Rena Owen – Siren

By: Jamie Steinberg

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

A) I’ve been pretty occupied with social media. It’s become a full-time job in some ways. Acting wise, I did just wrap on a movie in Australia. I did a movie called Escape and Evasion and I play, for the first time, a Major. It was a fantastic role and I loved it. Then, I came back in time for the opening of the Mermaid Museum. Life is always busy when you’re self-employed!

Q) How was Helen on “Siren” originally described to you?

A) The show was actually originally called “The Deep” and was described as “a dark reimagining of the classic mermaid mythology that is set in a small fishing village in the Pacific North West and explores what would happen if a mermaid were caught in local waters, which turned out to be a wild and vicious marine predator.” Helen was described as “any ethnicity, the older proprietor of Helen’s Antiquities; Helen is an enigmatic person who views the town’s mermaid obsession with disdain; Helen seems to know a lot about mermaids herself – the real ones, not the sweet ones of cartoons and fairytales. Also, she seems to have some sort of connection with the strange girl Ryn (Eline Powell). Put on the spot by a tormented Ben, Helen refuses to tell him what she knows and pointedly tells him to ask his family.” That’s a very much ominous word for this character as she is an enigma and she is eccentric.

Q) In what ways are you similar and different to Helen?

A) Helen is a unique character and I’m definitely a unique character. Helen doesn’t really come in a box and I’ve never really come in a box. She’s intelligent and I’m intelligent. Unlike her, I don’t have an obsession with mermaids. I never had. Helen is obsessed with mermaids!

Q) Have you spent much time looking around Helen’s shop at the various items she has for sale?

A) Oh yeah! That stuff is fantastic! I wish I could take all of it home because the whole art department and the production design was phenomenal. Helen’s shop is to die for! It is legit in terms of it all being proper mermaid memorabilia and antiquities. The only time we had something that wasn’t the real thing was in the second episode where Ryn comes in and picks up an ornament that she breaks. That one was a made-up prop so she could break it as we had to have multiple copies for it so she could have multiples takes. Everything else is just sensational. There is a lot of stuff in Helen’s shop that I would love to keep. As I said, I’ve never personally had a mermaid obsession, but I’ve always liked antiques and antiquities. That’s something I have in common with Helen. I have always loved going to flea markets and swap meets and stuff like that to look for unique stuff. I used to love, love doing that.

Q) Were you familiar with any of your costars before filming the series?

A) No, none of them. Out of the series regulars, I’d never seen any of their work. Most of them are relative newcomers. I’m kind of considered a veteran. Alex [Roe] had done a few things, but none of them I had seen. I knew that Eline and Fola [Evans-Akingbola] each did two episodes of “Game of Thrones.” I knew that the supporting actor David Cubitt, I used to watch “Medium” and he’s been on a lot of American TV series. I was also familiar with Gil Birmingham, who is probably America’s most famous Native American actor. So, those two seasoned actors I was very familiar with because like me they have been around.

Q) Who would you like to work with more come Season Two?

A) If we get another season, I’d like to have more scenes with Gil and more scenes with David. Most of my scenes are with Ryn, which almost always involve Madden and Ben. I did get to have a scene with Ian later on in the season. Of course, Sibongile [Mlambo] who plays Summer. So, yes, I had scenes with all of them.

A) What have been some of your favorite episodes to film?

A) Not necessarily. My favorite epsiode is based more on description that I thought was really powerful. And one of them I’m not actually in. When I look at episodes, I think all of them are really good, but there are a couple that have really standout scripts. So, in terms of what would be my favorite episode that I can be seen in is episode ten – the last episode. You’ll see why when you see it. Episode Ten would have been one of my favorites to make.

Q) What have been some of your most memorable moments from shooting “Siren?”

A) I can’t really say because I’d give away storylines. Nice try, but I can’t do that! [laughs] In terms of the episodes we’ve seen, when Ryn first comes to Helen’s store that was a pretty cool scene to shoot. We’re both kind of checking each other out. When she strangles me…Then, when Ryn mentions my skin condition. That was a really cool scene to shoot, but all the scenes are great. The cast is amazing, but Eline is a standout. I always believed if her character didn’t work then the show wouldn’t work.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you been enjoying the fan feedback you have been receiving to episodes?

A) Twitter is all new to me. We go in together and watch the East Coast viewing and tweet. That has been fun, but there is a lot to learn about social media.

Q) What do you think it is about “Siren” that has made it a fast fan favorite series?

A) It’s different. It’s unique. We’ve never seen this kind of show. If the leading mermaid didn’t work then the show wouldn’t work. It’s all about mermaids. I think when I booked this show that something I discovered was that there was an enormous fandom for mermaids. They actually have a mermaid convention in San Diego and some all around the world! Mermaid tales and clubs…You’ve got a lot of people out there that are obsessed with mermaids. I think it’s relevant, our show. It has issues that are very relevant. It’s young and different. It’s a young adult show that is different and a very diverse show. We haven’t seen a show like this and when I look at other shows that have done very well have all been different and unique. One of the publicists at Freeform said that I always liked was, “Our hope was that ‘Siren’ would do for mermaids what Twilight did for vampires and werewolves.” I kind of thought of it is as a “True Blood,” but not as adult or gory. Obviously not as much sex. But there is a similar kind of genre. This show is set in kind of a normal, real world. In order to make these fantastical stories, you have to ground it in some way. I think another winning ingredient is that you have a very identifiable small coastal community with very identifiable characters like a fisherman, a woman who owns an antiquities stores and Alex’s father who is a descendant of the town. I grew up in a small community like that so that aspect of the show is very identifiable to me and I think people like that. They like the fantastical aspects, but they also like the aspect of the real-world people.