SciFiAndTvTalk

Riverworld's Peter Wingfield - Not So Mr. Nice Guy

Peter Wingfield as Richard Burton in Riverworld. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

Peter Wingfield is just itching for a fight today, but, in fact, he is not the only one. It is a warm and sunny Friday in Vancouver, British Columbia, and one of the last days of filming on the Syfy Channel miniseries Riverworld (Sunday, April 18th from 7-11:oo p.m. EST). Inside the warehouse studio, a two-level platform with stairs has been erected in front of a huge green screen. This is where Wingfield, who pays Sir Richard Burton, and the show's leading man, Tahmoh Penikett (Matt Ellman), have spent the better part of the day shooting a fight that took quite a bit of time to prepare for.

"Last Sunday was the first time that Tahmoh and I actually looked at this fight," says Wingfield during a break in filming. "There are several fights in our story and the stunt guys as well as Tahmoh have been really busy all the way through. The stunt choreographer had gone off and created this fight with his guys, and then last Sunday, Tahmoh and I spent two hours at the gym working through what the fight would look like. This week we've tried to find time during lunch breaks and such to, not practice it physically, but just sort of talk through the shape of the fight.

"Now here we are on set-today and because of the constraints of the location, we have to change bits of the fight. So things that we learnt, we've now got to wipe those from our minds and stick something else in there instead. We're also dealing with time constraints, so we're shortening the fight, which is comprised of 60 or 70 moves, in one of the parts.

Burton (Wingfield) plots his next move. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"This is a big throwdown, knockdown, smackdown conflict, and that makes sense given that it's the end of our characers' journey and their final conflict. We have a quick exchange at the start of the story, then we have the journey, and now we get to this point and this fight is absolutely personal. My character surprises Matt, and he could have simply knocked him out and killed him, but doesn't. Burton chooses to get into a fistfight, the reason being that he wants to cause Matt pain, and he wants to see it, too. Burton wants to relish the physical contact and the suffering. It's all rather dark and ugly," says the actor with a smile, "but it's also a really good, really cool, intense story."

In Riverworld, Sir Richard Burton is among the countless human beings who, following their deaths, have been reborn on the riverbank of a mysterious new world. Intent on reaching this great river's headwaters and destroying this place, Burton hijacks a riverboat being captained by Samuel "Mark Twain" Clemens (Mark Deklin). Clemens and his passengers, including an American war correspondent, Matt Ellman, and a 12th century Samurai warrior named Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen), have been searching for Matt's missing fiancée Jessie (Laura Vandervoort). Carrying on with their search, they must now also deal with this unwanted adversary and any other dangers that await them along the way. Like a few of his fellow Riverworld actors, Wingfield's character is, in fact, based on a real-life individual.

"In-between putting a couple of audition scenes on tape for Riverworld and receiving a call to meet with the director, Stuart Gillard, I was sent the script," he recalls. "I read it and did some research on Victorian explorer Richard Francis Burton, who was quite an extraordinary guy. He spoke 25 languages and, with dialects, was probably fluent in 40. Burton was also an explorer and visited several countries. He went on a pilgrimage to Mecca disguised as a Muslim from Afghanistan. This was at a time when if they had known that an infidel was in the holiest of holies, they would have cut him up into little pieces and eaten him.

Vivienne (Meg Roe) has a rather unsettling exchange with Burton (Wingfield). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"Burton translated The Kama Sutra as well as One Thousand and One Nights, what we know now as The Arabian Knights. He seemed to be interested in so many different things. Burton was an explorer in the most general of senses, but not just of the physical lands but the emotion and cultural landscapes as well. He was a poet, too. However, the thing that struck me was the sense of danger about this guy. He was a James Bond-type character, not only going undercover, but dangerously undercover.

"Riverworld is based on the books by Philip Jose Farmer, which use the idea that Burton, along with the rest of humanity, has been reborn again on this other planet. When I read the script it had this interesting Sci-Fi flavor and an alien-created world, but the concept allowed you to bring in these various characters from human history, which seemed like a neat idea. So for instance, we have Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens, and the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro [Bruce Ramsey]. I really liked that because it means you can bring in anybody, and you can also kill them off and then decide to bring them back again. How perfect is that for TV?"

Burton (Wingfield) decides to take the upper hand. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

Having done all this research, there was only so much of it that the actor could apply to his portrayal of Burton. "The thing is, there are several different [research] sources that are not identical," explains Wingfield. "You've got the real person, then the character in the novels, and finally Burton in this miniseries. While they're related to each other, they are not the same. The novels aren't about the real Richard Burton. They are taking the idea from the historical facts of his life and how he might have lived in this fantasy world. Meanwhile, the miniseries is not a literal translation of the novels, but rather a reinvention of them. So there are some things that you can take with you, and others that are not the same.

"Ultimately, the story that I have signed up for and that I'm telling is of Richard Burton on the miniseries," continues the actor. "All the information that is significant is in the script of this four-hour TV movie. So there's a lot of juggling going on. I've taken inspiration from a number of different places, but the facts that I have to work with are just those in the script. And to me what is, I think, the most powerful and demanding of these facts is the darkness of my character. Burton is a scary guy. He's a really dark and violent man, and yet he is also tremendously witty as well as charming and sexy. I mean, he has love scenes with the two major female characters in the story, and they're both very different and tell you a great deal about the character.

"I've always felt that love scenes, just like fight scenes or a dance, reveal aspects of a character. Very verbal or very intellectual characters have some sense of control over what they're saying and what they reveal to you when they're speaking. However, when you watch them doing something physical, particularly something where they have to some extent lost control, such as a love scene or a fight, they reveal different things about themselves.

Burton (Wingfield) and Allegra (Romina D'Ugo). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"One of the great joys about playing Burton is that there are two dissimilar stories involving the two women with whom he has liaisons, and I was quite interested in just the visual imagery of that. One of them is a very verbal scene, and the other is completely without words. I spoke at length with our director about this, because we wanted to be telling very different sides of Burton's story. And that's been both the challenge and the thrill of playing him, those extremes that are within him. He has a high level of culture and education, but then there's a brutality and connection with an almost animal-like quality and rage inside him. It's been quite a trip for me [acting-wise]. I've tried to make him the most complex character that I've ever played because, again, I feel the Richard Burton who genuinely lived was an extremely complicated individual."

Although this is Burton's first encounter with Matt Ellman and vice versa, Wingfield's character seems determined to get rid of him. Why? "I didn't realize when I began this project how simple the heart of this story is," he muses. "It's a love triangle. When it all comes down to the final showdown, it's a woman who has very different sides of herself fueled or expressed by Burton and Matt. However, both men recognize something in each other. Yes, they have a conflict because of this woman, but they also see the world almost the same and yet slightly differently.

"It's that slight difference that has taken Burton and Matt in opposite emotional and spiritual directions. From the outset, Burton has been described as a bad guy, but having read the script I thought, 'In what world is he the bad guy?' There is a part of Burton who wants to see the world the way Matt sees it, and there's also clearly a part of Matt that wants to see the world the way Burton does.

Determined to be the victor in his "final conflict," Burton (Wingfield) prepares to strike. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"So once they're in absolute conflict with each other, there is a sense of recognition insofar as the equality of both these warriors. Here are these two adversaries who are worthy of the fight, and that has very much developed throughout the filming of Riverworld. I didn't see that initially. However, as we've gotten towards the end of shooting I could see that that was where it was going. I looked back at the story we told during the filming and realized it was there all the time."

Wingfield recently guest-starred on the TV series Human Target and Caprica, and can be seen in the upcoming Syfy Channel Saturday Night Movie Stonehenge Apocalypse. Prior to shooting Riverworld, he played a multi-episode arc on 24 as well as reprised his role of Dan Clifford back in his native UK in the TV medical drama Holby City. The actor also appeared as Dr. John Watson in the first season finale of the hit Syfy Channel series Sanctuary.

"That was a great character," says Wingfield. "In Sanctuary, John Watson was supposedly a real person who had inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write Sherlock Holmes on the stipulation that he would also write the detective a sidekick and call him John Watson.

Burton channels his not-so-nice side when threatening Hal (Matt McCaull). Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

"So he was a brilliant man from Victorian times and Watson and Dr. Helen Magnus [Amanda Tapping] had a history together in that they were part of a group called "The Five." In this episode,  the four surviving members reconvene and we learn that through his brilliance and ingenuity, Watson has kept himself alive by creating a machine that could fight off aging.

"It was such a fun part to do. I'd known Amanda Tapping from Stargate SG-1 years ago, but I hadn't worked with Chris Heyerdahl [John Druitt] before and it turned out to be a real pleasure. There are some actors who you just connect with and it works, and Chris and I had a relationship where we immediately trusted one another and could play with the scenes - not just get through the lines, but mess with them and change the intention. So they would always remain alive, interesting and fun.

"There was this one really powerful scene that we were shooting. It must have been two in the morning and the end of what had been a very long day. And I remember it with great affection because once we finished, the crew, who had probably done a 17- or 18-hour day, were all totally focused and concentrating on this scene. Over the next few days, one after the other said how great it was to have been a part of shooting it. That doesn't happen very often."

Allegra (Romina D'Ugo) and Burton (Wingfield) appear surprised by someone's unexpected arrival. Photo by James Dittiger and copyright of the Syfy Channel.

While working on Riverworld, Wingfield had the chance to spend some time with his young son. Of all the roles he has had, the actor considers this one to be his most important. "Fatherhood is the only thing of significance I've ever done in my life," he says. "It's the real thing, and all the rest is just mucking about.

"I love being a father and it's tough in this business to be a solid fixture in your child's life. I have a fabulous wife, though, and whenever he's able to, my son comes to visit me if I'm away filming. He's had his Spring break while I've been doing Riverworld, so he was up here in Vancouver for a week, which he absolutely adored. We still have family here - his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins - and he spent a couple of days here on-set hanging out with me along with the rest of the cast and crew on a paddlewheel steamboat. His favorite department is props because he gets to see all the guns and swords. He especially enjoys hanging out when we do the special effects, like blowing stuff up and setting fire to things. It's tough to impress nine-year-old boys, but if you can blow stuff up they're usually interested," notes the actor with a smile.

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!

Sanctuary Begins Production On Season 3

Amanda Tapping and the rest of the Sanctuary cast return for season three! Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

THE Syfy Channel's groundbreaking hit original series Sanctuary, commenced production on its third season in Vancouver on March 15th. The one-hour drama's 20-episode season is slated to return to Syfy this fall.

Sanctuary is one of television's most groundbreaking series, shooting almost entirely on green screen. The series was the first in North America to use the RED camera exclusively, and its stunning visual effects were nominated for a 2008 Emmy Award. Season three picks up from the adrenaline-fueled action of season two, which raised the stakes for the brilliant scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her team, who use their unique combination of instinct, medicine and cutting-edge science and technology to find and aid a clandestine population of beings that the world refuses to believe exist. Sanctuary also stars Robin Dunne as forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman, Agam Darshi as the quick-witted Kate Freelander, Ryan Robbins and tech wiz Henry Foss and Christopher Heyerdahl as the sinister John Druitt.

Created by Damian Kinder (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis), Sanctuary is produced in association with Syfy and is distributed by Tricon Films and Television. Season three of the series will be executive produced by Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Keith Beedie and Tricon Films.

As noted above, photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions, so please no unauthorized copying or duplciating of any kind. Thanks!

Sanctuary's Robin Dunne - A Will Of His Own

Robin Dunne as Sanctuary's Dr. Will Zimmerman. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

It was not that long ago that forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman crossed paths with Dr. Helen Magnus, but was it fate or happenstance that brought them together? It was, in fact, no accident that the scientist sought out Will and offered him the opportunity to become her protegé and part of the Sanctuary team. His curiosity got the better of him and he accepted. Since then, Will has been helping Magnus protect one of Earth's oldest and sometimes most dangerous inhabitants, creatures called Abnormals. In Sanctuary's first season finale, Revelations, a mysterious group known as the Cabal set a plan in motion to turn Abnormals against humankind. Unknown to our heroes, this was the prelude to something far bigger, and for the actor who plays Will, Robin Dunne, it marked the end of what had been a challenging first year on the job.

"I had never done a full season of a TV show before, and certainly not one like this," says Dunne during a break in filming on Sanctuary's Vancouver set. "I loved it and it was so much fun doing the things that we did, but it was tough, too. There were some very demanding episodes, so by the end of last season I felt like I'd just crossed the finish line of a marathon. It was great to get to the finale, where we were wrapping stuff up and bringing in other characters. Not only did I get to work with our core cast - Amanda Tapping [Magnus], Ryan Robbins [Henry Foss], Emilie Ullerup [Ashley Magnus] and Chris Heyerdahl [John Druitt/Bigfoot] - but also Jonathon Young [Nikola Tesla], who came back for a visit, and Peter Wingfield [John Watson]. It was such an amazing story and brought together a number of loose ends.

"Things felt like they were going so fast last season, and then we kind of hit a wall and stopped. It was strange for me because this show was, and still is, a huge part of my life. I was here every day and we were so immersed in the series and believed in it so much that, after we wrapped, I'd initially wake up every morning and think, 'What am I going to do now?' or, 'How come I'm not in the Sanctuary?' On top of that, I was on pins and needles wondering if that [first season] was going to be it. That's another strange thing about doing a TV show and bringing its characters through all types of cliffhanger situations where certain things are left unresolved with them. We didn't know for sure if we'd be able to resolve any of these situations. So it was amazing and weird all at the same time.

Will and his new "boss," Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping). Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"I remember on the final day of filming, I saw Martin Wood [executive producer/director], Amanda Tapping [executive producer] and Damian Kindler [series creator/executive producer], or the Holy Trinity as I call them, together in one of the offices. I thought it would be a good time for me to go up to them and thank them for the amazing thing they'd done for me as far as giving me a part on the show and having the faith in me that I'd be able to do the job. Within 10 seconds of me going into my, 'Hey, thanks guys...' speech, I was bawling. And suddenly I looked around at Damian, Martin and Amanda, and all four of us were standing around that office in tears. So it was a swirl of emotions and, thankfully, we're back here and getting to do it all over again. And as you watch season two, you see that there are some big changes. There are ripples that began at the end of last year that have turned into huge tidal waves for us here in the Sanctuary."

In the aforementioned Revelations, Ashley is captured by the Cabal, who uses her to steal a vial of pure vampire blood that Magnus, Will and others risk their lives to obtain. With that blood, they are able to manipulate Ashley's DNA and that of five others, changing them into super Abnormals. In Sanctuary's season two opener End of Nights, these Abnormals almost bring down the entire Sanctuary network. Magnus and her people manage to stop them, but not without great personal sacrifice. As they struggle to deal with their losses, they must also repair the damage done to Sanctuaries around the world as well as continue with their ongoing mission. No longer a newcomer, Will must step up to the plate even more as Magnus' second in command.

"The responsibilities that my character has are far greater this year because of what Magnus is going through and the things that are pulling her in all different directions, which is especially true in the first three episodes," notes Dunne. "My approach to Will and the way he was written last season was sort of tentative. He was between two worlds and wasn't sure if he really belonged here. The Sanctuary was intriguing to him, but at the same time there was the pull of his old life. So there was just a little bit of uncertainty with him, but that's gone this year, and I think there's more of a dive-in approach and aggressiveness to Will. He has a greater confidence in himself and feels without a doubt like he belongs here.

Out in the field. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"What's gone as well are any of the situations you saw last year with Will being out in the field and going, 'But I don't want to use a weapon.' He's now resigned himself to the fact that, yes, he's got to go out on missions, and, yes he's got to be armed when doing so, and he's just going to have to deal with it. There's a 'hardness' with Will, and that's because it's crisis time. There's no place for any of this, 'Oh, God, what am I doing here?' He and his teammates are dealing with some major Armageddon issues and it's all business.

"Also in season two, when Will has something to say to Magnus, he says it," continues the actor. "There are times this year where there has been a slight butting of heads between the two, but not in an unfriendly way or one which suggests that they're not getting along. My character is definitely the vice president if you will, and he's not afraid to step into the president's office and say, 'Look, Madam President, you need to do this; you need to do that.' He has some very strong opinions and there's no longer any of that social etiquette or politeness between Will and Magnus. These are just two people who are pretty much in-sync most of the time and really speaking to each other and telling one another what they need to hear, whether they like it or not.

"It's funny how sometimes things are parallel in the fictional and real worlds. In the real world and with the making of this show, I feel like, OK, this is season two. We've cleared the hurdle of being a new show and now we've arrived. And I would guess that Damian, Amanda and Martin feel the same way, too. It's like we belong a little more, and stylistically you're going to know that you're watching Sanctuary this season. There is some visual stuff that really pops out at you. So the overall feeling was one of, 'Hey, let's just go in there and blow the lid off this thing,' and it's exciting. Look, I hate to be one of these bumbling, overly positive Ed Flanders-type of guys, but you know what, we loved this program so much last season, but this year it's gone to a whole new level. We're like, 'Wow, there's Kismet in the air,' and I think we're doing something pretty cool."

Will Zimmerman, Sanctuary's "vice president." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

Among the lives lost in the effort to save the Sanctuary from falling was Ashley, who sacrificed her own life to save that of her mother's. Will also lost Clara Griffin (Christine Chatelain), the granddaughter of Nigel Griffin, who, together with Helen Magnus, was a member of The Five. Clara inherited her grandfather's power of invisibility and died helping defend the Sanctuary in End of Nights.

"There was definitely a little bit of a spark and an attraction between my character and Clara," says Dunne. "Unfortunately, poor Will doesn't have much luck as far as women go. When the world constantly seems to be falling down around you and you're trying to hold it together with some glue and dental floss, your love life tends to suffer. Sadly, this is one chapter in my character's life that has come to an end."

While no one could ever replace Ashley, Will and Helen have added a new member to their team this season, former con artist Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi). Having been involved with the Cabal in a scheme to double cross Dr. Magnus, Kate ends up joining the good guys when things backfire on her. Because of her past dealings, though, it takes a little time for Will and the others to completely welcome Kate into the fold.

Will and his new co-worker, Kate Freelander (Agam Darshi). Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"It's an odd relationship that Will and Kate have," explains Dunne. "It's a slow build. At the beginning, there's no real trust between either of them at all. They're two very different people. Will is not someone who reacts to things without thinking them through first. He will analyze all the options and then try to make the wisest choice. Kate, however, has more of a knee-jerk reaction to things. She does what she thinks is right on the spur of the moment. So Kate and Will clash, and at first he's not even sure whether or not she's going to be around for long, or if she really belongs in the Sanctuary. But over time, there's kind of a mutual, if not maybe a little distant, respect that develops between the two. Agam has brought a wonderful new energy to the show, while her character of Kate has really shaken up the team dynamic."

When it comes to the writing for season two of Sanctuary, Dunne does not hesitate to give it high marks. "One of the many great things about this show is the fearlessness and courage that Damian, Martin and Amanda as well as the writing staff have. Then there's the Syfy Channel, who are right there supporting these ideas," says the actor. "There is never a time where it's like, well, let's not push the envelope. Whenever you pick up a new script and start reading it, you're thinking, 'Wow, I can't believe they're doing this.'

"Last year, Amanda and I did a couple of two-handers and it was a really terrific experience. It's like doing a play in that we shoot them in sequence, which is fantastic. So in keeping with that theme, we have a couple of two-handers this season as well, one of which is set in the future and is called Pavor Nocturnus. In it, Magnus is basically 'infected' by this Abnormal that gives her a glimpse into the future. Needless to say, the future hasn't gone particularly well, and when we meet Will in this episode he's changed. He looks nothing like the way we know him to look, nor acts anything like the way we know Will to act.

"It was a terrific thing for me to be able to do, and at the same time a pretty tricky acting challenge because it was almost like playing a new character. A great deal had happened to Will; he'd seen so much tragedy and had to deal with a number of things. It was really quite daunting for me to do these scenes, and when they'd say, 'Cut,' I'd say to Marty, Damian or Amanda, 'I don't know what this is going to look like. It's possibly going to come out looking terrible.' As always, they were extremely supportive and said to me, 'It's great. Just don't think about it. Just get out there and do it,' which I did, and I think it turned out pretty well. It was just weird to take a character that you know and know how to play and try to approach it in a way that you've never played him before."

Will is not quite himself in "Pavor Nocturnus." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

At the time of this interview (June 2009), the Sanctuary cast and crew were shooting the season two story Veritas, in which Dr. Magnus is accused of murdering Bigfoot in cold blood. Besides playing scenes in front of the camera with Amanda Tapping, Dunne joined his fellow castmates in being directed by her as well.

Executive producer/director Martin Wood and executive producer/Sanctuary leading lady Amanda Tapping during a read-through for "Veritas." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"We've been having a good time on this one," enthuses the actor. "Amanda is amazing to work with as an actor as well as a director, and it seems like our team here is getting to the point where it's almost non-verbal communication. By that I mean everyone is so in-sync that not a lot needs to be explained. If, for instance, Amanda calls, 'Cut,' and starts walking over to me, before she even says anything, I'll be like, 'I know, less of this and more of that.' She'll say, 'Yep,' and then boom, boom, boom, we're back to it. I think that's the cool thing about working with such a tight-knit group of people. We're all on the same page and believe in what we're doing and know the show so well.

"Again, this is season two, right? So not only do we know the program that much better, but the relationships between everyone are that much stronger, too, and that goes for us as people as well as our characters. Last year was smooth, but this season is that much tighter and more solid."

While working on Veritas, the actor was also busy prepping to shoot episode eight, Next Tuesday. "The next story is another two-hander where Will and Magnus are trapped in a helicopter that crashes into the ocean and they're dealing with giant squids and all kinds of stuff," he says. "The two characters are also having a difference of opinion on certain matters.

There's water, water everywhere for poor Will in "Next Tuesday." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel.

"The fact that this episode takes place in water is a little intimidating, but at the same time totally exciting. I spent all day yesterday at the bottom of a pool learning how to scuba dive. It's going to be five days of wetsuits and us floating in a water tank. Again, we're just constantly pushing the envelope and crossing boundaries insofar as telling these stories."

Although Sanctuary still had a couple of months to go before wrapping for its second year, Dunne was thinking about one or two projects he was looking forward to during the hiatus between seasons two and three, including one of his own creation which is slated to start shooting in Spring 2010. "I wrote a feature film script last year that I sold to a company in Los Angeles," says the actor. "It's called B.F.F. and basically it's a comedy about two girls who are best friends in high school. Then, however, one goes to New York and becomes a hotshot lawyer, while the other one stays behind in this small town. Ten years later she decided to go to New York to find her best friend, but their lives have taken different paths and they're not the same people they once were. It was neat to write a sort of girl buddy comedy because you don't see many of those. I think the script turned out pretty good and I'm really interested to see who they cast".

Steve Eramo

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

Sanctuary's Martin Wood - Season Of Change

Martin Wood (front left) on the Sanctuary set. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Having honed his craft directing such Sci-Fi TV shows as Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Andromeda, Jeremiah and Earth: Final Conflict along with helping produce both Stargate series, Martin Wood has brought all those years of experience to his role as an executive producer as well as writer and director on Sanctuary. Debuting last fall on The Syfy Channel, Sanctuary began on the Internet as the story of Dr. Helen Magnus, who operates a worldwide network of facilities, or Sanctuaries, that were established to provide shelter for, and in some cases imprison, creatures called Abnormals. The series returned this past October for its second season, and while its overall premise remains the same this year, it has further grown and developed, as Wood explains.

"When we came back this year and talked about where we wanted to go with the second season, we all knew that we now had an idea of what this show could be," recalls the director. "The direction that Damian Kindler [series creator/executive producer], Amanda Tapping [who stars as Dr. Helen Magnus and also serves as an executive producer] and I wanted to go in was to make Sanctuary bigger and better. And everyone here took that to heart and ran with it, which I think is great.

"We went through a whole range of different things as far as how we were going to start the season and what we were going to do. That included looking at a bunch of audience reactions to season one, because we wanted to react to what the viewers felt. As a result, we decided, 'We have to shake things up a little bit.' You know my philosophy on major characters; I always feel that they have to be expendable because the only thing that keeps a TV show alive is if its characters are in real jeopardy. If not, every time one of them gets into a dire situation, you know they're going to come out OK on the other end.

Emilie Ullerup (as Ashley Magnus) and Martin Wood. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"We decided to take the Ashley [Emilie Ullerup] character and 'Sci-Fi' kill her, meaning she could come back in other episodes and different incarnations. After all, we have a 158-year-old Magnus, so her daughter could possibly come back. There are a number of things we could have done in terms of introducing jeopardy into our story; this is the way we wanted to go and Emilie embraced it with both hands. She was outstanding," praises Wood. "In the first two episodes, she utters one word, 'Mom.' That's it. The rest of her acting is done with just her face, which is tough, but Emile did it beautifully. I told her at the end of shooting the second episode [End of Nights, Part 2] that it was some of the hardest acting she had ever done on the show and she did a terrific job."

At the end of Sanctuary's first season, Dr. Magnus' chief rival, the Cabal, manages to turn Ashley against her mother and everything Magnus stands for. In the two-part second season opener, End of Nights, Ashley and five other individuals are transformed into super Abnomals and used in a campaign to bring down the entire Sanctuary network. Wood was given the monumental task of directing this story, which, among other things, has a fast-moving action sequence featuring new series regular Agam Darshi who plays con artist Kate Freelander.

"I thought, 'If we're going to open things up, let's really open it up,'" says Wood. "I said to Damian, 'We need to have a car chase,' so in the script he wrote the words Magnus chases Kate. Then we decided that Henry [Ryan Robbins] needed to be there, too. OK, Magnus and Henry chase Kate, but in two separate cars, and Magnus had to drive something hot. So I asked Damian if we could use his BMW and he said, 'Sure.'

Martin Wood (back to camera) with Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus) and Robin Dunne (Will Zimmerman). Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"The idea was that if it was a sunny day we could have the top down on the car and Magnus with her hair blowing in the wind and driving this convertible. Then we found a place where we could actually shoot the scene, and without Damian knowing it, I set up this type of camera called the Ultimate Arm, which is a Mercedes SUV with a giant crane hanging off the side of it. You can stuff six people into this thing, and as the director I get to sit in the back sideways, because there's a little hatchback in the rear. We travel twice as fast as the cars in the scene in order to beat them and get in front of and beside them. By doing it this way, we could have Amanda driving Damian's car, Ryan Robbins driving a car, and Agam Darshi driving a car as well.

"So we were able to drive beside them like that, but when we got into the hot and heavy stuff, Amanda said to me, 'I'm going to keep driving.' She's used to driving a sports car anyway, so that's what we did. We were shooting for about six hours and halfway through the day, Damian came out to see how things were going. The first words out of his mouth were, 'My car!' as he watched Amanda winding around a corner. And he had just put on his good tires, too," chuckles the director. "Damian had no idea it was going to be a minute-and-a-half chase sequence, so that was fun to do."

Although it has been known since season one that Magnus' Sanctuary organization is a global one, it was felt in year two that this fact needed to be visually reinforced to the audience. Wood and his fellow executive producers also wanted to give Abnormals a greater onscreen presence this time around. "One of the things we decided to do in season two was put more Abnormals into everything we did," says Wood. "So, for example, in the season opener there was the fight with the big giant Abnormal. We had a huge stunt guy dressed in a green suit. He was only half the size of the Abnormal you see on the screen, but we still had more stunt guys jumping on top of him during that scene. It was pretty cool.

Martin Wood running through an action sequence with Robin Dunne. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"We also showed our Sanctuaries in London and Tokyo. We had talked about them before, but now we were actually in them. There's that great scene with the nine monitors and Magnus talking to nine different Sanctuary heads, including Medusa in Japan, who you see after the Tokyo Sanctuary is attacked. There's also the actual attack, where Ashley and two other super Abnormals drop through the skylight. I had talked with Lee Wilson [visual effects supervisor] about doing that practically. We went through all the machinations of what the set would look like and all that, and he said to me, 'You know what, just let me do it [using VFX].' Lee then took it and just ran away with it, and it was so amazing. It really was a remarkable visual effect for something done completely through a computer, and the entire process took about two weeks, too.

"That's something else that happens with our show. We end up getting so little time to do feature-film-like effects. You hear some people saying, 'But it doesn't look like it does in the movies,' but it sometimes takes up to a year to do movie VFX. That's why these sorts of things aren't done very often on TV, because of the time involved. Sometimes I'll be sitting with our visual effects guys, who will show me things on the computer, and my only reaction is, 'Oh, my God, that's so cool. OH, MY GOD, THAT'S SO COOL!' And I'll keep amplifying that response until everyone in the office is hearing me. They never hear me say, 'Oh, that doesn't look that great.' We're fortunate to have some really good [VFX] artists working on Sanctuary. I love the fact that in our first two episodes alone this year we have half the number of visual effects as we had in all of season one. That's one of the ways we ramped up the show this year."

In End of Nights, Wood enjoyed the opportunity to direct some complex fight sequences, including one where John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) battles Ashley and two other super Abnormals. "Damian said, 'I'd like to do a sword fight,' and I said, 'OK.' So we set it up as a serious sword fight with Chris using two swords, and that came from our fight coordinator, Rob Hayter, and our stunt coordinator, Marshall Virtue," notes the director. "It was one of those things where you get into the shooting of it and think, 'This is either going to be the coolest fight we've ever done, or the most unbelievable one.'

Setting the stage for the big fight sequence. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Chris Heyerdahl (John Druitt, dressed in black, back to camera) in "action-mode" with Martin Wood right beside him. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Martin Wood (right) checking out the shot. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"Chris Heyerdahl came in and started rehearsing, and on the day leading up to the sword fight, whenever he had a break, he'd walk over to the side of the set, grab the practice swords and fight. He had the [stunt] guys there the whole time so he could practice, so when the time came to shoot the fight, it was mostly Chris doing it. Mike [Desabrais, stunt player] and the two stunt doubles were there for a couple of shots for when it got really violent, but otherwise all the activity you see on the screen is Chris. When we cut it together and I watched the scene for the first time I was like, 'This is definitely worth it.' It was very convincing and unlike any fight I'd ever shot before."

In the final moments of End of Nights, Ashley regains control of herself from the Cabal just long enough to save her mother's life, but in order to do so, she must sacrifice herself. Not surprisingly, it was an incredibly moving moment for all involved. "Damian, Amanda and I massaged that scene in so many ways," says Wood. "We sat down and looked at all the different scenarios for how Magnus could come across Ashley and how she couldn't shoot her. Amanda then came up with the sequence of events, and then I said, 'Well, Magnus has to put her gun down at some point.' And that's how that whole scene came together - the three of us sitting in Damian's office and deciding how we wanted to play it out.

"Then during the actual shooting of the scene, Amanda collapsed on the floor like she was supposed to, and I was standing behind the cameraman, who I kept pulling further and further back. It was so hard to watch Amanda cry like that. She was so distraught [in the scene] and the entire crew was waiting for me to yell, 'Cut!' Amanda was also looking at me as if to say, 'Why aren't you saying, 'Cut!' But I just kept pulling the cameraman back and having him continue to shoot way longer than is comfortable in a situation like that. I really felt, though, that that's what was needed at the end of this episode where Magnus is saying goodbye to her daughter under the most heinous of situations. It was very emotional and we don't shy away from that on our show. We allow that to happen as opposed to keeping it light."

Green screen work on the Sanctuary set. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Following Sanctuary's season opener, Wood directed episode four, Hero, in which a very ordinary man is unexpectedly thrust into a very extraordinary, and life-threatening, predicament. "This story shows us that, yes, human beings can 'fly,'" says Wood. "It's an amusing romp as well as a standalone story and a chance for our characters to take a bit of a breather from all that's been happening to them.

"Damian wrote a Stargate SG-1 episode called The Other Guys, and it was the first story of his that I directed. It was a great deal of fun, so he did the same kind of thing with Hero.  It's like Sanctuary's The Other Guys. Chris Gauthier from Eureka guest-stars in it, and his character [of Walter, "The Adjuster"] is one that we would like to bring back in the third season.

On-location with Martin Wood. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"We've done a lot more 3-D creatures as well in season two, and Hero has one in it called a Coleanthropus, and it looks great. The first time you get to see it in all its glory is in-between two garbage bins. Then it stands up and you're like, 'Yikes!' There's a huge fight with it during the climax of this episode that's neat."

The director had been slated to shoot the episode Pavor Nocturnus, but the schedule subsequently changed and Brenton Spencer, another name very familiar to Stargate and Sanctuary fans, directed it instead. "When we finished the episode, we looked at it and said, 'It doesn't quite end the way we wanted it to,'" says Wood. "So we rewrote the final two scenes to give the story a bit more of a twist and I then shot those. Brenton did a fantastic job of directing what is a really, really dark story that includes a scene where Magnus gets physically abused.

"My next episode was number eight, Next Tuesday, which is this year's Requiem [referring to a season one story], and it's Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne [Dr. Will Zimmerman] in the borehole of an oil rig in a crashed helicopter. They spent five days with me in a pool of water that was 72 feet across and 20 feet deep. Everything was done with Amanda and Robin, no stunt people, and it was quite incredible. I wanted to see one morning how long I could tread water without holding on to anything - I went four-and-a-half hours directing from a treading water position. And Amanda and Robin were in and out of the helicopter, in the water, underwater, you name it. It was a very hard shoot for them, but it turned out to be a beautiful episode."

Martin Wood directing Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne in "Next Tuesday." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Something nasty is lurking behind the door...Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Behind-the-scenes shot from "Next Tuesday." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Wood's final directing credit for season two of Sanctuary is the show's two-part season finale, Kali, and it might surprise some viewers to learn that the episode has a Bollywood dance sequence in the second half that feature Robin Dunne. "It's very much part of the story and it comes off perfectly," says Wood. "I think episode 13 is probably the best show we've shot so far. And we actually did some filming in Japan for episode 12 as well. We were invited over there for a quick press conference and were going to be in Tokyo for a little over 72 hours. I looked at Damian and said, 'Let's shoot something while we're there,' and he said, 'Sure.'

Singer, songwriter, artist and industrial designer Tatsuya Ishii, Robin Dunne and Amanda Tapping shooting in Tokyo. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

On-location in Tokyo with Robin Dunne and Damian Kindler - who have been up for 74 hours. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

"We'd been flying for 11 hours and after arriving in Tokyo we went on a little tour of the city and thought, 'OK, we can shoot something here, and we can shoot something there.' We even arranged to use a celebrity from there, Tatsuya Ishii; he's a pop star as well as a Renaissance man, a beautiful sculptor and just a really cool guy. We wanted him to play the head of the Tokyo Sanctuary.

Martin Wood, the director, as the cameraman ("I was the only one who knew how to use the RED camera"). Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, Robin Dunne and Amanda Tapping in the pouring rain! Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne shooting in Shabuya. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

"Damian wrote two scenes, and when we got to the filming location there was a soundman along with a camerman, but the cameraman didn't know how to operate the RED camera [ultra high-definition camera] that we use. So it kind of fell to me to say, 'OK, I'll do the shooting.' Damian was sort of wrangling things from a production assistant standpoint, so we filmed the scenes and just had a ball."

More shooting in Shabuya with Martin Wood. Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

Final touches! Photo courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood.

With a second season of Sanctuary under their respective belts, Wood and the rest of the show's cast and crew cannot wait to start work on number three. "This year has been just spectacular," enthuses the director. "Amanda Tapping went further [as an actress] than I've ever seen her go in anything before. Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins, Chris Heyerdahl, Agam Darshi, Robert Lawrenson, who plays a new character, Declan Macrae, and Jonathon Young, who came back a couple of times as Nikola Tesla, all really pushed themselves creatively as well and I loved that.

Sanctuary DOP (director of photography) Gord Verheul and Martin Wood. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

"As for season three, we've talked a lot about that already and are very much looking forward to it. In the meantime, we couldn't be more pleased with the show, and the fans seem to be happy with it, too, so it's all good."

Cut and print! Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions.

Steve Eramo

As noted above, all Sanctuary photos by Jeff Weddell and copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions, and all on-location Tokyo photos courtesy of and copyright of Martin Wood, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of ANY kind. Thanks!

Sanctuary ' s Agam Darshi - Beneath The Surface

[caption id="attachment_3826" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Agam Darshi as Sanctuary newbie Kate Freelander. Photo copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell"][/caption] First impressions, you either love 'em or hate 'em. Sometimes they're good, other times not so good. Kate Freelander knows that only too well. This young and beautiful con artist hardly endears herself to Dr. Helen Magnus and her colleagues when she first crosses their paths. In fact, Kate quickly discovers just how far Helen is prepared to go when she wants information, especially if it has to do with someone she cares a great deal about. Surprisingly, Kate is able to turn things around in her favor when it comes to relationships with our heroes on Sanctuary. That is a big step for this newcomer to Dr. Magnus' world, as actress Agam Darshi, who plays Kate, explains. "First of all, Kate is an amazing character," says a smiling Darshi, taking a break in-between shooting scenes for the season two episode Veritas. "I really enjoy her just because she is so complex. Kate comes across as really tough and sort of a smart-ass, and it's not crystal clear whose side she's on. Does she work for the Cabal? Does she work for the Sanctuary? You're not quite sure, but as this season progresses, we start seeing this vulnerable side of her. You don't see that very often, but when you do, I love those scenes because that's when my character really starts connecting with people. "So she's slowly developing relationships with people around her, and each relationship is very different from the other. For example, things with Kate and Henry Foss [Ryan Robbins] are somewhat lighter in tone, but with her and Will Zimmerman [Robin Dunne] it's more cerebral because she wants to [mentally] challenge him and be taken seriously in the Sanctuary world. So the trickiest acting challenge for me this year has been figuring out how my character interacts with everyone while also revealing more of who this tough girl really is beneath the surface. "When I read the [audition] sides for Kate, I immediately connected with her. I knew just where she was coming from. I think the danger when playing a character like this is going too far and making her, again, too tough and serious. Kate is also very funny and has a softer side, so I'm trying to show all those aspects of her. I did that in the audition room and everyone seemed to really like what I did, and I'm hoping the audience will as well." [caption id="attachment_3827" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kate - tough, clever, opportunistic, but deep down also has a conscience. Photo by Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell "][/caption] In Sanctuary's two-part second season opener, End of Nights, Kate is working for the Cabal, a powerful and mysterious organization that is plotting the downfall of the global Sanctuary network. While en-route to deliver a "package" to her employers, she is intercepted by Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), Will and Henry. They believe Kate has information that can lead them to where the Cabal is holding Helen's daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup). After a high-speed car chase, Kate succeeds in making her delivery, but in the process is caught by the Sanctuary team and interrogated in a nearby warehouse. "I'm pretty sure we filmed that warehouse scene on my first day of work," recalls Darshi. "It was really cold and I was overwhelmed because it's such a big show. I mean, this is an amazing cast and there are also a lot of terrific behind-the-scenes people here who used to work on Stargate. So I was excited, but at the same time I felt like a deer in headlights. I had to try to balance my emotions and give myself confidence as well. Obviously, I understood this character, so I just went with my instincts and things worked out great. "I had never held a gun before coming onto Sanctuary and I had to fire one in this episode, so I practiced on a gun range beforehand just to get the hang of it. The physical stuff that Kate does has been something else I've had to get used to, but I like to go to the gym and do all sorts of tomboy stuff, so that's been a positive challenge for me. We did a ton of green screen work, too, in End of Nights and have since then. This is my first time working so extensively with green screen and it feels a lot like doing theater, which is where I started out. It's just you and the other person and it gives you the chance to really connect and use your imagination." During the climax of End of Nights - Part 2, Kate runs some interference when Ashley, who has been turned into a super-Abnormal by the Cabal, tries to kill Helen. With the Cabal hunting for her, Kate needs a safe haven and ends up staying at the Sanctuary. When, in the following episode, Eulogy, Helen and Will focus on trying to find Ashley, Kate gives Henry a hand trying to find a runaway Stenopelabilis. [caption id="attachment_3828" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Henry (Ryan Robbins) reluctantly accepts Kate's help in "Eulogy." Photo copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell"][/caption] "There's this fantastic B-story where Henry and Kate are trying to find this Abnormal that's just been born and is growing at an incredibly fast rate," explains Darshi. "In one of the scenes, my character is by herself in one of the Sanctuary labs and looking at these tusks on an Abnormal who she thinks is dead. The tusks are worth a lot and Kate is always looking for things like that so she can sell them on the black market. All of a sudden, I'm blasted by a bunch of goo and this little baby Abnormal pops out of the mother Abnormal's stomach. My character then has to crawl around on the floor looking for this little creature. It was fantastic because I felt so in the moment," enthuses the actress. "When you have a scene like that, you can't think about it, you just have to react. "We dealt with a lot of goo in this episode, along with a lot of rolling around and French fries. It's a long story," she says with a laugh," but I would go home at the end of the day with French fries literally stuck in my hair from all the goo. It was so much fun." Despite initially being at odds, Helen seems to think that Kate is capable of turning over a new leaf, but she's going to have to earn everyones' trust. "There's a lovely scene between these two characters that takes place a few episodes into the season," notes Darshi. "Basically, Kate thinks that she's in trouble and is going to get kicked out of the Sanctuary because she sort of went behind Magnus' back. However, Magnus turns around and says to her, 'If you want to stay, I'll have Henry put your things in a more permanent part of the Sanctuary.' Who knows where that's going to lead? You don't know if Kate is actually going to stick around for long, but after that scene it looks promising. At least it was a chance to bring out a side of my character where she can express thanks, in her own way, to Magnus. She and Kate don't have a lot of scenes together, and this is one of the sweeter ones between them. It says a great deal about what Kate wants and how Helen feels about her." Having graduated with a major in visual arts and photography from the University of Calgary, Darshi once considered pursuing a career in photography. However, one of her teachers suggested that she should get an agent and give acting a try, so she did. [caption id="attachment_3829" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Uneasy allies - Kate and Bigfoot (Christopher Heyderdahl). Photo copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell"][/caption] "That was six years ago and I've been working ever since," says the actress. "I feel very lucky to be doing this because it's what I love. My first job was a recurring role on a TV show called Renegadepress.com. It was shot in Regina, Saskatoon, which I'd never been to before. I was pretty nervous, but it was one of those situations where it couldn't have been a better show for me. It was about young people in high school, so it was a very safe environment, and being my first gig ever I just tried to absorb whatever I could from the other people my age." Although she has only been in the business for a short time, Darshi has already amassed a long and impressive resume. Final Destination 3, Snakes on a Place, Deck the Halls, Watchmen and the upcoming 2012 are among her feature film credits. The actress has also appeared in several made-for-TV movies and done guest-spots on such series as Reaper, Kyle XY, The Dead Zone, The L Word and two episodes of Stargate Atlantis, including Suspicion, where she first worked with Sanctuary's Christopher Heyerdahl (John Druitt/Bigfoot). "I only had one or two lines in that episode and Christopher [Halling] happened to be in the same scene," says Darshi. "He's so kind and there were so many extras there and he was trying to explain the story to them so that they could react appropriately. I remember thinking to myself, 'Wow, you usually never see these big stars explaining anything to anyone.' But Christopher was so into it and really believed that these extras, who sometimes tend to be ignored, deserved a chance to know what was going on and feel part of the scene." When she is not in front of the camera, Darshi wastes no time when it comes to her craft. "I've written three short films and produced them as well," she says. "I find writing incredibly challenging, but I love it. Sometimes this industry can get a little crazy; sometimes you have work, sometimes you don't. So it's always really positive for me to feel like I'm putting energy into other creative outlets, and writing is one of them. It's something I'm relatively new at, though. I know I can write a good short story, but can I write a good feature? That's something I'm still playing with and learning about. [caption id="attachment_3830" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Come on, make my day! Photo copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell"][/caption] "I've always been a very creative person and it's important for me not to slot myself into one compartment. I can't just be an actor. I feel better when I'm an all-around artist, whether it's writing, producing or even things like taking photographs or playing the guitar. It doesn't really matter. Whatever I happen to be doing at the time makes me feel so much better. And what's neat is that you learn from the different types of art. The skills you learn as a writer can help you as an actor, the skills you learn playing music can help you write, etc. That's why I like to do it all." Steve Eramo As noted above, all photos copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions and Jeff Weddell, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!