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Mary Kills People: Amy Cameron on the last-minute renewal and what’s coming in Season 2

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In a perfect world, the creators and producers of a television show find out their show’s been renewed with plenty of time to develop scripts, scout locations for filming and nail down schedules for cast and crew.

That didn’t happen with Mary Kills People. On June 5, Corus announced via press release that a second season of the drama, starring Caroline Dhavernas, had been ordered. The producers were informed of the renewal just days before the press release dropped.

“People kept asking me if we’d been renewed and they thought I was being coy,” executive producer Amy Cameron says. “I really didn’t know. We got a surprise phone call from Rachel Nelson [Corus’ director of original content] who said, ‘We want to release the news, so don’t tell anybody.’ It was that specific and that quick.” Days later Dhavernas was in Toronto promoting a second season that is, well, still be developed. It’s suddenly a very busy year for the trio at Cameron Pictures. The production company, consisting of Amy and Tassie Cameron (Rookie Blue) and Caledonia Brown, has got Ten Days in the Valley set for broadcast this fall on ABC—and CTV in Canada—and Little Dog in production in Newfoundland to air this winter on CBC.

But back to Mary Kills People. When we last left Mary (Dhavernas), she was no longer being investigated for her role in the deaths of terminally ill patients, Des (Richard Short) seemed to have gotten his life back on track and Ben (Jay Ryan) and Mary appeared to be a couple. Meanwhile, Grady (Greg Bryk) was dead and Mary’s sister, Nicole (Charlotte Sullivan), announced she wanted to be part of Mary’s team. Will the duo angels of death become a trio in Season 2’s six new instalments?

“We are moving quickly,” Cameron says. “We’re at outline stage on about half of the episodes and hoping to be pitched the back half in the next week or two.” She’s particularly excited to have—in addition to series creator Tara Armstrong, writer Marsha Greene, script coordinator Justin Giallonardo and showrunner and executive producer Tassie Cameron—newcomers Lara Azzopardi (Backstage) and Rookie Blue and Saving Hope co-creator Morwyn Brebner in the writing room. Cameron acknowledges Mary Kills People deals with dark subject matter, but credits the writing team and cast for keeping the tone from being too heavy and a downer to watch. Cameron is mum on sophomore season storyline details—those are still being worked out—but did give us a hint.

“The writers have come up with an organic direction to go in that is still going to surprise the audience,” Cameron says. “We’ve always talked about exploring the edges of the line, that grey area, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Images courtesy of Corus.

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Featured, Mary Kills People

Caroline Dhavernas returns to TV in Global’s controversial Mary Kills People

“We’re not trying to say what’s right and what’s wrong. We’re just trying build a place where the debate can happen.” That, says Caroline Dhavernas, is at the heart of Mary Kills People, Global’s newest original drama.

Debuting Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the network, Mary Kills People will certainly elicit discussion about the subject matter. Dhavernas is Dr. Mary Harris, an emergency room doctor and mother who—with the help of her friend Des Bennett (Richard Short, Covert Affairs)—assists those who want to die. Mary struggles to keep her two careers in order while keeping her night job a secret from her family as the authorities—led by Det. Frank Gaines (Lyriq Bent, Shoot the Messenger)—investigates her. Add to that Mary’s intense feelings for a terminal patient named Joel (Jay Ryan, Beauty and the Beast) and her plate is full. (Look for Bitten‘s Greg Bryk, Rookie Blue‘s Matt Gordon and Charlotte Sullivan, and InSecurity‘s Grace Lynn Kung in key roles.)

Created by Tara Armstrong and executive-produced by Tassie and Amy Cameron alongside Armstrong, Jocelyn Hamilton and director Holly Dale, the six-part event provides plenty of dark comedy to go along with the serious subject matter. (That’s 19-2‘s Adrian Holmes in the opening twisted, gruesomely giddy opening scene.)

We spoke to Dhavernas about her character, the subject matter and where the show goes in the next six episodes.

(l-r) Bent, Ryan, Dhavernas and Short

Can you give me some background on Mary?
Caroline Dhavernas: She’s an ER doctor and a mom. She has this side gig where she assists people in their wish to die. Of course, it’s completely illegal and she will get in trouble for it. It comes from a place of compassion, really, because she has been very close to people who have had to make that decision and she deeply understands where that desire comes from. She doesn’t judge it and she also knows it’s not about her.

It’s a very emotional debate and there is a lot of grey zone. It becomes a lot about not knowing what death is all about because no one has come back to say what it is. We’re very afraid to send people over the edge because it almost feels like pushing them into a place that’s too dangerous. But the place these people are in is so damaging to them that they would rather go to the unknown. I think she gets all that. Not everyone does, and that’s why she gets into real trouble. What’s fascinating about this show is that we’re not trying to say what’s right and what’s wrong. We’re just trying build a place where the debate can happen. It’s fascinating subject matter and a great part. There are a lot of levels to play.

Where do you stand on the debate of doctor-assisted suicide?
I’m on Mary’s side. [Laughs.] It’s good, as a society, to have both sides to the discussion and hear what everyone else has to say. The more you talk about it, the more you know where you stand. If anything, this solidified how I feel about it.

Describe Mary’s relationship with Des.
We don’t really explain where they’re coming from, but I’m pretty sure they went to school together and have been friends forever. Des is going through a hard time because he’s done things that are very wrong for a doctor to do and she is trying to include him in all this and make him feel like a doctor again. They’re in this together and they have a very strong bond.

How many people know what Mary is doing? I feel like she’s going to get caught soon.
It is very illegal, so she will get in trouble for it. She is trying to not let too many people know but these people have families and diaries that she can’t control. Mary has one partner at the hospital, a nurse named Annie, who sees who needs help and meets with people who are asking for that help.

Related: Our podcast chat with Mary Kills People creator Tara Armstrong, executive producer Tassie Cameron and co-producer Marsha Greene

What were your first thoughts when you read the script?
I like bold, daring subject matter and this is certainly that. I like the fact that we’re not judging anything. And, also, a strong female lead is so rare still. The director is female, the writers are female as well … that is so rare and it’s so great to be part of this team. When I met with everyone there was an immediate connection. I’d never worked with Holly Dale before, but when she showed me the mood boards and the water theme … visually it’s going to be stunning as well.

Mary Kills People airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

Images courtesy of Corus.

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Mary Kills People

Production begins on Global’s original drama Mary Kills People

From a media release:

Leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne) and newly minted Cameron Pictures Inc., alongside Canadian broadcast and production partner Corus are pleased to announce that principal photography has begun on Mary Kills People, the provocative new Global original series starring Caroline Dhavernas (Hannibal, Off The Map, Wonderfalls). Created by Tara Armstrong, Mary Kills People is executive produced by Tassie Cameron (Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, The Robber Bride). Directing the series is award-winning Holly Dale, whose previous credits include The Americans, Dexter, Castle and the critically acclaimed series Durham County. 

The six-part one-hour drama shoots in and around Toronto through the summer and is set to premiere on Global in Canada in early 2017.

Set in the morally grey world of assisted suicide, Mary Kills People is an intense, controversial, and thought-provoking drama.  The series follows Dr. Mary Harris (Dhavernas), a single mother and emergency doctor by day, who also moonlights as an underground angel of death — helping terminally ill patients who want to die and slip away on their own terms. So far Mary has managed to stay under the radar; but business is booming, and her double life is getting complicated.  When her world starts to unravel, Mary realizes she’s going to have to fight dirty if she’s going to stay in the killing game.

Also announced today are additional cast members joining Dhavernas in the series. Jay Ryan (Top of the Lake,Beauty and the Beast) has been cast as Joel, one of Mary’s terminally ill clients, but a mutual attraction blurs the lines of their doctor-patient relationship, while Richard Short (Vinyl, 666 Park Avenue) has joined as Des, Mary’s trusted partner in crime. Rounding out the cast is Lyriq Bent (Book of Negroes, Rookie Blue) as Frank, Joel’s friend who worries he’s getting in too deep with Dr. Death, Greg Bryk (Bitten, A History of Violence) as Grady, Mary’s drug supplier, Abigail Winters (Between, Saving Hope, Rookie Blue) as Mary’s teen daughter who learns that the people closest to her are not what they seem and Charlotte Sullivan (Rookie Blue) as Nicole, Mary’s concerned sister.

Mary Kills People is produced by eOne and Cameron Pictures Inc., in association with Corus Entertainment, and with the financial participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. eOne handles international distribution for the series. The series is executive produced by Tassie Cameron, Amy Cameron, Tecca Crosby and Holly Dale. Tara Armstrong is Co-Executive Producer. Tashi Bieler serves as the Executive in Charge of Production for eOne and Norman Denver is Producer.

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