Actors Christie Burke, Richard Fleeshman & Reece Ritchie talk to The Inside Reel about characterization, interaction, fun, family and intention in regards to the 2nd season of their SyFy Channel show: "The Ark".
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00:00♪♪
00:10♪♪
00:16We're pushing too hard!
00:18We have to keep going, it's the only way!
00:21Come on, move! Move!
00:23Okay.
00:24Alright, go, go, go!
00:26This is amazing.
00:28Is it actually amazing?
00:30It's one of those scary science things.
00:32It's amazing, but it's probably going to kill us all.
00:34♪♪
00:40Great talking to you.
00:41Actually, I talked to Dean in Berlin last year
00:43when he showed the arc there on a big screen.
00:46And it's interesting because every single one of the characters
00:50throughout the arc is so defined,
00:53and yet they work perfectly in the puzzle.
00:56Could you guys talk about that in terms of each of the characters?
00:59Of course, Christie's starting with Garnet,
01:01but obviously with Bryce and Lane,
01:04they're part of the Trinity.
01:06So they all have to work together in order to get the job done.
01:10Could you guys talk about that?
01:14Yeah, I mean, I love what you said about them being so defined
01:18because I feel like in season two,
01:20the audience really gets to find out that they're not actually defined.
01:24That what you think about these characters being truths or facts
01:28isn't actually the truth of these characters at all.
01:31So I'm really excited for the audience to just find out
01:35these unexpected secrets.
01:37Dean told us all different secrets about our characters,
01:40and we weren't allowed to tell anyone.
01:42And so I'm really excited for audiences to see
01:45those unexpected plot twists.
01:48Yeah.
01:51I think it's so clever how they set it up as well
01:54because you've got this dynamic of the parents having trouble
01:58and not letting the children know.
02:00You know what I mean?
02:01So the three of us are putting this pressure cooker together,
02:04and we know what's going on a lot of the time as the leaders of the ship,
02:07but we also have to then keep everybody running kind of smoothly
02:11and happily along as well.
02:13And even the comms messages that we have to give out,
02:16predominantly Garnet has to give out over the watch,
02:19you know, the way those are worded is so clever
02:21because the conflict is always there underneath,
02:23and it's really fun for us to play with as actors
02:26because it just makes the show multilayered and a lot of fun.
02:30What about you, Richard?
02:33Yeah, it's interesting what you just said then about the Trinity.
02:36I think the three of our characters, especially in Season 1,
02:40and obviously we go on to explore them further in Season 2,
02:45but we are sort of representations of the perfect sort of storm
02:50because we all have such different facets,
02:52and if you combine those, which obviously the show does,
02:55you get like a fully rounded person,
02:57but in our own things we all have our own flaws
02:59and our own things we excel at,
03:01and that's been lovely to play with.
03:03And obviously within that they obviously care very much
03:07for each other as people.
03:09But there's a lot of conflict,
03:10and it's almost like a sibling thing at times,
03:12and then sometimes it's a friendship,
03:14and then sometimes it's colleagues.
03:16So it's ever-changing,
03:17and it's been really nice to play with
03:19and explore further going into Season 2.
03:26As we move toward Trappist-1D,
03:28we'll be facing a lot of uncertainty.
03:34What does this new planet hold?
03:36What will our crew's lives look like moving forward?
03:40Let's go to our new home.
03:45How are we looking?
03:46FTL engaged.
03:47Clear visuals across the board.
03:50Set a course for Trappist-1D.
03:52Coordinates confirmed.
03:54We are at the edge of the Trappist system.
03:58Who knows what we can discover?
03:59And what are we waiting for?
04:02To Ark-1.
04:03To Ark-1.
04:04To Ark-1.
04:07What the hell is that?
04:10To the storm.
04:12Trapp just got a lot harder.
04:14You know, obviously, it's a heightened world
04:16that the Ark exists in,
04:17but what I sort of really like,
04:19and what a lot of people like,
04:20is the grounded nature.
04:21These people, as you said, Richard,
04:23are flawed.
04:24They have a lot of flaws,
04:25but you have to pull out those little details,
04:27because, you know, obviously,
04:29you're keeping things secret to yourselves,
04:31but what are some of the things
04:32that you truly connected with,
04:34with each of you,
04:35with the characters?
04:36You were there, could you start with Bryce,
04:38and then, obviously, Christy,
04:40and then Reece, please.
04:43Yeah, I mean, going right the way back
04:45to episode one for Bryce,
04:47the very first thing I ever knew of Bryce
04:49when I got sent the script through
04:51from my agent,
04:52just when I was going to meet for the role,
04:54was him being winched out naked
04:57with a big smile on his face.
04:59I kind of informed a lot about that.
05:02And you knew a lot about that.
05:03Yeah, and I just felt very akin to him
05:05straight away, and I thought,
05:06who else could play this part?
05:08No, I agree.
05:09I think it just informs a lot about him,
05:11you know,
05:12and that was quite nice,
05:14because you went off a launch pad of,
05:16you fill in the blanks,
05:17but, you know,
05:18you knew immediately what you were dealing with.
05:20And it's been nice to maybe color under the surface
05:22as we've moved forward,
05:23that he does have a soft side,
05:25and he is quite empathetic,
05:26and actually he's shown a lot of vulnerability
05:28going forward as he's got healthier
05:30and he's fallen in love and stuff.
05:32But yeah, for me, certainly,
05:34from the outset,
05:35I just knew he was going to be great fun to play.
05:38Rhys, Christy?
05:41Yeah, I mean,
05:42I feel like what I love the most about Garnett
05:45is probably her,
05:48she's really good at looking at
05:50the individuals on the ship
05:52and nurturing them into their best selves.
05:55You know, I think you see that with Lane,
05:57where she really doesn't give up on him,
05:59because she can see the man that he can become.
06:02And the same with Bryce
06:04and numerous other characters on the ship.
06:06So I think that was the thing I was most attracted to,
06:09was someone who really sees the good in everyone.
06:13And as far as flaws go,
06:14I think in terms of the way that
06:16the costumes and the hair and makeup team
06:19kind of put Garnett together,
06:20I love that she's not super glamified.
06:23Like she is in a ponytail,
06:25and you know what,
06:26we don't wear a lot of makeup on the show,
06:28and really feels grounded, like you said,
06:30in a truth of what it would actually feel like
06:33to be on a spaceship.
06:36I think as well,
06:37just going off what you said about nuances,
06:39what's great about Jonathan Glasser and Dean Devlin
06:42is there's an immense amount of trust.
06:44And the beauty of being on something like this
06:46for more than one season
06:48is that you develop a relationship
06:50with the creators and with each other.
06:52So on set,
06:53there's a bit of license for us as well as actors
06:56to kind of add a slight shade of something
06:58that we feel is right for the character,
06:59because our job is to know these characters
07:01better than anybody.
07:02And so that's the real beautiful thing about this
07:05is spending so much time with Christy and Richard,
07:07we form such a kind of a secondhand kind of,
07:11you know, we often know what the other one is thinking,
07:14and it allows you to be so present
07:15in the moment, in the scenes,
07:16and trust each other and play
07:18with what's going on in the scenes,
07:20that I feel like that truth
07:22helps bring the show to life a bit more.
07:25Because we're not a disaster show,
07:27there are disasters going on,
07:28but I believe people tune in for the characters
07:31and we certainly are there for the characters too.
07:34So that's been such a joy
07:36to work with Richard and Christy
07:38to create these dynamics
07:39that we see play out on screen.
07:41Helmet's on.
07:47Activating pressure compensation.
07:52Halfway through.
08:02Hull breach successful.
08:04Standby for extraction.
08:26Charlotte, come on!
08:32Well, I mean, the great thing also
08:35is the practicality of the characters.
08:37I mean, the thing is, it's about problem solving.
08:39You see each one of them do this in different ways,
08:42but, you know, it's interesting
08:44how that sort of physicality
08:46reflects the emotionality.
08:48I mean, you see them break,
08:49but you see them come back together.
08:51Can you each talk about the physicality
08:54informing the emotionality and vice versa?
08:57Because we only feel
08:58for what these characters are going through
09:00as they solve their problems,
09:02both on a larger scale,
09:04but on a personal scale as well.
09:06If you could each talk about that.
09:07I think they know they need each other.
09:09On a practical level,
09:11who else is going to, you know, clean up?
09:14There's a codependency there
09:16which evolves into feelings and emotions,
09:19but from the very off, they need each other.
09:22Otherwise they are going to die imminently.
09:25So that's the real fun part.
09:27Originally they're together by necessity,
09:29but then as the show goes on,
09:31they actually grow to really love
09:33and depend on each other.
09:35Richard?
09:36Yeah, they kind of become...
09:37Oh, sorry.
09:38Well, they kind of become this found family.
09:41Do you know what I mean?
09:42You see that in the pilot.
09:43Well, not the pilot,
09:44the first episode of season two, you know,
09:46with Garnett telling the story
09:47about how I feel like I finally found my family.
09:50So I think to piggyback off what Reece said,
09:52yeah, they just have really become this family.
09:55And in terms of physicality informing the emotional,
09:57I think that's like sci-fi at its greatest.
09:59I hope that we're achieving that, you know,
10:01that like you're seeing the emotional undercurrents
10:04of what each character is going through
10:06while they're kicking butt,
10:07while they're trying to save humanity.
10:10I mean, they need each other, yes,
10:12on a personal level, of course,
10:14but they also need to inhabit another planet
10:17and you need a lot of people for that.
10:19So every life does truly matter to them.
10:22For you, Brian.
10:23For you, Richard?
10:26I mean, yeah,
10:27they've not left much space to sort of add to it.
10:29It's true.
10:30I mean, I think the writers have done a great job
10:33as we've alluded to,
10:34and also a testament to the cast
10:37because everyone, I mean, especially these two,
10:39they've been so superb in this season
10:42and you'll go on to see it.
10:43And it's been a joy.
10:45It's just been a joy to not just work with,
10:47but also witness people sort of grow
10:50and really excel in what they're doing.
10:53I guess the biggest thing I can say
10:55is that my mum,
10:56who does see everything, to be fair,
10:58but she always pesters me,
11:00when's the next episode of the Archive?
11:02Constantly.
11:03Yeah, same.
11:04You send me the next one.
11:05And I got sent them ahead of time
11:07because we were doing PR stuff,
11:09so I got to see a few ahead of time.
11:11And she was like, yeah, yeah, can you send them?
11:13I was like, yeah, I will do.
11:14So I was cracking on with some other stuff
11:15and then she was like, where are the episodes?
11:17And I was like, okay, this is good.
11:19This is good.
11:20If Sue wants the episodes,
11:21it must be in the right boxes.
11:23Yeah, it does.
11:24And to be honest,
11:26these guys make it so easy.
11:28We genuinely, yes, we're saving humanity
11:30and the plots can be quite tedious at times,
11:33but we're always laughing.
11:35These guys are so fun.
11:37There's sometimes too many giggles.
11:40But the humour comes through in the show.
11:42The humour does come through.
11:44We had one day on set last year,
11:46I probably shouldn't say this
11:47because we are generally very professional,
11:49but last season we had one,
11:50I don't know why,
11:51Christy and I had the giggles.
11:53Rhys had to walk into the shot
11:54and say something that was entirely not funny.
11:56And it wasn't intended to be funny either.
11:58It wasn't like...
11:59It's like in his face,
12:00he's having a bad time.
12:01He just had to say something very normal.
12:02But for some reason,
12:03we were in such a fever dream that day
12:05and we'd just done like nine scenes
12:06and we were exhausted.
12:07And we literally had to look at the floor
12:10and completely blank Rhys.
12:13The poor guy was on camera.
12:14How unprofessional.
12:15It helped.
12:16It helped my work.
12:18And he actually came up after himself.
12:19That's the best I've ever seen you work.
12:23But yeah,
12:24it's only because we are so close
12:26and because we are all there for one another
12:28that we get away with that
12:29and no one got fired.
12:30But we have a ball shooting,
12:32we really do.
12:36It's going to be a bumpy ride.
12:37We received a distress call from Arc 8.
12:41Are you saying the electricity is out?
12:44We need to move the ship now.
12:46We are not leaving Ava out there.
12:50We will persevere
12:51and we will get to a planet that we can call our home.
12:54You can do so much for us all.
13:01Growing up, I never had a family.
13:04And now I do.