Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly & Jack Kenny – Warehouse 13

By starrymag | April 10, 2014

Q) What does it feel like for you guys to wrap this up? And I know you guys have already wrapped, but to say goodbye to this and how do you look back and just like what kind of legacy do you think this show leaves for SYFY and maybe even for cable shows in general?

Eddie: Well, I mean, I think that the legacy – we’ll see, you know. I’m sure when – back when they did the – however many episodes of the original Star Trek they never dreamed that despite its being canceled early in most estimations that it would go on to be such a huge cult success. So I guess we’ll see what happens. Joanne and I were just talking. It’s like I haven’t seen her. I miss her. She’s my friend who I’ve spent the last five years with and so it’s hard. It’s difficult not to see everybody but I know we are all wishing, we all are pulling for one another and I’ll look back on Warehouse 13 as one of the great times of my life and my career. I watched my boys grow up and I think I may have even grown up a little bit myself, but don’t tell anyone I said that or I’ll have to kill you.

Joanne: I think, I mean, yes I – you can never kind of foretell what’s going to happen. So all I can say is from my own personal point of view in regards to the show, I learned so much during Warehouse 13. I think now that it’s over – in fact I – and – since we stopped shooting you realize how special it was. And very much there’s a ton of times in like where you don’t really understand what something is to you until it’s no longer there. I think that’s a cliché for a reason and it’s really true for me that Warehouse 13 was a really special time. And I don’t think I understood that until I stopped, until you’ve stopped showing up every day and you say, “Oh, my God, I’m not going to see these people; these people I’m so used to seeing every day.” These people have been such a big part of my life. It’s a huge change.

Eddie: And I finished all four episodes last night. We watched the last one of course is Savage Seduction and so wait till you see that one. I mean, it’s so bizarre. It’s so off the wall and Aaron Ashmore is just so awesome, brilliant, fantastic, fun, I mean if you know Aaron he’s pretty quiet and he’s pretty reserved. And to see him play this character – he plays two characters on the show. It’s just hilarious.

Q) Was there a storyline that you would’ve like to have seen play out on Warehouse 13 that you didn’t get to see?

Jack: Yes, one that lasted 13 episodes.

Eddie: I really was disappointed that we didn’t delve into Traylor more – his past. I was on Jack a lot about that and he never really answered my question so it goes unanswered.

Jack: I’m honestly planning a whole hour long at USA about that so I can’t tell you how it ends. And before you ask…

Eddie: Oh a spin-off and you didn’t even ask me to be a part of it?

Jack: Before you ask there’s – no, there’s not a part for you – But I will be able to hire your dog.

Eddie: Can I fetch your coffee?

Jack: Yes, you can always fetch me coffee. Not all iced tea. You know it’s iced tea. At the end of last season we gave Joanne a cancer line story – And I really would’ve loved to have explored that a little more realistically, a little more over some time have her character get more involved with that. But when they told us we had to end the entire series, we did not want to spend five of those episodes dealing with cancer because it just would’ve been a real downer, I think a downer for the fans, a downer for the actors. It would’ve been no fun for Jo to have to do that and it was just, so we kind of, I don’t feel proud of this but we kind of ended it quickly and moved on, because if we hadn’t it would’ve been an entirely different kind of an ending to the series and I don’t think what the series actually deserved.

Eddie: And cancer sucks.

Jack: Yes, it sucks and we – I think we could’ve dealt with it in a really cool, interesting way. But instead we sort of kind of wrapped it up and moved on because I needed to – I wanted to get into, we had ten stories planned. We had ten stories broken out for the next season and when they told us we had six and we had to end it, we did five stories and five episodes and then in the last episode we did six stories. So we really crammed it all in there.

Joanne: Oh. I think I just heard what Jack said about the cancer storyline, that they had to wrap it up early and that I felt, you know, I think everybody kind of felt like, “Okay, we have to move on.” I think we’re all upset that we had to move on so quickly. But also I think that the writers did such a good job with this show. It is really chock full – looking back after five years and we’ve done a little bit of pretty much everything, so I don’t really have any regrets in that way, not at all.

Q) Should we start a Kickstarter campaign for the Warehouse 13 movie?

Eddie: Of course.

Jack: Yes.

Eddie: My wife just bought her third pair of Christian Louboutins. Daddy needs the money.

Jack: We would love to. I mean, we would start a Kickstarter campaign to bring the series back. But – because – well, we all felt like we had a lot more to say and a lot more to do. And it was the best professional experiences of my career so far and I’m very sad that it ended. I’m very proud of the way we ended it, but we left it in a way that we could very easily do a movie. It’s kind of a dangerous thing that fans have to support movies. I think we’re setting a dangerous precedent, you know. I don’t want the studios to start thinking that they can’t pay for stuff.

Q) Obviously, you’ve spent a lot of time and effort building these characters. So when you hear that these characters’ tales are coming to an end, how involved are you in sort of determining how their stories conclude and how involved did you want to be in that process?

Joanne: Yes. I’m an actor; I’m not a writer. But we have great writers and I trusted them to wrap it up in the best way that they knew how. With a lot of actors, once they get involved in that process—and some people are different—some people are really good, but for me, I just trusted the writing staff. Let them do their thing. They’ve done for five years; let them do it a little bit longer.

Eddie: Yes, I mean, I would say the same thing. I trusted Jack and all the writers for, you know, I don’t know. I always had the greatest amount of faith in them and I’d, you know, like Jack said I’m just – I was the resident meat puppet so just give me the words and I’ll say them, but don’t have me try and write them because then it gets bad.

Jack: But we did come up with a lot of cool stuff on this set sometimes. We always improved stuff and came up with – and you guys were always really – had a lot of input in that and we had a good time. So I wouldn’t, you know, I wouldn’t say that we just handed you the scripts and you – and forced you to say what was there. We – I thought you guys collaborated really beautifully with stuff like that.

Eddie: Yes, well thanks.

Joanne: Thanks Jack.

Eddie: I’d wake up at nights hearing Jack screaming, “As written, fucko.”

Jack: Well that’s only because I sneak over to your house and yell outside your window.

Eddie: It’s actually you yelling, “As written, fucko.”

Jack: But, you know, we did talk, I mean, for instance the cancer story – I sat down and talked to Joanne for a while about that. I said, “How do you feel about this and how would you want to explore it and what are your feelings about going in this direction?” We did the same thing with Eddie when he was going to be, you know, when he was going to be in a relationship story with Paula Garces’ character and other – we always try to talk to the actors about the storylines that we’re thinking about and get their input, because I think you get a way better performance and way better involvement from the actors if they – if they’re involved in the stories. We like to write to everybody’s strengths and everybody – and what makes everybody happy.

Eddie: Yes. I mean, at the beginning of the series I remember Jack had us all in and sat us down individually and said, “Okay what do you think about this character? Who do you want this character to be?” And so we did have our input in that regard and I think it made it a lot easier to play these characters and show up every day because, I mean, personally for me there wasn’t a whole lot of acting involved for me. I mean, I just basically showed up to work in the morning and then acted a fool just like me.

Jack: We did try to find out what you guys were into, what you liked and write to who you guys are because that makes it – I think it makes it more fun. It makes it easier. It makes – we’re able to – you connect yourselves with the characters more. I mean, Pete’s whole past with alcohol and everybody’s strengths and weaknesses we try to exploit them in the best sense of that word.

Eddie: When I’m doing conventions I basically – I really don’t have time for anything else because, you know, it’s really a lot of hard work for me personally. I don’t know. I can’t speak for anyone else but personally it’s like I really – I have a lot of fun when I’m meeting my fans and meeting people who appreciate the show. And so when I’m done for the day I’m exhausted. Maybe I’ll get out to go to dinner someplace but I just did a TV show called Mind Games. I was up in Chicago for three weeks during the winter so it’s one of my favorite cities for sure.

Q) Without spending too much time because obviously it’s a very busy call, I was just wondering for each of you what moment during the series or, you know, all five seasons did each of you kind of think of as kind of like the defining moment for you – either for your character or for yourself?

Eddie: I mean, what jumps off for me is, you know, there’s an episode here in the last six called the – is it Savage Seduction Jack? Is that what it’s called?

Jack: Yes, “Savage Seduction,” the telenovela episode.

Eddie: And Jack came up to me. He’s like, “Okay listen. You’re going to have to learn Spanish so start now.” And I was like, “What?” And the storyline is we get caught in a Spanish telenovela. So, Joanne and I and Saul were all having to take Spanish lessons for about two – I don’t know, couple months I guess. We took lessons in between, during our lunch breaks and it was probably the hardest I’ve had to work on any of the shows or any of the seasons. It was hard having to learn the words and make sure that the inflections were there and make sure that it sounds as though we know what we’re saying, and then translating it back to English as you’re saying it in Spanish. I mean, it was hard for me. I mean, I’m like four IQ points above the short bus so it was difficult and – but I watched it last night for the first time and it’s so wild and wacky and I’m so proud of it. I think it’s really funny and I think it’s going to be one of the best episodes of the series. And Jack directed that so it’s one of the ones that I remember the most fondly.

Jack: It was a wild ride I will give you that but you also – I also made you guys learn to tap dance this summer too. Well I don’t know if I ever actually learned. Well you got close enough. It was close enough for government work.

Joanne: I think the – see he has the tap against me. I think that my era as Jack was saying we, you know, we had to learn how to tap dance for this episode. And I am many things but a dancer I am definitely not. And I kind of like was freaking out about it and he kept telling me that it was going to be fine. It would be fine. Just try and learn, try and do my – and then when we did it I kind of took the risk of just kind of letting go and having a great time, which I’ve struggled throughout like my whole journey through Warehouse. I mean, at one point – actually had a great time. So this is actually important and I think I finally learned this episode that whatever, let go and just have fun. It’s one of the most rewarding experiences because it – definitely I had such a blast doing that episode and I was so worried about it. And I think that’s probably one of my favorite memories from this year.

Jack: And let’s point out that that was the second to the last day of the entire series. And Joanne finally let go.

Eddie: I think that’s why we’re such a good balance. Jo was like, “I don’t know if I want to have fun.” And I’m just going, “That’s all I want to do is have fun.” So I think it’s – it was a perfect blend of not fun and fun.

Jack: It’s hard, we had such a good time. Honestly we really did have a great time. Almost in every episode there’s a day that I can think back and go, “Oh my God, that was so much fun.” And there’s also a day where you go, “Oh that was a nightmare,” because it was raining or cold or whatever or boiling hot. But there was almost – we just – we had such a good group of people and there was almost in every episode a couple of days or more where we just went, “God we’re so lucky to have this and we’re just having a great time.”So it’s hard to reduce it to, “This was my favorite day on Warehouse,” because there were so many. But this last summer – these last six because we knew it was ending and we knew how we were going to do it and we were – everybody was just so kind of into it and having a great time. I think that’s why we keep referring to these last six because they were the best time, because most shows don’t get the luxury of ending their series in the way that they want. A lot of shows are yanked prematurely and suddenly. So we got the great luxury and gift of being able to say, “Hey we’re going out and this is how we’re going.”

Eddie: Yes. I mean, and one memory that comes up that I think is one of the funniest or one of the times I laughed the hardest with Jack and Jo and everybody was when the (ginge) and the Speedo was doing the yoga by the pool.

Joanne: I always thought you were going to say when your moustache came off in the..

Jack: Yes. I had to apologize. There’s lack of the moustache.

Joanne: I think that’s the hardest…

Jack: I lost the moustache right off Eddie’s face. But we did have a background performer who – we had a pool scene and people in Speedos and bikinis and this guy felt that he was particularly good at yoga and was…

Eddie: And he had an unusually robust growth of red pubic hair that was coming from all parts of this Speedo.

Jack: Speaking now to this too and he was doing some major yoga poses.

Eddie: The splits.

Joanne: He had a small animal underneath there.

Jack: Yes. I did want to go up and say, “Hey, we’ve all noticed your doing these amazing yoga poses. And what we’d really love to do is have you go and do them in the parking lot. You’re fired.” But we didn’t do that. We just let him do it and made sure the camera was never pointed at it.

Eddie: “Wow you’re really great at those.”

Jack: “Yes you’re really great at those.”

Eddie: “Go do them somewhere else.”

Jack: “You can do that at home.”

Eddie: It was crazy. This guy was just insane.

Jack: Yes. We were laughing quite hard.

Q) Is there anything that you’ve explored throughout all the seasons, maybe a character you’ve seen or an artifact, anything that if you were to go back and like revisit that and maybe add more scenes or something to learn more about it, is there something that particularly interested you that you’d like to do that?

Jack: I would’ve loved to have done a little bit more with Pete’s mom. But scheduling kind of screwed us on that. But as, you know, and most people don’t know that when you – half the time when you don’t see a character come back on a show it’s because they got another job. But we didn’t, you know, I would’ve – there was several characters that I would’ve loved to see a little bit more of that we really liked. I mean, I love…

Eddie: Judd Hirsch would’ve been great if Judd could’ve come back.

Jack: Would’ve loved to have had Judd back. Yes there was a lot of characters I wanted to bring back that – Amy Acker is Joanne’s sister. She was a lot of fun. And we had a lot of really funny characters.

Eddie: We did. They’re all dead now.

Jack: I would’ve liked to have opened up the world – broaden the world and really explore those characters more.

Q) You spin a little bit of baby talk in these episodes. Are we going to see some of that unresolved tension get resolved anywhere before the season ends or the series ends?

Jack: We might.

Eddie: All I can say is this: PICA.

Joanne: You always say that. You’ve been saying that for five years.

Eddie: It’s my hook. It’s my hook man.

Joanne: I do think you see a fundamental change in these characters’ relationships, as I think you do across the board in the show. That’s all I got to say about that.

Jack: What we tried to do in the, I mean, there’s an arc that Eddie and Jo have in the last six episodes that’s really fun to see unfold. And you see a lot of it unfold, I mean, you see the beginning of that – of the – sort of a cracking of that iceberg at the end of Episode 4. But then it really starts to come to fruition in 5 and 6 and – but everybody – every character has a – kind of a revelation of sorts in the last episode. Every character is granted a revelation in the defining moment and something really cool to deal with and in I think a way that really works. I hope that everybody’s going to be very pleased with the final episode. I think they will be.

Q) I think the final episodes are the best ever especially the last episode, the telenovela one. I was laughing all the way through.

Jack: Diego Gutierrez wrote that episode. And we were in pitching stories to SYFY for the last season and Diego had come in and said, “I was thinking maybe we’d do sort of a Downton Abbey kind of a thing, that they all end up in this Downton Abbey world.” And we thought about it for a while and think, “There’s just something – it feels kind of old fashioned. It feels like they maybe did. That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun for our guys.” And I think he said a couple of other things and he said – then finally he said, “Well, we could do a telenovela.” And we all just went, “Of course. Of course we can do a telenovela. Where was that idea Diego Gutierrez? Where were you holding that idea?” Diego who’s now working for – with Robert Rodriguez on El Rey is in here pitching me Downton Abbey. Like, “What are you, nuts? The telenovela – absolutely.”

Q) Jack, you started to say something about you had planned to do a musical episode.

Jack: Yes we did. We did want to write a whole musical episode and having done just the one big musical number in the finale, I think thank God we only did the one number and not a whole episode because I think it would’ve killed us because it’s just really, really hard. I think for anybody who does – needs a musical Jones to be filled they’ll get it filled in that – in the finale because we have a pretty big fabulous number for everybody. There’s not a lot of singing from our guys but there’s some dancing and there’s a big event, let’s just say that. There’s a big event.

Eddie: Not a lot of singing.

Q) Twenty years from now if someone were to ask you what the legacy of this show would be what would you say?

Eddie: Gosh. That’s a good one.

Jack: I think it may be the – I think it’ll be remembered as the show that brought fun to the SYFY channel.

Eddie: Oh there you go.

Jack: I mean, I think Eureka started that tradition and I think we really kind of brought it home with full out action/adventure/thrilleromedy. Eureka was kind of limited to being stuck in that one town, but I think we brought a – sort of an international world of fun to the SYFY channel.

Eddie: There it is, international world of fun – Warehouse 13.

Jack: I want to eat there don’t you?

Eddie: Yes.

Jack: I get paid for the words.

Q) I understand you get to visit kind of a variety of different warehouses in Season 5. Could you tell us a little bit – could you tell us which one was your favorite?

Eddie: I like the alternate universe Warehouse 13. I thought that was – it was actually in a – what was that facility Jack where they had the…?

Jack: It’s an automobile testing facility in – oh I can’t remember the name of the town – in – just south of Toronto. It’s this – it’s got a lot of clean rooms. It had a wind tunnel. It had a room that could be cooled to 35 degrees below 0. It was just this really cool, modern feeling structure and we needed a futuristic modern version of the warehouse and we got to shoot there. They opened it up to us in every way. It was fantastic. We got to shoot a whole bunch of stuff there. It was really fun.

Eddie: And it’s the complete opposite of kind of the old creaky warehouse. It’s very clean and contemporary.

Jack: Yes it was, I mean, I liked Warehouse 9 too. It was fun but we were limited in terms of how much space we could have when we were in Warehouse 9 in that – in the same episode in the premier of – Season 5 premier…

Eddie: Oh that’s right. That’s right

Jack: So – and that was fun in a different way. It was just we were way more limited in what we could actually show there, so it was fun to go to a whole new place. I mean, you know, we were on location for almost the entire summer in various locations.

Eddie: Yes there was actually a dream moment come true for me in that episode when I finally after years of doing it alone I finally got to do my Shatner – that Jack let me unleash a Shatner in the premier and with my little…

Jack: Remember when you were saying the line, “Kind of that way?” And I said…

Eddie: And Jack just goes, “Go full Shatner.”

Jack: “Go for it. Just give me the full Shatner.” It was just so fucking hilarious.

Eddie: It’s just stuff like that for me is what makes the shows. Like when I think it couldn’t really get any funnier and then Jack would come in and go, “Do this,” and then I’m just like, you know, “Why can’t I be you?” kind of for me.

Jack: No. But you were.

Eddie: Yes. Yes.

Jack: You made it work. I couldn’t.

Q) I had talked to Eddie a while back about things he liked to play with on the set. And I wanted to know if there was any memento that you guys took from the warehouse, costume or a prop or whatever?

Eddie: Oh my, I cleaned the place out. Let me tell you a Google or eBay, you know what I’m saying? No.

Jack: Yes he’s paying for his kids’ future.

Eddie: That’s right. Everybody was like, “I want a Tesla. I want the H.G. Wells grappling hook and the Sylvia Plath typewriter.” I wanted the Tesla rifle and production and SYFY and everybody was kind enough to let me have the Tesla rifle. And I got my cast mates to sign it and I’m going to mount it and put it in my house and – as a monument to an amazing time in my life.

Jack: You also got the bongos.

Eddie: What’s that? What Jack?

Jack: I said you also got the bongos, which I thought was the coolest thing to take.

Eddie: Well the – yes and the – yes that’s true. That’s right. There’s a pair of bongos or a set of bongos in Artie’s office that I used to – between takes I’d pick them up and annoy everyone with for five years. And at the end of the five years I just said, “I’m taking these bongos,” and I had everybody, cast and crew, sign these bongos so that’s another good one. Oh yes man. I took gloves. I took – what else? Shirts, clothes, wardrobe – I got all kinds of stuff. They’ll be in auction later on this month. What about you Jack?

Jack: I got – in Season 4 I got the astrolabe, which was kind of, you know, what I – all I really wanted. I got the astrolabe so I kind of have that prominently displayed in my office. I have a Tesla and I have Farnsworth’s Farnsworth, which was really kind of – I got Claudia’s Farnsworth and there’s only one of those and that – that’s what I wanted. They gave me the football and I know Eddie you wanted the football too. They gave me the computerized football but I gave that to Andy Gore who is the Head of Quantum Mechanics who makes all of our props for the fans. And he was just beside himself with the idea that – because it’s a one of a kind. It’s the only prop – it’s the only version of that that exists. There was only one made. And so now Andy has the computerized football, which is kind of a cool thing to have from the show I think. So everybody got cool stuff. I mean, it’s – people did sort of – people did – everybody did want something cool from the show and, I mean, Mark Stern – what did Mark – Mark Stern asked for something. I can’t remember now what – he wanted the sign Welcome to Univille. You know, we need to get Joanne a Farnsworth.

Eddie: Exactly. From analog.

Jack: Yes Joanne wanted the Adirondack chairs that were on Artie’s balcony. I’m sure she did get them. I’m sure they sent them to her. Yes, I mean, people did want to save things. It was fun.

Q) Eddie, I think you mentioned one thing earlier, but do you have any shows planned or anything you can talk about coming up that people can watch later?

Eddie: Well I’m doing the season finale of Castle. The Season 6 finale of Castle. It’s pilot season and I went on a lot of auditions and – which is always a lot of fun – nothing really to speak about. I did this show Mind Games, which just got canceled so I got that going for me.

Jack: You’re falling back into your old pattern.

Eddie: That’s right. I mean spending a lot of time on the couch but right now Castle and we’ll see. I mean, they always do recasts for pilot season and unfortunately it’s – it means someone else has either died or been fired for you to get one of those jobs. But we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I have an audition today and then I start work on Castle tonight.

Jack: Yes, you know, there’s always stuff going on. I mean, it’s starting staffing season now so I don’t know what’s going to come from that. You never know. I’m meeting on several projects and things. I’ve got a couple of vague pilot things in various places, so I have nothing specific that I can talk about at this point. But there’s always stuff going on and I’m directing. A friend of mine is producing a one-act play festival here in Los Angeles called Sci-Fest, which is the first of its kind science fiction one-act plays. And actually one of our writers, J.P. Nickel, has a play in the festival and coincidentally they didn’t know I was connected to him. They asked me to direct it so I’m directing one of the one-act plays. There’s a lot of cool stars in it. Eddie’s on the Advisory Board and there’s a lot of cool sci-fi stars in the festival. Faran Tahir’s in it, Armin Shimerman, David Blue, Madison McLaughlin, Julie McNiven, Angeline-Rose Troy, you know, really it’s a lot of cool people involved in it and it starts – it’s going to be the month of May here in L.A. and they’re trying to get excitement going about that. It’s the first of its kind and we hope it’ll be like Comic-Con to L.A.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*