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By Suzanne

Interview with Rachel Nichols and Victor Webster of "Continuum" on SyFy 3/14/13

Both of these actors do a great job on this show playing the heroes, the cops chasing the terrorists. Nichols' character is from the future and Webster's character is from our present, but both are very driven and dedicated cops.  I love Victor in particular since he has been on so many of my favorite shows over the years, from "Days of Our Lives" to "Mutant X" to "Charmed" to "Castle"... well, the list goes on. I didn't get to ask them a question during this call as it was very busy, but I enjoyed listening to it. I did get the chance to interview Victor one-on-one in a later call, which I shall be putting up shortly! He was charming.

NBC UNIVERSAL
Moderator: Aileen Normile
March 14, 2013
5:30 pm CT

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen thank you for standing by and welcome to the Syfy Continuum Conference Call.

Gary Morgenstein: I'm delighted to introduce Rachel Nichols and Victor Webster, stars of Continuum and Simon Barry, Executive Producer and Creator to talk about the season one finale March 18 at 8 pm of our latest popular series.

Operator: Our first question comes from the line of Robin Burks with Fan Girl Confessions. Please go ahead.


Robin Burks: I just want to say that I really have enjoyed this first season of Continuum and can't wait for season two.

Rachel Nichols: Oh thank you.

Robin Burks: No problem. It's just a great show. Do you have any particular favorite moments from this past season that you would like to talk about?

Rachel Nichols: Okay I'll jump in.

Simon Barry: You jump in.

Rachel Nichols: I'll jump in. It's a question where I'm really like yes because it almost changes every time I answer the question because I've either seen an episode recently or I remembered something that I forgot.

The end of episode two is one of my favorite and Jon Cassar directed that episode and I'm in the precinct and I've been sort of - I've been jailed and I watch Dr. Fraser reunite with his wife, and I think the ending of episode two is one of my favorite chunks of the first season. But, you know, everything from meeting my grandmother played by Katie Findlay in episode five or episode eight when I kind of go robo-Kiera, those three moments that I chose are very different but they're all favorite moments just because they really stand out in my memory.

Simon Barry: I know what Victor's favorite moment is.

Rachel Nichols: The shower.

Simon Barry: Getting attacked in the shower in episode seven.

Victor Webster: I liked the behind-the-scenes version of that one better.

Simon Barry: Go ahead Victor I was just kidding. I'm sure you have other favorite moments.

Victor Webster: Oh no I mean so many things stand out about the show like Rachel said. I watched a lot of it my computer the first time and then when you watch it on a big screen television you just miss so many things that you notice all of a sudden. And I love the moments between Rachel and I when I'm dying in the last episode and I've been shot and great emotional moments, episode seven when we were out on the balcony of the police precinct and having this heart-to-heart conversation about trust and partnership. Those are some great scenes. Obviously Kimani has done some great fight scenes; I'm a very physical guy so I love that. Those are some things that stand out to me.

Robin Burks: Great thank you.

Simon Barry: Oh and for Simon the answer would be Victor in the shower, no. I think my favorite moment from season one is probably I don't know actually, it's hard to pick one because we spend so much time trying to make them all good. I guess I'd have to say it's in episode ten which I don't want to ruin because the audience hasn't seen it yet so I'll just say it's in episode ten and you'll have to tune in to see what I'm talking about.

Robin Burks: Will do; thank you.

Rachel Nichols: Thank you.

Victor Webster: Thank you.

Simon Barry: No problem; thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from line of Jamie Ruby with SciFi Vision. Please go ahead.

Jamie Ruby: I really enjoyed the finale I do want to say that. It was really, really great. I watched it last night.

Simon Barry: Oh I'm glad you liked it.

Rachel Nichols: Thank you.

Jamie Ruby: So I'm curious we saw a lot more about Kellog in not the finale but the one before Family Time and about how his sister was captured by Kiera and all that. But at the end of that scene he dropped the detonator so he wasn't at least at that point in with Liber8. Are we going to see more about how he became more a part of the group any time soon?

Simon Barry: Well I think the assumption was that there was a lot of guilt by association in that scene that if he was caught - that his sister was warning him that if he had been caught with her with those detonators that would have been the equivalent of I’m sure it looked back either way.

I think we will get into Kellog's point of view about the future and things like that as we move forward but if you're asking specifically about how he was sort of lumped in with everybody criminally, I think that that sort of ends with him being caught red-handed with something that he shouldn’t have been carrying around and linked to his sister who was clearly working with Liber8. But we'll always learn more about who Kellog is and his back story, maybe not specifically as it relates to how he got to jail though.

Jamie Ruby: Okay. And then is there anything from the next season that you guys can talk about or tease about even if it's not specific?

Simon Barry: Yes well I can certainly say that this season is really we get now to play a lot of the relationships of the characters out in a way that we didn't get to do in season one and there's a lot of dynamics. As you know everyone now has stakes in this game and as those stakes become chips that can be played, everyone has a point of view about how they can best take care of themselves and also control their own destiny. And actually that covers almost every character.

Information comes to light, people make alliances, people split up and break connections and so a lot of the positioning of these characters comes down to how they're going to control not only their lives in the present but also in the future. And so control, power and those themes run heavily through season two.

Jamie Ruby: Okay and really quick...

Victor Webster: Hearing you say that Simon really makes me think how right you are after the stuff that we've done wow.

Simon Barry: Yes.

Jamie Ruby: And I just wanted to ask really quick, I know you can't tell me a lot, but I was just curious I don't know the character's name but Nick Lea that was in the finale, obviously he kind of saw of what was going on. Is he going to be back at all do you know to cause more problems?

Simon Barry: Rachel do you want to answer that one?

Rachel Nichols: What am I allowed to - I don't know what I’m allowed to say. Am I allowed to answer that accurately?

Simon Barry: You can yes.

Rachel Nichols: Yes Nick Lea's back. He's going to return.

Simon Barry: Yes we definitely put Nick in that final episode to tee up a process that will continue into season two.

Jamie Ruby: Okay great so he could cause lots of problems. Thank you.

Rachel Nichols: Yes exactly.

Simon Barry: You're welcome.

Victor Webster: See you on Twitter.

Jamie Ruby: Yes bye.

Simon Barry: Bye.

Rachel Nichols: Bye.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Jamie Steinberg with Starry Constellation Magazine. Please go ahead.

Jamie Steinberg: Do you think Kiera will make it back to the future and will it be her future she returns to?

Simon Barry: I'm going to let Rachel answer that one.

Rachel Nichols: Well you know if Kiera makes it back to the future the show it kind of over unless I mean, unless she decides to be a time traveler, she figures out how to go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and maybe I don't know change things. That's in Simon's head, that's not for me to say. I'm busy enough worry about Kiera in the present day.

I think if she gets back to the future, and I'm not speaking with any knowledge of any future scripts or seasons of the show, I would like to believe for her own sake and for me playing the character that she wants to do everything while she's here to ensure that what she's going back to is going to be the future that she left. And so I believe that she will return to the future that she left because if I didn't believe that and Kiera didn't believe that then it would be much more of a hurdle being here in 2013. So yes I would like to think that she will eventually return home and Sam will be the exact same age that he was when she left and it will be like she wasn't gone at all.

Jamie Steinberg: Fingers crossed.

Victor Webster: Yes it happens in season ten.

Rachel Nichols: Fingers crossed. No, no seven.

Victor Webster: Seven.

Jamie Steinberg: And Victor even though he's only known her maybe a month and Carlos knows that Kiera lies to him at times, what do you think it is about her that makes Carlos trust her?

Victor Webster: She gets the job done. She may not be completely truthful but I believe that she's doing it for confidentiality reasons and she's not allowed to disclose information to me through Section 6 and what she says she's going to do she does. I may not agree with the means by which she does them but her results speak for themselves so I have no reason but to trust her because she makes stuff happen.

Jamie Steinberg: Well most fans talk about the possibility of Kiera and Kellog getting together, what do you think about the possibility though of Alec and Kiera on the show?

Victor Webster: Getting together?

Rachel Nichols: That's an interesting question. Erik Knudsen and I do a lot of live tweeting together and people seem to be really, really interested in that which Erik and I are both fascinated by. I personally don't think it's going to happen just because that would complicate - the catch phrase of the first season is "It's complicated" and Kiera and Erik together would be really extremely complicated not to mention the fact that, you know, I mean he's got to be, what, ten years, more than ten years, you know, 15 years younger than Kiera or something so I don't know. I like that the fans are into that though. It's something that Erik and I talk a lot about. So unless Simon is going to surprise me and tell me that I end up with Alec Sadler from some period in time that I visit I would say no.

Jamie Steinberg: All right great.

Simon Barry: I'm going to say no comment.

Rachel Nichols: Oh of course.

Jamie Steinberg: Thanks guys.

Simon Barry: No problem.

Rachel Nichols: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Ernie Estrella with BuzzFocus.com. Please go ahead.

Ernie Estrella: My first question is there a goal at some point to thrust Liber8 into the front and come forward and become hero-like figures with Kiera being the obstacle in their way? Based off of what we know about corporations and our desires about not wanting that dystopian future, will they become the heroes at some point?

Simon Barry: Well it's an interesting...

Rachel Nichols: I'm going to let Simon take that one.

Simon Barry: Yes it's an interesting question. I mean, I think that because we're keeping perspective alive in this show that really I'm not editorializing necessarily what anyone should think about these guys and their direction and their purpose, although we are certainly telling the story predominately through the eyes of Kiera and Kiera's experience which is what grounds the show and I think makes the show relatable, we're always trying to tackle arguments from different points of view and we're trying to be intelligent about our neutrality instead of just being lazy about it. So we try and bring two sides of every argument to bear if we can.

I think that at a certain point I may not be the person who decides that, it may be the audience who decides that that's happening because they may just be tapped into that and be focused on that and that's what they'll see whereas other audience members may not. And I think that's kind of the goal of the show is to allow for people to take sides and see the truth and the meaning that is relevant to them. And I'll try and stay out of the way of that if I can.

Ernie Estrella: Okay and then also I thought it was kind of a brave choice in the last episode, the penultimate episode, where we do get this sense that Kellog's advancements are starting to break through, albeit with a little bit of alcohol involved...

Victor Webster: That always helps.

Ernie Estrella: That was kind of a brave choice to kind of maybe taint kind of the image of Kiera because we've at this point went along with her for the whole ride and now we get a real first kind of bump in the road where we start to question kind of what's going through her head.

Simon Barry: Yes I mean, I know that Rachel has a point of view on this and I'd love her to kind of comment before I do.

Rachel Nichols: Oh I'm going to go first? Okay. It's an interesting thing the relationship between Kiera and Kellog. There's the safety and the security and the comfortability (sic) in the idea of the fact that he knows who she is and he knows what she's fighting and he knows who he is and he knows Liber8. And there's also the ambiguity there which you'll find out a little bit more about in the next episode because it's the did they or didn't they and there are many, many, many different options and thoughts and theories about did they or didn't they, what is this relationship going to be. Is he winning her over, is she using him to get what she wants.

It's extremely complicated and that last sort of the cliffhanger in episode nine is met with an interesting response in me in the finale episode and it leaves a lot up to interpretation. And there is the idea well Kiera is married in the future but how long is she going to be here and what does that mean and the things that we learn about her and her life in the future as the show progresses and her dating, however that ends up working out, I think the Kellog mechanism is important because there's a level of security there and also the level of I don't trust him as far I can kick him and I still need him to do things for me like he needs me to do things for him. So it's a very complicated relationship with no finite definition.

Simon Barry: Yes I would agree with what Rachel said and add that there's - the great thing I think that Kellog presents Kiera is a way to be bad in a way without compromising her goals. She can be flawed, she can be human, she can vulnerable in a way that really her pursuit of Liber8 and her pursuit of returning home doesn't often allow her to be kind of complicated in a way that is human.

And I think that I just wanted to make sure before the season ended that the audience understood that Kiera was like anybody else, had doubts, had complicated feelings about things and that in essence Kellog was someone who really did understand her and there was an attachment there that may not have been intellectual, it might just have been convenient and comforting in a way but it's much more like real life than the movie version or the TV version of a relationship and we were trying to just at least open the door to that.

Ernie Estrella: Great thank you.

Rachel Nichols: Thank you.

Simon Barry: Thanks very much.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Tim Holquinn with TV Over Mind. Please go ahead.

Tim Holquinn: Congratulations on your show's Saturn and Constellation Award nominations. That's huge.

Simon Barry: Thank you very much.

Victor Webster: Yes I love that from them, awesome guys.

Tim Holquinn: I really enjoyed the first season and to Simon I was wondering what inspired you to take away Kiera's suit for as long as you did? Was it budgetary considerations or a creative move to prevent it from becoming a crutch? I know the suit's not the focus but...

Simon Barry: Yes... sorry go ahead, follow up.

Tim Holquinn: Well I know the suit's not the focus of the show but a friend of mine likened it to KITT being taken away from Michael Knight on Knight Rider. So what prompted you to...?

Simon Barry: When the suit starts speaking to her that will be a more apt comparison. No I'm kidding the suit will not speak to her that way.

No I think we were very conscious in season one that the suit could easily be a get-out-of-jail-free card in a lot situations and that in the interest of having Kiera kind of adapt to her new surroundings and deal with the realities of being 65 years in the past, it was a better from a character perspective to have her have to deal with certain things head on and then get her hands dirty as opposed to finding a way around things. So that was absolutely a conscious choice.

But we also liked the idea that the suit's - in damaging the suit we could also create kind of that paradoxical connection to Alec being able to fix it and also learn things about the future that may actually play into who he becomes. So in a way it served many purposes to not have her in the suit. It also created that opportunity to have the suit come back into play which is always a nice moment too.

So we knew early on in the breaking of season one that the suit was an opportunity but also a liability and we have to sort of balance that and that's kind of what our solution was.

Tim Holquinn: Okay thank you for that. And to Victor and Rachel on last week's episode of the show Walking Dead, Andrew Lincoln mentioned his personal ritual of gearing up for certain emotional or intense scenes by listening to specific types of music to get him into moods. Do any of you have any notable rituals you use to help prepare or focus for particular types of scenes and if it's music, can you share what artists or songs you might use?

Victor Webster: That one's definitely applicable to Rachel because... Go ahead Rachel.

Rachel Nichols: You're going to hate my answer. Yes I'm very musically oriented and music means a lot to me and different kinds of songs bring up different emotion and whether it's a sad scene, whether it's a love lost scene, whether it's a - I have every song that I listen to has a very specific meaning and very specific triggers and emotionality that works. And then there are even aggressive scenes or right before fight scenes to get pumped up and stuff like that but I never tell anybody what they are.

That’s why I said you're going to hate my question, nobody knows what I listen to. I like to keep it very private because in those moments especially - we had some this week on set. I had a very emotional week on set and in those moments right before they yell action for me they're very private and I'm really getting into a place that at times can be very painful and very dark so I don't like to put out there what actually gets me to that place. It's sort of something that I keep secret.

Victor Webster: For the right price I could tell you because I can hear the music coming out of her headphones.

As far as me I always have some sort of drumbeat in my head. I can't figure out where it's coming from. It goes along with the voices that talk to me.

Tim Holquinn: All right thanks a lot guys.

Victor Webster: Thank you.

Tim Holquinn: And one last...

Rachel Nichols: Yes?

Tim Holquinn: One last question: I was just wondering real quick will you guys be at Comic-Con in San Diego this summer?

Rachel Nichols: I would love to go. I don't know how - I'm not in control of that but if they invited me I'd go. Simon?

Simon Barry: I think Syfy is going to be driving that process.

Rachel Nichols: Okay.

Simon Barry: We don't have the in to Comic-Con that Syfy does so if that happens it will be a Syfy-driven process I think.

Tim Holquinn: I hope you get to go.

Rachel Nichols: Me too.

Simon Barry: Yes that would great.

Victor Webster: So do we that would be amazing.

Operator: And ladies and gentlemen as a reminder to register for a question please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your telephone.

Our next question comes from the line of Tina Charles with TV Goodness. Please go ahead.

Tina Charles: Hi. I thought that Tahmoh Penikett's character was pretty interesting and the whole storyline with Carlos and Jim and the end of the friendship and what was going on there. Are we going to see more of that in season two?

Rachel Nichols: Good lord I hope so.

Simon Barry: We love Tahmoh and we certainly if when he's available we would love to get him back on the show so we're going to make efforts to do that. I can't promise it because a lot of it has to do with other things that he's doing so we'll try.

Tina Charles: Victor what did you think about that storyline since that involved you and it would be a great way to kind of weave Carlos more into the story even more?

Victor Webster: Well I love it. I mean Tahmoh's one of my best friends in real life and it just so happens that it worked out. It had nothing to do with me but I mean it just happened so organically it worked out that we got to play these characters. And it's such a good relationship between us and it was written so well in such a powerful kind of breaking point to a friendship and a changing of seeing somebody one way and then having that whole vision shattered was so powerful. So I definitely would like to explore that a little bit more and I think we could really delve into some great character stuff with those two characters.

Tina Charles: Cool. Also I don't - what is up with Kiera's husband? Are we going to find out more if there's something - I just feel like there's something going on with him and I don't know if we're going to see anything more about that in the future scenes.

Simon Barry: Well there's something going on with him all right. I have no idea what it is but I don't trust the guy as far as I can throw him.

Rachel Nichols: I don't know what it is because I'm on a need-to-know basis here and I have no idea what's going to happen with my husband. This is why I look forward to Simon answering this question.

Simon Barry: No we're definitely going to resolve more details about Kiera's husband Greg and his involvement with (Sad Tech) and Alec Sadler in season two. That's something to look forward to.

Tina Charles: Great thank you.

Simon Barry: No problem.

Operator: Our next question is a follow-up question from the line of Jamie Ruby with SciFi Vision. Please go ahead.

Jamie Ruby: Hello again. So do you think - I know that obviously Kiera can't come out right now and tell Carlos everything that's going on but will she be able to reveal maybe some things? Like even maybe if she, I don't know, if he knew some of the technology she had she could lie and say oh it's secret government stuff. Will he find anything out of her secrets?

Simon Barry: I think that we're obviously...

Rachel Nichols: Simon I don't know what I'm allowed to say ever.

Simon Barry: Yes we obviously want to get to a point at some point where we've mined him not knowing and sort of dealing with their relationship based on trust and faith to the point where it makes sense and then to move on from that point. I can't tell you exactly when that's going to happen but I think that we’re all in agreement that it’s best for their relationship to evolve at a certain point, we’re just not locked into when that’s going to happen.

Jamie Ruby: Okay. So for all of you, what’s been your most challenging so far?

Rachel Nichols: Well I know for me it’s this sort of, it’s this interesting balance because Kiera Cameron is from the year 2077 and she knows everything about the year 2077, it’s the world in which she lived and she comes back to the year 2013 about which she knows nothing and has to be completely sort of reprogrammed and re-educated at 65 years in the past. Me, Rachel clearly I have no idea what 2077 will look like and it’s certainly not where I’m from and I am from 2013.

So it’s this very interesting balance between this - out of, you know, fish out of water character when we’re here in 2013 because Kiera has to feel often times, although she’s a fast learner like as though this is a completely new scenario for her, even though I exist in 2013 and for me when we go to the future, it’s living in a different world that I’m supposed to know like the back of my hand.
So that balance has been complicated and in the most interesting way and thankfully, you know, I have Simon to help me out with my barometer, new things, old things, strange things, funny things, key phrases I don’t understand, you know, episode III rock, paper, scissors, apparently we don’t play that game in 2077. So it’s been a challenge and a really interesting challenge.

Simon Barry: Rocks have been outlawed as well as scissors.

Rachel Nichols: Apparently rocks and we don’t have paper in the future, I mean...

Simon Barry: Definitely no paper?

Rachel Nichols: Definitely no paper. Yes, that for me definitely has been the most difficult, not necessarily in a bad way just in a truly interesting sort of introspective kind of figure it out way.

Jamie Ruby: Victor what’s the hardest thing been for you?

Simon Barry: Besides working for me?

Victor Webster: That was exactly my answer you took the words right out of my mouth. I think the hardest thing for me is just playing that balance of, you know, trusting Kiera, knowing that she is a good partner and then not acting on a lot of these signals and signs and just kind of collecting all this data to eventually like Simon said maybe we will figure that out in the future to where we do, it’s trying to balance that.

I trust her and I’m working with her but there’s so many things about her that I don’t trust so keeping that interesting and without making Carlos look like an idiot so to speak. And I think a lot of that is in the writing and I think they’ve done such a good job with it, so even though that is the most difficult thing to me they need to do it.

Jamie Ruby: All right. Simon?

Simon Barry: The hardest thing for me is not having anyone incompetent to blame anything on because we have Victor and Rachel are so good and this crew is so amazing and everyone is so skilled that I really end up taking responsibility for all the mistakes myself, which is really tough.

Rachel Nichols: Oh jeez!

Simon Barry: What’s the hardest thing? The hardest thing is, I don’t know what the hardest thing is, I don’t - everything’s hard because we work really hard every day and we kind of give our whole lives over to making the show but we do it because we love it and so I guess it’s hard in that we don’t have a lot of other time to do fun stuff and sleep and eat normal hours and things that people take for granted. But I would be - I would look like an idiot if I had anything to complain about. So I’m the luckiest guy in the world so I’m not going to say anything.

Operator: Our next question comes from the line of Katrina Hill with NerdSpan, please go ahead.

Katrina Hill: Yes. So I read that Kiera was originally written as a male character, so at what point was the decision made to change the lead from a male to female and how did that affect the rest of the show?

Simon Barry: Well the truth is it was never written, we never actually wrote a script with a male lead, the very, very earliest pitch for this show had a male character in Kiera’s role but as soon as I entered the development process with the Canadian broadcaster showcase and met with the executives there, the idea of converting (Kyle) as it was originally to Kiera made complete sense and actually was a great contribution early on and, you know, at a certain point you go into the process where the idea is driving everything forward and certainly the broadcasters responded to the idea of what the show was.

And then you get into the nitty-gritty of the little details and you have conversations about those details and it came up very quickly that the option to make Kiera a mom and I immediately knew it was the right decision, it was just - it was a no-brainer at that point and it just opened up the show in so many ways. So we actually never got to script place with the male version and probably just as well.

Victor Webster: What about Carlos being Carlita?

Simon Barry: Yes. Carlos was a woman. The names Carlos, which was weird. It’s a very use of the feminine Carlos. I’m joking.

Katrina Hill: So at some point, will we also be seeing how things are changing in the future because of what Kiera and (Live ray) are doing in 2012 and 2013?
Simon Barry: At some point. That would be the operative caveat, at some point, yes, at some point.

Katrina Hill: Okay.

Simon Barry: That could be in two months or two years or 20, I don’t know when but yes.

Katrina Hill: Okay. Thank you.

Operator: Our next question is a follow-up question from the line of Robin Burks with Fan Girl Confessions. Please go ahead.

Robin Burks: Hi again. I think this one is probably more for Simon. Continuum seems to be part science fiction and part police procedural. How do you balance those different aspects and still keep it interesting?

Simon Barry: Well it’s actually handy to have both because they both drive each other. The Sci-fi mythology is kind of part of the fabric of all the characters connection to each other and then sets up, you know, a lot of the dynamics. The police world allows for a structure to build certain stories around and so I actually think it’s a really great balance of supporting the episodic in the serialized in the same hour. And having Kiera integrate with the police department makes sense, it’s not like she is a time traveler working out trying to do - solve a huge insurmountable problem on her own.

She did the smart thing, which was to integrate with local law enforcement and to use them and so - and by the way they would have vested interest in these guys coming - being brought down anyway, so I think that what we got out of that was an ability to justify how Kiera can have an impact using her relationship with Carlos and the police department and also allow for the structure of storytelling to be a little bit more in the domain of police cases, which brings up kind of that familiar structure of crime stories and police shows.

But we’re not trying to be, you know, obviously we try weave in as much of our serialized and mythology components into those crimes so that they’re not outside our universe. We’re trying to make everything inside the universe. I think it works well.

Robin Burks: This is for Rachel and Victor, the show has a lot of accidents, do you guys do your own stunts? And how do you prepare for that sort of physicality in your roles?

Victor Webster: Go ahead Rachel.

Rachel Nichols: Well, you know, it’s interesting there’s this beautiful thing called muscle memory and for me it’s fortunate because I’ve done, you know, I’ve done a lot of action stuff whether it was G.I. Joe or Alias or, you know, even Conan to some degree, I’ve had the good fortune of being able to do a lot of action stuff so learning a fight sequence and doing a physical scene, it’s al lot like learning a dance. You learn the individual moves, you string them all together and then you, you know, it becomes - there’s a fluidity that comes after practicing it and going through it.

And so I mean I don’t do anything special necessarily to prepare aside from, you know, asking (K’mani) our unbelievable stunt coordinator what looks best and will this punch sell and what angle do I need to, you know, swing at and stuff like that. I mean I stay in good shape throughout the season but I rely a lot on my past experiences to help me sort of get through a day.
The most important thing for me is I have to stay in good shape because if you do those kicks over and over and over and over and over and you can actually get really burnt out and exhausted. So provided that my stamina is up, I’m usually A-Okay on the day. Victor?

Victor Webster: Well for me I come from another world, I used to teach martial arts, I’ve competed in martial arts, I still compete in martial arts now as a hobby and train quite regularly and for me it’s a passion so stunt days, action days for me I’m like a kid in the candy store, I get to play. And working with very, very talented stunt people that I get to do the action with that help make me look good and (K’mani) makes me look great and everything sitting with this storyline that we have.

And our show’s not a Matrix style everything is really perfect type of fighting, our show’s very dirty, you know, using things around, it’s using our surroundings. So it all just combines very well with our natural talents, being athletic and like myself, having been on many shows like Rachel and movies where I’ve had to do a lot of action. It becomes second nature, it’s something that you learn to do and they show you these moves, you remember these moves and you do them.

Now, if weren’t coordinated and hadn’t been doing things like this in our lives before this show then that would prove very difficult but fortunately we have experience and they make us look good in the editing room as well.

Simon Barry: Yes. It’s a combination of a lot of elements that goes into it but it does help that Victor and Rachel are kind of really committed to the physical part of their performances and that overlaps well into the fight and action sequences, which makes our lives a lot easier because we don’t have to hide who they are, we don’t have to use stunt doubles a lot of the time, we can rely on Rachel and Victor to be there in the dirt and in the, you know, on the walls and being thrown around and it really adds to the relation of the show.


Operator: Our next question from the line of Ernie Estrella with Buzz Focus. Please go ahead.

Ernie Estrella: Hi again. My next question is about the role reversal and maybe we can start with Victor first as you took on this role, you thought maybe it’s a leading man and then you started to find out that, you know, your character’s the one that’s kind of being saved a lot by Kiera, talk about maybe that reversal and kind of that element that makes this show so unique.

Victor Webster: Well I think one of the things about this show is we kind of take all the stereotypes that have been played out in other TV shows and we kind of flip them right on their ear. So whereas the male character might be the leading man saving the woman, we come in and we switch that around, she’s come to my aid many, many times and I’ve had her back as well.

So it’s a very symbolic relationship in that sense but what I’ve noticed so far is Simon does such a great job and the other writers do such a great job of is once you think you know what’s going to happen in this show, they pull the rug right out from underneath you, they throw you a curve ball and you’re left going what the heck just happened?

So I really like being able to play that, you know, but Carlos is a very strong, proud, you know, Latin male character and to have that kind of character be where he just has this, you know, beautiful woman save his life and it’s his partner and it’s fun to play those moments and so it just makes it really enjoyable when they do this to us.

Simon Barry: Thank you for saying that.

Ernie Estrella: Right. My next question is, there’s a theme of loneliness I think on all the major characters, could you talk about maybe what the different approaches of that - maybe that leads to their actions and especially Alec who seems to be a little self-sufficient in his kind of computer lab, can you talk about the loneliness theme?

Simon Barry: Yes. I think you’re taping something that’s actually very predominant and you’re right, there’s a - we always talked about the idea that there was a certain amount of a castaway vibe for Kiera as well as it being a mission driven thing for her. She also is stranded and abandoned and cut-off and all those things that someone who would be, you know, a castaway on a desert island would go through and it opened up a lot of possibilities to look at isolation and to look at those characters.

And certainly in season II we’re going to delve a little bit more into that but you’re right, it’s finding your place in the universe, finding your place in destiny, finding your place in, you know, the time - in the time Continuum or what is destiny, what is fate, what you can control, what you can’t control often attaches itself to a sense of self and isolation and sometimes beyond.

So it’s - I’m glad you’re picking up on it. We are sort of looking at people - characters who are sort of examining themselves in ways that are unusual and mainly because they’re not making those normal connections and we’re going to have those connections develop in Season II in a way that makes - I think we can have some fun with that, what we set up in Season I and see where it goes in Season II because we know these characters so well on their own, it’ll be something to see how they relate when they’re not but I think Rachel is going to chime in too, so go ahead.

Rachel Nichols: Yes. I mean I think I love the question actually it’s different, I’ve never been asked that question, although not the first time I’ve thought of a response to it. So thank you but there is that lone wolf loneliness, I mean it’s something that inhabits her obviously for sort of the superficial where she’s in 2012 and she is alone but, you know, the idea of she’s separated from everything that she knows and everything that she’s familiar with and she’s thrown into this new environment and it’s really sink or swim.

And there are very few people, I mean Alec and then clearly Kellogg they’re sort of becoming friends at the end of the season but there are very few people that really know who she is, where she’s from and why she’s there, how she got there. And there’s a real loneliness in not being able to be honest with people like Carlos. I mean the even if Kiera’s surrounded by people, she still feels completely alone because there’s no one there really that knows who she is.

And to lie to your best friend and someone that you truly respect and admire and appreciate on a daily basis, it is excruciating and it’s very, very lonely and it’s, you know, she feels like she’s a one woman army very frequently and Alec, you’re right, Alec is very self-sufficient in what he does and how he exists in season I. We’re letting him blossom a little bit more in season II but I think that’s why Alec and Kiera get along so well because they know the truth about each other and they both know what it’s like to be completely alone and feel completely alone.

And I think Kiera finds great comfort in the fact that she has him as a friend and I think, you know, that’s really important for the show about the idea that you can be surrounded by people and feel completely alone - work conversely completely alone and yet feel like you’re, you know, that you’re not. And I think she does some of that knowing that Alec is in her head and a part of her. And at the end of the day, she relies heavily on him for her own sanity.

Ernie Estrella: And then one last quick question is, will in Canada and the United States will the second season be simulcast, will there not be like a gap in between as far as when one country sees it versus the other?

Syfy: We haven’t announced – hi, this is Syfy, we haven’t announced season II yet.

Ernie Estrella: Oh, okay.

Syfy: So we can’t answer that.

Ernie Estrella: Okay. Thank you.

Simon Barry: I believe the U.K. is - the U.K. Syfy window is going to be much shorter that last time. I think they will be following, I believe it’s within in weeks of the Canadian broadcast.

Operator: Our next question is in the line to Tim Holquinn with TV Over Mind. Please go ahead.

Tim Holquinn: Hi Simon. My first questions for you. I know it’s a bit early to be previewing the premiere but the finale leaves us with such a jaw-dropping revelation with Alec telling Kiera on the phone, I was wondering will the premiere for Season II, will it pick right up there like perhaps with her still on the boat or will the information that he’s telling her be unfolded in the first few episodes of the season? Have you structured that out already?

Simon Barry: Yes. We’ve actually already shot it and I’ve already...

...I can tell you this season II picks up very shortly after season I, there is a bit of time but it’s not a lot and it’s certainly not enough that anything has been, you know, reset. The stakes are still the stakes but it’s, you know, it’s shortly after and I think it would be cruel and inhuman of me to let the audience wait very long to find out what the message was about so we’re not going to make the audience wait.

Tim Holquinn: Okay. That’s good to hear. To Victor, I often feel pretty bad for Carlos always being lied to and I was wondering - even though for good reason - and I was just wondering maybe Simon can answer this too but do you think the period of time he’s lied will influence or matter in whether or not he forgives her? Like if it’s been three seasons or four seasons worth of lies, do you think that will make him less likely to forgive?

Victor Webster: I think it yes - I also think it depends if he knows he’s being lied to. I think a lot of Kiera’s lies maybe he doesn’t know, he might suspect things but for him to be able to ascertain whether those are lies is not - he would have to get a lot of information for that. I think definitely the more that - the more water that passes under the bridge I think it would be more difficult but if Carlos was to ever find out what was happening, I think it would be such a event for him, it would be completely mind blowing that I don’t know how we’d feel about that.

I guess we would have to cross that bridge when Simon writes that and see when that happens but I think definitely under normal circumstances the more lies in what is told, the harder it is to forgive but it’s definitely not an ordinary show so Simon?

Simon Barry: Yes, I mean I like to think that when this happens, if it happens we’ll drive - it’ll be driven by all the forces that are - we can bring to bare in this show, it won’t just be random, it’ll be driven by hopefully character, emotion, plot, circumstance, necessity, I mean I think that’s really kind of owe it to do it the right way.

Tim Holquinn: And pretty clearly Kiera would be sad about it herself, like it wouldn’t be a happy occasion and she’d probably be sad, crying or whatever saying sorry, I would imagine?

Simon Barry: Well I mean it’s - I think that will be driven by the necessity, I think more than anything the emotion will be - would be part of - of course it would be complex, emotional moment but I think that it’ll be operating on many, many levels not just one emotion, probably complex, complex feelings.

Tim Holquinn: Okay. And for Rachel, one last question on an unrelated note, on a fashion related note, being that you walk red carpets frequently I was wondering if there’s a favorite designer you might have? Perhaps someone who’s made things specifically for you?

Rachel Nichols: Oh gosh! That’s a really good question. You know what I’ve never had an outfit made specifically for me to be honest, would I like it? Yes, sure that would be fantastic so anybody who wants to make an outfit for me, you let me know. I really and Simon and Victor and attest to this, I like to be comfortable and even on my day off I wear sweat pants, I usually wear sweat pants to work so I really like to be comfortable in the things that I wear on the red carpet, nothing too labor intensive, you know, I’m wardrobe malfunction prone.

So I usually go for comfort, I mean I love Phillip Lim, I love - now I can’t remember any of the names I’m trying to think of I wear a lot - I love Calvin Klein and there are lots of (Olivia Prendashula) - I can never pronounce his last name (Prendashula) but I’m pretty - I’m not ever really locked into one designer. A lot of times the dresses that are available are really for the models who’ve walked the runway and I don’t fit into those.

But actually for my favorite, my favorite premiere look was for Alex Cross and that was Donna Karan. It was DKNY and it was a beautiful backless blue dress and it’s really - it was really quite something so yes I don’t have any favorites it’s pretty much what I’m drawn to at the time of the fitting. I usually err on the side of I like to show, you know, show my back rather than cleavage-bearing outfits I guess.

So that’s usually the direction I go and I wore a beautiful Halston backless Halston to the premiere of - hello? The premier of G.I. Joe in Tokyo and then I wore a backless Stella McCartney actually to the premiere of Conan. So, you know, anybody who has a backless dress they’re pretty much in luck with me.

Tim Holquinn: Thank you very much. It’s been great getting to speak with you again.

Syfy: Thank you for making Continuum such a wonderful hit series, its very first season on Syfy. More chase scenes at 8 o’clock, watch the season finale of Continuum, take care everyone.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

END

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