We were invited to another Syfy Q&A with some excellent insight - this time an interview with Aaron Ashemore and Saul Rubinek from Warehouse 13. The full transcript is below - it's long but there are some real gems in there.
Operator: Ladies
and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Warehouse 13 Press Call.
Gary Morgenstein: Welcome everyone to the Warehouse
13 Press Call. We’re delighted to have star Saul Rubinek and Aaron Ashmore
talk about the Final Six Episodes of the popular series, which airs on Syfy on
the Mondays at 9:00 pm ET.
Welcome
Saul and Aaron.
Operator: Ladies
and gentlemen, to ask a question, please press the 1 followed by the 4 on your
telephone. And the first question comes from the line of Jamie Ruby from SciFivision.com.
Please go ahead.
Jamie Ruby: Hi
guys. Great to talk to you again.
Aaron Ashmore: Jamie
Ruby. How are you?
Jamie Ruby: So,
good. So, can you both talk about ‘Savage Seduction?’ I know you both were in
kind of different parts of the episode, but that was definitely my favorite of
the season.
So
can you talk about working on that?
Saul Rubinek: I
don’t which one? The title is meaningless to me. Which number?
Jamie Ruby: Oh,
sorry. The Tela Novella, the Spanish one.
Saul Rubinek Oh,
I know what you’re talking about. Yeah, we were two completely different
episodes there in a way, ‘cause there - Aaron and I go by each other throughout
the whole shoot of that. Go ahead Aaron, you go first then and do your thing.
Aaron Ashmore: Well,
yeah, I remember I was - it was a little bit daunting, because I was going to
be playing two versions of Steve and two very different versions of Steve, so I
- it was definitely challenging.
Originally,
I think they were hoping to get my brother, so that he could be able to play
both roles, but you know, him play one and me play the other, but just the
timing and stuff didn’t work out.
So
that didn’t happen. But again, it was a lot of fun. It was worth the exercise
to me to explore the incredibly flamboyant gay side of Steve that we don’t
really get to see, but obviously, it’s deep down there somewhere.
So
it was a ton of fun and difficult at the same time to be switching back and
forth between serious and flamboyant Steve with just a moment’s notice, to kind
of flip back and forth.
So
it was a challenge but we had a lot of fun and I’ve actually - I have not
actually seen that episode, but I’m looking forward to it, because I’d really
like to see what - how everything turned out and the effects of me being on the
screen at the same time.
But
I’m also very curious to see how the Telenovela went, because if it’s a read
through, everybody was just absolutely rolling, it was so funny. So I can’t
imagine when everybody’s in costume and that to see how that turned out as
well.
So
yeah, that’s the one episode that I’m really, really looking forward to as
well.
Saul Rubinek I
also imagine that on your side of the episode, that Allison had a lot of
trouble of keeping a straight face at any particular moment with you.
Aaron Ashmore: I
think it was actually Allison’s - that was like Allison’s dream to have you be
super, super gay and flamboyant, I think she enjoyed it probably more than
anybody for sure.
Saul Rubinek Yeah,
I have a feeling she cracked up on the whole thing. We had a great time. I
haven’t seen it either. I mean, I saw a little bit when I was looping it and I
know that we laughed probably harder doing the Telenovela than anything during
the whole five seasons than we’d ever done.
And
learning the Spanish phonetically - we had a Spanish coach, ‘cause I’m not -
I’m pretty fluent in French, but and I have a pretty good ear, but you know,
Spanish is not one of the languages I was speaking, but by in German too, but
Spanish not so much.
And
although I have played a producer of a Telenovela on a very funny Psych episode
about - oh probably about five years ago and that was really a lot of fun.
And
so I had that kind of melody in my ear and you know, I was playing, El Colonel
and going back and forth between Artie and El Colonel and we came up with - as
you’ve seen it, so we came up with kind a hilarious look for everybody for
basically - it was just - you know what it was, it was Jack was there with us
at every step of the way.
We
have had the Spanish coach. We’d gotten through it, you know, we you know, we
had to do takes, ‘cause we had to get through the Spanish in one go.
And
also, Kelly was there. Who was there? Paula Garces was there, so she speaks
Spanish and is fluent in Spanish so she helped us a lot. And Cindy Braga, right
was there, so she was - she helped and we had a great cast and all I can say,
is that I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard, and you know, ever shooting
anything.
And
you know, it’s hard to tell when you’re laughing so hard. Sometimes, you know,
the crew and you are laughing so hard and then the show comes out, and you go,
“Yeah, it wasn’t that funny. It was funny as we were shooting it”, so I’m
hoping that the laughter translates. I’m glad to hear you liked it.
Jamie Ruby: Yeah,
I was almost crying through half of it laughing so hard. I really, really enjoyed
it.
Thanks
a lot guys.
Operator: Thank
you. And the next question comes from the line of Tony Tellado from Scifi Talk.
Please go ahead.
Tony Tellado: Gentlemen,
what a pleasure. The particular episode was, I have to say, hysterical. My
mother watches them to this day, so it really hit home for me. It was really
cool. As far as, what’s left for the season, are there are going to be - is it
going to be a mix of light or happy episodes or and - light and darker episode,
that are coming up? Can you tease us a little bit, as to what kind of direction
is going to happen in the rest of the episodes?
Saul Rubinek Go
ahead.
Aaron Ashmore: Well
I think, like most of the show and I think what makes the show great, is that
it’s a little bit of all of that in every episode. I mean, the humor’s always
there. There’s definitely some, you know, some things that need to be resolved
amongst some of the characters, particularly some things with Claudia and her
sister and Artie - Artie’s involved in - what that.
So
I mean, that stuff’s a little bit sort of heavier dealing with all that stuff,
but there’s always the humor. There’s always light details even in funny
pieces, even in the most serious situations.
So,
I think there’s all of that, do you know what I mean? And I think that there’s
a lot of - you know, there’s a lot of weight to these last couple of episodes,
because we’re ramping up the show, but that being said, it’s always fun.
Saul Rubinek Yeah,
I think I can echo that. We started off knowing that we were finishing a lot of
people doing - series don’t have the luxury of that. They are cut off at the
knees and so are the fans, by whatever financial ratings, reasons cut people
down.
And
Syfy Network fought really hard for us to be able to have a proper closing. I
know that Mark Stern really fought hard for us and some of the folks at NBC Universal
too, it was a difficult decision.
Sufi’s
going in a different direction, as you can tell by the shows that they’ve got
and whatever, you know, financial ratings, reasons closed us down, we didn’t
want to let our sadness creep into it, except in the most creative way
possible.
And
I have to credit Jack Kenny and the writers as usual, although not so much as
usual as especially in this particular case, for keeping the spirit alive for
us.
We
felt very grateful that we’ve had five great years of doing the show and our
fans are wonderful and have been incredibly supportive as you guys doing
interviews with us and writing about us have been.
I’ve
never had that experience. I spent a couple of years being a recurring
character on Frazier, but in my whole career, I’ve never done a series, you
know, that I started with and ended with, so it’s new for me after all these
years of being on television.
And
the whole experience was new. I hadn’t expected in my career ever to have such
a wonderful time for so long being one character. I would have thought that
that could get dull, but given the kind of writing and my costars, it was all
in all certainly at the high end of the top of my professional experience.
And
the kind of shows that we did really as Aaron was saying, you know, we didn’t
try to change the formula or the writer’s didn’t. There was, of course, the
feeling that the show was going to have to wrap up and they do it in a rather
typically Warehouse poignant, hilarious odd peculiar and eccentric fashion.
So,
you know, you’re going to get your trademark Warehouse ending, but I think it
will be a satisfying to fans as it was to the cast.
Tony Tellado: Oh
that’s great. I - this is a very special show, you know, the mix of Jack, the
writers and yourselves made it very special. What legacy would you like Warehouse 13 to leave after its last
episode?
Saul Rubinek A
lot of residuals. Right Aaron? There’s a...
Aaron Ashmore: I
don’t know if that’ll happen.
Saul Rubinek No,
I tell you what I think, you know, a lot of shows get discovered by a larger
audience later on, and you know, Netflix is part of the life of our show now,
and I can say this, we’re - we were all really proud of the fact that it was a
family show.
We
all felt that we shouldn’t have been on at 10:00 in our fourth season and that
was just unfortunate, however it was planned. We were never a 10:00 show, so
more people were going to view the RS and see us later.
But
we’re probably an 8:00 show, even though we were at 9. We were a family show. You
could be 10 years old or 90 years old and get something out of this show. And
that was - very few one hour shows, very few that the whole family can watch
and feel that they’re getting something.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek And
we’re really proud of that. And I think that there are a lot of families out
there as the years go on, that will discover that they’ve got a great funny
interesting show that the whole family can watch.
And
if that happens years - in the next number of years, that’ll feel great to me.
Aaron Ashmore: That’s
a great answer, Saul. I sort of feel the same. I mean, I felt incredibly
blessed to be part of the show, but you know sometimes when you get away from
it, you get even more prospective from it.
And
I felt so lucky and just happy and like now that, the new season’s airing, just
watching it being away from all you guys and really not - that we’re not, you
know, coming back to do another season, I was so happy to see those characters
and all you guy’s faces and stuff.
And
I think that that’s what you know, what I hope everybody is feeling as well, is
just happy to see us. And again, yeah Netflix and all these other places and
ways that shows can stay alive, whereas before, if - when they went off the
air, they’re kind of gone.
And
I think the fan base is a loyal and the show is so full of, you know, adventure
and history and all these things, that I think it is a show that’s really
rewatchable.
So
hopefully people will continue to rewatch it and also new people will tune in
on Netflix and keep it alive, because I think - yeah I just think it has a
place that it will stay alive in that way.
Tony Tellado: I
agree, gentlemen; I’ve actually started watching it from the beginning on
Netflix and it’s awesome. I’m laughing all over again and crying all over
again.
Saul Rubinek Oh
right. Thank you.
Tony Tellado: Yeah,
it’s great to do that. Thank you gentlemen and thank you for the wonderful job
you’ve done.
Saul Rubinek Thank
you.
Operator: Thank
you and the next question comes from the line of Jamie Steinberg from Starry
Constellation Magazine. Please go ahead.
Jamie Steinberg: Hi. Thanks so much for talking with us.
Aaron Ashmore: Sure,
my pleasure.
Jamie Steinberg: I was wondering, what were some of the mementos you took with you
after you finished filming the series?
Aaron Ashmore: Everything
we could get our hands on.
Saul Rubinek We’re
just being hilarious. We just steal stuff.
Aaron Ashmore: I
didn’t get a ton of stuff.
Saul Rubinek Eddie
got it.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
Eddie, I think, yeah he was - yeah he definitely got a lot of really, really
cool stuff. I got the metronome that kept me - that kept - that brought me back
to life, which I really - it was one of the artifacts that I really had a
personal connection with like story wise, so I think that was really cool for
me.
And
I also - I have a collection of all my seat backs for the Director’s Chairs for
all of the shows that I’ve ever done, so I made sure that I grabbed that, because
it’s just a funny collection. I don’t have it on display, but I just have a
nice collection of all the shows my name and then with the show’s name on it.
So
I’ve got those few things, and that to me, was sort of the important stuff that
I really wanted. I also got a killer wardrobe, you know, all the shows, all the
clothes that I wore over the three seasons, they gave us a lot of options for
stuff that we would wear.
And
a lot of it was really nice, so I - so now sometimes when I walk down the street,
I see like if somebody recognizes me from Warehouse, or they’re like, “He’s
dressed exactly like Steve does”.
Saul Rubinek That’s
so funny. That’s funny. Oh well the glasses - Artie’s glasses were the glasses
that I wore for my screen test. I brought them to the show. They’re very hard
to find. They’re made in Germany, so I got my glasses back, so let me put that.
I like that.
Like
also, I took very few things, almost nothing. I took some wardrobe stuff, which
I - Joanne Nelson had made stuff for me that it was very loose and comfortable
stuff and different shirts that - you know, I would wear normally, so I like
that.
And
I’m - but as far as, you know, actual objects are concerned, the one that - I
got a birthday present on July 2nd when it was my birthday. They just stopped
the take right in the middle and I thought I’d done something wrong and it was -
it turned out to be, you know, a cake and stuff that Jack had arranged.
And
I got as a present one of (Frank Decotis)’, our brilliant Direction Designers
drawings, original drawings of Artie’s office, so that meant a lot to me. It
really touched me and I think that it’s, because you know, the truth is for me,
the memories are my artifacts.
You
know, are the things that are most important to me, and you know, they’re - I
might have wanted that Steampunk keyboard, you know, that they had, but that
was very expensive and NBC Universal took that before I could get my hands on
it.
So...
Aaron Ashmore: Actually
Eddie got it. I think Eddie got it. Eddie got to...
Saul Rubinek He
got it all. It’s all on eBay and you know, I have no idea. But really, I don’t
have anything. I didn’t take anything. I have that wonderful gift that I got
from Jack Kenny, El (Franco Decotis)’ drawing of Artie’s office and that brings
back a lot of memories.
And
I’ve got the shows to look at, you know, and I’ve got enough tchotchke in my
life I think.
I
miss Artie’s office.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
That’s the one place that I really miss, like it’s a set. Like everything was
great, but that was such a...
Saul Rubinek That
was extraordinary.
Aaron Ashmore: Absolutely
meaning. It felt like home sort of, you know, you spend a lot of time in there,
you kind of feel comfortable on home...
Saul Rubinek Well,
it was also the first time, I think, they were on set was in Artie’s office the
very first...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
for sure. Yeah.
Saul Rubinek The
thing you had to do was in Artie’s office and it was one of those things that
happened to both Aaron and to Allison, which was they had to come - well
Aaron’s much more difficult in a way, ‘cause with Allison we’d only shot a
pilot and three episodes, I think.
And
Allison came on in episode four, but Aaron came in Season 3, I think it was. Right
Aaron and it was...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
Season 3.
Saul Rubinek And
it was, you know, coming into a group that had already been performing for
years together. We had our own rhythm and it - for any actor. I don’t care who
it is, it’s a nerve racking experience, but the truth is, that you know, and it
happened very fast for Aaron, after meeting Jack Kenny and suddenly he was
cast.
And
he came into a situation and we were very happy to have him, but the truth is,
that it wouldn’t have worked if Aaron hadn’t - had this ability to tightrope
walk, ‘cause - and be a goof ball and serious at a moment’s notice.
And
that was the great thing. Wasn’t it Aaron? Wasn’t the most fun that we had a -
a show ran around the set most of the time and if you didn’t like - like
something didn’t feel right in your mouth, he would change it and that we could
laugh and goof around and then we’d have to be serious the next section.
So
we were doing a really (aromody), whatever Jack called it, and it was a
thriller, a comedy and a drama all at the same time, all in the same scene and
Aaron had the very tricky job of fitting right in, which he did.
And
it happened in Artie’s office and I could imagine it felt like home to you. It
was a magical cast, a magical cast. Very hard to find that kind of chemistry that
we all just happened to have. It’s a - it’s true.
Even
Aaron’s done...
Aaron Ashmore: A
little bit of magic.
Saul Rubinek ...and
it happened. Yeah, just the way it is. I mean, people said, “You guys look like
you’re having a lot of fun on that show, well did you”. And we just say yes. We
couldn’t say yes, you know, couldn’t fake it and laugh all day long, you know.
Jamie Steinberg: I’m thinking understatement. Thank you guys so much.
Saul Rubinek Sure.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank
you.
Operator: Thank
you and the next question comes from the line of Joshua Maloni from WNYPapers.com. Please
go ahead.
Joshua Maloni: Hey
guys. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
Aaron Ashmore: Sure.
Saul Rubinek No
problem Joshua.
Joshua Maloni: So,
I guess, you’ve touched on this already, but maybe I’m looking for maybe a
little bit more specific answer. You guys obviously made a very successful Syfy
show, a show that like you said, was appropriate for families and for people of
all ages.
You
had a great cast. You had really cool guest stars. All of them told us that
they loved coming and working with you guys. So is there sort of one big
takeaway that you take from this experience?
Aaron Ashmore: Go
ahead.
A
big takeaway from the experience. I - it sounds funny and again, it’s over the
year of like sort of thinking about all of the experiences and having a little
bit of distance, but I think I found myself in a lot of ways as an actor, like
a different sort of confidence and a different level of, you know, something
along that line, that I got thrown into this thing and I wasn’t sure how I was
going to fit in.
And
then you just joined this sort of family and you’re working together and you’re
trying new things and you’re pushing things and sometimes it’s working and
sometimes it’s not, but we fix it.
And
so for me as a performer, as an actor, this show tested all those things and I
came out at the other end of it feeling very confident and very good.
And
you know, and that happened because of all these amazing people. You know, like
I didn’t do that by myself. I mean, you get the support and you get the
challenges and that thrown at you.
And
so for me looking back, I - where else can you get a learning experience and
there’s some of the most amazing performers and creative people that I’ve ever
worked with and you move onto other things and you start to think, well Dan did
I - you know, I knew I had it good, but you - I didn’t know how good I had,
until you start moving onto other things.
And
you really start to miss that stuff. So, for me, yeah I just takeaway a lot of
just appreciation for the three years that I had and that might be a bit of
rambling answer, but that’s sort of - it’s a tough question..
So
I think that’s what I take away from it in a nutshell.
Saul Rubinek: That’s
well said. It’s well said, you don’t know what you have until you, you know,
let it go and you’re not going - there’s a - you know, I start - when did I
first do my first television show? In Toronto probably in 1976, maybe, you know.
So,
that’s a long time ago and I’ve done - worked with a lot of different directors
in a lot of different series, but I’ve never had a series that I was a regular
on, except maybe eight, ten episodes of the series called Men for ABC back in
1988 and that was really an interesting experience.
But
that was it, you know, it’s just half a season, or whatever we did. So this is
unique for me in my entire career. So there a number of challenges involved.
There
are creative ones and there are also career challenges, in the sense that, you
have to find a way creatively to keep it alive and you want it not fall back on
tricks and when you’ve got great people working around you, like I was lucky
enough to have them, you have to keep on your toes.
The
bar gets set high, because the writing is - demands acrobatics and tightrope
walking from one genre to the other, sometimes and very often within the same
scene, so you had to have grace and alacrity. It was demanded of you.
What
was really - the biggest thing that I learned, since I’m also a writer, and in
fact, Jack Kenny and I are working on two projects together. It’s a potential
television series, is I learned a tremendous amount from watching Jack work.
Here’s
a guy who started right after the pilot. He came onboard when we started doing
the show after the pilot and stayed on ‘til the very end.
Insisted
on certain things that made the show great, that I wouldn’t have understood if
I hadn’t been working with the show runner of such high caliber and such good
humor, grace, and the ability to both be a father figure for his writers and a
leader and a father figure for us as actors on the set.
So,
things that I didn’t understand are very practical things that your very
sophisticated fans now understand, as I’ve gone around to conventions, I see
how sophisticated and knowledge people are, about how the industry works, so an
answer like mine might not seem out of place, even though it might be a bit
technical is that...
Jack
insisted with NBC Universal and Syfy that he hire his writers early. Why that
made a big difference, is they could break stories and get the scripts - a
number of scripts ahead.
When
he got a number of scripts ahead, that meant Jack could travel from Los
Angeles, where the writer’s room is, where 10 to 12 writers are working
together and travel 3000 miles to Toronto and be on the set with us.
Why
is that important? Well, if you talk to most actors who are doing television
series, far distant whether it’s in Texas or in, you know, in Atlanta or
wherever they’re doing shows in Vancouver, far away from where the writers are.
If
the Head Writer is 3000 miles away, there’s a time difference that makes things
difficult if something happens on the set, the Directors and the Producers that
are working at far distance, say, “Just, you know, do it as written”, and they
have to keep that general rule in play, because chaos might reign, although one
actor may be really good at changing things, if an actor who is not good at
changing things sees that one actor changing things, they may also want to.
It’s
much easier to have a general sense of rule. And actors on a series get very
frustrated when those edicts come from afar. It’s all done with the best of
intentions and trying to keep the show of a certain quality, but what creeps
into a show, is a certain amount of disgruntledness from a cast, when they
don’t feel that they’re being heard and it’s usually a question of time
distance, time and distance, not because people are, you know, totalitarian in
nature.
And
here we are, because of Jack’s particular brilliance and the way he was able to
fight and to support that he got from both the studio and the network, that
because shows were broken early, he was able to be on the set with us for over
70% of the time, which meant that he could see as things were developing in the
blocking, that it wasn’t quite as was imagined in the Writer’s Room.
The
actors were bringing some goofy stuff to the table or serious stuff or a
poignant moment here or there and he would rewrite on the spot. And as a
result, we felt collaboratively we were blessed.
The
reason, one of the reasons the guest stars wanted to come back, we were all
reasonably nice, but that’s true, but a lot of shows have reasonably nice people.
It’s
that they felt you could collaborate. They felt our joy of being on the set
with the Head Writer there in the flesh and things changed on the spot,
sometimes improvisationally. Very unusual.
That
creative collaboration, which is not simply a result of will, but a result
absolutely of planning and dollars support from the network and the studio, so
the writers have more time to write, which costs more, which allowed that to
happen on the set, created an atmosphere that gave the fans what they got.
That
was the thing I learned and something I’d never experienced before and
difficult to repeat unless you have somebody of Jack’s caliber and that kind of
support.
Joshua Maloni: All
right guys. I appreciate it.
Saul Rubinek No
problem.
Operator: Thank
you. The next question comes from the line of Theresa Argie from the America’s
Most Haunted. Please go ahead.
Theresa Argie: I’m
sorry to see the show go. I’m a huge fan and it’s been very enjoyable to watch
as a family with my family and we’re all going to miss it very much.
But
regarding the show, of all the episodes that have passed in the years, which do
your characters feel each of you would have been the most important or
dangerous artifact that is stored in the warehouse?
Saul Rubinek Well,
I don’t know to be honest, I mean. It seemed like they all were just constantly
causing problems. You know, there’s - and I think the idea that in the wrong
person’s hand or in the wrong situation, even sort of innocuous things can
cause massive problems.
So,
I think the whole general warehouse was a dangerous thing. And I don’t know if
I can pick just one out that was like incredibly dangerous, but they all seemed
to cause problems.
Aaron Ashmore: Well,
certainly the asteroid for me, because of what happened to Artie throughout
Season 4 and you know, and the murder that he - that he’s responsible for on
some level.
The
- he had a very difficult choice to make, which is to either lose the warehouse
or bring it back, but if he brings it back, he also brings an evil, which turns
out to be within himself.
So,
certainly for me and what I experienced, there’s arguments to be made about -
just about every single one of those dark and interesting artifacts.
But
the asteroid and what the consequences were, certainly were - was the most
dangerous of all the ones that we had and its consequences that affect - last
from the moment it started right through the whole series.
Theresa Argie: And
as a series ends and it’s wrapping up, who will be the final villain, the final
foes that the agents and the regents will be facing?
Saul Rubinek Now
you know better than to ask a question like that for sure. You know way better
than to ask that question.
Theresa Argie: Well
could it be Valda?
Saul Rubinek Oh
sure, we’ll tell you, but we won’t tell anybody else that question. No problem.
There’s not a chance we’re answering that question.
Next
question.
Theresa Argie: On
now, will you be introducing any new villains or will it be...
Saul Rubinek I’m
not telling you. No, you’re going to have to watch.
Theresa Argie: Oh,
so...
Saul Rubinek You’re
very persistent though, very persistent.
Theresa Argie: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek You’ve
got a lot of points for persistence, yes. You can phrase it a different way,
we’ll see if I answer it differently.
Theresa Argie: All
right. I give up on that one.
Saul Rubinek Here’s
what you do. Wait, wait, here’s what you do. Call Eddie McClintock, he’ll tell
you everything.
Theresa Argie: He’s
not going to lie. Let’s talk.
So
what’s next for the both of you as actors after this? I know that Saul you said
you’re working with Jack Kenny on a couple of projects. Can you give up the
cheese about those projects or is...
Saul Rubinek Well,
they’re in the world of comedy.
Theresa Argie: ...there
anything...
Saul Rubinek I
mean, a big shock to you right? They’re in that world. And we’re having a lot
of fun developing them.
I’m
also - my producer and partner and my wife of 23 years, Elinor Reid and I are
working on a project. One of them we are working together with Jack on.
And
I’ve been doing a lot of writing over the last five years, so I have a number
of projects that I’ve been developing. In fact it’s what I was doing right
before I found out about Warehouse 13
looking for an Artie, I was planning to really limit the number of things that
I was going to act in, not because I don’t love acting, I - that’s not
diminished at all, it’s that I’ve concentrated over the last 20 years on
writing projects, and different kinds of writing projects.
And
I wanted to spend more time doing that and picking and choosing what I was
going to act in and suddenly Warehouse came along. It was unexpected.
So
I think I’m going back to my original plan, of - now that Warehouse is over,
which is I’m going to be very careful about the things that I act in.
I
just had an amazing time working with the extraordinary Michael Emerson on a
double episode of Person of Interest and our director, Chris Fisher that worked
on Warehouse for - with us for years, is now the show running director on that
show and worked with an old friend Richard Lewis, who I’d worked with in Canada
before, and I had a wonderful time.
I
did that in the fall and that was an extraordinary experience and I’m looking
forward to working as a guest star on different shows if that happens, and
picking very carefully, but mostly I’m concentrating on my writing.
And
Aaron’s working on a pilot.
Aaron Ashmore: Oh
yes, just I shot a pilot, sorry...
Theresa Argie: Go
team. Let’s hear it.
Aaron Ashmore: Okay,
yeah I just finished shooting a pilot for a show called Agatha. It’s an ABC
show and it’s sort of a - well you know, in a very easy to, you know, put out
that sort of thing.
It’s
basically Grey’s Anatomy but with cops, so it’s that sort of world and it
basically centers around a criminologist, a young criminologist, Agatha, who -
I’m trying to keep this fairly brief, basically she was a criminal and when she
got out of jail at a young age, she dreamed to be a criminologist and now she’s
one of the best in the country.
But
the rub is, is that her dad's a detective and her brother’s a cop, so there’s
kind of a huge riff that happened, you know, but the fact that she was - you
know, she went to jail and she got into all this trouble.
Saul Rubinek: Are
you playing the brother?
Aaron Ashmore: And
she’s coming back - what’s that. Yes, and I’m playing the brother. Yeah, yeah,
and now she’s coming back to Philadelphia to work on a case and she’s got to,
you know, sort all this stuff out with her family and solve this case.
Saul Rubinek: Who’s
the dad? Who’s the girl?
Aaron Ashmore: The
dad is an awesome actor by the name of Clancy Brown.
Saul Rubinek: Oh,
I know Clancy. Yeah great.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
he’s a super nice guy and he plays a lot of serious roles, but he’s actually
really funny, so I enjoy it.
And
Agatha is an Australian actress by the name of Bojana Novakovic I think. I hope
I’m not butchering her last name.
So
yeah, I just shot that a couple of weeks ago, but it’s a pilot and you know,
you kind of wait, you do it and you keep your fingers crossed. And...
You
know Jason Alexander who shot the pilot of Warehouse?
Saul Rubinek: Yes,
yes, Jason Alexander who shot the pilot for Warehouse
13 directed it as well. So...
I
know Jason.
...I
know a lot of connections.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
you do, you’re on the ball Saul and I’m just starting a feature in a couple of
days, actually in about a week. It’s like a psychological thriller based around
sort of a demonic sort of stuff and Ethan Hawke is playing a lead detective in
that and I’m playing a cop that works with him on this case and also Emma
Watson from the Harry Potter movies is starring in it as well.
So
that’s kind of a cool one. And other than that, it was a slow winter. So just
things are starting to get fired up now.
Saul Rubinek: Good.
Theresa Argie: Excellent,
we’ll miss you both and good luck on all of your projects. And you have a real
fan. It’s Mr. Crabs in other words the Mr. Crabs...
Saul Rubinek: Yeah,
yeah. Exactly when I heard that, I was like no way.
Theresa Argie: All
right. Well thank you very much for everything...
Saul Rubinek: Sure.
Theresa Argie: ...and
we look forward to the final episodes.
Saul Rubinek: Thank
you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank
you very much.
Operator: Thank
you and the next question comes from the line of Janice Kay with ScienceFiction.com.
Please
go ahead.
Janice Kay: Thank
you so much for allowing us to interview you.
Saul Rubinek: My
pleasure. No problem.
Janice Kay: Out
of the years that you’ve been doing Warehouse
13, is there any story line that you would want to, for example, Artie’s
background or character that wasn’t touched upon?
Saul Rubinek: An
extensive sex life would have been fun to shoot. I have no idea. You know what,
I never - it never really occurred to me to go, “Hey we’re missing something
here”. It’s not the thing that’s in my - in the forefront of my brain.
You
know, as you asked the question, a number of things start to - I’ve got to
answer this question in some creative vaguely humorous way. I’d like to, you
know, give her something, but the truth is, that it doesn’t - I would be
forcing an answer, because we have the luxury of these incredibly imaginative
episodes.
And
not only were they surprising to us, I mean, we had a read through, we didn’t
have a chance really to look much at the script. We had a read through usually
the right - about five days or four or five days before we shot, so in shooting
the episode, with the director that was so present, ‘cause he was in crap he
would be there, he or she would be there.
But,
as we were doing that, we were always, you know, it was like what - we couldn’t
wait to turn the pages. It was really fun to read those episodes because they
were so surprising and because we all got to play so many different facets of
our character.
There
really is not one aspect of Artie, whether it was as a spy or a child of a
Holocaust survivor or his days with his father, you know, objecting to him
leaving Julliard or his odd love affair with Lindsay Wagner’s character and
with it - and his father, daughter relationship with Claudia, there were so
many different aspects of that character that were written.
And
every once in a while I got to channel Jack Kenny’s most hilarious put downs
and sarcastic remarks, he was very, very funny and really he channeled me and I
channeled him and those, you know, I could tell when it was really - I got a
Jack Kenny line here.
And
it was - I really had a, you know, such a variety of fun playing so many
different aspects of the guy. Goofy, I mean, I’m thinking back to whatever that
digital episode was where I did the whole think in some fruity weird British
accent, and playing some cartoonist character, outrageously to the being -touching
Mata Hari’s silk stockings and being some silly guy in love, ridiculously in
love with the wrong person, to a murderous dark solace character.
You
know, there were so many aspects to it and so much fun, that I can’t tell you
that I missed anything.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
I think that - I feel the same way as far as television characters go. I think
that all these characters were incredibly well rounded and you know, none of
them were even close to one to mention, which was just so very, very nice.
But
I sometimes wonder, you know, because I liked the comic character development
that they had, how - what could have been, you know what I mean, if the show is
going on, I don’t know where or what more interesting things will come out of
these characters, but I know that there would have been.
So
I sometimes think about, you know, where these characters could have led you
even farther, you know, ‘cause it seemed like the Jack and writers had their
fingers on the pulse of these characters so well, that you know.
I
always felt like natural and I always felt interesting, all the character
people - and I felt real, there was never character pieces that like, I know I
disagreed with any sort of like character stuff, I was never like - I don’t
know if I believe his people would do that, it was just so seamless and fit in
like for everybody, I felt like.
So...
Saul Rubinek: I
have a feeling that they would have had you fall in love...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek: ...and
we would have all - nobody would have been good enough for you, and we would
have been terrified that you were falling in love with that bastard and it was
that...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek: ...was
next for you. I know if the show would have gone on, they would have had you
fall...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek: ...head
over heels for somebody. That would have been very interesting for...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
yeah, that would have been fun to play and interesting to see. But you know,
again we sort of touched on that a little bit, but the character’s so
interesting, you give the character one little element like he can tell when
anybody’s lying and the consequences to what a relationship would be or how
closed off he would be.
So
there’s like this, this is a really interesting thing that they played into the
character, yeah again, if the show had kept going on and on, we would have
gotten a chance to really dive into all those things.
And
but, I’m very happy with everything that we did...
Saul Rubinek: Yeah.
Aaron Ashmore: ...with
all these characters.
Saul Rubinek: Yeah.
Janice Kay: Thank
you so much. The writers are incredible, but characters that they’ve given you
and how you guys have played it has been just what’s going on. It’s just so sad
to see the series ended.
But
thank so much.
Aaron Ashmore: Okay.
Saul Rubinek: Thank
you.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank
you.
Operator: Thank
you and the next question comes from the line of Kelly Harkin: from Good to Be Geek.com.
Please go ahead.
Kelly Harkin:: Hi
guys. Thanks for five wonderful years.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank
you I think.
Kelly Harkin:: Partially
Aaron I have one question for you that kind of a lot of fans have kind of
wondered about, is with feasibilities and with beef hunches, if Syfy had their
show alphas, we always kind of wondered whether they were trying to tie the Warehouse 13 with the Alphas Universe
together.
Did
you ever get a sense of that?
Aaron Ashmore: No,
I mean, I definitely heard some people mention that and I think even Eddie and
I or you know, there was some sort of joke that, you know, maybe the Warehouse
crew would just be like getting off an elevator as they were - as some - these
other guys were doing their show, we’re kind of through it, and it wouldn’t
even be explained.
We
would just be there or something, and it’s like, maybe we are in the same
universe, but I mean, I think that the tones of the show, they’re so different,
that I would say that the universe that they were in were so different as well.
But,
obviously there’s a similarity in that sense, you know, sort of with the
showers.
Saul Rubinek: They’re
running Vanessa, Lindsay Wagner’s character as her - in her role as working for
the Center for Disease Control.
Aaron Ashmore: You
- absolutely. I didn’t even think about that, so there you go. So it was the
same universe.
Saul Rubinek: Yeah.
Kelly Harkin:: Yeah,
and we always kind of wondered if you were going to go further with that.
Saul Rubinek: Well
they would have if the show would have continued. I think that they would have
tried. You know, here’s the thing that’s really tricky. Alphas was not
particularly a funny show and it was...
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
Saul Rubinek: ...very
serious compared to us. So, it would have been harder. That’s why Eureka
blended so well and why Allison and you know, Casey’s character were able to
come back and forth to our show, because the humor was close on some of those
two shows, was similar.
And
it was a much more easy universe to marry.
Kelly Harkin:: Yeah,
I can definitely see that. Now, we - as we touched on the stories and things
like that, what - when you look at all the characters, what characters do you
think had the biggest growth throughout this time?
Saul Rubinek: There
wasn’t one character that you could mention that didn’t. I mean, I better go -
my question would be, what character had the least growth? I mean, they all
grew, they all change, even Mrs. Frederic, you know, perhaps the old - well not
perhaps, was the oldest of the characters, God knows how old she was.
She
was probably over 300 years old, we have no idea how old she is, but and she
seemed - you know what’s really funny about (Susie)’s down to earth, that she’s
such a goof ball in real life, she’s so hilarious and very funny and she was
playing such a straight but serious character, it always cracked us up.
But
you know, I think we touched on this already, the fact that there was such a
great range for all of the characters that were there, that there was - it’s
hard to think of what - who grew more.
I
mean, look at the way -you know, you’re going to get some of your answer about
that in about and very quickly in the last six episodes of this series.
Aaron Ashmore: You
know what I - just while you were talking Saul, I was sort of thinking and you
know, I wasn’t there from the beginning from the first season, but even from
the third season, it was like as, as far as kind of growth goes, and not
specifically character growth but that has a big part of it.
But
Allison, like Allison sort of grew up right, even the past...
Saul Rubinek: Yeah.
Aaron Ashmore: ...three
years, so I can’t even imagine - yeah in real life, it’s raw, you know, I think
I was 28 or something when I got on the show and I think everybody else was a
little old, but she was very young when she started and like I say, even from
the third year to the fifth year, I saw such a, you know, a growth and a
maturity sort of happen in her, so that’s kind of an interesting thing, to kind
of have those years and that sort of maturity sort of happening here on the
show.
So
I think Allison had a very interesting story.
Saul Rubinek: That’s
definitely true and they wrote to it and they wrote towards it.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah.
I mean...
Kelly Harkin:: Great.
Thank you very much guys.
Saul Rubinek: Sure.
Aaron Ashmore: No
problem.
Operator: Thank
you. Your next question comes from the line of (Cindy Obaman) from TV Equals. Please
go ahead.
Cindy Obaman: Hi
guys. It’s so nice to speak with your today.
Aaron Ashmore: Thank
you.
(Cindy Obaman): Thank
you. My question is, Claudia plays such a pivotal role in both Artie and Kay’s
journey throughout the show and you both had such great chemistry with Allison.
Was there anything - can you talk a little bit about how those two
relationships developed and what it was like working with Allison over the
years?
Saul Rubinek: Go
ahead.
Aaron Ashmore: Well,
you talk about having good chemistry with Allison and I sort of feel like it’s
impossible not to have good chemistry with Allison. I think anybody would. I
mean, there’s just something about her that’s so - yeah, just so incredible. She’s
an incredible person, she’s also an incredible performer.
But
I felt really lucky to - when I got into the show, because I was working with
Allison so much, and I need - and I didn’t know, you know, how it was going to
work or whatever, but I think as soon as we started working together, I felt,
okay this is interesting and it’s good.
And
then I was even more happy to have the fans respond to it in such a way and
really buy and really be invested in this friendship and I think that that’s
what really allowed you know, me to sort of stick around and - on the show, and
that would - that dynamic in that relationship.
And
Allison really embraced that and you know, I was the new guy and she totally
embraced that and allowed me to do my thing.
So
yeah, I mean, she’s an - I mean, all around incredible, an incredibly talented
too, right because there’s some things that she does in this last season, but
you know, blew my mind.
You
know, you’ll see it. You won’t miss it. You can’t miss it, but just - it just
seems like everything that she does she’s great at and continually surprising
me her talent and you know, all that stuff.
So
yeah, she was great.
Saul Rubinek: She
was great with your guys. They did a really great thing with you guys, because
in that car scene where she thinks you’re coming onto her and she’s kind of
gently says, you know, “You’re probably not her type”, and you say, “Yeah,
that’s okay ‘cause I’m gay”.
And
they - and her embarrassment at that. And what was great was that they’d
written things into your character that just happens to be gay. It wasn’t a
show about Jinks being gay or a character about being gay, it’s just one thing
about it.
And
he happens to be gay. This is somebody that might happen to be straight and or
happen to be of any - you know, Asian or whatever and it was an interesting
about face that she has to do.
And
she becomes very vulnerable. And she may have even blushed on screen, I’m not
sure. And it was a great moment of friendship and it built, of course, to - and
they were very cleverly, you know, and they told me early, they were, Jack
said, “I’m going to pull you said, so I want to talk to you about something.”
And
I said, “What is it?” He said, “I’m going to start taking Allison away from
you. You’ve had her, you know, for two years and you’ve built this beautiful
father/daughter relationship. She’s growing older and she may not need Artie as
much. She has to grow up in a different way, but I’m going to kill of Steve
Jinks, not for real, but I’m going to kill him off at the end of the season
here, and I need to create a very close relationship between Allison’s
character and Aaron’s character in order for that death to make sense.”
I
said, “I got it”. So I wasn’t - I felt - I didn’t feel robbed of Allison,
because he included me in the plan, you know and why it was happening.
So
they crafted a friendship between you and that was right, this is -we’re
dealing with a chemistry that really worked really well. They’re both very,
very quick performers Aaron and Allison. I’ll speak for - now I can speak from
the outside. They’re both very versatile. Instantly versatile.
Both
have absolutely no Prima Donna aspects to them at all, but with Eddie and me and
Joanne do, at least more than they do.
And
they have - they’re just - they’re professionals. They’re really both very nice
people in real life and they got along and were able to do things without any
problems very quickly, very, very quick.
The
scenes between were shot quickly, they were done quickly. They were - it was
really, really fun to watch them work. And that happened also between Allison.
Now
Allison came on the show 18 years old. At that point I had a 17 year old
daughter in real life and a 14 year old son as well, but in real life my
daughter very closely in age for Allison.
Allison
came on the show rather nervous as an 18 year old, having had already worked
with Jack Kenny when she was probably 12 years old or something like that, so he
knew her and she won the role by auditioning.
And
when she came on, a very difficult scene, she had to kidnap Artie. It was a
very emotional episode directed by the brilliant (Steve Surjek) who directed
that episode.
We
have no idea really, you know, when we’re shooting what the fans are going to
think of the show when the show wasn’t even on the air yet, so we didn’t know
we were going to be a hit show yet and we were trying all these things out.
And
what happened immediately, and I’m sure Aaron will corroborate this, is that -
and although the age difference is so big between - it was only 10 years
between he and Allison, but between Allison and I there was over 30 years and
over 35 years and what you’re dealing with, is a colleague.
I
mean, even though, in real life there was a kind of father/daughter
relationship naturally between us, but on the set it was a colleague I was
dealing with, no age difference in a way. She was so constantly a professional.
Very quick, very, very easy to work with and collaborative and I adored her
instantly and we quickly found a way to do shorthand between us.
I
mean, one of the things that Jack brought to the table when he got the job as
Show Runner, is he pitched the idea, which they loved. He said, “Look, I think
you better give Artie a, you know, a sorcerer’s apprentice, because otherwise
the poor man’s going to be talking to himself, you know, just it’s a lot. You’ve
got to give him somebody, you know.”
So
he pitched the idea of a character like Allison’s and they bought and he knew
what he wanted to do and Allison and I then built on that idea, by trading off,
all expositional dialogue and we’d turn it into arguments and Jack would be
right on the set to help us, is part of what I was saying for another interview,
right, now for the fact that Jack was there.
We
would have been really stuck doing it exactly as written which wouldn’t have
been as entertaining. We found a way to create our relationship so having so
share an exposition.
And
then it got built on again on top of that. And I’m sure something similar
happened between Aaron and Allison when they were on the set, because they
found that, you know, Jack was there for the most part. They could build on
what was naturally between them.
So,
that you know, that happened with all of us in one way or another on that set
and in whatever combination you care to talk about. But, it was an unusual
situation having been on other sets. It’s not that common for that kind of a
close working relationship to pay off on all levels.
Aaron Ashmore: Yeah,
I think the other thing that...
(Cindy Obaman): Also...
Aaron Ashmore: ..plays
into those relationships like you said Saul, you know, when you genuinely like
somebody and there’s a friendship there, you know, because you’re working with
people for a long thing, I mean, that - I mean, where the character is and
where your personal stuff, you know, the line sort of bleeds, so you bring some
of your own, you know, what you might be joking or your energy when you’re not
actually working, but just sitting around and you bring that into the scene and
vice versa.
And
when you really get along with people, I think that that stuff bleeds over, but
that becomes very interesting too, you know, and it forms...
Saul Rubinek: Absolutely.
Aaron Ashmore: ...in
what you’re doing and if that’s great. That’s where that magic comes from.
Saul Rubinek: And
how rare is it that when you’re sitting around just talking as yourself, that
the show runner happens to be listening and said, “Let’s use that dialogue,
some of that?”
Aaron Ashmore: Absolutely
yeah. Always listening, always you know, playing to, you know, to the reality
of what all our relationships were.
Saul Rubinek: Yeah,
that’s what as great.
Gary Morgenstein: Well thank you everyone. Time is up.
Saul Rubinek: Okay.
Gary Morgenstein: Thank you so much. Saul and Aaron, Warehouse 13, Monday at 9:00, only on Syfy. Thanks everyone for
joining the call. Take care.
Saul Rubinek: Okay.
All right. Take care. It’s nice talking to...
END
