Mido Hamada – Emerald City

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What are the recent projects that you have been working on?

A) At the moment I’m filming a new series called “Counterpart” for Starz. I started filming that in December and will continue to film it until the end of May.

Q) How was your character Eamonn on “Emerald City” originally described to you?

A) They gave me a few pointers and spoilers I can’t say, but the main thing they said was he was the Wizard’s right-hand man and he was a family man. He was a very conflicted and complicated man. That, in and of itself, made it very intriguing to me. So, when I read the scripts I know obviously The Wizard Oz. I immediately jumped at the chance to play because I know the story and the scripts were absolutely amazing.

Q) Was there anything you added to the role that wasn’t originally scripted for you?

A) I think we kind of came up with the character as we talked about it between the showrunners and Tarsem Singh the director and we kind of found the common ground of where we wanted to take him. Plus, there is a few spoilers still to come in the next three episodes. So, there are some things I can’t yet say, but he was a character that I just fell in love with.

Q) When you’re doing the stunts, is it something you’re a part of designing?

A) I think in terms of stunts, it is always a collaboration because you have to see what you are doing, who you are working with and what you can and cannot do while remaining safe. Most of the time I like to do the stunts and everything myself as much as I can. In this show, I did pretty much everything unless what I thought was too dangerous or out of my reach.

Q) Who were you most looking forward to working with on the series?

A) I was very excited to work with Vincent D’Onofrio. I think he is a tremendous actor and I have been a huge fan of his from before. So, to finally be able to work with him and have a lot of scenes with him I really, really looked forward to that. It was also lovely to work with Jolie Richardson and the same goes for Adria [Arjona], Oliver [Jackson-Cohen] and all of them. The cast is tremendous and it is a real compliment to NBC and to the producers for casting it so well and bringing such a nice mix of people together that really brought such life to their characters. Everybody in real life is like their characters so it is fascinating.

Q) What can you tell us about the mural in Eamonn’s house?

A) You will know more by this Friday. I will say that much. Friday the mural and everything will start to make sense to everybody.

Q) Where does Eamonn’s loyalty lay?

A) I think, to be honest with you, his loyalty lies with his family and that’s always the conflict within him. I think first and foremost his loyalty to his family. He will do whatever it takes to protect his family, even if that means doing unspeakable and unthinkable things. If it saves his family, then that is what he is going to do. He is very uncompromising in that. Then, he has deep feelings and deep compassion and is not just a machine that carries out orders. As the season progresses, you start to see this kind of chasm where they don’t necessarily agree on everything. They’re not in agreement in everything. So, I think that is just getting deeper and deeper and as the season progresses we will find out why and where that chasm comes from. But his loyalty lies first and foremost to his family.

Q) Has he chosen the Wizard over the King for his daughter’s sake?

A) I cannot tell you that. That’s a very tricky question! [laughs]

Q) What were some of your most memorable moments from filming?

A) You have to start off with the first time we had a table read. That was one of the most memorable moments or me because we all sat around. We broke it down into two days, five hours each. It was just amazing to hear the whole story read out like that with all these wonderful actors. Then, being able to see beautiful faces from all over the world. We really represented the planet and Oz really well. There are people of all different races represented in Oz and I thought it was a wonderful job of diverse casting. That was really, truly a wonderful first memorable moment. Every day was just a memorable moment. You could go and talk about the amazing locations as we started filming in Barcelona and then we went to five or six different locations in Spain. Then, we went to Croatia and filmed at a national park there. It was just absolutely stunning. There were these amazing waterfalls. Then, we moved from Croatia to Budapest and started filming around the forest there and in the studio. Each day I’d see amazing set designs or costumes that I hadn’t seen before. Our costume designer is absolutely phenominal. She had done an incredible job. The mask she created for Lady Ev (Stefanie Martini). I think all of us were just excited to see each other’s costumes day in and day out because we were excited to see what Trisha Biggar came up with. We were just amazed on an every day level. This was something truly special. Then, to do the work was absolutely incredible. To work with a director like Tarsem who gives the actors freedom to explore and find things. Then, the sets that are unlike anything you have seen before. So, all in all it was a tremendous experience that I was really, really happy to be a part of.

Q) Was your costume then something you got to collaborate on as well?

A) No. It was only collaborative in me lending my body and they making it fit. If you call that collaborative, then yes. [laughs] In terms of Eamonn having the long hair and darkened eyes. That’s something we came up with together, but as far as the actual costume I was just there to wear them and try to make my acting match the clothes.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you enjoyed the instant fan feedback you have received to episodes?

A) To be honest with you, I am so new to this. I literally just got a Twitter account and I have no idea how to work it. So, I’m not yet in the full swing of things in terms of communicating with everybody because I’m still trying to figure it out. I think my children know more about social media and how to work it than I do and they are just kids! [laughs]

Q) What do you think it is about “Emerald City” that has made it a fast fan favorite show?

A) I think you start off with the genre. I think the fantasy genre is one of my favorites. I think you are either a person who likes the fantasy genre or you’re not. I’m a huge fan of it and I think if you combine that with a good script (which I think we really had) and a visual style that is brought on by a director like Tarsem than you really can bring something together. You add in to that mix some real quality actors and all of a sudden you come up with something unique and special. I think the audience is responding to the desire to escape from reality, which at the moment is tedious maybe to them. So, I think it is an ideal world to escape to.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure fans of the show know about Eamonn and what is to come?

A) Just follow Dorothy’s journey. I think it is so wonderful. One of the things that I think I really like about it is that there are no characters that are either heroes or villains in this. They are all operating in shades of gray. There is something good and bad in all of them just like all of us. I think that’s what makes it so compelling. Then, you throw all of these souls into this magical and mystical world and wonderful stuff starts to happen. I think that becomes so watchable for all of us. In terms of Eamonn, he really has to deal with some demons of his past and has to come to some form of peace with that. I think there is a resolution towards the end of the season as to what will happen to him and where his journey goes. I think people will be interested and intrigued to see it. So, I hope people will continue to watch it. We need all the viewership that we can because we want to do it again. So, people keep tuning in and watching.