Anthony Lemke, Anthony Mallari Jr. & Shaun Sipos – Dark Matter

By starrymag | June 28, 2016

Q) Shaun, could you talk a little bit about what made you want to be a part of the series?

Shaun: They have fantastic actors and the creators are so wonderful that it’s just it’s a treat to go in and be able to portray a character that had some really great writing and a storyline that’s compelling. Plus, I like being able to feed myself and procure work as an actor. But really overall I mean they are just fantastic people.

Q) What was it like for you then joining this already established cast?

Shaun: It was probably the best experience that I have had in doing so just because everyone’s so welcoming and there’s really no egos in terms of the producers, the execs, the actors. You know nobody on that set has any sort of ego and is extremely welcoming. Some other shows have egos and you have to kind of balance and do a juggling act. But this one was not like that so it was the best experience that I’ve had in terms of joining a show.

Q) The crew of the Raza they are friendly amongst one another most of the time but new people not so much always. Does Devon get along with all the crew? Are there going to be a few who remain suspicious of him like I know Three tends to be suspicious of just about everyone?

Shaun: I think that they are suspicious of Devon. Think some of them — you know he proves his merit pretty quickly. There’s a couple of instances that happen in the prison and such that show that Devon has some worth in terms of becoming a crew member.   But I think that they’re suspicious throughout you know the majority of it just because he’s a stranger and the way that he came aboard the ship was very circumstantial. It wasn’t like he was necessarily chosen, it was by circumstance.

Q) Can you talk at all about the dark past that your character’s had or do we have to just wait and see?

Shaun: I’ll say I mean, for the most part I think everyone will have to wait and see just because I can’t give away any spoilers. But what I will say is that, this past that haunts him he’s very aware of and tries his best to numb these feelings. And I think that there’s a bit of envy and curiosity towards the crew of the Raza the fact that they have dark pasts but they don’t remember them. And I think he kind of preferred to be in that situation than deal with these demons that he’s wrestling with.

Q) Anthony, how much trouble does Three’s mouth get him into when he’s in Hyperion-8?

Anthony: About the same amount of trouble as always. Three, let’s just say he got in a fair amount of trouble in season one because of his mouth and his attitude and ended up on the receiving end of a few hard blows. And you will not be disappointed if you like to see Three get beat up in season two. However, Three also gives as hard as he gets and is you know is instrumental in putting up a good fight in most specifically episode two that changes that course of the episode, so yes.

Q) Well, now the most important question I have about your character is does Bubba ever get better batteries, because we always see Bubba batteries failing.

Anthony: Bubba is a fickle friend isn’t he? He’s got me into a lot of trouble. I guess maybe in that way he’s fitting for a character like Three. It’s interesting because if you think about what happens at the end of the season, season one, you know things like Bubba would be seized and destroyed by the galactic authority. And so the question really is not so much just the batteries, do we even see Bubba again? And that you’re going to have to figure that out by watching the show.

Q) Alex, in season one in a flashback before the memory wipe we were shown that Four was the one that cast the decided vote to keep Five on the ship. Now that just didn’t really seem I guess in character with Four. Will we ever find out you know what made him decide to keep a kid on board a ship full of mercenaries?

Alex: You know he was real when he made that decision. So you know I don’t know how to answer that one. That does get answered though, I can’t give out too much but that does get answered in season two as to why Five was allowed to stay on the ship and whether or not you know it was Four that that gives you that reason have to be waited for.

Q) Yes he has been he kind of closed off amongst his crew members, really let his hair down so to speak amongst the Raza crew this year a little bit more you know kid of opened up a bit.

Alex: Well, I mean we ended up with someone betraying us. And you know Four wakes up and we know that it was someone that poisoned Four and he has no idea who that is but he knows that the two that are with him. So it’s one of those things that can we actually, can any of us really trust each other at that point where I think you know coming from that stance you’d be suspicious of everyone on board. So the guard is still up I’d say.

Q) How Devon’s presences is going to affect the ship?

Shaun: Well, I think that I mean speaking from you know my point of view, I think that Devon has a unique effect on the ship because he’s a healer. So he’s there to patch people up and help people and you know everyone trusts — essentially trusts a doctor and it’s a source of comfort if things go awry he’s someone that can fix the insides of someone. The big thing is that his insides are all twisted up so it’s a bit of an ironic situation. But I think that he provides simultaneously some comfort to some, and then to others they are still suspicious. They you know they don’t quite trust him until later on in the season.

Q) Anthony and Alex can you kind of talk a bit about that from your perspective?

Anthony: Sure, yes. I mean I think Shaun alluded a little it earlier that Three has been established as a character who doesn’t trust easily and I think that’s a pretty consistent –it’s a pretty consistent trait throughout the season two as well. And there’s not really not a reason that I would jump in and trust Devon all that quickly. And it’s true he does prove his merit but you know for some folks it takes a heck of a lot more than it does for others and you know Three doesn’t get that lightly.

Alex: Four he’s just as suspicious of everyone as he is with the new members. And I think the new members coming in it just adds more to the puzzle and it adds more to the storyline. But coming from the person who plays Four, I think he is just suspicious of everyone.

Q) I know at least the two of you have a lot of fighting in the second episode. I’m not sure Shaun if you get into any brawls or anything, but can you guys kind of talk about the physicality of the roles this year?

Anthony: Well, I’ll let you (jump in there) first. You should totally go first because you’re the guy who does a whole heck of a lot of amazing stuff in season two.

Alex: Yes, I mean it’s not much different from season one. We got (John) behind the board, they are making sure that all action sequences are done safely and with a lot of intensity. Every cycle will have its own story though just the way he creates them, it’s almost like poetry in emotion. So not much different from season one, you can expect a lot of action, a lot of killing, a lot of oh my god moments (that are not), yes. Nothing too different, we’re going to keep on track with the action and we’re going to keep everyone happy with that.

Shaun:   I second that.  Anthony Lemke: I three it.   I think he’s right.

Q) Shaun, I understand that he’s sort of haunted and feels guilty about his past a little bit. And I was wondering if that causes him to have any kind of special relationship with any member of the crew and what you can tell about that?

Shaun: I’m wondering what I can give away here. I think that it causes him to have a protective nature over a member of the crew that — I think I can say this.   I think it causes him to have a protective nature over Five because she’s young and I think that he sees goodness and innocence in a way and he wants to protect that because he — a certain instance happened in his past and she in a way reminds him of this. And I think that him taking care of her or trying to protect her in ways is him paying a penance.

Q) Anthony and Alex, now that they know who they are your characters know who they are and what they’ve done in the past, do they embrace their past any more? Or do they still want to sort of keep it at bay and move on from it and sort of do they feel the same kind of guilt that Devon might?

Anthony: So it’s just a sort of recap about what it is that our characters know about each other and themselves. So we know you know we know we’re bad dudes, we know a bit more about who our friends and enemies are. But in terms of what we each know about our past, I mean we know literally as much as the audience does right now and no more. So I think what you are going to see — I mean I know what you are going to see in the second season is you’re going to learn a lot more about our past. So I don’t feel like that that part of the show has changed where we are like OK, now we got it. We get that we’re bad guys. But I think you know that element of discovering these characters through events that happen in season two, you know that sort of the format of the show in season one and that definitely continues. So the questions that we were asking ourselves in season one about whether or not we were comfortable with being the bad guys, being the criminals, the evil ones, some were fine. My character was totally fine with it. And again, I think the journey for my character has been to go from acceptance of the fact that he is a criminal and a bad guy to acceptance that he may be more than that. That he has an empathetic side and understanding how that empathetic side can live in the same body as the really quite brutal side. And that you’ll see throughout season two

Alex: There’s really not much more to add to that. I think I think that I mean the whole premise of the show is you know whether you want to — we want it to stay who we are if we cannot go back to who we were you know what would we choose. And Four he’s struggling with you know he was already struggling about the whole betrayal from his stepmother and trying to figure out his storyline. And then now you hit him with OK, cool now the only family that you did know, one of them betrayed you and you know had you incarcerated. So it’s definitely a journey that we’ll all see and I don’t know, it’s going to be a fun ride. But I think we all struggle with the whole do we want to be who we were.

Q) So for the two, of you both of your characters sort of learn that you possibly have been set up and you didn’t really commit a crime that you’ve been — that people think you have. So does that help your characters bond at all?

Anthony: Yes, I mean I think there’s a bunch of things that drive our characters closer or further apart and you see a lot of them in season one where the end it’s all about who can you trust and whether you can bond to these people on the ship and for sure. And I think by the end of season one we bonded pretty well as a team. And I think season two is about, it’s about testing those bonds and seeing which ones break and which ones don’t. At least it feels like that for me. Alex, what do you think about it?

Alex: Yes, no I think Four does have more trust with certain people (and) suspicious with everyone. But we definitely did bond a lot more at the end of season one.   I think how I play that anyways is I knew that I could still trust Two and Three because they were in the same predicament so it was easy to make that logic (out) there.

Q) You’ve kind of (just) this far, but I’m curious how should we expect going into the new season of each your characters change, this is primarily for Anthony and Alex. And which character out of the entire bunch do you think has changed the most?

Anthony: You jump in after Alex. So how does my character change throughout the season two or at least teasers about how he might change? I think teasers are there’s an individual you know that he develops a much deeper bond with in season two than he had developed in season one. That is as an actor was really, really rewarding to play. And also I think as a character you know I’ve seen some of those scenes cut together and it’s just absolutely I mean it brings a broad smile to my face when is see them. It’s a really wonderful relationship that Jill and Paul have started to expand on in season two. And you get what it is you see you see Three moving on down the empathy route to being able to connect more as a person in a caring way with people and still in a Three way though. You know he doesn’t all of sudden turn into One, he’s still Three. But you know I think that’s the biggest and most fun change that happens for Three. And then of course he also has to deal with a relationship that unfortunately you know is cut short and that becomes a challenge a bit too.

Alex: (Well, Four) he realizes that he has an agenda. And I can’t give out too much but I’m really excited about it. So but he does have an agenda how his character develops with that is that’s the exciting part. So I can’t talk about that because I know the producer would kill me if I speak on that (but no) but he has an agenda.

Anthony: They wouldn’t kill you, they’d just kill your character. Don’t worry about it.

Q) Paul you know and Joe have time to you know get this mapped out a little bit. But is there for all of you is there like wiggle room to kind of go to them and say, hey I have this idea for a story, or maybe my character can do this or that?

Anthony: I think there really is wiggle room within that. I mean when they say they got it mapped out what they mean by that is that they have the overall arc of the series mapped out and it grows. They react to what they see on screen you know relationships that they see working or not working to be honest and types of you know, types of performance zones where actors feel more comfortable than others and they react to that. I mean a good example of that is the Android who was not supposed to be as large a character as she has become. And she you know like the first season every you know, it felt like every five, six days you were getting a new scene for the Android and you know she earned it, she was fantastic. She’s an audience (fav) doing a really great job (and the show’s) so much better. And that was the reaction, that wasn’t you know that wasn’t the master plan to have the Android be that central lead character. And you know kudos to Zoie for seizing the day and making our show better and kudos to Paul and Joe for realizing that and allowing the show to grow.

Q) And as far as I mean I think this show leads kind of like the league in WTF moments really from the first season on. Are we going to see a couple of hose coming up this season?

Alex: I don’t want to be the only one talking so someone else jump in here but I think (the same) men, yes. We’re going to stay consistent with that and there will always be the cliffhangers. Joe loves — Joe and Paul love the cliffhangers and we definitely end up with all of those always.

Anthony: I would say this, I’ll just add to that there’s a couple of really big ones in this season. I think that maybe we would probably agree are bigger than the ones in the first season or at least as big anyway.

Q) Well, and actors often build this backstory for their characters but your back story’s being rebuilt as you go along. Is that kind of a different way to work for you guys and what’s that experience been like?

Alex: Well, it’s exciting because we woke up with no memories. And I know Melissa’s answered this (one time). I mean she (said) (in the back past) because we get the scripts and then that’s when we find out you know what is happening in our characters. When you start off with a clean slate you just never know where it’s going to go and you could only fill the (past) from that and forward. So it’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s different for sure but I enjoy the ride.

Anthony: Yes, I would say it’s even challenging. I mean it’s a little less of an actor’s conundrum in season two when you actually do have baggage and back story and there’s you know the subtext in all the scenes, because you have play this stuff. The subtext that grows out of relationships you developed with other characters you know where it’s not even necessarily straight in the script. So you’re playing (beats) in the scenes that you know it’s written about something else but there’s seven us of us there and we’re all interacting with each other and stuff goes up naturally. But in the first few episodes, man I mean subtext and back stories is kind of like that’s actor’s stock and trade, right and you know we didn’t have any. So it was definitely made it pretty interesting, you’re sort of (flying without). And you can’t like try to infuse the scenes with stuff that just aren’t there because you know, your characters are as lost as you are as an actor to try to figure out you know what the heck am I doing here? We didn’t you know, we didn’t really know. And to play it any other way it would have been disingenuous in a way, right? Wouldn’t have been true to what our characters were going through. So it’s the first time I’ve ever had to do that and I thought it was a lot of fun but also kind of challenging.

Q) I’m curious you touched on this a little bit with the fight choreography but like how long I mean, does it vary from week to week and how long does all of that take? And did you guys come in with any skills, does that help, that sort of thing?

Alex: As far as how long did it take, I know that (prison) brought in Anthony and Melissa and Shaun and worked on.

Anthony: Yes, that was you know I’ll be honest with you, it took (John Stead) and his team a whole heck of a lot more time than it took us because they — what’s amazing about that is it was shot like in an afternoon. I mean it’s massive if you’ve seen the first episode — the second episode and it’s (both of that) and it’s astounding. I mean it’s how fast and how the whole darn thing was shot as one sequence. And then you know they had worked all of that out on their own with our doubles and then they gave us a day to basically learn, a whole day to learn it and then we had the day to shoot it and we could practice you know before we actually shot it. But you know in terms of the actual practice time, I mean (John Stead) was full time on this show even though he wasn’t doing a fight, we weren’t filming a fight scene every day. He was full time on the show and his whole team was full time on the show. They were there choreographing and creating the fights that you see all the time and so a hell of a lot of time went into each one of those fights but just a little bit less for us because I’m not doing fancy you know fancy martial arts moves (technical difficulty) fair amount more not just Alex, there were a number of other folks who you know who put in a fair amount of more time in terms of really getting the choreography down to a precision level that would indicate they’re masters.

Q) Shaun, can you talk a little bit about doing the medical stuff while doing dialogue? That seems kind of hard to me.

Shaun: Well, it can be difficult for sure. I mean you’re using words that you don’t normally use in daily life. But when I was younger I wanted to be doctor so I had a fascination towards that. So it actually was quite nice because it you know it reignited that curiosity. And so I’d be looking these things up and I would be running it and would be talking to doctor friends of mine. So it started to become a little bit more in my regular-ish vernacular at times, but sometimes you know you wonder how much you really can do. You’re doing surgery, you’re not actually cutting into somebody, you’re not actually even cutting into a piece of bread. Operation! Yes more like Operation where you’re doing these (minute) things that aren’t actually happening but you need to portray that they’re happening. So that can be, that can be a task. But at the same time as an actor it’s fun to have a task. If everything is easy it would be a boring game. But it’s nice to be challenged.

Q) Which cast member from season one was the first one to welcome you on set your first day of filming?

Shaun: Well there was Melissa. It was actually kind of a — it was kind of a three pronged gesture I think. There was Melissa, there was Anthony and there was Alex. But I had worked with Alex prior and did a miniseries with him in Russia. So I kind of — and my sister had one a part on the show. So I had a bit of a soft lead in. But they all were really gracious and welcoming. You know a lot of times you can feel like the new kid at school and you know everyone’s sort of unsure and you don’t know where you fit and you’re kind of walking trepidatiously trying to figure out where that you know fit is. But everyone was so warm and welcome that it was really amazing I didn’t feel that so.

Anthony: I have a story about that. I’m going to jump in with a little Shaun people story. And I don’t know whether this is a credit to our set or maybe it’s a statement about the type of sets that you’ve worked on before Shaun. But I remember we were shooting something and I think it was Bruce the director and he — we finished a blocking or something like this, and Bruce is a totally casual relaxed kind of dude and the whole thing is just going simply and people are kind of joking around. I remember Shaun you came up to me and you sort of had this quizzical look in your face and you asked me, is it always like this? I kind of didn’t know what you were talking about so I had this lost look in my face and I remember asking you like what do you mean? And you’re like fun. I was like yes, it’s always like this pretty much. And Shaun you know, Shaun fit right in and was a really great addition to the team. Obviously, you know his skills (are actual) great and did a great job there but I’m just talking about in terms of fitting in well on set and you know it was like he’s always been there and that’s the same for everyone who came in as new characters this year. I felt like he was a really easy transition on our side for sure. And you know Shaun just spoke to it that he felt kind of the same, so we’re lucky. It doesn’t always happen.

Shaun: Oh, thank you, man. Thank you. Yes, it’s really rare you know to be honest when you get along with people and really feel like you have forged strong friendships. It doesn’t always happen when you’re filming things.

Anthony: No, not it really doesn’t.

Q) Based on the trail of the ghost of you and the others, they were going to a high level security prison. And you don’t really have the personality to stay down long. So I’m wondering how long before you guys start talking break out?

Alex: I think it’s a pretty high possibility. I can’t imagine Three or Four just staying put and saying OK, I guess these are our circumstances.

Q) How would you describe the season in three words?

Anthony: Oh boy. OK, I think one of the words definitely has to be continuity. People tuned in to our show in the first year and I think they tuned in for a reason. And part of it has to do with the characters and the tone of the show where you know it sort of walked that line between really heart felt and dramatic moments but also lightness. And it also had that sort of central mystery, you know central driving mystery about who these characters are and that question about whether you can ever overcome your past. And you know definitely you know continuity is there. That’s one word. Alex, you want to throw in a word?

Alex: Yes, it’s gratifying for sure. Just as our writers have always promised questions will always be answered. So you know they still stick to that and so I got to say gratifying. And exciting.

Anthony: It’s fun, man. It is a fun, exciting season. The world has exploded and like it’s a much, much bigger world. And I think that sort of what you’re talking about there Alex. we meet our first alien in Dark Matter, we meet new technology, new worlds, new characters. It becomes an incredibly robust show as they crack open this season.

Q) You guys talked about how new relationships develop organically on set and it’s really awesome that the production — the producers and crew allow for that to happen and kind of change up story lines. Since you’ve been filming season two, has there been anything like that happen where it’s been like oh these two characters actually the storyline works great, let’s keep rocking and rolling with it?

Anthony: Let’s put it this way, if it did happen it wasn’t as obvious as when with the Android in season one where literally we were getting rewrites and every second rewrite was an Android scene that they were adding. Part of it was instrumental in the sense that they, the scripts were coming in a little short when they were getting the edit. But the truth is they could have written anybody’s character in and they wrote hers in because the truth is that she just did a great job. So this year we had kind of the opposite problem where many of the episodes came in long. So we — in fact there’s a lot of stuff we shot that didn’t make it into the final (step). So we didn’t have an opportunity as actors to know which were the add scenes that they said oh, wouldn’t it be great to throw this character and that character in together and we have to do it anyway so let see more of this character? So I don’t know which one of the relationships they sort of started seeing and went hey listen, let’s pump it up. But they are definitely and I alluded to one of them in my discussion earlier that you know there’s definitely one of them that you didn’t see a lot of in season one or towards the end of season one, my character and that character started you know having a little bit better relationship. And then they really sort of seized upon that in season two. And I think that’s probably an example of what you’re talking about where they are saying oh, that’s fun putting those two together. But it’s hard for us to know.

Q) Will Ryo continue to try and reach out to his brother to reveal to him who actually killed their father, or do you think because of what’s happening now that’ll be stalled a little bit or what can we expect there?

Alex: But this is an agenda that he does have, one of the things that he’s always trying to I guess figure out is how to make up for that betrayal there, how to get that vengeance. And it’s always haunting him and whether or not it’s haunting him enough to take action in season two I can’t say. But like I said earlier, our writers are very good with answering all questions and all story lines will have their answers in due time.

Q) What shows are you both super fans of?

Alex: “Game of Thrones” for me.

Anthony: The truth is I got three young kids and so we don’t have a lot of time to watch TV and whenever we do it’s with the kids to try to create a bit of family time. And we like I’m really in the zone of like the Pixar movies. And I no, I’m serious movies man. I think it’s some of the best storytelling out there. Like they just don’t miss. Every single one of them that comes out you, you know A, you watch it in the theaters and then of course you get you know we are in the DVD world, that’s what we do and you know you just watch it over and over and over. And you know something like “Inside Out” it’s just one of the best movies that I have seen and I can watch that thing over and over and still be touched and still see new things. And you know is it me geeking out? No I guess it’s technically my kids geeking out on that stuff but I’m more than happy to go there with them because they are just wonderful, wonderful pieces of storytelling.

Q) We seem to be living in kind of a golden age for sci-fi right now. I mean there are so many good things out and Dark Matter definitely seems to be leading the charge. Can you just talk about how you’ve seen the genre kind of develop and just you know definitely have the greater specs and you know those things that take you make you feel like you’re travelling along. But there’s the aspect where you know there are deep questions that are being asked. You know are we only the sum of our past decisions, can we escape those, are we pre-determined? You know can you just talk about how sci-fi has really kind of developed and now that you guys are kind of out of in front genre just kind of what you’ve seen and where you see it going and just working with everything?

Alex: Yes, sure. I just got to expand Sci-Fi and (one show) and also the entire genre itself because they always take charge with diversity. And I think it’s awesome that all these shows that we’re seeing right now from the (X fans), Killjoys, Dark Matter and then you even had the Walking Dead. So they have a strong you know diversity in it and that’s what I appreciate about sci-fi. And I think they are not only taking a charge with storytelling, I think Dark Matter is taking the charge with that whole aspect, so yes.

Anthony: Yes and I think yes, I mean if you went back six years would you have a single spaceship show on Syfy? You I’m sure somebody out there can answer that but I’m pretty sure that answer’s no. And you know it seems like we went through about a decade where you just couldn’t get a spaceship show off the ground in any sort of serious kind of way. And you know I think there’s a bunch of reasons for that. One of them is I think we as a society stopped dreaming about space and space exploration. And I think if you just do a quick Google search on Neil deGrasse Tyson and listen to what he has to say about the importance about space exploration to humanity and to technological innovation you know, you’ll understand the importance that you know the importance that is starting to emerge again with guys like him. But also things like you know European space agency saying hey listen, we want to put up a base in the moon by 2030. And you know and the American president saying listen, we’d like to send someone off to Mars. All of a sudden we’re talking about it again. And you know writers and network execs they are business people. They respond to these (Sci-Fi) in society at large and they also play a part in driving it for sure, it’s a feedback loop. But, when we start talking more and dreaming more and planning more and spending more bucks on looking upwards and outwards from our own planet, that’s when you start getting the stories about that. And I think you know I think I happen to like to space stories better than the vampire stories, that’s just a personal thing. So I’m happy that we’re entering you know that phase of our story telling.

Q) And I think I happen to like to space stories better than the vampire stories, that’s just a personal thing. So I’m happy that we’re entering that phase of our story telling. And but do you kind of feel when you’re taking these challenging roles that you know you’re inspiring not only the current generation but generations to follow and they see you guys perceive as things may things and then the things that you — do you kind of feel that kind of gravitas?

Anthony: I bet you if Joe were sitting here, Joe and Paul that they would have a few words on that and I bet you their answer is that they would feel that. You know, I think you know as actors you know, Alex you can speak to this, you know we say what’s on the page and we interpret it to the best of our own abilities but we are a piece of a larger machine. I’m happy to be part of that. But I think that’s Joe and Paul would have a more important role in leading that charge. Alex, what do you think about that?

Alex: Yes no that’s exactly what was running through my mind. I was like thinking you know we are just the guys who — we’re the pawns really just playing the role that is created. And the world that that they’ve imagined belongs to them and where they want to go as far as direction is certainly is their responsibility. And like Anthony said, I do feel that they would say yes that they do feel that sense of responsibility there and they tackle it head on.

Anthony: Yes I mean just a little tip about who Joe is and the kind of responsibility. I mean he when everyone else was talking about werewolves and vampires and such and that was where we went when we talked about fantasy as opposed to science based fantasy. You know Joe has always been a massive sci-fi fan. I’ve been to his house and you know he’s got an entire room, I think it’s probably literally almost every science fiction book ever written. I mean honestly, you got to see it. It’s tens of — maybe 10,000 I don’t know. Honestly it’s like an entire wall 20 by 20 by 20 and it’s the whole thing from you know 10 foot high ceiling and it’s just full of books and they are all science fiction. He cares deeply about the genre as a storytelling vehicle and I think you can tell from season one. I think what he — one of the things he seems to enjoy most is the you know when you take away the constraint of reality you can talk about a lot of really cool things that are actually really important to our everyday real life and to what it is to be human. And I think that’s what he seems to enjoy most after having worked on you know a couple of seasons with you know largely guided by Joe and Paul and not entirely written by them. But it seems to me that they tackle that head on and they see the possibilities and opportunities of sci-fi head on.

Q) There seems to be a foreboding threat that’s kind of just from the first couple of episodes that’s coming that everyone is going to have to deal with. Do you see that as something that’s going to more so, you know while you guys are trying to find out your individual answers and more questions, there seems to be a more you know overall threat that’s coming that’s going to kind of unite you guys at the end of the day. Can you kind of talk about that a little bit or is that kind of off base you know what are you kind of allowed to say about that?

Alex: This is just a personal stand point here — that Four does feel a strong (tension) with I think specially Two and Three. And moving forward from where we are I think you know the Raza doesn’t have much choice but to band together and tackle these threats. But whether or not — or how effectively they do it, I think that’s something we’d all have to wait for to see.

Anthony: Yes, I mean I think that notion of the foreboding that you’re alluding to is in the darker tone. Yes, I think that’s undeniably there. You see it in some of the trailers that are out there that there’s allusions to the fact that the Raza crew ends up becoming you know central in some of that foreboding. On which side of it will let the story unfold as it will. But the season definitely runs a bit darker in terms of its interpretation of the universe in which you know the Raza exists and the Raza crew exits. That’s not to say the show — the show is darker as such. It’s still I think you know quite funny by terms but I think the you know what you see going on around the crew of the Raza is definitely darker and will lead to a climax at the end of the season two that’s going to blow your mind. Like I was kind of thinking all right, so you know you’re watching season one and you think jeez how are they going to top that for a cliffhanger at the end of season two, because you know we all just got hauled off to the (clink) and betrayed by one of our own.   And then at the end of season two and I was like oh, that’s how you do it.

Q) Anthony, you had mentioned about how you know some of the episodes run over in time and they had to cut things out. Is there anything that you guys know of that was cut that you kind of would have liked people to have seen or have you not seen a lot of final cuts to even know?

Anthony: We don’t, I haven’t seen cuts. I know it happened because you walk into Joe’s office and say, hey Joe what are you working on? He’s like oh we’re over, we got to cut you know. And so you see him working on stuff. But I — Alex, have you seen any final episodes.

Alex: I haven’t, I haven’t even seen episode one and two like all of you have. I have no idea what’s made it and what hasn’t.

Anthony: Yes, I do know that there’s — I’ve seen parts of an episode that has a fair amount to do with Four’s, sorry Three’s back story and that was one of the ones that definitely ran over time. And so we ended up losing a good number of scenes in that one, some of which were my scenes and yes, it’s a shame. You know if they could cut two versions, you know a Netflix version that wasn’t constrained to the TV delivery time of space and Syfy networks, that would be great because then you see the story as it was written as opposed to as it was edited and those are two different stories and they are both you know they are both great stories. But it’s like the director’s cut versus the you know the release cut and there’s worth in seeing them both, but I don’t think there are any plans for that. Maybe if you guys you know maybe, I think part of it (is they) have to pay to finish it and maybe that’s why they wouldn’t do it but you know in terms of finishing the postproduction on that stuff that was cut out. So but anyway there’s no plan to release that. For sure I’d love for you to see it. Joe and Paul do a great job you know choosing what the final cut is and they take great care in that. And so you know even though the story may change a little or it takes on a little bit of a different direction, they get what they want out of it all the time and they do an amazing job of getting those final cuts together.

Q) I think it was only in your scene Anthony I’m not sure but what the heck was that disgusting slob that came out of the machine. I know it was supposed to be some kind of food but what was it really?

Anthony: We have an amazing, it might surprise you to know that it’s the props crew that takes cares of all the food on set. And though the food is intended to look disgusting the food more often than not tastes absolutely amazing. It’s a real testament to them that they manage to make that actually taste good. So it was some oatmeal based thing as you might conclude. But it actually like they even go to like the length of you know kind flavoring the oatmeal with spices and sweetening it and whatever and it ends up actually tasting really good. Although, it you know which is great for my character because my character eats in every scene he’s in, right? Like if there’s food there my character’s going to be eating it. That’s just a choice I made earlier on and so it’s good that our props people care about that.

Q) Back on the topic of space from earlier, if you had the opportunity would you guys go into space for real?

Alex: Yes

Anthony: Yes

Alex: No hesitation, yes.

Anthony: I mean I guess the answer has to be a little more nuanced than that because we do have the opportunity now if we had you know 120,000 bucks or whatever it is U.S. you can go fly into space. You can go hang out at the space fort and jump in a ship and take you up into the orbit.

Alex: One way ticket to Mars (would do it), yes let’s do it.

Anthony: One way no, I’ll wait for my kids to grow up. But I guess the real question is what would you — you know I think right now I probably wouldn’t because I have kids and I don’t think the risks are something that I would want to undertake. But I definitely have thought about you know when the kids are older and whatever and they’re you know you’ve taken care of everything and seen them on and you know you’ve got a fair amount of money in the bank or at least a lot of equity in your house and would I cash in 100,000 bucks at that point in time to go into space? Yes, I think I probably would. My wife doesn’t seem to want to but I’m like yes, let’s go.

Q) Will you guys be live tweeting during the broadcast?

Alex: Yes.

Anthony: Yes. You bet (looking forward to it). It’s one of the coolest parts.

Alex: We appreciate the fans.

Anthony: I got to you know for the Americans which is an American call, July 1 is our July 4 and 10 o’clock is generally speaking when pretty much all fireworks happen. So I might be tweeting from the fireworks this July 1st at 10 o’clock.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*