Sara Mitich – The Expanse

By: Lisa Steinberg

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

A) I just finished two features films. One is Ashes and the other is White Knight. Ashes follows a guy named Liam after he loses his parents. It’s a road trip journey to fulfill their wishes in their will. I play Abby, who is Liam’s girlfriend. She is lost in a way, but with her you don’t get to see just the pretty side and the comforting side. You also kind of get to see the side of the people who get hurt by the people who are hurt in losing somebody. It’s what we have to go through in helping them, but also keeping them in check. White Night is five different stories interconnecting and everyone’s journey on this night.

Q) What drew you to your role in Ashes?

A) The project is written and produced by Jake Raymond, who is a close friend of mine. When he first pitched me this idea, I was gung-ho about it, but then the script kept getting rewritten and rewritten. I had some input with Abby (which is nice) and I liked that she wasn’t the typical “my boyfriend is in mourning so I’m going to do everything under the sun and moon to make them feel better.” There is a toughness to her that is kind of heartbreaking when she has to put Liam in his place, but how do you do that with someone going through something so emotional and makes them vulnerable. How do you handle it without it being seen as an attack?

Q) Was there anything you identified or related to with the role?

A) I think that a part of it is that I am so loving and caring. I love the people close to me and I would do anything for them. I think as you mature as an adult, as a woman and as a human you slowly start to learn to grow a backbone. I think in the past year I think I have learned I can say things, even if they aren’t pleasantries, to the people who I love the most. That’s a hard thing to do for most people because you don’t want to seem selfish. You don’t want to seem hurtful, but sometimes you have to do what you need to do for yourself to make sure you are getting what you need, too. At the end of the day, it’s your life, too.

Q) The role seems quite layered!

A) Liam’s journey kind of links us all together, but the other characters have their storylines. Liam has the main storyline, but also his growth is its own storyline in a way. It’s like in life too how sometimes the most horrific things, the things that tear us the most or shake us the most make everyone under the circumstance grow in a way (whether it was intentional or not).

Q) With your role on “The Expanse,” did it expand since you originally auditioned for role or change in any way?

A) That’s a good question! It’s interesting with roles because in a way yes and in a way no. One of the things I love about television (unless it is a remake) when you audition and become these characters you are becoming the character and the character is becoming you. It usually exists once in a lifetime. So, she has grown. She grew from the audition because we got more script. What I came in the room with never left in any of the episodes that we did, any of the scenes that we did or any of the different circumstances that we did. She was still innately who she was when I walked into that room for the first time.

Q) What have you found the most challenging aspect of portraying Gia?

A) I think when it comes to technical terms, learning the language and gestural language was challenging. It was fun, but really challenging to make sure I was nailing everything and every accent. There was a take where I was actually holding the wrong fingers for a gesture for something and I had to make sure everyone knew not to use that take because if you are comparing it to what other people are doing there is such a specificity to it. That was quite challenging!

Q) The cast is so wonderful and large. Who would you most like to have more scenes with or have not worked with yet?

A) My scenes usually take place with Jay Hernandez and Thomas Jane, who are brilliant and I love working with them. It would be really nice to go and do a couple scenes with the crew. It would be cool to maybe have Gia end up on their ship. It would be really cool to do a scene with them. We’ve seen each other off screen and the dynamics with everyone is incredible. It would be wicked to mesh with that group of people, too.

Q) You are a part of social media. Have you enjoyed getting instant fan feedback during the episodes?

A) Honestly, it makes my Tuesdays! My Tuesdays make my week. Especially with the first couple of episodes, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m not sure anyone really knew what to expect, but we had hopes. Seeing people react how they are reacting positively and so amazingly – honestly, it makes my week. For me, as an actor, that is the best feedback that I can get. Even if people are expressing opinions that I don’t necessarily agree with, people are thinking about things and breaking things apart and analyzing things. That, for me, is the best reward. It goes to show that this day and age I can talk to someone in a different country who is watching my work and being affected by my work. I can talk to them via Twitter or Facebook about my process, what it was like learning the language. I love it! I absolutely love it!

Q) To what do you attribute the instant success of the show?

A) Honestly, I attribute it to the love of everybody who is a part of the show. It probably sounds corny, but I remember from the very first read through for the very first episode the amazing people – the team- that put this show together and meeting all the cast and crew. There was never a day on set that was unpleasant or felt like we weren’t going to get it or we had to sacrifice something. It truly is family. From the writers, creators, cast, producers and the visual effects all came together so magically because I think everybody loved the project so much! Social media has also become part of our family. The fact we have conversations with fans (for me) about the language and Gia in general is so incredible.

Q) What have you taken away from your experiences on the show?

A) That’s another really great question. It kind of goes back to Gia, who she is as a person. It’s why I love playing characters like this where…I guess what I have taken from it is kind of what I take from every character, which is “never judge a book by its cover.” If I look at the series when I auditioned not knowing what I was getting into to what it has come to be – just because something is written one way or you see someone right off the bat you (unfortunately in this day and age) form an opinion or a judgement. Yet there is so much more underneath that to be explored as an observer. If you see someone like Gia, there is an instinctual judgement call and yet there is so much underneath there that you should explore as another human, but we don’t usually in this day and age. Through doing more roles like this, I look at people very differently. As an artist you do anyway and as an actor. I’m always an actor. When I’m at the airport waiting for a plane, you get to see every kind of relationship. When you are in the ER, you get to see every type of circumstance and relationship. You start relating to people and jump into their shoes because it is what you do. With this character, it was another layer to that.

Q) What do you hope fans take away from watching “The Expanse?”

A) Kind of what I just talked about. Take in everybody’s layers. You look at Miller and he is an onion of layers. He is complicated, sometimes more and sometimes less. You look at Jay’s character and what he is trying to do. All the crew on the spaceship. Everything that is going on, I think everyone can relate to. Whether you agree with an opinion or not, it’s always important for people to keep perspective. Understand everyone has a perspective and acknowledge and respect those too.