Laura Mennell, Gabrielle Stanton & Matthew McGuinness – Haven

By starrymag | October 31, 2014

Q) Can you talk a bit about your character? Do you think that the characters will be able to trust her?  I mean do you think maybe that they will eventually be able to confide in her with what’s going on?

Laura Mennell: Well I think that’s part of the fun of this new introduction of Charlotte being this CDC — epidemiologist working for the CDC because I mean, yes, generally speaking she does pose a bit of a threat which is kind of interesting coming into town, coming into Haven, not only as an outsider but as this women working for the CDC where Haven’s secrets could be exposed to possibly the worst person possible.  But yes, I mean throughout this season you’ll get to see whether she is a threat, whether she’s not a threat, whether she possibly could help.  I think that’s part of the fun of it all.

Matt McGuinness:  Beause if the question specifically is about can people trust her, I think it’s an excellent question and I think the answer is some will and some won’t and that’ll create really good conflict I think.  Some people will recognize Charlotte for the potential threat that she either is or could be, and other people will begin to see her as someone who may actually be a big benefit to the town.  And those people will have obviously completely different viewpoints and find themselves in conflict about what to do about this CDC agent.

Q) Talk a bit about working with Adam [Copeland].

Laura: Oh Adam is just a sweetheart.  He’s really lovely.  He has a heart of gold.  I think it’s so funny coming into a new job when you’re going to be working with new people.  You always get curious and you do a little bit of research and I knew that he was like this pro-wrestler guy and you see the pictures of him all muscled up and all tough but he’s honestly just such a sweetheart and so lovely to work with as an actor and as a person. And you’d come to set every day and he’d talk about his lovely girlfriend and his super, super sweet lovely little baby called Lyric and yes, we had a lot of fun, we’d joke around and we’d work really well together so hopefully that comes across.  I think it will throughout the season.  He’s been great.  He’s so lovely and wonderful.

Q) Gabrielle and Matt, going into this season, we understand from talking to the cast earlier that there was a lot of pairings that happened because of the way the shooting was, so we’ve seen a lot of two part episodes.  Will that continue through the rest of the season?

Gabrielle Stanton: Yes.  Pretty much.  I mean not every episode but because we’ve been on for a while now, we kind of had the opportunity this season to do a lot more kind of serialized stuff.  Dig more into mythology, do a lot more character stuff and that really kind of led itself to two two part stories so we can really dig into the troubles and what, how our characters are reacting to them and how we were kind of dealing with it in terms of the overall mythology of the series. So, it’s been really kind of fun this year to be able to do more of that and more kind of serialized mythological stuff as opposed to all standalone episodes.

Matthew McGuinness: Yes, we were very much a case of the weak show earlier in our run and I think correctly the longer you go the more you want to learn about where these people came from, how they’re interacting with each other and the sort of one off case of the week is there, but it’s sort of there to serve as the characters more I think.  And for that reason, two part-ers seemed to work really, really well this year.  And we always, as we become more serialized almost every episode ends on some type of bombshell or cliffhanger or something so to us it just feels like almost an ongoing story at this point.

Q) Laura, I wanted to ask how as it been coming into an existing cast and storyline?  How has that been for you coming from your own series where you were an integral part of an ensemble.  What’s it been like for you to come in?

Laura Mennell: It’s always different coming to a new show and you’re like the new kid in town.  Like it’s like the first day at school and you never know how you’re really going to fit.  But I found with this show specifically it was a really easy fit. I mean the cast is lovely and wonderful and super sweet and also I mean the crew is just spectacular. I think there’s something to be said about east coast Canadians and their warmth and hospitality. So I’ve really, really honestly enjoyed being a part of Haven and being in Nova Scotia and part of the wonderful, crazy, wacky world and getting to play with so many wonderful things that the writers have sort of thrown my way.  I mean Charlotte will definitely go through some interesting changes to say the least. So, it’s been a fun couple of seasons we’ve been working.

Q) Laura, I was wondering was your character featured extensively enough in the episode that Lucas Bryant directed that you might have any impressions to share on what it was like being directed by him?

Gabrielle Stanton: Yes, yes, I definitely — once, my first episode will be this 508.  You get a little sneak peak and once I’m in there, I’m definitely very much in there.  I’m very much a part of the story constantly, but I was lucky enough to get to be directed by Lucas who again is a great, wonderful man and super talented.  He’s a great actor and so I was curious to see what he’d be like as a director and he’s a lot of fun.  He’s really, really supportive to his actors and his crew and he was really great. I think what I loved the most about being directed by him was he really encouraged getting to play around with different things and would really give you the time as an actor to be creative and try new things and just to see where it would go.  To see what would work, to just try it which was really great.  And, I gained a lot of respect for him because that’s a tough job to do and I think he did a great job and I think his episode will honestly be a lot of fun and super weird.

Matt McGuinness: We’re going to chime in here and say that Lucas by all accounts was a fantastic director.  And it’s always fun for us to watch and see what directors sort of where their strengths and/or perhaps weaknesses are and actors are always really interesting to me because I think they work from a place of actors.  So they work with the actors and they like to work on performance and things like that and that frankly is what I tend to like as well. So, by all accounts he was a terrific director.  And then it was also fun to see the crew really rallying around him. I think it was indicative of how fond people are of him up there and these are people that have been working with him for five years in the rain and snow and sleet and whatever else.  And there was an opportunity to really ride to the rescue for Lucas and help him as he directed and I think people really did.  I was happy to see that, I thought that was a real indication of closeness of people up there.

Q) Gabrielle and Matt, I’m wondering if you can answer this or not, but has the scheduling move to 7:00 p.m. been seen as a perhaps a negative portent or just a temporary move.  What are your feelings about that timeslot move.

Matt McGuinness: Well, it’s interesting.  Television is sort of a real moving morphing landscape these days.  Our like a lot of television shows are DVR numbers are virtually the same as our live numbers.  And more and more and more and more people, I mean, when I say the same, I mean almost 100 percent of our audience is almost split between live audience and DVR audiences at this time.  And I think we’re kind of a harvinger of people realizing that people watch television when they want to. I certainly do, a lot of people do.  And to be honest, when I first heard it I wasn’t thrilled.  But I think pairing us with wrestling was probably a good thing because Adam has a lot of fans there and I’ve been pleasantly surprised actually at how well it works.

Gabrielle Stanton: I think, I mean I think as Matt said, it’s funny because it’s almost not as important now when you’re on because no-one or very few people, and I think it’s going to become more so this way are watching real time.  I mean I have shows that I love that I watch every week but if you ask me oh what night’s it on.  I actually don’t know I just know it’s on my DVR when I get home.  So, I think, although like Matt said we were a little weirded out by the time at first, we’ve come to realize with the ratings and stuff that it’s not making a huge difference in terms of numbers and our audience is absolutely finding us.

Q) I’m wondering how Haven would get on the radar of a CDC doctor to begin with? They protect themselves pretty well whether you’re in town or not so.

Laura Mennell: Yes no it is part of the episode.  Yes, gosh, it’s so weird to go back to like the earliest, earliest thing but yes, originally it sort of comes to Charlotte’s radar through Dave right.

Matthew McGuinness: Dave basically is on a road trip and in 506 and has a car accident where he gets taken to a hospital.  The hospital in North Carolina and as part of the, his regular exam, they discover this odd wound on Dave and what we know, but they don’t know, is that that wound is actually a trouble related wound.  And the pathology of that wound I’m sure, made Charlotte’seyes pop out of her head when she saw under the microscope

Gabrielle Stanton: In 507 I mean Vince and Dave were very concerned about these test results being out there and Vince tried to get the sample back from the laboratory and he thought he had succeeded but then we discover no.  He did not.

Matthew McGuinness: Oh yes, that’s right, yes we did a whole thing about that. So that’s how it came across, they did everything they could to keep this sample from getting out into the world but it got out.

Gabrielle Stanton: And we thought that that was sort of interesting and ironic because Vince and Dave worked so hard to keep Haven’s secret from the outside world and the residents too.  It’s kind of interesting that Dave would be the one that kind of ended up leaking, this vision.

Laura Mennell: They tried to so hard to keep it secret from some of the residents in Haven.

Q) I was just wondering if there was anybody you would like your character to like have more scenes with?  I know Adam is keeping you occupied in an attempt to keep you occupied from other things but is there anybody else on the cast that you’d really like to work with?

Laura Mennell: Yes. I was lucky enough and you’ll see throughout five and six, seasons five and six that I really worked with everybody quite extensively.  I mean Charlotte becomes a really important character and has a really strong connection to everybody for very specific reasons. I guess if anyone, I could have worked with a little bit more, it would maybe be Eric’s character Duke.  I mean I did get to work with him and he’s obviously great to work with, a lot of fun.  But maybe I would have liked to work with him just a touch more.  But other than that I’m — yes I was definitely in there and I’ve been lucky enough to work with each and every one of them who are all wonderful and special in their own way.  So it’s been great.

Q) Laura, I was wondering how was your character originally described to you.

Laura Mennell: How was she originally described?  Let’s see.  She was originally supposed to be — well I don’t know if she’s really changed that — well she changes throughout the season but, she was originally described to me as this very intelligent, inquisitive, worldly women and I don’t think that’s really changed.  I mean she starts off in the beginning as being this very passionate and dedicated women to her job and I love that she’s just so focused on her job in the beginning as the CDC doctor, epidemiologist.  And she’s just — I don’t know I think I had a lot of fun with her specifically because she’s not just that women.  She’s also very engaging and sweet and warm particularly with Dwight and you’ll get to see multiple sides with her. But I mean the fun part is, and this was part of — this was a bit of a surprise to me I guess, is that she has a little bit of a mystery to her which I didn’t necessarily know about coming into it all and it’ll take a little while to sort of discover what her true motives are as they unravel which is the fun part.  I mean that’s what I really love.  There’s definitely some really great reveals with her and that was something I didn’t necessarily expect coming into the show.

Matthew McGuinness: No, but it’s really fun for us to hear because I forget that now there’s been a fair amount of water over the bridge or under the dam or whatever the saying is and we all know so much but I forget when we first talked to you about this character, we did not reveal everything.

Laura Mennel: Yes.  We had a specific call.  Actually, there were two.  There was one where you were not going to tell me anything and you had like a secret little oh, we’re going to go on mute for you for just a little bit we’re just going to go away and then you wouldn’t reveal whatever it was.  And then it was like the week later when you revealed something to me which we won’t talk about and it kind of blew my mind.  That’s all I’ll say.

Gabrielle Stanton: Which makes us super happy because if even the actors don’t see it coming then we are doing our job.

Laura Mennel: Yes, I think the audience will be in for a bit of a shocker and a lot of fun.

Q) What can you share were some of your most memorable moments you’ve had from filming Haven?

Laura Mennell: Most memorable moments.  I think just working with absolutely everyone.  And everyone is super sweet and there would be a lot of fun to be had on the weekends with everyone and also working with Adam which was really great.  Just like fun quirky little moments.  Like, just little things, like I remember being in this one scene with Emily and Richard and it’s supposed of us and it was this cute little scene and Richard had something to say, I can’t remember what it was but, it was like this specific word and it was a difficult word for him to say and it was a difficult word for him to remember and he came in like at the end of the scene and at first it was just me and Emily and I know it was — I probably even shouldn’t be saying this but it was just so cute.  And I mean this in he was so endearing in that moment.  But, I didn’t know what it was and Emily and I were doing the scene and it was super serious and then she was just starting to giggle just a little bit.  And it was like what is she doing?  And this is my coverage, why is she giggling on my coverage?  And then I started to giggle because I realized what it was and it was cute little Richard in like the corner, like he didn’t even know he was doing it, but he was repeating this one little word like just under his breath, and I don’t think he knew he was saying it and it was just so freaking cute.  Just stuff like that and then we just all kind of laughed about it. I don’t know if he knew that we knew what he was doing but it was just so cute ‘cause he is just such a wonderful man.

Matthew McGuinness: Do you remember the word?

Laura Mennel: I can’t even remember the word and if Emily was here, she would probably remember the word because she couldn’t stop saying it to me later on after that.  It was just really cute. But it was something – tricky little word, that was tricky to get off the tongue and he had no idea what he was doing, he had no idea it was coming out of his mouth and it was just, it was kind of priceless.

Matthew McGuinness: If it was a difficult word to say, Gabrielle wrote it.

Laura Mennel: Yes, probably. I had a few though as the epidemiologist in town.  Oh my god do you know how many like Google searches I had to do to figure out what the heck I was talking about with all my science talk and little Google tutorials to do how do you take blood? And how do you do this?

Q)  Is there anything you can kind of officially tease the fans about what we’re going to find out about Charlotte?

Matthew McGuinness: The CDC has a centre there and we think that she’s there initially, she sort of stumbled upon the place, and she’s in a difficult position because like people often do when they get to Haven, they begin to question themselves.  They start to wonder well hell, am I crazy?  Am I going to be able to actually go back and present this information to anyone?  What can I do with this information?  And that sort of what she wrestles with. But then as we move forward we see her starting to gather information that she’s not telling us she’s gathering and we see her having data about the troubles, that she’s not telling us that she has, and we don’t know how she gets it.  And we start to speculate as to who exactly she might be working for.

Q) Now that one part of Audrey you could say is not immune to the troubles anymore and Nathan cannot feel her anymore.  Is that going to affect their relationship together?

Gabrielle Stanton: I think it’s going to stay as, it’s not really going to affect their relationship.  I mean the thing about the Audrey and Nathan relationship is, we see it as kind of a true love. She’s actually pressed him on this before and people have said to him like well do you just love Audrey because she’s the only one you can feel?  And he’s said no.  And I think we’re going to see over the course of this season, that that’s true, that their love completely transcends his ability to feel or not feel.

Q) Laura, knowing that your character’s a doctor, I don’t know how much she’s on the front lines.  But did your character require a stunt double and if so, what can you tell us about the kinds of action your character gets involved in?

Laura Mennel: Have I ever gotten a stunt double.  Yes, there was a day where I definitely had a stunt double which is bitter sweet for me because I love to watch what they do and I get really excited about it.  But I get really excited about it and I want to do it but I know that producers might not want me to get bruises and maybe get in trouble and maybe accidentally do bad things to myself.  So I get it.  But I love stunt days, I think they’re super fun and super exciting and yes, I mean Charlotte will definitely get in there a little at some length but yes.

Q) You mentioned needing to do some Google searches for particular items in the scripts.  I was wondering if you did any preliminary research worth mentioning before tackling this role?

Laura Mennel: With this role specifically I would constantly be doing research yes as I said.  Specifically for all the scientific medical jargon and there was quite a bit of it which I enjoy, I find it a lot of fun.  I mean I have a lot of weird facts from all sorts of jobs that just kind of are random and in my head and I know I’ll definitely save some of the ones I gained from this job.  So yes, I would constantly be doing Google tutorials to learn about how to do weird things like just as simple as taking a blood sample or giving a B12 shot, or just weird little things like that which there’s all these little details in it all.  And doctors and nurses are watching, you kind of want to get it is as best as you can. I think the main thing for this role specifically wasn’t necessarily to do other types of research to help inform me of the character but more, I think, I had lots and lots of talks specifically with Gab and Matt about sort of her back story and how it all ties into all these little intricate pieces of the storyline which he’ll understand as you watch the episodes, it gets very, very complicated.  But very, very interesting.  So for me, it was more about sort of getting my story straight ‘cause she has a lot going on as character, Charlotte, she definitely does.

Q) Did you ever share a laugh with Emily that you on the 4400 once played a character named Audrey Parker?  

Laura Mennel: Oddly enough we didn’t and I don’t know why I didn’t bring it up with her.  Because I know fans have on twitter, but it just sort of, I guess I just forgot about it once I got to set.  But when I first got the role, I thought that was funny because it did remind me of my Audrey Parker role on 4400 which was a lot of fun.  Totally different than her role, completely different.  But yes, it is a – it is a fun little fact I use.

Q) Gabrielle and Matt, since you’re writing now, or you’re shooting now toward the end of what will be five and a half or as a sixth season, are you  writing it with the idea that this will be a series finale or are you keeping it open ended with the possibility that we may end up with a true sixth or seventh season?

Gabrielle Stanton: We are writing to the idea that it’s going to be a huge awesome finale and that if we do not get another season, the fans will feel satisfied and feel like it was a great ending to a series.  But if we are fortunate enough to be able to continue then it will be just another one of our incredible cliffhanger seasons and it will be able to ramp right back up for the next season.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*