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‘Sanctuary’ Returns Tonight Where ‘Things Fall Apart,’ Says Robin Dunne

Ilan Mester — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:06:55 +0000

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Season two of “Sanctuary” premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET on Space and andPOP caught up with one of its stars to talk about one of the most high-speed sci-fi series. Why high-speed? Well, the series actually had its beginnings on the web but “Sanctuary” has since grown into a phenomenon of its own and moved into the small screen during its first season.

“We have a blast. I mean, sometimes we think we’re in the wrong genre, we should be doing comedy because from morning to night we’re laughing the entire time, Amanda [Tapping] leading the chart being the constant giggler,” says Canadian-born Robin Dunne who plays Dr. Will Zimmerman on the show. “If she was a superhero she’d be The Giggler…I hate to use an overused cliche but it really is like a family, that’s how it feels.”

But don’t be fooled, “Sanctuary” — which follows the adventures of scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (played by Amanda Tapping) who shelters a population of strange and at times terrifying beings with the help of Dunne’s character — is far from a comedy, although it has its fair share of tongue-in-cheek moments. This time around, things are about to get darker.

“Because the world is established now, the characters are established, we have the ability to go a little darker now with this…things are falling apart around [the characters],” he says from a hotel room in Vancouver, where the series is shot. “We’re trying to keep the sanctuary from literally falling apart and because of that, there’s a lot of stress between the characters and you’re going to see some things that are definitely darker. I think my best analogy would be if season one was ‘Star Wars,’ then season two is definitely ‘Empire Strikes Back.’ ”

This season, “Sanctuary” is taking viewers around the globe, to locations ranging from the Middle East to Tokyo and the U.K — all made possible by the one and only green screen, which the show has mastered (if you’ve seen “Sin City,” think of those incredible effects and apply them to TV). But when executive producer Martin Wood (“Stargate SG-1”) called up Dunne at his L.A. apartment to see if he’d want to take part in the show, he had his doubts about the infamous green screen.

“I mean, I had worked with green screen in pieces here and there on other things, but never to this extent,” admits Dunne. “And I just couldn’t really get my head around it.”

That all changed after he witnessed with his own eyes the final product of a scene he filmed with Tapping and the show’s creator, Damian Kindler. “I was completely blown away and totally at that point just a complete believer in what we could do,” says Dunne. “And the thing about ‘Sancuary’ is, because we use so much green screen, the possibilities are limitless, we can do anything.”

Dunne refers to “Santuary” as “innovative,” and with its top-notch special effects and use of the RED camera, it’s clear why the series is innovative and nominated for six Gemini awards this year (including a nomination for Dunne).

“I’ve actually never been nominated for anything before so it was a real honour, not in a selfish kind of way in terms of me, but just for the team,” he tells andPOP. “It’s great to be recognized as a team…apart from working on the show we’re such great fans of it that it’s really great to be recognized for something that you love so much.”

Dunne (also known for his recurring role on “Dawson’s Creek” and for co-writing the made-for-TV film franchise “Roxy Hunter”) revealed some of the guest stars this season on “Sanctuary.” Michael Shanks who along with Tapping “have some really great stuff to do together” according to Dunne, will be appearing on the show, as will Callum Blue (“Dead Like Me”), as well as Erica Cerra and Chris Gauthier.

Aside from “Sanctuary,” Dunne has a Robin Hood TV-movie called “Beyond Sherwood” currently in post production, where he stars alongside “Smallville’s ” Erica Durance, as well as a a few projects of his own that are still in development but for now, all he wants to do is take a vacation while he waits to hear about a possible third season for “Sanctuary.”

“We have no official word but we’re optimistic,” says Dunne. “So right now honestly, I’m just excited for the launch of the show and then I’m going to take a vacation and just recharge the batteries”.

Stargate Universe Takes An Edgier Turn With Louis Ferreira As Its Colonel

Ilan Mester — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:08:21 +0000

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Louis Ferreira and I share more than one thing in common: we both speak Portuguese aside from English and both of us were not Sci-Fi kind of guys before Stargate Universe — the latest entity in the space-themed franchise, which premiers today at 9 p.m. exclusively on Space.

Ferreira’s resume includes an impressive amount of TV and film work. His characters range from The Donald himself in a Trump TV-movie, to lead roles in shows like “Trinity” and “Missing,” guest spots on “24” and “CSI Miami,” among tens of other TV series and films, including a a role in this year’s “Grey Gardens” with Drew Barrymore. Still, Sci-Fi remained unexplored territory for the actor (aside from a very short stint on “Star Trek”).

So how did he wind up on one of the most successful Sci-Fi franchises of all time? It’s actually quite a serendipitous story which Fereira (formerly known as Justin Louis) shared with andPOP.

Side story: when the Portuguese-born, Toronto-raised actor kicked off his career in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, Vancouver was a booming destination for film productions so he’d go there whenever work would dry up in Toronto. “I remember being in my twenties and being like, ‘If I could have the ultimate lifestyle, it would be the farm in Toronto, the apartment in New York’ and I said, ‘a boat!’ If you could live on a boat like “Miami Vice” you would want to do it in Vancouver,” shared the Gemini winner.

Fast forward a decade and Ferreira got himself an audition for the part of Colonel Everett Young in a new ‘Stargate’ series, but he wasn’t too sure if it was a role he’d want to take on. “I was like ‘Sci-Fi: I don’t know enough about it,’ and I operate in a very strange way in that I sometimes ask the universe for signs. Like, ‘am I supposed to do this?’ It’s a strange thing that I ask,” he admits.

Ferreira remembered his adolescent dream of owning a boat in Vancouver and put it out there, asking for a sign. Sure enough, days before his test, an old boat attached to a trailer showed up right in front of his house. He then said if the boat would stay there until his audition, that meant he should take part in the show. “The boat stayed there for not only the test, it stayed there for another month,” he said with awe. “I had no idea what happened, someone just dropped off this old boat in front of my house.”

Ironically enough, “Stargate: Universe” is filmed in Vancouver. Aside from that, there were two other factors that drew Ferreira into the project; one was that he admired the creators Brad Wright and Robert Cooper and the fact that “Universe” is quite different from previous “Stargates” according to Ferreira, who says the new series is much darker and edgier. The other reason is that Emmy nominee Robert Carlyle was involved.

“I saw Robert Carlyle’s name attached to the project and I was like ‘oh boy, that’s an actor, he’s my kind of actor.’ Personally, I was like ‘I’m a big fan of his work’ and so those two things for me were the reason I was drawn to it,” said Ferreira.

He added that this time around, “Stargate” is much more grittier, realistic and ultimately “good drama that’s set against the sort of Sci-Fi backdrop.” “It seems to be the right sort of evolution if I could use that word for the franchise, and I think that it bridges the gap nicely,” he said. “I think there’s something there for all the old ‘Stargate’ fans…and then hopefully what it can do is bring all kinds of new viewers as well who might watch the ‘Houses’ or the ‘Fringes.’ ”

It’s worth noting that the effects in this one are fantastic. Ferreira revealed that the special effect guys behind “District 9” are involved in the series as well. He plays Colonel Everett Young, one of the lead roles in the new series.

“We start with Young on a sort of leading base but the bigger picture is that he’s made that decision that his relationship with his wife is sort of in jeopardy, and that’s where his heart is right now,” said Ferreira. “He doesn’t want to lose his wife and he knows he’s in trouble so his whole thing is to finish this last mission and get back home. So when this mishap, we’ll call it happens, the demons that are in there become part of it.”

The actor is still filming “Universe” through October and after that he plans on “sleeping.” “I really don’t have any plans but to just sort of love my family and then see what happens next.”

“Stargate Universe” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on Space and today you can also catch Ferreira on the new Space show “InnerSpace” where he’ll be talking about the series.