn't even really paying attention to what audition I was doing. In the character breakdown, Connor was described as being a real geek, but he's a genius, too. I thought, 'They're not going to buy that from me. I don't sound like a genius.' "So I kind of figured it wouldn't work out, but apparently my excitement for my film and the energy to do what I was talking about impressed them. They [the producers] got in touch after the audition and said, 'We really liked Andrew's energy and enthusiasm, but we didn't believe a word he said about the dinosaurs.' I couldn't even pronounce any of the dinosaurs' names. I hadn't done any research because I didn't think I'd get the part. [caption id="attachment_4098" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Just another day on the job for Connor. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "Thank God I was energetic on that audition because that's why they brought me back. Obviously, once I knew they were interested in me, I knuckled down, did my homework and learnt how to properly pronounce the names of the dinosaurs. I went back for a second audition and got the job. At the time, though, we had no idea how big the series was going to be. I didn't even know it was for primetime Saturday night. They didn't tell us that. So I was reading the first script and thinking, 'They can't pull these effects off on British TV.' Doctor Who had just come out and they were trying their [visual] effects, but nothing like this. "Then, however, we found out that Primeval was being made by the same people who did [the BBC documentary miniseries] Walking With Dinosaurs and all the CGI [computer-generated image] dinosaurs. We [the cast] were then taken to Framestore, the company that does the visual effects for the Harry Potter films. They showed us a rough video of what our show was going to look like, and the five of us came out of there so excited and saying, 'This is going to be wicked!'" In Primeval, evolutionary zoologist Professor Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) is recruited by the British government to investigate the appearance of anomalies, rips in time that are allowing creatures from the past as well as future to roam in our modern world. Operating out of the ARC (Anomaly Research Centre), his team consists of Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt), a zoologist and reptile expert, Stephen Hart (James Murray), Cutter's lab technician and "bodyguard," and Connor Temple, one of Cutter's paleontology students at Central Metropolitan University. Besides locating these anomalies and trying to figure out how to close them down, Cutter's team must also contain any creatures that come through into our world. Despite being experts in their respective fields, wrangling dinosaurs took some getting used to, and the same was true for the show's cast. [caption id="attachment_4099" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The season one Primeval team (l to r) - Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt), Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts), Dr. Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall), Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown), Stephen Hart (James Murray) and Captain Ryan (Mark Wakeling). Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "None of us had ever done CGI before, so we all felt a little bit out of our depth," explains Potts. "We thought, 'What if we're laughed off the screen? What if people hate us?' At first, we were all looking in different directions when it came to doing the CGI. The thing is, though, even though the [visual effects] guys had done CGI before, they had only done documentaries. They hadn't done stuff with actors mixing with the CGI, so it was new to them as well. We were all learning together, and starting out, we had a traffic cone on a stick with a face drawn on it and someone yelling, 'Roar!' That was supposed to represent our dinosaur or whatever. Of course, we were all laughing and thought, 'This is ridiculous.' "Over time, though, this became second nature to us. We didn't realize just how comfortable we were getting with it, and when we came back for our second season, there were new actors who came onto the show and were petrified. They didn't know what to do, whereas it had become natural to all of us. In the season two opener, these Raptors [Deinonuchus] are running loose in a shopping centre, and there's a scene with me, James Murray and Douglas Henshall where we corner one of these creatures. It starts coming towards us and I shoot it with a tranquilizer gun. "We had no eye-line whatsoever with this thing, and if you saw the episode you might remember that the Raptor kind of wobbles and falls down. Of course, none of that actually happened, but if you watch all three of our faces, we all have the same expression. Again, it became quite instinctive. Although we didn't have that eye-line, we knew what was going on. We began to trust the CGI guys and they began to trust us as well, and as the series went on, everyone got braver and braver. When we first started, we weren't allowed any physical contact with the CGI creatures. We could 'hit' them with things, but that was it. However, in later episodes, the were grabbing us and vice versa. Again, the type of CGI stuff we were doing was getting braver and braver. [caption id="attachment_4101" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Abby, Connor, Nick and Stephen attract some unwanted attention. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "I'm still excited about it now," enthuses the actor. "I'm a fan of the show and always have been. I guess that comes from being involved with something from the very beginning. When Doctor Who came back, that was something that had been revived. It had worked before, so it already had that going for it. Primeval, on the other hand, was completely made up from scratch, and I'm so proud of everyone because we pulled it off." When it comes to favorite moments in seasons one and two of Primeval, Potts especially likes his character's relationships with both Abby and Cutter. "My [real-life] fiancee is Hannah Spearritt, and I always enjoyed doing scenes with her," he says. "The thing is, Abby and Connor were never supposed to get together. When we started the series, it was going to be Abby and Stephen, and Connor was always meant to be in the background. Something happened, though, when they put Abby and Connor together in episode two of season one. Hannah and I didn't even read together during the audition process, but the onscreen banter between us was just so natural. They [the writers] then began having fun with Abby and Connor, and Hannah and I did, too. Each season they gave us an Abby/Connor episode, including the one in year two where Abby is dragged into the future by these big seal creatures [Mar], and Connor goes through the anomaly to save her. That was a cool one to do. "I also loved working with Douglas Henshall because he's such a brilliant actor," continues Potts. "Our relationship onscreen was very similar to the one we had off-screen. There was a great deal of respect there. Dougie was 'boss' and I didn't mess around with that. There are plenty of things that worked about the show, but I think the big one was the fact that they didn't go with your cliche leading man. Instead, they went with someone who you could actually buy and whose character knew what he was talking about and was obsessed with Darwin and all that sort of stuff. A lot of the show's elements are so fantastical and you have to really use your imagination to go, 'OK, I have to try to buy that.' It's Dougie's solid performance that anchored the series and made it believable. Hannah and I always said, 'If Dougie believes it, we believe it.' If he's chasing a future predator with a gun and looking like it's the last thing he's going to do, then we'll be right behind him doing the same thing. So we all stuck together like that." [caption id="attachment_4102" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Connor and Abby check for signs of any unwelcome "visitors" that may have come through an anomaly. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] Early on in Primeval's third season, Nick Cutter's estranged wife Helen (Juliet Aubrey) uses a clone of Nick that she has created to infiltrate the ARC, allowing her and a small army of Cleaner Replica troops to take over the facility. She believes that her husband's work with the ARC is what leads to the eventual rise of future predators and, ultimately, the fall of humankind. Helen detonates an explosive device that destroys the ARC, but she is caught in the blast. When Nick tries to rescue her, Helen shoots him, making sure he cannot carry on with his work. Connor discovers a dying Nick in the rubble and carries his body out of what remains of the ARC. "I was really nervous about that scene because I wanted to do it right, and I really wanted to do it right for Dougie," notes Potts. "I was so sad that he was leaving the show as well. During the cast read-through for this episode, we got to this particular scene and I got such a lump in my throat that when we finished the read-through I just left without talking to anyone. I didn't want to show people that I was upset. I was really going to miss Dougie, both personally and for the show as well. "On the day we shot that scene, I told Dougie how nervous I was, but we had such a good relationship and he had so much belief and trust in me as well, which was brilliant. I don't think there are very many people who Douglas Henshall would let carry him like a baby. He's not that kind of man, so the fact that he agreed to that was a big deal. Dougie thought it was very fitting that they chose to put Connor and Cutter together for his last conversation, and when I got the script and read it, I was honored that they chose me to be with him. I suppose it showed the growth in the relationship between our two characters, even though from day one, Cutter looked at Connor as if my character was a complete idiot," jokes the actor. "So in this episode he passes the baton on to me, and I'm so glad I was given that opportunity." [caption id="attachment_4103" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A somber Connor carries Nick Cutter's body from what remains of the ARC. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] With Cutter's death, ex-police officer Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng), whose brother was killed years earlier by a camouflaging creature, is appointed as the team's new leader. Season three of Primeval also sees the addition to the team of Dr. Sarah Page (Laila Rouass), an Egyptologist, whose job is to investigate ancient myths and legends involving creatures to see if any can be linked to anomalies. Also making his debut in year three is Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield), a Special Forces agent who is assigned to protect the team from potential danger. "I'm really pleased that they brought the military back into it," says Potts. "After we lost Captain Ryan [Mark Wakeling] and the SAS [at the end of season one], I think the program became a little less believable because our characters weren't escorted to places. At the end of the day, they're just a bunch of scientists, you know? We hardly had any military presence in season two at all, so I'm glad that they brought the Becker character in. "Also, with the handsome one, Stephen, gone [he sacrificed himself to save the team at the end of season two], they needed someone for the ladies. I thought they could have used me, but apparently not," he says with a chuckle. "I remember meeting Ben Mansfield for the first time and couldn't believe how massive he is. He's huge, and four or so years younger than me. I [jokingly] said to him, 'Dude, you're like Superman. I hate you.' Ben is such a nice guy, though. He was straight out of drama school and booked one of the coolest jobs ever on TV. Ben was so excited to be doing this. You can probably see by the way that he handles a gun that he loves being the action man. [caption id="attachment_4107" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Connor and Dr. Sarah Page (Laila Rouass) try to decipher symbols on a strange artifact. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "Bringing Laila in as well was a great idea. They [the producers/writers] knew when Dougie was leaving that they had to switch things up and they put a lot more of the technical aspects of the stories onto Connor. I needed support with that, and I think that's why Sarah Page was brought in, so that she and Connor could work together as a team. And the Danny Quinn character was more of a renegade in that he liked to act first and think later. He was very different from Cutter, but that was the plan. I thought the dynamic in year three was wonderful. We got to do more action sequences, too. Some people like that side of Primeval, while others like the theoretical and science side of it, and to me it's important to play both because that's what the show is. "Of course, they were planning season four as well. They were going to introduce another new character that was supposed to kind of finish off the team dynamic. As you know, though, we never got to do that because the program wasn't renewed for a fourth season. At least it wasn't because of ratings, but because of finances as it's quite an expensive show to make. It's still sad, though, especially as all our characters were lost in time at the end of season three. That's how much we thought we were going to be carrying on, but at least Abby and Connor are together, otherwise it would have been really sad. All I know is that they're trying to keep Primeval alive in other ways, so never say never." Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Potts has been a professional actor since the age of seven. Having started out doing a variety of small TV roles, he booked his first series in 1995, The Biz, which was set in an English drama school and advertised as the Fame of the 90s. "I was a terrible actor when I was younger," he jokingly admits. "I wasn't one of those wonder kids who could do it straightaway. I definitely learnt on the job, and you learn pretty quickly because your mistakes are right there in front of you on TV or film, and you think, 'I'm not doing that again.' [caption id="attachment_4108" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Danny Quinn (Jason Flemyng) and Connor have an uneasy first meeting. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "One of the reasons I was cast in this particular show is that I play the drums in real life and they needed an actor/drummer for this part. It was my first time traveling to London and being away from home and having a bit of freedom from my parents. That's when I began to realize, 'Hang on, I could turn this [acting] into a proper job.' "I never went to drama school, but I was very, very lucky. I met Pete Postlethwaite and he was doing his own stage production of Macbeth. Being a fellow Northerner and a down-to-earth guy, we really got on, and he cast me in his tour of Macbeth as one of the witches. I played the part as a male witch, or more like a child psychopath. That was the first time anyone had shown massive belief in my and that I could play something totally different from myself. "We toured all around Britain, including Ireland, and the production went down really well. And because of Pete Postlethwaite, a lot of casting people came to see the show, and they saw me playing the psychopath. Suddenly, I fell into a pattern of playing really young psychotic characters and other very serious roles. I was 18 when I did my first movie, New Year's Day, which went to the Sundance Film Festival. We shot it right after I did  Macbeth and I played a guy who makes a suicide pact with his best mate and at the end of the film he tries to kill himself. Following that I did a movie [The Bunker] playing a Hitler youth, and then I did Band of Brothers as well as a lot of other TV and film dramas. [caption id="attachment_4109" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Connor and Abby. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures."][/caption] "It wasn't until I was cast in an independent U.S. film called Caffeine with Katherine Heigl that I played a comedic role. I had never done anything like that before, so I was really nervous, but I enjoyed it so much. Then I came back to England and all of a sudden I began getting all these comedy auditions. I did a TV series called Ideal, which is full of comedians, and then Primeval, which allowed me to play another lighter character. So my career kind of turned on its head, really, when I found I could do something new and have fun doing it. Don't get me wrong, I've since played some serious roles, but I also enjoy the ones with a bit of humor. You can keep things light and lively on-set as opposed to playing a serious character where you often have to go quite deep inside yourself, concentrate and maintain a certain mindset." When he is not in front of the camera, Potts continues to pursue his passion for directing. "I've directed five short films so far, and because of those films, I actually got to shoot The Making of Primeval for the show's producers after the second season," says the actor. "Directing is always something that's fascinated me. In fact, every set I'm on, I always end up sticking close to the director, like a little shadow, trying to pick up as much as I can because everyone has their own particular style. I've got a small production company called Keystone Productions that I work with very closely to do my short films. We're not really answerable to anyone but ourselves, so you can have a lot more fun and creative freedom." A few months back, Potts finished filming the Syfy Channel miniseries Alice, in which he plays Hatter. It was also recently announced that an international financing deal has brought Primeval back from the TV graveyard. Main cast members, including Potts, Hannah Spearritt and Jason Flemyng, will soon be shooting season four in Ireland for broadcast in 2011. With many more years and roles hopefully still ahead of him, Potts is on the right track with his career and intends on keeping his nose to the proverbial grindstone. [caption id="attachment_4110" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Connor finds himself in yet another tight spot. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] "As actors, we get paid to dress up and pretend to be someone else, travel the world and see fantastic things, which I think a lot of people would appreciate," he says. "Sure, there are some acting jobs I regret doing, but I've tried to do my best throughout my career. I want to keep developing myself as an actor and never stop learning. It's important to come away from each job thinking, 'I feel like a more well-rounded actor now.' "I'm grateful for all of this. I'm this guy from a small town in England who's being given these gifts of characters to play, so I'm going to keep working hard and never take that for granted." Keep your eyes peeled for a second brand-new interview with Andrew and his work on Alice that will be posted around December 6th, which is when the miniseries is scheduled to air over two nights on the Syfy Channel. Steve Eramo As noted above, all photos copyright of Impossible Pictures, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Alice - The Syfy Channel ' s Winter Wonderland

THE Syfy Channel's contemporary re-imagined spin on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland will premiere on Sunday, December 6th @ 9-11 p.m. EST/PST and air over two consecutive nights. In this modern day spin on the classic stories by Lewis Carroll, Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates (Misery) stars as the Queen of Hearts and Caterina Scorsone (Crash television series) as Alice. [caption id="attachment_3574" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kathy Bates (as the Queen of Hearts) and Colm Meaney (as the King of Hearts) in The Syfy Channel's Alice. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel"][/caption] Rounding out the stellar cast are Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show) as Dodo, Colm Meaney (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as the King of Hearts, Philip Winchester (Crusoe) as Jack Chase, Matt Frewer (Watchmen) as the White Knight, Andrew Lee Potts (Primeval) as Hatter, Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love) as the Caterpillar, Alessandro Juliani (Battlestar Galactica) as 9 of Clubs, Timothy Webber (Taken) as Carpenter, Alex Diakun (Sanctuary) as Ratcatcher, Zak Santiago (Kingdom Hospital) as 10 of Clubs, and Eugene Lipinski (Animorphs) as Doctors Dee and Dum, For this re-imagined adaptation, writer/director Nick Willing mines the bizarre ingenuity and twisted logic of Lewis Carroll's work to create a daringly different, boldly colorful and delightfully skewed dreamscape of his own. Willing also directed the record-breaking, Emmy-winning miniseries Tin Man for Syfy in 2007. Serving as Executive Producers for this ambitious new event are Matthew O'Connor and Lisa Richardson from Reunion Pictures, Jamie Brown from Studio Eight and RHI Entertainment's Robert Halmi and Robert Halmi, Jr. [caption id="attachment_3575" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Danger and adventure await The White Knight (Matt Frewer), Alice (Caterina Scorsone) and The Hatter (Andrew Lee Potts) in Wonderland. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel"][/caption] Using the classic Lewis Carroll books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass as a jumping off point, writer/director Nick Willing has created the modern-day story of Alice Hamilton, a fiercely independent twenty-something who suddenly finds herself on the other side of a looking glass. She is a stranger in an outlandish city of twisted towers and casinos built out of playing cards, all under the rule of a deliciously devilish Queen who's not very happy about Alice's arrival. As noted above, photos by James Dittiger and copyright of The Syfy Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

This Week On Primeval - 07 - 25 - 09

SPOILER ALERT!! - Helen Cutter decides the only way to stop the destruction of life on Earth is to stop humans from ever evolving. So she goes back in time to the Pliocene period, intent on poisoning the very first humans that evolved in the Rift Valley in Africa. The team is determined to go back to the future and stop her before she can hurt anyone else. Moments before they are about to head through the anomaly, however, their hand-held detectors go off. The team splits - half will battle three vicious Megopterans (which first appeared in episode eight) that have come through another anomaly, and the rest will head to the future to take on their human nemesis, Helen. One of the team will also come face-to-face with the earliest humans, Hominids, in an encounter that will change their life forever. The deranged Helen succeeds in killing one Hominid family, but soon receives a very unpleasant surprise. Episode ten of season three airs Saturday, July 25th at the special time of 8 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America. [caption id="attachment_2184" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Primeval team - Abby (Hannah Spearritt), Connor, (Andrew Lee-Potts), Sarah (Laila Rouass), Danny (Jason Flemyng) and Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield). Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_2186" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) attempts to manipulate the future by destroying past events in Primevals's season/series finale. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] THE CREATURES OF PRIMEVAL - Hominids, the ape man depicted in this episode is based on the skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis, which was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and famously called Lucy, after the Beatles' song Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. The episode mentions site 333, which was discovered in the same year and contains the remains of 13 individuals, all of whom seem to have died at the same time and not from predators. As noted above, all photos copyright of Impossible Pictures, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!

Primeval-A-Thon

[caption id="attachment_1356" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The cast of Primeval - Hannah Spearritt (Abby), Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts), Lucy Brown (Jenny Lewis), Douglas Henshall (Nick Cutter), Ben Mansfield (Captain Becker) and Laila Rouass (Sarah Page). Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1357" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Jason Flemyng's character of Danny Quinn joins the team early on in the show's third season. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_1363" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Juliet Aubrey plays Helen Cutter, a proverbial thorn in the team's side. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] MONSTER hit Primeval brings more dinosaurs, anomalies and time travel to BBC America with the Primeval marathon. The team known for traveling back to the prehistoric past and forward to the distant future may finally run out of time. Danny (Jason Flemyng), Connor (Andrew-Lee Potts, Abby (Hannah Spearritt) and the rest of Professor Nick Cutter's (Douglas Henshall) team have a huge challenge to stop Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) and save humankind. Will the team succeed and defeat Helen for good? The explosive third season finale of Primeval follows the marathon. The Primeval marathon airs Saturday, July 25th starting @ 11 a.m. EST/8 a.m. PST on BBC America. As noted above, all photos copyright of Impossible Pictures, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!

This Week On Primeval - 07 - 18 - 09

SPOILER ALERT!! - The team tries to tame a herd of Embolotherium when it comes through an anomaly, but these seven -ton rhinoceros-type beasts from the Eocene era don't budge easily. To make matters worse, Abby realizes someone is trapped in a tent and for some reason one of the Embolotherium seems intent on trampling it. Abby and Sarah try to rescue the trapped civilian, while Connor attempts to lure the lumbering creatures back into the anomaly without causing a stampede or being crushed in the process. Danny finally arrives, late. With him is Eve, a mysterious woman from the future. Things get out of control when the anomaly suddenly snaps shut and the herd starts to stampede. Episode nine of season three airs Saturday, July 18th @ 9 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America. [caption id="attachment_2009" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Danny (Jason Flemyng, center) arrives on the scene to lend Connor (Andrew Lee-Potts) and Abby (Hannah Spearritt) a hand. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_2010" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Eve (Kate Magowan), the mystery woman from the future is, not surprisingly, not who she appears to be. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] THE CREATURES OF PRIMEVAL - Embolotherium (meaning "battering-ram beast" or "wedge beast") is an extinct genus of Bronthothere that lived in Mongolia during the late Eocene period. It's most easily recognized by a large bony protuberance emanating from the anterior (front) end of the skull. The animal is known from about 12 remaining skulls, several jaws, and a variety of other skeletal elements from the Ulan Gochu formation of Inner Mongolia and the Irgilin Dzo of Outer Mongolia. Although they may look like modern rhinos, Embolotherium are not related and were somewhat larger, at 2 tons. As noted above, all photos copyright of Impossible Pictures, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!

This Week On Primeval - 07 - 11 - 09

SPOILER ALERT!! - When an anomaly opens at a race car test-track, the team must draw on all its skills to capture a lethal Megopteran, a giant carnivorous insect from the future. As they attempt to send it back home and lock the anomaly, they are unaware that there are two creatures on the loose, and one is still at the track when they leave. Meanwhile, at Abby's apartment, her brother Jack steals her hand-held detector and sets out to uncover the truth about his sister's job. As a result, he comes under attack at the test track from the remaining Megopteran. Trying to escape from the creature, Jack enters the anomaly and the team have to go after him in the slim chance that they can rescue him. Episode eight of season three airs Saturday, July 11th @ 9 p.m. EST/PST on BBC America. [caption id="attachment_1900" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Just another day at the office for Abby (Hannah Spearritt), Connor (Andrew Lee-Potts) and Danny (Jason Flemyng). Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption]   [caption id="attachment_1905" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Abby and Connor sense that something is not quite right. Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_1906" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Megopteran has our heroes cornered! Photo copyright of Impossible Pictures"][/caption] THE CREATURES OF PRIMEVAL - Giant Insect (Megopteran) was created by a Primeval fan. Here's how the creator, Carim Nahaboo, describes his design: "This monster is a highly adapted predator which has evolved from carnivorous beetles, such as the tiger beetle. It grows to around six foot tall, and uses large compound eyes to detect prey in future jungles. When it has found suitable prey, it uses its large mantis-like legs to catch birds or other giant insects, whilst the razor-sharp jaws make short work of the meal. This monster is also a very fast runner, and uses its speed to hunt prey over large distances, although it can only use its wings to fly short distances." As noted above, all photos copyright of Impossible Pictures, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any form. Thanks!