[caption id="attachment_3826" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Agam Darshi as Sanctuary newbie Kate Freelander. Photo copyright of Sanctuary 2 Productions/Jeff Weddell"]
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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 "]
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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"]
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"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"]
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"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"]
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"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!
Ryan Robbins
10/24/2009
10/22/2009
This Week On Sanctuary - 10 - 23 - 09
[caption id="attachment_3721" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) tries to make sense of recent events in "Eulogy." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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SPOILER ALERT!! - With the Tokyo and London Sanctuaries destroyed by the Cabal, Magus (Amanda Tapping) and the team get to work organizing and processing hundreds of Abnormals who have survived the attacks and been shipped to them for temporary safekeeping. Meanwhile, when Kate (Agam Darshi) carelessly releases a rare, one-of-a-kind creature, she and Henry (Ryan Robbins) set out on an adventurous hunt to track down the runaway Stenopelhabilis and bring it back to the Sanctuary. But the creature has other plans. Eulogy airs Friday, October 23rd @ 10 p.m. EST on The Syfy Channel.
[caption id="attachment_3722" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Kate (Agam Darshi) and Henry (Ryan Robbins) find themselves in a sticky situation in "Eulogy." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of The Syfy Channel"]
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Click on the following link for a preview of this episode - https://rcpt.yousendit.com/757628031/8d3f636c07006034c0eb9c9380cb0fe5
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!
07/20/2009
06/11/2009
Martin Wood - Into The Groove
[caption id="attachment_1265" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Behind-the-scenes with Amanda Tapping (Dr. Helen Magnus) and executive producer/director Martin Wood on the set of Sanctuary. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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Are you familair with the classic children's tale The Little Engine That Could? It's about this little engine that, despite being decidedly smaller in size than its counterparts, succeeds in pulling a long train over a high mountain, all the time repeating the motto, "I-think-I-can." Our little hero's efforts are not unlike those that are applied to many real-world challenges, including making a TV show. When the hit Sci Fi Channel series Sanctuary made the leap from the Internet to the small screen, some people wondered if it would be able to hold its own against slicker, bigger-budgeted programs. Although he experienced all the usual jitters that come with launching a freshman TV series, executive producer/director Martin Wood had every confidence in the final product.
"Right from the start I thought, 'The world is not ready for this. People are going to be surprised,'" recalls Wood. "Reporters called us after watching the season one opener and I was like, 'Man, you have no idea what's coming up.' I spoke to the head of Sci Fi Productions at the Stargate Atlantis wrap party last year and he said, 'I had an idea about what it [Sanctuary] would be like, but I had no idea it would be this good.' I haven't heard a bad word about the series since we first began making it. Again, I think it really surprised people. It's one thing to have them react to the season opener, but we sold the show on the Internet pilot, and from there we sort of said to each other, 'OK, we're taking the bit between our teeth and running with it.'
"For me, a big part of doing this was being able to show people that we could do this without a huge studio. The three of us - Damian Kindler [series creator/executive producer], Amanda Tapping [series lead/executive producer] and I - picked it up, collected Sam Egan [executive producer] along with our producer, George Horie, and just ran with it. We all embraced Sanctuary in the same way and together decided that we were going to make the series look better than anything we'd ever done before, and it does. And it all has to do with the fact that everyone here is working hard, really hard. I mean, I've spent 12 years watching Amanda Tapping go through an awful lot of permutations of Sam Carter [from Stargate SG-1] and even different characters, but I've never seen her do what she did this past year. It was exceptional."
In Sanctuary, Tapping plays Dr. Helen Magnus, a 157-year-old scientist in charge of a global network of top-secret facilities called Sanctuaries. Together with her daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne),technical troubleshooter Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) and the legendary Bigfoot (Christopher Heyerdahl), she tracks down, studies and protects the strange and sometimes dangerous creatures (or abnormals) that live amongst us. Despite his years of experience as a director and later a producer as well on SG-1 and Atlantis, doing both jobs simultaneously on Sanctuary look a bit of getting used to for Wood.
[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Martin Wood reaches for new heights directing Sanctuary. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"There were plenty of times during Stargate where I didn't have to deal with anything outside of directing," he notes. "I may have been producing it [the show], too, but there were always people above me who made sort of the tougher decisions and dealt with the bigger issues. On Sanctuary, however, if a situation comes up that you don't have time to handle, there's no one to hand it off to. So, Damian, Amanda and I will look at each other and go, 'Oh, right, that's me. I'll deal with that.' And I might then, for instance, have to leave the set to speak with someone from the network or deal with something else that's unfolding behind-the-scenes. So when I'm trying to answer a question regarding a production issue, it's all intertwined and part of the big picture. I can't separate having to make the series as a director and also having to make it as a producer. It's all one in the same, and every day you're dealing with something unique.
"When I was doing SG-1 and Atlantis I would do back-to-back episodes, when you prep one, shoot it, and then prep the next one and shoot it. That's more or less how it worked all the time. In this case, though, I never let anything go. You're continually working on a story, and it's a challenge because you wind up getting into situations where, as a producer, you're not able to stop being part of a single episode. So when you're watching the VFX [visual effects] being finished for episodes one and two, you're also dealing with music and reviewing the VFX for episodes three, four and five. You can't concentrate on one thing, you know? That took a little bit of getting used to for all of us, but it was a matter of moving forward and getting on with it. So each of us had to work at maximum efficiency and maximum capability, and I think it shows on the screen."
Helen Magnus and her team may be based in one locale, but several of their missions during the first season of Sanctuary took them around the world. While some TV shows might be financially restricted to using their studio backlot to re-create, say, the Scottish Highlands or ancient catacombs beneath Rome, Sanctuary relies heavily on green screen to conjure up whatever exotic location a script might call for.
[caption id="attachment_1273" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Director Martin Wood gets into green screen mode on Sanctuary. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"With virtually every show we had in season one it was a matter of 'Can we pull this off,'" says Wood. "When you're talking about stuff that doesn't exist, it's not a question of can we build it in time, but rather is there going to be time for the virtual artists to create a computer program that will make this place look believable. Luckily, we have Anthem Visual Effects, which is headed up by Lee Wilson and his wife Lisa [Sepp-Wilson]. who, together with Sebastien Bergeron [digital effects supervisor] have not slept since we started this show. It's like having a construction company waiting in the wings ready to build things, and then you say, 'OK, here are the materials to do your job, and can you finish this by next week because we have something else to build the following week. Oh, by the way, this is the most complicated thing you've ever done, and there's a time limit involved.' And their response is, 'Sure.' I'm very happy to report that we haven't 'killed' them yet," jokes the producer/director.
"Besides our virtual sets, we've done practical ones as well," continues Wood. "When we finished shooting [season one's] Kush, which had the plane crash in the Himalayans, Damian and I looked at each other and said, 'Hey, that looked cool.' The crew, however, did not enjoy working in the set we had. It was a practical one because I didn't want to lock us into a whole bunch of VFX when something could very easily be practical. Not only that, but I had to give the VFX gang a break because they had just finished Folding Man and had Nubbins coming up, both of which were huge creature shows. With Kush we had some big matte painting and things of that nature, but for the most part the entire episode was done practically. Well, the crew was used to working in giant stages, and all of a sudden we were in an airplane.
"We subsequently took that set and turned it into a submarine set for the next episode we filmed, Requiem. We then took Robin and Amanda into that set for the entire story. There's a brief glimpse of Henry at the beginning, but for the most part it's just the two of them simply acting, and it's the best acting I've ever seen Amanda do. For me, Requiem was the hardest bit of directing I've done. It sounds so weird to say that because it's two actors in a submarine. Damian Kindler wrote this incredible script and it was all about the acting, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done because I could not let a second go by where I was not on the ball. I had to figure out how far I could push the actors. The things we were asking them to do were incredibly challenging and you're standing there saying, 'I need you to do it again.' Meanwhile, the actors are asking you, 'Why do we have to do it again?' but, ultimately, their efforts showed on the screen. Amanda had to go to a very strange place [with her performance] and Damian had to go there as well in order to write the script. So it was a really tough episode for all of us, but it ended up being an extremely rewarding one, too."
[caption id="attachment_1280" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Martin Wood sets up a shot in the revamped submarine set for the season one Sanctuary episode "Requiem." Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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This chat with Wood took place prior to the start of filming on season two of Sanctuary back in February. At that time, the producer/director chuckled when asked what his hopes were for the show's second year. "Season one was a year of scrambling, and I'm looking forward to not scrambling as much in the second season," he says. "We have a groove that we've fallen into where we understand better how this show is supposed to work. We were all neophytes last year, so we're hoping that the newness will have worn off and we can settle into what we really want to do, which is make the best show possible."
I had the privilege of spending a day on the Sanctuary set last week and all is definitely going well with the filming of season two. Amanda Tapping was directing that day, and she, Martin Wood, Damian Kindler and the rest of the Sanctuary cast and crew have plenty of twists and turns in store for fans with these new 13 episodes. You can look forward to seeing much more Sanctuary coverage on my blog closer to the premiere of season two - Steve Eramo
As noted above, all photos by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
05/22/2009
Emilie Ullerup - Growing Pains
[caption id="attachment_870" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Emilie Ullerup as Ashley Magnus in Sanctuary. Photo by Jeff Weddell and courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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When we were children, most of us probably spent at least one night looking for monsters under our bed or in the closet. Fortunately, they always turned out to be imaginary. As an adult, Sanctuary's Ashley Magnus risks her life searching for very real monsters. An expert in advanced weapons and technology as well as hand-to-hand combat, she is the daughter of Dr. Helen Magnus, head of the Sanctuary, a global network of facilities dedicated to studying and, if necessary, capturing and detaining creatures called abnormals. As if Ashley does not have enough on her plate, she takes on even more when her father, John Druitt, comes back into her life. It has been quite a head trip for our leather-clad heroine, as Emilie Ullerup, who plays Ashley, explains.
"Ashley already had a huge journey in the two-hour [Internet] pilot," says the actress, taking time out for a chat while shooting the first season Sanctuary episode Warriors. "My character went from living her life as she had through her twentysomething years to being hit in the face with the fact that she has a dad and he is, or was, a monster.
"So overnight her whole world changes and becomes a scary place for a young woman who has never had to deal with anything, really. Emotionally, she's cut off and focused on her lot in life, which is every day she gets up and might die because she's going to go fight monsters. Then, all of a sudden, her dad shows up and forces her to think about what she's doing. I think that's what took up a lot of her time in the web pilot, but her journey has since changed with these 13 [first season] episodes that we're doing."
[caption id="attachment_872" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley and her estranged father John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) have a somewhat unconventional reunion. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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The two-hour Internet pilot for Sanctuary was filmed in early 2007, but its creator Damian Kindler along with his fellow executive producers, Martin Wood and Amanda Tapping (Helen Magnus), began prep months before, and that included, among other things, Ullerup's audition for the role of Ashley. "When I originally went in to read I knew nothing about the project other than the three scenes that I'd been sent," she recalls. "I had that first audition and received a callback relatively soon afterwards. The second time around was pretty much like the first, except after I did the scenes, I think it was Martin Wood who said to me, 'The show's stunt coordinator Bam Bam [James Bamford] is here. We're going to put together a little something for you and we just want to see how you do.' I said, 'OK, let's go.'
"James came in and he and I did a very simple hand offensive [move] and I walked out of there feeling good. A couple of hours later I got a phone call telling me, 'You're good to go,' and I was super excited. We shot the trailer that summer [of 2006] and then seven months later we began filming the web pilot. For me, that meant a whirlwind of learning the fight sequences and putting it all together. I had never had any fight training before in my life, so it was a matter of rehearsing a scene and then walking on-set dressed in leather and high-heels and trying to pull it off. I actually did everything myself, but we had a [stunt] double on-set who would also do the fights in case there was something that I couldn't sell properly. Bam Bam brought in great stunt performers who I was able to practice with and get a feel for having five people around me that my character would have to take down. So I had all these things working in my favor."
Along with the onscreen fights, another of the more memorable moments for Ullerup when filming the Sanctuary pilot is where Ashley learns that John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) is her father. He and Helen were born in Victorian England and were part of a group of scientists called The Five. Back then, Helen discovered that an injection of a serum derived from vampire blood would give all five of them extraordinary powers. Druitt gained the ability to teleport, but the drug's side-effects turned him into a homicidal killer. This drove him and Helen apart, but not before they had conceived a child. When Helen and Ashley next saw John it was in the present day, much to their surprise.
[caption id="attachment_874" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley and John Druitt "enjoy" some father-daughter time together. Photo by Jeff Weddell and copyright of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"I went into that scene where Ashley finds out the truth about her father having made up my mind that it wasn't going to be something that we glossed over easily," says Ullerup. "Once we started filming that day, the cast and crew didn't know what to expect with that scene and we took it in a direction that was a little deeper and darker than perhaps anyone had anticipated. It made it so much better for all of us, though, because our characters really connected, and in the process it got frightening, too.
"I remember doing a scene with Chris and I was actually terrified of him that day, which worked great. The scene was quite magical and Martin Wood - I don't know if he would want me to say this - but he had tears in his eyes. He and the other guys sat behind the cameras and they all started crying with us. We were exhausted beyond belief after 12 hours of doing all that emotional stuff, but it was just a really super day. That's why we're all so pleased to be back here. We knew we already had something special, and now we get to play with it more."
The Sanctuary pilot received such a positive response from viewers that the Sci Fi Channel decided to bring it to TV. Its 13-episode first season was shot during the spring and summer of 2008 and debuted last October. The program's new venue necessitated changes to the pilot, which was re-shot, and as the story unfolded, the characters' lives once again experienced upheaval.
[caption id="attachment_877" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mom and daughter team in action - Ashley and Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping). Photo by Jeff Weddell and courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"Ashley's world has been turned upside down this season, mostly just in terms of she's been introduced to the idea of free choice and free thought," notes Ullerup. "Yes, she's had that in the Sanctuary, but she's always been told what to do by her mom and never questioned it. However, with the introduction of her father, he tells Ashley that there is such a thing as choice and that she should think for herself and not simply aim, shoot and kill. So there's a lot going on with her. I'm not sure where it's all headed because there are so many different ways it could go, but there's definitely a great deal of darkness in my character's life.
"At the core of everything, Ashley loves her mom; she's the only one who my character could trust up to now. This has provided me with plenty of [acting] challenges because I, personally, come from a very stable family, so trying to draw on not trusting your parents and not knowing who they really are is very strange to me. So I've had some big days with both Christopher and Amanda, lots of emotional pulls and tugs as well as a lot of anger and resistance, more than, I think, in the Internet pilot, which is really a thrill for me."
Like the web pilot, the TV incarnation of Sanctuary uses a tremendous amount of green screen in its production, which allows its writers to set stories around the world. Also, Martin Wood, who directed the web pilot, has directed several of the TV episodes, and his presence behind the camera is much appreciated by Ullerup.
[caption id="attachment_879" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley and Sanctuary's resident techno-whiz Henry (Ryan Robbins) infiltrate a facility run by a shadowy organization known as The Cabal. Photo by Jeff Weddell and courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"Martin knows exactly what he wants all the time," says the actress, "and that's huge help, especially when you're working with green screen, where we enter a world of not knowing. Even on the day of filming, we don't know exactly what's happening around us, but Martin is great at making sure that we at least know the broad strokes of where everything is. He's great about taking us aside and informing us of our environment, and that helps us figure out what's going on inside ourselves. There are days when I'll be on-set and do something that I think works. Again, though, Martin knows what he wants and he'll come up to you and say, 'Listen, that was very good, but can you try it this way.' As a result, the entire scene is transformed. Martin knows how to speak to actors, and that's not always the case with a director."
In the aforementioned Warriors, Helen and Ashley along with Helen's protege, forensic psychologist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) cross paths with The Cabal, a powerful shadowy organization that views abnormals to be a serious threat to the future of humankind. This episode also reunites Helen and Ashley with another family member.
"This story is basically about a fight club for abnormals, but it's definitely not a voluntary one," explains Ullerup. "It's being run by The Cabal, who are looking to create the strongest, fiercest, scariest abnormal ever and are testing their candidates in the fight ring. We become involved when one of Will's friends is kidnapped, so we go looking for him and stumble upon this club. At the same time, we find Ashley's grandfather [Gregory Magnus, played by Jim Byrnes]. My character thought he'd been dead for many years, so now grandpa gets tossed into the mix, too. This is a big episode insofar as family ties and raises the question of can Ashley trust mom? It turns out, though, that Helen had no idea that her dad was still alive either, but it's still more confusion for her and Ashley and their relationship becomes a bit more tarnished.
[caption id="attachment_883" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley and Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) on the hunt for an abnormal in the season one Sanctuary episode "Nubbins." Photo by Jeff Weddell and courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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"For me, the thing that's been big this season is character development, which includes Ashley dealing with her own issues as well as other characters," continues the actress. "Because she's sort of the go-to gal who knows the town and all the contacts, I've been able to play opposite some really cool abnormals. I mean, I've had scenes with an abnormal we call 'Squid Man,' who's this crazy looking guy with prosthetic tentacles hanging all over his face. So that's been an odd sort of challenge.
"What also stands out for me acting-wise on Sanctuary is getting to do so much of the physical stuff. There are some episodes where it's needed and others where not so much. Sometimes I wish there were more stunts and fights, but I understand there has to be a balance. It's not a fight show and we need the story to drive the fights. So overall for me as an actor, I've been able to do the emotional scenes as well as physical ones. I've also had the chance to be in the background and watch other people play and see their characters develop. I just think it's a very well-rounded way of telling a story."
[caption id="attachment_888" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ashley and Henry are caught in yet another tight spot. Photo by Jeff Weddell and courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel"]
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Prior to being cast on Sanctuary, Ullerup got plenty of Sci-Fi and Fantasy experience working on such shows as Battlestar Galactica, Blood Ties and the Canadian made jPod. "I was so green when I did Battlestar," says the actress. "It was my very first audition and I was lucky enough to book it. I had never been on a [film] set before, so I had no clue where I was supposed to be or what I was supposed to do, other than I knew my lines and I was in my costume. Most of my scenes were with Katee Sackhoff [Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace], which was really exciting. She and I gelled very well and it was an amazing first experience. Everyone on Battlestar was terrific and it was a fantastic way for me to see how a well-oiled machine works.
"Then I went on Blood Ties. I did their pilot episode and it was a whole different type of set because it was smaller and new and you just got that sense of energetic first-time jitters. I worked with Kyle Schmid [Henry Fitzroy], who's a fantastic actor and all-around nice guy. Our scenes together were relatively intimate and before we began shooting, Kyle said to me, 'This could be awkward, but I don't want it to be, so let's just have a laugh and have fun,' which we did.
"And just before Sanctuary I did jPod, which was originally a book written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland [executive producer] and then turned into a TV series. Unfortunately, it only lasted one season, which was a terrible shame because we went out with 15 Leo Award nominations and the series was also nominated at the Monte Carlo International Film Festival. I played a computer animator [Kaitlin Joyce] who was striving to climb the ranks, tended to ignore people and was sometimes a bit not-so-nice. It was a great show to do over the summer, and to then come to Sanctuary and be cast as yet another very different type of character is a real treat."
[caption id="attachment_890" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our heroine Ashley enjoys a rare moment of down-time. Photo by and courtesy of Sanctuary 1 Productions/Anthem Visual Effects"]
[/caption]
In Sanctuary's first season two-part finale Revelations, Ashley is taken prisoner by The Cabal and undergoes a treatment that turns her against Helen and the others. Discovering that she has inherited her father's teleportation power, Ashely steals a vial of vampire blood that her mother needs to cure a virus that The Cabal has unleashed on the abnormals. In the final moments of Revelations, Part 2 it looks as if she has gone over to the dark side. Like the show's fans, Ullerup is curious to see what is next for Ashley when season two of Sanctuary premieres this fall.
"We were shocked to see where we thought our characters were going and where they ended up," she says. "In the world of Sci-Fi anything is possible, and in the world of green screen even more is possible. We've gone to so many places and seen so many new things, and that makes it easier to stick with your character because nothing is ever the same. It doesn't become routine when as an actor you're challenged to explore new places with your character. It keeps it fresh, and I'm looking forward to more of that next season."
Steve Eramo
As stated above, all photos copyright of Jeff Weddell or Sanctuary 1 Productions/Anthem Visual Effects and courtesy of Sanctuary 1 Productions/Anthem Visual Effects or the Sci Fi Channel, so please no copying or unauthorized duplicating of any form. Thanks!
05/15/2009
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