Witchbomb part 2

Saturday morning began with photoshoots – and getting more cards signed by fans.  Some attendees didn’t arrive until Saturday morning, so it got busy.

Costumes seemed to be a theme for the weekend.  The Saturday morning photoshoot had Amalia in her ‘Justine’ jacket from ep 2.05.  And later on, we saw Demetria in her dress blues uniform jacket.  Demetria confirmed at the autograph session that the jacket was hers and she is bringing it to the convention in Paris.

The first Motherland panel had Arlen, Cat and Ess.

Question.  What got you into acting? 

Arlen said it started as a kid.  Their parents had a friend who ran an agency and encouraged their parents to get them into acting.  They stopped acting in their teens and went to work in business and recruitment and switched back to acting later.

Cat said that she used to read stories when she was young.  He father was a minister, so she saw that stories had power to help live and connect.  Part of story telling is to create community.

Ess said they fell into it.  They were a stunt performer in Toronto 10 years ago.  They had intended to be a writer, but were working in a bar.  One of the other workers had a job finding picture cars, where you find particular cars to be used in films.  They decided that Ess should work in stunts, so they got a call to go to Queens St and told to ride a motorbike – but they don’t ride motorbikes.  So it all started in stunts.  They had to learn the hard way, like wearing pads when you get thrown onto cinder blocks.  Later they were asked to say a few lines, so they became a stunt actor, so they got a job on Motherland.

Question. When the zombie apocalypse starts – at this point Cat leaves the stage – who dies first and why?  Who makes it out alive and why?

Cat decides it is safe – no zombies in the room yet – and returns.

Arlen felt that Ess would be the one to make it out alive.  They had seen Ess’s circus stuff.

Ess suggested entertaining the zombies.  Taylor dies first, because she is very jet lagged.  Cat would survive.

Cat felt that the answer would be Demetria on both counts.  She would confront them, so it would be 50 / 50

Arlen suggested that they pretend to be zombies.

Cat ‘I just need to be faster than you two’.

Arlen said they were thinking too hard and Ess thought the funniest person would die first.

Question.  What was their favourite funny scene?
Ess, ‘not getting stuck in pipes’ (referring to the blooper scene).

Cat felt it was the fight scene with Ashley in season 1 and some of the specific stunts.

Arlen thought stunts were fun.  They specifically mentioned the rooftop scene with Tally.  The funniest was when Nicte was captured and wearing a muzzle on the plane.  Every time they kept moving and trying to talk, the muzzle kept falling off.

Question.  What was the most difficult scene to shoot?

Cat gave two scenes with Alder.  The first one was when Petra confronts Alder in her office at the end of her generalship.  The second was coming off the aircraft carrier and Abigail wasn’t there.  That was quite exhausting, but very true to the relationship.

Arlen had watched those, they were intense.  Being tied up in the aircraft hanger.  It was very cold and they were tied up for a long time.  Their body was experiencing the intensity.  ‘Sometimes they forgot to untie me’.  It was Jess who was asking ‘are you OK?’ Arlen ‘I would love to be untied’ and Jess organised it.

Ess, there was lots of rain.  Mentioned a scene with Ess and Abigail, where they had scourges and were on a hill in the rain and the ground turned to mud.  They couldn’t hear each other.  They were waiting for ‘Action’ to use the whips at the same time but couldn’t hear.  They were using SPX whips with the tops cut off.  They were cold and wet for 2 hours and everyone got sick.

Arlen pointed out that filming the Liberia scenes, ‘Your heart is black Sarah’, there was rain, it was freezing because it was November and they had to yell the lines so they could hear them.

Question.  Have you filmed in any memorable locations?

Arlen. Uruguay.  They lived across from the beach and spoke Spanish, living with their grandmother.  It was like entering another universe.

Cat mentioned seeing more of BC, like going to Yukon for a commercial.  She grew up in North Saskatchewan, so going to Yukon was going back to the snow.  She would love to film in the Caribbean and mentioned watching Death in Paradise, she wants to be on that show.

Ess has done Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver.  Montreal was all about circus training.

Cat felt that going to a new place set up the new character in a new space.

Question.  In the world’s biggest food fight, what would be your weapon?

Ess.  Durian

Arlen.  Mayonnaise.  With a hose

Cat.  5 day old baguette

Question.  If you wake up tomorrow and you could have any superpower for 24 hours, what would it be?

Cat.  Invisibility.  You can go on a plane, hear plans

Arlen ‘Cat survives the zombie Apocalypse!’ 

They would be too lazy to play tricks.  They would sneak on a plane and go to visit some chef they admire.  Go into the kitchen, find a pastry chef and watch them.

Ess, eat as much chocolate as they want.  They wake up invisible, so everyone can just see the clothes, but nobody could see their expression.

Arlen wondered about Nicte’s actual power.  Eliot had created the categories of fixer / blaster / knower… these were fixed for the military.  Perhaps they could enhance one of them   Nicte’s power to get people to kill themselves came from their mother’s experiences in the military of being tortured and wanting to kill herself. 

Ess said they had seen M’s military profile, but couldn’t remember it.

Question.  What was your audition scene and if you still have it would you put it online.

Arlen had put one of their scenes online, the ‘Your heart is black Sarah’ Liberia scene

Cat, it was an in person audition, so there was no self tape then.  It was first the scene with Petra and Abigail.  At that point there was an indication that Petra was high ranking military, although the details came later.  So she could use a deeper voice.  She played it very traditional military, hair tied back and in charge

Ess said they didn’t get a call back from their self tape.  The scene was the very first scene where we meet M.  For the audition they deliberately wore a tank top so they could show shoulders. 

Question.  Have you been to any spooky locations?  Have you had any paranormal experiences?

Ess.  Riverview.  It has a history as a psychiatric hospital.  As someone who had been hospitalised ‘I would have been in a place like this and you wouldn’t leave it.’  There is a residue of suffering in a place and can feel a vibe.

Arlen, driving through a series of tunnels.

Ess walking between buildings in winter.

Arlen.  When we went to check it out, filming in a cabin in the woods, the scene where we pour lava down his mouth.  Walk into the cabin and ‘there is a prosthetic of him there dead. Creepy.’  Nicte has done some dark stuff.  [Arlen is referring to the Caretaker’s cabin at Murdo Frazer Park].

Cat, Riverview has an accumulation of negative energy.  There was a scene where Dematria, Lyne and Cat were lined up in front of the building.  If you went inside there were lights and weird things.  It is important to acknowledge that and bear witness.  You have to correct that residue and repurpose it.  It needs to evolve. 

Question.  Through the evolution of the show and your character, were there any themes that spoke to you?

Cat ‘Fear causes us to go backwards’.  There were numerous references to the 45^th president. You could see the imagery and the iconography.  We are stronger when we overcome our differences and weaker when we are fractured.  It is a guide to evolving.

Arlen.  Knowing why Nicte was killing.  The Spree was born out of Liberia, following the orders of a President she doesn’t believe in and won’t follow.  That is relevant today.  They could agree with Nicte in what the Spree was about

Ess is trans.  M is non binary.  Ess had spent hours with Arlen in S2 making head canon.  There are a lot of questions that the world wants to fix for you.  The military has rigid structures, society puts you in rigid boxes.  Make sense of yourself.  ‘I make myself fit into the character I am playing.’  Been transitioning for 6 – 7 years.

Question  What is your go to karaoke song?
Arlen.  The prayer with Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli

Ess.  Never sung Karaoke.  Eventually they settled for Meatloaf’s I would do anything for love

Cat doesn’t like karaoke.  But eventually chose Don’t stop Believing or something by Jonny Cash