QQ. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on?
A. "Warehouse 13" has sort of dominated my schedule since March 2009 but over the hiatus I did sneak in a guest spot on "Smallville" playing one of the Wonder Twins which was really fun. Last year I was continuing my college career so I am in the process of getting my degree while working on a show that not only do I have fun doing, but a show I would watch.
Q. What's new this season on "Warehouse 13" and with your character Claudia?
A. The second season of the show, I just saw the premiere episode, and I gotta tell you it's twice as strong as it was last year. It's edgier, sexier, and it looks amazing thanks to our new DP and camera crew. I really have to credit the writers for coming up with these amazing, strong, and layered scripts every week that elevate our characters and the relationships between them and capitalizing on what works for the show while still being able to mix it up every week. Every episode that we've done is so different, but it's still "Warehouse 13." I have really enjoyed the different adventures that we've gotten into every week. My character Claudia who is the young, sort of hip geek hacker on the show is enjoying some elevated responsibility this season. She's a junior agent so she's right there in the bullpen when they get an artifact ping and hacking in whenever she can. She also gets to go out into the field a couple of times with each of the different characters. Like I said we get to mix it up, you get to see every combination of the four of us out in the field tracking artifacts. You also get to learn a lot about Artie's back story. This season a couple of us are effected by an artifact and need to be rescued. Claudia gets herself a love interest who is a mysterious young lad played by my good friend Nolan Funk who actually shows up in the town that has the warehouse. There is chemistry between us but we both have secrets and that comes to a head in episode nine.
Q. What originally made you want to be a part of the show?
A. I had worked with the brilliant show runner Jack Kenny when I was thirteen on a pilot and I also worked with a couple of the writers the year before I got this show on a webseries with Rosario Dawson. I was in school and I got an email from Derek that he was working on this great new series and that a role was coming up that he thought I was kind of born to play and to be looking out for it. Then I spoke with Jack and was elated that he was working on it because Jack is probably one of the most nurturing, creative, and warm people to be working with. He's like having a mom and another director on set at the same time. It was also a brilliant move on SyFy's part to hire him. If you asked him he would say that he had no interest in Sci Fi, he'd say, "I'm a comedy guy and every good show is a family show." SyFy said this is our guy! Everyone in the writers room knows what Sci Fi is about and Jack keeps the show running smoothly based on what works on a grounded level. Jack sent me the pilot to make sure that it was something that I liked and would want to be involved in. Once I got the pilot I watched it probably four times because I liked it so much. I loved the tension between Pete and Myka, I loved the Artie character's mysticism, and grouchiness. I loved the endless possibilities that the warehouse has in store. When you pan through it in those special effects shots that show the suggested entirety of it, it almost looks like the universe that's continually expanding. It's really never ending in there, nobody knows the exact dimensions of it so the possibilities are endless as to where we could go. My favorite part about it was the comedy, that while we were chasing around these supernatural items that could have come from your grandfather's attic, there are jokes. That was really what got me into it in addition to playing a character that's so real and complex just like me, or you, or anyone that could watch it.
Q. Where do you continue to draw from for your portrayal of Claudia?
A. Myself entirely! Claudia has the same insecurities that I do, she's sarcastic, she's funny, but she does bring a certain skill set to the table once she sits down with the other three. She's constantly trying to prove herself, just as I am trying to prove myself in my career. She's trying to find her niche with her peer group like I found my niche with this amazing cast, and trying to figure out where she fits socially, which is what I do every day. Then there are these very imaginary situations, like last night I filmed a scene where I had to rescue Pete from being hacked up into little bits with an axe. I screamed in rehearsal when I saw the axe and I felt really silly. The acting involved there is just the suggestion of danger, and I don't even draw on anything for that, an axe is just scary no matter who you are.
Q. Is there anything about the role that you find challenging?
A. I would say allowing myself to be available to the insecurities and vulnerabilities this character goes through and allowing myself to show that facet of myself. Green screen work is always a challenge, I hadn't done any of it before the Rosario Dawson webseries. Out here there are a lot of special effects. It forces us to really go back to the kind of imagination that we use as kids and suspend our disbelief and believe that while holding this green egg away from our neck that it's actually a robot spider with a blade. That's always a new experience because you never know how it's going to look. Working with Saul Rubinek on a daily basis, and no he did not pay me to say what I'm about to say, is the most fulfilling and eye opening journey. The man is a master. He has been doing this for more years than he cares to admit I am sure, but what he brings to a scene every day is so fascinating that I hope to be half the actor some day that Saul is now.
Q. What do you think it is about the show that continues to draw in so many viewers?
A. People continue to watch because we're accessible. Sci Fi doesn't just have to be on a spaceship, which is great. I watched two seasons of "Battlestar Galactica," and the show knocks me out, it's spectacular. I think what people respond to about "Warehouse 13" is that these characters are people that can be part of their family. I think everyone probably has an Artie, or a Pete, or a Myka in some regard in their family. The balance of comedy and thrills and emotional and rich stories keeps people invested in it. Every episode is an adventure with something for everyone and the whole family can watch. I really think more families are tuning in to see what this TV family is getting into every week.
Q. You're a part of the social networking part Twitter, what makes you want to connect with fans that way?
A. Twitter is a fascinating medium first of all. The danger of it is allowing it to become a receptacle for brain damage. I like to joke about that because really you're publishing yourself every day. If you use Twitter and you're broadcasting thoughts, it's not a personal journal, it's going out into the worldwide web which is world wide. Why I think it is great is that I can connect directly with my fans who maybe don't do fan mail or don't know what the avenues are to connect with their favorite actors. Also to promote the show or what I am doing in my career. When used right it can be an amazing tool. Alyssa Milano has something like a million followers and Eddie McClintock just did an episode of her show "Romantically Challenged" and asked her to do a little blast on the date of our season two premiere. She said she would and so her thoughts are being broadcast to a million people and that's powerful. Social networking has a good side and a bad side but if you use it wisely it can be an incredible grassroots promotional tool.
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. Thank you for watching and giving us a second season, my bank account and my morale thank you. This show is as much fun to work on as it looks like. We would be nowhere without people who tune in and come to the panels. I appreciate the fan response from the bottom of my heart, it means so much to me that people love this show as much as I do. We are a family on screen and off and we are a family with fans. I appreciate it, keep watching, and season two is going to blow you away.
