Tammy Gillis – Siren

By starrymag | March 29, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

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

 

A) I just finished shooting a Hallmark movie yesterday. It’s temporarily called Heart’s Desire, which is based on a novel. I found out actually today there’s a little thing that is going to be airing in March, which is really exciting. I’m going to be in the third installment of the Fixer Upper series called Deadly Deed starring Jewel and Colin Ferguson. That is going to be airing on the Hallmark Channel on March 11th on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Then, on March 17^th, Heart’s Desire will be premiering on the Hallmark Channel. Then, I will be in the two-hour premiere of “Siren,” which will be on Freeform.

 

Q) Tell us the premise of “Siren” and about your character, Deputy Staub.

 

A) I can’t say a whole lot about it. It’s all secretive. It’s all under wraps, but “Siren” is about mermaids come to town. Mermaids come to life and it’s a little bit of a dark thriller. Deputy Marissa is one of the main town deputies and she is doing the best she can at her job. I guess that’s all I can really say.

 

Q) Did you add anything to your character that wasn’t initially in the original breakdown?

 

A) It’s interesting because my character initially was written for a man. That was a big change, I guess. I have to tread carefully about what I can say. What was interesting is that the character was originally written for a man and then there was not a lot of description other than she was just the town deputy. I really got the opportunity to bring a lot of myself to it in this world.

 

Q) What initially drew you to the show?

 

A) I just think it’s really exciting that mermaids are really something that hasn’t been explored before. Especially since the mermaids, as you can tell from the trailer, they’re not necessarily the nicest creatures to encounter. I was really intrigued with how they were going to portray the mermaids and just a lot of the behind the scenes and how they filmed it, which was really, really cool. The fans are just going to love seeing some of the behind the scenes stuff.

 

Q) Any teases you can give, since there’s a lot that you can’t share?

 

A) I can’t say anything. The network keeps reminding me, “Please do not say anything that gives away anything.” My lips are sealed. Everybody just has to tune in. Freeform is really, really great because they keep sort of giving me little teasers on social media, like little clips. One of the things I guess I could say is, especially since I heard other people talking about it, was that the mermaids in the pilot (which I was actually not part of) were shot almost a year previously. All of the mermaids’ looks were done with special effects makeup. When we actually shot the series, a lot of it is done with CGI. It’s really cool seeing how they changed it and how they created them.

 

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

 

A) None of the main cast and series regulars. Everybody was kind of a little bit known but not super known in America, which is exciting because we all came together and we’re all super excited about it. Some of the local people for sure I had known previously. Like Curtis Lum, one of the other deputies, I have known for a while. It was fun to work with a couple of people from Vancouver.

 

Q) What was your favorite scene to film so far?

 

A) I have one, but I definitely can’t tell you. It’s a huge spoiler alert.

 

Q) What about the show do you think will make a fast fan-favorite?

 

A) Just because mermaids and that whole storyline and that world hasn’t really been explored yet. The main actors are really, really talented, and everybody was really passionate and really excited about it. That we all came together as kind of a family. We did cast dinners and people would hang out and go spend time with one another. I think that passion and that love for each other really bleeds into the show. Hopefully, everyone will see that.

 

Q) As a part of social media, are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’re going to receive?

 

A) That’s always a double-edged sword, right? I love engaging with my fans, for sure, and I’m really a lot about positivity at all times. I just think it’s like, “Choose kind.” I’m excited definitely to hear the feedback that people are going to give. I’m hoping that it will be positive and that people will really love and embrace the show.

 

Q) Other than “Siren,” what are your other favorite projects you’ve been a part of over your career?

 

A) I really love doing comedies, so anything that I’ve done that has anything to do with comedy I absolutely love, which is part of the reason I love doing romcoms with Hallmark. It gives me a chance to lighten things up once in a while. Definitely one of my characters that I’ve played, and she’s not the nicest person but she was a lot of fun to play, was in “Less Than Kind.” This was on HBO Canada. Mark McKinney was the show runner for that series and it was a lot of fun just to be really, really bad and really, really funny.