Tag Archives: Brad Wright

Featured, Travelers

Travelers: Enrico Colantoni discusses Vincent’s Season 2 journey

This season of Travelers has been crazy. It’s hard to believe we’re only in Week 2 of the second go-round because Brad Wright and his writing squad have really upped the drama. It all began with that stunning introduction to Vincent Ingram, played by Enrico Colantoni. By the end of Episode 1, we learned Vincent arrived in this time period as the September 11th terrorist attack was taking place. Now, exceedingly rich and paranoid, Vincent has been capturing and torturing travelers … including our team in Season 1.

But rather than waiting all season long for a showdown between Vincent and MacLaren, Wright does it in this Monday’s new episode, “Jacob.” Like we said, no punches are being pulled in Season 2 and the scene between MacLaren and Vincent is chilling in its intensity.

We spoke to Colantoni, who most recently appeared in the City miniseries Bad Blood, about Vincent’s Season 2 journey.

Eric McCormack told me that he thought of you immediately when they were casting Vincent, based on your role on Person of Interest.
Enrico Colantoni: He was very candid about that part of it and I’m just thrilled that he sees me that way. It’s not every day that you get a call from an actor friend with a job. It’s pretty cool. [Laughs.] I’m sure with everything that Eric has to do casting isn’t one of them. He’s the cat’s meow and I’m thrilled that he thought of me. I see the connection between Elias and him seeing me as Vincent, but I took liberties with Vincent that I never would have been allowed to with Elias, which was cool.

This is a character who was hinted at in Season 1 but wasn’t revealed until the first episode of Season 2. It was a great reveal.
Can you imagine? It all makes sense, time-wise. And to play a character who has a new lease on life. You come into this world that changed on that day. There he is, coming in with a new lease on life. What would anybody do if they knew the future and still fear for their life? How would you proceed? You’d be completely paranoid, completely cloistered, avoid all the technology that everybody else is embracing and yet have complete control of it.

Was it hard to wrap your mind around it?
I had to have a few phone calls with Brad. I’m a fan of the show so I got the whole encyclopedia of it. Brad was nice enough to tell me where Vincent was headed but it was too much information to find useful before I even had shown up. The fun of it was I got to be a spiteful, paranoid old guy who just didn’t give a f–k, which was so much fun. And to watch Eric’s eyes bug because of some of the most ridiculous takes I’d ever given to camera. They couldn’t use them but I gave Brad everything from zero to 100. It’s just so much fun to play somebody who can’t be pigeonholed.

Does not being pigeonholed the result of the genre or the script?
The script. The genre itself is so broad, but Brad has really narrowed it down. To call The Director The Director as if it were God and then realize it’s an AI and there are factions in the future that are now at odds because of what happened in the past. You come wanting to prevent a catastrophe but now what do you do because it’s a new catastrophe.

And yet, it’s about dealing with the mundane. How do I raise this child and still save the world? How do I make this marriage work and still save the world? How do I deal with this drug addiction and still save the world?

Travelers airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase.

Image courtesy of Corus.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Travelers

Travelers: Eric McCormack and Nesta Cooper preview crazy Season 2

Season 1 of Travelers wrapped with one hell of a cliffhanger. In a stressful face-off in the barn, Trevor (Jared Abrahamson) and Grace (Jennifer Spence) were both shot moments before Trevor could destroy the quantum frame.

Those final moments were preceded by some major information: Shelter 41 had collapsed and been taken over by The Faction, people unsupportive of the director and the grand plan. By the end of the instalment, Carly (Nesta Cooper), MacLaren (Eric McCormack), Marcy (MacKenzie Porter), Trevor and Philip (Reilly Dolman) had been captured by the FBI, headed by MacLaren’s partner Walt (Arnold Pinnock). Crazy, right? Episode 1 of Season 2—returning Monday, Oct. 16, at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase—blows that out of the water. Seriously. And that’s all thanks to new cast member Enrico Colantoni, who plays Vincent, a mysterious character whose back story takes up much of Monday’s return. We spoke to McCormack and Cooper about what fans can expect as Brad Wright’s creation hurtles into its sophomore season.

Enrico Colantoni … how did that casting come about? Was that a result of Brad wanting to expand the world in Season 2?
Eric McCormack: As you see in the final image in Monday’s first episode, we now know who Enrico was playing in Season 1. As for it being Enrico, I take my one producer credit: Brad showed me the script and said, ‘Who do you think should play that?’ I knew we were going to go for Canadian cast across the board, so I immediately thought of Enrico. What he did on Person of Interest reminded me of the kind of intensity and danger that he could bring. But what he does in the first five minutes of the premiere is so exciting and so heartbreaking. Somebody watching the show must have been wondering, ‘Well, when did all of this traveler business start?’ The question gets answered, and in such a cool way.

When I got the first script, I was reading it and saying, ‘Where’s the barn?’ But there is a such a good reason to set up [Monday’s return] the way that we do.

Let’s discuss the Season 1 finale in the barn. The FBI rolls in and there is Walt. The cat is out of the bag.
EM: ‘The cat is out of the bag! How can it be out? It’s only Season 1?!’ That’s what fans have been saying to me.

Nesta Cooper: There are so many questions going through our heads. Carly didn’t kill MacLaren even though the director told her to. Am I not going to get saved because I didn’t complete the mission? What’s going to happen to the quantum frame? What is it capable of?

Travelers is a very active show with lots of hand-to-hand combat. Do you do your own stunts?
NC: We’ve had the same stunt team for both seasons. In Season 1, I was a twiggy and very weak. [Laughs.] I’m still weak but I work out a lot more now. The stunt team has seen how I fight and carry myself and I’m lucky because the writing has taken this physically strong person and put her into the body of a weak, single mom. Carly is able to grow with me as I’ve learned to carry myself. This season I’m able to do a lot of my own stunts, like when I flip people and when I punch people.

What can you say about the relationship between Carly and MacLaren going forward?
EM: I hope what’s been made clear to the audience is that it’s something that should never have been brought into the past. We were clearly fraternizing in boot camp and that probably shouldn’t have happened, but who cares because it’s a dystopian, awful future. I wasn’t sure how long the relationship would go and I was surprised how it’s kind of come to a stop because of MacLaren’s feelings for [his wife] Kat [Leah Cairns]. But I hope it still comes up as a thing. It’s an unsettled score.

NC: To me, it’s still a thing for Carly. I had imagined that Carly did not open up to a lot of people ever, and MacLaren was her person. And when she felt betrayed by him, it was a big loss for her. I hope it continues to be a thing and I’ll certainly be playing it that way. When we pick up, she’ll be facing those feelings head-on.

Not only does Amanda Tapping have a role in Travelers this season, but she directed an episode as well. What was it like working with her?
NC: Literally a dream.

EM: There is a such an ease with her. Watching her run a crew is effortless. She knows what she’s doing 10 minutes before anyone else does.

Travelers airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase; Season 2 returns on Monday, Oct. 16.

Image courtesy of Corus.

 

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Travelers

Travelers takes on its first mission

Time travel sci-fi series are my jam, and Travelers has been one heck of a pleasant surprise. Readers of this site know I was heartbroken when Continuum ended; thankfully, Travelers has sufficiently filled that hole.

Part of that is because Travelers‘ creator, Brad Wright, has built a world we can relate to. Our own. Rather than set the series in another galaxy or future time it’s set today and has brought people from another era back to us by transferring their consciousness into bodies of folks who are about to die. That makes everyone immediately relatable. And while the travellers’ task is to change things in the present to ensure a future, there is room for humour through these folks encountering 2016 technology, food and social mores.

After setting up the show’s premise in last week’s debut, Grant (Eric McCormack), Marcy (MacKenzie Porter), Carly (Nesta Cooper), Trevor (Jared Paul Abrahamson) and Philip (Reilly Dolman) are off on their first task. But Monday’s first mission, “Protocol 6,” isn’t without its flaws, and the team learns not succeeding can have deadly consequences.

Here are some non-spoilery hints to get you ready for tonight:

travelers_2

A veteran sci-fi actress checks in
We’ve been fans of Kyra Zagorsky since Season 1 of Helix—and she was great in the last season of Continuum—so it’s fantastic to see her on Travelers, and it appears she may have more than a guest-starring role. She plays Dr. Delaney, a scientist who has created an object Grant and his team need to get. Problem is, another group wants the same item and both battle to get it.

Trevor is quickly becoming a favourite
Maybe it’s because we know something about his character McCormack swore us to secrecy about—it’ll be revealed in a few more weeks—but Trevor’s wide-eyed innocence about walks in the park, clean air and sunshine have got us appreciating our lives just a little bit more. He also provides some humour when things get dark and dangerous.

Not everything in 2016 is great
Just ask Grant, who has a very funny reaction to a certain beverage.

Grant and Carly are an item
At least their future selves are. Aside from a glib comment about age, we’re not given any insight into their relationship other than they seem to be keeping it a secret from everyone else. That makes sense; this is a military team and not high schoolers on a field trip. The fact Grant has a wife in this time period certainly complicates things. He’s there on a mission, but he’s also human and has emotions. And those are piqued by Kathryn (Leah Cairns).

Travelers airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Showcase.

Images courtesy of Corus.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Travelers

Travelers stars MacKenzie Porter and Eric McCormack tease series’ shocking debut

Travelers debuts tonight on Showcase with one of the most memorable opening scenes I’ve seen on television. Viewers are going to be blown away, and the storytelling continues at an intense pace after that initial hook.

Created by Brad Wright (Stargate), Travelers stars Eric McCormack as Grant MacLaren, an FBI agent who isn’t what he seems. Despite walking around in our timeline, he is actually the consciousness of a man from the future who inhabits Grant’s body. That’s the case for Marcy Warton (MacKenzie Porter), Trevor Holden (Jared Abrahamson), Carly Shannon (Nesta Cooper) and Philip Pearson (Reilly Dolman) as well. All are “Travelers” from hundreds of years in the future, sent back to perform missions. This group, along with thousands of other travellers around the globe, are trying to change history and save humanity from a horrible future.

We spoke to MacKenzie Porter and Eric McCormack about the 12-episode Season 1 and what fans can expect starting tonight.

travel_1
MacKenzie Porter

I’ve never seen a show begin the way Brad Wright did with the first episode of Travelers. People are going to be saying, ‘What the heck is going on?’ It must have been exciting to read that first script.
Eric McCormack: On paper, it was great. MacKenzie went off and learned incredible martial arts stuff. And to have the least fortunate girl get her revenge right at the beginning of the show, was a pretty kick-ass beginning.

MacKenzie Porter: It was pretty nerve-wracking for me because it’s the first time anyone sees my character and it’s a pretty big scene to open up a show.

I also like the fact Travelers is rooted in the present, with the consciousnesses going back in time rather than have folks wearing outrageous outfits or carrying otherworldly technology. And the show also plays on the fact we rely on social media so much for facts and can backfire when it comes to Marcy.
MP: It’s a bit of a misfire with my character. Her social media profile was made up.

EM: They don’t get all of the information. I think that premise, that in the future they’ll be able to rely on everything people write on Twitter or this Facebook page … you can’t. We’re all communicating with each other all the time, but relying on them only part of the time. There is nothing reliable about the permanent record they’re relying on.

The whole concept of what a fact is is gone. There used to be a set of facts and you could argue both sides of it. Now there are just two sets of facts, period. Good luck trying to convince someone who is voting for Trump in your facts.

Let’s talk about the future the travellers are coming from. Do you know what it’s like? Will viewers? Will we see the future at any point via flashback?
MP: There are no flashbacks.

EM: We know. We asked lots of questions. On Day 1, it was sort of question time and we said, ‘Brad, tell us what we need to know.’ But he made it clear that the audience would only know this little by little and not visually.

MP: I like that we don’t see the future. That might get a little cheesy, creating that world. We’re always in present day and I think that’s what makes our show a drama, and very realistic.

EM: The audience is going to be hungry for that and we will give it to them in little pieces. There is a mystery to be solved there and that is ‘Why are we here and how bad could it be that this was worth doing?’

Eric McCormack
Eric McCormack

Are the missions this team goes on integral to changing our fate?
EM: I think it’s in Episode 4 when reference is made that there are travellers all over the world and some of their missions will involve elections, some will involve assassinations. In this case, we start off pretty big with an anti-matter device and we don’t even know until Episode 6 what we need it for. I kind of like that sort of Second World War idea where you only know the code for the thing you have; anything else would endanger your life because you’re not allowed to know. We’re kind of operating in the dark.

The music and lighting are atmospheric and dark, as is the overall storyline, but there are crucial moments of levity like Grant spitting out coffee because it has cow’s milk in it, or Trevor having a morning erection. You need those breaks.
MP: I think it’s important because that’s how you fall in love with the characters. I love that scene with Jared when he wakes up.

EM: You also find out that Jared’s character is in fact the oldest one of all of us, so for him to land in the body of a 17-year-old with a constant erection is even better. A lot of the funny of the show are your scenes with David because Patrick Gilmore is hysterical and because Marcy is such a serious character. He brings out a romance and a smile.

The press materials talk about how the travellers are there for a mission and they have unexpected relationships with people in our time. But, I see this show as about people getting a second chance and living a new life. Is that part of it?
EM: I think so.

MP: The future people have been training for years and I don’t know if they would fall in love the way we do today. For them it was all about survival in that time. Coming back and living in an easier time, they loosen up a bit more, especially Marcy.

EM: So often in time travel, someone from now goes into a time of the Black Plague or something and it’s not a lot of fun. These people are from a horrible time and, suddenly, there is so much delicious stuff. There is fresh air and sunshine, so they’re very much seduced in a way they didn’t count on.

Travelers airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Showcase. It will be broadcast on Netflix internationally later this year.

Images courtesy of Corus.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Travelers

Links: Travelers

From Emily Gagne of the CFC:

Link: The future of Canadian TV: On homegrown series Travelers, developed through CFC’s primetime TV program
Travelers, debuting on Canada’s Showcase on October 17, is what showrunner Brad Wright (Stargate series) calls a “10 out of 10 Canadian show.” This sci-fi series follows a set of individuals from the future sent back to the present to “save humanity from a terrible future.” It features an all-Canadian main cast, led by Eric McCormack, formerly of Will & Grace and Perception, and crew (the sole series writer/director who was not Canadian was pilot director Nick Hurran). It’s as all-Canadian as they come, and it began its development during the Canadian Film Centre (CFC)’s 2014 Prime Time TV Program. Continue reading.

From Victoria Ahearn of The Canadian Press:

Mysteries and dualities infiltrate new series Travelers
“We never quite know the details of our mission, we just have our piece, your little mission and it’s a piece of a greater thing. But the fun thing is that we also get to, we have to, live the lives of the people whose bodies we basically infiltrate. So we are like spies but we’re also fish out of water, all of us.” Continue reading.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail