Rose McIver – iZombie

By: Anna Ruth Ramos

Q) Where do we pick up with “iZombie” for Season Three?

A) I think the rug has been pulled out from her. She thought she was on the pulse of what this thing was and who were the bad guys and who were the good guys. So, I think knowing there is this whole other underground zombie world is unsettling, but I think Liv is wise enough now that she has a good council now with Clive, Ravi, Peyton (Aly Michalka), Major and Blaine (David Anders) all in the know that she has people she can consult with before she does something rash. She’s hedging her bets now about what normal friends are. It’s definitely very suspicious. Vivian Stoll (Andrea Savage) doesn’t seem like the kind of girl you want to bring home to your parents for dinner. But it’s not black and white to her and she doesn’t want to antagonize anyone.

Q) With the return of “iZombie” will we be seeing more of Liv’s family?

A) I hope so! We don’t know anything about her dad. Today has just been kind of like a casting call for Liv’s dad. My pitch is Bill Murray. I’m sure he’s going to jump at the opportunity. But if anyone has suggestions, I think that would be a really fun role to cast.

Q) What was your favorite brain last season?

A) Which is your favorite parent? It’s a little like that to me because there are so many different things that appeal to each one. In terms of including myself, as a human, the magician brain was really fun to play. I got to see behind the curtain of magician tricks and I can impress my niece and nephew now. But in terms of being on set, the erotic literature writer – the sexy librarian – was hilarious. We had so much fun. I just wind Rahul [Kohli] up. Doing that with him and Malcolm [Goodwin] was a very silly opportunity. So, there is different person for each brain. In what show can you ever say that?

Q) We heard from Rob [Thomas] that you will get to be a dominatrix next season.

A) I heard that from Rob today, too. [laughs] They love throwing some curveballs at me. It’s going to be fun. I think it will be a great year as well. I’m curious how she’ll cook her brains that week. They are all themed so I was thinking licorice ropes or something. We’ll see…

Q) What goes through your mind when you’ll find out who you will be each week?

A) It’s a very fast turnaround so time is very limited. Usually, the internet is a great resource and I have friends who work in different industries, which has been really helpful. I’ve got friends who are paramedics, sign language interpreters and do all sorts of jobs. They are people I can ask for help and sometimes that is great rather than bouncing it off another actor, another creative. It’s nice to get someone on the ground seeing these things. Then, it’s sort of improve in some ways. We play on the day and work it as we go. We have to make really fast decisions. That’s sort of what I love about it. It’s quite free like that.

Q) What was your favorite episode of last season?

A) I thought our finale was pretty great. I loved our finale. It was definitely a change of tone in some ways, but what I think is so great about these guys is they are intuitive. I would buy that we would bring back those comedic elements and bring them into these high stakes. It just worked really well to go out with stunts and for us to explore the zombie thing. We had Rob Thomas, the singer, which was so fun. It had a lot of elements that I thought made it pretty special.

Q) What will Major and Liv’s relationship be like now that he is a zombie?

A) Major (Robert Buckley) and Liv, I certainly hope they don’t get the dynamic in episode two because they eat the brains of a father and daughter. Liv is the father and Major is the angsty teenage daughter. So, I would say it is pretty tight immediately and I hope they don’t rush into anything and burn out again. They are great friends and ultimately think they could be right for a relationship, but right now they are dealing with a zombie underworld. So, there is stuff at play that needs to be addressed.

Q) In the season finale, Liv was worrying about the other zombies. Will we get to explore the world of the new zombies?

A) I hope she does. I don’t know what to think about the zombie outbreak yet. It definitely seems dodgy and there is a sinister air about them. It’s also an alliance of people who understand that maybe she doesn’t want to rule it out yet. But I think that maybe wise to explore more to try to get a sense of who they are and not make any enemies too quickly. It doesn’t seem like that would be a wise move with the military. Again, we are in early days to work out all of that out.